Siege of Hulst (1596)

Siege of Hulst (1596)
Part of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Date Middle of July –18 August 1596 Location Hulst, Zeeland, Low Countries (present-day the Netherlands) 51°18′56.880″N 4°3′14.040″E / 51.31580000°N 4.05390000°E / 51.31580000; 4.05390000 Result Spanish victory[1][2][3]
Belligerents
United Provinces  England	Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Maurice of Nassau William Louis of Nassau-Dillenburg	Archduke Albert Manuel de Vega Luis de Velasco
Strength
Hulst: 3,700[4][5] Relief forces: 7,000[6]	12,000 to 15,000[7]
Casualties and losses
500 killed or wounded[8] 3,000 surrendered[8]	1,300 to 2,000 dead[2][9] 800 to 3,000 wounded[2][5][10]
class=notpageimage| Location within Zeeland Show map of Zeeland Siege of Hulst (1596) (Netherlands) Show map of Netherlands

The siege of Hulst of 1596 took place between mid-July and August 18, 1596, at the city of

Albert marched towards Hulst, avoiding any contact with Maurice's army and soon invested it.[19] Hulst, a small but strong town commanding the Waasland of Flanders, had been captured in 1591 by an Anglo-Dutch force under Maurice.^[20] The garrison had built several sconces, and defences were made more complete by a system of sluices through which the country around could be laid under water.^[7] The moat had been deepened but the walls were only partially repaired.^[10]

Albert's successful ruse however had much of Holland in panic but Maurice's army soon learned of Albert's intention to take Hulst and marched towards the town. The Dutch were hoping for a long siege and had enough supplies for seven months and under the veteran Georg Eberhard the Count von Solms were to hold it at all costs.^[7]

In spite of the resistance offered by the besieged who made several highly successful

Maurice along with William Louis had approached Hulst, but Count Von Solms under pressure from the citizens had already asked to surrender the city.[12] Maurice did, however, at first attempt to relieve the city, but failed owing to the strong defences, and soon withdrew.^[6] Even the Spanish were surprised that the city wanted to surrender, and on August 18, 1596 Albert readily granted the most favourable terms to the 3,000 strong garrison.^[19]

Aftermath

For the archduke the victory was costly: sixty officers and 5000 men had perished, mostly from disease.^[10][22] Hulst had been badly battered and had nearly 3,500 cannonballs hurled in and at the city.^[21]

The Zealanders were so dissatisfied with the conduct of the Count of Solms that they dismissed him from the command of their troops.^[17] The success made sure that Albert had gained the respect of King Philip II and as a result had broken a chain of defeats that they had sustained earlier in the decade, both in France and the Netherlands.^[10][19] The city would remain in Spanish hands until 4 November 1645 when the place was captured by Prince of Orange.^[23]

With this defeat the Republic then feared a Spanish siege of the cities of Axel and Biervliet. However, after his severe losses, Albert did not have enough troops to continue his march and withdrew to Flanders; the Republic heard the news via the interception of a letter to Philip.^[16] The Dutch were relieved, and thus Maurice now had the advantage of the return of English troops back from their success at Cadiz.^[18] He was able to launch a successful offensive the following year, the first of which was the defeat of the Spanish Tercios at the Battle of Turnhout.^[17][6]

References