Battle of Gembloux (1578)

For the World War II battle, see Battle of Gembloux (1940)

Battle of Gembloux
Part of the Eighty Years' War
Date 31 January 1578 Location Gembloux (present-day Belgium) Result Decisive Spanish victory
Belligerents
Dutch Rebels	Spain
Commanders and leaders
De Goignie	Alexander Farnese Juan de Austria
Strength
25,000 men	17,000 men
Casualties and losses
10,000 dead or captured	20 dead or wounded

The Battle of Gembloux marked a terrible defeat for the Protestant rebels fighting against Spain in the Eighty Years' War. On 31 January 1578, an advance force of 1,200 cavalrymen from the main Spanish army of 20,000 men attacked the retreating Dutch army of around 20,000 men. The Dutch had about 7,000 men more than the Spanish, but the quality of the Dutch troops was too low to deliver the Spanish more damage. The small force under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza succeeded in creating a panic and destroyed the Netherlandish army at Gembloux. Local resistance was crushed and the region pacified shortly afterwards.