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alternatehistory.com
For lack of a fair wind
It is often said that history is written by the victors. This, to a large extent, is true in the case of the 1588 Spanish armada. While many people dismiss the invasion of the Spanish Armada as being untenable and inevitable to defeat, the reality is that had Medina Sidonia, the admiral in command of the Armada, followed his instinct and not the orders of Philip II and rode in on the tide into Plymouth harbour, the English fleet could have been destroyed leaving England’s coast undefended.
In this particular timeline, however, Medina gathered his courage and gave the orders to commence the attack at the Council of War[FONT="][/FONT]. It was thus; on July 20th the Spanish fleet sailed into Plymouth Harbour and crushed the anchored English fleet there. The only consolation that the English had was that the two admirals, Lord Howard and Sir Francis Drake both escaped the following carnage as each English ship was subject to a massive cannonade of fire. More than twenty-four of the English ships were taken as battle prizes.
England’s worse fears had come true; the coasts of England were completely open to Spanish invasion, and nothing stood between the Armada and Parma’s veteran forces. Despite delays in communication between Parma and the Armada, the fleet arrived at Parma’s position at July 29th, safely harboured in the knowledge that no attack could take place against the fleet. Despite the lack of obstacles between the Armada and Parma, however, communications remained poor and thus by the time the Armada arrived, the majority of Parma’s forces were scattered across Calais in order to save supplies[FONT="][ii][/FONT]. Despite this, within 48 hours the Army of Flanders, soon to be remaned the Army of England, was gathered and beginning to board the Armada.
Even as this was going on, however, Queen Elizabeth was facing trouble. With the knowledge that the Spanish Armada had free access to England, the army gathered from the surrounding villages of Essex and from the Holland Expeditionary force had begun to desert in huge numbers, leaving only 3,000[FONT="][iii][/FONT]. It was clear to Elizabeth that if there had been any chance of stopping the Spanish, it would have been at sea. It was thus that on the advice of Sir John Norris who commanded the forces of the southeast that she withdrew the small army back to London on August 3rd, with orders going ahead to London to marshal the London militias, many of whom had been drilling twice a week since March. At the same time, the southern militias were ordered to gather at Berkshire under the command of Admirals Howard and Parma, who had escaped the debacle at Plymouth with more than 3,000 armed sailors around which the militias were to gather with any weaponry they could find.
On August 6th, the Armada landed at Essex near Tilbury Fort. More than 36,000 soldiers landed and had within a few hours moved and captured several surrounding villages. Vigorous questioning of several villages led to the information that Elizabeth had fled to London. At the same time of the questioning, many of the Spanish soldiers began to engage in widespread looting and rape[FONT="][iv][/FONT]. Although the Essex Atrocities are lesser known in comparison to later events, more than two hundred civilians were killed, with particular attention being paid to Protestant Churches, the majority of which were burnt.
Despite this less than ideal start to the Spanish invasion of England, Parma soon restored order amongst the newly named Army of England and leaving behind 6,000 troops, marched with 30,000 towards London. Although the majority of soldiers amongst this army came from Spain and had spent the better part of a month in the Armada, the key centre of his force came directly from fighting in the United Provinces. This veteran centrepiece continued to set the tone for which the remainder of the army had to follow. Over fifty miles lay between the landing point and London itself. On the march, at every town Parma found nearly every one of its male inhabitants to be missing; further questioning led to the knowledge that every man was being conscripted in preparation for the defence of London.
It says something to Parma’s military discipline that the Army of England reached London a mere day after Elizabeth’s own forces had, despite the English almost having a three day start[FONT="][v][/FONT]. Almost immediately, several problems had been found in the defence of London. The only real defence that London could boast were its medieval walls which could easily breached. Even its defenders were outnumbered; as only 16,000 troops had been mustered from the surrounding regions of London. Despite this advantage, however, Parma didn’t make the killer blow, apparently choosing to lay siege to the east of London, its cannons occasionally firing at the walls. Parma even sent part of his army back, apparently to secure Essex. It wasn’t until three days later that the reason for Parma’s reluctance to engage became clear.
The River Thames had always been seen as a potential way in which London itself could be breached by foreign invaders. Yet, it had always been supposed that Tilbury Fort and other such defences would prove suitable to stop any riverborne invasion in its tracks. It is surprising, therefore, that Elizabeth and her ministers took little precaution in creating any defences. The one attempt to build a boom across the river to stop enemy shipping simply broke as soon as it reached high tide, and no further attempt was made to repair it[FONT="][vi][/FONT]. It was easy enough for a messenger riding by horse to simply make his way from London to where the fleet had docked at Haywich. From there, it was easy to separate more than 30 ships from the fleet and send them up the Thames, picking up the separated soldiers along the way and land them right in London itself.
Even as the Spanish ships sailed without any effective resistance down the Thames, dozens of civilians began to gather on the river side’s to watch the spectacle. To this day, it is unknown which ship began the terrible event, but regardless, an overzealous gun crew opened fire, quickly joined by countless other crews. As the screaming masses fled from the waterway, one of the cannonballs bounced over the heads and directly into a wooden shack where it caught fire. The fire rapidly spread through the city. At the worse possible moment, Parma, alerted to the start of his plan by a messenger, began his attack and diverted any possible fire response. The attack quickly broke through the pitiful defences, many defenders having fled near the start of the fighting either through cowardice or to preserve what they could of their homes. Before long, the attack floundered and in general good order, the Spanish formations fell back to the camp where they watched in astonishment as they saw the work of God done before them
On the river, countless numbers of small boats fled to its surface, many of them meeting their fates by drowning or through asphyxiation from the smoke. None of the Spanish ships sent into London that day ever returned, the burnt husks merely joining thousands of other remains. In a poem made by the famous Spanish priest, Juan de Yepes Alvarez, he wrote of the brave Catholic ships fighting the very bastion of hell alongside the angels and saints, who came down from heaven and fought alongside the sailors and soldiers. Amongst them, he added, died the demonness of the Protestant heresy herself; Queen Elizabeth.
The consequences of the Great Fire of London were clear; both the spiritual and secular heart of the nation had been ripped out. Not only had England’s capital been destroyed, but the government itself had fallen. Without a designated heir, England had been crippled. Parma had accomplished more with one battle than he could have any anywhere else. As news began to spread, eyes began to turn to the only real major area of resistance left in England; Howard and Drake to whom the remants of the Elizabethan government, including William Cecil, fled.
[FONT="][/FONT] In OTL, the Duke of Medina chose to continue to sail east towards the Isle of Wight rather than take the chance of attacking the English fleet
[FONT="][ii][/FONT] Communication is as bad as described. In OTL, Parma’s forces were indeed scattered and unprepared for the arrival of the Armada
[FONT="][iii][/FONT] In OTL, desertions were already taking place by the time the Armada had arrived at Calais, in ITTL, the destruction of the English fleet means that more are deserting
[FONT="][iv][/FONT] The Army of Flanders was well known for its discipline on the battlefield, but when off the battlefield were notorious for atrocities such as the Sack of Antwerp and its various mutinies when not paid regularly
[FONT="][v][/FONT] In 1592, Parma’s 22,000 strong army marched 65 miles in six days during the invasion of London; it isn’t hard to assume that Parma could have achieved the same when facing little resistance
[FONT="][vi][/FONT] This actually occurred in OTL
This is my first real Alternative Timeline which looks at what might happen had the Spanish Armada been more successful in the invasion of England. Don't forget to comment.