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DUTCH WARS
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DUTCH See also:WARS , a convenient See also:general See also:title for a See also:series of See also:European wars between 1652 and 1678, which centred chiefly upon the See also:political and commercial relations of the See also:Netherlands with See also:England and See also:France. By Englishmen the See also:term " Dutch Wars " is usually applied to the two purely See also:naval wars of 1652–53 and 1663–67 and to the Anglo-Dutch or naval See also:part of the See also:war that began in 1672. But the last of these was part of a much wider struggle by See also:land, known to See also:Continental historians as the Dutch War of 1672–78, and the second part of this See also:article deals with their struggle on the various frontiers of France, which was illustrated by the See also:genius of See also:Turenne and See also:Conde.
I. NAVAL OPERATIONS
First Dutch War (1652–53): Though political causes were at See also:work, the See also:main incentive to hostility between the peoples was commercial rivalry. It was therefore natural that their first encounters should have taken See also:place between fleets engaged in convoying See also:trade, or in endeavouring to intercept the trade of their enemy. Blows were exchanged before war was formally declared. On the 12th of May 1652 an See also:English officer, See also:Captain See also:Young, stopped a Dutch See also:convoy near the Start in See also:order to enforce the salute to the English See also:flag, which England then demanded from all who used the seas See also:round her See also:coast. The demand was resisted, and was only yielded to after a See also:sharp conflict. Though the Dutch were still endeavouring to negotiate a See also:peace with the See also:Council of See also:State which governed in the See also:British Isles after the See also:execution of See also: Bourne joined his countryman after the See also:action began. The encounter, which the Dutch attributed to the English, and the English to the Dutch, made war inevitable, even if the relations of the two See also:powers had allowed of the See also:maintenance of peace. The first operations on both sides took the See also:form of attacks on trade. See also:Sir See also:George See also:Ayscue, who had lately returned from the See also:West Indies, whither he had been sent to subdue the Royalist party in See also:Barbados, had a sharp encounter with a Dutch convoy while on his way up Channel to the See also:Downs, and had captured several prizes. The Council of State, being mainly anxious to destroy the Dutch trade and See also:fisheries, began by reinforcing Blake, and sending him See also:north to scatter the Dutch See also:herring See also:fleet. He had with him 6o vessels. Ayscue remained in the Downs with 16. Soon after Blake had gone, Tromp appeared in the Downs with a stronger force and threatened an attack on Ayscue. Want of See also:wind prevented the operation. Tromp was also most See also:intent on See also:collecting the See also:home-coming Dutch convoys, and seeing them safe into See also:port. He therefore also sailed north to meet the Baltic trade. No See also:meeting, however, took place between him and Blake, while See also:bad See also:weather scattered the Dutch. Their herring See also:fishery was ruined for the See also:year, and the outcry against Tromp was loud. He was notoriously no friend to the Loevenstein party then prevalent in See also: In the See also:close engagement which followed, the Dutch were defeated. They did not fight well, and their failure was attributed in part to the discontent of their See also:seamen with the removal of Tromp, and the unpopularity of de Witt. The states-general found it necessary to replace Tromp, who was at once sent to sea, again with the See also:charge of seeing the outward-bound trade down Channel, and waiting for the homeward-bound. Blake had not remained on the coast of Holland, for the Council of State was still almost as intent as the Dutch on convoying trade or molesting the enemy's. It brought its fleet back, and then divided the ships, sending some to the north with Penn, and keeping the others, 40 in all, with Blake in the Downs. Thus when Tromp appeared " at the back of the Goodwins " with a fleet of 8o war-ships and a See also:crowd of See also:merchant vessels on the 29th of See also:November, Blake was not in a position to engage him with any assured prospect of success. But he made the See also:attempt, and a hot engagement took place off See also:Dungeness on the 3oth. Two English vessels were taken, and the loss would have been greater if some-of the English captains had not shown themselves backward. Many of the ships were merchant vessels pressed or hired, and commanded by their own skippers, who displayed little military spirit. Blake, who offered to resign, complained of the conduct of many of them, and some were punished. The Council of State saw the See also:necessity for making a strong effort against Tromp, who ranged the Channel unopposed. Penn was recalled from the north, See also:Richard See also:Deane and George See also: The See also:legend (for it is nothing more) that Tromp hoisted a See also:broom at his mainmast-See also:head to announce his intention to sweep the English off the sea, refers to this See also:period. On the 18th of February 1653 the Dutch admiral, who had now collected the homeward-bound convoys, was off Plymouth on his way back to Holland, and was attacked by the English fleet. The encounter, which lasted from the 18th to the zoth of February and ranged from Plymouth to See also:Calais, is commonly named the " Three Days' Battle " and was described by See also:Clarendon as " stupendous." The Dutch admiral brought his charge of merchant ships up Channel between him and the See also:French See also:shore. His war-ships were arranged in what was called a See also:half-See also:moon, and was in fact an obtuse See also:angle with his See also:flagship, the " See also:Brederode," at the See also:apex. During the 18th and 19th, the attacks of the English though -fierce were partial, and met with no great success. Tromp had to complain of the conduct of several of his captains. On the zoth his See also:line was broken and some 6o of his merchant ships were captured. He anchored in some confusion in Calais roads. Yet by taking See also:advantage of the dark, and the turn of the See also:tide, he succeeded in carrying the great See also:majority of his merchant ships home. The English fleet had suffered severely, Blake himself was seriously wounded, and his colleague Deane was also hurt. Blake's See also:wound disabled him greatly through the See also:remainder of the war. The Three Days' Battle was followed by a pause in the war. On the English See also:side much damage had to be repaired. The See also:administration of the See also:navy, called upon as it was to See also:deal with a war of unprecedented magnitude, was overtaxed by the See also:obligation to refit ships, raise crews, and provide for the numerous sick or wounded. The close approach of the great political crisis in which See also:Cromwell expelled the See also:Long Parliament and established the See also:Protectorate (17th of See also:April 1653), may have had some See also:influence. The fleet adhered to the new See also:government on the 22nd of April. On the Dutch side much damage had to be repaired, and their complicated administration, by five See also:independent See also:admiralty boards, rendered rapid work impossible. They had also begun to realize that the quality of their ships was inferior. Reflection had further shown them that to hamper their fleets by imposing the See also:direct protection of a great See also:flock of merchant ships on them was not even an effectual way to protect commerce. When, therefore, Tromp was next sent to sea, it was with an unhampered fleet of war-ships, and for the purpose of bringing the English fleet to battle. In spite of their heavy losses and their awkward administration, the Dutch were at sea before the end of May, and were close to the mouth of the Thames. The English fleet was not all ready. Part was in the See also:river fitting out under Blake, who had not fully recovered from his wound. The bulk of it was, however, ready for service, and Blake's colleagues, Monk and Deane, attacked Tromp on the 2nd of See also:June. Changes of wind made the battle somewhat confused. At first the English were to windward and they See also:bore down with Rear-Admiral See also: A great fleet was fitted out, partly at See also:Flushing, partly in the Texel. Between the 26th and the 3oth of See also:July Tromp, by a series of skilful manceuvres, united the divided Dutch squadrons in the See also:face of Monk's fleet, and on the 3oth he stood out to sea with the wind in his favour, and gave battle. More than a See also:hundred vessels were engaged on either side. The Dutch admiral manceuvred to keep, and Monk to gain, the weather-gage. The fleets passed on opposite tacks, and the Dutch tried to destroy their enemy with See also:fire-ships without success. At last the weatherly qualities of the ships enabled Monk to break through the Dutch line, cutting some of their ships off from the others. The vessels thus cut off fled to the See also:Maas, and Tromp with the others retired to the Texel. He was shot dead by a See also:musket See also:bullet in the retreat. The loss of See also:life had been heavy on both sides. Six captains of Monk's fleet were slain. The Dutch now sought peace, and Cromwell offered better terms. During the fighting in the North Sea the Mediterranean trade of England had suffered severely. A See also:squadron of trading ships and a few war vessels were blocked in See also:Italian ports till some of them were taken an3 others forced to flee in See also: Other attacks were made on Dutch trade during 1664, but the great operations of war did not begin till May 1665. In that See also:month the duke of York was on the See also:east coast of England with a fleet of 8o to go sail, composed, according to the See also:custom of the time, of vessels of all sizes. A Dutch fleet of corresponding strength was sent to sea, under command of See also:Baron Opdam van Wassenaer. In this war we do not find that the movements of fleets were subordinated to the work of providing convoy. They were sent to sea for the much more intelligent purpose of seeking out the enemy and See also:driving him off. It was understood that the trade of the See also:victor would be secure. The first battle took place from 30 to 40 M. S.E. of See also:Lowestoft, on the 3rd of June 1665. By the bad conduct of some of the captains in the centre of the Dutch line, the English, who fought with much spirit, were able to win a considerable victory. Opdam's flagship was blown up and he perished. But the pursuit of the English fleet was feeble, and the retreat of the Dutch was ably covered by Cornelius van Tromp, son of Martin Tromp. Much See also:scandal was caused by the mysterious circumstances in which an order to shorten sail was given in the English flagship, and doubts were expressed of the courage of the duke of York. He withdrew, or was withdrawn, from the active command at sea, and was replaced by the See also:earl of See also:Sandwich. On the Dutch side vigorous See also:measures were taken to enforce See also:good discipline. Four of the captains who had misbehaved on the 3rd of June were shot for cowardice, and others were dismissed. De Ruyter was named See also:commander-in-See also:chief, and John de Witt, or later his brother Cornelius, accompanied the admiral as delegate of the states-general to support his authority. The earl of Sandwich did nothing becoming a capable commander. Under his command the fleet made no attempt to See also:blockade the Dutch coast, but was turned from its proper work to engage in a See also:prize-See also:hunting See also:plot with the king of See also:Denmark. The See also:object was to See also:plunder a Dutch convoy which had taken See also:refuge at See also:Bergen in See also:Norway, then united to Denmark. The mutual interest of the associates led to the failure of the plot- Sir See also: The war had se far been unsuccessful for England. The victory of the 3rd of June was barren. Great injury was inflicted on English trade by Dutch cruisers, while the wasteful administration of his officers reduced the king's See also:treasury to much embarrassment. See also:Winter suspended the movements of the fleets. The year 1666 (called the annus mirabilis, for it included the See also:plague and the fire of See also:London) was marked by fierce fighting and changes of See also:fortune. The French, who had signed a treaty with Holland in 1662, were reluctantly induced to intervene in the war as the enemies of England. By May a Dutch fleet of some eighty sail was at sea, preparing to See also:watch the English, and unite with the French. Monk and Rupert were fitting out a fleet of nearly the same strength in the Thames. Under the influence of their fear of a French naval force King Charles's ministers committed a great blunder. They detached Prince Rupert into the Channel with 20 ships, leaving Monk with only 57 to face the Dutch. The English commander put to sea, and found the enemy anchored on the coast of See also:Flanders, in three divisions. He boldly attacked the van, hoping to cripple it before it could be helped by the centre and rear. This daring and well-judged move brought on the Four Days' Battle of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th of June (O.S.). On the 1st the Dutch van, under Cornelius van Tromp, bore the brunt of the English attack. The fighting was very fierce. One English admiral, Sir See also: They menaced the coast of Essex, and could easily have covered an invasion of England by a French See also:army if See also: The Dutch, being well aware of the disarmed See also:condition of the English coast, sent out a powerful fleet again under the command of De Ruyter in June. It entered the Thames, forced the entrance of the See also:Medway, and burnt both the dockyard at See also:Chatham and a number of the finest ships in the navy which were lying in the river. A terrible panic prevailed in London, where an attack was expected. The Dutch were content with the injury they had done at Chatham, and dropped down the river. De Ruyter remained cruising in the Channel till the peace of See also:Breda was signed in July. During the last months of the war Sir John Harman had fought a successful See also:campaign in the West Indies against the French on whom he inflicted a severe defeat at Martinique73' on the 24th of June. By the terms of the peace England retained See also:possession of New York, but the war, though it contained some passages glorious to her arms, was very disastrous to her commerce. Third Dutch War (1672-74).-This war differed very materially in its inception and conduct from the first and second. They had been popular in England, and even the second gave Englishmen not a little to be proud of. The third was under-taken by the king in pursuit of a policy arranged between him and his cousin Louis XIV. Their avowed object was a See also:partition of Holland, but there was a See also:secret understanding that King Charles II. was to establish See also:Roman Catholicism, and to make himself despotic in England, with the help of the French king. This hidden purpose was suspected, and the war became intensely unpopular with the English parliament and nation. Parliament would See also: D'Estrees, who was stationed with his squadron at the south end of the line, went to sea on the port tack, heading to the S.E. The English, who constituted the centre and rear, stood out on the starboard tack. Thus the allies were at once divided into two widely separated bodies, and the Dutch admiral was able to concentrate nearly his whole force on the centre See also:division, which suffered severely. The flagship of the duke of York, the " Prince " (See also:loo), was so shattered that he was compelled to leave her, and go to the "St See also:Michael." The " Royal James " (too), the flagship of his second in command, the earl of Sandwich, after being much shattered by the Dutch See also:artillery, was set alight by a fire-See also:ship, and destroyed with enormous loss of life. The earl himself perished. His body was picked up three days afterwards, so disfigured that it was only recognized by the See also:star on his coat. The ships at the head of the English line at last tacked to the support of the centre, and at evening De Ruyter drew off. A foolish attempt was made to claim his retreat as a victory, but the allies were too severely damaged to attempt an attack on the Dutch during the See also:rest of the year. The Republic was so hard pressed by the French invasion that it had See also:toland the See also:gunpowder from its ships for the service of its army. In 1673 the allies made an effort to invade Holland from the sea coast. Prince Rupert replaced the duke of York, who as a Roman See also:Catholic was driven from See also:office by the newly passed Test See also:Act. He was supplied with 54 ships and was joined See also:early in the year by d'Estrees with 27. Soldiers were embarked, and in May the allied fleet stood over to the Dutch coast. The See also:distress of the Republic prevented it from equipping more than 55 ships, but the patriotism of the See also:race was roused to See also: At the end of July the allies again appeared off the coast of Holland, bringing four thousand soldiers in the war-ships and two thousand in transports. De Ruyter's fleet had been raised to 70 vessels, but the allies had also been reinforced and were 90 strong. On the rrth of August the Dutch admiral kept in the shallow See also:waters of the coast looking for a favourable opportunity to attack. On the rlth of August the wind, which had been See also:westerly, turned to the S.E., giving him the weather gage. The French division was leading, and De Ruyter fell furiously upon the English in the centre and rear. The French were kept in play by a small squadron under Bankert, while De Ruyter drove Prince Rupert in the centre out of the line, and in the rear Cornelius van Tromp fought a desperate See also:duel with the English rear division commanded by Sir E. Spragge. The two admirals engaged in a See also:species of See also:personal conflict, and each was compelled to shift his flag to another See also:vessel. While Sir E. Spragge, whose second flagship was shattered by the Dutch fire, was on his way to a third, his See also:boat was sunk by a cannon shot and he was drowned. The defeat of the allies was undeniable, and a violent See also:quarrel See also:broke out between them. Want of money, and the increasing violence of popular opposition to the French See also:alliance, compelled the king to withdraw from the war. Peace was made in the following See also:spring. In this war, which presented no features of a creditable See also:kind, the loss to English commerce from Dutch cruisers was so great that it was found necessary to suspend the clause of the See also:navigation act which forbade the See also:purchase of See also:foreign-built vessels. As England withdrew from her alliance with Louis XIV., the other powers of See also:Europe, frightened by the growth of the aggressive French See also:power, began to come forward to the support of Holland. The See also:coalition then formed continued the struggle till 1678. But the war was conducted mainly on the land. The French king, who knew that his fleet was not as yet capable of meeting the Dutch single-handed, was content to withdraw his ships from the North Sea and the ocean. The Dutch, who had to pay subventions to their See also:German allies, and to support a large army, could spare little for their fleet. For some time they willingly confined themselves to efforts to protect their commerce from French privateers. In 1674 a revolt of the See also:people of See also:Sicily against their See also:Spanish rulers gave the French kinganopportunityof seizing the See also:island. See also:Spain, unable to defend its possessionssinglehanded, appealed to the Dutch for naval help. In September 1675 De Ruyter was sent into the Mediterranean with 18 sail of the line and four fire-ships. The force was inadequate, but it was all that Holland could spare. The Dutch admiral, who was hampered rather than helped by his Spanish allies, did his best to make good his weakness by skilful management. He cruised off See also:Messina to intercept the supplies which were being brought to the French See also:garrison by a fleet of 20 sail under the command of See also:Abraham See also:Duquesne. Conscious that he must spare his small force as much as possible, he abstained from such vigorous attacks as he had made in 1672 and 1673. When Duquesne appeared on the 7th of See also:January 1676 near the Lipari Islands, De Ruyter allowed them to get the weather-gage, and on the 8th of January waited passively for their attack. The French, with more recklessness than was usual with them in later times, bore down on their enemy courageously but in some disorder. Their leading ships were severely mauled, and their whole force so crippled that they could make no pursuit of the Dutch when they drew off, their injured ships being towed by the Spanish galleys, in the late afternoon. Duquesne was able to reach Messina and join the French ships at anchor there. De Ruyter made his way to See also:Palermo, which was in the hands of the Spaniards. One of his vessels sank on the way and he was reduced to 17. It is true that his allies provided him with ro ships of their own, but the Spanish navy had sunk to abject inefficiency. Their commander, the See also:marquis of Bayona, arrogantly insisted on occupying the centre of the line with his worthless squadron instead of allowing his ships to be scattered among the Dutch for support. When on the 22nd of April the allies, 27 strong, met the fleet of Duquesne, 29 ships, off Agosta, they attacked from windward. De Ruyter, who led the van, was mortally wounded. The Spaniards in the centre behaved very ill, and no victory was gained. The serious fighting was, in fact, confined to the vans of the two fleets. After the battle the allies retired to See also:Syracuse, where De Ruyter died, and where their ships were mostly destroyed by the French a month later. Reinforcements sent out from Holland were stopped in the Straits of See also:Gibraltar and blockaded in See also:Cadiz. The French remained masters of the Mediterranean. In the meantime, however; angry disputes had arisen between France and England. King Louis XIV. enforced his belligerent rights at sea with as much disregard of neutral interests as was shown by England in later times. His naval officers insisted on making prize of all Dutch-built vessels found under the English flag. In 1678 war seemed imminent between France and England. King Louis then withdrew his soldiers from Sicily, and made the peace of See also:Nijmwegen. II. OPERATIONS ON LAND The contemporary military See also:history of Europe included, first, the war between France and Spain, 1654–59, usually called the Spanish See also:Fronde, of which the most notable incident was the great battle of the See also:Dunes fought on the 14th of June 1658 between the French and English under Turenne and the Spaniards under Conde, in which a contingent of Cromwell's soldiers bore a conspicuous part. About the same time a war was fought in See also:northern Europe (1655-6o), celebrated chiefly for the three days' battle of See also:Warsaw (28th, 29th, 3oth July 1656), and the successful invasion of Denmark by the Swedes, carried out from island to island over the frozen sea (February 1658), and culminating in a long See also:siege of See also:Copenhagen (1658–59). Between the second and third wars of England and the United Provinces came the See also:short War of See also:Devolution (1667–68)—a war of sieges in the See also:Low Countries in which the French were commanded chiefly by Turenne. In 1668 the French under Conde made a rapid See also:con-quest of Franche-Comte. This was, however, given up at the peace. The war of 1672–78, the first of the three great wars of Louis XIV., was fought on a grander See also:scale. Invasion of Holland, 1672.—The See also:diplomacy of Louis had, before the outbreak of war, deprived Holland of her allies—England (treaty of Dover, 1670), See also:Sweden (treaty of See also:Stockholm, 1672) and the See also:emperor, and when he declared war on the United Provinces in March 1672, it seemed that the Dutch could offer little resistance. The French army under Louis in See also:person started from See also:Charleroi and marched down the See also:Meuse unopposed. The powerful Dutch fortress of See also:Maastricht was masked, and the French then moved towards See also:Dusseldorf. In the electorate of See also:Cologne they were in friendly country, and the main army soon moved down the See also:Rhine from Dusseldorf, the See also:corps of Turenne on the left See also:bank, that of Conde on the right. At the same time a corps under See also:Marshal See also:Luxemburg, composed of Louis' German allies (Cologne and See also:Munster) moved from See also:Westphalia towards Over-Yssel and See also:Groningen. The Rhine fortresses offered but little resistance to the advance of Turenne and Conde. William of See also:Orange with a weak See also: The emperor followed, and Louis was now opposed, not by one state, but by a formidable coalition. War against the Coalition.—In the autumn the war spread to the Rhine. No attempt could be made on Amsterdam until the See also:ice should See also:cover the floods. Turenne was therefore despatched to Westphalia and Conde to See also:Alsace, while a corps of observation was formed on the Meuse to watch the Spanish Netherlands. But the coalition had not yet See also:developed its full strength, and Turenne's skill checked the advance of the Imperialists under See also:Montecucculi and of the Brandenburgers under the Great Elector. A war of manoeuvre on the middle Rhine ended in favour of the French, and the allies then turned against the territories of Cologne and Munster, while William, disappointed in his hopes of joining forces with his See also:friends, made a bold, but in the end unsuccessful, raid on Charleroi (September-See also:December 1672). The allies in See also:Germany were now not merely checked but driven from point to point by Turenne, who on this occasion displayed a degree of energy rare in the military history of the period. The troops of Cologne and Munster formed part of his army, other friends of Louis were preparing to take the field, and after a severe winter campaign, the elector, defeated in combat and manoeuvre, was forced back to the See also:Weser, and being but weakly supported by the Imperialists, found himself compelled to make a See also:separate peace (June 6th, 1673). Turenne then turned his See also:attention to the Imperialists who were assembling in Bohemia, and made ready to meet them at See also:Wetzlar. Meanwhile the other French armies were fully employed. Corps of observation were formed in See also:Roussillon and See also:Lorraine. Conde in Holland was to733 renew his efforts against the Amsterdam defences; during the winter the demands of the war on the Rhine had reduced the French forces in the provinces to the See also:size of a See also:mere army of occupation.' Louis' own army, originally collected for the See also:relief of Charleroi in December, advanced on Maastricht, and after a brief siege, in which See also:Vauban directed the besiegers, captured this most important fortress (June 29th, 1673). But this was the last success of the French armies in the campaign. Conde made no headway against Amsterdam, and William retook Naarden (September 14th). Louis, after the See also:capture of Maastricht led his army southwards into Lorraine and overran the electorate of See also:Trier. But nothing of importance was gained, and Turenne's summer campaign was wholly unsuccessful. Capture of See also:Bonn.—From Wetzlar he moved to See also:Aschaffenburg, Louis at the same time keeping back, for the intended See also:conquest of Franche-Comte, many soldiers who would have been more usefully employed in Germany. Soon the Imperialists advanced in See also:earnest, greatly superior in numbers. Marching via See also:Eger and See also:Nuremberg (September 3rd) on the Main, Montecucculi drew Turenne to the valley of the Tauber; then, having persuaded the See also:bishop of Wtirzburg to surrender the See also:bridge of that place, he passed to the right bank of the Main before Turenne could intervene. The Imperialists soon arrived at See also:Frankfort, and the French position was turned. Montecucculi thus achieved one of the greatest See also:objects of the 17th See also:century strategist, the wearing down of the enemy in repeated and useless See also:marches. The French retreat to the Rhine was painful and costly, and Montecucculi then passed that river at Mainz and made for Trier. Turenne followed, unable to do more than conform to his opponent's movements, and took See also:post to defend Trier and Alsace. There-upon Montecucculi turned northward to meet William of Orange, who evaded Conde's weak army and marched rapidly via Ven16 (22nd October) on See also:Coblenz. The elector of Trier, who had not forgotten the depredations of Louis' army in the spring, followed the example of the bishop of Wtirzburg and gave a free passage at Coblenz. William and Montecucculi joined forces in the electorate and promptly besieged Bonn. This fortress fell on the 12th of November, and the troops of the coalition gained possession of an unbroken line from Amsterdam to the See also:Breisgau, while Louis' German allies (Cologne and Munster), now isolated, had to make peace at once. William wintered in Holland, Montecucculi in Cologne and See also:Julich, and the Spaniards, who had served with William, in their own provinces of the Meuse. A century after the outbreak of the War of Independence the Dutch and the Spaniards are thus found making war as allies, a striking See also:proof of the fact that all questions but those of dynastic interests had been effectually settled by the peace of Westphalia. Louis' allies were leaving him one by one. The German princes and the See also:empire itself rallied to the emperor, Denmark joined the coalition (January 1674), the Great Elector re-entered the war, and soon afterwards England made peace. 1674.—In 1674 therefore Louis reluctantly evacuated those of the United Provinces occupied by his army. He had derived a considerable See also:revenue from the enemy's country, and he had moreover quartered his troops without expense. The resources of the French government were almost intact for the coming campaign; the corps of observation in Roussillon was continued, and its commander, Marshal See also:Schomberg, made a successful campaign against the Spaniards, and the war was carried even into Sicily. Conde, in the Spanish Low Countries, opposed with inferior forces the united army of Spaniards, Dutch and Austrians under William, and held the Meuse from See also:Grave to Charleroi on the Sambre. The war in this See also:quarter was memorable for Conde's last, and William's first, battle, the desperate and indecisive engagement of Seneffe (August 11th), in which the two armies lost one-seventh of their strength in killed alone. The I Marshal Luxemburg, who was left in command of the army in Holland during the winter of 1672-73, had indeed made a bold attempt to capture See also:Leiden and the See also:Hague by marching a corps from Utrecht across the frozen inundations. But a sudden thaw imperilled his force and he had to make a painful retreat along the ,dykes to Utrecht. Holland was again inundated in 1673. French, however, in the course of the year lost a few fortresses .on the Meuse, including Grave and Huy. The king's part in' the campaign was, as usual, a war of sieges; an army under his personal command overran Franche-Comte in six See also:weeks, and Louis, aided by the genius of Vauban, reduced See also:Besancon in nine days. Turenne's Rhine campaign began with an invasion of Germany, undertaken to prevent interference with Louis in Franche-Comte. Bournonville, the imperial commander who now replaced Montecucculi, See also:lay in the Cologne and Trier electorates. An army of South Germans in the Breisgau, after an unsuccessful attempt to invade Alsace, moved northward to the See also:Neckar valley with the intention of uniting with Bournonville, who was moving up the Rhine to meet them. Turenne determined to attack the See also:southern army under the duke of Lorraine and Count Caprara before the junction could be effected. He crossed the Rhine. at Philipsburg early in June, and on the 16th fell upon the inferior forces of Caprara in their entrenched position of Sinsheim. The result of the battle was a See also:complete victory for the French, who followed up their success by driving a portion of Bournonville's army (on which the duke of Lorraine had rallied his, forces) from the Neckar (action of Ladenburg near See also:Heidelberg, July 7th). Turenne then laid See also:waste the See also:Palatinate, in order that it should no longer support an army, and fell back over the Rhine, ignoring the reproaches of the elector See also:palatine, who vainly challenged him to a duel. This devastation has usually been considered as a grave stain on the character of the commander who ordered it,' but Turenne's conception of See also:duty did not differ in this respect from that of Cromwell, See also:Marlborough, See also:Wellington and the generals of the See also:American Civil War. It was held to be necessary and expedient, and it was accordingly carried out. Bournonville's army near Frankfort was still to be dealt with, and the Great Elector and his Brandenburgers were rapidly approaching the Main valley. After a slight attempt to invade Lorraine, which Turenne easily stopped, the Imperialists suddenly recrossed the Rhine and marched rapidly into the neighbourhood of the See also:Strassburg bridge. Turenne's Winter Campaign in Alsace.—The magistrates of this See also:city were not less amenable than had been the bishop of Wiirzburg in 1673. Bournonville obtained a free passage, and Turenne was too late to oppose him. The French general, however, determined to fight, as he had done at Sinsheim, to prevent the junction of the two hostile armies. The Great Elector was still in the Neckar valley when the battle of Enzheim (8 m. from Strassburg) was fought on the 4th of October. This time it was indecisive, and Bournonville's superior forces, soon augmented by the arrival of the elector, spread into Alsace. Turenne steadily retired to his See also:camp of Dettweiler, unable for the moment to do more, and the Germans took up winter quarters in all the towns from See also:Belfort to Strassburg (October-November 1674). But Turenne was preparing for another winter campaign, the most brilliant in. the great commander's career. First he placed the fortresses of middle Alsace in a state of defence, to deceive the enemy. Then he withdrew the whole of the field army quietly into Lorraine. Picking up on his way such reinforcements as were available, he marched southward with all See also:speed behind the See also:Vosges, and in the last stages of the movement he even split up his forces into many small bodies, that the enemy's spies might be misled. After a severe march through hilly country and in the midst of snowstorms, the French reunited near Belfort, and without a moment's delay poured into Alsace from the south. The scattered Imperialists were driven towards Strassburg, every corps which tried to resist being cut off. Bournonville stood to fight at Miilhausen with such forces as he could collect (29th December 1674) but Turenne's men carried all before them. The advance continued to See also:Colmar, where the elector, who was now in command of the Germans, stood on the defensive with forces equal to Turenne's own. The battle of Turkheim (5th of January 1675) nevertheless resulted in another and this time a decisive victory for the French; a few days after the battle Turenne could See also:report thatthere was not a soldier of the enemy left in Alsace. His army now went into winter quarters about Strassburg, and drew supplies from the German bank of the Rhine and even from the Neckar valley (January 1675). 1675.—This opening of the campaign promised well, and Louis as usual took the field as early as possible. In the course of the spring (May-June) the king's army recaptured some of the lost fortresses of the Meuse and took in addition See also:Liege and See also:Limburg. The expeditionary corps in Sicily also gained some successes in this campaign, and Schomberg invaded See also:Catalonia. On the Rhine was fought the last campaign of Turenne and Montecucculi. The elector having withdrawn his forces to Brandenburg (see SWEDEN: History), Montecucculi resumed command, and between Philipsburg and Strassburg the two great commanders manoeuvred for an advantage, each seeking to cover his own country and to live upon that of the enemy. At last Turenne prevailed and had the Imperialists at a disadvantage on the Sasbach, where, in opening the action, he was killed by a cannon-shot (July 27th). The sequel showed how dependent was even the best organized army of the time upon the See also:personality of its commander. All the advantages won were hastily surrendered, and Montecucculi, sharply following up the retreat of the French, drove them over the Rhine and almost to the Vosges. At the same time the duke of Lorraine defeated Marshal Crequi (August 11th) at Conzer Brucke on the Moselle, and recaptured Trier (September 6th), which, as a set-off against Bonn, Turenne had taken in the autumn of 1673. The situation was more than alarming for the French, but Conde was destined to achieve a last success—for once a success of careful See also:strategy and prudent manceuvre. Luxemburg was left in charge in Flanders, and the prince took command of the remnant of Turenne's old army and of the fugitives of Crequi's. Montecucculi's skill failed completely to shake his position, and in the end the prince compelled him to retire over the Rhine. Conde and Montecucculi retired from their commands at the close of the year, Turenne was dead, and a younger See also:generation of commanders henceforward carried on the war. x676.-In 1676 the naval successes of France in the Mediterranean enabled the corps under Marshal Vivonne in Sicily to make considerable progress, and he won an important victory at Messina on the 25th of March. Vivonne was made See also:viceroy of Sicily. Louis himself, with his marshals and Vauban, conducted the campaign in the north. The See also:town of Conde fell on the 26th of April, and the king then manoeuvred against the prince of Orange in the neighbourhood of See also:Valenciennes. An attempt made by the latter in the summer to besiege Maastricht was frustrated by Marshal Schomberg with a detachment of the king's army (August). Rochefort meanwhile covered the Meuse country and Luxemburg. Crequi, who had now returned from captivity (he had been taken after the battle of Conzer Brucke) opposed the Imperialists in Lorraine, but he was unable to prevent the fall of Philipsburg, which occurred on the 17th of September. The French now laid waste the land between the Meuse and Moselle for the same See also:reason which brought about the devastation of the Palatinate in 1674, and the year closed with a war of manceuvre on the upper Rhine between the Imperialists under the duke of Lorraine and the French under Luxemburg.
x677.—The chief event of the campaign of 1677 in the Nether-lands was the siege of Valenciennes, which fortress was invested by Louis in the first weeks of the campaigning See also:season. Five marshals of France served under the king in this enterprise, but their See also:advice was of less value than that of Vauban, whose plans the king followed implicitly, even so far as to order an assault de vive force against the unanimous See also:opinion of the marshals. This succeeded beyond Vauban's own expectation; the picked troops entrusted with the attack of an outwork forced their way into the town itself (March 17th). The success was followed by the siege of St Omer and the defeat of William's relieving army by the duke of See also: He began by driving back the duke of Lorraine to the Rhine. Another attempt by the Lorraine See also:family to reconquer their duchy was thus foiled, and at the same time a second imperial army under the duke of See also:Saxe-See also:Eisenach, which had crossed the Rhine by Philipsburg, was shut up in an island of the Rhine and forced to make terms with the French. A large reinforcement sent by the duke of Lorraine to the assistance of Saxe-Eisenach was completely defeated by Crequi in the battle of Kochersberg near Strassburg (October 7th) and the marshal followed up his successes by the capture of See also:Freiburg on the 14th of November. During the year there was a brisk war in the West Indies, and also in Catalonia, where the French maintained the ground won by Schomberg in the previous campaign. t678.—In 1678 Louis took the field in February. The skilful manoeuvres of the French, whether due to Louis' own generalship or that of his advisers, resulted in the speedy capture of See also:Ghent and See also:Ypres (March), and the retention of the prizes in the usual war of posts which followed. The last battle of the war was fought at St See also:Denis (outside See also:Mons) between William and Luxemburg on the 14th of August, three days after the peace of Nijmwegen had been concluded. William sustained another defeat, but the battle was one of the most fiercely contested of the whole war. On the Rhine, Crequi began by winning the battle of Rheinfelden (July 6th), after which he inflicted upon the Imperialists another defeat at Gengenbach (July 23rd) and took See also:Kehl. In the short campaign of 1679, before France and the empire had concluded peace, he was equally successful. In Spain the French army under Marshal de Navailles had also made steady progress, and thus the last campaign was wholly in favour of the French. The peace of Nijmwegen gave Louis many of the Netherlands frontier fortresses, and little else. He was threatened by the intervention of England on the side of the coalition, and would have made peace earlier but for his reluctance to abandon his ally Sweden. The French army had, however, well established its reputation. Vauban was unique amongst the officers of his time, and Crequi and Luxemburg were not unworthy successors of Turenne and Conde. The two marshals added to their reputation in the " See also:Reunion War " of 168o-84. Crequi died in 1684 at the See also:age of sixty-one, Luxemburg's greatest See also:triumph was won ten years later (see GRAND ALLIANCE, WAR OF THE). Vauban retired from active service as a marshal twenty-five years after the peace of Nijmwegen. But the interest of the war does not reside wholly in the personalities of the leaders. There were great commanders before Turenne and Conde. It is as the debut of a new method of military organization and training—the first real test of the standing army as created by Louvois—that the Dutch War of 1672–79 is above all instructive. (C. F. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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