De Ruyter, highly pleased with what he had performed, left Admiral Van Nes with part of his fleet in the mouth of the Thames, and sailed with the rest to Portsmouth, in the hope of burning the ships there. Failing in this design, he sailed westward to Torbay, where he was likewise repulsed. Then he returned back again to the mouth of the Thames and with twenty-five sail came as high as the Hope, where our squadron lay under the command of Sir Edward Spragge. This consisted of eighteen sail; yet, the admiral not being on board when the enemy began the attack, the English fleet suffered at first from their fire-ships; but Sir Edward repairing to his command, and being joined by Sir Joseph Jordan with a few small ships, quickly forced the Dutch to retire. The like success attended their attack on Landguard Fort, which was performed by sixteen hundred men, commanded by Colonel Doleman, a republican, under the fire of their whole fleet: but Governor Darrel, an old cavalier, beat them off with great loss. On the 23rd Van Nes sailed again up the river as far as the Hope, where he engaged Sir Edward Spragge, who had with him five frigates and seventeen fire-ships. This proved a very sharp action, at least between the fire-ships, of which the Dutch writers themselves confess they spent eleven to our eight. The next day the English attacked the Dutch in their turn, and, notwithstanding their superiority, forced them to retire and to burn the only fire-ship they had left, to prevent her being taken. On the 25th they bore out of the river with all the sail they could make, followed at a distance by Sir Edward Spragge and his remaining fire-ships. On the 26th, in the mouth of the river, they were met by another English squadron from Harwich, consisting of five men-of-war and fourteen fire-ships. These boldly attacked the Dutch, and grappled the vice-admiral of Zealand and another large ship; but were not able to fire them, though they frightened a hundred of their men into the sea. In this struggle the rear-admiral of Zealand was forced on shore, and so much damaged thereby as to be obliged to return home. While the whole Dutch fleet was employed in alarming our coasts, Sir Jeremiah Smith was sent with a small squadron northwards; with which, and the assistance of a numerous fleet of privateers, already abroad for their own profit, the Dutch commerce to the Baltic was in a manner ruined, and multitudes of rich prizes were daily brought into English ports. Thus it may be truly said that the nations at this time changed characters. The Dutch preferred the insult at Chatham, which, all things considered, was of little or no consequence to them, to the preservation of their trade; and the English endeavoured to make themselves amends for this unexpected loss of a few men-of-war by taking numbers of merchantmen.