Siege of Salses

Siege of Salses
Part of the Thirty Years' War and the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59)
Date 9 June 1639 – 6 January 1640 Location Salses, Northern Catalonia, Spanish Empire (present-day France) Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
France	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Henri, Prince of Condé	Filippo Spinola
Strength
16,000 men (first siege) 22,000 men (second siege)	40,000 men (second siege)
Casualties and losses
3,000+ casualties	Unknown

The siege of Salses (1639–1640) was a double siege during the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), starting with a French success, but ending with a Spanish victory.

Siege

On 9 June 1639, a French army of 16,000 men under Henri, Prince of Condé, besieged the castle of Salses held by 600 Spanish, taking it on 19 June. Six weeks later a large Spanish army of 40,000 men, under Filippo Spinola and Francesc de Tamarit appeared and now besieged the French garrison of 2,000 men.

Condé sent an army of 22,000 men to lift the siege, but suffering from very bad weather, they were defeated in battle by the Spanish on 2 November, with the loss of 3,000 men. Now Salses was alone and hunger forced the French to surrender on 6 January 1640. By then only 800 Frenchmen, of whom 300 were sick, were left. The Spanish army had also lost 10,000 men to disease and desertions.

Consequences

The presence of a large number of troops in Catalonia contributed to the outbreak of the Catalan Revolt a few months later and the murder of Dalmau de Queralt, Count of Santa Coloma, second in command at the siege of Salses. Salses was retaken by the French after the Fall of Perpignan in September 1642.

Sources

• Duffy, Christopher (2013). Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660. Taylor & Francis.

External links

• Spanish army at Salses 1639–40