In 1672, during the Rampjaar, he was stationed in The Hague with a number of horsemen. There he tried to stop the murder of Cornelis de Witt and Johan de Witt by an angry mob, but was ordered to retreat. An order he very reluctantly followed. "I will obey," Tilly spoke, "but now the De Witts are dead men." This controversial incident seems to indicate that the lynching was prepared by Orangists from higher up and was not a spontaneous affair. Tilly would harbor anti-orangist feelings for the rest of his life. This while most of the officers and soldiers in the army were Orangists.
