[6] In February 1590, a nobleman from Cambrai, Charles de Heraugiere, under orders from Maurice of Nassau, was to make a covert reconnoiter of Breda.

Heraugiere contacted Adriaen van Bergen, loyal to the Dutch by trade who was used to entering and leaving Breda with a barge loaded of winter fuel, in this case peat.

Heraugiere soon realized a Trojan Horse style attack was too good an opportunity to miss and thus reported it to Maurice as soon as they returned.

[3] The plan was presented to Maurice of Nassau, who was glad to give his approval and then ordered the operation the go ahead but in maximum secrecy.

They waited next to the mouth of the Mark river for the arrival of the boat of van Bergen and accompanied captains Logier, Fervet, and Lieutenant Matthew Held.

[5] That same day Maurice of Nassau, Francis Vere, and Count Hohenlohe with 800 Dutch and 600 English soldiers with 300 cavalry arrived at Willemstad, thirty kilometers from Breda.

Having deceived the soldiers of the garrison, Heraugiere gave out the warning signal to Maurice, who then initiated the march of his troops towards the city without hesitation.

[3][5] With the Breda garrison completely surrounded and in total confusion Paolo Lanzavecchia negotiated with the attackers the conditions of the surrender of the city, that was decided according to the following terms: The taking of Breda on the part of the Dutch and English troops, a city in the eyes of the Spaniards that was assumed to be safe, was a disagreeable surprise for the Spanish authorities.

[3][8] With the taking of Breda, Maurice of Nassau used the place as an operational base and from here he conquered Elshout, Fort Crèvecoeur near 's-Hertogenbosch, Steenbergen, Roosendaal, Oosterhout, and others.