CECIL, Sir EDWARD, Viscount Wimbledon (1572–1638), naval and military commander, was the third son of Sir Thomas Cecil, second lord Burghley and first earl of Exeter [q. v.], grandson of Sir William Cecil, first lord Burghley [q. v.], and nephew of Sir Robert Cecyll, first earl of Salisbury, whose deviation from the paternal spelling of the name he systematically adopted. He was born on 29 Feb. 1571–2, and entered the military service in the Low Countries about 1596; in 1599 he was appointed captain of a company of English foot-soldiers, and in May 1600 was appointed to a troop of cavalry, which he commanded at the battle of Nieuport, under Sir Francis Vere. In 1601 he commanded a body of one thousand men raised in London for the relief of Ostend, then besieged by the Spaniards, and on his return in September was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. In the spring of 1602 he was colonel of a regiment of English horse under Prince Maurice, and served in the expedition into Brabant and at the siege of Grave. He continued actively serving during the years immediately following, and achieved a high reputation for valour and conduct. In 1610 he commanded the English contingent of four thousand men under Prince Christian of Anhalt, at the siege of Juliers, 7–17 July to 12–22 Aug.
At court his credit stood at least as high as it did in the camp. In March 1612 he was sent, as the prince's proxy, to stand sponsor to the child of Count Ernest of Nassau; in April 1613 he had a commission to receive and pay all moneys for the journey of Lady Elizabeth and her husband, and in November he was ordered to request his lady to attend the electress at Heidelberg. In January 1617–18 he was suitor for the comptrollership, and also in February for the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster; but though supported by the Duke of Buckingham he was unsuccessful. In 1620 he was nominated by Buckingham to command the English troops in Germany, but was superseded by Sir Horace Vere on the demand of Count Dohna, the agent of the king of Bohemia in England. A violent quarrel ensued between Cecil and Dohna, in the course of which Cecil assured his opponent that it was only his character as an ambassador which protected him from a demand for personal satisfaction. He has been credited with a speech in the House of Commons (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 5 Feb. 1620–1) on the importance of granting an immediate supply to the Palatinate; a good, honest speech, which was published under Cecil's name (1621, 4to); but Professor Gardiner has been reluctantly forced to the conclusion that it is a forgery (Hist. of England, iv. 29 n.). On 4 June, however, when Sir James Perrot called on the house to declare that if the negotiations then on foot failed, ‘they would be ready to adventure their lives and estates for the maintenance of the cause of God and of his majesty's royal issue,’ Cecil, in seconding the motion, said: ‘This declaration comes from heaven. It will do more for us than if we had ten thousand soldiers on the march.’
During all these years Cecil was markedly supported by the Duke of Buckingham; and in 1625, when the expedition against the coast of Spain was determined on, Buckingham, though nominating himself to the supreme command, as generalissimo, appointed Cecil as his deputy, with the title of lord marshal and general of the sea and land forces; ‘the greatest command,’ it was said, ‘that any subject hath had these hundred years’ (Court and Times of Charles I, i. 53). Buckingham offered indeed to procure him an appointment from the king; but Cecil, ‘not to lessen the duke's honour, took it from himself’ (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 16 March 1629–30). Notwithstanding these high-sounding titles the preparations were wretched in the extreme. The men were raw levies, and the officers, for the most part, no better; the fleet was mainly composed of merchant ships, hastily pressed into the service, and commanded by men ignorant of war and discontented at the part they were compelled to undertake. Even the general had never yet held any independent command, and was totally ignorant of naval affairs. Nevertheless Buckingham anticipated an easy success. The king came down to Plymouth to review the troops and the fleet, and it was officially announced that Cecil was to be raised to the peerage as Viscount Wimbledon.
After many delays the fleet finally got to sea on 8 Oct., with vague instructions to undertake some operation against the coast of Spain. On 20 Oct., after rounding Cape St. Vincent, a council of war was at last held, in order to determine on what point the attack should be made. It was decided to land at St. Mary's (Puerto de Santa Maria), in Cadiz Bay, and from it to march to San Lucar, a distance of twelve miles. Orders were therefore given out to anchor at St. Mary's. But as the fleet arrived at its station a number of ships were seen in the outer harbour of Cadiz. No orders had provided for this contingency. Essex, who was leading in the Swiftsure, stood towards them, interchanged a few random shot, and, with his topsails brailed up, waited in hopes of being ordered to attack; but receiving no instructions, and the ships of his squadron showing
