Maarten Tromp

“ Tromp had recovered from her desire to call her husband aside and make unheard but vigorous observations, and after the oldest Tromp boy had learned that "it wasn't nice for a little gentleman to kick his wee guests that came from so far, far away," they were all very happy. ”

“ On the morning of the battle Tromp sent a letter to Pennington which was more than tinged with irony. Since the Spaniards, he said, had infringed the conditions fixed by firing at him first, the English Admiral should assist him in fighting them, “according to his Majesty’s orders.” At all events he—Tromp—was resolved, by instructions from his masters, to fall upon his enemies, and to defend themselves “against those that shall resist them.” The Dutch would rather die as soldiers, he said, “with his Majesty’s leave in clearing his Majesty’s Road,” than fail to carry out their orders ”

“ By the bad conduct of some of the captains in the centre of the Dutch line, the English, who fought with much spirit, were able to win a considerable victory. Opdam’s flagship was blown up and he perished. But the pursuit of the English fleet was feeble, and the retreat of the Dutch was ably covered by Cornelius van Tromp, son of Martin Tromp. Much scandal was caused by the mysterious circumstances in which an order to shorten sail was given in the English flagship, and doubts were expressed of the courage of the duke of York. ”

“ Tromp, engaged in blockading Dunkirk, heard the cannonading, and on the 8th he joined the Dutch squadron with fifteen sail, when a fierce battle took place in the Straits of Dover.593 The Spanish Admiral, Don Antonio de Oquendo, having expended all his powder, took refuge with his shattered galleons in the Downs on 9th September, whither Tromp followed him. Great anxiety was felt in London, first of all lest the powerful foreign fleets should refuse to strike to the small English squadron under Sir John Pennington, and then lest they should begin hostilities in the King’s Chamber. ”

“ They had acquired a great reputation as a naval people, and the sailors were eager to encounter the English, and revenge their defeat upon them. Van Tromp once more appeared with seventy sail of the line, and boasted that he would sweep the English from the face of the ocean. The Vice-Admiral Sir George Ayscough (or Ayscue) , had just returned victorious from the reduction of Barbadoes, and was left in charge of the Channel whilst Blake went northward, in quest of the squadron which protected the Dutch fishermen. Van Tromp could not come up with Ayscough, owing to a change of wind ”

“ Great preparations were made in England to recover this disgrace; eighty sail put to sea under Blake, Dean, and Monk, so celebrated subsequently as the restorer of the monarchy. Tromp and De Ruyter, with seventy-six vessels, were descried on the 18th of February, escorting three hundred merchantmen up Channel. Three days of desperate fighting ended in the defeat of the Dutch, who lost ten ships of war and twenty-four merchant vessels. Several of the English ships were disabled, one sunk; and the carnage on both sides was nearly equal. Tromp acquired prodigious honor by this battle ”

“ The Council of State, being mainly anxious to destroy the Dutch trade and fisheries, began by reinforcing Blake, and sending him north to scatter the Dutch herring fleet. He had with him 60 vessels. Ayscue remained in the Downs with 16. Soon after Blake had gone, Tromp appeared in the Downs with a stronger force and threatened an attack on Ayscue. Want of wind prevented the operation. Tromp was also most intent on collecting the home-coming Dutch convoys, and seeing them safe into port. He therefore also sailed north to meet the Baltic trade. ”

“ In his compassion for the misery of the king of a free country, Louis XIV. contented himself with looking on at the desperate engagements between the English and the Dutch fleets. Twice the English destroyed the Dutch fleet under the orders of Admiral van Tromp. John van Witt placed himself at the head of the squadron. “Tromp has courage enough to fight,” he said, “but not sufficient prudence to conduct a great action. The heat of battle is liable to carry officers away, confuse them, and not leave them enough independence of judgment to bring matters to a successful issue. ”

“ Van Tromp was the very first of Dutch Admirals, the Nelson of his country, having been in fifty naval engagements, winning thirty-three victories; he was considered the most intrepid and the ablest seaman of his day. You will not find a Dutchman who does not know all about Van Tromp. It has been said, that he carried a besom at his mast-head to sweep the seas of British ships, but since then British admirals have turned sweepers themselves. ”

“ The Dutch lorded it in the Channel.
When the Order in Council was penned, Tromp had hemmed in the Spanish fleet in the Downs and was ready to pounce on it the moment it quitted English waters, or to destroy it there if he only could get a plausible excuse. Charles and his Council were trembling with fear lest the best known of all the “King’s Chambers” should be flagrantly violated by the impatient Dutchman, with all the world looking on. And twelve days after the Council meeting this is just what Tromp did, and Charles’s sovereignty of the seas vanished for ever. ”

“ At the age of nineteen he commanded a small squadron charged to pursue the Algerian pirates. In 1652 and 1653 he served in Van Galen's fleet in the Mediterranean, and after the action with the English fleet off Leghorn, 13th March 1653, in which Van Galen was killed, Tromp was promoted to be rear-admiral. ”

“ Tromp then, still with the States’ colours aloft, fired a single gun at Blake’s flag, ran up a red flag,—the prearranged signal for battle,—and poured a broadside into Blake’s ship, and the two fleets entered into a fierce encounter.721 The fight lasted from four or five o’clock until nine, Blake being assisted by Bourne, who came from the Downs with his small squadron and assailed Tromp in the rear. The Dutch fleet, with the loss of two ships, gradually drew off towards the French coast, and Blake kept his position all night and anchored some leagues off Dungeness. ”

“ On August 4 Tromp sailed out and, after a rearguard action off Katwijk, out-manoeuvred the English commander and joined De With. He now turned and with superior numbers attacked Monk off Scheveningen. The old hero fell mortally wounded at the very beginning of what proved to be an unequal fight. After a desperate struggle the Dutch retired with very heavy loss. Monk's fleet also was so crippled that he returned home to refit. The action in which Tromp fell thus achieved the main object for which it was fought, for it freed the Dutch coast from blockade. ”

“ Admiral Tromp continued a day or two in the Downs, sailed from thence towards Calais, took part of the Barbadoes fleet, and some other prizes, and then sailed to the Isle of Rhé with a broom at his top-mast head, intimating that he would sweep the narrow seas of English ships. There appears, however, no such reason for boasting as the Dutch writers suggest: their fleet had indeed many advantages; yet they bought their success very dear, one of their best ships being blown up and two disabled. ”

“ As Tromp's chief business was to save his convoy and as the English force was now united, he took a defensive position. He formed his own ships in a long crescent, with the outward curve toward his enemy, and in the lee of this line he placed his convoy. The wind was so light that the English were unable to attack until late. The fighting, though energetic, had not proved decisive when darkness fell.
The following day, the 20th, brought a fresh wind that enabled the English to overhaul the Dutch, who could not move faster than the heavily laden merchantmen, and force a close action. ”

“ The ships were stronger, and the crews in the main fought better. War is in the last result decided in favour of one combatant or other by power to win at the actual moment of contact. This power was with the English and not with the Dutch, and therefore all the skill and patriotism of Martin Tromp and his lieutenants, Witte de With and Michael de Ruyter, could do no more than postpone the final disaster, and provide that if the flag of Holland were to go down, it should at least sink with honour. ”

“ The queen had been voted guilty of high treason; so this hero was trying to take her life. She fled as soon as dressed; but directly she was in a place of shelter, remembering that an old dog named Mitte, which had guarded her chamber for years, was left at the mercy of the parliamentary admiral, despite of her attendants, she ran back through Burlington to her sleeping-chamber, caught up Mitte in her arms, and fled back to the dry ditch where she could crouch while the balls flew over her head. Van Tromp came up with the tide to the rescue, but his ships were too big to enter Burlington quay. ”

“ Of the various encounters in which he thus signalised himself, his biographer gives most spirited descriptions, such as their length alone deters us from quoting. On one occasion only did Blake suffer a defeat; and this one is easily explained by—first, Tromp's overwhelming superiority of force; secondly, the extreme deficiency of men in the English fleet; and thirdly, the cowardice or disaffection of several of Blake's captains at a critical moment in the battle. Notwithstanding this disaster, not a whisper was heard against the admiral either in the Council of State or in the city ”

“ But he was a little bit "previous," as they say in America. The people in Britain rose to the occasion, and, instead of being down-hearted, they at once started to build a stronger Fleet, and trained men and boys—like sea scouts—to man it.
So soon as the ships were fitted out Blake put to sea with a Fleet of sixty, and went to look for the Dutchmen, and he soon found them.
Van Tromp, with seventy men-of-war, was coming up the Channel, guarding a large fleet of richly-laden merchant ships making for Holland. ”

“ The minds of men in both states were every day more irritated against each other; and it was not long before these humors broke forth into action.
Tromp, an admiral of great renown, received from the states the command of a fleet of forty-two sail, in order to protect the Dutch navigation against the privateers of the English. He was forced by stress of weather, as he alleged, to take shelter in the road of Dover, where he met with Blake, who commanded an English fleet much inferior in number. ”

“ At the moment when John de Witt took the reins of government, the states were at war with England, and the war had taken a very unfavorable turn for them. The Dutch admirals had suffered several terrible defeats. Tromp, one of their most celebrated naval heroes, had been killed in battle, and an English fleet was cruising along the coast of Holland, blockading its ports, and paralyzing its commerce. ”

“ He endeavoured to send off the merchantmen to Calais, but the wind was against them, and the merchantmen and fighting ships got mixed up, hindering his effective action. Blake, of course, made legitimate use of his advantages, and, pressing him hard, drove the defeated Dutch admiral—the broom no longer at his mast-head—to take shelter with the remnant of his fleet on the French coast. In the morning it was found that Van Tromp had departed, carrying the news of his own defeat. ”

“ Opposite the barracks is the oldest church in Delft. It contains the tomb of the famous Admiral Tromp, the veteran of the Dutch navy, who saw thirty-two naval battles, and in 1652, at the battle of the Downs, defeated the English fleet commanded by Blake. He re-entered his country with a broom tied to the masthead of the admiral's ship to indicate that he had swept the English off the seas. Here also is the tomb of Peter Heyn, who from a simple fisherman rose to be a great admiral, and took that memorable netful of Spanish ships that had under their hatches more than eleven million florins ”

“ This was a subject on which the ambassadors had no power to treat; and it was agreed that two of their number should repair to the Hague for additional instructions. [1]
But, a few days before their departure, another battle had been fought [b] at sea, and another victory won by the English. For eight weeks Monk had blockaded the entrance of the Texel; but Van Tromp, the moment his fleet was repaired, put to sea, and sought to redeem the honour of the Belgic flag. Each admiral commanded about one hundred sail; and as long as Tromp lived, the victory hung in suspense ”

“ Three vessels engaged his ship, and were within an ace of making him haul down his flag, when de Ruyter threw seven of his largest vessels between Van Tromp and our shattered ships. Then through the smoke we perceived that sixteen ships had reinforced the already superior number of the Dutchmen, and, to save ourselves from total destruction, Albemarle hoisted a signal for the English to retreat slowly towards the mouth of the Thames.
Smarting under the disgrace, we obeyed, firing as we went. Scarce thirty English ships remained out of the fifty-four that commenced the fight. ”

“ But the words were hardly out of her mouth before it struck her that the man was Aaron Trow, of whom every one in Bermuda had been talking.
“Come into the house,” he said, “and give me food.” And he still held her with his hand as though he would compel her to follow him.
She stood for a moment thinking what she would say to him; for even then, with that terrible man standing close to her in the darkness, her presence of mind did not desert her. “Surely,” she said, “I will give you food if you are hungry. But take your hand from me. No man would lay his hands on a woman.” ”