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A25362
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An Account of the late great victory, obtained at sea, against the French by Their Majesties fleet, commanded in chief by Admiral Russell, and the Dutch commanded by Admiral Allemond, near the Cape of Barsteur in May, 1692.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing A310; ESTC R14679
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15,152
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32
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AN ACCOUNT Of the Late Great Victory Obtained at Sea against the FRENCH By their Majesties Fleet Commanded in Chief by Admiral Russell and the Dutch Commanded by Admiral Allemond near the Cape of Barfleur in May 1692. LONDON Printed for John Rawlins at the Anchor in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1692. THE PREFACE BY the ensuing relation it will appear that France which was not until of late accounted amongst the Nations that were considerable for their Maritime strength was at last become not less formidable at Sea than Land and how great it has been on the Continent is too well known by the Mighty acquisitions that Crown has made in one Age that France it self is almost lost in the midst of that vast Empire which it is now become by most unjustly wresting from all the Neighbouring Princes But the full Force was never known untill these last three Years in which it has made head against almost all the Christian World and for the most part rather gained than lost of those Princes and States in War with her From whence it is Obvious in what condition the rest of Europe had been in but for the powerfull opposition England has made being influenced by their Heroick King which sufficiently shews the Necessity there was for the late Revolution For from that time may Lewis the Fourteenth date the destruction of his Project and the rest of Europe their Enlargement from the Slavery he designed and prepared for them for whatever turns like Fortune he may have they will rather seem than really be the effects of Strength for nothing is plainer than that France has been at the Zenith of its Greatness and now in the Declension may strugle sometimes and do some mischief but never recover power enough to repair the Structure he was forming The Victory their Majesties Fleet has obtained having so shooke that Monarchy that not their Alpes nor Barrier in Flanders can secure France from being pierced to the Heart Another way being now opend which a few months will plainly demonstrate and which performance I shall rather choose to write after than the Predictions now I shall therefore proceed to relate some particulars of this great Conquest which is like yet to be much greater in the Consequence AN ACCOUNT Of the LATE ENGAGEMENT c. THE Power of France was so much encreas'd in Shipping under the Reign of their Present King that it has not been an Imaginary hopes which the French and their Friends in England Conceiv'd that they might make themselves Masters at Sea especially after they had in the Year Ninety made some Experiment of their Strength which if they had been able to Effect this Present Year they had provided themselves of Forces Artillery and Ammunition upon the Coasts of Normandy to have Embarkt on Transport Ships for that Purpose to have made a descent on England under pretence of restoring the Late King James The French promis'd themselves such assur'd Success in this Design that they acted with an unusual Freedom openly declaring their Intentions it being well known that whatever advantages they have obtain'd for the time past Treachery or Secrecy at least were the means whereby they Compassed them and that their Actions might accompany their great Words with indefatigable Industry they work'd on their Fleet at Brest and on the 12th of May their Stile the Count de Tourville set Sail out of the Road of Bertaume for the Coasts of England The French Endeavours were not Confined only to their Port of Brest but at Thoulon also they had equipt 16 large Ships to bring round out of the Mediterranean to joyn the rest but the difficulties they met with had prevented their haste and they had not Patience to expect their Coming but put to Sea with what Strength they had their Party in England having given them repeated Assurances that the English Preparations were very backward having as yet but few Ships at Sea and those small and weakly Mann'd that the Capital Men of War would not get out until the end of May at the soonest the Dutch Squadron were not yet joyn'd nor ready and that it was possible to get between what were already out and the other and prevent their ever coming together and by these means destroy both But as an Earnest of their other Successes they had News that the Count d' Estree with the Thoulon Squadron which at first consisted of 16 great Men of War 6 Fireships and 3 Galliots had on the 18th of April as he was about to pass the Streights fallen into a Storm wherein 2 of his Ships one of 64 the other of 70 Guns run ashore on the Coast of Barbary near Ceuta where 250 Men were drown'd and about 500 more made Prisoners by the Spaniards besides these lost several others were separated Notwithstanding this ill Accident to the French Monsieur Tourville on the 10 of May appear'd near Dartmouth with about 100 Sail of all Sorts but the Wind being Easterly in the Evening he stood off towards their own Coasts the English Fleet which was then out under the Command of Sir Ralph Delaval and Rear-Admiral Carter was about St. Hellen's on the 12th Vice-Admiral Callenburge and Rear Admiral Evertzen with 9 or 10 great Dutch Ships pass'd by Deal and sailed Westward and on the 13th the Wind still Favouring another Dutch Man of War sailed after them and on Thursday the 12th in the Afternoon Admiral Russel weigh'd out of Rye-Bay and about 11 a Clock on Friday Morning joyn'd the English and Dutch at which time the whole Fleet consisted of about 90 Sail for the Line of Battle on the same Day Admiral Russel acquainted the Officers that he had receiv'd a Letter from the Earl of Nottingham by Her Majesty's Command wherein he signified that Her Majesty had been inform'd that a Scandalous Report had been spread abroad as if some of the Officers of the Fleet were disaffected to their Majesty's Service and that her Majesty had order'd the Discharge of several of them but that Her Majesty was assured this Discourse was raised Maliciously by the Enemies of the Government and that Her Majesty was so well pleased and satisfied with their Zeal and Service to their Majesties and the Defence of their Country that she had resolved not to displace any one of them As soon as this was made known to them by the Admiral they made and sent up an Address which was the next Day presented to the Queen by the Lord's Commissioners of the Admiralty And was in these following Words The Address VVEE Your Majesties most Loyal Subjects and Servants Flagg Officers and Captains in your Majesties Fleet out of the deep and grateful sense we have of your Majesties good and just opinion of our Loyalty and Fidelity imparted to us by the Right Honourable Admiral Russel in a Letter to him from my Lord Nottingham do in behalf of our selves and all the other Officers and Seamen humbly presume to Address
the Men of War being designed to be Seventy three which were to have on board Forty thousand Two hundred Ninety nine Men and Five thousand and Nineteen Guns Besides these Officers and Volunteers And in the Fire-ships One hundred Sixty Guns and Two hundred and Forty in the Long-boats By the foregoing relation it will be found that whatever part of this Fleet was out yet the great Ships are very near every one destroyed and the smaller so disabled that some will never be repaired and such that can will be a work of Time and when that is done will be very inconsiderable for 't is easie to determine the strength of such a Fleet whenas they had that vast Addition and were not able to dispute with the Force and Bravery of the English and Dutch Besides all the loss of the Seamen is irreparable the huge number of them that have been cut off by the several ways of burning drowning and killing in the time of the Battel may reasonably be supposed to be more in number than remains in Service in the Trade of France and though those may be possibly spared for their King's Service for I question not but their Trade is near at an end their victorious Neighbours will carefully attend the Increase of more Seamen by that means it is plain that the Power of France is in its declension at Sea which is the place England had most reason to fear it and as 't is not probable they can ever recover their strength so 't is possible and that by a reasonable Conjecture that in a few Months to come the French King will be Master of as few Ships as he found at his coming to the Crown For since the coming away of the News of this last destruction of their Men of War we have received advice of burning more than twenty of their Transport-Ships which lay in the Bay of La Hogue and which the Prisoners declare were designed for embarking of Men for the intended Invasion of England the Admiral found some Obstruction in the Execution of this Design from two small forts that were on the Shore and their small Shot which the French and Irish being drawn down from their Camp made upon our Seamen But the former Successes and the Chearfulness they undertook this Enterprize with made all resistance ineffectual so that the Admiral 's Commands were as punctually performed as they were readily obeyed for not one Ship that lay in all that Bay escaped The Admiral after this commanded the Admiral of the Blue Squadron to sail towards Havre de Grace and if it was practicable to serve the rest of the Transport-Ships that were in that Harbour in the same manner whilst himself with the rest of the Fleet sailed towards the Coast of England and where on the 26th he arrived at Spithead and commanded that the 27th should be observed with Publick Prayers and Thanksgivings throughout the Fleet for the Victory obtained over Their Majesties Enemies On the 30th of May it was credibly reported that a Person of great Quality received a Letter from Plymouth or some place near adjoining that of the four great French Ships formerly mentioned to be disabled and seen off the Isle of Wight three were taken by those refitted at Portsmouth and one sunk Thus nothing but further Additions to the Victory come from all Parts and the Reports of the French Prisoners confirm their loss greater than we knew and some material Passages which we had no other way to be informed of but from themselves one of which I shall in this place recite which is that the French Admiral of the Blue Squadron which was set on Fire the first night of the Engagement had Mr. Fitz James on board that is Brother to the Duke of Berwick but whether he perished in the Flames or saved himself by changing his Ship is not yet certainly known The Dutch both Officers and Seamen showed great forwardness as often as it was their Turn to have the Enemy to engage But they who had so melancholy a share two years before when they were over-powered by the Enemies superior Force were now made amends by the English who happened to have the greatest part of this Action upon their own hands and so gallantly behaved themselves that they never gave an Opportunity to them to signalize themselves when they had the French first to engage as it appears for the most part the English had the Chance of that The first Five hours on the 19th day the French are owned by all that have hitherto given any Account of the Fight to have pursued the Attack they so briskly begun with more Resolution and Bravery than ever that Nation were known to fight at Sea before and had they had any other than such Enemies to deal with might with great Reason have expected the Advantage But the two extreme parts of the English Fleet that composed the Line of Battle not being able to come up with the French to assist those of their own part yet knew how to make the best Improvement of the Time which they did for whilst Admiral Russel engaged the French Admiral and another or two singly by himself part of the Blue Squadron got the Weather-gage which the French had before from the beginning of the Fight And as this very much animated the English and Dutch so it dispirited the Enemy they soon after towing off West-ward And thus happily concluding what may materially be expected at Sea both for this Year and others to come I will entertain you with a Copy of a Letter from an Officer in the Fleet to his Friend in London which is in these Words UPON the opening of the Day in the Nineteenth in the Morning we were Alarm'd by our Scouts from the Windward of the approach of the French Fleet which occasioned us both to draw into a Line of Battle with the Starboard Tacks on board the Dutch leading the Van. The White Squadron of the French commanded by Tourville bore down with all imaginable Gallantry on Mr. Russel our Admiral and the Red the White and Blue commanded by Amfrevile on the Dutch though at so great distance there was little done on either side and Gabaret with the French Blue Squadron kept so far a-Head that the last Twenty Ships of ours a-Stern had hardly any Body to Fire at but what was at a great distance the Rear-Admiral of the Blue who was next the Red had something to do but not much and the Vice-Admiral of the Enemies Blue who ought to have engaged the same Division on our side took Heart-a-grace and with his whole Division run quite away from the Fleet without Firing a Gun the whole Day so that the whole Battle fell on the Red on our side attacked by the French White and assisted by the Rear-Admiral of their Blue For some time of the Day Sir Cloudsley Shovel engaged them of the Blue It was very hotly disputed doubtless on both sides