Battle
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- Eastern Pyrenees
- Western Pyrenees
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The
Battle of Mas Deu
or
Battle of Mas d'Eu
on 19 May 1793 saw the
French Revolutionary
Army of the Eastern Pyrenees
under
Louis-Charles de Flers
fighting
Bourbon Spain
's army of Catalonia led by
Antonio Ricardos
.
The Spanish drove the outnumbered French soldiers out of their camp near Mas Deu and compelled them to retreat to
Perpignan
. The victory enabled the Spanish forces to lay siege to the
Fort de Bellegarde
, which dominated the best road through the
Pyrenees
from
Barcelona
into France. For the next month, Ricardos was preoccupied by the
Siege of Bellegarde
. Mas Deu is a former
Knights Templar
establishment east of the town of
Trouillas
in
Pyrenees-Orientales
. The action was fought during the
War of the Pyrenees
, part of the
War of the First Coalition
.
Background
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]
On April 17, 1793,
Captain General
Antonio Ricardos began the invasion of France when he descended on
Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans
in the
French Cerdagne
with 4500 Spanish troops. The six battalions and eight grenadier companies led by Ricardos chased 400 French soldiers out of the village. The Spanish next headed for
Ceret
on the
Tech
where they encountered one French regular battalion, 1000 volunteers, and four
artillery
pieces on 20 April. The clash ended disastrously for the 1800 French, who quickly took fright and ran away. Between 100 and 200 Frenchmen were casualties while another 200 drowned trying to swim across the Tech. Ricardos admitted losing only 17 men wounded in the skirmish.
[1]
The Captain General left a force at
Le Perthus
to watch the garrison of the
Fort de Bellegarde
and keep it from interfering with his supply convoys.
[2]
On 14 May 1793, the French
divisional general
Louis-Charles de Flers took command of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. At about the same time, the French
brigadier general
,
Luc Simeon Auguste Dagobert
and
Colonel
Eustache Charles d'Aoust
arrived with reinforcements from the
Army of Italy
. The French army was encamped on a hill 80 metres (262 ft) high near Mas Deu, which is located east of
Trouillas
. The position overlooked the Aspres plain and was protected by two deep-cut stream beds.
[3]
The Chateau of Mansus Dei was built by the
Knights Templar
in the 12th century and used as an administrative center for their extensive properties in
Roussillon
. In its heyday, the Templar establishment raised cattle, grapes, olives, and other crops on lands that stretched from
Fenouilledes
in the north to
Banyuls-sur-Mer
in the south.
[4]
The wealth and secrecy of the Templar Order made powerful enemies. Desiring to appropriate the order's riches,
Philip IV of France
, the
Capetian king
, demanded the arrest of all Templars in France in 1307. The knights were rounded up, put to the torture, burned at the stake in many cases; their wealth became the property of the French king. Philip soon bent
Pope Clement V
to his purposes and the Templar Order was suppressed outside France as well. In 1312 all property of the order was given to the
Knights Hospitaller
.
[5]
In time, the name of the place changed to Mas Deu.
In
World War II
, the German occupiers used the chateau as an ammunition dump. This was detonated in 1944, destroying the chateau, though some outbuildings survived to be used in the modern-day winery.
[6]
Battle
[
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]
On 16 May, Ricardos advanced from Ceret with 12,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, 24 cannons, and six howitzers.
Pedro Tellez-Giron, 9th Duke of Osuna
commanded the 4860-strong Spanish right wing. His deputy was
Pedro Mendinueta y Muzquiz
and the force included four battalions of Royal Guards and one battalion each of the Mallorca Line Infantry and Volunteers of Catalonia Light Infantry Regiments, and Andalusian artillery. Ricardos accompanied the 2460-man center, which was led by
Luis Firmin de Carvajal, Conde de la Union
. The 4680-strong Spanish left wing was led by
Juan de Courten
, Rafael Adorno, and Jose Crespo. The left was made up of three battalions of Walloon Guards, three companies from
Tarragona
, one battalion of an Irish regiment, one company each from
Granada
,
Valencia
, and
Burgos
, the Lusitania Cavalry Regiment, and artillery from New Castile.
[3]
De Flers' staff worked out a plan whereby the French artillery would bombard the Spanish positions, pinning their infantry in place. Then the French left wing would make a feint attack against the Spanish right. After this distraction, the reinforced right wing would deliver the main French assault. To implement this strategy, De Flers had only 5,000 foot soldiers, 300 horsemen, 15 cannons, and nine howitzers.
Claude Souchon de Chamron
led the 1,180 men of the left wing. This comprised
Pierre Francois Sauret
's 7th Battalion of Champagne,
Pierre Banel
's 7th Battalion of the Aude,
Charles Dugua
's artillery of Gard, and
Paul-Louis Gaultier de Kerveguen
's 3rd Company of Lavaur. Dagobert's 2680-man right wing included
Louis Andre Bon
's 9th Battalion of Drome,
Jean-Jacques Causse
's 1st Battalion of Mont-Blanc Volunteers,
Jacques Laurent Gilly
's 2nd Battalion of Gard,
Guillaume Mirabel
's Herault Cavalry, and
Antoine de Bethencourt
's 180 cavalrymen. De Flers and
Joseph Etienne Timoleon d'Hargenvilliers
accompanied the 740 soldiers of the center.
[3]
Ricardos planned to maneuver Conde de la Union's cavalry and then send Courten's Walloon Guards on a sweep around the village of
Thuir
to hit the flank of the Mas Deu camp. At 5:00 AM on the morning of 17 May, two Spanish batteries under the command of the Prince of Montforte opened fire. Each battery was composed of 12 4-pound guns and four
6-inch howitzers
. The bombardment went on until 9:00 AM with the French infantry sheltering in the ravines near the camp. Apparently this ended the action for the day, with the French troops holding firm despite the prolonged artillery barrage.
[7]
On the 18th, Ricardos reorganized his center, placing
Jose Urrutia y de las Casas
and
Juan Manuel Cajigal
in charge of the reserve cavalry. They were ordered to break through the French center where the troops of
Amedee Willot
and Kerveguen stood. Kerveguen's counterattack against Cajigal's horsemen failed and Dugua's guns had to cover the withdrawal of Kerveguen's soldiers. Evening found the French line still intact but stretched by trying to hold back their adversaries' superior numbers. In the night, a rumor swept through the French camp that the Spanish were massacring the outposts. At 3:00 AM firing broke out between the pickets of both sides. Numbers of French troops panicked and fled back to Perpignan. That night, Bonaventure Benet, a priest who helped bury the French dead, spied out the location of each French unit and sent this information to Spanish headquarters.
[3]
On 19 May, Sauret was wounded in the leg and his battalion lost heart and retreated. Exploiting this withdrawal, Ricardos ordered Osuna to break into the camp supported by the fire of 14 cannons. To counter Osuna's attack, Dagobert sent help from the right flank. The Bezieres Volunteer Battalion and the 2nd Battalion of Haute-Garonne counterattacked but were repulsed by the Spanish soldiers' disciplined ranks. The French began to abandon their camp and artillery. While his horsemen covered the retreat, Mirabel was wounded in the leg by an exploding howitzer shell. De Flers personally rallied one battalion, but it was driven off by the Spanish cavalry.
[8]
-
Photo shows the country near Mas Deu
-
Ruin of the Commanderie du Mas Deu as it looks today
-
Fort de Bellegarde occupied the Spanish army for a month after the battle.
Results
[
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]
The next day, Perpignan was crowded with demoralized soldiers and frightened refugees. The local political leaders appropriated churches, convents, and the homes of
emigres
to house the refugees. De Flers issued an address, "Soldiers, great cowardice has been committed. Some of the defenders of liberty have fled the satellites of despotism..."
[3]
One volunteer battalion declared that it would not fight the Spanish and had to be disbanded. Historian
Digby Smith
credited the Spanish army with only 7,000 men in six line battalions, eight grenadier companies, and 30 provincial militia companies. He listed French casualties as 150 killed and 280 wounded, with three 6-pound cannons and six ammunition wagons becoming prizes of the Spanish. The Spanish admitted losing 34 killed but did not list the number of wounded. Rather than follow up his badly shaken opponents, Ricardos chose to turn back and invest the
Fort de Bellegarde
.
[9]
This fortress dominated the main road through the Pyrenees at the
Col du Perthus
.
[10]
The
Siege of Bellegarde
began on 23 May and lasted until 24 June when Colonel Boisbrule surrendered the 1,450 surviving members of the garrison. Another 30 men had been killed and 56 wounded. The fortress was armed with 41 cannons and seven mortars. Ricardos maintained 6,000 Spanish troops and 34 guns in the siege lines.
[11]
While the main siege went on, the Spanish were also obliged to reduce two
outworks
, Fort les Bains and Fort de la Garde. These places surrendered on 3 and 5 June, respectively. De Flers tried to send a resupply convoy into Bellegarde on 29 May, but the effort failed when the 3,350-man escort was driven off.
[12]
On 24 May, de Flers began construction of the Camp de l'Union. This was laid out under the walls of Perpignan between the village of
Cabestany
on the east to the mill of Orles on the west. As a result of the battle, Dagobert was elevated in rank to divisional general, while Sauret was promoted to colonel. On the Spanish side, Osuna proved to be a difficult subordinate and was transferred to the Army of Navarre in the western Pyrenees in October.
[3]
Notes
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- ^
Smith (1998), 45
- ^
Rickard,
Bellegarde
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Prats,
Bataille de Mas Deu
- ^
Oliver,
Chateau du Mas Deu
- ^
Costain (1964), 157-164
- ^
Oliver,
Chateau du Mas Deu
. The source does not specify whether the Germans or the French resistance were responsible, or if the explosion was an accident.
- ^
Prats, Bataille de Mas Deu. The same article listed a total of six Spanish howitzers, but also asserted that four howitzers were in each battery.
- ^
Prats, Bataille de Mas Deu. The Bezieres and Haute-Garonne battalions were not listed in the original order of battle. Possibly they were reinforcements.
- ^
Smith (1998),46
- ^
Goode,
Bellegarde
- ^
Smith (1998), 48
- ^
Smith (1998), 47
References
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42°36′45″N
2°48′33″E
/
42.6125°N 2.8092°E
/
42.6125; 2.8092