OCR Text |
Show Not Much of A Fight. The destruction of tho Great Armada Is put down by historians as one of the decisive battles of the world. And still it was much more a race than a battle. On one day there was a six hours' fight, but there were not altogether as many Eng-llshmon Eng-llshmon killed as Paul Jones killed in two hours. The English played around the onemy and foiled them at ovory turn, fought them as Corbett was in jH tho habit of fighting, dancing around on the out-side out-side and dodging in and jabbing thorn. Tho Eng-lish Eng-lish all the time, except in ono six-hour fight, re- jHi fused to meet the enemy at close quarters. Then moro damage was dono the Armada in a panic caused by sending six littlo fire ships against tho great fleet when at anchor in the night than by any of tho fighting. Finally, when fearing his jH ships would go ashore, tho Spanish admiral sailed away to the northeast and the English followed jH though all their ammunition was exhausted. The jH English admiral said: "Though our powder and II shot were well night spent wo put on a bravo It; countenance and gave them chase as though wb j had wanted nothing." jl Had the Spaniards known In what condition Hi the English were thoy might have turned and crushed them, for tlie British were not only out ! of ammunition but out of food. Howard had not Hi three days food in his locker and Seymour and K his fleet were entirely out of food for a day. i We said above the Spaniards might have Hi crushed them. We meant, could they have caught 11 them. But they could at least havo gone back tho K way they came and avoided being beaten to death r in the tempest that smote them off the Hebrides. K ' The English were exultant over their victory, I but at the same time the English crews were mull mu-ll tihous, and the chiefs were at swords points on 1 every subject except when it came to lighting. H, They were all united then. A little later a great Hi, pestilence broke out in the English fleet and tho H' men died like sheep and there wore none to help B them. Tho'e were no sanitary precautions, no HI; provisions made for attending to tho sick. Tho H : men who had fought and ohased away tho groat H Armada "rotted in their ships or died in tho H streets of naval ports, because thero wore no B hospitals to receive them. Of the magnitude of H tho victory Drake said: B; "Their Invincible and dreadful navy with all Hj its great and terrible ostentation, did not in all H their sailing about England so much as sink or Hi take one ship, bark, pinnance or cock-boat of ours, H; or even burn so much as one sheepcote on this H land." At that time Spain was supposed to bo H the strongest powor on earth, and hor soldiers H and sailors were supposed to be fightors. Throe H hundred and ton years lator that same powor sent H Corvora to this side of tho Atlantic to do up tho H American navy. The battle did pot drift through H several days; thero was no storm to help but in H just four hours aftor tho battle opened the last H ship of Cervora's fleet wag dostroyod; on tho H American side but one man was killed and not Hj, so much as a rowboat was lost. H The Spaniards should build no more war H ships; the money could be much more profitably H spent on school houses and competent teachers. |