THE FRENCH WARS 



It was not an important operation, but it had important effects because 

 there was little doubt that Queen Margaret of Anjou was actively con- 

 cerned in it, and her treachery was shown up in sharp contrast to the 

 conduct of Henry V's Queen Katherine, whose loyalty to her adopted 

 land had made her very popular with the people. 



Warwick the King-maker. 



The history books regard Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, 

 principally as a soldier and a none too scrupulous politician, but he 

 deserves a very big place in the history of the sea. His uncle was 

 Richard, Duke of York, so that it is not altogether surprising that in 

 1455 Warwick was given the position of Captain of Calais, a position of 

 infinite possibilities to a man of his ability and energy. When his uncle 

 was displaced, Warwick, safe in a fortress that all the French armies 

 could not capture, was far too big to touch, and accordingly he was left 

 in his position and further honours heaped on him. The position of 

 Admiral gave him a reason and power to collect a fleet which he used 

 with great ability. A Spanish fleet was encountered in the Channel and 

 annihilated, and a few weeks later the salt fleet of the Hanse towns on 

 its way to Liibeck was taken, giving the captor prizes valued at £10,000, 

 in addition to the number that were driven ashore. The Hanse towns 

 were in a position to make themselves unpleasant in London, and as we 

 were supposed to be at peace both with Spain and the Hanse, Warwick 

 was called to London to explain himself. He came with his usual 

 retinue, and it is not altogether surprising that a brawl occurred, of which 

 he took full advantage to allege that an attempt had been made on his 

 life. He returned to Calais, and when the Wars of the Roses were 

 renewed he came back again with his Calais Army, but was deserted by 

 the greater part of it at Ludlow and escaped with difificulty. A little 

 party of six succeeded in reaching Barnstaple and in hiring a fishing 

 vessel, but the master got nervous of what the results of his action might 

 be, and pleaded that he did not know the Channel and could not go on. 

 The fact that Warwick was able to take the helm and reach Calais proved 

 that he was a practical sailor as well as a soldier at sea, as so many 

 admirals were in those days. When Lord Rivers was ordered to take a 

 fleet from Sandwich and forcibly eject him from Calais, Warwick had 

 the audacity to send in his lieutenant, Sir John Denham, with a small 

 squadron, seize Lord Rivers and his son in their beds at daybreak, and 

 return to Calais with the whole fleet following him joyously. Warwick 

 never lost his popularity with seamen, and it is probably this factor that 

 had much to do with his success. In the next year when he was at sea 

 he encountered a vastly superior Lancastrian fleet in the Channel, but 

 the Duke of Exeter knew the temper of his men too well to risk attack- 

 ing him, and to Warwick's honour it must be admitted that he refused 

 to destroy British ships and seamen unless it was absolutely neces- 

 sary. The latter part of his life until his death, sword in hand at 

 the Battle of Barnet, was little concerned with the sea, but he had already 

 made his mark on its history. 

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