Siege of Meurs (1597)

Moers had been occupied by the governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, on 8 August 1586 and Colonel Sacchinus Camillo de Modiliana was made governor with a modest garrison.[4] Halfway through 1597 the government at The Hague, with improved funding, ordered a new campaign for Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, the commander of the Dutch and English troops, to oust the Spanish while they had been preoccupied with the siege of Amiens.[5]

Maurice planned a campaign directly through the east of the Netherlands, where Grol and Oldenzaal were the strongest cities. On 1 August 1597 Maurice along with his cousin (and brother-in-law) William Louis left with 7000 infantry and 1200 cavalry which included thirteen companies of English and ten companies of Scots, both cavalry and infantry commanded by Colonel Horace Vere[1][6] Maurice's first target was the important military and economic city of Rheinberg which for seven years had been under Spanish occupation.[7] After a ten-day siege on 19 August the Spanish surrendered the city and Maurice then headed to the south, where Moers was located.[2]

Sitting on western bank of the Rhine, Moers consisted of a fortress with a castle, Herman van den Bergh, the governor of Spanish Upper Guelders, reinforced the city with additional troops which totaled 400 soldiers under the command of Andrés de Miranda.[5][6]

Upon arrival Maurice then had Moers besieged from two sides, his batteries opened up on 29 August whilst the engineers had parts of the moat surrounding the city filled in at three places, so that the city could be stormed.[7] Moers however offered little resistance to the Dutch and English; with parts of the wall crumbling and even before the attack was launched on 3 September, de Miranda negotiated for terms which Maurice accepted.[6] Miranda surrendered the city and his men marched out with full honors and Maurice's troops then entered the city who then strengthened the fortifications and left a garrison.[5]

On 8 September Maurice then marched to Orsoy, crossed over the Rhine, then over the Lippe and appeared on the evening of 11 September before Groenlo, which he then besieged for eleven days forcing the garrison to surrender.[3]

• List of stadtholders in the Low Countries
• List of governors of the Spanish Netherlands
• Siege of Rheinberg (1597)
• Siege of Bredevoort (1597)

Citations

Bibliography

• Fissel, Mark Charles (2001). English warfare, 1511–1642; Warfare and history. London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21481-0.
• Israel, Jonathan. (1997). Conflicts of Empires: Spain, the Low Countries and the Struggle for World Supremacy, 1585-1713. Continuum. ISBN 9780826435538.
• Markham, C. R. (2007). The Fighting Veres: Lives Of Sir Francis Vere And Sir Horace Vere. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1432549053.
• Motley, John Lothrop. History of the United Netherlands: from the death of William the Silent to the Synod of Dort, with a full view of the English-Dutch struggle against Spain, and of the origin and destruction of the Spanish armada (Volume 3). New York, Harper.
• van Nimwegen, Olaf (2010). The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688 Volume 31 of Warfare in History Series. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781843835752.
• Jan Wagenaar et al. (1753): Vaderlandsche Historie, Vervattende Geschiedenislessen der Vereenigde Nederlanden, in Zonderheid die van Holland, van de Vroegste Tyden af - Achtste Deel Amsterdam: Isaak Tirion (Dutch)
• von Roden, Günter (1975). Volume 1 of Geschichte der Stadt Duisburg. Duisburg: W. Braun. ISBN 9783870961008. (German)