Armada

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Engels conceived the idea of writing an essay on the Spanish Armada of 1588 when thinking out subjects for the first articles beginning with A, as we see from his letter to Marx of May 28, 1857. Marx undertook to collect material and began to send it to Engels in July 1857 (see Jenny Marx's letter to Engels of August 12 or 13). But the main portion of the material was evidently prepared later, for Marx himself only mentions it in his letter to Engels of September 21. It consisted of carefully edited excerpts from various sources, including the article "Elizabeth" in The English Cyclopaedia (Vol. V, London, 1856, pp.761-64) and works of some contemporaries of the events. The final version of the article mentions only part of the sources originally given by Marx. In particular, it does not contain reference to Orders Set down by the Dyke of Medina, etc. to Be Observed in the Voyage toward England (London, 1588) or to the English translation (published in London in 1590) of the work by the Florentine writer Petruccio Ubaldino, A Discourse, Concerninge the Spanishe Fleete Invadinge Englande in the Yeare 1588, and Overthrown^ by Her Majestie's Navy (Marx used a reprint in The Harleian Miscellany: A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts, etc. (Vol. I, London, 1808). Engels worked on the article between September 21 and October 19: he abridged the material prepared by Marx, edited it again and added some facts. When he sent the manuscript to Marx on October 19, Engels asked him to insert some names which he had been unable to make out in the excerpts. Marx put the finishing touches to the text and, judging by the entry in his notebook, sent it off to New York on October 23, 1857, together with the article "Ayacucho".

Armada, Spanish, the great naval armament sent by King Philip II of Spain, in 1588, for the conquest of England, in order thereby

“to serve God, and to returne unto his church a great many contrite souls that are oppressed by the heretics, enemies to our holy Catholic faith, which have them subject to their sects, and unhappiness.” (Expedit. Hispan. in Angl. Vera Descriptif), A. D. 1588.)

The fullest account of this armament is given in a book published, about the time it set sail, by order of Philip, under the title La Felicisima Armada que el Rey Don Felipe nuestro Senor mando juntar en el Puerto de Lisboa 1588. Hecha por Pedro de Pax Salas. A copy of this work was procured for Lord Burleigh, so that the English government was beforehand acquainted with every detail of the expedition. (This copy, containing notes up to March, 1588, is now in the British museum.) The fleet is therein stated to have consisted of 65 galleons and large ships, 25 ureas of 300 to 700 tons, 19 tenders of 70 to 100 tons, 13 small frigates, 4 galeasses and 4 galleys, in all 130 vessels, with a total tonnage of 57,868 tons. They were armed with 2,431 guns, of which 1,497 were of bronze, mostly full cannon (48 pdrs.), culverines (long 30 and 20 pdrs.), &c; the ammunition consisted of 123,790 round shot and 5,175 cwt. of powder, giving about 50 rounds per gun, at an average charge of 4^1/2 lbs. The ships were manned with 8,052 sailors, and carried 19,295 soldiers and 180 priests and monks. Mules, carts, &c, were on board to move the field artillery when landed. The whole was provisioned, according to the above authority, for 6 months. This fleet, unequalled in its time, was to proceed to the Flemish coast, where another army of 30,000 foot and 4,000 horse, under the duke of Parma, was to embark, under its protection, in flat-bottomed vessels constructed for the purpose, and manned by sailors brought from the Baltic. The whole were then to proceed to England.

In that country Queen Elizabeth had, by vigorous exertions, increased her fleet of originally 30 ships, to some 180 vessels of various sizes, but generally inferior in that respect to those of the Spaniards. They were, however, manned by 17,500 sailors, and therefore possessed far more numerous crews than the Spanish fleet. The English military force was divided into two armies, one, of 18,500 men, under the earl of Leicester, for immediately opposing the enemy; the other, 45,000, for the defence of the queen’s person. According to a MS. in the British museum, entitled “Details of the English Force Assembled to Oppose the Spanish Armada,” (MS. Reg. 18th c. xxi.), 2,000 infantry were also expected from the Low Countries.

The armada was to leave Lisbon in the beginning of May, but, owing to the death of the admiral Santa Cruz, and his vice-admiral, the departure was delayed. The duke of Medina Sidonia, a man totally unacquainted with naval matters, was now made captain-general of the fleet; his vice-admiral, Martinez de Ricalde, however, was an expert seaman. Having left Lisbon for Corunna for stores, May 29, 1588, the fleet was dispersed by a violent storm, and, though all the ships joined at Corunna with the exception of four, they were considerably shattered, and had to be repaired. Reports having reached England that the armament was completely disabled, the government ordered its own ships to be laid up; but Lord Howard, the admiral, opposed this order, set sail for Corunna, learned the truth, and, on his return, continued warlike preparations. Soon after, being informed that the armada had hove in sight, he weighed anchor and accompanied it on its way up the channel, harassing the Spanish ships whenever an opportunity presented itself. The Spaniards, in the mean time, proceeded to the coast of Flanders, keeping as close together as possible. In the various minor engagements which took place, the handier ships, more numerous crews, and better seamanship of the English, always gave them the victory over the clumsy and undermanned Spanish galleons, crowded as they were with soldiers. The Spanish artillery, too, was very badly served, and almost always planted too high. Off Calais the armada cast anchor, waiting for the duke of Parma’s fleet to come out of the Flemish harbors; but it soon received word that his ships, being unfit for fighting, could not come out until the armada had passed the straits and driven off the Anglo-Dutch blockading squadron. It accordingly weighed again, but, when in sight of Dunkirk, was becalmed between the English fleet on one side and the Dutch on the other. Lord Howard prepared fire-ships, and when, during the night of Aug. 7, the breeze sprang up again, he sent 8 of them among the enemy. They produced a perfect panic in the Spanish fleet. Some ships weighed anchor, some cut their cables, drifting before the wind; the whole fleet got into confusion, several ships ran foul of each other and were disabled. By morning order was far from being restored, and the several divisions were scattered far and wide. Then Lord Howard, reinforced as he was by the ships equipped by the nobility and gentry, as also by the blockading squadron under Lord Byron, and ably seconded by Sir Francis Drake, engaged the enemy at 4 A.M. The battle, or rather chase (for the English were evidently superior on every point of attack), lasted till dark. The Spaniards fought bravely, but their unwieldy ships were unfit for the navigation of narrow waters, and for a moving fight. They were completely defeated, and suffered severe loss.

The junction with the duke of Parma’s transports having thus been foiled, a landing in England by the armada alone was out of the question. It was found that the greater part of the provisions on board had been consumed, and as access to Spanish Flanders was now impossible, nothing remained but to return to Spain to lay in fresh stores. (See “Certain Advertisements out of Ireland Concerning the Losses and Distresses Happened to the Spanish Navie on the Coast of Ireland,” London, 1588 — Examination of Emanuel Fremosa, who served in the San Juan, 1,100 tons, flag-ship of Admiral Ricalde.) The passage through the channel being also closed by the English fleet, nothing remained but to round Scotland on their way home. The armada was but little harassed by the fleet of Lord Seymour sent in pursuit, as that fleet was badly supplied with ammunition and could not venture on an attack. But after the Spaniards had rounded the Orkneys dreadful storms arose and dispersed the whole fleet. Some ships were driven back as far as the coast of Norway, where they fell on the rocks; others foundered in the North sea, or struck on the rocks on the coast of Scotland or the Hebrides. Soon after, fresh storms overtook them on the west coast of Ireland, where above 30 vessels were lost. Those of the crews who escaped on shore were mostly killed; about 200 were executed by command of the lord deputy. Of the whole fleet not more than 60 vessels, and those in the most shattered condition, and with famine on board, reached Santander about the middle of September, when the plan of invading England was definitively given up.