(6) OUR GREAT "GENERAL-AT-SEA."
1. Robert Blake, whose victories at sea are second only to those of Nelson, was not learned in the arts of seamanship. In his day it was quite usual for generals to take command at sea, leaving the navigation of the ships in the hands of the "Masters." Blake, however, did not fight the less well because he went to sea in full military uniform, including his top-boots. In the excitement of battle some of these "Admirals-in-spurs" forgot the language of the sea. It is said that General Monk, in the middle of a sea-fight, sent a shout of laughter round his own decks by giving the order, as to cavalry, "wheel to the left."
2. Blake, our great "General-at-Sea" had all the qualities of a great commander, except perhaps his outward look and mien. He was a little man, of rather a melancholy turn, and chary of his words. He had however, that magnetic influence over his men that bespeaks the true leader—the influence that made them ready to follow wherever he led the way, regardless of chances and risks. He was also beloved by them for his constant care and thought for their welfare. He set himself, with all his heart and strength, to remove all abuses from the navy and to introduce numberless reforms. None knew better that success in the day of battle depends greatly upon previous attention to what seems "little things."
3. Blake had no ends of his own to serve. In the face of any question that presented itself, his one thought was, "What do the interest and honour of England require?" The watchword of his life was that grand word DUTY, which Nelson set before the eyes of his sailors on the morning of Trafalgar. These two great admirals are well linked together by the poet Campbell in his famous sea-song:—
"The spirit of your fathers
Shall start from every wave—
For the deck it was their field of fame,
And Ocean was their grave:
Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell
Your manly hearts shall glow,
As you sweep through the deep,
While the stormy winds do blow;
While the battle rages loud and long
And the stormy winds do blow."
4. No sooner had our great admiral ended the war with the Dutch, in the way already described, than he was despatched by Cromwell with a powerful fleet to the Mediterranean, which had long been infested by pirates in league with the Governors, or Deys, of the Barbary States. These pirates not only seized the cargoes of the merchant ships, but sold their crews and passengers into slavery.
5. When Blake, in the course of his cruise, appeared before Tunis and demanded the release of all Christian prisoners and slaves, the Dey pointed defiantly to his castles at the entrance of the harbour and his nine cruisers anchored beneath their guns. Blake replied by leading in his ships and cannonading the Dey's batteries at close range. When this terrible hail of shot had dismounted the enemy's guns, the admiral lowered his long-boats, and having manned each with a picked crew sent them through the smoke straight at the pirate ships. Cutlasses, pikes, and pistols first did their deadly work and then firebrands did the rest. When the English fleet put out to sea that night every one of the Dey's ships was wrapped in flames.
6. This exploit marks a turning-point in our commercial history. Hitherto merchant vessels were expected to protect themselves and take the risks of capture. Blake's round of the Mediterranean, with his ships of war, let princes and pirates know that henceforth any wrong done to an English vessel would be avenged as a national insult, that to attack a ship flying the flag of England would be regarded as an attack upon England itself. As soon as it was seen that England's arm was long enough, and ready enough, to strike at all offenders on the seas, the English began to take the foremost place as "carriers of the sea," for foreign merchants soon came to the belief that their goods would be safest where the flag of England insured protection.
7. Blake's next great object was to sap the power of Spain with whom Cromwell had gone to war to enforce England's claim to trade with the Spanish colonies of America. Annually there came to Spain from the Western World a great fleet, known as the "plate fleet," freighted with gold and silver, quicksilver and pearls, sugar, hides, and dye-wood. To cut off these supplies was to sever the sinews of war at a stroke. For nearly two years Blake kept watch outside Cadiz for the expected plate-ships, but they had run into harbour at Santa Cruz, under the great peak of Teneriffe, and were waiting there until the way home was clear. Here, at length, Blake resolved to come and burn the ships he saw no hope of capturing.
8. Santa Cruz was then one of the strongest naval stations in the world. The harbour, shaped like a horseshoe, was defended at the entrance and sides by forts, armed with heavy guns, and well garrisoned. Armed vessels were moored in a semi-circle at the bottom of the harbour and in front of them were stationed the royal galleons that had escorted the plate-fleet across the Atlantic. Blake must have seen at once that these ships would act as a screen between his own squadron and the great Spanish batteries on the shore, that one-half of the Spanish force would get in the way of the other in resisting an attack.