ABSTRACT
The First Dutch War arose out of disputed control of the seas, long standing trade rivalries and the aggressive expansion of England's maritime trading policy. Ten years of civil war and campaigns in Ireland and Scotland had afforded Parliament considerable experience in the handling and administration of casualties whilst its field commanders, armed with a fund of experience gained in earlier foreign wars, were ideally placed to offer advice. All of the campaigns were, in their early stages, confused, hastily entered into, poorly planned, underfunded and conducted with grossly underestimated medical support. A major causal factor for the shortcomings was a failure to define specific, overall responsibility for the provision of casualty care. Compared with the excellence of the army's facilities in London, the continued under-provision of overseas medical care coupled with a recurring reliance upon haphazard casualty repatriation was totally reprehensible, especially as many commanders had knowledge of superior continental practices in the provision of local facilities.
