1600 - Battle of Nieuwpoort
Philip of Spain, who now felt his end approaching, became desirous of putting an end to the war with France, and also of establishing a general peace. At first the negotiation comprehended the states of Holland ; but, in May 1598, a peace was concluded which did not extend to them. In a few days after, a public communication was made, that the sovereignty of Burgundy and the Netherlands had been transferred from the crown of Spain to the Archduke Albert and the lnfanta Isabella on their being betrothed, a ceremony which was performed by proxy on the part of the Infanta, who was still in Spain ; after which he was solemnly inaugurated at Brussels on the 22d of August. He immediately departed for Spain, but placed the troops, which amounted to 22,000 men, under the command of Mendoza, a Spaniard. As the archduke traveled slowly, he was nearly six months before he reached Valencia in Spain, where the marriage was consummated, and where soon afterwards he received the intelligence of the death of King Philip, the father of his bride; but it was then nearly six months more-before the archduke and archduchess arrived in the city of Brussels.
In this year Mendoza, on the pretence of invading Holland, led his army into the duchy of Cleves, and some of the neutral states in Westphalia, where the most atrocious cruelties were exercised and the most extensive devastations practiced. They were, however, in some degree checked by Prince Maurice with a much inferior force, and prevented from passing the Dutch frontiers. The Germans, roused by their country being invaded, hastily mustered an army of 14,000 men, badly disciplined and equipped. Mendoza resolved to abandon his projected invasion of Holland, anti encounter the advancing Germans under the Count de Lippe. In an action fought with these Germans, Mendoza was eminently successful ; with the loss of a few men, he was enabled to gain a victory, by which his opponents, if not destroyed, were completely dispersed.
These transactions kindled anew the patriotic spirit of the Hollanders, which from inactivity had begun to languish, and which had also been checked by the heavy taxes imposed on them, and by the demand of Queen Elizabeth for payment of the supplies she had afforded them, accompanied with the orders for the recall of her troops.
But Prince Maurice knew how to inspire the Dutch with energy, and he obtained some auxiliary troops from other countries. He had some Germans, some Swiss sent by France, and troops both from England and Scotland, then separate kingdoms; and he collected the whole disposable force of the Dutch confederacy, amounting to about 17,000 men, whom he secretly transferred to the island of Walcheren, and having plenty of craft adapted to the purpose, he suddenly shipped them, and ascended the river Scheldt. He passed with the rapid flood-tide the city of Antwerp, and was in hopes of surprising Ghent, where he had calculated on finding a party disposed to assist him. In this, however, he was disappointed; and taking possession of some forts in the vicinity of that city and of Bruges, be advanced to Nieuport, the siege of which place he immediately commenced.
The archduke was taken by surprise, and the Spanish forces were in a state of mutiny on account of their pay being in arrear. In this crisis he acted with great decision and celerity, and in a few days was able to collect a force of 12,000 men, which assembled at Ghent. Nieuport, which Maurice was besieging, is on the sea-coast, amongst the downs or sand-hills, and in a country affording but scanty supplies. The first movement of the archduke was to cut off the retreat of the Hollanders, in which he was favored by the occupation of Ghent and Bruges. He also determined on raising the siege of Nieuport, and recaptured all the forts which Maurice had taken, except those of Ostend. As be advanced he came in contact with a part of the army of the Dutch, consisting of 3000 men, commanded by Prince Ernest of Nassau, and composed for the most part of Scottish infantry. These were attacked, and, to give time to the main body under Maurice to form, they fought most gallantly; but, after a loss of nearly one third of their number, and being completely separated from the rest of their army, they were defeated, and at length threw themselves into Ostend. The archduke, encouraged by this success, resolved to attack Prince Maurice.
Most of his more experienced and cautious officers recommended that the army should remain in their position, where, by famine, they would shortly compel their opponents to surrender. Others, especially the Spanish officers, elated by their recent success, urged an immediate advance. Maurice, who had been surprised by the rapid movements of the enemy, was in a most embarrassing situation. Before him was the garrisoned town of his enemy, and behind him the main army, now more than equal to his own in numbers, as well as in courage and discipline. The sea was open to him, and such was his alarm, that he desired his brother, Prince Frederick Henry, and a young prince of Holstein, with several young English nobles, who were volunteers, to embark on board a vessel; but they all refused, and resolved to face the threatened battle; and, as Maurice could not embark his whole army on an open shore in the face of a superior force, be determined to risk an action in which he had little cause to hope for a victory. It was the resolution of despair rather than of hope. The vessels on the coast were ordered to depart and range themselves before the port of Ostend.
It has been remarked by the historians of the day, Vandervynk and Grotius (the latter of whom, then a youth of eighteen, was present), that each of the armies was of such a variety of troops as to make them respectively an epitome of the various nations of Europe. The force of Maurice consisted of Dutch, English, Scotch, Germans, French, and Swiss, under Count Louis of Nassau, Sir Francis Vere, Sir Horace Vere, and other English officers of considerable celebrity. The archduke had under his command Spaniards, Italians, Walloons, Belgians, and Irish, who were led by Mendoza, La. Berlotta, and other celebrated officers. The rival generals rode along their respective lines, ad— dressed a few words of encouragement to their men, and the contest commenced.
On the 2nd of July 1600, at three o’clock, the archduke began the attack. His advanced guard, commanded by Mendoza, and composed of the mutineers, who now resolved to atone for their former misconduct, marched across the sand-hills with desperate resolution. They soon came into contact with the English part of the force under Sir Francis Vere, who was desperately wounded in the first shock. The assault was almost irresistible. The English, borne down by numbers, were forced to give way; but the main body pressed on to their support, and Sir Horace Vere stepped forward to supply the place of his brother. Not an inch of ground was gained or lost ; the firing ceased, and pikes and swords crossed each other in the regular conflict of man to man. The action now became general along the whole line. The two commanders-in-chief were to be seen at all points.
Nothing could exceed their mutual display of skill and courage. At length the Spanish cavalry, broken by the well-directed fire of the patriot artillery, fell back on their infantry and threw it into confusion. At the same instant the archduke was wounded by a lance in the cheek, unhorsed, and forced to quit the field. The report of his death, and the sight of his war-steed galloping alone across the field, spread alarm throughout the royalist ranks. Prince Maurice saw and seized on the critical moment. He who had so patiently maintained his position for three hours of desperate conflict, now discerned the instant for a prompt and general advance. He gave the word, and having led his troops to the charge, the victory was at length decided.
The defeat of the royalist army was in fact complete. The whole of the artillery, baggage, standards, and ammunition, fell into the hands of the conquerors. Night alone saved those who fled, and the nature of the ground prevented the cavalry from consummating the destruction of the beaten army. Accounts differ as to the actual number of the killed, some stating it at 6000 men, others at 3000; but perhaps the latter computation does not include comparison with the extraordinary loss of lives which the con- Nether; lands' the wounded. For the number of men engaged, it was test for its possession ultimately occasioned. The most bloody battle that had yet been fought - more than half of the men engaged on both sides were either killed or desperately wounded.
The Hollanders alone made prisoners, and among them were many officers of the first rank. Mendoza was one of these ; he had been wounded, and the prince had difficulty in saving his life from the German auxiliaries, who were desirous of revenging on him the atrocities committed by his army in the duchy of Cleves and in Westphalia. Among the other prisoners of eminence were the admiral of Aragon, the seneschal of Montemilard, and the generals Don Louis de Vellar, Don Idiaquez Monroy, D'Avila, and the aide-de-camps of the archduke. The archduke, furnished with a fresh horse, made his escape from the field, and reached Bruges, where he joined his wife, who had confidently expected him to return victorious, and immediately proceeded to Brussels. Although wounded, and at one time a prisoner, but rescued by his own troops, he uniformly preserved his presence of mind, and throughout gave such directions and orders as evinced the soundest judgment.
This bloody victory was of little military consequence, but the moral effect on the courage of the conquerors, and in the depression of the defeated, was of the greatest importance. Prince Maurice had escaped from a destruction that appeared almost inevitable. After the battle he resumed the siege of Nieuport; but some reinforcements had been introduced, which rendered its speedy capture impracticable, and, from want of supplies, the attempt was abandoned; and having prepared Ostend for a vigorous defense, he returned to Holland with the remains of his army. He was there received with the most rapturous congratulations by his countrymen; but amongst the more rigid of the republicans some jealousy arose, lest the successful soldier should aspire to be the sovereign of the country. This jealousy was felt by the pensionary Barnevelt, and, when extended, led to those agitations which long endured in the states, and which at a later period led to the death of that invaluable patriot; but these are transactions belonging exclusively to the history of Holland.
