Fort de Bellegarde is on a height overlooking the border town of Le Perthus, which lies on the modern A9 autoroute and Autovía A-7.

[1] When Spain went to war with revolutionary France in mid-April 1793, Captain General Antonio Ricardos faced a strategic problem.

Continuing his left hook, Ricardos' 4,400 troops fell upon a French force at the town of Céret on the Tech River.

At this location, the 7,000 Spanish troops were confronted by the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees led by General of Division Louis-Charles de Flers.

At the Battle of Mas Deu on 19 May, Ricardos defeated de Flers with the loss of 150 killed, 280 wounded, plus three cannons and six ammunition wagons captured.

The demoralized French soldiers retreated north to the department capital of Perpignan, where a battalion of National Guard mutinied and had to be disbanded.

For several weeks the Spanish siege guns pounded Fort de Bellegarde until a breach was made in the main wall.

De Flers had used the month in which Ricardos reduced Bellegarde to train his green recruits and surround Perpignan with field fortifications.