St. George for England
Page 31
The battle now raged on all sides. The English strove to grapple withand board the enemy, while the Spaniards poured upon them a shower ofbolts and quarrels from their cross-bows, hurled immense masses of stonefrom their military engines, and, as they drew alongside, cast into themheavy bars of iron, which pierced holes in the bottom of the ship.
Walter was on board the ship commanded by the Black Prince. This hadbeen steered towards one of the largest and most important of theSpanish vessels. As they approached, the engines poured their missilesinto them. Several great holes were torn in the sides of the ship, whichwas already sinking as she came alongside her foe.
"We must do our best, Sir Walter," the prince exclaimed, "for if we donot capture her speedily our ship will assuredly sink beneath our feet."
The Spaniard stood far higher above the water than the English ship, andthe Black Prince and his knights in vain attempted to climb her sides,while the seamen strove with pumps and buckets to keep the vesselafloat. Every effort was in vain. The Spaniard's men-at-arms lined thebulwarks, and repulsed every effort made by the English to climb upthem, while those on the towers rained down showers of bolts and arrowsand masses of iron and stone. The situation was desperate when the Earlof Lancaster, passing by in his ship, saw the peril to which the princewas exposed, and, ranging up on the other side of the Spaniard,strove to board her there. The attention of the Spaniards being thusdistracted, the prince and his companions made another desperate effort,and succeeded in winning their way on to the deck of the Spanish shipjust as their own vessel sank beneath their feet; after a few minutes'desperate fighting the Spanish ship was captured.
The English were now everywhere getting the best of their enemies. Manyof the Spanish vessels had been captured or sunk, and after the fighthad raged for some hours, the rest began to disperse and seek safetyin flight. The English vessel commanded by Count Robert of Namur hadtowards night engaged a Spanish vessel of more than twice its ownstrength. His adversaries, seeing that the day was lost, set all sail,but looking upon the little vessel beside them as a prey to be takenpossession of at their leisure, they fastened it tightly to their sidesby the grappling irons, and spreading all sail, made away. The Countand his men were unable to free themselves, and were being dragged away,when a follower of the count named Hennekin leapt suddenly on board theSpanish ship. With a bound he reached the mast, and with a single blowwith his sword cut the halyards which supported the main-sail. The sailfell at once. The Spaniards rushed to the spot to repair the disasterwhich threatened to delay their ship. The count and his followers,seeing the bulwarks of the Spanish vessel for the moment unguarded,poured in, and after a furious conflict captured the vessel. By thistime twenty-four of the enemy's vessels had been taken, the rest wereeither sunk or in full flight, and Edward at once returned to theEnglish shore.
The fight had taken place within sight of land, and Queen Philippa, fromthe windows of the abbey, which stood on rising ground, had seen theapproach of the vast Spanish fleet, and had watched the conflict untilnight fell. She remained in suspense as to the result until the kinghimself with the Black Prince and Prince John, afterwards known as Johnof Gaunt, who, although but ten years of age, had accompanied the BlackPrince in his ship, rode up with the news of the victory.
This great sea-fight was one of the brightest and most honourable in theannals of English history, for not even in the case of that other greatSpanish Armada which suffered defeat in English waters were the odds soimmense or the victory so thorough and complete. The result of the fightwas, that after some negotiations a truce of twenty years was concludedwith Spain.