NIEUPORT--THE BATTLE OF THE DUNES
On the morning of July 2, in the year 1600, two armies--Spaniards,
under the Archduke Albert, and Dutchmen, under Prince Maurice of
Nassau--stood face to face amongst the dunes near Nieuport, where the
river Yser falls into the sea about ten miles west from Ostend.
In a field to the east of Nieuport there is a high, square tower, part
of a monastery and church erected by the Templars in the middle of the
twelfth century, which, though it escaped complete destruction, was
set on fire and nearly consumed when the town was attacked and laid in
ruins by the English and the burghers of Ghent in 1383, the year of
their famous siege of Ypres. It is now in a half-ruinous condition, but
in July, 1600, it was an important part of the fortifications, and from
the top the watchmen of the Spanish garrison could see the country all
round to a great distance beyond the broad moat which then surrounded
the strong walls of Nieuport. A few miles inland, to the south-west,
in the middle of the plain of Flanders, were the houses of Furnes,
grouped round the church tower of St. Nicholas. To the north a wide
belt of sandhills (the 'dunes'), with the sea beyond them, extended far
past Ostend on the east, and to the harbour of Dunkirk on the west.
Nearer, on the landward side of the dunes to the east, and within
less than a mile of each other, were the villages of Westende and
Lombaerdzyde. Close at hand, all round Nieuport, there were numerous
small lakes and watercourses connected with the channel of the Yser,
which, flowing past the town, widened out until it joined the sea, and
became a harbour, which on that morning was full of shipping.
A new chapter had just begun in the history of West Flanders when the
Dutchmen and the Spaniards thus met to slaughter each other amongst
the sand and rushes of the dunes. Philip II. had offered to cede the
Spanish Netherlands to his daughter, the Infanta Isabella, on condition
that a marriage was arranged between her and the Archduke Albert of
Austria. After the death of Philip II. this offer was confirmed by his
successor, Philip III., and the wedding took place in April, 1599.
[Illustration: NIEUPORT
A Fair Parishioner.]
Albert and Isabella were both entering on the prime of life, the
Archduke being forty and the Infanta thirty-two at the time of their
marriage, and were both of a character admirably fitted for the lofty
station to which they had been called. In their portraits, which hang,
very often frayed and tarnished, on the walls of the Hôtel de Ville of
many a Flemish town, there is nothing very royal or very attractive;
but, even after making every allowance for the flattery of contemporary
historians, there can be little doubt that their popularity was well
deserved--well deserved if even a part of what has been said about them
is true. The Archduke is always said to have taken Philip II. as a
model of demeanour, but he had none of the worst faults of the sullen,
powerful despot, with that small mind, that 'incredibly small' mind of
his, and cold heart, cold alike to human suffering and human love, who
had held the Flemings, whom he hated, for so many years in the hollow
of his hand. His grave mien and reserved habits, probably acquired
during his sojourn at the Court of Spain, were distasteful to the gay
and pleasure-loving people of Flanders, who would have preferred a
Prince more like Charles V., whose versatility enabled him to adapt
himself to the customs of each amongst the various races over whom he
ruled. Nevertheless, if they did not love him they respected him, and
were grateful for the moderation and good feeling which distinguished
his reign, and gave their distracted country, after thirty years of
civil war, a period of comparative tranquillity.
The Infanta Isabella, _débonnaire_, affable, tolerant, and
noble-hearted, as she is described, gained the hearts of the Flemings
as her husband never did. 'One could not find any Court more truly
royal or more brilliant in its public fêtes, which sometimes recall
the splendid epoch of the House of Burgundy. Isabella loves a country
life. She is often to be seen on horseback, attending the tournaments,
leading the chase, flying the hawk, taking part in the sports of the
bourgeoise, shooting with the crossbow, and carrying off the prize.'
Above all things, her works of charity endeared her to the people. In
time of war she established hospitals for the wounded, for friends and
enemies alike, where she visited them, nursed them, and dressed their
wounds with her own hands, with heroic courage and tenderness.[21]
Even on their first coming into Flanders, before their characters were
known except by hearsay, they were received with extraordinary
enthusiasm. Travelling by way of Luxembourg, they came to Namur, where
their first visit was made the occasion of a military fête, conducted
under the personal supervision of Comte Florent de Berlaimont. At
Nivelles the Duc d'Arschot paid out of his own purse the cost of the
brilliant festivities to which the people of Brabant flocked in order
to bid their new rulers welcome, and himself led the procession,
accompanied by the Archbishop of Malines and the Bishop of Antwerp. So
they journeyed on amidst scenes of public rejoicing until they came to
Brussels, where they established their Court in accordance with the
customs and ceremonies which had been usual under the Dukes of Burgundy
and the Kings of Spain.
[Illustration: NIEUPORT
Hall and Vicarage.]
But when the Archdukes, as they were called, passed from town to town
on this Royal progress, the phantoms of war, pestilence, and famine
hung over the land. The great cities of Flanders had been deserted
by thousands of their inhabitants. The sea trade of the country had
been destroyed by the vigorous blockade which the Dutch ships of war
maintained along the coast. Religious intolerance had driven the most
industrious of the working classes to find a refuge in Holland or
England. Villages lay in ruins, surrounded by untilled fields and
gardens run to seed. Silent looms and empty warehouses were seen on
every side. To such a pass had the disastrous policy of the Escurial
brought this fair province of the Spanish Empire! From all parts of
Flanders the cry for peace went up, but the time for peace was not yet
come.[22]
The new reign had just begun when Maurice of Nassau suddenly invaded
Flanders with a great force, and laid siege to Nieuport, the garrison
of which, reinforced by an army, at the head of which the Archduke
Albert had hurried across Flanders, was under the command of the
Archduke himself, and many Spanish Generals of great experience in the
wars.
Though the Court at Brussels had been taken by surprise, the Dutch army
was in a position of great danger. Part of it lay on the west side of
the Yser, and part to the east, amongst the dunes near Lombaerdzyde
and Westende, with a bridge of boats thrown across the river as their
only connection. Their ships were at anchor close to the shore; but
Prince Maurice frankly told his men that it was useless to think of
embarking in case of defeat, and that, therefore, they must either
win the day or perish there, for the Spaniards were before them
under the protection of Nieuport, the river divided them, the sea was
behind them, and it would be impossible for a beaten army to escape by
retreating through the dunes in the direction of Ostend.
[Illustration: NIEUPORT
The Quay, with Eel-boats and Landing-stages.]
Such was the position of affairs beneath the walls of Nieuport at
sunrise on July 2, 1600. The morning was spent by the Dutch in
preparing for battle. Towards noon the Spanish leaders held a council
of war, at which it was decided to attack the enemy as soon as
possible, and about three o'clock the battle began. A stiff breeze from
the west, blowing up the English Channel, drove clouds of sand into
the eyes of the Spaniards, and the bright rays of the afternoon sun,
shining in their faces as they advanced to the attack, dazzled and
confused them. But, in spite of these disadvantages, it seemed at first
as if the fortunes of the day were to go in their favour.
The bridge of boats across the Yser was broken, and some of the Dutch
regiments, seized by a sudden panic, began to retreat towards the sea;
but, finding it impossible to reach the ships, they rallied, and began
once more to fight with all the dogged courage of their race. For some
hours the battle was continued with equal bravery on both sides, the
Spaniards storming a battery which the Dutch had entrenched amongst
the dunes, and the Dutch defending it so desperately that the dead and
wounded lay piled in heaps around it. But at last the Spanish infantry
were thrown into confusion by a charge of horsemen; the Archduke Albert
was wounded, and had to retire from the front to have his injuries
attended to. Prince Maurice ordered a general advance of all his army,
and in a few minutes the enemy were fleeing from the battlefield,
leaving behind them 3,000 dead, 800 prisoners, and more than 100
standards. The loss on the Dutch side was about 2,000.
The Archduke Albert, who had narrowly escaped being himself taken
prisoner, succeeded in entering Nieuport safely with what remained of
his army. The town remained in the hands of the Spaniards, for Prince
Maurice, after spending some days in vain attempts to capture it,
marched with his whole force to Ostend, where soon afterwards began the
celebrated siege, which was to last for three long years, and about
which all Europe never tired of talking.[23]
[Illustration: NIEUPORT
The Town Hall.]
The history of Nieuport since those days has been the history of a
gradual fall. Its sea trade disappeared slowly but surely; the fishing
industry languished; the population decreased year by year; and it
has not shared to any appreciable extent in the prosperity which has
enriched other parts of Flanders since the Revolution of 1830. It is
now a quiet, sleepy spot, with humble streets, which remind one of some
fishing village on the east coast of Scotland. Men and women sit at the
doors mending nets or preparing bait. The boats, with their black hulls
and dark brown sails, move lazily up to the landing-stages, where a few
small craft, trading along the coast, lie moored. Barges heavily laden
with wood are pulled laboriously through the locks of the canals which
connect the Yser with Ostend and Furnes. The ancient fortifications
have long since disappeared, with the exception of a few grass-grown
mounds; and only the grim tower of the Templars, standing by itself
in a field on the outskirts of the town, remains to show that this
insignificant place was once a mighty stronghold.
In those old Flemish towns, however, it is always possible to find
something picturesque; and here we have the Cloth Hall, with its low
arches opening on the market-place, and the Gothic church, one of the
largest in Flanders, with its porch and tower, where the bell-ringers
play the chimes and the people pass devoutly to the services of the
church. But that is all. Nieuport has few attractions nowadays, and
is chiefly memorable in Flemish history because under its walls they
fought that bloody 'Battle of the Dunes,' in which the stubborn
strength and obstinacy of the Dutch overcame the fiery valour of the
Spaniards.
They are all well-nigh forgotten now, obstinate Dutchman and valiant
Spaniard alike. Amongst the dunes not a vestige remains of the
field-works for which they fought. Bones, broken weapons and shattered
breastplates, and all the débris of the fight, were long ago buried
fathoms deep beneath mounds of drifting sand. Old Nieuport--Nieuport
Ville, as they call it now--for which so much blood was shed, is
desolate and dreary with its small industries and meagre commerce; but
a short walk to the north brings us to Nieuport-Bains, and to the gay
summer life which pulsates all along the Flemish coast, from La Panne
on the west to the frontiers of Holland.
[Illustration: NIEUPORT
Church Porch (Evensong).]
FOOTNOTES.
[Footnote 21: De Gerlache, i. 260.]
[Footnote 22: _L'Abbé Nameche_, xxi. 6-8.]
[Footnote 23: 'Le siège d'Ostende fut, pendant ces trois ans,
la fable et la nouvelle de l'Europe; on ne se lassait pas d'en
parler. Des princes, des étrangers de toutes les nations venaient y
assister.'--_L'Abbé Nameche_, xxi. 24.]