Note 227 — LETTER IV.

For a fuller account of the siege and capture of Gerba or Djerbé or Gelves the reader is referred to Prescott’s Philip II., vol. ii. book iv. chap. 1, and Von Hammer, book xxxiii. The Spanish historians cited by Prescott are so conflicting that he defies the reader to reconcile them, but Busbecq’s narrative, as far as it goes, may be considered of the highest authority, as no doubt it was founded on what he heard from his friend Don Alvaro de Sandé, who commanded the garrison. In the spring of 1559 the Duke of Medina Celi, the Viceroy of Sicily, was ordered to fit out an expedition against Tripoli and its corsairs, to which Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Sicily, Genoa, and Malta furnished contingents. John Andrew Doria, nephew of the great Andrew Doria, commanded the Genoese forces. The fleet consisted of more than 100 sail, including 54 galleys, and had 14,000 troops on board. The armament assembled at Syracuse, from which they sailed in November. They met with such bad weather, however, that they were forced to put into Malta, where they stayed more than two months refitting. So much time had now been lost, that they gave up the attempt on Tripoli as hopeless, and attacked Djerbé instead. They took it without much difficulty on March 14, and spent two months there fortifying it, and placed in it a garrison of 5,000 men, commanded by Don Alvaro de Sandé. As the troops were preparing to re-embark, news was brought of the approach of the Turkish fleet. A council of war was held, in which opinions were divided; but the arrival of the Turkish fleet under the command of Pialé, which included 86 galleys, each with 100 Janissaries on board, saved them the trouble of deciding (May 14). The Christians were seized with panic. Many of their ships were sunk, and many more surrendered. A few took refuge under the guns of the fortress. The Duke of Medina Celi and Doria were among those who escaped, and they took advantage of the darkness of the following night to fly to Sicily in a frigate. Next morning Pialé commenced the siege. After a breach had been made, he assaulted the fortress, but was repulsed with great loss, and several other attacks of the Turks met with the same fate. The siege lasted nearly three months, although at the end of six weeks provisions and water had begun to fail. On July 31, 1560, two hours before dawn, Don Alvaro, accompanied by hardly 1,000 men, sallied out and tried to cut his way through, with the intention of seizing a vessel and escaping, but the attempt proved unsuccessful, and the same day the rest of the garrison surrendered. On September 27 the victorious fleet returned to Constantinople, as described in the text. Don Alvaro lived to take ample vengeance for all he had suffered. When the Spaniards raised the siege of Malta in 1565 Don Alvaro, as second in command, again encountered his old opponent Pialé. The gallant Spaniard was in the thick of the fighting, had a horse killed under him, and was one of those who contributed most to the defeat of the Turks.