| Siege of Schenkenschans | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theEighty Years' War & theAnglo–Spanish War | |||||||
 Siege of Schenkenschans – print byFrans Hogenberg | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 England Dutch Republic |  Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Maurice of Orange | Francisco de MendozaFrederik van den Bergh | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 900 (Schenkenschans) 800 cavalry (relief) | 17,000 troops 2,000 cavalry | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Light | 400 | ||||||
Thesiege of Schenkenschans was a siege that took place from 28 April to 2 May 1599 as part of theEighty Years' War and theAnglo–Spanish War.[1] Schenkenschans was garrisoned largely by English troops and was besieged by a Spanish force led byFrancisco de Mendoza. The siege failed with losses and the Spanish were forced to retreat when a relief force arrived.[2][3]
In 1586,Maartin Schenck andRoger Williams had been campaigning in the County ofWestphalia raiding as far asKaiserswerth. InGelderland asconce, calledSchenckenschanz, or Schenck's Fortification, was built at the confluence of theWaal and theRhine.[4]Maurice of Orange strengthened the sconce later on; earthworks were built which formed twobastions. Bridges were built over the moats and a continuous series of posts where signals could be relayed. From this important strategic location, the sconce would inevitably be subjected to attack. By 1599, Maurice's army was stationed along the line of rivers ready to defend Schenckenschans,Nijmegen, andDoesburg.[2] Schenckenschans itself composed of eight hundred troops and one hundred pioneers, almost all of them Englishmen who had served underFrancis Vere (who was away inthe Hague).[3]
Francisco de Mendoza, the Admiral of Aragon, was stationed inGelderland and was ordered by theArchduke of Austria to capture Schenkenschans—to the Spanish called "The Key to the islands". Once won, the Spanish would then be able to cut Holland off. On 17 April the Archduke left a section of troops to cover the Rhine and two days later Mendoza's force marched to Schenkenschans.[5]
On 28 April the armies of Mendoza andFrederik van den Bergh met atGriethausen aroundKleve. The combined force totalled some 19,000 men including 2,000 cavalry. They then bridged over the Rhine and used boats betweenRees andEmmerich and from there managed to drive the Dutch ships downstream. The Spanish set up batteries from the two banks—one bank held nine pieces of artillery whilst the other had twelve. These then opened fire on the fort but in response however the fort replied with vigour and an artillery duel began following which some exposed Spanish guns were knocked out. Mendoza was unable to create any damage on the English defences and set up a formal siege instead.[3]
Being heavily outnumbered the garrison of Schenkenschans was in need of relief. On the night of 1 May a Dutch force underWalloon Colonel Claude La Barlotte landed with an army of five thousand men upstream of theMass in secrecy. He disembarked atHedel in theBommelerwaard and when news of this approach was heard by Mendoza he thought it better to break off the siege and engage the force.[5] The English inside the sconce were relieved two days later by a cavalry force of 800 that Maurice had sent ahead. La Barlotte's force escaped to the north toZaltbommel with Mendoza's force in pursuit.[4]
On 11 May Mendoza, with a new plan, took the fort at Crevecoeur by surprise and planned to use it as a base for an offensive. Maurice however was already aware of these plans and had hoped that they had to try to launch an attack against Schenkenschans again and therefore entrenched there.[2] When it became clear to him that Mendoza's target was actually Zaltbommel he marched his men straight there. Under the small force of La Barlotte, Zaltbommel would not be able to stand against Mendoza's more numerous force.[1] The Spanish attempt however to laysiege to Zaltbommel ended in disaster too.[5]
Schenkenschans remained firmly in States hands until 1630 when by betrayal, money was offered to one of the commanders in the sconce and was then handed over to the Spanish. During thesiege of 1635–1636, the Dutch overpowered the sconce, with the majority of the garrison being killed and the fort being looted.[6]