Daniel Defoe: Military Memoirs of Capt. George Carleton

The English lost the Royal James , commanded by the Earl of Sandwich , which about Twelve (after the strenuous Endeavours of her Sailors to disengage her from two Dutch Fire Ships plac'd on her, one athwart her Hawsers, the other on her Star-board Side) took Fire, blew up, and perish'd; and with her a great many brave Gentlemen, as well as Sailors; and amongst the rest the Earl himself, concerning whom I shall further add, that in my Passage from Harwich to the Brill , a Year or two after, the Master of the Pacquet Boat told me, That having observ'd a great Flock of Gulls hovering in one particular Part of the Sea, he order'd his Boat to make up to it; when discovering a Corpse, the Sailors would have return'd it to the Sea, as the Corpse of a Dutch Man ; but keeping it in his Boat, it proved to be that of the Earl of Sandwich . There was found about him between twenty and thirty Guineas, some Silver, and his Gold Watch; restoring which to his Lady, she kept the Watch, but rewarded their Honesty with all the Gold and Silver.

This was the only Ship the English lost in this long Engagement. For although the Katherine was taken, and her Commander, Sir John Chicheley , made Prisoner, her Sailors soon after finding the Opportunity they had watch'd for, seiz'd all the Dutch Sailors, who had been put in upon them, and brought the Ship back to our own Fleet, together with all the Dutch Men Prisoners; for which, as they deserv'd, they were well rewarded. This is the same Ship which the Earl of Mulgrave (afterwards Duke of Buckingham ) commanded the next Sea Fight, and has caus'd to be painted in his House in St. James's Park .

I must not omit one very remarkable Occurrence which happened in this Ship, There was a Gentleman aboard her, a Voluntier, of a very fine Estate, generally known by the Name of Hodge Vaughan . This Person receiv'd, in the beginning of the Fight, a considerable Wound, which the great Confusion, during the Battle, would not give them leave to inquire into; so he was carried out of the Way, and disposed of in the Hold. They had some Hogs aboard, which the Sailor, under whose Care they were, had neglected to feed; these Hogs, hungry as they were, found out, and fell upon the wounded Person, and between dead and alive eat him up to his very Scull, which, after the Fight was over, and the Ship retaken, as before, was all that could be found of him.

Another Thing, less to be accounted for, happen'd to a Gentleman Voluntier who was aboard the same Ship with my self. He was of known personal Courage, in the vulgar Notion of it, his Sword never having fail'd him in many private Duels. But notwithstanding all his Land-mettle, it was observ'd of him at Sea, that when ever the Bullets whizz'd over his Head, or any way incommoded his Ears, he immediately quitted the Deck, and ran down into the Hold. At first he was gently reproach'd; but after many Repetitions he was laugh'd at, and began to be despis'd; sensible of which, as a Testimonial of his Valour, he made it his Request to be ty'd to the Main Mast. But had it been granted him, I cannot see any Title he could have pleaded from hence, to true Magnanimity; since to be ty'd from running away can import nothing less, than that he would have still continued these Signs of Cowardice, if he had not been prevented. There is a Bravery of Mind which I fansy few of those Gentlemen Duellists are possess'd of. True Courage cannot proceed from what Sir Walter Raleigh finely calls the Art or Philosophy of Quarrel . No! It must be the Issue of Principle, and can have no other Basis than a steady Tenet of Religion. This will appear more plain, if those Artists in Murder will give themselves leave cooly to consider, and answer me this Question, Why he that had ran so many Risques at his Sword's Point, should be so shamefully intimidated at the Whiz of a Cannon Ball?

The Names of those English Gentlemen who lost their Lives, as I remember, in this Engagement .

Commissioner Cox, Captain of the Royal Prince , under the Command of the Admiral; and Mr. Travanian , Gentleman to the Duke of York ; Mr. Digby , Captain of the Henry , second Son to the Earl of Bristol ; Sir Fletchvile Hollis , Captain of the Cambridge , who lost one of his Arms in the War before, and his Life in this; Captain Saddleton , of the Dartmouth ; the Lord Maidstone , Son to the Earl of Winchelsea , a Voluntier on board the Charles , commanded by Sir John Harman , Vice-Admiral of the Red.

Sir Philip Carteret , Mr. Herbert , Mr. Cotterel , Mr. Peyton , Mr. Gose , with several other Gentlemen unknown to me, lost their Lives with the Earl of Sandwich , on board the Royal James ; Mr. Vaughan , on board the Katherine , commanded by Sir John Chicheley .

In this Engagement, Sir George Rook was youngest Lieutenant to Sir Edward Sprage ; Mr. Russel , afterwards Earl of Orford , was Captain of a small Fifth Rate, called the Phnix ; Mr. Herbert , afterwards Earl of Torrington , was Captain of a small Fourth Rate, called the Monck ; Sir Harry Dutton Colt , who was on board the Victory , commanded by the Earl of Offery , is the only Man now living that I can remember was in this Engagement.

But to proceed, the Dutch had one Man of War sunk, though so near the Shore, that I saw some part of her Main Mast remain above Water, with their Admiral Van Ghent , who was slain in the close Engagement with the Earl of Sandwich . This Engagement lasted fourteen Hours, and was look'd upon the greatest that ever was fought between the English and the Hollander .

I cannot here omit one Thing, which to some may seem trifling; though I am apt to think our Naturalists may have a different Opinion of it, and find it afford their Fansies no undiverting Employment in more curious, and less perilous Reflections. We had on board the London where, as I have said, I was a Voluntier, a great Number of Pidgeons, of which our Commander was very fond. These, on the first firing of our Cannon, dispers'd, and flew away, and were seen no where near us during the Fight. The next Day it blew a brisk Gale, and drove our Fleet some Leagues to the Southward of the Place where they forsook our Ship, yet the Day after they all returned safe aboard; not in one Flock, but in small Parties of four or five at a Time. Some Persons at that Time aboard the Ship admiring at the Manner of their Return, and speaking of it with some Surprize, Sir Edward Sprage told them, That he brought those Pidgeons with him from the Streights ; and that when, pursuant to his Order, he left the Revenge Man of War, to go aboard the London , all those Pidgeons, of their own accord, and without the Trouble or Care of carrying, left the Revenge likewise, and removed with the Sailors on board the London , where I saw them; All which many of the Sailors afterwards confirm'd to me. What Sort of Instinct this could proceed from, I leave to the Curious.

Soon after this Sea Engagement I left the Fleet. And the Parliament, the Winter following, manifesting their Resentments against two of the Plenipotentiaries, viz. Buckingham and Arlington , who had been sent over into Holland ; and expressing, withal, their great Umbrage taken at the prodigious Progress of the French Arms in the United Provinces ; and warmly remonstrating the inevitable Danger attending England in their Ruin. King Charles from all this, and for want of the expected Supplies, found himself under a Necessity of clapping up a speedy Peace with Holland .