THE DUTCH DISCOVER ENGLISH COURAGE TO BE INVINCIBLE.
Some heroes of the olden time played many parts, which are in these
later days assigned to distinct and separate performers. The division
of labour was not then so well understood and appreciated,--and
specialists were more rare. Prince Rupert, like Blake, his great
antagonist, with whom he repeatedly came into conflict upon land
and at sea, distinguished himself highly as a military as well as a
naval commander. He was, in addition, an accomplished chemist and
metallurgist, and in general scientific culture and attainments much in
advance of his age. Rupert was endowed with a degree of native energy
that swept aside temptations to indulge in luxurious idleness, and
made effeminacy impossible. He was preternaturally restless, active,
and impetuous; so much so, as to have made his name a proverbial
adjective, expressive of these qualities. This was illustrated in the
case of a distinguished deceased statesman, Earl Derby, who was fitly
pronounced “the Rupert of debate.”
[Illustration: PRINCE RUPERT AT EDGEHILL.]
Prince Rupert was the third son of Frederick, Elector Palatine, King
of Bohemia, and Princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of King James I.,
and sister of Charles I., King of England,--to whom he was accordingly
nephew. He was born at Prague, 18th December 1619. He was probably
educated and trained, as most German princes were then,--and have
continued to be since,--with a view to his following the profession of
arms. In 1630 he was a student at Leyden, and proved himself an apt
scholar, particularly in languages. Military studies, even as a boy,
he prosecuted with much zest. In 1633, a lad of fourteen years, he
was with the Prince of Orange at the siege of Rheneberg, and served
as a volunteer against the Spaniards in the Prince’s Life Guards.
In 1635 he was at the English court, and in the following year took
the degree--or had it conferred upon him--of M.A. at Oxford. In 1638
he was again at the Hague, and took part in the siege of Breda, at
which he exhibited his characteristic reckless bravery. He was taken
prisoner by the Austrians, and was confined for three years at Linz.
Overtures were pressed upon him, which he steadfastly resisted, to
change his religion, and take service under the emperor. In 1642 he
was released, and returned to the Hague, proceeding shortly afterwards
to England, where he was made Master of the Horse, otherwise commander
of the king’s cavalry, when only twenty-three years of age. He joined
the king at Leicester in August 1642, and was present at the raising
of the royal standard at Nottingham. He was about that time admitted
to the dignity of Knight of the Garter. He introduced important
improvements in cavalry movements and general military administration.
He displayed great activity and bravery, in the actions at Worcester
and Edgehill. He was opposed in his march to London, and led valiantly
in some desperate fighting. In 1643 took Cirencester for the king,
but failed in his attempt to take Gloucester. He had a number of
stirring military actions and adventures in different parts of the
country, and amongst them a conflict with John Hampden at Chalgrove
on the 18th June, in which the patriot was slain. Throughout the war
Rupert exhibited unwavering intrepidity. In token of appreciation of
his services, the king raised him to the dignity of a peer of England,
under the title of Earl of Holderness and Duke of Cumberland, and
appointed him Generalissimo of the army. In the course of events,
during the contest between the king and the Parliament, Rupert achieved
some victories, but sustained also many reverses, which culminated
in the defeat of the king’s forces, at the battle of Naseby. Rupert
was regarded with envy, jealousy, and dislike by a large party of the
courtiers, who intrigued against him, and sought to diminish or destroy
his influence. The queen was also against him. From Naseby the king and
his shattered army fled to Bristol, which Rupert engaged to hold for
four months, but surrendered in three weeks,--not from lack of bravery,
but from impatience, and inability to endure an inactive life--he was
as a caged lion. A contemporary critic says of him that he was “the
boldest _attaquer_ in the world for personal courage, but wanted the
patience and seasoned head to consult and advise for defence.” Although
impetuous and courageous to a fault, he was not utterly reckless,--and
his view of the situation, estimate of forces, and calculation as to
probabilities, led him to counsel the king to endeavour to come to
terms with the Parliament.
A brilliant incident in Rupert’s career, in which the heroism of
a noble lady shines resplendent, merits a brief reference. Lathom
House, the seat of the Earl of Derby, was left in charge, during the
absence of the earl on public affairs, of his countess, Charlotte de
la Tremouille. The Parliamentary forces demanded possession, which the
countess promptly and uncompromisingly resisted, although confronted
with an army ten times the strength of her garrison. The siege
commenced on the 24th February 1644. The fortress was bombarded by
chain shot, bars of iron, stone balls of thirteen inches diameter,
weighing eighty pounds, and all sorts of terrible missiles. The
artillery of the assailants slackened for a time, and the beleaguered
garrison made a gallant sortie; they slew thirty of the enemy, and took
from them “forty guns and a drum.” Although suffering great privations,
the answer of the countess to the repeated demands to capitulate was,
that they would never be taken alive, but would burn the place and
perish in the flames rather than surrender. Prince Rupert and his
gallant cavalry arrived on the 27th May, put the besiegers to the
rout, and relieved the long-suffering, noble countess and her gallant
garrison.
The civil war was virtually ended with the battle of Naseby, June 14,
1645. Rupert applied to Parliament for a pass to go abroad, which they
would only grant upon conditions that he could not accept. He was
taken prisoner by Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Parliamentary commander. On
the demand of the Parliament, Rupert proceeded to France, where he
was made a marshal in the French army, and commenced at once active
service. He sustained a wound in the head at Armentières in 1647.
Part of the English fleet, that had adhered to the king, sailed to
Holland, whither Rupert went also, to commence his career as a naval
commander. In conjunction with the Prince of Wales, to whom part of
the Parliamentary fleet had revolted, he assumed the command of the
fleet; the sole command, very soon after, devolved upon Prince Rupert.
He set out upon a piratical expedition, inflicted considerable injury
upon English trade, and after relieving Grenville at the Scilly
Isles, sailed for the coast of Ireland, with the desire to assist, if
possible, the king’s nearly hopeless cause. Rupert took the harbour and
fort of Kinsale, but not for use or according to his own pleasure, for
his old antagonist Blake was upon him, with a powerful squadron, which
the prince must either engage or remain blocked up in Kinsale. With
his characteristic dashing bravery, he attempted to force his way out
of port, and did so, but at the loss of the _Roebuck_ and the _Black
Prince_, two of Rupert’s best ships, which were sunk in the encounter.
Rupert sailed for Portugal, and was well received by the king, but
Blake followed hard after him, and blockaded him in the Tagus. Again
the gallant Rupert broke through, and sailed for the Mediterranean. He
refitted at Toulon, and did a good deal of not altogether unprofitable
piratical work in a cruise about Madeira, the Canaries, the Azores,
Cape de Verd, and the West Indies. Blake, however, followed him
whithersoever he went, and attacked him on every opportunity. Rupert
was greatly overmatched, and his strength continuously reduced.
Having lost most of his ships, with the remainder shattered and unfit
for sea, at the close of 1652, he took the remnant and such prizes as
he had made, and been able to keep, to Nantes, where he sold them,
and with the proceeds paid the wages of his faithful crews, whom he
discharged,--and then laid aside his command as an admiral.
Louis XIV. invited Rupert to Paris, and made him Master of the Horse
in the French army. The restless energy of the prince prevented his
settling,--and he travelled in France for a time, returning to Paris
in 1655. About this time he took a turn of work in the laboratory,
and completed a series of experiments, in which he succeeded in very
greatly increasing the explosive force of gunpowder. He prosecuted
his studies and researches in relation to other arts also, including
mezzotint engraving, of which he was the reputed inventor.
On the restoration of Charles II. in May 1660, Prince Rupert was sent
for by the king, and appears to have been connected with the court for
a few years. In 1661 the prince, in company with a number of noblemen
and persons of rank and eminence, was called to the Bar of the Inner
Temple. In the following year he was sworn as a member of the Privy
Council, and was also declared a Fellow of the Royal Society, which was
then founded, the king subscribing the statutes as founder and patron.
In 1664, Prince Rupert was appointed admiral of a fleet, that had been
equipped to watch the movements of the Dutch. He hoisted his flag on
board the _Henrietta_, and afterwards on the _Royal James_. He took
part, as admiral of the white, in the great sea-fight between the
English and Dutch fleets, off Lowestoft, in June 1665. The English
fleet was commanded by H.R.H. James, Duke of York, afterwards James
II., King of England; the Dutch were commanded by Admirals Opdam and
Van Tromp. The English got the weather-gage of the Dutch, and about
three o’clock on a fine summer morning, commenced the action, awaking
the inhabitants of Lowestoft by the thunder of their artillery. The
contest was desperate, victory trembling in the balance during many
hours. About noon the Earl of Sandwich came up with a reinforcement,
and fell upon the Dutch centre, which threw them into the confusion
that ended in their defeat. The Duke of York in his flag-ship, the
_Royal Charles_, of eighty guns, and the Dutch Admiral Opdam in the
_Eendracht_, of eighty-four guns, were engaged closely, ship to
ship, yard-arm and yard-arm, when about noon the _Eendracht_ blew up
with a tremendous explosion, the disaster attributable, probably, to
careless management of the powder magazine, and distribution of the
ammunition. Admiral Opdam and five hundred men perished; many of them
were volunteers belonging to some of the best families in Holland, with
a number of Frenchmen, whose lives were the price they paid for the
gratification of their curiosity to witness a sea-fight. Only five of
the crew escaped. The explosion was one of a succession of misfortunes
that befell the Dutch. A number of their best ships ran foul of each
other, and were burnt by the English fire-ships. With a greatly reduced
fleet, the gallant Van Tromp doggedly continued the unequal contest,
and retreated fighting. The Duke of York was much censured for his
failure to pursue his advantage, and terminate, at least for a time,
the contest with Holland, as some authorities thought he might have
done. This we have already referred to.
[Illustration: TOULON.]
The impetuosity that had characterised Rupert in his earlier actions,
and had detracted from the value of his services, was now tempered and
subdued, and made him what he was not before, a safe commander. In the
action with Opdam’s fleet, the prince rendered most important service,
that encouraged the belief that he would achieve high distinction as
a naval commander. On the 24th June, Prince Rupert again attacked the
Dutch, pursued them to their own coast, and blocked them up in their
harbours. Again, in the autumn of the same year, having the sole
command of the English fleet, Prince Rupert, learning that the Dutch
were endeavouring to form a junction with a French squadron of forty
sail, followed them so closely into Boulogne Roads as to place them in
imminent danger. A violent storm compelled the prince to return to St.
Helen’s Bay, and prevented him from following up his advantage. Sir
Thomas Allen did so shortly afterwards.
Prince Rupert on his return was warmly welcomed by the king and the
nation, with whom he was becoming a popular favourite. He was now
associated with the Duke of Albemarle in the command of the English
navy.
In the spring of 1666 the duke and Prince Rupert were afloat with
a fleet that had been equipped for operations against the Dutch.
It was unfortunate that their power should have been divided, by
detaching Prince Rupert with a squadron, to look for the French and
thwart their naval operations. The duke had a fleet of sixty ships.
On the morning of the 1st of June he got sight of the Dutch fleet,
under Admirals Evertsen, De Ruyter, and Van Tromp,[4] which was found
to consist of ninety-one ships, many of them first-rates, with a
number and weight of guns greatly superior to those of the English
fleet. Lord Albemarle, without hesitation, gave battle. The fight was
carried on with desperate bravery during the whole of that day, and
resumed on the day following. The action is described in our notice
of the Duke of Albemarle. Prince Rupert could find no trace of any
French fleet destined to assist the Dutch, and returned to his home
station. On the 3rd June he came up with the Duke of Albemarle,
whose greatly overmatched squadrons had been so knocked about and
reduced, as to necessitate retreat, which he conducted with great skill
and undiminished courage. In joining forces with the duke, a great
misfortune happened to Prince Rupert’s squadron. The _Royal Prince_,
commanded by Sir George Ayscough, the largest and heaviest ship in the
fleet, ran aground on the Galloper Sands; being without hope of relief,
it was surrendered, and Ayscough, its commander, taken prisoner.
[4] Cornelius Van Tromp, second son of the great admiral killed
in 1653.
On the morning of the 4th June, the combined squadrons of Albemarle and
Rupert, although still greatly inferior in power to the Dutch, started
after them in pursuit,--the Dutch being almost out of sight. About
eight in the morning they again commenced their onslaught upon each
other. Five times the English fleet charged through the Dutch line,
firing into it, right and left. Rupert’s ship became disabled, and that
of Albemarle terribly shattered, and the injuries on both sides were
most disastrous. About seven in the evening the hostile fleets drew
off from each other,--their commanders appearing to agree, tacitly, in
thinking that they had enough of it, for the present.
This, which may be pronounced a drawn battle, has been regarded as
the most terrible action fought in this, or perhaps in any other
war. So the Dutch admirals also considered it. De Witt says of it:
“If the English were beat, their defeat did them more honour than
all their former victories; all that the Dutch had discovered was,
that Englishmen might be killed, and English ships might be burned,
but English courage was invincible.” It is not easy to say who were
victors on the whole, and what the losses were of the victors and the
vanquished respectively. Dutch historians compute our loss at sixteen
men-of-war, of which ten were sunk and six taken. Our writers put
the Dutch loss at fifteen men-of-war, twenty-one captains, and five
thousand men. The Dutch themselves admit that they lost nine ships,
and had a prodigious number of men slain. Discounting even the lowest
estimates, it seems impossible to realise the scenes that produced such
ghastly results.
Only a short breathing-time was taken by the combatants, and a brief
space for a hurried repair of damages. Before the end of June the Dutch
fleet was again at sea, and was met by an English fleet of eighty
men-of-war of different sizes, and nineteen fire-ships, divided into
three squadrons. The command was again with the Duke of Albemarle
and Prince Rupert. The Dutch fleet of eighty-eight men-of-war, and
twenty fire-ships, was also in three squadrons, commanded by Admirals
De Ruyter, John Evertsen, brother to the admiral who was killed in a
former engagement, and Cornelius Van Tromp.
About noon the hostile fleets came into contact off the North Foreland.
Rupert and the duke, who were in the same ship, made a desperate
attack upon De Ruyter’s ship, which was in the centre of the Dutch
fleet. After fighting for about three hours, their ship had sustained
such serious injuries as to force them to betake themselves to another.
The most dogged bravery was displayed on both sides, but the English
had the best of the battle. The Dutch retreated. All that night Prince
Rupert and the duke followed in pursuit of De Ruyter. When the gallant
Dutchman found himself so hard pressed, and his fleet in such imminent
danger, he is said to have cried in despair, “My God, what a wretch
am I! Is there not one of these thousands of bullets to put me out of
pain?” He reached, however, the shallow coast of Holland, where the
English could not follow him. Prince Rupert sent a small shallop, with
two small guns on board, close up to De Ruyter’s ship,--the men rowing
it into position,--and opened fire upon the admiral. A return shot
proved convincing to the assailants that this was too dangerous, and
the shallop was rowed back.
This, it is stated, was the most decided and unquestioned victory
gained during the war. The Dutch were completely defeated, and the
two great admirals, De Ruyter and Van Tromp, could only attempt their
defence by angry recriminations. The Dutch lost twenty ships in the
action; four of their admirals, and a great many captains, and about
four thousand men were killed, with as many wounded. The English lost
one ship burnt, had three captains and about three hundred men killed.
From 1666 till 1672 there was an interval of peace, during which
Prince Rupert applied himself to scientific pursuits. On the death
of the Earl of Sandwich in 1672, Rupert was appointed to succeed him
as Vice-Admiral of England, and when the Duke of York shortly after
retired from command of the fleet, Prince Rupert was appointed Lord
High Admiral of England.
Prince Rupert commenced his active duties with the new dignity in April
1673. He effected an important change in naval spirit and method. The
Dutch had hitherto come to us, Rupert went to them. The Hollanders
were rather surprised to find an English fleet at their doors in
the middle of May 1673. De Ruyter was riding within the sands at
Schonebeck, and occupied a very advantageous position, from which it
was desirable he should be drawn. About nine in the morning of the 28th
a squadron, consisting of thirty-five frigates and thirteen fire-ships,
were accordingly detached to lure the enemy from his anchorage. The
ruse was successful, and the action commenced at noon. The advanced
detachment engaged Van Tromp, and the prince attacked De Ruyter. The
contest was obstinate, and the contending ships inflicted tremendous
punishment upon each other. Van Tromp shifted his flag four times,--and
his English antagonists, Spragge and the Earl of Ossory, had to do
the like. Rupert, on his part, did all that could be expected from a
wise and valiant commander. Towards the close of the battle, which
lasted till night, Rupert’s ship had taken in such quantities of water
as to throw out of use the lower tier of guns. The Dutch retreated
behind their sands, which averted what would have been their defeat.
In reporting on the action to the Earl of Arlington, Prince Rupert
writes: “Had it not been for the shoals, we had driven them into their
harbours, and the king would have had a better account of them.”
[Illustration: W. THOMAS.
ADRIAN DE RUYTER.]
With the advantage of recruiting immediately, being at home,--the Dutch
were again at sea at the beginning of June. Suspicious that the enemy
meant to take us by surprise, Prince Rupert went on board the _Royal
Sovereign_ on the evening of 3rd June, and watched during the whole of
the night. On the morning of the 4th the Dutch were seen bearing down
upon our fleet. Rupert, more than willing to meet them, ordered his
cables to be cut. The action lasted from about four in the afternoon
till dark, but no great damage was done, and there was no fighting at
close quarters. Between ten and eleven at night the Dutch bore away to
the east.
Considerably strengthened, the hostile fleets came together again
in August, when Prince Rupert encountered De Ruyter for the third
time. The French were in this action our allies, but Rear-Admiral De
Martel was the only commander in the French contingent that was, in
honesty and earnestness, a combatant. Rupert had to trust to himself,
and to Sir Edward Spragge, for such help as he might be able to get
from him. Against Prince Rupert and his squadron that occupied the
centre of the English line of battle, the attack was concentrated.
The English fleet consisted of about sixty men-of-war, and the French
of thirty. The Dutch fleet had about seventy ships, but the numerical
superiority of Rupert’s force was illusory. With the exception of De
Martel, none of the French commanders rendered any assistance,--they
were mere spectators. They deserted their own countryman,--the brave
Martel,--and looked on with craven stare as he bore unaided the
combined attack of five Dutch ships,--one of which he disabled, and
made the others sheer off. The contest was furious and protracted, but
indecisive. The conduct of Prince Rupert throughout the action was
resolute, courageous, judicious, and worthy of the highest admiration.
The pusillanimity of the French, and the disobedience or misconception
of orders, on the part of his subordinate admirals and commanders,
prevented the action from being a signal victory.
Soon after this action Prince Rupert retired from public life, although
he did not resign his Admiralty commission till 1679. The years of
his retirement were passed chiefly at Windsor Castle, his time being
much given to literary and scientific studies and pursuits. He was an
active member of the Board of Trade, and a governor of the Hudson’s Bay
Company. Reference has already been made to his skill as an engraver,
and to his improvement in the composition of gunpowder. He was the
inventor of a method of treating plumbago,--converting it into a
tractable fluid. Amongst his other inventions were the amalgam, named
after him prince’s metal, for sheathing ships; a screw applied to a
quadrant at sea, which prevented shifting, either from the unsteadiness
of the observer’s hands or from the ship’s motion; a rapid discharging
gun; an engine for raising water; an improved method of blasting in
mines; a quick and accurate method of drawing in perspective.
Prince Rupert died in his house in Spring Gardens, London, on the 29th
November 1682, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was interred in
the Chapel of Henry VII., in Westminster Abbey, with the honour and
respect due to his rank and character.
Throughout life he was eminently brave. He had natural and acquired
powers, that lifted him high above the run of common men. He was
thoroughly straightforward, detested cabals and intrigues, and kept
entirely aloof from them, although he suffered from them,--especially
as a naval commander. He never meddled with affairs of State or Cabinet
or matters that were not his business. In religion he was a steady
Protestant; to the State a zealous and faithful servant; to his king a
loyal and devoted subject. It is not too much to say of him that he was
an honest, wise, and brave man.
SIR EDWARD SPRAGGE,
ONE BORN TO COMMAND.