Siege of Roses ( 1794 – 95 ) The Siege of Roses ( or Siege of Rosas ) began on 28 November 1794 and lasted until 4 February 1795 when the Spanish garrison abandoned the port and the forces of the First French Republic took control . Dominique Catherine de Pérignon commanded the French army and Domingo Salvator Izquierdo led the Spanish defenders . The siege took place during the War of the Pyrenees which was part of the French Revolutionary Wars . The war ended in July 1795 and Roses was soon restored to Spain . Roses is a coastal city in northeastern Spain , located northeast of Girona . The French inflicted a severe defeat on the Spanish army at the Black Mountain in November 1794 . In the aftermath , the French army quickly captured Figueras and its fortress . At the same time , they undertook a formal siege of Roses . Pérignon and his lieutenant Pierre François Sauret soon realized that an outlying fort was the key to Roses and concentrated their energy on reducing it . A month after the fort fell , the Spanish fleet evacuated the garrison by sea . Background . On 17 November 1794 , the French Army of the Eastern Pyrenees under General of Division Jacques François Dugommier attacked Lieutenant General Luis Firmin de Carvajal , Conde de la Union ' s Spanish army in the Battle of the Black Mountain . The French army routed their adversaries in a four - day combat in which both commanding generals were killed . General of Division Dominique Catherine de Pérignon assumed command of the French army and quickly occupied the city of Figueres . The French general bluffed Brigadier General José Andrés Valdes into surrendering the 9 , 000 - man garrison of Sant Ferran Castle on 28 November . On the same day , General of Division Pierre François Sauret invested the port of Roses . Siege . Forces . The defenses of Roses consisted of a Vauban - type citadel ( " ciutadella " ) and the " Castillo de la Trinidad " ( " Castell de la Trinitat " ) . These fortifications were ordered by Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor in 1543 and completed by 1570 . The citadel had a modified pentagonal shape with five bastions and demi - lunes on all sides except the sea side . The " Castillo de la Trinidad " was a 4 - pointed star - shaped work on a height . The citadel is located just west of the town while the " castillo " crowns a promontory 2 . 3 km south - southeast of the citadel . The 300 - meter high Mont Puy - Bois dominated the " Castillo " on the northeast . Lieutenant General Domingo Salvator Izquierdo commanded the 4 , 800 men of the Spanish garrison . Admiral Federico Carlos Gravina y Napoli ' s fleet of 13 ships of the line and 45 other vessels lay in the Bay of Roses . These ships provided gunfire and logistic support to the garrison . On 28 November the French invested Roses with 13 , 261 soldiers . While Sauret had immediate command over the besiegers , Pérignon remained the driving force in prosecuting the siege . Six brigades were subordinated to Sauret for the operation . The brigades were commanded by Generals of Brigade Claude Perrin Victor ( 2 , 455 infantry ) , Joseph Magdelaine Martin ( 1 , 747 infantry ) , Robert Motte ( 1 , 799 infantry ) , Jean - Jacques Causse ( 1 , 403 infantry ) , Théodore Chabert ( 2 , 118 infantry ) , and François Gilles Guillot ( 1 , 019 infantry and 123 cavalry ) . General of Division Jean Baptiste Beaufort de Thorigny ' s 2 , 586 infantry and 211 cavalry were in support at Castillon . Action . On 29 November , the first battery opened fire on the fortress and the French began digging siege trenches . By 7 December , six batteries were pounding the defenses . Izquierdo launched several ineffectual sorties at the French as their siege parallels drew closer to the citadel . By this time Pérignon realized that the " Castillo de la Trinidad " , whose fire caused serious damage to the besiegers , was the key position . He ordered that heavy guns be installed on Mont Puy - Bois . When the French engineers protested that it could not be done , the commanding general overrode their objections . The French soldiers , whose nickname for the " Castillo " was " le Bouton de Rose " ( the Pimple ) , managed to haul three batteries to the summit by 25 December . The batteries on Mont Puy - Bois finally breached the walls of the " Castillo " and its garrison was taken off in boats on 1 January . From the newly captured position , the French opened fire on the citadel and the fleet . Meanwhile , the army of Lieutenant General José de Urrutia y de las Casas held a position behind the Rio Fluvià to the south of Roses , threatening to advance to its relief . By 25 January , when wintry weather compelled Sauret to suspend siege operations , Urrutia ' s army had grown menacingly large . Determined to take the fortress , Pérignon decided to try bluff again . He stormed the Spanish advanced positions on 1 February . The French army commander staged obvious preparations for a full - scale assault , such as the display of scaling ladders in the trenches . This finally broke the morale of the defenders . Izquierdo ordered the surviving members of the garrison to be evacuated by Gravina ' s squadron on the night of 3 February , leaving a 300 - man rear guard behind to cover the operation . The rear guard was supposed to be taken off in small boats in the morning , but they were abandoned by the fleet and became French prisoners . Results . The Spanish reported 113 killed , 470 wounded , and 1 , 160 sick during the siege . In addition , 300 soldiers fell into French hands . French losses are unknown but were claimed to be light . Annoyed that Pérignon was unable to advance beyond the Fluvià , the French government replaced him at the end of May 1795 with General of Division Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer . Urrutia repulsed Schérer ' s attempt to cross the Fluvià at Bàscara on 14 June . French losses numbered 2 , 500 while the Spanish army only lost 546 casualties . The Peace of Basel on 22 July 1795 officially ended the fighting . Spanish forces under Lieutenant General Gregorio García de la Cuesta won two minor actions at Puigcerdà and Bellver de Cerdanya in late July , before news of the peace reached the front . The Second Treaty of San Ildefonso , in which Pérignon played a key role , followed on 19 August 1796 . By this pact , Spain became an ally of France . A subsequent Siege of Roses happened in November and December 1808 , during the Peninsular War . Previous sieges occurred in 1645 and 1693 . External references . " The following reference is an excellent source for the full names of French generals . "