Battle of Honnecourt
The Battle of Honnecourt took place on 26 May 1642, during the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War. A Spanish army led by Francisco de Melo defeated and largely destroyed a French force under the Comte de Guiche.
| Battle of Honnecourt | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Franco-Spanish War (1635–59) Related conflict of the Thirty Years' War | |||||||
The Battle of Honnecourt, by Peter Snayers. Perspective from the Spanish positions; note Abbey on left, and River Escaut directly behind | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Spain | France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Francisco de Melo Jean de Beck Conde de Bucquoy Marquis de Velada |
Comte de Guiche Puységur-Chastenet (POW) Josias von Rantzau (POW) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10,000 plus 20 guns | 10,000 plus 10 guns | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
400 dead 1,500 killed or wounded |
-1,400 killed or wounded, 3,000 captured -2,000 killed or wounded, 2,500 captured | ||||||
With the bulk of French forces committed to the Siege of Perpignan in Catalonia, Melo launched an offensive into Artois, then part of the Spanish Netherlands. After retaking Lens and La Bassée in early May, he moved to attack Guiche's "Army of Champagne", based near Honnecourt-sur-Escaut.
Guiche placed his troops in a strong position but they proved no match for the veteran Army of Flanders and both wings collapsed after seven hours of fighting. With their retreat blocked by the River Scheldt directly behind them and only one bridge, most of the French were either killed or captured. Guiche was one of the last to leave the battlefield and only 1,600 of his troops escaped.
One of the relatively few decisive battles in a war of attrition that lasted 24 years, the result was greeted with euphoria by the Spanish court and caused panic in Paris, which seemed open to a Spanish invasion. Instead, Melo moved to confront a Franco-Dutch offensive in the Rhineland and the battle ultimately changed little.