Under the arrangement of the conspirators the French fleet was to enter the Thames, and the Jacobins in London were to rise, seize the queen and her principal ministers, and proclaim James once more king, whereupon James was to leave Ireland to the care of Lauzun and Tyrconnel, return to England and take the head of the revolution, while the French landed troops at Torbay and intercepted the return of William from Ireland.
The Earl of Torrington was at St. Helen's when he received the news of the arrival of the French fleet, which must have surprised him very much, since he was so far from expecting the French in that quarter that he had no scouts to the westward. He put to sea, however, with such ships as he had, and stood to the south-east, leaving orders that all the English and Dutch ships which could have notice should follow him. In the evening he was joined by several more ships, and the next morning he found himself within sight of the enemy. The French landed and made some prisoners on shore; and by them sent a letter from Sir William Jennings, an officer in the navy, who had followed the fortunes of King James and served now as third captain on board the admiral, promising pardon to all such captains as would now adhere to that prince. The next day Torrington received another reinforcement of seven Dutch men-of-war, under the command of Admiral Evertzen, and for some time the English fleet lay off Ventnor, while the French fleet stood off the Needles. It is certain that the Earl of Torrington did not think himself strong enough to venture on an engagement, and in all probability the rest of the admirals agreed with him.
His whole strength consisted of about thirty-four men-of-war of several sizes, and the three Dutch admirals had under their command twenty-two large ships. Outnumbered by more than twenty sail it was perhaps but natural that he should seek to avoid hostilities.
In London, where the Jacobin plot was known, the utmost excitement prevailed. The rival fleets were known to be in sight of each other, and it was clear that the English admiral was reluctant to engage. Under these circumstances the queen, fearful of the consequences of continued tension, by the advice of the privy council sent the earl orders to fight at all costs and compel the French fleet to withdraw. In obedience to this order, as soon as it was light, on June 30th, the admiral threw out the signal for drawing into line and bore down upon the enemy, while they were under sail, with their heads to the northward.
The signal for battle was made about eight, when the French braced their head sails to their masts, in order to lie by. The action began about nine, when the Dutch squadron, which made the van of the united fleets, fell in with the van of the French, and put them into some disorder. About half an hour after our blue squadron engaged their rear very warmly; but the red, commanded by the Earl of Torrington in person, which made the centre of our fleet, could not come up till about ten; and this occasioned a great opening between them and the Dutch. The French, making use of this advantage, weathered, and of course surrounded the Dutch, who defended themselves very gallantly, though they suffered extremely from so unequal a fight. The admiral, seeing their distress, endeavoured to relieve them; and while they dropped their anchors, the only method they had left to preserve themselves, he drove with his own ship and several others between them and the enemy, and in that situation anchored about five in the afternoon, when it grew calm; but discerning how much the Dutch had suffered, and how little probability there was of regaining anything by renewing the fight, he weighed about nine at night, and retired eastward with the tide of flood.
The next day it was resolved in a council of war, held in the afternoon, to preserve the fleet by retreating, and rather to destroy the disabled ships, if they should be pressed by the enemy, than to hazard another engagement by endeavouring to protect them. This resolution was executed with as much success as could be expected, which, however, was chiefly owing to want of experience in the French admirals; for, by not anchoring when the English did, they were driven to a great distance; and, by continuing to chase in a line of battle, instead of leaving every ship at liberty to do her utmost, they could never recover what they lost by their first mistake. But, notwithstanding all this, they pressed on their pursuit as far as Rye Bay; and forcing the Anne, of seventy guns, which had lost all her masts, on shore near Winchelsea, they sent in two ships to burn her, which the captain prevented by setting fire to her himself. The body of the French fleet stood in and out of the bays of Bourne and Pevensey, in Sussex, while about fourteen of their ships anchored near the shore. Some of these attempted to burn a Dutch ship of sixty-four guns, which at low water lay dry; but her commander defended her so stoutly every high water, that they were at length forced to desist, and the captain carried her safe into Holland.
Our loss in this unlucky affair, if we except reputation, was not so great as might have been expected; not more than two ships, two sea captains, two captains of marines, and three hundred and fifty private men. The Dutch were much more unfortunate, because they were more thoroughly engaged. Besides three ships sunk in the fight, they were obliged to set fire to three more that were stranded on the coast of Sussex, losing in all six ships of the line. They likewise lost many gallant officers; particularly their rear-admirals, Dick and Brakel, and Captain Nordel, with a great number of inferior officers and seamen.
After the engagement our fleet retreated towards the River Thames; and the Earl of Torrington, going on shore, left the command to Sir John Ashby. On July 8th the French fleet stood toward their own coast, but were seen, upon the 27th, off the Berry Head, a little to the eastward of Dartmouth, and then, the wind taking them short, they put into Torbay. There they lay but a short time; for they were discovered on the 29th near Plymouth, at which place the necessary preparations were made by platforms and other works to give them a warm reception. On August 5th they appeared again off the Rame Head, in number between sixty and seventy, when, standing westward, they were no more seen in the Channel during 1690.
The earl was tried by court martial on the charge of having from treachery or cowardice misbehaved in his office, drawn dishonour on the English nation and sacrificed our good allies the Dutch. He defended himself with dignity and eloquence, affirming that he fought under orders, against his own judgment and that of his staff, against superior forces without any probability of success; that the Dutch suffered for their own rashness, and that if he had sustained them in the manner they expected, the whole fleet must have been surrounded and destroyed. In the end the earl was acquitted, but the day after the trial he was superseded.