On this day, 3,000 soldiers of the Spanish Tercios under the command of Cristóbal de Mondragón broke the Dutch and English siege of the City of Goes in the Spanish Netherlands by crossing the river Scheldt during the night. It was an audacious plan that meant wading through muddy ice-cold water, sometimes chest-high, for 24 kilometres, with gunpowder and provisions held over their heads or on the tips of their pikes in total darkness. Only nine men drowned during the crossing of the river, a minute number considering the danger of the task. When the Spanish forces attacked soon after dawn, the surprised Dutch and English troops abandoned the siege and began a hurried retreat to their ships. Their withdrawal from Goes’s outskirts allowed the Spanish troops to temporarily relieve Middelburg, capital of Zeeland, which withstood the Dutch siege until its surrender in February 1574.
