Armada was orgamscd in three sqnadrons.' The Vail Was I)on Ahmso de la.yva. the main body nnder Medina SitIonia himself. and the rear under Jnan 5Iartinez de Recaldc; bnt it wouhl appear that. in his course u !, ('hanncl. Medina Sidonia hrd lcyva's sqmtdron on his left, and Recahle's sqnadron on his right; and that the terms van and rear applicl rather to the relative ranks of the commanders of the squadrons than to the positions of the squadrons in the fit.ft. The Arm;tt!:t, there is little doubt. went at this time before the wind in the form of t hngc crescent, of which the main body constituted the centre and fircmost portion. and the van and rear the wings?

The English:' contented themselves with & long-range fire ripoil the Spanish port (Leyva's) squadron. and. pressing acss the rear of the crescent. hotly engaged llccalde. n'ho, continues Mcdin Sidoni; in the report a sent home by the hands of l)on 14altasat de Zufiig;,--

"stood first and ahode the assault of the enemy, although he saw that he was Iing lea unsupl,orte, I, [m,,st ol] the Daher] ships of his rearguanl taking fige the main body of lite Armada. The enemy assaiha{ with heavy gtmfire, but did not close, and his vessel sullk. red much in her rigging. her litrestay Iing cut, and her fiatmast having two large shot in it? In the rear [of the alu:t,h'on ]. Sul,portmg Recahle, were the tlra-tlrl,, with lh,n Diego !'iracreel, and l),m Diego Enriquez, Peru. The commander-in-chief's flagship struck her Ihretopsail and let fly the sheets and, coming t,, the wind, waite, l s Ibr the rear squadron in order to convoy it into the main body of the fleet. Sting this, the enemy drew ofl and lhe Duke collected his [)IT; bnt was unal,le to d, 1111*l'e, becanse the enemy always had the WIlI, I :tlld the enemy's ships were so first and handy that the was nothing which couhl not be done with them. That day, in the evening, Don Pedro de Vahles ran tirol of the ship fa&tlimt, of his division, h,ing his bowsprit and fix. sails, and with,lrew int, the main by of the fleet to relnir dam:gs. The Armada malltvnvred until 4 P.L, to recover the wind of the enemy. At that hour, on board [the tiagshil, ] of lhc vice-a, hniral of t lqttelnh,'s division, some pwder-l:n'rels to,,k fire, an,l her two decks and I,O,q were blown rip. In her was the paymaster-general of the Armada, with l,art t;f the king's t'sm'e. The duke, seeing the vessel maining behind, headed the llagship for her, an,l fired a gun as a signal titat the fleet should d,, the same. lie also ordered brats to

I i)nro, altec. 1{;. See also doc. 105, I'- > and doc. lS5, p. 37;. a St an interesting note in Tilton, pp. 5. s 'alder,n says that they were in very fine order.

• The ships which engage, i Rahle were chiefly those of Drake.

Din'o, doc. D;5. 

s Both Calderon and Vanegas mhuit that some c:tpt:tins I,ehaYel disgracefitlly.

Calderon says that other Spanish ships were damagal also. 

I }uro, doc. 1ES, p. 377 (account of Captain Ahmso Vaneg), says that three English ships :tttackol the commander-in-chieL Vaneg:ts prais the marelet in which the English guns were serve,/.

Juan de l[uerta: Dttro, does. 110, 17 l; or ./nan ,Ic Jucrta: I)uro, ,toe. 185.