page_title: Siege of Arras (1640)
section_title: Siege
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Arras (1640) / Siege
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Carte topographique vierge de la région Hauts-de-France, France, destinée à la géolocalisation. Projection "Géoportail" (projection équirectangulaire à la latitude de référence 46.5° Nord) Limites géogrpahiques de la carte&#160;: West: 1.12 E East: 4.455 E North: 51.251 N South: 48.702 N
context_page_description: The Siege of Arras took place from 22 June to 9 August 1640, during the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War, a connected conflict of the Thirty Years' War. A French army besieged the Spanish-held town of Arras, capital of the province of Artois, then part of the Spanish Netherlands, which surrendered after holding out for 48 days.
  Arras was held by a garrison of 2,000, commanded by Owen Roe O'Neill, an Irish exile in Spanish service. Despite a counter-blockade by a Spanish field army under Charles of Lorraine, which brought the French to near starvation, they were eventually resupplied, and the garrison surrendered on 9 August.
  Ceded to France in the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees, Arras has remained part of France ever since. The siege is also notable for the participation of French poet and playwright Cyrano de Bergerac, who was wounded on 8 August in a Spanish attack.
context_section_description: Arras was strongly held, and its fortifications recently updated, but its most formidable defences were the four waterways running around the town, making it hard for besiegers to blockade it, while complicating their communications and logistics. To weaken the garrison, a French force under de Châtillon moved against the smaller towns of Aire-sur-la-Lys and Béthune, forcing the Spanish to send troops from Arras to reinforce them.
  This achieved, de Châtillon linked up with de Chaulnes and de la Meilleraye, and their combined army of 32,000 men marched on Arras. The garrison now consisted of around 2,000 men, commanded by Owen Roe O'Neill, an exiled Irish veteran who had served in the Spanish army for many years.
  The biggest difficulty the French faced was feeding so large an army; rather than attacking, the Spanish field army under Charles of Lorraine focused on preventing supplies reaching them. By July, the French were shorter of food than the garrison, and could either retreat, or attack Charles of Lorraine on ground of his own choosing. 
  Richelieu was based nearby at Doullens; when his commanders presented these choices, he warned they would "pay with their heads" if Arras was not taken. However, he also sent a large convoy of supplies under François de L'Hospital, which arrived in the French camp on 2 August. With the garrison reduced to eating rats, it was clear they could not hold much longer, while Charles of Lorraine was ordered not to risk their field army.    
  On August 8th, with the French close to breaching the eastern wall, O'Neill launched a sortie in an unsuccessful effort to break the French lines, during which Cyrano de Bergerac, the French poet and playwright, was wounded. The next day, O'Neill surrendered; his troops were given a free pass to Lille, accompanied by thousands of civilians.
caption: 1640 campaign in Artois
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