Battle of Rocroi

49°55′10″N 4°31′40″E / 49.91944°N 4.52778°E / 49.91944; 4.52778

Battle of Rocroi
Part of the Thirty Years' War Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)
La Bataille de Rocroi by Sauveur Le Conte
Date 19 May 1643 Location Rocroi, France Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Duc d'Enghien Marquis de La Ferte Marquis d'Espenan Comte de Gassion	Francisco de Melo Duque de Alburquerque Conde Fontaña † Graf von Isenburg
Strength
23,000[1][2] 17,000 infantry 6,000 cavalry 14 guns	27,000[1][3] 19,000 infantry 8,000 cavalry 18 guns
Casualties and losses
4,000 dead or wounded[4][5]	15,000[4][6] 8,000 dead or wounded 7,000 captured 18 guns

The Battle of Rocroi, fought on 19 May 1643, was a major engagement of the Thirty Years' War between a French army, led by the 21-year-old Duke of Enghien (later known as the Great Condé) and Spanish forces under General Francisco de Melo only five days after the accession of Louis XIV to the throne of France after his father's death. Rocroi shattered the myth of invincibility of the Spanish Tercios, the terrifying infantry units that had dominated European battlefields for the previous 120 years. The battle is therefore often considered to mark the end of Spanish military greatness and the beginning of French hegemony in Europe during the 17th century.^[7][8] After Rocroi, the Spanish progressively transformed the tercio system incorporating more of the line infantry doctrine used by the French over time.^[9][7]