Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy, from Damme to Trafalgar.

by Alfred H. Miles

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.

The death of Van Ghent, with the furious attack of part of the blue 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.