The game played on that June day may be compared to a theatrical performance, perhaps a farce if the death of so wasn't a tragedy.

THE ACTORS

Playing opposite one another in the major roles were Turenne and Conde - the most famous and ablest French commanders of the time. The first one fighting for his King and France, the second against King and country. Surprisingly, a couple of years before their roles were reversed and it was Conde who was the Royalist, Turenne the Rebel.

Fighting with the French was a British force led by General Lockhart and Major General Morgan. It was the first time since 1591 that English and French forces had fought together against a common enemy. Then, Elizabeth had sent 700 volunteers to help the Hughenots and their leader, Henry de Navarre to conquer the French throne. In 1658 the British government was helping the whole country.

Opposed to the allied force, the Spanish also have their own British contingent. Commanding it was the Duke of York. He had once served France but following a change in the foreign policies of Cromwell and Louis XIV, was now fignting against it.

June 14th 1658 was not only a new act in the continuing Franco-Spanish struggle but also an extension of the French and British Civil Wars.

THE SCENE

Marshall Turenne was besieging Spanish Dunkerque - which had been besieged by Conde on behalf of France 12 years before! A large Spanish army, now led by Conde, was marching from the East to relieve the City.

The site of the battle has nothing in common with traditional C17th battlefields. From East to West, from North to South, it is mainly Dunes, sand and water. To the North is the sea. From it one can walk only three kilometres (under two miles) before being stopped by the Dunkerque-Furnes canal.

In his study of the battle, Jules Bourelly gives an 800 metres deep beach (875 yards), 1,200 metres of Dunes and roughly the same depth of grassland before arriving at the canal.

It was on this terrain, hardly compatible with mid C17th drill and tactics, that the final battle to decide the rising power of the French nation under Louis XIV and the declining fortunes of Spain and Philippe IV took place.

STAGE POSITIONS

Around 8 o'clock on the morning the French army, commanded by Marshall Turenne, after a slow advance, halted in front of the enemy. According to accounts there were about 10,000 Foot and 6,000 Horse, arranged in two lines.

The left wing, under the command of Castelneau, formed up on the beach, still partly covered by the high tide. In the front line were 13 squadrons of Horse commanded by the Marquis de Varenne. Five of them were raised in Lorraine - those of d'Ourches, du Four, Arberg, Lenoncourt and Araucourt. The other eight were French - Castelneau, Rouvray, Broglie, Saint Lieu, Grand Maitre, l'Altesse and Villequier. They were divided into three brigades, commanded by Lignivelle, Saint Lieu and Rouvray. The second line was commanded by the Earl Schomberg and comprised nine squadrons in two brigades--those of Montlar and Alamont.

The centre had 11 battalions in the front line- French Guards; Swiss Guards; Picardie; Turenne; Bout de Bois(?) and the English Contingent. This comprised the regiments of Cochrane, Alsop, Lillington, Morgan, Lockhart and the Gibbons/Salmon. All these were under the command of the Earl of Gadagne. Behind this line were seven squadrons of Horse - Chevaux Legers, Maison de Roi, du Duc d'Orleans and Mazarin, Chevaux legers de la Reine, Gendarmes Ecossais and the Mousquetaires de Mazarin. In short, the whole Royal and Prince's Households and the English troops. The second line comprised seven battalions under the Marquis de Bellefond. This part of the army was formed up on the Dunes.

The right wing covered the area between the Dunes and the canal. Its front line was composed of three brigades under Gassion, d'Espense and Podewiltz. There were 13 squadrons -Royal (2), Gramont (2), Turenne (2), Vilette (2), Bouillon, Coilsin, D'Espense, Coudray and Podewiltz. On the left is a Breton battalion of Foot, on the right one from the Montgommery regiment. Ten Squadrons, forming two brigades (Esquancourt and Rochepere) comprise the second line, the Marquis of Esquancourt commanding.

The reserve was placed to the rear of the Infantry formations and consisted of four squadrons under the Marquis de Richelieu.

There were 11 field pieces, five on the right of the Foot under Monsieur de Lettancourt, 6 on the right under Monsieur. Though this may seem a bit on the poor side, it must be remembered that the Spanish had none at all!

And finally- Turenne's army was supported by the English fleet, it being able to fire upon the Spanish right flank.

THE SPANISH ARMY

One anecdote of the battle has Conde, returning to wake Don Juan, the Spanish general in order to report on the French movements encountering the Duke of Gloucester, younger brother of Charles II.

Asking him whether he had ever seen a battle, the latter answered "No". " Alas", replied Conde, in half an hour you'll see how we will lose one".

Incredibly, the Spanish relieving force was surprised by the French manouevre. Conde and the Spanish generals were thus faced with a problem, namely that in the early hours of the day much of the Horse had been set forgaing and despite all efforts, half the Spanish cavalry (about 4,000 troopers) were absent.

Luckily for the Spanish, the allied army was moving slowly enough for the Spanish army to deploy in time. Apart from the foraging cavalry there were 6,000 Foot and 4,000 Horse to face 16,000. The army was deployed in a crescent on the Dunes, the centre just in front of the allied Foot, some 500 metres away. The line was held by the Spanish units, as well as by the English Royalist units, the King's Lifeguard, Lord Bristol's, the Duke of York's and the Duke of Gloucester's. In addition, there were a couple of Walloon battallions as well as Irish and German units. In all between 11 - 15 battalions.

40 squadrons of Horse were holding a dip in the ground behind the infantry, their flank resting near the canal. Most of these units were to the left of the Foot. This cavalry, under Conde, was entirely commanded by French officers, those who had followed the Prince into exile. It has been assumed that the troopers were a mixture of Spanish, Wallooon and German. Due to the limited space available the Horse was deployed five squadrons deep.

The first line comprised three regiments, two from Conde's regiment, with Guitaut's Foot regiment on the left and Persan's on the right. Monsieur de Persan commanded the whole line. The other four line consisted of 19 squadrons of Horse, forming four brigades under Conde's staunch supporters the Earl de Coigney, the Marquis de Bouteville, the Viscount de Meille and Monsieur de la suze. Serving in various other capacities were other stauch ' Frondeurs ', Monsieurs Rochefort, Romainville, and Chamilly, as well as the Prince de Robecque de Montmorency. All were French, the last stand of the last Fronde...

Caracene placed himself at the head of the Spanish centre, Don Juan commanding the right wing of Horse, with the Duke of York as second in command. The Spanish, perhaps worried about naval gunfire, ignored the beach. Unfortunately the difficulties of the terrain effectively prevented Conde from supporting the rest of the army.

THE PERFORMANCE

The Allied infantry advanced. The English contingent under Morgan started its attack on a large Dune held by Don Gaspard Bonifaz's regiment. After a period of musket flre the infantry become embroiled in a melee. No doubt aided by the height of the Dune, the Spanish held, despite the arrival of a second English battalion.

Lettancourt's artillery was ordered to within pistol shot of the Dune. As the guns open up with a ferocious fire on the position, Castelneau's Horse gallops across the beach, now dry with the ebb of tide and falls on the Spanish right, turning Don Juan's flank. Thus the real reason for the slow allied advance is revealed- Turenne planned to fight the battle on the ebb tide.

On the other side of the battle the English Foot under Morgan, supported by the French Horse and Artillery launch another attack on the Dunes. This time the assualt succeeds in forcing the Don Bonifaz regiment off of the top, seven of the eleven Spanish Captains being killed. One of the survivors will later compare the English to "wild beasts".

In pursuing the broken Spaniards the English encountered the Royalists under the future James II. Unable to stem the tide of his retreating allies or advancing countrymen and in danger from the threat to his flank, James withdrew but his counter-attacks had prevented the attempt to secure the Dunes covering the beach.

At the same time, the York's Horse were confronted by the regiment's of Castelneau as well as those elements of Saint Lieu's Brigade that had infiltrated the Spanish infantry. While Don Juan, York and Caracene were contemplating withdrawing in the face of this envelopment Lorraine's cavalry, until then kept in the rear, launched a ferocious charge on the Spanish centre that resulted in the capture of nearly 2,000 troops.

Taking advantage of the disorder Castelneau, now supported by his second line of Horse, overwhelmed the last of the resistance, chasing his enemies to Niueport. The Duke of York was later scathing about the performance of the Spanish Horse.

In the Centre the French regiments of Bour de Bois, Turenne, Picardie and the Gardes Francais advanced straight at the Dunes. Four of Caracenes regiments opened fire on them; the only act of resistance in this part of the field. Having fired the Spanish joined their retreating comrades.

THE FINAL ACT

Whilst the centre and right flank crumbled Conde was managaing to hold the French on the left. The rough terrain had enabled him to conceal the main part of his troops, to the obvious surprise of the advancing French. However, well aware of the experience and cunning of his opponent, Turenne had been careful enough to allow only a slow orderly advance. After he had commanded the artillery to advance, he had them open fire on Persan's Brigade as Crequi launched four squadron's against Conde. Despite coming under heavy fire, the French cavalry, under de Bussy Rabutin, contacted the Spanish Horse and pushed them back 200-300 metres.

Realising the danger and in order to maintain his front line in good order, Conde despatched a regiment of Horse to clear the path between the Canal and the Dunes. However, a body of French musketeers arrived in time to place themselves in the gap and so prevent this.

It was said of Conde that in such circumstances he "had personal resources unknown to others". He placed himself at the head of several Squadrons from the Rocheford Regiment as well as de Meille's Brigade. Thereupon he charged the French as he had 25 years earlier at Rocroi. With him were Coligny, Bouteville, de Meille; the last "Frondeurs", young landowners, devoted to their master following him first into exile and now to certain honour and glory..or death.

Facing this "Furia Francese" in the service of Spain the French Horse was overwhelmed, the disorganised cavalry being pushed back to their infantry. However, Conde was unable to exploit his victory as the impetuous, ferocious tidal wave of his assault was held back and finally broken by a wall of muskets and pikes.

Fleeing with his Squadrons Conde twice barely managed to avoid capture. Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, he rallied what few troops he could and left the battlefield. Crossing three kilometres of flooded grasslands on the other side of the Dunes, he arrived at Zuydcoote. There he encountered James who had managed to ride through French lines without being recoginsed. They rode on.

During the battle Turenne had stayed in the front line of the French forces despite the danger - of one of his staff officers had been killed beside him. He halted the pursuit at the boat bridge situated on the Furness Canal.

At around Midday the fighting ceased, four hours of bloody fighting over.

CURTAIN CALL

De Richlieu rode at the head of several squadrons to Dunkerque, where he forced back was had been a successful Spanish counter-attack against the outworks.

The French army rallied on Zuydcoote. There Turenne was presented with the trophies of victory. Four Spanish commanders were captured; eight of Conde's followers, including the mortally wounded de Meille. According to Turenne, the Spanish dead numbered 1,000, Allied fatalities being put at 300-400. De La Menardiere, probably the best source for the battle, gives the Spanish losses as 800. The Duke of York mentions 400.

The "Old Infantry" of Spain, damaged at Rocroi in 1642 by Conde, was destroyed in Dunkerque's Dunes by Turenne.

Dunkerque capitulated on June 23rd, the garrison parading out in front of Louis XIVth. The Governor, William, Marquis de Leyde, was spared this this final humiliation, having died on the 23rd, resisting to the end as he had in the 1642 siege.

Acording to the treaty (and against Louis's wishes) the city was surrendered to General Lockhart. The French King's refusal to be the guest of the English and stay the night at Dunkirk was seen as a great insult.

In 1662 King Charles II, in dire financial straits, sold the city for the C17th equivalent of £ 500,000.

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