Battle of Mülheim (1605)
The Battle of Mülheim 1605
| date | October 9, 1605 |
|---|---|
| place | Mülheim an der Ruhr |
| output | Spanish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 4000 | 4400 |
| losses | |
|
500 |
200 |
The Battle of Mülheim was fought in 1605 as part of the Eighty Years War . It took place on October 9th between the army of the United Netherlands under Moritz of Orange and Spanish troops on the territory of the historic Broich rule .
course
In the autumn of 1605, the Spanish Lieutenant General Ambrosio Spinola and his mercenary army of around 20,000 men camped at the mouth of the Ruhr near Duisburg and Ruhrort . From here eight troops of footmen and 800 cuirassiers moved to the village of Mülheim and Broich Castle to occupy them. When Prince Moritz of Orange , who was encamped near Wesel, found out about this, he immediately decided to attack. Together with his brother Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Orange and a superior force of 2,000 horsemen, 2,400 infantrymen and three cannons , he attacked the Spaniards on October 9 at around 1 a.m. There was a bloody battle in the Broich - Speldorfer Ruhrauenwiesen and in the village of Mülheim. The state troops initially succeeded in driving the Spaniards out of Mülheim and liberating Broich Castle. However, when the news spread that the Spanish Commander-in-Chief Spinola was on the march with more troops, the Dutch withdrew. They had wrongly overestimated the strength of Spinola, who the day before had relocated 5000 men to the besieged Wachtendonk , and thus missed the chance of an important success.
consequences
The losses in the eight-hour battle were high. The state lost around 200 and the Spanish 500 men. Many citizens of Mülheim also lost their lives, and houses and farms in the area were badly damaged or destroyed. Prominent prisoners, such as Spinola's cousin Niccolo Doria , were exchanged a few days later.
The area of the Broich lordship with the village of Mülheim was occupied by the Spaniards until the second battle in 1609 . On February 6, 1607, the brother of Count Johann Adolf von Daun-Falkenstein , Wirich, who was in the service of the general state, was killed by the occupiers near Sterkrade.
literature
- Friedrich von Schiller : History of the fall of the United Netherlands from the Spanish government . tape 4 . Leipzig 1810.