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
Part of the Reapers' War and the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59)
The battle of Lleida by Hippolyte Lecomte
Date 7 October 1642 Location Lleida, Principality of Catalonia Coordinates: 41°37′0″N 0°38′0″E / 41.61667°N 0.63333°E / 41.61667; 0.63333 Result Franco-Catalan victory
Belligerents
France  Catalonia	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt Comte de Roches-Baritault  † ^[1]	Marquis de Leganés
Strength
9,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry ^[2]	17,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry ^[3]
Casualties and losses
1,000	2,000 dead ^[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.^[4]

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

1. Beauchet-Filleau 1846, p. 610.
2. De Périni 1898, p. 317.
3. De Périni 1898, p. 316.
4. 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.