Флёрю шайқасы: Отыз жылдық соғыстағы қақтығыс

1622 battle of the Thirty Years' War

The Battle of Fleurus of August 29, 1622 was fought in the Spanish Netherlands between a Spanish army and the Protestant forces of Ernst von Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War. The bloody struggle left the Protestants mangled and the Spanish masters of the field. The Spanish victory would ensure Catholic dominance in Germany till the intervention of Denmark–Norway.

After failing to relieve Heidelberg, besieged by Tilly's army, Frederick V, Elector Palatine, decided to disband his army. On July 13, 1622 the contract was cancelled and the unemployed army of Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick was hired by the Dutch to help in the relief of the siege of Bergen op Zoom. The Protestant army departed from Alsace and at a fast pace crossed Northern France, entering the Spanish Low Countries through Hainaut. The Spanish Army of Flanders, under command of Ambrogio Spinola, engaged in the siege of Bergen op Zoom, a town on the estuary of the Schelde River, was in a dangerous position; while a relieving Dutch army was being assembled to the East at Breda he faced an invasion from the South. He was in danger of being trapped between the two enemy armies, his line of retreat towards Antwerp blocked by the invading German army. To stop that army Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, commander of the Spanish army in the Palatinate, was recalled in a hurry from the siege of Heidelberg. Cordoba marched through the Duchy of Luxembourg and the difficult terrain of the Ardennes, and was able to intercept Mansfeld and Brunswick on the border of Brabant. The Protestant army advance guard met Spanish cavalry scouts on 27 August, and two days later they found Córdoba's army entrenched. Córdoba, much weaker in cavalry, had assumed a blocking position north of the town of Mellet, near Fleurus, with flanks supported by woods. The Protestant commanders deployed their army to try to break through the Spanish position.

After a short cannonade, Mansfeld ordered a general advance. Some gaps opened up in the poorly drilled German infantry, and De Sylva attacked an exposed flank, routing one Battalion. However, Streiff counterattacked, the Walloon cavalry was wrong footed and suffered considerable damage from enemy pistol fire. De Sylva's cavalry took refuge behind the baggage wagons, while Streiff turned on the Spanish infantry, but without much success. On the Protestant left, Brunswick had massed most of his cavalry, Córdoba's deployment made it impossible to outflank his position, but Brunswick hoped to overwhelm the Spanish by a massed frontal assault. The first charge was repulsed by Gauchier's cavalry, but Brunswick reordered his command and launched a second charge, the first line was repulsed again but the second line succeeded in pushing back the Walloon Horse. Brunswick turned then against the Spanish infantry, but his own infantry failed to adequately support the attack, the Tercio of Naples held its ground, and murderous enfilade fire from musketeers ambushed in the nearby woods sent the Protestant cavalry reeling back in disorder. In a final charge, Brunswick was wounded, and his cavalry, demoralised, finally fell back. After five hours of fighting, Mansfeld ordered a general retreat, it was midday and he intended to take the road through Liège around Córdoba to reach Breda. The Spanish army was too tired to follow the enemy. The next day, Córdoba sent Gauchier with the cavalry, although it caught up with the rear guard of the Protestant army, it managed to continue its march, defeat a small local army trying to block it, and rally at Tongeren. From there it started a six hour night march to Breda, reaching it exhausted and without much of its equipment. Within days however the Dutch had re equipped the circa 10,000 left in Mansfeld's army from state arsenals.

As the Spanish army had failed to block Brunswick and Mansfeld, Spinola was compelled to lift the siege of Bergen op Zoom, although the outcome of Fleurus bought him space to retreat safely. Brunswick and Mansfeld only served for three months in Dutch pay, their unruly bands having no place in the disciplined Dutch army. Meanwhile, Tilly's army easily overran the Palatinate.