, the little Spanish guns did
correspondingly small damage, even when they managed to hit; while the
heavy metal of the English, handled by real seamen-gunners, inflicted
crushing damage in return.

But even more important than the Englishmen's superiority in rig, hull,
armament, and expert seamanship was their tactical use of the thoroughly
modern line-ahead. Any one who will take the letter T as an illustration
can easily understand the advantage of 'crossing his T.' The upright
represents an enemy caught when in column-ahead, as he would be, for
instance, when issuing from a narrow-necked port. In this formation he
can only use bow fire, and that only in succession, on a very narrow
front. But the fleet represented by the crosspiece, moving across the
point of the upright, is in the deadly line-ahead, with all its near
broadsides turned in one long converging line of fire against the
helplessly narrow-fronted enemy. If the enemy, sticking to medieval
tactics, had room to broaden his front by forming column-abreast, as
galleys always did, that is, with several uprights side by side, he
would still be at the same sort of disadvantage; for this would only
mean a series of T's with each nearest broadside crossing each opposing
upright as before.

The herded soldiers and non-combatants aboard the Great Armada stood by
their useless duties to the last. Thousands fell killed or wounded.
Several times the Spanish scuppers actually ran a horrid red, as if the
very ships were bleeding. The priests behaved as bravely as the Jesuits
of New France--and who could be braver than those undaunted missionaries
were? Soldiers and sailors were alike. 'What shall we do now?' asked
Sidonia after the slaughter had gone on for a week. 'Order up more
powder,' said Oquendo, as dauntless as before. Even then the eagle
formation was still kept up. The van ships were the head. The biggest
galleons formed the body. Lighter vessels formed the wings. A reserve
formed the tail.

As the unflinching Armada stood slowly up the Channel a sail or two
would drop out by the way, dead-beat. One night several strange sail
passed suddenly by Drake. What should he do? To go about and follow them
with all astern of him doing the same in succession was not to be
thought of, as his aftermost vessels were merchantmen, wholly untrained
to the exact combined manoeuvres required in a fighting fleet, though
first-rate individually. There was then no night signal eq