Battle of Rocroi - Prelude

Prelude

The Habsburg Spanish army of about 27,000 men, advanced from Flanders, through the Ardennes, and into northern France to relieve French pressure on the Franche-Comté and Catalonia. The Spanish troops set siege to Rocroi, which lay athwart the route to the valley of the Oise. The French, under the command of 21-year-old Louis, duc d'Enghien, reacted quickly and forced a battle before the arrival of 6,000 Spanish reinforcements. The Spanish failed to block the route to Rocroi, which passed through a defile bordered by woods and marsh. Enghien advanced through the defile and assembled his force along a ridge looking down on the besieged town of Rocroi. The Spanish quickly formed up between the town and the ridge. The French army, some 23,000 strong, was arranged with two lines of infantry in the centre, squadrons of cavalry on each wing and with a thin line of artillery at the front. The Spanish army was similarly arranged, but with its infantry in their traditional tercios, or squares. The two armies bivouacked in their positions for the night.