Siege of Collioure (1794) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Siege of Collioure (1794) |
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| Part of the War of the Pyrenees | |||||||
 Fort Saint-Elme overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |
 Spain |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Jacques Dugommier Pierre Sauret |
Conde de la Unión Eugenio Navarro |
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| Units involved | |||||||
| Army of the Eastern Pyrenees | Army of Catalonia | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 14,000 | 7,000–8,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 150 | 160–1,000, 91 guns 22 colors |
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The Siege of Collioure was a big battle that happened from May 6 to May 29, 1794. It was part of the War of the Pyrenees. During this time, the French army, led by Jacques François Dugommier, surrounded the French port of Collioure. This port was being held by a Spanish army led by Eugenio Navarro.
The main attack was carried out by Pierre François Sauret's division. After about three and a half weeks, a storm blew away the Spanish ships that were supposed to rescue the soldiers. Because of this, Navarro surrendered the town. He agreed to let his soldiers go free if the French would release an equal number of their own prisoners.
However, after the Spanish soldiers were set free, the Spanish army commander, Luis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión, refused to keep the promise. He would not release any French prisoners. This made the French government very angry. They then made a very harsh rule about Spanish prisoners.
Background to the Battle
On January 16, 1794, Jacques François Dugommier became the new leader of the French Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. He replaced Eustache Charles d'Aoust, who was later removed from command. Dugommier was a good choice because he had just won the Siege of Toulon in December 1793. He was also part of the French government, which helped him a lot.
Before Dugommier, the army was controlled by people who often misused their power. But with Dugommier in charge, things changed. He worked well with the new government representatives, Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud and Pierre Soubrany. At first, these representatives removed many army officers. But they started to focus more on getting supplies for the army, like food for horses.
Dugommier also made the army stronger. He put the best soldiers into special light infantry and grenadier groups. He also made sure that soldiers had good firearms instead of old, less effective ones. The artillery (cannons), cavalry (soldiers on horseback), and hospitals also got better under his command.
The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees received many new soldiers. About 10,500 came from Toulon, up to 7,000 from the Army of the Western Pyrenees, and 6,000 from training camps. Dugommier turned these new troops into a strong fighting force of 28,000 trained soldiers. He also had 5,000 new recruits.
Pierre Augereau's division, with 6,300 men, became the best part of the army because they practiced a lot. Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon led the center of the army with 12,500 soldiers. Pierre François Sauret led the left side with 5,000 men. Claude Perrin Victor commanded the 3,000-strong Reserve, and André de La Barre led 2,000 cavalry soldiers.
Meanwhile, the Spanish army also had changes. Their commander, Antonio Ricardos, died in March 1794. His replacement, Alejandro O'Reilly, died just ten days later. So, Luis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión was chosen to lead the Spanish Army of Catalonia.
The temporary Spanish commander, Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, had made the town of Le Boulou stronger. When La Unión arrived, he set up his main base at Céret.
The French general Augereau tricked La Unión into moving 8,000 of his soldiers forward. This was part of Dugommier's plan. The Spanish had 8,000 soldiers at Le Boulou and 6,900 on the coast at Collioure. There was a big gap between these two Spanish groups. Dugommier told Sauret to watch the Spanish at Collioure. Then, he sent Pérignon's strong central division into the gap.
The Battle of Boulou happened on April 30 and May 1. It was a big victory for the French. The Spanish lost 2,000 soldiers who were killed or wounded, and 1,500 were captured. The French forced the Spanish to run away over the mountains into Spain. The French also captured 150 cannons, 1,800 horses, and all the Spanish supplies. The French had very few losses.
The Siege of Collioure
After their victory, Dugommier paused for four days. But things started happening quickly. Without waiting for orders, Augereau moved forward and captured Sant Llorenç de la Muga on May 6. At the same time, Sauret and Victor surrounded Collioure. Pérignon also started to block Fort de Bellegarde.
The French government had told Dugommier to take back the towns along the coast. Even though he had focused on the Battle of Boulou, he now decided to capture Collioure. The Spanish army in Collioure, led by Eugenio Navarro, had 7,000 men and 91 cannons. It also included a group of French Royalist soldiers.
On May 6, a French fleet of 17 ships brought equipment for the siege. That same day, Captain Jacques Castanié led his ships to fire on the forts along the coast. Dugommier used Sauret's and La Barre's divisions, which were about 14,000 soldiers in total. They had five groups of infantry soldiers and some cavalry.
The French had many large cannons for the siege. Nine of these cannons started firing on Fort Saint-Elme on May 10. This fort is located between Collioure and Port-Vendres and can see both ports.
On the evening of May 16, Navarro's soldiers attacked the French lines. General Dugommier was hurt during this attack. The Spanish soldiers almost captured him, but he was saved by a group of French grenadiers. The French then pushed the Spanish back into their forts.
On May 23, Dugommier ordered an attack on Fort Saint-Elme. But it failed because the soldiers did not work together well. The Spanish soldiers inside the fort asked to surrender. However, the French conditions were too strict, so the Spanish soldiers secretly left the fort and went to Collioure and Port-Vendres.
The French cannons quickly forced Port-Vendres to surrender, and its soldiers also went to Collioure. On May 24, Navarro heard that Admiral Federico Carlos Gravina y Nápoli was coming with ships to rescue his troops.
On May 26, just as Gravina's ships were about to reach Collioure, a storm blew them away. Because of this, Navarro surrendered to Dugommier. He promised that his 7,000 soldiers would return to Spain. In return, the French would release the same number of French prisoners. The agreement said that neither the French nor the Spanish prisoners could fight against the other side for the rest of the war.
Navarro was supposed to hand over the French Royalist soldiers, but he sent them away in small boats instead. If the Royalists had been captured by the French, they would have faced serious consequences. The French overlooked this, but they were very angry about what happened next.
After 7,000 Spanish soldiers were returned, La Unión refused to release any French prisoners. He said that the surrender was not valid without his approval. He also said that Navarro did not have the power to release French prisoners. He refused to follow the terms where his Spanish soldiers could not fight the French, but any French soldiers released might fight against Spain's allies. He said Dugommier should be happy with just having the forts and their contents.
Dugommier was furious and wrote to La Unión, asking him to change his mind. But the Spanish commander offered to let the United States of America decide the matter.
What Happened Next
An angry Dugommier wrote to the French government, asking them to stop taking Spanish prisoners. Augereau also said that his soldiers wanted a "War to the Death." On August 11, 1794, the French government passed a law that no more Spanish prisoners would be accepted.
Augereau and his division followed this rule, not taking prisoners. However, Dugommier was not as strict about it. For example, in the Battle of San Lorenzo de la Muga on August 13, Augereau's men did not take many prisoners. But when 1,000 Spanish soldiers surrendered after the Second Siege of Bellegarde on September 17, their lives were spared. Also, the French army in the west accepted the surrender of 2,000 Spanish soldiers at Fuentarrabía on August 1 and 1,700 more at San Sebastián the next day.
The Spanish did not get revenge on the French for their harsh rule. Instead, La Unión wrote to King Charles IV saying it would be better to treat French prisoners more kindly. The king agreed to this idea.
The French reported only 150 losses during the Siege of Collioure. The Spanish reported 160 killed and wounded. The French captured 91 cannons and 22 flags. One source said that the Spanish army had 8,000 soldiers and 7,000 surrendered.
