History of the United Netherlands, 1605-07 | Page 4

had long meditated, and even a more effective
one, in the west.
The Waal and the Yssel formed two sides of a great quadrilateral; and
furnished for the natural fortress, thus enclosed, two vast and admirable

moats. Within lay Good-meadow and Foul-meadow--Bet-uwe and
Vel-uwe--one, the ancient Batavian island which from time
immemorial had given its name to the commonwealth, the other, the
once dismal swamp which toil and intelligence had in the course of
centuries transformed into the wealthy and flowery land of Gueldres.
Beyond, but in immediate proximity, lay the ancient episcopal city and
province of Utrecht, over which lay the road to the adjacent Holland
and Zeeland. The very heart of the republic would be laid bare to the
conqueror's sword if he could once force the passage, and obtain the
control of these two protecting streams. With Utrecht as his base, and
all Brabant and Flanders--obedient provinces--at his back, Spinola
might accomplish more in one season than Alva, Don John, and
Alexander Farnese had compassed in forty years, and destroy at a blow
what was still called the Netherland rebellion. The passage of the rivers
once effected, the two enveloping wings would fold themselves
together, and the conquest would be made.
Thus reasoned the brilliant young general, and his projects, although
far-reaching, did not seem wild. The first steps were, however, the most
important as well as the most difficult, and he had to reckon with a
wary and experienced antagonist. Maurice had at last collected and
reviewed at Arnhem an army of nearly fifteen thousand men, and was
now watching closely from Doesburg and Deventer every movement of
the foe.
Having been forced to a defensive campaign, in which he was not
likely at best to gain many additional laurels, he was the more
determined to lay down his own life, and sacrifice every man he could
bring into the field, before Spinola should march into the cherished
domains of Utrecht and Holland. Meantime the rain, which had already
exerted so much influence on the military movements of the year, still
maintained the supremacy over human plans. The Yssel and the Waal,
always deep, broad, sluggish, but dangerous rivers--the Rhine in its old
age--were swollen into enormous proportions, their currents flowing for
the time with the vigour of their far away youth.
Maurice had confided the defence of the Waal to Warner Du Bois,
under whose orders he placed a force of about seven thousand men, and
whose business it was to prevent Bucquoy's passage. His own task was
to baffle Spinola.

Bucquoy's ambition was to cross the Waal at a point as near as possible
to the fork of that stream with the true Rhine, seize the important city
of Nymegen, and then give the hand to Spinola, so soon as he should be
on the other side of the Yssel. At the village of Spardorp or Kekerdom,
he employed Pompeio Giustiniani to make a desperate effort, having
secured a large number of barges in which he embarked his troops. As
the boatmen neared the opposite bank, however, they perceived that
Warner Du Bois had made effective preparations for their reception.
They lost heart, and, on pretence that the current of the river was too
rapid to allow them to reach the point proposed for their landing,
gradually dropped down the stream, and, in spite of the remonstrances
of the commanders, pushed their way back to the shore which they had
left. From that time forth, the States' troops, in efficient numbers,
fringed the inner side of the Waal, along the whole length of the
Batavian island, while armed vessels of the republic patrolled the
stream itself. In vain Count Bucquoy watched an opportunity, either by
surprise or by main strength, to effect a crossing. The Waal remained as
impassable as if it were a dividing ocean.
On the other side of the quadrilateral, Maurice's dispositions were as
effective as those of his lieutenant on the Waal. The left shore of the
Yssel, along its whole length, from Arnhem and Doesburg quite up to
Zwoll and Campen, where the river empties itself into the Zuyder Zee,
was now sprinkled thickly with forts, hastily thrown up, but strong
enough to serve the temporary purpose of the stadholder. In vain the
fleet-footed and audacious Spinola moved stealthily or fiercely to and
fro, from one point to another, seeking an opening through which to
creep, or a weak spot where he might dash himself against the chain.
The whole line was securely guarded. The swollen river, the redoubts,
and the musketeers of Maurice, protected the heart of the republic from
the impending danger.
Wearied of this fruitless pacing up and down, Spinola, while apparently
intending an assault upon Deventer, and thus attracting his adversary's
attention to that important city, suddenly