Naval ExpeditimSj &c. of the English,

Book

V.

says the seventh) he joined it, and ac-quainted the Admiral with the News.He imparted the same immediately tothe Dutch Admiral, and having declar-ed it his Opinion,that they should direct-ly set Sail for Vigo, the Dutch Admiralreadily concurred, and Sir George hav-Refolution to jng the next Day, called a Council ofthem'^ Flag Officers, it was resolved to attempt

them. (e) ^

Proceedings The Fleet, pursuant to the Resolu-of the Fleet xjons of the Council of War, began tothereupon. ft eer their Course for Vigo, and the Ad-miral having dispatched two Frigats forIntelligence, they returned,on the ninthof OSlober, at Night, with a Confirma-tion of Captain Hardy's Account, ad-ding, that the Enemy’s Ships lay upthe River in Redondella- Harbour ; Andone of Sir Cloudejly Shovel's Squadroncoming into the Fleet, the next Morn-

1702.

The Ad-i mir al ac-quaintedluitth it.

ing, with Advice, that theAdmiral was I? 0 *off of Cape Finis er re , there was Orderssent him to join the Grand Fleet t Onthe eleventh,in theAfternoon, the Fleetcame to an Anchor at Vigo, the Wea-ther having proved so hazy, that theTown never discovered them ’till theywere just upon it,and tho’ they fired ve-ry thick from that Place, yet the Confe-derates took little Notice of it. TheFrench Admiral, Monsieur Chateau-Renaud, to give him his due Commen-dation, had taken all human Precautionsto secure his Fleet, (f)

As soon as the Confederate Fleet came A V ner fto an Anchor, the Admiral called a Ge-neral Council of Land-and Sea-Officers,where it was resolved (g) to attemptthe Forcing of the Harbour, the nextMorning.

•al

For

he had scarce ever been able to have effected it;For to say nothing of the Fleet’s having taken va-rious Courses, by reason of the Variableness ofthe Weather, the Head of his Ship was loose,which endangered his Masts, his Ship very leaky,and himself and all his Men were reduced to twoBiskets a day. However, bravely surmounting allthose Difficulties, and the pressing Instances of hisMen to bear away to England , he traversed theSeas and cruised in Quest of the Fleet, till hefound it.

(e) It was resolved that in Regard of the at-tempting and destroying the French and SpanijhShips at Vigo, would be of great Advantage toHer Majesty, and no less honourable to Her Al-lies, and in a great Measure, to reduce the exor-bitant Power os France , the Fleet should makethe best of their Way to that Port, and sail on imme-diately, with the whole Line, if there were Roomsufficient for it, otherwise to attack the Enemywith such Detachments, as might render the En-terprize most effectual and successful.

(f) He had not only drawn them up beyond avery narrow Streight, defended by a Castle on theone side, and Platforms on both Sides of theStreight, whereon he had planted his best Guns ;But he had likewise laid athwart it a very strongBoom made up of Masts,Yards, Cables,Top-Chainsand Casks, fastened together with Ropes, severalYards in Circumference under-run with Hawsersand Cables, and kept steddy by Anchors cast onboth Sides of it : The Top Chain at each End,was moored to a Ship of seventy Guns. Withinthe Boom, five Men of War, of sixty and seventyGuns each, were so moored, with their BroadSides fronting the Entrance of the Streight, thatthey might fire at any Ships, that came near theBoom and Platforms.

Bishop Burnet fays, he had not Time to finishWhat he designed, otherwise the Place had beeninaccessible ; But, as it was, the Difficulty in for-cing this Port was believed to be greater than a-ny they would have met with, if they had land-ed on the Isle of Cadiz. He adds, that as theSpanith Flota had put in at Vigo, Methuen, theQueen's Minister at Lisbon, sent Advertisementsto all the Places, where he thought our Advice-boats might be ordered to call : Rooke had givenno Orders for any to call, so held on his Course

towards Cape Finijlerre ; But when he receivedthe Intelligence {in the Manner I have above rela-ted ) he turned his Course towards Vigo, very un-willingly, as was said, and finding the Advice wastrue, resolved to force his Way in.

The Harbour’s Mouth (fays Mr. Burchett) isabout the Breadth of a Shot from a Musket, and,on the Entrance, was a small Fort, with aTrenchrunning about a Quarter of a Mile, whereon Was aBattery of sixteen Guns ; And the Harbour itselfis surrounded, in such Manner, with Hills, thatit is capable of being made very strong. On theleft Hand was a Battery of about twenty Guns, andbetween that and the Fort, on the Right, a Boomwas placed athwart the Harbour. Another Ac-count fays, the Brdadth was about the third of aMile, with a Battery of eight Brass and twelveIron Guns, on the North Side, and, on the SouthSide, a Platform, with twenty stately Brass Guns,and twenty good Iron Guns ; besides a Stone Fortwith a Trench about it, mounted with ten" Guns,defended by five Hundred Men. The French Menof War (continues Mr. Burchett) lay almost in theForm of a Half-Moon, aconsiderableDistance with-in thisBoom, whereas had they anchored close to it,and laid their Broad-sides, to bear upon our Ships,as they approached, we should, in all Probability,have found theTask much more difficult, but theyhad so great a Dependance on the Strength of theBoom, as to think themselves sufficiently secured bythat, and the Batteries on both Sides the Harbour.This latter Part of Mr. Burchett ’s Account seems

improbable, and contradictory to all other as wellas his own Relations, because it is certain, that assoon asVice-Admiral Hopfon broke thro’ the Boom,he sell in between two French Men of War. G

(g) It was concluded, that since the whole -Fleet could not attempt the Enemy’s Ships, with- y, „ a lsout manifest Danger of running foul upon one ano- A Mther, a Detachment of fifteen Engli/h and tenDutch Men of War, of the Line of Battle, withall the Fire-ships, should be sent in, with Ordersto use their best Endeavours in destroying or ta-king the Enemy’s Fleet, that the Frigats andBomb-Veflels should follow the Rear of the De-tachment, and that the great Ships should moveafter them and go in, if there should be Occasion,that the Army, at the same Time, should land,and attack the Fort, on the South of Redondella,

and