Editing Battle of Turnhout (1597) (section)

==Background==
After the [[Capture of Cádiz|successful attack on Cadiz]] in 1596, the English forces allied to the Dutch led by [[Francis Vere|Sir Francis Vere]] were urgently required back in the Netherlands and went there directly. The severe damage from the raid contributed to the bankruptcy of Spain for the third time, which meant that payments to their armies dried up, leading to frequent [[Mutiny|mutinies]].<ref name="Abreu">[[Pedro de Abreu]]: [https://books.google.com/books?id=lbAGAAAAQAAJ ''Historia del saqueo de Cádiz por los ingleses en 1596''], escrita poco después del suceso, fue vetada en su época por las críticas vertidas contra la defensa española. Se publicaría por vez primera en 1866.</ref> In addition, many Spanish troops had been sent from the Spanish Netherlands to [[Kingdom of France|France]] by [[Philip II of Spain]] to assist the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]] in the [[French Wars of Religion]].

During the winter of 1596/1597 [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria|Archduke Albert's]] Spanish army of 4,500 under the command of the [[Spanish Netherlands|Burgundian]] Philibert de Rye, Count Varax, had advanced to the town of Turnhout, about {{convert|30|km|mi}} south of the Dutch city of [[Breda]]; their design was to surprise the town of [[Tholen]] in a rare winter offensive.<ref name="Markham254">Markham pp. 254-55</ref>

Varax had under his command four infantry units: the [[Tercio]] of Naples led by the Marquis of Treviso, the Germans under the Count of Sulz, and two [[Walloons|Walloon]] and [[Burgundians|Burgundian]] regiments under the Comtes de Hachicourt and de Barlaymont.<ref name="Motley424"/> The cavalry under Nicolo Basta comprised four squadrons of Spanish horse commanded by Juan de Cordova, Alonzo de Mendoza, Juan de Guzman and Alonzo Mondragon, and a [[Flanders|Flemish]] unit under de Grubbendonck.<ref name="Markham254"/> These were split into two units, one of heavy [[demi-lancer]]s and the other of lighter ''herreruelos'' ([[harquebusier]]s).<ref name="Coetzee/Eysturlid">Coetzee & Eysturlid pp 117-18</ref>

The Dutch [[Stadtholder]], [[Maurice, Prince of Orange|Maurice of Nassau]], had received orders from the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] to collect a force at [[Geertruidenberg]] to counter this Spanish threat. Though the town was not walled, Turnhout was strategically important - it held a small castle surrounded by a moat and contained a garrison of forty men.<ref name="Motley424">{{cite book|last=Motley|first=John Lothrop|title=History of the United Netherlands: from the death of William the Silent to the Synod of Dort, with a full view of the English-Dutch struggle against Spain, and of the origin and destruction of the Spanish armada (Volume 3)|pages=424–25|publisher=New York, Harper |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofunitedn03motluoft#page/424}}</ref> A force of nearly 6,800 infantry with two [[demi-cannon]]s and two [[Field gun|field pieces]] was assembled at Geertruidenberg. Six [[Company (military unit)|companies]] of Dutch infantry were under Maurice, and the counts of [[Wolfgang, Count of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim|Hohenlohe]], Brederode, and Solms arrived with contingents gathered from their various garrisons.<ref name="Markham254"/> Vere led the English force once more - nearly two-thirds of Maurice's army were in fact English and [[Scottish people|Scots]]. A minority were subsidized allied troops or 'religious volunteers', most of whom were long-term [[Mercenary|mercenaries]] sent by [[Elizabeth I]]. Among these were [[Alexander Murray of Drumdewan|Sir Alexander Murray's]] [[regiment]] of Scots, as well as eight companies of English infantry under the command of Captain [[Henry Docwra, 1st Baron Docwra of Culmore|Henry Docwra]]. The cavalry totaled 800 men commanded by Marcellus Bacx and included a contingent of one hundred elite [[cuirassier]]s made up of volunteers from among the English [[gentry]], 'the gentlemen of the [Protestant] religion', under Sir [[Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester|Robert Sydney]] and Sir [[Nicholas Parker (MP)|Nicholas Parker]].<ref name="Fissel"/><ref name="Knight">Knight, Charles Raleigh: ''Historical records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) formerly designated the Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment''. Vol I. London, Gale & Polden, 1905, [http://ia600408.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/23/items/historicalrecor00kniggoog/historicalrecor00kniggoog_tif.zip&file=historicalrecor00kniggoog_tif/historicalrecor00kniggoog_0072.tif&scale=4&rotate=0 p. 58-59]</ref>

On the morning of 23 January 1597 the allied army departed Geertruidenberg in four divisions, with the cavalry on the flanks. In a one-day [[Loaded march|forced march]] of {{convert|38|km|mi}} in poor road conditions they managed to reach the village of [[Ravels]] that evening ({{convert|5|km|mi}} northeast of Turnhout), and made camp.<ref name="Motley424"/>

At midnight the Dutch and English broke camp and approached the outskirts of Turnhout.<ref name="Markham256">Markham pp. 256</ref>