Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1588)
Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom | |||||||
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Part of the Anglo–Spanish War | |||||||
Anno 1588. Marcelis Bax's brave performance during a sortie | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
England United Provinces | Spanish Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Maurice of Orange |
Duke of Parma Sancho Martínez de Leyva | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
5,000[3] | 20,000[4] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Low | 1,000[5] |
The siege of
Background
England had been freed from danger following the failure of the
Parma instead turned and then marched through Brabant with the aim of taking Bergen op Zoom before winter set in. Parma sent a regiment under the Marquis de Renty, with troops numbering 8,000 men under Count Mansfelt, the Prince of Ascoli, and the Duke of Pastrana, in advance to attempt the capture of the island of Tholen.[11][3][4] On it was an important town of the same name to the north of Bergen op Zoom, on the opposite side of the channel of the Scheldt separating the island from the mainland of Brabant. The governor of Bergen op Zoom was Thomas Morgan and the garrison was predominantly English - composed of twelve ensigns of English foot and three cornets of Dutch cavalry under the commands of Peregrine Bertie (Lord Willoughby) and Sir William Drury.[8][12]
Morgan had been in England supervising the defence of the English coast during the armada campaign, leaving Lord Willoughby in charge.
As the Spanish force advanced through Tholen they attacked the town but after several attempts were vigorously repulsed by Solmes and his Zealand troops who had inflicted nearly 400 casualties.[3] The commanders themselves narrowly escaped drowning in the retreat across the river owing to the sudden rise of the waters.[4] Parma, despite the defeat, wasted no time and pressed on towards Bergen-op-Zoom.[14][12]
Siege
Morgan arrived back from England and found that Parma had surrounded the place, but Willougby was able to act. The waters of the dykes were let out by the defenders of the city and poured over the countryside.[13] With the exception of some elevated points occupied by Parma's forces, the whole country was overflowed.[3] The Spanish army comprised almost 20,000 men and Morgan ordered sallies to be made against the besieging Spanish force whilst trenches and ravelins were built. Several were made from September 23 with success and forced the Spanish to flee from their entrenchments having lost a great deal of supplies, prisoners, and equipment. During one of the sallies a young Francis Vere received a wound from a pike to this leg.[12]
Dutch militia cavalry under the command of Bergen op Zoom traders Paul and Marcellus Bax made a
Grimstone ruse
During one of these sorties Robert Redhead, a
Parma selected a band of one hundred handpicked musketeers to be followed by a much more considerable force two thousand in number under
As soon as the troops on the outside were aware of the trap into which they had fallen, the Spanish enraged by this refused to abandon the attack. They threw down the palisades and began a vigorous attack on the fortifications.[17] At the same time the portcullis was swung wide open and a furious onslaught was made by the garrison upon the Spaniards.[10] In the confusion the two English prisoners were able to escape unhurt.[4] There was a fierce struggle, the Spanish could not get out of the trap; some were killed under the walls and the rest were soon speedily driven back.[7] As they did so the Spanish were assailed on their retreat by an ambush on the dyke and the rest were hunted into the waters.[16] They were utterly routed; a great number were killed or wounded and several high-ranking officers were taken prisoner.[18][13][17]
To make matters worse the tide began to flow, and the soldiers who had easily waded across the moat were washed away - 300 were drowned in an attempt to reach the camp.[4] Parma was horrified and couldn't believe what had happened as he saw the survivors coming back to their entrenchments; he realised that the siege had to be raised.[19][13]
Relief
A relief force under
Aftermath
Parma and his army returned in defeat to
The Spanish lost 1,000 men to the garrison of Bergen op Zoom most of whom were killed or drowned in the assault.[9][17] In addition to the repulse at Tholen and the armada campaign, Parma had lost in the region of some 10,000 men killed or dead from sickness.[21] The Anglo-Dutch losses were minor save for some that were ill with disease.[5] Grimston and Redhead received a present of 1,000 florins each from the Queen and an annuity of 600 florins.[22]
The following year the Spanish army
Francis Vere had distinguished himself and was Knighted by Willoughby on the battlefield for bravery.[8] Vere the following year would command the English army in the Netherlands after Willoughby's resignation and would hold this command for twenty years. He was highly esteemed by the Queen and also by the States General of the United Provinces.[8]
Bergen op Zoom would continue to be in English and Dutch hands repulsing further Spanish sieges and attacks over the next forty years most notably during the
References
- Citations
- ^ Armstrong p 161
- ^ a b Meakin pp 35-36
- ^ a b c d e Wernham pp. 35-38
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Charles Maurice Davies (1851). The History of Holland and the Dutch nation: from the beginning of the tenth century to the end of the eighteenth. G. Willis. pp. 225–28.
- ^ a b c d Motley, John Lothrop. The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Entire 1566–74. pp. 513–16.
- ^ a b Black p 111
- ^ a b c d Robinson p 97
- ^ a b c d 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. 39
- ^ a b c Froude, James Anthony (1870). History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth: Elizabeth Volume 12. Longmans, Green and Company. pp. 521–22.
- ^ a b c d e Wingfield pp. 68-69
- ^ Marek y Villarino de Brugge 2020, v. V p. 243.
- ^ a b c d Markham pp 126-30
- ^ a b c d e f g Motley pp. 509-12
- ^ Marek y Villarino de Brugge 2020, v. V p. 244.
- ^ Buisman p 310
- ^ a b c d e f Regan p 207
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wernham pp. 42-45
- ^ Marek y Villarino de Brugge 2020, v. V p. 245.
- ^ Marek y Villarino de Brugge 2020, v. V p. 246.
- ^ van der Hoeven p 114
- ^ Wernham 1984, p. 48.
- ^ William, Cecill (1759). Collection of State papers relating to affaires in the reign of queen Elizabeth from 1571 to 1596. Bower. p. 789.
- ISBN 9785881497569.
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- Black, Jeremy (2005). European Warfare, 1494-1660 Warfare and History. Routledge. ISBN 9781134477081.
- Buisman, Jan (2006). Duizend jaar weer, wind en water in de Lage Landen: 1575-1675, Volume 4. Van Wijnen. ISBN 9789051941432. (Dutch)
- Jaques, Tony (2006). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313335365.
- Marek y Villarino de Brugge, André (2020). Alessandro Farnese: Prince of Parma: Governor-General of the Netherlands (1545-1592): v. V. Los Angeles: MJV Enterprises, ltd., inc. ISBN 979-8689560397.
- Markham, C. R (2007). The Fighting Veres: Lives Of Sir Francis Vere And Sir Horace Vere. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1432549053.
- Meakin, H. L (2013). The Painted Closet of Lady Anne Bacon Drury. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9780754663973.
- Regan, Geoffrey (1992). The Guinness Book of Military Anecdotes. Canopy Books. ISBN 9781558594418.
- Robinson, Paul (2006). Military Honour and the Conduct of War: From Ancient Greece to Iraq. Routledge. ISBN 9781134165032.
- Wernham, R.B (1984). After the Armada: Elizabethan England and the Struggle for Western Europe : 1588-1595. Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198227533.
- Wingfield, Jocelyn R (1993). Virginia's True Founder: Edward-Maria Wingfield and His Times, 1550-c.1614: the First Biography of the First President of the First Successful English Colony in the New World. Wingfield Family Society. ISBN 9780937543047.
- van der Hoeven, Marco (1997). Exercise of Arms: Warfare in the Netherlands, 1568-1648, Volume 1. Brill. ISBN 9789004107274.