Thus Constrained To Submit, Sir
Richard Was Desired By A Message From Alfonso Bacan To Remove From The
Revenge, As It Was Filled With Blood And The Bodies Of The Slain, And
With Wounded Men, Like A Slaughter-House.
Sir Richard gave for answer,
that he might do now with his body what he pleased; and while removing
from the ship, he fainted away, and on recovering he requested the
company to pray for him.
The Spanish general used Sir Richard with all
humanity, leaving no means untried that tended towards his recovery,
highly commending his valour and worthiness, and greatly bewailing his
dangerous condition; seeing that it was a rare spectacle, and an
instance of resolution seldom met with, for one ship to withstand so
many enemies, to endure the batteries and boardings of so many huge
ships of war, and to resist and repel the assaults and entries of such
numbers of soldiers. All this and more is confirmed, by the recital of a
Spanish captain in that same fleet, who was himself engaged in this
action, and, being severed from the rest in a storm, was taken by the
Lion, a small ship belonging to London, and is now prisoner in London.
The general commanding this great armada, was Don Alphonso Bacan,
brother to the Marquis of Santa Cruz. Britandona was admiral of the
squadron of Biscay. The Marquis of Arumburch [Aremberg] commanded the
squadron of Seville. Luis Coutinho commanded the hulks and flyboats.
There were slain and drowned in this fight, as the before-mentioned
Spanish captain confessed, near a thousand of the enemy, with two
special commanders, Don Luis de San Juan, and Don George de Prunaria de
Mallaga, besides others of special account whose names have not yet
been reported. The admiral of the hulks and the Ascension of Seville
were both sunk at the side of the Revenge. One other ship, which got
into the road of San Miguel, sank there also; and a fourth ship had to
run on shore to save her men. Sir Richard, as it is said, died the
second or third day on board the general, much bewailed by his enemies;
but we have not heard what became of his body, whether it were committed
to the sea or buried on land. The comfort remaining to his friends is,
that he ended his life honourably, having won great reputation for his
nation and his posterity, and hath not outlived his honour.
For the rest of her majestys ships, that entered not into the fight like
the Revenge, the reasons and causes were these: There were of them only
six in all, two whereof were only small ships; and they could be of no
service, as the Revenge was engaged past recovery. The island of Flores
was on one side; 53 sail of Spanish ships were on the other, divided
into several squadrons, all as full of soldiers as they could contain.
Almost one half of our men were sick and unable to serve; the ships were
grown foul, _unroomaged_[374], and hardly able to bear any sail for want
of ballast, having been six months at sea.
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