Siege of Schenkenschans

Siege of Schenkenschans by Gerrit van Santen.

Date	July 30, 1635 – April 30, 1636
Location	Schenkenschanz (present-day Germany)
Result	Dutch victory

Belligerents

Dutch Republic

Spain

Commanders and leaders

Frederick Henry

Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand

Strength

30,000

1,500

Casualties and losses

900

The Siege of Schenkenschans (30 July 1635 – 30 April 1636) was a major siege of the Eighty Years' War. The capture of the strategically located fortress by the Army of Flanders commanded by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria opened up the Dutch Republic to a possible invasion. The Dutch Stadtholder, Fredrick Henry had to pull out all stops to counter this strategic threat and recapture the fortress in an epic siege that lasted even through the winter months. He succeeded in doing so after nine months.

The fortress with the name Schenkenschans (English: Schenk's Sconce, Spanish: Esquenque) was founded by the German mercenary commander Maarten Schenk van Nydeggen on the orders of stadtholder Adolf van Nieuwenaar in 1586. Its location was strategically chosen, because it dominated the place where in 1586 the Rhine and the Waal River forked (currently these rivers split further west; the fork was moved to improve river traffic and prevent flooding). An army that approaches from the East here has a choice of marching along the right bank of the Rhine, through the "back door" of the Dutch Republic, thrusting straight to the Dutch heartland; or take a more southerly route through the Betuwe; or take the third route West, entering the area between the Waal and the Meuse River. In all three cases the rivers form an ideal supply line. However, that supply line was cut off by the Schenkenschans.

The Dutch dominated the area (that also includes nearby Cleves) during most of the war with Spain. The fortress was much improved after its humble beginnings and in its new form was a fine example of Star fort architecture.

In 1635 the Dutch Republic concluded an alliance with France with the objective of taking on the Spanish Army of Flanders from two sides, in the hope of breaking the strategic stalemate in the Eighty Years' War and dividing up the Spanish Netherlands between the two partners in the alliance. The Dutch and French invaded from two sides in June, 1635, and joined forces in the valley of the Meuse in July, while the Spanish field army under the Cardinal-Infante fell back to cover Brussels. The invading armies (60,000 strong) captured a few smaller places before investing Leuven. But this siege ended in a fiasco because of bad logistics and organization, and because the French army was decimated by the plague. This failure allowed the Spanish forces to take the initiative and soon the invaders were forced into a headlong retreat.

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Wikipedia