with the

1625 MANSFELD RESOLVES TO GO TO FLUSHING. 285 Bergen-op-Zoom. In spite of the advocacy of the Prince of French Orange, who was ready to risk anything to save his negotiations beloved Breda, Espesses found it hard work to gain Dutch. the consent of the States General, by whom Mansfeld was better known than liked. Their towns, they said, which contained neither forage nor victuals, could not receive his troops, and to quarter them on the peasants could not be suffered. If, indeed, the soldiers were regularly paid by the King of England, and commissioned by him to serve against Spain, and if the promised French cavalry were allowed to accompany them, it would be another matter.1

Jan. 2. Mansfeld speaks of his change of

plan.

Before this hesitating acceptance of the plan reached England, Mansfeld had taken for granted that it would be adopted by the Dutch. He sent orders to the German troops which were waiting for him in Holland to remain where they were, and began to drop mysterious hints of his intentions. He informed Conway that when his shipping was ready, he would take the course which the winds allowed him, and which was most proper and suitable to his designs, mentioning also certain vessels which would be required for the embarkation of the French cavalry. Conway replied that he did not understand his meaning. He thought it had been arranged that the army should land in France, and march by land. Upon this Mansfeld spoke out plainly, and declared his intention of carrying his army to Flushing.3

Jan. 6.

ham's dis

Buckingham, perhaps, with some uneasy remembrance of a consent half-given in his conversation with the ambassadors, The winds attempted to argue with Mansfeld. Bucking would be contrary, the rivers would be frozen, the satisfaction. States-General would be quarrelsome; there were no ships to bring over the French cavalry, so that his Majesty would be obliged to make war alone, and to this he would never consent. The sooner Mansfeld sailed for Calais the

1 Carleton to Conway, Jan. 6, S. P. Holland. Villermont, E. de Mansfeldt, ii. 26. Rusdorf to Frederick, Dec. Mem. i. 399.

18

28'

2 Mansfeld to Conway, Jan. 2; Conway to Mansfeld, Jan. 4, S. P. Germany.

This is implied ir. Buckingham's letter of the 7th.

Jan. 10. The Prince angry.

better. A few days later Buckingham spoke more impatiently. The Prince chimed in with him. "What he wishes." he said, "is impossible. The best thing he can do is to land at Calais, or France will not be engaged. From Calais he can go by any way he likes. What has he to do at Flushing?"1

"France will not be engaged." There was the root of the matter now. Two thousand French horse, and such shadow of a French alliance as might rest upon the expedition by its being permitted to land at Calais, was all that remained of the grand scheme for the co-operation of the two nations for the recovery of the Palatinate. James's displeasure was still more outspoken. He sent Sir John Ogle and Sir William St. Leger to Dover to inquire into the condition of the troops. If they found Mansfeld bent on taking ways of his own, they were to dismiss the transports which had been collected with so much difficulty, and to send the men back to their homes.

Jan. 19. Mansfeld

for idden to land in France.

Mans

The men had no such good fortune before them. feld, well aware that any attempt to land in France would be fruitless, replied that he would do his best to place. his troops on French soil, and that he would allow himself to be stopped by nothing short of a direct prohibition from Louis. Such a prohibition was of course forthcoming, and on January 19 was placed in Mansfeld's hands, in the presence of Ogle and St. Leger. By this time his men were on board, and he still talked of crossing over to Calais, though it was St. Leger's opinion that 'a very small matter would send him back.'

The experiment was not made. Buckingham was anxious to get the army off on any terms. He told Effiat that, if the Buckingham prohibition to land were persisted in, James would gives way. allow Mansfeld no choice but to disband his troops. Would it not be possible, he asked, to allow the force to go on

⚫ Buckingham to Mansfeld, Jan. Harl. MSS. 4596, fol. 230, 231.

16

10,

Rusdorf to Mansfeld, Jan.

20,

2 Ogle and St. Leger to Conway; St. Leger to Conway, Jan. 19; S. P. Dom. clxxxii. 15, 16; Mansfeld to Buckingham, Jan. 19; S P. Germany.

1625

Jan. 23.

MANSFELD SAILS AT LAST.

287

shore at Calais only for a few hours? If this could not be, still, if only he could be assured that the French cavalry would really join the expedition, he would do his best to satisfy the King.1 To the Prince Buckingham gave his reasons for consenting to the passage through Holland. The opposition to the landing, he said, doubtless proceeded from the Jesuit party in France. Was it, however, worth while to strive against it? Would it not be better, as matters stood, to send Mansfeld through Holland to the ecclesiastical territories on the Rhine? If the French cavalry were with him, Louis would be as much engaged in the quarrel as if Mansfeld had landed in France. Such an arrangement would do more to advance the main ends of recovering the Palatinate-as the States would be at Mansfeld's back, and the Princes of Germany would move if they were only encouraged by the arrival of his troops-than if Mans. feld were forced to land in France against the will of Louis.2

The march to the Palatinate, not the relief of Breda, was uppermost in Buckingham's mind. On the 26th he wrote to Mansfeld that, against his own judgment, he ac cepted his opinion in favour of the march through Holland, whilst on the same day Conway issued directions from the King to the colonels of the army forbidding them to obey their general if he attempted to employ them at Breda.3

Jan. 25. Mansfeld forbidden to go near Breda.

At last, on January 31, the sorely tried army was able to leave Dover. As had been foreseen, the port of Calais was closed against them. The French cavalry, which had been placed under the command of Christian of Brunswick, was not ready to start. Mansfeld passed on his way without any accession of strength, and on February the vessels which bore the English army

Jan. 31. He sails at last.

Feb. 1. Anchors at Flushing.

cast anchor off Flushing.

1 Effiat to Louis XIII., Feb. 2' Jan. 23

2

Harl. MSS. 4596, fol. 2956.

Buckingham to the Prince, Jan. 23, S. P. Dom. clxxxii. 96.

Conway to the Colonels, Jan. 26; Minute in Conway's letter-book, p. 688, S. P. Dom.

⚫ Carleton to Conway, Feb. 3, S. P. Holland. Mansfeldt, ii. 283.

Villermont, E. dr

of the men

food.

What good could come of an armament of which the commander was bent upon one line of action whilst the Hardships officers were under strict orders to pursue another? from want of Before this difficulty could be faced there were many hardships to be endured. The provisions brought from England would only last for four or five days, and who could say how soon the scanty stock would be replenished? Mansfeld knew full well that not a single penny would be forthcoming from the English Exchequer for some time to come. Even if, by some strange good fortune, the men succeeded in reaching Germany without being starved on the way, what possibility was there that these raw levies, without food or money, could stand against Tilly's veterans for a day?

Want of

Mansfeld, however, had plainly no intention of leading his men against Tilly. If he had wished to do so, a plan which would have left Breda unrelieved was not likely transport. to find favour with the States-General, and without the good-will of the States-General there was no obtaining the means of transport which he needed. In Holland, at least, it was firmly believed that the relief of Breda was the first step needful to success in Germany. It was 'the common opinion that if the Palatinate be only sought in the Palatinate, it would never be recovered.'

Sickness

The troops could ill support delay. The men were 'poor and naked.' At Flushing they had remained for some days closely packed on board the vessels which brought breaks out. them over. Then they were transferred to boats which were to carry them to Gertruidenberg, a town not far from Breda. Three regiments reached the place of their destination. The other three had gone but a few miles when the frost came down upon them and made further passage impossible. Exposed to the cold blasts and the driving snow, sickness broke out amongst them. The exhaustion from which they had already suffered unfitted them to bear up against fresh hardships. When they left Flushing they had not tasted food for eight-and-forty hours. But for the aid of the Dutch Government they would all have perished from starvation.

1625

· MANSFELD'S ARMY RUINED.

289

At Gertruidenberg matters were no better. No preparation had been made to provide food for such a multitude. "All day Great mor- long," wrote Lord Cromwell, who had come out in tality. command of a regiment, we go about for victuals and bury our dead."1 Forty or fifty deaths were recorded every night. At last Count Frederick Henry, the brother and heir of the Prince of Orange, came to the relief of the suffering Englishmen. He sent them meat and bread, and provided them with straw to cover their freezing limbs as they lay in the boats. The account which Carleton gave of their sufferings ended in a cry for money. Mansfeld had brought with him merely 2,000l. He was not a man, the English ambassador thought, to care much for the welfare of his troops. He would prefer filling up the vacancies with new levies to taking reasonable care of the old ones.2

March 4. James still refuses to employ the

men at Breda.

What possible use could be made of these ill-starred troops? The way to the Palatinate was barred against them by the Imperialist armies which had been hurried up to op pose them, and James persisted in his refusal to allow of their employment at Breda. Had they, indeed, been able to march up the Rhine, the diversion might have been useful to the Dutch. James, however, had no money to send, and he argued that the French, who had caused all the mischief, ought to supply the deficiency. If this could not be done, the States might perhaps advance the 20,000l. a month which he had bound himself to pay to Mansfeld.3

The Dutch lend money.

They

The Dutch were not quite inexorable. They allowed their credit to be used to raise a loan of 20,000l. perhaps hoped that James would get over the difficulty by accepting a proposal which had been made for placing Mansfeld under Frederick's orders, who would March 21. not be bound by the King of England's engagement. "His Majesty," they were told, "cannot yet be moved to think

1 Cromwell to (?), S. P. Holland.

2 Carleton to Conway, Feb. 14, 18, March 1, ibid.

• Conway to Carleton, March 4, ibid.

4 Memorial of Money raised for Mansfeld, Aug. (?), ibid.