Capture of Enschede (1597)

Capture of Enschede (1597)
Part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War
Plan of Enschede circa 1570
Date 18 and 19 October 1597 Location Enschede, Overijssel (Present day Netherlands) Result Dutch and English victory[1][2]
Belligerents
Dutch Republic England	Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Maurice of Orange Horace Vere	Lieutenant Van Grootveld
Strength
6,700 infantry & cavalry[3]	120
Casualties and losses
Unknown	All captured[2]

The capture of Enschede took place during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War on 18 and 19 October 1597. A Dutch and English army led by Maurice of Orange took the city after a very short siege and threatening that they would destroy the city. The siege was part of Maurice's campaign of 1597, a successful offensive against the Spaniards during what the Dutch call the Ten Glory Years.^[4]

After the siege and capture of Bredevoort, a part of Maurice's army, which included Scots and Frisians under Count Solms and Van Duivenvoorde, went from Winterswijk to Gronau. On 18 October, Prince Maurice, along with his cousin (and brother-in-law) William Louis, followed the cavalry and the artillery that had been in service at Bredevoort, which had been moved the day before. They were followed by the main body consisting of English troops under Colonel Horace Vere and the Frisians, while the companies of Duivenvoorde, Brederode, and the English cavalry formed the rearguard.^[5]