The Destruction of Neuss occurred in July 1586, during the Cologne War. Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma's troops surrounded the city of Neuss, an important Protestant garrison in the Electorate of Cologne. After the city refused to capitulate, Parma's army reduced the city to rubble through a combination of artillery fire, destructive house-to-house fighting, and plundering; during the battle, a fire started that destroyed most of the rest of the city. Approximately 3000 civilians died, out of a population of around 4500, and the entire garrison was killed.