The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1572-73 | Page 2

of August laid siege to the place in
forma. The garrison was very insufficient, and although they conducted
themselves with great bravery, it was soon evident that unless
reinforced they must yield. With their overthrow it was obvious that the
Spaniards would lose the important maritime province of Zealand, and
the Duke accordingly ordered D'Avila, who commanded in Antwerp, to
throw succor into Tergoes without delay. Attempts were made, by sea
and by land, to this effect, but were all unsuccessful. The Zealanders
commanded the waters with their fleet,--and were too much at home
among those gulfs and shallows not to be more than a match for their
enemies. Baffled in their attempt to relieve the town by water or by
land, the Spaniards conceived an amphibious scheme. Their plan led to
one of the most brilliant feats of arms which distinguishes the history of
this war.
The Scheld, flowing past the city of Antwerp and separating the
provinces of Flanders and Brabant, opens wide its two arms in nearly
opposite directions, before it joins the sea. Between these two arms lie
the isles of Zealand, half floating upon, half submerged by the waves.
The town of Tergoes was the chief city of South Beveland, the most
important part of this archipelago, but South Beveland had not always
been an island. Fifty years before, a tempest, one of the most violent
recorded in the stormy annals of that exposed country, had overthrown
all barriers, the waters of the German Ocean, lashed by a succession of
north winds, having been driven upon the low coast of Zealand more
rapidly than they could be carried off through the narrow straits of
Dover. The dykes of the island had burst, the ocean had swept over the
land, hundreds of villages had been overwhelmed, and a tract of
country torn from the province and buried for ever beneath the sea.
This "Drowned Land," as it is called, now separated the island from the
main. At low tide it was, however, possible for experienced pilots to
ford the estuary, which had usurped the place of the land. The average
depth was between four and five feet at low water, while the tide rose
and fell at least ten feet; the bottom was muddy and treacherous, and it
was moreover traversed by three living streams or channels; always

much too deep to be fordable.
Captain Plomaert, a Fleming of great experience and bravery, warmly
attached to the King's cause, conceived the plan of sending
reinforcements across this drowned district to the city of Tergoes.
Accompanied by two peasants of the country, well acquainted with the
track, he twice accomplished the dangerous and difficult passage;
which, from dry land to dry land, was nearly ten English miles in
length. Having thus satisfied himself as to the possibility of the
enterprise, he laid his plan before the Spanish colonel, Mondragon.
That courageous veteran eagerly embraced the proposal, examined the
ground, and after consultation with Sancho Avila, resolved in person to
lead an expedition along the path suggested by Plomaert. Three
thousand picked men, a thousand from each nation,--Spaniards,
Walloons, and Germans, were speedily and secretly assembled at
Bergen op Zoom, from the neighbourhood of which city, at a place
called Aggier, it was necessary that the expedition should set forth. A
quantity of sacks were provided, in which a supply of, biscuit and of
powder was placed, one to be carried by each soldier upon his head.
Although it was already late in the autumn, the weather was propitious;
the troops, not yet informed: as to the secret enterprise for which they
had been selected, were all ready assembled at the edge of the water,
and Mondragon, who, notwithstanding his age, had resolved upon
heading the hazardous expedition, now briefly, on the evening of the
20th October, explained to them the nature of the service. His statement
of the dangers which they were about to encounter, rather inflamed
than diminished their ardor. Their enthusiasm became unbounded, as
he described the importance of the city which they were about to save,
and alluded to the glory which would be won by those who thus
courageously came forward to its rescue. The time of about half
ebb-tide having arrived, the veteran,--preceded only by the guides and
Plomaert, plunged gaily into the waves, followed by his army, almost
in single file. The water was never lowed khan the breast, often higher
than the shoulder. The distance to the island, three and a half leagues at
least, was to be accomplished within at most, six hours, or the rising
tide would overwhelm them for ever. And thus, across the quaking and
uncertain slime, which often refused them a footing, that adventurous
band, five hours long, pursued their midnight march, sometimes

swimming for their lives,