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Army of the Eastern Pyrenees
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Army of the Eastern Pyrenees
The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees (Armée des Pyrénées Orientales) was one of the French Revolutionary armies. It fought against the Kingdom of Spain in Roussillon, the Cerdanya and Catalonia during the War of the Pyrenees. This army and the Army of the Western Pyrenees were formed by splitting the original Army of the Pyrenees at the end of April 1793 soon after the war started. Shortly after the Peace of Basel on 22 July 1795, the fighting ended and the army was dissolved on 12 October that same year. Many of its units and generals were transferred to join the Army of Italy and fought under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1796.
In the first dismal months of fighting, the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees was beaten at Mas Deu and Bellegarde and forced back under the walls of Perpignan. Then the French repelled two Spanish attacks at Perpignan and Peyrestortes. Though the army was defeated again at Truillas and in other actions, the Spanish invaders withdrew to the Tech River in late 1793. Throughout the year the representatives on mission had enormous powers and used them to interfere with the military effort and to arrest officers that they deemed unpatriotic or unsuccessful. In 1794, the army's fortunes improved when Jacques François Dugommier took command. The army drove the Spanish army from France soil at Boulou and recaptured the Fort de Bellegarde and Collioure. After establishing itself on Spanish territory, the army won a decisive victory at the Battle of the Black Mountain in November during which Dugommier was killed. His replacement, Dominique Catherine de Pérignon soon captured the Sant Ferran fortress and the port of Roses. After these events the front became static and the last notable action was a Spanish victory at Bascara in June.
The war took a severe toll on the commanders of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. Aside from Dugommier's death in battle, three were executed by the guillotine and another died of disease. Five officers from the army later became Marshals of France under Napoleon. These were Pérignon, Pierre Augereau, Claude Perrin Victor, Jean Lannes and Jean-Baptiste Bessières.
The executions of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette outraged the ancient monarchies of Europe. Even so, it was the First French Republic that declared war on its ancient ally the Kingdom of Spain on 7 March 1793. Spain joined the War of the First Coalition and invaded Roussillon on 17 April 1793. The Army of the Pyrenees was formed on 1 October 1792 and commanded by Joseph Marie Servan de Gerbey. On 30 April 1793, the army was divided into two separate armies. The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees was responsible for all territory between the Rhône and the upper Garonne Rivers while the Army of the Western Pyrenees defended territory between the upper Garonne and the Gironde estuary. At the start of the War of the Pyrenees, Servan went to Bayonne in the west, assigning Mathieu Henri Marchant de La Houlière to take charge at Perpignan in the east.
At first the war went badly for France. A Spanish column of 4,500 soldiers under Captain General Antonio Ricardos invaded France on 17 April 1793, driving a French garrison from the town of Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans. On 20 April, Ricardos routed 1,800 unsteady French soldiers from Céret and crossed the Tech River. The representatives on mission blamed La Houlière for the fiasco and removed him from command. The distraught La Houlière put a gun to his head and killed himself on 18 June 1793. The old soldier was 76 years old. General of Brigade Claude Souchon de Chameron was appointed to lead the local forces on 25 April and he took interim command of the newly created army from 1 to 13 May. Chameron was arrested later and sent to the guillotine on 12 April 1794.
The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees was in the grip of its representatives on mission, "to an extent unknown elsewhere", according to historian Ramsay Weston Phipps. This may have been because of the lack of officers from the regular army establishment and because the representatives were local men who wanted to promote their personal friends. Their arrogance was almost beyond belief. Raymond Gaston boasted, "I know neither Generals nor special powers. As to the Minister, he is like a dog on a race course. I alone should command here, and I shall be obeyed." His colleague Claude Dominique Côme Fabre described the army commanders-in-chief as "useless" and wished the office to be abolished. Joseph Guiter asserted, "What good are Generals? The women of our faubourgs know as much as they do." Fabre demanded and got 100 Jacobins to be sent from Paris to be distributed within the army as "Civic Apostles" where they stirred up trouble among the enlisted men.
On 14 May 1793, General of Division Louis-Charles de Flers took command of the army which numbered 12,000 men of whom only 9,000 were armed. Five days later, Ricardos with 15,000 troops attacked and beat 5,000 French soldiers at the Battle of Mas Deu. After the action, the defeated troops were seized by a sudden panic and stampeded back to Perpignan in utter confusion. Meanwhile, Ricardos turned back to reduce the Fort de Bellegarde. Flers used the time to build the fortified Camp de la Union under the walls of Perpignan where his drilled his 12,000 men. The Siege of Bellegarde occupied the invaders from 23 May until the place fell on 24 June. With his supply line to Spain secure, Ricardos moved against the Camp de la Union on 17 July. He intended to unnerve the French by bombarding them with 100 field pieces. In the event, the French artillery under the direction of Jean Fabre de La Martillière outdueled the Spanish guns and Ricardos withdrew. The Battle of Perpignan involved 12,000 French and 15,000 Spanish troops. Despite his victory, Flers' reputation was damaged by his former association with Charles François Dumouriez who had defected to the enemy. At this time the Spanish captured the town of Villefranche-de-Conflent west of Perpignan. On 7 August the representatives on mission removed Flers for the crime of "having lost the confidence of the citizen-soldiers". He was sent to Paris where he was guillotined on 22 July 1794.
On 7 August 1793 General of Division Hilarion Paul Puget de Barbantane accepted the army command from the representatives on mission, assuring them that he wanted to "wash out his original sin" of being an aristocrat. At the same time, General of Division Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert was sent inland with 3,000 reinforcements to the Cerdagne. Dagobert with 6,500 soldiers defeated Manuel la Peña at Puigcerdà on 28 August. Meanwhile, Ricardos pursued a strategy of surrounding Perpignan by fortified camps. He built camps at Argelès-sur-Mer to the southeast, Ponteilla to the southwest, Olette to the west and Peyrestortes to the northwest. Instead of seeing an opportunity to strike at the dispersed Spanish army, Barbantane was seized with fright. Leaving General of Division Eustache Charles d'Aoust in charge of Perpignan, Barbantane retreated with one division to Salses-le-Château, then the terrified man went to Narbonne to look for reinforcements. Finally, Barbantane wrote his resignation which was accepted. He was of course arrested, but amazingly he avoided the guillotine. Napoleon later described him as "useless". In the crisis, the government sent for General of Division Louis Marie Turreau to lead the army. To fill the command vacuum, the representatives on mission called for the return of Dagobert from the Cerdagne, appointed d'Aoust as temporary commander and named General of Brigade Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet, a former doctor, to lead the division at Salses. In the Battle of Peyrestortes on 17 September, d'Aoust with 8,000 troops defeated Lieutenant General Juan de Courten's 6,000 men. Since Spanish had occupied Vernet on the outskirts of Perpignan, d'Aoust attacked and recaptured this position in the morning. In the evening d'Aoust, Goguet and Representative Joseph Cassanyes improvised a successful assault on the camp at Peyrestortes, driving the Spanish forces south of the Têt River and capturing 500 men, 43 guns and seven colors. The cautious Ricardos never budged while his camps were being overrun and the French soon recovered Villefranche-de-Conflent as well.
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Army of the Eastern Pyrenees
The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees (Armée des Pyrénées Orientales) was one of the French Revolutionary armies. It fought against the Kingdom of Spain in Roussillon, the Cerdanya and Catalonia during the War of the Pyrenees. This army and the Army of the Western Pyrenees were formed by splitting the original Army of the Pyrenees at the end of April 1793 soon after the war started. Shortly after the Peace of Basel on 22 July 1795, the fighting ended and the army was dissolved on 12 October that same year. Many of its units and generals were transferred to join the Army of Italy and fought under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1796.
In the first dismal months of fighting, the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees was beaten at Mas Deu and Bellegarde and forced back under the walls of Perpignan. Then the French repelled two Spanish attacks at Perpignan and Peyrestortes. Though the army was defeated again at Truillas and in other actions, the Spanish invaders withdrew to the Tech River in late 1793. Throughout the year the representatives on mission had enormous powers and used them to interfere with the military effort and to arrest officers that they deemed unpatriotic or unsuccessful. In 1794, the army's fortunes improved when Jacques François Dugommier took command. The army drove the Spanish army from France soil at Boulou and recaptured the Fort de Bellegarde and Collioure. After establishing itself on Spanish territory, the army won a decisive victory at the Battle of the Black Mountain in November during which Dugommier was killed. His replacement, Dominique Catherine de Pérignon soon captured the Sant Ferran fortress and the port of Roses. After these events the front became static and the last notable action was a Spanish victory at Bascara in June.
The war took a severe toll on the commanders of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. Aside from Dugommier's death in battle, three were executed by the guillotine and another died of disease. Five officers from the army later became Marshals of France under Napoleon. These were Pérignon, Pierre Augereau, Claude Perrin Victor, Jean Lannes and Jean-Baptiste Bessières.
The executions of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette outraged the ancient monarchies of Europe. Even so, it was the First French Republic that declared war on its ancient ally the Kingdom of Spain on 7 March 1793. Spain joined the War of the First Coalition and invaded Roussillon on 17 April 1793. The Army of the Pyrenees was formed on 1 October 1792 and commanded by Joseph Marie Servan de Gerbey. On 30 April 1793, the army was divided into two separate armies. The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees was responsible for all territory between the Rhône and the upper Garonne Rivers while the Army of the Western Pyrenees defended territory between the upper Garonne and the Gironde estuary. At the start of the War of the Pyrenees, Servan went to Bayonne in the west, assigning Mathieu Henri Marchant de La Houlière to take charge at Perpignan in the east.
At first the war went badly for France. A Spanish column of 4,500 soldiers under Captain General Antonio Ricardos invaded France on 17 April 1793, driving a French garrison from the town of Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans. On 20 April, Ricardos routed 1,800 unsteady French soldiers from Céret and crossed the Tech River. The representatives on mission blamed La Houlière for the fiasco and removed him from command. The distraught La Houlière put a gun to his head and killed himself on 18 June 1793. The old soldier was 76 years old. General of Brigade Claude Souchon de Chameron was appointed to lead the local forces on 25 April and he took interim command of the newly created army from 1 to 13 May. Chameron was arrested later and sent to the guillotine on 12 April 1794.
The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees was in the grip of its representatives on mission, "to an extent unknown elsewhere", according to historian Ramsay Weston Phipps. This may have been because of the lack of officers from the regular army establishment and because the representatives were local men who wanted to promote their personal friends. Their arrogance was almost beyond belief. Raymond Gaston boasted, "I know neither Generals nor special powers. As to the Minister, he is like a dog on a race course. I alone should command here, and I shall be obeyed." His colleague Claude Dominique Côme Fabre described the army commanders-in-chief as "useless" and wished the office to be abolished. Joseph Guiter asserted, "What good are Generals? The women of our faubourgs know as much as they do." Fabre demanded and got 100 Jacobins to be sent from Paris to be distributed within the army as "Civic Apostles" where they stirred up trouble among the enlisted men.
On 14 May 1793, General of Division Louis-Charles de Flers took command of the army which numbered 12,000 men of whom only 9,000 were armed. Five days later, Ricardos with 15,000 troops attacked and beat 5,000 French soldiers at the Battle of Mas Deu. After the action, the defeated troops were seized by a sudden panic and stampeded back to Perpignan in utter confusion. Meanwhile, Ricardos turned back to reduce the Fort de Bellegarde. Flers used the time to build the fortified Camp de la Union under the walls of Perpignan where his drilled his 12,000 men. The Siege of Bellegarde occupied the invaders from 23 May until the place fell on 24 June. With his supply line to Spain secure, Ricardos moved against the Camp de la Union on 17 July. He intended to unnerve the French by bombarding them with 100 field pieces. In the event, the French artillery under the direction of Jean Fabre de La Martillière outdueled the Spanish guns and Ricardos withdrew. The Battle of Perpignan involved 12,000 French and 15,000 Spanish troops. Despite his victory, Flers' reputation was damaged by his former association with Charles François Dumouriez who had defected to the enemy. At this time the Spanish captured the town of Villefranche-de-Conflent west of Perpignan. On 7 August the representatives on mission removed Flers for the crime of "having lost the confidence of the citizen-soldiers". He was sent to Paris where he was guillotined on 22 July 1794.
On 7 August 1793 General of Division Hilarion Paul Puget de Barbantane accepted the army command from the representatives on mission, assuring them that he wanted to "wash out his original sin" of being an aristocrat. At the same time, General of Division Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert was sent inland with 3,000 reinforcements to the Cerdagne. Dagobert with 6,500 soldiers defeated Manuel la Peña at Puigcerdà on 28 August. Meanwhile, Ricardos pursued a strategy of surrounding Perpignan by fortified camps. He built camps at Argelès-sur-Mer to the southeast, Ponteilla to the southwest, Olette to the west and Peyrestortes to the northwest. Instead of seeing an opportunity to strike at the dispersed Spanish army, Barbantane was seized with fright. Leaving General of Division Eustache Charles d'Aoust in charge of Perpignan, Barbantane retreated with one division to Salses-le-Château, then the terrified man went to Narbonne to look for reinforcements. Finally, Barbantane wrote his resignation which was accepted. He was of course arrested, but amazingly he avoided the guillotine. Napoleon later described him as "useless". In the crisis, the government sent for General of Division Louis Marie Turreau to lead the army. To fill the command vacuum, the representatives on mission called for the return of Dagobert from the Cerdagne, appointed d'Aoust as temporary commander and named General of Brigade Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet, a former doctor, to lead the division at Salses. In the Battle of Peyrestortes on 17 September, d'Aoust with 8,000 troops defeated Lieutenant General Juan de Courten's 6,000 men. Since Spanish had occupied Vernet on the outskirts of Perpignan, d'Aoust attacked and recaptured this position in the morning. In the evening d'Aoust, Goguet and Representative Joseph Cassanyes improvised a successful assault on the camp at Peyrestortes, driving the Spanish forces south of the Têt River and capturing 500 men, 43 guns and seven colors. The cautious Ricardos never budged while his camps were being overrun and the French soon recovered Villefranche-de-Conflent as well.
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