< Page:Royalnavyhistory01clow.djvu
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

576

THE CAMPAIGN OF THE SPANISH ARMADA.

[1588.

Drake, in the Revenge, accompanied with Mr. Thomas Fenner in the Nonpareil, and the rest of his squadron, set upon the fleet of Spain and gave them a sharp fight. And within short time Sir John Hawkyns, in the Victory, accompanied with Mr. Edward Fenton, in the Mary Rose, Sir George Beeston, in the Dreadnought, Mr. Richard Hawkyns, in the Swallow, and the rest of the ships appointed to his squadron, bare with the midst of the Spanish army; and there continued a hot assault all that[1] forenoon. Sir George Beeston behaved himself valiantly. This fight continued hotly; and then came the lord admiral, the Lord Thomas Howard, the Lord Sheffield, near the place where the Victory had been before, where these noblemen did very valiantly. Astern of these was a great galleon[2] assailed by the Earl of Cumberland and Mr. George Raymond,[3] in the Bonaventure, most worthily; and, being also beaten with the Lord Henry Seymour, in the Rainbow, and Sir William Wynter,[4] in the Vanguard, yet she recovered into the fleet. Notwithstanding, that night she departed from the army and was sunk.

"After this, Mr. Edward Fenton, in the Mary Rose, and a galleon encountered each other, the one standing to the eastward and the other to the westward, so close as they could conveniently one pass by another, wherein the captain and company did very well. Sir Robert Southwell that day did worthily behave himself, as he had done many times before; so did Mr. Robert Crosse,[5] in the Hope, and most of the rest of the captains and gentlemen. This day did the Lord Henry Seymour and Sir William Wynter so batter two of the greatest armados[6] that they were constrained to seek the coast of Flanders, and were afterwards, being distressed and spoiled, taken by the Zeelanders and carried into Flushing. In this fight it is known that there came to their end sundry of the Spanish ships besides many others unknown to us."

The Spanish story[7] of the occurrences off Calais and Gravelines, as set forth in the relation of Medina Sidonia, is as follows: —

"There were divers opinions as to whether we should anchor there" (off Calais), "or should proceed further; but the duke, learning from the pilots who were with him that if he went further the currents would force him out of the English Channel and into the North Sea, decided to anchor off Calais, seven leagues from Dunquerque, whence the Duke of Parma might join him. At five o'clock, therefore, in the afternoon,[8] order was given for the whole fleet to anchor; and the duke sent Captain Heredia[9] to visit Monsieur de Gourdan, Governor of Calais, not only to advise him of the cause of our presence there, but also to assure him of our friendship and good intentions. This evening thirty-six ships joined the enemy, whereof five were large galleons. This was supposed to be the squadron which Juan Acles[10] had had under
  1. ↑ July 29th, off Gravelines. The Spaniards were in half-moon formation, with the admiral and large ships in the centre, and the galleasses, Portuguese galleons, etc., to the number of about sixteen, on each wing. S. P. Dom. ccxv. 77; ccxiv. 7. But the exigencies of the fight seem to have quickly destroyed all formation.
  2. ↑ Probably the Gran Grin.
  3. ↑ Lost captain of the Penelope, 1591.
  4. ↑ Wynter was wounded in the hip, by the overturning of a demi-cannon. S. P. Dom. ccxiv. 7.
  5. ↑ Knighted at Cadiz, 1596.
  6. ↑ The San Felipe and San Mateo.
  7. ↑ Duro, doc. 165.
  8. ↑ Of July 27th.
  9. ↑ Pedro de Heredia, attached to the duke's staff in the San Martin.
  10. ↑ "Acles" was the Spanish name for Hawkyns. The supposition about the squadron was, as we know, incorrect.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.