Battle of Rocroi

Timeline

1. 1643Rocroi · ArdennesFrancisco de Melo led the Flanders Army to besiege the frontier fortress of Rocroi, hoping to break into Champagne amid the French succession. The Duke of Enghien, stationed in the direction of Amiens, learned of this and marched north to relieve the siege; on 17 May he received news of Louis XIII's death but kept it from his troops, and on the evening of the 18th deployed against the Spanish on the plain before the town.
2. 1643Plain before Rocroi · ArdennesBoth sides placed infantry in the center with cavalry on the wings. French right-wing cavalry routed the Spanish left and wheeled around; the French left was at one point checked but immediately counterattacked. The Spanish, Walloon, and Italian tercios held on stubbornly in the center, repeatedly struck by French artillery and cavalry, their formations gradually disintegrating.
3. 1643Rocroi · ArdennesMost of the Spanish infantry main force was killed or surrendered, and Melo's remnants withdrew to the Spanish Netherlands. Contemporary accounts put Spanish dead and captured at over ten thousand, with relatively light French losses. Rocroi was relieved, the reputation of the 'invincible' Spanish infantry was broken, and France gained the strategic initiative on the southern edge of the Low Countries.