Battle of Honnecourt 1642
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 26 May 1642 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1642 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Franco-Spanish War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Hispanic Monarchy, Kingdom of France | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.0375, 3.1964 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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.
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.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Honnecourt (revision 1370443189), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Franco-Spanish War
- Siege of Leucate 1637
- Battle of Getaria 1638
- Siege of Fuenterrabía (1638) 1638
- Battle of Cádiz (1640) 1640
- Battle of La Marfée 1641
- Battle of Barcelona 1642
- Battle of Montmeló 1642
- Battle of Cartagena (1643) 1643
- Battle of Rocroi 1643
- Siege of Thionville (1643) 1643
All 23 battles of the Franco-Spanish War →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · Early modern battles