HAP.

during the Reign of §tyeen Ann.

1*705. head, with three First-Rates, two Se-cond-Rates, and as many Third-Rates.The thirteenth of May, he arrived atSpithead, where he was joined by theMen of War from the Downs, and theShips with the Ordnance Stores; And,the twenty-second, the Earl of Peterbo-rough arrived at Portsmouth. The sameDay, the Troops designed for the Ex-pedition being, likewise, on Board, theFleet failed to St. Helen*S ; And, thenext, the Earl went on Board: Thefour and twentieth, the Fleet set Sail a-gain and the five and twentieth came offof Plymouth, where they lay by forsome Men of War and Transports,which were to join them there, and, twoDays after, they arrived at their firstRendezvous, which was seven Leagues^ S. from the Lizard. (?)

<ps r Arri- The ninth of June, the Fleet arriv-n ed in the River of Lisbon, where theDutch Admiral Allemond, with his Squa-dron, was arrived a Week before. Herethe Admirals, likewise, found Sir JohnLeake, with his Squadron; But in greatWant of Provisions; The Ships were,therefore, all supplied, out of thosebrought from England, for near four% t Months, at whole Allowance.

tne of The Line of Battle being now form-

1

t s

% Jorm- et p ^ cq. Clou defy got out of the Ri-ver of Lisbon, with Part of the Fleetthe twenty-second, and, the same Day,met with the Ships from Ireland. TheDesign was to cruise off of Cape Spartel,

’till the Earl of Peterborough , who staidat Lisbon , with the Remainder of theFleet, to take in the Forces, shouldjoin him. The Earl having prevailedupon the Earl of Galloway to spare himtwo Regiments of Dragoons, in which,as well as in supplying them with For-rage and other Necessaries, he met withgreat Opposition and Delay, from thePortuguese ; And the Men of War de-tach’d from the Squadron under Admi-ral Byng being arriv’d the fifteenth, withthe Transports and other Ships undertheir Convoy, having on Board severalThings necessary for the Expedition, heprepared to depart. King Charles, whowas resolved to try his Fortune with theEarl and Sir Cloudsfy, being, there-fore, embark’d with the former, onBoard the Ranelagh, they put to Seathe seventeenth of July, the Troops onBoard, designed for a Descent, being bysome computed to be twelve ThousandMen. They arrived, in a few Days,at Gibraltar, where His Cat ho lick Ma-jesty, under Protection of the Confede-rate Fleet, first took Poffeffion of HisKingdom of Spain, and was receivedthere as lawful Sovereign, if)

The Batallion of English Guards,and the three old Regiments, whichhad so valiantly defended Gibraltar, be-ing embark’d, and two new raised Ba-tallions left in Garrison there, the Fleetsailed, the fifth of Auguft, and came toAnchor, the eleventh, in Aitea-B ay,

in

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K. CharlesIIP.

embanks onBoard theConfederateFleet :

And arrivesat Gibraltar*

Proceeds toAltea-Bay.-

dron ; And, upon a full Examination, it appear,ed, that the Ship had been very well defend-ed, and that Captain Kerr, who commanded theL Revenge, and was in Company with the Falmeuth,

Ch Vt. had given her all possible Assistance.

(r) The Fleet then consisted of three First-Rates, fix Second-Rates, twelve Third-Rates, andeivht Fourth-Rates, together nine and twen-ty^Sbips of the Line, besides Fifth- and Sixth-Rates, Fire-ships, Bomb-Vessels, and small Craft.But upon Intelligence from Sir George Byng andSir John Jennings, as also the Account given byPrisoners, that the Enemy had in Brest abouteighteen Ships of War, it was resolved, at aCouncil of Flag-Officers, to leave Sir George Byngin the Soundings, with one First-Rate, two Se-cond-Rates, seven Third-R^tes, and two Fourth-Rates, a Frigat, and a Firelhip ; And to proceed,with the Rest, which were two First-Rates, fourSecond-Rates, and five Third-Rates to Lisbon.To Sir George Byng, the Admirals gave Instruc-tions, to cruise off of Uflsant, and the I'ournhead,and that if, when he got Intelligence the EnemyWere sailed from Brest,. he. was satisfied they hadnot any Design of coming into the Soundings, orinfesting our Coast, he should send Sir John Jen-nings to the Bay of Wares, with the Ship intend-ed for the Fleet, and himself put in Executionsuch Orders, as he had, or should receive, fromth* Lord High Admiral. From hence likewise,

the Admirals sent Orders to the Men of War andTransports with Forces, in Ireland, to proceeddirectly to Lisbon.

(s) It consisted of two First-Rates, four Se-cond-Rates, two and twenty Third-Rates, tenFourth-Rates, and twenty Dutch Ships of theLine, together eight and fifty of the Line, besidessmall Frigats, Bomb-Vessels, Fire-ships, Hospital-ships and other Email Vessels.

(?) The first Design of this Expedition was Bur ties,concerted with the Duke of Savoy, and the Forcesthey had on Board were either to join him, or tomake an Attempt on Naples or Sicily, as shouldbe found most adviseable. There were Agentsemployed in different Parts of Spain, to give anAccount of the Disposition People were in, andof what seemed most practicable. A Body ofMen rose in Catalonia , about Vich ; Upon theKnowledge King Charles had of this, and uponother Advertisements which were sent to ourCourt, of the Dispositions of those of that Prin-cipality, the Orders which King Charles . desiredwere sent by a Runner, which was dispatchedfrom the Queen to the Fleet; So the Fleet steer-ed to the Coast of Catalonia, to try what couldbe done there. The Earl of Peterborough, whohad set his Heart on Italy, and on Prince Eugene,was not a little displeased with this, as appearedin a long Letter, from him, which the Bishopfays the Lord Treasurer shewed him.