l & 9 $‘

1695.

Burnet.Kennct.Hist. of K.William.Burchett.

F. Daniel.Hist. deGail. III.Rot d'Angl.

’she LordBerkeleyarrives be-fore St. Ma-lo, andlombards it.

P- *54-

[. Naval Expeditions, &c* of the English, Book

Number of the Officers died, and one was lost on the Shoals of Cape Florida„of the Fourth-Rates, for Want of Men (§)to trim her Sails, running on Ground,

i6q£

CHAP. XIX.

Na

VAL

Expeditions and Transactions of the English, with some other Occurrences iduring the latter Part of the Tear, 1695. and the whole Tear, 1696.

Attempts made by the Lord Berkeley,on several of the French King's Ports.

'It "si T the English were dis-

1 /

playing their Valour, and fig'

^ ^ nalizing themselves on Land,under their Martial King, atthe Siege of Namur, the Fleet, underthe Command of the Lord Berkeley, wasspreading Terror and Consternation, byhis Attempts, all along the Coast ofFrance.

The first of these Attempts was onSt. Malo, that Nest of Privateers, which,of all others, had most infested theChannel, and molested our Merchants,before which Place His Lordship arriv-ed, with the Squadron under his Com-mand, on the fourth of July, in theMorning, and anchored in twenty Fa-thom Water, the ffuince^Rock bearing8. E. by E. near five Miles distant,Cape Frehelle, W. S. W. threeLeagues and a half, and Cancale- Point,E. by S. three Leagues.(a) About threein the Afternoon, theBomb- and small-er Vessels, standing close in, five of theformer played on the ^uince-Rock, onwhich was a wooden Fort, called LaConehee ,that covered the Place, ’till neareight, but with little Success.

The next Morning, at four, the i 6 g£’

. Squadron stood in, and the Frigats andBomb-Vessels were ordered as near theTown as possible, upon which the Gas-hes and Guard-Boats retreated. At halfan Hour past five, the Squadron an-chored in eighteen Fathom Water, the^uince-Rock bearing S. by E. distant a-bout a League, and, at eiglt t,, theCharles Fire-ship, commanded by Cap-tain Durley, and one of the Dutch, wereordered to run in against the Rock. - , f

They placed themselves to the Wind- ^ oftward of it, and so much annoyed the E-nemy, that they forbore Firing, theirCannon, as it was believed, being most-ly dismounted ; And immediately, up-on blowing up of those Ships, the Forttook Fire, and burnt two Hours, veryviolently. About nine, the Squadron,,with the Bomb Vessels, got in nearer;

The former battered theTown, and thelatter play’d with such Success, that a-bout ten, the Fire took in several Partsof the East-End of the Town, and atfour, in the Afternoon, a great Firebroke out, in the West Part of the F 1 'Town, which burnt very furiously ’tilrabout seven, by which Time, nineHundred Bombs and Carcasses had beenthrown in ; Tho’ the French fired very

furiously,

(s) It would be a most diverting Thing (faysthe Colonel) abating for the Disaster of it, and theLives lost in it, to hear a true Particular of theLoss of the Winches er Man of War. If I am notmisinformed, there would come to Light a greatmany hidden Circumstances, very useful to theNation in general, if the Loss of that Man ofWar were enquired into ; If due ExaminationWere made, whether all the Stores and Guns thatwere pretended to be in her, were really onBoard her ; And if the Loss of that Ship did notserve for a Colour to pretend the Loss of manyThings, which were otherwise disposed of.

How (concludes the Colonel) Mr. Burchettcame by his Account, how he came to give it anyCredit, and how so much Credit, as to abuse allthe Rest of the People concerned in it, are (Que-stions he would do well to answer, before he canobtain the Reputation of an impartial and carefulHistorian.

And indeed, as these Reflections of the Colo-nel’s were published in the Year, 1704. and Mr.Burchett did not publilh his larger Naval History ,'till 1720. in which he has agaia inserted this Re-

lation, which the Colonel has so severely treated,it has been the Wonder of many others, that heshould not have either endeavoured to refute theColonel’s Reflections, or amended his Relation:But, I hope, he had his sufficient Reasons, withwhich he has not thought fit to acquaint theWorld,doing neither.

{a) The Manner resolved upon, by a Councilof War, for attacking the Place, was as fol-lows :

i. That fix Dutch Bomb-Veflels, and threeP should batter the jg uince-Rock , and the

Tort called d’ Ambour, five whereof were to attackhe former, and four the other.

2 - The other nine Bomb-Veffels were, at thefame Time, to batter the Town, to be supportedtherein, by several Englifi and Dutch Frigateand other small Vessels; And so many Boats ascould be spared were to go in with small Anchorsand Haulers, to tow the Bomb-Veflels and Fri-gats, if there should be Occasion.

3 - I wo Dutch Ships were to cruise W-N-

of the Squadron, or off of Cape Frehelle , and althe Rest to Jy as near as conveniently they could-