Capture of Axel
Part of of theEighty Years' War & theAnglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)
Siege of Axel 1586
Date July 17, 1586 Location Axel,Zeeland (Present dayNetherlands) 51°15′56.16″N3°54′32.04″E / 51.2656000°N 3.9089000°E /51.2656000; 3.9089000 Result Dutch and English victory[1][2]
Belligerents
States-General England	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Maurice of Nassau Philip Sidney	Unknown
Strength
2,000[1]	600[3]
Casualties and losses
30 wounded	All killed, wounded, or captured[1]

‹ ThetemplateCampaignbox Eighty Years' War is beingconsidered for deletion. ›

TheCapture of Axel was a military event during theDutch Revolt and theAnglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) in which the town ofAxel, defended by the Spanish, was captured by an Anglo-Dutch force led by SirPhilip Sidney, with the garrison being put to the sword. It was also the first feat ofMaurice of Nassau.

Maurice of Nassau was appointedstadtholder ofHolland and Zeeland on his eighteenth birthday in 1585 and in the following year he began leading the fight.

Axel, a town in theCounty of Zeeland, was an important fortified city on the southwestern edge of theScheldt estuary and had been in the hands of the Spaniards since 1583 whenAlexander Farnese, the later Duke of Parma, had captured the place. The acquisition would make the Dutch and English holdings in the area such asOstend andSluys more secure and a reasonable base from which to launch attacks.^[1]

On June 17, 1586, with the assistance of the newly arrived English forces under theEarl of Leicester and SirPhilip Sydney, the stage was set for the capture of the town.^[2][4]

Here they joined with Maurice's men of Zeelanders and marched towards Axel and on arrival began to besiege it. Maurice had opened thedykes which then flooded the towns aroundTerneuzen to cut off Axel from the mainland. This was also used to discourage any assistance in terms of relief and supply.^[2]

Almost immediately an assault was launched but the leading assault troops of forty men under Colonel Jan Pyrom found the surroundingmoat very deep. Undeterred they swam across it and with the ladders brought up, scaled the ramparts killing the guard. Once inside they opened the gates for the rest of the besiegers to assault the place. The Dutch companies were first to rush in then followed by the English under Sydney and thenWilloughby with the final wave.^[2] The Spanish garrison recovered from their surprise but numbers were against them and soon the whole garrison, despite gallant resistance, was slaughtered, with very few being taken prisoner.^[1]

After the siege Maurice had several redoubts built to protect Axel and the surrounding area. Axel itself was then garrisoned by over 800 soldiers under Colonel Pyron who was rewarded for his services in the action. He then set about dismantling the Catholic magistrates and clearing the city of its inhabitants.^[5]

Maurice as commander was to make great achievements later on in the States' campaigns. Sydney would later be mortally wounded in thesiege of Zutphen a year later and Leicester would leave soon after, following poor relations with the Dutch and fellow English officers.^[3]

Sources

• Grimeston, Edward (1609).A Generall Historie of the Netherlands. London: A. Islip, and G. Eld.OCLC 560893546.
• Motley, John Lothrop (1888).History of the United Netherlands: from the death of William the Silent to the twelve years' truce. New York: Harper & brothers.OCLC 8903843.
• Nolan, John S. (1997).Sir John Norreys and the Elizabethan Military World. Liverpool University Press - Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies.ISBN 9780859895484.
• Stewart, Alan (2011).Philip Sidney: A Double Life. Random House.ISBN 9781448104567.
• Tracy, J.D. (2008).The Founding of the Dutch Republic: War, Finance, and Politics in Holland 1572–1588. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-920911-8.

• Sieges involving Spain
• Sieges involving England
• 1586 in Europe
• Conflicts in 1586
• History of Zeeland
• Terneuzen

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1 Dutch-language sources (nl)
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension