To return to the fight: As the Spanish ships which attempted to board the Revenge were wounded and beaten off, so always others came up in their places, she never having less than two mighty galeons by her sides and close on board her; so that ere morning, from three o'clock of the day before, she had been successively assailed by no less than fifteen several armadas or great ships of war; and all of them had so ill approved their entertainment, that, by break of day, they were far more willing to hearken to a composition, than hastily to make any more assaults or entries for boarding. But as the day advanced, so our men decreased in number, and as the light grew more and more, by so much more increased the discomforts of our men. For now nothing appeared in sight but enemies, save one small ship called the Pilgrim, commanded by Jacob Whiddon, who hovered all night to see what might be the event; but, bearing up towards the Revenge in the morning, was hunted like a hare among so many ravenous hounds, yet escaped.

All the powder of the Revenge was now spent to the very last barrel, all her pikes broken, forty of her best men slain, and most part of the rest wounded. In the beginning of the fight, she had 90 of her men lying sick on the ballast in the hold, and only 100 capable of duty, a small crew for such a ship, and a weak garrison to resist so mighty an army. By this brave hundred was the whole of this hot fight sustained, the volleys, boardings, assaults, and entries, from fifteen great ships of war all full of men, besides those which had cannonaded her from a distance. On the contrary, the Spanish ships were always supplied with fresh soldiers from the several squadrons of this vast fleet, and had all manner of arms and powder at will; while to our men there remained no hope or comfort, no supply either of ships, men, weapons, or powder. The masts were all beaten overboard; all her tackle was cut asunder; her upper works all battered to pieces, and in effect evened with the water, nothing but the hull or bottom of the ship remaining, nothing being left over-head for flight or for defence.

Finding his ship in this distress, and altogether unable for any longer resistance, after fifteen hours constant fighting against fifteen great ships of war which assailed him in turns, having received by estimation 800 shot of great ordnance, besides many assaults and entries; and considering that he and his ship must now soon be in possession of the enemy, who had arranged their ships in a ring round about the Revenge, which was now unable to move any way, except as acted on by the waves; Sir Richard called for his master gunner, whom he knew to be a most resolute man, and commanded him to split and sink the ship, that nothing of glory or victory might remain to the enemy, who with so great a navy, and in so long a time, were unable to take her. They had fifty-three ships of war, and above 10,000 men, and had been engaged against this single ship for fifteen hours. At the same time, Sir Richard endeavoured to prevail upon as many of the company as he could influence, to commit themselves to the mercy of God, and not of their enemies, since they had like valiant men repulsed so many enemies, urging them not now to obscure their honour and that of their nation, for the sake of prolonging their lives a few days. The master gunner and various others of the crew readily assented to this desperate resolution; but the captain and master were quite of an opposite opinion, and conjured Sir Richard to desist from his desperate proposal; alleging that the Spaniards would be as ready to agree to a capitulation as they to offer it; and begged him to consider, that there still were many valiant men still living in the ship, and others whose wounds might not be mortal, who might be able to do acceptable service to their queen and country hereafter. And, although Sir Richard had alleged that the Spaniards should never have the glory of taking one ship of her majesty, which had been so long and valiantly defended; they answered, that the ship had six feet water in her hold, and three shot holes under water, which were so weakly stopped, that she must needs sink with the first labouring of the sea, and was besides so battered and bruised, that she could never be removed from the place.

While the matter was thus in dispute, Sir Richard refusing to listen to any reasons, the captain won over the most part to his opinion, and the master was conveyed on board the Spanish general, Don Alfonso Baçan. Finding none of his people very ready to attempt boarding the Revenge again, and fearing lest Sir Richard might blow up both them and himself, as he learned from the master his dangerous disposition; Don Alfonso agreed that all their lives should be saved, the ships company sent to England, and the better sort to pay such reasonable ransom as their estate could bear, all in the meantime to be free from prison or the gallies. He so much the rather consented to these terms, lest any farther loss or mischief might accrue to themselves, and for the preservation of Sir Richard, whose notable valour he greatly honoured and admired. On receiving this answer, in which the safety of life was promised; the common sort, now at the end of their peril, mostly drew back from the proposal of Sir Richard and the master gunner, it being no hard matter to dissuade men from death to life. Finding himself and Sir Richard thus prevented and mastered by the majority, the master gunner would have slain himself with his sword, but was prevented by main force, and locked up in his cabin.

Then the Spanish general sent many boats on board the Revenge, and several of her men, fearing Sir Richards disposition, stole away on board the general and other ships. Thus constrained to submit, Sir Richard was desired by a message from Alfonso Baçan to remove from the Revenge, as it was filled with blood and the bodies of the slain, and with wounded men, like a slaughter-house. Sir Richard gave for answer, that he might do now with his body what he pleased; and while removing from the ship, he fainted away, and on recovering he requested the company to pray for him. The Spanish general used Sir Richard with all humanity, leaving no means untried that tended towards his recovery, highly commending his valour and worthiness, and greatly bewailing his dangerous condition; seeing that it was a rare spectacle, and an instance of resolution seldom met with, for one ship to withstand so many enemies, to endure the batteries and boardings of so many huge ships of war, and to resist and repel the assaults and entries of such numbers of soldiers. All this and more is confirmed, by the recital of a Spanish captain in that same fleet, who was himself engaged in this action, and, being severed from the rest in a storm, was taken by the Lion, a small ship belonging to London, and is now prisoner in London.

The general commanding this great armada, was Don Alphonso Baçan, brother to the Marquis of Santa Cruz. Britandona was admiral of the squadron of Biscay. The Marquis of Arumburch [Aremberg] commanded the squadron of Seville. Luis Coutinho commanded the hulks and flyboats. There were slain and drowned in this fight, as the before-mentioned Spanish captain confessed, near a thousand of the enemy, with two special commanders, Don Luis de San Juan, and Don George de Prunaria de Mallaga, besides others of special account whose names have not yet been reported. The admiral of the hulks and the Ascension of Seville were both sunk at the side of the Revenge. One other ship, which got into the road of San Miguel, sank there also; and a fourth ship had to run on shore to save her men. Sir Richard, as it is said, died the second or third day on board the general, much bewailed by his enemies; but we have not heard what became of his body, whether it were committed to the sea or buried on land. The comfort remaining to his friends is, that he ended his life honourably, having won great reputation for his nation and his posterity, and hath not outlived his honour.