^hap, II.

during the Reign os §tyeen Ann.

749

J 7 o 2 , chett says, the next) Afternoon, theFleet anchored in the Bay of Bulls, a-bout two Leagues from Cadiz , Rotabearing N. by E. and Cadiz, E, N. E.(/) The French Men of War, and theGallies, which lay in the Bay, retiredwithin the Puntals. (m)

The thirteenth, an Hour beforeDay, the Duke of Ormond sent Sir Tho-mas Smith, Quarter-Master-General,with several Engineers and Officers toview the Back-side of the Island of Leon,to found the Shoar, and to find out themost convenient Place to make a De-scent, between the I stand of St. Pedro,and the Town of Cadiz. Sir Thomas wasin a Barge with twelve Oars, attendedby the Ijabella-Y acht and two Frigats.He found, at his Arrival near the I-stands, two Hundred Spanish Horse,who marched along the Shoar, as herowed by ; And Multitudes of Men,Women and Children, leaving the Cityof Cadiz, in great Consternation. Boththe Town and Battery fired several Shotat them, but without doing them anyHarm. At their Return, about threein the Afternoon, Sir Thomas broughthis Grace the Report; That there wasone large and two smaller Bays, veryproper to make a Dejcent. (n)

Sw (/) Bishop Burnet fays; Sir George had laid

‘ no Disposition before-hand, how to proceed uponhis coming thither; That some Days were lost onPretence of seeking for Intelligence ; That it wascertain,our Court had a falseAccount of the State,the Place was in, both with Relation to the Gar-rison and Fortifications; And that the Garrisonwas much stronger, and the Fortifications were ina better Case, than was represented.

(m) In the first Surprize (says Bishop Burnet)it had been easy to have followed them, and tohave taken or burnt them ; Which Fair born offer-ed to execute ; But Rooke, and the Rest of hisCreatures did not approve of this.

(ri) While this was doing (fays Bishop Burnet ,the Officers by the taking ot some Boats came toknow, that those of Cadiz had sent qver the bestof their Goods, and other Effects, to the Port ofSt- Mary’s , an open Town over against it on theContinent of Spain; So that here was good Plun-der to be had easily, whereas the Landing on theIsle of Cadiz was like to prove dangerous, and, assome made them believe, impracticable.

, (o) Upon a Re-conlideration of Sir George

Ash of ^ Rcohe’s Instructions, the Advices and Intelligencesthey had from Mr. Methuen , and the Prince ofHeffe-Darmstadt , and the concurring Informationthey had received from several Fishermen takenon the Coast, from whence it might be reasonableto conclude, the Enemy had about sour Thousanddeciplined Troops in the Town of Cadiz., besidesBurghers, and a Thousand Horse, of OldTroops,besides the Militia , for the Guard of the Coast ;And in Regard the Fleet could give no other As-sistance to the Difembarkment, than coveringtheir Forces in their Landing, and Bombardingthe Town; And the Impossibility of supplying the

A Council of War, of the Flag 1702.and General-Officers, was hereupon A Council ofheld* in which his Grace, the Duke of beld 'Ormond, was of Opinion, to land im-mediately, in the Istand of Leon, thebetter to take Advantage of the Frightand Disorder, into which the suddenArrival of the Confederate Fleet hadcast the City of Cadiz. In this Coun-cil of War (lays Bishop Burnet) in whichtheir Instructions (0) were read, it wasproposed to consider, how they shouldput them in Execution. 0 Haro, one Objectionsof the General-Officers, made a long ^^ng!^Speech against landing: He shewedhow desperate an Attempt it wouldprove, and how different they foundthe State of the Place, from the Repre-sentation made of it in England. Thegreater Number agreed with him, andall that the Duke of Ormond could sayto the contrary, was of no Effect. Rooke(1 continues the Bishop') seemed to be ofthe fame Mind with the Duke, but allhis Dependants were of another Opini-on, so this was thought to be a Piece ofCraft in him. In Conclusion, the Coun-cil of War came to a Resolution, notto make a Descent on the Island of Ca- p e f 0 i ve ^ notdiz ; And without any Regard had to to land on thethe Report made by Sir Thomas Smith, IfleofCadiz;

they

Forces from the Fleet in Blowing Weather; Itwas jndged impracticable to attempt the Island ofCadiz , immediately, in these Circumstances. Butin Consideration the taking theFort St. Catherine's,and Port St. Mary's , might facilitate the Accessof the Fleet into the Harbour, and annoying theTown with our Bombs, getting of better Intelli-gence of their Condition, and for supplying theFleet with Water, which they-began to be inWant off, and trying the Affectsens and Inclinati-ons of the People of the Country to the House ofAustria , it was resolved to lahd the Forces in theBay of Bulls , in Order to reduce the aforesaidFort and Town, and, upon the Success of this At-tempt, it might be considered what was fartherto be done, in Prosecution of Her Majesty’s far-ther Instructions, and that his Grace, the Duke ofOrmond , should send a Summons to the Town,to submit to their lawful King, of the House ofAustria.

Pursuant to this Resolution, a Boat was sent,at three in the Afternoon, from the Admiral, toCadiz , with a Flag of Truce, and some Declara-tions ; And his Grace the Duke of Ormond wrotea Letter to the Governour of that Place, withwhom he had been acquainted in the late War, inFlanders , to invite him to surrender, intimating,that having served in Flanders against the French ,he hoped he would now declare in Favour of theHouse of Austria , which he had formerly so faith-fully served- The Governour returned a CivilAnswer, signifying, That he was much obliged toHis Grace for his good Opinion of him , and hisServices in Flanders, and hoped he should do no-thing to forfeit the same, nor against the Trustthe King, his Master, had reposed in him.