DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70302#0214
188 HEROISM OK AN ENGLISH CAPTAIN.
Captain Thomas Middleton, whose ship had been
hired into the Venetian service, performed an achieve-
ment which is scarcely to be paralleled. The Venetian
Admiral having formed a design against the Dardanelles,
put Middleton into such a desperate situation, that he
was in danger of being sunk by every shot from the bat-
teries on the shore. He acquainted the commander in
chief with the circumstance, at the same time informing
him, he was not so much concerned on account of the
danger to which he and his ship were exposed, as that
he was placed in a situation where it was impossible for
him to annoy the enemy. As no answer, or at least no
satisfactory one was returned him, and seeing that it
could not prejudice the fleet, he drew off a little his ves-
sel, his only livelihood, from the needless danger to
which he was exposed. When the business was over,
he was dismissed by a council of war, and stigmatized
as a coward; and all the soldiers being taken away, he
was left with only about fifty English to return home, or
to go whither he pleased. He had not long left the
fleet, when in a dead calm he fell in with 25 sail, of
which 18 were the best gallies in the navy of the Grand
Signior. The Turks crying out in derision, that they
would eat English beef for dinner, and confiding in their
own strength and numbers, immediately attacked him.
Though the calm was favourable to their purpose, yet
they were disappointed of their prize, for after a long
and obstinate encounter, the two Pachas who com-
manded the hostile squadron were killed, together with
1500 of their men. Great numbers of the enemy were
wounded, and the vessels were so shattered, that they
were scarcely able by the help of their oars to effect
their escape, and were all rendered unfit for service, at
least for that year. The gallant English captain had
neither wind, sails, nor rigging to pursue them ; and it
was
Captain Thomas Middleton, whose ship had been
hired into the Venetian service, performed an achieve-
ment which is scarcely to be paralleled. The Venetian
Admiral having formed a design against the Dardanelles,
put Middleton into such a desperate situation, that he
was in danger of being sunk by every shot from the bat-
teries on the shore. He acquainted the commander in
chief with the circumstance, at the same time informing
him, he was not so much concerned on account of the
danger to which he and his ship were exposed, as that
he was placed in a situation where it was impossible for
him to annoy the enemy. As no answer, or at least no
satisfactory one was returned him, and seeing that it
could not prejudice the fleet, he drew off a little his ves-
sel, his only livelihood, from the needless danger to
which he was exposed. When the business was over,
he was dismissed by a council of war, and stigmatized
as a coward; and all the soldiers being taken away, he
was left with only about fifty English to return home, or
to go whither he pleased. He had not long left the
fleet, when in a dead calm he fell in with 25 sail, of
which 18 were the best gallies in the navy of the Grand
Signior. The Turks crying out in derision, that they
would eat English beef for dinner, and confiding in their
own strength and numbers, immediately attacked him.
Though the calm was favourable to their purpose, yet
they were disappointed of their prize, for after a long
and obstinate encounter, the two Pachas who com-
manded the hostile squadron were killed, together with
1500 of their men. Great numbers of the enemy were
wounded, and the vessels were so shattered, that they
were scarcely able by the help of their oars to effect
their escape, and were all rendered unfit for service, at
least for that year. The gallant English captain had
neither wind, sails, nor rigging to pursue them ; and it
was