_THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA_
1. In 1588 the "Invincible Armada" sailed from Spain into the high
seas. To understand the nature of this formidable naval armament and
the reasons for its sailing, we must take a brief survey of the
condition of Europe at this period of the world's history.
SPAIN BEFORE THE ARMADA
2. At this time Spain was the most powerful of the monarchies of
Europe. Many causes had conspired to give her this pre-eminence. About
one hundred years before, the two principal provinces, Castile and
Aragon, were united by the marriage of their sovereigns, Isabella and
Ferdinand. In 1492 the Aloors were subjugated, uniting the whole
peninsula under one government. In the same year, under the auspices
of the Spanish sovereigns, Columbus discovered the New World, giving
additional luster to the Spanish name and a new impulse to Spanish
adventure.
3. Thirty years later, Mexico and Peru had been overrun and plundered
by Cortes and Pizarro, and the treasures of millions of people,
accumulated through many centuries, became a possession of the Spanish
people; raising them to a degree of opulence unknown since the time of
the most illustrious of the Roman emperors. In consequence of this
wealth, commerce expanded, large cities grew up along the courses of
the navigable rivers, and all branches of industry were aroused to a
state of great activity.
4. In 1516 Spain and Austria were united under the Emperor Charles V,
grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella; and, during his reign, the united
kingdoms arose to a height of power almost equal to that of the empire
of Charlemagne. The dominion of Charles extended from the Atlantic to
the steppes of Poland, and from the Mediterranean to the Baltic. It
included all of Western Continental Europe, except France and Southern
Italy. In 1556 Charles abdicated his throne, and divided his empire,
giving Austria and Germany to his brother Ferdinand, and Spain and the
Low Countries of Holland and Belgium to his son Philip II.
5. Spain was now rich and powerful. Her armies were large, and were
commanded by the most experienced military officers of Europe.
Material progress showed itself on every side. The richest commerce of
the world poured its wealth into her ports. A new intellectual life
was aroused, which found expression in literature and schools. All the
conditions seemed to indicate that the Spanish people were about to
lead Europe in the direction of a higher civilization.
CHARACTER AND POLICY OF PHILIP II
6. But soon all this changed. Philip was vain, bigoted, and ambitious.
In his administration of public affairs he seemed to have but two
objects in view, to augment Spanish power, and to cause his own
religious creed to be universally accepted. To promote these objects
he had no scruples in regard to means. His own people were tortured
and executed by the thousand. By this savage policy he stamped out
heresy, placed freedom of thought under a ban, and put an end to the
intellectual progress of the country. In his dealings with other
nations his diplomacy included all the arts of chicanery and deceit.
7. Two formidable obstacles stood in the way of the realization of his
plans. Heretical England had become a strong naval power, and English
ships captured his treasure-vessels laden with the spoils of the
countries lie had plundered. The eagles of the sea despoiled the
wolves of the main of their ill-got gains. The second trouble was
nearer home. The people of the Low Countries revolted alike from his
government and his creed. To remove these obstacles was the first step
toward the attainment of his larger ambitions.
8. In regard to England, Philip ventured upon a master-stroke of
policy. He sought the hand of Mary, the newly crowned Queen of
England, and married her. By this step lie hoped and expected to
extinguish dissent in England as he had done in his own dominions, to
gradually usurp the government, and to make English naval supremacy
subserve the interests of Spain.
9. But Philip was sorely disappointed. Mary, though narrow and
bigoted, and at one with hire in creed, had still English blood in
her; and English independence had been sturdily maintained through too
many centuries to be surrendered to any power or on any pretext. The
English Parliament also interfered and refused to crown him jointly
with Mary. So Philip found himself united to a sickly, peevish wife of
twice his age, and entirely powerless to effect the purposes he had in
view.
10. Three or four years passed in fruitless intrigue. Punishments for
heresy were frequent, but the fires of persecution never blazed so
fiercely in the cooler atmosphere of England as in Spain, and the
victims of the stake could be counted singly instead of by the
thousand. Then Mary died, and Elizabeth ascended the throne of
England. The new queen declined the honor of Philip's hand which was
tendered her, and she zealously espoused the cause of the English
church. The hunted turned hunters, and the last fires of English
persecution were lit by those whom the stake had threatened all
through the dreary years of Mary's reign. This change of front and the
gradual amelioration of penalties which followed show that
persecutions are not the monopoly of any sect, but are rather the
manifestations of an irresponsible power in a semi-barbarous age.
11. Philip retired angry and disgusted. The contemptuous refusal of
his hand by Elizabeth was a terrible shock to his personal pride; the
triumph of the new church inflamed his bigotry; and the sturdy
independence of the English people was a severe blow to his pride of
country. He brooded over the situation and determined to resent the
slights--personal and public--which had been put upon him.
12. From his purpose he was for a time diverted by the attitude of his
rebellious subjects in Belgium. Maddened to ferocity by the failure of
his plans, he devoted the whole people to destruction, and he sent his
best-equipped armies, under the terrible Duke of Alva, to devastate
the cities of the dikes as Pizarro had destroyed the homes of the
Incas. After innumerable atrocities, and the wholesale slaughter of
men, women, and children, the remnant of freedom was preserved by the
obstinacy of the Dutch burghers, the wise policy of William the
Silent, the aid of the sea, and the succor furnished by Elizabeth.
[Illustration: _The Spanish Armada_]
13. Here, again, was practical defeat. His cherished purposes were
thwarted, and the high hope of his life was gone. Nothing was left but
despair and revenge. At this time Philip began to exhibit in a marked
degree the madness which overshadowed the last years of his life. His
hatred of England grew from day to day, and at last took shape in a
determination to make one supreme effort to conquer his rival, and to
check the rising free thought of the English people. For years the
preparations went, on for the great conflict, and in 1588, twenty
years after the accession of Elizabeth to the throne, everything was
ready.
ENGLAND'S POWER TO RESIST THE ARMADA.
14. And what of England and of her ability to resist this formidable
attack? For a hundred years before the beginning of the sixteenth
century, the civil wars of the Roses had desolated the country and put
an end to national growth. For the next fifty years, and until the
commencement of the reign of Elizabeth, violence and bloodshed were so
common that the population barely maintained its own. In 1588 the
whole number of people in England and Wales was estimated at four
millions, about one third of the population of Spain.
15. But England possessed two elements of strength--her people,
although differing in creed and often warring with one another,
were intensely patriotic, and were united as one man against a
foreign foe; and the ships of England, manned by English crews
and commanded by her great captains--the legitimate successors
of the old Vikings--dominated the seas. No enterprise was too
hazardous for these hardy mariners to undertake, and no disparity
of force ever induced them to pause. Philip was often wrought to
frenzy as he saw these bold corsairs capture his treasure-ships
and ravage his coasts in sight of his invincible but impotent
armies.
16. The mode of attack which Philip determined upon consisted of two
distinct but co-operative movements. A formidable army of invasion,
under the Duke of Parma, the most experienced and skillful commander
in Europe, was stationed at the several ports of the Low Countries,
opposite the British coast, from Dunkirk east. Innumerable transports
were provided to convey this host across the Channel, and, once on
English ground, an easy and triumphant march to London was expected.
The second part of the grand expedition consisted of an immense fleet
of the largest vessels ever built, under the command of the Duke of
Medina Sidonia, which was to drive away the English ships and convoy
the army of Parma to the English shore. This fleet was christened by
the Spaniards "The Invincible Armada."
17. "Philip hastened his preparations with all the energy he could
command. In every port resounded the axe and hammer of the
ship-builder; in every arsenal blazed the flames of busy forges. All
Spanish Europe echoed with the din of arms. Provisions were amassed in
a thousand granaries; soldiers were daily mustered on the
parade-grounds, drilled, and accustomed to the use of arquebus and
cannon. Carts and wagons were built in hundreds for the conveyance of
stores; spades, mattocks; and baskets were got ready for the pioneers;
iron and brass ordnance were cast, and leaden shot melted in enormous
quantities; nor were the instruments of torture--the thumb-screw and
the 'jailer's daughter'--forgotten."
18. In 1587 the preparations were nearly completed, and the Armada was
about ready to sail, when a knowledge of its destination became known
to Sir Francis Drake, the great English commander. Without considering
the disparity of force, the old sea-king, with a fleet of
swift-sailing vessels, made a sudden descent upon the port of Cadiz,
where the ships of the Armada were at anchor. Many of the larger
vessels escaped by taking refuge under the guns of the forts, but the
city was lit up by the blaze of one hundred and fifty burning ships,
and the great enterprise was delayed for another year.
SAILING OF THE ARMADA.
19. But this disaster only called forth greater exertions. The maimed
vessels were repaired, new ones were built, and at length one hundred
and thirty-two ships, many of them the largest ever known at the time,
were ready to sail. They carried three thousand guns and thirty
thousand men. On May 3d the Armada sailed from the mouth of the Tagus,
but a great gale dispersed the ships, and obliged them to put back
into port to repair. Surely God did not smile upon the beginning of a
warfare carried on in his name! It was not until July 12th that the
fleet finally sailed from Corunna on its mission of destruction, and
to meet its fate.
20. To cope with this formidable force, the whole British navy could
muster only thirty-six vessels, all much smaller than the largest of
the Spanish ships. But, in consideration of the great danger,
merchants and private gentlemen fitted out vessels at their own
expense, and by midsummer a fleet of one hundred and ninety-seven
ships was placed at the disposal of the British admiral. In tonnage,
number of guns, and number of men, the strength of the whole fleet was
about one half that of the Armada.
21. But all England was aroused. For more than five centuries this was
the first foreign invasion that had threatened her shores. The years
of preparation had given time for the avowed purposes of Philip to
become known throughout the kingdom. There was anxiety everywhere, for
no one knew where and when the blow was to be struck; but there was no
thought of submission, and all England stood alert, eagerly watching
and waiting. Much to Philip's disappointment and chagrin, the great
Catholic families of England rallied to their country's defense as
readily as their Protestant neighbors, and all Englishmen stood
shoulder to shoulder in this supreme moment of the nation's peril.
Vessels patrolled the shores, to give notice of the coming ships;
soldiers drilled in every hamlet; and on the hill-tops piles of fagots
were placed so that signal-fires might speedily send the news to the
remotest parts of the kingdom.
WAITING FOR THE ARMADA.
22. Canon Kingsley has given a graphic picture of England's great
naval commanders, when the news was received that the Armada was off
the coast. He supposes them assembled at Plymouth on the 19th of July,
engaged in the then favorite game of bowls.
23. "Those soft, long eyes and pointed chin you recognize already.
They are Sir Walter Raleigh's. The fair young man in the flame-colored
suit at his side is Lord Sheffield; opposite them stand Lord
Sheffield's uncle, Sir Richard Grenville, and the stately Lord Charles
Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of England next to him is his
son-in-law, Sir Robert Southwell, captain in her Majesty's service.
24. "But who is that short, sturdy, plainly dressed man, who stands
with legs a little apart, and hands behind his back, looking up with
keen gray eyes into the face of each speaker? His cap is in his hand,
so you can see the bullet-head of crisp brown hair and the wrinkled
forehead as well as the high cheek-bones, the short square face, the
broad temples, the thick lips, which are yet as firm as granite. A
coarse, plebeian stump of a man; yet the whole figure and attitude are
those of boundless determination, self-possession, energy; and, when
at last he speaks a few blunt words, all eyes are turned respectfully
on him, for his name is Francis Drake.
25. "A burly, grizzled elder, in greasy, sea-stained garments,
contrasting oddly with the huge gold chain about his neck, waddles up,
as if he had been born, and had lived ever since, in a gale of wind at
sea. The upper half of his sharp, dogged visage seems of a brick-red
leather, the brow of badger's fur, and, as he claps Drake on the back,
with a broad Devon accent he shouts, 'Be you a-coming to drink your
wine, Francis Drake, or be you not? saving your presence my lord.'
The lord high admiral only laughs, and bids Drake go and drink his
wine, for John Hawkins, admiral of the fleet, is the patriarch of
Plymouth seamen, if Drake is the hero.
26. "So they push through the crowd, wherein is many another man whom
we would gladly have spoken with face to face on earth. Martin
Frobisher and John Davis are sitting on that bench, smoking tobacco
from long silver pipes; and by them are Fenton and Wishington, who
have both tried to follow Drake's path around the world, and failed,
though by no fault of their own. The short, prim man, in the huge
yellow ruff, is Richard Hawkins, the admiral's hereafter famous son.
27. "But hark! the boom of a single gun seaward directs the attention
of every one to a small armed vessel staggering up the sound under a
press of canvas. A boat puts off; its oars flash quickly in the sun;
the captain lands, and, inquiring for the lord high admiral, is
quickly brought into his presence. He has discovered the formidable
array of the Spaniards bearing down with the wind like so many
floating castles, the ocean seeming to groan under the weight of their
heavy burdens. The lord high admiral proposes to hold counsel with his
principal officers; but, says Drake, with a hearty laugh: 'Let us play
out our play; there will be plenty of time to win the game and beat
the Spaniards, too.'
28. "The game was played out steadily, and, the last cast having been
thrown, Drake and his comrades leaped into their boats and rowed
swiftly to their respective ships. With so much skill did Howard and
his lieutenants direct the movements of their squadrons that, before
morning, sixty of the best English ships had warped out of Plymouth
Harbor."
HOW THE NEWS SPREAD THROUGH ENGLAND
29. While preparations had been made to meet the Armada, there seems
to have been a half expectation on the part of the government that
something would occur to prevent its sailing. Until the very last,
Elizabeth and her counselors appeared to place more confidence in
diplomacy and political combinations than in the powers of Sir Francis
Drake and his coadjutors. So, when the Armada was seen off the coast,
the signal-fires were kindled, and the whole kingdom was soon ablaze.
The stirring verse of Macaulay best describes the spread of the news,
the alarm, the anxiety, and the grand uprising of the whole people.
30. Attend, all ye who list to bear
Our noble England's praise;
I tell of the thrice-famous deeds
She wrought in ancient days,
When that great fleet invincible
Against her bore in vain
The richest spoils of Mexico,
The stoutest hearts of Spain.
31. It was about the lovely close
Of a warm summer day,
There carne a gallant merchant-ship
Full sail to Plymouth Bay;
Her crew hath seen Castile's black fleet,
Beyond Aurigny's isle,
At earliest twilight, on the waves,
Lie heaving many a mile.
32. At sunrise she escaped their van,
By God's especial grace;
And the tall Pinta, till the noon,
Had held her close in chase.
33. Forthwith a guard at every gun
Was placed along the wall;
The beacon blazed upon the roof
Of Edgecumbe's lofty hall;
Many a light fishing-bark put out
To ply along the coast,
And with loose rein and bloody spur
Rode inland many a post.
34. With his white hair unbonneted,
The stout old sheriff comes;
Before him march the halberdiers;
Behind him sound the drums;
His yeomen round the market cross
Make clear an ample space;
For there behooves him to set up
The standard of her Grace.
43. At once on all her stately gates
Arose the answering fires;
At once the wild alarum clashed
From all her reeling spires;
From all the batteries of the Tower
Pealed loud the voice of fear;
And all the thousand masts of Thames
Sent back a louder cheer
44. And from the farthest wards was heard
The rush of hurrying feet,
And the broad streams of pikes and flags
Rushed down each roaring street;
And broader still became the blaze,
And louder still the din,
As fast from every village round
The horse came spurring in:
45. And eastward straight from wild Blackheath
The warlike errand went,
And roused in many an ancient hall
The gallant squires of Kent.
Southward from Surrey's pleasant hills
Flew those bright couriers forth;
High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor
They started for the north;
46. And on, and on, without a pause
Untired they bounded still;
All night from tower to tower they sprang:
They sprang from hill to hill:
Till the proud peak unfurled the flag
O'er Darwin's rocky dales,
Till like volcanoes flared to heaven
The stormy hills of Wales;
47. Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze
On Malvern's lonely height,
Till streamed in crimson on the wind
The Wrekin's crest of light,
Till broad and fierce the star came forth
On Ely's stately fame,
And tower and hamlet rose in arms
O'er all the boundless plain;
48. Till Belvoir's lordly terraces
The sign to Lincoln sent,
And Lincoln sped the message on
O'er the wide vale of Trent;
Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burned
On Gaunt's embattled pile,
And the red glare on Skiddaw roused
The burghers of Carlisle.
THE PRELIMINARY SKIRMISH.
49. It was on Saturday, July 20th, a dull, misty day, that the two
great fleets, which represented the cause of freedom on the one side
and the longing after universal empire on the other, came in sight of
each other. The great Armada, with its huge galleons in battle array
extending over a space of many miles, was suffered to sail up the
Channel, past Plymouth Harbor, without molestation. This was in
accordance with the general plan of attack which bad been agreed upon.
50. The superior force of the Spaniards caused no fear, but rather a
grim determination to overwhelm and destroy. The universal sentiment
that seemed to prevail among all classes of Englishmen concerning
their country finds fitting expression in the words which Shakespeare
puts into the mouth of John of Gaunt:
"This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise;
This fortress, built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war;
This happy breed of men, this little world;
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed spot, this earth, this realm, this England,
Dear for her reputation through the world."
51. To guard this favored spot, and to protect its soil from the
polluting footstep of the hated Spaniard, mariners went forth to do or
die. It was now, in the moment of supreme peril, that the courage,
hardihood, and skill of England's great navigators gained in battle
with the elements in the unknown seas of the North and West, and in
many a strife against fearful odds with their Spanish foes, were found
to be equal to the occasion and sufficient to insure the safety of
their country.
52. On Sunday morning, July 21st, the English ships commenced their
attacks upon their unwieldy antagonists. "The Spanish ships," says
Motley, "seemed arrayed for a pageant in honor of a victory won.
Arranged in the form of a crescent whose horns were seven miles
asunder, those gilded towers and floating castles, with their
brilliant standards and martial music, bore slowly up the Channel. The
admiral, the 'Golden Duke,' stood in his private shot-proof tower, on
the deck of his great galleon, the Saint Martin, surrounded by guards
of infantry and captains of cavalry, no better acquainted than himself
with naval tactics.
53. "And just as the gaddy hovers about and stings the horse, which is
all unable to escape from its tiny enemy; so round the heavy galleons
and unwieldy ships of Spain the light English vessels, commanded by
able and experienced seamen, hovered with the utmost freedom. Their
superior tactics soon obtained the advantage of the wind, enabling
them at intervals to cannonade their enemies with great effect, while
they themselves escaped out of range at pleasure, and easily avoided
the tremendous discharge of the Spanish ordnance.
54. "In vain the Golden Duke attempted to bring on a general
engagement. Howard and Drake were well aware that in a ship-to-ship
fight the strongest would necessarily conquer, and that their only
hope of success lay in keeping close upon the enemy's flanks, or
following at his heels, cutting off a stray galleon, making a dash
into his ill-managed squadrons, and so gradually but surely reducing
his strength, until they could venture to give him battle on more
equal terms."
55. "The Armada," Mr. Fronde says, "made sail and attempted to close.
To Medina Sidonia's extreme astonishment, it seemed at the pleasure of
the English to leave him or allow him to approach them as they chose.
The high-towered, broad-bowed galleons moved like Thames barges piled
with hay, while the sharp, low English ships sailed at near two feet
to the Spaniards' one and shot away, as if by magic, in the eye of the
wind. It was as if a modern steam fleet was engaged with a squadron of
the old-fashioned sailing vessels, choosing their own distance, and
fighting or not fighting, as suited their convenience.
56. "Astonished and confounded, as well by the manoeuvring as by the
rapidity of the English fire, the Spanish officers could not refuse
their admiration. They knew they were inferior at sea, but had not
fully realized their inferiority, notwithstanding the lessons Drake,
Hawkins, Cavendish, and others had already taught them. But here were
the English firing four shots to their one, while their ships were so
nimble that, with a fresh breeze, even the swiftest of the Spanish
ships could not touch there. Such splendid gunners and skillful seamen
the Spaniards had never seen before, and were hardly able to believe
in their existence."
57. The wind was from the west, so that the English fleet were able to
keep to the windward, giving them an increased advantage over their
antagonists. The Spanish gunners, drafted from the army, could not
manage the naval ordnance, and their shots flew high and scarcely
touched the English ships. On the other hand, the Spanish vessels were
riddled with shot, and men fell killed and wounded on every side. But
the ships were too strongly built to be easily destroyed, and so the
monsters continued to receive fearful blows, and sailed wearily and
helplessly on. Toward night, Medina Sidonia, finding it impossible to
bring on a general engagement, signaled to make sail up the Channel,
the rear to be covered by the squadron under his second in command,
Don Martinez de Recaldi.
58. "The wind was now rising and promised a squally evening. The
English ships withdrew for want of powder. An express was sent up to
London for a fresh supply. A fast boat was dispatched to Lord Harry
Seymour, who commanded a fleet of coasters farther up the Channel,
with a letter reporting progress so far, and bidding him be on the
alert. But the misfortunes of the Spaniards were not yet over. The
Capitana, one of their largest galleons, fouled with another vessel
and broke her bow-sprit. She fell behind, and was left to her fate.
In the morning Drake took possession of her, and found many casks of
reals, and, what was of more importance, some tons of gunpowder, with
which the Roebuck, the swiftest traveler of the fleet, flew to the
lord admiral.
59. "Shortly after dark another serious accident occurred. The
officers of one of the great galleons, impatient and irritated at the
results of the action, were quarreling with one another. The captain
struck the master-gunner with a stick. The gunner, who was from
Holland, went below in a rage, thrust a burning linstock, or long
match, into a powder-barrel, and sprang through a port-hole into the
sea. The deck was blown off from stem to stern. Two hundred seamen and
soldiers were sent into the air: some fell into the water and were
drowned; some, scorched or mutilated, dropped back into the wreck. The
ship, which was one of the largest in the fleet, was built so strongly
that she survived the shock, and at day-light the English took
possession of her. At the bottom of the hold were many barrels of
powder, which Lord Howard so sorely needed."
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIGHT.
60. On the morning of July 22d the Spanish admiral saw the remainder
of the English fleet coming up from Plymouth Harbor, and he made all
sail up the Channel. Owing to the want of powder, the attack of the
English was less vigorous than on the day before, but still they
dogged the Spaniards in the most persevering manner, and succeeded in
inflicting serious damage upon many of the Spanish vessels. The breeze
from the west still continued, but it was light, and the fleets made
but little headway during the day.
61. On Tuesday, July 23d, a strong morning breeze sprang up from the
east, and the Spaniards found themselves for the first time to the
windward. Taking advantage of the situation, they bore down upon the
English fleet, and tried to bring on a general engagement. This
challenge the English would not accept, and stood out to sea toward
the west. The Spaniards thought they were retreating, and gave chase.
All the galleons were bad sailers, but some were better than others,
and soon the San Marcus outstripped her consorts. When several miles
ahead of all her companions the wind shifted to the west, leaving the
English to the windward. Lord Howard immediately bore down in his
flag-ship, the Ark, and attacked the San Marcus, but she defended
herself with great bravery, and for an hour and a half fought
single-handed, delivering eighty shots and receiving five hundred. His
powder again giving out, Lord Howard was obliged to withdraw. This
action was fought off Plymouth Harbor, so that in the three days'
fight the Armada had made no substantial progress toward its
destination.
62. "By this time the news that the Armada was in the Channel had
circulated throughout the length and breadth of England, and from
every creek and port and harbor came accession of goodly ships,
equipped at the cost of leading squires and nobles, and manned by her
'best blood.' From Lyme and Weymouth and Poole and the Isle of Wight,
young lords and gentlemen came streaming out in every smack or sloop
they could lay hold of, to snatch their share of danger and glory at
Howard's side. The strength which they were able to add was little or
nothing, but they brought enthusiasm; they brought to the half-starved
crews the sense that the heart of all England was with them, and this
assurance transformed every seaman into a hero.
63. "On Tuesday evening, after the fight, Medina Sidonia counted a
hundred sail behind him, and he observed, with some uneasiness, that
the numbers were continually increasing. On Wednesday, July 24th, the
weather was calm, and the English lay idle at a short distance from
the Armada waiting for powder.
64. "Thursday, July 25th, was the feast-day of Spain's patron saint,
St. Jago; of him who, mounted on a milk-white steed, had ridden in
fore-front of battle in one of the Spanish encounters with the Moors,
and had led them to victory. Should nothing on this holy day be done
in his honor by those whom he had so greatly favored? It was decided
to make an attack. The galleys led the way, and in their van rode
three of the four great galliasses, thrashing the sea to foam with
three hundred oars apiece. The English met them with such tremendous
discharges of chain-shot that, had not the wind risen about noon,
enabling the Spanish ships to come up to their assistance, the galleys
would surely have been taken. When the lord admiral withdrew his
ships, the Spaniards were so cowed that they made no attempt to pursue
them."
65. "Thus," says Canon Kingsley, "the fight had thundered on the
live-long afternoon, beneath the virgin cliffs of Freshwater, on the
Isle of Wight, while myriad sea fowl rose screaming from every ledge,
and with their black wings spotted the snow-white walls of chalk; and
the lone shepherd hurried down the slopes above to peer over the dizzy
ledge, and forgot the wheat-ear fluttering in his snare, while,
trembling, he gazes upon glimpses of tall masts and gorgeous flags,
piercing at times the league-broad veil of sulphur-smoke which
weltered far below."
BRIEF RESPITE FROM BATTLE.
66. Friday, July 26th, was a tranquil summer day. The wind died away,
and the two fleets, but a few miles apart, lay rocking on the waves.
The Duke of Medina Sidonia took advantage of the pause and sent a
swift messenger to the Prince of Parma, praying him to dispatch to his
assistance forty small sailing-vessels, capable of contending with the
light swift craft of the English. All the next day, July 27th, the two
fleets sailed slowly up the Channel in hostile but silent
companionship--the Spaniard convinced he could not meet the Englishman
in open fight; the Englishman heedful that he should not be surrounded
by a superior force. At night the battered and maltreated Armada took
refuge in the harbor of Calais.
67. The same afternoon Lord Howard was joined by Sir Harry Seymour
with his squadron of sixteen vessels, which bad been keeping watch
along the eastern ports, and the combined fleet dropped anchor to the
eastward of Calais, and within a mile and a half of the French shore.
"Never, since England was England," says Mr. Motley, "had such a sight
been seen as now revealed itself in those narrow straits between Dover
and Calais. Along that low, sandy shore, and quite within the range of
the Calais fortifications, one hundred and thirty Spanish ships--the
greater number of them the largest and most heavily armed in the
world--lay face to face, and scarcely out of cannon-shot, with one
hundred and fifty English sloops and frigates, the strongest and
swiftest that the island could furnish, and commanded by men whose
exploits had rung through the world.
68. "Farther along the coast, invisible but known to be performing a
most perilous and vital service, was a squadron of Dutch vessels of
all sizes lining both the outer and inner of the sand-banks of the
Flemish coasts and swarming in all the estuaries and inlets of that
intricate and dangerous cruising-ground between Dunkirk and
Texel. Those fleets of Holland and Zealand, numbering some one hundred
and fifty galleons, sloops, and fly-boats, lay patiently blockading
every possible egress from the ports in possession of the Duke of
Parma, and longing to grapple with him as soon as his fleet of
gunboats and hoys, packed with his Spanish and Italian veterans,
should venture to set forth upon the sea for their long-meditated
enterprise."
69. This friendly attitude of the Dutch to the English was due to a
variety of causes. Both nations represented the new religion in its
struggle against the established church. In consequence of the
terrible atrocities of the Duke of Alva, the Dutch had an
inextinguishable hatred for the Spaniards, and were ready to do
anything to thwart their plans and diminish their power. Then, too,
the Dutch remembered how the ships of Elizabeth, laden with
provisions, had brought succor to their beleaguered cities and saved
the lives of their famished people. So, animated by enmity on the one
side and by gratitude on the other, the Dutch for a time forgot their
struggle for maritime supremacy with the English, and brought all
their force to bear to support the English cause in its hour of
greatest need.
70. The Spaniards seem never to have anticipated this energetic action
on the part of the Dutch. The Duke of Medina Sidonia now found that he
could get no direct sea communication with the Spanish land-forces;
and the Duke of Parma found himself in a situation where his
invincible army was powerless, and his soldierly experience and
talents were of no avail. The plans of the Spanish admiral to make use
of the small vessels of Parma had been thwarted by the Dutch, and the
dispersion of the Dutch vessels had been prevented by the fierce
attack of Howard and Drake upon the Armada.
71. In coming to anchor on that Saturday night in Calais Harbor,
however, the Spaniards had gained two important points. Their ships
were under the protection of friendly land-batteries; and nothing
remained to prevent the co-operation of the land-forces and the fleet.
The Duke of Parma could march his forces westward and embark from
Calais instead of Dunkirk, and thus turn the flank of the Dutch fleet.
72. Sunday, July 29th, was a day of suspense and anxiety on the part
of both the contending forces. The English knew that a junction with
Parma was now possible, and Howard and Drake were too good seamen not
to know that, in a close and general engagement, the superior size,
weight, and numbers of the Spanish ships would prevail. On the other
hand, the Spaniards knew that they were in an unsafe harbor should a
strong wind spring up from the west, and Medina Sidonia began to have
a wholesome dread of the valor and strength which guarded the homes of
Britain. The day passed in Sabbath quiet and repose, and when the sun
set there was no indication that a night's strife was to follow,
potential as shaping the future destinies of both Spain and England.
FRIGHT AND FLIGHT.
73. During the day, Captain Winter, of the English fleet, suggested
that the Spaniards might be driven from their anchorage by fire-ships,
and his plan was adopted. Six vessels were loaded with wild-fire,
rosin, pitch, brimstone, and other combustibles, and made ready to
sail. The night was dark, with indications in sky and sea of a coming
gale. "When the Spanish bells," says Froude, "were about striking
twelve, and, save the watch on deck, soldiers and seamen lay stretched
in sleep, certain dark objects, which had been seen dimly drifting in
the tide near where the galleons lay thickest, shot suddenly into
pyramids of light, flames leaping from ruddy sail to sail, flickering
on the ropes and forecastles, masts and bow-sprits, a lurid blaze of
conflagration.
74. "A cool commander might have ordered out his boats and towed the
fire-ships clear; but Medina Sidonia, with a strain already upon him
beyond the strength of his capacity, saw coming some terrible engine
of destruction, like the floating mine which had shattered Parma's
bridge at Antwerp. Panic spread through the entire Armada. Hasty and
impetuous cries arose on board each menaced vessel. 'Up anchors,
comrades! Out every stitch of canvas! Away, away! for in the track of
those blazing ships follow death and ruin!'
75. "There are times when immense bodies of men suddenly give way to
the influence of a needless but over-mastering panic, and this was one
of them. Every cable was cut; galleon, galliasse, and patache drove
hurriedly through the press of shipping, each heedless of its
comrade's danger, and seeking frantically some channel of escape. In
vain the Duke of Medina Sidonia attempted to reform his disordered
array. So long as the darkness lasted, the confusion prevailed; and
ship after ship reeled, staggered, and drifted out to sea. Several of
the Spanish ships were disabled, two were burned, and it was not until
they found themselves six miles from shore, and at a secure distance
from the smoldering hulks, that they recovered from their terror."
RENEWAL OF THE FIGHT.
76. On Monday, July 29th, when the day dawned, Lord Howard discovered
the Spanish fleet in great disorder, scattered over a wide space in
the Channel. He immediately ordered an advance, and, while Drake made
a bold attack upon the main body of the enemy, the lord high admiral
drove upon the sands several of the sluggard vessels of the Armada
which the fire-ships had failed to drive out to sea. For several hours
he engaged the great galliasse under the direct command of Admiral
Moncada, which was aground upon the sands. The vessel was captured and
Moncada slain, and the English admiral hastened to the assistance of
Drake.
77. "It was well," says Froude, "that no more time was wasted over so
small a matter. Lord Howard had already delayed too long for his fame.
It was no time for the admiral of the fleet to be loitering over a
stray feather which had dropped from the enemy's plume when every ship
was imperiously needed for a far more important service. Medina
Sidonia intended to return to Calais, but his ships had drifted in the
night far to the east, and before his signal of return could be obeyed
the English fleet was upon them.
78. "Sir Henry Seymour, with his sixteen ships, having the advantage
of wind, speed, and skill, came upon a cluster of Spanish galleons at
eight in the morning. Reserving their fire till within a hundred and
twenty yards, and wasting no cartridges, the English ships continued
through the entire forenoon to pour upon them one continuous rain of
shot. They were driven together, and became entangled in a confused
and helpless mass.
79. "Drake, in the mean time, had fallen upon a score of galleons
under the direct command of Medina Sidonia himself. They were better
handled than the rest, and were endeavoring to keep sea-room and
retain some command of themselves. But their wretched sailing powers
put them to a disadvantage, for which no skill or courage could
compensate. The English were always at windward of them; and, hemmed
in at every turn, they, too, were forced back upon their consorts,
hunted together as a shepherd hunts sheep upon a common, and the whole
mass of them were forced slowly eastward, away from the only harbor
open to them, and into the unknown waters of the North Sea.
80. "Howard came up at noon to join in the work of destruction. The
Spaniards' gun-practice, always bad, was helpless beyond all past
experience. From eight o'clock in the morning until sunset the
English, almost untouched themselves, fired into them without
intermission at short range. They ceased only when the last cartridge
was spent, and every man was weary with labor. They took no prizes,
and they attempted to take none. Their orders were to sink and
destroy. They saw three great galleons go down, and three more drift
toward the sands, where their destruction was certain.
81. "On board the Spanish ships all was consternation and despair.
Toward sunset the great Santa Maria went down with all on board. When
the ships' companies were called over, it was discovered that no less
than four thousand men had been killed or drowned, and twice as many
wounded. The survivors were so utterly dispirited that nothing could
induce them to face England's sea-kings again."
CHASE AND DESTRUCTION.
82. On Tuesday afternoon, July 30th, Lord Howard summoned a council of
war, which decided upon a course of action. Lord Henry Seymour with
his squadron was to return to guard the mouth of the Thames against
any attempt on the part of Parma, while the remainder of the fleet was
to continue the chase of the Armada. Ninety vessels, under Howard,
Drake, and Frobisher, followed the flying Spaniards into the North
Sea. "We have the army of Spain before us," Drake wrote, "and hope,
with the grace of God, to wrestle a fall with him. There was never
anything pleased me better than seeing the enemy flying with a
southerly wind to the northward. God grant you have a good eye to the
Duke of Parma, for, if we live, I doubt not to handle the matter with
the Duke of Sidonia, as he shall wish himself at St. Mary's Port,
among his orange-trees!"
83. The wind, now strong from the south, had risen to a gale. The
Spanish ships, so fashioned as to sail only before the wind, were
driven northward. Between them and the shore, where lay possible
safety, was the dreadful English fleet, which had battered them so
sorely during the past ten days. Before them was the sea, full of
unknown perils. "Not only man but God was against them. _His_ wind blew
discomfiture to their meditated enterprise. More than one poor;
crippled ship dropped behind as her spars snapped, or the water made
its way through her wounded seams in the straining seas. The
Spaniards, stricken with a wonderful fear, made no attempt to succor
their consorts, but pressed heavily on, leaving them to founder."
84. The pursuit continued until Friday, August 2d. There was now no
more danger to be apprehended from the scattered enemy. The wind was
threatening, and, the supply of provisions beginning to fail, Howard
and Drake determined on returning homeward, leaving a couple of
pinnaces to dog the Spaniards past the Scottish isles. Though the wind
was contrary, they beat back against it without loss, and in four or
five days the vessels, with their half-starved crews, all safely
arrived in Margate Roads, having done the noblest service that fleet
ever rendered to a country in the hour of supreme peril.
85. Meanwhile, so much as remained of the Invincible Armada was
buffeted to and fro by the resistless gale, like a shuttlecock between
two invisible players. The monster left its bones on the iron-bound
shore of Norway and on the granite cliffs of the Hebrides. Its course
could be traced by its wrecks. Day followed day, and still God's wrath
endured. On the 5th of August Admiral Oguendo, in his flag-ship,
together with one of the great galliasses and thirty-eight other
vessels, were driven by the fury of the tempest upon the rocks and
reefs of Ireland, and nearly every soul on board perished. Of one
hundred and thirty-four vessels which, gay with gold and amid
triumphal shouts and loud music, had sailed from Corunna July 12th,
only fifty-three battered and useless hulks returned to the ports of
Spain.
86. The fate and exploits of the Armada are graphically summed up in
the emphatic language of Sir Francis Drake. "It is happily
manifested," he says, "indeed, to all nations how their navy which
they termed _invincible_, consisting of nearly one hundred and forty
sail of ships, were by thirty of her Majesty's ships of war, and a few
of our own merchants, by the wise and advantageous conduct of Lord
Charles Howard, High Admiral of England, beaten and shuffled together
from Lizard in Cornwall to Portland, from Portland to Calais; and from
Calais, driven by squibs from their anchors, were chased out of sight
of England, round about Scotland and Ireland. With all their great and
terrible ostentation, they did not, in all their sailing round about
England, so much as sink or take one ship, bark, pinnace, or cock-boat
of ours, or even burn so much as one sheep-cote on the land."