THE BATTLE OF ST. VINCENT.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 288, 9 June 1909, Page 4

THE BATTLE OF ST. VINCENT.

<m ■■■•■; The .batt-lo off Capo i: St. : Vincent, which took place, on February I4th, 1797, was tho third sea-fight that has. been handed down to posterity under this name. The first of these to6k . place in 1693, and* resulted' 'in a. feat of the English at the haude of the French; the second occurred in 1780,. when Admiral Rodney defeated a Spanish fleet in English waters; while tho third, "the glorious St. Valentino Day's victory," took place on the date above stated. Sir John Jervis had been ordered to blockade the harbor of Cadiz, in order to- prevent the mobilisation of the French, Dutch, and Spanish fleets, whicE had been proposed by the French with a view to the invasion of England. The British fleet encountered the • Spanish off Cape St. Vincent, and, in spito of the superiority of tfcs lat^ ter as, regards. the number of vessels, not only succeeding in capturing floor of her ships, but also- drove tine re--mainder into the, harbor of . Qadiz,and there blockaded them. •:. Nelson, . at that time a commodore, wae en-,, gaged in this battle, and received the order of the Bath for the gallantry he displayed, while Admiral Sir John Jervis was created Earl St. Viscent.