The Siege of Grolle
A brief history of the battle of Grolle (1627)
During the 80 Years War (1568-1648) the Dutch revolted against the occupying Spanish government. Every city in the Low Lands had to be besieged and conquered.
In the year 1627 Prince Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange-Naussau and stadtholder of The Netherlands, decided to besiege the city of Grolle (now Groenlo) in the eastern part of The Netherlands. The town (approximately 1000 inhabitants at the time) was occupied by 800 Spaniards.
The army of State (some 25.000 soldiers) arrived on the evening of the 20th of June 1627 near the town. The army was divided to enclose the city, thus totally fencing it off. The soldiers immediately started digging trenches and walls for the encampments and other earthworks (such as ‘schansen’).
The prince’s troops where merely mercenaries from all around Europe. Frederik Hendrik placed countrymen together. For example: besides the Engelse Schans French soldiers occupied the ‘Franse Schans’ and the Dutch held the Hollandse and the Friese Schans. There was a kind of rivalry amongst the different countries. It was a real competition which company reached the ditch of Grolle. To speed up the siege Frederik Hendrik promised the winners 300 guilders.
Prince Frederik Hendrik himself resided in the biggest encampment on the Lievelder Es (in the picture above you see it right from the centre of the bottom ). Near the encampment was a natural height. In Spanish hands it would be a serious threat for the prince and his high guest who resided in the camp. To prevent Spanish occupation on this spot the Engelse Schans (bottom right of the picture) was built.
A huge Spanish army tried to break the siege, but their attempt failed: Frederik Hendrik’s army was to well fortified. A mine exploded in the wall of the city and in a fierce fight the Spaniards managed to drive the prince’s troops back. During negotiations Frederik Hendrik threatened to blow up three mines in different places at the same time. This was too much for the Spaniards and they surrendered on the 19th of August 1627.
Date set for the SoG 2012
Last week, the organization of ‘de Slag om Grolle 2012’ met and set the date for our ...
More