Battle of Villelongue
| Battle of Villelongue | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of War of the Pyrenees | |||||||
Modern map shows Villeongue-dels-Monts in relation to Le Boulou, Brouilla, and Montesquieu. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Kingdom of Spain Kingdom of Portugal | Republican France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Antonio Ricardos John Forbes |
François Doppet Eustache d'Aoust | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
Army of Catalonia Army of Assistance to the Crown of Spain | Army of the Eastern Pyrenees | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 7 Dec.: 8,000 | 7 Dec.: 10,000, 40 guns | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 7 Dec.: 56 | 7 Dec.: 652, 26 guns | ||||||
The Battle of Villelongue (7 and 18 December 1793) saw a Royal Spanish force from the army commanded by Antonio Ricardos attack a position held by a Republican French force from the army led by François Amédée Doppet. Spanish and French attack columns passed each other in the night without detecting each other. On 7 December, the Spanish attack on Villelongue-dels-Monts was delivered first and was completely successful, causing the French soldiers to flee. On 18 December, in order to cover a planned withdrawal, Doppet ordered an attack on the Portuguese garrison at Villelongue. Eustache Charles d'Aoust carried out the operation and overwhelmed the Portuguese. However, two days later, the French army was disastrously defeated at the Battle of Collioure and had to beat a hasty retreat to Perpignan.