Battle of the Black Mountain

Coordinates: 42°18′57″N 2°55′49″E / 42.3158°N 2.9303°E / 42.3158; 2.9303
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Battle of the Black Mountain
Part of the War of the Pyrenees

Death of General Dugommier at the Battle of the Black Mountain, painted by François Grenier de Saint-Martin between 1834 and 1837
Date17–20 November 1794
Location
Capmany, Catalonia, Spain
Result French victory
Belligerents
 France Spain
Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Jacques Dugommier †
Dominique Pérignon
Luis de Carvajal †
Jerónimo Moctezuma
John Forbes
Strength
25,000[1] 50,000[1]
Casualties and losses
3,000 killed and wounded[1] 10,000 killed and wounded[1]
8,000 captured

The Battle of the Black Mountain (also Capmany or Sierra Negra or Del Roure or Montroig) was fought from 17 to 20 November 1794 between the army of the

Luis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión
. Though the Spanish right wing held, its left flank was driven back on the first day's fighting. On the last day of the battle, the French overran a key position and put the Spanish army to rout.

The battle was remarkable in that both army commanders were slain. A Spanish artillery shell killed Dugommier early in the battle and

Siege of Roses (Rosas), a port in Catalonia
.

Background

During 1793, the Spanish army won victories at the

General of Division Jacques François Dugommier took command of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. The victor in the Siege of Toulon immediately reorganized the army, putting it into a state where it would be capable of taking the offensive. The new general began stockpiling supplies, establishing arms factories, setting up hospitals, and improving roads. By April, the field army counted 28,000 soldiers. These were backed up by 20,000 garrison troops and 9,000 raw volunteers.[2]

Forming his army into the infantry divisions of Generals of Division

Battle of San-Lorenzo de la Muga. A long siege of Fort de Bellegarde ended on 17 September with a Spanish capitulation.[5]

Battle

Plans

War of the Pyrenees, Eastern Pyrenees

To shield

João Forbes, which included one battalion each of the 1st, 2nd, Olivença, Cascais, Peniche, and Freire de Andrade Infantry Regiments.[1]

Dugommier deployed a total 36,000 troops for his assault, including 22,000 in the first line. Augereau's division on the western flank had 9,000 men. Pérignon's 8,700 soldiers held the center and Sauret's 4,300 troops were on the east flank. The second line had 7,500 men and the third line contained 4,500 troops. A further 8,000 soldiers lay in reserve.

Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarilas held the centre with 23,000 soldiers.[7]

Initial attack

Photo shows a ruined building.
Ruins of Santa-Maria-del-Roure, the focus of heavy fighting on 20 November.

Dugommier sent his divisions forward on the night of 16 November 1794. Augereau advanced on the right flank while Pérignon moved forward in the center, supported by

Representative-on-mission Pierre Delbrel, and staff officers watched the combat from the summit of Montroig. The presence of a battery of French guns and the party of French officers drew considerable counter-battery fire from Spanish cannons. About 7:30 AM, an artillery shell exploded nearby and a fragment tore off the commanding general's arm, killing him.[10]

Final attack

Battle of the Black Mountain

Pérignon took over and called off the attack. On 18 and 19 November, the French council of war met at the La Junquera headquarters. After reorganizing his army, Pérignon determined to attack from the northwest along the valley running from Montroig to Biure. The attack began at dawn on the 20th and broke through the Spanish first and second lines. French troops soon began assaulting the 25-gun redoubt at the Santa-Maria-del-Roure monastery, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northwest of Pont de Molins.[9] The soldiers of General of Brigade Louis André Bon approached down the Muga valley from the direction of Escaules. Generals Gaspard Cagival and Diego Godoy (brother of Manuel Godoy) directed intense fire from the defenders that broke the French into small groups. Nevertheless, after being joined by General of Brigade François Guillot's brigade, they persisted in the attack for three hours.[11] The fight turned against the Spanish and the position finally fell around 3:00 PM to an encircling maneuver.[9]

During the early fighting on the 20th, de la Union remained at his headquarters in the San Fernando (Sant Ferran) fortress at Figueres. As he rode to the front, he received a report that the Santa-Maria-del-Roure redoubt had fallen. Upon reaching Pont de Molins, he led a counterattack by 1,300 cavalry against the brigades of Generals of Brigade Théodore Chabert and Jean-Antoine Verdier. During the subsequent melee, de la Union was fatally hit by two bullets and fell about 300 metres (328 yd) from Santa-Maria-del-Roure.[11]

De Courten and General Domingo Izquierdo withdrew the left wing south to

Brigadier General José Andrés Lopéz Valdes' 7,000-man garrison of San Fernando Fortress. Numbers of wounded and stragglers from the battle also took refuge in the fortress. De las Amarilas took command of the badly shaken Army of Catalonia and marched toward Girona, leaving a rear guard to cover the retreat.[11]

Aftermath

During the battle, the French lost 3,000 casualties out of 35,000 engaged. Spanish and Portuguese losses numbered 10,000 killed, wounded, and missing out of a total of 50,000 men. The French captured 30 artillery pieces. The French army quickly seized Figueres, but at first the fortress of San Fernando, which was 1.3 kilometres (0.8 mi) northeast of the city, defied them. On 27 November, Pérignon bluffed Valdes into surrendering the powerful fortress. The entire garrison of 9,000 soldiers and 171 artillery pieces fell into French hands.

Siege of Roses, which lasted until 4 February 1795,[14] and the Battle of Bascara on 14 June.[15]

Footnotes

San Fernando (Sant Ferran) Fortress
  1. ^ a b c d e Smith, p 96
  2. ^ Ostermann-Chandler, p 406
  3. ^ Ostermann-Chandler, p 407.
  4. ^ Smith, p 81. Smith gives 26 August as the date of Collioure's surrender.
  5. ^ Ostermann-Chandler, pp. 407–408
  6. ^ Catalan Wikipedia Batalla del Roure. The numbers don't add up. The first line has 22,000, not 24,000. The first three lines contain 34,000, not 36,000. If the reserves are added, the total is 42,000, not 36,000.
  7. ^ Catalan Wikipedia Batalla del Roure. The left wing numbers were arrived at by subtracting the centre and right totals from 45,000.
  8. ^ Ostermann-Chandler, p 408
  9. ^ a b c Catalan Wikipedia Batalla del Roure
  10. ^ Prats, Mort de Dugommier
  11. ^ a b c Prats, Del Roure
  12. ^ Smith, p 96. Smith and Ostermann give Valdes as the name of the Spanish general. Prats says Vasquez.
  13. ^ Prats, Amarillas
  14. ^ Smith, p 102
  15. ^ Smith, p 103

References

Printed materials

External links

42°18′57″N 2°55′49″E / 42.3158°N 2.9303°E / 42.3158; 2.9303

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