The Capture of Roermond was a minor siege during the Eighty Years' War which took place from the 31st of August to the 1st of September, 1637. A Spanish army under Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand would successfully siege and seize Roermond from the Dutch just one week after his victory at Venlo. This siege battle and that of Venlo were originally targeted to draw Frederick Henry away from Berda and towards the Cardinal-Infante's army for what could've been a field battle. Frederick Henry wouldn't be swayed by this attempt and was dedicated to sieging Breda and would eventually take it on the 11th of October.
Siege
The campaign led by the Cardinal-Infante would be rather successful with large swathes of territory being captured near and around Maastricht. Venlo fell just a week before the Spanish army laid eyes on Roermond, which served to cut off Maastricht from the Dutch and prevent any further Dutch attacks from the east. The next step would be to take Roermond in which, knowing so, Ferdinand sent his cavalry to rapidly invest in the siege of the city. The siege wouldn't be long as the Spanish would heavily bombard their opponents into submission.[1] This might be attributed to specialized Spanish explosive shells which were being utilized against the French and the Dutch. The city would surrender on the 1st of September, which secured a total separation of Maastricht from the Dutch Republic.
References
- Kagan, Richard L.; Parker, Geoffrey (2001). España, Europa y el mundo atlántico: homenaje a John H. Elliott. Madrid, Spain: Marcial Pons Historia. ISBN 978-84-95379-30-6.
- Guthrie, William P. (2001). The later Thirty Years War: from the Battle of Wittstock to the Treaty of Westphalia. Westport, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-32408-6.
- Israel, Jonathan Irvine (1997). Conflicts of empires: Spain, the low countries and the struggle for world supremacy, 1585-1713. London, UK: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-85285-161-3.
- Commelin, Isaak (1656). Histoire De La Vie & Actes memorables De Frederic Henry de Nassau Prince d'Orange: Enrichie de Figures en taille douce et fidelement translatée du Flamand en Francois : Divisée en Deux Parties (in French). Amsterdam: Jansson.
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