Battle of Lleida (1642)
The Battle of Lleida took place on 7 October 1642, during the Catalan Revolt, part of the wider Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659). A combined Franco-Catalan army under Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt defeated a larger Spanish force led by Marquis de Leganés, sent to capture the town of Lleida.
Battle of Lleida | |||||||
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Part of the Reapers' War and the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59) | |||||||
![]() The battle of Lleida by Hippolyte Lecomte | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt Comte de Roches-Baritault † [1] | Marquis de Leganés | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
12,000[2]-13,000[3] | 22,000[4]-25,000[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,000 killed[2] | 2,000 killed[3][2] |
Background
In the summer of 1642, an army commanded by Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt, French military commander in Catalonia, marched into Aragon. In order to divert him, Leganés assembled troops from Tarragona and Zaragoza to retake the important city of Lleida, then held by a French garrison.[5]
La Mothe positioned his smaller army in the Llano de las Forques and defeated the Spanish army. After the victory, the French Army besieged Tortosa, but was forced to withdraw.
References
- Beauchet-Filleau 1846, p. 610.
- Bodart 1908, p. 69.
- De Périni 1898, p. 317.
- De Périni 1898, p. 316.
- Mitchell 2005, p. 499.
Sources
- Beauchet-Filleau, Henri (1846). Dictionnaire historique et généalogique des familles de l'ancien Poitou (in French). Saurin.
- De Périni, Hardÿ (1898). Batailles françaises, 1621 to 1643 Volume III (in French). Ernest Flammarion.
- Mitchell, Andrew Joseph (2005). Religion, revolt, and creation of regional identity in Catalonia, 1640-1643 (PHD). Ohio State University.
- Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905). Retrieved 4 February 2023.