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INTROD UCTION lxxv |
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naval and military commanders. The attempted storm of Fort San Lazar failed, and on April 14 it was determined to abandon the siege and re-embark the troops and guns. At the beginning of April, however, the fall of the place seemed imminent, and its capture was actually the subject of two ballads. One, entitled British Courage Displayed, or Admiral Vernon's Taking of Carthagena, is modelled on the ballad on the taking of Porto Bello bearing the same title. The other, entitled Vernon s Glory, will be found on p. 181.
Three ballads in this selection relate to the general actions which took place during the war. Admiral Mathews's Engagement against the Combined Fleets of France and Spain narrates the indecisive battle of February 11, 1744, which led to the trials of Mathews himself, Vice-Admiral Lestock, and several captains. The author was evidently a partisan of Mathews (p. 186). The Lucky Sailor, or the Sailors Invitation to go with Admiral Anson, celebrates the victory of Anson and Warren over the French fleet under La Jonquiere on May 3, 1747 (p. 195). Hawke's victory over M. de l'Eten-duere on October 14, 1747, is the subject of Tit for Tat, A Sea Kick for a Land Cuff (p. 197). A song on the taking of Port Louis in Hispaniola by Rear-Admiral Charles Knowles, in March 1748, closes the series (p. 199). Several ballads relate to minor actions. Captain Holmes in the Sapphire on January 15, 1743, destroyed five Spanish privateers in Vigo Harbour. The ballad, written by a sailor who lost his arm in the action, dates it January 1744 (p. 184). The true date is given in Samuel Boyse's An Historical Review of the Transactions of Europe
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from the beginning of the war with Spain in 1739, published in 1747, vol. i. p. 390; and in Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs, \. 173. During 1744 |
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