On 14 May
General of Division de Flers assumed command of the
Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. The
War of the Pyrenees had opened badly for the French. The Spanish Army of Catalonia under
Captain General Antonio Ricardos invaded France on 17 April with 4,500 men and routed the 400-man garrison of
Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans. Three days later, the Spanish force fell upon the 1,800 French defenders of
Céret. The French were defeated with losses of 100 to 200 killed, wounded, and missing. In addition, 200 soldiers drowned in the
Tech River trying to swim to safety. Ricardos reported losing only 17 men wounded. On 19 May, Ricardos with 7,000 troops advanced on de Flers' camp of Mas Deu, a group of medieval-era buildings established by the
Knights Templar. In the
Battle of Mas Deu, the French suffered losses of 150 killed, 280 wounded, three 6-pound cannons, and six ammunition wagons. The Spanish lost 34 killed and an unknown number wounded. De Flers fell back to the fortress of
Perpignan where a battalion of
National Guard mutinied and had to be disbanded. Rather than pursue his beaten enemy, Ricardos turned back to invest the
Fort de Bellegarde. The powerful Bellegarde fortress guarded the
Le Perthus pass at altitude on the main road between
Barcelona and Perpignan. De Flers tried to relieve the garrison without success, including an attempt by 3,350 men to escort a supply convoy through the siege lines on 29 May. While the Spanish army was preoccupied with the siege, de Flers drove another enemy force away from the port of
Collioure. After the fall of Bellegarde, de Flers began arming the local farmers. Ricardos wrote a letter on 3 July protesting this, and threatening to hang any civilian caught with arms. De Flers replied that all Frenchmen were soldiers and that their only uniform was the tricolor cockade. He also promised to retaliate if the Spanish began shooting civilians. On 17 July, de Flers with 12,000 soldiers turned back an attack by Ricardos and 15,000 Spanish troops in the
Battle of Perpignan. Historian
Digby Smith called the Battle of Niel a French victory and gave French losses as 800 killed and wounded, plus one cannon captured. Smith listed Spanish casualties as only 31 killed, 131 wounded, and three captured. A second authority gave de Flers credit for good tactical leadership and stated that Spanish casualties numbered 1,000. When Ricardos sent five separate columns forward to envelop Perpignan, de Flers concentrated his main strength on the third column and defeated it. The fifth column turned back to assist the third column, but the French routed it as well to claim the victory. A third authority called the July battle a French triumph, but gave no details. ==Execution==