part 2
, 1790, vol. 60, p. 720. This was followed, in 1794, by Mr. Glenie, who, in a second edition of his ‘Observations,’ declared that the corps was unquestionably a great imposition on the public. With this announcement the party crusade against the royal military artificers terminated.
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1787—1788.
Constitution of corps—Master artificers—Officers—Rank and post of the corps—Captains of companies, stations—Allowance to Captains, Adjutants—Recruiting—Labourers—“Richmond’s whims”—Progress of recruiting—Articles of Agreement—Corps not to do garrison duty—Sergeant-majors—John Drew—Alexander Spence—Uniform dress—Working dress—Hearts o’pipe-clay—“The Queen’s bounty”—Arms, &c.—Distinction of ranks—Jews' wish.
The King’s authority “for establishing a corps of royal military artificers,” alluded to in the preceding chapter, was conveyed in a warrant, dated 10th October, 1787, to Charles Duke of Richmond. It was to consist of six companies of 100 men each. The constitution of each company, and the pay of its different ranks were fixed as follows:—
s. d. 1 Sergeant-major 2 3 a-day } 3 Sergeants each 1 9 ” } 4 Corporals each 1 7 ” } 2 Drummers } } _Privates_— { } Working-pay, in addition, 12 Carpenters { } not exceeding 9_d._ a-day 10 Masons { } to each non-commissioned 10 Bricklayers { } officer and man for the 5 Smiths { each 0 9 ” } days actually employed on 5 Wheelers { } the works. 4 Sawyers { } 8 Miners { } 2 Painters { } 2 Coopers { } 2 Collar-makers. { } 30 Labourers each 0 6 ” }
The sergeants consisted of a carpenter, a mason, and a smith, who were styled masters; and the corporals were a master bricklayer and a master wheeler, one foreman of miners and a foreman of labourers.[74] The civil master artificers had the offer of enlisting and being appointed to these ranks. Those who refused were discharged as soon as the military establishment was complete.
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Footnote 74:
Thus the higher branches of promotion were reserved to the three first classes of tradesmen, and none but men of the latter trades were promoted to the rank of corporals. This rule, though enforced as much as practicable, was necessarily deviated from in the lapse of a few years for the benefit of the service.
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Officers of the royal engineers were appointed to command the corps. All serving at the particular stations at which the companies were forming were attached to do duty with them.
When required to parade with other regiments, the corps was directed to take post next on the left of the royal artillery. The officers were to fall in with the corps.[75]
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Footnote 75:
The authority for this was not embodied in the warrant for raising the corps, but conveyed in a letter to the Duke of Richmond, dated 10th October, 1787. With regard to the officers falling in with their companies, it was necessary to issue a special order, as, by a previous warrant of the 25th April, 1787, the royal engineers were to take rank with the royal artillery, and to be posted on the right or left of that regiment, according to the dates of their commissions. At Gibraltar, it was the custom of the companies with their officers, to take the right of the artillery; and they were always inserted first in the Governor’s states and returns. This was a local arrangement occasioned, probably, on account of the companies being stationary at the fortress.
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The Duke of Richmond located the companies at the principal dockyards or military stations, and ordered the following officers to command them:—
Woolwich—Colonel Robert Morse. Chatham—Colonel William Spry. Portsmouth—Colonel John Phipps. Gosport—Lieut.-Colonel James Moncrief. Plymouth—Lieut-Colonel Fred. George Mulcaster.
One company was ultimately divided between the islands of Guernsey and Jersey.[76]
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Footnote 76:
The companies at Gibraltar, although similarly constituted, paid, and officered, remained a distinct and separate body until their incorporation with the corps in the year 1797.
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The officers above named were the commanding royal engineers at the respective stations.[77] To each was allowed the sum of 56_l._ per annum for defraying certain incidental items connected with his company; and a lieutenant of engineers was appointed adjutant, with an extra allowance of 2_s._ a-day, to assist in conducting the drill and in maintaining discipline.
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Footnote 77:
From this arrangement, it sometimes occurred that even a _Major-General_ was _captain_ of a company.
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The recruiting was carried on by the captains of companies, assisted by seven other officers of engineers, with several transferred soldiers of the royal artillery, at Landguard Fort, Tynemouth, Dover, Guernsey, Edinburgh, Fort George, and Berwick. They were not restrained from putting into operation any measure which seemed to be best calculated for obtaining recruits. There was no standard as to height fixed; but labourers were not enlisted over twenty-five years of age, nor any artificer over thirty, unless he had been employed as a mechanic in the Ordnance department, and known to be an expert workman of good character. All recruits, however, whether previously under the Ordnance or not, were “to be strong able-bodied men, free from all infirmity, and duly qualified for their several trades and occupations.” The miners were all got from Cornwall. The bounty given at first was five guineas to each attested recruit; which, on the 21st November, 1787, was reduced to the usual peace allowance of three guineas.
These general instructions for recruiting were soon afterwards[78] much altered by the Duke of Richmond, who was anxious to make the corps as perfect as possible with regard to tradesmen. On the decision of his Grace all the men were afterwards enlisted as labourers at 6_d._ a-day. The bounty was continued at three guineas. Growing lads from sixteen to eighteen years of age, not under five feet four inches high, were preferred before all others, and were instructed in the trades most required by the corps. Over eighteen years of age none were taken less than five feet six inches.
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Footnote 78:
In a letter bearing date 19th March, 1788.
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This was a measure of just precaution, as several men had already enlisted as artificers, who upon a fair trial were found to know but little of their craft. The Duke now thought to insure his object by enlisting every man as a labourer, and after a few months' experience of his abilities, promoting him to be an artificer, or retaining him as a labourer, until recommended for preferment. On promotion to artificers, each man received a bonus or reward of two guineas, an additional 3_d._ a-day pay, and was distinguished from a labourer by being allowed finer clothing and a gold-laced hat.[79] “I think,” wrote his Grace, “that this method, although the slowest, will in the end be the best means of acquiring a good corps of artificers.” Whatever may have been the result of this change, it shows that the Duke was interested in the most trifling concerns of the corps; so much so indeed, that the men were aware of it, and familiarly styled his measures and arrangements “Richmond’s whims.”
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Footnote 79:
For every labourer promoted, a guinea was granted to the master artificer, either civil or military, who had the credit of training him, as a compensation for his services and an encouragement to future exertion. This was sanctioned by his Grace in a letter dated 6th December, 1791.
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Great exertions were made to give effect to the Duke’s orders and wishes, particularly at Portsmouth and Plymouth, where the dockyards were to be fortified on a plan approved by his Grace. About three months after the date of the warrant, upwards of 100 men had been enrolled, besides several artificers transferred from the royal artillery to form the nucleus of each company. The growth of the corps was tardy at first and continued dilatory for a year and more; after which, however, as the prevailing prejudices began to die away, greater success was apparent.
As the enlistment of mechanics to work at their trades under military discipline was quite new to the country, the greatest care was taken to prevent misconception and complaint. The Duke of Richmond was sensible that both his plans for national defence, and for the establishment of a corps to accomplish them, were sources of suspicion and watchfulness on the part of the Opposition in Parliament; and hence he was cautious, particular, and explanatory, even to indulgence. The recruit was required to sign certain articles of agreement, showing fully his obligations to the service, and those of the public towards himself. Among the terms was prominently placed his engagement “to be liable to all military duties, subject to the articles of war, and all other military discipline like other soldiers, and to serve in any part of the world to which his Majesty might order him.”[80]
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Footnote 80:
This agreement was required to be attested by every recruit until about the year 1800, when it seems to have fallen into disuse.
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To protect the companies from being unnecessarily interfered with, and to insure their constant employment on the works, directions were given to the commandants or governors of the different garrisons where they were stationed, not to call upon them to do any duty that would take them from the public works, except in cases of war, internal commotion, or any very urgent necessity. Such has been the abiding rule of all garrisons to the present day, and the corps is only expected to provide its own essential guards.
The sergeant-majors were selected from the royal artillery, first being recommended as competent to drill and pay a company, and able to enforce discipline and maintain order, which were the duties they were particularly required to attend to. None were tradesmen. Most, if not all, had been in the American war, had distinguished themselves in action, and were promoted into the corps as a reward for their services.[81]
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Footnote 81:
John Drew was one of the sergeant-majors. He was the first soldier that entered the English corps of military artificers. On May 1st, 1795, he was commissioned to be second lieutenant in the invalid artillery, from which he retired in March, 1819, and died at Woolwich November 9, 1830. One of his daughters married the late Richard Byham, Esq., secretary to the honourable Board of Ordnance. A son—Richard Robinson Drew—attained the rank of Major in the royal artillery, and married Geriloma Barona, daughter of the late Marquis di Montebello. This lady died on the 4th September, 1854, and the Major survived her only four months. Both were interred in the family mausoleum at Messina. Though springing from a stock without any remarkable antecedents, good fortune seems to have attended the career of the offspring of the worthy sergeant-major; and much as his son may have added distinction to his race by his matrimonial alliance with a lady of high birth, it was still more honoured in the person of his granddaughter, who was wedded to the noble Prince di Castelcicala, the late Minister Plenipotentiary for Sicily.
Another of the sergeant-majors was Alexander Spence. He was born in 1726, and enlisted into the 20th Foot, January 16, 1756. After a service of 19 years in that regiment, and 14 as sergeant in the North Hants Militia, he joined the corps at the age of 61!! This is the period when men usually think of retiring from active employment and preparing for the end of life. Not so Spence. He was still a recruit, hale and hearty, and served his country for a further period of 21 years! If nature had taken her course, he might have lived to a great age, but disappointed in his expectation of receiving a sub-lieutenancy in the corps, he committed suicide January 11, 1809, at the age of 83.
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The uniform, which was issued every alternate year, consisted of a blue coat with long skirts, rolling collar, black cloth facings, white shalloon lining to the skirts, and lappels at the breast; which, with the slashes on the cuffs and pocket-holes, were laced with rectangular loops, having a button at one end of the loop. The buttons were similar in size, material, and device to those already described as being regimental at Gibraltar. At the breast frills were worn, and at the wrist small ruffles. The stock was of black leather with a false collar turned over it about a quarter of an inch. The breeches and waistcoats were of white cloth, and the gaiters of black cloth, which reached as high as the knee, and were secured round the leg by a row of small buttons, eighteen in number, on the outer seam. To prevent them twisting they were steadied by a button at the bend of the knee. The cocked hat, worn transversely, was ornamented with a binding of gold lace, a short red feather, horse-hair rosette, and gold loop and button. The hair was clubbed and powdered. Plate III.
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[Illustration:
Royal Military Artificers Plate III. UNIFORM 1787 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
]
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The working dress was a plain white raven duck, or canvas frock, reaching nearly to the ankles, with a rolling collar, and brass buttons down the front; white duck waistcoat and pantaloons, tongued and buttoned at the bottom, and plain black felt hats.[82] Leather stocks and frilled shirts were also worn. The hair was queued but not powdered. Plate IV.
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[Illustration:
Royal Military Artificers Plate IV. WORKING-DRESS, 1787 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
]
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Footnote 82:
While waiting for the issue of their regimental costume, the men, to appear smart and clean, pipe-clayed their frocks, vests, and pantaloons, and marched on Sundays to church as white as snow, and “stiff as buckram.” Unavoidably rubbing against each other during the service, the wash being thus set free, filled the sanctuary with clouds of white powder, which gave rise to the playful designation, by which they were known for some time, of “Hearts o’pipe-clay.”
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Two suits of this dress were furnished to every man annually—each suit lasted six months. They were also provided with a pair of serge breeches and a flannel waistcoat. Under what circumstances and on what occasions these articles were to be worn, was never determined, and the men were therefore at liberty to dispose of them as they pleased. To distinguish them from the necessary items of the working dress, they were denominated “The Queen’s Bounty.”
The arms of the rank and file were those common to the period—firelocks, pouches and cross belts of buff leather pipe-clayed. The sergeants had pikes, and long narrow thrust-swords—the latter purchased at their own expense: the gripe was steel, with a single gilt guard; the scabbard was black leather, mounted with a gilt tip, top and boss, and the shoulder belt, with a frog to hold the sword, was pipeclayed like those of the privates. The sergeant-majors wore swords and belts the same as the sergeants, but no pikes. The drummers were armed with brass-handled swords, short in the blade, but broader than the sergeants, and black scabbards with brass mounting. All ranks had a square breast-buckle to their belts; those of the superior ranks were gilt.
The distinctions in regard to rank were as follows:—_Labourers_, coarse clothing, yellow tape lace on their coatees and hats. _Artificers_, clothing of a much finer quality, same kind of tape lacing on their coatees, but gold lace on their hats. _Drummers_, same clothing as artificers, with this difference—instead of plain yellow tape, they had broad livery lace of a quality like tape, bearing the Ordnance arms of three guns and three balls, extending from the collar downwards in parallel stripes. _Corporals_, same as artificers in every respect, but, in addition, small gold-fringed knots on the shoulders.[83] _Sergeants_, crimson sashes and swords, gold lace on coats, but no knots on shoulders: they wore laced straps only. _Sergeant-majors_, sashes and swords, gold lace on coatees, bullion epaulettes, and silk velvet facings.
Footnote 83:
A yellow silk knot was regimental; this the corporals were permitted to dispose of for a gold-fringed knot. In most of the companies the corporals wore knots on each shoulder. In the Woolwich company, one only was worn on the right shoulder.
In the working dress there was no apparent distinction between the labourers, artificers, and drummers. The corporals and sergeants were distinguished by black hats of the same shape as the privates, with a gold-lace band, about an inch broad, around the bottom of the pole, and their frocks, &c., were finer in fabric and whiter in colour. The sergeant-majors always appeared in uniform, for which purpose they were allowed a complete suit annually.
It may not be amiss to notice, in connection with the dress of the corps, an interesting offer that was made to the companies at Gibraltar, on the change of their uniform from red and yellow to blue and black. At the fortress the companies were much esteemed for their good conduct and civility, and the best understanding existed between them and the inhabitants. This feeling of respect was particularly shared by the Jews, who desired to express it in a manner that would be more convincing than a mere verbal assurance. On the new clothing arriving at the Rock, the Jews, regarding the alteration with satisfaction, agreed among themselves to provide for the companies, as a mark of their regard, whatever gold lace might be required for the clothing, free of cost, to be worn in place of the yellow tape; but it need hardly be mentioned, that the desired deviations of this kind people from the established patterns of the corps could not be permitted.
1789—1792.
Appointment of Quartermaster and Colonel-Commandant—Distribution of corps, Captains of companies—Jealousy and ill-feeling of the civil artificers—Riot at Plymouth—Its casualties—Recruits wrecked on passage to Gibraltar—Song, “Bay of Biscay, O!”—Defence of the Tower of London against the Jacobins—Bagshot-heath encampment—Alterations in the uniform and working dress.
Heretofore the captains of the different companies communicated with the Master-General or his secretary direct. This led to much inconvenience, and tended to establish a distinctiveness of character and position for each company, that was neither contemplated nor desired. To prevent its continuance, the Duke of Richmond, on the 13th January, appointed Lieutenant William George Phipps, royal engineers, quartermaster to the corps; and on the 12th February, directed the chief royal engineer, Major-General Sir William Green, Bart.—who originated the companies at Gibraltar, and served with them at the fortress until November 1786—to be Colonel-Commandant. The former attended to all matters connected with the clothing, &c., and to the latter all the correspondence concerning the different companies was addressed.
The first complete returns of the corps which have yet been found occur in the month of February, immediately after Sir William Green’s appointment. From these returns and other documents, the following information relative to the distribution of the corps, the strength of the different companies, and the names of the captains, have been collected, viz.:—
Strength of Company. Captains. Woolwich 47 Colonel Robert Morse. Chatham 47 Colonel William Spry. Portsmouth 72 Lieut-Colonel Fred. Geo. Mulcaster. Gosport 69 Lieut.-Colonel James Moncrief. Plymouth 104 Lieut.-Colonel Edward W. Durnford. Guernsey 6 Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Mercer. Jersey Formation not commenced.
The company at Plymouth was above the established strength, arising from the works there being more important than at any other station. In May the strength of the half company at Guernsey was twenty-three of all ranks, and at Jersey twenty-one.
Symptoms of discontent were frequently shown by the civil mechanics in the Government service at the authorized employment of the military artificers. They looked upon the measure as a political move, or as a dangerous experiment to ascertain how it would work; and then, if found to answer, to extend a like control to the other workmen in the Crown establishments. This notion they imbibed from the expressed apprehensions of some leading men of the liberal party in parliament; and, as a consequence, they were jealous of the military artificers, whom they treated with great disrespect. A species of rivalry was thus induced that rather increased than allayed the feeling of mutual animosity. The civilians were not sparing of their taunts, nor were the military artificers as temperate in their retorts as might have been wished. Quarrels naturally ensued, individual feuds were frequent, and in this way did the civilians endeavour to hold up the military artificers to ridicule and disgrace for the purpose of goading the Government to disband them; but how far they succeeded the existence of the corps at this day affords a satisfactory reply.
At one of the stations the bad feeling that existed between the civil and military artificers was exhibited in an altercation that originated between the latter and some sailors, in which the dock workmen interfered. This brought about a serious rupture, the particulars and consequences of which are given below
Matches for wrestling and cudgelling between soldiers and sailors were arranged to take place in a field adjoining Stoke Church, near Plymouth, on the afternoon of the 4th June—the King’s birthday—on which occasion the soldier-artificers, in common with the civilians, were granted a holiday. The victors were to be rewarded with buckskin breeches and silver cups. But few of the military would venture to take part in the amusements, so that the company and the sailors, and some mechanics of the dock-yard, were the principal actors. The men of the soldier-artificers who entered the lists were chiefly from Cornwall and adepts at wrestling, They only went, however, to witness the games—not to join in them; and it was not till they were challenged that they entered the arena. Having done so, they exerted themselves according to the fashion of their country, and succeeded in gaining almost the whole of the prizes; which, as was natural, they bore away with suitable demonstrations of pride and pleasure.
A dispute arose between a couple of rivals about the unfair award of a prize. It was given to a sailor, although fairly earned by a military-artificer. The misunderstanding would have been easily settled had it been left to the wrestlers themselves to decide; but the dock people interfered, and fomented the quarrel, directing their abuse in particular to the soldier-artificers. For a time the latter calmly submitted to these insults, and yielded the prize for the sake of peace; but roused at length to retaliate, they sought satisfaction in the ordinary way by fighting. Overpowered, however, by numbers, they were very severely treated and driven into barracks, where they remained for two or three hours. At last, breaking this self-imposed restraint, they again appeared in the town, having taken the precaution to prepare themselves with pick-handles and short sticks concealed about their persons, to resist any attempt at violence on the part of the civilians; and the better to cope with their opponents, they walked into the streets, when occasion required, in small parties or sections; which, however, had the unfortunate semblance of defiance, and excited the sailors and dockmen to renew their insolence.
Thus aggravated, the military artificers fell upon the civilians and drove them pell-mell through the town. Intelligence of the resumed affray soon spread, and numbers of holiday folk joined the ranks of the rabble. Armed with bludgeons, staves, and broom-handles, the civilians paraded the streets, and finding a small party of the military artificers refreshing themselves at an inn, the rabble entered and furiously attacked them. Against such overwhelming odds the little party could not hold up, and being easily mastered, they were forcibly ejected from the house and pursued to the barracks.
What had happened was, as yet, merely a series of individual or sectional encounters—the preliminaries to something more serious. Galled by a second reverse, the military artificers now mustered in full strength, together with their non-commissioned officers, and sallied into the street, brandishing brooms, pick-handles, clumps of wood, and various other unmilitary weapons. Some marines and a few other soldiers, sympathizing with the company, joined in the unhappy broil. By this time the civilians and sailors were also considerably strengthened, and every moment crowds were pouring in to swell the hostile mob.
The instant the two parties came in sight the conflict recommenced. Closely and warmly it continued for about an hour, when the civilians gave way, running in all directions from the field and leaving the military victors. The mob, soon rallied, and assembled more numerous than before, on the government ground between Cumberland and St. George’s Squares, to make another and a final struggle for the ascendancy. Thither the military artificers with their partisans hurried. Nothing dismayed by the numbers collected to oppose them, they resumed the combat. Pokers, bars of iron, and bludgeons were used with merciless fury; stones of all sizes, broken bottles, and crockery-ware were thrown, and weapons even were pressed into the riot. The scene that ensued was frightful, and the civilians continued the contest with much rancour and obstinacy. They were routed once, but suddenly turning, they dashed at the soldiers again with a frenzy that deserved a better result. The effort exhausted them; the spirit of the soldiers was stirred afresh, and, plunging among the enraged but feeble throng, they spared none that had the daring to confront them. Beaten at every point by a handful of soldiers, the civilians faced about, and retreated precipitately from the contest by the nearest avenues. The military artificers and soldiers, flushed with success, would have pursued them, and repaid their insolence in a manner not soon to be forgotten; but by the activity of Captain Jonathan Passingham, of the 38th Regiment, who paraded the town with the main guard from the lines, the intention was frustrated. The conflict lasted several hours, and many of each party were left for dead. Several, however, soon recovered, and it was then found that the casualties were—one military artificer killed, and two severely wounded; and on the side of the sailors and dock men, one killed, two mortally wounded who died, and three severely wounded.[84] Of the less serious wounds and accidents, from which very few escaped, no notice appears to have been taken.
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Footnote 84:
‘Public Advertiser.’ June 11th, 1789.
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For three days the company was confined to barracks by order of the Commandant, to allay the popular excitement. But whatever may be thought of the part taken by the military artificers in this riot, certain it is that it taught the dock workmen a good lesson, and had the effect of repressing their insults and annoyances, and making their future demeanour more pacific and respectful.
Several recruits having enlisted in Scotland for the companies at Gibraltar, passage was provided for them on board a ship—the name of which cannot be confidently traced—and they landed or “joined” at the fortress on the 16th April, 1791. When in the Bay of Biscay the vessel encountered a white squall, accompanied by terrific thunder and lightning, which carried, away her main and foremasts. Each moment, indeed, her final plunge was expected, and the passengers and crew, clinging to spars and boxes, shreds of sails, and fragments of the dismantled bulwarks, as the last and only chance for their lives, awaited in suspense the time when the dread alternative must be taken. With the appearance of the morning, providentially came the desired calm. All hands immediately set to work to right the vessel; the jury-mast was rigged, and the shivered ship, once more under weigh, wore on with struggling throes, and made good her passage to the Rock. The wreck and its circumstances gave rise to a song, called “The Bay of Biscay, O!”[85]
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Footnote 85:
There exists two ballads with this title, one justly celebrated in the royal navy, written by Andrew Cherry, and embodied in Dibdin’s “Naval and National Songs,” and the other by a homely mariner, named, it is said, John Williams. Both songs may have taken their origin from the vessel spoken of above. Be this as it may, without doubt, one or the other was written to record the distress and struggles of the ship which conveyed the artificers to Gibraltar.
The incidents of the affair related in the first edition of this history were made to correspond with the seaman’s effusion, as there were reasons at the time for believing it referred to the vessel with the recruits on board; but, as on a closer review, there are doubts about its application, the details given in the former edition are omitted in this, leaving the question to be solved at a future day.
If the ballad of the seaman have reference to the ship in which the artificers sailed to the Rock, it differs in two known points from the facts of its voyage. The “Caroline” is the ship of the song, and she is said to have _sailed from Spithead on the fourteenth day of April_, whereas the party of recruits _sailed_ apparently _from Scotland, and positively_ landed, or, to use the official word, “_joined_,” _at Gibraltar on the 16th April_.
The seaman’s “Bay of Biscay, O!” is worked up in pure Grub-street doggrel; but bad as it is, it has been rendered worse, particularly in the last verse, by the tampering of some grossly vulgar hand. In the lapse of years the precise wording of that Catnach composition has probably been lost, and the version that exists, filled up by the imperfections of tradition, may have had its dates and places disturbed. In a printed form the ballad, seemingly, cannot be obtained.
If the differences just shown be considered fatal to the relationship between the sailor’s song and the vessel noticed in the narrative, then Cherry’s very popular ballad belongs to the history of the sappers and miners.
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In January and February, 1792, the Woolwich company was employed at the Tower of London, constructing an earthen battery for four guns in front of the gates, and a wooden battery for four guns, projecting from the coping of the wall of the fortress facing the Minories, to sweep the ditch and the hill. These defensive measures were undertaken by Captain Holloway of the engineers, sergeant John Watson being the overseer, and were intended to oppose any attack on the Tower which might be attempted by the turbulent Jacobins.
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[Illustration:
Royal Military Artificers Plate V. UNIFORM 1792 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
]
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The Prussian system of tactics being lately introduced into the army, it was ordered that a union of corps should take place to ascertain its efficiency. An encampment for the purpose was formed on Bagshot Heath, early in July, under the Duke of Richmond, the Master-General of the Ordnance. The regiments present were the 2nd, 3rd, 14th, and 29th Foot; two regiments of light dragoons, two battalions of artillery, and one company of military artificers, made up of men from the Woolwich, Chatham, Portsmouth, and Gosport, companies, under Lieutenant-Colonel Moncrief, royal engineers. The sergeant-majors of these four companies were present. A large quantity of intrenching implements and tradesmen’s tools accompanied the party. The encampment lasted for about a month, the troops marching from one position to another, and manœuvring in a body, as if in actual warfare. During this time there were three grand field-days and two _sham_ battles; at the whole of which his Majesty was present, as also, on some occasions, were the Prince of Wales and the Dukes of York and Gloucester. The company of artificers manœuvred with the troops when not otherwise required; but more generally they were employed in making bridges over small rivulets for the passage of the troops, throwing up occasional earthworks, as well as mining and constructing wooden redoubts. One of the mines was sprung on the 4th August, and created quite a spectacle. It raised the earth in a solid mass about thirty feet in diameter, throwing its contents to a considerable distance. Another mine was exploded on the 7th August, under one of the advanced redoubts, with equal success; but the third and last mine was the largest, and almost amazing in its effects. Of this mine some particulars have been preserved. Upon a round hill was erected one of Colonel Moncrief’s square wooden redoubts, that the results of the mine under it might be better discerned. The artificers broke ground against the side of the hill, 152 feet from the redoubt, and about 20 feet below the summit of the hill. The first gallery was driven 112 feet in length, about 3 feet wide, and 3½ feet high, from whence commenced a turning 22 inches wide and 3 feet high, which stretched under the redoubt. A second turning of 6 feet was made for the chamber, into which was put a wooden box of gunpowder lined with pitched canvas. The quantity of powder used was 72 lbs., and was exploded by means of a wooden trough containing a canvas pipe filled with powder. When fired, the whole redoubt was lifted up about 40 feet, and disappeared in fragments, dust, and smoke, leaving a large chasm where it stood, nearly 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep. It was a magnificent sight, and called forth the spontaneous acclamations of the throng that witnessed it, and the praises of the Duke of Richmond.[86] These were the _first field services_ in which any of the military artificers had been employed. They returned to their respective stations about the 8th August.[87]
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Footnote 86:
For full information concerning these experimental operations and manœuvres, see the ‘Public Advertiser’ for July 9th, August 7th, and August 10th, 1792.
Footnote 87:
To show how interested and considerate the Duke of Richmond was, in even trivial matters connected with the corps, it may be mentioned that on the 28th September, 1792, he ordered that six married private labourers, who had been at Bagshot Camp under his command, should each be paid half-a-guinea as a donation for the inconvenience and expense they were subjected to in being absent from their families.
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This year the black felt round hat superseded the cocked hat. The drummers' livery lace was a mixture of black, red, and yellow worsted—the Ordnance device was not woven in it as formerly. It was sewn on the coats in the same style as the privates' lace. Worsted wings of the three colours intermixed were now worn by the drummers for the first time. The quality of the cloth in all ranks was somewhat deteriorated this year. Plate V.
To suit the seasons the working dress was considerably altered. In summer a plain raven duck jacket was substituted for the long frock of 1787. The duck waistcoat for summer was abolished. In winter a blue jacket with black cuffs and collar was worn, precisely similar in cut and make to the duck jacket. With this jacket a flannel waistcoat was worn, and serge trowsers or pantaloons of the same form or style as the original pantaloons. To the “Queen’s Bounty,” consisting of a pair of serge breeches and an under serge waistcoat, was added a second serge waistcoat. The shirts were now worn quite plain in front; the hair continued to be queued; and the sergeants and corporals to be undistinguished in rank in the working dress. Plate VI.
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[Illustration:
Royal Military Artificers Plate VI. WORKING DRESS 1794 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
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1793.
War with France—Artificers demanded for foreign service—Consequent effects—Detachment to West Indies—Fever at Antigua—Detachment to Flanders—Siege of Valenciennes—Waterdown Camp—Reinforcement to Flanders—Siege of Dunkirk—Nieuport—Another reinforcement to Flanders—Toulon—Private Samuel Myers at Fort Mulgrave—Formation of four companies for service abroad—Establishment and strength of corps.
Louis XVI. having been dragged to the scaffold and beheaded, the event became the subject of grave consideration in the British Cabinet, resulting in the dismissal of the French ambassador in London, and in the declaration of war by the Convention against Great Britain. Immediately following this publication of hostilities, British troops were sent to Holland to co-operate with those of the Stadtholder against the common enemy, as well to the West Indies for the reduction of the French settlements there.
The new position into which England was thrown by the declaration of war, gave prominence to a feature in the royal military artificers, which had almost been lost sight of;—that was, the liability of the men to serve in any part of the world wherever their services might be required. Although every care was taken to prevent misconception on this point, by obtaining from every recruit a signed agreement, expressive of his willingness to comply with this condition, still, it was regarded by all, as a mere formal arrangement, never to be acted upon; and in this notion they were afterwards strengthened by the fact, that when candidates were desired for service at Gibraltar, none were sent there unless with their own free consent. Now, however, their forgotten agreements were shown to be binding, and, accordingly, men were demanded from the English companies for active service in Flanders and the West Indies.
As may be supposed, the order occasioned no little surprise and regret, as at this period, the military artificers were living under circumstances of the most favourable character—treated indeed more like citizens than soldiers. Many were married and had families; some few had property in land and houses; and all, or nearly all, had profitable engagements in civil life, which they were permitted by their officers to follow, after the demands of the service had been attended to. To avoid therefore the chance of being separated from such advantages, several obtained their discharges by providing substitutes at considerable cost, whilst a far greater number took the very dishonourable alternative of deserting. During the year 1793, the desertions were, perhaps, more in number than in any other year since the formation of the corps.
The Plymouth company was called upon to furnish one corporal and seventeen private miners for the service of the Engineer department in the West Indies, who, embarking in February, in due time, arrived at Grenada. Divided between that island and Antigua, they had scarcely commenced their duties before the unhealthiness of the climate began to be felt among them. Fever, the prevailing scourge of the islands, seized them, and ere the close of the year, all, except private William Trevethick, had died! He survived his comrades about two and a half years; and with his decease was completed the extermination, by fever, of the first foreign detachment of the corps.
At Antigua, it should be mentioned, that the malady was conveyed on shore through the unconscious imprudence of one of the party. He had gone on board a vessel called the ‘Experiment,’ which had just arrived in English Harbour in great distress, having lost nearly all her hands by fever. Of the existence of the disease in the ship the artificer was not aware, and he slept in a blanket belonging to one of the dead men. Seized with the disorder, he died in a few hours, and his wearing apparel and blanket, being taken to the Ordnance quarters as his property, the infection was thus communicated to the rest of the detachment; next to the artillery, and from them it spread to the 31st regiment, committing fearful ravages in its course.[88]
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Footnote 88:
Southey’s ‘Chron., Hist. West Indies,’ iii., p. 72.
Five non-commissioned officers, 30 artificers, 50 labourers, and 1 drummer; total 86, collected from the different stations and formed into a company at Woolwich, under Captain Gother Mann, R.E., embarked at the royal arsenal on the 16th of March, to join the army in the Low Countries under the Duke of York, taking with them an abundant assortment of intrenching and tradesmen’s tools. Most of the men had been encamped, in 1792, at Bagshot Heath, and were in some measure acquainted with the art of field fortification and military mining. Colonel Moncrief, who had greatly distinguished himself during the American war, was appointed chief engineer to the expedition.
Of the company’s landing, and its early services in Holland, nothing is known, but at the siege of Valenciennes it played an important part. All the non-commissioned officers, and most of the more skilful of the miners, acted as foremen, and from 300 to 400 men were frequently placed under the executive charge of one military artificer. Those of the company not considered fit for overseers, were distributed singly among the working parties to stimulate them by their example to equal zeal and exertion. In the more difficult services of the siege, or when occasion required, the labourers, miners, and artificers, of the company worked in twos or in greater numbers. The working party from the line was seldom less than 14,000 a day.
In the final assault of the fortress, on the 25th of July, a portion of the company under Captain Sutherland, R.E., was attached to the left column appointed to attack the salient angle of the ravelin of the hornwork. Three globes of compression which had been pushed under the works to be stormed, were exploded at short intervals, after nine o’clock, with complete success. Breaches being thus formed for the columns to enter the works, they did so with great ardour and forced the enemy to fly into the fortress. While these external operations were in course of accomplishment, the miners bravely rushed from the ditch into the enemy’s subterranean galleries, took the workmen in them, and saved the mine from being sprung. To these underground manœuvres and the promptitude and gallantry of the detachment of artificers and line workmen in preventing the explosion of the enemy’s mines, the fall of Valenciennes was chiefly indebted. It capitulated on the 28th of July. Sir James Murray, in a despatch, dated 26th July, 1793, thus writes—“A detachment of the company of artificers, under Captain Sutherland, accompanied the column to the ravelin of the hornwork, and performed the duty allotted to them with great activity and resolution.” One labourer—private Robert Freeman—was killed.[89]
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Footnote 89:
‘London Gazette Extraordinary,’ August 1, 1793.
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General Dundas, about this period, introduced the system of drill so long distinguished by his name; and to test its efficiency a camp was formed on the 1st of July, at Waterdown, under the Duke of Richmond. The troops, both horse and foot, numbered 7,000. To this camp was attached, by the Duke’s order, four non-commissioned officers, thirty-six privates, and one drummer of the military artificers, under Lieutenant George Bridges, R.E., who took with them a proportion of field implements and artificers' tools. For three weeks, the season being exceedingly fine, the drill was briskly carried on; but was succeeded by an interval of idleness and discomfort occasioned by heavy and continuous rain. On the 4th of August, the troops moved to Ashdown Forest, where they manœuvred for a week and finally marched to Brighton: there they drilled for a fortnight, producing some grand military displays in the presence of the Prince of Wales, and returned to their stations on the 22nd of August. In the purely military evolutions of the camp the artificers took no part; but when the troops were moving they always preceded them to construct temporary bridges over the rivulets and ditches that intercepted the march, and to cut away obstacles to afford an easier road for the passage of the artillery. The materials for the bridges were cut on the spot, formed into faggots, and hastily thrown over the streams in view of the troops. At Brighton, the party was daily occupied in bridge-making, and became very expert in that description of field service.[90]
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Footnote 90:
During the formation of one of the bridges, Mrs. Fitzherbert (who had paid a visit to the Prince of Wales at Brighton) was riding by alone. Sergeant John Johnston, who was in charge of the party, recognizing the favourite, very politely touched his cap in compliment to her, and she immediately pulled up. After asking a variety of questions concerning the work, she praised the men for their exertions, and desired that each should receive an extra day’s pay. For this purpose she gave the sergeant sufficient money, and taking a note of his name, commended him for his civility and promised to remember him. Very shortly after he received the offer of an ensigncy in a regiment in the West Indies, and sailing thither in November, received his commission in the 29th Foot, 1st May, 1796. It was supposed that Mrs. Fitzherbert, true to her promise, had exerted her influence and obtained this appointment for him. George Ross, the other sergeant present with the party, was commissioned as Lieutenant in the Carnarvon Militia, in October, 1796.
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A few days previous to the dispersion of the camp, the Duke of Richmond ordered another selection of four non-commissioned officers and ninety-eight artificers and labourers, to be made from the English companies to reinforce the corps in Flanders; and in order that the party should be formed of the most efficient men, his Grace desired as many as could be spared to be taken for the service from the Brighton detachment. To press as lightly as possible upon individual interests, volunteering was freely allowed, and the remainder were obtained by casting lots. The companies at Woolwich, Portsmouth, and Gosport, were also required to provide their quota; and being collected at head-quarters, they sailed late in August, and in a few days arrived at Ostend. With this reinforcement, the military artificers in the Low Countries amounted to 7 non-commissioned officers, 41 artificers, 104 labourers, and 1 drummer; total 153.
Immediately on landing, they were marched to join the company then before Dunkirk, and were employed in the operations for the reduction of that fortress until the 7th of September, when the Duke of York was compelled to abandon his position. On returning to the Artillery Park, the artificers exerted themselves in spiking all the guns that could not be carried with the army and in disabling their carriages, as well as in throwing about 500 barrels of gunpowder into the river and destroying nearly all the intrenching tools. In this siege, three artificers were killed—privates William Drummond, John Fairbairn, and John Wilson; and one was missing—private Thomas Howell; but of the number wounded, no record can be found. Colonel Moncrief, the chief engineer, was dangerously wounded in repulsing a sortie by the enemy on the 6th of September, and died a few days after at Ostend, where he was interred under the flagstaff by some of his own company.
A portion of the corps was employed in October in the defence of Nieuport, but in what manner cannot now be ascertained. Indeed, from the paucity of information, either verbal or documentary, rendering it impracticable to trace, with anything like distinctness, the services and movements of the military artificers during the remainder of this and the subsequent campaigns in the Low Countries, unsatisfactory gaps will necessarily appear in this narrative at times, when the most interesting details might have been expected.
Whilst the siege of Nieuport was progressing, Sir Charles Grey with his expedition arrived at Ostend, and learning the critical situation of the garrison determined to relieve it; but no sooner had he made arrangements for doing so, than the enemy retired and left the fortress and the field in quiet possession of the allies. To Sir Charles Grey’s force was attached 2 non-commissioned officers and 28 artificers, under Colonel Elias Durnford, royal engineers, drafted from England, with which number the corps in Flanders was augmented to 182 of all ranks. Winter setting in soon after, and the strife in the Low Countries being suspended for the season, a company was recalled from thence, and, on arrival at Spithead, sailed with the fleet for active service in the West Indies.
In September, a detachment of 1 sergeant—Edward Smith—2 corporals, and about 20 privates, were selected from Captain Nepean’s company at Gibraltar, and sailed with the armament under General O’Hara for Toulon on board H.M. ships ‘Egmont’ and ‘Terrible.’[91] The officers of engineers with the party were Captain Nepean and Lieutenant De Butts. On landing, the men were detached in twos and threes to the different points of defence around Toulon; and their duties consisted in directing, under the general superintendence of their officers, the several working parties employed in constructing the batteries, &c. In the various actions and operations at this place, the detachment was more or less engaged, and “all were most zealous, active, and distinguished in their several capacities.” Some were wounded; and in the desperate defence of Fort Mulgrave, three were killed.
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Footnote 91:
Private Joshua Cook, of the Woolwich company, was sent to Toulon as orderly to Colonel D’Aubant, royal engineers, and served in that capacity in Toulon and Corsica until the Colonel returned with him to England.
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At this fort, private Samuel Myers, who had previously served at the siege of Gibraltar, was conspicuous in his exertions under Lieutenant John Duncan, royal artillery, assistant engineer. At one of the guns all the artillerymen were either killed or disabled, for the post was a dangerous one; and the gun was consequently silent, though in a position to do much service. Observing this, Myers, having given general instructions to those who were under him as to the manner in which they were to perform their work, repaired with some volunteers to the battery and manned the gun. For a considerable time he laid and fired it himself with a precision and effect that checked the fierceness of the enemy’s cannonade, and attracted the notice of General Dundas. Highly approving of the zeal and gallantry of the self-constituted gunner, the General made him a corporal on the spot, and would have honoured him with a higher rank, only it was found that the custom of the corps did not admit of this distinction being conferred. Throughout the remaining period of the defence, Myers divided his attention between this gun and the works, attending to both with an ardour and fearlessness that gained him much praise. Early in the next year he was killed in Corsica.
Two of the English companies out of six having already been sent abroad, and the nature of our relations with France rendering it highly probable that more would be demanded, the Duke of Richmond represented to his Majesty the benefit that would result to the service, if a corps of artificers and labourers were formed expressly for employment abroad. His Grace the more readily recommended this measure, as the various stations from which detachments were sent were compelled to hire civil tradesmen to supply their places, at wages considerably higher than the estimates warranted; and whilst it checked improvement in the labourers, which his Grace was anxious to see developed, it also crippled, in some degree, the general efficiency of the companies. Concurring, therefore, in his Grace’s proposition, His Majesty granted a warrant under date the 11th September, 1793, for raising a corps of royal military artificers and labourers, to consist of four companies and to be distributed as follows:—
Flanders 2 companies West Indies 1 ” Upper Canada 1 ”
The command and composition of the companies were to be similar in every respect to the English companies; they were to be stationary in the countries where they were appointed to serve; and the men were to receive the like advantages in pay, allowances, and clothing. A distinct position would seem to have been given to these foreign companies by the warrant, but they nevertheless, though designated _a corps_, were comprehended with the English companies in one united body, and depended upon the latter companies for the maintenance of their strength and efficiency. Such, however, it may be observed, was not the case with the companies at Gibraltar, which yet remained a separate and independent body, though differing from the home and foreign companies only in non-essentials of a local character.
The warrant just alluded to does not appear to have been carried out in the manner intended. Instead of sending a reinforcement to Flanders to complete the companies there to the authorized establishment, one company was withdrawn from thence and sent to the West Indies; while as regarded the latter station, in addition to the company ordered, a party also embarked with it, forming, with the detachment already in those islands, the nucleus of a second company. The total number of artificers and labourers in Flanders, after this change, was 82 of all ranks, and in the West Indies 126. On what ground this reversionary alteration was adopted is not precisely known; but it may reasonably be assigned to the pressing appeals from the West Indies for more men, and the inactive position of affairs in the Low Countries permitting it to be effected without detriment to the service. The company for Canada was never embodied, though the idea of forming it was cherished until December 1798, when it was abandoned.
At the end of the year the establishment and strength of the corps were as under:—
Home companies 600 Foreign companies 400 Total 1000 establishment —— Strength 588 —— Wanting to complete 412 ====
1794—1795.
Working dress—Company sails for West Indies—Martinique—Spirited conduct of a detachment there—Guadaloupe—Mortality—Toulon—Flanders—Reinforcement to company there—Return of the company—Works at Gravesend—Irregularities in the corps—Causes—Redeeming qualities—Appointment of Regimental Adjutant and Sergeant-major—Consequences—Woolwich becomes the head-quarters—Alteration in working dress.
This year the working dress of the corps was considerably modified. The raven-duck frock was succeeded by a plain round blue jacket for winter, and a raven-duck jacket for summer. The colour of the working hat was changed for the privates from black to white; and the corporals and sergeants were distinguished from the inferior ranks by a band of gold lace round the pole of the hat at the bottom. See Plate VI.
The company from Flanders under Colonel Elias Durnford, royal engineers, intended for service in the West Indies, rendezvoused for a time at Spithead. While there, every care was taken to make it as efficient for active duty as possible; and several men who were suffering from the fatigues of the sieges of Dunkirk and Nieuport, were accordingly re-embarked and their places supplied by others from the Portsmouth and Gosport companies. After being provided with the necessary field equipment, the company sailed with the fleet from Spithead on the 3rd November, 1793, and arrived at Barbadoes the 6th January, 1794. Its strength on landing was ninety-four of all ranks, including its sergeant-major—Matthew Hoey.[92]
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Footnote 92:
Served seven years in the Royal Marines. Enlisted in the corps April 28, 1788, and was present in almost every action and capture which took place in the West Indies up to the year of his decease, which occurred at Barbadoes, July 14, 1810. Few non-commissioned officers had a more stirring career, or greater chances, by his prizes, employments, and successful speculations, of acquiring wealth. Much he gained and much he spent. He had his horses and his servants. Costly ornaments he wore with eastern profusion, and the hilt of his rapier, and the mountings of his scabbard, were of silver. Indeed it requires a couplet from Pope to do him anything like justice.
“A radiant baldrick o’er his shoulders tied Sustain’d the sword that glitter’d at his side.”
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From Barbadoes the company proceeded with the expedition under General Sir Charles Grey and Admiral Sir John Jervis to Martinique; and having landed, commenced and completed, during the night of the 10th February, the erection of the required batteries on Mount Matherine against Pigeon Island. On the surrender of this island on the morning of the 11th, a portion of the company, under Lieutenants Fletcher and Durnford, royal engineers, was formed in line with a brigade of the royal artillery and a part of the 70th regiment, to protect the stores then landing, and to support the left of the army in the attack upon the heights of Souririe. The post was soon carried; and the entire company subsequently participated very essentially in the siege of Fort Bourbon. After a month’s unceasing exertion before that fort, it was captured on the 25th March, and Martinique then became the prize of Britain. In noticing the services of the company, Sir Charles Grey, in his despatch of 25th March, writes:—“Colonel Durnford, with the corps of engineers, have also a claim to my warmest approbation for their exertions in placing and constructing the batteries.” The casualties were one killed—private William Simpson, on the 11th February at Pigeon Island—and three wounded.[93]
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Footnote 93:
‘London Gazette Extraordinary,’ April 17th and 22nd, 1794.
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After the successful attack on Souririe, corporal James Kerr of the royal military artificers, and a detachment of the company under his orders, were employed on field duty at noon-day in front of the army. A very superior force of the enemy attempted to surprise them, but as soon as they perceived their danger, they retired and defended themselves in so steady, spirited, and soldierlike a manner, as to command the admiration of many officers and others.
Nearly the whole of the company were subsequently employed in the reduction of the Islands of St. Lucia and Guadaloupe; but what services were rendered by them in those captures have not been recorded.
Sir Charles Grey, having succeeded in the enterprise with which he was intrusted, left Major-General Dundas in command at Guadaloupe and made arrangements to return home. The fever peculiar to the country, soon afterwards made its appearance in the island and the General died. Taking advantage of this event and the daily increasing sickness, the French rose against the British and retook Fort Fleur d’Epée. Sir Charles Grey, hearing of the disaster and anticipating its consequences, returned with all haste to Guadaloupe and resumed the command of the troops. At this time the company was divided into almost equal proportions at each of the subjugated islands, to assist in carrying on the various works. Thirty-one non-commissioned officers and men had been left at Guadaloupe on its capture under Lieutenants Dowse and Durnford, royal engineers; but at the period of the outbreak only twenty-one men were present, ten having already died of the fever.
At Guadaloupe the military artificers were employed in the repairs of magazines and barracks, and in the construction of field works at Basseterre: subsequently they superintended the erection of batteries, &c., against Point à Pitre in the endeavours to recover Grandeterre; but as all attempts to regain this branch of the island were now abandoned, the detachment retreated to Berville with the army for the purpose of preventing Basseterre falling into the hands of the enemy. Here the artificers were engaged in various works for the defence of the camp, and shared in repulsing the three attacks made on the position in September and October. By climate, fatigue, and privation, their numbers gradually dwindled away; and when the post was captured on the 7th October, only ten men were living. Six of these were taken prisoners,[94] with Lieutenant Durnford of the engineers; and the other four, under Lieutenant Evatt, R.E., served at the defence of Fort Matilda from the 14th October to the 10th December, the date of its evacuation.[95] During that protracted struggle, the services of these four men, especially sergeant John Morris and private Samuel Bowes, were found to be particularly useful in every respect. Such was the opinion of Lieutenant Evatt, who, fifty years after, also afforded a general testimony to the merits of the company, by stating that “wherever their services were required they were ever conspicuously forward.”
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Footnote 94:
Privates William Burrell, John Clark, Abraham Mayhead, Robert Torrince, William Fleming, and Thomas Wagg. Four of the number soon died; and the two first, on being released, joined the remnant of the company at St. Domingo on the 18th April, 1796.
Footnote 95:
‘London Gazette,’ 13751. 10-14 February, 1795.
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The yellow fever continued its ravages throughout the year with frightful violence, and carried off more than half of the company. In May the sickness was very general among the artificers. That month twenty-five died; and of the survivors, very few were found sufficiently effective for the service of the works. In June, the party at St. Lucia, which so far had escaped the prevailing scourge, was removed to Martinique to hasten the restoration of Fort Bourbon. But little advantage, however, was obtained by this arrangement, as nearly the whole of the men were immediately seized by the sickness. At the close of the year sixty-five non-commissioned officers and privates had died; of whom forty-two were at Martinique and twenty-three at Guadaloupe; as also Colonel Durnford, Captain Chilcot, and Lieutenants Dowse and Lawson of the royal engineers. The strength of the company was now reduced to twenty-six of all ranks, including the prisoners of war, but the effectives of this number did not exceed ten.
Toulon was evacuated in the middle of December, 1793, and the remnant of the army employed there soon afterwards landed in Corsica. With this force the detachment of military artificers shared in the various actions and sieges of that island, particularly at San Fiorenzo, Bastia, Ajaccio, and Calvi. In directing the construction of the required works and batteries, more especially at the lengthened siege of Calvi, their services were highly spoken of by their officers and the assistant engineers under whose instructions they for the most part acted; and though so few in number, they were considered by the army to be most useful and valuable soldiers.[96] Most of them were killed at San Fiorenzo and Calvi, and the rest were wounded; of whom two privates only survived. These two men, previously to the evacuation of Corsica in October, 1796, were present at the capture of the Island of Elba, and in January, 1797, returned with Lieutenant De Butts, royal engineers, to Gibraltar.
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Footnote 96:
Lieutenant John Duncan, royal artillery, who was employed as assistant engineer in the sieges of Toulon and Corsica, “often spoke,” writes Lieutenant-General Birch, of the royal engineers, under date 22nd August, 1848, “with the very utmost enthusiasm of the conduct of the royal military artificers in these operations, and would delight to dwell in describing their conduct as being fine, brave, and enduring.”
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Hostilities were resumed in Flanders as soon as the severity of the winter had subsided. To compel the French to evacuate Flanders was now the purpose of the allied commanders. To this end, on the 16th May, the whole force made a forward movement. The column under the Duke of York, to which the company of artificers was attached, marched to Lannoy and then to Roubaix driving the enemy before it. On the 18th May the French, making a determined stand, hotly pressed the British in front and rear by an overwhelming force, and obliged his Royal Highness to resort to the daring alternative of retreating through the enemy’s line, which he accomplished, but with great loss. In this action the artificers had four wounded, one missing—private John Smart—and seven taken prisoners.[97]
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Footnote 97:
Privates Alexander Williamson, Archibald Douglas, Alexander Stewart, Andrew Lindsay, David Morton, George Horn, and John Bristo.
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The Earl of Moira being appointed to command a corps intended to act on the offensive against France, one sergeant, one corporal, twenty-one artificers, and eight labourers of the home companies were selected to accompany it. Early in January the detachment was forwarded to Southampton and there encamped for several months, drilling with the troops. Ultimately the destination of the expedition was changed, and his lordship was directed to co-operate with the Duke of York. The armament forthwith embarked, and sailing for Ostend, landed on the 26th June. After a march of more than thirty days, executed with cheerful resignation, the Earl of Moira effected a junction with the Duke of York’s column at a time when, from the precarious situation of his Royal Highness, an addition to his resources was imperatively needed. The detachment of artificers with his lordship now joined Captain Mann’s company, the strength of which, since the opening of the winter of the previous year, had been reduced by deaths from eighty-two to seventy. With the present increase the total of the corps in Holland amounted to 101 of all ranks; but of this number, many were no longer equal to the fatigues of a campaign owing to the diseases contracted by them, from unavoidable exposure, during a season of unusual inclemency; and several suffering from incurable frostbites were placed in the category of wounded men.
On the 12th May, 1795, the above company, transferred to the command of Captain Johnson of the engineers, arrived at Woolwich. Its strength was eighty-six, including its sergeant-major. Being no longer required for foreign duty, the men were distributed among the Portsmouth and Gosport companies and the Guernsey and Jersey half companies. Twelve were left at Lisle sick and prisoners of war: three of them died, seven returned to England at different periods and the other two—Private George Horn and John Bristo—continued to be recorded as prisoners until February, 1797; when, not having rejoined their corps, they were struck off the strength. By the reduction of the Flanders company the establishment of the corps was diminished from 1,000 to 800 of all ranks.
About this period, a detachment of one sergeant, thirty-three carpenters, and two drummers, under Captain C. Holloway, royal engineers, was sent to Gravesend to make various repairs and additions to the defences on the shores of the Thames, as the state of European politics and our unsettled relations with France rendered these precautionary measures absolutely indispensable. They were picked men, of good qualification; and to distinguish them from the corps employed at Woolwich, Purfleet, and Chatham, were permitted to wear a very long fantastic feather of black, topped with crimson. Tilbury Fort and the Blockhouse at Gravesend were thoroughly repaired by this detachment, and the requisite arrangements and appliances for establishing a communication across the Thames, by means of barges for the passage of an army, were effected by them. They also constructed two batteries for four 24-pounders each, with temporary wooden barracks for artillerymen at Shornmead and Hop-Point, below Gravesend. These services were barely finished when thirty of the detachment were recalled to join the expeditions for St. Domingo and the Caribbee Islands. The party that remained, was shortly afterwards increased to one sergeant and fifteen carpenters. Detachments of varied strength were also employed in strengthening the defences on the coast of Sussex, and in repairing the castles at Hurst, Cowes, and Yarmouth.
Drunkenness and irregularity were now very prevalent in the corps. Many of the men, from their abandoned habits, were insensible either to advice or punishment: whilst others, whose moral conduct could not be reproached, were negligent of that proper respect for personal cleanliness and appearance which is one of the first considerations of a soldier in every well-regulated regiment. In some degree to check these evils, a few of the most incorrigible among the labourers were dismissed from the corps, or were either turned over to the navy or sent to the West Indies. But even these severe but necessary measures failed to produce that wholesome impression on the habitual delinquents, which it was reasonable to anticipate would be the result.
The first symptoms of disorder in the conduct of the men appeared when they found they were liable to be sent abroad if occasion required their services. Led by their constitution and employment to consider themselves permanently settled, they were quite unprepared for any innovation which had a tendency to subvert their position or to interrupt the advancement of their individual interests. The married men particularly received it with unequivocal dissatisfaction. Unwilling to submit to the change, which struck at the root of their privileges, several deserted; and others, not daring to involve themselves in the consequences of so serious a step, remained only to drown their discontent in dissipation, and bring discredit on the corps.
This was not the only source of demoralization. Ever since the formation of the corps little or no attention had been paid to its military efficiency. Discipline was almost entirely relinquished, and drill was an unfashionable exercise. The former was relaxed on account of the men being regarded more in the light of civilians than soldiers, and the latter was nominally given up on the plea, that it was of far greater public benefit to keep them constantly on the works than at drill. From the leniency of the one, numbers paid but little regard to authority on military matters, and were only too ready to evince a spirit of disaffection when anything occurred to infringe upon liberties or privileges that the usages of the corps had given them a sort of right to enjoy; and from the neglect of the other, they were awkward and dirty in appearance and slovenly in their attire. By the many well-intentioned and orderly men in the corps, the laxity of the discipline and infrequency of the drill were certainly recognized and appreciated as indulgences; but the advantages bestowed were more than counterbalanced by the evils they induced; for several men—not labourers only, but artificers—distinguished by their abilities as tradesmen, but too depraved to profit by the mildness of the discipline, plunged into all the excesses of disorder and drunkenness. Yet, with all this misconduct and want of training in soldierlike principle and bearing, they always exhibited an active pride in their fair name as mechanics, and committed, comparatively, but few offences on the works.
Another element in producing the irregularity complained of is traceable to the manner in which the corps was recruited. From the difficulty of obtaining good tradesmen with satisfactory testimonials of previous conduct, the pernicious system of receiving men without characters was resorted to. Ability as tradesmen was the great specific, conduct being a non-essential qualification. Consequently, in the removals from the line especially, many men were transferred to the military artificers, whose dissolute habits rendered their influence both mischievous and demoralizing, although, from their merits as mechanics, they were found far too valuable to dismiss, and too useful to be subjected to a protracted punishment.
But with all this dissipation and disorder there was much in the corps to approve, much to admire. The non-commissioned officers, the majority of the artificers, and a goodly number of the labourers were well-conducted men, and upheld their military character and appearance in a becoming manner. On the works, besides being able and expert artificers, they were found to be industrious and efficient, supporting and assisting their officers in every duty or enterprise of difficulty or danger with readiness and zeal. Though differing from other troops in many essential points, still there was much sterling worth in the royal military artificers, rarely to be met with in any other corps in the service.
Recourse to discipline and drill seemed to be the only chance of preventing the increase of irregularity, and of permanently improving the character and condition of the corps. At each of the stations the experiment was now in partial operation, but, simultaneously with this judicious effort, another measure had been effected which promised to be of material advantage in bringing about the desired change. This was the appointment, on the 15th May, of Lieutenant John Rowley of the royal engineers, to be Regimental Adjutant to the corps. To each company, from its formation, an adjutant had been and continued to be attached; who, however, from the paramount importance of the works and other circumstances, was too engrossed by his attention to professional duties and details to be of much service to his company. The Regimental Adjutant was stationed at Woolwich, and through him was carried on all the correspondence of the corps. His office, however, was at Westminster. To assist him, therefore, company sergeant-major Anthony Haig, who was an excellent drill-master and a talented non-commissioned officer, was promoted to be regimental sergeant-major on the Staff at Woolwich with the pay of 3_s._ a-day.
These appointments were immediately followed by an alteration in the system of recruiting as conducted by the officers commanding companies. Experience had proved that such a system was detrimental to the corps, and that its discontinuance would narrow the sources from which some of the existing evils originated and were fed. With this view, the particular charge of the service was intrusted to the Regimental Adjutant. Recruits were now enlisted for general service, and when ready to join the corps, were, in the first instance, sent to Woolwich. On their arrival they were clothed, equipped, and subjected to the same drilling as infantry soldiers under the sergeant-major and adjutant; and, when trained, were posted to the companies, whether at home or abroad, most in want of men. Even this slight modification produced a more than corresponding improvement in the corps, and revived in some degree, at the different stations, the discipline and drill. At Portsmouth especially, at a later period, under Colonel Evelegh, who was the first Adjutant of the corps and served with its companies at the siege of Gibraltar—the disciplinary arrangements were so satisfactorily enforced and sustained, that it was a custom for some years to remove all the irregular men to that station, to place them under the operation of a strict and wholesome surveillance. A few years after, about 1806, to give the corps the advantage of manœuvring in masses, the companies at Portsmouth and Gosport, with all the subaltern officers in command, were, once a week during the summer months, brought together for drill under their respective Adjutants—Lieutenants Hamilton and Oldfield.
Woolwich now became the head-quarters of the corps, and all invalids were ever after sent to it from the different stations for discharge, instead of being disposed of, as heretofore, by the captains of companies.
This year the working jacket was somewhat altered. Broad skirts with pocket slashes were appended to it, and, for the sake of giving a more military appearance to the men, a yellow worsted lace triangle was sown between the two back buttons, and a frog was added to each side of the collar. These ornaments on the sergeant’s jacket were of gold lace. The hats of the privates were changed from white to black felt, and the sergeants, in addition to the gold band, wore rosettes and crimson plumes. See Plate VII. All ranks wore clothing of precisely similar fabric.
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[Illustration:
Royal Military Artificers Plate VII. WORKING DRESS 1755 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
]
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1795-1796.
Companies to St. Domingo and the Caribbee Islands—Reduction of St. Lucia—Conduct of company there—Gallantry in forming lodgment and converting it into a battery—Attack on Bombarde—Distribution and conduct of St. Domingo company—Mortality in the West Indies—Detachment to Halifax, Nova Scotia—Dougal Hamilton—Detachments to Calshot Castle and St. Marcou.
War, coupled with fever, had by this time made considerable havoc among the troops in the West Indies, and reduced the force to a number totally inadequate for the services of the different islands, much less to resist efficiently the encroachments of a vigilant enemy, and check the insurrectionary demonstrations of a disaffected negro population. In some respects to supply this deficiency, reinforcements having been applied for, two expeditions were fitted out at Spithead, and sailed in November, 1795, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, for St. Domingo and the Windward Islands.
To each expedition a company of sixty non-commissioned officers and men of the military artificers were attached, equipped with tools appropriate to their trades, in addition to their arms. The company for St. Domingo, under Lieutenant Crozier, royal engineers, was formed by men drafted from the Woolwich and Chatham companies; and that for the Caribbee Islands, under Lieutenant Gravatt, R.E., by men from the Gosport, Portsmouth, and Plymouth companies.
Both companies arrived—after a long and dangerous passage, particularly in clearing the Channel—in March, 1796. In disposing of the two companies, Sir Ralph despatched, under Lieutenant Crozier, thirty-three non-commissioned officers and privates, including two men who had been prisoners of war at Guadaloupe, to St. Domingo, detaining the remainder to act under himself with the Caribbean company, which now reached the strength of seventy-seven of all ranks.
The reduction of St. Lucia was early the intention of Sir Ralph, and the expedition accordingly sailed thither. The company of artificers, under the command of Captain Hay, royal engineers, landed on the 26th April, and at once were told off for the duties of the siege. In addition to the construction of some extensive batteries to act against Morne Fortuné, they superintended the formation of a communication by means of a new road from Choc Bay to the Morne. By the 24th May the English had pushed up to within 500 yards of the fort, and the garrison capitulated on the 26th May.
From the nature of the ground and other circumstances, the operations for the reduction of the fort were extraordinary and arduous, and the exertions of the company conspicuous. These attracted the notice of Sir Ralph, who, through the medium of Captain Hay, conveyed his thanks to the military artificers for their good conduct and soldierlike behaviour at the siege.
In the attack on the enemy’s advanced posts at Morne Fortuné on the 24th May, a detachment of about twenty noncommissioned officers and men of the company, under Lieutenant Fletcher, R.E., with handspikes, axes, and picks, rushed gallantly forward and formed a lodgment, which was rapidly converted into a battery of five 24-pounders to breach the body of the place. The exertions of this party greatly contributed to the success of the assault and to the fall of St Lucia. Lieutenant Fletcher was wounded, as also two rank and file.[98] Of the other casualties in the company from the opening of the siege to the assault no record has been preserved.
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Footnote 98:
‘London Gazette Extraordinary,’ July 4th, 1796.
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The detachment of thirty-three non-commissioned officers and men, under Lieutenant Crozier, R.E., arrived at Cape Nichola Mole, St. Domingo, on the 2nd May, and Captain W. M‘Kerras, royal engineers, assumed the command of it. On the 8th June following, about twenty of the party were engaged in the attack on Bombarde, in which one private—John M‘Donald—was mortally wounded, and one sergeant—Hugh Taylor—was taken prisoner.[99] On the 11th June, the St. Domingo detachment was further increased by the arrival from St. Lucia of one sergeant and fourteen privates under Lieutenant Stewart.
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Footnote 99:
‘London Gazette,’ 23rd to 26th July, 1796; takes notice of the private wounded, but not of the sergeant taken prisoner.
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Of the ulterior active services of this detachment, nothing can be satisfactorily traced. It was, seemingly, broken up into small parties, and disposed of at St. Marc, Jeremie, Grande Ance, the Mole, and Port au Prince, superintending under their officers, the execution of various works which were deemed essential for defence, on account of the arrival at Cape François of Rochambeau, Santhonax, and several other republicans of consequence. In these and former works the men seem to have exerted themselves with zeal, and to have obtained commendation for their good conduct. “Indeed, I must say,” writes Captain M‘Kerras to Sir William Green, the chief engineer, under date July, 1796, “that I have never seen a better set of people in every respect and manner than they were.”
To a great extent the fever still prevailed in the West Indies, and had raged fearfully during the months of June and July. It was not confined to any particular island, but was general throughout the group. Never had a more melancholy scene of mortality attended any expedition than befel those to St. Domingo and the Windward Islands. Of the company of military artificers at the former island, twenty-five had died in June and July alone, and by the end of the year it was reduced to nineteen men only. The Caribbee Islands' company, during the same period, suffered still more severely; inasmuch as it was diminished from seventy-seven to thirty-one of all ranks; whilst the company that served at the captures of Martinique, St. Lucia, and Gaudaloupe, in 1794, had frittered away by deaths and invaliding to eighteen non-commissioned officers and men.[100] Of the survivors more than half were incapacitated for duty from sickness, and, consequently, the services of the department pressed very heavily upon the effectives. On the 1st September the remnants of the two latter companies were amalgamated, and reached a total of 49 of all ranks.
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Footnote 100:
Lieutenant, afterwards Lieutenant-General, Evatt, who served with the company in Sir Charles Grey’s campaign of 1794, writes thus of it: “The dreadful sickness then prevailing left few or none of the men after its conclusion, and it might with truth be said, they came out, did their duty, and died!”
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In June a detachment of one sergeant, two corporals and twenty artificers, embarked for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the classes of tradesmen most needed for the works could not be obtained except at extravagantly high wages. Some care was therefore taken to select mechanics fully equal to the requirements of the settlement. The detachment landed in September following, and Captain James Straton, commanding royal engineer, was appointed to command it. Various works were in progress at the time of their arrival, to which they were distributed according to circumstances; but the service upon which they were chiefly employed was the erection of the lighthouse in Halifax harbour. Over this work, private Dougal Hamilton, a very intelligent and skilful mason, was appointed foreman, and acquitted himself throughout with credit. Subsequently, when about to quit the province as an invalid, H.R.H. Prince Edward ordered his immediate disembarcation, and placed him at the disposal of the treasurer of the settlement, by whom he was employed as a foreman in building the Shelburne Lighthouse on the coast of Halifax.
Early in the spring a party of the Portsmouth company was detached to Calshot Castle to repair and strengthen it; and another from the Guernsey half company, to renew the defences at the Island of St. Marcou. In carrying on the works at the latter place, privates Roger Hambly and Hugh M‘Laughlin were dreadfully wounded by the explosion of a mine in the execution of their duty.
1797.
Detachments to Portugal—To Dover—Transfers to the Artillery—Enlistment of artificers only—Incorporation of Gibraltar companies with the corps—Capture of Trinidad—Draft to West Indies—Failure at Porto Rico—Fording the lagoon, by private D. Sinclair—Private W. Rogers at the bridge St. Julien—Saves his officer—Casualties by fever in Caribbean company—Filling up company at St. Domingo with negroes—Mutinies in the fleet at Portsmouth—Conduct of Plymouth company—Émeute in the Royal Artillery, Woolwich—Increase of pay—Marquis Cornwallis’s approbation of the corps—Mutiny at the Nore—Consequent removal of detachment to Gravesend—Alterations in dress.
Early in January, Lieutenant F. W. Mulcaster, R.E., with a party of one sergeant, one corporal, five artificers, and four labourers of the Woolwich company, embarked for Portugal to join the force under the command of Lieutenant-General Charles Stuart, which was sent to that country for the purpose of preventing its invasion by the armies of France or Spain. The nature of the service did not call for any display of character, and the detachment being withdrawn in October 1798, immediately proceeded with the expedition to Minorca.
In February one corporal and seven miners of the Plymouth company were detached to Dover to carry on the mining operations at that station under Captain H. Bruyeres, R.E. They were farther increased in October to two corporals, eleven artificers, ten labourers, and one drummer, as well to conduct the mining as to assist in repairing the works on the Western Heights. A detachment was also sent from this company to Berryhead near Torbay, to erect fortifications.
A great deficiency occurring in the numerical establishment of the royal artillery, the Master-General desired that as many of the labourers of the corps of artificers as were anxious to avail themselves of the opportunity of transferring their services to that regiment, should be permitted to do so. The transferring continued from March to May, and the corps was thus reduced sixty-seven men, each of whom received one guinea on being accepted by the Artillery.[101]
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Footnote 101:
One of these labourers, John Alexander, enlisted in the Chatham company 15th July, 1796, and was transferred 1st April, 1797. Forty years afterwards he was commissioned as quartermaster in the royal horse artillery, and after eleven years' service in that rank, retired on full-pay in 1847, and died in 1854.
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This reduction in the establishment of the labourers was followed in August by an order, that the recruiting for the corps should be limited to the artificer part only. Labourers and men not bred to the regulated trades were no longer enlisted, and every artificer so enlisting only received the bounty and subsistence of a labourer, until he had been approved as a competent artificer. This was a wholesome precaution, as those enlisted under the assumed name of mechanics were continued as labourers, until industry and improvement had rendered them worthy of advancement.
In June the soldier-artificer corps at Gibraltar was incorporated with the royal military artificers. Ever since its formation in 1772 it had held a distinct position, and was an integral body of itself. Its establishment was two companies of 5 sergeants, 5 corporals, 2 drummers, and 125 private artificers each, with 1 sergeant-major to both companies; but its actual strength on the amalgamation was only 255 of all ranks. In the regular monotonous routine of that garrison there was little occasion for their services except as artificers. At this period their conduct was far from commendable. Much addicted to drunkenness, they were the constant subjects of courts-martial; but on the works, under the eye of their officers, they behaved well and were very good mechanics, particularly the non-commissioned officers, who, besides, were skilful foremen. By the incorporation of these companies with the corps, it was increased from 801 to 1,075 of all ranks; but its actual strength only reached 759 men.
Sir Ralph Abercrombie having resolved to make an attempt on the island of Trinidad, an expedition under himself and Admiral Harvey sailed accordingly from Martinique on the 12th February. To this force were attached one sergeant-major, two corporals, and nineteen artificers, under Major Charles Shipley, and Lieutenants Gravatt and Lefebure, royal engineers. From an accident by fire, which consumed the enemy’s ships on the night preceding the morning arranged for the attack, the island became an easy conquest and surrendered by capitulation on the 18th February.
Soon after the taking of this island, a detachment under Lieutenant Ford, R.E., of three sergeants, two corporals, and twenty privates, drafted from the Portsmouth company, landed and joined Major Shipley’s company at Martinique, the strength of which, with the increase, amounted to sixty-five of all ranks.
Sir Ralph Abercrombie and Admiral Harvey now assembled an expedition against Porto Rico and landed there on the 17th April. The company of artificers furnished about forty non-commissioned officers and men for this service, including Lieutenant Ford’s party. Here they constructed, assisted by a party of the 14th regiment, two batteries, one for mortars and the other for guns. A large magazine abandoned by the enemy, was also partially converted into a battery for two mortars, but its completion was relinquished in consequence of the ordnance intended to arm the battery having been swamped in a morass in crossing. Notwithstanding the exertions made to reduce the place, the enterprise failed, and the troops were withdrawn on the 30th April. Previously, however, to effecting the evacuation, the artificers, to prevent the enemy following in the retreat, destroyed the bridge which connected the island of St. Julien with the main; and afterwards hastily reared a breastwork of sandbags to cover the embarkation, which, however, was not required, as the expedition was suffered to leave the island unmolested. The casualties in the military artificers were five privates killed, viz., Joseph Featherstone, George Clark, Samuel Hague, George Winter, and John Cameron, and four severely wounded; besides about twenty more who sustained slight contusions or mutilations.[102]
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Footnote 102:
In the ‘London Gazette,’ 3rd to 6th June, 1797, the killed only are noticed.
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Among the measures suggested for reducing Porto Rico was one for taking the town, by forcing the troops through the lagoon bounding the east side of the island. Before the project could be entertained, it was considered advisable to ascertain if the stream were fordable. An officer of Sir Ralph’s staff having requested permission to undertake the service, he was voluntarily accompanied by private David Sinclair of the military artificers. In the night, at the appointed hour, both entered the lagoon together, each provided with a long staff. With this support they probed their adventurous way, and at length succeeded in gaining the opposite slope; where, standing near one of the redoubts which defended a broken bridge, they distinctly heard the vigilant sentinels talking and walking on their beats. With the same caution as before, they picked their course back again, and then coolly repeated the duty without the aid of props. The officer reported the ford to be fully practicable, and at the same time lauded the intrepidity of the soldier who accompanied him. Thereupon Sir Ralph praised him for his gallantry and rewarded him with a johannes—a piece of eight dollars. The idea of making the assault by passing the stream was given up, in consequence of the British force being too weak to cope with an enemy powerful in men and means, and almost impregnable in position. Sinclair died the 28th July, 1797, and during his short career in the West Indies, an officer under whom he served has left this testimony to his worth, “that he was ever conspicuous in every service.”
Determined upon relinquishing Porto Rico, Sir Ralph ordered Lieutenant C. Lefebure, of the royal engineers, with a detachment of the artificers, early in the morning of the 30th April, to repair to the bridge which connected the island of St. Julien with the Main and demolish it, for the purpose of preventing the Spaniards following and harassing the army during the retreat. The bridge was an old crazy structure of stone consisting of nine arches. All were directed to work at the road-way of the centre arch, but to private William Rogers, at his particular request, was assigned the difficult and dangerous duty of dislodging the key stone. The ground was soon harrowed up, a gap made across the middle, several stones were removed from the pier-heads, and the bridge exhibited signs of instability. Nothing daunted, Rogers boldly stepped upon the crown of the arch, and after a few heavy blows with his pickaxe, scooped the stone from its bed. At once the arch gave way; and the others leaning towards it, cracked as though torn by an earthquake and fell beneath him. Rogers’s situation was one of imminent peril, but with a fearlessness that was remarkable, he plunged from the crumbling bridge into the stream, and was fortunately preserved from any serious harm, whilst five of his comrades were crushed to death by the fall; four also were severely wounded; and all the rest, save corporal William Robinson, were injured.
Nor was this all. Rogers swam about the heap to afford help to those who were suffering and dying. It was yet dark, and the thick dust still rising from the fall, made the darkness denser. Groping, therefore, among the ruins, he found an individual who still had signs of life, struggling, ineffectually, to free himself from some massive fragments that entangled him. Rogers set to work to release the drowning man: this he quickly accomplished, and, swimming with his charge to the shore, the rescued turned out to be his own officer—Lieutenant Lefebure. The life of that gallant subaltern, however, was only prolonged to fall a sacrifice to his heroism on the walls of Matagorda in 1810. Rogers’s exertions were not confined to his officer only, for several of his comrades who were precipitated into the water and were unable to swim, he saved, assisted by those of the party who had sustained but trivial injuries.
A desolating epidemic still raged in the Caribbee Islands and greatly diminished the numbers of the company. In November particularly, the climate was extremely hot and unhealthy and the deaths by fever considerable. During the year the casualties were, deaths, thirty-one, of which fifteen occurred in November; sent home invalided, six; deserted, two; total, thirty-nine; leaving the company, of all ranks, only thirty-three strong at the end of the year.
At St. Domingo the great want of artificers for the service of the engineering department being severely felt, Captain McKerras, R.E., in February, represented the expediency of keeping up the company with negroes. The number of the military artificers then serving in the colony was nineteen of all ranks, a third of whom were constantly unfit for any kind of duty, suffering as they did from over exertion and frequent relapses of remitting fever. To Europeans the climate was “the most pernicious and abominable in the universe,” and none but the strongest could at all bear up against its influences. To fill up the vacancies in the company, therefore, by drafts of mechanics from England, would have incurred a heavy outlay without reaping a commensurate return. Considerations like these prompted Captain McKerras to suggest the measure, and he was further influenced by the conviction, that, since civil labour could not be procured in the colony unless at an enormous expense, that of the slave would, after receiving instructions from the present climatized artificers of the company, be found of great advantage to St. Domingo, and a vast saving to the public. The slave artificer was to receive food, clothing, and barrack accommodation, but no pay. Whatever attention may have been paid to the proposal, certain it is, that the company was never recruited by blacks. This probably arose from the island having been abandoned in the autumn of 1798.[103]
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Footnote 103:
Sir Charles Pasley, in the prefatory notes to his work on ‘Elementary Fortification,’ vol. i., p. 4, writes of the inefficiency and misconduct of detachments sent on foreign service, and concludes his observations by saying, “I am told in the West Indies, it had actually been proposed to employ negroes as engineer soldiers.” If the above is the recommendation Sir Charles alludes to, he has either been misinformed of the reasons for that proposal, or he has mistaken them; for the detachment was composed of good non-commissioned officers and well-qualified artificers from the Woolwich and Chatham companies; and in the discharge of their several duties, gave every satisfaction to their officers. The proposal was dictated by humanity, as well as with a view to the prospective advantage of the public, and in no respect originated in the misbehaviour or inefficiency of the men.
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The memorable mutinies in the fleet at Spithead at this time were followed by the rising of some unprincipled men, who, as emissaries of revolt, traversed the country endeavouring by every device to shake the allegiance of the soldiery. Efforts of this kind were also attempted with the royal military artificers, particularly at the ports, but beyond a few desertions, without effect. Most of the companies publicly opposed these agencies; but the Plymouth company in an especial manner distinguished itself by its open and soldierlike activity against their disloyal exertions.
The document,[104] printed by the company and widely circulated through Devonshire, was sent by Major-General Mercer, captain of the company, to Lord Cornwallis the Master-General; who expressed very great satisfaction with the loyal sentiments it avowed, and highly approved of the spirit and zeal of the men in giving the declaration publicity at so opportune a moment.
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Footnote 104:
A copy of the document is subjoined:—
Plymouth Lines, 31st May, 1797. We, the Non-commissioned Officers Of the Company of Royal Military Artificers and Labourers, Stationed at Plymouth Lines,
Come forward at the unanimous request of the Company, to avow at this momentous crisis, our firm loyalty, attachment, and fidelity to our most gracious _Sovereign_ and our _Country_, and solemnly declare our firm determination to maintain subordination and discipline to our officers, with whom we have every reason to be fully satisfied, and request they will accept these, our most grateful acknowledgments for their humane attention towards us, and beg they will let this our determination be made known to the _Right Honourable General Lord George Henry Lennox_, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in this district.
That, as we learn, there are men endeavouring to withdraw His Majesty’s _soldiers_ from the duty they owe to their _King_ and _Country_, we are determined should any such proceedings appear amongst us, to take the earliest opportunity of checking the same; and, as a mark of our attachment to our most gracious _Sovereign_ and glorious _Constitution_, we do hereby offer a reward of
_Ten Guineas_,
to any _soldier-artificer_, that will discover any person, or persons, offering them _money_, _seditious handbills_, or otherwise, with an intent to withdraw them from their duty, on conviction of the person, or persons, before a civil magistrate.
God save the King! Witness our hands,
(Signed) WM. BROWNE, Sergeant-major. ROBT. WAKEHAM, } WM. BURGESS, } Sergeants. JAS. MOIR, }
JNO. EVELYN, } WM. HUTTON, } Corporals. WM. MCBEATH, }
WM. COTTEY, } JOSH. WELLS, } Lance-corporals. WM. BEER. }
Some delay occurring in extending the King’s beneficence to the Ordnance corps with respect to the increase of pay, the royal artillery at Woolwich, impatient to obtain it, exhibited unmistakable symptoms of discontent and insubordination. “More pay; less drill!” were their constant complaints, and hundreds stood by their arms ready to use them in compelling attention to their claims. One night particularly there was much disturbance, and next morning about daybreak, the Commandant of the garrison, Colonel Farringdon, of the royal artillery, ordered the whole of the military artificers to proceed to the artillery barracks and barricade the rear entrances. Captain Holloway, R.E., complied; and whilst the men were effecting the service as quietly as circumstances would admit, they were discovered by the mutineers, who showered upon them sundry articles of barrack furniture; and then bursting open the doors, fell upon the party and forced them from the barricades. Colonel Farringdon, who was witnessing the progress of the work, felt the shock of the sortie, and at once ordered the company of artificers to be withdrawn to preserve them from further danger. In the course of the morning the Duke of York made his appearance, and on promising to give the claims of the regiment immediate consideration, the disaffected were appeased and returned to duty.
Already the subject of pay to the Ordnance corps had been under review, but the _émeute_ at Woolwich hastened the decision upon it. It was clear that the various allowances—permanent, incidental, and temporary—were insufficient to answer the objects for which they were intended; and also, that the application of them from sundry causes was both intricate and difficult. It was therefore recommended to discontinue all extra allowances, except a small sum, annually, for defraying the expense incurred in altering clothing; and issuing a rate of pay to all ranks adequate for every purpose, which measure His Majesty approved in a warrant dated 25th May. A comparison of the military allowances of the artificers prior to the promulgation of the new warrant, and the pay sanctioned on 25th May, is subjoined:—
Pay per diem Extras Pay per diem before a-day.[105] by Warrant of 25th May, 25th May, 1797. 1797.
s. d. d. s. d.
Sergeant-major 2 3 1 2 9¼
Sergeant 1 9 1½ 2 3¼
Corporal 1 7 1½ 2 0¾
Artificer 0 9 1¾ l 2½
Drummer 0 9 1¾ 1 2½
Labourer 0 6 2¼ 1 0½
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Footnote 105:
The extras were allowed the men to provide them with bread, a pair of breeches once in two years, and a rosette; and to pay the expense of making up their gaiters, and converting their uniform coats, after a certain period, into jackets.
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In promulgating the augmentation of pay to the corps, Lord Cornwallis felt it his duty to accompany the pleasure of the King with an expression of his own sentiments; and accordingly, in the orders dated 31st May, issued on the 2nd of June, he thus wrote:—
“Marquis Cornwallis, Master-General of the Ordnance, feels himself happy in announcing to the corps of royal military artificers and labourers the increase which His Majesty has been graciously pleased to make to their pay, which puts it in their power to enjoy every comfort which a good soldier can reasonably desire.
“The Master-General takes this opportunity of expressing his satisfaction at the regular behaviour and good conduct which this corps has manifested, and trusts it is not in the power of the most artful traitor to seduce the soldiers of the royal military artificers and labourers from their loyalty and attachment to their King and country; and when he assures them he shall always take the greatest pleasure in rendering them a service, he is persuaded they will continue to prove themselves deserving of his good offices.”
Scarcely had the mutinies at Portsmouth subsided, before a more formidable one appeared in the fleet at the Nore. Equitable concessions had already been made to the navy; but at the Nore these were not received with satisfaction. Other exorbitant demands were made by the Nore seamen, and legitimate authority was resisted even by force of arms. This bold menace then led the Government to compel unconditional submission; and the instigators of the mutiny, with Richard Parker at their head, suffered the extreme penalty of the law. During this alarming outbreak, the company of artificers in the Medway division were very zealous in the completion of various works to be employed against the mutineers, should the crisis arise to require them. The companies at the different ports were also on the alert and distributed to several posts of importance. A detachment of sixteen non-commissioned officers and men—withdrawn from Gravesend in April—were returned to that station in June. This detachment erected two batteries at Northfleet for four and two guns of heavy calibre, to fire into the ‘Neptune,’ 98, and ‘Lancaster,’ 64, lying off Greenhithe, should they attempt without proper orders to pass to the Nore. They also made such repairs as were necessary to the blockhouse and batteries at Gravesend, and also strengthened the fortifications and renewed the furnaces for heating shot red-hot at Tilbury Fort. Here also, before returning to Woolwich in August 1798, the detachment built a wooden river-wall at the Ferry-house.
This year the cocked hat was revived. It was an adaptation of the pinched-up Nivernois hat and the ample Ramilies. The flaps were edged with broad black binding instead of gold lace as formerly. The cockade and gold loop were retained; but the short red feather was displaced by an eight-inch length white heckle. At each of the shoots or angles of the hat was a rose-shaped ornament of gold lace. The hats of the sergeants and sergeant-majors were of equal fineness and edged with black silk lace, flowered; while those of the corporals, artificers, and drummers were much superior to the labourers. The latter did not wear roses. Alterations were also made in the dress, inasmuch as the coatee, with its long skirts, was reduced to what was called a half-coat with short skirts. Lappels were abolished, and the laced looping was succeeded by frogging. The drummers wore scarlet for the first time, with the usual livery lace. Clubs were still in vogue; but the use of hair powder ceased. Sashes were now worn over the coatees of the ranks entitled to the distinction. See Plate VIII.
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[Illustration:
Royal Military Artificers. Plate VIII. UNIFORM, 1797 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
]
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1798-1799.
Contribution of corps to the State—Detachment with expedition to maritime Flanders—Destruction of the Bruges canal—Battle near Ostend—Draft to West Indies—Capture of Surinam—St. Domingo evacuated—Expedition to Minorca—Conduct of detachment while serving there—Composition of detachments for foreign service—Parties to Sevenoaks and Harwich—Mission to Turkey—Its movements and services—Special detachment to Gibraltar to construct a cistern for the Navy—Detachment with the expedition to Holland—Its services—Origin of the Royal Staff Corps.
France, having but little occupation for her armies, turned her attention to England and matured arrangements on a scale of surpassing magnitude for its invasion. In this country all ranks and orders of men were affected by the threat; and such was the spirit of military ardour it induced, that corps of volunteers were rapidly embodied to meet the exigency of the times. Throughout the kingdom the wealthy contributed largely to assist the measures for defence; and the army, influenced by the popular feeling, joined in the demonstration and tendered subscriptions to the Government to aid in the realization of its purposes. The corps of military artificers also, prompted as well by a desire to relieve the general burden of the nation as from gratitude to the King for the recent addition to their pay, gave, in February, a contribution of three days' pay to the Treasury, to be applied as should be considered best for the defence of the state.[106] In acknowledging the letter conveying the gift, General Morse, the Colonel-Commandant, writes under date of 13th February, “their loyal and laudable offer has afforded me great satisfaction.”
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Footnote 106:
The following is a copy of the letter of the Woolwich company, offering the contribution above alluded to:—
_Woolwich, 12th February, 1798_.
SIR,
At a time when the exigencies of the State appear to require the assistance of every good subject to alleviate the general burden our fellow-subjects bear, it is the unanimous wish of the non-commissioned officers, artificers, and labourers of the corps of Royal Military Artificers, &c., at this place, to manifest the gratitude they owe their King and country for the late increase of pay, as well as their attachment to His Majesty’s person and government, and their zeal for the service in which the country is engaged, by offering a contribution of three days' pay, to be applied as may be thought best to the defence of the State.
We request you will be pleased to lay this our wish before the Colonel Commandant of the corps for his approbation.
Signed on behalf of the artificers and labourers, &c., of the corps of Royal Military Artificers, &c., at Woolwich, and with their unanimous consent.
THOS. FORTUNE, Sergeant-major.[106a]
JAMES DOUGLAS, } JOHN LEVICK, } Sergeants. EDWARD WATSON, }
ROBT. HUTCHINSON, } Corporals. JOHN YOUNG, }
BENJ. ROBERTS, } WILLIAM BAIN, } Lance-Corporals. HUGH KINNAIRD, }
Captain CHARLES HOLLOWAY, Commanding the Royal Military Artificers, &c., at Woolwich.
Footnote 106a:
Enlisted as a matross in July, 1761, in the royal artillery, and was pensioned from that regiment in October, 1783. On May 1, 1795, he enlisted into the Royal Military Artificers, at the age of 52! and died at Canterbury, August 10, 1799. Was known as the author of a small work called “The Artillerist’s Companion,” published by Egerton in 1786.
An expedition under Major-General Coote was fitted out in May, at Margate, for service against maritime Flanders. The design of the enterprise was to destroy the works and sluices of the Bruges canal near Ostend, and to cripple the internal navigation. To effect these services a detachment of the corps, experienced in mining, from the Chatham and Plymouth companies,[107] under Lieutenant Brownrigg, royal engineers, was attached to the force and sailed from Margate on the 14th May on board H.M.S. ‘Expedition,’ in which was General Coote himself.
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Footnote 107:
The greater part of the detachment had been specially employed in mining services at Dover.
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The force disembarked in three divisions on the 19th May, and the artificers, who had been instructed on board ship by Lieutenant Brownrigg in the duties required of them, accompanied the first division, provided with intrenching tools, wooden petards, &c. On landing, the troops took possession of the forts that protected the sluices, in order that the intended work of destruction might be carried on successfully. The artificers, with a company from the 23rd regiment and a detachment of royal artillery, commenced the appointed work, and in about four hours laid the locks, gates, and sluices in ruins, burned several gun-boats, and effected an explosion in the basin of the canal that almost demolished it, and drained it dry. In this service the exertions and efficiency of the party may be inferred from the praises bestowed by General Coote upon Lieutenant Brownrigg.[108]
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Footnote 108:
“Lieutenant Brownrigg, R.E., in about four hours, made all his arrangements, and completely destroyed the sluices; his mines having, in every particular, the desired effect, and the object of the expedition thereby attained. * * * In Lieutenant Brownrigg, I found infinite ability and resource: his zeal and attention were eminently conspicuous.”—London Gazette, 17 to 21 July, 1798.
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Having thus accomplished the object of the expedition the troops were ordered to re-embark. At the appointed hour the weather had become boisterous, and the violence of the surf rendered it impracticable to reach the shipping. A position was, therefore, taken up on the sand-hills before Ostend, which was strengthened in the night by the military artificers with intrenchments suitable to the occasion; but on the 20th, the British, hemmed in by a much stronger force, were compelled, after an obstinate contest, to surrender themselves prisoners of war. The casualties in the detachment were—killed, two; wounded, five; and thirteen, including the wounded, taken prisoners.[109] The survivors returned to England, and rejoined their companies in March, 1799.
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Footnote 109:
‘London Gazette,’ 17 to 21 July, 1798.
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In the West Indies the Caribbean company was reduced at the end of the previous year by fever to thirty-three men, who were distributed in ones and twos through different districts of the conquered islands. None could be spared for active duty without detriment to other services equally important; and several expeditions were, therefore, undertaken without a military artificer accompanying them. In some measure to supply the numerous vacancies that had occurred, one corporal and twenty-nine privates embarked in February on board the ‘Union’ transport under Lieutenant T. R. I’Ans, R.E.; and on their arrival the company was increased to fifty-seven non-commissioned officers and men.
On the 20th August, the expedition under Lieut.-General Trigge, which included three corporals and eleven men of Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley’s company, captured the Dutch settlement of Surinam, which surrendered without resistance. One artificer, John Nancarrow, mason, was accidentally drowned on this service; and this was the only casualty that occurred to the expedition.
At St. Domingo the detachment fast wasted away on account of the arduous services of the island and the diseases of the climate; and on the evacuation of the place in September only two of the company, with Lieutenant H. Morshead, of the corps,[110] survived to embark with the troops. Of the original company, which numbered forty-seven on its arrival in May, 1796, thirty-six died, seven were invalided, two deserted, and the remaining two[111] were sent to do duty at Jamaica.
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Footnote 110:
This officer was “ordered to the West Indies with two companies of the royal military artificers: himself and two of the privates only escaped the baleful effects of the climate of St. Domingo.”—United Service Journal, i., 1832, p. 142.
Footnote 111:
These were privates Adam Cowan and John Westo. The former was at once appointed sergeant and conductor of stores to Commissary Meek of the Ordnance. After delivering over the stores of the department at Jamaica to a sergeant of Dutch emigrant artillery, he returned to England, and was discharged with a pension of 2_s._ 0½_d._ a-day in April, 1816.
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In November three sergeants, four corporals, fifty-five artificers, three labourers, and one drummer, total, sixty-six, formed from the party employed in Portugal, and from artificers of the companies at Gibraltar, were sent with the force under General Charles Stuart against Minorca. On landing, the Spaniards, without offering any resistance, retired into the town of Citadella, which possessed a sort of fortified _enceinte_. A battery for a few field-pieces was constructed against it in the night by the artificers under Captain D’Arcy, royal engineers, and after firing a few shots the place surrendered on the 15th November. Soon after the capitulation, the detachment was very much dispersed through the island, employed on various defensive works; and on Sir Charles Stuart quitting it, the military artificers remained to restore the fortifications. In January, 1801, the detachment was denominated the Minorca company; but in August, 1802, it was withdrawn, and being disbanded, the men were distributed among the companies of the corps at home and at Gibraltar.
During their stay in Minorca it seems that their conduct was not above reproach, nor their services on the works as useful as desired. Sir Charles Pasley has recorded that they were found to be very inefficient, and ascribes it to their having been selected for the expedition from the Gibraltar companies, which, from circumstances, were for a number of years the worst in the corps.[112] Here, however, it is proper to add, that their inefficiency did not arise from their want of ability and skill as mechanics,[113] but from their general irregular behaviour occasioned chiefly by intemperance. Writing of the Gibraltar companies, Sir Augustus de Butts, in a letter dated 11th July, 1848, says:—“I cannot speak so confidently of their general conduct, but on the works, under the eye of their officers, they behaved well, and were very good artificers, particularly the non-commissioned officers.”
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Footnote 112:
Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification.’ Notes to Preface, p. iv., vol. i.
Footnote 113:
Several individual proofs could be adduced but two must suffice. Private Evan Roberts, a talented mason, was detached to Malta during the blockade of Valetta, and rendered good service as a foreman under Captain Gordon, R.E. On the formation of the Maltese artificers, he was appointed sergeant in one of the companies to prevent his removal to another station: and Sergeant-major James Shirres, formerly of the Gibraltar companies, from his correct conduct and merit as an artificer, was appointed overseer of works in the royal engineer department at Plymouth, in December, 1804.
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On the composition of detachments for foreign duty, Sir Charles Pasley has made some observations which may not inappropriately be introduced here. “When any expedition,” he writes, “was to be undertaken, the number of royal military artificers required were in all cases, selected by small detachments out of the stationary companies; and as the commanding engineers at the several fixed stations were naturally averse to parting with their best men, the detachments thus formed for field service, were generally composed of the stupidest and least trustworthy non-commissioned officers, and of the most ignorant, profligate, and abandoned of the privates.”[114] This was, it would appear, the general rule, but exceptions may fairly be taken in favour of the detachments forwarded to Toulon, St. Domingo, Halifax, and Ostend, as well as to some of the reinforcements sent to the Caribbee islands. These detachments were not formed of bad men weeded from the different companies, but of non-commissioned officers and privates whose qualifications and utility as mechanics were unquestionable, and whose conduct was approved.
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Footnote 114:
Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification.’ Notes to Preface, p. iv. vol. i.
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In April and May a corporal and party of carpenters of the Woolwich company were detached to Sevenoaks, and there built temporary wooden barracks for a company of artillery; a second party was employed in repairing Falmouth Castle from May to November; and in the latter month two carpenters and two masons, all privates, were sent to superintend workmen in the erection of fortifications and temporary defences at different places from Chelmsford to Harwich, in which duty they continued until April 1800.
Napoleon, by a series of successes, had gained a firm footing in Egypt, and the subjugation of India was contemplated by the French Directory. As well to thwart the intention, as to stimulate the Turks, the British Government determined to send a military mission to the dominions of the Sultan, to cooperate with the Ottoman army in their hostile movements against the French. The mission being formed of artillery, engineers, and artificers, in all seventy-six persons, under Brigadier-General Koehler, of the royal artillery, embarked in the ‘New Adventure’ transport in February, but did not sail from England till April. The military artificers, selected by Major Holloway, royal engineers, from the Woolwich company, numbered one sergeant—Edward Watson—two corporals, nineteen artificers, and two labourers; and as Major Holloway had proceeded overland to Constantinople,[115] were consequently placed under the orders of Captain Lacy, R.E. On the near approach of the ‘Adventure’ to Gibraltar she was partially wrecked. A quantity of stores and some pontoons were thrown overboard, and private Philip Patterson, whilst exerting himself in casting away the stores, was washed off the deck by a wave into the sea and drowned. On the 14th June the transport arrived at Constantinople, and Major Holloway assumed the command of the artificers.
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Footnote 115:
Brigadier-General Koehler, Major Holloway, and six other officers and gentlemen proceeded by the overland route to Constantinople. Three of the detachment accompanied them—privates Joseph Comfort, Jonathan Lewsey, and David Waddell. “Their journey in the outset,” says Dr. Wittman, in his ‘Travels in Turkey,’ &c., p. 6, “had been attended by uncommon severities, such, however, as might have been expected from a season more rigorous than any which had been experienced for many years. In passing over the continent, they had, at the entrance of the Elbe, been shipwrecked among the shoals of ice; and to relieve themselves from the perilous situation, had been under the necessity of passing over the ice to the extent of two miles, to gain the shore; by this effort they were providentially saved.” They now prosecuted their journey to Constantinople, where they arrived in March, 1799.
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On the removal of the mission to Levant Chiflick, five of the detachment were detained with the officers at Buyukdere, and the remainder were occupied in various services at the former place and Kaithana, where they erected a furnace for heating shot. Shortly afterwards experiments with red-hot shot were carried on in the presence of the Sultan, who, at the close of the practice, having reviewed the mission, presented each person with a gift suitable to his rank. Whilst building the furnace, the artificers, exposed to marsh miasma, were early attacked with fever. At first the cases were slight, but relapses following with malignity, three of the detachment died. To preserve the mission, therefore, it was removed in October to the Dardanelles. Previously to the embarkation, the artificers constructed a handsome model of the upper castle at Chennekalleh, on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, with Major Holloway’s improvements, which model was presented by that officer to Hadgi Ibrahim Effendi, Secretary at War for the Ottoman Porte. Subsequently, at the Dardanelles,[116] they were employed in effecting various alterations and additions to the castle until the 2nd December, when the mission was suddenly recalled to Constantinople; and landing on the 4th, awaited orders to proceed on more active service.[117]
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Footnote 116:
While here, sergeant Watson of the artificers, in preparing money for the payment of the mission in the presence of a Turkish marine, quitted the room for a moment, leaving the money on the table. “On his return,” writes Dr. Wittman, “the marine had disappeared with 120 piastres, about 9_l._ English. Having described the person of the delinquent to the Capitan Pacha, inquiries were at once commenced to detect the thief. On the second day after, the marine confessed his guilt to General Koehler, and begged his influence with the Capitan Pacha to save his life. The General did so, but several days elapsed before the affair was disposed of. During the interval, the General, anxious to prevent the culprit being strangled, expressed some doubts of the culprit’s identity; but in reply to this, the Pacha very handsomely declared his full conviction that the marine _had_ taken the money, as he was certain an Englishman would not tell an untruth.”—Wittman’s Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, &c., p. 65.
Footnote 117:
The above particulars are chiefly taken from Dr. Wittman’s ‘Travels in Turkey,’ &c.
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At the instance of the Admiralty, a detachment of one sergeant, one corporal, and forty privates, chiefly masons and bricklayers, able-bodied men and good artificers, under Lieutenant C. Mann, royal engineers, sailed for Gibraltar in May on board the ‘Fortitude,’ and landed there the following month. The party was specially employed in constructing a cistern for naval purposes, under the military foremanship of sergeant Joseph Woodhead; and in October, 1800, it was incorporated with the Gibraltar companies.
England and Russia having concluded a treaty to send an army to Holland to reinstate the Stadtholder, a corps of 12,000 men, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, embarked for the Helder and landed on the 27th August. Attached to this expedition was a party of military artificers, consisting of one sergeant, two corporals, thirty-five artificers—seventeen of whom were carpenters—and one drummer, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hay, R.E. The detachment embarked on board the ‘Amphitrite,’ and disembarking with the second division, were present in the action of that day.
After forming the engineer park near the Helder, about ten men were left to repair the fort; and the remainder, divided into brigades of four to each brigade, followed the troops in their forward movement in charge of the intrenching equipment of the expedition, which was conveyed in waggons. Early in September, the detachment constructed several batteries for guns and mortars to defend the post at Zuyp; as also, subsequently, at Hoorn and Egmont-op-Zee; and to facilitate the march of the army to the latter place, they assisted in the formation of three flying bridges over canals that intersected the route. In the retreat, they were continually employed in throwing small bridges across the canals by means of planking, felled trees, and other chance materials. At Alkmaer they constructed several defensive works; and on retiring from thence, where three roads met, they raised, in an incredibly short time, a mound of earth about twelve feet high, across the junction, with the view of impeding the enemy in their pursuit of the British. None of the military artificers were killed or wounded on this service. On the evacuation of Holland in November the detachment rejoined the companies.
Here, perhaps, it would be proper to allude, in a general remark, to the practice of providing detachments for foreign service. It will already have been observed, that whenever any expedition was undertaken, resort was invariably had to the royal military artificers for a selection of men to accompany it, suitable to the work upon which it was contemplated they would be employed; but the numbers furnished were always insufficient for the purpose, and no representations or remonstrances could avail in altering a custom, which, from causes not easily surmised, seems to have been pertinaciously persevered in.
This remark is fully borne out by the statement of a highly distinguished officer;[118] and is moreover corroborated by the fact, that about this time, the particular attention of the Commander-in-Chief was drawn to the subject, without, however, accomplishing what the interests of the service greatly needed. It is said, that when the Duke of York was preparing his expedition for Holland, he demanded efficient assistance from the royal engineers and royal military artificers, which, for some reason, the Ordnance authorities reluctantly met with an inadequate provision. Annoyed by the limited number tendered, his Royal Highness determined to establish a corps competent to discharge the duties usually devolving upon the royal engineers, “which should be absolutely at the disposal of the Horse Guards; and as his Royal Highness held office in times when the thoughts of statesmen were bent rather to render the means of the country’s defence complete, and to aid other nations in opposing the aggressions of an arrogant and unscrupulous power, than to effect savings in the public expenditure, he found no difficulty in consummating his wishes, and hence arose the royal staff corps.”[119]
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Footnote 118:
Sir John Jones, in his ‘Sieges,’ vol. ii., note 38, p. 389, 2nd edit.
Footnote 119:
Gleig’s ‘Military History,’ xxxvii., p. 287.
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1800.
Mortality in the West Indies—Blockade of Malta—Capture of a transport on passage from Nova Scotia—Movements and services of detachments in Turkey; attacked with fever—Anecdote of private Thomas Taylor at Constantinople—Cruise of expedition to Cadiz—Attack on the city abandoned—Subsequent movements of the expedition; Malta; and re-embarkation for Egypt—Statistics of companies at Gibraltar.
From the diminished state of the company in the West Indies, and the impracticability of filling up the constantly-recurring vacancies by drafts from England, authority was given to the Commanding Engineer in the Leeward Islands, to obtain on the spot, men for the company properly qualified and climatized, either by enlistment or transfer from other corps. This led to an immediate incorporation, in April, of one sergeant, twenty privates, and two drummers, from the 43rd and other regiments; and though the plan was attended with considerable success, the still greater mortality from fever always kept the company greatly below its establishment.
In addition to the repeated allusion made to the military artificers in the West Indies, the following statistics of mortality, as far as the same can now be ascertained, affording a tolerably correct idea of the unhealthiness of the climate, and the sufferings to which the men must have been subjected, may here not be misplaced.
Number of Deaths. 1793 17 1794 65 1795 19 1796 70 1797 37 1798 12 1799 10 1800 9 — Total 239
The aggregate number of artificers and labourers sent there from year to year, including those transferred from other corps and enlisted on the spot, amounted to about 350. More than two-thirds of the number, therefore, fell victims to the war and the climate! Many also were sent home invalided, several of whom died on the passage, or soon after landing in England. At the close of 1800, the strength of the company did not exceed seventy-eight of all ranks, twenty-two being required to complete it.
In February, private Evan Roberts, an active and intelligent artificer, was chosen from the Minorca company for service at the blockade of La Valetta, and arrived at Malta before the end of the month. From that time until the surrender of the fortress on the 15th of September, he served in the department with zeal and efficiency under Captain Gordon, royal engineers; and continued, though a private, to discharge the duties of an overseer of works until the formation, in 1806, of the first company of Maltese artificers, to which he was transferred as sergeant.
At Halifax, Nova Scotia, three invalids embarked on board the ‘Diamond’ transport on the 15th of September, with several invalids of Captain R. Wright’s company of royal artillery, and sailed with the fleet on the 19th of that month. Previously to weighing anchor, private Walter Allan was accidentally drowned in the harbour by falling overboard; and the other two, privates Ninian Kerr and Samuel Milman, were captured by the French some time in October. But all efforts to ascertain where, or how, the enemy effected the seizure of the vessel with her crew and passengers, have proved unsuccessful.
Soon after the removal of the mission from the Dardanelles to Constantinople, Captain Lacy and Lieutenant Fletcher, R.E., were detached to join the Turkish army in Syria. With these officers two military artificers were also sent, one of whom returned from Cyprus with the former officer in April, and the other reached the mission again, some two months later, with Captain Lacy. On the 13th of June, the artificers sailed from Constantinople[120] with the mission, and landed at Jaffa on the 2nd of July, where they encamped with the Turkish army and commenced, under the foremanship of sergeant E. Watson, the improvements suggested by Major Holloway in the fortifications of that port. These, however, though far advanced, were ultimately set aside, and the artificers were appointed to erect several new works in front of Jaffa; which, in consequence of the French being in great force at Catieh, were considered to be more essential than the proposed alterations to the defences of the town. With great ceremony, on the 30th of August, the first stone of the intended new bastion was laid by the Grand Vizier; and shortly after, his Highness having reviewed the mission, marked his approbation of their appearance by a present to each non-commissioned officer and soldier. In December the fever, which had been alarmingly rife in the Turkish camp, attacked the mission. Its first victim was a military artificer; and before the end of the month, though the cases of mortality were few, the mission had to lament the loss by death, of their commander, General Koehler, R.A., and his lady. Major Holloway, royal engineers, then assumed the command, and at the close of the year, a change of cantonment having re-established the health of the men, the works at the new bastion progressed vigorously.[121]
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Footnote 120:
Some time before leaving the city, private Thomas Taylor, royal military artificers, was, without any provocation, assaulted by a Turk, who attempted to stab him with his yatikan. On a report of this outrage being made to the Capitan Pacha, to whose retinue the Turk belonged, he came to a resolution to have him decapitated. By the mediation and entreaties of Lord Elgin, a mitigation of the punishment ensued, and the Turk, after receiving fifty strokes of the bastinado on the soles of his feet, was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in the college of Pera, _to learn the Arabic language_.—Dr. Wittman’s Turkey, p. 93.
Footnote 121:
Particulars for the most part obtained from Wittman’s ‘Travels in Turkey,’ &c.
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In April, a detachment of one sergeant, two corporals, and thirty artificers, under Captain Bryce, R.E., accompanied the expedition under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, for employment on secret service. The men were selected from the different home companies, and all were “sufficiently qualified in their respective trades, as well as able-bodied.” Proceeding to Portsmouth, they remained inactive for about six weeks; and, at length embarking on board the ‘Asia’ transport, sailed in June with the expedition. In the Channel off Portland, the fleet encountered a gale, and was driven back to Portsmouth; but on a fair wind springing up, got under weigh again, and in due time ran up the Tagus. From thence the ‘Asia’ proceeded to Gibraltar, lay there about a month, and sailing for Minorca, soon reached that island and landed the artificers; where, for about seven weeks, they were employed in the construction of temporary barracks, &c., for the troops put on shore. At the expiration of this period, the artificers returned to the ‘Asia’ and retracing the route to Gibraltar, anchored for a fortnight. There they were reinforced by one sergeant, one corporal, and five miners of the companies at the fortress; and at the appointed hour, the ‘Asia,’ again weighing anchor for Tetuan Bay, took water there and sailed with the fleet for Cadiz.
When off Cadiz, the artificers were told off into two brigades, and six of the boldest and most expert men were selected to land with the first division, and the remainder with the second. On the morning of the day in which the attempt was to be made, the artificers, as a preliminary measure, removed all the intrenching tools and engineers' stores into the launches, and then took their places in the boats, provided with adzes, pole-axes, and miners' tools for removing impediments, &c. A long interval of breathless suspense followed, in which the seamen rested impatiently on their oars; but, as an epidemic raged at the time in the city, the landing was countermanded, and the men and stores being reshipped, the meditated attack upon Cadiz was relinquished. The ‘Asia,’ consequently, sailed for Tetuan Bay, where, exposed to a storm, she was compelled to cut her cable and run for Cape Spartel. There she anchored for four days, and on the wind shifting again made for the bay.[122]
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Footnote 122:
The seven non-commissioned officers and men embarked at Gibraltar to join the expedition, returned to their companies at the fortress immediately after the failure at Cadiz.
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At this rendezvous the fleet was divided into three divisions, and the artificers accompanied that under Sir Ralph Abercrombie to Malta. There they were landed; and after a stay of about seven weeks, during which they were employed preparing platforms and fascines, re-embarked on the 17th of December, seven on board the ‘Ajax,’ 74, Captain the Hon. Sir Alexander Cochrane, and the remainder on board the ‘Asia’ transport. Hitherto the service of the expedition had been expended in a series of cruises or reconnaissances alike harassing and wearying, but at length, a glimpse of approaching activity burst upon the armament. Soon the enterprise commenced, and terminated with glory to Britain by rescuing an inoffensive nation from the eagle grasp of an oppressive republic.
Ever since the incorporation of the Gibraltar companies with the corps, the power to recruit for those companies was vested in the commanding royal engineer at the fortress, and, so far, was exercised with tolerable success. This permission was the more necessary, as, from the frequent calls made upon the home companies to detach parties for the service of particular expeditions, it was impossible, so to attend to those companies as to keep them numerically complete. The effect of that power was, that from the date of the incorporation to the end of 1800, ninety-six artificers had either been enlisted or received as transfers from regiments in the garrison; but from the unavoidable exposure of the men to the sun in carrying on their working duties, and the general unhealthiness of the climate, the casualties in the companies far exceeded the number that joined. Of the increase and decrease in the companies for the above period, the following is an accurate exposition:—
Strength at the incorporation, of all ranks 255 Joined from employment at the naval reservoir 36 Enlisted or transferred from regiments in garrison @b96 —— Total 387
The decrease was:—
Deaths 45 Discharges 31 Invalided 38 Desertions 4 -- 118 —— 269 Wanted to complete 6 —— Establishment 275 ===
1801-1802.
Distribution of corps—Dispersion of West India company—Statistics—Detachment to St. Marcou—Capture of Danish settlements—Casualties in West India company—Compared with mortality in Gibraltar companies—Working dress—Services, &c., of detachment at Gibraltar—Conduct of Sergeant W. Shirres—Concession to the companies by the Duke of Kent—Cocked hat superseded by the chaco.
On the 1st January the corps was distributed in companies and detachments as follows. The names of the officers in command and the senior non-commissioned officers at the several stations are also added:—
Sergeant-majors. Woolwich Lieut.-Col. B. Fisher John Eaves. Chatham Lieut.-Col. Thos. Nepean John Palmer. Portsmouth } Col. John Evelegh { James Smith. Gosport } { Alexander Spence. Plymouth Maj.-Gen. Alex. Mercer William Browne. Jersey Capt. John Humfrey Anthony Haig. Guernsey Lieut.-Col. J. Mackelcan Andrew Gray. Dover Gibraltar Lieut.-Col. Wm. Fyers Joseph Makin. Minorca Capt. Robert D’Arcy { Sergeant Jas. Shirres, { _Foreman of Carpenters_. Nova Scotia Capt. Wm. Fenwick { Sergeant John Catto, { _Foreman of Masons_. West Indies Col. Chas. Shipley Serg.-Maj. Matthew Hoey. Egyptian Capt. Alex. Bryce { Sergeant John McArthur, Expedition { _Master Smith_. Jaffa, with the } Major C. Holloway { Sergeant Edward Watson, Ottoman army } { _Master Carpenter_.
The head-quarters of the West India company were at Martinique, from which non-commissioned officers and men were detached to St. Lucia, St. Vincent’s, St. Kitt’s, St. Pierre’s, the Saintes, Surinam, and Barbadoes, for the purpose of acting as overseers on the works or for employment on particular services.
The establishment of the corps was 975; but wanting 232 to complete, its strength only amounted to 743 of all ranks. Of this number 403 were abroad and 340 at home.
Early in the year a small party of one sergeant, and seven artificers from the Portsmouth and Gosport companies were sent to St. Marcou, an island on the coast of France, seven miles east of Cape la Hogue, to repair the fortifications; and having accomplished the service returned to their companies in November.
To the expedition which proceeded against the Danish settlements in March, under the command of Lieut.-General Trigge, were attached one sergeant-major, two corporals, and twenty privates of the military artificers, who were present at the capture of the islands of St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. John, and Santa Croix.
The loss in the West India company by fever and other diseases during the year amounted to twenty, whose vacancies were immediately filled up by transfers from the line.
In May the working dress consisted of a blue cloth jacket with skirts, two serge waistcoats with sleeves, two pairs of blue serge pantaloons, a black round hat, and a pair of half black gaiters. One of the waistcoats and a pair of pantaloons formed the second working dress. The new jacket was made of stouter and better cloth than formerly; sleeves were added to the serge waistcoats, and the second pair of pantaloons were substituted for the canvas ones. These improvements were considered equivalent to a linen shirt, a pair of stockings, and a canvas jacket previously supplied with the working suit, but which, from this year, ceased to be issued to the corps.
At the opening of the year the military artificers with the British mission to Turkey, reduced to fifteen men, were occupied in the erection of the new bastion at Jaffa, which was finished and the guns placed on the platforms with great pomp on the 27th January. Of the detachment with the mission, two were styled labourers, from their not having been promoted to the rank of artificers; and they, when not immediately occupied on the works, acted in the capacity of servants to Major Holloway. One of these labourers when out one afternoon some distance from Jaffa, exercising the Major’s horses, was attacked by a party of Arabs on a predatory excursion, by whose fire the Major’s horse was killed, and the bâtman wounded with balls and slugs in nine different places. The servant of Major Hope, R. A. was also in the assault; and by great exertion succeeded in bearing his comrade back to the camp. Dr. Wittman, of the mission, with celerity equal to his skill, extracted the missiles and the sufferer speedily recovered.[123]
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Footnote 123:
Either private Jonathan Lewsey or private David Waddell, both of whom acted as servants to Major Holloway, R.E. The former was a powerful man, and remarkable from the circumstance of his having _four thumbs_! two on each hand in addition to the proper complement of fingers. On the breaking up of the mission at Grand Cairo, these privates returned to England with that officer by the overland route.
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On the 2nd February, Captain Lacy, royal engineers, was despatched to El Arish to collect military information, accompanied by a private of the artificers who early fell a sacrifice to the plague that prevailed there. On the 25th of that month, the Ottoman army commenced its march to Grand Cairo, the British mission being attached to the body guard of his Highness the Vizier, mounted on fine horses superbly caparisoned, and attended by Arabs. Passing through Ashdod, the army encamped for a while at Gaza, where the military artificers were separated into three parties, and attached to the divisions respectively commanded by the Grand Vizier, Mahomed Pacha, and Taher Pacha; but it is difficult to record with satisfactory distinctness, the particular services in which they subsequently participated. On the 28th March the army entered the Desert at Kahnyounes, and traversing that arid and inhospitable region for about 150 miles, subjected to occasional deprivation of food and water, and exposed to sultry heats, infectious diseases, and danger, reached Salahieh on the 27th April, after a tedious and harassing march of thirty-two days. Two of the military artificers died in the Desert; and the survivors, who were present at the capture of Salahieh and Belbeis, and in the action near the village of Elhanka, entered Cairo on the 11th July. There they were employed during the remainder of the year, in renewing the bridge of boats across the Nile constructed by the French to preserve a communication with Gizeh, and also in repairing the fortifications of the city, until the 19th February, 1802, when they quitted for Rosetta. From this town they were removed to Alexandria, and afterwards to Malta, where, finally embarking for England, they arrived at different periods in the fall of 1802 and spring of 1803.[124] The strength of the detachment on joining the Turkish mission, was twenty-four of all ranks; eleven only returned! Of the casualties eleven died of fever or the plague, and two were drowned accidentally. “After a series of painful, harassing, and critical events,” says the journalist, “the labours of the mission closed; and the patience, forbearance, and circumspection of the individuals engaged in this long and perilous service, were manifested on a variety of trying occasions, which required all the energy inherent in the British military character.”[125]
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Footnote 124:
Sergeant Edward Watson, who enlisted into the artillery as a matross, January 28, 1775, and joined the corps at Woolwich, March 1, 1792, was the senior non-commissioned officer with the mission; and in consideration of his zeal, ability, and uniform exemplary conduct, as well in discharge of his military duties, as in the executive superintendence of the several works undertaken by Major Holloway, he was promoted, on his arrival in England, to be sergeant-major of the Woolwich company. On December 1, 1810, he was discharged. For similar reasons corporal David Pollock was advanced to the rank of sergeant, and appointed master-smith.
Footnote 125:
Wittman’s ‘Turkey,’ p. 395.
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Meanwhile the detachment of the corps with the force under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie reached Marmorice Bay; and with the exception of the party on board the ‘Ajax’, landed, and prepared a shipload of fascines and gabions to be used in the intended enterprise. Five of the ‘Ajax’ men were employed in different repairs to the vessel; and the other two, assisted by a corporal of the 44th regiment, made an elegant double couch of mahogany covered with various beautifully-marked skins from Rhodes, for the Turkish General Mustapha, which was presented to him by Captain the Hon. Alexander Cochrane, R.N. On the 17th February, the fleet set sail for Egypt, and running into Aboukir Bay on the 1st March, the troops landed on the 7th, and then followed a display of invincible ardour and bravery on the part of the British, that checked France in her career of success, and turned all her glorious Egyptian conquests into painful disasters and capitulations.
With the first division were landed the seven military artificers of the ‘Ajax,’ who were present in the action of that morning; and eight hours afterwards commenced to trace the necessary works for besieging Aboukir Castle. Next day the remainder of the detachment landed from the ‘Asia’ transport, and dispersed in small parties of about four each to the several brigades of the army, advanced to Alexandria. Under the direction of their officers, the ‘Ajax’ artificers superintended the construction of batteries for eleven guns and three mortars in front of Aboukir, laying all the platforms themselves, and restoring, when damaged by the enemy’s fire, the cheeks of the embrasures which were formed by a double row of sand-bags backed or strengthened by a row of casks filled with earth, a plan suggested by Major M‘Kerras, royal engineers, previously to his being killed; but which was not again resorted to, during the subsequent operations of the campaign. On the 19th March the castle surrendered.
On the heights of Alexandria, the artificers with the column under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, superintended the erection of batteries and redoubts of sand-bags, fascines, and gabions, which formed a strong line of defence from the sea to Lake Maedie. The Aboukir party joining on the 20th, also assisted in the works until their completion. Unable, from being unarmed, to take an active part in the battle of Alexandria on the 21st March, they occupied themselves in the essential duty of carrying shot, shell, and ammunition to the artillery and the troops.
After the battle the military artificers had the charge, under their officers, of renewing the works on the heights, and when completed were appointed to aid in effecting the inundation of a portion of the country. This was accomplished by cutting seven channels in the dyke of the canal of Alexandria, through which the waters of Lake Aboukir rushed into Lake Mareotis, then nearly dry, and about ten feet below the level of Lake Aboukir. Across the Nile they subsequently threw a bridge of boats, to facilitate the communication between Alexandria and Rosetta, re-forming it when swept away by the rapidity of the current; and afterwards they assisted in the construction of a similar bridge across the openings in the dyke of the canal of Alexandria for the convenience of the shipping.
Four of the artificers who were at the siege of the castle of Aboukir were attached to the brigade under Colonel Spencer, and served at the reduction of Rosetta, Fort St. Julian—against which they constructed batteries for two guns and two mortars—Elhamet, Alkam, and Rahmanieh.
Shortly after they proceeded to Grand Cairo and were present at its surrender on the 27th June. A brief interval elapsed, when they returned to Alexandria, by the river Nile, in the large which contained the field equipment of the detachment. On reaching Alexandria, the entire detachment was divided into two parties, one under Captain Bryce, the chief engineer, and the other under Captain Ford, royal engineers; and were subsequently present at the siege of the castle of Marabout, the taking of Redoubt de Bain, and at the final fall of Alexandria on the 27th August. No casualties in killed and wounded are reported to have taken place among the men during the campaign; and though no particular testimony to their merits appears to have been recorded, from the circumstance of their being so few in number, and from the absence of prominent occasions of exhibiting their zeal and efficiency, arising from the enemy capitulating and surrendering many of his works without resistance, still they were permitted in common with the other troops that served in Egypt, to wear the device of the Sphinx on their appointments. A like honour was also conferred upon the military artificers who served with the mission to Turkey.
Immediately following the capture of Alexandria, an expedition was sent to Elba, under Admiral Lord Keith and General Sir Eyre Coote. Five military artificers were attached to it on board the ‘Amphitrite’ transport, under the orders of Captain Birch, royal engineers; but, when between Rhodes and Candia, an English man-of-war brought intelligence of peace to Lord Keith, and the descent upon the island was relinquished. Thereupon the ‘Amphitrite’ sailed for Malta, where the artificers remained for six weeks, employed in repairing the fortifications. During this period, they were joined by others of the detachment from Alexandria, and re-embarking, arrived in England in February, 1802. The residue of the detachment, detained for a while at Alexandria and Malta watching the development of events, reached these shores in August, 1803.
On the Duke of Kent being appointed Governor of Gibraltar, his first care was to introduce some wholesome regulations for diminishing the drunkenness and crime so prevalent in the garrison. Stringent measures were therefore adopted with regard to the sale of liquors and wines in the canteens, scrupulous attention was paid to the appearance of the men in the streets, and drill and discipline were rigorously enforced. These reforms, however, were received with much discontent; and on Christmas-eve of 1802 the stifled feeling of insubordination broke out into mutiny.
In this _émeute_ the greater part of the military artificers took an unequivocal but unimportant part. The Duke’s new rules interfered more essentially with the practices and indulgences of the companies, than with any other troops in the garrison. Besides being subjected to the general rigours imposed on the troops, the artificers were deprived of the privilege of working privately in the town, and were once a week taken from the command of their own officers, and drilled and disciplined by the Town Major. These innovations upon old usages produced considerable disaffection in the companies, and many of the more reckless and turbulent were not backward in ranging themselves on the side of the mutineers. Joining a party of the Royals at night, at the Town Range Barracks, they proceeded in company to the South Barracks, where, on approaching to make arrangements for a simultaneous rising, the 18th Royal Irish fired upon them, with no better result than tearing the feather from the hat of one of the privates of the artificers.
This harmless volley had the effect of cooling the ardour of the mutineers, and the rebel artificers becoming tranquil, returned home; but on the Saturday following, another and more decided exhibition being expected, the officers of engineers met at the barracks, to endeavour to prevent any co-operation with the mutineers. Meanwhile the companies received their working pay, and all restrictions being taken off the canteen, the intemperance that followed soon rendered the men too insensible to discharge any duty effectually, either for the Crown or the mutineers. During the night a strong party of the 25th regiment appeared at the gates to demand the services of the companies; but sergeant William Shirres, assisted by a small guard of the corps, closed and daringly held the gates against the exasperated rebels, and prevented any communication with the barracks. Without entering further into the progress of the mutiny, it will be sufficient to add, that it was soon suppressed, and three of the ringleaders of the 25th regiment were shot on the Grand Parade by sentence of a general court-martial.
A few days after the Duke of Kent ordered the companies to be specially paraded for his inspection. Having passed down the ranks and moved to the front, his Royal Highness addressed them. He appeared to have been informed that the artificers had joined with the Royals and 25th regiment in their intemperate display; but added, that he felt every reluctance to give credence to the report, and also made some complimentary allusions to the services of the companies at the fortress. He then desired to know if there were any complaints, in order, if reasonable, to adjust them. The men, thus courteously invited, having stated their wish to be drilled by their own officers, his Royal Highness directed the Town Major to manœuvre the companies. Carefully the Duke watched the firelock exercise and the execution of the various evolutions, and, expressing his satisfaction with their appearance and drill, granted their request.
This year the cocked hat, worn since 1797, was superseded by the chaco, similar in size and shape to the one commonly adopted in the army. So strange an alteration—from the sage-like cocked hat to its trim substitute—obtained for the new head-gear the cimmerian appellation of the “smoke-jack.” The white heckle feather worn with the cocked hat, was retained. See Plate IX. As time wound up, this description of chaco lost its upright lines for one which, approaching a cone in shape, was called the “sugar-loaf cap.” The latter, again, was superseded by another in 1813, which, from its peculiar form, was familiarly styled the “bang-up.”
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[Illustration:
Royal Military Artificers Plate IX. UNIFORM 1802 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
]
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1803-1805.
Party to Ceylon—The treaty of Amiens broken—State of West India company—Capture of St. Lucia—Tobago—Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice—Works at Spike Island—Capture of Surinam—Conduct of private George Mitchell—Batavian soldiers join West India Company—Fever at Gibraltar—Consequent mortality.—Humane and intrepid conduct of three privates—Invasion of England—Works at Dover—Jersey—Chelmsford—Martello towers at Eastbourne—Bomb tenders at Woolwich—Recruiting—Volunteers from the Line and Militia—Treaty of St. Petersburgh—Party to Naples—Ditto to Hanover.
Lieutenant-Colonel Bridges having been appointed commanding royal engineer in Ceylon, he applied for a detachment of the military artificers to accompany him to that station. The requisite sanction being procured, six artificers, comprising one corporal, two carpenters, one mason, one bricklayer, and one smith, embarked for the East in January. The precise object of despatching so small a party to so distant a settlement cannot now be learned, but every care was taken to choose men for the service whose activity and abilities as craftsmen were well known, and whose conduct was unexceptionable. “Select,” says the order to the officer called upon to furnish the party, “such men as you would prefer if going on the service yourself.” In June the party arrived at Trincomalee, but what specific services were performed by them in the colony it would be idle to conjecture. Before the autumn of 1806, four of the men died, but the other two held up against the climate till 1815, when one left for England and was discharged,[126] and the other died in April, 1817.
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Footnote 126:
John Wallace. It is related of him that he was lost sight of for many months, and his appearance at Woolwich gave rise to as much surprise as his person to doubt. All traces of the original man had worn away, and from the oddness of his dress, and peculiarity of his manners, the task of recognition was rendered still more perplexing. Eventually, satisfactory proofs of his identity being obtained, he was again acknowledged and discharged on a pension of 1_s._ 6_d._ a-day, his service in the corps having exceeded thirty-three years.
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The treaty of peace between France and Great Britain was signed on the 27th March, 1802, and hailed everywhere with exultation. Soon, however, Buonaparte began to exhibit a spirit at variance with the solemn engagement, and his irrepressible ambition forced him to seek occasions for gratifying it. Increased power and dominion were the engrossing objects of his genius; and, singular as it may appear, states and republics fell under his sway without his lifting a sword to conquer them. All this transpired while yet the burst of joy at the peaceful negotiation was ringing in the courts of Europe; but Great Britain, though a sullen spectator of these events, caring more to be blamed for reluctance than impetuosity, at length interfered, and the result was, that war was declared with the French republic on the 18th May, 1803.
At that period the company stationed in the West Indies had nearly reached its establishment; and, as the sickness, so rife in former years, had greatly lessened both in malignity and extent, the general health of the men had much improved. So keen was Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley about maintaining his company complete, that whenever a death occurred or an artificer quitted the station through ill health, he invariably applied direct to the general officer in command of the troops, to order a tradesman of approved qualification and conduct to be transferred to it from the line. Alike interested in the efficiency of the company, the general officer always acceded to his request; and the company, consequently, was in excellent condition for affording effective co-operation in any active service.
Intelligence of the renewal of hostilities soon reached the West India islands, and an expedition was forthwith prepared to be employed in the capture of St. Lucia, under the command of General Grinfield and Commodore Hood. To this force were attached one sergeant-major, three sergeants, five corporals, and sixty-eight privates of the military artificers, who were engaged, on the 22nd June, in the storming of Morne Fortuné and taking of St. Lucia. Corporal William Dyson was killed at the storm,[127] but of the wounded, no particulars exist. Of the services of Colonel Shipley and his company in this capture, the General, under date of June 22nd, thus wrote:—“To Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley and the royal engineers, he is indebted in a high degree for assistance and professional advice.”[128]
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Footnote 127:
In the ‘London Gazette,’ 26 to 30 July, 1803, this corporal is, by mistake, returned as sergeant.
Footnote 128:
‘London Gazette Extraordinary,’ August 15, 1803.
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In July the same company was present at the capitulation of Tobago, which surrendered without bloodshed to the forces under General Grinfield. “Great praise,” says the General in his orders of the 1st July, “is also due to the alertness and readiness of the royal artillery and royal artificers in their embarkation and disembarkation, both of themselves, ordnance, and stores, and for their attention to their discipline and duties” [129]
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Footnote 129:
Ibid.
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In the following September, Colonel Shipley and one sergeant-major, three sergeants, one corporal, and thirty-three privates, were attached to another expedition under the same General, and were present at the capture of the colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice. Like Tobago, these islands surrendered without resistance. At each of the subjugated settlements and at Trinidad, a small party was left to carry on the current services and improve the defences. The head-quarters still remained at Martinique. During the year the deaths in the company did not exceed twelve men; and its strength at the end of the year was eighty-seven of all ranks, of whom only eight were ineffective from sickness.
Early in the year Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Holloway was appointed commanding royal engineer at Cork, and at once commenced a minute examination of the fortifications under his charge. These were found to be defective, inasmuch as they did not sufficiently command the surrounding country and harbour. Sir Charles, therefore, among many works which he suggested for the defence of the district, projected an extensive fort for Spike Island to be erected on the site of Westmoreland Fort, which was to be demolished. Authorized to carry his plans into execution, he applied and obtained in October, the services of an efficient detachment of tradesmen, consisting of a sergeant, and master mason, thirteen artificers, and one labourer of the Woolwich company, to aid in destroying the old fort and in erecting the proposed new one. As the works progressed and their completion was pressed, the detachment, in December, 1804, was augmented to thirty-eight non-commissioned officers and artificers; and in January, 1805, to a full company of one hundred strong, under the denomination of the “Spike Island Company.” Between five and six thousand civil mechanics and labourers were daily employed at the fort, over whom, to a certain extent, were placed the non-commissioned officers of the company, as masters of the respective trades, or foremen of particular portions of the work.
Arrangements for an expedition against Surinam having been perfected, Major-General Sir Charles Green and Commodore Hood sailed there in April. Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley, royal engineers, as also one sergeant-major, two corporals, twenty privates, and one drummer of the artificers accompanied it, the rest of the company not being available for the service in consequence of being greatly dispersed through the different islands. Surinam being very difficult of approach, Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley, on the 29th April, went on shore to procure tidings with respect to the best means of reaching the settlement. On returning, he reported that a body of troops might be conducted to the rear of Forts Leyden and Frederici. Accordingly, twenty of the military artificers with side arms and felling axes, ten of the 6th West India regiment similarly provided, a detachment of 140 men of the 64th regiment, and about thirty seamen, all under Brigadier-General Hughes, landed on the night of the 29th, and proceeded through almost impassable woods, led by negro guides, to the place of assault. After five hours' laborious marching, the stormers arrived near the rear of Frederici Battery, which was gallantly taken, as was also Fort Leyden soon after; and Surinam surrendered on the 5th May. “No obstacle,” says the despatch of Sir Charles Green, “could damp the enterprising spirit of our seamen and soldiers. They underwent great fatigue in executing these works, which, however, they cheerfully submitted to under Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley, who, as usual, was unceasing in his exertions.”[130] Severe as the storming is described to have been, only three soldiers were killed; of whom one was a military artificer,[131] private James Connolly, at the assault of Fort Leyden. Of the number wounded, no official account has been traced.
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Footnote 130:
‘London Gazette,’ 19 to 23 June, 1804.
Footnote 131:
Ibid.
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Private George Mitchell, represented as a highly-meritorious soldier, distinguished himself in the assault, as, indeed, did the whole of the detachment. As well on the march as in the two successive assaults, he was conspicuous for his perseverance, promptitude, and bravery, and when entering Frederici with the foremost troops, was severely wounded by the side of his officer, Lieutenant J. R. Arnold, R.E., who led the storm. For his services on this occasion he was promoted to be corporal, and subsequently for the same reason to the rank of sergeant. He also received a present from the Patriotic Fund at Lloyd’s, in testimony of the opinion entertained of his services.[132]
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Footnote 132:
In the subsequent campaigns of the West Indies he behaved equally meritoriously; and in garrison and the workshops always conducted himself well. Besides being an excellent mason and foreman, no artificer in the service, perhaps, had a better practical idea of mining, in which he signalized himself at the destruction of Fort Desaix, Martinique. After sixteen years' arduous service in the West Indies, he was sent to Woolwich and discharged in July, 1814.
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On the reduction of the place, the Batavian troops were released from their former allegiance, and at liberty to become either citizens in Surinam, or soldiers in his Britannic Majesty’s forces; but the barren and uninviting prospects that a captured country presented prevented many from settling, and they readily offered to enrol themselves under the British standard. Availing himself of the opportunity, Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley accepted the services of seventeen Batavian artificers and enlisted them for the company. Fourteen deaths were reported in the company during the year; and on the 31st December its strength was eighty-eight of all ranks.
A fever of a very malignant character appeared at Gibraltar in August, and continued its ravages during the autumnal months. Brought in by a foreigner, who took up his abode in the vicinity of the married quarters of the royal artillery, the disorder was soon communicated to the latter; and, by the end of September, it spread with a rapidity only equalled by its virulence. Ere long the whole fortress was infested by the pestilence; and, as if to render the calamity more awful, it was preceded by an earthquake, which agitated the whole Rock. Out of a population computed at 10,000, including 4,000 troops, no less a number than 5,946 died between the 1st September and 31st December. So great a mortality in so short a period is unexampled in the history of that fortress.[133]
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Footnote 133:
Sir James Fellowes ‘On the Fever of Andalusia.’
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The two companies of artificers in the garrison were early visited by the epidemic and but few comparatively escaped. Of those who were fortunate enough to bear up successfully against the disease, it was ascertained that the chief part had previously suffered from yellow fever in the West Indies. The artificers' barracks at Hargraves' Parade were a considerable distance from the locality where the disorder originated, and consequently, for a time, were free from fever; but several of the men having been employed in attending the sick civil master artificers of the department, at their own homes in the town, and the married families of the companies having unrestrained access to the Parade, infection was thus communicated to the single men in barracks; and the effect was seen too late to adopt any sanitary measures or restrictions to prevent its ingress. In August three men died, and in September ten, whilst the numbers affected by the malady were very considerable. By the beginning of October the fever had extensively spread; and all work in the engineer department being suspended, the companies were confined to barracks, and the families in quarters prohibited from appearing in the streets of the town unless from urgent necessity. Soon afterwards, to preserve their health, they were removed into camp at Beuna Vista. Nothing, however, could arrest the advance of the disorder: gloom and horror hourly increased, and in a very few days the sickness at the encampment far exceeded anything that had occurred at Hargraves', By the end of the month a mournful diminution had taken place, ninety men having fallen a prey to the epidemic! In November, providentially, the fever sensibly waned, and only twenty-three men died; and in December, after carrying off four more men, its influence ceased to be felt at the fortress. At the approach of the disease the companies mustered 263 of all ranks; but by the termination of the year 130 had died; thus reducing the companies to the strength of 133.[134] Here it may be added, that the royal military artificers lost during the fever more men proportionally than any regiment or corps in the garrison.[135]
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Footnote 134:
According to Sir James Fellowes, 229 men of the companies were admitted into hospital with the fever, of whom 106 recovered, and 123 died; but as Sir James has omitted the statistics for August in his tables, the apparent disparity between the two accounts is reduced to the trifling difference of 4 only, a mistake which, doubtless, occurred from some inaccuracy or accidental omission in the information furnished to Sir James from the Ordnance Hospital records.
Footnote 135:
This statement is borne out by Sir James Fellowes. See p. 450 of his work ‘On the Fever of Andalusia.’
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Amidst so much mortality, great alarm and irresolution naturally prevailed; and whilst many excusably avoided all possible contact with the infected, there were not wanting men of humanity and courage to volunteer their attentions and services to the sick and dying. Several instances of signal disinterestedness could be recorded, and the names of not a few mentioned, who fell a sacrifice to their generous zeal; but the following men, by their exertions and unshaken devotion in the discharge of the onerous offices assigned to them, seem to have been regarded with peculiar admiration, and therefore deserve whatever notice can be accorded to their merits in these pages.
Private John Inglis performed the important duty of orderly to the sick in the hospital at Windmill-hill, and to assiduous attention united marked kindness and tenderness, shrinking from no difficulty and dreading no danger. During the fatal month of October his watchfulness and exertions were incessant, and his patience and humanity were as conspicuous as his fortitude.
Private James Lawford undertook the melancholy service of receiving the dead, both for the artificers and the artillery, and conveying them to the burying-ground near the Grand Parade. Horrible and hazardous as was this duty, he persevered in its performance with a coolness and intrepidity that was perfectly amazing.
Private James Weir was the principal gravedigger, and attended to his appointment with unflinching ardour and self-possession. Surrounded by the pest in its worst forms, and inhaling the worst effluvia, he never for a moment forsook the frightful service, but laboured on, inspiriting those who occasionally assisted him, until the necessity for his employment no longer existed.[136]
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Footnote 136:
What was most extraordinary connected with these daring fellows, was the fact, that throughout the epidemic, they enjoyed the most robust health; but, after its cessation, fearing that they were loaded with infection, and that a sudden transition to the garrison again would cause the fever to return, the authorities deemed it prudent to send the hearse-driver and gravediggers to camp at Beuna Vista, where, after about two months' quarantine, they were permitted to rejoin their companies.
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An attempt at invasion being daily expected from the French, earnest attention was turned to those parts of the coast of England upon which the descent would probably be essayed. Immense sums of money were accordingly placed at the disposal of the officers of engineers to carry into effect whatever projects might be approved for rendering the shore defences more secure. Increased exertions were, therefore, made in strengthening the permanent fortifications, enlarging the defences of Dover and Chatham, “constructing batteries at various points, building temporary barracks along the coast, and studding our shores with martello towers.”[137]
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Footnote 137:
‘United Service Journal,’ i., 1845, p. 483.
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Besides using all vigilance and exertion at the different ports where the royal military artificers were stationed, in furtherance of the general business of preparation and defence, detachments of the corps were constantly on the route from one place to another, erecting temporary or permanent works. In April, at the suggestion of Major-General Twiss, then commanding royal engineer in the Southern District, the party at Dover was much increased to assist in forming casemates in certain positions of the works on the western heights, by which to remedy the defects in the original construction.
At Jersey, in the same month, every precaution was taken to render the island capable of resisting any encroachment from its turbulent neighbours; and all the batteries and forts, as far as practicable, were manned with ordnance. In the execution of this service corporal and master-carpenter Daniel Brown, described as “a worthy man and a useful artificer,” was killed by a fall from the top of Platte Rocq Tower.
In September a small party was detached to Chelmsford, and superintended, under the direction of Captain G. Whitmore, royal engineers, the construction of a chain of temporary fieldworks, consisting of intrenchments, batteries, and redoubts, from Woodford Windmill to the windmill at Gallywood Common, a distance, by the line of works, of about two miles and a half. Various regiments of militia provided their contingents to execute these works, in which they were assisted by detachments from the royal waggon train and royal staff corps.
About the same time another party was despatched to Eastbourne to aid in building the circular redoubt there, as also in erecting several martello towers on the coast, at points best suited to protect our shores. Fluctuating in strength according to the general emergencies of the service, this detachment continued to work in the Eastbourne district until the summer of 1817, when, after assisting in the erection of all the towers as far as Rye Bay on the one side of Eastbourne, and Seaforth on the other, it quitted the district and the men composing it rejoined their companies.
At Woolwich, during the later months of the year, parties were specially engaged in preparing and fitting out bomb tenders for the Channel fleet, by casing their magazines, making racks for shot, and executing such other precautionary services as would insure them from explosion and destruction in action.
Nor should the efforts made to carry on the recruiting with success be overlooked, since the steps taken were chiefly induced by the spirit of the times, and the anticipated wants of the coming war. In the previous year, after the treaty of Amiens was signed, the recruiting was suspended; but in June, 1803, it was resumed with an energy that promised to yield an abundant result. In addition to the old stations, several new ones were opened for obtaining candidates, and the bounty for recruits was increased to 14_l._ 3_s._ 6_d._ each! whilst the reward to the soldier, to stimulate him to exertion and vigilance, was augmented to 4_l._ 14_s._ 6_d._! The former levy money was ten guineas, but the improved premium amounted to nineteen guineas.
Notwithstanding the great demand for men, every care was taken to receive none in the corps who were not in every particular fully equal to its various duties; and the officers employed on the service were specially enjoined to engage such candidates only as were “stout made, able-bodied, well-limbed, healthy, and active, of good character, and good abilities as tradesmen; not over 30 years of age, nor under 5 feet 6 inches in height.” Under these restrictions, and as the call for mechanics in civil life was loud and pressing, only 53 artificers were received and approved of this year, leaving at its close 351 men to complete the corps to its establishment of 1,075.
No better success attended the recruiting in the year 1805. Full employment was offered by the country to every artisan disposed to handle his tools, and the sources of enlistment, therefore, were almost choked up. In this extremity, as the corps was very much below its establishment, application was made to the different regiments of militia for candidates; and the effect was, that 134 volunteers—all tradesmen and miners—joined the artificers, in April and May, from forty-six regiments. After a short interval, a similar application was made to the Horse Guards to allow artisans from the line to enter the corps. His Royal Highness the Duke of York, acquiescing in the proposal, conveyed his commands on the 8th July to every battalion in the service, both at home and abroad, to have volunteers, to the number of two carpenters and three bricklayers from each, transferred to the military artificers. By this arrangement the corps, which was 112 men in arrear of its establishment when the order was promulgated, was rendered complete by the end of the year. To each volunteer received was paid a bounty of ten guineas. The total number of recruits and men transferred from the line and militia during the year amounted to 435.
Filling up the corps in this manner was highly prejudicial to its best interests and general efficiency, so far as the transfers from the regiments of the line were concerned. Officers of those regiments were naturally averse to parting with their good men, and out of a batch of volunteers the five least reputable in every battalion, unless under extraordinary circumstances, were selected to be transferred. To prevent the reception of objectionable men, every precaution was taken by the officers of engineers appointed to this duty; but, with all their circumspection, some of the most abandoned characters were passed into the corps. With the different militias, however, this was not the case. All the volunteers were unreservedly surrendered to the recruiting-officer, who was at liberty to pick from the number those whom he desired, and subject them to whatever examination he pleased before accepting them. In this way some of the ablest mechanics and many of the best-conducted men and finest-looking soldiers joined the corps, and their behaviour and usefulness in after service furnished the best test of the advantages derived by receiving volunteers from the militia.[138]
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Footnote 138:
This observation would appear to clash with the remarks of Sir Charles Pasley (note F, p. xvii. ‘Elementary Fortification’) upon the impropriety of enlisting militia-men; but after carefully tracing the history of many volunteers from that arm, the fact cannot be concealed that the transfers alluded to were decidedly beneficial to the corps. The best sapper, miner, and pontoneer, that ever served in the corps—perhaps the best in Europe—was a militia-man; and the name of Jenkin Jones, the faithful and zealous sergeant-major under Sir Charles Pasley at Chatham, now quartermaster at Woolwich, need only be mentioned, to verify the assertion and to corroborate the encomium. Quartermaster Hilton, the efficient sergeant-major to the corps in France under Sir James Carmichael Smyth, had also been in the militia.
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England had not yet taken any active measures against France, busied as she was in endeavours to protect her own shores; but as soon as the Powers of Europe had formed themselves into a coalition, under treaty signed at St. Petersburgh on the 11th April, to check the progress of Buonaparte, the British Government lost no time in giving effect to the engagement. Accordingly in that month, a body of troops under Sir James Craig embarked for the Neapolitan States to join with the Russians in expelling the French. To this expedition was attached a party of one sergeant, one corporal, and thirteen artificers of the Woolwich company, under the command of Captain C. Lefebure, royal engineers, which landed at Naples in November. Here the expedition remained inactive until the 19th January, 1806, when, from the defection of the Russians, it was deemed prudent to withdraw the troops and proceed to Messina, where the military artificers landed on the 18th February, 1806.
In October, another force was sent to Hanover, under Lord Cathcart, which, after it should achieve the liberation of that State, was destined to advance into Holland for the same purpose. One sergeant, one corporal, and fourteen privates of the Chatham company, under Captain J. F. Birch of the engineers, accompanied the expedition and landed in Swedish Pomerania the same month; but, by the time the force was prepared to enter into the contest, affairs were on the change; and Buonaparte having gained the brilliant victory of Austerlitz, the treaties of Presburg and Vienna followed, putting an end to the war, and leaving England alone an enemy to France. Unable, without assistance, to re-establish the independence of Hanover and Holland, Lord Cathcart’s army returned to England early in 1806, and the detachment of artificers rejoined the Chatham company in February of that year.
1806.
First detachment to the Cape of Good Hope—Misfortunes at Buenos Ayres—Reinforcement to Gibraltar—Services at Calabria—Formation of Maltese military artificers—Increase of pay to royal military artificers—Augmentation to the corps and reorganization of the companies—Establishment and annual expense—Working pay—Sub-Lieutenants introduced—Indiscipline and character of the corps.
In August of the previous year, an expedition under Sir David Baird sailed against the Cape of Good Hope, to which were attached one sergeant, two corporals, and seventeen artificers of the Plymouth company under Captain J. C. Smith of the royal engineers, who embarked on board the ‘Melantho’ transport. The artificers landed on the 4th January, 1806, with the artillery, and marched and encamped with them in the field; but Sir David Baird, conceiving that their services would be more beneficial in the castle after its capture, than in action, would not permit them to take part in the operations. They therefore halted about a quarter of a mile to the right rear of the position, and there remained until they marched with the troops into the castle. Ever since this capture, a detachment of the corps of varying strength has been employed in the colony, not only at Cape Town, but at many posts and forts at a considerable distance inland and upon the frontiers.
Two privates of the Cape detachment under Captain Kennett, of the corps, sailed in April with the force under General Beresford against Buenos Ayres. Landing at Point de Quilmes on the 25th June,[139] they were present at the surrender of the city on the 27th following. After a time the Spaniards, recovering from the panic which lost them their capital, retook it with signal success, and those of the British not killed, were taken prisoners. Captain Kennett was among the former, and one of the artificers was wounded. On the loss of their captain, the two men were attached to the artillery and served in the action of the 12th August, 1806, under Captain Alexander Macdonald, royal artillery: they subsequently were taken prisoners and remained so until January 1808, when they returned to England with the forces under General Whitelocke.
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Footnote 139:
‘London Gazette Extraordinary,’ September 13, 1806.
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To supply the casualties at Gibraltar occasioned by the fatal fever of 1804, a detachment of 133 artificers,[140] under Captain H. Evatt, royal engineers, embarked on the 31st December, 1805, and landed at the fortress in February following. The strength of the companies was thus increased from 174 to 307 of all ranks.
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Footnote 140:
With fifty women and forty children! More than, in _these_ days, are permitted to accompany a _battalion_ on foreign service.
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Sir John Stuart, who commanded the army in Sicily, now undertook, at the solicitation of the Court of Palermo, an expedition against the French in Calabria. The detachment of artificers at Messina, reduced to twelve in number, furnished ten men, under Captain C. Lefebure, royal engineers, to accompany the troops. They were present on the 4th July at the battle of Maida; and afterwards at the siege of Scylla Castle from the 12th to the 23rd of the same month. Shortly after the capture, six of the party returned to their old quarters at Messina, leaving two non-commissioned officers and two artificers under Lieutenant George Macleod of the engineers, to superintend the restoration of the castle defences. In October the four men rejoined the detachment at Messina, where the whole continued to be employed in various engineering services for several years.
Artificers under military control and discipline being much required for the works at Malta, Lieutenant-Colonel R. T. Dickens, R.E., recommended the formation of three companies of Maltese tradesmen for the service of the engineer department; two to be stationed at Malta and Gozo, and one for employment in general duties in the Mediterranean, Gibraltar, and Egypt. English companies of artificers would have been proposed for the works of the stations named, had the efficiency and conduct of detachments previously sent from Gibraltar to Minorca, Sicily, and other parts of the Mediterranean, warranted it; “but,” says Sir Charles Pasley, “as the Gibraltar companies were, from circumstances, the worst in the corps, the detachments formed from them * * * * were found so very inefficient, that Maltese and Sicilians were preferred to Britons in the Mediterranean, for the important service of the royal engineer department.”[141] As well from this, as from other local[142] and economical considerations, the Government approved of the measure, and the royal authority for its accomplishment being obtained, the companies were formed on the 1st May.
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Footnote 141:
Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ note A, p. iv.
Footnote 142:
In the treaty of Amiens it was stipulated that _one-half_ the soldiers in the garrison at Malta should be natives; and although the treaty had been violated by Napoleon, Great Britain still regarded its provisions, in this respect at least, as sacred and obligatory.
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The Mediterranean or war company consisted of—
4 sergeants, 4 corporals, 100 privates, 1 drummer, 10 boys. —— Total 119
and the companies for Malta and Gozo, numbered each—
2 sergeants, 4 corporals, 60 privates, 1 drummer, —— Total 77
An adjutant from the royal engineers was appointed to the 1st company, and one, a foreigner—Matteo Bonavio[143]—to the other two companies at Malta and Gozo, to which was also added one sergeant-major and quartermaster-sergeant Guiseppe Sinerco, stationed at Malta. The total number of these companies with the staff amounted to 276. The pay of the war company was assimilated to that of the royal military artificers, while that of the other companies was fixed as under:—
s. d. Sergeant-major or quartermaster-sergeant. 3 0 a-day. Sergeant 1 6 ” Corporal 1 3 ” Private, or drummer 1 1 ” Boy 0 6 ”
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Footnote 143:
Styled, by local usage, “Assistant Engineer.”
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The adjutants received 3_s._ per day each extra,[144] and the working pay of the non-commissioned officers and men was divided into two classes of 6_d._ and 9_d._, which they received in addition to their regimental pay. The non-commissioned officers, who were foremen, received as working pay 1_s._ a-day each.
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Footnote 144:
Of the regimental allowances of the foreign adjutant nothing is known, nor can any record be discovered of the uniform worn by him.
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These companies were formed into a corps with the title of Maltese military artificers, and, like the old artificer company at Gibraltar, remained a distinct and separate body. They were officered by the royal engineers. Their clothing consisted of a close blue cloth jacket with black collar and cuffs, and Ordnance buttons; open blue cloth pantaloons and a military hat and feather. The sergeants were distinguished by sashes, the corporals by chevrons, and the sergeant-major by a uniform like the sergeant-major of the English companies.[145]
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Footnote 145:
In 1808 the companies were clothed in a uniform made of cotton, manufactured in the island, similar to the local corps. The facings were of black cloth. The sergeants and corporals were distinguished as before, and the sergeant-major still wore the _home_ uniform. The substitution of cotton for cloth was ordered on account of its being cheaper and better adapted to the climate, besides forwarding the views of Government, in aiding the sale of the staple commodity of the island, deprived by the war of its usual vents.
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This year Mr. Windham, the Secretary-at-War, warmly espoused the cause of the army, and ultimately obtained for it the redress he so earnestly sought. This was promulgated in the well-known Warrant called “ Windham’s Act,” which increased the pay of the soldier while serving, and provided a liberal pension for him on retirement, corresponding to his infirmities and services. On the 1st September, the Act alluded to was extended to the royal military artificers, and the advantages conferred upon the corps were as under:—
Total amount of pay a-day. Increase. d. s. d. Sergeant-major on the staff. 5¼ 3 11½ Sergeant 3¼ 2 6½ Corporals:— After 14 years 3¾ 2 4½ Between 7 and 14 years 2¾ 2 3½ Under 7 years 1¾ 2 2½ Privates and Buglers:— After 14 years 2 1 4½ Between 7 and 14 years 1 1 3½ Under 7 years no increase 1 2½
In the prospect of a long war, to provide reinforcements for the execution of the extensive works in progress at Dover and Nova Scotia, and to be capable, to a certain extent, of meeting the contingencies that might arise, a royal warrant was issued dated 5th September, sanctioning a reorganization of the corps for general service, an augmentation of two companies, and a small increase to each of the other ten companies.
Under this arrangement the corps was distributed as follows, and the companies for the first time, appear to be distinguished by numbers; which, however, from the long habit of designating them by stations, soon became obsolete:—
1st. Woolwich Captain G. Hayter. 2nd. Chatham Major R. D’Arcy. 3rd. Dover Captain W. H. Ford. 4th. Portsmouth. Captain R. Fletcher. 5th. Gosport. Captain T. Fyers. 6th. Plymouth. Lieut.-Colonel T. Skinner. 7th. Spike Island Lieut.-Colonel Sir C. Holloway. 8th. { Jersey Captain J. Humfrey { Guernsey. Major J. Mackelcan. 9th. Gibraltar Captain H. Evatt. 10th. Gibraltar Captain G. Landmann. 11th. West Indies. Lieut.-Colonel W. Johnston. [146]12th. Nova Scotia Captain W. Bennett.
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Footnote 146:
Sir John Jones states, evidently by mistake, that the corps was composed of _thirty-two_ companies.—Journals of Sieges, ii., note 38, p. 389, 2nd edit.
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By the authority of the warrant alluded to, the establishment of each company was remodelled, the ranks of Sub-Lieutenant and second corporal were created, and the total of all ranks per company increased from 100 to 126. Under the previous system of detaching men, the companies were mutilated, disordered and reduced; but under this enlarged organization, it was considered they would be more accessible, and better able to afford such accidental assistance as might be needed, without diminishing the companies to an inconvenient strength, or without particular detriment to the station. The subjoined detail shows the approved composition of a company at this period.
1 Sub-Lieutenant,[147] a new rank, with pay of 5_s._ a-day.[148] 1 Sergeant-major. 5 Sergeants. 5 Corporals. 10 Second Corporals,[149] a new rank, pay fixed at 1_s._ 9_d._ a-day. 30 Carpenters, including 4 top sawyers. 20 Masons, } including slaters, tiles, and plasterers. 18 Bricklayers, } 10 Smiths, 10 Miners, 4 Wheelers, 4 Collar Makers, 2 Coopers, 2 Painters, 4 Drummers. —— Total 126
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Footnote 147:
Styled _Second_ Lieutenants in the warrant by mistake. The Sub-Lieutenants were junior to the Second Lieutenants of engineers, but held rank with Second Lieutenants of the line, according to dates of commission. This right was often questioned, but never, as long as the Sub-Lieutenants were attached to the corps, officially settled. In 1835 the position of a Sub-Lieutenant (H. B. Mackenzie), who had joined the line as paymaster being disputed, it was then settled that _Sub-Lieutenants_ were _junior_ to _Ensigns_.
Footnote 148:
Subsequently increased to 5_s._ 7_d._ a-day, and after seven years' service to 6_s._ 7_d._ a-day.
Footnote 149:
Holding comparative station with corporals of the line, according to date of promotion.
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The total establishment of the corps, including the adjutant and sergeant-major on the staff, amounted to 1,514, exhibiting an increase above the former establishment of 439 men; and its expense for one year, exclusive of the working pay and other miscellaneous allowances, reached the sum of 45,500_l._ 17_s._ 7¼_d._ With the three companies of Maltese artificers, the corps mustered a force of 1,790 officers, non-commissioned officers, and men.
As a means of encouraging the men to exertion and good behaviour, their working pay was permitted to be increased, under the authority of the warrant before mentioned, from 6_d._ to 9_d._ or 1_s._ a-day. The non-commissioned officers invariably received the highest rate. None, however, could be advanced from the lowest to the superior rates without first being recommended to the commanding royal engineer at the station, by the junior officers, foremen, or overseers; and this system of rewards, except for special services, has been observed in the corps ever since.
The sergeant-majors who received the first commissions had been in the artillery, and were distinguished for their good services and bravery. To their zeal and expertness as soldiers, they added an intimate knowledge of drill and discipline—requisites of essential importance in the organization of a new force, but which, from the vague and indefinite character of the corps, became, almost necessarily, too temporizing and elastic to be sufficiently beneficial or respected.
Efforts had on one or two particular occasions been made to avoid the faults and supply the omissions of earlier years; but the improvement before alluded to, had not reached the expectations of those who felt an interest in the corps. One obvious reason was, the nominal appointment of officers to companies, who were so incessantly shifted, that it was not uncommon to find a company passing under the command of three or four different officers in the course of twelve months;[150] and another was, the reluctance with which some commanding officers permitted the temporary withdrawal of the men from the works for the purposes of drill and discipline.[151] The free use of the means to train the men to subordination and the use of arms, to restrain them from irregularities, and fully to develop the organization and purposes for which the corps was raised, being thus interrupted, naturally tended to vitiate and lower its military pride, spirit, and appearance.
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Footnote 150:
This may be regarded as a favourable view of the case. Sir John Jones states, “Each company was commanded for the moment by the senior Captain of engineers, who might happen to be placed on duty wherever the company might be; so that it was not unfrequent for a company to be commanded by five or six captains in as many months.”—Journal of Sieges, ii. note 38, p. 389, 2nd edit.
Footnote 151:
Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ note a, p. iii.
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Bald and grey-headed non-commissioned officers with ages varying from forty-five to sixty-five, good artificers and foremen, but lacking the energy and demeanour of soldiers, were no rarities in the royal military artificers. Disinclined to learn, they but very imperfectly understood their military station, and seldom exercised their authority, except in the emollient guise of persuasion and advice. On all sides there was a yielding, that in some measure obliterated the lines of distinction between the different grades. Their interests seemed to be reciprocal and interwoven, and the best workman was generally esteemed the best man. Almost every military idea was sacrificed for “the works,” in which it would be hazardous to say, that they did not labour with ability and industry.
To check the growth of these unmilitary principles and practices, to enforce respect for position and authority, and to assist in maintaining in the corps the exercise of proper discipline and drill, the Sub-Lieutenants were established. Their duties were like those of adjutants, whom they superseded, and were, therefore, held responsible to their Captains for the conduct, efficiency, internal management, and payment of their respective companies. This, however, was but a transient expedient. An instalment only of the good that was expected was realised;[152] and it was left for a later period to enlarge and perfect what in this year, though spiritedly commenced, fell considerably short of success.
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Footnote 152:
Ibid., note F, p. xvii.
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1807.
Appointments of Adjutant and Quartermaster—Captain John T. Jones—Disasters at Buenos Ayres—Egypt—Reinforcement to Messina—Detachment of Maltese military artificers to Sicily—Newfoundland—Copenhagen—Captures in the Caribbean Sea—Madeira—Danish Islands in the West Indies—Hythe.
It having been determined to consolidate the appointments of Adjutant and Quartermaster to the royal military artificers, Major John Rowley[153] and Colonel George W. Phipps[154] resigned their offices.
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Footnote 153:
In the earlier years of his appointment he was much at Woolwich, and personally superintended the affairs of the corps; but for some years prior to the new organization, his duties in London seldom permitted him to visit the head-quarters.
Footnote 154:
Colonel Phipps was never present with the corps. As Quartermaster, he performed his duties in London. In consideration of his relinquishing the Quartermastership, and also for his good services, he was granted by His Majesty an allowance of 10s. a-day.—‘Accounts of Ordnance, House of Commons,’ 1816, p. 31.
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To succeed to the vacancies thus created, Captain John Thomas Jones, an officer of undoubted ability and military experience, was brought from Sicily, and on the 1st January commissioned to hold both appointments.[155] Upon him, therefore, devolved the difficult task of arranging and directing the details of the new organization both at home and abroad, and of carrying into effect a general system of drill and discipline.[156] In this duty he continued until July, 1808, when, ordered on a particular service to the Asturias, he resigned the staff rank. From the time of the appointment of Captain J. T. Jones, the Adjutant was permanently stationed at the head-quarters at Woolwich, and his office also was established there.
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Footnote 155:
‘London Gazette,’ 20th to 24th January, 1807.
Footnote 156:
‘United Service Journal,’ ii., 1843, p. 110. ‘Jones’s Sieges,’ ii., note 38, p. 389, 2nd edit.
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Early in the year an expedition was sent against Chili under Major-General Crawford, accompanied by a sergeant and ten artificers under Captain J. Squire, R.E. Instead of proceeding to Chili, counter orders were received, and Captain Squire and his eleven men sailed with the force to Buenos Ayres. Arriving at Monte Video on the 14th June, they were accordingly landed and took part in the disastrous attack on Buenos Ayres, in which all the artificers were taken prisoners, and so remained until January, 1808, when they quitted with the force under General Whitelocke.
On the 6th March, Major-General Frazer, at the head of a small armament, sailed from Messina to dispossess the Turks of Egypt. To this force were attached, under Captain J. F. Burgoyne, royal engineers, four of the military artificers furnished from the detachment in Sicily, who embarked on the 19th February. Having in due time landed at Alexandria, they served at the capture of that city, also in the attack of Rosetta, and in the retreat to Alexandria. In September following these four artificers rejoined the party at Messina.
In the meantime the detachment at Messina was reinforced by a sergeant, one corporal, and eighteen privates of the Gibraltar companies, under Lieutenant George J. Harding, R.E., who embarked at the Rock on the 14th April. With the exception of the non-commissioned officers, this party was composed of irreclaimable drunkards, worthless alike as artificers or soldiers.
From the inefficiency of these men, the Maltese war company was ordered to furnish its contingent for service in Sicily, and accordingly a detachment of one sergeant—Evan Roberts—one corporal, and twenty-nine artificers, embarked at Malta on board the ‘Charlotte’ transport on the 23rd, and landed at Messina on the 30th July. In the autumn following, the whole of the party with two men of the royal military artificers as foremen, were detached to Augusta and Syracuse, to be employed on the works under sergeant Roberts.
Newfoundland now became a station for the corps. A detachment of eighteen non-commissioned officers and men, all masons and miners, embarked at Plymouth in May, on board His Majesty’s ship ‘Isis,’ under Captain George Ross of the royal engineers, and arrived there in July. Before the end of August, the detachment was further strengthened by six artificers from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Until proper accommodation could be provided, they lived in huts like the Esquimaux or emigrant fishermen, or under canvas in a dreary uncleared valley between Signal Hill and the sea. In some measure to relieve the monotony and mitigate the rigours of an inhospitable country and climate, permission was granted to the men to spread their nets in the waters near St. John, and to catch as much fish as was needful for the sustenance of themselves and families. Provisionally, also, the married portion of the detachment were allowed small allotments of land, which they cleared and cultivated at intervals, when they were not employed on the works. From these sources of occupation they were kept in constant industry and amusement, and their health effectually preserved and invigorated.
Two sergeants, two corporals, six second corporals, and forty-one artificers, with Captain Fletcher, R.E., embarked at Woolwich for Copenhagen on the 29th July, and landed there the 16th August. In the bombardment of that capital they served under the immediate direction of Lieutenant-Colonel R. D’Arcy, R.E.; and, in returning to England, served as Marines under Lieutenant Bassett of the royal navy. The party rejoined their companies on the 7th November.
One second corporal and three privates of the West India company were embarked in August, on board His Majesty’s ship ‘Blonde,’ V. V. Ballard, Captain, to act as artificers and seamen during a short cruise in the Caribbean sea; and while forming part of the crew of this ship, they served at the guns in the capture of the undernamed French privateers:—
Guns. Men. 15th August ‘La Dame Villaret’ 5 69 16th ” ‘L’Hortense’ 8 90 14th September ‘L’Hirondelle’ 8 84 23rd ” ‘Duquesne’ 17 123 14th October ‘Alerte’ 20 149
An expedition was sent to Madeira in October under General Beresford, to which was added a detachment from the Spike Island company of one corporal, one second corporal, and ten privates, under Captain A. Morshead, royal engineers. They landed in December, and were stationed at Funchal until May, 1812, when they were withdrawn and despatched to their companies in Portugal.
In December, General Bowyer ordered a party of the West India company to be attached to his expedition about to sail against the Danish islands of St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix. Three sergeants, four corporals, and forty-two privates were accordingly selected, and embarked for that service on the 16th December; but the islands having surrendered without resistance, the detachment rejoined at Barbadoes on the 13th January, 1808. A sergeant was left at St. Croix to superintend repairs to barracks, &c. Six mechanics belonging to the Danish service, taken prisoners at St. Thomas and St. Croix, enlisted into the company.
Throughout the year a small party of the Dover company was employed on the works at Hythe, under sergeant Adam Cowan, and continued so occupied for several years.
1808.
War in the Peninsula—Expedition thither—Detachments to the seat of war, with Captains Landmann, Elphinstone, Squire, Burgoyne, and Smyth—Captain John T. Jones—Reinforcement to Newfoundland—Discipline at Halifax—Services at Messina—Parties temporarily detached to different places—The queue.
Napoleon had now fairly reared his eagles in Spain and Portugal, and compelled the reigning monarchs of those countries to renounce their thrones. To his brother Joseph he gave the sovereignty of the former kingdom, retaining for himself the sceptre of the latter. England, more indignant than alarmed at these spoliations, but eager to dispossess the invader of his acquisitions, at once willingly responded to the desire of Portugal to restore the dynasty of Braganza to the throne, and also tendered her assistance, uninvited, to Spain, to carry on the war.
No sooner had the ministry determined upon sending succours to the Peninsula to effect the overthrow of Napoleon, than different expeditions were fitted out and sent to the seat of war. Small parties of the military artificers, selected from the various companies of the corps, were at the same time forwarded with these forces.
On the 13th May, two miners, under Captain G. Landmann, royal engineers, were sent from Gibraltar to Cadiz with the division under General Brent Spencer, and were afterwards removed to the scene of active operations in Portugal.
On the 18th June, one sergeant, one second corporal, and eleven privates, armed with small swords only, embarked at Woolwich under Captain Elphinstone, R.E., and joined the force under Sir Arthur Wellesley. Both these parties were present at the battle of Roliça on the 17th August, and Vimiera on the 21st of that month.
A detachment of one sergeant, one second corporal, and twelve privates, under Captains J. Squire and J. F. Burgoyne, royal engineers, was forwarded on the 29th April with Sir John Moore’s army to Gottenburg to assist the Swedes against the Russians. The arms and appointments of the corps were taken from them, and they were supplied for defence with a short hanger sword. Several of the party had already been on service at Buenos Ayres under Captain Squire, and were again solicited by that officer for this expedition. The rest were men specially selected for the duty, both on account of their abilities and conduct as artificers and soldiers. After the force was recalled from its inactivity in Sweden, the detachment of artificers accompanied it to Portugal.
About this period three artificers proceeded to the Peninsula with Sir David Baird’s division, and one man was attached to the force under Sir Harry Burrard.
In September, one corporal, one second corporal, and fourteen privates embarked for Spain on board the ‘Sisters’ transport under the command of Captain J. Carmichael Smyth, R.E., and joined the army under Sir John Moore in November.
The total artificer force in the Peninsula, comprising six different parties, was forty-nine of all ranks. This number does not include Captain J. T. Jones, the adjutant, who quitted Woolwich in July for special service in the northern provinces of Spain under the orders of Major-General Leith.[157]
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Footnote 157:
In the absence, on foreign duty, of Captain J. T. Jones, from July, 1808, to January, 1809, Sub-Lieutenant John Eaves performed the duties of adjutant to the corps with credit and efficiency.
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To reinforce the party in Newfoundland, a detachment of one sergeant, one corporal, one second corporal, and forty-six privates embarked at Portsmouth in June, and landed at St. John’s from the ‘Vestal’ frigate on the 18th July. Early in the following year the detachment was increased to the establishment of a company.
Lieutenant Oldfield of the royal engineers—a painstaking officer—was removed to Halifax about this time and appointed adjutant to the company stationed there. Having previously held a similar commission at Portsmouth—the model station for discipline—he commenced his duties with a favourable prestige. The materials he had to work upon were old in years, misshapen from habit and labour, and somewhat addicted to the prevailing vice of intemperance; but even these worn-out men he moulded by his once a-week drill into an appearance which enabled them to march past creditably with the Line on the Sunday garrison parades. Most of the company had been many years in the Province, and though not very tight and tidy soldiers, were nevertheless valuable as workmen and specially useful as foremen when military working parties were employed.
Both parties employed in restoring the fortresses at Syracuse and Augusta were recalled to Messina, and assisted to repair and improve the defences of that place.
At the Cape of Good Hope parties were detached at intervals during the year to Stellenbosch, Simon’s Town, and Hout’s Bay; and at Halifax to St. Andrews and Fort Clarence. At the latter fort, the non-commissioned officer detached was employed surveying. From Newfoundland a detachment was sent to Cape Breton; and from Gibraltar, also, second corporal Thomas Paul and four privates were detached to Perexil, a small islet opposite the Rock between Ceuta and Apes' Hill, where they dismantled all its batteries, magazines, and storehouses. Parties were also employed at Hurst Castle and the Isle of Wight.
The time-honoured queue, which had long formed a conspicuous appendage to the soldier’s head-dress, was abolished in the corps in August; and the closely-cropped hair of the present day, and small whisker extending to the lobe of the ear, were then adopted.
1809.
Retreat to Coruña—Miserable state of the detachment on reaching England—Hardships of the stragglers—Capture of Martinique—Skill of George Mitchell at the siege—Fever in the West Indies—Reduction of the Saintes—Detachment to Portugal—Battles of Oporto and Talavera—Casualties in the retreat, and distribution of the party—Naples—Zante and the Ionian Islands—Term of service of the Maltese military artificers—Siege of Flushing—Services of the military artificers there—Gallantry, in the batteries, of John Millar, Thomas Wild, and Thomas Letts—Conduct of corps at the siege—Casualties by the Walcheren fever—Skilful conduct of Corporal T. Stevens in the demolitions at Flushing—Captain John T. Jones—Servants—Incidental detachments.
Excepting the two miners with General Spencer, the whole of the royal military artificers in Spain joined Sir John Moore’s army. When the force was put in motion, the senior sergeant of the detachment was left at Lisbon for special duty. The remainder accompanied the army in the retreat, and with the exception of two men taken prisoners and seven stragglers, were present at the battle of Coruña.
Immediately after, the detachment embarked for England. The season being stormy there was no regularity in the arrivals. Some, therefore, landed at Portsmouth and others at Plymouth between January and March. They were destitute of every article essential to their comfort or equipment. Several were shoeless and clad in tatters and undistinguishable uniforms; while the majority, haggard and attenuated, suffering from shipwreck, privation, and sickness, afforded indubitable evidence of the severe and arduous campaign, through which the necessities of war had recently carried them.
Left to their own resources, the seven stragglers retraced their steps, between 300 and 400 miles, to Lisbon. In undertaking the journey, during a very inclement season, they encountered many dangers, endured frequent trials and hardships, and barely supported life upon the scanty offerings which chance and a ransacked country afforded them.
On the 28th January, three sergeants and seventy-one rank and file of the West India company, under the command of Brigadier-General Shipley, embarked at Barbadoes with Lieutenant-General Beckwith’s expedition and landed at Martinique on the 30th. The company was further increased by a sergeant, three corporals, and seventeen artificers under Lieutenant Robert Thomson, royal engineers, who embarked at Halifax, Nova-Scotia, with Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost’s division. Both parties, when not engaged as overseers, were employed in the general labour of the trenches and the park, and performed the duties allotted to them, particularly in the destruction of Forts Bourbon and Desaix, with activity and zeal. Several non-commissioned officers and men were distinguished by special commendation; and the skill of corporal George Mitchell gained for him the reputation of being the best miner in the service. Private George Thomas was killed 22nd February in the advanced battery before Fort Bourbon. After the surrender of Martinique it became the head-quarters of the company. The Nova Scotia party returned with Sir George Prevost and landed at Halifax the 17th April. During the operations the rains were heavy and incessant, and the men being much exposed, fevers and dysentery were rife among them. By the end of the year, twenty-one of the company had died and five were invalided.
In April, two sergeants and seventeen rank and file were present at the reduction of the Saintes under the command of Lieutenant Hobbs, R.E., and were employed during the service in the construction of the required batteries, magazines, &c. The party returned to Martinique the latter end of the month.
A detachment of one sergeant and eighteen rank and file embarked at Portsmouth, on the 14th March, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher, for Portugal, and arrived at Lisbon on the 5th April. It was composed of men chosen from the Portsmouth and Gosport companies, among whom were several who had served in the previous campaign. Writing from Portsmouth, the Colonel says, “I find that all the men now here, who were with me before, are very anxious to go out again, but one cannot ask for everybody.” On arriving at Lisbon the party was joined by a sergeant and the seven stragglers of the Coruna party. It was thus increased to twenty-eight total, and shortly after another private from England was added to the number.
On the 12th May was fought the battle of Oporto: twenty-five men of the artificers were present. They afterwards repaired the wooden bridge which led into the town. Moving with the army they mustered at Coimbra on the 1st June, and at Castello Branco on the 1st July. At the battle of Talavera, on the 27th of that month, fifteen of the detachment were present. Private Aaron Delacourt was taken prisoner while endeavouring to convey to the rear Captain Boothby of the royal engineers, who was wounded, and had his leg amputated. Of the artificers not present at the battle, two were at Lisbon, three on route to join the army, four at Abrantes, sick; and one on the Alberche. With the exception of two at Lisbon all joined at Talavera before the end of July.
A severe retreat succeeded the battle, in which the party suffered very much. At Merida they were mustered on the 1st September. Lisbon was their head-quarters in November, at which time they were greatly scattered. A sergeant only was at Lisbon and the rest were distributed as follows:—one Abrantes, one Badajos, one Oeyras, four Sobral, and six Torres Vedras. Of the other artificers in Portugal, four were in the general hospital sick, and one a prisoner of war. The casualties since the opening of the campaign were six deaths, two missing, and two invalided to England.
The company of Maltese military artificers at Messina was increased in April by seventeen rank and file from Malta. On the 1st June following, sergeant Roberts and thirty-eight men of the company, were attached to the expedition for the invasion of Naples. Twelve of the royal military artificers also went with the expedition, and served under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel A. Bryce, royal engineers, in the reduction of the islands of Ischia and Procida.
Returning to Messina in August, six of the royal and eight of the Maltese artificers were added to the force under Brigadier-General Oswald, and were present, on the 2nd October, at the surrender of Zante and other Ionian islands. These parties continued at Zante until after the taking of Santa Maura in the next year.
The Maltese artificers being enlisted for a term of three years only, their engagements expired in the summer. Upwards of sixty men consequently claimed their discharge, and in July the third Maltese company was re-formed.
In the mean time a force of one sub-lieutenant—George Robinson—two sergeant-majors—Joseph Forbes and John Smith—ten sergeants, and about 280 rank and file[158] had been selected for an expedition to Holland under the Earl of Chatham, to destroy the fleet and arsenals on the Scheldt. The youngest and most active men were chosen for the service, and were provided with swords and belts. The greater portion were also armed with muskets, under an impression that they would have to fight their way on shore. The detachment was divided into two operations to proceed against Flushing and Antwerp; the former under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel R. D’Arcy, R.E., the latter under Colonel Fyers, R.E. Both brigades embarked the 19th July, and having landed near Goes and Walcheren, a small force was employed in the operations in South Beveland under Captain Squire, R.E., and the remainder, with Sub-Lieutenant Robinson, were engaged in the bombardment of Flushing. The meditated attack on Antwerp was abandoned. Private Anthony Webster was killed at the seamen’s battery on the 13th August, and two men were wounded.
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Footnote 158:
In Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. ii., p. 269, 2nd edit., the number, including the sub-lieutenant, is shown as 261 only; at p. 415, the total of all ranks is stated to be 276; but both strengths differ from the actual force engaged.
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During the bombardment, fifty of the detachment were permanently employed in making fascines and gabions, and about eighty carpenters prepared and put up the splinter-proof magazines and laid the platforms. The remainder were distributed to the batteries as sappers and miners or overseers. One of the batteries which was required in a hurry was worked solely by the royal military artificers, and completed in twenty-eight hours.[159] Generally they attended to the more difficult and dangerous portion of the batteries, and besides repairing the parapets and platforms, improved the embrasures when injured by the enemy’s cannonade.
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Footnote 159:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. ii., p. 279, 2nd edit.
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In this service privates John Millar,[160] Thomas Wild, and Thomas Letts acted very praiseworthily in situations of great danger, and showed examples of courage, zeal, and attention to duty much beyond the rest of the detachment. On occasions when particular parts of the batteries were broken, these men fearlessly forced themselves into the embrasures to renew the work. The firing upon them was usually heavy. To effect their purpose with less interruption, they spread across the mouths of the embrasures, wet bulls' hides with the hairy surfaces to the fortress; and bearing as they did a resemblance to the newly disturbed earth, the enemy was deceived and withdrew their firing upon the work. The injured parts of the embrasures were thus restored with incredible dexterity. The two former were promoted to be second-corporals for their gallantry, and a similar rise was offered to Letts but he preferred to remain a private.
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Footnote 160:
Was left property to the amount of 4000l. and purchased his discharge in 1810.
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The conduct of the detachment at Walcheren is thus noticed by the Earl of Chatham:—“The active and persevering exertions of the corps of royal engineers have been conducted with much skill and judgment by Colonel Fyers, aided by Lieutenant-Colonel D’Arcy.”[161] Elsewhere their exertions in the construction of the batteries are stated to have been indefatigable.[162]
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Footnote 161:
‘London Gazette.’
Footnote 162:
Hargrave’s ‘Account of Walcheren and South Beveland,’ p. 16, edit. 1812.
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After the occupation of Flushing, the fever common to the country set in with peculiar virulence; and the royal military artificers suffered very severely. Employed as they frequently were in conducting excavations in marshy and unhealthy situations, nearly the whole of the detachment were seized with the malady and thirty-seven died. Sergeant-major Forbes was of the number.
By repeated removals of the sick, the detachment was reduced to about eighty of all ranks, who were employed, previously to the evacuation of the island, in the demolition of the basin of Flushing and the naval defences of the place under Lieutenant-Colonel Pilkington, royal engineers. Second-corporal Thomas Stephens was intrusted with the practical conduct of the destruction of one of the piers of the flood-gates. The task imposed on him was so ably executed, that when the explosion took place, the bottom of the pier was forced out and the superincumbent masonry fell without projecting a stone to any distance. Though only a second corporal he was appointed lance-sergeant on the spot for his skilful conduct.
Captain John T. Jones, the adjutant, was removed from the royal military artificers, on the 1st July by promotion, and was succeeded in the appointment by Captain Gilbert Buchanan, R E. In reorganizing the corps, Captain Jones had effected considerable improvements and raised in a high degree its morale and military efficiency.
The practice of employing men of the corps as servants to officers of royal engineers was discontinued in August. On active service the custom was found to be a great disadvantage. Stringent measures were therefore adopted to prevent its recurrence; and to this day, the officers are required to affirm quarterly, that they do not employ any men of the corps in their private service.
Detachments are traced during the year at the following new stations:—to Alderney, seven rank and file were removed from Guernsey by order of Lieutenant-General Sir John Doyle. Two armourers were employed in the royal manufactory for small arms at Lewisham, and continued on this service for many years. The Eastbourne party was scattered along the Sussex coast, working chiefly at Hastings and Bulverhithe. The Newfoundland company gave a strong party for the King’s works at the south side of the harbour, which remained there for many months. A non-commissioned officer of the Halifax company was employed on a tour of inspection to Cape Breton and Prince Edward’s Island; and the detachment at the Cape of Good Hope was distributed to Simon’s Town, Hout’s Bay, King’s Blockhouse, and Muyzenberg.
1810.
Capture of Guadaloupe—Of St. Martin’s and St. Eustatius—Torres Vedras—Anecdote of Corporal William Wilson at the Lines—Almeida and Busaco—Detachments to Cadiz—Puntales and La Isla—Destruction of Forts Barbara and St. Felipe, near Gibraltar—Santa Maura—Occasional detachments.
On the 22nd January, Colonel William Johnston and Lieutenant Hobbs, royal engineers, with three sergeants and forty-five rank and file of the West India company, embarked at Martinique under Lieutenant-General Beckwith. The detachment was appointed to the fifth or reserve brigade under the command of Brigadier-General Wale; and having landed at St. Mary’s Capisterre, served at the taking of Guadaloupe.
A small party under Captain Hobbs, R.E., afterwards accompanied the force under Brigadier-General Harcourt, and was present at the capture of the islands of St. Martin’s and St. Eustatius.
The celebrated Lines of Torres Vedras, commenced in October, 1809, were fully completed late in 1810. The number of the royal military artificers employed in their construction never exceeded eighteen of all ranks, who were distributed in ones and twos throughout the whole extent of country to be intrenched.[163] Under the superintendence and control of their officers, they directed the labours of many hundreds of the peasantry. Some of the party were responsible for the efficient services of no less than 500 to 700 workmen. In this duty second-corporal William Wilson and private James Douglas rendered themselves conspicuous by their skill and activity. Both were promoted in consequence.
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Footnote 163:
Jones’s Lines of Lisbon, 1829, p. 78.
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Corporal Wilson was selected by Colonel Fletcher, the commanding engineer, to be his orderly, in which capacity he served until the death of his chief at St. Sebastian. At Torres Vedras the corporal had charge of a work, and a party of the Portuguese Ordenanza Militia was placed under his orders to execute it. Two of the men were put to a task to be completed within a certain time; but regarding the work as impossible, they refused to comply and complained to their officer, who took their part and was inclined to censure the corporal. However, with more manliness than soldier-like propriety, the corporal offered to bet the officer a dollar that he would accomplish the task _himself_ within the time. The bet was accepted. Corporal Wilson stripped, easily won his dollar, and prevented the recurrence of similar complaints during the progress of the Lines.
Four of the royal military artificers were attached to the army on the Coa, and were present at the action near Almeida in July, and the battle of Busaco in September. Retreating with the army to Torres Vedras, the four men rejoined the detachment, and the whole continued to do duty in the Lines until removed for more active service.
On the 13th March, one corporal and eleven men of the Portsmouth and Gosport companies embarked with the force under Sir Thomas Graham for Cadiz. The non-commissioned officers were “careful trusty persons,” and the men “stout, able, and good tradesmen.” They landed from the ‘Concord’ transport on the 24th March, and were commanded by Major C. Lefebure, royal engineers, until he received his death wound, which took place in April as he was descending the walls of the fortress of Matagorda during its evacuation. Meanwhile a reinforcement from Portsmouth increased the party to two sergeants and forty-eight rank and file; and in October it was again augmented, by artificers selected from the different companies, to three sergeants, nine corporals, five second-corporals, two drummers, and seventy-three privates, with Sub-Lieutenant R. Davie. The last draft landed at Cadiz from the ‘Diadem’ transport.
In defending the fort of Puntales, which sustained a bombardment from across the water, a portion of the company was always employed. There private Benjamin Hall was killed, and several privates were injured by a wall, under which they were mining, falling on them. The remainder of the company were occupied in fortifying the position of La Isla for the defence of Cadiz. Their particular duty consisted in making platforms, palisades, &c., and in acting as overseers to the military working parties of the line, assisted by artificers drawn from the regiments in garrison. The principal share of the work was done by task, which, being laid out beforehand, the royal military artificers showed the workmen their respective portions as soon as they arrived on the ground,[164] and superintended its correct execution, both in quantity and detail. At La Isla, the company was stationed at the park, and domiciled in one of the powder-magazines which had been made defensible.
Under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Evatt and Captain G. J. Harding, royal engineers, Forts Barbara and St. Felipe, on the Spanish lines in front of Gibraltar, were demolished by a strong detachment from the two companies stationed at the fortress. The operations occupied a few months; and during the work the detachment was covered by a force from the garrison of 500 to 800 soldiers. In firing a mine near St. Felipe, private John Barber lost an arm, both eyes, and part of his chin and teeth. In springing another mine near Tarifa, private Thomas Hughes was killed.
From Zante a party of five royal and eighteen Maltese military artificers sailed with the force under Brigadier-General Oswald, and were present on the 16th April at the capture of Santa Maura. This service effected, the detachment returned to Messina, leaving for the works of the newly-captured island a corporal and a mason of the royal military artificers.
During the year, parties or individuals of the corps were employed on particular service abroad—at Ceuta, Tarifa, and at Sidney in Cape Breton; while, at home, men were detached to Hythe, Isle of Wight, and Northfleet. At the latter place the party was employed, from August to December, in surveying under Mr. Stanley of the royal military surveyors and draftsmen.
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Footnote 164:
‘Prof. Papers,’ iii., p. 94.
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1811.
Mortality in the West Indies—Strength and distribution of detachments in the Peninsula—Recapture of Olivenza—Field instruction prior to siege of Badajoz—Conduct of corps at the siege—Conduct of Sergeant Rogers in reconnoitring—Reinforcement to Portugal and duties of the detachment—Its distribution and services—Battle of Barrosa; gallant conduct of Sergeant John Cameron—Tarragona—Defence of Tarifa—Augmentation to corps and reconstruction of companies—Annual expense of corps—Command of the companies—Their stationary character—The wealthy corporal—New distribution of corps—Commissions to Sub-Lieutenants, and ingenious inventions of Lieutenant Munro.
The West India company being gradually reduced to about fifty men, it was strengthened in March to 110, by the arrival at Barbadoes, in the ‘Flora’ transport, of fifty-eight men. During the years 1810 and 1811 the number of deaths in the company from yellow fever was thirty.
The detachment of the corps in Portugal was increased to seventy-eight of all ranks, by the landing at Lisbon of two sergeants and fifty-seven rank and file under Lieutenant P. Wright of the royal engineers. Thirty-four of the reinforcement were forthwith sent to the Lines of Torres Vedras and the Almada position; and the remaining twenty-five joined the head-quarters of the army, under Captain George Ross and Lieutenant Stanway.[165]
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Footnote 165:
Jones’s ‘Sieges’ vol. i. p. 377, 2nd edit.
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While these movements were being effected, two artificers of the detachment were present at the recapture of Olivenza in April, under the command of Captain Squire, R.E.[166]
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Footnote 166:
Ibid. p. 6.
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Soon after the reduction of Olivenza the siege party was augmented to twenty-seven, by the arrival at Elvas of twenty-five men under Captain George Ross. Of this increase not a man had ever seen the construction of a sap, battery, or trench. The whole were therefore daily drilled in the formation of fieldworks and in making fascines and gabions.[167] In these instructional operations they soon acquired sufficient knowledge to render themselves useful to their officers; and, at the same time, showed intelligence and alacrity in aiding in the construction of the flying-bridges across the Guadiana at Juramenha.
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Footnote 167:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. i., p. 10, 2nd edit.
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These twenty-seven men were employed in the first siege of Badajoz. Reduced by two, they were also present at the second siege of that fortress. On both occasions the diligence and exertions of the detachment were prominent; and, assisted by the line workmen, they quickly repaired the broken batteries and damaged embrasures. “Many a fine fellow,” says a well-known author, “lost his life in endeavouring to vie with the men of the engineers.”[168]
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Footnote 168:
‘United Service Journal,’ ii., 1831, p. 329.
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In the second siege, on the night before the storming, sergeant William Rogers, and three intrepid men of the corps, accompanied Captain Patton, R.E., on the dangerous service of reconnoitring the fords of the Rivillas, and the approach to the castle breach beyond the river. They conducted the examination for a time and then returned to the works for a file of men as a guard. With this escort they retraced their steps; but left it behind at a short distance from the breach, when the captain and his “trusty sergeant” went forward alone and completed the reconnaissance. In returning to the guard the captain stumbled, and the clanking of his sword drawing the attention of the French sentinels, they fired, and he fell mortally wounded. Sergeant Rogers protected his captain till he gained the escort, with whose assistance he succeeded in bearing him alive to the trenches. Captain Patton was able to make his report of the practicability of the assault and soon afterwards expired.[169] Sergeant Rogers died at Fuente Guinaldo in the following August. Of him Colonel Fletcher wrote: “he was an attentive, good soldier, and in every way a most estimable character.”
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Footnote 169:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. i., p. 70, 2nd edit. ‘United Service Journal,’ ii., 1831, p. 331.
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In May the detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher received an addition of thirty-nine men; and on the 29th June a further reinforcement of sixty-three non-commissioned officers and men under Lieutenants Melhuish and De Salaberry, royal engineers. In consequence of this augmentation, the men of the infantry acting as overseers and mechanics on the lines, rejoined their respective regiments; and the posts thus vacated were occupied by the newly-arrived detachments of military artificers.[170]
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Footnote 170:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. i., p. 90, 2nd edit.
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The whole force of the corps in Portugal amounted in July to 8 sergeants, 5 corporals, 16 second corporals, 3 drummers, and 145 privates; total, 177. Of this number a comparatively small party only was kept with the army, whilst the remainder were distributed to the lines, Sobral, Oeyras, the Almada position, Peniche, Abrantes, Alhandra, Fort St. Julian, &c. In conducting the works at those places, “the abilities and good conduct of the men were found of the utmost advantage.” At Fort St. Julian particularly, where they were employed in the formation of four extensive jetties for the embarkation of troops in case of necessity, their skill and expertness were found of great importance. Sergeant John M‘Kay had the executive superintendence of the work under the direction of Captain Holloway, R.E.
The detachment with the moving army was broken up into sections of five or six men to each division or corps, and one or other of them was at the blockade of Almeida, Fuentes d’Onoro, Albuera, Campo Maior, and the several other actions which occurred in the Peninsula during the campaign of 1811.
From Cadiz Sub-Lieutenant Davie and fifty men under Captain J. F. Birch of the royal engineers, were detached with Sir Thomas Graham’s force, and landed at Algeciras 22nd February. Being armed with short swords only, Sir Thomas caused them to be furnished with such spare muskets, accoutrements, and ammunition as could be collected, to defend themselves if necessary on the march. They were then placed at the head of the column to remove obstructions and facilitate the advance of the army. On the 5th March, Barrosa was fought, and the detachment of artificers was present in the battle. Here sergeant John Cameron gave a manifestation of his zeal by leading to the charge a section of seven men. They pressed where the fight was warmest; and in a few moments lost one private—John Storie—killed and two wounded. The blue uniform of the artificers was distinctly seen among the red coats of the line, and Sir Thomas Graham ordered the instant withdrawal of the party to the rear, observing that he might want it for other work. The sergeant was to have been tried by a court-martial for taking the men into action without orders; but his bravery saved him.
In June a second-corporal and four military artificers of the Cadiz company under Lieutenant Harry D. Jones, were attached to Colonel Skerrett’s expedition to assist the Spaniards in sustaining the siege of Tarragona; but the fortress fell while the British troops were in the roadstead. The party of artificers landed and occupied quarters in St. George’s Barracks, near Mahon, in the island of Minorca, and returned to La Isla in July.
In the following October, two artificers were sent from Cadiz for the defence of Tarifa under Captain C. F. Smith, R.E. Two also were sent there from Gibraltar by Colonel Sir Charles Holloway, the chief engineer at the fortress. Ultimately the engineers' means were increased to seventeen men of all ranks, who were employed as overseers in strengthening the defences of the place, and they carried on their duty with energy and credit. One private was wounded on the 29th December. A detachment of variable strength continued at Tarifa until April, 1813, when it returned to Cadiz.
A reinforcement of twenty men under Sub-Lieutenant Stewart Calder, sailed in November on board the ‘Tartar’ transport for Cadiz, and landed before the end of the year. The artificer force there now counted 101 of all ranks.
Anholt, an island of Denmark in possession of the British, had been attacked by the Danes in March, and the fortifications consequently were much damaged. No officer of the royal engineers being available for the duty of restoring the defences, corporal Alexander Borthwick of the royal military artificers, an experienced mechanic, was sent there in His Majesty’s ship ‘Helder,’ with two privates as overseers. They landed in September and were quartered in Fort Yorke under Lieutenant John Bezant, the ordnance storekeeper. The marines on the island were employed on the works, and each received for his labour 2_s._ 4_d._ a-day. They worked with attention and spirit. In six months all the authorized renewals and improvements were executed; and in May, a further sum of 3,700_l._ having been voted for completing the defences of the island, additional works were commenced to place the fortifications in a state to sustain a regular siege. In preparing to meet an apprehended attack on the island by the Danes, corporal Borthwick made various effective arrangements for the disposition and employment of the working parties, and gained the thanks of the Military Commandant, Major Torrens, royal marines. Shortly after, Admiral Martin being of opinion that the fortifications were sufficiently tenable to stand an attack, the works were suspended; and in August, 1812, Borthwick and his overseers returned to England. For his conduct and services at Anholt he was promoted to be sergeant; and a commission to a sub-lieutenancy was to have been conferred on him, but in the interim he became involved in some serious irregularities, which prevented the reward and ultimately ruined him.
So many detachments had been provided for the colonies and the war, that appeals for reinforcements or more extended aid could only occasionally be attended to. From the Peninsula and elsewhere, therefore, representations had been made of the necessity for increasing the corps, and augmenting the engineers' means for carrying on with efficiency the duties of the department. The proposals at length met with due consideration; and on the 28th May a warrant was issued for an improved organization of the corps, enlarging its establishment to an extent commensurate with the precautions which the disturbed state of Europe rendered advisable.
The warrant sanctioned an increase of 1,347 men, abolished the rank of company-sergeant-major, added to the number of the sub-lieutenants, and divided the corps into four battalions of eight companies, each company being constituted as follows:—
Sub-Lieutenant 1 Sergeants 5 Corporals 5 Second-Corporals 5 Drummers 3 Carpenters 15 Masons 10 Bricklayers 6 Smiths 4 Wheelers 2 Collar-makers 2 Cooper 1 Miners[171] 30 —— Total 89
The establishment of the corps was fixed as under:—
Staff { Adjutants[172] 4 { Sergeant-majors 4 { Quartermaster-Sergeants 4 { Drum-major 1 Sub-Lieutenants 32 Sergeants 160 Corporals 160 Second-Corporals 160 Drummers 96 Privates 2,240 —— Total 2,861
exclusive of the three companies of Maltese military artificers.
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Footnote 171:
A third of whom were to be gardeners, hedgers, or canal-diggers, but only to be enlisted on special authority from head-quarters.
Footnote 172:
These appointments were never conferred. The whole business of the corps was carried on by an Adjutant, who held his office independently of the battalions.
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The annual expense of the corps, not including working pay and other fluctuating contingencies, amounted to 87,736_l._ 14_s._ 3¼_d._ At this period 5 sub-lieutenants, 1 sergeant-major, and 130 men were employed on the recruiting service.
In all practicable cases, general and field-officers were deprived of the command of companies, which now ceased to be stationary, but were removed by rotation of relief from one station to another, the same as the companies of the royal artillery. The employment of men on detached duties was also discouraged, and companies were composed of a convenient strength to enable them to move in bodies.
Upon the stationary condition of the corps a celebrated officer of the royal engineers has made the subjoined correct remarks:—[173] “From the close of the American war till the year 1811, all the companies of royal military artificers were kept permanently fixed at their respective stations, both at home and abroad, where they remained for life, in what may, for military men, be styled a state of vegetation; so that they were, at that period, a vast number of men who had actually grown grey in the corps, who had never entered a transport, nor made a single day’s march from the head-quarters of their company. To the men at Gibraltar and other foreign stations the service of the corps was thus rendered almost equivalent to transportation for life. Everywhere they intermixed with civilians; they married in a proportion unknown in any other corps; so much so, that the number of women and children belonging to one company was often equal to that of a battalion of the line.”[174]
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Footnote 173:
Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ note a, p. iv., vol. i.
Footnote 174:
There was a William Painter at Gibraltar, whose affluence was something extraordinary. He enlisted into the corps in July, 1798, and though a man of very useful intelligence, only attained the rank of second-corporal in 1807. He tried to procure his discharge to return to his estate in Cornwall, but such was the pressure for men, his desire was negatived. His humble position, however, did not prevent his living in ease and luxury. He kept his servants, horses, and, it is said, his carriage, and entertained and enjoyed very good society. Well could he do all this, for, coupling with his own receipts his wife’s settlement, he possessed an income of _eleven hundreds pounds a-year_! He died at the Rock, August 13, 1811, aged 45 years. By his Will he left 5000_l._ stock to his two sons—John, and William Grible; 300_l._ to Sub-Lieutenant Falconer and his family, and a few smaller legacies to relatives and an attached servant, besides considerable landed property, houses, and the usual legal addenda of “messuages, tenements, and hereditaments” at Gwennap in Cornwall to his elder son John, “and his heirs for ever.” The widow, under a jointure, was in receipt of 550_l._ a-year.
As if to show how likely fortune is to be overtaken by calamity, Sub-Lieutenant Falconer, five days after the death-bed remembrance of the corporal, was fired at from an open window by private Samuel Fraser. The ball luckily missed him, but whizzed sufficiently near to be alarming. The ruffian was sent to a condemned regiment in commutation for his sentence of one thousand lashes!
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Under the new arrangement the companies were distributed as follows:—
Companies. Woolwich 6 Chatham 2 Portsmouth and Gosport 3 Plymouth 2 Dover 2 Guernsey 1 Jersey 1 Cork 2 Gibraltar 3 Newfoundland 1 Halifax 1 West Indies 2 Cadiz 2 Portugal 4
with detachments from the above to Eastbourne and the Sussex coast, Hythe, Cape Breton, New Brunswick, Ceylon, Cape of Good Hope, Sicily, the Ionian Islands, and Madeira.
The companies at Cadiz were the sixth and seventh of the first battalion; and those in Portugal were the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth of the second battalion. At this time the corps counted a force of nearly 1,500 men. More than half were employed in foreign possessions and colonial defence. The remainder, distributed in home garrisons and the Channel Islands, included a large proportion of aged men, invalids, and recruits. By the end of the year the reconstruction of the companies was completed; and from continual accessions of squads of recruits, rapidly equipped and disciplined, the corps was soon in a condition, to a greater extent than heretofore, to meet such incidental necessities as might arise.
Eleven sergeants were commissioned to be sub-lieutenants during the year. Some joined from the royal artillery. All were distinguished either as soldiers or artificers, particularly Sub-Lieutenant Munro, who was an “ingenious and skilful mechanic,” and his inventions, which met with general approbation, were attended with considerable saving to the Government. The captain of his company, in making a record of his acquirements, wrote that Lieutenant Munro “was the most zealous and intelligent non-commissioned officer whom he had met in the course of his services.”[175]
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Footnote 175:
He invented an engine for nipping lead shot, used for years in the royal laboratory, but for which an impostor and spy, named De Haine, received a reward of 500_l._ While filling the office of inspector of ordnance stores, he made various improvements in the mechanical and intrenching tools. He also detected many extraordinary frauds in the deliveries made by contractors. In one attempted imposition only, he saved the Government 2000_l._ He designed and constructed a life-ladder, which was frequently used with success at fires, and an ingenious mortar-mill which occasioned a great saving of expense to the department. At Chatham he invented many useful tools, implements, and apparatus, and his services were repeatedly acknowledged in the order books of the establishment.
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1812.
Plymouth company instructed in field duties—Engineer establishment at Chatham—Major Pasley appointed its director—Discipline and drill of corps—Its character—Sir John Sinclair ex-private—Title of corps changed—Captain G. Buchanan—A sergeant acrobat—Cuidad Rodrigo—Exertions of a company on the march to the siege—Repairs to the fortress—Siege of Badajoz—Difficulties in removing the stores to the park—Duties of the sappers in the operation—Gallant behaviour of Patrick Rooney and William Harry—Also of a party at Fort Picurina, and of Patrick Burke and Robert Miller—Hazardous attempt to blow down the batardeau in the ditch of the lunette, and conduct of corporal Stack—Bravery of a party in mining under the bridge of the inundation—Distribution of the Peninsular companies and their services—Bridges of Yecla and Serrada—Reinforcement to Spain—Salamanca—Burgos, and boldness of Patrick Burke and Andrew Alexander at the siege—Bridge of Alba—Carthagena—Reinforcement to Cadiz; action at Seville—Reinforcement to the Peninsula and distribution of the sappers—Green Island—Tarragona—First detachment to Bermuda.
Major Pasley, R.E., on his appointment to the Plymouth station, occasionally practised his company in sapping and mining. He was one of those officers who took pains to improve the military appearance and efficiency of his men, and to make them useful either for home or foreign employment. He is believed to have been the first officer who represented the advantage of training the corps in the construction of military field-works.
After the failure of Badajoz in 1811 the necessity of this measure was strongly advocated by the war officers. Then it was recommended to form a corps under the name of royal sappers and miners, to be composed of six companies chosen from the royal military artificers, which after receiving some instruction in the art, was to be sent to the Peninsula to aid the troops in their future siege operations.[176] Early in this year [1812] the suggestion was repeated by Sir Richard Fletcher; and Lord Wellington having also, in the most forcible manner, brought the subject to the notice of the Secretary of State,[177] a warrant was issued under date of the 23rd April for the formation of an establishment for instructing the corps in military field-works.
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Footnote 176:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ 2nd edit., ii., p. 390.
Footnote 177:
‘Wellington Dispatches,’ 1845, v., p. 508.
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Lord Mulgrave, the Master-General, selected Chatham as the most suitable place for carrying out the royal orders, and appointed Major C. W. Pasley director of the establishment. The exertions of that officer at Plymouth naturally singled him out for the post. The better to effect his purpose, he published for the use of the corps, elementary works on fortification, geometry, &c. of the greatest simplicity; and they have ever since been the text-books of the institution. In addition to sapping and mining, his system comprised bridge-making, pontooning, the use of ropes, mechanical appliances, and all other arts and contrivances, which the corps, in its connection with the engineer department, is likely to be called on to perform. “Uniting,” says Sir John Jones, “great zeal and unwearied perseverance with good talents” and judgment, Major Pasley “succeeded in extending the course far beyond these objects,” and not only “filled the ranks of the corps with good scholars, good surveyors, and good draughtsmen,” but enabled many, after quitting the service, to occupy with ability and credit, situations of considerable importance in civil life.[178]
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Footnote 178:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ 2nd edit., ii.. p. 392.
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The formation of the school at Chatham increased the means for discipline and drill. Other stations, stimulated by the example, paid greater attention to their enforcement. The injurious system of changing officers incessantly was now abolished; and the juniors, among a stated number of the second captains, first lieutenants, and second lieutenants of the royal engineers, were appointed regimental officers of the companies. Sir John Jones has recorded that “the men generally were of superior acquirements and well-disposed,” and the above changes had the best possible effect upon their general behaviour.[179] “By linking officers and men together,” he added, “and closely connecting their mutual interests, discipline and pride were given to the soldier,” and character to the corps.[180]
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Footnote 179:
Among the recruits at this period was Sir John Sinclair, Bart., who, on the 12th August, 1812, enlisted in the name of John Smith. Through various misfortunes he was reduced from affluence to poverty. Noticed by Colonel Pilkington, R.E., for his uniform good conduct and attainments, he was promoted to the rank of second-corporal, and provided with a quarter at the main-guard in the royal arsenal. His lady sometimes visited him in all the pride of her station, but his own rank was as yet unsuspected. From a comrade—afterwards Sub-Lieutenant H. B. Mackenzie—he frequently borrowed plain clothes to elude arrest in the streets, and invariably proceeded to the Treasury by water to receive his allowance. He was at length dogged to Woolwich, and, on the 31st August, 1813, being taken, was thrown into the debtors' side of Newgate, from whence he was removed to the Fleet Prison, where, for a year and a half he was confined, and was then only released by an error in law. Thirteen months' sickness and distress followed his release, during which time he was supplied with means by an acquaintance of his earlier and happier days. All the while the whereabouts of John Smith was unknown, but, advised by his friend, he confessed himself a deserter, and in imploring pardon and indemnity for past errors, solicited to be received for life in the New South Wales Corps. The pardon was granted, and being relieved from further service in the sappers, he was again left at liberty to follow his own inclination.
Footnote 180:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ 2nd edit., ii., pp. 390, 391.
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More fully to accord with its recognized duties the Master-General on the 4th August, ordered that the royal military artificers should be hereafter styled, Royal Military Artificers or Sappers and Miners.[181]
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Footnote 181:
Sir John Jones, by mistake, vol. ii. p. 390, makes the alteration of the name of the corps antecedent to the creation of the establishment at Chatham.
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Captain G. Buchanan, the adjutant, resigned the appointment, and Captain Rice Jones, under commission dated 1st February, succeeded to it. During his period of office, Captain Buchanan, besides attending to its many official requirements and details, performed duty on the works like other officers of engineers. By his application and exertions he ruined his health. Captain Rice Jones was relieved from the duties of the district, and the pay of the appointment was increased from 6_s._ to 10_s._ a-day.[182]
Footnote 182:
Soon after this change, an act of gross indiscipline occurred, which will afford a tolerable notion of some of the singular characters who held rank in the corps. A sergeant’s guard usually mounted in the sappers' barracks at Woolwich. One morning sergeant Millar was appointed to the new guard, and during the ceremony of “mounting,” was posted in front of it. Lieutenant Eaves, the officer on duty, gave the usual words of command. “Sergeant, to your guard, march!” Millar no sooner heard it, than he whirled his halberd in the air, and as every one stood amazed to see the upshot of this mad manœuvre, the pike turned point downwards and stuck in the earth. At this moment, to complete the extravaganza, Millar pitched on his hands, and with his legs towering erect in the air, paddled, with all the flexibility and steadiness of an acrobat, to his wondering guard!
The siege of Cuidad Rodrigo began on the 8th and terminated on the 19th January when the fortress was carried by storm. In this siege eighteen rank and file of the royal military artificers were present, of whom one was killed and ten were wounded. In carrying on their duties they were sometimes annoyed by the presence of light balls thrown by the enemy into the sap. The instant they alighted some bold sappers, heedless of the peril they incurred, rushed to the spot, and in a few seconds extinguished them with sand-bags or smothered them by shovelling earth upon the flames.[183] The conduct of the party during the operations was praised by Lord Wellington.[184]
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Footnote 183:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ i. p. 369, 3rd edit., and note added by Colonel Harry D. Jones.
Footnote 184:
‘Wellington Dispatches,’ 1845, v., p. 476.
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To join the siege party, the fifth company second battalion of forty-one men, had been embodied at Alhandra from the different districts of Torres Vedras, and marched for Cuidad Rodrigo on the 2nd January. It had in charge a large assortment of intrenching tools to be used in the works before that fortress. The weather was bitterly cold, a considerable quantity of rain had fallen, and the roads were cut into deep ruts and covered with pools. Frequently the jaded mules dropped from fatigue; and to relieve them, the men were constantly compelled, either to lead them instead of the disaffected muleteers, or take the labour of the animals themselves. After a trying and toilsome journey of seventeen days, the company arrived in front of Cuidad Rodrigo on the night of the 19th January, but took no part in the storming.[185]
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Footnote 185:
Sir John Jones, in his ‘Sieges,’ i. p. 130, 2nd edit., records, by mistake, the arrival of the company on the 15th instead of the 19th January.
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The above company and detachment were afterwards employed in restoring and improving the defences of the place. Paid by measurement for their labour, they greatly exerted themselves, notwithstanding the bitter weather to which they were exposed. Corporal James Douglas was intrusted with the charge of the restoration.
In the siege of Badajoz from 16th March to 6th April, the military artificers bore an important part. There were present 115 of all ranks, being portions of the fifth and seventh companies, second battalion, from Cuidad Rodrigo; and the sixth of the second battalion from the Almada position. A company from Cadiz comprising men of the sixth and seventh companies, first battalion, did not join till nearly the conclusion of the siege. The company disembarked at Ayamonte and ascended the valley of the Guadiana on the Portugal side, partly by boats and partly by marching. No British soldiers, save this company, had ever been in that part of Portugal.
All the engineers' means for the operation were conveyed from Elvas to Badajoz under charge of the corps, for which purpose 120 pairs of bullocks were pressed into the service. The effectual removal of the stores was accomplished under great difficulties. From the desertion of the drivers, taking with them their oxen, and the weakly condition of others, many of the sappers frequently yoked themselves to the abandoned burdens, and in carrying them through the Guadiana at the fords, were sometimes borne down the stream by the rapidity of the current. Nearly all the stores, however, reached the depôt at the appointed time.
In the distribution of the men, a strong party was nominated for the duty of the park, to repair tools, make scaling-ladders, platforms, &c., and the remainder, told off into seven brigades, performed good services as overseers and leading sappers in the trenches and the batteries. Sub-Lieutenants A. Wallace and R. Gibb who joined in January, volunteered their services as assistants in the trenches, and both discharged their duties “extremely well.” Their conduct was noticed in flattering terms in a letter to General Mann, the inspector-general of fortifications.
Soon after commencing operations, corporal Patrick Rooney signalized himself by laying gun platforms in the day-time under a warm fire from the enemy. No less conspicuous was private William Harry, who opened in daylight under fire of the Picurina, the embrasures of a masked battery. In executing these dangerous services, their firmness and skill had the effect of stimulating the workmen to the prompt performance of similar exploits.
At the storming of Fort Picurina the royal military artificers who preceded the columns, conducted themselves with the “greatest gallantry and coolness.” Particular mention is made of those who accompanied Captain Holloway of the royal engineers, in leading the reserve column to the place. Encumbered with ladders and axes, they broke through a line of palisades on the covertway, planted the ladders against the counterscarp, and then, descending into the ditch, moved the ladders across to the scarp with the greatest “steadiness and precision.” Instantly they mounted, and after tearing down the fraises to a sufficient extent for the escalade, ascended the ramparts and dashed through the embrasures into the fort. Private Patrick Burke, a bold soldier, took a leading part in the assault and was amongst the foremost that entered the place. On the parapet Captain Holloway fell severely wounded. Lance-corporal Robert Miller rushed to his rescue, and at imminent personal peril, guarded his body and bore him in safety to the camp.
Late in the siege a hazardous attempt was made by Lieutenant Stanway, R.E. to blow down the batardeau in the ditch of the lunette for the purpose of drawing off the inundation. He was accompanied by an officer and twenty men of the royal military artificers, of whom lance-corporal William Stack gave proof of prominent zeal and daring. The powder-barrels were duly placed against the dam and fired; but the effect intended was not produced, and the party returned to the trenches without loss.
In the final assault of Badajoz, selected men of the corps accompanied each of the columns to the breaches, bearing ladders, hatchets, crowbars, &c., and executed the duty allotted to them with the utmost bravery. After storming the lunette St. Roque, a party of the royal military artificers, under Lieutenant Wright, R. E. displayed expertness and courage in mining under the dam and bridge of the inundation. Of the general services and conduct of the sappers “during the operations of the siege and in its close,” it is recorded that they “distinguished” themselves.[186]
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Footnote 186:
‘Wellington Dispatches,’ edit. 1845, v., p. 579.
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Privates William Bond and Edward Doran were killed, and five rank and file wounded at the storming. In the trenches, during the operations, corporal John Blackadder was killed, and Sub-Lieutenant Wallace wounded. Many others also were wounded, but the precise number cannot be traced.
Soon after the capture, the detachment of the sixth and seventh companies, first battalion, returned to Cadiz, Major-General Cooke having represented the desirableness of maintaining the corps in adequate strength to carry out the defensive operations under his orders.[187] The sixth of the second battalion was attached to the expedition for besieging Tarragona,[188] and portions of the fifth and seventh companies, second battalion, remained at Badajoz to assist in the repairs of the breaches, and in improving the defences of the town. One private was killed by the unexpected explosion of a blast when he applied the match to fire it. The restorations were effected before the close of the year, and to mark the date, some masons of the corps built the number of the year with 24-pound shot in the escarp wall of the face of the bastion La Trinidad.
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Footnote 187:
Ibid, v., p. 650.
Footnote 188:
In the Dispatch to the Earl of Liverpool, dated Fuente Guinaldo, 10th June, 1812, the Earl of Wellington states, “I have likewise sent from this country to Gibraltar Lieutenant-Colonel Jones and four subaltern officers of engineers, and two companies of military artificers, including all the sappers there are with the army,” to join the corps d’armée under Lieutenant-General Lord William Bentinck, “to make an attack on the eastern coast of the Peninsula, with the troops from Sicily.”—Wellington Dispatches; 1845, v., p. 706, 707. The above company, 92 strong, was the only one despatched from Portugal, but one of the Maltese military artificers from Messina was added to the engineers' means for the siege, which made a combined sapper-force of 134 strong.
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The bridges of Yecla and Serrada, which spanned the Yebra—a branch of the Douro between Salamanca and Cuidad Rodrigo—were mined in December 1811 by Spanish miners, with a few privates of the sappers as overseers, under the direction of Lieutenant W. Reid, royal engineers. Owing to the flinty nature of the cement giving the compactness of rock to the structures, it required a fortnight’s unceasing toil—day and night—to drive the shafts. The mines were fired in April, following, when one arch of the Yecla was blown down, and a pier and two arches of the Serrada were destroyed.
Sub-Lieutenant C. Booth and ninety-five men reinforced the companies in Spain under Sir Richard Fletcher. Nine men also joined from Madeira. Both parties landed in April increasing the artificer force to 273 of all ranks. All the effective men were attached to the different divisions of the army, or were dispersed on various duties throughout the country. Those remaining at Badajoz were instructed in sapping and mining under Lieutenant Harry Jones of the royal engineers.
In June, nine rank and file were present under Lieutenant-Colonel Burgoyne, R.E., at the siege of the fortified posts at Salamanca. Private James Durant was killed in the trenches on the night of the 17th June, and four privates were wounded. Thanks for their good conduct in the siege of the forts was conveyed to them in general orders.[189]
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Footnote 189:
‘Wellington Dispatches,’ 1845, v., p. 724.
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Eight of the corps were present in August at the capture of the Retiro at Madrid, and at the siege of Burgos in September and October. All were employed as overseers in the park and the trenches. Corporal M. Develin was killed, and the remaining seven were wounded. The whole party proved themselves to be good soldiers and skilful miners. Deriving their instruction, in great part, from the labours of previous sieges, they knew the best methods to achieve success. At Fort Christoval the want of experienced miners rendered it impracticable to crown the glacis and prevent the garrison removing the debris from the foot of the breach. At Burgos, on the contrary, though the assaults were frequent before the place fell, this handful of sappers, assisted by some miners from the guards, successfully worked up to the fortress, and formed effective breaches by mining, in the castle walls.[190] Private Patrick Burke, a distinguished stormer at Badajoz, was remarked for his usefulness and resolution in the explosion of a mine; and private Andrew Alexander for his valour in leading the workmen to crown the crater of a mine on the enemy’s glacis before the breach. The fifth company, second battalion, was sent in advance with stores for the siege but arrived too late to share in the operation.
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Footnote 190:
Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ notes by Colonel Harry D. Jones, i., p. 135, 377, 3rd edit.
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In the retreat to the frontier of Portugal a few men of the corps mined the bridge at Alba on the Tormes, under Captain Goldfinch of the engineers. An eye-witness who observed their exertions says, “In crossing the bridge, we found the sappers hard at work mining and laying barrels of gunpowder to blow up the centre arch.”[191] The bridge was accordingly destroyed to check the advance of the enemy. This small party also assisted in the hasty intrenchments thrown up to defend the castle, and was present in repulsing the attack on the place.
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Footnote 191:
‘United Service Journal,’ 2, 1829, p. 284, 285.
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In January a corporal and nine privates were detached from La Isla to Carthagena to strengthen the fortifications there. Private Thomas Grewer was killed in springing a mine. The detachment returned to La Isla in April, 1814.
A draft of twenty-eight non-commissioned officers and men landed at Cadiz in April to reinforce the sixth and seventh companies, first battalion. In August following, a sergeant and ten rank and file were present with Colonel Skerrit’s force in the action at Seville on the 27th of the month. They rejoined their companies in September.
Late in the year Lieutenant Matson of the royal engineers, having under his command Sub-Lieutenants R. Turner and C. Gratton and 135 non-commissioned officers and men, joined the corps in the Peninsula. Many of them had been instructed in the formation of military field-works. The total of the artificer force in Spain and Portugal in December, reached the following numbers:—
Lisbon, Badajoz, and with the army in the field 303 Alicant 92 Cadiz 103 Tarifa 11 Carthagena 6 —— Total 515
including Sub-Lieutenants Wallace, Gibb, Booth, Turner, and Gratton. During the year the casualties in the detachment under Sir Richard Fletcher were, nine invalided and forty-three deaths. In May the number sick counted thirty-one; in December it was increased to sixty-one.
At Green Island, opposite Algeciras, four privates were employed in repairing the defences early in the year under Lieutenant A. Brown of the corps. When completed they returned to Gibraltar.
The first company of Maltese Artificers of forty-one total, and one smith of the royal military artificers, left Messina in June under the command of Major Thackeray, R.E., with the expedition against Tarragona. At Port Mahon, Minorca, they were joined by the sixth company, first battalion. Both companies soon afterwards landed at Alicant, and portions of them were employed on such occasional services as the course of events demanded.
Bermuda was this year appointed a station for the corps. Two sergeants, one drummer, and fifty rank and file, embarked on the 21st August on board the ‘Catherine,’ freight-ship, and arrived at the island 20th November. The detachment generally were inferior artificers and ill-behaved men. Throughout the voyage they were discontented and mutinous; and after landing, animadversion and punishment for a long time had but little effect in checking their excesses and insubordination. Captain Cunningham, royal engineers, commanded the party.
1813.
Designation of corps modified—Uniform—Working-dress—Arms—Mode of promoting non-commissioned officers—Rank of colour-sergeant created—Company to Canada—Reinforcement to Bermuda—Sub-Lieutenant Mackenzie appointed Town-Major there—Sickness at Gibraltar—Services of company in East Catalonia—Malha da Sorda—Services on the advance to Vittoria—Bridge at Toro—Blockade of Pampeluna—Pyrenees—Stockades near Roncesvalles—San Sebastian and services of the corps at the siege—Valour of sergeants Powis and Davis—Of private Borland; and of corporal Evans—Casualties in the siege—Restoration of the fortifications-Pontoon train—Bidassoa—Bridge across it, and conduct of privates Owen Connor and Nowlan—Vera—Nivelle, and behaviour of corporal Councill—Bridge over that river—Bridges over the Nive, and daring exertions of private Dowling—Fording the Nive, and posts of honour accorded to corporal Jamieson and private Braid—Strength and distribution of corps in the Peninsula—Recruiting.
To correspond with the intentions of the Government with respect to the future duties of the corps, the title was again changed on the 5th March, from “royal military artificers or sappers and miners,” to “Royal Sappers and Miners.” Some mistrust and discontent were occasioned by this second alteration, but conciliatory explanations restored confidence and satisfaction.
A change of dress followed the change of name. This originated with the war officers in the Peninsula. Working with the line at the sieges, it was considered desirable to assimilate the dress of the two services; and scarlet with blue facings was introduced to render the men less conspicuous to the enemy and less subject to danger. No material alteration was made in the cut and frogging of the coatee. For particular parades, the white breeches and long gaiters were continued, except in the Peninsula, where grey trousers and ankle gaiters were substituted. The chaco—a singular concoction from the German mitre, preserved in Hogarth’s “March to Finchley,” and the “smoke-jack”—was much higher in front than in rear and decorated with yellow cords and tassels. A short white feather, worn at the left side of the chaco, just peered above the curve of the fan. See Plate X.
The working dress consisted of a plain red jacket with short skirts, grey trousers with red stripes, short spats, shoes with brass clasps, and a leather cap worn lengthways, or square, bearing on its front leaf in brass, the initials of the corps, and subsequently a crown and garter ornament. This much-disliked head-covering was a remote but unsightly variety of the cocked hat; and in lieu of tassels was furnished at the corners with black silk ribbon ties of some length. See Plate XI. Some companies wore white linen overalls, buttoned the whole length of the outer seam. At Cadiz, previous to the general change, the companies wore grey trousers with a black stripe down each outer seam, and a grey cloth forage-cap, trimmed with black braid, and the letters R. M. A. on the left side of the cap.
Greater attention was now paid to arming the corps. Heretofore, in this respect, many irregularities had crept in. At Newfoundland the detachment was armed with swords, cutlasses, and accoutrements of every shape, saved from the American war. In the West Indies the companies used the shattered remains of old armouries and black accoutrements of various patterns. In Sicily the military artificers could only muster a few foreign cumbersome firelocks; whilst the Maltese artificers were unable to appear with a weapon of any kind. For a number of years the Gibraltar companies wore the obsolete accoutrements and cartouche-boxes of a disbanded Newfoundland regiment; and a party of the corps on its way to the Peninsula, did duty with pikes and blunderbusses. Among the sergeants the swords and belts were very dissimilar. Permitted to purchase their own arms, more attention was paid to fancy and ability of payment than uniformity. These and other anomalies were progressively removed from the corps in consequence of the improved method of officering the companies.
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[Illustration:
Royal Sappers & Miners Plate X. WORKING DRESS, 1813 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
]
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[Illustration:
Royal Sappers & Miners Plate XI. UNIFORM. 1813 Printed by M & N Hanhart.
]
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In March an important plan was adopted for the promotion of non-commissioned officers. All men at home recommended for advancement, were sent to Woolwich to be examined. If found competent as artificers and soldiers, they were especially instructed in a uniform system of routine and drill, and returned perfect to their companies. A few years, however, showed the expense and inconvenience of the system, and it was necessarily relinquished.
In July the rank of colour-sergeant was granted to the corps. One was appointed to each company with the pay of 2_s._ 9¼_d._ a-day, and was distinguished by the badge of the open colour and cross swords on the right arm. Sixpence a-day was also added to the pay of the sergeant-majors, which raised it to 4_s._ 1¼_d._ a-day.
The third company, third battalion, of eighty-one men under Lieutenant G. Philpotts, R.E., and Sub-Lieutenant James A. Stephenson, sailed for Canada on board the ‘Zodiac’ transport on the 23rd April, and landed at Quebec on the 5th June. They had been trained in the field duties of the department at Chatham, and were the first of the corps ever employed in the Canadas. Nothing satisfactory is known of their services; but they appear to have been much dispersed through the country, the greatest numbers being at Burlington Heights, Prescott, Point Henry, York, and Kingston. The