Part ii
., 1840, p. 379.
Footnote 39:
Maule’s ‘Campaigns of North Holland and Egypt,’ &c., p. 303.
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Since these excavations—these vaults of solitude—which excite some degree of awe from their magnitude, and the proud array of ordnance that arm them—have always been highly praised by military men, and been visited both by officers and others as a species of marvel at the fortress, it will not be out of place to introduce the projector—Henry Ince—to notice. He was born in 1737 at Penzance in Cornwall, was brought up to the trade of a nailor, and afterwards acquired some experience as a miner. Early in 1755 he enlisted into the 2nd Foot, and served some time with it at Gibraltar, where he had been much employed on the works in mining and blasting rock. After a service of seventeen and a half years in the 2nd regiment, he joined the company, then forming, on the 26th June, 1772. The same day he was promoted to be sergeant. Having showed superior intelligence in the execution of his duties as a foreman, and distinguished himself by his diligence and gallantry during the siege, he was, in September, 1781, selected for the rank of sergeant-major. In the following year he suggested the formation of the galleries, and was honoured by being directed to conduct the work himself. This he continued to do until it was finished. As “overseer of the mines,” he had the executive charge of all blasting, mining, battery building, &c., at the fortress, and was found to be invaluable. He was active, prompt, and persevering, very short in stature, but wiry and hardy in constitution; was greatly esteemed by his officers, and frequently the subject of commendation from the highest authorities at Gibraltar. In February, 1787, when the Duke of Richmond was endeavouring to economize the ordnance expenditure at the Rock, the emoluments of sergeant-major Ince claimed his attention: but remembering his fair fame, his Grace thus wrote concerning him:— “I do not object to sergeant-major Henry Ince being continued as overseer of mines at 4_s._ per day, as I understand, from all accounts, that he is a meritorious man, and that he distinguished himself during the siege; but, as such allowance, _in addition to his pay_, is very great, I desire it may not be considered as a precedent; and whoever succeeds him must only receive 2_s._ 10_d._ per day, like the foremen in other branches, if he should be appointed a foreman.” In 1791, after a period of thirty-six years' active service, he was discharged from the company, but was still continued on the works as an overseer. On the 2nd February, 1796, he was commissioned as ensign in the Royal Garrison Battalion, and on the 24th March, 1801, was promoted to be lieutenant. In 1802 the regiment was disbanded. All this time, however, Ince was attached to the department as assistant-engineer; but at length, having worn himself out in the service of the fortress, he returned to Penzance, and died in June, 1809, at the age of seventy-two.[40]
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Footnote 40:
Ince had a farm at the top of the Rock, which is still called by his name. He had an only son, a clerk in the Commissariat department at Gibraltar, under Commissary-general Sweetlove, who, together with his wife, died in the fever of 1804, leaving an infant son, who was brought up by his grandmother. The eldest daughter of Lieutenant Ince was married at Gibraltar to Lieutenant R. Stapleton, of the 60th Rifles, who exchanged with Lieutenant Croker into the 13th Foot, and then sold out.
One day Mr. Ince was trotting at an easy pace up the Rock, when the Duke of Kent, overtaking him, observed, “That horse, Mr. Ince, is too old for you.” “I like to ride easy, your Royal Highness,” was the subaltern’s meek reply. “Right, but you shall have another, more in keeping with your worth and your duties;” and soon afterwards the Duke presented him with a very valuable steed. The old overseer, however, was unable to manage the animal, and he rode again to the works on his own quiet nag. The Duke, meeting him soon after, inquired how it was he was not riding the new horse, when Ince replied, he was unable sufficiently to curb his spirit and tranquillize his pace. Ince then prayed his Royal Highness to honour his servant by receiving the noble creature into his stud again. “No, no, overseer,” rejoined the Duke; “if you can’t ride him easily, _put him into your pocket_!” The overseer readily understood his Royal Highness, and exchanged the beautiful steed for his worth in doubloons.
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Among the various stirring incidents narrated by Drinkwater, is the following, relative to the peculiar advantage of the boys of the soldier-artificer company during the siege.
“In the course of the day,” 25th March, 1782, “ a shot came through one of the capped embrasures on Princess Amelia’s Battery (Willis’s), took off the legs of two men belonging to the 72nd and 73rd regiments, one leg of a soldier of the 73rd, and wounded another man in both legs; thus four men had seven legs taken off and wounded by one shot. The boy, who was usually stationed on the works where a large party was employed to inform the men when the enemy’s fire was directed to that place, had been reproving them for their carelessness in not attending to him, and had just turned his head toward the enemy, when he observed this shot, and instantly called for them to take care; his caution was, however, too late; the shot entered the embrasure, and had the above-recited fatal effect. It is somewhat singular that this boy should be possessed of such uncommon quickness of sight as to see the enemy’s shot almost immediately after they quitted the guns. He was not, however, the only one in the garrison possessing this qualification; another boy, of about the same age, was as celebrated, if not his superior. Both of them belonged to the artificer company, and were constantly placed on some part of the works to observe the enemy’s fire; their names were Richmond (not Richardson, as stated by Drinkwater) and Brand; the former was reported to have the best eye.”[41] Joseph Parsons,[42] another youth of the company, was also employed as a _looker-out_ on the works; and though his name has escaped the notice of the historian, he was nevertheless no less efficient.
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Footnote 41:
‘Drinkwater.’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 108.
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Footnote 42:
Parsons joined the company in February, 1779, and was discharged, as a private artificer, 1st January, 1809, on 1_s._ 4_d._ a-day.
It was an object that every one in the fortress should be rendered useful in some way or other, and the boys of the company—out of sympathy for their youth—were, for some time after the commencement of the siege employed on the works at Europa quarry, then but little annoyed by the enemy’s fire. At length, inured to labour, and taught by events to expect danger, it was considered of greater advantage to occupy their time at the different batteries; and on the 15th February, 1782, the Chief Engineer directed their removal to the works and fortifications,[43] with the view of looking out for the enemy’s projectiles, and giving warning of their approach. On the 21st June following, such of the boys as were masons in the company were engaged under Mr. Hutchinson, a civil foreman, in rounding stones, agreeably to the instructions of Major Lewis of the artillery. These stones, according to Drinkwater, were “cut to fit the calibre of a 13-inch mortar, with a hole drilled in the centre, which being filled with a sufficient quantity of powder, were fired with a short fuse to burst over the enemy’s works.” It was an unusual mode of annoyance, and for its novelty was employed for some time; but not effecting the damage that was desired, it was ultimately laid aside.[44] On the failure of this experiment, the boys returned to the perilous posts assigned to them on the batteries to look out. At this duty they continued as long as the siege lasted, and doubtless, by their vigilance in its execution, they were the means of saving many valuable lives, or otherwise preventing casualty.
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Footnote 43:
Order Book—Chief Engineer’s.
Footnote 44:
‘Order-Book’ (Chief Engineer’s) of 21st June, 1782; and ‘Drinkwater,’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 118.
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Of the two boys who have been so favourably noticed by Drinkwater, it may not be unacceptable to devote a small space here to their brief but honourable history. Their names were Thomas Richmond[45] and John Brand; the former was known at the Rock by the familiar sobriquet of _shell_, being the better looker-out; and the latter by the name of _shot_. Richmond was trained as a carpenter; Brand as a mason. Their fathers were sergeants in the company.[46] Richmond’s was killed at the siege. As might be expected, the beneficial services of these boys at the batteries acquired for them no common celebrity and esteem.
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Footnote 45:
Not Richardson, as Drinkwater has it, p. 108.
Footnote 46:
Brand’s father, a mason by trade and a Perthshire man, was the first artificer enrolled in the company.
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The siege being over, the youths were sent to Mr. Geddes’s school, at that time the principal seminary at Gibraltar. This gentleman paid every attention to their instruction and improvement, and, as a consequence, they progressed rapidly in their studies. Being found quick, intelligent, and ingenious, some officers of the company patronized them, and placed them in the drawing-room under their own eye, with the view of making them competent to fill better situations. Brand in time became corporal, and Richmond lance-corporal, which ranks they held on the 8th May, 1789, when they were discharged from the corps, and appointed by the Commander-in-Chief assistant-draughtsmen.[47]
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Footnote 47:
‘Order-Book’ (Chief Engineer’s), 8th May, 1789.
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Having made considerable proficiency in their trades, they were employed for some years previous to their discharge as modellers, which art they continued to follow with great tact, skill, and perseverance, until they quitted the fortress. After several trial models of various subjects, these young men commenced the gigantic task of modelling Gibraltar, at which they worked with unwearied application for nearly three years. Succeeding so well in this their first great and public undertaking, Brand[48] was directed to make a model in polished stone of the King’s Bastion, and Richmond[49] a model of the north front of Gibraltar. Nearly the whole of the years 1790 and 1791 were spent in perfecting them; and for these noble specimens of art they were favoured with the flattering congratulations of the highest authorities at the fortress. The better to exemplify the appreciation entertained of the models, and of the merits and talents of the modellers, they were recommended to the Duke of Richmond for commissions. His Grace immediately ordered them to proceed to Woolwich, to undergo some slight preparatory training. That training was short—a few months sufficed, and then they were honoured with appointments as second lieutenants in the royal engineers. Their commissions were dated 17th January, 1793.[50] Soon the young subalterns, rich in intelligence and full of promise, were sent abroad; but before the close of the year, both fell a prey to the prevailing yellow fever in the West Indies.[51]
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Footnote 48:
Assisted by sergeant James Shirres, an ingenious artizan and modeller. This non-commissioned officer, after serving at the capture of Minorca, was made a sergeant-major of the company that served there, 2nd May, 1800, and on the 31st December, 1804, was appointed overseer in the royal engineer department at Plymouth.
Footnote 49:
Assisted by Antonio Marques, a Minorcaen artificer.
Footnote 50:
‘London Gazette,’ 13,494. 15 to 19 January, 1793.
Footnote 51:
The education of these youths is highly creditable to the officers of engineers. Many similar instances of boys in the corps acquiring distinction by their talents, have subsequently occurred, the honour of which, in great measure, is due to the officers. Assistance and encouragement they never fail to give in cases where their efforts are likely to meet with success, and numbers have thus qualified themselves to fill important situations with efficiency and credit, in their own profession, and afterwards in civil life. Richmond and Brand, however, are the only instances in which commissions have been given from the ranks of the artificers, or sappers and miners, into the corps of engineers.
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The three models alluded to were brought to England in 1793 by desire of General O’Hara. The large model of the entire Rock was deposited in the museum in the Royal Arsenal, and the other two were presented to His Majesty George III. Private Joseph Bethell had charge of the first model,[52] and Private Thomas Hague[53] of the other two. The large model, from being lodged in a public place open to visitors, was well known. It was an object of considerable attraction, “and was much admired,” so Drinkwater writes, “for beauty of execution and minute correctness.”[54] A visitor to the Arsenal in those days corroborates the just encomium of the historian, and thus records his impressions:—
“I walked yesterday morning to Woolwich Warren, that immense repository of military arts, the _palladium_ of our empire, where one wonder succeeds another so rapidly, that the mind of a visitor is kept in a continual gaze of admiration. Should I be asked what has made the strongest impression on mine, it is a magnificent view of the rock of Gibraltar, which was made there, formed of the very rock itself, on a scale of twenty-five feet to an inch, and presents a most perfect view of it in every point of perspective.”[55]
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Footnote 52:
Drinkwater says (p. 108), “that one of the works of these young men, while pursuing their studies at Woolwich, was to finish the large model of the rock of Gibraltar.” The historian has certainly been misled here: the model was finished before it left the fortress, and did not reach the Arsenal until after its makers had been commissioned, and left England for the West Indies. The placement and adjustment of its several parts were intrusted to a military artificer named Bethell. He was to have been assisted by another private, who accompanied him for the purpose, from Gibraltar; but having broken his leg at Woolwich, his services were thus lost. Private John McNaughton, a carpenter of the Woolwich company, was put to the model in his place. I knew McNaughton well, and he assured me that the model was not touched by any hands but his own and Bethell’s, and that on no occasion were the modellers present during its fixation. McNaughton seems to have been an excellent artificer, and always an active soldier. During the mutiny of Parker, he was employed in repairing Tilbury Fort, and in erecting temporary defences below Gravesend. He afterwards served under the great Abercrombie in Egypt; next was employed in constructing the towers on the Sussex coast, at the time of the projected invasion of Napoleon; and, lastly, was many years in Newfoundland. He was discharged 24th January, 1815, on 1_s._ 4_d._ a-day, and died at Woolwich in April, 1853, aged 84.
Footnote 53:
Hague was a tall, intelligent mechanic, a fine modeller, and a smart soldier. On account of these qualities, he was selected to take charge of the models for George III. Having put them together on their tables at Buckingham Palace, His Majesty, the Queen, and royal family, with other illustrious personages of the court, came to see them. Hague was cited before them to explain the model, and to point out the defences which, from their prominence in the late siege, had acquired historic identity. His observations were listened to with attention, and His Majesty awarded him a gratifying proof of his royal approbation. Soon afterwards Hague returned to Gibraltar, and on the 31st March, 1815, was discharged and pensioned at 1_s._ 8_d._ a-day. He was subsequently employed as a modeller in the grand store; was married in 1827; and died at the Rock about 1833, upwards of 100 years old.
Footnote 54:
‘Drinkwater.’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 108.
Footnote 55:
To this the visitor adds a description of the model, which is adjoined here, on account of the model itself having long since been destroyed. “First then,” says the writer, “are the Spanish lines; then the perpendicular rock, rising bold from the neck of the neutral ground, which is not many feet above high-water mark. On the east, or left hand, is the Mediterranean Sea; and on the west, within the mole or pier, is the Bay of Gibraltar, in which the largest ships in the British Navy may ride safe. The garrison, town, and forts, are to the westward, whence the rock rises with a more gradual acclivity to the summit,—the east side of which is also perpendicular, and inhabited by monkeys. On the highest point is the Levant Battery, which is nearly three times and one half the height of St. Paul’s church, or 1375 feet above the level of the sea. The southern extremity of the model of this rock towards Europa Point, being too large for the room, and less important, is cut off. This description ought to fill a volume.”—Gentleman’s Magazine,