Siege of Geertruidenberg (1593)

Siege of Geertruidenberg
Part of the Eighty Years' War & the Anglo–Spanish War
Siege of Geertruidenberg in 1594 by Giovanni Battista Boazio – the semi circle curve at bottom are brigantines blockading the city
Date 27 March – 24 June 1593 Location Geertruidenberg Present day the Netherlands 51°42′3″N 4°51′37″E / 51.70083°N 4.86028°E / 51.70083; 4.86028 Result Dutch and English victory[1][2]
Belligerents
Dutch Republic England	Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Maurice of Orange Francis Vere	Count of Mansfeld Earl of Masieres  † Sieur de Gissant  †
Strength
12,000[3]	800 (Garrison) 8,000 troops & 1,500 cavalry (Relief) [2]
Casualties and losses
Light 500 to disease	1,000 killed wounded or captured
Siege of Geertruidenberg class=notpageimage| Location within Netherlands

The siege of Geertruidenberg was a siege of the city of Geertruidenberg that took place between 27 March and 24 June 1593 during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. Anglo-Dutch troops under the commands of Maurice of Nassau and Francis Vere laid siege to the Spanish garrisoned city.^[1] The siege was unique in that the besiegers used a hundred ships, forming a semicircle in a chain on the Mass river to form a blockade. A Spanish force under the command of the Count of Mansfeld attempted to relieve the city in May, but they were defeated and later forced to withdraw. Three Governors of the city were killed – after the last fatality and as a result of the failed relief, the Spanish surrendered the city on 24 June 1593.^[4][5] The victory earned Maurice much fame and had thus become a steadfast strategist in the art of war.^[6][7]