/ p2 Charles I. Naval Expeditions , &c. oj the English, Book III-
1625. consisted of new Men, little exercised?That many Things necessary for a Siegewere wanting ; And the Town had got-ten in, both Men and other Necessaries,since we came into the Bay, having hadfrom Saturday Night to Wednesday forthat Purpose. It was therefore general-
i'ibeTeJethe l J a g reed > not t0 besiege the Town;Town: ' But to ship our Army ; And my LordMarshal ordered the eldest Regimentsto ship first.
In these three Days, my Lord Mar-Tbe Slip fh a j having left Order for it with myvain ?* 1 m Lorst Denbigh , there was a Council cal-led of the Seamen, to advise how toattack the Enemy’s Shipping, at PortReal. Sir Samuel Argall was orderedThe Army for this Service, with the Vice-Admi-re-imbarks. ra p s Squadron ; But it succeeded not,by Reason the Enemy, having so muchTime, had sunk Ships in the Channel,that ours could not pass up to them,As yet Sir Samuel Argall, with thatSquadron, was not returned to the Restof the Fleet, of which Squadron werethe Ships that received my Lord of Es-sex’s, my Lord Valentia’s, and ColonelHarwood’ s Regiments, which, becausetheir Shipping was not ready, had Or-ders to ship last ; And Colonel Harwoodto be last of all.
Presently, my Lord of EJfeX, SirWilliam St. Leger, and Colonel Har-wood considered of the fittest Groundfor these three Regiments to stand in,whilst the others were in Shipping. Co-lonel Harwood, with the Approbationof the Rest, pitched upon some Hills toplace Musketeers on, and behind them,towards the Fort, the Rest of the Re-giments in Order; My Lord of EJfex’ s
O) I CANNOT find that this Discourse soundsas if it came from a Soldier, but a made Dis-course ; For no Man can make me believe, thatit was well done to stick upon a Retreat, whenthe Enemy was no stronger; For my Order was,that the Retreat should be made fighting, and re-tiring ; And that one Regiment should second theother, which might have been done, if the Ene-my had been three Times as strong as he was;Especially, when there was no Horse to chargethem : So that when I said, they were longer en-gaged than I saw any Reason for, it is true; Forthey were above anHour and a half longer, than ImadeAccount of j And standing without theFort,as far advanced as I could, with my Lord of Es-sex by me ; I told him, that I wondered at thisRetreat, the Enemy being no stronger; And thatI gave them Order to fight and retire, and thatwhat they did was no Retreat, but a plain Skir-mish, and it very much hindered our embarking;Which, we wanting our Long-boats, would be
Regiment, which was first to be ship- 1625*ped, next the Fort, and Colonel Har-wood, who was to make the Retreat,next the Enemy; the other Regimentsshipped in Order, one after another.
When my Lord of Esex was to drawaway, the Enemy, which before hadnot shewn themselves near to us, but sttafkilemscattering only to look upon us, began in their Re-to come down in Troops; Whereupon, treat:my Lord of Esex staid his Regiment,and sent to Colonel Harwood (who waswith the Musketeers next the Enemy)to know whether it was necessary heshould stay with his Regiment, in Re-gard the Enemy began to come down.
Colonel Harwood advised his Lordshipto draw away with his Pikes, but tofend him some of his Musketeers,whichhe did, and so did my Lord of Valentia.
The Enemy came close up, about twoor three Hundred Shot, to the Hills,where he had placed his Musketeers;
They had also a Body of Pikes, butthey came not up. Colonel Harwoodput all his Musketeers to work, sent tofny Lord of Essex for more, and hadthem. He entertained the Enemy, aswell as he could with such Kind ofMen, who being new-raised Men, un-acquainted with Danger, and the Use oftheir Arms, hurt one another, and,coming to fill their Bandoleers, blewup the Powder twice or thrice, yet hemade a Shift to maintain the Ground hemade Choice of, for an Hour or more,that the other Regiments might haveTime to ship: In this Time heLad twoor three Messages from my Lord Mar-shal, to come off, ( r) which if he haddone at first, before he had emboldened
his
very troublesome, as it was Night before we haddone. Upon this, Colonel Bruce flung off hisCoat, and run to fee what it was, and gave himhis best Assistance. At last, Colonel Harwoodcame off in good Order, and the Enemy follow-ed him with scattered Shot, some of which cameinto the Puntal. He retreated to some oldHouses, whither I sent him two small Pieces cal-led Drakes, with sixty Pikes to guard them.
These Drakes shoot some forty, some sixtyBullets, and I saw the Effect of them ; For asterthey had shot twice, I could not perceive any Ad-vance more. After- this, I went to Sir EdwardHarwood, and met him coming off from theHoufe.I desired him to tell me, why they stuck so longupon the Retreat, and made me keep suchTroopsas were to be shipped. His Answer was, that theMen were raw, and that the Officers had enga-ged themselves farther than he would have hadthem.