Siege of Fort Crozon | |||||||
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Part of the Anglo–Spanish War and the French Wars of Religion | |||||||
![]() Pointe des Espagnols – present day area where siege took place | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
![]() 10 ships & 1,200 sailors ![]() 300 cavalry & 400 knights[3][4] |
![]() 4,000 (Relief)[6] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
700 killed & wounded or sick & dead to disease[7] |
(Crozon) 400; only 13 survivors [6] (relief) Unknown |
The siege of Fort Crozon or the siege of El Leon was a land and sea engagement that took place as part of Spain's Brittany campaign late in the French wars of religion and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).[8] The siege was fought between 1 October and 19 November 1594 and was conducted by English and French troops against a Spanish fort constructed on the Crozon Peninsula near Brest.[5] After a number of assaults were repelled, a Spanish relief force under Juan del Águila attempted to relieve the garrison, but it was delayed by French cavalry and could not reach the garrison in time.[9]
An assault by the English using a deceitful ruse ended the siege when the defenders were all but put to the sword.[3] The victory proved decisive in two ways. First, it denied the Spanish an important large independent base and port from which to operate in Brittany against the English and Dutch.[10] Second, the Spanish had lost most of their support from the French Catholic League, and as a result enabled the French king Henry IV to declare war on Spain.[7]
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