Prince Maurice's visit to the camp of Henry had been but a short
one; and as soon as Parma had effected the relief of Paris, and
there was no longer a chance of a great battle being fought, he
returned to Holland, followed after the recapture of Lagny by Sir
Ralph Pimpernel and the few survivors of his party, who were all
heartily weary of the long period of inaction that had followed
the victory at Ivry.
They found that during their absence there had been little doing in
the Netherlands, save that Sir Francis Vere, with a small body of
English infantry and cavalry, had stormed some formidable works
the Spaniards had thrown up to prevent relief being given to
Recklinghausen, which they were besieging. He effected the relief
of the town and drove off the besiegers. He then attacked and captured
a fort on the bank of the Rhine, opposite the town of Wesel.
At the end of the year 1590 there were, including the garrisons,
some eight thousand English infantry and cavalry in Holland, and
the year that followed was to see a great change in the nature of
the war. The efforts of Prince Maurice to improve his army were to
bear effect, and with the assistance of his English allies he was
to commence an active offensive war, to astonish his foes by the
rapidity with which he manoeuvred the new fighting machine he had
created, and to commence a new departure in the tactics of war.
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