Volume 128 in the Century of the Soldier 1618-1721 series. The Battle of Lens marked the culmination of a ten-year war between France and Spain. The two opponents were exhausted, having fought in Spain, France, Flanders, Italy and Germany. The conflict was to be settled in the summer of 1648 in a battle near the town of Lens in Flanders. The Spanish had neutralized the Dutch for the 1648 campaign and were preparing a major offensive against the French, who had occupied important cities in Flanders for years. The new governor, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, brother of Emperor Ferdinand III of Habsburg, took command of an army of nearly 20,000 soldiers. The French were led by the Prince of Condé, who knew how to instill a spirit of resistance in his troops. The two armies performed marches and countermarches to outwit their opponent and capture cities: Condé took Ypres, but the archduke took Lens. Condé tried to save the city, but was too late. However, the campaign was not lost for France; the brilliant Condé decided to deploy his army on the plain to decide the campaign, his own reputation and the fate of the war.
