670 W. and M. Naval En seditions, &c. of the English, Book

CHAP. XL

Naval Expeditions and Transactions of the English, in the West-Indies, duringthe Tear, 1693. with some other Occurrences of that Tear.

i 6 93 *

Burchett.

F- Daniel.De Larrey,Hifi.deFr. SousLouis, XIV.Sir FrancisWheeler iLetter.

Br. Emp. inAmerica.

The Squa-dron arrivesat Mader-ra,

A S QJJ ADRON was ordered, Here it was determined, to make an 169Z'in November , to be got ready Attempt first upon Martini ca-, And the RefoM'ffor the Service in the JVefi-ln- two Regiments of Fowlkes and Godwin take fyyfdies-, (a) And Sir Francis Wheler, who were joined to about eight Hundredswas made Choice of to command it, re- Land-men, provided at Barbadoes, com-ceived, Instructions from the Lords of manded by the Captains Salter and But-the Admiralty, dated the five and twen- hr, (c) /

tieth of that Month. (A) The Squadron arriving at Cul de Sac

This Commander, sailing the Be- Marine, in Martini ca, the first of jf.^ art>eginning of January, arrived off of Dart- pril, a general Council of War, of Sea-mouth, the ninth, having Power to spread and Land-Officers, was called; Andthe Union Flag, at the Main-top-mast- the Question being put, whether thehead, as soon as he should be out of the Soldiers should land first, and destroySoundings. The six and twentieth of Fort St. Peter , and the PlantationsJanuary, he reached the Island of Ma- thereabouts, or begin with attackingdera, and having taken in Wine there, Fort Royal, it was agreed to land at orfor the Use of the Ships, he arrived in near Fort St. Peter, and that the FleetCarlife-Bay, at Barbadoes, the first of should fail, the next Morning, to fa-March following, where. several Ships, vour this A ttempt. ,

which had separated from him in his At Cul de Sac Marine ,they burnt andPassage, joined him again. ruined all the Houses, and all the Plan-

rations e d.

well pleased, that the Speaker, by the Directionof the House, acquainted him, That the Housetook Notice of his ingenuous Behaviour at the Bar ;And that he had given an Account , to the Satisfac-tion of the House, and was dismissed from fartherAttendance.

The next Thing the House took into Conside-ration, was, Why a Descent had not been madeinto France ? Admiral Ruffe I was questioned a-bout it ; But he excused himself by saying, thattwenty Days had passed between his first Letter tothe Earl of Nottingham , after the Fight, |and hisLordship’s Answer: And, on the other Hand, t’n$Earl made it appear, that he had acted accordingto the Orders he had received, which was all hecould do, as Secretary of State. Whilst theseThings were in Agitation, the Lords , at a Con-ference, communicated to the House of Commonssome Papers which their Lerdfiips had receivedfrom the King, relating to those Affairs; WhichPapers being read, in the Lower House, it was re-solved, That Admiral Russel, in his Commandof the Fleet, “during last Summer’s Expedition ,had behaved himself with Fidelity, Courage andBurnef. Conduit. Bishop Burnet says, this Affair occasi-oned much Heat in both Houses. The Earl ofNottingham laid before the Lords, upon an Ad-dress they had made to the King, all the Lettersthat had pasi'd between himself and Ruffel, withall the Orders he had sent him : And he aggrava-ted Rujfels Errors and Neglects very severely.But the House of Commons justified Rujfel , andgave him Thanks over and over again; And re-mained ib fixed in this, that tho' the Lords thencommunicated the Papers, the Earl of Nottinghamhad laid before them, to the Commons , they wouldnot so much as read them, but renewed theirVotes, that justified/? «M’s Fidelity, Courage andConduct. The Admiral was however set asidethe next Spring, as we shall see underneath.

On the second of December , the House of Com-mons granted the Sum of one Million, nine Hun-dred six and twentyThousand, five Hundred andsixteen Pounds, fox the Charge of the Navy (in-

cluding the Charge of Ordnance, the finishingTheir Majesty’s Naval Yard at Hamofe , near Ply-mouth, and the Building of four Bomb-veffels, andeight new Ships of the Fourth-Rate) for the Year,

1 693. This Sum, may seem very extraordinary,but by a Computation, which we find in the Pre-face to Mr. Secretary Burchett’ s Naval History,supposing the Number of Officers and Men em-ploy'd to be fifty Thousand, the Expence (allow-ing them to be continued in Service, thirteen Lu-nary Months) for Wages and Victuals, togetherwith the Wear andTear of the Ships, the formerand latter being commonly estimated at thirty Shil-lings a Man, a Month, each, and the other attwenty, amounts to two Millions, fix HundredThousand Pounds. Not but that, as Circumstan-ces of Affairs will admit of it, divers of the Shipsmay from Time to Time, be paid off, and laid upin the several Harbours, for easing this very greatCharge. ,y.

{a) This Fleet was composed of two Third-Rates, fix Fourth-Rates, three Fifth-Rates, oneSixth-Rate, three Fire-ships, a Store-Ship, anHospital, and a Bomb-Vessel; About fifteen Hun-dred Soldiers being put on Board of them, andsuch Transports as were particularly appointed fortheir Reception.

(b) Here he was at Liberty to take under hisCommand three other Fourth-Rates, the Ncrwich ,

Diamond , and Mor daunt-, But, besides these In-structions, he received Orders from His Majesty,directing what Places belonging to the Enemy hestiould attempt, and in what Manner he should actm Conjunction with the Land-Forces, command-ed by Colonel Fowlkes.

(c) Advice of this was sent to Colonel Cod-rington , General of the Leeward Islands, whowas desired to cause the Forces in those Parts tomeet the Rest, with all the Speed that might be,at Martinica , and yet farther to strengthen thoseForces, upon Occasions of Service, there wasformed a Battalion of Seamen, of which the Com-madore was himself Colonel.