Bucquoy’s ambition was to cross the Waal at a point as near as possible to the fork of that stream with the true Rhine, seize the important city of Nymegen, and then give the hand to Spinola, so soon as he should be on the other side of the Yssel.  At the village of Spardorp or Kekerdom, he employed Pompeio Giustiniani to make a desperate effort, having secured a large number of barges in which he embarked his troops.  As the boatmen neared the opposite bank, however, they perceived that Warner Du Bois had made effective preparations for their reception.  They lost heart, and, on pretence that the current of the river was too rapid to allow them to reach the point proposed for their landing, gradually dropped down the stream, and, in spite of the remonstrances of the commanders, pushed their way back to the shore which they had left.  From that time forth, the States’ troops, in efficient numbers, fringed the inner side of the Waal, along the whole length of the Batavian island, while armed vessels of the republic patrolled the stream itself.  In vain Count Bucquoy watched an opportunity, either by surprise or by main strength, to effect a crossing.  The Waal remained as impassable as if it were a dividing ocean.

On the other side of the quadrilateral, Maurice’s dispositions were as effective as those of his lieutenant on the Waal.  The left shore of the Yssel, along its whole length, from Arnhem and Doesburg quite up to Zwoll and Campen, where the river empties itself into the Zuyder Zee, was now sprinkled thickly with forts, hastily thrown up, but strong enough to serve the temporary purpose of the stadholder.  In vain the fleet-footed and audacious Spinola moved stealthily or fiercely to and fro, from one point to another, seeking an opening through which to creep, or a weak spot where he might dash himself against the chain.  The whole line was securely guarded.  The swollen river, the redoubts, and the musketeers of Maurice, protected the heart of the republic from the impending danger.

Wearied of this fruitless pacing up and down, Spinola, while apparently intending an assault upon Deventer, and thus attracting his adversary’s attention to that important city, suddenly swerved to the right, and came down upon Lochem.  The little town, with its very slender garrison, surrendered at once.  It was not a great conquest, but it might possibly be of use in the campaign.  It was taken before the stadholder could move a step to its assistance, even had he deemed it prudent to leave Yssel-side for an hour.  The summer was passing away, the rain was still descending, and it was the 1st of August before Spinola left Lochem.  He then made a rapid movement to the north, between Zwoll and Hasselt, endeavouring to cross the Blackwater, and seize Geelmuyden, on the Zuyder Zee.  Had he succeeded, he might have turned Maurice’s position.  But the works in that direction had been entrusted to an experienced campaigner, Warmelo, sheriff of Zalant, who received the impetuous Spinola and his lieutenant, Count Solre, so warmly, that they reeled backwards at last, after repeated assaults and great loss of men, and never more attempted to cross the Yssel.