Military history of countries and peoples. Mercenarism and adventurism were popular at all times, and in the Tudor era they were also revered for valor. Thus, in 1572, 300 volunteers departed overseas to the Netherlands, and were soon followed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert with 1200 new volunteers to prevent the Spanish occupation of that country.
There were other undertakings of this kind, beginning in 1585, when the Earl of Dester was sent to the Netherlands to help the Dutch against the Spaniards. In 1589, Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, who had previously demonstrated his military talents in the Netherlands, went to support Henri of Navarre (future King Henry IV) in his claim to the French throne. Towards the end of September, when help was no longer required, the expedition should have been canceled, but Willoughby, hoping to gain glory in a victorious expedition, did not respond to a message from Sir Edward Stafford and ordered to set sail. Once in France, the British troops joined forces with Henry IV and on October 11 they set out on a campaign.
In 40 days, they walked 227 miles with full gear along muddy roads, almost without rest, and besides, they were in constant danger of losing their lives because of the French peasants who attacked them from ambushes, who did not at all like what foreign soldiers were taking away they have food. Anri submitted the suburbs of Paris, but the king did not storm the city itself, fearing that he would lose the support of his population. Of the 20 cities he approached, only four decided to resist. Vendome fell when artillery batteries punched holes in the walls. Le Mans could not stand the gunfire. Willoughby, meanwhile, ordered pontoon bridges to be made from barrels tied to assault ladders, in order to ferry soldiers to the other side of the river.
Near Alencon, Lord Willoughby and his marshal even erected a special mechanism to lower the raised drawbridge. And they managed to take the fort, but the enemy had destroyed this mechanism the night before. But the royal troops of the king were eventually driven back from the walls, the garrison surrendered anyway.
The last of the strongholds, Falaise, was fired at from cannons until two holes were made in the walls. British soldiers rushed through them into the city and opened the gates. The French resisted desperately. For example, one musketeer continued to shoot until the fire of five cannons at once brought down the tower, where he was, into the ditch that surrounded the fortifications. He himself survived, but was taken prisoner. A rare example of courage and luck!
In general, Henry's successes were only to a small extent the result of the help of the British, and Sir Willoughby lost many people not so much in battles as from illness and actions of hostile peasants. The only major battle fought by Elizabeth's troops on the continent was at Newport in Holland, and took place on July 2, 1600 during the Eighty Years War and the Anglo-Spanish War in the dunes near Newport. In it, the Anglo-Dutch companies met the Spanish veterans head-on and, although their left flank was practically defeated, they were able to attack the enemy with both infantry and cavalry forces.
The Dutch musketeers fired heavy fire on the Spaniards, while the British attacked the Spanish thirds. The outcome of the battle was associated with an attack by the cavalry of the Prince of Nassau, after which the Spanish musketeers fled, and the ranks of the pikemen were broken. The Dutch cavalry began to pursue and push back the retreating Spaniards. But then the Spanish horsemen threw the Dutch back, however, turned away, barely seeing the British cavalry.
In July 1600, a larger battle was fought in the dunes by the sea nine miles from Ostend. The British held their defenses at two heights, hoping to wear down the Spaniards. And they succeeded. The Spaniards, tired of the battle, could not withstand the onslaught of the enemy, broke the formation and fled.
At the same time, three large sea expeditions took place. In 1589, Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norris departed for Portugal in order to anger the Spaniards and, probably with an eye to seize the country for the pretender to the throne, Don Antonio.
In 1596, the Earl of Essex and Lord Howard (Lord Admiral in the days of the glorious victory over the Armada) landed at Cadiz. The operation opened up excellent opportunities for a fair amount of spoil, and not only for noble gentlemen (Essex and Howard were just plotting the enterprise in order to get rich), but also for ordinary soldiers. To do this, 2,000 people were recalled from the Netherlands from the veterans who had long needed rest and with their help the backbone of experienced professionals - the core of the expeditionary corps, designed to operate against Spain itself. In one day they captured both the city and its fortress.
In Ireland, the British had to wage a completely different war and acquire a very different experience than on the territory of mainland Europe. The British troops stationed on the island already in the early years of Elizabeth's reign found themselves in the face of an uprising, led by Sean O'Neill (in 1567). They also had to deal with the Desmond rebellion (1579-1583). Initially, the Irish warriors had mostly melee weapons, as well as bows and javelins.
Later, Hugh O'Neill was able to create an army with detachments of musketeers and arquebusiers, which included many people trained in Spain. The Irish were adept at using both lances and rifles in swampy and wooded areas. And in 1594, when the Nine Years War broke out, this tactic fully justified itself. The British were defeated in several battles, and in 1598 O'Neill ambushed the British formation on the march off Yellow Ford, where his soldiers performed well both in close combat and using firearms. But, of course, they could not oppose Britain. And in the end, O'Neill surrendered to the British two years later.
