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Article SEA-FIGHT OFF CAPE LA HOGUE, A. D. 1692. ← Page 3 of 6 →
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Sea-Fight Off Cape La Hogue, A. D. 1692.
by the reception which he got , he ' was soon convinced of his mistake in thinking that an English admiral could , in consideration of any interest upon earth , strike to a French one . Yet , though conscious of the inferiority of his fleet , he was ashamed to abandon a situation which his officers had in vain advised him to avoid ; and the rest of the admirals , and the captains , ashamed to abandon their head , joined in the action as fast as they came upand maintained itnot so much
, , hoping to gain honour , as striving to lose as little of it as they could . The engagement between the two admirals' ships lasted an hour and a half , and then Tourville was towed off ] being obliged to retire by ' the damage he had sustained in his rigging ; but five French ships ' instantly closed in , and saved him ... The battle , in the mean time ^; went on in different parts with uncertain success ^ from the vast number
of ships engaged , which sometimes gave aid to the distressed , and at other times snat-hed victoiy from those who thought they were sureof it . Alemond , the Dutch admiral , who was in the van , and had received orders to get round the French fleet , in order that no part of it mi ght escape , attempted in vain to obey ; and a thick fog , at four o ' clock in the afternoonseparated the combatants from the view
, of each other . In about two hours the fog cleared up . It was then observed , that Tourville , instead of repairing his rigging , had withdrawn to the rear , and that the French line was broke in many other places . . ' Russel , certain that Tourville would not have retired , unless it had been resolved that his fleet was to fly , made a signal to chace from all :
quarters , without _ any regard to order . In one of the engagements , during this chace , Rear-admiral Carter was killed , giving orders , with , his last breath , to fi g ht the ship as long as she could swim ; a proof either that his correspondence with James had been maintained with a view to deceive , him , or that the last passion in an Englishman ' s breast is the love of his country . The running engagement of the : afternoon was , like the regular one of the forenoon , interrupted by a fog , and afterwards by a calm , and in the end it was closed by
darkness . . During the night , the two fleets , off the shallow-coast of France , anchored close to each other ; but the impetuosity of some English officers carried their ships through the French . fleet ; and Sir ClOudsley Shovel , with his division , had got between Tourville ' s squadron and the rest of the French fleet ; so that the ships of the three nations lavintermingled with each other during the night , waiting for the morning
with impatience , uncertain whether they were among friends or foes ; and judging of their distances from other ships , only by the signals of , distress which they heard , or the flames of the ships which were on . fire . The arrival of the morning brought a renewal of the chace . But ' the French fleet were now reduced to thirty-four ships ; four of which . ' had taken fire in the engagement , being blown up during the night , and ihe rest having escaped . , Tin ' s day was signalized by no engagement , but by a spectacle far more important ; that of the English
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sea-Fight Off Cape La Hogue, A. D. 1692.
by the reception which he got , he ' was soon convinced of his mistake in thinking that an English admiral could , in consideration of any interest upon earth , strike to a French one . Yet , though conscious of the inferiority of his fleet , he was ashamed to abandon a situation which his officers had in vain advised him to avoid ; and the rest of the admirals , and the captains , ashamed to abandon their head , joined in the action as fast as they came upand maintained itnot so much
, , hoping to gain honour , as striving to lose as little of it as they could . The engagement between the two admirals' ships lasted an hour and a half , and then Tourville was towed off ] being obliged to retire by ' the damage he had sustained in his rigging ; but five French ships ' instantly closed in , and saved him ... The battle , in the mean time ^; went on in different parts with uncertain success ^ from the vast number
of ships engaged , which sometimes gave aid to the distressed , and at other times snat-hed victoiy from those who thought they were sureof it . Alemond , the Dutch admiral , who was in the van , and had received orders to get round the French fleet , in order that no part of it mi ght escape , attempted in vain to obey ; and a thick fog , at four o ' clock in the afternoonseparated the combatants from the view
, of each other . In about two hours the fog cleared up . It was then observed , that Tourville , instead of repairing his rigging , had withdrawn to the rear , and that the French line was broke in many other places . . ' Russel , certain that Tourville would not have retired , unless it had been resolved that his fleet was to fly , made a signal to chace from all :
quarters , without _ any regard to order . In one of the engagements , during this chace , Rear-admiral Carter was killed , giving orders , with , his last breath , to fi g ht the ship as long as she could swim ; a proof either that his correspondence with James had been maintained with a view to deceive , him , or that the last passion in an Englishman ' s breast is the love of his country . The running engagement of the : afternoon was , like the regular one of the forenoon , interrupted by a fog , and afterwards by a calm , and in the end it was closed by
darkness . . During the night , the two fleets , off the shallow-coast of France , anchored close to each other ; but the impetuosity of some English officers carried their ships through the French . fleet ; and Sir ClOudsley Shovel , with his division , had got between Tourville ' s squadron and the rest of the French fleet ; so that the ships of the three nations lavintermingled with each other during the night , waiting for the morning
with impatience , uncertain whether they were among friends or foes ; and judging of their distances from other ships , only by the signals of , distress which they heard , or the flames of the ships which were on . fire . The arrival of the morning brought a renewal of the chace . But ' the French fleet were now reduced to thirty-four ships ; four of which . ' had taken fire in the engagement , being blown up during the night , and ihe rest having escaped . , Tin ' s day was signalized by no engagement , but by a spectacle far more important ; that of the English