Relief of Goes

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Relief of Goes
Part of the Eighty Years' War
The Siege of Goes, 1572, by Petro Le Poivre.
Date 20 October 1572 Location Goes (present-day Netherlands) Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Dutch Rebels  England	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Jerome de Tseraarts Thomas Morgan Humphrey Gilbert	Cristóbal de Mondragón
Strength
7,000	3,000
Casualties and losses
800+ killed	6 drowned

In August 1572, during the course of the Eighty Years' War, the city of Goes, in the Spanish Netherlands, was besieged by Dutch forces with the support of English troops sent by Queen Elizabeth I. This was a menace to the safety of the nearby city of Middelburg, also under siege. Given the impossibility of rescue of Goes by sea, 3,000 soldiers of the Spanish Tercios under the command of Cristóbal de Mondragón waded across the river Scheldt at its mouth, walking 15 miles overnight in water up to chest deep. The surprise arrival of the Tercios forced the withdrawal of the Anglo-Dutch troops from Goes, allowing the Spanish to maintain control of Middelburg, capital of Walcheren Island.