Siege of Fort Crozon

Siege of Fort Crozon
Part of the Anglo–Spanish War
and the French Wars of Religion

Pointe des Espagnols – present day area where siege took place
Date1 October – 19 November 1594
Location48°20′24.57″N 4°32′6.95″W / 48.3401583°N 4.5352639°W / 48.3401583; -4.5352639
Result Anglo-French victory[1][2]
Belligerents
 England
Kingdom of France
 Spain
Commanders and leaders
Jean VI d'Aumont
Kingdom of England John Norreys
Kingdom of England Martin Frobisher 
Spain Tomé de Paredes  
Spain Juan del Águila
Strength
Kingdom of England 3,000 troops,
10 ships & 1,200 sailors
3,000 infantry,
300 cavalry & 400 knights[3][4]
Spain 400 (Crozon)[5],
4,000 (Relief)[6]
Casualties and losses
700 killed & wounded or sick & dead to disease[7] (Crozon) 400; only 13 survivors [6]
(relief) Unknown

The siege of Fort Crozon or the siege of El Leon was a land and sea engagement that took place as part of Spain's Brittany campaign late in the French wars of religion and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).[8] The siege was fought between 1 October and 19 November 1594 and was conducted by English and French troops against a Spanish fort constructed on the Crozon Peninsula near Brest.[5] After a number of assaults were repelled, a Spanish relief force under Juan del Águila attempted to relieve the garrison, but it was delayed by French cavalry and could not reach the garrison in time.[9]

An assault by the English using a deceitful ruse ended the siege when the defenders were all but put to the sword.[3] The victory proved decisive in two ways. First, it denied the Spanish an important large independent base and port from which to operate in Brittany against the English and Dutch.[10] Second, the Spanish had lost most of their support from the French Catholic League, and as a result enabled the French king Henry IV to declare war on Spain.[7]

  1. ^ MacCaffrey p 193 One decisive victory which ensured the Spanish would not be able to establish an independent base in the province
  2. ^ Loades p 286 Although small scale the victory would prove decisive
  3. ^ a b McFee pp.264-67
  4. ^ List and Analysis of State Papers: Foreign Series: July, 1593-December, 1594 Vol 5. Public Record Office: Stationery Office Books. 1989. pp. 303–10. ISBN 9780114402181.
  5. ^ a b Nolan pp 215-17
  6. ^ a b Wernham pp 533-47
  7. ^ a b Loades p 284-86
  8. ^ Fissel pp 229-30
  9. ^ Cheyney, Edward Potts (1914). A History of England: From the Defeat of the Armada to the Death of Elizabeth; with an Account of English Institutions During the Later Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries, Volume 1. Longmans. pp. 300–03.
  10. ^ MacCaffrey p.193

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