Battle of Kallo - Aftermath

Aftermath

The victory of Kallo was described by the Cardinal-Infante to King Philip as the "greatest victory which your Majesty's arms have achieved since the war in the Low Countries began", and by the Dutch as "a great disaster". The recapture of the key fortress of Kallo forced Frederick Henry to abort the whole offensive, which turned as one of the worst Dutch defeats of the war, thus undermining the reputation of the statholder. Shortly after two of Ferdinand's generals, Ottavio Piccolomini and Prince Thomas of Carignano, routed in command of a Spanish-Imperial force the French army under the Marshalls Gaspard III de Coligny and Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, which retreated from Saint Omer with the loss of 4,000 men. Piccolomini's Imperials also overran some Dutch outposts in Cleves. In an attempt to restore the situation, Frederick Henry laid siege to Geldern in command of 16,000 men, but was forced into a costly retreat by the Cardinal-Infante, who succeeded in breaking his lines of circumvallation. The defensive campaign of 1638, in all, was exceptionally successful for the Spanish.