The
Battle of the Dunes, fought on 14 June (Gregorian calendar), 1658, is also known as the
Battle of Dunkirk. It was a victory of the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
army, under
TurenneHenri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...
, against the
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
army, led by
John of Austria the YoungerJohn of Austria was a Spanish general and political figure. He was the only natural son of Philip IV of Spain to be acknowledged by the King and trained for military command and political administration...
and Louis II de Condé. It was part of the
Franco-Spanish WarThe Franco-Spanish War was a military conflict between France and Spain. It began with French intervention into the Thirty Years' War, in which Spain was already a participant, in 1635...
and the concurrent
Anglo-Spanish WarThe Anglo-Spanish War fought between the English Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell and Spain between 1654 and 1660. It was caused by commercial rivalry. During the war, Admiral Robert Blake blockaded Cádiz, and in 1655 one of his captains, Richard Stayner, destroyed most of the Spanish treasure fleet...
, and was fought near present-day Dunkirk.
Prelude
The 18,000 French supported by 3,000 troops from the English Commonwealth besieged Dunkirk's garrison of about 3,000 in May 1658.
A Spanish army of about 15,000 men was divided in 2 corps, the Spanish Army of Flanders on the right and the small corps of French rebels, of the
FrondeThe Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisians mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....
, on the left under the command of Condé. The Spanish corps included a force of 2,000 English/Irish Royalists – formed as the nucleus of potential army for the invasion of England by Charles II, with Charles' brother
James, Duke of YorkJames II & VII was King of England and Ireland as James II, and Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, amongst its commanders – was sent to relieve the town.
Battle
Leaving some men to continue the siege, Turenne advanced to meet the Spanish army. The battle on 14 June 1658 which resulted from this manoeuvre, became known in England as the
Battle of the Dunes because the red-coats of the
New Model ArmyThe New Model Army of Great Britain was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration. It differed from other armies in the same conflict in that it was intended as an army liable for service anywhere in the country, rather than being...
under the leadership of Sir
William LockhartSir William Lockhart of Lee , after fighting on the side of Charles I in the English Civil War, attached himself to Oliver Cromwell, whose niece he married, and who later appointed Lockhart commissioner for the administration of justice in Scotland in 1652...
, Cromwell's ambassador at
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, in Turenne's army astonished both armies by the stubborn fierceness of their assaults particularly with a successful assault up a sand-hill 50 meters (150 ft) high and strongly defended by Spanish veterans .
The battle lasted for about two hours and ended with a rout of the Spanish forces, who lost about 6,000 killed, wounded, and captured with their opponents losing about 400. The French corps of rebels on the left under the command of Condé retreated in good order.
English involvement
When the
Lord ProtectorLord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of states at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...
Oliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland.He was one of the commanders of the New Model Army which defeated the royalists in...
formed an alliance with France's
Louis XIVLouis XIV , popularly known as the Sun King , was King of France and of Navarre His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.Louis began personally governing France after the death...
, the exiled
Charles II of EnglandCharles II was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
allied himself with
Philip IV of SpainPhilip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640. On the eve of his death in 1665, the Spanish empire reached its territorial zenith spanning almost 3 billion acres...
. Charles set up his headquarters in
BrugesBruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
. The Spanish supplied only enough money to form five regiments. This was a disappointment for the Royalists who had hoped to be able to form an army large enough to contemplate an invasion of the English Commonwealth. The
Grenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
can trace their origins back to
Lord Wentworth'sThomas Wentworth, 5th Baron Wentworth, KB, PC was an English soldier and politician.Wentworth was the eldest son of the 1st Earl of Cleveland and his first wife, Anne...
Royal Regiment of GuardsLord Wentworth's Regiment was a regiment of infantry raised during the exile of King Charles II during the Interregnum. Formed as the Royal Regiment of Guards in 1656 at Bruges under the command of the Earl of Rochester, it was made up of men who remained loyal to the King and had followed him...
which was one of five regiments raised in 1656. The
Life GuardsThe Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army. With the Blues and Royals they make up the Household Cavalry.They originated in the four troops of horse guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, plus two troops of horse grenadier guards which were raised some...
can trace their origins back to two cavalry troops raised at this time
His Majesty's Own Troop of Horse Guards and
The Duke of York's Troop of Horse Guards.
English regiments were named after their colonels. In the French army the New Model Army on the left (by the coast):
Cochrane,
Alsop,
Lillington and
Morgan, on the right 200
Montgommery musketeers. Cavalry:
Lockhart,
Gibbons and
Salmo In the Spanish army, the English/Irish royalist consisted of three battalions made up of five understrength regiments: The first battalion was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Blague, of
Lord Bristol'sGeorge Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol , was an English politician. He was born in Madrid, the eldest son of John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol and his wife Beatrice Walcott.-Early life:...
regiment combined with
Lord Wentworth's regimentLord Wentworth's Regiment was a regiment of infantry raised during the exile of King Charles II during the Interregnum. Formed as the Royal Regiment of Guards in 1656 at Bruges under the command of the Earl of Rochester, it was made up of men who remained loyal to the King and had followed him...
(also known as King Charles II's footguards). The second battalion was command by Lord Muskerry and consisted of the
Duke of York's regiment. The third consisted of
Lord Ormond's regiment of Irish commanded by Colonel Richard Grace, and
Lord Newburgh'sJames Livingston, 1st Earl of Newburgh was a Scottish peer.He succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet, styled "of Kinnaird", in 1628, and in 1647, as Sir James Livingston of Kinnaird, 2nd Baronet, was created Viscount of Newburgh in the Peerage of Scotland with remainder to the heirs male of his body...
regiment of Scots under the command of Sir William Urry.
Amongst the Cromwellian troops Lockhart's regiment of foot bore the brunt of the fighting. Its lieutenant-colonel, Fenwick, and two of its captains were killed, and nearly all the rest of its officers were wounded. Lillingston's lost a captain and thirty or forty killed, while the other regiments suffered only slight losses. On the other side two out of the three royalist battalions were almost annihilated-The King's footguards stood their ground well, but were finally obliged to surrender. Bristol's and York's Irish regiments were routed and cut to pieces. Only the third battalion, commanded by Colonel Grace, succeeded in effecting an orderly retreat, and marched off the field intact. The Duke of York's troop of guards, which charged several times with the Duke himself at its head, suffered severely, but also remained fit for further service. The King's forces after the battle numbered less than a thousand men, probably not more than seven or eight hundred.
Aftermath
The defeat of the Spanish Army ended all prospect of the intended Royalist expedition to England, and at the same time necessarily entailed the fall of Dunkirk. It surrendered ten days after the battle on June 24, and Cardinal Mazarin honoured the terms of the treaty with
Oliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland.He was one of the commanders of the New Model Army which defeated the royalists in...
and handed the port over to the Commonwealth.
The campaign of the English contingent in Flanders did not end with the battle of the Dunes and the capture of Dunkirk. Part of the English contingent was left to garrison Dunkirk and Mardyke under the command of Sir William Lockhart, whilst the rest, under Sir Thomas Morgan, continued to serve with Turenne's army in the field. Morgan's command consisted of four regiments, viz. his own, and those
of Cochrane, Clarke, and Lillingston. They distinguished themselves at the siege of Bergues, where Lieutenant-Colonel Hughesof Cochrane's regiment was killed, and still more at the siege of Ypres, according to Morgan's own story. At the close of the campaign, by which time their numbers were much diminished, they did not rejoin the rest of the English contingent, but went into
cantonmentA cantonment is a temporary or semi-permanent military quarters. The word cantonment is derived from the French word canton meaning corner or district. In Southern Asia, the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations. Cantonments can be found in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South...
in and around Amiens for the winter.