Siege of Barcelona (1697)

The siege of Barcelona of 1697 was successfully conducted during the Nine Years' War by France. Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, commanding some 32,000 troops (reinforced with troops from the ended Italian front of the war),^[1] forced the garrison, under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, to capitulate on 10 August. Nevertheless, it had been a hard fought contest: according to John Lynn, French casualties totalled around 9,000, while the losses on the Spanish side were 12,000 killed, wounded, or lost,^[2] although Antonio Espino López has set the figure for Spanish losses at 4,500 killed and 800 wounded, and the French casualties at 15,000, including 52 engineers.^[3]

Siege of Barcelona
Part of Nine Years' War
Map of the siege by an unknown author printed in Paris.
Date 12 June – 10 August 1697 Location Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain Result French victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Crown of Aragon
Commanders and leaders
Duke of Vendôme	Francisco de Velasco George of Hesse-Darmstadt
Strength
25,000–32,000 men	Unknown
Casualties and losses
9,000	12,000

Notes

1. Childs states 25,000 French troops.
2. Lynn, p. 261.
3. Espino López, p. 811

References

• Childs, John. The Nine Years' War and the British Army. Manchester University Press, 1991. ISBN 0719034612
• Espino López, Antonio. El frente catalán en la Guerra de los Nueve Años, 1689-1697 . Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Història Moderna i Contemporània, 1994. ISBN 9788469202272
• Lynn, John A. The Wars of Louis XIV: 1667–1714. Longman, 1999. ISBN 0582056292

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