The Perils of War: operations and developments, 1585–1588

Abstract

By September 1585, England was effectively at war with Spain. On the same day that Drake’s fleet finally put to sea — 14 September — Norris mustered over 3400 English troops at Utrecht, while 600 more occupied the key port of Ostend. Shortly afterwards, the queen’s soldiers began garrisoning the ‘cautionary towns’ of Flushing and Brielle. Another 3000 English ‘volunteers’ also served in the States’ pay. If these deployments were not sufficient to constitute acts of war, Drake’s fleet — which included the queen’s ships Elizabeth Bonaventure and Aid — arrived off the north-western coast of Spain on 27 September and spent ten days terrorising the region before continuing its voyage towards the West Indies. However, neither England nor Spain made a formal declaration of war — and none would be issued by either side during the 19 years of conflict which followed. In contrast to the days when Henry VIII or Mary sent a herald to the French court to initiate conflict by proclaiming their ‘defiance’ of France, Elizabeth and Philip slid into war without observing the medieval diplomatic niceties. In part, this was because neither side really wanted the war, which made them refrain from public commitments which would make future compromise impossible.¹