Siege of Moers (1597)

Siege of Moers

Part of: Eighty Years War

date	August 29 to September 3, 1597
place	Moers
output	Surrender of the Spanish garrison

Parties to the conflict
United Netherlands	Spain
Commander
Moritz of Orange	Andreas de Miranda
Troop strength
7000 infantry 1200 cavalry

The siege of Moers by Dutch troops under the command of Prince Moritz of Orange took place from August 29 to September 3, 1597 during the Eighty Years' War and ended with the surrender and the withdrawal of the Spanish garrison. The liberation of the city of Moers was part of Moritz's campaign of 1597 .

prehistory

A good eleven years earlier, the governor of the Spanish Netherlands , Alessandro Farnese , occupied the fortress town with his troops on August 8, 1586 after his successful siege of Moers and installed Colonel Camillo Sacchinus de Modiliana as governor. In 1587 the governor had a ski jump built near Essenberg on the Rhine and baptized it in his name. It should serve to protect against a Dutch garrison in Ruhrort , which was there under the command of Martin Schenk von Nideggen .

In 1594 the widow of Count Adolf von Neuenahr , Countess Anna Walburga von Neuenahr , bequeathed the Spanish-occupied county of Moers and the city to her distant relative Moritz von Orange .

On August 1, 1597 Moritz left The Hague with 7,000 infantrymen and 1,200 cavalrymen in order to tackle his offensive against the Spaniards. His first destination was the city of Rheinberg , which had been occupied by the Spanish for seven years and which he liberated on August 19th after a ten-day siege . The day after the handover, the Spanish governor of Obergeldern , Hermann von dem Bergh , appeared near Rheinberg. When he found out that the city had been lost, he reinforced the nearby fortress town of Moers with 400 soldiers and ordered the Camillenschanze crew to leave it and also to go to Moers. With the rest of the troop withdrew from the Bergh over the Meuse . After Moritz noticed this, he had the hill grinded and on August 26th explored the situation in the Spanish-occupied city. A little later he moved further south and stood in front of Moers on August 29th.

course

Upon arrival, Moritz besieged Moers from two sides and had an appeal . He had the moat backfilled in three places so that he could begin the storming. Moers offered little resistance to Moritz's troops and even before the attack, Governor Andreas de Miranda declared the city defeated on September 3rd.

Moritz moved on, crossed the Rhine at Orsoy on September 8 , then over the Lippe and appeared in front of Groenlo on the evening of September 11 , which he then besieged for eleven days and finally liberated.

consequences

Through negotiations by Amalia von Neuenahr-Alpen , Moers and the rule of the Alps were declared neutral on July 4, 1598 by the States General and the governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, Archduke Albrecht VII of Austria .

literature

• Isaak Tirion : Vaderlandsche Historie, Vervattende Geschiedenislessen of the Vereenigde Nederlanden, in Zonderheid the van Holland, van de Vroegste Tyden af . Volume 8, Amsterdam 1753. (nl.)
• Jan Wagenaar : General history of the United Netherlands, from the oldest to the present time, composed of the most credible writers and proven documents. Volume 4, Leipzig 1760.
• Athonie Duyck: Journaal van Anthonis Duyck, Advokaat-Fiscaal van den Raad van State (1591-1602) . , Arnheim / The Hague 1864 (nl.)