The siege of Knodsenburg, Relief of Knodzenburg or also known as Battle of the Betuwe was a military action that took place during the
Eighty Years' War and the
Anglo–Spanish War at a
sconce
Sconce may refer to:
*Sconce (fortification), a military fortification
*Sconce (light fixture)
*Sconcing, imposing a penalty in the form of drink
*Sconce Point
Fort Victoria is a former military fort on the Isle of Wight, England (), built to ...
known as Knodsenburg in the district of
Nijmegen.
[van der Hoeven pp 115-16] A siege by a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
army under the command of the
Duke of Parma took place from 15th to the 25th July 1591. The fort was defended by the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
's commander Gerrit de Jong and his company which was then subsequently relieved through the intervention of a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
army led by
Maurice of Orange
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 o ...
and
Francis Vere
Sir Francis Vere (1560/6128 August 1609) was a prominent English soldier serving under Queen Elizabeth I fighting mainly in the Low Countries during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War.
He was a sergeant major-general ...
respectively on July 25.
As a result, the Spanish army was defeated and Parma managed to retreat by getting his army across the
River Waal
The Waal (Dutch name, ) is the main distributary branch of the river Rhine flowing approximately through the Netherlands. It is the major waterway connecting the port of Rotterdam to Germany. Before it reaches Rotterdam, it joins with the Afg ...
.
Background
As of 1590 Maurice of Orange decided to strengthen the possibility of besieging Nijmegen, by spreading out the defences and to build a fort, a kind of
redan
Redan (a French word for "projection", "salient") is a feature of fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped salient angle towards an expected attack. It can be made from earthworks or other material.
The redan developed from the lunette, o ...
on the city side on top of a piece of high ground. Once built the fort was put into use as a base for an attack on Nijmegen.
This became known as Knodsenburg and it lay on the
Betuwe, a large river island. Parma had been aware of the high ground and had been defeated by
John Norreys John Norreys may refer to:
*Sir John Norris (soldier) or Norreys (c. 1547–1597), the son of Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys, a lifelong friend of Queen Elizabeth
*Sir John Norreys (Keeper of the Wardrobe) for Henry VI of England (c. 1400–1466) ...
in 1585 in an attempt to capture this strategic position. By the end of July, 1590, the fort at Knodsenburg was finished.
Parma decided once more to return to lay siege and capture it making the possibility of the Dutch and English troops besieging Nijmegen an impossible task.
[Markham pp 176-78] Inside the fort was a small garrison consisting of six hundred men manned by a large number of guns under the command of Gerrit de Jong, former garrison commander of
Lochem
Lochem () is a city and municipality in the province of Gelderland in the Eastern Netherlands. In 2005, it merged with the municipality of Gorssel, retaining the name of Lochem. As of 2019, it had a population of 33,590.
Population centres
The ...
. De Jong intended to defend it at all cost but at the same time was relying on a relief force.
De Jong had a messenger sent to Maurice on July 15 who was outside
Steenwijk to keep informed of Parma's movements. On July 21, De Jong had communications opened by using signals from Dutch held
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
with the use of gun shots or fires lit from the church tower. Maurice at that time was engaged in a campaign which saw his forces retake of
Zutphen
Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 1 ...
,
Deventer
Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...
, and had captured
Delfzijl
Delfzijl (; gos, Delfsiel) is a city and former municipality with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf and the Ems, which became fortified settlement in ...
.
[van Nimwegen p 156] The Spanish troops under Parma were approaching Knodsenburg and Maurice informed of this movement then took a large part of his army across the Rouveen
swamp, where an army had never previously crossed.
Count William Louis in the meantime was left shadowing the Spanish garrison at
Groningen.
The force headed via
Hasselt,
Zwolle
Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...
, and then to
Deventer
Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...
, then on 18 July Maurice crossed a bridge of boats over the
IJssel
The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour ...
at
Zutphen
Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 1 ...
and arrived at Arnhem on July 20.
Siege
![Alexandre Farnèse, duc de Parme + 1592](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Alexandre_Farn%C3%A8se%2C_duc_de_Parme_%2B_1592.jpg)
On July 21 Parma soon surrounded and then laid siege to the sconce of Knodsenburg. In that time Gerrit de Jong and his men managed to keep the besiegers at bay having had batteries installed which were firing daily on the newly installed Spanish siege positions.
Later that day the son of
Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld, Octavio Mansfelt, charged to the top of the parapet of the Spanish siege line to boost morale of the Spanish but was killed instantly by a
matchlock
A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of rope that is touched to the gunpowder by a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or trigger with his finger. Befor ...
ball.
[Wernham p 317]
Early in the following morning the Spaniards assaulted the position; De Jong and his men waited until they were inside the fort and then suddenly opened fire with five or six guns.
The foot soldiers fired a volley and then advanced with the
pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
, in a short time they were among the attackers and drove them back inflicting more than two hundred casualties including some senior officers killed.
The attack was eventually repulsed with only three guns being damaged or made unusable. Maurice had meanwhile approached the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
and then set up camp later that day.
The following day Parma planned to move forward but because of heavy rainfall he decided to entrench his positions.
On July 23, Maurice went forth and it was whilst approaching the Rhine that scouts reported to Parma of the approach of the Dutch and English army.
[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]
pp 37-38
/ref> Maurice's combined Dutch and English army at Arnhem consisted of a large (and recently reinforced) English regiment, commanded by Francis Vere; seventeen companies numbering over 3,000 men. In addition there were ten companies of William Balfour's Scots numbering 1,300 men, eight companies from Solms
Geography
Location
Solms lies right in the Lahn valley at the mouth of the eponymous little river Solmsbach and is nestled between the foothills of both the Taunus and Westerwald at heights from 140 to 400 m above sea level. It is about 7& ...
's of 1,000 men, Philip of Nassau
Philip of Nassau or Filips of Nassau (1 December 1566, Dillenburg – 3 September 1595, Rheinberg) was a Count of House of Nassau, Nassau, County of Katzenelnbogen, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden and Diez (Verbandsgemeinde), Dietz, fought for the ...
's six companies of 900 men (including Maurice's footguards), the companies of Famars, 700 men, and Van Brederode
The Lords of Van Brederode (''Heeren van Brederode'') were a noble family from Holland who played an important role during the Middle Ages and the Early modern period. The family had a high noble rank and hold the titles ''Count of Brederode'', ...
s seven companies of 600 men. With more reinforcements coming the total number of Dutch, English, and Scots now numbered nearly 8,000 foot and 1,200 horse.
Spanish troops had plundered small villages nearby on the Betuwe and across the Rhine. This was mistaken by the Dutch and English however as a feint by Parma; a possible attack on Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
, so as a result the garrison there was reinforced.
Maurice had heard from recent intelligence across the Rhine that the sconce was besieged by 6-7,000 men with 1,800 horsemen, many of these troops were veteran Tercios. Maurice had an army equal in size to that of Parma and so his army crossed the Rhine in barge
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
s and then set up camp. The distance between the two armies in the Betuwe was four or five miles, along the two routes leading from Arnhem to Nijmegen. One route ran along a dyke wall raised above the low lands, and was most used in winter; the other was broader.
On the 24th Parma hoped to lure Maurice into a trap and had a great advantage in the terrain and key positions held; Parma was prepared for a pitched battle even though his assault on Knodsenburg was repelled.[Duffy p 82] The Spanish kept in check the Dutch scouts by their cavalry and had severely mauled a detachment of Dutch lancers and carabinier
A carabinier (also sometimes spelled carabineer or carbineer) is in principle a soldier armed with a carbine. A carbiniere is a carabiniere musket or rifle and were commonplace by the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The word is d ...
s early in the day.
Parma's defeat
Vere decided on a plan to take advantage of the Spanish activity and this required the deployment of a body of English - 500 horse and 1,200 musketeers and pikemen, a force which was readily placed under his orders by Maurice. About two thirds of the way from the Anglo-Dutch camp there was a bridge over the broader road which Vere marched to early the next morning. He sent 200 light horse to attack the Spanish outposts and then retreat where they would be ''caught'' by the Spanish veterans. In the meantime he placed his infantry in ambush, one detachment close to the bridge, the other about a quarter of a mile further back, and the rest of his cavalry in the rear. Vere hoped he would be able to lure Parma's seasoned veterans of Spaniards and Italian Tercios into a fight.
The Dutch and English cavalry rode in groups of "hit and run" and were chased by the Spanish, until they came to the bridge, there turned and suddenly went on the attack as planned. Vere got exactly what he wanted in a perfect ambush with his five companies of concealed but prepared cavalry and English soldiers ready to strike. The Spanish veterans were caught in the open and were suddenly surrounded and in the fierce fight that followed were thus badly mauled. Only a few Spanish managed to escape and retreated in disorder leaving Parma disheartened with the heavy casualties his tercios had suffered; sixty casualties, another 500 prisoners, 500 horses, and also another two banners captured. This included the commander of the force Pedro Nicelli Francisco, along with his ensign carrying a banner of Christ on the Cross which was given to Vere as a prize. Vere's detached force suffered no more than two dead and ten wounded.
After Parma's repulse at the sconce and the fact that the best part of his army had been mauled and now at a significant disadvantage to the Dutch and English, he decided the best option was to retreat. The Spanish had lost hundreds of soldiers and some officers whilst besieging; both to disease and combat On the 25th Parma decided to distract Maurice's plans and set the Spanish camps on fire and thus using this as a cover, raised the siege and retreated across the Waal, just above Nijmegen. This manoeuvre was ably conducted by Ranuccio Farnese, the Duke's eldest son.
Crossing the Waal was a feat that Parma had achieved in just five hours with two thousand soldiers digging a crescent shaped redoubt in order to cover the retreat. Parma left overnight and the entire army; with all the batteries, ammunition, and baggage they managed to cross the river unmolested which was a masterpiece in logistical moving. Once Parma had disappeared from the area Knodsenburg was therefore relieved and the Anglo-Dutch force were victorious.
Aftermath
Parma and the younger Maurice were very evenly matched and Parma did not expect that Maurice would appear at his front so quickly. Maurice on the other hand did not expect that Parma would take into account a possible retreat. Parma stayed briefly in Nijmegen, but had received orders from the king Philip II of Spain to call him to France to deal with the Protestants there which the Spanish were helping the French Catholics trying to quell. He left Nijmegen on August 5, retired to Spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
and left a strong garrison in Nijmegen leaving Francisco Verdugo
Francisco Verdugo, Spanish military commander in the Dutch Revolt, (born in 1537 in Talavera de la Reina, province of Toledo, died in Luxembourg, 1595), became ''Maestre de Campo General,'' in the Spanish Netherlands. He was also the last Spanish ...
in command. Maurice on the other hand knew Nijmegen was his next target and went to Arnhem.
The garrison of Nijmegen were expecting a siege but they were soon surprised; Maurice's army disappeared from the scene. Maurice left part of his army in the surrounding cities, and then went with three hundred ships containing four thousand of his best soldiers. As a deception plan hoping to weaken Nijmegen's defence he set forth to Spanish-held Hulst
Hulst () is a municipality and city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders.
History
Hulst received city rights in the 12th century.
Hulst was captured from the Spanish in 1591 by Maurice of Orange but was recaptured b ...
where on 21 September he captured the place. The plan worked and soon after returned to Knodsenburg in order to besiege Nijmegen which the Spanish soon surrendered leaving Maurice with another prize.
News of the Anglo-Dutch victory over Parma was greeted with delight amongst the States General and in England. A ballad was written by a London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
er titled ''the Happie Ouerthrowe of the Prince of Parma his powers before the knodtsen burg sconce xxj of July 1591''.[Hoenselaars p 22]
Cultural
English dramatist George Chapman
George Chapman (Hitchin, Hertfordshire, – London, 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been speculated to be the Rival Poet of Shak ...
who fought in the campaign under Vere wrote a poem regarding the siege and the defeat of Parma in his ''Hymnus in Cynthiam'' part of The Shadow of Night
''The Shadow of Night'' is a long poem written by George Chapman; it was first published in 1594, in an edition printed by Richard Field for William Ponsonby, the prestigious publisher of Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney.
The poem was Cha ...
.
See also
* Assault on Nijmegen (1589)
* List of Stadtholders of the Low Countries
* List of Governors of the Spanish Netherlands
References
;Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book, last1=van der Hoeven, first1=Marco, title=Exercise of Arms: Warfare in the Netherlands, 1568-1648, Volume 1, date=1997, publisher=Brill, isbn=9789004107274, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95Lbwsu1EC8C
External links
''The Buffs - East Kent Regiment''
Knodsenburg
1591 in the Dutch Republic
1591 in the Habsburg Netherlands
16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England
16th-century military history of Spain
Knodsenburg
Eighty Years' War (1566–1609)
Knodsenburg
Knodsenburg
Knodsenburg
Knodsenburg
Knodsenburg
History of Nijmegen