After the Army of Catalonia was nearly destroyed in the sieges of Tarragona and Figueras during July and August 1811, Lacy replaced Luis González Torres de Navarra, Marquess of Campoverde as Captain General. Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet struck another blow against the Catalans when his troops seized the miquelet base in the Battle of Montserrat on 25 July 1811. The unpopular but vigorous Lacy quickly reorganized the 8,000-man remnant of his army into three small divisions under Generals Baron de Eroles, Pedro Sarsfield, and Francisco Milans del Bosch. With the Royal Navy's assistance, Lacy seized the Medes Islands at the mouth of the Ter River on 12 September.