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
Siege of Breda (1624) Coloma. Because of the vastness of Breda, Spinola had his troops divided into four compartments. The four subjects with commanders were: The siege of 1624–1625 is the subject of the 1998 novel "El sol de Breda" ("The Sun Over Breda") by the Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte, as part of the "Captain Alatriste" series. The events of the siege – including both the gruelling fighting with the Dutch and the infighting among the Spanish, including a major mutiny by unpaid Spanish troops – are depicted from the point of view of a boy serving with the Spanish forces. The realistic depiction