History of the United Netherlands, 1597-98 | Page 5

Netherlander had been nerved by the memory of fifty
years of outrage, as if the spectre of their half-century of crime had
appalled the soul of every Spaniard. Like a thunderbolt the son of
William the Silent smote that army of Philip, and in an instant it lay
blasted on the heath of Tiel. At least it could hardly be called sagacious
generalship on the part of the stadholder. The chances were all against
him, and if instead of Varax those legions had been commanded that
morning by old Christopher Mondragon, there might perhaps have been
another tale to tell. Even as it was, there had been a supreme moment
when the Spanish disaster had nearly been changed to victory. The
fight was almost done, when a small party of Staten' cavalry, who at the
beginning of the action had followed the enemy's horse in its sudden
retreat through the gap, came whirling back over the plain in wild
confusion, pursued by about forty of the enemy's lancers. They swept
by the spot where Maurice, with not more than ten horsemen around
him, was directing and watching the battle, and in vain the prince threw
himself in front of them and strove to check their flight. They were
panic- struck, and Maurice would himself have been swept off the field,
had not Marcellus Bax and Edmont, with half a dozen heavy troopers,
come to the rescue. A grave error had been committed by Parker, who,
upon being ordered by Maurice to cause Louis Laurentz to charge, had
himself charged with the whole reserve and left the stadholder almost
alone upon the field. Thus the culprits--who after pursuing the Spanish
cavalry through the pass had been plundering the enemy's baggage until
they were set upon by the handful left to guard it, and had become
fugitives in their turn-- might possibly have caused the lose of the day
after the victory had been won, had there been a man on the Spanish
side to take in the situation at a glance. But it is probable that the rout
had been too absolute to allow of any such sudden turning to account of
the serious errors of the victors. The cavalry, except this handful, had
long disappeared, at least half the infantry lay dead or wounded in the
field, while the remainder, throwing away pipe and matchlock, were
running helter-skelter for their lives.
Besides Prince Maurice himself, to whom the chief credit of the whole
expedition justly belonged, nearly all the commanders engaged
obtained great distinction by their skill and valour. Sir Francis Vere, as
usual, was ever foremost in the thickest of the fray, and had a horse

killed under him. Parker erred by too much readiness to engage, but
bore himself manfully throughout the battle. Hohenlo, Solma, Sidney,
Louis Laurentz, Du Bois, all displayed their usual prowess; but the real
hero of the hour, the personal embodiment of the fortunate madness
which prompted and won the battle, was undoubtedly Marcellus Bax.
Maurice remained an hour or two on the field of battle, and then,
returning towards the village of Turnhout, summoned its stronghold.
The garrison of sixty, under Captain Van der Delf, instantly
surrendered. The victor allowed these troops to go off scot free, saying
that there had been blood enough shed that day. Every standard borne
by the Spaniards in the battle-thirty-eight in number--was taken,
besides nearly all their arms. The banners were sent to the Hague to be
hung up in the great hall of the castle. The dead body of Varax was sent
to the archduke with a courteous letter, in which, however, a
categorical explanation was demanded as to a statement in circulation
that Albert had decided to give the soldiers of the republic no quarter.
No answer being immediately returned, Maurice ordered the five
hundred prisoners to be hanged or drowned unless ransomed within
twenty days, and this horrible decree appears from official documents
to be consistent with the military usages of the period. The arrival of
the letter from the cardinal-archduke, who levied the money for the
ransom on the villagers of Brabant, prevented, however, the execution
of the menace, which could hardly have been seriously intended.
Within a week from the time of his departure from the Hague to engage
in this daring adventure, the stadholder had returned to that little capital,
having achieved a complete success. The enthusiastic demonstrations
throughout the land on account of so signal a victory can easily be
imagined. Nothing like this had ever before been recorded in the
archives of the young commonwealth. There had been glorious
defences of beleaguered cities, where scenes of heroic endurance and
self-sacrifice had been enacted, such as never can be forgotten so long
as the history of human liberty shall endure, but