Siege of Rheinberg (1601)
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The siege of Rheinberg, also known as the Rhine campaign of 1601, was the siege of the towns of
Rheinberg Rheinberg () is a town in the Wesel (district), district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel. It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, B ...
(Old Dutch: Rijnberk) and
Meurs Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel. History Known earliest from 1186, the county of Moe ...
from 12 June to 2 August 1601 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 Refo ...
and the Anglo–Spanish War.
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 ...
with an Anglo-Dutch army besieged the Spanish-held cities in part to distract them before their impending siege at
Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
. Rheinberg, an important city, eventually capitulated on 28 July after a Spanish relief force under
Herman van den Bergh Herman, Count van den Bergh (2 August 1558 in Huis Bergh, 's-Heerenberg, Gelderland – 12 August 1611 in Spa) was a Dutch soldier in the Eighty Years' War, knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and stadtholder of Spanish Guelders. Life In 15 ...
failed to relieve the city. The towns of Meurs surrendered soon after.


Background

In mid-June 1601 Albert of Austria was in preparation to besiege the Anglo-Dutch held town of Ostend, and at the same time the
States General The word States-General, or Estates-General, may refer to: Currently in use * Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec, the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000 * States Genera ...
demanded that the
stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
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 ...
should march to relieve the city.
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-genera ...
, the English governor of Ostend, was frustrated at the lack of Dutch response from both the States General and from Maurice; particularly when a few veteran English companies including
Edward Cecil Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (29 February 1572 – 16 November 1638) was an English military commander and a politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1624. Life Cecil was the third son of Thomas Ceci ...
's, were taken out of Ostend to join Maurice's forces in the field.Dalton pp 75–76 Maurice however knowing the futility in making a direct attack, chose to campaign in the surrounding areas closer to the core of the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
. The strategy that would be used was hoped to block Spanish supplies and divert the attention of the Spanish aiming to besiege Ostend. On 7 June Maurice camped his troops with a well appointed force of about 10,000 men and marched to the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
. Included in this force was an English army of 2,500 men under the temporary command of
Lord Willoughby Baron Willoughby of Parham was a title in the Peerage of England with two creations. The first creation was for Sir William Willoughby who was raised to the peerage under letters patent in 1547, with the remainder to his heirs male of body. A ...
between
Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...
and
Schenkenschans Schenkenschanz is a small community in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany that was incorporated into the town of Kleve (Cleves) in 1969. Schenkenschanz is site of the former Schenkenschans fortress that was of significance in the Dutch Revolt. Today ...
.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. 50
/ref> Targets included the Spanish held towns of
Grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...
and
's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
, but also Rheinberg which had changed hands four times since 1589, and the latter was chosen. Rheinberg had a large garrison of over 3,000 men, many of whom were crack troops from Spain under the experienced Don Luis Bernardo de Avila who had ample supplies for a long siege.Israel pp 29-30


Campaign

On 10 June 1601 Maurice took to the field and two days later the Anglo-Dutch surrounded Rheinberg and soon siege works were dug and constructed around the town. Within a few days however Maurice had received orders to release almost 2,000 men including many of his veteran English and Scottish troops as reinforcements to Ostend. Disturbed by the calculations of his decreasing besieging force he hoped that the town would surrender before more troops were ordered away. On 29 June
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, KG (27 April 1564 – 5 November 1632) was an English nobleman. He was a grandee and one of the wealthiest peers of the court of Elizabeth I. Under James I, Northumberland was a long-term prisoner i ...
and other nobles came to Rheinberg to learn the art of siege warfare. At the same time Earl placed himself in temporary command of the English forces which caused friction between himself and the English commander Lord Willoughby. On 5 July the
siege of Ostend The siege of Ostend was a three-year siege of the city of Ostend during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. A Spanish force under Archduke Albrecht besieged the fortress being held initially by a Dutch force which was reinforc ...
began and soon after Percy visited Ostend hoping to learn more, putting Lord Willoughby back in charge. Meanwhile, Count Herman van den Bergh had marched from
Spanish Flanders The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the Au ...
with 5,000 men and 2,000 cavalry to try to relieve Rheinberg, but as he approached his leading elements probed the defences and found it well intact. After an attack was repelled and van den Bergh realised that the Anglo-Dutch force stood firm, he did not want to risk an open battle and decided to retreat leaving the garrison to its fate. Maurice's siege works proved effective - his pioneers sprang a
mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...
under the Kassel gate. On 26 July the mine was detonated doing much damage and inflicting huge losses - according to one witness many were thrown into the air. Maurice persisted in his operations and three days later mines were placed elsewhere, which was eventually abandoned as Luis De Avila decided all hope was lost and surrendered on the 30th. After leaving a garrison in Rheinberg the following Maurice then marched South to Meurs. They laid siege to the city on 2 August 1601 which after a brief bombardment and no hope of relief the Spanish garrison almost immediately surrendered.


Aftermath

The victory was celebrated in Holland and a triumphal medal was created with the inscription; ''the enemy threatening fearful things is driven from Berg''. Rheinberg, because it had been besieged many times throughout the war, became known as the ''whore of war''. The place was next besieged in 1606 by
Ambrogio Spinola Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases and 1st Duke of Sesto (1569-25 September 1630) was an Italian ''condottiero'' and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. He i ...
in his campaign and was captured. Rheinberg remained in Spanish hands until 1632 when Frederick Henry retook the city which remained in Dutch hands.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. 117
/ref> The Dutch were determined to fortify both towns with their own troops, no longer trusting the neutrality of the German princes garrison. Thus the keys to the land of
Cleves Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...
and Julliers the scene of the Francisco de Mendoza's successful and brutal campaign were now held by the stadholder. Maurice then sent more reinforcements to Ostend and halted further campaigning for two months. In November he tried to take 's-Hertogenbosch but the onset of a brutal cold winter and the threat of a Spanish relief force under Van den Bergh forced Maurice into winter quarters.Van Nimwegen pp.178-79 Meurs stayed in Dutch hands and would remain a part of the Dutch Republic until 1712 when it became a part of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
.


References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * {{cite book, last=Wagenaar, first=Jan, year= 1753, title=Vaderlandsche Historie, Vervattende Geschiedenislessen der Vereenigde Nederlanden, in Zonderheid die van Holland, van de Vroegste Tyden af - Achtste Deel, url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4-sOAAAAYAAJ, location=Amsterdam:
Isaak Tirion Isaak Tirion (1705 in Utrecht – 1765 in Amsterdam) was an 18th-century publisher from the Northern Netherlands. Biography According to the RKD, he is most remembered for his ''Hedendaagsche historie'' (''Modern History'') and his ''Vaderlandse ...
(Dutch) Rheinberg (1601) Rheinberg (1601) Rheinberg 1601 Rheinberg (1601) 1601 in Europe Conflicts in 1601