squadron, coming in, though too late, to the Earl of Sandwich's
assistance, threw this part of the Dutch fleet into very great confusion
and forced them to stand off. This gave an opportunity for the blue
squadron to join the red and to assist the Duke of York, who, deserted
by the French, was in the utmost danger of being destroyed by the two
squadrons of De Ruyter and Bankert. About this time Cornelius Evertz,
vice-admiral of Zealand, was killed, and De Ruyter and Allemand narrowly
escaped being burnt by fire-ships; but, when the English thought
themselves secure of victory, the scattered squadron of Van Ghent came
in to the assistance of their countrymen, and again rendered doubtful
the fortune of the day.
It is said that all this time the French, who composed the white
squadron, instead of seconding the efforts of the English, kept as far
out of danger as they could, and left our fleet to sustain the whole
force of the enemy at a disadvantage of three to two. But,
notwithstanding this inequality of numbers, the fight continued with
inexpressible obstinacy till towards the evening, when victory declared
for the English. Five or six of the enemy's fire-ships were sunk by an
English man-of-war; and Sir Joseph Jordan, of the blue squadron, having
the advantage of the wind, pierced the Dutch fleet, and thereby spread
through it the utmost confusion; while a fire-ship clapped their
admiral, De Ruyter, on board, and was, with the utmost difficulty,
repulsed. As it grew dark, De Ruyter, collecting his fleet in the best
order he could, fought retreating and steered northwards.
The loss was pretty equal on both sides. The English had four men-of-war
sunk or disabled, but they were small ships; whereas the Dutch lost
three of the best in their fleet: one sunk, another burnt, and a third
taken; a fourth, called the _Great Holland_, commanded by the brave
Captain Brakell, was entirely disabled. As for the French,
notwithstanding all their caution, they lost two men-of-war and their
rear-admiral, M. de la Rabiniere. Of the English, about two thousand
five hundred were killed and as many wounded. The Dutch did not publish
any list, though their loss without question must have been as great;
since De Ruyter says in his letter, "it was the hardest fought battle
that he ever saw."
But though losses were reckoned as pretty equal on either side, the loss
of the _Royal James_ with its one hundred guns, its eight hundred men,
and its admiral, the Earl of Sandwich, who was probably without his
equal upon the sea at this time, was loss enough, as the Duke of
Buckingham observed, to give the name of victory to the Dutch.
The earl, a son of Sir Sidney Montague, born on July 27th, 1625, had
rendered a great deal of distinguished service. On August 20th, 1643,
when no more than eighteen years of age, he received a commission to
raise and command a regiment in the parliamentary interest in the Civil
War. He was present at the storming of Lincoln, on the 6th of May, 1644,
which was one of the warmest actions in the course of the war. He was
likewise in the battle of Marston Moor, which was fought on July the
2nd, of the same year, where he greatly distinguished himself; insomuch
that soon after, when the city of York demanded to capitulate, he was
appointed one of the commissioners for settling the articles; which must
have been the pure effect of personal ability, since he was then but in
his nineteenth year. We find him next in the battle of Naseby; and in
the month of July, 1645, he stormed the town of Bridgewater. In
September he commanded a brigade in the storming of Bristol, where he
performed very remarkable service, and, on September 10th, 1645,
subscribed the articles of the capitulation, granted to Prince Rupert on
the delivery of that important place to the parliament.
After the first Dutch war was over he was brought into a command of the
fleet, and was appointed by the protector to act with Blake in his
expedition into the Mediterranean.
In 1657 he was appointed to command the fleet in the Downs, and in the
following year, on the death of Oliver, had command of the great fleet
sent to the North to preserve the tranquillity of Europe; returning from
whence he gave an account of his conduct to parliament, and then retired
to his own estate. On the restoration of Charles II. he was made Earl
of Sandwich, admiral of the narrow seas, and lieutenant-admiral to the
Duke of York as Lord High-admiral of England. The story of his career
from this time forward has been told in the successive stories of the
Dutch wars, and it only remains now to record the last honours done to
his remains. His body was found, nearly a fortnight after his death,
floating in the sea; and the king testified, by the honours he paid to
his remains, how much he admired the man, how sensible he was of his
hard fate, and how willing he was to mingle with the dust of his
ancestors the ashes of such as died gloriously in their country's
service. The facts stand thus recorded in the _Gazette_ of June 13th,
1672:--
"HARWICH, _June 10th_.
"This day the body of the Right Honourable Edward, Earl of
Sandwich, being, by the order upon his coat, discovered floating
on the sea, by one of His Majesty's ketches was taken up and
brought into this port; where Sir Charles Littleton, the
governor, receiving it, took immediate care for its embalming
and honourable disposing, till His Majesty's pleasure should be
known concerning it; for the obtaining of which His Majesty was
attended at Whitehall, the next day, by the master of the said
vessel, who, by Sir Charles Littleton's order, was sent to
present His Majesty with the George found about the body of the
said earl, who remained, at the time of its taking up, in every
part unblemished, saving some impressions made by the fire upon
his face and breast: upon which His Majesty, out of his princely
regard to the great deservings of the said earl, and his
unexampled performances in this last act of his life, hath
resolved to have his body brought up to London, there, at his
charge, to receive the rites of funeral due to his great quality
and merits.
"The Earl of Sandwich's body being taken out of one of his
majesty's yachts at Deptford on July 3rd, 1672, and laid in the
most solemn manner in a sumptuous barge, proceeded by water to
Westminster Bridge, attended by the king's barges, His Royal
Highness the Duke of York's, as also with the several barges of
the nobility, lord mayor, and the several companies of the city
of London, adorned suitable to the melancholy occasion, with
trumpets and other music that sounded the deepest notes. On
passing by the Tower the great guns there were discharged, as
well as at Whitehall; and, about five o'clock in the evening,
the body being taken out of the barge at Westminster Bridge,
there was a procession to the abbey-church with the highest
magnificence. Eight earls were assistant to his son Edward, Earl
of Sandwich, chief mourner, and most of the nobility and persons
of quality in town gave their assistance to his interment in the
Duke of Albemarle's vault, in the north side of King Henry
VII.'s chapel, where his remains are deposited."
After the Battle of Solebay the Dutch fleet returned to the coast of
Holland, where they were obliged to lay up for the want of powder, all
available ammunition being wanted by the land forces to dispute the
victorious march of the French.
In their extremity the Dutch sued for peace, and sent four deputies to
England and as many to the French king. At both courts they were treated
with the same scant courtesy. Charles II., instead of hearing and giving
them an answer in person, sent four of his ministers to confer with
them, and afterwards sent the Duke of Buckingham, the Earl of Arlington,
and Viscount Halifax into Holland to treat with them there. These
ambassadors made most extravagant demands; asking ten millions of
guilders for the expense of the war, an annual tribute of one hundred
thousand for the liberty of fishing, and the perpetual stadtholdership
for the Prince of Orange and his issue male. These, however, were
moderate articles in comparison with the rest; for they insisted on a
share in the Dutch East India trade, the possession of the city of Sluys
in Flanders, and the islands of Cadzand, Walcheren, Goree and Voorn. The
deputies sent to the French court were answered in the style of a
conqueror, and so sent back to spread despair through the country;
whereupon the Dutch seeing nothing before them but slavery, resolved to
lay aside all treaties and to die free.
In the meantime, the French and English fleets, being perfectly
refitted, and the latter having taken on board a large body of land
forces, sailed again for the Dutch coasts, with a design to make a
descent on Zealand, the only province into which the French had not
carried their arms by land. Here they found the Dutch fleet; but, not
thinking proper to attack them among the sands, they deferred the
execution of their design, and blocked up the Maese and Texel; which De
Ruyter, having strict orders to avoid battle, saw with concern, yet
wanted power to prevent. The Duke of York now resolved to disembark his
troops on the Isle of Texel. The occasion was favourable in all
respects; the French and the Bishop of Munster were in the heart of the
Dutch territories, so that no great force could be drawn together to
resist the English on shore, and the coast was so low and flat that it
looked as if nothing could secure the Dutch from invasion.
It was upon July 3rd this resolution was taken; and it was intended that
the forces should have landed the next flood. But at this critical
juncture wind and wave interposed in favour of a free people, and saved
them from a yoke which seemed already to press upon their necks. The ebb
continued much longer than usual, and this defeated the intended descent
for that time; and the storm, that rose the night following, forced the
fleet out to sea, where they struggled for some time with very foul
weather, and then returned to the English shore. The Dutch clergy
magnified this circumstance into a miracle; and certainly it was a good
stroke of policy at such a time to persuade the nation, struggling
against superior enemies, that they were particularly favoured by
Heaven.
After this disappointment, there was no other action thought of at sea
for this year, except the sending Sir Edward Spragge, with a squadron,
to disturb the Dutch herring-fishery; which he performed with a degree
of moderation that became so great a man; contenting himself with taking
one of their vessels, when he saw that was sufficient to disperse the
rest.
All this time affairs in England were getting into very strained
conditions. The parliament had never owned the Dutch war, and though
they voted liberal supplies to the king, did so without naming the
object to which they were to be applied further than to designate them
"the king's extraordinary occasions." At this time, too, the Test Act
was passed, an Act, which, putting it out of the power of the papists to
continue in public offices, compelled Lord Clifford to quit the
treasury and the Duke of York to give up the fleet.
Early in the year 1673 it was resolved that Prince Rupert should succeed
the Duke of York at the head of the fleet, and by the middle of May he
was ready for sea.
The object of the English was to make another attempt to land troops
upon the Dutch coast; and, with this view, a considerable number of
soldiers was put on board the fleet. Charles II. and the Duke of York
visited the navy on May 19th; and, in a council of war held in their
presence, it was resolved to attack the enemy even upon their own coast,
in case they could not be provoked to put to sea. In pursuance of this
determination, Prince Rupert stood over towards the coast of Holland,
and found De Ruyter with the Dutch fleet riding within the sands of
Schonevelt, in a line between the Rand and the Stony-bank, which was a
very advantageous situation.
On the 28th, in the morning about nine o'clock, Prince Rupert sent a
detached squadron of thirty-five frigates and thirteen fire-ships to
draw the enemy out, which was very easily done; for De Ruyter presently
advanced in good order, and, the English light ships retreating, put
their own fleet in some disarray. This engagement took place upon very
unequal terms: the confederate fleet consisted of eighty-four men of
war, besides fire-ships, divided into three squadrons, under the command
of Prince Rupert, Count d'Estrees, and Sir Edward Spragge. The Dutch
were scarcely seventy men-of-war and frigates, under De Ruyter, Tromp,
and Bankert.
The battle was very hard fought on both sides, insomuch that Tromp
shifted his flag four times; from the _Golden Lion_ to the _Prince on
Horseback_, from the _Prince on Horseback_ to the _Amsterdam_, and from
the _Amsterdam_ to the _Comet_, from on board which he dated his letter
to the states in the evening. Sir Edward Spragge and the Earl of Ossory
distinguished themselves on our side by their extraordinary courage and
conduct. Prince Rupert also performed wonders, considering that his ship
was in a very bad condition and took in so much water at her ports that
she could not fire the guns of her lower tier. The battle lasted till
night, and then the Dutch are said to have retired behind their sands.
Both sides, however, claimed the victory: De Ruyter, in his letter to
the Prince of Orange, says, "We judge absolutely that the victory is on
the side of this state and of your highness." Prince Rupert, in his
letter to the Earl of Arlington, says, "I thought it best to cease the
pursuit and anchor where I now am." As to the slain on both sides in
this battle, it is reported the Dutch lost Vice-admiral Schram,
Rear-admiral Vlugh, and six of their captains, and had one ship
disabled, which was lost in her retreat. On our side fell the Captains
Fowls, Finch, Tempest, and Worden: Colonel Hamilton had his legs shot
off, and we had only two ships disabled, none either sunk or taken.
In one respect, however, the Dutch may certainly be credited with
victory; since they prevented a descent intended upon their country,
which was the main object of the attack, and for which service, in case
of the victory of the English fleet, Count Schomberg, with six thousand
men, lay ready at Yarmouth.
The Dutch, being upon their own coast, had the advantage of receiving
quick supplies; whereas the wind prevented the English from obtaining
succour. Prince Rupert, however, did all in his power to repair his
fleet, and believing that the Dutch would not be long before they
resumed hostilities, he went on board the _Royal Sovereign_ in the
evening of June 3rd, "where he went not to bed all night." His foresight
was justified by events; for on the 4th, in the morning, the Dutch
fleet, by this time at least as strong as the confederates, bore down
upon them as fast as the wind would permit. Prince Rupert was so much in
earnest that, finding his ship's crew raised his anchors very slowly, he
ordered his cables to be cut, that he might make haste to meet the
Dutch. Count d'Estrees, with the white squadron, is said to have
betrayed no such great willingness to fight, but to have kept as much as
might be out of harm's way.
At last, about five in the evening, Spragge and Tromp engaged with great
fury. De Ruyter showed at first a design of coming to a close engagement
with the prince: but before he came within musket-shot, he tacked and
bore away; whence it was concluded that he had suffered some
considerable damage. Spragge, in the meantime, had forced Tromp to sheer
off. He then fell into Vice-admiral Sweers's division, which he soon put
to confusion, and had a third engagement with Tromp, wherein he shot
down his flag. The battle lasted till between ten and eleven at night,
and then the Dutch stood to the south-east, and so it ended.
Both sides claimed the victory as before, losses being pretty equal on
both sides, though far from considerable on either.
The prince was for attacking the enemy again; but it was carried in a
council of war to sail for the English coast, in order to obtain
supplies, as well of ammunition as provision; of the want of which a
great many captains complained loudly. Besides, the fleet was so poorly
manned that if it had not been for the land forces on board they could
not have fought at all. On June the 8th the fleet arrived at the Nore,
and on the 14th Prince Rupert went to London, to give the king an
account of the condition of things and to press for necessary supplies.
About the middle of July Prince Rupert was once more at sea, having on
board the troops intended for a descent upon the Dutch coast. His
Highness arrived off Holland on the 21st of the said month; and,
declining an engagement, stood along the shore in order to find an
opportunity for disembarking his troops. On August the 9th he took a
Dutch East India ship richly laden. This induced De Ruyter to bear down
upon the English fleet; upon seeing which, Prince Rupert commanded the
French a particular course, and had thereby an opportunity of discerning
what he was to expect from them in a time of action. They lay by twice
that night; first about eleven o'clock, when the prince sent to Count
d'Estrees to order him to make sail, which he did till about one o'clock
and then laid his sail to the mast again causing a second stop to the
fleet and obliging the prince to send him another message. In those
days, when party-spirit ran very high, nobody ever suspected the Count
d'Estrees' courage, which was so well known and so thoroughly
established as clearly to disclose his orders.
These delays gave the Dutch admiral an opportunity of gaining the wind,
which he did not neglect; but, early on August 11th, bore down upon the
confederates as if he meant to force them to a battle; upon which His
Highness thought fit to tack, and thereby brought the fleet into good
order. He put the French in the van, himself in the centre, and Sir
Edward Spragge in the rear; and in this disposition the French lay fair
to get the wind of the enemy, which, however, they neglected. The
English fleet consisted of about sixty men-of-war and frigates, the
French of thirty, and the Dutch of seventy or thereabouts; so that the
royal fleets were indisputably superior to that of the republic.
De Ruyter, bearing down with his fleet in three squadrons, prepared to
attack the prince himself, while Tromp engaged Spragge and the blue
squadron, in which the English admiral obliged him, by laying his
fore-top sail to his mast, in order to stay for him, contrary to the
express order of the prince. This fondness for a point of honour proved
fatal to himself as well as disadvantageous to the fleet. Bankert, with
his Zealand squadron, should have engaged the white, commanded by
D'Estrees; but it seems the Dutch understood the temper of the French
better than to give themselves much trouble about them; for Bankert
contented himself with sending eight men-of-war and three fire-ships to
attack the rear-admiral, De Martel, who seemed to be the only man that
had any real design to fight; and then the rest of the Zealand squadron
united themselves to De Ruyter, and fell together upon Prince Rupert.
The battle between De Ruyter and the red squadron began about eight
o'clock in the morning, and a multitude of circumstances concurred to
threaten the English admiral with inevitable ruin. Sir Edward Spragge,
intent on his personal quarrel with Van Tromp, had fallen to the
leeward several leagues with the blue squadron; and to complete Prince
Rupert's misfortune, the enemy found means to intercept his own
rear-admiral, Sir John Chichele, with his division; so that by noon His
Highness was wholly surrounded by the Dutch, being pressed by De Ruyter
and his division on his lee-quarter, an admiral with two flags more on
his weather-quarter, and the Zealand squadron on his broadside to
windward.
His Highness, in the midst of these disappointments, behaved with such
intrepidity, and encouraged all his officers so effectually by his own
example that, by degrees, he cleared himself of his enemies, rejoined
Sir John Chichele, and by two o'clock had time to think of the blue
squadron, which was now at three leagues' distance; and, not hearing
their guns well plied, he made all the sail he could towards them, in
order to unite with and relieve them. De Ruyter, perceiving His
Highness's design, left firing and bore away also with his whole force
to the assistance of Tromp; so that both fleets ran down side by side
within range of cannon-shot, and yet without firing on either part.
About four the prince joined the blue squadron, which he found in a very
tattered condition.
At the beginning of the fight, Tromp in the _Golden Lion_, and Sir
Edward Spragge in the _Royal Prince_, fought ship to ship. The Dutch
admiral, however, would not come to a close fight, which gave him a
great advantage; for Spragge, who had more than his complement on board,
suffered much by the enemy's cannon, and, having the wind and smoke in
his face, could not make such good use of his own as he would otherwise
have done. After three hours' warm fighting the _Royal Prince_ was so
disabled that Sir Edward was forced to go on board the _St. George_; and
Tromp quitted his _Golden Lion_ to hoist his flag on board the _Comet_,
when the battle was renewed with incredible fury.
The great aim of the Dutch admiral was to take or sink the _Royal
Prince_; but the Earl of Ossory and Sir John Kempthorne, together with
Spragge himself, so effectually protected the disabled vessel that none
of the enemy's fire-ships could come near her, though they often
attempted it. At last, the _St. George_ being terribly torn and disabled
Sir Edward Spragge designed to go on board a third ship, the _Royal
Charles_; but, before he had got ten boats' length, a shot, which passed
through the _St. George_, took his boat, and though they immediately
rowed back, before they could get within reach of the ropes that were
thrown out from the _St. George_, the boat sank, and Sir Edward was
drowned.
When Prince Rupert drew near the blue squadron he found the admiral
disabled, the vice-admiral lying to the windward, mending his sails and
rigging, the rear-admiral astern of the _Royal Prince_, between her and
the enemy, bending his new sails and mending his rigging. The first
thing His Highness did was to send two frigates to take the _Royal
Prince_ in tow. He then steered in between the enemy and the lame ships,
and perceiving that Tromp had tacked and was coming down again upon the
blue squadron, he made a signal for all the ships of that squadron to
join him: but it was in vain; for, except the two flags, Sir John
Kempthorne and the Earl of Ossory, there was not one in a condition to
move. The French still continued to look on with all the coolness
imaginable; and notwithstanding the prince put out the blue flag upon
the mizen-peak, which was the signal to attack set down in the general
instructions for fighting, and known not only to all the English
captains but also to those of the white squadron, yet they remained, as
before, wholly inactive. But, to give some kind of colour to this
conduct, the Count d'Estrees, after the battle was in a manner over,
sent to know what this signal meant. An officer who wrote an account of
this engagement, says, "The sending to inquire the meaning of the signal
was cunningly done: but one of De Ruyter's sailors seems to have had as
much penetration as the French ministry had artifice; for, upon one of
his companions asking him what the French meant by keeping at such a
distance, 'Why, you fool,' said he, 'they have hired the English to
fight for them; and all their business here is to see that they earn
their wages.'"