Battle of Rocroi

May 19, 1643 · Spanish Netherlands Theater

May 19, 1643

The young French commander, the Duke of Enghien (later the Great Condé), led French cavalry in a brilliant double envelopment of the Spanish army in the forests of the Ardennes. The legendary Spanish tercios — the veteran infantry squares that had dominated European warfare for 150 years — were surrounded and annihilated. Of 18,000 Spanish infantry engaged, fewer than 3,000 escaped.

• ●Battle of Rocroi