The citizens of Wesel were amazed at being attacked, considering themselves as Imperial burghers.  They regretted too late that they had refused a garrison from Maurice, which would have prevented Spinola from assailing them.  They had now nothing for it but to surrender, which they did within three days.  The principal condition of the capitulation was that when Julich should be given up by the States Wesel should be restored to its former position.  Spinola then took and garrisoned the city of Xanten, but went no further.  Having weakened his army sufficiently by the garrisons taken from it for the cities captured by him, he declined to make any demonstration upon the neighbouring and important towns of Emmerich and Rees.  The Catholic commander falling back, the Protestant moved forward.  Maurice seized both Emmerich and Rees, and placed garrisons within them, besides occupying Goch, Kranenburg, Gennip, and various places in the County of Mark.  This closed the amicable campaign.

Spinola established himself and his forces near Wesel.  The Prince encamped near Rees.  The two armies were within two hours’ march of each other.  The Duke of Neuburg—­for the Palatine had now succeeded on his father’s death to the ancestral dukedom and to his share of the Condominium of the debateable provinces—­now joined Spinola with an army of 4000 foot and 400 horse.  The young Prince of Brandenburg came to Maurice with 800 cavalry and an infantry regiment of the Elector-Palatine.

Negotiations destined to be as spectral and fleeting as the campaign had been illusory now began.  The whole Protestant world was aflame with indignation at the loss of Wesel.  The States’ government had already proposed to deposit Julich in the hands of a neutral power if the Archduke would abstain from military movements.  But Albert, proud of his achievements in Aachen, refused to pause in his career.  Let them make the deposit first, he said.

Both belligerents, being now satiated with such military glory as could flow from the capture of defenceless cities belonging to neutrals, agreed to hold conferences at Xanten.  To this town, in the Duchy of Cleve, and midway between the rival camps, came Sir Henry Wotton and Sir Dudley Carleton, ambassadors of Great Britain; de Refuge and de Russy, the special and the resident ambassador of France at the Hague; Chancellor Peter Pecquius and Counsellor Visser, to represent the Archdukes; seven deputies from the United Provinces, three from the Elector of Cologne, three from Brandenburg, three from Neuburg, and two from the Elector-Palatine, as representative of the Protestant League.