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BEACHY HEAD

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 562 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BEACHY See also:

HEAD , a promontory on the See also:coast of See also:Sussex, See also:England, S.W. of See also:Eastbourne, about 3 M. from the centre of the See also:town. It consists of a perpendicular See also:chalk cliff 532 ft. high, and forms the eastern termination of the See also:hill-range known as the See also:South See also:Downs. Th%old See also:Bell Tout lighthouse, 285 ft. above high-See also:water See also:mark, erected in 1831 on the second cliff to the westward, in o° 10' 18" E., 50 43' 30" N., has been superseded by a new lighthouse built in the See also:sea at the See also:foot of the head itself. See also:Battle of Beachy Head.—This See also:naval battle, known to the See also:French as Bevisier (a corruption of See also:Pevensey), was fought on the 30th of See also:June 1690. An allied force of 37 See also:British See also:sail of the See also:line, under command of the See also:earl of See also:Torrington (See also:Arthur See also:Herbert), and of 22 Dutch under C. Evertsen, was at See also:anchor under the headland, while a French See also:fleet of over 70 sail, commanded by the See also:comte de See also:Tourville, was anchored some See also:miles off to the south-See also:west. The French fleet had orders to co-operate with an expected Jacobite rising in England. Torrington, to whom the See also:general direction of the allied fleet belonged, was much disturbed by the enemy's superiority in number, and on the 26th had written tothe See also:Council of Regency suggesting that he ought to retire to the Gunfleet at the mouth of the See also:Thames, and observe the enemy from a distance till he could be reinforced. The council, which had the support of See also:Admiral See also:Russell, afterwards earl of See also:Orford, considered that a See also:retreat to the Gunfleet would have fatal consequences, by which they no doubt meant that it would leave the French See also:free to See also:land troops for the support of the See also:Jacobites. They therefore ordered Herbert not to lose sight of the enemy, but rather to fight if he could secure an See also:advantage of position. The admiral, who was on very See also:bad terms with the council, elected to treat this as a See also:peremptory See also:order to fight. At daybreak on the 3oth he got under way and See also:bore down on the enemy.

The See also:

wind was at See also:north-See also:east and gave him the See also:weather-See also:gage. As his fleet was only 57 sail in all he was not able to en-gage the enemy from end to end, but as the French were arranged in a line from east to west he could have fallen on the end nearest him, and could have guarded himself by telling off a See also:part of his See also:ships to See also:watch the See also:remainder. Torrington preferred to bring his fleet down in such a way that his See also:van, consisting of the Dutch ships, should be opposite the enemy's van, his centre opposite their centre, and his See also:rear should engage their rear. The inferiority of the See also:allies in See also:numbers made it therefore inevitable that there should be gaps between the different divisions. As the fleets actually did come to See also:action, the Dutch with a few See also:English ships pressed on the French van, their leading See also:ship being abreast of the ninth or tenth Frenchman. Torrington took his station opposite the rear of the French centre, leaving a See also:great See also:gap between himself and the ships in the van. Being apprehensive that the French centre would tack and pass this gap so as to put him between two fires, he kept a See also:long way off so as to be free to manoeuvre against them if they made the See also:attempt. The English rear See also:division, consisting of the English See also:blue See also:squadron under See also:Sir See also:Ralph Delaval, fought a See also:close action with the French opposite to them. In the meantime the French ships, ahead of the leading Dutchman, succeeded in turning to windward and putting part of Evertsen's squadron between two fires. The Dutch ships suffered heavily, and one of them which was dismasted drifted among the French and was taken. More severe loss would have followed if the better See also:average See also:seamanship of the English and Dutch had not stood them in See also:good See also:stead. The See also:tide turned from See also:flood to ebb during the action, and the See also:surface current which in the Channel sets to the west with the ebb began to carry the fleets with it.

The Dutch and English dropped anchor. The French, who were not equally alert, did not and were carried westward. When the tide turned the allies retreated to the Thames, abandoning several of the most damaged ships in Pevensey See also:

Bay. The pursuit of the French was ineffective, for Tourville persisted in keeping his ships in line of battle, which forced them to regulate their See also:speed by the slowest among them. Torrington was tried for his conduct but acquitted. A full See also:account of the battle of Beachy Head, written with ample See also:quotation of documents, and for the purpose of vindicating Herbert, will be found in Admiral See also:Colomb's Naval Warfare (See also:London, 1899). (D.

End of Article: BEACHY HEAD

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