Exploits of Admiral Blake.] A BROOM AT THE MASTHEAD. isle of Goeree. He then called a Council of War on board his ship, and it was concluded that they could only be attacked at great risk among "shallows," with which they (the Dutch) alone were familiar, and that as some of the frigates were short of victuals, a return to the Downs was necessary. All the seaports of England being now filled with prizes and riches taken from the Dutch by Blake, Sir George Ayscue, and others, the StatesGeneral of Holland began to think seriously of retrieving the losses and disgraces they had sustained. For this purpose they selected again their old admiral, Martin Van Tromp, and Frederick III. of Denmark warmly recommending him at the same time, he was restored to his rank and command. Eager to blot out his past misfortunes, Van Tromp soon got together a large fleet of eighty-some say eighty-five-vessels and ten fireships. It was now the month of November, a season when no expedition was looked for; Blake had divided his fleet for the protection of trade, and some were in harbour refitting. Twenty of his vessels had sailed for Newcastle to convoy the fleet of colliers, twelve had gone to Plymouth, and fifteen had sailed up the Thames; so there remained with him in the Downs but thirty-seven men-of-war. Hearing of this dispersion and these arrangements, Van Tromp put to sea with the intention of convoying a fleet of 300 merchant ships as far as Cape St. Lazare, by the way of the English Channel; and somewhat despising Blake's fleet in consequence of its weakness, he sailed near the Goodwin Sands, not far from the place where the last battle had been fought with De Ruyter. Blake was still at anchor in the Downs, and though his vessels were under-manned, scarcely twenty having their full complement on board, he resolved to fight, after taking the advice of a Council of War. He got under weigh, and detached seven quick sailers to reconnoitre the enemy. On the 29th these vessels came up with nine ships sent ahead on the same service by Van Tromp, and they immediately engaged each other. About noon the firing began, and as they were speedily reinforced by both fleets, ship engaging ship as they came up in succession and shortened sail, the battle had become general about three o'clock, and a severe and bloody one it proved. Blake, in the Triumph, seconded by the Victory and Vanguard, was long engaged with no less than twenty of the enemy, and more than once was nearly borne down by their superior force; but he scorned to give way, being resolved to show the 291 enemy what English seamen could do under captains who had so often led them to victory. The strife, however, was most unequal now, as the Dutch ships outnumbered his fleet by nearly fifty sail. Blake received a severe wound in the thigh, and his ship would have been taken but for the timely intervention of some of his squadron. The English could scarcely hope for success, but they continued the battle with the utmost obstinacy; and for some hours it seemed actually doubtful whether they or the more numerous Dutch would prove the victors. The Garland, 40 guns, commanded by Captain Akson, and the Bonaventure, 36 guns, under Captain Batten, bore down, and with great intrepidity boarded the great ship of Van Tromp. The Dutch Vice-Admiral Evertzen, on seeing this, came up to his support with several ships, and only in time to save him from destruction. Fighting desperately at the head of their boarders, who were armed with swords and pistols, pikes and hatchets, the brave Captains Akson and Batten were killed, with many of their men, by either being shot down on the enemy's deck, or being tumbled overboard, when wounded and bleeding, to drown miserably alongside, and their ships became the prizes of the Dutch, after their crews had slain many of them, among others, the purser and secretary of Van Tromp, who were killed by his side. Van Tromp, in his dispatch to the States-General, calls the Garland, curiously, the Rosencrantz; but she and the Bonaventure were the only captures he made. Seeing the danger these ships were exposed to at first, Blake, with his tiers of guns engaged on both sides, had his ship steered amid a throng of the Dutch fleet to rescue them; but finding their strength overwhelming, and that he was in danger of being boarded from some of their largest vessels, he was compelled ultimately to draw off, under cloud of night, and make sail for the river, after three of his ships had been sunk. The "History of Holland" states that his fleet, divided in two squadrons, was pursued by that of Van Tromp; that one took shelter in the Thames, and the other under the castle of Dover. Steering for the Isle of Rhé, Van Tromp now had a broom ostentatiously lashed to his maintopmasthead, as a token that he had swept, or would yet sweep, all the English out of the Channel (Phillips). Blake felt keenly his defeat, followed as it was by the arrogant and insulting tone adopted by the Dutch; but, even from their own accounts, they had not much reason to boast of their victory, for one of their flagships was blown up, two were totally disabled, and they lost a vast number of men. Great preparations were immediately made in England, in order to avenge so mortifying an insult and recover the honour of the flag. Some of Blake's officers were displaced for alleged misconduct, and a committee, composed of Sir Harry Vane, Mr. John Carew, and Major Scallaway, was appointed to regulate all matters pertaining to the marine, Unserviceable ships were docked and repaired, the storehouses were filled with provisions, and thirty frigates ordered to be built with all speed. Monk was recalled from Scotland to take part in naval affairs, and on the 26th of November, 1652, Parliament resolved, "That there shall be three generals for governing the fleet, and fleets at sea, for the year ensuing, from the 3rd of December, 1652, to the 3rd of December, 1653;' and it was voted that General Blake, Major-General Dean, and Lieutenant General Monk, be the three generals of the fleet for the year ensuing. Captain (afterwards Sir William) Penn was appointed viceadmiral." Colonel Robert Lilburn succeeded to the command as one of the generals of the fleet for the ensuing year. Most of the ships in those days were navigated by the masters, who were seamen, and fought by the captains, who were soldiers. Hence, says Macaulay, when Monk "wished his ship to change her course, he moved the mirth of his crew by calling out, Wheel to the left!"" But, unfortunately for this anecdote, "Wheel," as a command, was unknown in these days, the orders being, "To the right hand turn,” "to the left hand turn," and so forth (Colonel Munro's "Exercise for the Younger Souldier his | Better Instruction"). To encourage the seamen, the English Parlia ment at this time raised their pay from twenty to twenty-four shillings per month, and ordered the erection of hospitals at Deal and Sandwich for the reception of the sick and wounded. These and other encouragements had such a good effect, that in six weeks a fully-manned fleet of sixty sail was in readiness to receive Van Tromp. CHAPTER L. THE THREE DAYS' BATTLE WITH THE DUTCH, 1653. FROM Queensborough, in the Isle of Sheppy, two miles from Sheerness, the fleet sailed for the Downs, and in quest of the Dutch, on the roth of 'February, 1653. General Monk was on board the Vanguard. Blake's orders were to intercept the Dutch coming from the Isle of Rhé. The StatesGeneral, having heard of the great naval preparations made in England, had dispatched an express to Van Tromp, desiring him to return with all speed, and to endeavour to prevent the English from putting to sea, by blocking up the river Thames. Van Tromp, when, in obedience to these orders, he drew near the isle, or rather peninsula, of Portland, in the Channel, to his surprise fell in with the English fleet, consisting of upward of 60 sail. His own strength amounted to 73 men-of-war, with some 300 merchantmen in convoy. Rapin says the English fleet was superior to the Dutch, and that the States, on tidings of Cromwell's preparations, "had equipped twenty ships to join their admiral in his passage, but they were hindered by contrary winds." If the battle that ensued be the same which the Earl of Clarendon states occurred in January-and it can be no other-the Dutch fleet consisted of 100 men-of-war, or armed ships, while the English was much inferior. The former was divided into four squadrons, commanded by Van Tromp, De Ruyter, Evertzen, and the Admiral of the Northern Quarter. At eight o'clock on the morning of the 18th of February, these four squadrons, following their course up the Channel, with the advantage of the wind, as their own historians assert, began the fight when only a few of the English ships had come up; and this agrees with the English account, which is to the effect that the Triumph, on board of which were Admirals Blake and Dean, with twelve other vessels, engaged "board on board" (ie., yard-arm and yard-arm) with the main body of the Dutch fleet for nearly six hours. The Triumph received a great number of shots in her hull, and was becoming sorely pressed by the enemy, when she was gallantly supported by a well-directed fire from the guns of the Fairfax, under Captain (afterwards, Sir John) Lawson. Surrounded by several of the largest vessels in the Dutch fleet,. these two ships had some 200 men Battle with the Dutch.] RENEWAL OF THE CONFLICT. killed and wounded. Blake was among the latter, and his captain, named Ball, and his secretary, Mr. Sparrow, were among the former. Both fell by the side of Blake, and the Triumph was so shattered in her hull and rigging as to be incapable of acting on the two subsequent days. The wound received by Blake was inflicted by an iron bar or splinter, which also carried away a great part of Admiral Dean's breeches. The whole English fleet having by this time. come up, there ensued one of the most furious and sanguinary battles of this short and most absurd war-absurd so far as the original cause is concerned. So hotly were the Dutch battered by successive broadsides, and so perilously were their decks swept by the fire of musketry, that about four in the afternoon twenty-six of their principal vessels became so crippled that they drew out of range, and left the rest to continue the engagement. During this time an English ship, the Prosperous, 44 guns, was boarded and taken, sword in hand, by De Ruyter; but his own ship had nearly the same fate at the hands of the crew of the Merlin, by whom the Prosperous was retaken. Captain Mildmay, of the Vanguard, was killed. Many ships were found to be disabled, but of the fleet none were taken or lost save the Samson, which, being so battered as to be totally unserviceable, was scuttled and sunk by the crew. 293 sides; that the English lost five captains; that nightfall left the victory doubtful, and caused a renewal of the conflict with greater animosity than before. The Fairfax had above 100 men killed and as many wounded. "On board of the enemy's ships which fell into the hands of the English," says Captain Schomberg, "the spectacle was shocking, from the dreadful carnage, the rigging being covered with blood and brains." During the whole of the subsequent night, the time was spent in the repair of damages, plugging shot-holes, refitting the standing and running rigging, and in other preparations for a renewal of the conflict; and several disabled ships were sent to Portsmouth. When day broke on the morning of the 19th, the Dutch were overtaken by Blake's leading ships, near Dungeness, that tongue of land which stretches for several miles into the Channel, and though most of his fleet were astern, the battle began once more. Van Tromp, having sent all the merchant ships ahead, formed the fleet in the order of a half-moon, and after exchanging fire for some time, made a running fight of it, as he stood over to the coast of France. The English captains made several bold attempts to break through this half-moon, to reach the merchantmen, and one of these, the ship of Admiral De Ruyter, was so severely handled that she was obliged to be taken in tow by others, As for the enemy, they had seven men-of-war and kept out of range. About the same time, one taken or sunk, one of them carrying an admiral's of his men-of-war was boarded and taken by flag; and, besides these, the Dutch historians Captain James Lawson. mention one, commanded by a Captain Winkelem, which blew up and another which was destroyed by fire. They also say that Van Tromp, when attacking Blake, "forbore firing till he came within musket-shot of him, and let fly a broadside, then tacking about nimbly (the Dutch are not used to be so nimble at tacking," notes Lediard, drily), "he fired a second at him on the same side. Then flanking him again on the other side, he thundered off a third, which did such great execution that nothing but groans and lamentations were heard on board his ship, which upon this ever after fought retreating, and was pursued by Van Tromp." The merchant captains now began to fear that the convoy would no longer be able to protect them. Hoisting everything that would draw, aloft and below, each began to shift for himself, and many threw much of their cargo overboard, to lighten the draught of their ships. According to Blake's account, eight men-of-war and sixteen merchant-ships were the fruit of this day's encounter, and more would have been taken had not the darkness come on. One Dutch captain, on finding himself grappled on both sides by two English vessels, set her on fire, that all might die together. They sheered off, however, and when she blew up every soul on board perished with her. The battle was resumed on the morning of the 19th. While still standing towards their own coast, the Dutch were overtaken by the inexorable Blake, compelled to shorten sail and engage. During the whole day the battle raged with cannon and musket over a great extent of sea, till four in the afternoon, when the Dutch retired to the sands The very disabled state in which the Triumph remained at the close of the action in some degree corroborates the Dutch account; but there was, undoubtedly, great slaughter on board the ship of Van Tromp. De Ruyter had his main and foretopmasts shot away, and would have been taken had he not been relieved by Admiral Evertzen. "The History of the United Provinces" asserts that many ships were burned and sunk on both before Calais. In this running fight three Dutch men-of-war were captured by Captains Graves, Martin, and Lawson, and several merchant ships by Admiral Penn; but ammunition began to fail, and as the Dutch had got into shoal water the pursuit was abandoned. The accounts of the losses and captures vary very much. In the three days' actions the Dutch lost, according to Burchett, eleven ships of war, thirty merchantmen, and 1,500 men killed; Clarendon says 2,000 thrown shattered that they never went to sea again. Another says the third day's battle "proved bloodier than both the former, as the fight lasted from morning till night, without any remarkable advantage on either side. The Dutch had eighteen men-of-war sunk and burned, and the English twenty-one men-of-war sunk or burned, and three forced ashore. The loss of seamen on both sides was computed at 4,000 men." This writer adds that on the fourth day "both fleets faced each overboard. The English lost but one ship, the Samson, Captain (afterwards Sir William) Batten, sunk by themselves, and their killed and wounded equalled that of the enemy. other once more, with an intention of renewing the engagement, but found their ships in no condition. for further service. In Holland they made public rejoicings upon this occasion, as the English did in London, each party attributing to themselves the glory of the victory" ("History of the United Provinces," 1705). In writing of this triple battle, Whitelock says the officers, mariners, and soldiers behaved with great courage and gallantry in both fleets; "but that after a sharp and bloody fight the Dutch were wholly routed and overcome, and had a sore and terrible loss both of their ships and men." In these actions the English infantry were still of France, and lastly that of Holland. About this serving on board as marines. There are two Dutch accounts of these conflicts. One asserts that they sunk five English ships (the names are given), two were burned, and six so One fact the Dutch cannot deny they were driven from the Channel by a series of running fights, and forced to seek shelter, first on the coast time Charles II. offered to serve as a volunteer on board the Dutch fleet, in the hopes that some of the English captains and crews under Blake who might be Royalists would come to him; but the |