[11] Vere left in March and was back in the field with a large portion of English troops (many newly recruited) numbering 8,000 men and many of them veterans from the siege at Ostend.

[4][12] On arriving at the Hague, Vere at once joined the army of Maurice and as soon as both forces had assembled which then numbered nearly 20,000 men, they crossed the Waal at Nijmegen, and the Maas at Mook, advanced thence into the heart of Brabant.

[19] Mendoza went out with the aim of relieving Grave but soon discovered the significant size of the Dutch and English besieging force when the leading part of the Spanish column ran into strong positions and were repelled with loss.

[6] This abruptly stopped when they heard news that Mendoza's troops were forced to turn back to Venlo in late August; mutinies also played their part in the Spanish retreat.

The Earl of Leicester arrived at the siege in late August in case Francis' wound was mortal and needed to fill in his command but this was denied by Queen Elizabeth I.

[25] Before long it had risen so quickly that Maurice even considered raising the whole siege altogether and pondered to make a hasty retreat – he had made calls for the garrison to surrender.

[6] Breakout of diseases, rising waters, a severe lack of food, and news that the relief force had been turned back which as a result initiated a large mutiny meant that the Spanish had no choice.

[25] In addition the death of Elizabeth and the crowning of King James I of England put operations on hold whilst Grand pensionary Johan van Oldenbarnevelt made talks with the English court and parliament.

[26] Maurice managed to retake Wachtendonk in March 1603 and Sluis in the Southern Netherlands in August 1604, but the Spanish forces, despite suffering heavy losses, did not raise the siege of Ostend and it capitulated in September 1604.