The Capture of Ootmarsum in 1597 was a short siege, that took place during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

and the Anglo–Spanish War by a Dutch and English army led by Count Van Duivenvoorde while

Maurice of Nassau Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was '' stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince ...

was besieging

Oldenzaal Oldenzaal (; Tweants: ''Oldnzel'') is a municipality and a city in the eastern province of Overijssel in the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Twente and is close to the German border. It received city rights in 1249. Historically, the city ...

. The siege lasted from 19 to 21 October, where the Spanish garrison of Ootmarsum under the governor, Otto Van Den Sande, surrendered and was then occupied by the besiegers. The siege was part of Maurice's successful offensive against the Spaniards during the same year. After the capture of Enschede and with the exodus of the surrendered Spanish garrison, Maurice went with the Dutch and English army to Oldenzaal.Knight, Charles Raleigh: ''Historical records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) formerly designated the Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment''. Vol I. London, Gale & Polden, 1905
p. 45
/ref> Before Maurice got there however he decided then to split his army with the main army headed to Oldenzaal and a force under Count Van Duivenvoorde sent to

Ootmarsum Ootmarsum is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is a part of the municipality of Dinkelland, and lies about 10 km north of Oldenzaal. In 2001, the city of Ootmarsum had 4227 inhabitants. The built-up area of the city was 1.5 ...

in order to submit the city to his authority.

Siege and capture

As with the capture of Enschede the same process took place; a Dutch trumpeter under a flag of truce was sent to the gate of Ootmarsum to demand the surrender. Duivenvoorde threatened that under Maurice's orders his army would inflict the same destruction that befell

Bredevoort Bredevoort (Low Saxon: ) is a small city with city privileges of about 1600 inhabitants in the municipality of Aalten, Netherlands. It is between the towns of Aalten and Winterswijk. Bredevoort has presented itself as ''Bredevoort boekenstad'' (' ...

and

Groenlo Groenlo () is a city in the municipality of Oost Gelre, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, on the German border, within a region in the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek (literally: "back corner"). Groenlo was a municipalit ...

during their capture a few weeks before.Wagenaar pg 474-75 The garrison commander Otto van den Sande replied that the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

had commanded him to defy the besiegers and hold firm and that he himself could not surrender as only someone with a higher authority could so. Sande thus ordered continuous cannon fire from the ramparts which continued over the whole night, causing casualties amongst the English troops digging a siege trench. Oostmarsum JVD

Maurice on hearing the report of the resistance, subsequently sent four heavy guns to Ootmarsum. The following evening Dutch engineers started to make approaches towards the cities southern ramparts and spent that time putting two large siege guns in position. On the north side English troops and engineers did the same and brought up three artillery cannons in position. In Ootmarsum the following day the new siege works were noticed and the incessant bombardment was resumed on these newly dug positions. Van den Sande soon realized his position was hopeless and with no hope of relief asked for the written terms of Maurice to be handed over. This time there was immediate capitulation, and the company of Spanish and German troops consisting of 120 men pulled out of the city, taking with them two banners, two guns, 800 pounds of gunpowder, 2000 fuses, four tons of flour, and other provisions. The written honors of war was that the garrison was to remain behind the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

for the allotted time of three months where they were not to engage in combat. Dutch and English troops took over and Van Duivenvoorde ordered the fortifications and outer moat of Ootmarsum to be demolished as had been done in Enschede. At the same time, Maurice with the main army was busy with the siege of Oldenzaal which capitulated a day later.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * * (1753):
Vaderlandsche Historie, Vervattende Geschiedenislessen der Vereenigde Nederlanden, in Zonderheid die van Holland, van de Vroegste Tyden af - Achtste Deel
' Amsterdam:

Isaak Tirion Isaak Tirion (1705 in Utrecht – 1765 in Amsterdam) was an 18th-century publisher from the Northern Netherlands. Biography According to the RKD, he is most remembered for his ''Hedendaagsche historie'' (''Modern History'') and his ''Vaderlandse ...

(Dutch) {{coord missing, Netherlands

1597 in the Dutch Republic 1597 in the Habsburg Netherlands 16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England 16th-century military history of Spain

Eighty Years' War (1566–1609)

Dinkelland

Siege and capture

See also

References