The Battle of Nieuwpoort, was fought on 2 July 1600 during the Eighty Years War and the Anglo-Spanish war in the dunes near Nieuwpoort. The Anglo-Dutch companies met the Spanish veterans head on which, although their left flank nearly broke, were able to assail them with both infantry and cavalry. The Spanish gradually scattered in all directions and left their guns on the field.
Background
The battle pitted the military leaders of both of the Netherlands (the Dutch Republic and the Habsburg Netherlands) against each other: The armies of the Dutch Republic were commanded by Maurice, Count of Nassau; the armies of the Habsburg Netherlands were commanded by Albert, Duke of Burgundy. Albert ruled autocratically, Maurice had to abide by the demands of the Dutch parliament. Both commanded multinational armies. The Spanish army was 100 percent Catholic, the Dutch army predominantly Protestant.
Maurice (1567-1624) was the son of the leader of the original Dutch rebellion, William of Orange. He had been fighting from an early age. During the past five years, he had set in motion a military revolution by completely reforming the Dutch army, introducing new concepts of drill and standard commands, and combining them with standardization and thorough bookkeeping. This created a dependable, predictable, manoeuvrable and steadfast army, with high continuous firepower, deadly cavalry, and experienced officers high and low.
Albert (1559-1621) was son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. His uncle, brother-in-law, and father-in-law was King Philip II of Spain. Albert ruled the Royal Netherlands with his spouse, Philip’s daughter Isabella. He had little military experience. The Spanish army was as experienced as the Dutch, as were its officers, except for several of the highest in command. During Albert's absence in 1598-99, getting married in Spain, the Spanish army had been led by Mendoza, aka the Admiral of Aragon.
Ambition had grown Mendoza’s army to beyond the territory’s financial means. As a result, units had not been paid in a long time. Exacerbated by Albert’s policy to promote bloodline over merit and to break up new regiments to reinforce older, mutiny had become commonplace. Several mutineer ‘republics’ had sprung up along the Dutch border, Diest the biggest. One new regiment even mutinied the moment it arrived from southern Europe and was told it would be broken up, it then camped around Hamont.
To Dunkirk
Maurice used these setbacks to capture several important border forts. Chief among those was the brand new and very strong fort Crevecoeur (north of 's-Hertogenbosch, part of previous year's ambitious plans). Its men had mutinied but stayed loyal to the King of Spain. After a two month siege, and despite Spanish relief efforts, it surrendered in May 1600, with full honours intact. Maurice had offered them the pay they were still due by Spain, plus service in the Dutch army, all of which they accepted.
The relatively easy victory convinced the Dutch government to try something bigger. Dunkirk was the Spaniards main port in the north. It inflicted a lot of damage on Dutch merchants and fishermen. Maintaining a permanent blockade was quite expensive. Capturing it would also give the Dutch a bargaining chip with France and England. It was an ambitious target though and two earlier attempts (1594, 1595) to land an army close by had failed. A safer tactic was to use Dutch-held Ostend to the north as a base of operation. Only two obstacles remained between the two ports: Fort Albert just south of Ostend, and the port city of Nieuwpoort. It was decided to land an army right in front of Nieuwpoort, take it and the fort, and then march to Dunkirk.
The time was right for an operation deep inside enemy territory. Apart from Spanish mutiny issues, Ostend was being slowly encircled by forts. It was only a matter of time before Albert would lay siege to it: so using Ostend as a base was a matter of now or never. Maurice and the military didn’t agree on Dunkirk however. They’d much rather focus on Sluis, the Spanish galley port north of Ostend. Maurice knew the area well, after landings in 1586, 1591, and two in 1593. Sluis was closer to the Republic and important to control the sea access of major trade centre Antwerp. The government overruled the military however: it was to be Dunkirk.