Half hours on the quarter-deck: The Spanish Armada to Sir Cloudesley Shovel 1670

by Anonymous

The greatest confusion prevailed among the Dutch ships; they fell foul of, and burned each other. The whole Dutch fleet seemed to be ablaze, and the cries of the wretched men perishing by fire and water were even more frightful and hideous than the noise of the cannon. The shelter of night permitted the shattered remnant of the Dutch fleet to escape. Had the light held out a little longer, the entire remainder of the armament would have been captured or destroyed. In addition to Opdam, Admirals Stillingwerth and Cortenaer were killed, upwards of four thousand of the Dutchmen perished, and two thousand were taken prisoners. Eighteen of the largest Dutch ships were taken, and fourteen more were sunk or burned. The English had one ship taken, had two hundred and fifty men killed, and three hundred and forty wounded. The fight lasted without intermission from three o’clock in the morning, till seven o’clock in the evening.

The Duke of York was severely blamed by some critics for his failure to secure the full advantages that might have been gained by this decisive victory. Clarendon says apologetically, that “the duke had received so many blows on his own and the other ships, that it was necessary to retire into port, where they might be repaired.” Bishop Burnet’s account of the duke’s conduct after the fight puts His Grace in an unenviable light and position. Burnet, in his circumstantial style of minute narration, says: “After the flight of the Dutch vessels, the duke ordered all the sail to be set on to overtake them. There was a council of war called to concert the method of action, when they should come up with them. In that council, Penn, who commanded under the duke, happened to say that they must prepare for hotter work, in the next engagement. He knew well the courage of the Dutch was never so high as when they were desperate.” Burnet adds that “the Earl of Montague, a volunteer, one of the duke’s court, said to me it was very visible, that made an impression. All the duke’s domestics said he had got honour enough,—why should he venture a second time? The duchess had also given a strict charge to the duke’s servants, to do all they could, to hinder him from engaging too far. When matters were settled, they went to sleep; and the duke ordered a call to be given him, when they should get up to the Dutch fleet. It is not known what passed between the duke and Brounker, who was of his bed-chamber, and was then in waiting; but he came to Penn, as from the duke, and said the duke ordered sail to be slackened. Penn was struck with the order, but did not go to argue the matter with the duke himself, as he ought to have done, but obeyed the order. When the duke had slept, he, upon his waking, went out on the quarter-deck, and seemed amazed to see the sails slackened, and that thereby all hope of overtaking the Dutch was lost. He questioned Penn upon it; Penn blamed Brounker, who said nothing. The duke denied having given any such order, but he neither punished Brounker for carrying it, nor Penn for obeying it. He put Brounker out of his service, but durst do no more, because he was so strong in the king’s favour. Penn was more in his favour after that than even before,—which favour was continued to his son after him, though a Quaker; and it was thought that all that favour was shown to oblige him to keep the secret. Lord Montague did believe “that the duke was struck, and that he had no mind to engage again, and that Penn was privately with him.” Other accounts of the affair have been given,—but none of them are a satisfactory vindication of the duke’s valour, or evidence that he followed up his advantage, as a brave and capable commander should have done.

The fleet returned home, and was refitted with expedition, and in less than a month was again ready for sea. Sixty ships sailed from Southwold Bay on the 5th July 1665, under the command of the Earl of Sandwich. The fleet sailed northwards, and at Bergen engaged in a series of tangled manœuvres and operations,—complicated by the part necessarily taken by the Danish authorities. In the course of his cruise, the earl, on the 4th September, fell in with four Dutch East Indiamen and several merchantmen in the North Sea. They were protected by a strong convoy. Lord Sandwich promptly attacked the Dutch, and, after a severe conflict, captured eight of the Dutch men-of-war, two of the richest of the East Indiamen, and several of the merchant ships;—the others were scattered by the storm, and escaped. On the 9th of September, four men-of-war, two fire-ships, and thirty merchantmen, losing their courses in the fog, joined the English fleet by mistake, and were all taken, with upwards of a thousand prisoners. The Earl of Sandwich brought home his fleet in triumph. The contribution to the Treasury from this expedition was most acceptable, and much needed to provide for further costly naval operations, necessary to maintain England’s “sovereignty of the seas.”

The valiant Earl of Sandwich, like most other eminent and successful men, had his enemies and detractors, and foremost among these was Sir William Coventry, the secretary to the Duke of York; “a sullen, ill-natured, proud man, whose ambition had no limits, nor could be contained within any.” He had prevented Prince Rupert from being associated with Lord Sandwich in the command of the fleet, not to favour the earl, but to mortify the prince. Clarendon pronounced him a man “who never paid a civility to any worthy man, but as it was a disobligation to another, whom he cared less for.” Without provocation he proceeded to pluck the earl of the honours he had taken part in conferring upon him. Coventry did his utmost to have the earl dismissed from the service.

In 1666 the Earl of Sandwich was appointed to an office of great trust and dignity—Ambassador Extraordinary, to mediate and negotiate a peace between England and Spain and Portugal. He accomplished his delicate mission with signal success, and in the course of a year brought the complicated negotiations to an amicable conclusion. He arrived at Madrid on the 26th May 1666, and a treaty of forty articles was signed, on the 13th May 1667. Having been successful with Spain, he next proceeded to Lisbon, and successfully arranged the conditions of a treaty with Portugal, which was signed on the 13th February 1668.

The Earl of Sandwich achieved a high reputation by the manner in which he conducted these important affairs of State. His despatches were pronounced models of sound judgment, dignity, and patriotism,—remarkable alike for accuracy of expression and honesty of purpose. In Spain and Portugal he produced a highly favourable impression, tending powerfully towards the cultivation of friendly relations with England. The king and the Duke of York sent Lord Sandwich autograph letters complimenting him highly upon the skill and success with which he had fulfilled his mission. On his return to England he was received with marked favour, and admitted to greater confidence at court than he had ever, up to that time, enjoyed.

The earl was, on the 3rd August 1670, sworn in President of a newly-appointed Council in Trade and Plantations, to whom the government of the Colonies was entrusted. As Vice-Admiral, Privy Councillor, and President of the Council of Trade, he had many opportunities of rendering important public services. He availed himself of these with great zeal, and exercised his authority in the most impartial spirit. He set his face against all factions, and in doing so, made for himself some bitter enemies. The Cabal did all they could to thwart and undermine him. He introduced a new system into the navy, founding promotion upon meritorious services. He was idolised by the fleet, but hated by the hunters after rank, who had no better claim to promotion than connection or private interest.

In 1672 war with the Dutch again broke out. The interval that had elapsed, since the close of the former hostilities, had been diligently employed by the Dutch in refitting their navy, and they turned out a powerful fleet of ships, improved in construction, well equipped, and commanded by the distinguished Admiral De Ruyter. The naval force of France acted in conjunction with that of England. The Duke of York, although his conduct in the former actions had been at least questionable, again assumed the chief command of the English fleet, in the red squadron which took the centre. The Earl of Sandwich commanded the blue squadron, and Count D’Estrées, the French vice-admiral, the white squadron. A trustworthy writer has given the strength of the united English and French fleets as sixty-five line of battle ships, exclusive of frigates and all necessary attendant vessels, making up the total force, including the French contingent, to something above one hundred sail. The Dutch fleet consisted of seventy-five large ships, and forty frigates and fire-ships, commanded by De Ruyter as chief, by Bancquert in the van, and Van Ghent in the rear. These divisions corresponded with those of the combined fleet.

ACTION BETWEEN THE EARL OF SANDWICH AND ADMIRAL DE RUYTER.