[3] Nijmegen located at the confluence of the Waal and Rhine rivers was strategically important to the defence of the Dutch provinces and the Electorate of Cologne.

On the night of 10 August 1589 during the Cologne War, mercenary troops under Martin Schenck von Nydeggen attempted an assault on Nijmegen which held a small garrison.

[4] A year after Schenk’s failure the States army under Maurice of Nassau, reinforced with English troops under Francis Vere, achieved many victories.

[5] On the north bank of Nijmegen was the outlying fortification of Knodsenburg, a highly strategic position overlooking the city which was built by the Dutch and was then garrisoned.

[6] On October 16 Maurice and his force bridged the deep, wide, and rapid river Waal and had transported 8,500 infantry and sixteen companies of cavalry to the southern side and surrounded the city the next day.

[7] Maurice in the meantime had built up the fort at Knodsenburg, allowing him to bombard the city from there but was unable to convince a surrender; so a closer siege was needed.

[7] Maurice continued on the offensive and in a stunning campaign the following year he took Steenwijk in July and didn't stop until Groningen was captured in 1594 by which time all of the Drenthe region had been conquered.