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The Loss ojthe Spani-ards.

Eliz.

Naval Expeditions , &c. of the English,

Book H

" Place from whence the Enemy could" annoy us, but by theBridge of Swaro," which crosses over from the main" Land to the Island, and that by ma-" king good the Bridge, the Gallies" could not escape us; he sent threefC Regiments under the Command of" Sir Cony er s Clifford , Sir Chriflophertf Blunt , and Sir Thomas Garret to the" Bridge : At their first Coming, they" were encountered by the Enemy;" but possessed themselves of it, with" the Loss of some Men; But whether“ it was for Want of Victuals, or for" what other Reasons, they quitted it," I know not, and the Gallies, break-" ing down divers Arches, past it, and" by that Means escaped.

,s My Lord dispatched anotherMes-" senger to my Lord Admiral entreat-“■ ing him to give Order to attempt the" Merchants, that rode in Port Royal ;" for that it was dangerous to give themj a Night’s Respite, lest they shouldA convey away their Wealth, or take" Example by the Philip and Thomas ,

to burn themselves. This Message" was delivered by Sir .Anthony Ashley" and Sir William Monson, even as myte Lord Admiral was in his Boat, ready" with his Troops of Seamen to land," and fearing the Lord General Essex<c should be put to Distress, with his" small Company, which was but three" Regiments, he hastened, by allMeans,

to second him, and gave Orders to" certain Ships the next Day to pursue" them.”

The Remainder of Sir William Mon-soAs Account being so interwoven withhis Reflections on the Misconduct in thisAction, that they are not so properly tobe separated , I {hall give them theReader together below.

By this Action, the King of Spainlost, in Shipping and Mony, with Pro-visions and Stores, provided for the in-tended Expedition against England , tothe Value of above twenty Millions ofDuckets.

Besides the Merchant-men theKing of Spain lost two Gallions, whichwere taken by the English , with abovea Hundred Brass Guns, thirteen Menof War, eleven Ships freighted forthe Indies , and thirteen others: Stow

fays; Twelve Hundred Pieces of Ord- 1596-nance were either taken or funk in theSea. In this whole Action no En-glishman of Note lost bis Life, exceptingSir John Wingsield, who was honoura-bly interred, in a military Way, in theGreat Church of the Town. There Sixty Gen*were about sixty Gentlemen, who lerv- tlemened in this Expedition, knighted for their knighted-Valour: See a List of them in Camden.

The English being now in full Pos-session of the Town and Castle of Cadiz,and an Agreement having been madefor the Exchange of Prisoners, a Con-sultation was held what was to be donewith the Place. The Earl of Essex wasfor keeping it, because it might provea Thorn, as it were, in the SpaniardsSide; And so intent was he upon doingit, that he offered to stay there with on-ly four Hundred Men, and threeMonths Provisions. Sir Francis Vere,and the Dutch AdmiralDwwzDoort/, wereof the fame Opinion; But the LordHigh Admiral, with all the other Com-manders, were utterly averse to it, andevery one strewed a more than ordinaryImpatience to return with his Booty toEngland. m rst

Therefore, after they had plunder- f ered the Island, demolished the Forts, and plunder^^burnt down several Houses in the City ; Cadiz ^Or, as some other Authors have it, as - tUter they had laid the Town in A sties,the Churches only excepted, had bat-tered the Walls, demolished the Tow-ers, pillaged and burnt the Island itself,and laid all waste before them, leavingthe Rubbish to declare the Devastationthe English had made in Spain , the Fleetset Sail from thence, ( 7 ) on the fifth ofJuly , and repair’d to Faro, in the Al-garva, which Place they found deserted^A r0 ^by the Inhabitants. They had also car-ried off all their Goods; But there wasa well-stock’d Library left behind,which was (fays my Author) of Right,the Earl of Essex’ s Prize.

The Earl of Essex, after this, propo-sed to repair to the Azores, and thereto lay in Wait for the Eaft-India-Car-racks. But not one of the other Officerswould give his Consent to it, but theLord Thomas Howard, and the DutchAdmiral; So much had the Fear of los-ing what they had gained, got the As-cendant

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(0 At their Departure, the Spaniards did the " Aspects, they behaved themselves like valiantEnglish the Justice to fay : “ That, tho’ they " Soldiers, wife Counsellors, and Men of Ho-“ were Hereticks, as to Religion, yet m other “ nour.