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Battle of Turnhout
Part of the Eighty Years' War
De slagh bij Turnhout in den jaere MDXCVII - 1597 (Jan Luyken, 1681)
The battle of Turnhout in 1597. Engraving by Jan Luycken.
Date24 January 1597
LocationNear Turnhout (present-day Belgium)
Result Dutch and English victory
Belligerents
Spain Spain Prinsenvlag United Provinces
Flag of England Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
Spain Count Varax Dutch Republic Maurice of Nassau
Kingdom of England Francis Vere
Strength
4,000 infantry,
500 cavalry[1][2][3]
6,000 infantry,
800 cavalry[3]
Casualties and losses
2,000 killed & wounded,
500 to 700 captured[1][4]
12 to 50 casualties[1][5]



The Battle of Turnhout, 1597 occurred during the Eighty Years' War where Turnhout was in the border area between the Northern and Southern Netherlands. Though the town had not been walled, Turnhout was an important strategic town. On 24 January 1597 on the Tielenheide (this battle is also called 'The battle on Tielenheide') in a neighbouring village (Tielen), Dutch cavalry under command of Prince Maurice met and defeated a Spanish cavalry detachment under Varax. The Spanish cavalry was driven off, after which the Dutch troops burnt parts of the local castle. The ever prudent Maurice failed to follow up and turn the tactical victory into a strategic one.

Cultural[]

Music composer Kevin Houben commemorated the battle in his concert work, Thyellene, battle on the heath. In September 2008, Brassband Kempenzonen Tielen played this work on the site where once the battle took place.

The defeat of Varax inspired the writing of the hymn We Gather Together.

Notes[]

References[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Battle of Turnhout (1597) and the edit history here.
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