Battle of Peyrestortes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of Peyrestortes |
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| Part of the War of the Pyrenees | |||||||
 Some parts of Perpignan's ramparts survive today. Rather than attack the fortress directly, the Spanish tried to surround it with fortified camps. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |
 Spain |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Eustache d'Aoust Jacques Goguet |
Antonio Ricardos Marquis Amarillas Juan de Courten |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 8,000 | 6,000–12,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 200–300, unknown | 1,702–3,500, 26–46 guns, 7 colors | ||||||
The Battle of Peyrestortes took place on September 17, 1793, during the War of the Pyrenees. In this battle, soldiers from the First French Republic fought against a Spanish army. The Spanish had invaded Roussillon, a region in southern France, and were trying to capture the important city of Perpignan.
The Spanish army, led by General Antonio Ricardos, had already taken over parts of Roussillon. They had tried to capture Perpignan in July 1793 but failed. In late August, General Ricardos sent two groups of soldiers to go around the western side of Perpignan. Their goal was to cut off the city and stop supplies from reaching it. After an early success for the Spanish, the French army commander, Hilarion Paul Puget de Barbantane, became scared and ran away.
Eustache Charles d'Aoust and Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet then took charge of the French forces. They attacked two Spanish groups from the Army of Catalonia, led by Juan de Courten and Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarillas. The French won a big victory, and the Spanish never again advanced so far into Roussillon. After the battle, the Spanish army returned to where they had started. General Ricardos still managed to keep a small part of France under Spanish control for the rest of 1793. Peyrestortes is a village about 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) northwest of Perpignan.
Contents
Background to the Battle
Early Battles and Commanders
In April 1793, General Ricardos and his Spanish army began to push back the French forces in the Pyrénées Orientales area. The French armies were not well-trained at this time. General Ricardos defeated French General Louis-Charles de Flers at the Battle of Mas Deu on May 19. The Spanish also captured the important Fort de Bellegarde on June 24 after a long fight called the Siege of Bellegarde.
Ricardos and de Flers fought again on July 17 in the Battle of Perpignan. This time, 12,000 French soldiers successfully pushed back a Spanish attack of 15,000 troops. However, even this victory was not enough for the powerful French government officials called "Representatives-on-mission." They arrested General de Flers on August 7, saying he had "lost the trust of the citizen-soldiers." He was sent to Paris and later executed.
The Representatives-on-mission then appointed General Barbantane to lead the army. Barbantane had been one of the generals who criticized de Flers. At the same time, another French general, Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert, was sent with 3,000 soldiers for a separate mission. On August 28, Dagobert won a victory at Puigcerdà. Meanwhile, the main French army was stationed in a fortified camp near the walls of Perpignan, which was the capital and key defense point of the region.
General Ricardos set up his own fortified camp at Ponteilla, southwest of Perpignan. He also built camps at Argelès-sur-Mer to the southeast and Olette to the west. Ricardos ordered General Marquis de las Amarillas to cross the Têt River and attack the French camps north of Perpignan. Amarillas had an early success, pushing the French out of Corneilla-la-Rivière on August 31. This gave the Spanish a foothold on the north side of the river. French soldiers fought a brave rearguard action as they pulled back north to Rivesaltes. At this time, the French still controlled Collioure on the Mediterranean coast, south of Perpignan.
French Command Problems
On September 3, a Spanish scouting party was turned back near Perpignan by French cavalry and other troops. The next day, General Barbantane suddenly moved his headquarters and one group of soldiers from Perpignan north to Salses-le-Château. He left General d'Aoust in charge of Perpignan. When the government officials asked why, Barbantane said he was commander of the whole army, not just Perpignan.
Finally, a very scared Barbantane completely abandoned his army. He rushed off to Narbonne, supposedly looking for more soldiers. In his letter to the War Minister, he wrote, "The situation is beyond my powers." He was then removed from his command. The government named Louis Marie Turreau as the new army commander, but it would take some time for him to arrive. So, the government officials chose Dagobert to take over. Until Dagobert arrived, d'Aoust was put in temporary command, and General Goguet was chosen to lead the 4,000 soldiers at Salses.
When General Ricardos heard about Barbantane's strange behavior, he decided to take advantage of the confusion in the French command. The Spanish commander ordered Amarillas to march to Peyrestortes. On September 8, Amarillas took control of Peyrestortes, which was northwest of Perpignan. That day, he attacked d'Aoust's camp at Rivesaltes and forced the French to retreat after a tough fight. Meanwhile, d'Aoust and General Louis Lemoine built defenses to protect Perpignan. The Spanish set up a strong camp at Peyrestortes with 12,000 soldiers.
The Spanish then sent a group of soldiers from Peyrestortes to Vernet, a suburb just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) north of Perpignan. This was General Juan de Courten's group. They took a position behind an irrigation canal, with 24 cannons covering the road leading north to Salses. This move was a mistake because Ricardos did not attack d'Aoust's forces from the south at the same time, which would have split the French army.
The Battle of Peyrestortes
At 2:00 AM on September 17, Spanish cannons began a heavy attack on Perpignan from the southeast. General Ricardos placed 6,000 soldiers to support the cannons on the south and west sides of the city. At 4:00 AM that morning, General d'Aoust attacked de Courten's group at Vernet with four columns of French soldiers. General Lemoine led the left column, Colonel Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon led the center, and General Antoine Soulérac led the right. A small observation force, which included Lieutenant Jean Lannes, moved to the far left. One of the French columns managed to get around the side of de Courten's forces. After a tough fight, the French captured all of de Courten's cannons.
At 10:30 AM, d'Aoust hesitated. He was worried that Ricardos might attack Perpignan from the south. However, many citizens from Perpignan had been watching the fight, and they demanded more action. Urged on by the government officials, d'Aoust reorganized his soldiers and prepared to attack Peyrestortes. One official, Joseph Cassanyes, rode quickly to Salses-le-Château to bring General Goguet into the fight. In their quick plan, the two French groups would attack together at 5:00 PM. D'Aoust did not have direct command over Goguet, but they agreed to work together. D'Aoust attacked at 5:00 PM with 4,000 men, but he was pushed back. Because of poor planning, Goguet's 3,500 soldiers were late and only joined the battle at 7:00 PM.
The soldiers from Salses-le-Château were led by Goguet and General Pierre Poinsot de Chansac. Guided by Cassanyes, who knew the area well, the French found a weak spot in the Spanish defenses. General Amarillas had forgotten to place soldiers to defend a ravine. Goguet used this mistake to send his soldiers into a close-quarters fight. In this kind of fighting, Spanish cannons were not very useful, but the French soldiers' strong spirit was a big advantage. As the day went on, more French soldiers kept arriving from Salses, making their attack stronger and stronger. The fighting continued even as it got dark. Soulérac's group joined the attack on Peyrestortes hill. In the confusion and darkness, the Spanish cavalry panicked and ran away. By 10:00 PM, French soldiers broke through the Spanish positions and forced both Amarillas and de Courten to retreat in a hurry back to Trouillas and Mas Deu.
Aftermath of the Battle
Historians have different numbers for the losses, but it was a clear French victory. Some say the French captured 500 Spanish soldiers, 43 cannons, and seven flags. Other reports say Spanish losses were around 52 officers and 1,150 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing, out of 6,000 involved. The French also captured 500 men, 26 cannons, and seven flags. French losses were about 200 killed and wounded out of 8,000 soldiers. General Pérignon was wounded in the leg during the battle and was promoted to general the next day. The next major battle was the Battle of Truillas on September 22, 1793.
Sadly, some of the heroes of Peyrestortes did not have good endings. In late December, the French suffered a big defeat at the Battle of Collioure. By the end of 1793, the only French land held by enemies was in Roussillon. Even though the government officials were largely to blame for this, General d'Aoust was arrested and later executed in July 1794 during a period called the Reign of Terror. On April 21, 1794, General Goguet's group was defeated while trying to break the Siege of Landrecies. During the retreat, some of his own soldiers killed their general.
Despite his strange actions, General Barbantane managed to avoid execution. He was put in prison but later freed. He was imprisoned again by Maximilien Robespierre but survived the Reign of Terror. Later, Napoleon decided to leave Barbantane at home because he was not useful in Paris.
Monument
A monument celebrating the French victory is located about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) southeast of the village, near the Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport. The monument has an inscription that says, "To the memory of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees which fought at Peyrestortes under the direction of deputies Cassanyes, Fabre, of generals Daoust and Goguet."
See also
- In Spanish: Batalla de Peyrestortes para niños
