The siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, or siege of St. Martin's (French: siège de Saint-Martin-de-Ré), was an attempt by English forces under George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, to capture the French fortress-city of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, on the isle of Ré (near La Rochelle), in 1627. After three months of siege, the Marquis de Toiras and a relief force of French ships and troops managed to repel the Duke, who was forced to withdraw in defeat. The encounter followed another defeat for Buckingham, the 1625 Cádiz expedition, and is considered to be the opening conflict of the Anglo-French War of 1627–1629. Landing On 12 July 1627, an English force of 100 ships and 6,000 soldiers, having previously departed from Plymouth Sound, under the command of the Duke of Buckingham invaded the Île de Ré, landing at the beach of Sablanceau, with the objective of controlling the approaches to La Rochelle and encouraging rebellion in the city. Buckingham hoped to capture the Fort of La Prée and the fortified city of Saint-Martin-de-Ré. A Royal French force of 1,200 infantry and 200 horsemen under the Marquis de Toiras, the island's Governor, resisted the landing from behind the dunes, but the English beachhead was maintained, with over 12 officers and 100 men killed. During a period of three days in which Buckingham consolidated his beachhead, Toiras took all available provisions on the island and fortified himself in the citadel of Saint Martin. Buckingham endeavoured to establish a siege around the citadel, but that proved difficult; the English siege engineer had drowned during the landing, the cannon were too few and too small and, as autumn arrived, disease started to take its toll on the English troops. The siege continued until October. Reinforcements Requested supplies from England proved insufficient. Two thousand Irish troops arrived under Sir Ralph Bingley on 3 September 1627. A small supply fleet under Sir William Beecher arrived with only 400 raw troops. A Scottish fleet composed of 30 ships, with 5,000 men, was on its way in October 1627, but was broken up by a storm on the coast of Norfolk. A strong relief fleet under the Earl of Holland only departed on 6 November 1627, which proved to be too late. The French, despite difficulties, managed to get small amounts of supplies through to the defenders throughout the siege – in August, Cardinal Richelieu offered a reward of 30,000 livres to the