Battle of Rocroix

On May 15, 1643, the Viceroy of the Spanish Netherlands, don Francisco de Melo , intending to invade Champagne , chose the small town of Rocroix for this, a few kilometers from the then Spanish border west of the River Meuse . Being attacked, the city of Rocroix bravely defended himself, although there were only 400 people in the garrison.

The Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, the Duke of England, was in the vicinity of Verwen when he learned of the siege of Rocroix. At the military council on May 17, he, with the support of Jean Gassion , a student of Gustavus-Adolphus , insisted on giving a general battle.

Background

France entered the Thirty Years War on May 19, 1635. The Spaniards were the main enemy of the French, but due to the scale of the conflict, they also had to fight with the Empire and Bavaria.

It was assumed that the Spaniards in the Spanish Netherlands (roughly modern Belgium - Luxembourg ) would not withstand a simultaneous attack from two directions (Spain waged war with the Netherlands in 1621). But everything went wrong as planned. The French offensive failed miserably, and in 1636 the war almost ended in the capture of Paris .

Nevertheless, hostilities soon assumed a positional character and the advantage gradually began to lean towards France. The battles were more often won by the Spaniards, but fighting on two fronts, they did not have the opportunity to develop success and only fought back, while the more recent French, interacting with the Dutch, increased pressure. The fall of Breisach on the Rhine (1638) and the French conquest of Savoy (1640–1641) made it difficult to deploy reinforcements by land, and the Dutch dominated the sea, having sunk the Spanish fleet in 1639 , which brought 10,000 soldiers to the Netherlands.

All this allowed the French to firmly seize the initiative and go on the offensive - after stubborn battles in 1640 they captured Arras . In 1641, the French offensive was slowed down due to the revolt of Count Soissons . He fled to Flanders to the Spaniards, where he quickly gathered an army consisting of nobles dissatisfied with the rule of Richelieu. He was joined by the Duke of Bouillon (the elder brother of Turenne (1605-1652)), and the Spaniards sent several of their regiments to help.

An army of about 10-12 thousand soldiers of more than average quality (with the exception of the Spaniards, who were excellent soldiers) moved to Paris in the summer of 1641. At the Battle of La Marfe On July 6, 1641, the army of Count Soissons converged with the French army of Marshal Chatillon (also about 10-12 thousand soldiers). Chatillon was a brave man loyal to the government, but he was very mediocre commander. His main disadvantages include nonchalance. And this time the marshal took an unfortunate position, but was too lazy to change it. As a result, the attack of the French cavalry up the hill was quickly repulsed, and after the cavalry the infantry was defeated. Intoxicated by victory, Soissons pranced on a horse with a gun in his hand on the battlefield won. When he stopped, he asked for water and, in order to bring the jug to his mouth, began to raise his visor with the barrel of his pistol, which shot - and the count flew to the ground with a shot head. Although the accident was obvious, rumors began to spread about the arrow sent by Richelieu. After the death of Soissons, Bouillon frightened, and the army, left without a leader, fled.

In autumn, the French resumed their offensive, in the midst of which the Cardinal Infant died (Spanish governor in the Netherlands, (1609–1641), younger brother of the Spanish king and French queen). He was succeeded by don Francisco de Melo, Duke of Tordelaguna. In winter, the Spaniards finally managed to transfer reinforcements, and the 1642 campaign took place under their advantage. The culmination was the victory won by Melo at Onnecourt (May 26), and by the end of the campaign the position of the Spaniards in the Netherlands was stronger than ever.

1643 Campaign

In 1643, the initiative in hostilities was on the side of the Spaniards, who fully realized that France was in turmoil after the defeat at Onnecourt, the death of Cardinal Richelieu and led by Louis XIII , who was near death. Many cautious people advised leaving France alone with its problems in this campaign and focusing on Holland. But Melo thought otherwise. France, he believed, because of its vulnerability, was an ideal target for attack. The grave defeat inflicted on the French at this moment could force them to ask for peace. Thus, the position of Melo was also sufficiently substantiated.

The Spaniards carried out military operations with the Germans, General Beck, who led the imperial contingent after the return of General Piccolomini to Germany. Melo appointed him as the next commander after him, elevating him above the Spanish and Walloon officers. Beck was a competent, albeit foolish, officer and became a successful substitute for the lively and enterprising Melo. The Spanish Field Army consisted of three corps:

• The main forces under the command of Albuquerque (12 infantry regiments, including 6 Spanish, 3 Italian, 3 Walloon) were stationed in Artois;
• The Walloons commanded by Bucca (24 cavalry companies and 4 infantry regiments) were in Ganau;
• Alsatian army, under the command of Isenburg (6 infantry regiments (German), 6 cavalry regiments, 1 Croatian, 1 fr squadron) between Sambra and Maas;

The Beck Imperials - 5-6 thousand people (consolidated) in Luxembourg;

The observational army under the command of Cantelmo (10-15 thousand) remained on the border with Holland.

Melo concentrated under his direct command the first four corps (numbering 27-28 thousand) and began the invasion with an attack on the border fortress of Rocroix. The Spanish army was in excellent condition, despite the insufficiently strong cavalry. The vanguard of Isenburg crossed the Sambra River on May 10.

To ensure communications, Melo sent Bek with about 4,000 soldiers to occupy the Chateau-Reno castle, located on Mesa (Maas), 22 miles away. Rocroix, a small but very strong fortress, was defended by a garrison of 1,000 soldiers supported by 400 militias. The city was surrounded on May 12, the circulational lines were opened on the 15th, the battery was installed on May 16, and the ravelin was taken on May 17th. Already on May 18, the outposts of de Melo announced the approach of the French army, which was going to help the city.

The dying king and his new prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin , entrusted the main army of France to the inexperienced prince Conde (until the death of his father in December 1646 he bore the title of Duke of Engien). They hoped that the experienced and careful Marshal Lopital would become his military adviser, but the young prince preferred the company of the hot Gassion and Shiro.

Having reached the environs of Rockrois, the French military leaders began to argue, finding it difficult to choose a strategy. Rocroix was on an open plain, surrounded by forests, swamps and plowed fields. To reach the plain and lift the siege, it was necessary to go through a narrow defile, in which the excellent French cavalry could not unfold. News has just been received of the death of the king (who died May 14). This also led to cautious decisions - at the beginning of the reign of the five-year-old king, with the political intrigues inevitable at the beginning of the regent's reign, France could not afford defeat. Cautious Lopital said that the area is much more suitable for minor skirmishes and shootings than for an open battle. He advised to abandon a direct attack, bypass the enemy and cut his communications. It could have worked - many historical examples say that it was a pretty good plan - even if you consider that the Beck corps would interfere with the implementation of this maneuver (such a maneuver proved to be useful near Freiburg next year). But Gassion , supported by Persan and Shiro, spoke in favor of a direct offensive, and Conde took his side.

The march through the defile contained a considerable risk - even the small forces of the Spaniards could stop the advance of the French and defeat them in small skirmishes. Now it is no longer possible to establish with certainty whether Melo was warned of the French approaching too late (which indicates the Spanish’s heedlessness) or deliberately allowed them to go through the defile (which indicates self-confidence). Perhaps Melo was even glad of the general battle, since he believed that a defeat in a big battle would be a harder blow for France than the fall of a small border fortress. Letting the enemy get closer, Melo raised bets in this game - instead of repelling Conde after minor skirmishes, he could now completely destroy his army - the defile in the rear of the French should have greatly interfered with them during the retreat.

In any case, during their march through the catwalk, the French saw no more than 50 Croats from the Spanish outposts and later in the evening entered the field of a future battle. Melo sent a messenger to Beck with an order to immediately join the formation in order to be in time by morning. At this point, veteran general Fontaine began to build an army for the battle. Small forces under the command of Suarez remained in the camp to watch Rockrois. The arrogant La Ferte, offended by the disposition Conde showed to Gassion, decided to drive Suarez out of his position and lift the siege himself. Parts of the German cavalry under the command of de Vera threw him back after a heated battle.

Conde was building his army in battle formation, observing the battlefield just before dark. Melo, overwhelmed by nervous energy, spent the night bypassing the Spanish battle line, trying to inspire soldiers and officers. Beck was expected by dawn.

Melo did not know that Beck would not come. He received an order after dark and decided not to wake his people, suggesting that he leave the camp only in the morning. The phlegmatic German, who knew how addictive Melo might be, simply did not believe that the situation was really as serious as he was informed. As a result, a significant part of the Spanish forces (5-6 thousand soldiers under the command of Beck) did not participate in the battle.

There is still debate about the exact number of armies fighting, especially the Spanish one. The strength of the French army is estimated from 20 to 23 thousand, the Spanish - from 18 to 28 thousand.

The French mistakenly take into account the size of the contingent Beck, who did not take part in the battle.

Estimates of the strength of the French army range from 20 thousand (Conde) to 22 thousand (Spaniards) and even 23 thousand (d'Omal). Most likely, Conde rounded the number of his soldiers to a smaller, and the Spaniards to the larger side - 14-15 thousand infantry and 6-7 thousand cavalry.

The 2500-meter plain on which the battle took place was located southwest of Rocroix. Infantry occupied about 1000 meters in the center, cavalry on the flanks - 600-750 meters on each side. The left (northern) flank of the French rested on the swamp, and the right - on the forest. The infantry was built in two lines, the battalions were located in standard chess order. In the third tier was the reserve, consisting of infantry and cavalry. The distance between the first and second echelon was 250 yards (300 steps), and between the second echelon and the reserve - 335 yards (400 steps). In the first echelon there were large battalions built in 10 lines of 85 people each. The right wing, which Conde himself commanded, also consisted of two echelons - 10 in the first, under the command of Gassion and 5 in the second, under the command of Conde (it was very unusual for the wing commander to lead not the first, but the second echelon). The left wing was commanded by Lopital , who headed 5 squadrons of the second echelon. 8 squadrons of the first echelon were headed by La Ferte. Each squadron consisted of approximately 200 people and was built in 6 lines of 35 people each (it seems that usually the squadrons were built in four lines, but if the intervals were less than usual, another construction was used). Before the first echelon of infantry, 12 guns were delivered.

The Spanish army was built mirror-French - with infantry in three echelons in the center and cavalry in two echelons on the flanks. Both armies shared approximately 1,000 yards (900 meters). Isenburg commanded the German cavalry on the right wing, Albuquerque Walloon on the left. The center consisted of five Spanish thirds , one Burgundy and two Italian - from right to left: Visconti (it), Velandia (isp), 4 Spanish thirds , Burgundians and Strozzi (it). This echelon was built typically for the Spaniards, each third consisted of 20-25 lines of 70-80 people. The smaller battalions of the second and third echelon were built, as was customary in the empire, in 10 lines of 50 people each. The 18 guns located in front of the infantry were of a larger caliber than the French. The old and sick Fontaine moved on a stretcher, but still took the place at the head of his thirds. His courage remained with him, but a more active commander would not have prevented the center.

The German cavalry of Isenburg was built in squadrons of 200 people - 4 lines of 50 each. The Walloons probably admitted the construction, like the French - in 6 lines of 35 people. But now their squadrons were incomplete - only 150 people.

The Spaniards had high hopes for the 1,000 foot soldiers who leaked into the forest, on which the left wing of Albuquerque rested. The Spaniards very much hoped that this ambush would help compensate for the superiority of the French cavalry.

So:

Spanish Army :

• Right wing (Isenburg) - 2400 people. (14 esc.)

• 1st echelon - 7 squadrons - 1200 people.
• 2nd echelon - 7 squadrons - 1200 people.

• Centre

• 1st echelon - Fontaine - 10 thousand people. (8 baht.) 18 guns
• 2nd echelon - 2500 people. (5 baht.)
• 3rd echelon - 2500 people. (5 baht.)

• Left wing - Albuquerque - 2250 Cav. (15 esc.) And 1000 infantry.

• 1st echelon - 1200 (8 esc.) And ambush - 1000 people.
• 2nd echelon - 1050 (7th esc.)

Only 16,000 infantry (18 baht.) And 4,650 cav. (29 esc.) = 20,650 with 18 guns.

French army

• Right wing - Conde (15 squadrons + 300 musketeers)

• 1st echelon - Gassion (10 squadrons + 300 musketeers of the Picardy regiment)
• 2nd echelon - Conde (5 squadrons)

• Center - d'Espinan - 15 battalions + 12 guns

• 1st echelon - d'Espinan (8 baht. + 12 op.)
• 2nd echelon - Lavalier (7 baht.)

• Left wing - Lopital (13 squadrons)

• 1st echelon - La Ferte (8th esc.)
• 2nd echelon - Lopital (5th esc.)

• Reserve - Syro (4 esc. + 3 battalions)

In total - 14 800 infantry (18 batt.) + 600 musketeers, 6400 cavalry (32 esc.) = 21 800 with 14 guns.

At about 03:00 a.m., the Spanish deserter informed Conda and Gassion of an ambush awaiting them in the forest, adding that Beck had not yet joined the main forces from 5-6 thousand. Having received such valuable information from the traitor, Conde decided to defeat Melo before reinforcements arrived. The French army was built for battle, a separate strong detachment was sent to the forest, hoping to strike in an ambush during sleep.

The French guns opened fire at 04:00, the Spaniards immediately responded, although it was still too dark to clearly distinguish between the enemy. Due to the absence of Bek, Melo felt some uncertainty and therefore decided to conduct a defensive battle before his approach. He made an emotional speech to inspire his officers, and headed toward the wing of Isenburg, giving orders along the way.

The battle began at about 05:00 with a simultaneous attack of both French wings. On the left wing, La Ferte attacked too quickly, not putting in order his cavalry , which had disordered the ranks on soft ground along the edge of the swamp, during the rapprochement with the enemy. The attack was carried out at high speed, because of which the ranks were mixed even more, and an erratic crowd got to Isenburg. On the contrary, Isenburg led his people to attack with a slow trot, maintaining order in the ranks. As a result, an erratic outburst defeated the excellent order - the French were overturned, and La Ferte was wounded and taken prisoner. The German cavalry drove the first echelon of the French directly to their reserve. Lopital tried to counterattack, but was also wounded twice, and his squadrons fled. The regiments of Lopital and Marol fled to the forest, located to the west of the swamp, and other left-wing remnants fled from the battlefield together.

Building on the success achieved, Isenburg divided its wing - a smaller part of the first echelon squadrons (mainly Croats) were thrown into the pursuit and attack of the French convoy, the rest were directed against the French infantry. At this time, the third of Visconti came to the aid of the third of Velandia, advanced. The Piedmontese and Ramburt regiments were thrown back, La Barre was killed, part of the French guns captured. By 06:00, it seemed to many that the French had already lost the battle.

As it often happened, the battle on the other wing was quite the opposite. Gassion, with 7 squadrons of the first echelon, moved through the previously captured forest (where the Spanish ambush had already been defeated) to bypass Albuquerque on the left. Albuquerque turned the front and threw Gassion into the woods - when driving on rough terrain, the French lost their formation, but at the same time Albuquerque set Conda up his flank. Conde was advancing at a fast trot, allowing him not to break the order, with the remaining 8 squadrons. Albuquerque threw a second echelon against him. The French musketeers from the forest (who destroyed the ambush) and the Picardy regiment (the right-wing regiment in the first echelon of the center’s infantry) supported the Conde attack with fire. Tertsii Strozzi and the Burgundians tried to pull the Picards away. After desperate resistance, the Spaniards were crushed and fled. Apparently, the third of Strozzi was defeated with them.

Conde and Gassion reorganized their victorious wing, dividing it into two groups: Gassion with lesser strength was sent to pursue in order to prevent the enemy from gathering strength again. He was ordered, if he met Beck, to detain him as much as possible. Conde himself, with most of the squadrons, was about to strike at the Spanish center and right wing. As soon as his squadrons were ready to attack, he went around the Spaniards from the rear and hit the Walloons and Germans from the second and third echelons on the flank. These units did not show too serious resistance, but were swept away by the first onslaught. There were probably too many musketeers and not enough pikemen in their ranks to repel the cavalry attack.

If we compare the quick defeat of 10 battalions with the staunchness shown by the Schmidt’s terrors at Wimpfen, Gronsfeld at Lutter or Holstein at Breitenfeld, it seems that the new linear tactics are inferior to the old. The old thirds were able to stand alone, without the support of neighboring units, reflecting the attacks of numerous cavalry. Separate battalions were incapable of this, and if the line turned out to be circumvented from the flank, then the entire train could be considered broken.

Meanwhile, Isenburg, on its right wing, was crowding out the French infantry. It seemed that she was about to take flight. Perhaps he made a mistake by attacking the enemy to the front, unlike Conde, who achieved quick success by attacking from the rear . Fontaine was about to give the order to the offensive to the other four Spanish territories to support Velandia. But in any case, the right moment was missed. Ciro, with a reserve of 800 cavalrymen, counterattacked Isenburg on the right flank and stopped his attack. Lavalier threw forward the second echelon. Now the courage of the two thirds opposed the Picardy, Naval, Swiss and Scottish Regiments. Vivero managed to break through and connect with Isenburg with a number of walloons from the broken wing of Albuquerque. Despite this, the French managed to recover some of the lost guns. At this moment, the outcome of the battle hung in the balance, and the slightest effort could lead victory to one side or another. Conde without delay swept through the second and third echelons of the center and, bypassing the first echelon from the north, unexpectedly appeared in the rear of Isenburg. Lopital with the regiment of Marol and the remnants of other cavalry units of the left flank, which he managed to collect, left the forest, where he retreated, and attacked the Germans in the right flank. Isenburg put up a desperate resistance, but the situation was hopeless. He was wounded, but did not give up attempts to find a way out of the situation. Rittburg was captured, Savary (both Spanish colonels) tried in vain to stop the flying wing.

Melo made his way to Visconti, telling him: “Here I want to die with the Italian cavaliers!” Visconti replied: “We are all ready to die in the service of the king!” But both advanced thirds were suppressed by the superior enemy forces that attacked them from all sides. The Italians were utterly defeated, the Spaniards destroyed. Velandia, Visconti and della Ponti died.

Fontaine in the center, seeing what was happening, rebuilt the remaining five thirds in a square . The best way out now would be to try to get out of the battle and retreat, but Fontaine did not dare, apparently because he vaguely imagined the situation on the flanks. He also hoped that Beck's approach would save the situation. But, in any case, between 06:00 and 08:00 the Spaniards lost the battle.

Conde also kept in mind Beck's approach, so he quickly rebuilt his army as soon as he could to attack the rack of Spanish infantry. The situation of the Spaniards was not as hopeless as it seemed at first glance. 4 out of five Spanish thirds have not yet taken part in the battle, while all the French battalions were more or less battered. The Spaniards had 18 guns, and they were joined by the most stubborn remnants of the cavalry and 13 broken battalions.

Conde gave the order to prepare for a coordinated attack, but did not wait for full readiness. As soon as the attack could begin, he rushed forward. The strike group consisted of the Picardy, Maritime, Scottish, Piedmontese regiments, the Rambur regiment, 5 Swiss battalions and the right wing cavalry. Three attacks were made, and all three were repelled by the valiant Spaniards. Fontaine, struck by a bullet on his stretcher, died during the reflection of the first attack.

At this time, Suarez, with his detachment guarding the Spanish camp during the battle, attempted to slip away along with the wagon train and siege guns. But the French squadron caught up with them and defeated them, capturing the entire convoy. This episode was inflated later until Gassion defeated Beck's column. In fact, Beck was still 20 miles from this place and knew absolutely nothing about this case.

Around 09:30, the French were preparing the fourth attack. At this point, the outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt. The French pulled up several guns to support the infantry attack in the center, Ciro went around the Spaniards from the south (left), Gassion, who returned from the pursuit and reported the absence of Beck, stood behind the Spaniards, Lopital went from the north (right), and Conde was located between Lopital and Gassion. The Spaniards were completely surrounded, and they almost ran out of ammunition. There remained no more than 8 thousand in service. Mercador, who was commanding them at the moment, gave a signal of readiness to capitulate. Unfortunately, when Conde galloped forward to negotiate, some Spaniards mistook his escort for a new attack and opened fire. Conde remained unharmed, but the angry French rushed to the fourth attack. They broke into the ranks of the Spaniards (furia francese) and simply crushed them in numbers. Less than a quarter of the Spaniards survived after Conda managed to stop the massacre. By 10:00, the Spanish infantry, including elite regiments of veterans, was either destroyed or captured.

In total, the Spaniards lost over 5 thousand killed and also many prisoners (mainly in the last battle), 28 guns (including sieges), 170 banners, 60 standards and the entire convoy, including the army treasury. The French killed up to 2 thousand people.

• May 18, 5:00 p.m. - the French left the catwalk
• May 19, 03:00 - deserter warns the French about an ambush

04:00 - artillery opens fire, the destruction of the ambush

05:00 - cavalry attack of the French

05: 00–06: 00 - victory on the right wings of each of the armies

06: 00–08: 00 - defeat of Isenburg

08: 00-10: 00 - the destruction of the Spanish infantry

• May 20, 06:30 - the surviving Spaniards meet Beck

Beck slowly moved to join Melo and was about 17 miles (27 km) from the battlefield during the battle. He stayed overnight in the village of Philippville, 5 miles (8 km) from Rockrois. Between 06:00 and 07:00 Melo, Isenburg, Albuquerque and other fugitives reached his parking lot. He pragmatically gathered the survivors - as much as he could - and retreated 18 miles to Fort Marienburg.

Beck managed to collect 1,600 Spaniards, 1,700 Italians, and up to 1,200 others - a total of up to 4,500 infantry from 18-19 thousand, available before the battle. 1960 of them were injured. About 4,000 of the 5,000 cavalrymen survived. Although the German and Walloon cavalry did not suffer heavy losses (compared with the infantry), many officers died. The soldiers were dispersed, many units ceased to exist.

But the most serious loss was the defeat of the Spanish thirds , with which the myth of their invincibility also perished. Since the battles of Cherignol (1503) and Pavia (1525), the Spanish Terces have earned a reputation as invincible, undermining the confidence of their enemies and inspiring their own by their very existence. Of course, in recent years, the shortcomings of this structure have become obvious, but they have been obscured by a long series of victories. The defeat suffered was so fatal that now these shortcomings could no longer be ignored. Thus, defeat led to the collapse of a centuries-old tradition.

12 years after the battle of Breitenfeld ^{[ specify ]} Spain finally abandoned the thirds. Subsequently, the Spaniards used battalions in the Dutch style, similar to the French. But the new method did not bring the Spanish army victories - it entered a period of long decline.

Although the battle of Rocroix ended in a more serious defeat than the battle of Breitenfeld or Nordlingen, its strategic consequences were much less. Having freed Rocroix from the siege, Conde decided to besiege the Thionville Fortress, which had long been disputed by both sides. It was a strong fortress, the garrison of which usually consisted of 800 people. In his manner, Beck waited for Conde to discover his intentions and introduced an additional 2,000 soldiers to Thionville, which allowed the fortress to last 56 days (from June 16 to August 10, 1643). The time of year, allowing active military operations, was almost over and Conde completed the operation, returning to France.

Attempts by Friedrich Heinrich (Oransky) to use the French victory were thwarted by Beck, who, having joined the survivors of the defeat to the Cantelmo corps, portrayed such a readiness for decisive action that the Dutchmen deceived by this demonstration remained in place.

• Captain Alatriste (film)

• Konskiy P. A. Rokroi // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• A letter from the Duke of Albuquerque after Rockrois. Spanish