Siege of Breda (1637) when word came that the Dutch had suddenly invested the city of Breda with a besieging army of 18,000. Breda was the capital city of the baronial fief that had once been the crown jewel in the Dutch estates of the Nassau family in the Habsburg Netherlands before the war started. Frederick Henry had therefore a personal interest in recapturing the city and its surroundings. The siege was preceded by an attempt to surprise the garrison on 21 July 1637 by Dutch cavalry under Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz. However, the gates were closed in time and the Dutch skirmishers
Declaration of Breda delivered to both houses of the Convention Parliament by John Grenville. Other copies with separate covering letters were delivered to Lord General George Monck to be communicated to the Lord President of the Council of State and to the Officers of the Army under his command, and to the Generals of the "Navy at Sea" and to the Lord Mayor of London. Several warships of the Royal Navy would later be named HMS "Breda" after the declaration. Declaration of Breda The Declaration of Breda (dated 4 April 1660) was a proclamation by Charles II of England in which he promised