Battle of Les Avins

Battle of Les Avins
Part of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59)
Battle site; Spanish forces at left, French below
Date 20 May 1635 Location Les Avins, near Huy, modern Belgium Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Urbain de Maillé-Brezé Châtillon Charles de La Porte Mothe-Houdancourt	Carignano Bucquoy Count Feria  (POW)
Strength
c. 27,000 [1] [2] [3]	c. 16,000 [2] [1] [4]
Casualties and losses
3,000 dead or wounded[2]	4,000 to 5,000 dead, wounded, or captured [1] [2]

The Battle of Les Avins^[a] took place on 20 May 1635, outside the town of Les Avins, near Huy in modern Belgium, then part of the Bishopric of Liège. It was the first major engagement of the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War, a connected conflict of the Thirty Years' War.

Prior to 1635, France had provided financial and diplomatic support for the Dutch Republic in its war of independence from Spain, but avoided direct involvement. In February 1635, the two countries agreed to divide the Spanish Netherlands, and following a formal declaration of war, a French army of 27,000 entered Liège in May.

Intending to link up with the Dutch at Maastricht and attack Leuven, they ran into a Spanish force of around 16,000 outside Les Avins. The French made a series of frontal assaults and eventually over-ran their positions, forcing the Spanish to retreat.

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