Battle of Valenciennes (1656) 1656
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 18 May 1656 – 16 July 1656 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1656 | Wikidata P580 (start 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 |
| Coordinates | 50.3581, 3.5233 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Valenciennes was fought on 16 July 1656 between the Spanish troops commanded by John Joseph of Austria and the French troops under Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, in the outskirts of the city of Valenciennes in the Spanish Netherlands during the Franco-Spanish War. After a period of Spanish recovery following the Peace of Münster in 1648, France went again on the offensive in 1654, having succeeded in suppressing internal rebellions, and took several towns in the province of Hainaut over the course of two years. On early 1656, Turenne was instructed by the French court to continue the offensive. He intended at first to besiege Tournai, but realising that it had been strongly reinforced by the Army of Flanders under the newly appointed John Joseph of Austria, illegitimate son of Philip IV of Spain, he went instead to besiege Valenciennes, in the course of the Scheldt River.
The defenders of the city opened locks and breached dikes to flood the surroundings and hamper the siege. Their strong resistance gave time the Spanish army to prepare a relief which took place one month after the beginning of the siege.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Valenciennes (1656) (revision 1372289367), 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.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Valenciennes (1793) 1793 · 0 km
- Siege of Valenciennes (1566–1567) 1566 · 0 km
- Battle of Valenciennes (1918) 1918 · 0 km
- Siege of Valenciennes (1676–1677) 1677 · 0 km
- Battle of Famars 1793 · 5 km
- Battle of Denain 1712 · 10 km
Other battles of the Franco-Spanish War
- Action of 23 November 1650 1650
- Capture of the galleon Lion Couronné 1651
- Siege of Barcelona (1651) 1652
- Battle of Arras (1654) 1654
- Capture of Fort Rocher 1654
- Battle of the Dunes (1658) 1658
- Siege of Bergues 1658
- Siege of Dunkirk (1658) 1658
All 23 battles of the Franco-Spanish War →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · Early modern battles