"The fair and pleasant city of Breda lies on the Merk,--a slender stream
navigable for small vessels, which finds its way to the sea through the
great canal of the Dental. It had been the property of the Princes of
Orange, Barons of Breda, and had passed with the other possessions of
the family to the house of Chalons-Nassau. Henry of Nassau had, half a
century before, adorned and strengthened it by a splendid
palace-fortress, which, surrounded by a deep and double moat, thoroughly
commanded the town. A garrison of five companies of Italian infantry and
one of cavalry lay in this castle, which was under the command of Edward
Lanzavecchia, governor both of Breda and of the neighboring
Gertruydenberg. Breda was an important strategical position. It was,
moreover, the feudal superior of a large number of adjacent villages, as
well as of the cities of Osterhout, Steenberg, and Rosendaal. It was
obviously not more desirable for Maurice of Nassau to recover his
patrimonial city than it was for the States-General to drive the
Spaniards from so important a position.
"In the month of February, 1590, Maurice, being then at the castle of
Voorn, in Zeeland, received a secret visit from a boatman,--Adrian Van
der Berg by name,--who lived at the village of Leur, eight or ten miles
from Breda, and who had been in the habit of supplying the castle with
turf. In the absence of wood and coal-mines, the habitual fuel of the
country was furnished by those vast relics of the antediluvian forests,
which abounded in the still partially submerged soil. The skipper
represented that his vessel had passed so often into and out of the
castle as to be hardly liable to search by the guard on its entrance. He
suggested a stratagem by which it might be possible to surprise the
stronghold. The prince approved of the scheme, and immediately consulted
with Barneveld. That statesman at once proposed, as a suitable man to
carry out the daring venture, Captain Charles de Heraugiere,--a nobleman
of Cambray,--who had been long in the service of the States, had
distinguished himself at Sluys and on other occasions, but who had been
implicated in Leicester's nefarious plot to gain possession of the city
of Leyden, a few years before. The advocate expressed confidence that he
would be grateful for so signal an opportunity of retrieving a somewhat
damaged reputation. Heraugiere, who was with his company in Voorn at the
moment, eagerly signified his desire to attempt the enterprise as soon
as the matter was communicated to him, avowing the deepest devotion to
the House of William the Silent, and perfect willingness to sacrifice
his life, if necessary, in its cause and that of the country. Philip
Nassau, cousin of Prince Maurice, and brother of Lewis William, Governor
of Gorcum Dorcum and Lowenstein Castle, and colonel of a regiment of
cavalry, was also taken into the secret, as well as Count Hohenlo,
President Van der Myle, and a few others; but a mystery was carefully
spread and maintained over the undertaking. Heraugiere selected
sixty-eight men, on whose personal daring and patience he knew that he
could rely, from the regiments of Philip Nassau and Famars, governor of
the neighboring city of Hensden, and from his own company. Besides
himself, the officers to command the party were Captains Lozier and
Fervet, and Lieutenant Matthew Held. The names of such devoted soldiers
deserve to be commemorated, and are still freshly remembered by their
countrymen.
"On the 25th of February, Maurice and his staff went to Willemstad, on
the isle of Klundert, it having been given out on his departure from the
Hague that his destination was Dort. On the same night, at about eleven
o'clock, by the feeble light of a waning moon, Heraugiere and his band
came to the Swertsenburg ferry, as agreed upon, to meet the boatman.
They found neither him nor his vessel, and they wandered about half the
night, very cold, very indignant, much perplexed. At last, on their way
back, they came upon the skipper at the village of Terheyde, who made
the extraordinary excuse that he had overslept himself, and that he
feared the plot had been discovered. It being too late to make any
attempt that night, a meeting was arranged for the following evening. No
suspicion of treachery occurred to any of the party, although it became
obvious that the skipper had grown faint-hearted. He did not come on the
next night to the appointed place, but he sent two nephews, boatmen like
himself, whom he described as dare-devils.
"On Monday night, the 26th of February, the seventy went on board the
vessel, which was apparently filled with blocks of turf, and packed
themselves closely in the hold. They moved slowly during a little time
on their perilous voyage, for the winter wind, thick with fog and sleet,
blew directly down the river, bringing along with it huge blocks of ice,
and scooping the water out of the dangerous shallows, so as to render
the vessel at any moment liable to be stranded. At last the navigation
became impossible, and they came to a standstill. From Monday night till
Thursday morning those seventy Hollanders lay packed like herrings in
the hold of their little vessel, suffering from hunger, thirst, and
deadly cold; yet not one of them attempted to escape or murmured a wish
to abandon the enterprise. Even when the third morning dawned, there was
no better prospect of proceeding, for the remorseless east wind still
blew a gale against them, and the shoals which beset their path had
become more dangerous than ever. It was, however, absolutely necessary
to recruit exhausted nature, unless the adventurers were to drop
powerless on the threshold when they should at last arrive at their
destination. In all secrecy they went ashore at a lonely castle called
Nordam, where they remained to refresh themselves until about eleven at
night, when one of the boatmen came to them with the intelligence that
the wind had changed and was now blowing freshly from the sea. Yet the
voyage of a few leagues, on which they were embarked, lasted nearly two
whole days longer; on Saturday afternoon they passed through the last
sluice, and at about three o'clock the last boom was shut behind them.
There was no retreat possible for them now. The seventy were to take the
strong castle and city of Breda or to lay down their lives every man of
them. No quarter and short shrift,--such was their certain destiny,
should that crippled, half-frozen little band not succeed in their task
before another sunrise.
"They were now in the outer harbor, and not far from the water-gate
which led into the inner castle-haven. Presently an officer of the guard
put off in a skiff and came on board the vessel. Those inside could see
and hear his every movement. Had there been a single cough or sneeze
from within, the true character of the cargo, then making its way into
the castle, would have been discovered, and every man would, within ten
minutes, have been butchered. But the officer, unsuspecting, soon took
his departure, saying that he would send some men to warp the vessel
into the castle dock.
"Meantime, as the adventurers were making their way slowly towards the
water-gate, they struck upon a hidden obstruction in the river, and the
deeply laden vessel sprang a leak. In a few minutes those inside were
sitting up to their knees in water,--a circumstance which scarcely
improved their already sufficiently dismal condition. The boatmen
vigorously plied the pumps to save the vessel from sinking outright; a
party of Italian soldiers soon arrived on the shore, and in the course
of a couple of hours they had laboriously dragged the concealed
Hollanders into the inner harbor and made their vessel fast, close to
the guard-house of the castle. And now a crowd of all sorts came on
board. The winter nights had been long and fearfully cold, and there was
almost a dearth of fuel both in town and fortress. A gang of laborers
set to work discharging the turf from the vessel with such rapidity that
the departing daylight began to shine in upon the prisoners much sooner
than they wished. Moreover the thorough wetting to which, after all
their other inconveniences they had just been exposed, in their narrow
escape from foundering, had set the whole party sneezing and coughing.
Never was a catarrh so sudden, so universal, or ill-timed. Lieutenant
Held, unable to control the violence of his cough, drew his dagger and
eagerly implored his next neighbor to stab him to the heart, lest his
infirmity should lead to the discovery of the whole party. But the calm
and wary skipper who stood on the deck instantly commanded his companion
to work at the pump with as much chatter as possible, assuring the
persons present that the hold was nearly full of water. By this means
the noise of the coughing was effectually drowned. Most thoroughly did
the bold boatman deserve the title of "dare-devil" bestowed by his more
faint-hearted uncle. Calmly looking death in the face, he stood there,
quite at his ease, exchanging jokes with his old acquaintances,
chaffering with the eager purchasers of peat, shouting most noisy and
superfluous orders to the one man who composed his crew, doing his
utmost, in short, to get rid of his customers and to keep enough of the
turf on board to conceal the conspirators. At last, when the case seemed
almost desperate, he loudly declared that sufficient had been unladen
for that evening and that it was too dark and he was too tired for
further work. So giving a handful of stivers among the workmen, he bade
them go ashore at once and have some beer, and come next morning for the
rest of the cargo. Fortunately, they accepted his hospitable proposition
and took their departure; only the servant of the captain of the guard
lingered behind, complaining that the turf was not as good as usual, and
that his master would never be satisfied with it.
"'Ah!' returned the cool skipper, '_the best part of the cargo is
underneath. This is expressly reserved for the captain. He is sure to
get enough of it to-morrow_.'
"Thus admonished, the servant departed, and the boatman was left to
himself. His companion had gone on shore with secret orders to make the
best of his way to Prince Maurice, to inform him of the arrival of the
ship within the fortress, and of the important fact which they had just
learned that Governor Lanzavecchia, who had heard rumors of some
projected enterprise, and who suspected that the object aimed at was
Gertruydenberg, had suddenly taken his departure from that city, leaving
as his lieutenant his nephew Paola, a raw lad, quite incompetent to
provide for the safety of Breda. A little before midnight, Captain
Heraugiere made a brief address to his comrades in the vessel, telling
them that the hour for carrying out their undertaking had at length
arrived. Retreat was impossible, defeat was certain death; only in
complete victory lay their own safety and a great advantage for the
Commonwealth. It was an honor for them to be selected for such an
enterprise. To show cowardice now would be an eternal shame for them,
and he would be the man to strike dead with his own hand any traitor or
poltroon. But if, as he doubted not, every one was prepared to do his
duty, their success was assured, and he was himself ready to take the
lead in confronting every danger. He then divided the little band into
two companies,--one under himself to attack the main guard-house, the
other under Fernet to seize the arsenal of the fortress. Noiselessly
they stole out of the ship where they had so long been confined, and
stood at last on the ground within the precincts of the castle.
Heraugiere marched straight to the guard-house.
"'Who goes there?' cried a sentinel, hearing some movement in the
darkness.
"'A friend,' replied the captain, seizing him by the throat, and
commanding him, as he valued his life, to keep silence except when
addressed, and then to speak in a whisper.
"'How many are there in the garrison?' muttered Heraugiere.
"'Three hundred and fifty,' whispered the sentinel.
"'How many?' eagerly demanded the nearest followers, not hearing the
reply.
"'He says there are but fifty of them,' said Heraugiere, prudently
suppressing the three hundred, in order to encourage his comrades.
"Quietly as they had made their approach, there was nevertheless a stir
in the guard-house. The captain of the watch sprang into the courtyard.
"'Who goes?' he demanded in his turn.
"'A friend,' again replied Heraugiere, striking him dead with a single
blow as he spoke.
"Others emerged with torches. Heraugiere was slightly wounded, but
succeeded, after a brief struggle, in killing a second assailant. His
followers set upon the watch, who retreated into the guard-house.
Heraugiere commanded his men to fire through the doors and windows, and
in a few minutes every one of the enemy lay dead. It was not a moment
for making prisoners or speaking of quarter. Meantime Fervet and his
band had not been idle. The magazine house of the castle was seized, its
defenders slain. Young Lanzavecchia made a sally from the palace, was
wounded, and driven back with a few of his adherents. The rest of the
garrison fled helter-skelter into the town. Never had the musketeers of
Italy--for they all belonged to Spinola's famous Sicilian
Legion--behaved so badly. They did not even take the precaution to
destroy the bridge between the castle and the town, as they fled
panic-stricken before seventy Hollanders. Instead of encouraging the
burghers to their support, they spread dismay as they ran through every
street. Young Lanzavecchia, penned into a corner of the castle, began to
parley, hoping for a rally before a surrender should be necessary. In
the midst of the negotiation, and a couple of hours before dawn,
Hohenlo, duly apprised by the boatman, arrived with the vanguard of
Maurice's troops before the field-gate of the fort. A vain attempt was
made to force this portal open, but the winter's ice had fixed it fast.
Hohenlo was obliged to batter down the palisade near the water-gate, and
enter by the same road through which the fatal turf-boat had passed.
Soon after he had marched into the town at the head of a strong
detachment, Prince Maurice himself arrived in great haste, attended by
Philip Nassau, the Admiral Justinus Nassau, Count Solms, Peter Van der
Does, and Sir Francis Vere, and followed by another body of picked
troops; the musicians playing merrily that national air, then, as now,
so dear to Netherlanders,--
'Wilhelmus van Nassonwen
Ben ick van Duytsem bloed.'
"The fight was over. Some forty of the garrison had been killed, but not
a man of the attacking party. The burgomaster sent a trumpet to the
prince, asking permission to come to the castle to arrange a
capitulation; and before sunrise the city and fortress of Breda had
surrendered to the authority of the States-General and of his
Excellency.
"There, I ought not to have read all that long story,--I've tired you
out, I know," exclaimed Kate, apologetically, as she closed her book.