Battle of Nieuport

Battle of Nieuwpoort
Part of the Eighty Years' War
Prince Maurice at the Battle of Nieuwpoort by Pauwels van Hillegaert. Oil on canvas
Date 2 July 1600 Location Nieuwpoort (present-day Belgium) Coordinates: 51°9′21″N 2°44′18″E / 51.15583°N 2.73833°E / 51.15583; 2.73833 Result Tactical Anglo-Dutch victory; Dutch strategic aims not achieved.
Belligerents
United Provinces England	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Maurice of Nassau Francis Vere	Archduke Albrecht
Strength
10,000 infantry 1,400 cavalry 14 guns	7,700 infantry 1,200 cavalry 9 guns
Casualties and losses
2,000 dead or wounded	2,500 dead or wounded 600 captured

The Battle of Nieuwpoort, between a Dutch army under Maurice of Nassau and Francis Vere and a Spanish army under Albert of Austria, took place on 2 July 1600 near the present-day Belgian city Nieuwpoort.

The States General under Johan van Oldenbarneveldt had ordered Maurice - in spite of his very opposition - to take the army, march south along the coast and take the pirate nest of Dunkirk; the divergence of opinion on this matter between Maurice and Van Oldenbarneveldt, was an early sign that the two de facto leaders of the Dutch Republic were beginning to drift apart; this rivalry would eventually lead to the arrest and execution of Van Oldenbarneveldt in 1619.

It was thought that the vicious and protracted mutiny of a great part of the Spanish troops, would make it impossible for the Archduke to collect an army for the relief of the city.

For this operation, by 21 June Maurice had collected an army of 12 infantry regiments and 25 cavalry cornets: some 12,000 Foot and 2,000 Horse; on the 22nd he crossed the Scheldt Estuary in a multitude of small vessels and moved to Ostend, his base of operations; there he left a half regiment and four cornets to reinforce the garrison and, on the 30th, started for Nieuwpoort.

When on 1 July Maurice arrived in front of the place, he sent two thirds of his force across the Yser River to blockade it from the West. That night, while he was making preparations for a regular siege, he received news that the Archduke was close at hand with a field army; knowing that he was cut off from his base, he ordered his cousin Ernst Casimir (Ernst Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz) to delay with a force the advancing Spanish troops, while he was bringing the best part of his army to cross again the Yser and rejoin the rest, to face the Archduke: he had no option left but to present battle, or risk a potentially disastrous retreat by sea.

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Wikipedia