Battle of Nieuwpoort

Battle of Nieuwpoort

Part of: Eighty Years War

The battle of Nieuwpoort

date	July 2, 1600
place	Nieuwpoort , now Belgium
output	United Netherlands victory

Parties to the conflict
United Netherlands	Spain
Commander
Moritz of Orange Francis Vere	Albrecht VII of Austria
Troop strength
10,000 infantry 1,400 cavalry 14 cannons	7,700 infantry 1,200 cavalry 9 cannons
losses
2,000 killed or wounded	2,500 killed or wounded 600 prisoners

The Battle of Nieuwpoort was a battle of the Eighty Years War . It took place on July 2, 1600 between an army of the United Netherlands under Moritz von Oranien and Francis Vere and a Spanish army under Archduke Albrecht VII of Austria near the city of Nieuwpoort in what is now Belgium .

prehistory

On behalf of the States General, Attorney General Johan van Oldenbarnevelt ordered Moritz von Orange against his resistance to march south with the army along the coast and take Dunkirk . The operation was intended to eliminate the pirates from Dunkirk who were in Spanish service . It was believed that the prolonged mutiny of large parts of the Spanish troops would make it impossible for Archduke Albrecht to raise an army to relieve Nieuwpoort.

On June 21st Moritz von Orange had assembled an army consisting of twelve regiments of infantry and 25 squadrons of cavalry . On June 22nd he crossed the Scheldt in small boats and moved into his base of operations in Ostend . He left half a regiment and four squadrons of cavalry to reinforce the garrison and advanced on June 30 in the direction of Nieuwpoort.

When he reached the city on July 1st, he sent 2/3 of his troops across the Yser River to block it from the west. The following night, when he was preparing a siege, he learned that Archduke Albrecht was nearby with an army. He was cut off from his base. He either had to face the battle or risk a potentially disastrous retreat across the sea. So he ordered his cousin, Ernst Casimir von Nassau-Dietz , to stop the approaching Spaniards. He himself wanted to cross the Yser again in order to unite his troops with the rest of the army and to face Archduke Albrecht.

Ernst Casimir von Nassau-Dietz was ordered to occupy the Leffinghem Bridge. He commanded the Edmonds (Scottish) and Van der Noot (Dutch) regiments with an additional four squadrons of cavalry and two cannons. When he got to the bridge, he found that the enemy had already taken possession of it. He positioned his troops behind a trench, and hoped to hinder the advance of the enemy by fighting. But the Spaniards had already crossed the bridge with strong forces and attacked its center. The Scottish troops were almost completely wiped out, the Dutch fared not much better. The cavalry fled in a panic. Ernst Casimir's command had ceased to exist.

After this easy victory, Albrecht held a briefing with his captains. Most of them pressed for the army to be positioned on the road to Ostend, which would have forced Moritz of Orange to attack on a narrow front. The heavier Dutch cavalry could not have been used effectively against the lighter Spanish cavalry. The mutinous troops, who had joined Albrecht for pledging promises, were eager to fight an early fight and changed the mind of the others. The army therefore moved forward in battle order along the coast. The rising tide forced the army to work its way up from the beach to the higher sandy dunes. This gave Moritz time to gather his army and face the enemy.

Order of battle

Battle of Nieuport 1600

Dutch army

First line

Horace Vere Regiment (British)

Francis Vere Regiment (British)

Hertinga Regiment (Frisian, it was a regiment of double size with 19 companies, including two companies of the foot troops of Moritz von Oranien)

6 squadrons of cuirassiers

3 squadrons of light cavalry

Second line

Domerville Regiment (French Huguenots)

Swiss Battalion (4 companies)

Marquette Regiment (Walloon, mainly deserters from the Spanish army)

6 squadrons of cuirassiers

Third line

Ernst von Nassau Regiment (German, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Huysmann)

Hurchtenburch (Dutch)

Ghistelles (Dutch, 6 companies strong, as the others stayed to reinforce the garrison in Ostend)

3 squadrons of cuirassiers

Spanish army

First line

First provisional Terzio (mutinous Spanish troops)

Second provisional Terzio (mutinous Walloon troops)

7 squadrons of light cavalry (mutinous troops)

Second line

Terzio Monroy (Spanish)

Terzio Villar (Spanish)

Terzio Sapena (Spanish)

Tercio Avila (Italian)

1 unit of light lancers

5 units of cuirassiers

Third line

Terzio La Barlotte (Walloon)

Terzio Bucquoy (Walloon)

Bostock Regiment (British, formed from the deserted garrison of Deventer and reinforced by Catholic refugees from Great Britain)

6 squadrons of light cavalry

Initial line-up

Northern flank:

Dutch: 14 cannons, 650 British musketeers.

Spaniards: 9 cannons, 50 cavalrymen, 400 infantrymen.

Southern flank:

Dutch: 1200 riders

Spaniards: 1000 riders

Center:

Dutch: 9,350 infantrymen

Spaniards: 7,300 infantrymen

The battle

2 phases of the battle

The first line of Dutch infantry was in a strong defensive position on several dunes. Cannons covered the flanks. Moritz of Orange had his best regiments posted there under the command of the experienced Francis Vere. He decided against sending out an advance detachment and awaited the arrival of the Spanish army.

The Spaniards sent 500 arquebusiers to secure the further advance. The two regiments at the head, made up of undisciplined mutinous troops, began the attack with a quick advance up the dunes. They were repulsed and lost their order of battle, while the light cavalry was driven to flight by the counterattack of the Dutch cuirassiers. At this point the second Spanish line was advancing against the Frisian regiment. Moritz of Orange sent his entire second line to protect this section and stabilize the front. Then he let his entire cavalry attack the flank of the enemy, except for a small reserve. The cuirassiers routed the lighter Spanish cavalry and the mutineers' squadrons fled the battlefield. However, the Dutch were stopped by the third line of Spanish infantry, which was supported by a few cannons. The cavalry had to withdraw with heavy losses.

Meanwhile, the British regiments faced the experienced Terzios of Monroy and Villar. The British had been trained in the new tactics of the enfilade and could therefore continuously fire at the Spaniards, who, covered by arquebusiers, slowly came up the dunes. For a while the battle was even, but eventually the Spaniards succeeded in driving the Dutch off the top of the dunes. Francis Vere recognized the danger, but the reinforcements dispatched came too late and the British had to flee.

The Spaniards were barely able to take advantage of this after a busy day. In addition, the order of battle was mixed up, units with muskets and pikes had mixed up. Moritz of Orange sent his cavalry reserve of only three squadrons against them. The timely attack was very successful. Confusion spread among the Spaniards and they slowly withdrew. Vere, who had succeeded in rallying a few British companies behind a battery, intervened in the fighting, being supported by the regiments of the third line, which had now arrived. The Spaniards, now under great pressure, fled in disarray.

Archduke Albrecht had sent his third line into battle on the Dutchmen's right flank. Moritz of Orange saw his chance and sent his exhausted cavalry into battle one last time. Under the command of his cousin Ludwig Günther von Nassau , the Spanish cavalry was finally driven from the battlefield. The Spanish infantry, which had already been attacked head-on, could no longer repel the attack on their flank and fell back. After a while the front collapsed and one unit after the other ran away, leaving their weapons behind. The survivors dispersed and it was only thanks to the inactivity of the garrison in Ostend that their army was not completely destroyed.

The losses of the Spaniards were high. They lost about 2,500 men, including many officers and hard-to-replace veterans. The artillery was also lost.

The Dutch also suffered heavy losses. With the losses in Leffinghem there were about 2000 men, including many veterans.

consequences

Although Moritz of Orange had defeated the Spaniards, the battle had no further effects. The Dutch lines were overstretched and he soon had to retire as well. The Flemings , whose support he had hoped, stayed on the side of the Spaniards. In addition, the great port of Dunkirk, the main target of the campaign, was beyond his reach in Spanish hands. The Dunkirk pirates could not be eliminated.

literature

• F. Vere: Commentaries of the Divers Pieces of Service
• J. Commelin: Wilhelm en Maurits van Nassau
• Georg Ortenburg: Weapons and the use of weapons in the age of the Landsknechte , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz, 1984, ISBN 3-7637-5461-X

Web links

Commons : Battle of Nieuwpoort  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Illustration by Frans Hogenberg from 1600: "Graff Mauritz and his whole army, to the water and landnnimt then turn, for Nieport in that flander lands ..." ( digitized )