DUTCH WARS, a general title for the three naval wars fought between England and the United Provinces (1652-74) but also for the almost continuous series of land campaigns fought by the Dutch against Louis XIV. (1667-78).
In the spring of 1652 Admiral Martin Tromp (q.v.) took a strong Dutch fleet into the Channel to protect the returning trade. Neither country was anxious to appear as the aggressor; but a collision occurred with Admiral Robert Blake's squadron on May 19 off Dover on Blake making the claim to the salute, some Dutch ships having been attacked further down the Channel for the same cause. Admiral Bourne came up later with a squadron from the Downs to assist Blake, and Tromp was eventually driven over to the French coast with the loss of two ships.
Blake was now ordered north to destroy the Dutch herring fisheries, which he succeeded in doing; also if possible to intercept the Dutch East Indiamen, said to be returning by the north of Scotland, and to harry their Baltic trade. Meanwhile Tromp and later on de Ruyter (q.v.) had matters their own way in the Channel against Sir George Ayscue who had only 14 ships, the remainder being with Blake. As soon as the Dutch understood this, Tromp was ordered north to engage Blake. He sighted his adversary; but a storm scattered his fleet off the Shetlands, and in returning home he was superseded by Cornelius de Witt (q.v.) as a result of the outcry caused by the loss of the herrings. In September de Witt concentrated his force, as did Blake, each having over 6o sail, and an action was fought on Sept. 28, when the English admiral cleverly neutralized de Witt's attempt to exploit the leeward side of the Kentish Knock as a defended anchorage. The Dutch were severely handled, while many of their captains refused action towards the close, being jealous of de Witt on personal and political grounds.
Tromp was now reinstated in command by the States General with over 8o ships, and ordered to force the outgoing convoy through the Channel; but the English Council of State, thinking that the season for active operations was passed, reduced the fleet considerably, and when Tromp appeared off the Goodwins on Nov. 29 Blake had only 4o ships ready in the Downs, many of them being only hired merchantmen. However, he determined to attack, and on Nov. 3o both fleets were clear of the Goodwins on parallel courses. Off Dungeness a general action was fought in the late winter afternoon, in which Tromp was successful, his convoy passing down mid-channel without loss.
An immediate naval reorganization followed this set-back. The Council of State ordered several captains to be tried for unsatis factory conduct and issued articles of war by which all captains of merchant ships engaged on government service were in future to be entirely under government discipline. The seamen's pay was increased, the victualling improved, and the command was strengthened by the addition of the generals George Monk (q.v.) and Richard Deane for service at sea.
Early in Feb. 1653 Blake took his fleet of about 7o sail down channel to intercept Tromp, who was known to be attempting to conduct the home-bound Dutch convoy of merchantmen through the Channel. Thick fog made reconnaissance difficult, and the English fleet was somewhat scattered when Tromp suddenly appeared off Portland on Feb. 18 with about 8o sail, the wind being north-west. Blake's squadron having become separated had to withstand the whole of the Dutch fleet alone for some hours, till at last help arrived, when Tromp drew off to rejoin his convoy which had meanwhile slipped by unmolested. Next day, Blake pressed the Dutch vigorously and a running fight took place past the Isle of Wight, Tromp forming his fleet in a crescent to pro tect his convoy which sailed ahead. On Feb. 20, both fleets were off Beachy Head, and Blake again attacked ; the English frigates pressed through to the convoy, which became seriously disorgan ized, so that night alone saved them from disaster. It seemed im possible for the Dutch to round Cape Gris Nez, but Tromp man aged to get the remainder of his fleet and convoy clear away before next morning, after a total loss of 17 men-of-war and over 5o merchantmen.
Both countries were now feeling the strain of the war, and for some time administrative and financial difficulties incapacitated their fleets, though Tromp was active in protecting convoys com ing round the north of Scotland. Blake had been wounded off Portland, and upon Deane and Monk at last getting to sea in force, Tromp at once sought action, and on June 2 and 3 there was heavy fighting, beginning off the Gabbard and ending near the Dutch coast. For the first time the English fleet showed a de cided superiority, recent fighting instructions having strictly enjoined them to maintain a line ahead formation and so develop their broadside fire to the utmost. Deane was killed, but Blake joined in with reinforcements on the second day and the Dutch fleet was routed, losing over 20 ships. Blake and Monk at once blockaded the Dutch coast, without returning to harbour. This imposed a great strain on the English resources, but it was amply justified by the disorganization of Dutch trade which quickly followed; Tromp with the main fleet being confined to the Weil ings while a small force under de Witt lay in the Texel. Early in July the English fleet had to withdraw to land the sick (among them Blake) and to reprovision, but it was back in position in three weeks, during which time Tromp was unable to make any move owing to lack of men, ammunition and stores. At last on July 25 Tromp put to sea and, heading north, succeeded in draw ing Monk south from the Texel in a running fight, of ter which he slipped north during the night of July 29 and effected a junction with de Witt. The action which followed on July 31 (0.S.) was the fiercest of the whole war. Tromp, who throughout the opera tions had shown marked superiority in seamanship, obtained the wind and attacked with over ma sail. The fight lasted nearly 12 hours, by which time the Dutch were completely beaten and had lost 3o ships, while many deserted earlier in the action, and Tromp himself was killed. No other operations of any importance followed, and by the Treaty of Westminster, concluded in April 1654, the Dutch conceded all trade questions under dispute, acquiesced in the Navigation Act, and paid a heavy indemnity. In the Far East their commercial expansion was checked, though in the Mediterranean they remained supreme.
Second Dutch War (1664-67) .—Charles II.'s government pursued a vigorous commercial policy, and was soon embroiled with the Dutch over the West African slave trade, and the interpre tation of the Navigation Act. In Oct. 1663, therefore, Captain Robert Holmes was sent to raid the Dutch West African trading posts, and in 1664 he crossed the Atlantic and captured the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (New York). The Dutch at once sent out Admiral de Ruyter, who recaptured the African ports and attacked Barbados. He was on his way home when, in May 1665, official operations of war began, and a Dutch fleet of over too sail under the lord of Opdam captured some English ships which were bringing naval stores from Hamburg. The English fleet, of equal strength, was at once hurried to sea under James, duke of York, then lord high admiral. He was assisted by Prince Rupert, Lord Sandwich and Sir William Penn, and en countered the Dutch off Lowestoft on June 3 (0.S.). The action lasted all day and resulted in the decisive defeat of the Dutch, after a total loss of over 3o ships, Opdam being blown up in his flagship and Cornelius Van Tromp, the son of Admiral Martin Tromp, covering the Dutch retreat with great skill. Great dis satisfaction was shown at the duke of York's failure to pursue the enemy, and he was quickly replaced by Sandwich who, after a short time, was himself replaced by Monk (now duke of Albe marle), together with Prince Rupert.
The Plague, meanwhile, had so disorganized English adminis tration that no further operations could be undertaken till May 1666, when Monk and Rupert were ready in the Downs with 8o sail. Here they received orders from Charles II. to detach one of their three squadrons, to meet a French squadron said to be approaching up channel from the Mediterranean, whence all English warships had recently been withdrawn. The French had declared war, but their squadron never came north of Lisbon, and the east wind, which took Rupert to Portsmouth with 25 sail, brought de Ruyter out with 85 ships against Albemarle's weak ened force. Nevertheless, when the wind changed to south-west on June i (0.S.), he attacked the Dutch brilliantly, trying to concentrate the whole of his force against their van. In this he was partially successful; the Dutch vice-admiral Evertzen was killed during the action, which lasted all day. On June 2 the Dutch were reinforced, and continued the fight. Their van was disorganized owing to Evertzen's death, and Albemarle concen trated all his force against the rear under Tromp, who was at last relieved by de Ruyter, when Albemarle retired. On June 3 Albe marle continued his retirement, protecting his injured ships with great skill, though Sir George Ayscue surrendered the "Royal Prince" after running on the Galloper shoal. In the evening Rupert and his squadon returned, and on June 4 Albemarle again offered battle and a great mêlée ensued, the English finally retir ing into the Thames after a total loss of nearly 20 ships. De Ruyter now blockaded the Thames, based on the Essex shore, but Albemarle and Rupert quickly refitted and, working their way through the shoals, eventually forced him into action on St. James's day, July 25, off the North Foreland, where he was completely defeated with a loss of 20 ships. Albemarle now crossed to the Dutch coast and on Aug. 8-9 a special force under Sir Robert Holmes burnt i 6o merchantmen anchored in the Vlie Channel and a million pounds' worth of goods in storehouses on shore.
Peace negotiations now began; but the English, exhausted by the war, the Plague and the Great Fire, laid up their line of battle ships for the winter; and the Dutch, pretending to do the same, resolved on a desperate raid in order to obtain better terms. Early in June 1667 de Ruyter suddenly appeared in the Thames and, forcing an entrance into the Medway Channel, despite the forts and boom protecting it, did immense damage to the shipping lying there, burning three first-raters, capturing another, and causing a panic in London. By the Peace of Breda (July i 667) the Dutch ceded New York, and the Navigation Act was amended in their favour.
Third Dutch War (1672-74) .—Unlike the two previous wars, which were entirely commercial, this war was part of a great European political struggle. Louis XIV. who was intent on seizing the Spanish Netherlands, had recently been checked by the Triple Alliance of England, Sweden and the United Provinces; but in 167o by the "Secret Treaty of Dover" he had persuaded Charles II. to abandon his former allies and co-operate with the French. The English and French fleets were to be combined under an English admiral; Charles was to establish Roman Catholicism in England, and was to receive large money subsidies. The Dutch, anxious to avoid a simultaneous war by land and sea, made every possible concession demanded of them and finally no better way of provoking them could be found than to order Sir Robert Holmes to attack their Smyrna convoy in the Channel (March 13, 1672).
De Ruyter with about 8o sail was at once ordered to sea, but administrative difficulties made him too late to prevent the junc tion of the French fleet of 35 sail under d'Estrees with the Eng lish fleet of S5 sail under James, duke of York, assisted by Lord Sandwich, Sir John Harman and Sir Edward Spragge. The allies, however, were also suffering from hasty preparation, and went to Solebay on the Suffolk coast to complete their complements and stores. Early in the morning of May 28, 1672, they were sur prised by de Ruyter while still at anchor. Sandwich with the Blue squadron at once stood to the north and engaged the Dutch, and though his flagship was burnt and he himself drowned, his squadron routed the one opposed to it under Van Ghent, who was also killed. Meanwhile, the French turned south and held off from the battle, and de Ruyter, merely detaching a small force to watch them, concentrated his attack on the English centre. Here the duke of York was very hard pressed and had to shift his flag twice, and only the arrival of the ships of the Blue squadron prevented complete disaster ; after which de Ruyter drew off.
The Test Act now forced the retirement of the duke of York and many other Catholic officers, and no further operations were attempted till 1673, when the allied fleet was commanded by Prince Rupert, and it was planned to land troops on the Dutch coast. The Dutch, who were also attacked by Louis XIV. on land, passed through an internal revolution which brought William, prince of Orange, to the chief naval and military command. He at once ordered de Ruyter to sea, but there was hardly enough ammunition for both army and fleet. De Ruyter occupied a well chosen anchorage in the Schoonveldt channel from where he could command his own coast. On May 28, 1673, the allied fleet attacked him with fireships and frigates, but were severely handled and driven back on their main fleet, de Ruyter counter-attacking with great skill and the fight lasting till night, when the Dutch again retired to their own coast.
On June 4 de Ruyter himself made a sortie and caught the allies somewhat dispersed, and after a running fight again retired to his shoals, the allies returning to the Thames to refit. De Ruyter now attempted to blockade them, but was driven back by plague in his ships, and at the end of July the allies returned in force to blockade the Dutch ports, and threatened an invasion from the east coast. William of Orange ordered de Ruyter to break the blockade and relieve the Dutch trade at all costs. De Ruyter found the allies off the Texel and, through the deliberate slowness of the French, easily out-manoeuvred them and Obtained the weather gauge. On Aug. II, 1673, he again had the wind, and attacked them running south. The French, who were leading, attempted to surround his van and, having failed, withdrew from the action. Spragge in the rear fought a magnificent but de tached action with Cornelius Tromp, regardless of the general tactics of the battle. The French having disappeared, de Ruyter was again able to concentrate superior numbers against the Eng lish centre, which was very hard pressed. The centre and rears now became confused in a general mêlée and Spragge was drowned while crossing in a boat to his third ship. Great efforts were made to capture his first ship, the "Royal Prince," but she was splen didly defended, and towards evening the French returned and the Dutch withdrew. The unpopularity of the war in England com pelled the English government to make peace with the Dutch in the following year.
Meanwhile, a revolt in Sicily led the insurgents to seek help from the French against their Spanish rulers, and a French army occupied Messina. The Spaniards appealed to the Dutch for help, and de Ruyter took out a squadron and fought an indecisive action on Jan. 8, 1676, with Du Quesne who was bringing French rein forcements to Sicily. Later, a combined Hispano-Dutch attack on Messina failed, and de Ruyter was mortally wounded off Augusta on April 22. Charles II. now made a treaty of alliance with the Dutch, despatched troops to help them in Flanders, and sent Sir John Narbrough to the Mediterranean, on which the French evacuated Sicily and, in 1678, made the peace of Nijmwegen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-W. Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy, vol. 2 (1898) ; Bibliography.-W. Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy, vol. 2 (1898) ; S. R. Gardiner and C. T. Atkinson, The First Dutch War (edited for Navy Records Society, 1899-1912) ; J. S. Corbett, England in the Mediterranean (19o3) ; J. R. Tanner and C. T. Atkinson, Anglo Dutch Wars (Cam. Mod. Hist., vol. 4, 1906) ; Geoffrey Callender, Sea Kings of Britain, vol. 2 (19o9). (G. A. R. C.; W. C. B. T.) The contemporary military history of Europe included, first, the war between France and Spain, 1654-59, usually called the Spanish Fronde (see FRONDE, THE), of which the most notable incident was the great battle of the Dunes (q.v.). About the same time a war was fought in northern Europe (1655-6o), celebrated chiefly for the three days' battle of Warsaw (July 28-3o, 1656), and the successful invasion of Denmark by the Swedes, carried out from island to island over the frozen sea (Feb. 1658), and cul minating in a long siege of Copenhagen (1658-59). Between the second and third wars of England and the United Provinces came the short War of Devolution (1667-68)—a war of sieges in the Low Countries in which the French were commanded chiefly by Turenne. In 1668 the French under Conde made a rapid conquest 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 scale.
Invasion of Holland, 1672.—The diplomacy of Louis had, before the outbreak of war, deprived Holland of her allies—Eng land (Treaty of Dover, 1670), Sweden (Treaty of Stockholm, 167 2) and the 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 person started from Charleroi and marched down the Meuse unopposed. The powerful Dutch fortress of Maastricht was masked, and the French then moved towards Dusseldorf. In the electorate of Cologne they were in friendly country, and the main army soon moved down the Rhine from Dusseldorf, the corps of Turenne on the left bank, that of Conde on the right. At the same time a corps under Marshal Luxemburg, composed of Louis' German allies (Cologne and Munster) moved from Westphalia towards Over-Yssel and Groningen. The Rhine fortresses offered but little resistance to the advance of Turenne and Conde. William of Orange with a weak field army tried to defend the Yssel-Rhine line, but the French rapidly forced the passage of the Rhine at Tolhuis (June 12) and passed into the Betuwe (between the Lek and the Waal) . Conde now advised a cavalry raid on Amsterdam, but Louis, acting on the suggestion of the war minister, Louvois, preferred to reduce Nijmwegen, Gorinchem and other places, before entering Utrecht province. Conde's plan was, however, partially carried out by Count Rochefort, who with 1,800 troopers captured successively Amersfoort and Naar den. His further progress was checked at Muyden, which the Dutch garrisoned in the nick of time, and he returned to the main army, taking Utrecht en route. Louis now moved on Amsterdam, brushing aside the feeble opposition which was offered, and it seemed that the French must achieve their object in one short campaign. But the Dutch people were roused. The month before, the citizens of Utrecht had refused to raze their suburban villas, and defence of the fortifications had conse quently been impossible. Now, the dikes were cut and the sluices opened, and Amsterdam was covered by a wide inundation, against which the invader was powerless. At the same time the men of Zeeland repulsed a French raid from Ath on Aadenburg, and this infraction of the neutrality of the Spanish Netherlands served but to raise up another enemy for Louis. Luxemburg too, at first successful, was repulsed before Groningen. A revolution placed William of Orange at the head of the Government. The alliance of Brandenburg and the Mainz electorate had already been se cured, and Spain, justly fearing for the safety of her Flemish possessions, soon joined them. 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 ice should cover the floods. Turenne was therefore despatched to Westphalia and Conde to Alsace, while a corps of observation was formed on the Meuse to watch the Spanish Netherlands. But the coalition had not yet developed its full strength, and Turenne's skill checked the advance of the Imperialists under Monte cucculi 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 friends, made a bold, but in the end unsuccessful, raid on Charleroi (Sept.–Dec. 1672). The allies in Germany were now not merely checked, but driven from point to point by Turenne, who displayed a degree of energy rare in the military history of the period. After a severe winter cam paign, the elector, defeated in combat and manoeuvre, was forced back to the Weser, and being but weakly supported by the Im perialists, found himself compelled to make a separate peace (June 6, 1673) . Turenne then turned his attention to the Im perialists who were assembling in Bohemia, and made ready to meet them at Wetzlar. Meanwhile the other French armies were fully employed. During the winter, Luxemburg made a bold attempt to capture Leyden and The 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 dikes to Utrecht. And Conde, who then returned to the com mand of the army in Holland, failed to make headway against the defence of Amsterdam. Louis' own army, originally collected for the relief of Charleroi in December (advanced on Maastricht, and after a brief siege, in which Vauban directed the besiegers, captured this most important fortress (June 29, 1673) . Louis, after the capture of Maastricht, led his army southwards into Lorraine and overran the electorate of Trier. But nothing of importance was gained, and Turenne's summer campaign was wholly unsuccessful.
Capture of Wetzlar he moved to Aschaffenburg. Soon the Imperialists advanced in earnest, greatly superior in numbers. Marching via Eger and Nuremberg (Sept. 3) on the Main, Montecucculi drew Turenne to the valley of the Tauber ; then, having persuaded the bishop of Wiirzburg to surrender the bridge of that place, he passed to the right bank of the Main be fore Turenne could intervene. The Imperialists soon arrived at Frankfurt, and the French position was turned. Montecucculi thus achieved one of the greatest objects of the i 7th century strategist, the wearing down of the enemy in repeated and useless 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 oppo nent's movements, and took post to defend Trier and Alsace. Thereupon Montecucculi turned northward to meet William of Orange, who evaded Conde's weak army and marched rapidly via Venlo (Oct. 22) on Coblenz. The elector of Trier, who had not forgotten the depredations of Louis' army in the spring, fol lowed the example of the bishop of Wurzburg and gave a free passage at Coblenz. William and Montecucculi joined forces in the electorate and promptly besieged Bonn. This fortress fell on Nov. 12, and the troops of the coalition gained possession of an unbroken line from Amsterdam to the Breisgau, while Louis' German allies (Cologne and Munster), now isolated, had to make peace at once. Louis' allies were leaving him one by one. The German princes and the empire itself rallied to the emperor, Denmark joined the coalition (Jan. 1674), the Great Elector re entered the war, and soon afterwards England made peace.
Operations of 1674.—In 1674 therefore Louis reluctantly evacuated those of the United Provinces occupied by his army. He had derived a considerable 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, under Marshal 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 Grave to Charleroi on the Sambre. The war in this quarter was memorable for Conde's last, and William's first, battle, the desperate and indecisive engagement of Seneffe (Aug. I I), in which the two armies lost one-seventh of their strength in killed alone. 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 weeks, and Louis, aided by the genius of Vauban, reduced Besancon in nine days. Turenne's Rhine cam paign began with an invasion of Germany, undertaken to prevent interference with Louis in Franche-Comte. Bournonville, the im perial commander who now replaced Montecucculi, lay in the Cologne and Trier electorates. An army of South Germans, in the Breisgau, under the duke of Lorraine and Count Caprara, moved northward to the Neckar valley to unite with Bournonville. Turenne determined to attack the southern army before the junction could be effected. He crossed the Rhine at Philipsburg early in June, and on the i6th fell upon the inferior forces of Caprara in their entrenched position of Sinsheim. The result of the battle was a 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 Heidelberg, July 7) . Turenne then laid waste the Palatinate, in order that it should no longer support an army, and fell back over the Rhine, ignoring the re proaches of the elector 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 duty did not differ in this respect from that of Cromwell, Marlborough, Wellington and the generals of the American Civil War. It was held to be necessary and ex pedient, and it was accordingly carried out. Bournonville's army near Frankfurt 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 Strasbourg bridge.
Turenne's Winter Campaign in Alsace.—The magistrates of this city were not less amenable than had been the bishop of Wairzburg in 1673. Bournonville obtained a free passage, and Turenne was too late to oppose him. The French general, how ever, 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 (8m. from Strasbourg) was fought on Oct. 4. 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 camp of Dettweiler, unable for the moment to do more, and the Germans took up winter quarters in all the towns from Belfort to Strasbourg (Oct.–Nov. 1674). But Turenne was preparing for another winter campaign, the most brilliant in the great com mander'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 speed behind the Vosges, and in the last stages of the move ment 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 Strasbourg, every corps which tried to resist being cut off. Bour nonville stood to fight at Mulhausen with such forces as he could collect (Dec. 29, 1674), but Turenne's men carried all before them. The advance continued to 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 (q.v.) (Jan. 5, 1675) nevertheless resulted in another and this time a decisive victory for the French ; a few days of ter the battle Turenne could report that there was not a soldier of the enemy left in Alsace. His army now went into winter quarters about Strasbourg, and drew supplies from the German bank of the Rhine and even from the Neckar valley (Jan. Operations of 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 Liege and Limburg. The expeditionary corps in Sicily also gained some successes in this campaign, and Schomberg invaded 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 re sumed command, and between Philipsburg .and Strasbourg the two great commanders manoeuvred for an advantage, each seek ing to cover his own country and to live upon that of the enemy. At last Turenne prevailed and had the Imperialists at a disad vantage on the Sasbach, where, in opening the action, he was killed by a cannon-shot (July 2 7) . The sequel showed how de pendent was even the best organized army of the time upon the personality of its commander.
All the advantages won were hastily surrendered, and Monte cucculi, 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 (Aug. i 1) at Conzer Briicke on the Moselle, and recaptured Trier (Sept. 6), 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 strategy and prudent manoeuvre. Luxemburg was left in charge in Flanders, and Conde took command of the remnant of Turenne's old army and of the fugitives of Crequi's. Mentecucculi's skill failed completely to shake his position, and in the end Conde compelled him to retire over the Rhine. Both retired from their commands at the close of the year, Turenne was dead, and a younger generation of commanders henceforward carried on the war.
In Germany the credit of the French successes was due to Crequi, who was no longer the defeated general of Conzer Briicke, but the most successful of Turenne's pupils. He began by driv ing back the duke of Lorraine to the Rhine. Another attempt by the Lorraine family to reconquer their duchy was thus foiled, and at the same time a second imperial army, 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 its assistance was completely defeated by Crequi in the battle of Kochersberg near Strasbourg (Oct. 7) and the marshal followed up his successes by the capture of Freiburg on Nov. 14. During the year there was a brisk war in the West Indies, and also in Catalonia, where the French main tained the ground won by Schomberg in the previous campaign.
In 1678 Louis took the field in February. The skilful ma noeuvres of the French, whether due to Louis' own generalship or that of his advisers, resulted in the speedy capture of Ghent and 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. Denis (outside Mons) between William and Luxemburg on Aug. 14, three days after the peace of Nijmwegen had been con cluded. 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 6), after which he inflicted upon the Imperialists another defeat at Gengenbach (July 23) and took 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 of ficers of his time, and Crequi and Luxemburg were not unworthy successors of Turenne and Conde. The two marshals added to their reputation in the "Reunion War" of 168o-84. Crequi died in 1684 at the age of 61, Luxemburg's greatest triumph was won ten years later (see GRAND ALLIANCE, WAR OF THE). Vauban retired from active service as a marshal 25 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. A.)