page_title: Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, 1st Duke of Mahón
section_title: Service with Spain
hierarchical_section_title: Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, 1st Duke of Mahón / Service with Spain
caption_attribution_description: Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, El Conquistador de Minorca
context_page_description: Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, 1st Duke of Mahón, 2nd Duke of Crillon was a Franco-Spanish military officer who reached the rank of Captain general of the Army. He became a soldier at the age of 16 and served with distinction in the French army before transferring to the army of Spain, which was allied with France for much of the 18th century. A member of a distinguished military family, he was widely admired for his personal courage, courtesy and chivalry. By the end of his life he had risen to the highest military rank in Spain and it was said that he had served in 68 engagements.
  He participated in many of the major conflicts of the 18th century, including the War of the Polish Succession, the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War. His most famous achievement was the successful invasion of Minorca in 1781, in which he defeated a British garrison and returned the island to Spain, although his efforts the following year to recapture Gibraltar from the British were a notable failure.
context_section_description: In 1762 Crillon moved to Spain, where he served as a lieutenant-general – the highest rank in the Bourbon armies – and was made a Knight of the Order of Charles III in 1780. During the Anglo-Spanish War, when Spain and France allied with the Americans to fight Britain, he was given command of a Spanish army tasked with capturing Minorca from the British. The army landed on the island on 19 August 1781 and laid siege to the British garrison in Fort St. Philip at Mahon. The siege was concluded successfully on 5 February 1782 when the British surrendered, for which Crillon was made a grandee of Spain and took the title of Duke of Crillon-Mahon. He was subsequently put in charge of the joint French and Spanish force that had been besieging Gibraltar since 1779. Despite his efforts, Gibraltar proved impregnable and peace was restored in 1783.
  Crillon's service with Spain was further rewarded in 1783 with the title of Knight of the Golden Fleece. He was appointed captain-general of the kingdoms of Valencia and Murcia. He remained in Spain during the years of the French Revolutionary Wars, writing his memoirs (Memoires militaires de Louis de Berton des Balbes de Quiers), published in 1791.) He took no part in the War of the Pyrenees (1793–95) between Spain and revolutionary France, but played a significant role in agreeing the peace that terminated the conflict. He died in Madrid in June 1796.
caption: A 1782 Spanish print commemorating Crillon's victory on Minorca
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