September 2, 2025 • 33 mins
Set in the tumultuous 1570s, By Pike and Dyke plunges listeners into the harrowing world of the Netherlands, where the shadow of Spanish tyranny looms large. Amidst the chaos, Edward Ned‚ Martin‚a young man caught between two worlds as the son of an English captain and a Dutch lady‚takes a stand to help his mothers people and seek vengeance for his slain relatives. Joining the ranks of the revolutionary leader William the Silent, Prince of Orange, Ned embarks on perilous secret missions across occupied territories. Through narrow escapes, fierce naval battles, and heart-stopping sieges, he witnesses the stirring yet tragic birth of the Dutch republic. (Summary by D. Leeson)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter fourteen of by Pike and Dike, a Tale of
the Rise of the Dutch Republic. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain by Pike and Dike by G. A. Henty,
Chapter fourteen, The Fall of Haarlem. After the terrible repulse
inflicted upon the storming party, Don Frederick perceived that the
(00:21):
task before him was not to be accomplished with the
ease and rapidity he had anticipated, and that these hitherto
despised Dutch heretics had at last been driven by despair
to fight with desperate determination that was altogether new to
the Spaniards. He therefore abandoned the idea of carrying the
place by assault, and determined to take it by the
(00:41):
slower and surer process of a regular siege. In a week,
his pioneers would be able to drive mines beneath the walls.
An explosion would then open away for his troops. Accordingly,
the work began, but the besieged no sooner perceived what
was being done than the thousand men who had devoted
themselves to this way. Work at once began to drive countermines.
(01:03):
Both parties worked with energy, and it was not long
before the Galleries met, and a desperate struggle commenced underground.
Here the drill and discipline of the Spaniards availed them
but little. It was a conflict of man to man
in narrow passages with such light only as a few
torches could give. Here, the strength and fearlessness of death
of the sturdy Dutch burghers and fishermen more than compensated
(01:26):
for any superiority of the Spaniards in the management of
their weapons. The air was so heavy and thick with
powder that the torches gave but a feeble light, and
the combatants were well nigh stifled by the fumes of sulfur.
Yet in the galleries which met, men fought night and
day without intermission. The places of those who retired, exhausted,
(01:46):
or fell dead were filled by others, impatiently waiting their
turn to take part in the struggle. While the fighting continued,
the work went on. Also, Fresh galleries were continually being
driven on both sides, and occasionally tremendous explosions took place
as one party or the others sprung their mines, the
shock sometimes bringing down the earth in passages far removed
(02:08):
from the explosions and burying the combatants beneath them, while
yawning pits were formed where the explosions took place, and
fragments of bodies cast high in the air. Many of
the galleries were so narrow and low that no arms
save daggers, could be used, and men fought like wild beasts,
grappling and rolling on the ground, while comrades with lanterns
(02:29):
or torches stood behind, waiting to spring upon each other
as soon as the struggle terminated one way or the other.
For a fortnight, this underground struggle continued, and then Don Frederick,
finding that no ground was gained, and that the loss
was so great that even his bravest soldiers were beginning
to dread their turn to enter upon a conflict in
which their military training went for nothing, and where so
(02:52):
many hundreds of their comrades had perished, abandoned all hopes
of springing a mine under the walls, and drew off
his troops. A month had already elapsed since the repulse
of the attack on the breach, and while the fight
had been going on underground, a steady fire had been
kept up against a work called a revelin protecting the
gate of the Cross. During this time, letters had from
(03:14):
time to time been brought into the town by carrier pigeons,
the Prince, urging the citizens to persevere and holding out
hope of relief. These promises were to some extent fulfilled
on the twenty eighth of January, when four hundred veteran soldiers,
bringing with them one hundred seventy sledges laden with powder
and bread, crossed the frozen lake and succeeded in making
(03:35):
their way into the city. The time was now at
hand when the besieged foresaw that the revelin of the
cross gate could not much longer be defended. But they
had been making preparations for this contingency all through the
long nights of January. The non combatants, old men, women
and children, aided by such of the fighting men as
were not worn out by their work on the walls
(03:56):
or underground, labored to construct a wall in the form
of a half moon on the inside of the threatened point.
None who were able to work were exempt, and none
wished to be exempted. For the heroic spirit burned brightly
in every heart in Harlem. Nightly Ned went down with
his aunt and cousins and worked side by side with them.
The houses near the new work were all leveled in
(04:19):
order that the materials should be utilized for the construction
of the wall, which was built of solid masonry. The
small stones were carried by the children and younger girls
in baskets, the heavier ones dragged on hand sledges by
the men and women. Although constitutionally adverse to exertion, for
how Plomart worked sturdily, and Ned was often surprised at
(04:39):
her strength, for she dragged along without difficulty loaded sledges
which he was unable to move, throwing her weight on
to the ropes that passed over her shoulders, and toiling
backwards and forwards to and from the wall for hours,
slowly but unflinchingly. It seemed to Ned that under these
exertions she visibly decreased in weight from day day to day.
(05:00):
And indeed the scanty supply of food upon which the
work had to be done was ill calculated to support
the strength of those engaged upon such fatiguing labor. For
from the commencement of the siege, the whole population had
been rationed. All the provisions in the town had been
handed over to the authorities for equal division, and every house,
rich and poor had been rigorously searched to see that
(05:23):
none were holding back supplies for their private consumption. Many
of the cattle and horses had been killed and salted down,
and a daily distribution of food was made to each
household according to the number of mouths it contained. Furious
at the successful manner in which the party had entered
the town on the twenty eighth of January, Don Frederick
kept up for the next few days a terrible cannonade
(05:46):
against the gates of the Cross and of Saint John,
and the wall connecting them. At the end of that time,
the wall was greatly shattered, part of Saint John's Gate
was in ruins, and an assault was ordered to take
place at midnight. So certain when was he of success,
that Don Frederick ordered the whole of his forces to
be under arms opposite all the gates of the city
(06:06):
to prevent the population making their escape. A chosen body
of troops were to lead the assault, and at midnight
these advanced silently against the breach. The besieged had no
suspicion that an attack was intended, and there were but
some forty men posted rather as sentries than guards at
the breach. These, however, when the Spaniards advanced, gave the alarm.
(06:29):
The watchers in the churches sounded the tocsins, and the
sleeping citizens sprang from their beds, seized their arms, and
ran towards the threatened point. A Gnawed by the overwhelming
force advancing against them. The sentries took their places at
the top of the breach and defended it with such
desperation that they kept their assailants at bay until assistants arrived.
(06:51):
When the struggle assumed a more equal character, the citizens
defended themselves by the same means that had before proved successful.
Boiling oil and pitch stones, flaming hoops, torches and missiles
of all kinds were hurled down by them upon the Spaniards,
while the garrison defended the breach with sword and pike
(07:11):
until daylight. The struggle continued, and Philip then ordered the
whole of his force to advance to the assistance of
the storming party. A tremendous attack was made upon the
revelin in front of the gate of the Cross. It
was successful, and the Spaniards rushed, exulting into the work,
believing that the city was now at their mercy. Then
to their astonishment, they saw that they were confronted by
(07:33):
the new wall, whose existence they had not even suspected.
While they were hesitating, a tremendous explosion took place. The
citizens had undermined the revelin and placed a store of
powder there, and this was now fired, and the work
flew into the air with all the soldiers who had entered.
The retreat was sounded at once, and the Spaniards fell
(07:54):
back to their camp. And thus a second time the
Burghers of Haarlem repulsed an assault by an overwhelming force
under the best generals of Spain. The effect of these
failures was so great that Don Frederick resolved not to
risk another defeat, but to abandon his efforts to capture
the city by sap or assault, and to resort to
the slow but sure process of famine. He was well
(08:17):
aware that the stock of food in the city was
but small, and the inhabitants were already suffering severely, and
he thought that they could not hold out much longer.
But greatly, as the inhabitants suffered the misery of the
army besieging them more than equalled their own, the intense
cold rendered it next to impossible to supply so large
(08:38):
a force with food and small, as were the rations
of the inhabitants, they were at least as large and
more regularly delivered than those of the troops. Moreover, the
citizens who were not on duty could retire to their
comfortable houses, while the besiegers had but tents to shelter
them from the severity of the frosts. Cold and insufficient
(08:58):
food brought with them a train of disease dias and
great numbers of the soldiers died. The cessation of the
assaults tried the besieged even more than their daily conflicts
had done, For it is much harder to await death
in a slow and tedious form than to face it fighting.
They could not fully realize the almost hopeless prospect. Ere
(09:18):
long the frost would break up, and with it, the
chance of obtaining supplies or reinforcements across the frozen lake
would be at an end. It was here alone that
they could expect succor, for they knew well enough that
the Prince could raise no army capable of cutting its
way through the great beleaguering force. In vain did they
attempt to provoke or anger the Spaniards into renewing their attacks.
(09:42):
Sorties were constantly made. The citizens gathered on the walls, and,
with shouts and taunts of cowardice, challenged the Spaniards to
come on. They even went to the length of dressing
themselves in the vestments of the churches and contemptuously carrying
the sacred vessels in procession in hopes of infurior aiding
the Spaniards into an attack. But Don Frederick and his
(10:03):
generals were not to be moved from their purpose. The soldiers,
suffering as much as the besiegers, would gladly have brought
matters to an issue one way or the other by
again assaulting the walls, but their officers restrained them, assuring
them that the city could not hold out long and
that they would have an ample revenge when the time came.
(10:24):
Life in the city was most monotonous. Now. There was
no stir of life or business. No one bought or sold,
and except the men who went to take their turn
as sentries on the wall or the women who fetched
the daily ration for the family from the magazines, there
was no occasion to go abroad. Fuel was getting very scarce,
and families clubbed together and gathered at each other's houses
(10:47):
by turns, so that one fire did for all. But
at the end of February their sufferings from cold came
to an end, for the frost suddenly broke up. In
a few days, the ice on the lake disappeared, and
spring set in. The remaining cattle were now driven out
into the fields under the walls to gather food for themselves.
(11:08):
Strong guards went with them, and whenever the Spaniards endeavored
to come down and drive them off, the citizens flocked
out and fought so desperately that the Spaniards ceased to
molest them. For, as one of those present wrote, each
captured bullock cost the lives of at least a dozen soldiers.
Don Frederick himself had long since become heartily weary of
(11:29):
the siege, in which there was no honor to be gained,
and which had already cost the lives of so large
a number of his best soldiers. It did not seem
to him that the capture of a weak city was
worth the price that had to be paid for it,
and he wrote to his father urging his views and
asking permission to raise the siege. But the Duke thought differently,
(11:49):
and dispatched an officer to his son with this message,
tell Don Frederick that if he be not decided to
continue the siege until the town be taken, I shall
no longer consider him my son. Should he fall in
the siege, I will myself take the field to maintain it,
and when we have both perished, the Duchess my wife
(12:10):
shall come from Spain to do the same. Inflamed by
this reply, Don Frederick recommenced active operations, to the great
satisfaction of the besieged. The batteries were reopened and daily
contests took place. One night, under cover of a fog,
a party of the besieged marched up to the principal
Spanish battery and attempted to spike the guns. Every one
(12:32):
of them was killed round the battery, not one turning
to fly. The citizens wrote Don Frederick, do as much
as the best soldiers in the world could do. As
soon as the frost broke up, Count Bossu, who had
been building a fleet of small vessels in Amsterdam, cut
a breach through the dike and entered the lake, thus
entirely cutting off communications. The Prince of Orange, on his part,
(12:55):
was building ships at the other end of the lake.
And was doing all in his power for the relief
of the city. He was anxiously waiting the arrival of
troops from Germany or France, and doing his best with
such volunteers as he could raise. These, however, were not numerous.
For the Dutch, although ready to fight to the death
for the defense of their own cities and families, had
(13:17):
not yet acquired a national spirit, and all the efforts
of the Prince failed to induce them to combine for
any general object. His principal aim now was to cut
the road along the dike which connected Amsterdam with the
country round it. Could he succeed in doing this, Amsterdam
would be as completely cut off as was Harlem, and
(13:37):
that city, as well as the Spanish army, would speedily
be starved out. Alva himself was fully aware of this danger,
and wrote to the King, since I came into this world,
I have never been in such anxiety. If they should
succeed in cutting off communication along the dikes, we should
have to raise the siege of Harlem, to surrender has
(13:59):
crossed or to starve. The Prince, unable to gather sufficient
men for this attempt, sent orders to so Noy, who
commanded the small army in the north of Holland to
attack the dike between the DeMar Lake and the Wye,
to open the sluices and break through the dike, by
which means much of the country round Harlem would be flooded.
(14:19):
So Noi crossed the y in boats, seized the dike,
opened the sluices, and began the work of cutting it through,
leaving his men so engaged. So Noi went to Adam
to fetch up reinforcements. While he was away, a large
force from Amsterdam came up, some marching along the causeway
and some in boats. A fierce contest took place, the
(14:41):
contending parties fighting partly in boats, partly on the slippery
causeway that was wide enough but for two men to
stand abreast, partly in the water. But the number of
the assailants was too great, and the Dutch, after fighting gallantly,
lost heart and retired. Just as Sonoy, whose volunteers from
Adam had refused to follow him, arrived alone in a
(15:02):
little boat. He tried in vain to rally them, but
was swept away by the rush of fugitives, many of
whom were however, able to gain their boats and make
their retreat thanks to the valor of John Herring of Horn,
who took his station on the dike and armed with
sword and shield, actually kept in check a thousand of
the enemy for a time, long enough to have enabled
(15:24):
the Dutch to rally, had they been disposed to do so,
but it was too late and they had enough of fighting. However,
he held his post until many had made good their retreat,
and then, plunging into the sea, swam off to the
boats and effected his escape. A braver feet of arms
was never accomplished. Some hundreds of the Dutch were killed
(15:46):
or captured. All the prisoners were taken to the gibbets
in the front of Haarlem and hung, some by the
neck and some by the heels in view of their countrymen,
while the head of one of their officers was thrown
into the city as usual. This act of ferocity excited
the citizens to similar acts. Two of the old board
of Magistrates belonging to the Spanish party, with several other persons,
(16:10):
were hung, and the wife and daughter of one of
them hunted into the water and drowned. In the words
of an historian, every man within and without Harlem seemed
inspired by a spirit of special and personal vengeance. Many, however,
of the more gentle spirits, were filled with horror at
these barbarities and the perpetual carnage going on. Captain Curie,
(16:33):
for example, one of the bravest officers of the garrison,
who had been driven to take up arms by the
sufferings of his countrymen, although he had naturally a horror
of bloodshed, was subject to fits of melancholy at the
contemplation of these horrors. Brave in the extreme, he led
his men in every sortie, in every desperate struggle, fighting
(16:54):
without defensive armour, he was always in the thick of
the battle, and many of the Spaniards fell before his soword.
On his return, he invariably took to his bed and
lay ill from remorse and compunction till a fresh summons
for action arrived. When seized by a sort of frenzy,
he rose and led his men to fresh conflicts. On
(17:15):
the twenty fifth of March, a sally was made by
a thousand of the besieged. They drove in all the
Spanish outposts, killed eight hundred of the enemy, burnt three
hundred tenths, and captured seven cannons nine standards and many
wagonloads of provisions, all of which they succeeded in bringing
into the city. The Duke of Alva, who had gone
(17:36):
through nearly sixty years of warfare, wrote to the King
that never was a place defended with such skill and
bravery as Haarlem, and that it was a war such
as never before was seen or heard of in any
land on Earth. Three veteran Spanish regiments now reinforced the besiegers,
having been sent from Italy to aid in overcoming the
(17:58):
obstinate resistance of the city. But the interest of the
inhabitants was now centered rather on the lake than upon
the Spanish camp. It was from this alone that they
could expect succor, and it now swarmed with the Dutch
and Spanish vessels, between whom there were daily contests. On
the twenty eighth of May, the two fleets met in
(18:19):
desperate fight. Admiral Bossu had a hundred ships, most of
considerable size. Martin Brand, who commanded the Dutch, had one
hundred and fifty, but of much smaller size. The ships
grappled with each other, and for hours of furious contest raged.
Several thousands of men were killed On both sides, but
at length weight prevailed and the victory was decided in
(18:41):
favor of the Spaniards. Twenty two of the Dutch vessels
were captured and the rest routed. The Spanish fleet, now
sailed towards Haarlem, landed their crews, and, joined by a
force from the army, captured the forts the Dutch had
erected and had hitherto held on the shore of the lake,
and through which their scanty supple had hitherto been received.
(19:02):
From the walls of the city. The inhabitants watched the conflict,
and wail of despair rose from them as they saw
its issue. They were now entirely cut off from all
hope of succor, and their fate appeared to be sealed. Nevertheless,
they managed to send a message to the Prince that
they would hold out for three weeks longer, in hopes
that he might devise some plan for their relief, and
(19:24):
carrier pigeons brought back word that another effort should be
made to save them, But by this time the magazines
were empty. Hitherto one pound of bread had been served
out daily to each man and half a pound to
each woman, and on this alone they had for many
weeks subsisted, but the flower was now exhausted, and henceforth
it was a battle with starvation. Every living creature that
(19:48):
could be used as food was slain and eaten. Grass
and herbage of all kinds were gathered and cooked for food,
and under cover of darkness, parties sallied out from the
gates to gather grass in the field. The sufferings of
the besieged were terrible. So much were they reduced by
weakness that they could scarce drag themselves along the streets,
(20:08):
and numbers died from famine during the time that the
supply of bread was served out. Ned had persuaded his
aunt and the girls to put by a morsel of
their food each day. It will be the only resource
when the city surrenders, he said, for four or five
days at least, the girls must remain concealed, and during
that time they must be fed. If they take in
(20:31):
with them a jar of water and a supply of
those crusts which they can eat soaked in the water,
they can maintain life. And so each day, as long
as the bread lasted, a small piece was put aside,
until a sufficient store was accumulated to last the two
girls for a week. Soon after the daily issues ceased
for our Plomart placed the bag of crusts into Ned's hands.
(20:53):
Take it away and hide it somewhere, she said, and
do not let me know where you have put it,
or we shall assure hurriedly break into it and use
it before the time comes. I do not think now that,
however great the pressure, we would touch those crusts. But
there is no saying what we may do when we
are gnawed by hunger. It is better, anyhow to put
(21:14):
ourselves out of the way of temptation. During the long
weeks of June, Ned found it hard to keep the
precious store untouched. His aunt's figure had shrunk to a
shadow of her former self, and she was scarce able
to cross the room. The girl's cheeks were hollow and
bloodless with famine, and although none of them ever asked
him to break in upon the store, their faces pleaded
(21:36):
more powerfully than any words could have done. And yet
they were better off than many. For every night Ned
either went out from the gates or let himself down
by a rope from the wall, and returned with a
supply of grass and herbage. It was fortunate for the
girls that there was no necessity to go out of doors,
for the sights there would have shaken the strongest men.
(21:58):
Women and children fell dead by scores in the streets,
and the survivors had neither strength nor heart to carry
them away and bury them. On the first of July,
the burghers hung out a flag of truce, and deputies
went out to confer with Don Frederick. The latter, however,
would grant no terms whatever, and they returned to the city.
(22:19):
Two days later, a tremendous cannonade was opened upon the town,
and the walls broken down in several places, but the
Spaniards did not advance to the assault, knowing that the
town could not hold out many days longer. Two more
parleys were held, but without result, and the black flag
was hoisted upon the cathedral tower as a signal of despair.
(22:40):
But soon afterwards a pigeon flew into the town with
a letter from the Prince begging them to hold out
for two days longer. As succor was approaching. The Prince
had indeed done all that was possible. He assembled the
citizens of Delft in the market place and said that
if any troops could be gathered, he would march in
person at their head to the relief of the city.
(23:01):
There were no soldiers to be obtained, but four thousand
armed volunteers from the various Dutch cities assembled, and six
hundred mounted troops. The Prince placed himself at their head,
but the magistrates and burghers of the towns would not
allow him to hazard a life so indispensable to the
existence of Holland, and the troops themselves refused to march
(23:22):
unless he abandoned his intention. He at last reluctantly consented
and handed over the command of the expedition to Baron Battenberg.
On the eighth of July, at dusk, the expedition set
out from Sassenheim, taking with them four hundred wagon loads
of provisions and seven cannon. They halted in the woods
and remained till midnight. Then they again marched forward, hoping
(23:45):
to be able to surprise the Spaniards and make their
way through before these could assemble in force. The agreement
had been made that signal fires should be lighted and
that the citizens should sally out to assist the relieving
force as it approached. Unfortunately, the two pigeons with letters
giving the details of the intended expedition had been shot
while passing over the Spanish camp, and the besiegers were
(24:08):
perfectly aware of what was going to be done. Opposite
the point at which the besieged were to sally out,
the Spaniards collected a great mass of green branches, pitch
and straw. Five thousand troops were stationed behind it, while
an overwhelming force was stationed to attack the relieving army.
When night fell, the pile of combustibles was lighted and
(24:28):
gave out so dense a smoke that the signal fires
lighted by Battenberg were hidden from the townspeople. As soon
as the column advanced from the wood, they were attacked
by an overwhelming force of the enemy. Battenberg was killed
and his troops utterly routed, with the loss according to
the Dutch accounts of from five to six hundred, but
of many more according to Spanish statements. The besieged ranged
(24:52):
under arms, heard the sound of the distant conflict, but
as they had seen no signal fires, believed that it
was only a device of the Spaniard to tempt them
into making a sally, and it was not until morning
when Don Frederick sent in a prisoner with his nose
and ears cut off, to announce the news that they
knew that the last effort to save them had failed.
(25:13):
The blow was a terrible one, and there was great
commotion in the town. After consultation, the garrison and the
able bodied citizens resolved to issue out in a solid
column and to cut their way through the enemy or perish.
It was thought that if the women, the helpless and
infirm alone remained in the city, they would be treated
with greater mercy, after all the fighting men had been slain.
(25:35):
But as soon as this resolution became known, the women
and children issued from the houses with loud cries and tears.
The Burghers were unable to withstand their entreaties that all
should die together, and it was then resolved that the
fighting men should be formed into a hollow square, in
which the women, children, sick and aged should be gathered
(25:55):
and so to sally out and either when away through
the camp or died together. But the news of this
resolve reached the ears of Don Frederick. He knew now
what the Burghers of Harlem were capable of, and thought
that they would probably fire the city before they left,
and thus leaving nothing but a heap of ashes as
a trophy of his victory. He therefore sent a letter
(26:17):
to the magistrates in the name of Count Overstein, commander
of the German forces in the besieging Army, giving a
solemn assurance that if they surrendered at discretion, no punishment
should be inflicted except upon those who, in the judgment
of the citizens themselves, had deserved it. At the moment
of sending the letter, Don Frederick was in possession of
(26:39):
strict orders from his father not to leave a man
alive of the garrison, with the exception of the Germans,
and to execute a large number of the Burghers. On
the receipt of this letter, the city formally surrendered on
the tenth of July. The great bell was told and
orders were issued that all arms should be brought to
the town hall, that the women should assemble in the
(27:00):
cathedral and the men in the cloister of Zil. Then
Don Frederick with his staff rode into the city. The
scene which met their eyes was a terrible one. Everywhere
were ruins of houses which had been set on fire
by the Spanish artillery. The pavement had been torn up
to repair the gaps in the walls. Unburied bodies of
men and women were scattered about the streets, while those
(27:22):
still alive were mere shadows, scarcely able to maintain their feet.
No time was lost in commencing the massacre. All the
officers were at once put to death. The garrison had
been reduced during the siege from four thousand to eighteen hundred.
Of these, the Germans six hundred in number, were allowed
to depart. The remaining twelve hundred were immediately butchered, with
(27:46):
at least as many of the citizens. Almost every citizen
distinguished by service, station, or wealth was slaughtered, and from
day to day five executioners were kept constantly at work.
The city was not sacked pabitants agreeing to raise a
great sum of money as a ransom. As soon as
the surrender was determined upon, Ned helped his cousins into
(28:08):
the refuge prepared for them, passed in the bread and water,
walled up the hole, and whitewashed it. His aunt, being
too weak to render any assistance. Before they entered, he
opened the bag and took out a few crusts. You
must eat something now, aunt, he said. It may be
a day or two before any food is distributed, and
it is no use holding on so long to die
(28:29):
of hunger. When food is almost in sight. There is
plenty in the bag to last the girls for a week.
You must eat sparingly, girls, not because there is not
enough food, but because after fasting so long, it is
necessary for you at first to take food in very
small quantities. The bread taken out was soaked, and it
swelled so much in the water that it made much
(28:50):
more than he had expected. He therefore divided it in half,
and a portion made an excellent meal for Ned and
his aunt, the remaining being carefully put by for the
foore following day. An hour or two after eating the
meal for au Plomart felt so much stronger that she
was able to obey the order to go up to
the cathedral. Ned went with the able bodied men to
(29:11):
the cloisters. The Spaniards soon came among them and dragged
off numbers of those whom they thought most likely to
have taken a prominent part in the fighting to execution.
As they did not wish others from whom money could
be wrung to escape from their hands, they presently issued
some food to the remainder the women. After remaining for
(29:31):
some hours in the cathedral, were suffered to depart to
their homes, for their starving condition excited the compassion even
of the Spaniards, and the atrocities which had taken place
at the sacks of Mechlin, Zutfen and Naarden were not
repeated in Harlem. The next day, the men were also released,
not from any ideas of mercy, but in order that
(29:52):
when they returned to their homes, the work of picking
out the better class for execution could be the more
easily carried on. For three days long, the girls remained
in their hiding and were then allowed to come out,
as Ned felt now that the danger of general massacre
was averted. Now Ned his aunt said, you must stay
here no longer. Every day we hear proclamations read in
(30:14):
the streets that all sheltering refugees and others not belonging
to the town will be punished with death. And as
you know, every stranger caught has been murdered. This they
had heard from some of the neighbors. Ned himself had
not stirred out since he returned from the cloisters, for
his aunt had implored him not to do so, as
it would only be running useless risk. I hear. She
(30:37):
went on that they have searched many houses for fugitives,
and it is probable the hunt may become even more strict. Therefore,
I think Ned, that for our sake as well as
your own, you had better try to escape. I quite
agree with you, Aunt, now that the worst is over
and I know that you and the girls are safe.
No good purpose could be served by my staying, and
(30:58):
being both a stranger and one who who has fought here,
I should certainly be killed if they laid hands on me.
As to escaping, I do not think there can be
any difficulty about that. I have often let myself down
from the walls, and can do so again. And although
there is a strict watch kept at the gates to
prevent any leaving until the Spaniard's thirst for blood is satisfied,
(31:18):
there can be no longer any vigilant watch kept up
by the troops encamped outside, and I ought certainly to
be able to get through them at night. It will
be dark in a couple of hours, and as soon
as it is so, I will be off. The girls
burst into tears at the thought of Ned's departure. During
the seven long months the siege had lasted. He had
been as a brother to them, keeping up their spirits
(31:41):
by his cheerfulness, looking after their safety and as far
as possible after their comfort, and acting as the adviser
and almost as the head of the house. His aunt
was almost equally affected, for she had come to lean
entirely upon him, and to regard him as a son.
It is best that it should be so, Ned, but
we shall all miss you sorely. It may be that
(32:02):
I shall follow your advice and come over to England
on a long visit. Now that I know you so well,
it will not seem like going among strangers as it
did before. For although I met your father and mother
whenever they came over to Vordwick, I had not got
to know them as I know you. I shall talk
the matter over with my father. Of course, everything depends
(32:22):
upon what is going to happen in Holland. Ned did
not tell his aunt that her father had been one
of the first dragged out from the cloisters for execution,
and that her sister, who kept house for him, had
died three days previous to the surrender. His going away
was grief enough for her, for one day, and he
turned the conversation to other matters until night fell, when,
(32:45):
after a sad parting, he made his way to the walls,
having wound round his waist the rope by which he
had been accustomed to lower himself. The executions in Harlem
continued for two days after he had left, and then
the five executioners were so weary of slaying that the
three hundred prisoners who still remained for execution were tied
(33:05):
back to back and thrown into the lake. End of
Chapter fourteen.
Chapter fourteen of by Pike and Dike, a Tale of
the Rise of the Dutch Republic. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain by Pike and Dike by G. A. Henty,
Chapter fourteen, The Fall of Haarlem. After the terrible repulse
inflicted upon the storming party, Don Frederick perceived that the
(00:21):
task before him was not to be accomplished with the
ease and rapidity he had anticipated, and that these hitherto
despised Dutch heretics had at last been driven by despair
to fight with desperate determination that was altogether new to
the Spaniards. He therefore abandoned the idea of carrying the
place by assault, and determined to take it by the
(00:41):
slower and surer process of a regular siege. In a week,
his pioneers would be able to drive mines beneath the walls.
An explosion would then open away for his troops. Accordingly,
the work began, but the besieged no sooner perceived what
was being done than the thousand men who had devoted
themselves to this way. Work at once began to drive countermines.
(01:03):
Both parties worked with energy, and it was not long
before the Galleries met, and a desperate struggle commenced underground.
Here the drill and discipline of the Spaniards availed them
but little. It was a conflict of man to man
in narrow passages with such light only as a few
torches could give. Here, the strength and fearlessness of death
of the sturdy Dutch burghers and fishermen more than compensated
(01:26):
for any superiority of the Spaniards in the management of
their weapons. The air was so heavy and thick with
powder that the torches gave but a feeble light, and
the combatants were well nigh stifled by the fumes of sulfur.
Yet in the galleries which met, men fought night and
day without intermission. The places of those who retired, exhausted,
(01:46):
or fell dead were filled by others, impatiently waiting their
turn to take part in the struggle. While the fighting continued,
the work went on. Also, Fresh galleries were continually being
driven on both sides, and occasionally tremendous explosions took place
as one party or the others sprung their mines, the
shock sometimes bringing down the earth in passages far removed
(02:08):
from the explosions and burying the combatants beneath them, while
yawning pits were formed where the explosions took place, and
fragments of bodies cast high in the air. Many of
the galleries were so narrow and low that no arms
save daggers, could be used, and men fought like wild beasts,
grappling and rolling on the ground, while comrades with lanterns
(02:29):
or torches stood behind, waiting to spring upon each other
as soon as the struggle terminated one way or the other.
For a fortnight, this underground struggle continued, and then Don Frederick,
finding that no ground was gained, and that the loss
was so great that even his bravest soldiers were beginning
to dread their turn to enter upon a conflict in
which their military training went for nothing, and where so
(02:52):
many hundreds of their comrades had perished, abandoned all hopes
of springing a mine under the walls, and drew off
his troops. A month had already elapsed since the repulse
of the attack on the breach, and while the fight
had been going on underground, a steady fire had been
kept up against a work called a revelin protecting the
gate of the Cross. During this time, letters had from
(03:14):
time to time been brought into the town by carrier pigeons,
the Prince, urging the citizens to persevere and holding out
hope of relief. These promises were to some extent fulfilled
on the twenty eighth of January, when four hundred veteran soldiers,
bringing with them one hundred seventy sledges laden with powder
and bread, crossed the frozen lake and succeeded in making
(03:35):
their way into the city. The time was now at
hand when the besieged foresaw that the revelin of the
cross gate could not much longer be defended. But they
had been making preparations for this contingency all through the
long nights of January. The non combatants, old men, women
and children, aided by such of the fighting men as
were not worn out by their work on the walls
(03:56):
or underground, labored to construct a wall in the form
of a half moon on the inside of the threatened point.
None who were able to work were exempt, and none
wished to be exempted. For the heroic spirit burned brightly
in every heart in Harlem. Nightly Ned went down with
his aunt and cousins and worked side by side with them.
The houses near the new work were all leveled in
(04:19):
order that the materials should be utilized for the construction
of the wall, which was built of solid masonry. The
small stones were carried by the children and younger girls
in baskets, the heavier ones dragged on hand sledges by
the men and women. Although constitutionally adverse to exertion, for
how Plomart worked sturdily, and Ned was often surprised at
(04:39):
her strength, for she dragged along without difficulty loaded sledges
which he was unable to move, throwing her weight on
to the ropes that passed over her shoulders, and toiling
backwards and forwards to and from the wall for hours,
slowly but unflinchingly. It seemed to Ned that under these
exertions she visibly decreased in weight from day day to day.
(05:00):
And indeed the scanty supply of food upon which the
work had to be done was ill calculated to support
the strength of those engaged upon such fatiguing labor. For
from the commencement of the siege, the whole population had
been rationed. All the provisions in the town had been
handed over to the authorities for equal division, and every house,
rich and poor had been rigorously searched to see that
(05:23):
none were holding back supplies for their private consumption. Many
of the cattle and horses had been killed and salted down,
and a daily distribution of food was made to each
household according to the number of mouths it contained. Furious
at the successful manner in which the party had entered
the town on the twenty eighth of January, Don Frederick
kept up for the next few days a terrible cannonade
(05:46):
against the gates of the Cross and of Saint John,
and the wall connecting them. At the end of that time,
the wall was greatly shattered, part of Saint John's Gate
was in ruins, and an assault was ordered to take
place at midnight. So certain when was he of success,
that Don Frederick ordered the whole of his forces to
be under arms opposite all the gates of the city
(06:06):
to prevent the population making their escape. A chosen body
of troops were to lead the assault, and at midnight
these advanced silently against the breach. The besieged had no
suspicion that an attack was intended, and there were but
some forty men posted rather as sentries than guards at
the breach. These, however, when the Spaniards advanced, gave the alarm.
(06:29):
The watchers in the churches sounded the tocsins, and the
sleeping citizens sprang from their beds, seized their arms, and
ran towards the threatened point. A Gnawed by the overwhelming
force advancing against them. The sentries took their places at
the top of the breach and defended it with such
desperation that they kept their assailants at bay until assistants arrived.
(06:51):
When the struggle assumed a more equal character, the citizens
defended themselves by the same means that had before proved successful.
Boiling oil and pitch stones, flaming hoops, torches and missiles
of all kinds were hurled down by them upon the Spaniards,
while the garrison defended the breach with sword and pike
(07:11):
until daylight. The struggle continued, and Philip then ordered the
whole of his force to advance to the assistance of
the storming party. A tremendous attack was made upon the
revelin in front of the gate of the Cross. It
was successful, and the Spaniards rushed, exulting into the work,
believing that the city was now at their mercy. Then
to their astonishment, they saw that they were confronted by
(07:33):
the new wall, whose existence they had not even suspected.
While they were hesitating, a tremendous explosion took place. The
citizens had undermined the revelin and placed a store of
powder there, and this was now fired, and the work
flew into the air with all the soldiers who had entered.
The retreat was sounded at once, and the Spaniards fell
(07:54):
back to their camp. And thus a second time the
Burghers of Haarlem repulsed an assault by an overwhelming force
under the best generals of Spain. The effect of these
failures was so great that Don Frederick resolved not to
risk another defeat, but to abandon his efforts to capture
the city by sap or assault, and to resort to
the slow but sure process of famine. He was well
(08:17):
aware that the stock of food in the city was
but small, and the inhabitants were already suffering severely, and
he thought that they could not hold out much longer.
But greatly, as the inhabitants suffered the misery of the
army besieging them more than equalled their own, the intense
cold rendered it next to impossible to supply so large
(08:38):
a force with food and small, as were the rations
of the inhabitants, they were at least as large and
more regularly delivered than those of the troops. Moreover, the
citizens who were not on duty could retire to their
comfortable houses, while the besiegers had but tents to shelter
them from the severity of the frosts. Cold and insufficient
(08:58):
food brought with them a train of disease dias and
great numbers of the soldiers died. The cessation of the
assaults tried the besieged even more than their daily conflicts
had done, For it is much harder to await death
in a slow and tedious form than to face it fighting.
They could not fully realize the almost hopeless prospect. Ere
(09:18):
long the frost would break up, and with it, the
chance of obtaining supplies or reinforcements across the frozen lake
would be at an end. It was here alone that
they could expect succor, for they knew well enough that
the Prince could raise no army capable of cutting its
way through the great beleaguering force. In vain did they
attempt to provoke or anger the Spaniards into renewing their attacks.
(09:42):
Sorties were constantly made. The citizens gathered on the walls, and,
with shouts and taunts of cowardice, challenged the Spaniards to
come on. They even went to the length of dressing
themselves in the vestments of the churches and contemptuously carrying
the sacred vessels in procession in hopes of infurior aiding
the Spaniards into an attack. But Don Frederick and his
(10:03):
generals were not to be moved from their purpose. The soldiers,
suffering as much as the besiegers, would gladly have brought
matters to an issue one way or the other by
again assaulting the walls, but their officers restrained them, assuring
them that the city could not hold out long and
that they would have an ample revenge when the time came.
(10:24):
Life in the city was most monotonous. Now. There was
no stir of life or business. No one bought or sold,
and except the men who went to take their turn
as sentries on the wall or the women who fetched
the daily ration for the family from the magazines, there
was no occasion to go abroad. Fuel was getting very scarce,
and families clubbed together and gathered at each other's houses
(10:47):
by turns, so that one fire did for all. But
at the end of February their sufferings from cold came
to an end, for the frost suddenly broke up. In
a few days, the ice on the lake disappeared, and
spring set in. The remaining cattle were now driven out
into the fields under the walls to gather food for themselves.
(11:08):
Strong guards went with them, and whenever the Spaniards endeavored
to come down and drive them off, the citizens flocked
out and fought so desperately that the Spaniards ceased to
molest them. For, as one of those present wrote, each
captured bullock cost the lives of at least a dozen soldiers.
Don Frederick himself had long since become heartily weary of
(11:29):
the siege, in which there was no honor to be gained,
and which had already cost the lives of so large
a number of his best soldiers. It did not seem
to him that the capture of a weak city was
worth the price that had to be paid for it,
and he wrote to his father urging his views and
asking permission to raise the siege. But the Duke thought differently,
(11:49):
and dispatched an officer to his son with this message,
tell Don Frederick that if he be not decided to
continue the siege until the town be taken, I shall
no longer consider him my son. Should he fall in
the siege, I will myself take the field to maintain it,
and when we have both perished, the Duchess my wife
(12:10):
shall come from Spain to do the same. Inflamed by
this reply, Don Frederick recommenced active operations, to the great
satisfaction of the besieged. The batteries were reopened and daily
contests took place. One night, under cover of a fog,
a party of the besieged marched up to the principal
Spanish battery and attempted to spike the guns. Every one
(12:32):
of them was killed round the battery, not one turning
to fly. The citizens wrote Don Frederick, do as much
as the best soldiers in the world could do. As
soon as the frost broke up, Count Bossu, who had
been building a fleet of small vessels in Amsterdam, cut
a breach through the dike and entered the lake, thus
entirely cutting off communications. The Prince of Orange, on his part,
(12:55):
was building ships at the other end of the lake.
And was doing all in his power for the relief
of the city. He was anxiously waiting the arrival of
troops from Germany or France, and doing his best with
such volunteers as he could raise. These, however, were not numerous.
For the Dutch, although ready to fight to the death
for the defense of their own cities and families, had
(13:17):
not yet acquired a national spirit, and all the efforts
of the Prince failed to induce them to combine for
any general object. His principal aim now was to cut
the road along the dike which connected Amsterdam with the
country round it. Could he succeed in doing this, Amsterdam
would be as completely cut off as was Harlem, and
(13:37):
that city, as well as the Spanish army, would speedily
be starved out. Alva himself was fully aware of this danger,
and wrote to the King, since I came into this world,
I have never been in such anxiety. If they should
succeed in cutting off communication along the dikes, we should
have to raise the siege of Harlem, to surrender has
(13:59):
crossed or to starve. The Prince, unable to gather sufficient
men for this attempt, sent orders to so Noy, who
commanded the small army in the north of Holland to
attack the dike between the DeMar Lake and the Wye,
to open the sluices and break through the dike, by
which means much of the country round Harlem would be flooded.
(14:19):
So Noi crossed the y in boats, seized the dike,
opened the sluices, and began the work of cutting it through,
leaving his men so engaged. So Noi went to Adam
to fetch up reinforcements. While he was away, a large
force from Amsterdam came up, some marching along the causeway
and some in boats. A fierce contest took place, the
(14:41):
contending parties fighting partly in boats, partly on the slippery
causeway that was wide enough but for two men to
stand abreast, partly in the water. But the number of
the assailants was too great, and the Dutch, after fighting gallantly,
lost heart and retired. Just as Sonoy, whose volunteers from
Adam had refused to follow him, arrived alone in a
(15:02):
little boat. He tried in vain to rally them, but
was swept away by the rush of fugitives, many of
whom were however, able to gain their boats and make
their retreat thanks to the valor of John Herring of Horn,
who took his station on the dike and armed with
sword and shield, actually kept in check a thousand of
the enemy for a time, long enough to have enabled
(15:24):
the Dutch to rally, had they been disposed to do so,
but it was too late and they had enough of fighting. However,
he held his post until many had made good their retreat,
and then, plunging into the sea, swam off to the
boats and effected his escape. A braver feet of arms
was never accomplished. Some hundreds of the Dutch were killed
(15:46):
or captured. All the prisoners were taken to the gibbets
in the front of Haarlem and hung, some by the
neck and some by the heels in view of their countrymen,
while the head of one of their officers was thrown
into the city as usual. This act of ferocity excited
the citizens to similar acts. Two of the old board
of Magistrates belonging to the Spanish party, with several other persons,
(16:10):
were hung, and the wife and daughter of one of
them hunted into the water and drowned. In the words
of an historian, every man within and without Harlem seemed
inspired by a spirit of special and personal vengeance. Many, however,
of the more gentle spirits, were filled with horror at
these barbarities and the perpetual carnage going on. Captain Curie,
(16:33):
for example, one of the bravest officers of the garrison,
who had been driven to take up arms by the
sufferings of his countrymen, although he had naturally a horror
of bloodshed, was subject to fits of melancholy at the
contemplation of these horrors. Brave in the extreme, he led
his men in every sortie, in every desperate struggle, fighting
(16:54):
without defensive armour, he was always in the thick of
the battle, and many of the Spaniards fell before his soword.
On his return, he invariably took to his bed and
lay ill from remorse and compunction till a fresh summons
for action arrived. When seized by a sort of frenzy,
he rose and led his men to fresh conflicts. On
(17:15):
the twenty fifth of March, a sally was made by
a thousand of the besieged. They drove in all the
Spanish outposts, killed eight hundred of the enemy, burnt three
hundred tenths, and captured seven cannons nine standards and many
wagonloads of provisions, all of which they succeeded in bringing
into the city. The Duke of Alva, who had gone
(17:36):
through nearly sixty years of warfare, wrote to the King
that never was a place defended with such skill and
bravery as Haarlem, and that it was a war such
as never before was seen or heard of in any
land on Earth. Three veteran Spanish regiments now reinforced the besiegers,
having been sent from Italy to aid in overcoming the
(17:58):
obstinate resistance of the city. But the interest of the
inhabitants was now centered rather on the lake than upon
the Spanish camp. It was from this alone that they
could expect succor, and it now swarmed with the Dutch
and Spanish vessels, between whom there were daily contests. On
the twenty eighth of May, the two fleets met in
(18:19):
desperate fight. Admiral Bossu had a hundred ships, most of
considerable size. Martin Brand, who commanded the Dutch, had one
hundred and fifty, but of much smaller size. The ships
grappled with each other, and for hours of furious contest raged.
Several thousands of men were killed On both sides, but
at length weight prevailed and the victory was decided in
(18:41):
favor of the Spaniards. Twenty two of the Dutch vessels
were captured and the rest routed. The Spanish fleet, now
sailed towards Haarlem, landed their crews, and, joined by a
force from the army, captured the forts the Dutch had
erected and had hitherto held on the shore of the lake,
and through which their scanty supple had hitherto been received.
(19:02):
From the walls of the city. The inhabitants watched the conflict,
and wail of despair rose from them as they saw
its issue. They were now entirely cut off from all
hope of succor, and their fate appeared to be sealed. Nevertheless,
they managed to send a message to the Prince that
they would hold out for three weeks longer, in hopes
that he might devise some plan for their relief, and
(19:24):
carrier pigeons brought back word that another effort should be
made to save them, But by this time the magazines
were empty. Hitherto one pound of bread had been served
out daily to each man and half a pound to
each woman, and on this alone they had for many
weeks subsisted, but the flower was now exhausted, and henceforth
it was a battle with starvation. Every living creature that
(19:48):
could be used as food was slain and eaten. Grass
and herbage of all kinds were gathered and cooked for food,
and under cover of darkness, parties sallied out from the
gates to gather grass in the field. The sufferings of
the besieged were terrible. So much were they reduced by
weakness that they could scarce drag themselves along the streets,
(20:08):
and numbers died from famine during the time that the
supply of bread was served out. Ned had persuaded his
aunt and the girls to put by a morsel of
their food each day. It will be the only resource
when the city surrenders, he said, for four or five
days at least, the girls must remain concealed, and during
that time they must be fed. If they take in
(20:31):
with them a jar of water and a supply of
those crusts which they can eat soaked in the water,
they can maintain life. And so each day, as long
as the bread lasted, a small piece was put aside,
until a sufficient store was accumulated to last the two
girls for a week. Soon after the daily issues ceased
for our Plomart placed the bag of crusts into Ned's hands.
(20:53):
Take it away and hide it somewhere, she said, and
do not let me know where you have put it,
or we shall assure hurriedly break into it and use
it before the time comes. I do not think now that,
however great the pressure, we would touch those crusts. But
there is no saying what we may do when we
are gnawed by hunger. It is better, anyhow to put
(21:14):
ourselves out of the way of temptation. During the long
weeks of June, Ned found it hard to keep the
precious store untouched. His aunt's figure had shrunk to a
shadow of her former self, and she was scarce able
to cross the room. The girl's cheeks were hollow and
bloodless with famine, and although none of them ever asked
him to break in upon the store, their faces pleaded
(21:36):
more powerfully than any words could have done. And yet
they were better off than many. For every night Ned
either went out from the gates or let himself down
by a rope from the wall, and returned with a
supply of grass and herbage. It was fortunate for the
girls that there was no necessity to go out of doors,
for the sights there would have shaken the strongest men.
(21:58):
Women and children fell dead by scores in the streets,
and the survivors had neither strength nor heart to carry
them away and bury them. On the first of July,
the burghers hung out a flag of truce, and deputies
went out to confer with Don Frederick. The latter, however,
would grant no terms whatever, and they returned to the city.
(22:19):
Two days later, a tremendous cannonade was opened upon the town,
and the walls broken down in several places, but the
Spaniards did not advance to the assault, knowing that the
town could not hold out many days longer. Two more
parleys were held, but without result, and the black flag
was hoisted upon the cathedral tower as a signal of despair.
(22:40):
But soon afterwards a pigeon flew into the town with
a letter from the Prince begging them to hold out
for two days longer. As succor was approaching. The Prince
had indeed done all that was possible. He assembled the
citizens of Delft in the market place and said that
if any troops could be gathered, he would march in
person at their head to the relief of the city.
(23:01):
There were no soldiers to be obtained, but four thousand
armed volunteers from the various Dutch cities assembled, and six
hundred mounted troops. The Prince placed himself at their head,
but the magistrates and burghers of the towns would not
allow him to hazard a life so indispensable to the
existence of Holland, and the troops themselves refused to march
(23:22):
unless he abandoned his intention. He at last reluctantly consented
and handed over the command of the expedition to Baron Battenberg.
On the eighth of July, at dusk, the expedition set
out from Sassenheim, taking with them four hundred wagon loads
of provisions and seven cannon. They halted in the woods
and remained till midnight. Then they again marched forward, hoping
(23:45):
to be able to surprise the Spaniards and make their
way through before these could assemble in force. The agreement
had been made that signal fires should be lighted and
that the citizens should sally out to assist the relieving
force as it approached. Unfortunately, the two pigeons with letters
giving the details of the intended expedition had been shot
while passing over the Spanish camp, and the besiegers were
(24:08):
perfectly aware of what was going to be done. Opposite
the point at which the besieged were to sally out,
the Spaniards collected a great mass of green branches, pitch
and straw. Five thousand troops were stationed behind it, while
an overwhelming force was stationed to attack the relieving army.
When night fell, the pile of combustibles was lighted and
(24:28):
gave out so dense a smoke that the signal fires
lighted by Battenberg were hidden from the townspeople. As soon
as the column advanced from the wood, they were attacked
by an overwhelming force of the enemy. Battenberg was killed
and his troops utterly routed, with the loss according to
the Dutch accounts of from five to six hundred, but
of many more according to Spanish statements. The besieged ranged
(24:52):
under arms, heard the sound of the distant conflict, but
as they had seen no signal fires, believed that it
was only a device of the Spaniard to tempt them
into making a sally, and it was not until morning
when Don Frederick sent in a prisoner with his nose
and ears cut off, to announce the news that they
knew that the last effort to save them had failed.
(25:13):
The blow was a terrible one, and there was great
commotion in the town. After consultation, the garrison and the
able bodied citizens resolved to issue out in a solid
column and to cut their way through the enemy or perish.
It was thought that if the women, the helpless and
infirm alone remained in the city, they would be treated
with greater mercy, after all the fighting men had been slain.
(25:35):
But as soon as this resolution became known, the women
and children issued from the houses with loud cries and tears.
The Burghers were unable to withstand their entreaties that all
should die together, and it was then resolved that the
fighting men should be formed into a hollow square, in
which the women, children, sick and aged should be gathered
(25:55):
and so to sally out and either when away through
the camp or died together. But the news of this
resolve reached the ears of Don Frederick. He knew now
what the Burghers of Harlem were capable of, and thought
that they would probably fire the city before they left,
and thus leaving nothing but a heap of ashes as
a trophy of his victory. He therefore sent a letter
(26:17):
to the magistrates in the name of Count Overstein, commander
of the German forces in the besieging Army, giving a
solemn assurance that if they surrendered at discretion, no punishment
should be inflicted except upon those who, in the judgment
of the citizens themselves, had deserved it. At the moment
of sending the letter, Don Frederick was in possession of
(26:39):
strict orders from his father not to leave a man
alive of the garrison, with the exception of the Germans,
and to execute a large number of the Burghers. On
the receipt of this letter, the city formally surrendered on
the tenth of July. The great bell was told and
orders were issued that all arms should be brought to
the town hall, that the women should assemble in the
(27:00):
cathedral and the men in the cloister of Zil. Then
Don Frederick with his staff rode into the city. The
scene which met their eyes was a terrible one. Everywhere
were ruins of houses which had been set on fire
by the Spanish artillery. The pavement had been torn up
to repair the gaps in the walls. Unburied bodies of
men and women were scattered about the streets, while those
(27:22):
still alive were mere shadows, scarcely able to maintain their feet.
No time was lost in commencing the massacre. All the
officers were at once put to death. The garrison had
been reduced during the siege from four thousand to eighteen hundred.
Of these, the Germans six hundred in number, were allowed
to depart. The remaining twelve hundred were immediately butchered, with
(27:46):
at least as many of the citizens. Almost every citizen
distinguished by service, station, or wealth was slaughtered, and from
day to day five executioners were kept constantly at work.
The city was not sacked pabitants agreeing to raise a
great sum of money as a ransom. As soon as
the surrender was determined upon, Ned helped his cousins into
(28:08):
the refuge prepared for them, passed in the bread and water,
walled up the hole, and whitewashed it. His aunt, being
too weak to render any assistance. Before they entered, he
opened the bag and took out a few crusts. You
must eat something now, aunt, he said. It may be
a day or two before any food is distributed, and
it is no use holding on so long to die
(28:29):
of hunger. When food is almost in sight. There is
plenty in the bag to last the girls for a week.
You must eat sparingly, girls, not because there is not
enough food, but because after fasting so long, it is
necessary for you at first to take food in very
small quantities. The bread taken out was soaked, and it
swelled so much in the water that it made much
(28:50):
more than he had expected. He therefore divided it in half,
and a portion made an excellent meal for Ned and
his aunt, the remaining being carefully put by for the
foore following day. An hour or two after eating the
meal for au Plomart felt so much stronger that she
was able to obey the order to go up to
the cathedral. Ned went with the able bodied men to
(29:11):
the cloisters. The Spaniards soon came among them and dragged
off numbers of those whom they thought most likely to
have taken a prominent part in the fighting to execution.
As they did not wish others from whom money could
be wrung to escape from their hands, they presently issued
some food to the remainder the women. After remaining for
(29:31):
some hours in the cathedral, were suffered to depart to
their homes, for their starving condition excited the compassion even
of the Spaniards, and the atrocities which had taken place
at the sacks of Mechlin, Zutfen and Naarden were not
repeated in Harlem. The next day, the men were also released,
not from any ideas of mercy, but in order that
(29:52):
when they returned to their homes, the work of picking
out the better class for execution could be the more
easily carried on. For three days long, the girls remained
in their hiding and were then allowed to come out,
as Ned felt now that the danger of general massacre
was averted. Now Ned his aunt said, you must stay
here no longer. Every day we hear proclamations read in
(30:14):
the streets that all sheltering refugees and others not belonging
to the town will be punished with death. And as
you know, every stranger caught has been murdered. This they
had heard from some of the neighbors. Ned himself had
not stirred out since he returned from the cloisters, for
his aunt had implored him not to do so, as
it would only be running useless risk. I hear. She
(30:37):
went on that they have searched many houses for fugitives,
and it is probable the hunt may become even more strict. Therefore,
I think Ned, that for our sake as well as
your own, you had better try to escape. I quite
agree with you, Aunt, now that the worst is over
and I know that you and the girls are safe.
No good purpose could be served by my staying, and
(30:58):
being both a stranger and one who who has fought here,
I should certainly be killed if they laid hands on me.
As to escaping, I do not think there can be
any difficulty about that. I have often let myself down
from the walls, and can do so again. And although
there is a strict watch kept at the gates to
prevent any leaving until the Spaniard's thirst for blood is satisfied,
(31:18):
there can be no longer any vigilant watch kept up
by the troops encamped outside, and I ought certainly to
be able to get through them at night. It will
be dark in a couple of hours, and as soon
as it is so, I will be off. The girls
burst into tears at the thought of Ned's departure. During
the seven long months the siege had lasted. He had
been as a brother to them, keeping up their spirits
(31:41):
by his cheerfulness, looking after their safety and as far
as possible after their comfort, and acting as the adviser
and almost as the head of the house. His aunt
was almost equally affected, for she had come to lean
entirely upon him, and to regard him as a son.
It is best that it should be so, Ned, but
we shall all miss you sorely. It may be that
(32:02):
I shall follow your advice and come over to England
on a long visit. Now that I know you so well,
it will not seem like going among strangers as it
did before. For although I met your father and mother
whenever they came over to Vordwick, I had not got
to know them as I know you. I shall talk
the matter over with my father. Of course, everything depends
(32:22):
upon what is going to happen in Holland. Ned did
not tell his aunt that her father had been one
of the first dragged out from the cloisters for execution,
and that her sister, who kept house for him, had
died three days previous to the surrender. His going away
was grief enough for her, for one day, and he
turned the conversation to other matters until night fell, when,
(32:45):
after a sad parting, he made his way to the walls,
having wound round his waist the rope by which he
had been accustomed to lower himself. The executions in Harlem
continued for two days after he had left, and then
the five executioners were so weary of slaying that the
three hundred prisoners who still remained for execution were tied
(33:05):
back to back and thrown into the lake. End of
Chapter fourteen.
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.