Siege of Ostend

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Siege of Ostend
Part of the Eighty Years' War
Date July 5, 1601 – September 16, 1604
Location Ostend, present-day Belgium
Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
United Provinces Spain
Commanders
Francis Vere Archduke Albrecht
Ambrosio Spinola
Strength
40.000 infantry

9.500 cavalry

 68.500 infantry

12.000 cavalry
Casualties and losses
30,000 dead or wounded
15,000 captured		 55,000 dead or wounded
 
Dutch Revolt


The Siege of Ostend was a three-year siege that resulted in a Spanish victory. It is remembered as the bloodiest battle of the Eighty Years' War and one of the longest sieges in history: It is said "the Spanish assailed the unassailable; the Dutch defended the indefensible."[citation needed]

In 1603, General Spinola assumed command of the Spanish forces. Under his able leadership, the Spanish tore Ostend's outer defenses from the exhausted Dutch and put what remained of the city under the muzzles of their guns, compelling the Dutch to surrender. By that point the Spanish had lost almost 60,000 men in the blasted trenches and dugouts surrounding the ruined city.

The ruin and devastation of the siege led to negotiations that produced a twelve-year truce (1609-1621) between Spain and the United Provinces.

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