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1587 siege From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The siege of Sluis of 1587 took place between 12 June and 4 August 1587, as part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).[1][2] Its capture by the Spanish formed a significant advance towards the Enterprise of England.
Siege of Sluis (1587) | |||||||
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Part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) | |||||||
Engraving Siege of Sluis of 1587 by Frans Hogenberg. Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
700 killed and 400 wounded[3] | 92 killed and 243 wounded[3] |
June 1587 saw Don Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (Spanish: Alejandro Farnesio), Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands, and commander-in-chief of the Army of Flanders, set his sights on the two remaining rebel ports in Flanders, Ostend and Sluis. The latter had once been a strategic deep-water port, and was still (despite silting) a key to the inland waterways of the Flanders coast, and thus to any potential invasion of Britain.[4] After an initial sortie against Ostend, Parma invested Sluis on 12 June 1587, but not in time to prevent a body of four companies of English foot-soldiers reaching the town from Ostend under the command of Sir Roger Williams.[5] On 24 June, the bombardment of the town began.
A relief effort was organised by a fleet of English and Dutch troops under Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Governor-General of the United Provinces.[2][6][7] Leicester landed a force of 4000 foot, 400 horse at Ostend, to cut Parma’s communications, but called his men back to the fleet before coming to grips with any Spaniards; while a sea-borne attempt to force the channel and relieve the town was similarly aborted: Garrett Mattingly concluded that “The chief effect of this fortnight of imbecile manoeuvres was on the morale of the beleaguered garrison”.[8] On 4 August, after of 13 days of constant fighting around the walls, the garrison surrendered with full honours of war.[9]
The loss of the English-held port of Sluis revealed the inability of Leicester to assert his authority over the Dutch allies, who failed to cooperate successfully in relieving the town,[10] and led to recriminations between the governor-general and the States of Holland.[6][11]
In the following months, the Earl of Leicester launched a series of unsuccessful attacks against the Spaniards.[12] In September 1587, Leicester attempted to capture Leiden, but failed,[12] and his plans to capture Enkhuizen and Hoorn, two important ports of West Friesland, also failed.[13] Notable English soldiers under Leicester's command were Sir Thomas Baskerville and Sir Francis Vere.[13] On 16 December 1587, Leicester returned to England,[13] where the privy council tried in vain to hold him to account for his failures, protected as he was by the favour of the Queen.[14]
By contrast, Parma had gained a strategic prize that enabled him to move barges by inland waterways from the Scheldt to Dunkirk, preparatory to the coming of the Spanish Armada.[15]
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