Battle of Turnhout (1597)

Battle of Turnhout
Part of the Eighty Years' & Anglo-Spanish Wars
The battle of Turnhout in 1597. Engraving by Jan Luyken
Date 24 January 1597 Location Near Turnhout, Southern Netherlands (now in modern-day Belgium) Result Anglo-Dutch victory[1][2]
Belligerents
Spanish Empire	Dutch Republic  England
Commanders and leaders
Philibert de Rye, Count Varax † Nicolo Basta	Maurice of Nassau Sir Francis Vere
Strength
4,000 infantry, 500 cavalry[3][4][5]	800 cavalry[5][6]
Casualties and losses
2,000 killed & wounded, 500 to 700 captured[3][7]	12 killed, 50 wounded[3][8]

The Battle of Turnhout, also known as the Battle of Tielenheide, was fought on 24 January 1597 by allied forces of the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of England against those of the Spanish Empire. The battle took place near Turnhout in the Southern Netherlands (now in modern-day Belgium), and was part of the Eighty Years' War and the concurrent Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).^[9]

The engagement occurred as the Spanish were withdrawing ahead of an impending Dutch and English attack on their winter quarters in Turnhout (which did not have defensive walls), to Herentals, the nearest fortified town, 17 kilometres (11 mi) to the southwest. The vanguard of the allied army caught up with the Spanish column en route to Herentals, and after some skirmishing, both armies confronted each other on a heath called Tielenheide. The Spanish cavalry was driven off, after which the English and Dutch cavalry fell upon the disordered Spanish infantry who were routed with heavy casualties.^[7][10]