- Battle of Lens
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Lens
partof=theThirty Years' War
caption=The "Battle of Lens" . Contemporary illustration, oil on canvas.
date=20 August 1648
place=between Grenay andLiévin , west ofLens, Pas-de-Calais ,France
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France|restauration [George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana, "The American Cyclopaedia", New York, 1874, p. 250, "...the standard of France was white, sprinkled with golden fleur de lis...". * [http://www.anyflag.com/history/fleur23.htm] The original Banner of France was strewn with fleurs-de-lis. * [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgdisplaylargemeta.cfm?strucID=585779&imageID=1236061&parent_id=585395&word=&s=¬word=&d=&c=&f=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&lword=&lfield=&num=0&imgs=12&total=98&pos=1&snum=] :on the reverse of this plate it says: "Le pavillon royal était véritablement le drapeau national au dix-huitième siecle...Vue du chateau d'arrière d'un vaisseau de guerre de haut rang portant le pavillon royal (blanc, avec les armes de France)." [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Flag] from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica: "The oriflamme and the Chape de St Martin were succeeded at the end of the 16th century, when Henry III., the last of the house of Valois, came to the throne, by the white standard powdered with fleurs-de-lis. This in turn gave place to the famous tricolour."]France with Swedish contingent
combatant2=
commander1=Prince de Condé
commander2=Leopold Wilhelm
strength1=16,000
18 guns
strength2=18,000
38 guns
casualties1=3.500 men
casualties2=3,000 dead or wounded
5,000 capturedThe Battle of Lens (
20 August 1648 ) was a French victory underLouis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé against the Spanish army under Archduke Leopold in theThirty Years' War (1618-1648). It was the last major battle of the war.Lens is a fortified city in the historic region of
Flanders , today a major city in thePas-de-Calais department of northernFrance . The city had been captured by the French in 1647. As France began to experience a rebellion of the nobility against the leadership ofCardinal Mazarin , known as theFronde , the Spanish saw an opportunity to retake Lens and possibly gain ground. The Prince de Condé rushed fromCatalonia to Flanders and an army was cobbled together from Champagne, Lorraine as well asParis . The French army was 16,000 men (more than half werecavalry ) and 18 guns. The Spanish army was larger, comprising 18,000 men (also more than half cavalry) and 38 guns. The armies drew up, but the Spanish were on high ground and Condé decided not to attack. As the French retired, the Spanish cavalry skirmished with the French rear guard and the engagement escalated until the armies were fully engaged. The Spanish infantry pushed back the French, breaking theGardes Françaises regiment, but the superior French cavalry were able to defeat their counterparts and envelop the center.
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