History of the United Netherlands, 1590a | Page 3

at that
moment-- not more than twenty thousand foot with two thousand
horse--but it was well disciplined, well equipped, and, what was of

great importance, regularly paid. Old campaigners complained that in
the halcyon days of paper enrolments, a captain could earn more out of
his company than a colonel now received for his whole regiment. The
days when a thousand men were paid for, with a couple of hundred in
the field, were passing away for the United Provinces and existed only
for Italians and Spaniards. While, therefore, mutiny on an organised
and extensive scale seemed almost the normal condition of the unpaid
legions of Philip, the little army of Maurice was becoming the model
for Europe to imitate.
The United Provinces were as yet very far from being masters of their
own territory. Many of their most important cities still held for the king.
In Brabant, such towns as Breda with its many dependencies and
Gertruydenberg; on the Waal, the strong and wealthy Nymegen which
Martin Schenk had perished in attempting to surprise; on the Yssel, the
thriving city of Zutphen, whose fort had been surrendered by the traitor
York, and the stately Deventer, which had been placed in Philip's
possession by the treachery of Sir William Stanley; on the borders of
Drenthe, the almost impregnable Koevorden, key to the whole
Zwollian country; and in the very heart of ancient Netherland,
Groningen, capital of the province of the same name, which the treason
of Renneberg had sold to the Spanish tyrant; all these flourishing cities
and indispensable strongholds were garrisoned by foreign troops,
making the idea of Dutch independence a delusion.
While Alexander of Parma, sorely against his will and in obedience to
what, he deemed the insane suggestions of his master, was turning his
back on the Netherlands in order to relieve Paris, now hard pressed by
the Bearnese, an opportunity offered itself of making at least a
beginning in the great enterprise of recovering these most valuable
possessions.
The fair and pleasant city of Breda lies on the Merk, a slender stream,
navigable for small vessels, which finds its way to the sea through the
great canal of the Dintel. It had been the property of the Princes of
Orange, Barons of Breda, and had passed with the other possessions of
the family to the house of Chalons-Nassau. Henry of Nassau had, half a
century before, adorned and strengthened it by a splendid
palace-fortress which, surrounded by a deep and double moat,
thoroughly commanded the town. A garrison of five companies of

Italian infantry and one of cavalry lay in this castle, which was under
the command of Edward Lanzavecchia, governor both of Breda and of
the neighbouring Gertruydenberg.
Breda was an important strategical position. It was moreover the feudal
superior of a large number of adjacent villages as well as of the cities
Osterhout, Steenberg and Rosendaal. It was obviously not more
desirable for Maurice of Nassau to recover his patrimonial city than it
was for the States-General to drive the Spaniards from so important a
position!
In the month of February, 1590, Maurice, being then at the castle of
Voorn in Zeeland, received a secret visit from a boatman, Adrian van
der Berg by name, who lived at the village of Leur, eight or ten miles
from Breda, and who had long been in the habit of supplying the castle
with turf. In the absence of woods and coal mines, the habitual fuel of
the country was furnished by those vast relics of the antediluvian
forests which abounded in the still partially submerged soil. The
skipper represented that his vessel had passed so often into and out of
the castle as to be hardly liable to search by the guard on its entrance.
He suggested a stratagem by which it might be possible to surprise the
stronghold.
The prince approved of the scheme and immediately consulted with
Barneveld. That statesman at once proposed, as a suitable man to carry
out the daring venture, Captain Charles de Heraugiere, a nobleman of
Cambray, who had been long in the service of the States, had
distinguished himself at Sluys and on other occasions, but who had
been implicated in Leicester's nefarious plot to gain possession of the
city of Leyden a few years before. The Advocate expressed confidence
that he would be grateful for so signal an opportunity of retrieving a
somewhat damaged reputation. Heraugiere, who was with his company
in Voorn at the moment, eagerly signified his desire to attempt the
enterprise as soon as the matter was communicated to him; avowing the
deepest devotion to the house of William the Silent and perfect
willingness to sacrifice his life, if necessary, in its cause and that of the
country. Philip Nassau, cousin of Prince Maurice and brother of