  the battle of nieuwpoort,also known as the battle of the dunes between a dutch army under maurice of nassau and francis vere and a spanish army under albert of austria, took place on 2 july 1600 near the present-day belgian city nieuwpoort. ==campaign== against maurice's complaints, the states general under johan van oldenbarneveldt had ordered maurice to take the army, march south along the coast and take the pirate nest of dunkirk. the divergence of opinion on this matter between maurice and van oldenbarneveldt were the first signs that the two de facto leaders of the dutch republic were beginning to drift apart. this rivalry would eventually lead to the arrest and execution of van oldenbarneveldt in 1619. it was thought that the vicious and long-continued mutiny of a great part of the spanish troops would make it impossible for the archduke to collect an army for the relief of nieuwpoort. by 21 june maurice had collected an army for the operation of 12 infantry regiments and 25 cavalry cornets: some 12,000 foot and 2,000 horse. on the 22nd, he crossed the scheldt estuary in a multitude of small vessels and moved to ostend; his base of operations. he left there half a regiment and four cornets to reinforce the garrison and on the 30th started for nieuwpoort. when maurice arrived in front of the place on 1 july, he sent 2/3 of his force across the yser river to blockade it from the west. that night, while he was making preparations for a regular siege, he received news that the archduke was cl
1600_in_Europe 16th-century_military_history_of_the_Kingdom_of_England Battles_involving_England Battles_of_the_Eighty_Years\'_War Conflicts_in_1600 Dutch_Golden_Age West_Flanders