Famous Sea Fights, from Salamis to Tsu-ShimaAtteridge, A. Hilliard (Andrew Hilliard)
History
Famous Sea Fights, from Salamis to Tsu-Shima
Atteridge, A. Hilliard (Andrew Hilliard)
Naval battles
The pursuers gave up the chase and returned to where Don Juan and the other
admirals were securing their prizes, clearing the decks of dead, collecting
the wounded, and hurriedly repairing damages. It was now after four
o'clock, and less than three hours of daylight remained for these
operations. Besides the handful that had escaped with Ulugh Ali, a few
galleys had got away into the Gulf of Corinth, making for Lepanto, but the
great Turkish armada had been destroyed, and the victorious armament was
mistress of the Mediterranean.
[Illustration: LEPANTO 4. ULUGH ALI'S COUNTER-ATTACK
(ABOUT 2.30 P.M.)]
The success had been dearly bought. On both sides the losses in the
hard-fought battle had been terrible. The allies had about 7500 men killed
or drowned, two-thirds of these fighting-men, the rest rowers. The nobles
and knights had exposed themselves freely in the mêlée, and Spain, Malta,
Venice, and the Italian cities had each and all their roll of heroic
dead. The list of the Venetians begins with the names of seventeen captains
of ships, including the admiral Barbarigo, besides twelve other chiefs of
great houses who fought under the standard of St. Mark in command of
companies of fighting-men. No less than sixty of the Knights of St. John
"gave their lives that day for the cause of Christ," to quote the annalist
of the Order. Several others were wounded, and of these the Prior
Giustiniani and his captain, Naro, of Syracuse, died soon after. One of the
knights killed in the battle was a Frenchman, Raymond de Loubière, a
Provençal. Another Frenchman, the veteran De Romegas, fought beside Don
Juan on the "Reale," and to his counsel and aid the commander-in-chief
attributed much of his success in the campaign. The long lists of the
Spanish, Neapolitan, Roman, and Genoese nobles who fell at Lepanto include
many historic names.
The losses of the defeated Moslems were still heavier. The lowest estimate
makes the number of the dead 20,000, the highest 30,000. Ali Pasha and most
of his captains were killed. Ali's two sons and several of his best
officers were among the prisoners. Fifteen Turkish galleys were sunk or
burned, no less than 190 ships were the prizes of the victors. A few
galleys had escaped by the Little Dardanelles to Lepanto. A dozen more had
found refuge with Ulugh Ali in the fortified harbour of Santa Maura. The
Algerine eventually reached Constantinople, and laid at the feet of Sultan
Selim the standard of the Knights of Malta, which he had secured when he
was in temporary possession of Giustiniani's flagship.
Don Juan's best trophies of victory were the 12,000 Christian slaves found
on board the captured galleys. They were men of all nations, and some of
them had for years toiled at the oar. Freed from their bondage, they
carried throughout all Christendom the news of the victory and the fame of
their deliverer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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