Siege of Caudebec
Who Fought
Henry of Navarre commanded approximately 25,000 men including 7,000 English and 3,000 Dutch troops; Parma commanded approximately 15,000 Spanish and Catholic League troops
History & Significance
The siege of Steenwijk was a siege that took place between 30 May and 5 July 1592 as part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War by a Dutch and English force under Maurice of Orange. By taking Steenwijk the Republic's army would take out one of the two main transport routes overland to the Drenthe capital of Groningen, the other lay at Coevorden. After a failed bombardment, an assault was made in conjunction with the detonation of mines under important bastions, and with two out of three successfully assaulted, the Spanish troops surrendered on 5 July 1592 and handed over the city to the Dutch and English army. This siege was one of the first in history to make use of pioneers as a separate military unit although they were still at the time regarded as soldiers.
Maurice of Orange had conducted a successful campaign from 1590 that commenced with the capture of Breda and from there an offensive was launched that soon captured several important strategic cities, which included Nijmegen During this campaign Delfzijl was captured which meant that Groningen was gradually getting cut off.
The States determined to open the campaign with the siege of Steenwijk, a strongly fortified town on the route from the IJssel at Deventer in order to cut off Groningen further. This was however against the wishes of the Zeeland representatives in the States-General who preferred to see Geertruidenberg taken, or a campaign to be conducted in Spanish held Flanders. The Duke of Parma had marched into France, leaving Ernst I von Mansfeld as his deputy, while Francisco Verdugo was in command of the area as the Spanish Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, and Overijssel.
Steenwijk is located in the northern corner of the province of Overijssel, bordering on the Zuyder Zee, called Vollenhove. The city had been besieged by Count Rennenberg in 1581 but a relief army led by John Norreys defeated the besiegers who were forced to retreat. In November 1582, the Spaniards, led by Juan Baptista de Tasis then took Steenwijk and held it for Spain.
On 28 May 1592 Maurice took to the field with six thousand foot, two thousand cavalry, and fifty guns. This included the English contingent under Francis Vere of 1,344 men consisting of twelve companies of infantry under his brother Horace Vere, Oliver Lambart, John Buck and four troops of cavalry numbering 300 men under Sir Robert Sidney. Maurice was able to bring his siege train via the waterways.
On 7 May 1592, the Anglo-Dutch army encamped before Steenwijk and entrenchments were dug round the city. Steenwijk was held largely by a militia garrison of sixteen companies of foot and some cavalry under Antonio Coquel who was the military governor. In addition to these were 1,000 pro-Spanish Walloon infantry under Louis Van Den Burgh. The place had been strengthened with earthworks and well provisioned by Cocquel. Francisco Verdugo, wanted to send extra troops to protect the city, but most were in Brittany or Normandy fighting the Protestants there, and also Peter Ernst I of Mansfeld refused to let troops out of Brabant as it was considered more important to hold.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Caudebec lies on Great Oolite Group, bedrock that formed in the Bathonian. The rock here is sandstone, limestone and argillaceous rocks.
In a single night, with his army encircled and his own arm wounded, the Duke of Parma orchestrated one of the most audacious escapes of the French Wars of Religion: gathering every flatboat, ferry, and raft available at Caudebec and Rouen, he shielded the crossing with artillery redoubts on both banks to keep off the Dutch fleet, and conveyed his entire army of 15,000 men across the Seine before Henry of Navarre received so much as a word of it, leaving only the young Ranuccio Farnese and a small rearguard visible on the bank to hold the King's attention until the last moment.
- Parma was obliged to abandon his transport with the sick and wounded; no precise casualty figures given in the sources
Frequently Asked Questions
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- Siege of Steenwijk (1592) · Wikipedia
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