The whole strength of the English and Dutch fleets together, consisted only of fifty-six ships; his Lordship therefore, seeing that he was outnumbered by above twenty sail, was not willing to risk his own honour and the safety of the nation upon such unequal terms, but the Queen, who was then Regent, sent him orders to fight at all events, in order to oblige the French to withdraw from the English coast. In obedience to this order, his Lordship, on the 20th of June, as soon as it was daylight, gave the signal for drawing into a line of battle, and bore down upon the enemy. The signal for battle was thrown out at about eight o’clock, and the engagement began about nine. The Dutch squadron, which formed the van of the united fleets, fell in with the van of the French, and threw them into disorder. About half-an-hour after Admiral Russell, and Admiral Ashby with the Blue squadron, engaged the rear of the French very warmly; but the Red Squadron, which formed the centre of the fleet, and was commanded by the Earl of Torrington, did not come up till about ten; and this occasioned a great opening between the Blue squadron in the rear and the Dutch in the van, which the French taking an advantage of, caused the Dutch to suffer very much. In the night the Earl retired to the eastward, with the French pursuing him as far as Rye; from thence he retreated towards the river Thames, where, on going ashore, he left the command of the fleet to Sir John Ashby. The French were as much censured for not taking every advantage which this victory afforded them, as the Earl was blamed for the defeat; for the French retired to their own coasts, and after the beginning of August were no more seen in the English Channel. The Earl of Torrington, as soon as he came to London, was examined before the Council, before whom he vindicated his conduct with great presence of mind. He assigned two reasons for his behaviour in this important transaction: the first was, the ill-grounded contempt the English and Dutch officers had of the abilities of the French fleet at sea; the second was, that he had acted to the best of his knowledge in saving the fleet, and that he had much rather his reputation should suffer for a time, than his country should sustain a loss which it might never be able to recover; but the Council were so far dissatisfied with these reasons, and they committed his Lordship to the Tower; and that they might appease the clamours of the populace, and make some satisfaction to the Dutch, they appointed a committee to repair to Sheerness, in order to make a thorough enquiry into the real causes of this disaster.