Siege of Barcelona
1706 CE.
Shown on the map at 41.383°, 2.177°.
The siege of Barcelona took place between 3 and 27 April 1706 during the War of the Spanish Succession when a Franco-Spanish army laid siege to Barcelona in an attempt to recapture the city following its fall to an English-led Allied army the previous year. After the Earl of Peterborough entered Valencia in triumph in January 1706, Barcelona was left vulnerable. This led the French to change the plans of attacking Valencia and try to besiege Barcelona instead, while the city was blocked from the seaside by the Count of Toulouse. The Spanish forces were led by Philip V, while René de Froulay, Comte de Tessé was placed in charge of the French land forces during the siege. Despite insufficient artillery and the constant harassment from Peterborough, who marched north with 3,000 men and attacked the besiegers from the mountains, the Franco-Spanish forces finally managed to shoot three breaches in the walls. But before the decision to storm the city could be made, the siege was abandoned, following the appearance of a large English fleet under the command of John Leake carrying reinforcements. The Franco-Spanish army abandoned its supplies and artillery in its hasty retreat.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Barcelona (1706), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.