The signal discomfiture of the Armada caused, in England, an
enthusiastic passion for enterprises against Spain; and this was
fostered by the unusual good fortune of English adventurers, especially
in their attacks upon the commerce and colonies of the Spanish.
Don Antonio, of Portugal, having advanced a claim to the crown of that
country, then held by Spain, an expedition was undertaken, in England,
to conquer that country for him. Nearly 20,000 volunteers enlisted, and
ships were hired and arms and provisions provided by the adventurers.
The frugal Queen only contributed to the enterprise some £60,000 and
six of her ships. Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norris were at the
head of it, and if they had not allowed themselves to be drawn off from
the main object of their enterprise to attack a Spanish fleet, fitting
at the Groyne for another invasion of England, it is quite probable
that Lisbon would have been taken by a _coup-de-main_. In consequence
of their delay Lisbon was too strongly defended, and the English fleet
was obliged to retire. After taking and burning Vigo they returned to
England, having lost more than half their number by sickness, famine,
fatigue, and wounds. This was, indeed, usually the case with the
maritime adventurers of that day, the losses from illness alone being
perfectly frightful.
As this expedition was returning another was going out, under the Earl
of Cumberland, all the ships, except one man-of-war sent by the Queen,
being equipped at his own expense. Cumberland went to the Terceras and
took many Spanish prizes, but the richest one, a galleon, was lost on
the Cornish coast, in the attempt to reach England. Attempting to seize
the Islands, Cumberland met with a bloody repulse, losing nearly half
his men, and a great mortality seizing upon the survivors, left him
hardly men enough to steer his ships back into a home harbor.
But all these maritime expeditions, whether successful or not, had a
good effect in keeping the Spaniards in check, as well as in keeping up
the spirit and nautical ability of the English.
At a later period, when Elizabeth was assisting Henri Quatre, in
France, against the Duke of Parma and the League, she employed her
naval power very freely against Philip, and endeavored at all times to
intercept his West Indian treasure ships, the source of that greatness
which rendered him so formidable to all his neighbors.
Among other operations she sent Lord Thomas Howard, with a squadron of
seven ships, upon this service. But Philip, informed of her intentions,
fitted out a great fleet of fifty-five sail, and despatched them to
escort home the fleet of galleons from the West Indies.
The Queen’s seven ships, commanded by Howard, were the Defiance, the
Revenge, the Nonpareil, Bonaventure, Lion, Foresight, and Crane. They
are said to have been miserably fitted out. Howard went to the Azores,
and anchoring at Flores, there waited six months for the approach of
the treasure ships, which were inconceivably slow and deliberate in
their passages. In the meantime Don Alphonso Bassano, the commander
of the Spanish escort fleet, hearing of the small English force at
Flores, determined to attack it. The English squadron was at the
time unprepared, beside having much sickness on board. Howard put to
sea hurriedly, leaving many men on shore, and was attacked by the
whole Spanish fleet. The brunt of the engagement which followed was
principally borne by the Revenge, commanded by Sir Richard Grenville.
The fight began about three o’clock in the afternoon, and continued
until after daylight the next morning.
The Revenge was laid on board at one and the same time by the St.
Philip, of 1500 tons and 78 guns, and four others of the Spanish
men-of-war of the largest size, and filled with soldiers. The enemy
boarded no less than fifteen times during the night, and were as often
repulsed, although they continually shifted their vessels, and boarded
with fresh men. The gallant Grenville was wounded early in the action,
but refused to quit the deck. About midnight, however, he was wounded
by a musket ball, which passed through his body. He was then carried
below to have his wound dressed, but while under the surgeon’s hands,
was again wounded in the head, and the surgeon was killed by his side
while attending to his wounds.
The gallant crew held out till daylight, by which time the ship was
a mere wreck, and out of an original crew of 103, forty were killed,
and almost all the rest wounded. The ammunition was expended in the
long and constant firing, and most of their small arms were broken and
useless. In this condition nothing remained but surrender. But Sir
Richard proposed to trust to the mercy of God, rather than that of the
Spaniards, and to destroy themselves with the ship, rather than yield.
The master gunner and many of the seamen agreed to this, but others
opposed it, and obliged Grenville to surrender as a prisoner. They
refused to strike, however, until they were promised their liberty, and
the Spaniards assenting, the ship was at last surrendered.
This was the first English man-of-war that the Spaniards had ever
taken, but she was not doomed to be exhibited as a trophy, for she
foundered a few days afterward, with two hundred of the Spanish prize
crew which had been placed on board of her. It is said that it cost the
Spaniards a thousand lives to capture the Revenge.
Sir Richard Grenville was carried on board the Spanish admiral’s ship,
where he died, two days after, impressing his enemies very much by his
extraordinary behavior and courage. His last words were: “Here die I,
Richard Grenville, with a joyful and quiet mind; for I have ended my
life as a true soldier ought to do, fighting for his country, queen,
religion and honor. My soul willingly departing from this body, leaving
behind the everlasting fame of having behaved as every valiant soldier
is in his duty bound to do.”
In the meantime the treasure ships had been detained so long at Havana,
for fear of the English cruisers, that they were obliged to sail at an
improper season, and most of them were lost at sea before they reached
Spanish harbors.
In 1592 an expedition under Sir Martin Frobisher, consisting of two
men-of-war belonging to the Queen, and others fitted by Frobisher and
Sir Walter Raleigh, made a cruise on the coast of Spain, and took many
Spanish ships. Among them was a carrack, called Madre de Dios, of which
a description is given, and which must have been a most extraordinary
vessel, more like a floating castle or tower than a ship. “She had
seven decks, of 165 feet from stem to stern, was of 1600 tons burden,
manned with 600 men, and carried thirty-two brass guns. Her cargo was
valued at £150,000 on her arrival in England, besides what the officers
and seamen had plundered her of when taken.” This was an immense sum
for those times, and an extraordinary booty to be taken in a single
ship.
The Queen’s adventure in this cruise was only two ships, one of which,
the least of the two, was at the taking of the carrack Madre de Dios;
in virtue of which she assumed power over the whole of the valuable
cargo, taking what portion of it she pleased, and making the rest of
the adventurers submit to her pleasure in the matter. She is said to
have dealt with them rather indifferently, taking the lion’s share.
In 1594 the brave and skillful Admiral Sir Martin Frobisher was
lost to his country. He had been sent with the Vanguard, Rainbow,
Dreadnought, and Acquittance, to aid the French in the attack upon
Brest, which important naval station was then held by the Spaniards.
The Admiral entered the harbor with his ships, and attacked the forts
most vigorously. But the place was well defended, and the attacking
party suffered serious loss. At length the forts surrendered, and the
garrison was put to the sword.
Sir Martin Frobisher was wounded in the hip by a grape shot, and died
soon after he had brought his squadron safely home.
The accounts of the English naval enterprises of the latter part of
Elizabeth’s reign read like romance. These enterprises, often entirely
of a private nature, though sanctioned by the State, were a curious
mixture of chivalrous search for glory and of the grasping love of
lucre of a freebooter or pirate.
In 1594 Richard Hawkins, son of the celebrated navigator, Sir John,
made an unsuccessful raid upon the Spanish possessions in the South
Seas, by way of the Straits of Magellan. And in the same year James
Lancaster was sent by some London merchants to South America, with
a squadron, and took thirty-nine Spanish ships. He also attacked
and captured, against great odds, the very rich city of Pernambuco,
destroying his boats after his men had landed, so as to force them to
fight or to be slaughtered. He returned safely to England, with an
immense booty.
In 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh took a fleet in search of the gold mines
of Guiana, and ascended the Oronoco in boats. He suffered immense loss
in battle and by disease, and found nothing of what he went in search
for. His account of his adventures is most marvelous, and has long been
known to be drawn principally from his imagination.
In the same year, Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins, with six
men-of-war of the Queen’s and twenty others, proceeded on an expedition
against the Spanish settlements in Central America. They first attacked
Porto Rico, where they were repulsed with very serious loss, and
Hawkins soon after died. Drake then resolved to go to Nombre de Dios,
on the Isthmus of Darien, whence he made an attempt to cross the
isthmus to Panama. But the resistance of the Spaniards, coupled with
the difficulties of the region and the climate, all proved too great
even for this seasoned adventurer, and the exposure, vexation and
disappointment so worked upon him that he died. Sir Thomas Baskerville
took command of the expedition, and after an indecisive fight with a
Spanish fleet, returned home empty-handed.
Philip II being known to be making preparations for another invasion
of England, a powerful English fleet was equipped at Plymouth,
consisting of one hundred and seventy vessels, seventeen of which
were first-rate men-of-war. Twenty ships were added to these by
the Hollanders. This fleet was commanded by the High Admiral, Lord
Effingham, while Elizabeth’s favorite, the Earl of Essex, commanded
the troops embarked. Many of the first men of England were either
commanders or serving as volunteers.
The fleet sailed from Plymouth on the first of June, 1596, with a fair
wind, with orders to rendezvous off Cadiz. Fast vessels sent in advance
intercepted all traders, and the fleet found the Spaniards unsuspicious
of any attack, and the port full of men-of-war and richly laden
merchantmen.
After a fruitless attack at St. Sebastians, it was resolved to take
the fleet into the bay and attack the Spanish shipping. The Admiral
did not look upon this plan with much favor, conceiving it to be rash,
but at last it was determined upon, so much to Essex’s joy that he
is said to have thrown overboard his richly jeweled cap, on hearing
the decision of the council of war. His joy was much moderated when
he heard that Effingham had orders from the Queen not to allow him to
lead in the attack, as he was not to be exposed. Sir Walter Raleigh and
Lord Thomas Howard were appointed to lead, but when the fight began
Essex forgot his orders, and pressed into the thickest of the fire. The
English had great incentives to do well. The nobles were emulous for
glory, while all were incited by the prospect of great plunder, and by
animosity against their old enemy, the Spaniards. The English fleet
attacked with such ardor that the Spaniards were soon obliged to slip
their cables, and, retreating to the bottom of the bay, run on shore.
Essex landed his men, and carried the city, sword in hand. After the
place was taken, he is said to have stopped the slaughter usual on such
occasions, and to have treated his prisoners with great humanity.
The English fell into a great amount of plunder, but a much richer
booty was lost by the burning of the fleet and the merchantmen, which
was ordered by the Spanish Admiral, the Duke de Medina Sidonia. Thus
was immense loss caused to Spain, not to speak of the humiliation of
that proud nation at seeing one of her principal cities in the hands of
the hated heretics.
In 1597 Spain was busy collecting ships and troops at Ferrol, for the
purpose of a descent upon Ireland. Elizabeth at once put the Earl of
Essex in command of a fleet, with Sir W. Raleigh, Lord Thomas Howard
and Lord Mountjoy, as commanders, while many of the first nobility
embarked as volunteers.
This fleet sailed from Plymouth on the 9th of July, but the very next
day encountered a severe storm, which damaged and scattered it. After
reassembling and refitting, the project of going to attack Ferrol was
given up, and it was determined to endeavor to capture the great annual
treasure fleet from the Spanish Indies.
In that age, from the unwieldiness of these great galleons and from
imperfect navigation, these fleets had stated courses and seasons for
going and returning. They had also certain ports where they touched
for water and provisions, rendered necessary by the immense time they
consumed in their voyages. The Azores was one of these points, and
Essex determined to go there, and to take the port of Fayal, as a
preliminary step to capturing the fleet. But the English ships becoming
separated on the passage, Raleigh and his squadron arrived alone.
Seeing the Spaniards at work fortifying, he at once attacked and
took the place. Essex, upon his arrival, was much incensed at being
robbed of the glory he so much coveted, and but for Howard, would have
cashiered Raleigh and his officers. Sir Walter having made due amends,
the matter was arranged, and dispositions were made for intercepting
the galleons. Sir William Monson was stationed off the islands, in
observation, and in due time made the appointed signal that the
Spaniards were in sight. These, however (owing, as Monson says, in his
memoirs, to Essex’s want of seamanship), almost all managed to get into
the secure and strong port of Angra. Only three were taken, but these
were of such value as to defray the whole cost of the expedition.
[Illustration: “HENRY GRACE DE DIEU.”--“_The Great Harry._”
(Built by Henry VII of England.)]