Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907 edition. Excerpt: ... Prince Rupert obtained commands. Spragge and others of their followers were given ships. But these men, who owed their positions to interest rather than to knowledge or experience, could not become predominant during the severe fighting of the Second and Third Dutch Wars. The well-tried soldier of the type of Monck, the skilled seaman and experienced fighter of the Penn and Lawson class, could not be neglected. As in the days of Drake, the men who combined practical knowledge of ships, including working the motive mechanism, with experience of war, were the deciding factors. The greatest admiral of this age, De Ruyter, was a man of this class. Such men invariably come to the front sooner or later in time of war. Hawke, St Vincent, Hood, and Nelson are the most striking instances. Each of these was a skilled seaman whose knowledge and experience enabled him to form an independent judgment in case of difficulty or accident. Officers of this stamp may be overlaid in time of peace by men with wealth, or courtly influence, or family interest, or political support, or by men trained in administrative posts, but in the end wide knowledge of war, combined with sea experience, are found to be worth more than any of these. Byng's defeat off Minorca was due to his unfitness for a position to which family ORIGIN OF THE MARINES. 65 interest had raised him: Hawke's experience was called in to replace him. At Copenhagen the day was saved, not by Parker's wealth, but by Nelson's fiery genius and knowledge. The failure in Basque Roads is largely traceable to Gambier's long service in administrative posts on shore, which unfitted him for an active command. With the First Dutch War, which broke out in the year 1652, came also the difficulty of manning the...
