The Capture of Delfzijl took place during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

and the Anglo–Spanish War by a Dutch and English army led by

Maurice of Orange Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

.Julsing pp 117-18 The siege commenced on 26 June and lasted until the Spanish troops surrendered the city of Delfzijl on 2 July 1591.Markham 175

Events

Background

In early 1591, Maurice had begun a campaign to push the Spanish out of the Netherlands - the

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The State ...

wanted

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

to be taken, but complications arose of its capture, so surrounding towns and cities such as

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in th ...

and

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, ...

had to be taken before any siege took place. The strategy was to draw the Spanish troops and make them think the real objective was elsewhere. First Zutphen and then Deventer were both taken by Dutch troops under Maurice and English troops under

Francis Vere Sir Francis Vere (1560/6128 August 1609) was a prominent English soldier serving under Queen Elizabeth I fighting mainly in the Low Countries during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War. He was a sergeant major-general ...

respectively.van der Hoeven p 40 The next target was

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

in the North as two years before

William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg William Louis of Nassau-Dillenburg ( nl, Willem Lodewijk; fry, Willem Loadewyk; 13 March 1560, Dillenburg, Hesse – 13 July 1620, Leeuwarden, Netherlands) was Count of Nassau-Dillenburg from 1606 to 1620, and stadtholder of Friesland ...

, had captured a sconce at

Zoutkamp Zoutkamp is a village in the municipality Het Hogeland which is part of the province Groningen in the Netherlands. The village started as a sconce. During the Dutch Revolt, it was the site of the Battle of Zoutkamp. Later it became a fishing vil ...

, providing an initial impetus to eventually besiege Groningen. This was soon abandoned by Maurice as it was still considered too strong to besiege, and in addition the threatened approach of the

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, excep ...

with his army.

Capture

Maurice instead went directly to the North - his target was the town and fortress of Delfzijl which lay on the shores of the

Dollart The Dollart (German name) or Dollard (Dutch name) is a bay in the Wadden Sea between the northern Netherlands and Germany, on the west side of the estuary of the Ems river. Most of it dries at low tide. Many water birds feed there. Gainin ...

, a large inlet dividing the province of Groningen from the German district of

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of ...

, a Spanish supply base. On June 26, 1591, the Anglo-Dutch army came before the fortress - they had used 150 boats along the waterways to transport their heavy artillery. The Spanish garrison in Delfzijl numbered only 300 troops and ten guns and both sides knew they were in for a short siege. Siege positions were established in front of the town and when the guns were all in position, they opened fire. Sure enough after a heavy bombardment in the first few days of the siege the Spanish garrison, realising no relief was forthcoming, had had enough and began negotiations for surrender on 2 July. Maurice eventually agreed and the Spanish garrison surrendered and was allowed to leave (except for the disloyal and defectors) under terms for Groningen.

Aftermath

Francisco Verdugo Francisco Verdugo, Spanish military commander in the Dutch Revolt, (born in 1537 in Talavera de la Reina, province of Toledo, died in Luxembourg, 1595), became ''Maestre de Campo General,'' in the Spanish Netherlands. He was also the last Spanish ...

, the Spanish governor in the province of Groningen, was enraged when they arrived there. He ordered the captains beheaded and then humiliated the soldiers. Twelve soldiers were chosen by a lot to be imprisoned; five of these were also beheaded later. Maurice, after taking Delfzijl, reinforced the fortifications there according to the original plans of

Johan van den Kornput Johan van den Corput (also van (den) Kornput, also Cornput or Johannes de Corput, in German literature Johannes Corputius (April 1542 – September 17, 1611) was a Dutch engineer, cartographer and military leader. Corputius was born in ...

and placed a small garrison of Dutch and English inside. In early 1594, the garrison was able to repel a Spanish attack led by Francisco Verdugo. Maruice then marched from Delfzil and advanced towards Hulst and Nijmegen. Maurice and the Dutch and English army instead had to come before Knodsenburg where they defeated the Duke of Parma attempting to besiege the place.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * {{coord missing, Netherlands

Delfzijl Delfzijl (; gos, Delfsiel) is a city and former municipality with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf and the Ems, which became fortified settlement in ...

1591 in the Dutch Republic 1591 in the Habsburg Netherlands 16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England 16th-century military history of Spain

Eighty Years' War (1566–1609)

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