W.XLI.

from the I. of James I. to the Revolution.

$P7

CHAP. XLI.

Naval Expeditions and Yransailions of the English, with other RemarkableOccurrences, during the Second Dutch War .

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Naval Force of France be-ast in Conjunctionwith ours, the Count ddEftrees, theFrench Vice-Admiral, came, theof May, to Portsmouth, with aSquadron of Ships of that Nation ; Andour Fleet coming thither soon after,from the Downs ; they both put to Sea.The Duke of York, being Commanderin Chief, was with the Red Squadron, inthe Center, Monsieur D'Eftrees, actingAdmiral of the White, with the

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fitted J French Squadron, on the Right;And theEarl of Sandwich, being Admiral of theBlue, on the Left. The English Fleetconsisted of above a Hundred Ships ofall Sorts, and the French of forty, (a)

An Engagement between the English.Fleet, under the Commandos the Dukeof York, and the Dutch Fleet, underDe Ruyter Van Ghent and Banckert.

It was, on the nineteenth of May,-at a that they difcover’d the Dutch, about4 n _ eight Leagues E. S. E. of the Gunfeet ;

And, the next Day, they prepared tonies - engage; Had not the thick Weather,

which came up, made them lose Sightof each other. Upon this, the Englishand French Fleets put into Solebay,where they continued ’till the eight andtwentieth, when the Dutch appearedunexpectedly, at Break of Day, in theOffing, bearing up to them, and hadvery near surprized them in the Bay,(A) Many Ships being obliged to cuttheir Cables, to get out and range them-selves in Order of Battle, (c)

The Dutch Fleet,which, according tomost of their Authors, consisted of fe-venty-sive large Ships, and forty Frigats,and Fire-ships, (d) was commanded byBanckert, in the Van, who attackedthe White Squadron, under • MonsieurddEftrees, By De Ruyter, who wasCommander in Chief, in the Center, andfought with the Red Squadron, underthe Duke; And by Van Ghent, in theRear, who engaged with the Blue Squa-dron, under the Lord Sandwich .

The Engagement was begun, be-tween seven and eight in the Morn-ing, by the Dutch, with the WhiteSquadron, and the French received them,in the Beginning, with some Shew ofCourage and Bravery; But they, soon

after

1672.

La Vie deMichel DeRuyter.Leven VanCorneliusYanTromp.Leven derZee-HeldenF- Daniel.The united,Fleets putinto Soie-bay j

Where theDutch iverenearsurprig -ing them.

The Duke osYork andthe Frenchengage theDutch. ■

(æ) Dutch Writers differ very much in theirAccounts of the Force of our Fleet; Some, andparticularly the Author of De Ruyter's Life, pre-tend, they were a Hundred and sixteen Ships,most of them large, besides four and twentyKetches, and the French eight and forty stoutShips; But some of their more moderate Writersagree pretty well-with our Account above.

{b) It is credibly reported, that the Day be-V fore, the Wind being at North-East, a stiff Gale,t he Earl of Sandwich, with the other Flag-Offi-cers, being invited to an Entertainment, on BoardAe Duke of Lori’s Ship, took the Liberty, in theMidst of their Jollitry, to fay, That the FleetWas in Danger of being surprized, as the Windthen stood, and that, therefore, it was his Opini-they ought to weigh Anchor and put out tohe a : Whereupon, the Duke, by a sudden Reply,seeming to reflect on this Caution of the Earl's,as the Effect of Fear, it is said, caused in him aResentment, that was supposed to have been fa-in the Sequel,(as we shall fee below,) tho’ the~ Vent shews, this Caution was the Effect of hisPrudence, and not of his Fear.

(c) Basnage pretends, that had not De Ray- Bafnage An-ter been tied down to the Formality of calling a nales desCouncil, and advising with Cornelius De Wit, the Prov. Unies.Deputy of the States, on Board the Fleet, he

might have attacked them in such Manner, du-ring the Surprize, as must have brought them in-to the utmost Disorder.

(d) The Author of Cornelius Van Tromp’s Leven van

Life; and Bafnage , however, allows, that they Corn. Vanhad ninety-one Men of War, four and forty Fire- Tromp.ships, and three and twenty Yachts. Bafnage An-

Du'RING this War was clearly seen, the vast nales desGrowth of the Riches and Power of the United Prov. Unies.Provinces, since the Infant State of their Repub-lickFor whereas, in the Time of William I,

Prince of Change, they could not have Credit forfourteen Thousand Guilders, but upon Promiseof repaying double th6 Sum ; And were forcedto pawn the Bells of the Hague on another Occa-sion, for raising the Sum of fifteen HundredGuilders ;• Yet it is computed, that in this dan-gerous State of their Affairs, they raised yearlyno less than sixty Millions of Guilders, or aboutfive Millions and a half Sterling.