Siege of Zutphen (1591)

Siege of Zutphen (1591) Part of the Eighty Years' War & the Anglo–Spanish War The Capture of Zutphen in 1591 - print by Jan Janssonius Date 19 to 30 May 1591 Location Zutphen, Guelders (present-day the Netherlands) Result Dutch & English victory[1][2] Belligerents  Dutch Republic England  Spain Commanders and leaders Maurice of Orange Francis Vere Jarich Georges Van Liauckema [3] Strength 9000 soldiers 1,600 cavalry 1,000 (Spanish and Walloons)[4] Casualties and losses Light Heavy Most captured

Dutch Revolt (Eighty Years' War) Western Europe Oosterweel Dahlen Heiligerlee Jemmingen Jodoigne Brielle Mons Goes 1st Mechelen Middelburg Haarlem Alkmaar 1st Geertruidenberg Leiden Delft Valkenburg Mookerheyde Schoonhoven Zierikzee 1st Antwerp Gembloux Rijmenam 1st Deventer Borgerhout 1st Maastricht 2nd Mechelen 1st Steenwijk Kollum 1st Breda Noordhorn Niezijl Lochem Lier Eindhoven Steenbergen Aalst 2nd Antwerp Arnhem Empel Boksum 1st Grave 1st Venlo Axel Neuss 1st Rheinberg 1st Zutphen 1st Sluis 1st Bergen op Zoom 2nd Geertruidenberg 2nd Breda 2nd Zutphen 2nd Deventer Delfzijl Knodsenburg 1st Hulst Rouen Caudebec 2nd Steenwijk Coevorden Huy 1st Groenlo Lippe Calais 2nd Hulst Turnhout 2nd Rheinberg Meurs 2nd Groenlo Bredevoort Enschede Ootmarsum Oldenzaal 1st Lingen Rees Nieuwpoort Ostend 1st 's-Hertogenbosch 2nd Grave Hoogstraaten Ardenburg • Oostberg • 3rd Sluis 2nd Lingen 3rd Groenlo Aachen Jülich 2nd Bergen op Zoom 3rd Breda 4th Groenlo 2nd 's-Hertogenbosch Slaak 2nd Maastricht Leuven Schenkenschans 3rd Breda 2nd Venlo Kallo 3rd Hulst European Waters Flushing Borsele Haarlemmermeer Zuiderzee Reimerswaal Lillo Ponta Delgada Gravelines Corunna • Lisbon Bayona Islands Gulf of Almería 1st Cádiz Ferrol • Azores Dover Strait 2nd Sluis 1st Gibraltar 2nd Gibraltar 2nd Cadiz Lizard Point Dunkirk Calais The Downs Cape St. Vincent Americas Bahia Bay of Matanzas 1st Saint Martin Puerto Rico Albrolhos 2nd Saint Martin Action of 12–17 January 1640 Southern Chile East Indies Playa-Honda La Naval de Manila Puerto de Cavite Dutch Formosa Spanish Formosa Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604) Spanish Main San Juan de Ulúa São Vicente Santo Domingo Cartagena St. Augustine Havana 1st Puerto Caballos San Mateo Recife Trinidad • Orinoco La Guaira • Caracas • Coro Guadalupe 1st San Juan Pinos 2nd San Juan Tabasco Portobello 2nd Puerto Caballos Atlantic Ponta Delgada Terceira Newfoundland Santiago 1st Azores 1st Flores 2nd Flores Faial Las Palmas 2nd Azores European waters Scheldt Pantelleria 1st Cádiz 1st Calais • Gravelines Corunna • Lisbon Bayona 1st Gibraltar Strait 2nd Gibraltar Strait Berlengas Gulf of Almería Barbary Coast Bay of Biscay Gironde 1st Cornwall 2nd Cádiz Cape Finisterre 2nd Cornwall • West Wales Sesimbra Dover Strait Gulf of Cádiz Low Countries and Germany Mons Goes Middelburg Haarlem 1st Geertruidenberg Leiden Delft Valkenburg Schoonhoven Gembloux Rijmenam Borgerhout Mechelen 1st Steenwijk Kollum Noordhorn Niezijl Lochem Lier Eindhoven Steenbergen Aalst Antwerp Arnhem 1st Grave Venlo Axel 1st Rheinberg 1st Zutphen 1st Sluis Bergen op Zoom 2nd Geertruidenberg Breda 2nd Zutphen Deventer Delfzijl Knodsenburg 1st Hulst 2nd Steenwijk Coevorden Huy 1st Groenlo Lippe 2nd Hulst Turnhout 2nd Rheinberg Meurs 2nd Groenlo Bredevoort Enschede Ootmarsum Oldenzaal Lingen Rees • 3rd Rheinberg Nieuwpoort Ostend 's-Hertogenbosch 2nd Grave Hoogstraten Ardenburg • Oostberg • 2nd Sluis France Arques Ivry Paris Rouen Caudebec Craon Blaye Morlaix Crozon 2nd Calais Amiens Ireland Carrigafoyle Smerwick Irish West Coast Kinsale Castlehaven

The Siege of Zutphen was an eleven-day siege of the city of Zutphen by Dutch and English troops led by Maurice of Nassau, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. The siege began on 19 May 1591 after a clever ruse by the besiegers, the city was then subjected to an eleven-day siege after which the Spanish garrison surrendered.^[1][5]

Background

Zutphen was a Hanseatic city on the east bank of the River IJssel. In 1572, with the resurgence of the Dutch rebellion against Philip II of Spain, Zutphen was first conquered by State troops led by Willem IV van den Bergh. The city was later recaptured by the Spaniards led by Don Frederick, and the population was punished and then slaughtered for the surrender earlier that year.^[6]

In 1586 the English under the Earl of Leicester took Zutphen's important outlying sconce but not long after English turncoat Rowland York handed the sconce over to the Spaniards leaving Zutphen in their complete control.^[6] York subsequently died there of smallpox a year later although he may have been poisoned by the Spanish to keep him from betraying again.^[7] As a consequence the nearby town of Deventer soon followed, handed over to the Spaniards by William Stanley.^[8]

In 1590 Maurice had taken Breda by hiding soldiers within a peat barge and was thus able to use Breda as a base for further operations. The Dutch army could then launch an offensive at three points; to the South, to the East and to the North. Maurice chose the East with the towns along the River Ijssel heading towards Nijmegen.^[5]

By the beginning of 1591 Maurice's first goal was to take back Zutphen. With the parallel waterways he could then move the troops and artillery as quickly as possible and also keep the Spanish from reinforcing the besieged towns.^[2] The garrison of Zutphen itself consisted of nearly 1,000 Spaniards and Walloons, and on the west bank of the river lay the important sconce.^[4]

Siege

Siege of Zutphen in 1591 by Bartholomeus Dolendo - The English are attacking the sconce at top of picture

Maurice's army consisted of 9000 soldiers and 1600 horsemen which marched to Zutphen, along with 100 ships.^[9] The rapid march in five days meant that Maurice could then prepare his artillery, which was stored on the ships; a far easier method of transportation than trying to haul them overland over boggy ground.^[10]

In order to take Zutphen, the sconce on the west bank of the river had to be taken, as it controlled the main bridge to the town. Once this had been taken the town could be besieged proper once all the heavy guns from the barges had disembarked.^[4]

Maurice hoped to use another ruse similar to the one he had used at Breda with the peat barge. Francis Vere, in charge of the English troops, wanted the 'dirt' removed from the 1587 treachery and thus wanted to lead the assault.^[11] Vere got his wish and Maurice ordered him to take the sconce on the Veluwe opposite Zutphen by sending no more than a dozen men and disguise them as farmers, some even dressed as women.^[4] It was hoped that the Spanish would think they were refugees escaping from the Dutch army and would let them in. Once the sconce was captured Zutphen would have no hope of holding out.^[12]

The disguised English soldiers take the sconce, from a Victorian book

Vere led the English troops to Doesburg and set the plan in motion. The disguised soldiers ran towards the fort, 'pursued' by a fake cavalry charge. The garrison opened the gates and let the disguised soldiers in; the English then went as far as selling the guards butter, cheese and eggs.^[13] When the order was given the English cut down the guard quickly enough to allow the Dutch cavalry to rush in, followed by the rest of the troops as they had been hidden by a large mound nearby.^[11] Soon the Dutch/English force overpowered the Spanish and turned the guns on Zutphen.^[4]

After this successful strategy Marice then began the siege proper after easily crossing the now secured bridge and were further reinforced by Count William Louis' Frisian companies. The Dutch gunners then bought thirty artillery pieces up to three points in case the garrison tried to retake the town and then opened up a heavy bombardment.^[4] Not long after this the Spanish garrison soon saw that any further resistance was now useless and surrendered to the besiegers.^[11][12]

Aftermath

Maurice of Nassau

The town which had so eluded the Dutch was now firmly in their hands and the Spanish had lost an important town.^[5] The terms of the surrender were light, the garrison were allowed to march away, the citizens were allowed three days to either depart or swear obedience to the Dutch Republic.^[4] Once achieved Maurice established a strong garrison in Zutphen and then marched north with his army, his artillery and munitions being sent down the Issel in barges.^[4]

Maurice's first major campaign had been a success and the strategic town of Coevorden was his next target, but first he decided to move on Deventer and after a short siege captured the city.^[1] He then went on to capture Delfzijl and soon after captured Hulst before besieging and taking Groningen the following year and would give Utrecht which gave Holland itself a significant bufferzone.^[2][5]

Vere was nicknamed 'the fox' after his successful ruse employed during the siege; he dug up the body of Rowland York and hanged and gibbeted it as a reminder of York's treachery.^[12] Zutphen would remain in Dutch hands for the rest of the war.

See also

• Battle of Zutphen
• List of Stadtholders of the Low Countries
• List of Governors of the Spanish Netherlands

References

Bibliography

• Henty, G. A (2004). By England's Aid: Or the Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604). Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 9781419111372. 
• Honan, Park (2005). Christopher Marlowe:Poet & Spy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191622793. 
• MacCaffrey, Wallace T (1994). Elizabeth I: War and Politics, 1588-1603. Princeton University: Princeton Paperbacks. ISBN 9780691036519. 
• Markham, Clement (2007). The Fighting Veres: Lives Of Sir Francis Vere And Sir Horace Vere. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1432549053. 
• Lothrop Motley, John (2006). The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Entire 1566–74. Hard Press. ISBN 978-1406952162. 
• van Nimwegen, Olaf (2010). The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688 Volume 31 of Warfare in History Series. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781843835752. 
• Randall, David (2011). "Netherlands Expedition". Encyclopaedia of Tudor England. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 790–791. ISBN 9781598842982. 
• Robinson, Paul (2006). Military Honour and the Conduct of War: From Ancient Greece to Iraq. Cass Military Studies, Routledge. ISBN 9780203969632. 
• Rowse A. L (2006). Expansion of Elizabethan England. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0299188245. 
• Cañete, Hugo A (2015). La Guerra de Frisia. Malaga: Ediciones Platea. ISBN 9788494288432.