On 17 April 1793 Captain General Antonio Ricardos began the invasion of France when he descended on Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans in the French Cerdagne with 4,500 Spanish troops. The six battalions and eight grenadier companies led by Ricardos chased 400 French soldiers out of the village. The Spanish next headed for Céret on the Tech River where they encountered one French regular battalion, 1,000 volunteers, and four artillery pieces on 20 April. The clash ended disastrously for the 1,800 French who quickly took fright and ran away. Between 100 and 200 Frenchmen became casualties while another 200 drowned trying to swim across the Tech. Ricardos admitted losing only 17 men wounded in the skirmish. The Spanish general left a force at Le Perthus to watch the garrison of the Fort de Bellegarde