| Siege of Roses 1794-1795 | |||||||
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| Part of the War of the Pyrenees | |||||||
Citadel of Roses: Sea Gate |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| France | Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Dominique Pérignon Pierre Sauret |
Domingo Izquierdo | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 13,261[1] | 4,800[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| light[1] | 883[1] | ||||||
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The Siege of Roses (or Siege of Rosas) began on 28 November 1794 and lasted until 4 February 1795 when the Spanish garrison evacuated the port and the forces of the First French Republic took control. Dominique Pérignon commanded the French army and Domingo Izquierdo led the Spanish defenders. The siege took place during the War of the Pyrenees which was part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The war ended in July 1795 and Roses was soon restored to Spain.
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On 17 November 1794, the French Army of the eastern Pyrenees under General of Division (MG) Jacques Dugommier attacked Lieutenant General (LG) Luis Firmin de la Union's Spanish army in the Battle of the Black Mountain. The French army routed their adversaries in a four-day combat in which both commanding generals were killed. MG Pérignon assumed command of the French army and quickly occupied the city of Figueres. The French general bluffed Brigadier General José Andrés Valdes into surrendering the 9,000-man garrison of San Fernando (Sant Ferran) on 28 November. On the same day, MG Pierre Sauret invested the port of Roses.[3][4]
The defenses of Roses consisted of a Vauban-type citadel (ciutadella) just west of the town and the Castillo de la Trinidad (Castell de la Trinitat), which crowned a promontory 2.3 km south-southeast of the citadel.[5] The 300-meter high Mont Puy-Bois dominated the Castillo on the northeast. LG Izquierdo commanded the 4,800 men of the Spanish garrison. Admiral Federico Gravina's fleet of 13 ships of the line and 45 other vessels lay in the bay of Roses. These ships provided gunfire and logistic support to the garrison.[2]
On November 28, the French invested Roses with 13,261 soldiers. While MG Sauret had immediate command over the besiegers, Pérignon remained the driving force in prosecuting the siege. Sauret's forces were organized as follows.
On 29 November, the first battery opened fire on the fortress and the French began digging siege trenches. By 7 December, six batteries were pounding the defenses. Izquierdo launched several ineffectual sorties at the French as their siege parallels drew closer to the citadel. By this time Pérignon realized that the Castillo de la Trinidad, whose fire caused serious damage to the besiegers, was the key position. He ordered that heavy guns be installed on Mont Puy-Bois. When the French engineers protested that it could not be done, the commanding general overrode their objections. The French soldiers, whose nickname for the Castillo was le Bouton de Rose (the Pimple), managed to haul three batteries to the summit by 25 December. The batteries on Mont Puy-Bois finally breached the walls of the Castillo and its garrison was taken off in boats on 1 January. From the newly captured position, the French opened fire on the citadel and the fleet.[2]
Meanwhile, the army of LG José Urrutia y de las Casas held a position behind the Rio Fluvià to the south of Roses, threatening to advance to its relief. By 25 January, when wintry weather compelled Sauret to suspend siege operations, Urrutia's army had grown menacingly large. Determined to take the fortress, Pérignon decided to try bluff again. He stormed the Spanish advanced positions on 1 February. The French army commander staged obvious preparations for a full-scale assault, such as the display of scaling ladders in the trenches. This finally broke the morale of the defenders. Izquierdo ordered the surviving members of the garrison to be evacuated by Gravina's squadron on the night of 3 February, leaving a 300-man rear guard behind to cover the operation. The rear guard was supposed to be taken off in small boats in the morning, but they were abandoned by the fleet and became French prisoners.[7]
The Spanish reported 113 killed, 470 wounded, and 1,160 sick during the siege. In addition, 300 soldiers fell into French hands. French losses are unknown but were claimed to be light.[1] Annoyed that Pérignon was unable to advance beyond the Fluvià, the French government replaced him at the end of May 1795 with MG Barthélemy Schérer. Urrutia repulsed Schérer's attempt to cross the Fluvià at Bàscara on 14 June. French losses numbered 2,500 while the Spanish army only lost 546 casualties.[8] The Peace of Basel on 22 July 1795 officially ended the fighting. Spanish forces under LG Gregorio García de la Cuesta won two minor actions at Puigcerdà and Bellver in late July, before news of the peace reached the front.[9] The Second Treaty of San Ildefonso, in which Pérignon played a key role, followed on 19 August 1796. By this pact, Spain became an ally of France.[10]