The Battle of Rocroi May 19, 1643

Background

During the French phase of the Thirty Years War, the French army moved to lift the siege of Rocroi and deliver Spain a decisive blow to knock them out of the war. However, the terrain of Rocroi was not ideally suited to the French cavalry and caution may have been wise, but the young Prince of Conde who commanded the French army chose to risk an attack. With the recent death of Louis XIII and the unstable political situation at home, France did not need a major military defeat. However, the Spanish who were in a reasonably good position and awaiting the arrival of reinforcements were only too happy to provide their opponent with an opportunity for disaster. The night before the battle, the French were warned of the possible arrival of reinforcements for the Spanish and an ambush laying in wait in the woods. Conde decided to attack before the Spanish reinforcements arrived and sent out a force to clear the woods.

The Spanish Army

CinC: Francisco de Melo

The French Army

CinC: Duke of Enghien, Prince of Conde

The Battle

Having received word of the imminent arrival of Spanish reinforcements, Conde decided to act. The French army began to deploy early in the morning and a force of French foot surprised the sleeping ambush and wiped it out. The battle began around four o’clock with a barrage from the French guns followed later by a cavalry charge from both French wings. The attack on the French left became disorganised as the cavalry advanced through the soft ground of the marsh. The opposing German cavalry countered the attack in a more orderly fashion and drove the disorganised French from the field. The French fared better on the right wing where their cavalry was supported by fire from their musketeers in the woods. The opposing side could not resist this for long and Alburquerque’s force was routed. Conde had sufficient control of his cavalry to launch another attack, this time he swung them round into the flanks of the German and Walloon infantry to the rear of the main body of the Spanish army. These units did not resist for long.

Isenburg’s cavalry after driving off the French cavalry met resistance from units of the French reserve. This along with the threat to the rear posed by Conde’s cavalry pushed Isenburg’s force back and eventually broke it. By eight o’clock in the morning, all that remained of the Spanish force was their tercio’s.

Conde managed to bring all of his remaining force to bear on the remaining tercio’s, the Spanish were surrounded and running out of ammunition. By ten o’clock that morning, artillery fire and repeated attacks had wiped out the Spanish tercio’s before any help could arrive.

The Game

This battle can be fought assuming the French receive information about the ambush or not. If they are aware of the ambush, a force can be deployed in the woods to drive it off. If this is done, 1d6 is rolled, a score of 4+ and the ambush has been caught asleep and are wiped out, a score of three or less and the ambush is prepared and the usual rules for observing hidden troops are applied. If it is considered that the French do not have any warning, they should not be able to deploy in the woods initially.

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