Invasion of the Veluwe (1629)

Prelude

In April 1629, Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, began his siege of 's-Hertogenbosch after the Spanish attempted a blockade of the Dutch Republic that caused severe economic damage. The siege was made possible by Piet Pieterszoon Hein's victory at the battle in the bay of Matanzas, where he captured a Spanish treasure fleet; the estimated booty was equivalent to half a billion modern-day euros. Each Spanish attempt to relieve 's-Hertogenbosch had failed, so Hendrik van den Bergh decided to invade the Dutch Republic, not to destroy it but to cause panic and force Frederick Henry to break the siege. In July, Spanish troops marched to Veghel through Boxtel, making a siege of Grave possible, but Frederick Henry saw no threat because the garrison had been raised to 4,000 men.

Invasion

The invasion started when Spanish troops under Lucas Cairo crossed the IJssel near Fort IJsseloord during the night of 22–23 July. Two days later, a Dutch force commanded by Hermann Otto I of Limburg-Styrum attempted to push the Spanish out of their defensive positions but failed. Hendrik van den Bergh reached Westervoort with his army on 27 July, though he departed shortly after. On 31 July, he took Dieren and started constructing a bridge at Brummen over the IJssel to secure supply lines from Wesel.

The next week saw little advance, giving Frederick Henry time to respond. He directed Ernest Casimir toward Arnhem with fifty infantry companies and eight cavalry companies to block further Imperial-Spanish movement; these troops witnessed Spanish cavalry parading through Arnhem’s walls and then sacking Velp. In response, the States of Holland raised an army of 5,000 burghers, while Groningen and Frisia ordered 3,000 waardgelders recruited. The invading forces struggled with supply issues because Wesel, their main depot, could not produce enough bread from its bakeries.

Troops had to find food locally, but their poor reputation caused residents to flee. Despite the large invasion on Dutch soil, Frederick Henry kept his focus on besieging ’s-Hertogenbosch, believing the invaders could not cause major harm.

On 10 August, Ernesto Montecuccoli joined Hendrik van den Bergh’s Spanish army. Their plan had Montecuccoli push through Amersfoort and Harderwijk to reach the Zuiderzee, threatening Utrecht and Naarden, while Jacinto de Velasco y Henin, Count of Salazar, attacked Hattem to open a path into Frisia. Van den Bergh was to guard Brummen, and Count Jan VIII of Nassau-Siegen arrived there a few days later.