Battle of Empel

The Miracle of Empel was an unexpected Spanish victory on 8 December 1585 near Empel, in the Netherlands, as part of the Eighty Years' War, in which a surrounded Spanish force won against an enemy who exceeded them largely in number.After the campaign of 1585, the Governor of Spanish Netherlands and commander of the Spanish troops Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma decided to go into winter quarters on Northern Dutch territory. The troops of Karl von Mansfeld occupied the area around 's-Hertogenbosch. Some 3000-4000 men of the Spanish Tercio, including Juan del Águila, under Maestre de Campo Francisco Arias de Bobadilla were stationed on Bommelerwaard, which was supposed to be rich enough to support these troops through the winter. But all farmers had left the island, taking their livestock with them.

Wikipedia