Battle of Fontarrabie

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Battle of Fontarrabie
Siege of Fontarrabie (engraving by an unknown master from Germany)
Siege of Fontarrabie (engraving by an unknown master from Germany)
date September 7, 1638
place Fontarrabia
output Spanish victory
Parties to the conflict

Grand Royal Coat of Arms of France & Navarre.svg
Kingdom of France

Royal Coat of Arms of Spain (1580-1668) .svg
Kingdom of Spain

Commander

Louis XIII
the Duc de Condé
Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis

Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera

Troop strength
18,000 men, 2,000 horsemen, 20 to 30 ships with 7,000 marines 1,300 in Fontarrabie, 15,000 men and 500 horsemen in the relief army
losses

4,000 dead, 2,000 prisoners

?

The Battle of Fontarrabie (also: Fontarabie , Spanish: Fuenterrabía) took place on September 7, 1638 during the Franco-Spanish War (which in turn was part of the Thirty Years War ) and ended with a victory for the Spaniards. It was about the break-up of the French siege ring around Fontarrabie by a Spanish relief army .

The French had 18,000 foot soldiers, 2,000 horsemen and 20 to 30 warships with more than 7,000 marines at their disposal.

Fontarrabie was defended by 1,300 men, assisted by 15,000 foot soldiers and 500 horsemen.

The battle

The French forces were commanded ashore by Henri II de Bourbon, prince de Condé , and Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis . They consisted of 27,000 men and a number of warships. It is estimated that around 18,000 cannon shots were fired at the fort by the French. At the end of the siege, there were about 300 survivors in the city, most of them women and children. Even if the city was almost completely destroyed, it did not surrender.

On September 7th, the Spanish Relief Army appeared under the command of Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera, XI. Almirante de Castilla, outside the city, to end the siege by force of arms.

Due to the ineptitude of the French commanders, the battle turned into defeat the moment the French fled, losing almost a quarter of their soldiers. Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis and one of his sub-commanders, Bernard de La Valette , were blamed for the disaster. Escoubleau de Sourdis, however, put the blame on Bernard de La Valette for failing to carry out a decisive attack order because he believed that there was no tactical necessity - or because he feared failure. La Valette was then sentenced to death, but was able to get to safety in England and was later rehabilitated.

Commemoration

The victory over the French is still celebrated every year on September 8th with a procession called El Alarde .

The city of Fontarrabie was honored with the title “ Muy noble, muy leal, muy valerosa y muy siempre fell ” ( German  very noble, very loyal, very brave and always very loyal ).

literature

  • Susana Truchuelo: Fontarabie en 1638. Conflits and consensus in the defense of the frontier espagnole. In: Ariane Boltanski, Yann Lagadec, Franck Mercier (eds.): La Bataille. You fait d'armes au combat idéologique. XI – XIX e siècle. Presse universitaire de Rennes, Rennes 2015, ISBN 978-2-7535-4029-3 , pp. 171–186 ( limited preview in the Google book search).

Web links