on april 10 , 1589 , the garrison of geertruidenberg , composed Come_together of numerous english and some dutch troops commanded Control by governor sir john wingfield , surrendered Surrendering the city to the army of flanders led by don alexander farnese , governor-general of the spanish netherlands ( ) .

at the end Process_end of the great retreat Escaping , the race to the sea began Process_start , a period of reciprocal attempts by the germans and franco-british to outflank Besieging their opponents , extending Change_event_time the front line northwards from the aisne , into picardy , artois and flanders .

the battle Hostile_encounter was part of the first battle Hostile_encounter of flanders , in which german , french , belgian armies and the british expeditionary force Hostile_encounter ( bef ) fought Hostile_encounter from arras in france to nieuport on the belgian coast , from 10 october to mid-november .