Siege of Breda (1624-1625)

Siege of Breda

Part of: Eighty Years War

Painting by Pieter Snayers

date	August 27, 1624 to June 2, 1625
place	Breda
output	Spanish victory

Parties to the conflict
Spain	United Netherlands
Commander
Ambrosio Spinola	Moritz von Oranien , Friedrich Heinrich von Oranien , Justinus von Nassau
Troop strength
40,000 (siege army at the beginning)	9000 (Relief Army at the beginning)
losses
	15,000

The information on troop strength and losses are clearly different in the literature. They also varied over time.

The siege of Breda lasted from August 27, 1624 to June 2, 1625. The besiegers were Spanish and Flemish troops under Ambrosio Spinola . The besieged in the city were commanded by Justinus von Nassau and the Dutch relief armies by governor Moritz von Orange and, after his death, by Friedrich Heinrich von Orange . The siege ended when the Dutch troops surrendered in the city. The matter attracted European attention and was picked up by various artists, including Jacques Callot and Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez .

prehistory

The Eighty Years War between Spain and the United Provinces of the Netherlands revived in 1621 after twelve years of truce linked to the Thirty Years War . Moritz of Orange was keen to keep the Spanish troops away from the Netherlands by binding them to the German theater of war. It was also important to him that the Protestant forces were not completely defeated by the imperial forces. He was therefore one of the most important allies of the anti-imperial side. On the Spanish side, the leading politicians were initially not inclined to attack the core area of ​​the United Provinces directly because the Dutch fortresses were seen as too strong. The aim of the war was therefore initially only to weaken the Dutch.

Heavy pressure was to force the Netherlands to stop supporting the Protestant forces in the empire and cease colonial expansion. With a victory of Ferdinand II it was hoped in Spain to secure the world power position in danger. Therefore, the initially overpowering Flemish army was used primarily to break the lines of communication between the Netherlands and the German allies and to exert military and financial pressure on the enemy. Blockades but also the capture of some conveniently located fortresses served for this purpose. This strategy initially worked. At the time of the siege of Breda, the Dutch financial situation was extremely critical and perseverance weakened. In 1623 the war was fought without much movement, as the Spanish had been weakened by the siege of Bergen op Zoom . In 1624 the Spanish commandant Spinola intended to take Breda.

Breda is located at the confluence of the Mark and Aa rivers in North Brabant . Due to the armistice of 1609, the city fell to the United Provinces after it had been conquered by Moritz of Orange in 1590. Orange subsequently developed the city into a strong fortress and occupied it with a strong garrison. It had excellent fortress artillery and sufficient supplies. The commander of the city was Justinus von Nassau.

course

Spanish positions

Map of the city and the siege positions (Joan Blaeu 1649)

From August 27, 1624, the Spanish troops arrived at Breda. The besiegers made three large camps. Spinola set up his headquarters in the castle of Justinus of Nassau in front of the city. By building ship bridges, the Spaniards tried to prevent supplies for the Dutch on the river route. Since August 30, the Spaniards have been setting up artillery batteries that were too far away for the Dutch cannons. The heavy artillery arrived shortly afterwards. In total, the Spaniards had 100 guns and an army of 40,000 men. The Dutch began to destroy the houses in front of the city so that the enemy would not have cover. The Spanish trenches around the city were five miles in circumference.

Spinola used a novel system for the siege. Redoubts and forts were built around the city . In total there was a double line of fortifications with 96 redoubts, 37 forts and 45 gun batteries. Most of them were used for defense against the relief troops and the fortress troops. The city itself was rarely shot at. The goal was starvation. The fortifications led to loss-making and ultimately unsuccessful attacks by the Dutch.

Relief attempts

Part of the siege of Breda (Jacques Callot)

Moritz von Nassau had gathered some troops in Nijmegen . His army was only about 8,000 to 9,000 men strong. On the way to Breda, the Spanish garrison towns of Gennep and Kleve were captured. When he arrived at Breda, he refrained from attacking and contented himself with skirmishing the Spaniards with small units. He also tried to cut off their supply routes. Nassau's attempt to set up a camp closer to the positions of the Spaniards failed because Spinola flooded the area by opening sluices. Nassau had to be content with disrupting the Spanish supplies, as it lacked cavalry units in particular for a major offensive.

An epidemic killed numerous soldiers in Breda, so that the city's inhabitants had to take on many military tasks. Only the outer works were still occupied by soldiers. In October Moritz von Nassau moved his camp to Roosendaal and had it fortified. This made it more difficult for the Spaniards to find supplies. With no prospect of driving the Spaniards out, Nassau traveled to The Hague . The States General decided on November 17 to solicit support abroad. The Spaniards also stepped up their efforts to recruit new soldiers. The Spaniards raised an additional 30,000 men and Ferdinand II sent more than 6,000 men to support. Most of the troops served to protect the supply convoys for the Spanish troops off Breda.

To support the Dutch, Count Mansfeld landed in Zeeland with 300 ships carrying soldiers recruited in England . Christian von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel had recruited troops in France, but they were rarely used. In May 1625, a conspiracy among Italian soldiers was discovered in the Spanish camp and the leaders were executed. The Spaniards also suffered from the gunfire of those trapped.

Moritz von Nassau died on April 13, 1625. His successor as governor was Friedrich Heinrich von Orange. This set out with the Dutch army, reinforced by the recruited troops, to provide relief to Breda. Spinola marched towards him with part of his troops. Skirmishes broke out between smaller units. On May 13th Orange tried in vain to storm positions of the Spaniards and withdrew. He instructed his brother Justinus of Nassau to surrender, as there was no prospect of relief.

Location in town and surrender

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez : The surrender of Breda

In the city itself, the besieged were exhausted, had suffered great losses and had only limited supplies. Thousands of residents died of hunger and disease. The surrender treaty said about the situation in the city: “ Seen with sadness how everyone saw his private benefit and cared little for his neighbor. As soon as the proviandt started going off, everyone stashed what he had and didn't say much about it. (…) Indeed, such usury and trinket were carried on as when the people of God and all Christian love had completely forgotten. "

Justinus of Nassau surrendered, and Spinola, according to the custom of the time, granted him the safe withdrawal, fully armed, with flags and burning fuses.

Follow and reception

The siege attracted European attention. New newspapers and leaflets reported on what was going on around Breda. In Italy, bets on the outcome of the siege were widespread. After the decision, there was a wave of suicide bettors. The victory was enthusiastically celebrated in the Catholic camp. Pope Urban VIII saw the victory as proof that God himself was on the Catholic side. From a military point of view, this last great Spanish victory was of little significance. Their own losses had been so high that the Spaniards were only able to operate defensively afterwards. They reinforced the blockade in the Netherlands. Some of the troops could be relocated from Tilly to the German theater of war. In 1637, Friedrich Heinrich von Orange recaptured the city after another siege.

The siege became known through the painting by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez The Surrender of Breda . It shows Justinus of Nassau handing the keys to the city to Spinola. Even Jacques Callot left a famous engraving of the siege.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gaston Bodart: Military-historical war lexicon (1618-1905). Vienna 1908
2. ↑ Jonathan Israel: The Dutch-Spanish War and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (1568–1648) online version
3. ^ Rolf-Dieter Müller: Military history. Cologne 2009, p. 131
4. ↑ Geoffrey Parker: The military revolution: military innovation and the rise of the west, 1500-1800. New York 1996, p. 13
5. ↑ Wolfgang von Löhneysen: Reality in the picture. From antiquity to the present. Würzburg 2004, p. 85
6. ↑ Beate Engelen: Jacques Callot - The siege of Nreda. Art about war as an apotheosis and symbol. In: Jutta Nowosadtko, Matthias Rogg : "Mars and the Muses": The interplay between the military, war and art in the early modern period. Münster 2008, p. 138f.

literature

• R. von Rothenburg: Battles, sieges and skirmishes in Germany and the neighboring countries 1618–1629. Vienna 1833, pp. 86-94.
• André Corvisier, John Childs: A dictionary of military history. Oxford 1994, pp. 93f.
• Stanley Sandler: Ground warfare: an international encyclopedia. Vol. 1: A - G. Santa Barbara 2002, pp. 121-122.

Web links

Commons : Siege of Breda  - Collection of images, videos and audio files