General Luis de Guzmán to explore the area. It proved to be a gut inaccessible for the biggest ships, as during the low tide the water level was extremely low, so it was planned attack the French squadron by land. By 20 October the preparations were ready. At 3:00 AM. of that day Melchor de la Cueva's, Duke of Veragua's and Francisco de Meneses' tercios landed on both shores of the channel and moved towards the French vessel's concentration, located in front of a castle garrisoned by a French and a Scottish regiments. These troops, along with a cavalry corps coming from a nearby village, skirmished with the Spanish tercios until 5:00 PM., when the high tide allowed the Spanish seamen to sail 3 galleys and 7 brigantines out of the channel. 2 frigates, 2 brigantines and 15 barges were set on fire due to the impossibility of refloating them, as well as the houses of the bourg after being sacked. The whole operation was carried out with no casualty. Aftermath The day following the battle, the Spanish ships shelled the village of Montagne, after which 1,600 soldiers were landed and looted it, capturing large amounts of cattle, wine, wheat and other provisions. Royan and several other nearby places were also plundered. Few days later, a surprise attack on the Island of Ré failed due to the errors of Santa Cruz and Buñuelos. After that Santa Cruz returned to Spain. His fleet anchored in the port Pasaia, near Donostia, despite he had no orders to do it. For this reason or for his failure against Ré, he was imprisoned in the Castle of San Torcaz. Admiral Manuel de Buñuelos was also punished, being recluded in the Castle of Vélez. Notes References Gómez de Blas, Juan: Ataque español en Burdeos, 1653. Revista de Historia Naval Naval battles involving Spain Naval battles involving France Battles of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) Naval battles of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) 1653 in Europe Conflicts in 1653