Capture of Axel
| Capture of Axel | |
|---|---|
| 51°15′56.16″N 3°54′32.04″E / 51.2656000°N 3.9089000°E | |
| Result | Dutch and English victory[1][2] |
United Provinces 
England
Spain UnknownThe Capture of Axel was a military event during the
Maurice of Nassau was appointed
Axel, a town in the
Assault and capture
On June 17, 1586, with the assistance of the newly arrived English forces under the
Here they joined with Maurice's men of Zeelanders and marched towards Axel and on arrival began to besiege it. Maurice had opened the dykes which then flooded the towns around Terneuzen to cut off Axel from the mainland. This was also used to discourage any assistance in terms of relief and supply.[2]
Almost immediately an assault was launched but the leading assault troops of forty men under Colonel Jan Pyrom found the surrounding moat very deep. Undeterred they swam across it and with the ladders brought up, scaled the ramparts killing the guard. Once inside they opened the gates for the rest of the besiegers to assault the place. The Dutch companies were first to rush in then followed by the English under Sydney and then Willoughby with the final wave.[2] The Spanish garrison recovered from their surprise but numbers were against them and soon the whole garrison, despite gallant resistance, was slaughtered, with very few being taken prisoner.[1]
After the siege Maurice had several redoubts built to protect Axel and the surrounding area. Axel itself was then garrisoned by over 800 soldiers under Colonel Pyron who was rewarded for his services in the action. He then set about dismantling the Catholic magistrates and clearing the city of its inhabitants.[5]
Maurice as commander was to make great achievements later on in the States' campaigns. Sydney would later be mortally wounded in the siege of Zutphen a year later and Leicester would leave soon after, following poor relations with the Dutch and fellow English officers.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e Motley pg. 23-24
- ^ a b c d Stewart pg 303-04
- ^ a b Nolan pg 98
- ^ 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, p. 22
- ^ Aa, Abraham Jacob (1835). Herinneringen uit het gebied der geschiedenis betrekkelijk de Nederlanden (in Dutch). Uitgave J.C.van Kesteren. p. 248.
- Sources
- OCLC 560893546.
- OCLC 8903843.
- Nolan, John S. (1997). Sir John Norreys and the Elizabethan Military World. Liverpool University Press - Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies. ISBN 9780859895484.
- Stewart, Alan (2011). Philip Sidney: A Double Life. Random House. ISBN 9781448104567.
- Tracy, J.D. (2008). The Founding of the Dutch Republic: War, Finance, and Politics in Holland 1572–1588. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-920911-8.