Recovery of Ré island
| Recovery of Ré Island Reprise de l'Île de Ré |
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| Part of the Huguenot rebellions | |||||||
 Capture of Île de Ré by Charles, Duke of Guise on 16 September 1625. Description of the action from 12 to 15 September 1625. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of France Dutch Republic England
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 French Huguenot forces City of La Rochelle
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Louis XIII Charles, Duke of Guise (Commander) Montmorency (Admiral) Toiras (Commander) Willem Haultain de Zoete (Admiral) None (warships only) |
Soubise (Admiral) Jean Guiton (Admiral) |
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| Strength | |||||||
| French forces: 35 warships 20 Dutch warships 7 English warships |
Total men: 3,000 28 warships |
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The Recovery of Ré Island (French: Reprise de l'Île de Ré) was accomplished by the army of Louis XIII in September 1625, against the troops of the Protestant admiral Soubise and the Huguenot forces of La Rochelle, who had been occupying the Island of Ré since February 1625 as part of the Huguenot rebellions.
The Protestants had been resisting the central Royal government with the 1620-1622 Protestant rebellion, leading to the Naval battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré on 27 October 1622 between the naval forces of La Rochelle and a Royal fleet under Charles de Guise. An uneasy peace was made with the Treaty of Montpellier, but frustrations remained on both sides.
In February 1625, the Protestant Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise led a Huguenot revolt against the French king Louis XIII, and, after publishing a manifesto, invaded and occupied the island of Ré. He seized Ré with 300 soldiers and 100 sailors. From there he sailed up the coast to Brittany where he led a successful attack on the royal fleet in the Battle of Blavet. Soubise then returned to Ré with 15 ships and soon occupied the Ile d'Oléron as well, thus taking control of the Atlantic coast from Nantes to Bordeaux. Through these deeds, he was recognized as the head of the reform, and named himself "Admiral of the Protestant Church". The French Navy, by contrast, was depleted, leaving the central government very vulnerable.
The Huguenot city of La Rochelle voted to join Soubise on 8 August 1625.
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