History of the United Netherlands, 1600-09 | Page 6

John Lothrop Motley
which had come to surprise Nieuport had, after
accomplishing a distance of nearly forty miles in thirteen days, at last
arrived before that place. Yet there was no more expeditious or

energetic commander in Christendom than Maurice, nor troops better
trained in marching and fighting than his well-disciplined army.
It is now necessary to cast a glance towards the interior of Flanders, in
order to observe how the archduke conducted himself in this
emergency. So soon as the news of the landing of the States' army at
the port of Ghent reached the sovereign's ears, he awoke from the
delusion that danger was impending on his eastern border, and lost no
time in assembling such troops as could be mustered from far and near
to protect the western frontier. Especially he despatched messengers
well charged with promises, to confer with the authorities of the
"Italian Republic" at Diest and Thionville. He appealed to them in
behalf of the holy Catholic religion, he sought to arouse their loyalty to
himself and the Infanta Isabella--daughter of the great and good Philip
II., once foremost of earthly potentates, and now eminent among the
saints of heaven--by whose fiat he and his wife had now become
legitimate sovereigns of all the Netherlands. And those mutineers
responded with unexpected docility. Eight hundred foot soldiers and six
hundred cavalry men came forth at the first summons, making but two
conditions in addition to the stipulated payment when payment should
be possible--that they should be commanded by their own chosen
officers, and that they should be placed in the first rank in the
impending conflict. The example spread. Other detachments of
mutineers in various strongholds, scenting the battle from afar, came in
with offers to serve in the campaign on similar terms. Before the last
week of June the archduke had a considerable army on foot. On the
29th of that month, accompanied by the Infanta, he reviewed a force of
ten thousand foot and nearly two thousand cavalry in the immediate
vicinity of Ghent. He addressed them in a few stirring words,
reminding them of their duty to the Church and to himself, and assuring
them--as commanders of every nation and every age are wont to assure
their troops at the eve of every engagement--that the cause in which
they were going forth to battle was the most sacred and inspiring for
which human creatures could possibly lay down their lives. Isabella,
magnificently attired, and mounted on a white palfrey, galloped along
the lines, and likewise made an harangue. She spoke to the soldiers as
"her lions," promised them boundless rewards in this world and the
next, as the result of the great victory which they were now about to

gain over the infidels; while as to their wages, she vowed that, rather
than they should remain unpaid, she would sacrifice all her personal
effects, even to the plate from which she ate her daily bread, and to the
jewels which she wore in her ears.
Thousands of hoarse voices greeted the eloquence of the archdukes
with rude acclamations, while the discharge of arquebus and volleys of
cannon testified to the martial ardour with which the troops were
inspired; none being more enthusiastic than the late mutineers. The
army marched at once, under many experienced leaders--Villars,
Zapena, and Avalos among the most conspicuous. The command of the
artillery was entrusted to Velasco; the marshal-general of the camp was
Frederic van den Berg, in place of the superannuated Peter Ernest;
while the Admiral of Arragon, Francisco de Mendoza, "terror of
Germany and of Christendom," a little man with flowing locks, long
hooked nose, and a sinister glance from his evil black eyes, was general
of the cavalry. The admiral had not displayed very extraordinary genius
in his recent campaigning in the Rhenish duchies, but his cruelty had
certainly been conspicuous. Not even Alva could have accomplished
more murders and other outrages in the same space of time than had
been perpetrated by the Spanish troops during the infamous winter of
1598-9. The assassination of Count Broeck at his own castle had made
more stir than a thousand other homicides of nameless wretches at the
same period had done, because the victim had been a man of rank and
large possessions, but it now remained to be seen whether Mendoza
was to gain fresh laurels of any kind in the battle which was probably
impending.
On the 1st of July the archduke came before Oudenburg. Not a soul
within that fortress nor in Ostend dreamed of an enemy within twenty
miles of them, nor had it been supposed possible that a Spanish army
could take the field for many weeks to come. The States-General at
Ostend were complacently waiting for the first bulletin from Maurice
announcing his capture of Nieuport
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