Under the Bloody Flag (47 page)

During the early 1590s, Italian shipping also became a target for English rovers either sailing along the coasts of Spain and Portugal or cruising into the Mediterranean. Although the number of captures was small, they raised complicated legal issues that could take years to settle. During the latter part of 1590, for example, a Venetian argosy was brought into Plymouth by two men-of-war. Drake was instructed by the council to investigate the matter, while apprehending one of the captains and confiscating a rich cargo of pepper and jewels. The incident led the Queen to issue a proclamation warning that future attacks on the ships of friends and allies would be dealt with as cases of piracy. Nonetheless, the dispute over the ownership of the cargo turned into a fiercely contested legal case, with the captors claiming that the prize was taken ‘by way of reprisal, and that the merchants’ marks on the cargo’ had been fraudulently changed.
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As the case was referred to arbitration during 1592 it was overtaken by the plunder of another Venetian vessel by Captain Edward Glenham.

Although unruly English depredation increased in range, the seas around the British Isles remained the scene for varied forms of opportunistic piratical enterprise which, for a time, became focused on Irish and Scottish shipping. In January 1589 a group of Dublin merchants complained of the capture of a ship by Captain Fulford, who carried his prize off to Tor Bay. In August the council issued a letter of assistance to a merchant of Waterford for the recovery of Spanish wines taken by the pirate Noe Randall and his company. By the end of the year Scottish traders were complaining of the spoil of their ships. They included a complaint of George Paddy against Sir John Wogan, dating back three years, for losses amounting to £400. The Scots merchant claimed that one of the vessels was plundered twice by pirates, who were assisted by Wogan and his three sons. Although the council provided compensation for some Scottish victims, Paddy’s long-running complaint case against Wogan lay unresolved in 1593.
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Localized piracy and disorder continued to be a persistent problem. In April 1589 there were complaints that the inhabitants of Poole were dealing with pirates. The following year the council was informed of the spoil of a vessel at Yarmouth by a group of masked raiders, who seem to have originated from nearby Gorleston, ‘a receptacle for all disordered and masterles persones, daily committing fowle abuses’.
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In August 1590 the commissioners for piracy in Pembroke and Carmarthen were ordered to arrest the pirate, Nashe, and his confederates. Later in the year, in the face of renewed Scottish grievances, Burghley was compelled to disavow English piracies, insisting ‘I hate all pirates mortally’.
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During June and July 1591 there were complaints of English pirates haunting the coasts of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and of two pirate ships cruising around the Scilly Isles. The merchants of Caernarvon complained in October 1592 that they were robbed by pirates as they sailed to Bristol fair. Pirates were operating in the Severn estuary during 1593, among whom Hillary Brocke of Jersey was one of the chief suspects, while later in the year a case of piracy and murder in Hull was investigated by the Council in the North.
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Though subject to control and regulation, the early years of the sea war established a confusing pattern of legitimate reprisals, overlapping with widespread disorder and violent spoil, which was in danger of merging with overtly piratical activity. At the same time, small-scale and opportunistic piracy continued to flourish. In some regions it may have been linked with a wider problem of disorder and unrest ashore. Under these conditions, therefore, by the early 1590s the regime was in danger of losing control of the maritime conflict, to the detriment of its relations with friendly and neutral states.
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The strain of war: plunder and piracy to 1603

Although the coalition of interests which maintained the war at sea continued to function, the maritime conflict acquired its own momentum during the 1590s, responding and adapting to changing conditions. The failure of Drake’s last voyage of 1595, followed by the gradual withdrawal of the regime from offensive operations at sea, upset the balance of forces within what was always a temporary alliance, while further weakening its ability to control reprisal enterprise. Despite the short-lived ambitions of a younger generation of patriotic sea warriors, to reinvigorate and re-shape the maritime conflict, it continued to be characterized by small-scale actions. Consequently it remained disorderly in application and purpose, particularly as the raids of enemy men-of-war increased the competition for prizes in dangerously crowded hunting grounds. From the perspective of neutral or friendly states, English depredation appeared deliberately to confuse the distinction between lawful reprisals and piracy. By the later 1590s, the strain of organizing a private and semi-official sea war was beginning to expose deep-seated problems which lay unresolved by the time of the Queen’s death.
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Yet the strategic and economic benefits of fighting Spain in partnership with private enterprise still seemed to outweigh the potential disadvantages. At little financial charge, it enhanced the Queen’s Navy and its maritime capability, providing her, in the words of one observer, with a ‘force by sea far exceeding any other nation’s’.
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This force undertook damaging raids along the coasts of Spain and Portugal; it disrupted and delayed the sailing of the Indies fleet; and it supported an offensive, if necessarily ill-organized, assault on the Spanish Caribbean. The seizure of one vessel returning from the West Indies, with a cargo reputedly worth 800,000 crowns, fed hopes early in 1591 that the entire fleet could be taken, precipitating the collapse of Spain in revolt, as a result of war weariness and poverty. In spite of the presence of two galleys off Havana, in 1592 it was reported that English men-of-war ‘daily braved them at their own doors’.
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The intercepted letters of enemy merchants underline the vulnerability, or brittleness, of Spain to this kind of maritime assault. With the coast infested with pirates and rovers, merchants appear to have withdrawn from trade in the face of severe disruption and mounting losses.

The impact of the maritime conflict was strikingly demonstrated by the activities of private adventurers during 1595. In April an expedition of reprisal ships sent out by a group of London traders, including Watts, under the command of James Lancaster, raided the Brazilian port of Pernambuco. With the support of Captain Edward Fenner, and aided by a fleet of French raiders, Lancaster occupied the port for one month, during which a rich haul of booty to the value of £50,000 was acquired. Lancaster returned with profitable Brazilian commodities, including sugar and dye wood, as well as the even more valuable cargo of an East Indian carrack, which had been forced into Pernambuco, and a number of prize ships. The raid illustrated the peculiar strengths and weaknesses of the offensive reach of English sea power, especially in seeking out areas of weakness within the widely scattered and vulnerable Portuguese seaborne empire, which was ruled by Philip II. At the same time Cumberland’s fleet of predators was reported to ‘go about their ordinary purchasing’ under commissions from the Queen.
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Within a few years Cumberland was trying to follow up Lancaster’s raid on Pernambuco, in association with a group of London merchants.

There was renewed interest in a transatlantic offensive against Spain during the mid-1590s, which brought together experienced leaders, such as Drake and Hawkins, with a younger generation of ambitious courtiers and strategists, represented by Essex and Ralegh. Though these schemes remained uncoordinated, they were marked by a mix of expansionist and predatory motives which were manifest in heady visions of looting Spanish America. Ralegh’s expedition to Guiana during 1595 appeared to encapsulate this ideological projection of empire, gold and anti-Spanish aggrandizement. These ambitions were shared by Essex, a younger and more powerful rival of Ralegh at court. In the wake of the return of the latter, Essex’s entertainment for the Queen, which made use of an Indian youth, portrayed a glorified image of the expulsion of Spain from America in accordance with ancient prophecy. Although these ambitions were of limited appeal to the Queen, Essex played a key role in persuading her to send out Drake and Hawkins in command of an expedition to the Caribbean, in a bold attempt to seize the initiative in the war against Spain.
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Although intended for Drake’s old hunting ground, which may have included provision not only to raid, but also to retain Panama, the aim of the expedition was subject to late modification, effectively turning it into a treasure hunt. It included a plan for an opportunistic raid on Puerto Rico, where a richly laden vessel reportedly lay exposed to capture. At the same time, the Queen’s concern for honour and profit was qualified by the security of the realm. Accordingly she expected that Drake and Hawkins ‘shall not need … to tary out longer then six monthes at the furthest’.
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Unfortunately, preparations for the voyage were disrupted by unforeseen delays which bred discontent among some of the company, enabling Spain to acquire details of its purpose. Even before the departure of the fleet from England towards the end of August, a Spanish force was preparing to sail to safeguard the treasure at Puerto Rico.

Drake and Hawkins left at the head of a large expedition made up of twenty-seven vessels, manned with a company of about 2,500 sailors and soldiers. With ‘such a fleet and such numbers of gallant men’, Sir Thomas Baskerville, the commander of the army, protested to Essex that he would ‘rather be buried alive then any such disgrace shuld happen’.
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The fleet was made up of six large royal vessels, including the recently constructed
Garland
of 660 tons, and a varied force of private ships, at least four of which were owned by Watts. As in the organization of reprisal ventures, the company served for a share of one-third in any prizes and plunder. Some of the officers were investors in the voyage, including Baskerville, who received a bill of adventure for £500 instead of pay.

Though launched with high expectation of placing Spain on the defensive, from the outset the expedition was weakened by tension between Drake and Hawkins, and by confusion between public and private interests. Both were evident in the emergence of rival forces and factions within the fleet, which cruelly exposed the limitations of ageing sea commanders. The awkward hesitancy of Hawkins and the brash overconfidence of Drake were exacerbated by their old and out-of-date intelligence of the Spanish Caribbean. But the conduct of the expedition also pointed to deeper weaknesses in the organization of the war at sea which, in the short term, strengthened a view that Caribbean enterprise was best left to ‘filtchinge men of warre’ rather than large, albeit hybrid, fleets.
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Against the advice of Hawkins, outward bound the expedition visited the Canary Islands in search of fresh water and provisions. It was a brief, but ominous, diversion. Drake’s company sustained several casualties, while Spanish officials sent a vessel to the Caribbean warning of the arrival of the fleet. When the English reached the West Indies, the Spanish fleet despatched earlier in the year seized a straggling vessel, the
Francis
. Its company provided valuable information of Drake’s presence and of his intended destination.

The attack on Puerto Rico did not go according to plan. While the English fleet approached in some confusion, the defenders sank several vessels in the mouth of the harbour to hinder their approach. The attackers inflicted some damage on the fort with their ordnance. However, a night-time attempt to destroy the Spanish ships went disastrously wrong when the raiders were illuminated by the light from their fireworks. After three days, during which the English sustained significant casualties, Drake withdrew. Among the dead was Hawkins. The Spanish claimed that he was killed in conflict, ‘shewinge divers signes & markes of him’, but the cause of death was a lingering sickness.
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Drake also had a lucky escape off Puerto Rico, when a stool on which he was seated, while drinking a pot of beer, was struck by a stray shot from the shore.

Departing from Puerto Rico, Drake boasted that he would take the company to twenty places more profitable and easier to take. In December the expedition seized the town of Rio de la Hacha along the coast of the Main. Although abandoned, and lacking much in the way of booty, the English took many prisoners, including African slaves who voluntarily surrendered. While the town was ransomed for 24,000 pesos, Drake raided the neighbouring pearl fishery, capturing a vessel laden with wine and some money. As the fleet cruised along the coast, finding other settlements forewarned of its arrival, Drake avoided an attack on Cartagena in favour of sailing directly for the isthmus.
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Landing at Nombre de Dios, the commanders decided on a rapid march to Panama in the hope of finding hidden treasure. But the march was abandoned in the face of unexpected resistance from the Spanish, mounting casualties and concern at spoiled and short supplies. According to Thomas Maynarde, a close associate of Drake, among the survivors the ordeal sapped morale and support for the expedition. Early in January 1596 Drake called a council of officers, at which it became painfully apparent to Maynarde and others that he was ‘at the furthest limit of his knowledge’.
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The council agreed to sail for Nicaragua. Before the fleet departed, the English set fire to Nombre de Dios, sinking fourteen small frigates and acquiring a modest amount of gold and silver.

With Drake troubled in mind, the fleet anchored off an uninhabited island in search of fresh provisions. Only a few tortoises were taken. The toll of casualties mounted, as a result of the spread of disease and short rations. Sailing for Porto Belo, Drake could barely conceal his grief from Maynarde: