The Holland Society of New York - Yearbook (New York, NY)

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- 99 P resistance, at last they were totally defeated, withi the loss of I4 men of war, burnt, sunk, taken, or driven ashore, among which were the vice-admiral of Spain, the admiral of Galicia, and the great galleon of Portugal, 14oo tons burthen, mount- ing So guns, and carrying goo fQuery: 3ooo ?1 men, all of whom perished by the water or the sword. Twenty-one of the er1emy's ships put back to the Downs in a wretched plight, ire-ships were sent to destroy them 3 but the English again in- terposed, contrary to their neutrality, and the express injunc- tion of the sovereign. That day thirteen ships more fell into the hands of the Hollanders, of which eleven only could be car- ried off, so miserably were they shattered. In a word, of this prodigious armament, only eight reached Dunkirk. Oquen- do's own ship was so much damaged that he owed his life to a frigate sent to his assistance by the generous Tromp.' Eight thousand men were killed, four thousand wounded, and two thousand taken prisoners, and carried with the rest of the spoils in- triumph to the Texel, Briel, and Flushing. All Europe admired the skill and intrepidity of Tromp, and the naval power of Holland. The States decreed him the same honors conferred upon Admiral Hein, and the French king sent him particular marks of his regard, among the rest a patent, whereby he was enrolled among the nobility of France. Having entirely ruined the maritime power of Spain, the most vigorous preparations were making to carry on the war by land with equal success. Af' ' This shows that Tromp's victory in the Downs in 1639 was equal to the Battle of' the Nile in 1799, or to Trafalgar in 1805. The following brief account of 'this great triumph of the Dutch is translated from a Spanish work: We had another loss to bewail in the English Channel. Our fleet, commanded by Don Antonio Oquendo, had two battles with the Holland squadron under command of Admiral Tromp. On the first day the result was indecisiveg but on the second day we got the worst of it, because the English, who claimed to be neutral, fired both on the Dutch and on the 'l' The Modern Part of an Universal Hiriary, from N28 Edfliffi ACCUWU of Time, vol. xxxi., London, MDCCLXI., pp. 327-329-

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IOI Droysen, the noted German historian, says, in substance : This-Tromp's victory-was the severest dis- aster which the Crown of Spain could undergo. It was, indeed, a death-blow to her sea-power. She could no longer in the Mediterranean maintain a secure connection with her Italian provinces. Al- ready had France drawn the Court of Turin into close alliance. In Catalonia, in Portugal, the most important movements were already undertaken by France. And in England the Opposition lifted its head with fresh courage. The King began to weaken, and he summoned together that Parlia- ment through which he was himself, at length, to lose all. It could not be concealed from any one at the imperial court that the condition of affairs was most perilous, since at no earlier moment of the fearful war had it happened that upon itself alone it had to depend to drive Baner and his Swedes out of Bohemia, --which followed in the succeed- ing spring. Only for a moment did there seem assurance that there was any further hope to tear North Germany from Sweclen's grasp, or for it militarily to maintain itself, since France now- no longer menaced by Spain-would press forward upon the Rhine districts with redoubled forces. It was absolutely necessary to provide from other sources against the deficiency of military supplies and forces which the misfortune of Spain had caused. So far Droysen. Finally, the following paragraph from the Dutch is confirmatory: Arend, Amsterdam, 1868 QD. 3, 5, pp. 181, 2025, says that such were the Dutch rejoicings over Tromp's victory, that they sent