ally as you can to succour the rest of the fleet, as
cause shall require, not wasting your powder nor shooting afar off, nor
till you come side by side."

The more sagacious commanders saw, that in order to ensure victory,
something beyond a vast host of ships fighting without order was
necessary, and perceived that the fleet which fought in line was in most
cases victorious. The fiercest action of this period was fought on the
9th and 10th of August, when the English fleet, under Monk, came in
sight of the Dutch, commanded by Admiral Van Tromp, who had with him
many other celebrated officers, and nearly a hundred ships of war. Monk
had about the same number of ships, which he drew up in line. The
English manoeuvred to gain the wind, but Van Tromp, who had it at the
first, kept it with advantage, and drew up his own fleet in a line
parallel to that of the English, when, bearing down upon them, he began
the battle with so great a fury, that many ships were soon seen
dismasted, others sunk, and others on fire. A spectator, who was on
board a vessel at a distance, describes the scene: "The two fleets were
now enveloped in a cloud of smoke so dense that it was impossible to
form a judgment of the fierceness of the battle otherwise than by the
horrible noise of the cannon with which the air resounded, and by the
mountains of fire which every now and then were seen rising out of the
smoke, with a crash that gave sufficient notice that whole ships were
blowing up. The battle lasted for eight hours, and was the most hard
fought of any that had happened throughout the war. The Dutch
fire-ships were managed with great dexterity, and many of the large
vessels in the English fleet were in the utmost danger. The _Triumph_
was so effectually fired, that most of her crew threw themselves into
the sea, though others remaining behind put out the fire. Admiral
Lawson engaged Admiral Ruyter, killed and wounded above half his men,
and so disabled his ship, that she was towed out of the fleet. About
noon Van Tromp was shot through the body by a musket-ball as he was
giving his orders. This greatly discouraged the Dutch, so that they
began to beat to windward, and to engage only in retreating, having but
one flag still flying. As the smoke cleared off, the two fleets were
seen in a condition which showed the horrible fury of the conflict in
which they had been engaged. The whole sea was covered with dead
bodies, with fragments, a