Siege of Geertruidenberg (1593)

Siege of Geertruidenberg
Part of the Eighty Years' War & the Anglo–Spanish War

Siege of Geertruidenberg in 1594 by Giovanni Battista Boazio – the semi circle curve at bottom are brigantines blockading the city
Date27 March – 24 June 1593
Location
Geertruidenberg
Present day the Netherlands
51°42′3″N 4°51′37″E / 51.70083°N 4.86028°E / 51.70083; 4.86028
Result Dutch and English victory[1][2]
Belligerents
 Dutch Republic
England England		 Spain Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Dutch Republic Maurice of Orange
England Francis Vere		 Spain Count of Mansfeld
Spain Earl of Masieres  †
Spain Sieur de Gissant  †
Strength
12,000[3] 800 (Garrison)
8,000 troops & 1,500 cavalry (Relief) [2]
Casualties and losses
Light
500 to disease		 1,000 killed wounded or captured
Siege of Geertruidenberg is located in Netherlands
Siege of Geertruidenberg
Siege of Geertruidenberg
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Location within Netherlands

The siege of Geertruidenberg was a siege of the city of Geertruidenberg that took place between 27 March and 24 June 1593 during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. Anglo-Dutch troops under the commands of Maurice of Nassau and Francis Vere laid siege to the Spanish garrisoned city.[1] The siege was unique in that the besiegers used a hundred ships, forming a semicircle in a chain on the Mass river to form a blockade. A Spanish force under the command of the Count of Mansfeld attempted to relieve the city in May, but they were defeated and later forced to withdraw. Three Governors of the city were killed – after the last fatality and as a result of the failed relief, the Spanish surrendered the city on 24 June 1593.[4][5] The victory earned Maurice much fame and had thus become a steadfast strategist in the art of war.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b Ungerer, Gustav (1974). A Spaniard in Elizabethan England: The Correspondence of Antonio Pérez's Exile, Volume 1. Tamesis Books. p. 128. ISBN 9780900411847.
  2. ^ a b van Nimwegen pp 159–161
  3. ^ Motley, John Lothrop (1867). History of the United Netherlands from the death of William the silent to the Synod of Dort, with a full view of the English-Dutch struggle against Spain, and of the origin and destruction of the Spanish armada. W. Clowes and Sons, pp 256–258
  4. ^ Markham pp. 189–190
  5. ^ Black p 112
  6. ^ Knight, Charles Raleigh: Historical records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) formerly designated the Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment. Vol I. London, Gale & Polden, 1905, pp. 38–39
  7. ^ Kunzle 210