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Home A Period of Foreign Wars, 1689-1714 Part 4 |
Part 4On the sea, in these two years, Louis XIV missed his chances. With a superior fleet, and with the best admiral of the day in Tourville (Tourville had served in the French fleet for thirty years, and had seen service in the Anglo-Dutch wars and against the Barbary pirates. He was a practical seaman as well as a good tactician; indeed it was a saying at the time that he could act in any capacity from a ship's carpenter to an admiral), he should, according to military historians, have isolated Ireland from England so as to give every assistance to James; instead of which William was allowed to pass over to Ireland unmolested, and his communications were never threatened even for an hour. Tourville, however, on June 30, 1690, the day before the Battle of the Boyne, met at Beachy Head a combined Dutch and English fleet under Lord Torrington. The latter, who was inferior in force, wished to refuse battle with his van and centre and to fight only a rearguard action (The Government, had information that the enemy's ships-of-the-line numbered only sixty, and ordered Torrington with his fifty ships to engage them. Torrington counted with his own eyes-or rather with his one eye, as he had lost the other in an explosion-eighty ships o£ the enemy, and was unwilling to fight, but he had to obey orders). But the impetuous Dutch van insisted on fighting, and were very severely handled; and had Tourville followed up his victory, the result might have been disastrous.During the rest of the war (1691-7) England obtained the supremacy at sea. In 1692 came the victory off La Hogue. Tourville, on this occasion vastly inferior in force, had fought with credit a rearguard action against the English admiral, Russell. But, after the battle, the French fleet had to retire in some disorder, and many ships retreated through the dangerous " Race of Alderney", which is between that island and the mainland. Thirteen of the French ships, however, were unable to get through, .took refuge at La Hogue, and were burnt by Russell's fleet. That victory, received in England with tremendous and perhaps exaggerated enthusiasm, saved England from fear of invasion, and gave to her the command of the Channel ("During several days", says Macaulay, "the bells of London pealed without ceasing. Flags were flying on all the steeples. Rows of candles were in all the windows. Bonfires were at all the corners of the streets. And three Lords took down with them, £37,000 in coin to distribute among the sailors"). The French, however, then took to commerce-destroying and did considerable damage, especially when they captured one hundred out of four hundred ships of a convoy bound for Smyrna. In 1694 an interesting event occurred. William sent a fleet to the Mediterranean, where it saved Barcelona from capture and consequently Spain from French control, and by wintering at Cadiz and returning to the Mediterranean in the next year exerted considerable influence upon the course of the war. |
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