The Battle of Mookerheyde was a battle of the Eighty Years' War fought on 14 April 1574 near the village Mook and the river Meuse.In the winter months of on 1574, William the Silent's brothers, Louis and Henry of Nassau, raised a mercenary army in Germany of 6500 infantry and 3000 cavalry, and led them towards the city of Maastricht, where they were to meet the Prince of Orange named William the Silent who led 6000 Dutchmen himself. After that, they would join forces and march for the relief of Leiden which was besieged by a large Spanish force under the Duke of Alba. Along the march over a thousand men deserted, seven hundred were killed in a night attack by the Spanish, and the rest were mutinous for their pay, which they had not received due to the Prince's empty coffers.