Editing Battle of Nieuwpoort (section)

==Maurice's campaign==
[[File:Prins Maurits memorial (DSCF9860).jpg|thumb|Prince Maurice memorial in Nieuwpoort]]
For this operation, by 21 June Maurice had collected an army of twelve infantry regiments and 25 troops of cavalry: some 12,000 Foot and 2,000 Horse. The following day 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 troops to reinforce the garrison and, on 30 June, started for Nieuwpoort.

When Maurice arrived in front of the place on 1 July, 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 [[Ernest Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz|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.

Ernst Casimir - commanding the Edmonds (Scottish) and the Van der Noot (Dutch) regiments, together with four troops of cavalry and two guns - was ordered to seize the [[Leffinge|Leffinghen]] bridge but, as he arrived, he found the Spanish already in its possession; Ernst deployed his force behind a ditch, hoping to fight a delaying action, but the Spaniards were already in great strength across the bridge and charged right home, piercing his centre routing the infantry at once while his cavalry fled in panic. Over 600 Scots were killed, with five out of the twelve company commanders being killed on the field and another two executed by the Spanish afterwards.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ferguson|first=James|title=Papers Illustrating the History of the Scots Brigade in the Service of the United Netherlands, 1572-1782, Volume One|publisher=Scottish History Society|year=1899|location=Edinburgh|pages=30–32}}</ref> The Dutch fared only slightly better, taking refuge in Ostend: for all purposes, Ernst's command had ceased to exist.

After that cheap victory, the Archduke held a conference with his captains. Most urged to entrench the army across the road to Ostend, forcing Maurice to attack along a narrow front where the Dutch cavalry, mostly heavy, would not be effective against the lighter Spanish cavalry. However, the mutineers, who had been rallied by the Archduke on the promise of free plunder, were eager for a fight and out-argued the rest. The army therefore advanced in battle order along the coast; it was midday and the tide was coming in, so that in the end they were forced to abandon the shrinking beach and climb slowly up the slippery dunes. Maurice just had time to assemble his whole army to face the Archduke.