Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1898-08-17
THE BEATEN ARMADA.
FEARFUL FATE OF SPANS
BOASTED INVINCIBLE FLEET.
THE BIG GALLONS, BATTERED AND
RIDDLED WITH SHOT BY THE LIT
TILE ENGLISH FLEET-DRIFT-
ING TOWARD THE SHOALS.


THE Spanish Armada is the subject
of an article in The Century written by
William Frederic Tilton, with an intro
duction by Captain Alfred I. Mahan. Mr.
Tilton says OF the defeat OF the ''invinci-
BILE armada"
In Spain the progress and fortunes of
| the armada had naturally been the one all
absorbing theme of boasting or conjecture,
| in palace and monastery, in street and
shop. From every altar of the land ferycnt
| prayers for its success We're rising. The
king himself passed hours of every day
upon his knees before the sacrament, and
those in waiting on him declared that he
often rose in the night, signing to heaven
| for victory.
And now came Mendozas good news.
Yet the king, feverish as was his longing
for success, was too old player to put alb
solute trust in his ambassadors confused
report, for the sanguine. magniloquent
Mendoza had reputation for "decciving
| himself. So Philip in an agony of con-
| flicting doubt and hope shut himself up in
the Escurial and would give no one audi
ence until he should receive more certain
! tidings
While Mendoza's ridiculous rumoSS were
circulating through the courts of the con
tinent the armada was in reality flying
crippled and miserable, into the fogs and
gales of the German ocean For Philips
fleet, if not actually conquered, had been
terribly shattered by tho iuoessant deadly
fire of the English gunners in the great
fight off Grayelines When the Spanish
admiral the Duke Of Medina Sidonia,
counted over his ships after the battle,
several were missing, among them those
of the two heroes of the day on the Span
ish side, the dashing, irresistible soldier
sailors Toledo and Pimentel, who, having
fought till, in the words of Spanish off
Ger present, their crack galleons were
knocked in pieces and the crews nearly
all dead or wounded, u drifted in the black
night, helpless or rather unhelped, away
from their consorts toward the Low Coun-
try coast
Writing of the ultimate fate of this
splendid fleet, Captain Alfred T. Mahan
says:
Yet the armada had not been utterly
routed, and Elizabeth's captain knew this
full well. In the evening, just after the
fighting had ceased, Howard wrote homo
that he had distressed them much" and
though he doubted not, by Gods good
assistance to Cypress them, yet he would
not write unto her majesty till more be
done" And even jubilant Drake, who
with the insight Of the great sea captain,
had at once appreciated almost to It's full
extent the success achieved at Gravelines
still expected to ''wrestle pull" with the
Spaniards and was keeping q sharp eye
upon them night and day.
In spite of their exhaustion the Span t
iards had scarce closed their eyes during
H., .s..l1% -
moment to hear their ships strike on the
treacherous banks which skirt the Low
Country coast. Soon after day broke their
fears We're all but realized The wind had
gradually edged to the northward and
was now blowing hard from the north
west. This must have been a fair enough
wind for Calais; but Sidonia had no
stomach for another fight, and owing to
their crippled state his ships, bad sailers
at best, were now falling of TO leeward
toward the low line of shoals. With terror
the Spaniards saw in front Of them the
great waves breaking into gray foam on
the smooth sands and close behind them I
the pursuing English fleet.
Sidonia was tagging behind with his
stout hearted lieutenants, Recald and
Leyva- The pilots declared that the feet
was doomed unless the wind shifted, and
that speedily, Chicken hearted officers
begged Sidonia to strike his eolors and at
least save ships and lives, but the admiral
confessed himself and resolved to die, if
die he must, like true knight of the
cross The English, however. did not at I
tack, believing, as the Spaniards afterward |
concluded, that the armada was drifting of
itself TO sure destruction. Suddenly by "a
miracle, as the Spaniards piouSly thought,
a W nd lrpIf 70 ha hue, a
armada, rescued from the shoals only to
suffer a more terrible fate, cased sheets
and sailed out into the deep North sea
closely followed by the English.
Shaken by the terrible strain of the last
ten days and now utterly unnerved by the
narrowness of this last escape from the t
very jaws of death, Sidonia was in panic
OF doubt and despair, So hastily sum
moning council of war, he asked whether
he ought to sail back into the channel 1t
was voted to do so if the wind came fair, !
otherwise to .obey the weather. and sail |
north about to Spain, for, it was urged, /
hulls were leaking at thousand shot
holes, the rigging was terribly cut up and |
the ammunition was nearly all consumed |
Promising to turn back If the wind shift |
ed, Sidonia headed his ragged fleet for the |
Orkneys.
The late or the Spanish armada stands |
conspicuous among the great catastrophes |
OF war narrated by history. According to
the estimate of the Spanish captain Duro,
who has made a close study of the records
in his own country, out of 1870 sail of
which the armada was composed when it
left Lisbon on May 80, 1888, 60 were lost
OF these only nine fell in battle or in i'm
mediate consequence thereof, although
the injuries received in the various actions
in the channel doubtless contributed to
the ultimate shipwreck of many Nine
teen were cast away on the Scottish and
Irish coasts; 35 disappeared altogether
Of these last it is possible that some of the
smaller classes of vessels may have reached
port, and that the fact passed unnoted