Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom (1622)

The Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom (1622) was a battle during the Eighty Years' War.

On 18 July 1622, the Spanish general Ambrosio Spinola laid siege to the Dutch city of Bergen op Zoom. The population was divided between Protestants and Catholics, who favored a Spanish conquest. Spinola tried a feigned manoeuver by sending a part of his army under Hendrik van den Bergh to Cleves, and an other part under Luis de Velasco to Steenbergen, which was consequently conquered by Velasco.

But the city did not fall because it was supplied by sea. Furthermore, the Dutch Navy regularly bombarded the Spanish, causing many casualties. The young Michiel de Ruyter was one of these gunners. The Spanish, by now de facto led by Velasco, had to lift the siege on 2 October, as a result of the arrival of an army under the Dutch Stadtholder Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange and Ernst von Mansfeld. Maurice of Nassau and his army relieved the city on the next day. The siege cost Spinola 5000 troops.