A worse choice for the command could not have been made; and this not so much from the duke's inexperience; for an apprenticeship to the sea was not deemed necessary to form a naval commander, in an age when men passed indifferently from the land-service to the sea-service. But, with the exception of personal courage, the duke of Medina Celi seems to have possessed none of the qualities requisite in a commander, whether by land or sea.
The different Italian powers—Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Sicily, Genoa—all furnished their respective quotas. John Andrew Doria, nephew of the great Andrew, and worthy of the name he bore, had command of the galleys of the republic. To these was added the reinforcement of the grand-master of Malta. The whole fleet amounted to more than a hundred sail, fifty-four of which were galleys; by much the larger part being furnished by Spain and her Italian provinces. Fourteen thousand troops embarked on board the squadron. So much time was consumed in preparation, that the armament was not got ready for sea till late in October, 1559,—too late for acting with advantage on the stormy African coast.
EXPEDITION AGAINST TRIPOLI.
This did not deter the viceroy, who, at the head of the combined fleet, sailed out of the port of Syracuse in November. But the elements conspired against this ill-starred expedition. Scarcely had the squadron left the port, when it was assailed by a tempest, which scattered the vessels, disabled some, and did serious damage to others. To add to the calamity, an epidemic broke out among the men, caused by the bad quality of the provisions furnished by the Genoese contractors. In his distress, the duke of Medina Celi put in at the island of Malta. He met with a hospitable reception from the grand-master; for hospitality was one of the obligations of the order. Fall[{399}] two mouths elapsed before the duke was in a condition to reëmbark, with his force reduced nearly one third by disease and death.
Meanwhile Dragut, having ascertained the object of the expedition, had made every effort to put Tripoli in a posture of defence. At the same time he sent to Constantinople, to solicit the aid of Solyman. The Spanish admiral, in the crippled condition of his armament, determined to postpone the attack on Tripoli to another time, and to direct his operations for the present against the island of Jerbah, or, as it was called by the Spaniards, Gelves. This place, situated scarcely a league from the African shore, in the neighborhood of Tripoli, had long been known as a nest of pirates, who did great mischief in the Mediterranean. It was a place of ill-omen to the Spaniards, whose arms had met there with a memorable reverse in the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic.[1272] The duke, however, landing with his whole force, experienced little resistance from the Moors, and soon made himself master of the place. It was defended by a fortress fallen much out of repair; and, as the Spanish commander proposed to leave a garrison there, he set about restoring the fortifications, or rather constructing new ones. In this work the whole army actively engaged; but nearly two months were consumed before it was finished. The fortress was then mounted with artillery, and provided with ammunition, and whatever was necessary for its defence. Finally, a garrison was introduced into it, and the command intrusted to a gallant officer, Don Alonzo de Sandé.
Scarcely had these arrangements been completed, and the troops prepared to reëmbark, when advices reached the duke that a large Turkish fleet was on its way from Constantinople to the assistance of Dragut. The Spanish admiral called a council of war on board of his ship. Opinions were divided. Some, among whom was Doria, considering the crippled condition of their squadron, were for making the best of their way back to Sicily. Others, regarding this as a course unworthy of Spaniards, were for standing out to sea, and giving battle to the enemy. The duke, perplexed by the opposite opinions, did not come to a decision. He was soon spared the necessity of it by the sight of the Ottoman fleet, under full sail, bearing rapidly down on him. It consisted of eighty-six galleys, each carrying a hundred janizaries; and it was commanded by the Turkish admiral, Piali, a name long dreaded in the Mediterranean.
At the sight of this formidable armament, the Christians were seized with a panic. They scarcely offered any resistance to the enemy; who, dashing into the midst of them, sent his broadsides to the right and left, sinking some of the ships, disabling others, while those out of reach of his guns shamefully sought safety in flight. Seventeen of the combined squadron were sunk; four-and-twenty, more or less injured, struck their colors; a few succeeded in regaining the island, and took shelter under the guns of the fortress. Medina Celi and Doria were among those who thus made their way to the shore; and under cover of the darkness, on the following night, they effected their escape in a frigate, passing, as by a miracle, without notice, through the enemy's fleet, and thus securing their retreat to Sicily. Never was there a victory more humiliating to the vanquished, or one which reflected less glory on the victors.[1273]
Before embarking, the duke ordered Sandé to defend the place to the last extremity, promising him speedy assistance. The garrison, thus left to carry[{400}] on the contest with the whole Turkish army, amounted to about five thousand men; its original strength being considerably augmented by the fugitives from the fleet.
On the following morning, Piali landed with his whole force, and instantly proceeded to open trenches before the citadel. When he had established his batteries of cannon, he sent a summons to the garrison to surrender. Sandé returned for answer, that, "if the place were won, it would not be, like Piali's late victory, without bloodshed." The Turkish commander waited no longer, but opened a lively cannonade on the ramparts, which he continued for some days, till a practicable breach was made. He then ordered a general assault. The janizaries rushed forward with their usual impetuosity, under a murderous discharge of artillery and small arms from the fortress as well as from the shipping, which was so situated as to support the fire of the besieged. Nothing daunted, the brave Moslems pushed forward over the bodies of their fallen comrades; and, scrambling across the ditch, the leading files succeeded in throwing themselves into the breach. But here they met with a spirit as determined as their own, from the iron array of warriors, armed with pike and arquebuse, who, with Sandé at their head, formed a wall as impenetrable as the ramparts of the fortress. The contest was now carried on man against man, and in a space too narrow to allow the enemy to profit by his superior numbers. The besieged, meanwhile, from the battlements, hurled down missiles of every description on the heads of the assailants. The struggle lasted for some hours. But Spanish valor triumphed in the end, and the enemy was driven back in disorder across the moat, while his rear files were sorely galled, in his retreat, by the incessant fire of the fortress.
Incensed by the failure of his attack and the slaughter of his brave followers, Piali thought it prudent to wait till he should be reinforced by the arrival of Dragut with a fresh supply of men and of battering ordnance. The besieged profited by the interval to repair their works, and when Dragut appeared they were nearly as well prepared for the contest as before.