The French king employed all his artifice and intrigues in raising up new enemies against the confederates. He is said to have bribed count Mansfield, president of the council of war at Vienna, to withhold the supplies from prince Eugene in Italy. At the Ottoman Porte he had actually gained over the vizier, who engaged to renew the war with the emperor. But the mufti and all the other great officers were averse to the design, and the vizier fell a sacrifice to their resentment. Louis continued to broil the kingdom of Poland by means of the cardinal-primate. The young king of Sweden advanced to Lissou, where he defeated Augustus. Then he took possession of Cracow, and raised contributions; nor could he be persuaded to retreat, although the Muscovites and Lithuanians had ravaged Livonia, and even made an irruption into Sweden.
FRUITLESS EXPEDITION TO CADIZ.
The operations of the combined squadrons at sea did not fully answer the expectation of the public. On the twelfth day of May, sir John Munden sailed with twelve ships to intercept a French squadron appointed as a convoy to a new viceroy of Mexico, from Corunna to the West Indies. On the twenty-eighth day of the month, he chased fourteen sail of French ships into Corunna.
Then he called a council of war, in which it was agreed that as the place was strongly fortified, and by the intelligence they had received, it appeared that seventeen of the enemy’s ships of war rode at anchor in the harbour, it would be expedient for them to follow the latter part of their instructions, by which they were directed to cruise in soundings for the protection of the trade. They returned accordingly, and being distressed by want of provisions, came into port to the general discontent of the nation. For the satisfaction of the people, sir John Munden was tried by a court-martial and acquitted; but as this miscarriage had rendered him very unpopular, prince George dismissed him from the service. We have already hinted that king William had projected a scheme to reduce Cadiz, with intention to act afterwards against the Spanish settlements in the West Indies. This design queen Anne resolved to put in execution. Sir George Rooke commanded the fleet, and the duke of Ormond was appointed general of the land forces destined for this expedition. The combined squadrons amounted to fifty ships of the line, exclusive of frigates, fire-ships, and smaller vessels; and the number of soldiers embarked was not far short of fourteen thousand. In the latter end of June the fleet sailed from St. Helen’s; on the twelfth of August they anchored at the distance of two leagues from Cadiz. Next day the duke of Ormond summoned the duke de Brancaccio, who was governor, to submit to the house of Austria; but that officer answered he would acquit himself honourably of the trust reposed in him by the king. On the fifteenth the duke of Ormond landed with his forces in the bay of Bulls, under cover of a smart fire from some frigates, and repulsed a body of Spanish cavalry; then he summoned the governor of Fort St. Catharine’s to surrender, and received an answer, importing, that the garrison was prepared for his reception. A declaration was published in the Spanish language, intimating, that the allies did not come as enemies to Spain, but only to free them from the yoke of France, and assist them in establishing themselves under the government of the house of Austria. These professions produced very little effect among the Spaniards, who were either cooled in their attachment to that family, or provoked by the excesses of the English troops. These having taken possession of Fort St. Catharine and Port St. Mary’s, instead of protecting, plundered the natives, notwithstanding the strict orders issued by the duke of Ormond to prevent this scandalous practice; even some general officers were concerned in the pillage. A battery was raised against Montagorda fort opposite to the Puntal; but the attempt miscarried, and the troops were re-embarked.
SPANISH GALLEONS TAKEN and DESTROYED.
Captain Hardy having been sent to water in Lagos bay, received intelligence that the galleons from the West Indies had put into Vigo under convoy of a French squadron. He sailed immediately in quest of sir George Rooke, who was now on his voyage back to England, and falling in with him on the sixth day of October, communicated the substance of what he had learned. Rooke immediately called a council of war, in which it was determined to alter their course and attack the enemy at Vigo. He forthwith detached some small vessels for intelligence, and received a confirmation that the galleons and the squadron commanded by Chateau Renault, were actually in the harbour. They sailed thither, and appeared before the place on the eleventh day of October. The passage into the harbour was narrow, secured by batteries, forts, and breast-works on each side; by a strong boom, consisting of iron chains, top-masts, and cables, moored at each end of a seventy-gun ship, and fortified within by five ships of the same strength lying athwart the channel with their broadsides to the offing. As the first and second rates of the combined fleets were too large to enter, the admirals shifted their flags into smaller ships; and a division of five-and-twenty English and Dutch ships of the line, with their frigates, fire-ships, and ketches, was destined for the service. In order to facilitate the attack, the duke of Ormond landed with five-and-twenty hundred men, at the distance of six miles from Vigo, and took by assault a fort and platform of forty pieces of cannon at the entrance of the harbour. The British ensign was no sooner seen flying at the top of this fort than the ships advanced to the attack. Vice-admiral Hop-son, in the Torbay, crowding all his sail, ran directly against the boom, which was broken by the first shock; then the whole squadron entered the harbour through a prodigious fire from the enemy’s ships and batteries. These last, however, were soon stormed and taken by the grenadiers who had been landed. The great ships lay against the forts at each side of the harbour, which in a little time they silenced, though vice-admiral Hop-son narrowly escaped from a fire-ship by which he was boarded. After a very vigorous engagement, the French, finding themselves unable to cope with such an adversary, resolved to destroy their ships and galloons, that they might not fall into the hands of the victors. They accordingly burned and ran ashore eight ships and as many advice-boats; but ten ships of war were taken, together with eleven galleons. Though they had secured the best part of their plate and merchandize before the English fleet arrived, the value of fourteen millions of pieces of eight, in plate and rich commodities, was destroyed in six galleons that perished; and about half that value was brought off by the conquerors; so that this was a dreadful blow to the enemy, and a noble acquisition to the allies. Immediately after this exploit, sir George Rooke was joined by sir Cloudesley Shovel, who had been sent out with a squadron to intercept the galleons. This officer was left to bring home the prizes and dismantle the fortifications, while Rooke returned in triumph to England.