Battle of Kallo
Battle of Kallo | |||||||
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Part of the Eighty Years' War | |||||||
The Battle of Kallo. Oil on canvas by Peter Snayers. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Provinces | Spain | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William of Nassau-Siegen |
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
22,000[1] | 8,000–9,000[4] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2,500 dead[5] 2,370–3,000 captured[3][6] 28 cannons captured[7] |
284 dead[4] 822 wounded[4] |
The Battle of Kallo was a major field battle fought from 20 to 21 June 1638 in and around the forts of
The Dutch operation proceeded well at first since the force under Nassau-Siegen easily captured Kallo and Verrebroek. However, it was unable to gain further progress, so the count entrenched his troops and asked for reinforcements. The governor of the Spanish Netherlands and general, Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, younger brother to Philip IV of Spain and victor of the Battle of Nördlingen, with an army consisting of tercios and other troops from several garrison duties, launched a counter-attack over the Dutch positions the night of 20–21 June. Advancing along three narrow fronts, the Spanish forces drove the States' soldiers from a series of outer works, but were unable to dislodge them from the two main forts. However, exhaustion and lack of supplies and reinforcements led Nassau-Siegen to order the re-embarkation during the next night. Ferdinand launched a second assault while the retreat was ongoing, and, as panic ensued among the Dutch ranks, the entire force was defeated. The Dutch commander escaped with a few hundred men, while many others drowned attempting to save themselves or were captured.
Along with the successful defense of Saint-Omer and Geldern that same year, the victory of Kallo proved that the Spanish tercios were still a formidable field force.[8] Additionally, it was interpreted in terms of Catholic propaganda and became subject of paintings, poems and popular songs.[9]
Background
In May 1635, France declared war on the Spanish Monarchy and invaded the Spanish Netherlands from the south in coordination with a Dutch army which descended from the north along the
By 1637, the allies were ready again to go on the offensive. Unlike in 1635, they would operate separately in order to force the Spanish to divide their troops. Thanks to a subsidy of more than 1,1 million guilders paid by France, the States Army could align 24,000 soldiers for a campaign the main objective of which was the capture of the Spanish privateering base of Dunkirk.[12] In face of a quick Spanish reaction, however, Frederick Henry looked for a more suitable goal and invested Breda on 21 July. In early 1637, the Spanish Army of Flanders had 55,000 men, but only 16,000 were available for field operations, the remaining 39,000 being assigned to garrison duties.[13] Lacking of troops enough to relieve Breda while he waited for the return of the Imperial forces under Piccolomini from Germany, the Cardinal-Infante launched an offensive over the Dutch fortresses in the Meuse valley in August and quickly took Venlo and Roermond.[14]
While the Dutch continued to besiege Breda, the French armies invaded the provinces of
In late 1637, Philip IV and Olivares decided to increase to size of the Army of Flanders to over than 80,000, for which they intended to send 4,700,000 ducats to
At The Hague, Frederick Henry of Orange had to face pressure by the States of Holland, that wished to reduce the size of the army to reduce its cost. The prince was able to prevent this by reminding that the French war subsidies depended on the deployment of a sizeable army, and pointed out that it was necessary for the Republic to capture Antwerp in order to render the alliance beneficial and open the way to the peace with Spain.[16] On 17 December 1637, the States General and the French ambassador Jean d'Estampes de Valençay reached an agreement on how to invade the Spanish Netherlands. Each side would deploy 18,000 to 20,000 infantry and 4,500 to 5,000 cavalry, while France would contribute to the Dutch war effort with 1.2 million guilders. The Republic agreed to attack a major city —Dunkirk, Antwerp or Hulst—, while France promised to besiege Thionville, Namur or Mons, or launching a diversionary operation to allow the States Army to fulfill its plans.[16]
Dutch preparations and landing
The Prince of Orange departed The Hague on 25 May and, on 1 June, the same day that the French Army laid siege to Saint-Omer, in Artois, he took command of the field army of the Dutch States, which had been assembled at a camp in the village of Lithoijen, in Brabant. A 3,000-men detachment under Count Henry Casimir of Nassau-Dietz was sent to Nijmegen to guard the southern border of the Republic, while Frederick Henry led the bulk of the army to Dordrecht, where it embarked aboard a fleet of 30 warships that convoyed it with its artillery, horses and baggage to Bergen op Zoom.[20] Frederick Henry had planned at first to besiege Hulst, but, pressed by a deputation of the States General, he finally agreed to move upon Antwerp. To fully invest the city and prevent it from being relieved from Hulst and Ghent, the prince dispatched a force of 7,000 infantry and 300 cavalry under Count William of Nassau-Siegen aboard 53 large boats and many smaller ones —taken in 1631 from the Spanish at the Battle of the Slaak— to land at the Waasland, west of Antwerp.[21][22] They embarked at Dordrecht a day before that the main army did it, though both forces reunited briefly at Bergen op Zoom before the landing operation was undertaken.[23]
The banks of the Scheldt were protected by a series of forts which made the Dutch operation difficult. A landing at the dike between the forts of Sint-Maria and Hooft van Vlaanderen was deemed too risky, since the approaching fleet would have been easily discovered.[24] Instead, Frederick Henry instructed Count William to sail across the flooded country to the Doel island to land there and then to advanced upon the dike of Kallo. Captain Hoemaker, governor of the fort of Liefkenshoek, at Doel, was to provide guides to ensure that the quick arrival of the landing force at Kallo. Once there, the States troops had orders to seize the forts of Kallo and Verrebroek, which should be properly garrisoned, and to advance up to the Blokkersdijk and Burcht, which had to be seized too. Once the said positions had been taken, the dikes nearby were to be breached in order to flood the countryside and render any relief to Antwerp from the west impossible. If Blokkersdijk and Burch could not be taken, William should withdraw to the dike of Kallo and entrench his troops there.[25] Meanwhile, Frederick Henry would advance on the other side of the Scheldt from Bergen op Zoom to Berchem ahead the main army —4 English infantry regiments, 5 French infantry regiments, the Solms and Beverweert regiments, 27 militia companies and all the cavalry–. There, once Antwerp had been invested from that flank, a pontoon bridge would be laid over the Scheldt to link with Count William's forces at Burcht.[26]
Count William departed Bergen op Zoom with his army on the night of 13 to 14 July and landed at Doel after a brief crossing. From there, they moved across the flooded lands towards the dike of Kallo with the water up to the waist or even the armpits, despite Captain Hoemaker having said that it would not cover above the knee. Four artillery pieces were moved on sleds. The dike was unguarded, but, as the presence of the States Army at Bergen op Zoom was known to
Spanish reaction
Once Feipe da Silva learned about the loss of the forts, he requested assistance from the garrisons of Hulst and
On 15 July, with Ferdinand already in Antwerp, William noticed that the Spanish were gathering forces at Beveren and ordered a demi-lune between the forts of Kallo and Sint-Marie to be abandoned, as well as some trenches which the States' troops had dug in front of the latter fort.[21] That day a skirmish took place when the Count of Fontaines, who has assumed command of the troops at Beveren, lured William into an ambush. 1,200 Dutch infantry and some cavalry made a sortie from their entrenchments to drive away the Spanish troops from a breastwork that they were building over the dike linking Kallo and Melsele. When the State's soldiers had distanced themselves from the fortifications, 9 companies of Spanish cavalry fell upon them and inflicted a number of casualties before Colonel Balfour came in relief ahead 400 foot soldiers armed with carbines and 4 cavalry companies. Count Maurice Frederick, William's only son and a Captain of the States Army, was killed in action by a sword thrust.[21]
After the skirmish, both troops remained at their positions, exchanging artillery fire. On 18 July, William sent his younger half-brother Henry, lieutenant-colonel of the Noord-Hollands Regiment, to ask the Prince of Orange for food and gunpowder, since his men were starting to run out of both.[30] The same day, Ferdinand had finally gathered a sizeable army, including an Imperial infantry regiment under the Baron of Adelshofen, recently arrived from Luxemburg, and held a council in which it was decided to launch a three-pronged attack next evening to dislodge the Dutch and retake Kallo and Verrebroek.[31]
Battle
Order of battle
The Spanish order of battle was determined in the council of 18 July. Count Fuenclara was to attack from the fort of Sint-Marie in command of the 15 companies of his Spanish tercio and troops taken from the garrisons of the Demer, Herentals, and Lier. His Spanish tercio had fought at the Battle of Nördlingen four years previously. The Marquis of Lede was instructed to attack from the dike of Melsele with the German foot regiment of Brion, the Italian tercio of Ottavio Guasco, the Imperial foot regiment of Adelshofen and six cavalry companies. Andrea Cantelmo, general of the artillery, would lead the third and main attack, over the fort of Verrebroek, along the dikes coming from Hulst and Vrasene. The units under his command were 10 companies of Spanish infantry arrived from Limburg −5 from the Tercio of the Marquis of Velada and 5 from that of the Count of Fuenclara–, the Italian tercio of the Duke of Avigliano, the Walloon tercios of Ribacourt and Catres, a foot regiment from Luxemburg and 10 cavalry companies.[31] They numbered, in all, 8,000 to 9,000 men.[4] The Cardinal-Infante instructed the three commanders to launch their attacks simultaneously in order to prevent the Dutch from sending reinforcements to one point or another, and, if the enemy fortifications proved too strong for the States Army to be dislodged, to fortify the points that they managed to take and keep harassing the enemy with artillery and bombs.[31]
The States Army initially had 6,000 to 7,000 infantry and 300 cavalry,[3] or 5,700 men according to other reports.[2] The foot soldiers included 8 companies of Count William's own Lower German regiment, 14 companies of the Scottish regiments of Balfour, Sandilands and Hamond; 7 companies of the Lower German regiment of Count Henry Casimir of Nassau-Dietz, 7 from the Walloon and Lower German regiment of Count Henry of Nassau-Siegen, 7 from the Regiment of Prince John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, elder brother of William and governor of New Holland, 7 companies under Colonel Erhard von Ehrenreuter, and 7 of the Dutch Regiment of the Lord of Brederode, 57 companies in all,[3] though other sources give a total strength of 63 foot companies and also note the presence of elements of the Noord-Hollands Regiment.[25] The 4 cavalry companies were those of captains Brouchoven, Pierre du Four, Lord of Le Metz (French), Wingen, and Raoul van Oss.[3] The States' artillery train included 15 cannons: six demi-cannons, six 6-pdrs and three 3-pdrs.[4] William expected the imminent arrival of reinforcements, since Frederick Henry informed him on 18 July that he had dispatched Count Henry of Nassau-Siegen with 27 additional infantry companies to join him. Nevertheless, bad weather and opposing tides prevented the reinforcements from arriving in time.[32]
The action of Kallo
The Spanish offensive started on 20 July at midnight. On the left, Cantelmo deployed his Spanish infantry on the right, the Italians on the left and the Germans and Walloons on the center. They advanced along the dike of Hulst and overpowered the Dutch defenders despite their stubborn defense. During the fight, Cantelmo gave a fire signal to Maestre de Campo Ribacourt to attack along the dike of Vrasene to distract the Dutch troops, while the cavalry was deployed in the field between the two dikes. Two cannons fired upon the Dutch entrenchments from the dike of Hulst. The States' troops were driven out five
On the right wing, the Count of Fuenclara, in the presence of the Count of Fontaines, dispatched his Spanish and Walloon infantry, led by sergeant-major Baltasar de Mercader, against the Dutch entrenchments and, by midday on 21 July, had succeeded in expelling the States troops from its outer works. Count William's troops still held the fort of Kallo and a
Both sides had suffered high casualties during the fight. Fuenclara's ranks were so depleted that the Cardinal-Infante reinforced him with 200 infantry from the citadel of Antwerp and 4 companies of cavalry, two of
The Dutch attempt at investing in Antwerp ended in a disaster from the west. 400 to 500 States' soldiers died during the combats of 19 July,
Aftermath
News about the Spanish victory arrived in Antwerp on 22 June early in the morning. Its inhabitants reacted with joy, and many of them walked to Kallo to see the scenario of the victory. They returned with relics from the battlefield, including orange garlands that were put as trophies in the city's churches.
The defeat at Kallo reduced the size of the States' army under Frederick Henry to 119 foot and 54 horse companies, plus the 27 under Henry of Nassau-Siegen intended to relieve the forces which had landed at Waasland, which were at
The Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, informed about the Dutch move, left Brussels for
By the end of November, the delegates commissioned to negotiate the rescue of the States' soldiers captured at Kallo and Verrebroek reached an agreement at Roosendaal. The Spanish released the prisoners after the payment of a ransom consisting of two-month salaries of the captured troops, plus the amount of their manutention. The Spanish tried unsuccessfully to convince the German and Scottish troops to enter their service, but in the end, few of the prisoners rejoined the Dutch Army since many of them had died during their imprisonment because of its poor conditions.[47]
Reception
The success at Kallo was joyfully received by the Spanish court. The Cardinal-Infante wrote to his brother Philip IV that it was "the greatest victory which your Majesty's arms have achieved since the war in the Low Countries began".[48] Ferdinand believed that his position was stronger enough after his victories near Antwerp at Geldern to negotiate a truce with the Dutch Republic to detach it from France, and instructed Joseph de Bergaigne, bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch, to make the first moves. Olivares was satisfied since a truce would favour the chance of reaching a separate peace with the Dutch, and that would damage France's position.[49] Emanuele Tesauro a poet and historian in service of the Prince of Carignano –second in command of the Army of Flanders–, wrote that 'the enterprise of Kallo had a great merit. The memory of Doel deprived the Dutch from the principal instruments which had led their enterprises to success, which were their reputation and the confidence they had on their courage'.[50] From the military point of view, the disaster of William of Nassau-Siegen's force showed that the Republic could not besiege Antwerp until it gained a firm footing in Flanders. This would lead Frederick Henry to unsuccessfully focus, over the 1639 and 1640 campaigns, on the capture of Hulst.[51]
The States' Army defeat at Kallo was reported by Amsterdam newspapers like
Legacy
The battle of Kallo had a great repercussion in the Spanish Netherlands. Popular pamphlets attributed to the
At Madrid, Olivares commissioned Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, chaplain to the empress Maria Anna of Austria, to write a chronicle of the Spanish military successes of 1638, among them the battle of Kallo, the reliefs of Geldern and Saint-Omer, and the conquests of Breme and Vercelli, in Savoy, though the most celebrated victory in Spain was that of Hondarribia, in the northern Spain, over the French.[59] The Count-Duke also entrusted Virgilio Malvezzi to write his own version of the year's successes, which was published under the title La libra and that was openly intended at glorifying the Spanish Monarchy. There, the Bolognese historian stated that 'the year thirty-eight was the most glorious of this Monarchy [under Philip IV] because it started as the most dangerous', and attributed the Spanish victories to the divine design.[59]
The Italian general Andrea Cantelmo, who had played a key role in the Spanish triumph, commissioned the battle painter
Notes
- ^ Wilson 2009, p. 661.
- ^ a b c d Nimwegen 2010, p. 256.
- ^ a b c d e f g Commelin 1656, p. 10.
- ^ a b c d e f Picouet 2020, p. 60.
- ^ a b c Beausobre 1733, p. 229.
- ^ a b c Palafox y Mendoza 1762, p. 188.
- ^ De Mariana 1839, p. 69.
- ^ González de León 2009, p. 235.
- ^ Schaudies 2016, p. 80-83.
- ^ Nimwegen 2010, p. 251.
- ^ Israel 1997, p. 76.
- ^ Nimwegen 2010, p. 252.
- ^ a b Vermeir 2006, p. 148.
- ^ a b Israel 1997, p. 81.
- ^ Vermeir 2006, p. 151.
- ^ a b c Nimwegen 2010, p. 255.
- ^ a b Israel 1997, p. 82.
- ^ a b c Vermeir 2006, p. 155.
- ^ Esteban Estríngana 2021, p. 190.
- ^ Commelin 1656, p. 8.
- ^ a b c Commelin 1656, p. 9.
- ^ Beausobre 1733, p. 223-224.
- ^ Beausobre 1733, p. 225.
- ^ Beausobre 1733, p. 223.
- ^ a b Beausobre 1733, p. 224.
- ^ Beausobre 1733, p. 224-255.
- ^ Palafox y Mendoza 1762, p. 129.
- ^ Palafox y Mendoza 1762, p. 130.
- ^ Palafox y Mendoza 1762, p. 131.
- ^ a b Beausobre 1733, p. 227.
- ^ a b c Palafox y Mendoza 1762, p. 186.
- ^ Beausobre 1733, p. 228.
- ^ a b c d e f g Le Clerc 1728, p. 180.
- ^ a b Palafox y Mendoza 1762, p. 187.
- ^ Palafox y Mendoza 1762, p. 187-188.
- ^ Adriaans-van Schaik 2011, p. 21.
- ^ Adriaans-van Schaik 2011, p. 22.
- ^ a b Commelin 1656, p. 15.
- ^ Beausobre 1733, p. 234.
- ^ Picouet 2020, p. 61.
- ^ Nimwegen 2010, p. 257.
- ^ Commelin 1656, p. 18.
- ^ Palafox y Mendoza 1762, p. 207.
- ^ Le Clerc 1728, p. 183.
- ^ Commelin 1656, p. 19.
- ^ Commelin 1656, p. 20.
- ^ Le Clerc 1728, p. 184.
- ^ Israel 1997, p. 83.
- ^ Esteban Estríngana 2021, p. 198.
- ^ Tesauro 1674, p. 102.
- ^ Nimwegen 2010, p. 259-263.
- ^ Borst 2009, p. 86-89.
- ^ Groen van Prinsterer 1859, p. 122.
- ^ a b Katritzky 2020, p. 136.
- ^ Borst 2009, p. 77.
- ^ Büttner 2021, p. 423.
- ^ a b Mertens 2009, p. 2.
- ^ Schaudies 2016, p. 83.
- ^ a b Díaz Noci 2004, p. 100.
- ^ Kelchtermans 2018, p. 21-22.
- ^ Schaudies 2016, p. 80.
- ^ Adriaans-van Schaik 2011, p. 22-23.
- ^ Adriaans-van Schaik 2011, p. 7-11.
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