Battle of Werl

The Battle of Werl occurred between 3–8 March 1586, during a month-long campaign in the Duchy of Westphalia by mercenaries fighting for the Protestant Archbishop-Prince Elector of Cologne, Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg.

The action at Werl had been preceded by a general plundering of Vest and Recklinghausen by troops of Hermann Friedrich Cloedt and Martin Schenck which alienated the farmers and merchants of Westphalia from Gebhard's cause, although not specifically from Protestantism. Schenck used trickery to take the fortress at Werl, but was not able to completely overpower the guard. The arrival of a superior force outnumbering his by about 10 to 1, under the command of Claude de Berlaymont, cornered him in within the city's walls. In his subsequent withdrawal, he took a couple dozen civilian hostages, and escaped with his booty across the Rhine river.

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