Siege of Barcelona

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Siege of Barcelona
Part of the War of the Spanish Succession
September 11, 1714: the last stage of the Siege of Barcelona. The Catalan defenders charge against the Franco-Castilian army of the Bourbonic pretender Philippe of Anjou. Almost all of them died.
Date 25 July of 1713 - 11 September 1714 Location Barcelona, Spain Result Decisive Bourbonic victory.
Combatants
Bourbonics Kingdom of France Kingdom of Spain	Austriacists Barcelona defenders Maulets
Commanders
Duke of Berwick	Antoni de Villarroel
Strength
40,000 regulars 80 cannons 20 howitzers	2,000 regulars 4,700 militians of the Coronela Some piece of artillery
Casualties
14,000 dead or wounded	7,000 dead or wounded

War of the Spanish Succession
Carpi – Chieri – Cremona – Luzzara – Cádiz – Friedlingen – Vigo Bay – Ekeren – Höchstädt – Schellenberg – Blenheim – Málaga – Cassano – Calcinato – Elixheim – Ramillies – Turin – Almansa – Toulon – Oudenarde – Lille – Malplaquet – Saragossa – Almenara – Brihuega – Villaviciosa – Bouchain – Denain – Barcelona

The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at the end of the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), which pitted Archduke Charles (backed by Britain, Austria, and the Netherlands), against Philip V, backed by France and Spain in a contest for Spanish lands.

[edit] Prelude

During the early part of the war, Barcelona had fallen to the forces of Archduke Charles: his fleet had anchored in the port on August 22, 1705, landing troops which surrounded the city. These troops later captured the fort of Montjuic, and used it to bombard the city into its submission on October 9 of that year.

[edit] Battle

Even though the freshly defeated Catalan court then supported the Archiduke against Philip V, the Franco-Spanish forces were not strong enough to attempt a recapture of the city until 1713. By July 25 of that year, the city was surrounded by Bourbon forces, but attacks upon it were unfruitful due to the scarcity of artillery. The Bourbons then waited for a 20,000 man reinforcement force, which arrived in April-May of 1714. The assault was renewed under the command of the Duke of Berwick, and after entering the city on the 30th of August, the Bourbons finally triumphed on September 11. This date is now commemorated as the National Day of Catalonia.

[edit] Aftermath

The war`s end in 1714, with the surrender of the pro-Archduke forces to a Franco-Spanish army, marks a two century long period of greater suppression of Catalan autonomy.