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IAftermath of Dutch raid on Medway,June 1667.

The account of the Dutch raid in the Medway, from the taking of Sheerness Fort to the withdrawal on Friday 14 June, as reported in the official London Gazette (Nr. 165 dated ‘Whitehall, June 16’) must certainly rank as a classic of deliberate understatement. It was as follows:

          The Dutch Fleet having the tenth instant in the evening made themselves masters of  Sheerness, on the eleventh they advanced     up the River Medway, and though with  much difficulty, passed by several vessels which had been sunk about Musclebank, which was the narrowest part of it the better to put some stop to them in their passage; and with 22 sail came up upon the Chain. where the Lord General [i.e.  Albemarle] was in person with a considerable force to oppose them; but the Enemy,  taking advantage of an easterly Wind and the Tide which both served them, pressed   on, and though their first ship struck upon the Chain, the second broke through it; and not withstanding a stout resistance in which our Men showed infinite courage, with        considerable loss to the enemy, yet they clapped their fireships aboard the  “Matthias” and the “Unity”, that lay at anchor as a Guard to the Chain, and upon  the “Charles the Fifth” all three of them Dutch ships, that had formerly been taken  from them. The same they possest themselves of the “Royal Charles” which was  twice fired by our Men, and as often quenched by the Enemy.

 On Thursday the 13 Instant, About One of the Clock, taking again their advantage of   the Wind and the Tide, the advanced with six men-of-war and five Fire-ships and   came up towards Upnor-Castle, but were so warmly entertained by Major Scot, who 
  commanded there, and on the other side by Sir Edward Spragg from the Battery at   the Shoare, that after very much Dammage received by them in the shattering of their Ships, in sinking several of their Long Boats manned out of them, in the great Number of their Men kill’d and some Prisoners taken, they were at the last forced to retire,  having in this attempt spent in vain two of their Fire-Ships which were attempted the “Royall Oake” but were forced off and burnt down without any effect; but a third  had its effect, the two others coming also aboard the “Royall James” and the  "Loyall London” , which are much injured by the fire but in probability made be 
 again made serviceable, having been sunk before their coming up, and the greater part of them laid under water 

         Since then they have not made any considerable Attempt, and by some Prisoners we have taken we finde that the loss we have received has been hitherto so fully returned  upon them, that they can have but little reason to Bragg of their Success, and less  encouragement to make any farther Attempts on these parts.
         Part of the Enemies Fleet hath since this Action continued about Muscle-Bank, where on Friday were seen 24 Sail, on Saturday only 14, which ‘tis believed stay there only to get off the “Royall Charles,” which is on shoare.
         [The vessel was almost certainly the “Harderwijck” and not the “Royal Charles”   which appeared to have been brought down the river without any serious difficulty]

An even more ludicrous attempt to play down the disaster came from the pen of the Earl of Castlemaine, the cuckolded Husband of one of the mistresses of Charles II. After asserting that the Medway enterprise had cost the Dutch “an infinite number of Men and Ten Ships, according to our estimate although they will not acknowledge so many, the indignant Earl considered the loss of the “Royall Charles” 

          I confess I was troubled when I heard a ship fell into their hands which his Highness  [i.e. the Duke of York] once made use of and Had thereby the Honour to wear his Flag but I was soon again satisfied, when I call’d it to mind, that Sampson himself might be taken by surprize, and that this vessel could not choose but have an ill end , seeing it had Cromwell for its Founder.

Though the London Gazette tried to minimize the magnitude of the humiliating reverse which the Nation had just suffered, the panic which gripped London and the home countries as the news of the Dutch advance spread, revealed that what had occurred was not a mere incident in a war, but a disaster which was bound to have momentous consequences.
Clarendon wrote.:

        

The Distraction and Consternation was so great in Court and City, as if the Dutch had not been only Masters of the River, but had really landed an Army of one hundred thousand Men…… If the King’s and Duke’s personal composure had not restrained Men from expressing their Fears, there wanted not some who would have advised them to leave the City.
The stages in the panic are vividly related by Pepys in his diary, and his account is corroborated by other contemporary chroniclers. On 11 June Pepys remarked that he was kept up late trying to provide fireships in response to Sit William Coventry’s insistent and despairing demands. Then, wrote Pepys, he went home; he continued:   Where [I had] a great deal of serious talk with my wife about the sad state we are in, and especially from the beating of drums this night for the train-bands upon pain of death, to appear in arms tomorrow morning, with bullet and powder and money to  supply themselves with victuals for the fortnight; which considering the soldiers drawn out to Chatham and elsewhere, looks as if they had a design to ruin the City and give it up to be undone; which; I hear, makes the sober citizens to think very sadly of things.

On 12 June Pepys wrote:

         When I come to Sir W. Coventry’s chamber, I find him abroad; but his clerk, Powell, do tell me that ill news is come to Court, of the Dutch breaking the Chaine at Chatham;   which struck me to the heart. And to White Hall to hear the truth of it; and there going  up the Park-stairs I did hear some lacquies speaking of sad news come to Court, saying there is hardly anybody in the Court but to look as if he cried.   Home, where all our hearts do now ake, for the news is true that the Dutch have broke   the chaine and burned our ships, and particularly the “Royall Charles”…… And the truth is I do fear so much that the whole Kingdom is undone, that I do this night resolve to study with my father and wife what to do with the little that I have in money by me.Next day, 13 June, Pepys heard ‘the sad news confirmed’ of the disaster at Chatham, and he wrote:In the evening comes Mr Pelling and several others to the office, and tell me that never were people so dejected as they are in the City all over at this day; and do talk most  loudly, even treason, as that we are bought and sold, that we are betrayed by the Papists and others about the King……. They look upon us as lost, and remove their        families and rich goods in the City.

Pepys concluded a lengthy and dramatic day’s entry in his diary by recording:

         ‘I made my will also this day, and did give all I had equally between my father and wife’

In his entry for the following day, Friday 14 June, Pepys recorded that he had spoken with a Mr Wilson and an employee of Gauden, the Navy’s victualler:         who are come from Chatham last night, and saw the three ships burnt, they lying all dry, and boats going from the men-of-war to fire them. But that he telles me of worst consequence is, that he himself (I think he said) did hear many Englishmen on board the Dutch ships speaking to one another in English; and that they did cry and say “We did heretofore fight for tickets, now we fight for dollars” and did ask how such and  such a one did, and would commend themselves to them; which is a sad consideration.Another informant who had been at Chatham, a Mr Lewes, told Pepys hat when the “Royal Charles” was taken some of these renegade English men were heard to say that they had had their tickets countersigned, held them up while saying this to prove it, and then declared that they had now come to have them paid, and intended to have them paid before they left [Because of the lack of ready money and  for other reasons it had become customary, when a ship was paid off, to give men certificates from which the wages due them could be reckoned. On presenting these “tickets” the men entitled to be paid in cash, but because of the lack of money delays       occurred, and unscrupulous speculators took advantage of the sailor’s necessity to cash the tickets at a discount which sometimes amounted to 5s in the ₤.

Pepys continued sadly:Indeed the hearts as well as affections of the seamen are turned away; and in the open streets of Wapping, and up and down, the wives have cried publicly “This comes of your not paying our husbands…..”
         Most people that I speak are in doubt how we shall do to secure our seamen from running over to the Dutch; which is a sad but very true consideration at this day.At the scene of the disaster, Chatham, the spirit prevailing can be gauged from a letter sent on Friday 14 June, by Lord Brouncker and Peter Pett to the Navy Board:
         “So heavy is the hand of God now upon this place,” they wrote “” that we fear it as well as the hand of men now apparently fights against us” and the went on to declare that after the arrival of the Dutch off Gillingham everybody had believed that “The whole navy, dock and stores would have burnt up on Wednesday”

Pepys’ friend and fellow diarist John Evelyn has also left a record of the general feeling of chaos and disaster which spread as news of the Dutch victories became known, On Tuesday 11 June he wrote:

          To Lond: alarmed by the Dutch, who were falling over our Fleete, at Chatham, by a most audicious enterprise, entering the very river with part of their fleete…… This alarme caused me (fearing the ennemie might advernture up the Thames even to Lond,  which with ease they might have don, and fired all the vessels in the river too) to send away my best goods, plate etc. from my house to another place; for this alarme was so greate, as put both County and Citty into a panique feare and consternation, such as I hope I shall never see more,; for everybody went flying none knew why or whither.

The state of panic in London was so great that people were ready, on the slenderest evidence, to believe that the Dutch had managed to sail up the Thames to the capital. Thus Evelyn recorded in his diary on Monday 17 June:

         The greatest damage was to England’s pride and someone had to be found to answer for it. The chief culprits were certainly the council who had made the decision to lay up the fleet and rely on the coastal defences (which it was their business to know the state of) Their job now was to find a scapegoat to avert any talk that may be put about them.They acted quickly and on the 17th June Peter Pett was arrested and committed to the Tower of London.

Pett was charged on eight counts. 
--- The first three dealt with his neglect to secure the “Royal Charles”. 
--- The fourth with neglecting to sink the “Sancta Maria” in the place ordered (which was actually the responsibility of the Master Attendant, Captain Brooke)
--- The fifth charge was that he allowed thirty small boats ordered for the defence of the river, to be used in carrying away his and other people’s goods. Pett admitted to this charge in at least one respect He had used to carry away his private collection of model ships, which, he argued, were valuable because of their technical details and on no account should fall into enemy hands. This was the Master Shipwright speaking but as his accusers were non-technical they could not understand nor appreciate his reasoning. 
--- The sixth charge accused him if being responsible for there being only a handful of men in the Dockyard when Albemarle arrived, instead of eight hundred. 
--- The seventh accusation was that he failed to provide tools for building the batteries when asked to do so, and 
--- The eighth was that he had supplied deal boards for the battery floors instead of oak.
All these charges were framed upon a report made by the Duke of Albemarle and read in the House of Commons on 31st Oktober. A Parliamentary committee was also set up to enquire into the reason for the lack of fortifications at Sheerness. All this took many months by which time the excitement had died down. After a reasonable lapse of time Pett was released on a 
₤ 5.000 bail and the charges against him dropped. It was obvious to all involved, that, had he been found guilty, then a number of important people in higher places were equally guilty Nevertheless, Pett was deprived of his office and the scapegoat was found.

After the raid it was necessary to clear up the debris of battle. A survey showed that the "Royal James” and the “Loyal London” could be salvaged. Having been scuttled they had burnt down to approximately the lower gun-ports. With half of each hull remaining it was decided to rebuilt them. At this time the facilities were not available at Chatham and it was necessary to move them, one to Deptford and the other to Woolwich. Even this was not accomplished without incident and drama.

In September, when the hulks had been jury-rigged and were ready to start, the crews mutinied and refused to trust themselves “on board two burnt-out wrecks” The Navy Commissioner reported to Whitehall “The “Royal James” and the “Loyal London” being ready to sail, we sent a warrant to Thos. Streton to take charge of the “London”
He came and threw it at us and refused to go, and Robert Sansum who had a warrant for the “James” will not go either. 

Eventually fresh crews were found by drafting sixty seamen from ships just come in from sea and together with thirty-three dockyard ropemakers the remains of the “Royal James” and the “Loyal London” set of for the Thames on the 13th September. The burnt-out shell of the “Loyal London” took nearly three years to rebuilt and cost 
₤ 20,470. King Charles himself came all the way to Depthford to see the launching in June 1670. He had hoped to persuade the City of London to bear some of the cost of rebuilding as they had done when the ship was first launched in June 1666, But this time, the City, impoverished by the Plague, the Great Fire and the war were not so accomodating and Charles, in a fit of temper, put a line through the word “Loyal” and henceforth the ship was known simply as “London”.             

   Dutch attack on Medway above and Sheerness and Queenborough below 1667

Commemoration of the Raid in 1967.

In 1967, the tercentenary of the Medway raid, the English (one might almost say ‘typically’) commemorated this notorious naval defeat which they had suffered. In June a ‘River Medway Dutch Week’ was held, and of course the Dutch were invited to attend. which they did with alacrity and entirely without inhibitions. Racing and social events were arranged for the many Dutch visitors, some of whom arrived in their yachts in this second but peaceful invasion of the Medway. The Dutch Royal Navy also sent over three vessels, while the Royal Navy was represented by the destroyer “Carysford” which berthed amicably alongside the Dutch “Holland”

The Dutch Press reacted good humouredly to what must have seemed a singular manifestation of the traditional English capacity to be good losers. The ‘Algemeen Handelsblad’ in its issue of 2 June 1967 published a short article on the forthcoming week, but at the same time thought it necessary to inform its readers that the Medway was a tributary of the Thames, and that the town of Chatham was situated on it.

The Dutch ambassador, in a message to the people of the Medway Towns, declared that it was a source of real satisfaction to know that three hundred years after a Dutch naval force had invaded the River Medway, an initiative had been taken along the banks of the same river to commemorate the event. Not to be outdone in the exchange of civilities, the ‘Kent Messenger’ extended this greeting: 

“To our Dutch friends the Kent Messenger extends this greeting: Welkom in Kent, wij hopen dat U een prettige tijd heeft en veel vrienden zult maken” (Welcome to Kent, we hope that you have a nice time, and make many friends.

Another frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the “Fret” anchored off Admirality Pier, Gillingham where a Dutch banker, Mr F.P.J. de Ruyter de Wildt, 11th generation descendant of Admiral Micheal de Ruyter, stepped ashore, to be welcomed by Councillor Harris, the Mayor of Gillingham, and by Captain Peter Petts, a descendant of Commissioner Peter Pett.

In his welcoming address he said, “At first I viewed my coming here with some trepidation, I felt as a descendant of Admiral Nelson who is invited by the French to a celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar”. Rear-Admiral Parker, admiral of the Nore, interrupted his speech, saying: ‘We are not celebrating, we are only commemorating’ but Mr de Ruyter de Wildt, who was interviewed on the fo’csle of the  "Fret", wittily improvised, while petting the barrel of one of “Fret’s” guns looming over his head: 
“But I realised there was no reason for alarm as long as I had the guns of the Royal Dutch Navy behind me like my forefather” 
Councillor Harris presented Mr de Ruyter de Wildt with a small cannonball which had been imbedded in the walls of Upnor Castle, and which was supposed to have been shot from a Dutch gun during the raid.

During the week the Dutch visitors were treated to what was almost a surfeit of exhibitions and displays, sailing races, and dances. On Saturday 10 June a contingent of Dutch sailors, dressed in seventeenth-century costume, marched to Queenborough Guildhall, where the Dutch flag was hoisted by the Captain of the “Holland” . On Sunday 11 June the Dutch frigate “Fret” sailed up the Medway from Sheerness, escorted by yachts and other small craft, and en-route passed through a curtain of coloured water, put up by the firing-tugs. This watery barrier was meant to symbolise the chain which had stretched across the river a few hundred yards below the point where the “Fret” had anchored and by sailing through it the "Fret" breached it again.................!

On Monday the band of the Royal Netherlands Marines played at Upnor Castle before a admiring crowd estimated at three thousand; and the inhabitants of Upnor declared later that there had not been so many visitors to the village within living memory On Tuesday 13 June the Dutch band led a naval march through the streets of Chatham, and repeated this through the streets of Gillingham on Wednesday. During the evening Anglo-Dutch amity was further cemented when a ceremony was held at Queenborough and that ancient town was twinned with Brielle. On Saturday 17 June the band of H.M. Royal Marines beat retreat near Chatham Town Hall, and in the evening the Dutch flag was lowered from Queenborough Guildhall, and with these two ceremonies, apart from a few final events on Sunday, the River Medway Dutch Week came to an end.

THE TWINNING BETWEEN QUEENBOROUGH AND BRIELLE Started                     

 More to follow.........see QBC twinning pics