CHAPTER XIX
STEENWYK
Three days passed, and then a slight noise was heard as of the trapdoor being raised. Lionel drew his sword.
"It is my servant, no doubt," the merchant said; "he promised to comeand tell me how things went as soon as he could get an opportunityto come down unobserved. We should hear more noise if it were theSpaniards." Taking a light he went along the passage, and returnedimmediately afterwards followed by his man; the latter had his headbound up, and carried his arm in a sling. An exclamation of pitybroke from the ladies.
"You are badly hurt, Jacques. What has happened?"
"It is well it is no worse, mistress," he replied. "The Spaniardsare fiends, and behaved as if they were sacking a city of DutchHuguenots instead of entering a town inhabited by friends. For anhour or two they cut and slashed, pillaged and robbed. They camerushing into the shop, and before I could say a word one ran methrough the shoulder and another laid my head open. It was an houror two before I came to my senses. I found the house turned topsyturvy; everything worth taking had gone, and what was not taken wasdamaged. I tied up my head and arm as best I could, and then satquiet in a corner till the din outside began to subside. The officersdid their best, I hear, and at last got the men into order. Numbersof the townsfolk have been killed, and every one of the garrison wasbutchered. I tell you, mistress, it is better to have ten Huguenotarmies in possession one after another than one Spanish force, thoughthe latter come as friends and co-religionists. Well, as soon asthings quieted down the soldiers were divided among the houses ofthe townsfolk, and we have a sergeant and ten men quartered above;but half an hour ago they were called away on some duty, and I tookthe opportunity to steal down here."
"Have you told them that we were away, Jacques?"
"No, monsieur; no one has asked me about it. They saw by thepictures and shrines that you were good Catholics, and after thefirst outburst they have left things alone. But if it is not toodreary for the ladies here, I should advise you to wait for a timeand see how things go before you show yourselves."
"That is my opinion too, Jacques. We can wait here for another twomonths if need be. Doubtless, unless the Huguenots show signs ofan intention to attack the town, only a small garrison will be lefthere, and it may be that those in our house will be withdrawn."
"Do you think it will be possible for me to make my escape, Jacques?"Lionel asked.
"I should think so, sir. Ever since the Spaniards entered the townboats with provisions for Paris have been coming along in greatnumbers. From what I hear the soldiers say there is no chanceof a battle at present, for the Huguenot army have drawn off to adistance, seeing that Paris is revictualled and that there is nochance of taking it. They say that numbers of the French lords withthe Huguenot army have drawn off and are making for their homes.At any rate there is no fear of an attack here, and the gates standopen all day. Numbers of the townsfolk have been to Paris to seefriends there, and I should say that if you had a disguise youcould pass out easily enough."
The question was discussed for some time. Lionel was very anxiousto rejoin the army, and it was finally settled that Jacques shouldthe next night bring him down a suit of his own clothes, and thefirst time the soldiers were all away should fetch him out, accompanyhim through the gates of the town, and act as his guide as far ashe could.
The next night Lionel received the clothes. Two days later Jacquescame down early in the morning to say that the soldiers above hadjust gone out on duty. Lionel at once assumed his disguise, andwith the heartiest thanks for the great service they had renderedhim took his leave of the kind merchant and his family. Jacques wascharged to accompany him as far as possible, and to set him wellon his way towards the Huguenot army, for Lionel's small knowledgeof French would be detected by the first person who accosted him.On going out into the street Lionel found that there were manypeasants who had come in to sell fowls, eggs, and vegetables inthe town, and he and Jacques passed without a question through thegates.
Jacques had, the evening before, ascertained from the soldiers theposition of Parma's army. A long detour had to be made, and it wastwo days before they came in sight of the tents of Henry's camp.They had observed the greatest precautions on their way, and hadonly once fallen in with a troop of Parma's cavalry. These hadasked no questions, supposing that Jacques and his companion weremaking their way from Paris to visit their friends after the siege,there being nothing in their attire to attract attention, stillless suspicion. The peasants they met on their way eagerly demandednews from Paris, but Jacques easily satisfied them by saying thatthey had had a terrible time, and that many had died of hunger,but that now that the river was open again better times had come.When within a couple of miles of the army Jacques said good-bye toLionel, who would have rewarded him handsomely for his guidance,but Jacques would not accept money.
"You are the master's guest," he said, "and you saved his housefrom plunder when your people were in possession. He and my mistresswould never forgive me if I took money from you. I am well contentin having been able to assist so kind a young gentleman."
When Lionel arrived at the camp he soon found his way to Sir RalphPimpernel's tent, where he was received as one from the dead. Therewas no difficulty in providing himself again with armour and arms,for of these there were abundance--the spoils of Ivry--in thecamp. When he was reclothed and rearmed Sir Ralph took him to theking's tent, and from him Henry learned for the first time thecircumstances that had attended the capture of Lagny.
"And so they put the whole garrison to the sword," the king saidwith indignation. "I will make any Spaniards that fall in my handspay dearly for it!"
Henry had indeed been completely out generalled by his opponent.While he had been waiting with his army for a pitched battle Parmahad invested Lagny, and there were no means of relieving it exceptby crossing the river in the face of the whole army of the enemy,an enterprise impossible of execution. As soon as Lagny had fallenprovisions and ammunition were at once poured into Paris, twothousand boat loads arriving in a single day.
King Henry's army immediately fell to pieces. The cavalry havingneither food nor forage rode off by hundreds every day, and in aweek but two thousand out of his six thousand horse remained withhim. The infantry also, seeing now no hope of receiving theirarrears of pay, disbanded in large numbers, and after an unsuccessfulattempt to carry Paris by a night attack, the king fell back withthe remnant of his force. Corbeil was assaulted and captured byParma, and the two great rivers of Paris were now open.
If Parma could have remained with his army in France, the causeof Henry of Navarre would have been lost. But sickness was makingravages among his troops. Dissensions broke our between the Spaniards,Italians, and Netherlanders of his army and their French allies,who hated the foreigners, though they had come to their assistance.Lastly, his presence was urgently required in the Netherlands,where his work was as far from being done as ever. Therefore to thedismay of the Leaguers he started early in November on his marchback.
No sooner did he retire than the king took the field again,recaptured Lagny and Corbeil, and recommenced the siege of Paris,while his cavalry hung upon the rear and flanks of Parma's army andharassed them continually, until they crossed the frontier, wherethe duke found that affairs had not improved during his absence.
Lionel had obtained permission to accompany the force which capturedLagny, and as soon as they entered the town hurried to the mercer'shouse. He found Jacques in possession, and learned that the familyhad weeks before left the crypt and reoccupied the house, but hadagain taken refuge there when the Huguenots attacked the town. Lionelat once went below, and was received with delight. He was now ableto repay to some extent the obligations he had received from them,by protecting them from all interference by the new captors ofthe town, from whom the majority of the citizens received harshtreatment for the part they had taken in attacking the garrisonwhen the Spaniards first entered.
Prince Maurice's visit to the camp of Henry
had been but a shortone; and as soon as Parma had effected the relief of Paris, andthere was no longer a chance of a great battle being fought, hereturned to Holland, followed after the recapture of Lagny by SirRalph Pimpernel and the few survivors of his party, who were allheartily weary of the long period of inaction that had followedthe victory at Ivry.
They found that during their absence there had been little doing inthe Netherlands, save that Sir Francis Vere, with a small body ofEnglish infantry and cavalry, had stormed some formidable worksthe Spaniards had thrown up to prevent relief being given toRecklinghausen, which they were besieging. He effected the reliefof the town and drove off the besiegers. He then attacked and captureda fort on the bank of the Rhine, opposite the town of Wesel.
At the end of the year 1590 there were, including the garrisons,some eight thousand English infantry and cavalry in Holland, andthe year that followed was to see a great change in the nature ofthe war. The efforts of Prince Maurice to improve his army were tobear effect, and with the assistance of his English allies he wasto commence an active offensive war, to astonish his foes by therapidity with which he manoeuvred the new fighting machine he hadcreated, and to commence a new departure in the tactics of war.
In May he took the field, requesting Vere to cooperate with himin the siege of Zutphen. But Sir Francis determined in the firstplace to capture on his own account the Zutphen forts on the oppositeside of the river, since these had been lost by the treachery ofRoland Yorke. He dressed up a score of soldiers, some as peasants,others as countrywomen, and provided them with baskets of eggs andother provisions. At daybreak these went down by twos and threesto the Zutphen ferry, as if waiting to be taken across to the town;and while waiting for the boat to come across for them, they satdown near the gate of the fort.
A few minutes later a party of English cavalry were seen ridingrapidly towards the fort. The pretended country people sprang totheir feet, and with cries of alarm ran towards it for shelter.The gates were thrown open to allow them to enter. As they ran inthey drew out the arms concealed under their clothes and overpoweredthe guard. The cavalry dashed up and entered the gate before thegarrison could assemble, and the fort was captured.
Vere at once began to throw up his batteries for the attack uponthe town across the river, and the prince invested the city onthe other side. So diligently did the besiegers work that before aweek had passed after the surprise of the fort the batteries werecompleted, thirty-two guns placed in position, and the garrison,seeing there was no hope of relief, surrendered.
On the very day of taking possession of the town, the allies, leavinga garrison there, marched against Deventer, seven miles down theriver, and within five days had invested the place, and openedtheir batteries upon the weakest part of the town. A breach waseffected, and a storm was ordered. A dispute arose between theEnglish, Scotch, and Dutch troops as to who should have the honourof leading the assault. Prince Maurice decided in favour of theEnglish, in order that they might have an opportunity of wipingout the stigma on the national honour caused by the betrayal ofDeventer by the traitor Sir William Stanley.
To reach the breach it was necessary to cross a piece of water calledthe Haven. Sir Francis Vere led the English across the bridge ofboats which had been thrown over the water; but the bridge was tooshort. Some of the troops sprang over and pushed boldly for thebreach, others were pushed over and drowned. Many of those behindstripped off their armour and swam across the Haven, supported bysome Dutch troops who had been told off to follow the assaultingparty. But at the breach they were met by Van der Berg, the governor,with seven companies of soldiers, and these fought so courageouslythat the assailants were unable to win their way up the breach,and fell back at last with a loss of two hundred and twenty-fivemen killed and wounded.
While the assault was going on, the artillery of the besiegerscontinued to play upon other parts of the town, and effected greatdamage. On the following night the garrison endeavoured to capturethe bridge across the Haven, but were repulsed with loss, and inthe morning the place surrendered. The success of the patriots wasdue in no slight degree to the fact that Parma with the greatestpart of his army was again absent in France, and the besieged townshad therefore no hope of assistance from without. The States nowdetermined to seize the opportunity of capturing the towns held bythe Spaniards in Friesland.
The three principal towns in the possession of the Spaniards wereGroningen, Steenwyk, and Coevorden. After capturing several lessimportant places and forts Prince Maurice advanced against Steenwyk.But just as he was about to commence the siege he received pressingletters from the States to hurry south, as Parma was marching withhis whole army to capture the fort of Knodsenburg, which had beenraised in the previous autumn as a preparation for the siege ofthe important city of Nymegen.
The Duke of Parma considered that he had ample time to reduceKnodsenburg before Prince Maurice could return to its assistance.Two great rivers barred the prince's return, and he would have totraverse the dangerous district called the Foul Meadow, and thegreat quagmire known as the Rouvenian Morass. But Prince Mauricehad now an opportunity of showing the excellence of the army hehad raised and trained. He received the news of Parma's advance onthe 15th of July; two days later he was on the march south, and infive days had thrown bridges of boats across the two rivers, hadcrossed morass and swamp, and appeared in front of the Spanisharmy.
One assault had already been delivered by the Spaniards againstKnodsenburg, but this had been repulsed with heavy loss. As soonas the patriot army approached the neighbourhood, Parma's cavalrywent out to drive in its skirmishers. Vere at once proposed toPrince Maurice to inflict a sharp blow upon the enemy, and with theapproval of the prince marched with 1200 foot and 500 horse alongthe dyke which ran across the low country. Marching to a spotwhere a bridge crossed a narrow river he placed half his infantryin ambush there; the other half a quarter of a mile further back.
Two hundred light cavalry were sent forward to beat up the enemy'soutposts, and then retreat; the rest of the cavalry were postedin the rear of the infantry. Another dyke ran nearly parallel withthe first, falling into it at some distance in the rear of Vere'sposition, and here Prince Maurice stationed himself with a bodyof horse and foot to cover Vere's retreat should he be obliged tofall back. About noon the light cavalry skirmished with the enemyand fell back, but were not followed. About half an hour later thescouts brought word that the Spaniards were at hand.
Suddenly and without orders 800 of Maurice's cavalry galloped offto meet the enemy; but they soon came back again at full speed,with a strong force of Spanish cavalry in pursuit. Vere's infantryat once sallied out from their ambush among the trees, pouredtheir fire into the enemy, and charged them with their pikes. TheSpaniards turned to fly, when Vere's cavalry charged them furiouslyand drove them back in headlong rout to their own camp, takinga great number of prisoners, among them many officers of rank, and500 horses. Parma finding himself thus suddenly in face of a superiorarmy, with a rapid river in his rear, fell back across the Waal,and then proceeded to Spa to recruit his shattered health, leavingVerdugo, an experienced officer, in command.
Instead of proceeding to besiege Nymegen, Maurice marched away assuddenly and quickly as before, and captured Hulst, on the bordersof Zeeland and Brabant, a dozen miles only from Antwerp, and thenturning again was, in three days, back at Nymegen, and had placedsixty-eight pieces of artillery in position. He opened fire on the20th of October, and the next day the important city of Nymegensurrendered. This series of brilliant successes greatly raised thespirits of the Netherlanders, and proportionately depressed thoseof the Spaniards and their adherents.
Parma himself was ill from annoyance and disappointment. The armywith which he might have completed the conquest of the Netherlandshad, in opposition to his entreaties and prayers, been fritteredaway by Philip's orders in useless expeditions in France, whilethe young and active generals of the Dutch and English armies weresnatching town after town from his grasp, and consolidating
theNetherlands, so recently broken up by Spanish strongholds, into acompact body, whose increasing wealth and importance rendered itevery day a more formidable opponent. It is true that Parma hadsaved first Paris and afterwards Rouen for the League, but it wasat the cost of loosening Philip's hold over the most importantoutpost of the Spanish dominions.
In the following spring Parma was again forced to march into Francewith 20,000 men, and Maurice, as soon as the force started, preparedto take advantage of its absence. With 6000 foot and 2000 horsehe again appeared at the end of May before Steenwyk. This town wasthe key to the province of Drenthe, and one of the safeguards ofFriesland; it was considered one of the strongest fortresses ofthe time. Its garrison consisted of sixteen companies of foot andsome cavalry, and 1200 Walloon infantry, commanded by Lewis, theyoungest of the Counts de Berg, a brave lad of eighteen years ofage.
In this siege, for the first time, the spade was used by soldiersin the field. Hitherto the work had been considered derogatory totroops, and peasants and miners had been engaged for the work; butPrince Maurice had taught his soldiers that their duty was to workas well as fight, and they now proved the value of his teaching.
The besieged made several successful sorties, and Sir Francis Verehad been severely wounded in the leg. The cannonade effected butlittle damage on the strong walls; but the soldiers, working nightand day, drove mines under two of the principal bastions, andconstructed two great chambers there; these were charged, one withfive thousand pounds of powder, the other with half that quantity.On the 3d of July the mines were sprung. The bastion of the eastgate was blown to pieces and the other bastion greatly injured, butmany of the Dutch troops standing ready for the assault were alsokilled by the explosion.
The storming parties, however, rushed forward, and the two bastionswere captured. This left the town at the mercy of the besiegers.The next day the garrison surrendered, and were permitted to marchaway. Three hundred and fifty had been killed, among them youngCount Lewis Van der Berg, and two hundred had been left behind,severely wounded, in the town. Between five and six hundred ofthe besiegers were killed during the course of the siege. The veryday after the surrender of Steenwyk Maurice marched away and laidsiege to Coevorden. This city, which was most strongly fortified,lay between two great swamps, between which there was a passage ofabout half a mile in width.
Another of the Van der Bergs, Count Frederick, commanded the garrisonof a thousand veterans. Verdugo sent to Parma and Mondragon foraid, but none could be sent to him, and the prince worked at hisfortifications undisturbed. His force was weakened by the withdrawalof Sir Francis Vere with three of the English regiments, Elizabethhaving sent peremptory orders that this force should followthose already withdrawn to aid Henry of Navarre in Brittany. Veryunwillingly Vere obeyed, and marched to Doesburg on the Yssel. Buta fortnight after he arrived there, while he was waiting for shipsto transport him to Brittany the news came to him that Verdugo,having gathered a large force together, was about to attack PrinceMaurice in his camp, and Vere at once started to the prince's aid.
On the night of the 6th of September, Verdugo, with 4000 foot and1800 cavalry, wearing their shirts outside their armour to enablethem to distinguish each other in the dark, fell upon Maurice's camp.Fortunately the prince was prepared, having intercepted a letterfrom Verdugo to the governor of the town. A desperate battle tookplace, but at break of day, while its issue was still uncertain,Vere, who had marched all night, came up and threw himself into thebattle. His arrival was decisive. Verdugo drew off with a loss of300 killed, and five days later Coevorden surrendered, and PrinceMaurice's army went into winter quarters.
A few weeks later Parma died, killed by the burden Philip threwupon him, broken down by the constant disappointment of his hopesof carrying his work to a successful end, by the incessant interferenceof Philip with his plans, and by the anxiety caused by the mutiniesarising from his inability to pay his troops, although he hadborrowed to the utmost on his own possessions, and pawned even hisjewels to keep them from starvation. He was undoubtedly the greatestcommander of his age, and had he been left to carry out his ownplans would have crushed out the last ember of resistance in theNetherlands and consolidated the power of Spain there.
He was succeeded in his post by the Archduke Albert, but for a timeErnest Mansfeldt continued to command the army, and to manage theaffairs in the Netherlands. In March, 1593, Prince Maurice appearedwith his army in front of Gertruydenberg. The city itself wasan important one, and its position on the Maas rendered it of thegreatest use to the Spaniards, as through it they were at any momentenabled to penetrate into the heart of Holland. Gertruydenberg andGroningen, the capital of Friesland, were now, indeed, the onlyimportant places in the republic that remained in possession ofthe Spaniards. Hohenlohe with a portion of the army establishedhimself to the east of the city, Maurice with its main body to thewest.
Two bridges constructed across the river Douge afforded a means ofcommunication between two armies, and plank roads were laid acrossthe swamps for the passage of baggage wagons. Three thousand soldierslaboured incessantly at the works, which were intended not only toisolate the city, but to defend the besiegers from any attack thatmight be made upon them by a relieving army. The better to protectthemselves, miles of country were laid under water, and palisadework erected to render the country impregnable by cavalry.
Ernest Mansfeldt did his best to relieve the town. His son, CountCharles, with five thousand troops, had been sent into France, butby sweeping up all the garrisons, he moved with a considerable armytowards Gertruydenberg and challenged Maurice to issue out fromhis lines to fight him. But the prince had no idea of risking acertain success upon the issue of a battle.
A hundred pieces of artillery on the batteries played incessantlyon the town, while a blockading squadron of Zeeland ships assistedin the bombardment, and so terrible was the fire, that when thetown was finally taken only four houses were found to have escapedinjury.
Two commandants of the place were killed one after the other, andthe garrison of a thousand veterans, besides the burgher militia,was greatly reduced in strength. At last, after ninety days' siege,the town suddenly fell. Upon the 24th of June three Dutch captainswere relieving guard in the trenches near the great north bastionof the town, when it occurred to them to scale the wall of the fortand see what was going on inside. They threw some planks across theditch, and taking half a company of soldiers, climbed cautiouslyup. They obtained a foothold before the alarm was given. There wasa fierce hand to hand struggle, and sixteen of the party fell, andnine of the garrison. The rest fled into the city. The GovernorGysant, rushing to the rescue without staying to put on his armour,was killed.
Count Solms came from the besieging camp to investigate the suddenuproar, and to his profound astonishment was met by a deputationfrom the city asking for terms of surrender. Prince Maurice soonafterwards came up, and the terms of capitulation were agreed upon.The garrison were allowed to retire with side arms and baggage,and fifty wagons were lent to them to carry off their wounded.
In the following spring Coevorden, which had been invested byVerdugo, was relieved, and Groningen, the last great city of theNetherlands in the hands of the Spaniards, was besieged. Mines weredriven under its principal bastion, and when these were sprung,after sixty-five days' siege, the city was forced to surrender.Thus for the first time, after years of warfare, Holland, Zeeland,and Friesland became truly united, and free from the grasp of thehated invader.
Throughout the last three years of warfare Sir Francis Vere hadproved an able assistant to the prince, and the English troops hadfought bravely side by side with the Dutch; but their contingenthad been but a small one, for the majority of Vere's force had,like that of the Spaniards, been withdrawn for service in France.The struggle in that country was nearly at an end. The conversionof Henry of Navarre for the second time to the Catholic religionhad ranged many Catholics, who had hitherto been opposed to him,under his banner, while many had fallen away from the rank
s of theLeague in disgust, when Philip of Spain at last threw off the maskof disinterestedness, and proposed his nephew the Archduke Ernestas king of France.
In July, 1595, a serious misfortune befell the allied army. Theyhad laid siege to Crolle, and had made considerable progress withthe siege, when the Spanish army, under command of Mondragon, theaged governor of Antwerp, marched to its relief. As the army ofMaurice was inferior in numbers, the States would not consent toa general action. The siege was consequently raised; and Mondragonhaving attained his object, fell back to a position on the Rhineat Orsoy, above Rheinberg, whence he could watch the movements ofthe allied army encamped on the opposite bank at Bislich, a fewmiles below Wesel.
The Spanish army occupied both sides of the river, the wing on theright bank being protected from attack by the river Lippe, whichfalls into the Rhine at Wesel, and by a range of moorland hillscalled the Testerburg. The Dutch cavalry saw that the slopes ofthis hill were occupied by the Spaniards, but believed that theirforce consisted only of a few troops of horse. Young Count Philipof Nassau proposed that a body of cavalry should swim the Lippe,and attack and cut them off. Prince Maurice and Sir Francis Veregave a very reluctant consent to the enterprise, but finally allowedhim to take a force of five hundred men.
With him were his brothers Ernest and Louis, his nephew Ernest deSolms, and many other nobles of Holland. Sir Marcellus Bacx wasin command of them. The English contingent was commanded by SirNicholas Parker and Robert Vere. On August 22d they swam the Lippeand galloped in the direction where they expected to find twoor three troops of Spanish horse; but Mondragon had received newsof their intentions, and they suddenly saw before them half theSpanish army. Without hesitation the five hundred English and Dutchhorsemen charged desperately into the enemy's ranks, and foughtwith extraordinary valour, until, altogether overpowered by numbers,Philip of Nassau and his nephew Ernest were both mortally woundedand taken prisoners.
Robert Vere was slain by a lance thrust in the face, and manyother nobles and gentlemen fell. Thus died one of the three bravebrothers, for the youngest, Horace, had also joined the army in 1590.The survivors of the band under Sir Nicholas Parker and MarcellusBacx managed to effect their retreat, covered by a reserve PrinceMaurice had posted on the opposite side of the river.