battle of Rocroi
Rocroi, battle of (19 May 1643). During the Thirty Years War, the 22-year-old Duc d'Enghien (see Condé, Louis II de Bourbon) with 23, 000 French troops defeated a Spanish army numbering 25, 000 under Francisco de Melo at Rocroi. Melo had advanced from the Spanish Netherlands to besiege Rocroi, where Enghien decided to attack the Spanish quickly before they could receive reinforcements. Enghien took considerable risk in approaching through narrow forest defiles, but was in position in the open country before Rocroi by the evening of 18 May. Enghien initiated the battle the next morning by personally leading a charge by the cavalry of his right wing against the squadrons of the enemy's left. There Enghien's troopers succeeded, but on the other flank, French cavalry also attacked in contravention of orders and was repulsed. Learning that a crisis loomed on his left, Enghien marshalled his victorious horsemen and rode through the rear of the Spanish army to collide with the Spanish right-wing cavalry and drive it from the field. This success isolated the infantry of Melo's centre. At first, the Spanish infantry, which enjoyed a reputation as invincible, defied the French. However, facing the full fury of French artillery, the Spanish foot finally requested to surrender late in the day, but when someone mistakenly fired on Enghien, his infuriated troops attacked the Spanish, charged into their midst, and cut down most of them before taking the rest prisoner. More than any other single battle, Rocroi stripped the Spanish tercio of its aura of invincibility and presaged the military pre-eminence of France. The young Enghien would soon succeed his father as the prince of Condé, and be known as ‘the Great Condé’ because of his victories.
Bibliography
- Godley, Eveline, The Great Condé: A Life of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (London, 1915)
— John A. Lynn
