This is a battle for which I have figurines to represent the two forces involved. The two armies are, for the time being not finished and the photos will therefore wait.
This page traces the history of this battle that I will be led to replay frequently as soon as the two armies are completed. It is based on data gleaned from various sites (BNF Gallica, Encyclopedia Universalis, Herodotus, Wikipedia)
This battle interests me since reading the book Rocroi 1643 by Laurent Henninger, published in June 1993 by Socomer (Collection The Great Battles of History, No. 24)
A commemoration of the 370th anniversary of the battle took place in 2013. and was also the subject of a game in inset of N ° 11 of the magazine Vae Victis in 1996.
This page traces the history of this battle that I will be led to replay frequently as soon as the two armies are completed. It is based on data gleaned from various sites (BNF Gallica, Encyclopedia Universalis, Herodotus, Wikipedia)
This battle interests me since reading the book Rocroi 1643 by Laurent Henninger, published in June 1993 by Socomer (Collection The Great Battles of History, No. 24)
A commemoration of the 370th anniversary of the battle took place in 2013. and was also the subject of a game in inset of N ° 11 of the magazine Vae Victis in 1996.
The battle of Rocroi on Youtube:
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The Battle of Rocroi took place May 19, 1643 during the Thirty Years War. It is the encounter between the army of Flanders, a Spanish army commanded by Francisco de Melo who besieged Rocroi, and the Army of Picardy, a French army led by Louis de Bourbon, Duke d'Enghien (the future Grand Condé)
Mello trained his infantry in three lines, each with three large squares. Considered formerly invincible, the Spanish infantry is too heavy in pikemen. Since the loading of the musket became faster, the French adopted a flexible device, where the musketeers are more numerous than the pikemen. In both sides the cavalry is on the wings.
Enghien, anxious to prove his worth, and anxious not to cool the ardor of the lieutenants whom he had been advised to advise (the prudent L'Hospital and the intrepid Gassion), concealed from them the death of Louis XIII. Arrives on May 17, and decides to attack on the 19th to anticipate the arrival of enemy reinforcements.
On the left wing of the French, L'Hospital was strongly attacked by Mello, who did not exploit his superiority and allowed the battle to get bogged down.
Enghien, anxious to prove his worth, and anxious not to cool the ardor of the lieutenants whom he had been advised to advise (the prudent L'Hospital and the intrepid Gassion), concealed from them the death of Louis XIII. Arrives on May 17, and decides to attack on the 19th to anticipate the arrival of enemy reinforcements.
On the left wing of the French, L'Hospital was strongly attacked by Mello, who did not exploit his superiority and allowed the battle to get bogged down.
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| Duke of Enghien at Rocroi |
A magnificent video re-enactment of a battalion of the time (it is not Rocroi but it still looks a lot):
In the center, Enghien depresses the allies of the Spaniards, then, bypassing the squares of Castilian pikemen whom the old Fuentes opposes him, breaks with his cavalry and falls on the backs of Mello.
On the right wing of France, Gassion and his light horses overflowed the Spanish left whose cavalry fled in disorder but whose infantry was bravely exterminated on the spot.
The Spanish army will never recover completely from this terrible battle which, on the other hand, inaugurates with brilliance the regency of Anne of Austria: 250 enemy flags arrive at Notre Dame. From the tactical point of view, Rocroi's victory shows that the cavalry is at that moment the decisive weapon: well used, it allows maneuvering on the wings and exploiting success. A century later, as a result of the progress of armaments, fire became the predominant factor in the struggle, as Fontenoy showed in 1745.
Two links, in french, about the Rocroi campaign:
Lien vers une page externe décrivant précisement le déroulement de la bataille.Un autre lien, encore plus complet, présentant toute la campagne de mai 1643.
