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.
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.
- ^ a b c d Bodart 1908, p. 69.
- ^ a b 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.