The Low Countries coastline has changed substantially over time. Land reclamation means that places which were water during an earlier campaign may now be dry land. An attempt to measure Napoleonic Wars distances from a modern map illustrates why historians must reconstruct period geography rather than assume present shorelines. Gravelines was a Flanders port near the French border and now lies in northern France, southwest of Dunkirk.
Notable Point · 59:36-1:00:41
Why today's Dutch coast can mislead historical maps
Land reclamation and coastal change make modern maps unreliable guides to some earlier Dutch and Flemish campaign distances.