The battle of Hoogstraten, I have to admit that I don’t remember whether I’ve heared about it in history lessons, and I grew up about 30 km from there… However it seems that it was an important battle.
To refresh your memory: on 11th of January 1814 there was a big battle between the troups of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and the allied forces of Prussia, Brittan and Cossacks. And according to some, this battle can be seen as a prelude to the battle of Waterloo: it was the first in a number of confrontations which eventually led to the famous battle in Waterloo.
So that was 200 years ago. Fortunately the organisers of the reconstruction I witnessed yesterday had choosen a sunnier day in the late spring for their big event. And it was a big event: over 800 re-enactors, among which 40 cavalry and also 14 canons. So it was a large and sometimes very loud spectacle…
Eddy
PS: in case you wonder, yes, the French lost again… history repeats…
