Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 38.djvu/156

 On 6 Aug. he summoned Stirling, which capitulated on the 14th. On the 28th a party of horse, under Colonel Alured, captured the Earl of Leven and the Scottish committee of estates at Alyth in Perthshire. On 1 Sept. Dundee was taken by storm, after it had been besieged for about ten days. About five hundred of the garrison were killed, and for the rest of the day and the following night the soldiers were allowed to plunder at will. 'The stubbornness of the people,' apologised Monck to Cromwell, 'enforced the soldiers to plunder the town.' Ludlow accused Monck of ordering Lumsden, the governor of Dundee, to be put to death in cold blood, but the statement is contradicted by other authorities, and is improbable. There is no ground for charging him with exceptional barbarity, and his despatch shows that the garrison were not indiscriminately put to the sword (, Memorials of the Civil War, ii. 327, 345 ; Old Parliamentary History, xx. 18;, p. 61).

In his answer to the thanks of the parliament, and in previous letters Monck complained that he was in urgent need of reinforcements (, ii. 365; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1651, p. 399). He himself was taken ill with gout or rheumatism soon after the capture of Dundee. Hence, though Montrose, Aberdeen, and other places submitted, and the Marquis of Huntly and other leaders laid down their arms, the conquest of Scotland was not completed till the following year. Lambert was sent to Scotland in November 1651, and eight commissioners, of whom Monck was one, were appointed to effect the civil settlement of the country (25 Oct., Commons' Journals, vii. 30). Monck left Scotland in February 1652, and proceeded to Bath to recruit his health (, p. 46 ; Mercurius Politicus, 6-13 Nov. 1650). In June the council of state contemplated ordering him back to his command, but on second thoughts they retained him in England, to supervise the fortifications of Yarmouth (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1652-3, pp. 329, 624).

With Monck's appointment as one of the three generals of the fleet on 26 Nov. 1652, a new period in his career begins. Unlike his two colleagues, Blake and Deane, he had no naval experience, but parliament regarded energy, resolution, and the habit of command as sufficient qualifications. The fleet put to sea on 8 Feb., and a three days' battle with the Dutch began off Portland, 18 Feb. 1653. In the first day's battle, ' General Monck, in the Vanguard, then admiral of the white, and all his division, being at least four miles to leeward of the other generals when the fight began. . . the main stress of the fight lay upon the red and blue divisions ' (Memorials of Sir William Penn, p. 478). But the white division came into action later, and Mildrnay, the captain of the Vanguard, was among the slain. Of the merchantmen Tromp was convoying twenty-four were taken, while four Dutch men-of-war were captured and five sunk (ib. pp. 475, 477 : Life of Cornelius Tromp, 1697, pp. 89-104). A second battle took place on 2 and 3 June, off the coast of the Netherlands. Blake's squadron did not arrive till after the first day's fight was over, and Deane was killed early on the first day, so that Monck was in sole command during great part of the battle. Tromp admitted the loss of eight ships, and the Dutch fleet retired behind the shoals known as the Wielings, between Ostend and Sluys. The command of the sea fell into the hands of the English fleet, many rich merchantmen were captured, and the English 'held the coast of Holland as 'twere besieged' (ib. p. 129 ;, i. 491-8). Blake having fallen ill, the council of state on 9 July 1652 sent Monck a commission authorising him to exercise all the powers which had been granted to the three admirals jointly (ib. p. 500). Tromp sailed out from his anchorage on 27 July, and a still bloodier battle took place on 29 and 31 July, in which Tromp was killed, and the Dutch lost twenty-six men-of-war.

The success of the English fleet was partly due to the restoration of discipline among the officers, and to improved organisation. A letter from Deane and Monck to the council of state shows with what vigour they urged their advice, and insisted upon extended powers when the good of the service required it (Life of Deane, pp. 601, 604, 631). As much, or more, was due to improved tactics. 'Our fleet,' says a description of the second battle, 'did work together in better order than before, and seconded one another ' (ib, p. 648). The third battle, an officer who took part in it terms f a very orderly battle,' and a French eye-witness describes the English, fleet as 'drawn up in a line extending above four leagues' (, p. 67 ; Life of Penn, i. 510). Both the biographers of Penn and Deane claim the adoption of this system of tactics as due to those admirals, but all the arguments by which Deane's claim is supported apply with equal force to Monck's. The essence of the system was the attempt to introduce into naval warfare something of the order which distinguished scientifically fought land-battles. In technical matters Monck undoubtedly owed much to his subordinates, and his special recommendation of Penn to succeed Deane shows that he recog-