Stories of the Second Dutch War
By John Campbell
I. The Defeat of the Dutch Off Harwich
The second Dutch war was declared in Holland in January and in England in February, 1665. It arose out of the conflicts of the rival companies of Dutch and English merchants in the East and West Indies and in Africa, and the refusal of Charles II. to remedy a condition of things which had become unendurable.
In 1664 the Dutch sent an embassy to the English court, to complain of the depredations from which they suffered at the hands of the Anglo-African company, of which the king’s brother, the Duke of York, was then governor; but the king replied that he had received no particular information of the affairs in question and that the rival companies must settle their differences among themselves. On the other hand, the English merchants appealed to him with so much persistence, that he finally demanded satisfaction of the Dutch.
The first action of consequence that happened after the war actually broke out was an attack made upon a Dutch fleet coming richly laden from Smyrna upon the Spanish coast near Cadiz. This consisted of forty merchant ships, some of them very large, and well provided with ordnance; and their convoy was composed of four third-rate men-of-war. Sir Thomas Allen, who commanded the English squadron, had with him about nine ships. With these he attacked the enemy so successfully, that having killed their commodore, Brackel, and taken or sunk four of their richest ships, he drove the rest into the Bay of Cadiz, where for some time he blocked them up. A misfortune of the same kind befell the Dutch Bourdeaux fleet, out of which about one hundred and thirty ships were taken.
These heavy misfortunes obliged the Dutch to lay an immediate embargo on all vessels in their ports; by which their fisheries and their annual commerce were stopped for that season. They likewise settled a fund of fourteen millions of guilders for the support of the war; and, in order to show that there ought to be some difference between such wars as are made by trading nations, and those entered into by arbitrary princes, for the mere thirst of dominion, they ordered about fifty English and Scotch vessels, which had been seized in their harbours, to be set at liberty; and, on the arrival of these ships in England, the civility was returned by a like release of all the Dutch ships that had been stopped here.
The English fleet, which was the first ready, consisted of one hundred and fourteen sail of men-of-war and frigates, twenty-eight fire-ships and ketches, having about twenty-two thousand seamen and soldiers on board. The whole was commanded by the Duke of York, as lord high-admiral; Prince Rupert was admiral of the white; and the Earl of Sandwich who, as Captain Montague had won distinction under Blake, was admiral of the blue. On April 21st, 1665, the English sailed for the Dutch coast, and on the 28th sent in a squadron so near the shore and harbour of the Texel that the country was exceedingly alarmed. After remaining there a month, however, the fleet was so ruffled by a storm, that it was found necessary to retire towards our own shore.
This opportunity the Dutch took of sending out their fleet, which, by the latter end of May, appeared about the Dogger Sands. It was divided into seven squadrons, the first under Admiral Opdam, consisting of fourteen men-of-war and two fire-ships; the second under John Everts, of the like force; the third commanded by Admiral Cortenaer, consisting of fourteen men-of-war and one fire-ship; the fourth under Stillingwert, composed likewise of fourteen men-of-war and a fire-ship; the fifth conducted by Van Tromp, the son of the famous old admiral, who fought with Blake, made up of sixteen men-of-war and two fire-ships; the sixth under Cornelius Everts, consisting of fourteen men-of-war and a fire-ship; the seventh commanded by Schram, comprising sixteen men-of-war and two fire-ships—in all, a hundred and three men-of-war, eleven fire-ships, and seven yachts. A mighty fleet indeed!
The Duke of York having retired with our navy from the Dutch coast when they came out, afforded them the opportunity to fall upon our Hamburg fleet, which they did not neglect; capturing the greater part of it, whereby our merchants suffered a loss of nearly two hundred thousand pounds. This exceedingly exasperated the English, and, at the same time, gave great encouragement to the Dutch.
Admiral Opdam, who commanded the latter, was a prudent as well as a truly gallant commander, but he was not allowed the liberty of action absolutely necessary at such a crisis. No sooner was he out at sea than he received a letter from the states directing him to fight at all events; and this order he resolved to obey, though contrary to the advice of most of his officers and to his own opinion. “I am,” said he, addressing the council of war, “entirely in your sentiments: but here are my orders. To-morrow my head shall be bound with laurel or with cypress.” On June 3rd the English and Dutch navies engaged about three in the morning off Lowestoft; when the English had the weather-gauge—an advantage they knew how to use as well as keep.
Things went at first very equally on both sides; several squadrons charging through and through, without any remarkable advantage. But about noon, the Earl of Sandwich, with the blue squadron, fell into the centre of the Dutch fleet, and divided it into two parts, thus beginning the confusion which ended in their defeat. The Duke of York in the Royal Charles, a ship of eighty guns, and Admiral Opdam in the Eendracht, of eighty-four, were closely engaged. The fight continued for some hours with great obstinacy, and the duke was often in the utmost danger. Several persons of distinction were killed on board his ship, particularly the Earl of Falmouth, the king’s favourite, Lord Muskerry and Mr. Boyle, son to the Earl of Corke, with one ball, and so near the duke that he was covered with their blood and brains; nay, a splinter from the last-mentioned gentleman’s skull razed his hand. About one, the Dutch admiral blew up, with a prodigious noise; but how the accident occurred is not known. In this vessel, together with Admiral Opdam, perished five hundred men, only five of the whole crew escaping; many of those lost being volunteers, of the best families of Holland, and not a few Frenchmen, who had taken this opportunity of being present in a sea-fight.
A little after this unlucky blow, the Dutch received a greater. Four fine ships, the largest of sixty, the least of forty guns, ran foul of each other, and were burnt by one fire-ship, and soon after, three larger vessels, by the same accident, shared the same fate. The Orange, a ship of seventy-five guns, after a most gallant defence was also burnt; and thus, towards four in the afternoon, all fell into confusion. Vice-admiral Stillingwert was shot through the middle by a cannon-ball; and Vice-admiral Cortenaer received a shot in his thigh, of which he instantly died. Their ships bearing out of the line on the death of their commanders, without striking their flags, drew many after them; so that, by eight at night, Tromp, who held out bravely to the last, and fought retreating, had not more than thirty ships left with him.
According to English accounts, the Dutch had eighteen ships taken, and fourteen sunk in this action, besides such as were burnt or blown up. Yet their accounts admit of no more than nine ships taken, one, their admiral, blown up, and eight burnt. The English lost the Charity, a ship of forty-six guns, with most of her men, in the beginning of the fight; about two hundred and fifty men killed, and three hundred and forty wounded; on the other side, they lost at least six thousand men, including two thousand three hundred taken prisoners.
There is very little room for doubt that if there had not been some mismanagement on the side of the English, this, which was the first, might also have been the last action in this war; for the Dutch fleet fled in great confusion, and if the English had pressed them vigorously, as they might have done, having the wind, so many ships might have been either sunk, disabled, or taken as must have forced a peace; in favour of which there was a very strong party in Holland, who did not like the domination of the pensionary De Witte and the dependence in which he held the states, who seldom ventured to do anything of importance when he was absent. This great opportunity was lost through the English fleet’s slacking sail in the night, contrary, it is said, to the express directions of His Royal Highness the duke before retiring to rest.
It is far from being an easy matter to determine how this came to pass. But the circumstances appear to have been as follows. The duke, as lord high-admiral, had two captains on board his ship—Sir William Penn, who had the rank of a vice-admiral, and Captain, afterwards Sir, John Harman. Sir William had retired as well as the duke, so that the command remained with Captain Harman, who was himself at the helm, when one Mr. Brounker, who was of the duke’s bed-chamber, came and told him that “he ought to consider how much His Royal Highness’s person had been already exposed in the action, and how much greater risk he might run if their ship, which was the headmost of the fleet, should fall in single with those of the enemy upon their own coasts.” Harman heard him, but answered like an honest brave man as he was that he could do nothing without orders. Brounker upon this went to the duke’s cabin and returned with orders, in His Royal Highness’s name, to make less sail; these Captain Harman, without the least scruple, obeyed, though it caused some confusion in the fleet, several ships coming very near to running foul of each other.
In the morning the duke expressed surprise and resentment at finding the fleet at such a distance from the Dutch, that there was no longer any hope of coming up with them. It then appeared that either through cowardice, or something worse, Brounker had carried Captain Harman orders which he never received. However, this was concealed from His Royal Highness at the time, and other excuses made, such as a brisk wind from shore and their fire-ships being all spent. The truth, however, was very soon whispered about, though the duke was not acquainted with it for more than six months after; upon which he discharged Brounker his service, and would have done more, if the celebrated Duchess of Cleveland, then Countess of Castlemain, with whom he was a favourite, had not by her interest with the king protected him. However, at the end of the war when the House of Commons was out of humour, the matter was mentioned and inquired into; upon which Brounker, who was a member, was expelled the house and ordered to be impeached, but was never prosecuted.
II. The Capture of Dutch Convoys by the Earl of Sandwich
After the defeat of the Dutch off Harwich, the Duke of York returned to England to report himself to the king; and the command of the fleet now lying in Southwold Bay fell upon the Earl of Sandwich, who had contributed so much to the late victory. While here news reached the earl that two rich Dutch squadrons had put to sea; whereupon he immediately prepared to follow them with Sir George Ayscue as vice-admiral, and Sir Thomas Tyddiman as admiral of the rear, determined either to intercept De Ruyter, the Dutch admiral, on his return, or to take and burn the Turkey and East India fleets of which they had news.
Both these schemes were doomed to failure. De Ruyter returned unexpectedly by the north of Scotland and arrived safely in Holland, where he was immediately promoted to the chief command of the fleet. The Turkey and India fleet—consisting of twenty sail under the command of Commodore Bitter—took the same route; but having intelligence of the approach of the English, took shelter in the port of Bergen in Norway.
Here the Danish governor promised them all the assistance he could give, and to strengthen his hands the Dutch landed forty-one pieces of cannon, which he disposed in a line in front of the port, the Dutch forming another line of their largest ships across the bay, and then waiting the arrival of the English fleet. Bergen, being a neutral port, ought to have been an asylum of safety for these Dutch merchantmen, but the King of Denmark, hoping to share the plunder, showed himself willing to treat with the Earl of Sandwich for liberty to attack the convoy in port. The earl, however, had no desire to share the spoil, and, impatient of delay, ordered Sir Thomas Tyddiman with fourteen sail of men-of-war and three fire-ships to enter the bay and cut out the Dutch squadron. This he attempted with great courage; though the wind was against him and he had to face a fierce fire from the castle, the line of guns, and the Dutch ships. Eventually, he was compelled to bear out of the bay, which he succeeded in doing without the loss of a ship; though five or six of his squadron were very much damaged.
To relieve the Dutch squadron—now practically prisoners in the port of Bergen—the Dutch manned a stout fleet, which put to sea under the command of Admiral Ruyter, who was accompanied by De Witte, appointed, with two other deputies by the states, to attend upon the admiral. After meeting with many difficulties, the Dutch fleet succeeded in eluding that of the English, and arrived safely before Bergen, where, in the meantime, their friends had found a new enemy in their old defender. The Danish governor had modestly desired a hundred thousand crowns for the assistance he had given them in the late affair with the English, and had threatened to sink them without ceremony if they offered to stir out of the port before they had complied with his demand. The arrival of De Ruyter’s fleet made him change his tone, and he allowed them to sail without paying the money, but kept the cannon they had put ashore.
Thus far, the Dutch were very successful; but on their return home the fleet was scattered by a storm, in which they lost two fire-ships and some of the merchantmen. The vice-admiral and rear-admiral of the East India fleet, ships of very great value, with four men-of-war, were taken by five English frigates, which the same storm had separated from their fleet; and soon after four of their men-of-war, two fire-ships, and thirty merchantmen joined our fleet instead of their own, and through this mistake were all taken prisoners. This ended the operations of the year 1665.
III. The Four Days’ Fight in the Channel
The year 1666 opened upon a new condition of affairs. The French having declared in favour of the Dutch, Charles II. recalled his ambassador, Lord Holles, from the French court, and sent the Earl of Sandwich as ambassador to Spain; placing the fleet under the command of Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, who had won distinction as General Monk, the former to look after the French, who began to talk very high, and the latter to act against the Dutch.
Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle went on board the fleet on April 23rd, 1666, and sailed with it in the beginning of May. Towards the latter end of the month a rumour reached the English court that the French fleet, under the command of the Duke of Beaufort, was coming out to the assistance of the Dutch; and orders were immediately despatched to Prince Rupert to sail with the white squadron to engage it; which order he proceeded to obey.
As Prince Rupert sailed from the Downs, the Dutch with their whole force put to sea, the wind at north-east, and blowing a fresh gale. This brought the Dutch fleet on to the coast of Dunkirk, and carried away His Highness towards the Isle of Wight; but the wind suddenly shifting to the south-west, and blowing hard, brought both the Dutch and the Duke of Albemarle with his two squadrons to an anchor. Captain Bacon in the Bristol first discovered the enemy, and, by firing his guns, gave notice of it to the English fleet.
The departure of Prince Rupert had left the Duke of Albemarle with but sixty sail; whereas the Dutch fleet consisted of ninety-one men-of-war, carrying four thousand seven hundred and sixteen guns, and twenty-two thousand four hundred and sixty-two men. But a council of war was called; wherein, without much debate, it was resolved to fight the enemy, notwithstanding their great superiority.
It was the 1st of June when the Dutch fleet was discovered, and the duke was so warm for engaging, that he attacked the enemy without giving them time to weigh anchor; as De Ruyter himself says in his letter, compelling them to cut their cables to make ready for the fight. In the same letter De Ruyter says, that to the last the English were the aggressors, notwithstanding their inferiority of force. The English fleet had the weather-gauge, but the wind bowed their ships so much that they could not use their lowest tier. Sir William Berkley’s squadron led the van. The Duke of Albemarle, when he came on the coast of Dunkirk, to avoid running full on the sand, made a sudden tack, and this brought his top-mast by the board, which compelled him to lie by four or five hours till another could be set up. The blue squadron, knowing nothing of this, sailed on, charging through the Dutch fleet, though they were five to one.
In this engagement fell the brave Sir William Berkley, and his ship, the Swiftsure, a second-rate, was taken; so was the Essex, a third-rate; and Sir John Harman, in the Henry, had the whole Zealand squadron to deal with. His ship being disabled, the Dutch admiral, Cornelius Evertz, called to Sir John, and offered him quarter, who answered, “No, sir! it is not come to that yet,” and immediately discharged a broadside, by which Evertz was killed and several of his ships damaged. This so discouraged their captains that they quitted the Henry, and sent three fire-ships to burn her. The first grappled on her starboard quarters, and there began to raise so thick a smoke that it was impossible to perceive where the irons were fixed. At last, when the ship began to blaze, the boatswain of the Henry threw himself on board her, and having, by her own light, discovered and removed the grappling irons, in the same instant jumped back on board his own ship. He had scarcely done this before another fire-ship was fixed on the larboard, which did its business so effectually that the sails, being quickly on fire, frightened the chaplain and fifty men overboard. Upon this, Sir John drew his sword, and threatened to kill any man who should attempt to provide for his own safety by leaving the ship. This obliged them to endeavour to put out the fire, which in a short time they did; but the cordage being burnt, the cross-beam fell and broke Sir John’s leg, at which instant the third fire-ship bore down upon him; but four pieces of cannon loaded with chain-shot disabled her: so that, after all, Sir John brought his ship into Harwich, where he repaired her as well as he could, and, notwithstanding his broken leg, put to sea again to seek the Dutch. The battle ended on the first day about ten in the evening.
The following night was spent in repairing the damage suffered on both sides, and next morning the attack was renewed by the English with fresh vigour. Admiral Van Tromp, with Vice-admiral Vander Hulst, being on board one ship, rashly engaged it among the English, and their vessel was in the utmost danger of being either taken or burnt. The Dutch affairs, according to their own account, were now in a desperate condition; but Admiral De Ruyter at last disengaged them, though not till his ship was disabled and Vice-admiral Vander Hulst killed. This only changed the scene; for De Ruyter was now as hard pressed as Tromp had been before. However, a reinforcement arriving preserved him also; and so the second day’s fight ended earlier than the first.
The third day the Duke of Albemarle found it necessary to retreat; and he performed it with wonderful courage and skill. He first burnt three ships that were absolutely disabled; he next caused such as were most torn to sail before, and, with twenty-eight men-of-war that were in a pretty good condition, brought up the rear. Sir John Harman, indeed, says he had but sixteen ships that were able to fight. Yet, in the evening, his grace, discovering the white squadron coming to his assistance, resolved to engage the enemy again. In joining Prince Rupert a very unlucky accident happened; for Sir George Ayscue, who was on board the Royal Prince, the largest and heaviest ship in the whole fleet, ran upon the Galloper, and being there in danger of burning, and past all hope of relief, was forced to surrender; and then night falling ended this day’s engagement.
On June the 4th, the Dutch, who were still considerably stronger than the English, were almost out of sight; but the Duke of Albemarle, having prevailed upon the prince to follow them, about eight in the morning they engaged again, and the English fleet charged five times through the Dutch; till Prince Rupert’s ship being disabled, and that of the Duke of Albemarle very roughly handled, about seven in the evening the fleets separated, each side being willing enough to retire. In this day’s engagement fell that gallant admiral, Sir Christopher Myngs, who, having a shot in the neck, remained upon deck and gave orders, keeping the blood from flowing with his fingers for above an hour, till another shot pierced his throat and put an end to his pain.
This was the most terrible battle fought in this war. De Witte said roundly upon this occasion, “If the English were beaten, their defeat did them more honour than all their former victories; and all the Dutch had discovered was that Englishmen might be killed and English ships burnt, but that English courage was invincible.”
After all, it is by no means easy to say who were victors upon the whole, or what was the loss of the vanquished. Some Dutch writers talk of thirty-five ships, and between five and six thousand men lost by the English; which is more than half their fleet, and very little less than all their seamen. Other authorities, however, compute our loss at sixteen men-of-war, of which ten were sunk and six taken. Our writers say the Dutch lost fifteen men-of-war, twenty-one captains, and five thousand men, and they themselves own to the loss of nine ships and a prodigious slaughter of their seamen.
IV. The Defence of the Thames
After the four days’ fight the Dutch had once more the credit of appearing at sea before the English, their ships having suffered less in that protracted conflict. It was not long, however, before the English fleet appeared. It consisted of eighty men-of-war, great and small, and nineteen fire-ships, divided into three squadrons: the red, under Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, who were on board the same ship with Sir Joseph Jordan for their vice-admiral and Sir Robert Holmes for their rear-admiral. Sir Thomas Allen was admiral of the white, and had under him Sir Thomas Tyddiman and Rear-admiral Utburt. Sir Jeremiah Smith carried the blue flag, and his officers were Sir Edward Spragge and Rear-admiral Kempthorne. The Dutch, according to their own accounts, had eighty-eight men-of-war and twenty fire-ships, divided also into three squadrons, under Lieutenant-admiral De Ruyter, John Evertz, brother to the admiral who was killed in the former engagement, and Van Tromp.
On July the 25th, about noon, the English came up with the enemy off the North Foreland. Sir Thomas Allen, with the white squadron, began the battle by attacking Evertz. Prince Rupert and the duke, about one in the afternoon, made a desperate attack upon De Ruyter, whose squadron was in the centre of the Dutch fleet; but, after fighting about three hours, were obliged to go on board another ship. In this interim the white squadron had entirely defeated their enemies; Admiral John Evertz, his vice-admiral, De Vries, and his rear-admiral, Koenders, being all killed, the vice-admiral of Zealand taken, and another ship of fifty guns burnt. The prince and duke fought De Ruyter ship to ship, disabled the Guelderland, of sixty-six guns, which was one of his seconds, killed the captain of another, and mortally wounded two more; upon which some of the Dutch ships began to retreat. However, Vice-admiral Van Nes stood bravely by De Ruyter, and his ship received great damage; yet, being at last deserted by all but seven ships, they yielded to necessity, and followed the rest of their fleet to sea.
This was the clearest victory gained during the whole war; the Dutch lost twenty ships; four admirals were killed and a great many captains; as to private men, there might be about four thousand slain and three thousand wounded. The English had only the Resolution burnt, three captains killed, and about three hundred private men.
By the end of the year 1666, however, both nations had become weary of the war, and the King of Sweden having offered his mediation, it was readily accepted by both sides. Negotiations were immediately set on foot which ultimately resulted in the treaty of Breda; but in the meantime the Dutch rather increased than relaxed their efforts to strengthen their navy, hoping thereby to influence the terms of the treaty in process of negotiation. Having previously sounded the mouth of the Thames to ascertain how far it might be practicable to attempt to enter it with large ships, and having thereby discovered the facility with which such a project could be carried out, De Witte determined to make the attempt without delay.
The Dutch fleet being ready, sailed over to the English coast, where it was joined by Van Ghent, and formed a fleet of seventy men-of-war, besides fire-ships. On June 7th they attacked Sheerness, which was at that time unfinished and in no state of defence, and captured fifteen iron guns and a considerable quantity of naval stores. The Duke of Albemarle, Sir Edward Spragge, and other officers had made all imaginable provision for the defence of the River Medway, by sinking ships in the passage, throwing a chain across it, and placing three large vessels, which had been taken from the Dutch, behind the chain. The Dutch, however, had the advantage of a strong easterly wind, which encouraged them to make an attempt upon our ships at Chatham, in spite of the precautions taken to preserve them. It was on June the 12th that they executed this design; which, however, would have miscarried at last, if one Captain Brakell, who was a prisoner on board their fleet for some misdemeanour, had not offered to wipe out the memory of his former mistake by breaking the chain, a service which he gallantly performed. Captain Brakell also with great bravery boarded and took one of the English frigates which guarded the passage; and soon after, the Matthias, the Unity, and the Charles the Fifth, the ships which had been taken from the Dutch, were set on fire. The next day, the advantage of wind and tide continuing, the Dutch advanced with six men-of-war and five fire-ships as high as Upnore Castle; but were so warmly received that they were obliged to return. However, as they came back, they burnt the Royal Oak, a very fine ship, and in her Captain Douglas, who chose to be burnt with her rather than live to be reproached with having deserted his command. On the 14th they carried off the hull of the Royal Charles, notwithstanding all the English could do to prevent it; a project which they had dearly at heart. On their return, two Dutch men-of-war ran ashore in the Medway and were burnt, which, with eight fire-ships consumed in the action and one hundred and fifty men killed, is all the loss acknowledged by the Dutch writers; though it is not improbable that they really suffered much more.
De Ruyter, highly pleased with what he had performed, left Admiral Van Nes with part of his fleet in the mouth of the Thames, and sailed with the rest to Portsmouth, in the hope of burning the ships there. Failing in this design, he sailed westward to Torbay, where he was likewise repulsed. Then he returned back again to the mouth of the Thames and with twenty-five sail came as high as the Hope, where our squadron lay under the command of Sir Edward Spragge. This consisted of eighteen sail; yet, the admiral not being on board when the enemy began the attack, the English fleet suffered at first from their fire-ships; but Sir Edward repairing to his command, and being joined by Sir Joseph Jordan with a few small ships, quickly forced the Dutch to retire. The like success attended their attack on Landguard Fort, which was performed by sixteen hundred men, commanded by Colonel Doleman, a republican, under the fire of their whole fleet: but Governor Darrel, an old cavalier, beat them off with great loss. On the 23rd Van Nes sailed again up the river as far as the Hope, where he engaged Sir Edward Spragge, who had with him five frigates and seventeen fire-ships. This proved a very sharp action, at least between the fire-ships, of which the Dutch writers themselves confess they spent eleven to our eight.
The next day the English attacked the Dutch in their turn, and, notwithstanding their superiority, forced them to retire and to burn the only fire-ship they had left, to prevent her being taken. On the 25th they bore out of the river with all the sail they could make, followed at a distance by Sir Edward Spragge and his remaining fire-ships. On the 26th, in the mouth of the river, they were met by another English squadron from Harwich, consisting of five men-of-war and fourteen fire-ships. These boldly attacked the Dutch, and grappled the vice-admiral of Zealand and another large ship; but were not able to fire them, though they frightened a hundred of their men into the sea. In this struggle the rear-admiral of Zealand was forced on shore, and so much damaged thereby as to be obliged to return home.
While the whole Dutch fleet was employed in alarming our coasts, Sir Jeremiah Smith was sent with a small squadron northwards; with which, and the assistance of a numerous fleet of privateers, already abroad for their own profit, the Dutch commerce to the Baltic was in a manner ruined, and multitudes of rich prizes were daily brought into English ports. Thus it may be truly said that the nations at this time changed characters. The Dutch preferred the insult at Chatham, which, all things considered, was of little or no consequence to them, to the preservation of their trade; and the English endeavoured to make themselves amends for this unexpected loss of a few men-of-war by taking numbers of merchantmen.
The English, in the West Indies, took the island of St. Eustatia, Saba, St. Martin, Buen Ayre, the island of Tobago, and other places from the Dutch. On the contrary, the Dutch, under the conduct of Commodore Krynsen, made themselves masters of Surinam; and the French, assisted by the Dutch, almost deprived the English of their half of the island of St. Christopher, after several obstinate disputes and the death of their commander Le Salles. Six frigates and some other small vessels from Barbadoes, sailing from thence to repair this loss, were so ill-treated by a violent storm that they were put out of a condition to execute their design, and two or three of the most disabled ships fell into the hands of the enemy; though, before their misfortune, they had burnt two Dutch ships richly laden in the harbour of Los Santos.
There were three distinct treaties of peace signed at Breda respectively, with the Dutch, the French, and the Danes, and these were ratified on August 24th, 1667. The terms upon which this peace was made were safe and honourable at least, though not so glorious and beneficial as might have been expected after such a war. By it the honour of the flag was secured; and the island of Poleron, to prevent further disputes, was yielded to the Dutch. In the West Indies we kept all that we had taken, except Surinam; and the French were obliged to restore what they had taken from us.