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Francis Vere
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Francis Vere (1560-1609), English soldier, was the son of Geoffrey Vere of Crepping Hall, Essex, and nephew of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford.
He first went on active service under
Leicester in 1585, and was soon in the thick of the war raging in the
Low Countries. At the siege of
Sluys young Vere greatly distinguished himself under
Sir Roger Williams and Sir
Thomas Baskerville. In 1588 he was in the garrison of
Bergen op Zoom, which delivered itself from the besiegers by its own good fighting, and was knighted by
Willoughby on the field of battle. In the next year Sir Francis became sergeant major-general of the English troops in the Low Countries, and soon afterwards the chief command devolved upon him. This position he retained during fifteen campaigns, with almost unbroken success. Working in close cooperation with the Dutch forces under
Maurits of Nassau, he step by step secured the country for the cause of independence. Vere won the reputation of being one of the best soldiers of the day, his English troops acquired a cohesion and training fitting them to face the best Spanish troops, and his camp became the fashionable training-ground of all aspiring soldiers, amongst others not only his younger brother
Horace, but men of such note as
Ferdinando (Lord) Fairfax,
Gervase Markham and
Miles Standish. Sir Francis served in the
Cádiz expedition of 1596, and in 1598 was entrusted with the negotiation of the treaty whereby the Dutch agreed to take a greater share of the burden of the war than they had hitherto done. His success in this task obtained him the governorship of Brill and the rank of general. The culminating point of his career came when, in 1600, on the advice of Barneveld, the states general decided to carry the war into the enemy's country. In the
Battle of Nieuwpoort (2nd July 1600), one of the most desperately contested battles of the age, Vere and Maurice completely defeated the veteran Spanish troops of the archduke Albert. This was followed by the celebrated defense of Ostend from July 1601 to March 1602. When
James I made peace with Spain, Vere retired from active service and spent the remainder of his days in country life in England, occupying himself with the compilation of his
Commentaries of the Divers Pieces of Service wherein he had Command (1657; reprinted in Arbers
English Garner, 1883). He died in 1609, soon after the truce recognized the independence of the United Provinces, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey.
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