At This Time We Saw The Duchess Steer Ahead To Windward, Clear
Of The Enemy, As I Supposed To Stop
Her leaks or repair her rigging.
Meanwhile the Marquis kept the enemy in play, till the Duchess again
bore down,
When each fired a broadside or two, and left off because it
grew dark. They then bore south of us in the Duke, which was right to
windward, distant about two leagues; and about midnight our boat came to
us, having made false fires, which we answered. Our people had been on
board both the Duchess and Marquis, the former of which had her foremast
much disabled, the ring of an anchor shot away, one man killed and
several wounded, having also received several shots in her upper works
and one in her powder-room, but all stopt. The Duchess had engaged the
enemy by herself the night before, which was what we took to be false
fires, being too distant to hear the guns. At that time they could
perceive the enemy to be in great disorder, her guns not being all
mounted, and neither her nettings nor close quarters in order; so that,
if it had been my good fortune in the Duke to have gone with the
Duchess, we all believed we might then have carried this great ship by
boarding; or, if the Duchess had taken most of the men out of the
Marquis, which did not sail well enough to come up to her assistance in
time, she alone might have taken her by boarding at once, before the
Spaniards had experienced our strength, and become afterwards so well
provided as encouraged them to be driving, giving us every opportunity
to board them if we pleased.
Captain Cooke sent me word that he had nearly fired away all his powder
and shot, but had escaped well in masts, rigging, and men; wherefore I
sent him three barrels of powder and a proportion of shot; and I also
sent Lieutenant Fry to consult with our consorts how we might best
engage the enemy next morning. All this day and the ensuing night the
chase made signals to us in the Duke, thinking us her consort, which we
had already taken; and after dark she edged down towards us, otherwise I
should not have been up with her next day, having very little wind and
that against us. In the morning of the 28th, as soon as it was day, the
wind veered at once, on which we put our ship about, and the chase fired
first upon the Duchess, which was nearest her in consequence of the
change of wind. The Duchess returned the fire briskly; and we in the
Duke stood as near as we possibly could, firing our guns as we could
bring them to bear upon the enemy. At this time the Duchess was athwart
her hawse, firing very fast, and such of her shot as missed the enemy
flew over us and between our masts, so that we ran the risk of receiving
more harm from the Duchess than the enemy, if we had lain on her quarter
and across her stern, which was my intention. We therefore took our
station close along side, board and board, where we kept plying her with
round shot only, using neither barshot nor grape, as her sides were too
thick for these, and no men appeared in sight.
She lay driving, as we did also close aboard of her, the enemy keeping
to their close quarters, so that we never fired our small arms unless
when we saw a man appear, or a port open, and then we fired as quick as
possible. We continued thus for four glasses, about which time we
received a shot in our main-mast which much disabled it. Soon after
this, the Duchess and we, still both firing, came back close under the
enemy, and had like to have fallen on board of her, so that we could
make little use of our guns. We then fell astern in our birth alongside,
and at this time the enemy threw a fire-ball into the Duke from one of
her tops, which blew up a chest of loaded arms and cartouch-boxes on our
quarter-deck, and several cartridges in our steerage, by which Mr
Vanburgh, the agent of our owners, and a Dutchman, were very much burnt;
and it might have done us much more damage if it had not been soon
extinguished. After getting clear, the Duchess stood in for the shore,
where she lay braced to, mending her rigging. The Marquis fired several
shots, but to little purpose, as her guns were small. We continued close
aboard for some time after the Duchess drew off; till at last we
received a second shot in our main-mast, not far from the other, which
rent it miserably; insomuch that the mast settled towards the wound, and
threatened to come by the board. Our rigging also being much shattered,
we sheered off and brought to, making a signal to our consorts for a
consultation; and in the interim got ordinary fishes up to support our
main-mast as well as we could.
Captains Courtney and Cooke, with other officers, came aboard the Duke,
in obedience to the signal, when we took the condition of our three
ships into consideration. Their masts and rigging were much damaged, and
we had no means of procuring any repairs. If we again engaged the enemy,
we could not propose to do any more than we had done already, which
evidently had not done her much harm, as we could perceive that few of
our shots penetrated her sides to any purpose, and our small arms
availed still less, as not one of their men were to be seen above board.
Our main-mast was so badly wounded that the least additional injury
would bring it down, and the fore-mast of the Duchess was in as bad a
state.
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