page_title: Juan de Courten (elder)
section_title: War of the Pyrenees
hierarchical_section_title: Juan de Courten (elder) / War of the Pyrenees
context_page_description: Juan de Courten (elder) or Juan Antonio Curten Massenet or Juan Courten or Juan Curten began his Spanish military career in the War of the Austrian Succession at the age of 14. His father was a brigadier general of engineers who died in 1745. Courten fought in the Spanish–Portuguese War, the Invasion of Algiers in 1775, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar. He was the last Spanish governor of Oran in 1792. As a lieutenant general, he led an infantry division during the War of the Pyrenees against the First French Republic in several actions including Perpignan, Peyrestortes, Truillas, Boulou, and the Black Mountain. He was appointed Captain General of Aragon in 1795.
context_section_description: Promoted to teniente general, Courten played a prominent role in the War of the Pyrenees against the First French Republic which began in 1793. The army commander Ricardos had a good opinion of Courten's military competence and entrusted him with important commands. He led the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Battalions of the Walloon Guards in the Battle of Perpignan on 17 July 1793. His troops acquitted themselves well in this unsuccessful action. On 17 September 1793 he fought at the Battle of Peyrestortes. The French attacked his division in its camp at Le Vernet and forced it to retreat with a loss of 1,200 soldiers, 26 guns, and seven colors. He played a notable part in the Spanish victory at the Battle of Truillas five days later. At Truillas, 24,000 French attacked in the morning but were stopped. Don Juan Courten and the Count de la Union led an infantry counterattack that helped win the battle. The French lost 1,500 prisoners and 10 artillery pieces.
  After directing his troops in an action at the Col de Banyuls on 14 December, the 63-year-old general became ill. He fought in the Battle of Boulou in late April and early May 1794. In October 1794 an order of battle listed Teniente General Courten as commanding the following units. They were two battalions of the Burgos Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion each of the Principe Line Infantry, Granada Militia, and Voluntarios de Tarragona Light Infantry, the first battalions of the España, Extremadura, Granada, Malaga, and Savoia Line Infantry, and one company of Granaderos de Cordoba.
  Courten commanded the left wing at the Battle of the Black Mountain. On 17 and 18 November 1794 Pierre Augereau's French division defeated Courten and forced his troops to withdraw. The climax of the battle came on 20 November when the French overran the Roure redoubt in the center and put the Spanish army to flight. Both army commanders were killed in the hard-fought action, Conde de la Unión and Jacques François Dugommier. In 1795 Courten was appointed Captain General of Aragon. He died near Zaragoza on 21 December 1796.
caption: Antonio Ricardos had a good opinion of Courten.
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