The Battle of Blaia , the Battle of the Gironde estuary is a naval battle in the estuary of the Gironde River in 1593 as part of the Eighth (and last) Religious War in France (“The War of the Three Henryes”) and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604) . Spanish troops lifted the siege of the fortress of Bly (Blais) by the French royal fleet, supported by the English contingent [2] [4] [7] .
| Battle of Bligh | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Conflict: Religious Wars in France , Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604) | |||
 Bly Fortification Ruins | |||
| date | April 18, 1593 | ||
| A place | Bly, Gironde | ||
| Total | The victory of the Spaniards [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] | ||
| Opponents | |||
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| Commanders | |||
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| Forces of the parties | |||
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| Losses | |||
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Battle
In April 1593, the Spanish naval forces out of 16 ships under the command of Admiral Pedro de Subiira and General Joanes de Villaviciosa intended to lift the naval blockade of Bligh (Blae). The city was controlled by the Catholic League of France, but was blocked from land by the French royal forces with the support of the English forces and the Huguenots under the command of Marshal Jacques de Goyon de Matignon, and from the sea by six English warships under the command of Admiral Sir Peter Hewton [2] [8 ] ] . On April 18, the British naval forces were defeated and dispersed by the Subiayr fleet, and Spanish troops landed in Blai [2] [4] [8] .
Soon after, another Anglo-French fleet of 11-19 warships left Bordeaux , using the support of about 40 small ships (including six galeases from the port of La Rochelle ), arrived at Bligh, trying to block the Spanish fleet [8] . After a fierce and unequal battle, against the backdrop of a strong storm, the Spaniards won [9] , with significant losses on both sides from intense gunfire. In the end, many ships of both fleets were dispersed by the storm, but the Spanish fleet was able to safely return to the port of Pasajes [8] [10]
In recognition of his accomplishments, Pedro de Subiire received the title “de general como a lo demás de escuadra para que antes que muera deje esto a los míos” from the King of Spain [11] .
On July 14 of the same year, another Spanish contingent of six ships under the command of Joanes de Villaviciosa [8] and 120 soldiers, led by Captain Antonio Manrique de Vargas, sailed from the Basque port of Castro Urdiales to strengthen the Catholic forces in Blaia [10] [12] . After the Spanish troops of Villaviciosa launched a successful attack on the Protestant position, as a result of which more than 800 Protestants were killed or wounded [12] , the siege finally ended with the withdrawal of Protestant troops [4] [10] [13] .
Notes
- ↑ Armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón . Vol III . Fernández Duro p. 85
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 En el IV Centenario del fallecimiento de Pedro Zubiaur, un marino vasco del siglo XVI . Gracia Rivas p. 163
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Fernández Duro p. 85
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Gustav Ungerer p. 53
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Historia General de España . Vol. VII . Ortiz y Sanz p. 43
- ↑ Al ruido de la artillería bajaron de Burdeos 19 navíos con otros menores de Broage, que llegaban en suma 60 velas, tratando de cerrar el paso y envolver a los españoles, para lo que mucho hicieron seis galeazas de la Rochela apoyando almiillen capitá jefe superior. Fernández Duro p. 85
- ↑ Ortega y Medina p.200
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Duro p. 85
- ↑ Rivas p.163
- ↑ 1 2 3 Ortiz y Sanz p. 43
- ↑ Fernández Duro p. 86
- ↑ 1 2 Fernández Duro pp. 86-87
- ↑ Con esta brillantísima acción se levantó el sitio, que duraba ya siete meses, quedando las pinazas al abrigo de los cañones del fuerte hasta el 4 de Agosto en la noche, aprovechada por Villaviciosa para dar otro golpe audaz. Fernández Duro p. 86
Literature
- Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1898). Armada Española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón. Vol. III. Madrid.
- José Ortiz y Sanz. Historia General de España . Vol. VII . Third Edition, Madrid (1846).
- Gustav Ungerer. A Spaniard in Elizabethan England: The Correspondence of Antonio Pérez's Exile . Vol. I. London 1974. ISBN 0-900411-84-8
- Mac Caffrey, Wallace T. (1994). Elizabeth I: War and Politics, 1588-1603 . Princeton Princeton University Press. USA ISBN 978-0-691-03651-9
- Ortega y Medina, Juan Antonio. El conflicto anglo-español por el dominio oceánico . Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. 1994. ISBN 968-58-0150-9
- Gracia Rivas, Manuel. En el IV Centenario del fallecimiento de Pedro Zubiaur, un marino vasco del siglo XVI (unreachable link) . Itsas Memoria. Untzi Museo Naval. San Sebastián 2006.