The only satisfactory account I have met of the sea fights of 1653 and the transactions at Leghorn are given by the letters printed at length in the Calendar of State Papers of the Interregnum for this year. It is on them that this chapter is based, in addition to authorities named above.
During the pause in hostilities between the end of February and the end of May, the scene of operations of the two fleets was shifted from the Channel to the North Sea. It was well understood on the English side that the most effectual way of breaking the power of the Dutch was to attack them on their own coast. Our headquarters were fixed for the brief remains of the war at Yarmouth and Harwich. The violent measure by which Cromwell ended for the time the existence of the Long Parliament made no change in the conduct of the naval war. It was on the 19th of April that he suddenly burst in on the eloquence of Sir Henry Vane by declaring that there had been too much of this, put his hat on, and ordered Colonel Harrison's regiment of musketeers to turn the honourable members into the street. His action was accepted, and had no doubt been foreseen, by the officers commanding the fleet, and the men followed the lead of their superiors. At a meeting of naval officers held on board the Resolution at Spithead on the 22nd of April 1653, a general declaration of adhesion to Cromwell was drawn up. It leaves no doubt that the fleet was at least prepared to accept Cromwell as the effectual ruler of England. It was addressed to the Council of Officers, and is as follows:—
"Gentlemen,—There being certain intelligence come to our hands of the great changes within our nation, viz. the dissolution of this parliament; we, the general, commanders, and officers here present with this part of the fleet, have had a very serious consideration thereof, as also what was our duty, and incumbent upon us in such a juncture of time; and find it set upon our spirits, that we are called and intrusted by this nation for the defence of the same against the enemies thereof at sea, whether the people of the United Provinces, or others. And we are resolved, in the strength of God, unanimously to prosecute the same, according to the trust reposed in us; and have thought good to signify the same unto you, desiring you will take the effectualest course you can for the strengthening and encouraging one another in this work; and doubt not but the Lord, who hath done great and wonderful things for His people that have trusted in Him, will also be found among us, His poor unworthy servants, if we continue firm and constant in our duties, walking before Him in faith, humility, and dependence; not seeking ourselves, but His glory; which that we may all do, is the desire and prayer of your affectionate friends and brethren."
This resolution was forwarded by Cromwell to the ships on other stations, and was everywhere accepted. Blake, indeed, did not sign it, for he was still confined on shore by his wound, but he continued to serve as admiral and general at sea.
Towards the end of May active operations were resumed. In spite of the losses suffered in February, the Dutch took the offensive. Their fleet, estimated at over a hundred ships, appeared in the Downs, and attacked the forts at Dover. On the day when the Dutch were insulting our coast for the last time in this war, Monk and Deane were at Yarmouth with the bulk of the English fleet. Eleven ships, very ill manned, were fitting out in the Thames under the command of Blake, who had returned to service, though still not cured of his wounds. It was known that Tromp was at sea, but great doubt prevailed as to his movements. Transports engaged in bringing stores from the Humber were warned to be on the outlook lest they should meet the Lieutenant-Admiral of Holland in the northern part of the German Ocean. Nimble vessels were despatched in search of him in every direction. On the 28th of May, on the day in which Tromp left the Downs for the north, the generals at sea were informed of his attack on Dover. They at once weighed, and fell down the coast to Southwold Bay. On the 31st of May they were at anchor off Dunwich, where a few fragments of brickwork and a disused church now mark the site of what was once one of the busiest trading towns on the east coast of England. Here they were informed that Tromp's fleet had been seen at the head of the Long Sand. The Long Sand is, with the exception of the Kentish Knock, the farthest out of the belt of shallows stretching from the mouth of the Thames to Orford Ness. Monk and Deane immediately sailed in pursuit. On the 2nd of June they caught sight of Tromp to leeward. During the 1st they had waited for Blake to join them from the river with his eleven ships. This reinforcement would have raised their fleet to a total strength of 126. But Blake was not yet ready, and the weather was thick and hazy. On the 2nd it cleared up, and the Dutch were seen to leeward. The English had the wind, and immediately sailed for the purpose of attacking.
Tromp, conscious that he was outmatched in strength of ships and weight of broadsides, adopted a plan of action which became habitual to the French admirals of the next century. He accepted battle to leeward, and retreated in a slanting direction, or, according to the sea phrase of the seventeenth century, "lasking." As the English line came down from windward, its van would naturally come into action before the centre, or rear, were within striking distance of the enemy. This would expose the leading ships of the attacking line to the fire of a superior number of enemies, and there would be considerable danger that they might suffer crippling damage. It was at this that the French admirals habitually aimed, and the Dutch adopted this more timid method of accepting battle when, as on the present occasion, they felt overmatched. Its advantage lay in this, that, if several of the van ships of the fleet acting on the offensive were severely damaged, the total injury done might be sufficient to deter the admiral in command from pressing his attack home. In later times, when English admirals had become pedantically devoted to the maintenance of an orderly and precise line, this conduct of the battle by the enemy to leeward did avail, never indeed to win a victory, but frequently to avert a defeat. As against the fiercer leadership of the seventeenth century it was not equally successful.
On the 2nd of June the advancing English fleet forced the action early in the afternoon. The Blue Division, under the command of John Lawson, was in the van, and appears to have struck upon the enemy's line in his van, under the command of Michael de Ruyter. The Dutch, pursuing the evasive manner of fighting they had adopted from a sense of weakness, flinched from the attack, and filed away to leeward, firing high, to do the utmost possible amount of damage to the masts and spars of the English. Tromp, indeed, bore up to support De Ruyter, that is to say, lay close to the wind, so as to bring himself near the English fleets, and within the range of effective fire. While the Blue Division and a part only of the remainder of our fleet were engaged, a shift of the wind altered the relative positions of the two fleets. It turned to the east, and therefore gave the weather-gage to the Dutch. The more distant centre and rear of the English fleet were thus thrown to leeward of the Blue Squadron, now closely engaged with the enemy. Tromp, as ready to attack where he had a reasonable prospect of success, as he was skilful to retreat before a superior enemy, immediately assumed the offensive, and endeavoured to throw the whole weight of his fleet on the Blue Division. Lawson met the attack firmly, while the Red and White Divisions worked to windward to his support. Then the wind changed again, giving the weather-gage once more to the English. The fleets were now so close together that the Dutch could not, even if they wished to do so, avoid a general action. They resumed their movement of retreat towards the coast of Flanders, but they bore away almost yardarm to yardarm with the English. The battle did not cease until nine at night, when the long daylight of early June came to an end. If the claim made by the English officers was well founded, their enemy suffered the loss of several vessels burnt or sunk. On our side the loss of life was comparatively slight, but it included the general-at-sea, Richard Deane, who sailed in the Resolution with his colleague Monk. Deane fell cut in two by a cannon shot in the first broadside fired by the Dutch at the Resolution. His blood was splashed all over Monk, who saw the fall of his friend and colleague with his usual imperturbable serenity. Fearing that the sight of Deane's body, mangled almost beyond recognition, might dishearten the men, and perhaps moved by a sense of decency, Monk took off his long cloak and threw it over the corpse.
When night fell, both fleets were in sight of Dunkirk. The Dutch, taking advantage of the shallow draught of their ships, ran close in shore, where the deeper-keeled English vessels could not follow them. The sound of the cannon had been heard by the ships under Blake's immediate command in the estuary of the Thames. He was still ill, and found himself growing daily worse, but he made an effort to aid his brother generals-at-sea. On the morning of the 3rd he was clear of the Thames, but the wind was very light, and the day was far advanced before he could reach the scene of battle. The want of wind had in the meantime suspended the action between the two fleets. It was not until the afternoon that Monk, now in sole command, was again able to bring the Dutch to battle. The second day's fight was less fiercely contested than the first. The Dutch, convinced of their inferiority, fought in retreat along the coast of Flanders, keeping as much as they could in the shallow water, and heading for the protection of their own harbours. Blake came up in time to take part in the end of the battle, but he and Monk were unable to prevent Tromp from taking refuge in the Weilings, the name we gave to the land-locked waters between the island of Walcheren and the mainland.
The actual loss of the Dutch fleet was undoubtedly exaggerated in the English reports, but, although we over-estimated the number of vessels destroyed, there can be no doubt that the defeat of the Dutch had been complete, and was of a kind to depress them greatly. It could not be accounted for by accident or mere mismanagement, but was manifestly due to the inferior quality of the fleet. This was fully recognised by the brave and able men in command of the Dutch Navy. Tromp told the States General that they must build better ships if they hoped to fight the English successfully; while Cornelius de With, always an outspoken man, declared that the English were masters of "us and of the sea." The approaching ruin of their commerce and fisheries broke the spirit of the United Provinces. The loss already suffered had been enormous. Thousands of merchants were bankrupt. The fisheries were annihilated, and the Zuyder Zee was crowded with merchant vessels unable to proceed on their voyage from fear of the English fleets. In the meantime the partisans of the House of Orange were stirring. The oligarchical Government established after the death of William II. was threatened by a most dangerous rebellion. Under pressure from abroad and at home, it appealed for peace. The Protector insisted upon the full demands that had been made by the Council of State. Much as the Dutch had suffered, they were not prepared to submit so fully as this, and the harsh insistence of England provoked a revival of national pride. Declaring that it was better to die sword in hand than to submit to the outrageous demands made upon them, the States General resolved to attempt one last determined effort to regain the free use of the sea. Every nerve was strained to equip a great fleet, and for the time all commerce was suspended, in order the better to fit out a fighting force.