[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1657.  Nov. 19.] [Sidenote b:  A.D. 1658.  June 8.]

between France and England was renewed for another year; three thousand men, drafted from different regiments, were sent by the protector to supply the deficiency in the number of his forces; and the combined army opened the campaign with the siege of Dunkirk.  By the Spaniards the intelligence was received with surprise and apprehension.  Deceived by false information, they had employed all their efforts to provide for the safety of Cambray.  The repeated warnings given by Charles had been neglected; the extensive works at Dunkirk remained in an unfinished state; and the defence of the place had been left to its ordinary garrison of no more than one thousand men, and these but scantily supplied with stores and provisions.  To repair his error, Don Juan, with the consent of his mentor, the Marquess Caracena, resolved to hazard a battle; and, collecting a force of six thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry, encamped between the village of Zudcote and the lines of the besiegers.  But Turenne, aware of the defective organization of the Spanish armies, resolved to prevent the threatened attack; and the very next morning, before the Spanish cannon and ammunition had reached the camp, the allied force was seen advancing in battle array.  Don Juan hastily placed his men along a ridge of sand-hills which extended from the sea coast to the canal, giving the command of the right wing to the duke of York, of the left to the prince of Conde, and reserving the centre to himself.  The battle was begun by the English, who found themselves opposed to their countryman, the duke of York.  They were led by Major-General Morgan; for Lockhart, who acted both as ambassador and commander-in-chief, was confined by indisposition to his carriage.  Their ardour to distinguish themselves in the presence of the two rival nations carried them considerably in advance of their allies; but, having halted to gain breath at the foot of the opposite sand-hill, they mounted with impetuosity, received the fire of the enemy, and, at the point of the pike, drove them from their position.  The duke immediately charged at the head of the Spanish cavalry; but one half of his men were mowed down by a well-directed fire of musketry; and James himself owed the preservation of his life to the temper of his armour.  The advantage, however, was dearly purchased:  in Lockhart’s regiment scarcely an officer remained to take the command.

By this time the action had commenced on the left, where the prince of Conde, after some sharp fighting, was compelled to retreat by the bank of the canal.  The centre was never engaged; for the regiment, on its extreme left, seeing itself flanked by the French in pursuit of Conde, precipitately abandoned its position, and the example was successively imitated by the whole line.  But, in the meanwhile, the duke of York had rallied his broken infantry, and while they faced