Battle of Zutphen The Battle of Zutphen was fought on 22 September 1586 , near the village of Warnsveld and the town of Zutphen , Netherlands , during the Eighty Years ' War . It was fought between forces of the United Provinces of the Netherlands , aided by the English , against the Spanish . In 1585 , England signed the Treaty of Nonsuch with the States - General of the Netherlands and formally entered the war against Spain . Robert Dudley , Earl of Leicester , was appointed as the Governor - General of the Netherlands and sent there in command of an English army to support the Dutch rebels . When Alessandro Farnese , Prince of Parma and commander of the Spanish Army of Flanders , besieged the town of Rheinberg during the Cologne War , Leicester , in turn , besieged the town of Zupthen , in the province of Gelderland and on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel . Zutphen was strategically important to Farnese , as it allowed his troops to levy war contributions in the rich Veluwe region . Therefore , he left some troops blockading Rheinberg and marched to relieve the town . He personally supplied Zutphen at first , but as the Anglo - Dutch siege continued , he assembled a large convoy whose delivery to the town he entrusted to the Marquis of Vasto . Leicester learned of this when a courier dispatched by Farnese to Francisco Verdugo , the man in charge of Zutphen , was intercepted . The English and Dutch prepared an ambush , in which many English knights and noblemen were involved . In the end , the Spanish succeeded in delivering the convoy safely to Zutphen after a hard - fought battle . The Spanish cavalry , composed mainly of Italian and Albanian soldiers , was defeated by the English cavalry under the Earl of Essex . The Spanish infantry , however , held its ground and delivered the convoy to Zutphen . From there , reinforced by Verdugo , the Spanish troops forced the English to retreat . Zutphen was secured for the Spanish , though in the following weeks the English managed to capture a major Spanish fort , Zutphen ' s sconce , on the bank of the Ijssel river opposite the town . Most of the English gains were negated when , a year later , the English governors of Deventer and Zutphen ' s sconce defected to the Spanish ranks and handed over their places to Farnese . Background . In 1585 , Queen Elizabeth I of England took the United Provinces of the Netherlands under her protection and signed the Treaty of Nonsuch with the States - General . England dispatched 5 , 000 infantry and 1 , 000 cavalry soldiers to the Low Countries , and Robert Dudley , Earl of Leicester , was proclaimed Governor - General of the Netherlands . Commanding untrained and badly paid levies , Leicester was unable to prevent the Army of Flanders under Alessandro Farnese , from seizing the towns of Grave , Venlo and Neuss , though he managed to take Axel . When Farnese besieged Rheinberg on September 1586 , Leicester ' s army marched towards Zutphen and took a Spanish sconce on the left bank of the Ijssel river . On 18 September Leicester laid a pontoon bridge over the Ijssel and took positions on the right bank of the river , thus encircling Zutphen . Leicester ' s Anglo - Dutch army consisted of 8 , 000 infantry – mainly English and Scottish , but also 1 , 400 Irish – and 3 , 000 cavalry . Robert Devereux , Earl of Essex , led the cavalry , John Norreys the infantry and William Pelham the camp , in which Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg , the deposed Archbishop of Cologne , and Manuel , son of the Prior of Crato , claimant to the Portuguese crown , all resided . On receiving news of the siege , Farnese dispatched the governor of Friesland , Francisco Verdugo , to Borculo with 400 infantry and two cavalry companies , and Verdugo ' s lieutenant Johann Baptista von Taxis to Zutphen with 600 infantry and two cavalry companies . As the siege continued , Farnese left some troops to blockade Rheinberg and supplied Zutphen in person with 600 cavalry and a convoy of 300 wagons of wheat . Leicester was in Deventer then , but on receiving news of Farnese ' s approach , he returned to Zutphen ' s camp . He found , on his arrival , that Counts Philip of Hohenlohe - Neuenstein and William Louis of Nassau - Dillenburg had entrenched the army on a mountain along the right bank of the Ijssel . Leicester was informed of the possible ways through which the Spanish army might attempt to supply the town , but because of a misunderstanding no troops were deployed to guard the roads . Led by Farnese himself and Francisco Verdugo , the Spanish troops left Borculo at night , passed next to the Dutch town of Lochem and reached Zutphen through a narrow way flanked by deep woods . Farnese prayed in the St . Walburgis church and later on walked up its tower to watch the English army . The following morning a war council was held after a captured Scottish officer was interrogated and revealed Leicester ' s plans and strength . Farnese considered the possibility of defending the town himself , but Verdugo dissuaded him to avoid " " giving the Queen of England the fame that Prince of Parma was like a prisoner inside Zutphen " " . Farnese returned to Borculo , entrusted the command of the town to Verdugo , and sent Taxis to guard a fort nearby . While the siege continued , he marched to Lingen with his army to intercept a corps of reiters who were being recruited in Germany under Elizabeth I ' s orders . When he arrived , however , the reiters had dissolved for lack of pay . Battle . Preparations . To preserve Zutphen ' s garrison , Farnese gathered enough food to feed 4 , 000 men for three months in the towns of Groenlo , Oldenzaal , Lingen and Münster . As this food was carried to Borculo , a large convoy was formed to resupply Zutphen . Farnese gave command of the mission to Alfonso Félix de Ávalos Aquino y Gonzaga , Marquis del Vasto , under whom he put an escort of 2 , 500 infantry − 1 , 000 of them Spanish – and 600 Italian and Albanian cavalry , according to the Jesuit historian Famiano Strada , or just 600 infantry and 300 cavalry as claimed by the Spanish chronicler and soldier Alonso Vázquez , who was an eyewitness . On 21 September Farnese sent a letter to Verdugo commanding him to leave Zutphen with 1 , 000 men , meet the convoy and deliver it to the town . Farnese ' s courier , however , was intercepted near Lochem and Leicester learned of the convoy . Persuaded by one of his confidents , Captain Rowland York , he prepared an ambush . York had served for some years in the Dutch States Army before being imprisoned on charges of pretending to surrender Dendermonde to the Spanish . When Brussels fell to Farnese , he was freed and went to serve Leicester , whose confidence he earned . Leicester waited for the Spanish convoy near the small village of Warnsveld , half a mile from Zutphen . Supported by the Earl of Essex , Sir John Norreys , Sir William Stanley , Lord Willoughby , his nephew the poet and courtier Sir Philip Sidney and William Russell , Leicester commanded 1 , 500 infantry and 200 cavalry , according to the coeval English scholar Edward Grimeston . Famiano Strada increases these numbers to 3 , 000 infantry and 400 cavalry , and Alonso Vázquez to about 8 , 000 , many of them veteran Frisons under Count William Louis of Nassau - Dillenburg . The 19th century American historian John Lothrop Motley , on the other hand , reduces the strength of the English force to 200 cavalry and 300 pikemen , though adding that " " a much stronger force of infantry was held in reserve and readiness " " . The English soldiers , unlike the Dutch , were anxious to engage the Spanish troops . Rowland York told Leicester that he understood Spanish tactics , and that Spaniards were incomparable to English soldiers . Leicester formed his army over a deep , narrow way , with the mountain where the Dutch were entrenched behind . He deployed his cavalry in two squadrons , formed a large infantry battalion , put 300 or 350 advanced pikemen under Sir William Stanley and Lord Audley next to the way , and flanked the road with sleeves of musketeers and arquebusiers . As the morning on 22 September was very misty , the English met the convoy before they expected . The Spanish cavalry opened the way followed by a battalion of foot , two sleeves of musketeers flanking the wagons , and some cavalry closing the way . Del Vasto left part of his cavalry near Lochem to guard the rear of the convoy . At 8 : 00 am , when the Spanish , led by the Marquis del Vasto himself , had passed Warnsveld , Stanley and Lord Audley began to skirmish with the Spanish vanguard . After the first clashes , the Earl of Essex charged upon the Spanish with the English cavalry , crying " " Follow me , good fellows , for the honour of England and of England ' s Queen ! " " Ambush . The Spanish vanguard was driven off by the English at the first charge , but the Spanish pikemen under Captains Pedro Manrique and Manuel de Vega , from Francisco de Bobadilla ' s and Juan del Águila ' s tercios , formed the defenders into squadron formation and kept the way open for the wagons . As the carters fled at the beginning of the fight , the Spanish arquebusiers had to take their places and brought the wagons towards Zutphen . Stanley ' s pikemen charged upon the Spanish squadron , but they were repelled at the push of pike . As the fight approached Zupthen and Francisco Verdugo noticed the musketry fire , he ordered a wagon to be loaded with powder and bullets and sent it to the Spanish arquebusiers . The English cavalry , in the meantime , charged over the Spanish pikes on one of its flanks . Though they succeeded in breaking the two or three foremost ranks , Essex ' s men could not penetrate further . Twice more the English charged upon the squadron , but they were as well repelled . To reduce the pressure on the Spanish infantry , the Marquis del Vasto collected his cavalry and charged over Stanley ' s infantry , being in turn repelled . He was nearly killed when an English soldier attacked him with a battleaxe , but a Spanish light horseman surnamed Arenas saved him by transfixing the English with his lance . Del Vasto retired from the fight and met Verdugo and Johann Baptista von Taxis , who sallied from Zupthen with several troops to join the battle . At the same time they were conversing , English troops unsuccessfully attacked Zutphen ' s sconce on the other side of the Ijssel , which was defended by Count Herman van den Bergh with some men . For a moment , Verdugo thought that the skirmish was inside Zutphen and the town burghers had risen in arms against the few Spanish troops he had left behind the walls . Leicester committed the same mistake , believing that the Frisons under Count William Louis of Nassau - Dillenburg were fighting against the Spanish inside Zutphen . During the confusion , the cavalry left behind by Del Vasto , which included the Italian and Epirote companies under Appio Conti , Hannibal Gonzaga , George Crescia , the Marquis of Bentivoglio and Nicolo Cefis , reached Zutphen . Count Hannibal Gonzaga and the Albanian captain George Crescia , attacked the English on their own , without Del Vasto ' s orders . Crescia was dismounted and taken prisoner by Lord Willoughby , while Gonzaga , not wearing his close helmet , received a serious slash in the neck and fell from his horse . On the English side , Philip Sidney , governor of Vlissingen , was fatally wounded in a leg in the final charge . The Spanish cavalry then sought protection behind the infantry , which kept the English cavalry at bay . Verdugo , supported by the Albanian captain Nicolao Basta and the Spanish Evangelista de las Cuevas , Commissar General of the cavalry , managed to restore the order in the Spanish ranks . Seeing the good order of Verdugo and Del Vasto ' s men , the English and Dutch commanders did not renew the action and began to retire back to their camp . A handful of Spanish pikemen , including some low ranking officers , disobeyed their orders and began to pursue the English . Aftermath . The Spanish soldier Alonso Vázquez labelled the Battle of Zutphen as " " one of the best factions that until that time was ever seen in Flanders " " . For many years it was common among Spaniards and Netherlanders to call a hard - fought action " as warm as the fight of Zutphen " . According to John Lothrop Motley , " " it is probable that the encounter would have been forgotten by posterity but by the melancholy close up upon that field to Sidney ' s bright career " " . Sidney allegedly had removed his cuisses when he saw that William Pelham was not wearing any . However , by the 1590s cavalry soldiers wore less armour than in the past , and this , instead of Sidney ' s solidarity toward his companion , cost his life . Sidney was carried to the town of Arnhem to recover , but he died three weeks later of gangrene , as surgeons were unable to extract the bullet . Historians are uncertain about the number of casualties both sides suffered during the battle . Motley claims 13 horse and 22 foot killed on the English side , against ' perhaps ' 200 men on the Spanish side . On the other hand , Vázquez claimed that the Spanish " " were winners with very little loss , having wounded and slaughtered many people to the rebels " " . On 12 October , for the third time , Farnese supplied the garrison of Zutphen , personally , as he had done the first time . Later on , he sent Verdugo back to Friesland and left Johann Baptista von Taxis in charge of Zutphen . After that , the Spanish army took its winter quarters . When Farnese moved to Brussels to spend the winter there , the Earl of Leicester continued the siege of Zutphen . He was not able to take the town , but succeeded in occupying several forts beyond the Ijssel , including Zutphen ' s sconce , which was carried by surprise by Edward Stanley , brother of William Stanley , and 12 other soldiers . Shortly after the English and Dutch also took their winter quarters . Sir William Stanley was given the command of Deventer , Sir John Burroughs of Duisburg , and Rowland York of Zutphen ' s sconce . Stanley and York ' s appointments were met with suspicion by the Dutch States , because Stanley was openly Catholic and York a man of dissolute character . Leicester expressed his full confidence in both soldiers , but in 1587 Stanley and York shifted sides to the Spanish party and handed Deventer and Zutphen ' s sconce over to Taxis . Stanley and York ' s acts not only negated the gains of the 1586 campaign , but also undermined Leicester ' s reputation and the Dutch States confidence in the English troops . The Dutch States decided to appoint Count Maurice of Nassau as Governor - General of the Netherlands and Philip of Hohenlohe as his lieutenant . With the loss of Deventer and Zutphen ' s sconce , the Spanish were able to levy war contributions in the provinces of Utrecht , Overijssel and Gelderland . Zutphen and Deventer remained in Spanish control until their capture in 1591 by Maurice of Nassau .