Battle of the Lippe The Battle of the Lippe was a cavalry action fought on 2 September 1595 on the banks of the Lippe river , in Germany , between a corps of Spanish cavalry led by Cristóbal de Mondragón and a corps of Dutch cavalry , supported by English and French troops , led by Philip of Nassau . The Dutch statholder Maurice of Nassau , taking advantage of the bulk of the Spanish army was busied in operations in France , besieged the town of Groenlo in Gelderland , but the elderly governor of the citadel of Antwerp , Cristóbal de Mondragón , organized a relief army and forced Maurice to lift the siege . Mondragón next moved to Wesel , positioning his troops in the southern bank of the Lippe river to cover Rheinberg from a Dutch attack . Maurice aimed then , relying in his superior army , to attract Mondragón to a pitched battle , for which he planned an ambush to brought the Spanish army to a trap . However , the plan was discovered ; the Spanish were victorious thanks to Mondragón ' s long experience and inflicted a number of casualties to the Dutch , including Philip of Nassau and several other high - ranking Dutch and English officers in the army of Maurice of Nassau . Background . In July , 1595 , during the Eighty Years ' War , while the main Spanish army in the Netherlands was busied in France in operations against the French Royal Army , Maurice of Nassau led the Dutch States Army ( numbering 8 , 800 men and 16 guns ) under the walls of Groenlo , a town in Spanish hands in the province of Gelderland . Cristóbal de Mondragón , the elderly Spanish governor of Antwerp , who had been left in commnad of the Spanish forced in the Netherlands , collected a little army gathering forces of several garrisons and marched to Groenlo through Brabant and Gelderland . Mondragón was willing not only of relieving the town , but also to lure Maurice to a pitched battle . The Dutch general , however , on receiving news of his enemy ' s march , lifted the siege and retreated two miles out of Groenlo . Mondragón could therefore ressuply the town unmolested . Groenlo being secured , Mondragón marched south to Rheinberg to cover the town from a Dutch attack . He encamped his army nearby to Wesel , while Maurice followed him and took positions at Bislich , both armies being separated by the Lippe river . The Spanish position was strong ; the rearguard and the left flank covered by the Rhine , and the right flank by the Lippe and a range of moorland hills called Testerburg . Maurice planned then a mock ambush to lure Mondragón to a general action and destroy the Spanish army . On his hand , Mondragón was also whisful of bring down his enemy into a trap . For several weeks both armies looked at each other , ofen skirmishing when both cavalries sallied to forage . On 1 September Maurice gave the command of the ambush to his favourite commander , Philip of Nassau . Maurice instructed him to cross the Lippe river the following day at dawn and fell over the Spanish sentinels . Then , in the appearance of Mondragón with the main army , he was to retreat to his camp , thus luring the Spanish troops to an ambush . The young soldier , in command of some 500 or 700 Dutch and English horse , was accompanied by his two brothers , Ernst Casimir and Ludwig Gunther , besides several other Dutch officers as the count Ernst of Solms , Paul and Marcellus Bax , and the English captains Nicholas Parker , Cutler and Robert Vere . Action . On 2 September , at dawn , the Dutch force crossed the Lippe across a pontoon bridge . Maurice awaited him with 5 , 000 infantry and the rest of his cavalry arranged for the battle in a hills nearby to Wesel . They aimed to caught Mondragón off guard , but thus was not the case . An experienced commander , the Spaniard noticed Maurice ' s intentions and prepared a counter - ambush . He gave his lieutenant Juan de Córdoba instructions of reinforce the escort of the foraging troops and also to hid in a wood nearby four of his cavalry companies : those of count Hendrik van den Bergh , Girolamo Caraffa , Marquis of Montenegro , Paulo Emilio Martinengo and de Córdoba ' s own . Philip of Nassau dispatched the Bax brothers with several troops over the Spanish foragers . On finding a force much larger than they expected , the Dutch officers thought that something was wrong sent a report back to Philip of Nassau . The young commander , nevertheless , was sure of his success and moved on with his troops and his noble entourge to attack the Spanish cavalry , aiming to prevent its escape . The Spanish were , on the other hand , ready to attack . Two scouts had found the track of the Dutch force , and Mondragón , anticipating the Dutch , deployed his cavalry blocking Nassau ' s way . The Dutch force passed through a narrow path in a small forest . Coming out to open field , the Dutch column was surprised by the Spanish cavalry . There was a firece fight . Nassau had formed his men into eight squadrons , but caught by surprise in a narrow passage , the Dutch soldiers were unable of use their lances , so were forced to defend themselves with sabres and pistols . Juan de Córdoba charged them ahead of his company and Van den Bergh ' s men , followed by Carlo Maria Caracciolo and the ' s - Hertogenbosch cavalry . The Dutch seemed at first to were winning the action , but then Paulo Emilio Martinengo charged on his flank and broke a squadron , allowing Córdoba to regroup his troops and renew the attack , this time with success . The Dutch cavalry fled disorderly , attempting to save itself before the Lippe river . Córdoba sent his cavalry in persecution . Aftermath . The battle is recorded for the heavy death toll among the Dutch commanders . Philip of Nassau was mortally wounded at the beginning of the action , shot point black through the body with an harquebus . Robert Vere was slain by a lance thrust in the face . The landdrost of Zallandt and count Ferdinand Kinski were also killed . Count Ernst of Solms was mortally wounded and captured . Together with Philip , he was carried to Rheinberg , were the Dutch commander died this same night . Ernst Casimir was captured and ransomed for 10 , 000 florins . Mondragón dispatched him to Maurice of Nassau with the bodies of the dead counts . As for the battle losses , sources vary . The Frenchman Guillaume Baudart set Dutch losses at 88 horses , 83 prisoners and 24 killed . The Italian Guido Bentivoglio claimed more than 300 Dutch soldiers killed as opposed to about 60 Spanish casualties . The English author Edward Grimeston wrote , in his book " A General History of the Netherlands " , that " " this was a pettie battaile of young and hot blouds , who prooved but bad Marchants that got nothing " " . The North - American historian John Lothrop Motley highlighted the key role played by the 92 - years old Mondragón in the Spanish victory : Spanish and Dutch armies spent three more days observing themselves from their encampments , but no action ensued . Then , on 11 October , Mondragón retired back to the Brabant . Maurice aimed to cut off his retreat , but the Spaniard succeeded in bringing his troops to a secure position . Three months later the elderly general died in the citadel of Antwerp .