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.'"
About five in the evening, De Ruyter, with all his flags and fleet, came close up with the prince, and then began a very sharp engagement. His Highness had none to second him but the vice-admiral and rear-admiral of the blue, Sir John Harman, Captain Davis, and Captain Stout, of his own division, Sir John Holmes in the Rupert, Captain Legge in the Royal Katharine, Sir John Berry in the Resolution, Sir John Ernle in the Henry, Sir Roger Strickland in the Mary, and Captain Carter in the Crown; in all about thirteen ships. The engagement was very close and bloody till about seven o'clock, when His Highness forced the Dutch fleet into great disorder and sent in two fire-ships amongst them to increase it, at the same time making a signal for the French to bear down; which, even then, if they had done, a total defeat must have followed: but, as they took no notice of it and the prince saw that most of his ships were not in any condition to keep the sea long, he wisely provided for their safety by making with an easy sail toward our own coasts.
This battle ended as doubtfully as any of the rest; for the Dutch very loudly claimed the victory now, as they did before, and with fully as much reason. The truth is, it seems to have been a drawn battle; since the Dutch, notwithstanding all their advantages, did not take or sink a single English man-of-war, and killed but two captains, Sir William Reeves and Captain Havard, besides our gallant admiral, Sir Edward Spragge, and no great number of private men. On their side they lost two vice-admirals, Sweers and Liefde, three captains, and about one thousand private men.
Soon after this battle the English fleet came into the Thames, and Prince Rupert returned to court, where he joined his representations to those of others who were desirous for peace, the result of which was that a treaty of peace was signed in London on February 9th, 1674, whereby all differences were adjusted. The limits of the British seas were particularly defined; and the states undertook that not only separate ships, but whole fleets should strike their sails to any fleet or single ship carrying the king's flag, as the custom was in the days of his ancestors.