originally raised in the time of James VI. of the supplies voted for the purpose. This Dutch Scotland, and its services were soon required in war, as we shall show, opened well, but closed the suppression of those fanatics known as the ignobly. "Millenarians" or "Fifth-Monarchy Men." The Queen's Regiment, now known as the 2nd Foot, was raised in 1661; and the 3rd, or Old Buffs, placed on the establishment four years subsequently, were so named from their accoutrements being of buff leather. Other corps were raised from time to time as their services were required. With the date of the Restoration, the history of the British army becomes in point of fact the history of all the contests in which the British nation has since that period been engaged. Each successive reign, moreover, added something to its numbers and efficiency; as each successive war brought with it some striking improvement in the mode of arming, drilling, and moving the men. Under Charles II. the cost of clothing the private soldiers was as follows:-Infantry, per man, £2 135.; dragoons, £6 10s. ; horse, £9. The Scottish Fusiliers, now 21st Foot, raised in 1678, and so called from being armed with the fusil, invented in France, was the first corps which bore that weapon in Britain. It was On the 4th of March, 1665, it was proclaimed by sound of trumpet, at the Exchange in London; and the Duke of York (afterwards James II.), as Lord High Admiral of England, assumed com. mand of the fleet about the latter end of the month. "Great preparations for his speedy return to sea," says Pepys, under date the 6th. "I saw him try on his buff-coat and hat-piece, covered with black velvet. It troubles me more to think of his venture than of anything else in the whole warr." The preparations of England were clouded by a bad omen. On the very day the duke was trying on his buff coat, H.M.S. London, mounted with eighty guns, all brass, blew up near the buoy at the Nore; 300 of her crew were drowned, and Mr. Pepys went to 'Change with this news, where it was taken very much to heart." 66 The royal duke, wisely despising the narrow prejudices of rank and party, now called around him the seamen and officers who had fought and conquered in all the naval battles of the Republic; and with them under his orders his armament insulted the coast of Holland, and rode triumphant in the German Ocean. His fleet consisted of 109 ships of war, or other armed vessels, with twenty-eight fire-ships and During the reign of Charles the hand grenade came into permanent use, and the bayonet was invented at Bayonne, whence its name. sometimes three-edged, but was usually flat like a dagger, and was stuck into the muzzle of the musket for close quarters. Bandoleers still lin-ketches. These had on board 21,000 seamen and gered in use; but cartridge-boxes of tin, on the principle of the old "patron" of Elizabeth's time, were strongly recommended by Lord Orrery. At the Restoration, the tonnage of the royal navy was only 62,594 tons. In the month of August, 1678, it consisted of eighty-three sail, manned by 18,323 seamen. These were actually on service in that year, besides a number of hired armed vessels. Eleven large vessels had been launched, and nineteen were on the stocks, the whole making the navy amount to 113 sail, classed in six rates. The names borne by many of the ships under Cromwell were now altered. The Naseby became the Charles; the Speaker became the Mary; the Dunbar was called the Henry; the Lambert the Henrietta; and so forth (see " Pepys' Diary "). In 1662 a judge-advocate was first appointed to the fleet; in the following year servants were first allowed to the officers; and in 1664 a surgeongeneral was first appointed. Five years after his restoration, Charles plunged into a naval war with Holland, for no cause that can be assigned, save that he wished to command soldiers, acting as marines. The latter consisted chiefly of the Foot Guards-the Coldstreamers500 of whom were supplied with matchlocks and collars of bandoleers from the Tower, on the 24th of February, 1665. A new corps, called the admiral's, was on this occasion raised, and probably laid the foundation of the marine regiments of later times. May. The fleet did not sail till the month of Many young gentlemen and nobles of the highest rank served on board as simple volunteers. Among others was young Lord Buckhurst, the future Earl of Dorset, like his companions Sedley and Rochester, one of the wildest gallants of the age, and who, on the fleet putting to sea, composed the celebrated song, "To All you Ladies now on Land." The duke was on board the Royal Charles, which, as a flagship, was allowed to have three lieutenants, four master's mates (each to have the pay of the master of a third-rate), and thirty midshipmen. (Schomberg.) The English fleet was at sea before the Dutch, and thus excited great consternation in Holland, where the most active preparations were being Lowestoft.] COURAGE OF THE DUKE OF YORK. made, and where the States-General offered a reward of 50,000 florins for the capture or destruction of an English admiral; 30,000 for that of a vice-admiral; 20,000 for that of any other flagship; and 10,000 for any vessel above forty guns. ("Bruce on Military Law," 1717.) Near the Texel the duke continued cruising for fifteen days, to prevent the Dutch fleet coming out and effecting a junction with that of Zealand; and while thus occupied, he captured many homeward bound vessels, whose crews were totally ignorant that war had been declared. Failing to draw out the grand fleet of the Dutch, and encountering a violent storm, he sailed from the mouth of the Texel, in hope of falling upon De Ruyter, who was returning to Holland; but provisions becoming short, he was obliged to bear up for the coast of England. 317 had the honour of bringing the fleet to submit to Charles II., and to convoy him home, after Monk's march out of Scotland. He was assisted by Sir George Ayscue, Knight, and Captain, afterwards Sir Roger, Cuttance. The duke sighted the Dutch fleet not far from Harwich; but the wind being southerly, and next morning blowing fresh from the south-west, they bore away towards the mouth of the Maese, whence Baron Opdam sent an express to the StatesGeneral, informing them that he did not conceive it wise to attack the English while they had the wind with them. But their High Mightinesses were by no means satisfied with this excuse, and ordered him to fight "let the wind be as it would, on peril of losing his head." Opdam, at a Council of War which he had assembled, finding that all the officers present were of his opinion, said, "I entirely agree with you, but here are my orders, and to-morrow shall see my head bound with laurel or with cypress." He then gave orders to weigh and put to sea, and after sailing all night, came up with the Duke off Lowestoft on the morning of the 3rd of June. Brandt, in his "Life of De Ruyter," says the meet Availing himself of this movement, the Dutch admiral, Baron Opdam de Wassenaer, came forth with the united fleet, in seven squadrons, thus:1. Baron Opdam's, fourteen ships, two fire-ships; 2. Vice-Admiral Evertzen's, fourteen ships, one fire-ship; 3. Vice-Admiral Cortenaer's, fourteen ships, one fire-ship; 4. Stillingaurt's, fourteen ships, one fire-ship; 5. Captain Van Tromp's, sixteening took place "about ten leagues north-east by ships, two fire-ships; 6. Captain Evertzen's, fourteen ships, one fire-ship; 7. Scheam's, sixteen ships, two fire-ships; making a total of 102 ships, ten fire-ships, with seven yachts. In this fleet were 4,869 guns and 22,000 men, Baron Opdam was soon over the Dogger Bank, that extensive ridge of sand which extends from within sixty miles of Jutland, nearly to Scarborough, in Yorkshire. Thence he detached a squadron to capture the English Hamburg fleet of nine merchant ships, which, together with their convoy, a 34-gun ship, fell into the enemy's hands. Incensed by these tidings, the duke put to sea from Southwold Bay on the 1st of June, resolved to bring the Dutch to action. His fleet was divided into three squadrons. north of L'Aystoff." Basnage has it about eight leagues. Any way, the battle must have been witnessed by the people on the coast of Suffolk. The guns of the leading ships opened upon each other at three in the morning, while the sun was below the horizon, and there was but a faint light upon the sea. The Duke of York had the weather-gage; but as both fleets charged through each other several times with fury and intrepidity, pouring in their broadsides, this advantage was sometimes lost, which Basnage deems was a mistake on the part of the English, who should have quietly awaited the attack of the enemy. Hence, until one o'clock in the day, there was no apparent advantage won on either side. At That under the Red Flag he led in person, that hour the Earl of Sandwich, with the Blue assisted by Sir William Pen (or Penne), a native of Squadron, broke into the centre of the Dutch fleet, Bristol, and Sir John Lawson. The former had and thus completely separated it into two parts, been a captain at the age of twenty-one, and rear-which, by putting the whole into confusion, was admiral in Ireland at twenty-three, and general in the first step towards victory. the first Dutch war at thirty-two. He belonged to the ancient family of the Pens of Pen Lodge, Wiltshire. The second, or White Squadron, was led by Prince Rupert, assisted by his favourite officers, Captain Minnes and Captain Robert Sampson. The third, or Blue Squadron, was under Edward, Earl of Sandwich, K.G., who, as Admiral Montague, The Duke of York, in the meantime, laid his ship, the Royal Charles, 80 guns, alongside that of Baron Opdam, the Endracht, 84 guns. The engagement with cannon and musketry, round and cross-bar shot, was close and deadly, and many times the duke, who-whatever the detractors of future years asserted-was undoubtedly a brave man, was many times in great peril. The Earl of Falmouth, Lord Muskerry, and Richard Boyle, son of the Earl of Burlington, were all three killed by his side, by one chain-shot. "They were so near his Grace, that he was sprinkled with their blood and brains; and the Dutch writers say the prince himself was wounded in the hand by a splinter of Mr. Boyle's head" (Lediard). Pepys says that Boyle's head struck down the duke. They also assert that the crew of Opdam had succeeded in cutting a passage on board of the Royal Charles, The explosion of his ship caused the greatest confusion and consternation in the fleet. Three others of his largest ships, the Coeverden, 60 guns, the Prince Maurice of Nassau, 50 guns, and two others of 40 guns, fell foul of each other in succession, and suffered the same fate. The Orange of Zealand, a 75-gun ship, with 400 men, having been disabled by the Mary, commanded by Captain Smith, took fire, and every man on board perished in the flames or in the sea. FIREWORKS, FROM GUNS AND BOWS. out of which they were driven by the Duke and his seamen. Amid the heat of this affair, the ship of the Dutch admiral suddenly blew up. With her there perished more than 500 men, a great number of whom were volunteers, and members of the best families in Holland. Only five men were saved. The Dutch say that Captain (afterwards Sir Jeremiah) Smith, perceiving that the Duke of York was imperilled by the boarders of Baron Opdam, crept alongside, and contrived to fire his magazine; but it was more probably supposed to be the result of revenge by a black seaman whom the baron had punished. The "History of Holland" says it was the act of an English gunner who served on board. She (MIDDLE OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.) Captain Smith then ran his ship between the Royal Charles and the Urania, commanded by Captain Seaton, a Scotchman in the Dutch service, who had sworn to board the English admiral. was a 76-gun ship, with 400 men. Smith killed Seaton and more than 200 of his men, and took the ship, in the struggle losing ninety-nine men and all his officers, save himself and one lieutenant. His master lost a leg. (Pepys.) By four in the afternoon, Admiral Stillingaurt and Egbert Cortenaer, vice-admiral of the Macse, were lying dead on their decks, the former cut in two by a cannon-ball, and the latter by a dreadful wound in the thigh, and their ships bore out of the action without striking their flags, which drew many after them, and thus added, if possible, to the confusion of the Dutch fleet. The author of Van Tromp's Life says that, before the Orange was destroyed by the Mary, her captain had boarded the Montague, and with his own hands had pulled down the English flag, replacing it by that of the Prince of Zealand, which was kept flying for an hour, till the Montague was retaken by the Royal Fames, in which the Earls of Marlborough and Portland were killed. The captain of the Orange was saved only to die of his wounds. James Lee, Earl of Marlborough, was the officer sent in 1661 to take possession of Bombay. The whole Dutch fleet seemed now to be one blaze of fire," and the cries of so many miserable wretches, perishing either by fire or water, seemed more dreadful than the noise of the cannon. The English gave their vanquished enemy all the assistance they could, while with continued fury they assailed the rest." Van Tromp still held out bravely, surrounded by a flaming and sinking fleet, and, with not more than thirty ships, continued the battle till eight in the evening, with all the dogged courage of a true Hollander, when he was forced to give way, and, with night descending on a wreck-strewn sea, to leave the English masters of it. Strangely enough, the Dutch asserted that the victory lay with them, and all the dunes about Dunkirk were blazing with bonfires in honour of it; but the States-General, to convince the people, who were greatly agitated and incensed in some parts of Holland, that the cause of defeat lay with their own officers, four of them were publicly and barbarously shot at the Helder; four were ordered to have their swords broken over their heads by the common hangman; the master of Vice-Admiral Cortenaer's ship was ordered to stand upon a scaf fold with a halter about his neck while the others were executed, after which he was banished. Two others were degraded, and rendered incapable of serving the States-General more, while Admiral Evertzen was nearly assassinated by the inhabitants of the Brielle. His brother admiral of the same name had been taken prisoner; and Pepys relates that when he was brought before the Duke of York, and it was remarked that a shot had passed through his hat, he exclaimed, in bitterness of heart, that he wished it had passed through his head! That this great battle was fought near Lowestoft, is evident from the following remark by the same diarist :-" Captain Grove, the duke told us this day, hath done the basest thing at Lowestoft, in hearing of the guns, and could not (as others) be As usual, the details of the losses on each side got out, but staid there, for which he will be tried; are very conflicting. and is reckoned a prating coxcomb, and of no courage." On the side of the English, only one ship was lost, the Charity, 40 guns, which was captured early in the engagement by a Dutchman of 60 guns, after being hotly attacked by Van Tromp, and Captains Hiddes and Swart, and having half her men killed. In the English fleet, the killed amounted to only 250. Among those most regretted were Vice-Admirals Sampson and Sir John Lawson; and Captains the Earls of Portland and Marlborough; the wounded were 350. Of the Dutch fleet there were taken eighteen sail, and fourteen were set on fire and sunk; 2,063 prisoners were taken, of these sixteen were captains, who were all brought to Colchester; and more than 4,000 of all ranks perished in the engagement. (Echard.) It was the general opinion that, had the English pursued Van Tromp, whose ships fled towards Vlie, the Maese, and Texel, with sufficient vigour, the last remains of the Dutch navy would have been taken and destroyed. The duke did not see this at the time, and stood in for the coast of England. He landed, and rode post to Whitehall, where he was congratulated in honour of the victory; but, glorious though it was, the king and council did not think it proper to expose him to the dangers of a second engagement. With regard to the non-pursuit of the Dutch after the victory, the duke, afterwards King James, in his own memoirs, gives an account of the affair different from that which we meet with in any other historian. He relates that while he was asleep, Brounker, a gentleman of his bedchamber, went to Sir John Harman, captain of his ship, with orders to slacken sail. Sir John remonstrated, but obeyed. After some time, perceiving that his doing so was producing confusion in the fleet, he hoisted out the canvas and made sail as before; so that the duke, when soon after he appeared on the quarter-deck, and found all apparently as when he had left it, knew nothing of what had passed during his repose. It was long after that he heard of the circumstance incidentally, and he then intended to have brought Brounker before a courtmartial; but just about that time the House of Commons took up the question, and impeached him, which made it impossible for the duke to do more than dismiss him from his household. Brounker, when before the house, dared not to pretend that he had received any such order from the duke as that which he had delivered to Sir John Harman. |