The Invincible Armada
During almost the whole reign of Philip II. the army of Spain was kept
busily engaged, now with the Turks and the Barbary states, now with the
revolted Moriscos, or descendants of the Moors of Granada, now in the
conquest of Portugal, now with the heretics of the Netherlands. All this
was not enough for the ambition of the Spanish king. Elizabeth of England
had aided the Netherland rebels and had insulted him in America by sending<
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fleets to plunder his colonies; England, besides, was a nest of enemies of
the church of which Philip was one of the most zealous supporters; he
determined to attempt the conquest of that heretical and hostile island
and the conversion of its people.
For months all the shipwrights of Spain were kept busy in building vessels
of an extraordinary size. Throughout the kingdom stores were actively
collected for their equipment. Levies of soldiers were made in Italy,
Germany, and the Netherlands, to augment the armies of Spain. What was in
view was the secret of the king, but through most of 1587 all Europe
resounded with the noise of his preparations.
Philip broached his project to his council of state, but did not gain much
support for his enterprise. "England," said one of them, "is surrounded
with a tempestuous ocean and has few harbors. Its navy is equal to that of
any other nation, and if a landing is made we shall find its coasts
defended by a powerful army. It would be better first to subdue the
Netherlands; that done we shall be better able to chastise the English
queen." The Duke of Parma, Philip's general in chief, was of the same
opinion. Before any success could be hoped for, he said, Spain should get
possession of some large seaport in Zealand, for the accommodation of its
fleet.
These prudent counsels were thrown away on the self-willed king. His
armies had lately conquered Portugal; England could not stand before their
valor; one battle at sea and another on shore would decide the contest;
the fleet he was building would overwhelm all the ships that England
possessed; the land forces of Elizabeth, undisciplined and unused to war,
could not resist his veteran troops, the heroes of a hundred battles, and
led by the greatest general of the age. All this he insisted on. Europe
should see what he could do. England should be punished for its heresy and
Elizabeth pay dearly for her discourtesy.
Philip was confirmed in his purpose by the approbation of the Pope.
Elizabeth of England was the greatest enemy of the Catholic faith. She had
abolished it throughout her dominions and executed as a traitor the
Catholic Queen Mary of Scotland. For nearly thirty years she had been the
chief support of the Protestants in Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
Pope Pius V. had already issued a bull deposing Elizabeth, on the ground
of acts of perfidy. Sixtus VI., who succeeded, renewed this bull and
encouraged Philip who, ambitious to be considered the guardian of the
Church, hastened his preparations for the conquest of the island kingdom.
Elizabeth was not deceived by the stories set afloat by Spain. She did not
believe that this great fleet was intended partly for the reduction of
Holland, partly for use in America, as Philip declared. Scenting danger
afar, she sent Sir Francis Drake with a fleet to the coast of Spain to
interrupt these stupendous preparations.
Drake was the man for the work. Dispersing the Spanish fleet sent to
oppose him, he entered the harbor of Cadiz, where he destroyed two large
galleons and a handsome vessel filled with provisions and naval stores.
Then he sailed for the Azores, captured a rich carrack on the way home
from the East Indies, and returned to England laden with spoils. He had
effectually put an end to Philip's enterprise for that year.
Philip now took steps towards a treaty of peace with England, for the
purpose of quieting the suspicions of the queen. She appeared to fall into
the snare, pretended to believe that his fleet was intended for Holland
and America, and entered into a conference with Spain for the settlement
of all disturbing questions. But at the same time she raised an army of
eighty thousand men, fortified all exposed ports, and went vigorously to
work to equip her fleet. She had then less than thirty ships in her navy,
and these much smaller than those of Spain, but the English sailors were
the best and boldest in the world, new ships were rapidly built, and pains
was taken to increase the abhorrence which the people felt for the tyranny
of Spain. Accounts were spread abroad of the barbarities practised in
America and in the Netherlands, vivid pictures were drawn of the cruelties
of the Inquisition, and the Catholic as well as the Protestant people of
England became active in preparing for defence. The whole island was of
one mind; loyalty seemed universal; the citizens of London provided thirty
ships, and the nobility and gentry of England forty or fifty more. But
these were of small size as compared with those of their antagonist, and
throughout the island apprehension prevailed.
In the beginning of May, 1588, Philip's strenuous labors were concluded
and the great fleet was ready. It was immense as compared with that with
which William the Conqueror had invaded and conquered England five
centuries before. The Invincible Armada, as the Spaniards called it,
consisted of one hundred and fifty ships, many of them of enormous size.
They were armed with more than two thousand six hundred great guns, were
provisioned for half a year, and contained military stores in a profusion
which only the wealth of America and the Indies could have supplied. On
them were nearly twenty thousand of the famous troops of Spain, with two
thousand volunteers of the most distinguished families, and eight thousand
sailors. In addition there was assembled in the coast districts of the
Netherlands an army of thirty-four thousand men, for whose transportation
to England a great number of flat-bottomed vessels had been procured.
These were to venture upon the sea as soon as the Armada was in position
for their support.
And now, indeed, "perfidious Albion" had reason to tremble. Never had that
nation of islanders been so seriously threatened, not even when the ships
of William of Normandy were setting sail for its shores. The great fleet,
which lay at Lisbon, then a city of Spain, was to set sail in the early
days of May, and no small degree of fear affected the hearts of all
Protestant Europe, for the conquest of England by Philip the fanatic would
have been a frightful blow to the cause of religious and political
liberty.
All had so far gone well with Spain; now all began to go ill. At the very
time fixed for sailing the Marquis of Santa Cruz, the admiral of the
fleet, was taken violently ill and died, and with him died the Duke of
Paliano, the vice-admiral. Santa Cruz's place was not easy to fill. Philip
chose to succeed him the Duke of Medina Sidonia, a nobleman totally
ignorant of sea affairs, giving him for vice-admiral Martinez de Recaldo,
a seaman of much experience. All this caused so much delay that the fleet
did not sail till May 29.
Storm succeeded sickness to interfere with Philip's plans. A tempest fell
on the fleet on its way to Corunna, where it was to take on some troops
and stores. All but four of the ships reached Corunna, but they had been
so battered and dishevelled by the winds that several weeks passed before
they could again be got ready for sea,--much to the discomfiture of the
king, who was eager to become the lord and master of England. He had dwelt
there in former years as the husband of Queen Mary; now he was ambitious
to set foot there as absolute king.
England, meanwhile, was in an ebullition of joy. Word had reached there
that the Spanish fleet was rendered unseaworthy by the storm, and the
queen's secretary, in undue haste, ordered Lord Howard, the admiral, to
lay up four of his largest ships and discharge their crews, as they would
not be needed. But Howard was not so ready to believe a vague report, and
begged the queen to let him keep the ships, even if at his own expense,
till the truth could be learned. To satisfy himself, he set sail for
Corunna, intending to try and destroy the Armada if as much injured as
reported. Learning the truth, and finding that a favorable wind for Spain
had begun to blow, he returned to Plymouth in all haste, in some dread
lest the Armada might precede him to the English coast.
He had not long been back when stirring tidings came. The Armada had been
seen upon the seas. Lord Howard at once left harbor with his fleet. The
terrible moment of conflict, so long and nervously awaited, was at hand.
On the next day--July 30--he came in view of the great Spanish fleet, drawn
up in the form of a crescent, with a space of seven miles between its
wings. Before this giant fleet his own seemed but a dwarf. Paying no
attention to Lord Howard's ships, the Armada moved on with dignity up the
Channel, its purpose being to disperse the Dutch and English ships off the
Netherland coast and escort to England the Duke of Parma's army, then
ready to sail.
Lord Howard deemed it wisest to pursue a guerilla mode of warfare,
harassing the Spaniards and taking any advantage that offered. He first
attacked the flag-ship of the vice-admiral Recaldo, and with such vigor
and dexterity as to excite great alarm in the Spanish fleet. From that
time it kept closer order, yet on the same day Howard attacked one of its
largest ships. Others hurried to the aid; but in their haste two of them
ran afoul, one, a large galleon, having her mast broken. She fell behind
and was captured by Sir Francis Drake, who discovered, to his delight,
that she had on board a chief part of the Spanish treasure.
Other combats took place, in all of which the English were victorious. The
Spaniards proved ignorant of marine evolutions, and the English sailed
around them with a velocity which none of their ships could equal, and
proved so much better marksmen that nearly every shot told, while the
Spanish gunners fired high and wasted their balls in the air. The fight
with the Armada seemed a prototype of the much later sea-battles at Manila
and Santiago de Cuba.
Finally, after a halt before Calais, the Armada came within sight of
Dunkirk, where Parma's army, with its flat-bottomed transports, was
waiting to embark. Here a calm fell upon the fleets, and they remained
motionless for a whole day. But about midnight a breeze sprang up and Lord
Howard put into effect a scheme he had devised the previous day. He had
made a number of fire-ships by filling eight vessels with pitch, sulphur,
and other combustibles, and these were now set on fire and sent down the
wind against the Spanish fleet.
It was with terror that the Spaniards beheld the coming of these flaming
ships. They remembered vividly the havoc occasioned by fire-ships at the
siege of Antwerp. The darkness of the night added to their fears, and
panic spread from end to end of the fleet. All discipline vanished;
self-preservation was the sole thought of each crew. Some took time to
weigh their anchors, but others, in wild haste, cut their cables, and soon
the ships were driving blindly before the wind, some running afoul of each
other and being completely disabled by the shock.
When day dawned Lord Howard saw with the highest satisfaction the results
of his stratagem. The Spanish fleet was in the utmost disorder, its ships
widely dispersed. His own fleet had just been strengthened, and he at once
made an impetuous attack upon the scattered Armada. The battle began at
four in the morning and lasted till six in the evening, the Spaniards
fighting with great bravery but doing little execution. Many of their
ships were greatly damaged, and ten of the largest were sunk, run aground,
or captured. The principal galeas, or large galley, manned with three
hundred galley slaves and having on board four hundred soldiers, was
driven ashore near Calais, and nearly all the Spaniards were killed or
drowned in attempting to reach land. The rowers were set at liberty.
The Spanish admiral was greatly dejected by this series of misfortunes. As
yet the English had lost but one small ship and about one hundred men,
while his losses had been so severe that he began to dread the destruction
of the entire fleet. He could not without great danger remain where he
was. His ships were too large to approach nearer to the coast of Flanders.
Philip had declined to secure a suitable harbor in Zealand, as advised.
The Armada was a great and clumsy giant, from which Lord Howard's much
smaller fleet had not fled in terror, as had been expected, and which now
was in such a condition that there was nothing left for it but to try and
return to Spain.
But the getting there was not easy. A return through the Channel was
hindered by the wind, which blew strongly from the south. Nor was it a
wise movement in the face of the English fleet. The admiral, therefore,
determined to sail northward and make the circuit of the British islands.
Unfortunately for Lord Howard, he was in no condition to pursue. By the
neglect of the authorities he had been ill-supplied with gunpowder, and
was forced to return to England for a fresh supply. But for this
deficiency he possibly might, in the distressed condition of the Spanish
fleet, have forced a surrender of the entire Armada. As it was, his return
proved fortunate, for the fleets had not far separated when a frightful
tempest began, which did considerable harm to the English ships, but fell
with all its rage on the exposed Armada.
The ships, drawn up in close ranks, were hurled fiercely together, many
being sunk. Driven helplessly before the wind, some were dashed to pieces
on the rocks of Norway, others on the Scottish coast or the shores of the
western islands. Some went down in the open sea. A subsequent storm, which
came from the west, drove more than thirty of them on the Irish coast. Of
these, some got off in a shattered state, others were utterly wrecked and
their crews murdered on reaching the shore. The admiral's ship, which had
kept in the open sea, reached the Spanish coast about the close of
September.
Even after reaching harbor in Spain troubles pursued them, two of the
galleons taking fire and burning to ashes. Of the delicately reared noble
volunteers, great numbers had died from the hardships of the voyage, and
many more died from diseases contracted at sea. The total loss is not
known; some say that thirty-two, some that more than eighty, ships were
lost, while the loss of life is estimated at from ten thousand to fifteen
thousand. Spain felt the calamity severely. There was hardly a family of
rank that had not some one of its members to mourn, and so universal was
the grief that Philip, to whose ambition the disaster was due, felt
obliged to issue an edict to abridge the time of public mourning.
In England and Holland, on the contrary, the event was hailed with
universal joy. Days of solemn thanksgiving were appointed, and Elizabeth,
seated in a triumphal chariot and surrounded by her ministers and nobles,
went for this purpose to St. Paul's Cathedral, the concourse bearing a
great number of flags that had been taken from the enemy.
The joy at the destruction of the Armada was not confined to England and
Holland. All Northern Europe joined in it. Philip's ambition, in the event
of victory over England, might have led him to attempt the subjection of
every Protestant state in Europe, while Catholic France, which he
afterwards attempted to conquer, had the greatest reason to dread his
success.
Thus ended the most threatening enterprise in the religious wars of the
sixteenth century, and to Lord Howard and his gallant captains England and
Europe owe the deepest debt of gratitude, for the success of the Armada
and the conquest of England by Spain might have proved a calamity whose
effects would have been felt to the present day.