After cruising about from the first week in May till the 28th, the Dutch fleet was descried at break of day, approaching with great speed. The utmost haste was needed in the English fleet to prepare for battle; and many of the ships had to cut their cables to get away and form in order. The blue squadron, commanded by the Earl of Sandwich, in his flag-ship the Royal James, of one hundred guns, commenced the action by a hot attack on the squadron of Van Ghent. The earl’s object in his attack was partly to give the vessels of the combined fleet time to form. In this he was completely successful. Captain Brackel, in the Great Holland, made a furious attack upon the Royal James, but got much the worst of the fight, and was, with several others of the Dutch men-of-war, disabled by their powerful antagonist, which also sank three of the Dutch fire-ships. The white squadron, under D’Estrées, the French vice-admiral, withstood for a time the fierce onslaught of the Dutch, but soon sheered off,—keeping aloof from the engagement during the remainder of the day.
The Duke of York and De Ruyter were warmly engaged against each other for several hours. The main-mast of the St. Michael, the duke’s ship, was shot down, and it sustained such serious damage as to compel him to change into the Loyal London. The most desperate part of the battle was that in which the Earl of Sandwich was engaged. Soon after he was attacked by the Great Holland, which had grappled with him for an hour and a half, when the whole of Van Ghent’s squadron bore down upon him. He was completely surrounded by Dutch men-of-war and fire-ships. In the midst of this tremendous struggle Van Ghent fell. The Great Holland was shattered, and became a wreck; Brackel, the commander, was wounded, and almost all the other officers were killed or wounded. In this unequal contest, which had lasted for more than five hours, the Earl of Sandwich defended his ship with the most heroic and dauntless bravery, and—although he had not received from the rest of the squadron the support he had a right to claim and expect—he succeeded in so far repulsing the enemy as to break through their wall of fire, and continue his daring conflict with them from the outer side. He carried on, against fearful odds, the struggle for victory. In his desperate strait, the vice-admiral, Sir Joseph Jordan, might have assisted him, had the duke demanded his assistance, but he sailed past, heedless of the condition of the wrecked flag-ship, and the claims upon a brave comrade, its gallant commander. When the earl saw Jordan pass unheeding, he exclaimed, “There is nothing left for us now but to defend the ship, to the last man.” The situation was appalling. Of one thousand men on board the Royal James at the commencement of the action, six hundred lay dead upon the deck. The devastation continued,—men dropped rapidly,—and the ship was so shattered that it was impossible to carry her off. A fourth fire-ship grappled the doomed Royal James, and accomplished its mission of destruction. The gallant ship was speedily in flames. The earl entreated his captain, Sir Richard Haddock, his servants, and all who could, to get into the boats and save themselves, which at last they did. Haddock was afterwards taken out of the sea alive, but severely wounded in the thigh. The attempts to extinguish the fire by the few sailors who remained on board were utterly vain, and about noon the Royal James blew up, and all who had remained in the ship perished, including the brave Earl of Sandwich and one of his sons. The body of the earl was not recovered till a fortnight after the terrible event. The following announcement appeared in the Gazette of 10th June 1672:—
“Harwich, 10th June.
“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 upon the body of the said Earl, which remained, at the time of its taking up, in every part unblemished, saving by some impression made by the fire upon his face and breast; upon which His Majesty, out of his great regard to the 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.”
Reverting to the terrible contest, it is stated that the battle raged with incessant fury from a little after seven in the morning until nine o’clock in the evening. Tremendous losses were sustained by both the English and the Dutch, on whose side their admirals, Evertsen and Van Ghent, with many of their chief officers, were killed, and De Ruyter was wounded. The English also lost many officers, besides the brave Earl of Sandwich,—and vast numbers of men fell in both fleets. Victory was claimed by both sides, but it seems to have been gained by neither. They fought as long as a remnant of fighting life and strength were left in either of them. At the end of the dreadful day’s work the Dutch sailed away, which does not look like victory. The English did not pursue them, which looks also as if they had had enough of it.
The body of the deceased earl was conveyed from Harwich to Deptford in one of the king’s yachts. The Gazette of 4th July informs us that the body was at Deptford on the 3rd July 1672, “laid in the most solemn manner in a sumptuous barge, and conveyed to Westminster Bridge,[3] attended by the King’s barge, 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 suitably 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 greatest magnificence. Eight earls were assistant to his son Edward, Earl of Sandwich, chief mourner; and most of the nobility, and other persons of quality in town, gave their assistance to his interment.” In this order they proceeded through a double line of the King’s Guards drawn up on each side of the street, to the west end of the Abbey, where the dean, prebends, and choir received them, and conducted them into Henry Seventh’s Chapel, where the remains of the Earl of Sandwich were most solemnly committed to, the Duke of Albemarle’s vault,—which done, the officers broke their white staffs, and Garter proclaimed the titles of the most noble earl deceased. The great earl perished in the prime of life, having only reached his forty-seventh year.
[3] A causeway so called at that time.
The high character and noble qualities of the Earl of Sandwich are so clearly revealed in his life, as to render comment upon his character, or enumeration of his qualities, superfluous. He took no share in intrigues, either under the Commonwealth or the Monarchy, both of which he served. His life was a continuous series of public services. He was brave, wise, just, and generous,—the advocate of no party. His highest ambition was to be instrumental in promoting the prosperity of his country, and maintaining its honour among the nations.
PRINCE RUPERT,
NAVAL AND MILITARY COMMANDER.
CHAPTER XII. THE DUTCH DISCOVER ENGLISH COURAGE TO BE INVINCIBLE.
Some heroes of the olden time played many parts, which are in these later days assigned to distinct and separate performers. The division of labour was not then so well understood and appreciated,—and specialists were more rare. Prince Rupert, like Blake, his great antagonist, with whom he repeatedly came into conflict upon land and at sea, distinguished himself highly as a military as well as a naval commander. He was, in addition, an accomplished chemist and metallurgist, and in general scientific culture and attainments much in advance of his age. Rupert was endowed with a degree of native energy that swept aside temptations to indulge in luxurious idleness, and made effeminacy impossible. He was preternaturally restless, active, and impetuous; so much so, as to have made his name a proverbial adjective, expressive of these qualities. This was illustrated in the case of a distinguished deceased statesman, Earl Derby, who was fitly pronounced “the Rupert of debate.”