ARRC JOURNAL
THE SPANISH ROAD:
LOGISTIC LESSONS FROM THE
RENAISSANCE APPLIED TO
MODERN DEPLOYMENTS
Major Juan Ariza Gómez, Spanish Army
In the fight for power on the European continent during the last half of the 16th century,
the Spanish Army had to find a route for deploying forces by land between northern Italy
and Flanders province. After thorough planning, the Spaniards established an efficient
system for a permanent flow of forces. This deployment system was successful for half
a century and helped to preserve the Spanish Empire and provided a valuable lesson for
the future deployment of forces.
Reception, Staging and
Onward Movement: A constant
challenge for the deployment
of forces
In 1558, the English, who were at that
time allied to Spain, ceded the city of
Calais to the French. This change posed
a great obstacle to the Spanish flow
of forces to the province of Flanders.
During the following decade Spanish
troops needed to keep tight control over
all of Spain’s territories.
Spanish King Philip II inherited separated
European territories from various
ancestors. These included ones on the
Iberian Peninsula, the Mediterranean
Sea, in Italy, Hungary and Bohemia,
Flanders, Bourgogne, as well as some
in Austria and Germany. These territories
enabled Philip in 1566 to order massive
deployments of forces into the province
of Flanders, avoiding maritime transport
through the English Channel altogether.
This led to a planned land operation
involving the movement and transport
of troops and horses through mountains
and valleys, from Milan to Flanders. This
extraordinary tour de force gave birth to
a plan known as ‘The Spanish Road’.
Such a plan was the materialisation of an
operation aimed at the reception, staging
and onward movement (RSOM in NATO
doctrine today) of troops in order for
them to reach their combat positions as
a ready force. This deployment phase is
nothing new and has been historically
one of the most challenging aspects of
holding territory, as experienced by great
tacticians from Alexander to Napoleon.
The first expeditions and their
adaptation
As a result of the early deployments
along the Spanish Road, it was deduced
that forces needed to be divided into
packages of no more than 3,000 soldiers.
Doing so allowed easier command and
control of moving assets and the right
balance of facilities to be used along the
way. Due to fears that such a deployment
would negatively impact the transited
countries, Spanish emissaries were sent
to ensure that the only mission of those
armies passing through was to fight in
the North.
The success of these movements was
also based on very strict marching
discipline that allowed a daily progression
12 miles. The journeys from Milan to
Namur usually took six weeks, but the
Spanish Road enabled some forces
to break records and accomplish the
movement in only 32 to 34 days.
As the French narrowed the options,
several
alternative
routes
were
developed, but it got extremely
demanding. Finally, the 1615 peace
agreement in Asti put an end to the
Spanish Road since Savoy fell under
French rule and the flow of forces was
definitively blocked.
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