Jeremiah Smith was sent with a small squadron northwards; with which,
and the assistance of a numerous fleet of privateers, already abroad for
their own profit, the Dutch commerce to the Baltic was in a manner
ruined, and multitudes of rich prizes were daily brought into English
ports. Thus it may be truly said that the nations at this time changed
characters. The Dutch preferred the insult at Chatham, which, all things
considered, was of little or no consequence to them, to the preservation
of their trade; and the English endeavoured to make themselves amends
for this unexpected loss of a few men-of-war by taking numbers of
merchantmen.
The English, in the West Indies, took the island of St. Eustatia, Saba,
St. Martin, Buen Ayre, the island of Tobago, and other places from the
Dutch. On the contrary, the Dutch, under the conduct of Commodore
Krynsen, made themselves masters of Surinam; and the French, assisted by
the Dutch, almost deprived the English of their half of the island of
St. Christopher, after several obstinate disputes and the death of their
commander Le Salles. Six frigates and some other small vessels from
Barbadoes, sailing from thence to repair this loss, were so ill-treated
by a violent storm that they were put out of a condition to execute
their design, and two or three of the most disabled ships fell into the
hands of the enemy; though, before their misfortune, they had burnt two
Dutch ships richly laden in the harbour of Los Santos.
There were three distinct treaties of peace signed at Breda
respectively, with the Dutch, the French, and the Danes, and these were
ratified on August 24th, 1667. The terms upon which this peace was made
were safe and honourable at least, though not so glorious and beneficial
as might have been expected after such a war. By it the honour of the
flag was secured; and the island of Poleron, to prevent further
disputes, was yielded to the Dutch. In the West Indies we kept all that
we had taken, except Surinam; and the French were obliged to restore
what they had taken from us.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ALGERINE NAVY.
On the conclusion of the Dutch war it became necessary to restore order
on the high seas by destroying the pirates who had taken advantage of
the disturbed condition of things to prey upon English and Dutch
commerce; and with this view Charles II. sent Sir Thomas Allen with a
stout squadron into the Mediterranean to repress the Algerines, and the
Dutch sent Admiral Van Ghent with a squadron to secure their trade. Van
Ghent having engaged six corsairs, forced them to fly to their own
coasts, where probably they would have escaped if Commodore Beach with
four English frigates had not fallen upon them, and, after a close
chase, obliged them to run aground. In this situation they were attacked
by the English and Dutch in their boats; and, being abandoned by their
respective crews, were all taken, and a great number of Christian slaves
of different nations released. The English commodore presented sixteen
Dutch slaves to Admiral Van Ghent, and received from him twenty English
by way of exchange; but the Algerine ships being leaky, they were burnt.
The same year some of our frigates attacked seven of the enemy's best
ships near Cape Gaeta. The admiral and vice-admiral of the Algerines
carried fifty-six guns each; their rear-admiral, the biggest ship in the
squadron, carried sixty, and the least forty. Yet after a sharp
engagement the vice-admiral sank, and the rest were forced to retire,
most of them miserably disabled. At the close of the year 1669 Captain
Kempthorne, afterwards Sir John, in the _Mary Rose_, a small frigate,
engaged seven Algerine men-of-war; and, after a very warm action,
forced them to sheer off, being in no condition to continue the fight
any longer.
It is somewhat extraordinary that, considering the Dutch, as well as the
English, were concerned in attacking these pirates, we have no better
account of the war that was carried on against them, or of the force
they employed, than we are left to collect as we can, from scattered
accounts of particular engagements. In 1668 their navy only consisted of
twenty-four ships, great and small--that is, from about fifty to twenty
guns: and they had likewise six new ships of force upon the stocks. Yet
this pitiful enemy continued to disturb, and even to distress the
commerce of both the maritime powers for several years.
At last Sir Edward Spragge was sent with a strong squadron of men-of-war
and frigates to put an end to the war.
Spragge sailed from England, on this expedition, in the spring of the
year 1671, with five frigates and three fire-ships, uniting his fleet
with a squadron of as many more ships already at sea; so that, in all,
his fleet consisted of about twelve sail. In the latter end of the month
of April he had intelligence that there were several Algerine men-of-war
in Bugia Bay; on which he called a council of war, when it was resolved
that he ought immediately to attack them. In pursuance of this
resolution he sailed thither, but, in his passage, had the misfortune to
have the _Eagle_ fire-ship disabled by a storm; and soon after, one of
his ships springing her main mast, was obliged to bear away for the
Spanish shore. Sir Edward, however, persisted in his design, refitted
the _Eagle_, and bore into the bay of Bugia with a brisk gale, not
doubting that he should be able to fire the ships; but by the time they
got within half-shot of the castle and forts it fell a dead calm, and
when the wind rose again it proved contrary.
On May 2nd they were able to do nothing for the same reason, the wind
changing every half hour; upon which, Sir Edward resolved to make an
attempt upon them in the night with his boats and the smallest of his
fire-ships, which rowed as well as a long-boat. About twelve o'clock
that night he executed his project, sending in all his boats, and the
_Eagle_ fire-ship, under the command of his eldest lieutenant, Mr.
Nugent; but the night proving very dark, and the high land obscuring the
ships as they drew near them, they passed by; and Lieutenant Nugent
leaving one of the boats with the fire-ships, besides her own, rowed in
to discover the enemy leaving orders with the captain of the fire-ship
to come to an anchor in case he found shoal water. The lieutenant had
not left them a minute before he perceived himself within pistol-shot of
the ships; and, concluding the business now as good as done, steered off
again to find the fire-ship, and, to his amazement, saw her in flames.
The enemy taking the alarm at this, the lieutenant was forced to retire
with his boats; and so this promising enterprise, which had given hopes
of burning the Algerine men-of-war, without the loss of a man,
miscarried. The next day the enemy unrigged all their ships and made a
strong boom with their yards, top masts, and cables, buoyed up with
casks, for which they had all the leisure and convenience they could
wish, the wind hindering the English from doing anything; and, to try
the admiral's patience to the very utmost, it so fell out that a drunken
gunner firing a pistol, his other small fire-ship was destroyed; so that
he had now none left but the _Little Victory_, which drew too much water
to enter that part of the bay where the Algerines lay.
On Monday, May 8th, 1671, there appeared a considerable body of horse
and foot in the neighbourhood of the bay, and this was soon after
discovered to be an escort to a very large convoy of ammunition sent
from Algiers to the ships; on the safe arrival of which they fired all
their cannon, to testify their joy. Sir Edward Spragge considering this,
and not knowing what future reinforcements they might receive, resolved
to take the earliest opportunity of making his last and utmost effort;
and, in order thereto, directed the _Victory_ to be lightened, so that
she might not draw above eight feet. About noon there sprang up a fine
breeze to the east; upon which the admiral gave the signal for the
men-of-war to draw into a line and bear up into the bay; but
immediately after the wind sank again, and they began to despair of
doing anything.
About two the gale sprang up again, and the ships bore in as they were
directed. The admiral came to an anchor in four fathom of water, close
under the walls of their castle, which fired upon him continually for
two hours. In this interim he sent in his own pinnace and those of the
_Mary_ and the _Dragon_; these cut the boom, though not without
considerable loss. The lieutenant who commanded the _Mary's_ boat's crew
had eight wounded with himself; Lieutenant Pierce of the _Dragon_ was
also wounded, with ten of his men, and one killed. In the admiral's own
pinnace there were seven killed, and all the rest wounded, except Mr.
Harman, who commanded it.
The boom being cut, the fire-ship went in, and getting up athwart their
bowsprits, their ships being a-ground, and fast to the castles, she
burnt very well and destroyed them all. Captain Harris, who commanded
her, his master's mate, gunner, and one of his seamen were desperately
wounded with small shot, and this at their entrance; so that probably
the whole design would have proved abortive if the admiral had not with
great prudence commissioned Henry Williams, then one of his master's
mates, but who had formerly commanded the _Rose_ fire-ship, to take the
charge of the vessel in case the captain was disabled; which he did
accordingly, and performed all that could be expected from him.
This loss was irreparable to the Algerines, who had picked out the seven
men-of-war that were here burnt, on purpose to fight Sir Edward Spragge,
and furnished them with their best brass ordnance from on board all the
rest of their vessels, and between eighteen and nineteen hundred chosen
men double-officered, under the command of old Terkey, their admiral. Of
this force between three and four hundred men were killed; the castle
and town were miserably shattered; and a vast number of people slain and
wounded; and, what much increased the misfortune, all their surgeons'
chests were burnt on board their ships, so that numbers died for want
of having their wounds dressed. Besides the men-of-war there were burnt
a Genoese ship, a small English prize, and a settee.
In this engagement Sir Edward Spragge had only seventeen men killed and
forty-one wounded. This and other misfortunes caused such a tumult among
the Algerines that they murdered their dey and chose another, by whom
peace was concluded to the satisfaction of the English on December 9th,
1671.
THE STORY OF SIR JOHN BERRY.
BY JOHN CAMPBELL.
As an illustration of the way in which a man could rise to the highest
honours of the navy in the good old days with no other influence or
recommendation than his own merit, the case of Sir John Berry may be
instanced here.
John Berry, who was the second son of the Rev. Daniel Berry, Vicar of
Knowestone, Devonshire--a clergyman who suffered for his loyalty to the
cause of Charles I.--was born at the Vicarage, Knowestone, in the year
1635. His father, after being expelled from his benefice and losing his
property by confiscation, died at the early age of forty-five, leaving a
widow with nine children, of whom John, aged seventeen, was the second.
Thrown entirely upon his own resources, John went to Plymouth, where he
bound himself apprentice to Mr. Robert Mering, a merchant and part-owner
of several ships. Going to sea in his service, he was extremely
unfortunate, being twice taken by the Spaniards, and suffering a long
imprisonment, which, however, did him no great harm. On his return to
England, his master, who was suffering from a reverse in circumstances,
released him from his indentures, upon which he came up to London;
where, by the help of some friends, he was preferred to be boatswain of
a ketch belonging to the Royal Navy, called the _Swallow_; which, under
the command of Captain Insam, was ordered to the West Indies in company
with two of the king's frigates. Both the frigates were lost in the Gulf
of Florida; but the _Swallow_, by cutting down her masts and heaving her
guns and provisions overboard, got clear, and in the space of sixteen
weeks, during which the crew had nothing to eat but the fish they
caught, or to drink but rain-water, the survivors arrived at Campeachy.
There they furnished themselves with provisions, and then sailed for
Jamaica, where they arrived in three weeks.
Sir Thomas Muddiford, a native of Devonshire, was then governor of that
island, and he ordered the _Swallow_ to be refitted, put eight guns on
board her, and having intelligence that a pirate, who had taken one Mr.
Peach bound from Southampton to Jamaica, and marooned him and all his
crew, was still in those seas, he ordered the _Swallow_, now well
victualled and manned, to go in quest of her, and gave his countryman
Berry the title of lieutenant.
In three weeks after they sailed from Jamaica they found the pirate at
anchor in a bay off the island of Hispaniola. He had a force of about
sixty men and twenty guns, whereas the _Swallow_ had but forty men and
eight small guns. Captain Insam, having considered the enemy's strength
and compared it with his own, called up all his men and addressed them
in these words: "Gentlemen, the blades we are to attack are men-at-arms,
old buccaneers, and superior to us in number and in the force of their
ship, and therefore I would have your opinion, whether----" "Sir,"
interrupted Lieutenant Berry, "we are men-at arms, too, and what is
more, honest men, who fight under the king's commission; and if you have
no stomach for fighting, be pleased to walk down into your cabin." The
crew applauded this speech, and declared one and all for Lieutenant
Berry, who undertook the affair with all its disadvantages.
The pirate rode at anchor to the windward, by reason of which the
_Swallow_ was obliged to make two trips under her lee, in which she
received two broadsides and two volleys of small shot without returning
a gun. Mr. Berry then boarded her on the bow, pouring in his broadside,
which killed the pirate and twenty-two men on the spot: they then fought
their way to the main mast, soon after which the pirate was taken,
having only seven men left, and those all wounded, though they lived
long enough to be hanged afterwards in Jamaica; and all this with no
other loss than that of the boatswain's mate.
On their return to Jamaica Captain Insam confined his lieutenant and
brought him to a court martial; where, on the evidence of the men, the
court declared he had done his duty, and ordered the captain to live
peaceably with him in their voyage to England, which he did; and Mr.
Berry, notwithstanding what was past, behaved towards him with all
imaginable modesty and submission.
In a short time after he came home the Dutch war broke out, and Mr.
Berry had a sloop given him, the _Maria_, of fourteen guns, with the
king's commission. He held this small command for about four months, in
which time he took thirty-two prizes; and for his extraordinary
diligence had the command given him of the _Coronation_, a ship of
fifty-six guns.
In this ship he was soon after sent to the West Indies, where our
colonies were in no small danger, having both the French and Dutch upon
their hands. On his arrival at Barbadoes the governor bought some large
merchant ships, converted them into men-of-war, and having made up nine
sail, including the _Coronation_, manned and put them under the command
of Commodore Berry. With this little fleet he sailed for Nevis, in order
to protect it from the French, who had already made themselves masters
of St. Christopher, Antigua, and Montserrat. He had scarcely arrived
before he had intelligence that the French were preparing at St.
Christopher a very great force, which was intended for the conquest of
Nevis. They had twenty-two men-of-war and frigates, six large transport
ships of their own, and four Dutch. With these they sailed toward Nevis
as to a certain victory.
Commodore Berry sailed with his nine ships to meet them; and, as he
turned the point of the island, one of his best ships blew up, which
struck his men with astonishment if not dismay. "Now you have seen an
English ship blow up," said the commodore, "let us try if we can't blow
up a Frenchman. There they are, boys! and if we don't beat them they
will beat us." Having said this, he immediately began the fight with the
French admiral; and, after an engagement of upwards of thirteen hours,
forced this mighty fleet to fly for shelter under the cannon of St.
Christopher, whither he pursued them, sent in a fire-ship, and burnt the
French admiral. Seeing her in flames, he said to his seamen, "I told you
in the morning that we should burn a Frenchman before night; to-morrow
we will try what we can do with the rest." While he was refitting his
ships the enemy wisely stole away; the French to Martinico, and the
Dutch to Virginia.
In the third Dutch war he had the command of the _Resolution_, a
seventy-gun ship, in which he was present at the famous action in
Southwold Bay, on May 28th, 1672. In this battle, observing that the
Duke of York was very hard pressed, he left his station, and came in to
his relief, where the service proved so hot that in less than two hours
he had no fewer than one hundred and twenty men killed, as many more
wounded, and his ship completely disabled: upon this he was towed out of
the line, stopped his leaks, and fell into his place again in an hour,
and there did such service that when Charles II. came to meet the fleet,
and dined on board the _Royal Sovereign_ at the Buoy in the Nore, he, of
his own thought, called for Captain Berry, and, having knighted him,
said very graciously, "As our thoughts have been now upon honour, we
will hereafter think of profit; for I would not have so brave a man a
poor knight."
In the year 1682 it was thought expedient to send the Duke of York down
to Scotland, and for this purpose the _Gloucester_ frigate, under the
command of Sir John Berry, was ordered to be ready; and accordingly, on
April 28th, the Duke of York embarked on board that ship. In their
passage Sir John observed, on May 3rd, when in the mouth of the Humber,
as he apprehended, an error in the pilot's conduct, though he was looked
upon as a man of great ability in his employment. Of this he informed
the duke and desired they might lie to, at least for that night, which
the pilot opposed; and, being a great favourite of the duke, his advice
prevailed. But His Royal Highness was soon convinced of the superiority
of Sir John Berry's judgment; since, in three-quarters of an hour
afterwards, the ship was lost, and about three hundred people in her,
among whom were some persons of the first rank. The duke himself but
narrowly escaped in the long-boat, Sir John Berry standing with his
sword drawn in the stern of the boat to hinder people from crowding in,
which undoubtedly saved the duke, since a very few more would have
overset it.
During the reign of King James II. he was in as high favour as he could
desire, the king constantly consulting him in matters relating to the
management of the fleet. When it became known that the Dutch meditated
an invasion, Sir John Berry was appointed vice-admiral, and after the
landing of the Prince of Orange, when Lord Dartmouth left the fleet, the
sole command of it devolved upon him.
The change of the government wrought none in the condition of our
admiral. An experienced officer and a man of honour will be a welcome
servant to any prince. King William was one who valued abilities and
understood them, and therefore he often sent for Sir John Berry to
confer with him on naval affairs; and once particularly the king engaged
with him in so close and earnest a conversation, that it took up the
whole night, and Sir John was not dismissed from the royal closet until
it was far advanced in the morning. Yet this favour brought him no
accession either for post or profit; he kept what he had, and probably
thought that sufficient, being commissioner of the navy, governor of
Deal Castle, and captain of an independent company.
In February 1691 he was ordered to Portsmouth to pay off some ships
there; and, while thus employed on board one of them, he was taken
suddenly ill, and thereupon carried on shore, where it was given out
that he died of a fever. A post-mortem revealed that he did not die a
natural death, but as the result of poison, though by whom administered,
or for what reason, was never made public. His body, according to his
own direction, was carried from Portsmouth to London and interred in the
chancel of Stepney Church, where a monument is erected to his memory.
THE STORY OF THE THIRD DUTCH WAR.
BY JOHN CAMPBELL.
THE BATTLE OF SOUTHWOLD BAY.--THE STORY OF THE EARL OF
SANDWICH.--THE INVASION OF HOLLAND.
We come now to the story of the third Dutch war, perhaps more frequently
called the second, from the fact that it was the second war with Holland
in the reign of Charles II.
War was declared by Charles on the 28th of March, 1672; Louis XIV. of
France agreeing to join with the English against the Dutch, and sending
the Count d'Estrees, Vice-admiral of France, with a large squadron, to
join the English fleet.
The French squadron arrived at St. Helen's on the 3rd of May, and the
king immediately went down to Portsmouth; and, to show his confidence in
his new ally, went on board the French admiral, where he remained some
hours. The English fleet sailed to the Downs, the Duke of York, as
high-admiral, wearing the red, and the Earl of Sandwich, the blue. Here
the French squadron joined them, their admiral bearing the white flag;
the united fleet consisting of one hundred and one sail of men-of-war,
besides fire-ships and tenders. Of these the English had sixty-five
ships of war, carrying four thousand and ninety-two pieces of cannon,
and twenty-three thousand five hundred and thirty men. The French
squadron consisted of thirty-six sail, on board of which were one
thousand nine hundred and twenty-six pieces of cannon, and about eleven
thousand men. The Dutch, in the meantime, were at sea with a very
considerable fleet, consisting of ninety-one stout men-of-war,
fifty-four fire-ships, and twenty-three yachts. On May the 9th they were
seen off Dover, and the 13th of the same month a Dutch squadron chased
the _Gloucester_, and some other ships, under the cannon of Sheerness.
The English fleet were at anchor in Solebay on May 28th, when the Dutch
fell in with them; and, if they had not spent too much time in council,
had entirely surprised them. As it was, many of the English captains
were forced to cut their cables, in order to get into the line in time
for the battle. The engagement began between seven and eight in the
morning, when De Ruyter attacked the red squadron in the centre, and
engaged the admiral, on board of which was the Duke of York, for two
hours, forcing His Highness at last to remove to another ship. The Dutch
captain, Van Brakell, attacked the Earl of Sandwich in the _Royal
James_; and while they were engaged, almost all the squadron of Van
Ghent fell upon the earl's ships. His lordship behaved with amazing
intrepidity; killed Admiral Van Ghent with his own hands, sank three
fire-ships and a man-of-war, that would have laid him on board; but when
he had lost all his officers and two-thirds of his men, his battered
ship was grappled and set on fire by a fourth fire-ship.
In this distress, it is said, he might have been relieved by his
vice-admiral, Sir Joseph Jordan, if Sir Joseph had not been more
solicitous about assisting the duke. It is said that when the earl saw
Sir Joseph sail by, heedless of the condition in which he lay, he said
to those about him, "There is nothing left for us now but to defend the
ship to the last man," and those who knew him best knew quite well that
by the last man he meant himself. When the fourth fire-ship had grappled
him, he begged his captain, Sir Richard Haddock, and all his servants,
to get into the boat and save themselves, which they did; but many of
his men would not leave their admiral, and continued to make fruitless
efforts to quench the fire until the ship blew up about noon.