Battle of San Lorenzo de La Muga - Background

Background

In 1793 the Spanish army defeated the ill-trained French armies where the Franco-Spanish border touches the Mediterranean Sea. The Siege of Bellegarde resulted in the surrender of the fort to the Spanish army on 24 June. The Spanish army won the Battle of Truillas and several other actions, and seized the port of Collioure in December. In January 1794, the Army of the eastern Pyrenees received a new commander in General of Division (MG) Dugommier. The new leader, fresh from his triumph at the Siege of Toulon, reorganized the army. Dugommier set up supply depots, established hospitals, and improved local roads. By the time the French assumed the offensive in April 1794, their army numbered 28,000 regular soldiers, 20,000 garrison troops, and 9,000 hastily-trained volunteers.

Dugommier organized the infantry divisions of MG Pérignon, MG Augereau, and MG Pierre Sauret, backed by a cavalry reserve under MG André de La Barre. The French defeated their adversaries at the Battle of Boulou on 1 May. Immediately after their victory, they pushed the Allied army south of the Pyrenees and invested both Collioure and the Fort de Bellegarde. Collioure fell on 29 May, but Bellegarde proved to be much more difficult to capture. In a combat at La Junquera on 7 June, Pérignon repulsed a Spanish attempt to relieve Bellegarde, though La Barre was killed while leading his troopers.