History of the United Netherlands, 1590a | Page 4

John Lothrop Motley
Lewis
William, governor of Gorcum, Dorcum, and Lowenstein Castle and
colonel of a regiment of cavalry, was also taken into the secret, as well
as Count Hohenlo, President Van der Myle and a few others; but a

mystery was carefully spread and maintained over the undertaking.
Heraugiere selected sixty-eight men, on whose personal daring and
patience he knew that he could rely, from the regiments of Philip
Nassau and of Famars, governor of the neighbouring city of Heusden,
and from his own company. Besides himself, the officers to command
the party were captains Logier and Fervet, and lieutenant Matthew Held.
The names of such devoted soldiers deserve to be commemorated and
are still freshly remembered by their countrymen.
On the 25th of February, Maurice and his staff went to Willemstad on
the Isle of Klundert, it having been given out on his departure from the
Hague that his destination was Dort. On the same night at about eleven
o'clock, by the feeble light of a waning moon, Heraugiere and his band
came to the Swertsenburg ferry, as agreed upon, to meet the boatman.
They found neither him nor his vessel, and they wandered about half
the night, very cold, very indignant, much perplexed. At last, on their
way back, they came upon the skipper at the village of Terheyde, who
made the extraordinary excuse that he had overslept himself and that he
feared the plot had been discovered. It being too late to make any
attempt that night, a meeting was arranged for the following evening.
No suspicion of treachery occurred to any of the party, although it
became obvious that the skipper had grown faint-hearted. He did not
come on the next night to the appointed place but he sent two nephews,
boatmen like himself, whom he described as dare-devils.
On Monday night, the 26th of February, the seventy went on board the
vessel, which was apparently filled with blocks of turf, and packed
themselves closely in the hold. They moved slowly during a little time
on their perilous voyage; for the winter wind, thick with fog and sleet,
blew directly down the river, bringing along with it huge blocks of ice
and scooping the water out of the dangerous shallows, so as to render
the vessel at any moment liable to be stranded. At last the navigation
became impossible and they came to a standstill. From Monday night
till Thursday morning those seventy Hollanders lay packed like
herrings in the hold of their little vessel, suffering from hunger, thirst,
and deadly cold; yet not one of them attempted to escape or murmured
a wish to abandon the enterprise. Even when the third morning dawned
there was no better prospect of proceeding; for the remorseless east
wind still blew a gale against them, and the shoals which beset their

path had become more dangerous than ever. It was, however,
absolutely necessary to recruit exhausted nature, unless the adventurers
were to drop powerless on the threshold when they should at last arrive
at their destination. In all secrecy they went ashore at a lonely castle
called Nordam, where they remained to refresh themselves until about
eleven at night, when one of the boatmen came to them with the
intelligence that the wind had changed and was now blowing freshly in
from the sea. Yet the voyage of a few leagues, on which they were
embarked, lasted nearly two whole days longer. On Saturday afternoon
they passed through the last sluice, and at about three o'clock the last
boom was shut behind them. There was no retreat possible for them
now. The seventy were to take the strong castle and city of Breda or to
lay down their lives, every man of them. No quarter and short
shrift--such was their certain destiny, should that half-crippled,
half-frozen little band not succeed in their task before another sunrise.
They were now in the outer harbour and not far from the Watergate
which led into the inner castle-haven. Presently an officer of the guard
put off in a skiff and came on board the vessel. He held a little
conversation with the two boatmen, observed that the castle was--much
in want of full, took a survey of the turf with which the ship was
apparently laden, and then lounged into the little cabin. Here he was
only separated by a sliding trap-door from the interior of the vessel.
Those inside could hear and see his every movement. Had there been a
single cough or sneeze from within, the true character of the cargo, then
making its way into the castle, would have been discovered and every
man would within ten minutes have been butchered. But the officer,
unsuspecting, soon took his departure, saying that he would send some
men to warp the vessel into the castle
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