PEACE.
AT the conclusion of the war in 1763, the reductions in the Regiment
were carried out on a different system from that which had hitherto
prevailed. At the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, entire companies had been
reduced, and the establishment of the remaining companies was left
unchanged. Now, the cadres of the three Battalions with their companies
remained, but the establishment of the latter was materially reduced.
Besides the Cadet company, there were now thirty others; and the total
in each company of all ranks was—as it had been twenty years before—107.
But the following reduction was now ordered—one Lieutenant-Fireworker,
one Sergeant, one Corporal, four bombardiers, twelve gunners, and
thirty-two matrosses per company, reducing the total from 107 to 57, a
fifer having been added to each. The supernumerary fireworkers were put
on half-pay, and brought in as vacancies occurred,—the last being
absorbed in 1767.
From 1763 to 1771 was a singularly uneventful period in the history of
the Regiment. One Battalion was quartered in America, its head-quarters
being at Woolwich; the companies of another were divided between
Gibraltar and Minorca, and the third was in Great Britain. The companies
in the East Indies remained as before until 1765. A relief of the 2nd by
the 1st Battalion took place towards the end of this time; and the
companies at home were periodically relieved as at present. One
peculiarity, however, existed then, which does so no longer. When two or
more companies were required from Woolwich for out-stations at home, the
Captains were ordered to meet at the Commandant's office, and draw lots
for their destinations. As a means of silencing grumblers, it was
certainly advantageous.
Although England was at peace, other countries had their troubles; and
Portugal, being in distress as regarded her Artillery, applied during
this time for the services of Captain Macbean, who had served her so
well before, and various other officers of the Regiment. The request was
granted: the officers being made supernumerary, their promotion going
on, but their pay coming from the Portuguese Government. Captain Macbean
reached the highest rank in the Portuguese service, and all the others
received the strongest commendations.—One—Captain-Lieutenant Yorke—died
in Portugal: the same officer, who, as a subaltern, with a handful of
men, managed to get a gun up the heights above Quebec, when Wolfe made
his famous and successful attack.
This was not the first instance of a Foreign Government paying the
compliment to the Royal Artillery of asking assistance from its ranks.
In 1744, the King of Sardinia asked and obtained the services of five
officers and twenty-four men of the Royal Artillery, who were on board
the bomb-vessels in the Mediterranean; and they served with distinction
in his Army until taken prisoners at the capture of Montalban and
Montleuze.
Some changes in the dress of the officers were made during this time. In
1768 white waistcoats, instead of scarlet, and white breeches were
adopted both for officers and men. In 1770, swords were substituted for
the fusees which had hitherto been the arms of the officers, and the
same sword exercise was adopted as was in use among dragoons. At the
same time, the Regiment adopted the German mode of wearing the sash
round the waist, instead of over the right shoulder, as hitherto.
Epaulettes were also substituted for laced shoulder-knots. The non-
commissioned officers and men wore their hair plaited, and turned up
behind with a black ribbon or tape, three quarters of a yard long, in a
_bow_-knot where tied; and if any men were debarred by nature or
accident from wearing their hair sufficiently long, they were compelled
to wear a false plait—anticipating by a century the present custom of
the other sex.
The letter-books of this time are chiefly devoted to correspondence on
matters connected with clothing, promotion and reliefs. On the first
named subject, the correspondence with Major James, who commanded at New
York, is particularly voluminous.
Promotion was slow; and when accelerated by retirement of officers, the
system pursued was peculiar. For example, it was decided to remove
Captain-Lieutenant Rogers to the half-pay list. His half-pay,—six
shillings per diem, was to be augmented by two shillings from the Board
of Ordnance; but—by an ingenious arrangement, whereby the Lieutenant,
Second Lieutenant, and Lieutenant-Fireworker, who got promotion, were
made to remain on their old rate of pay, six shillings and fourpence per
diem was saved towards Captain Rogers' half-pay, and the Board had only
to find the daily sum of one shilling and eightpence. At this time, in
the year 1765, the Board placed the responsibility of the men's clothing
on the Colonels of Battalions, declining any further interference. The
wisdom of the change—except in so far as it saved trouble to the
Honourable Board—was questionable; for some Colonels took a very liberal
view of their discretion and power in the matter, going so far even as
to alter the _colour_ as well as the shape of the various articles of
their men's uniform.
An excellent and hospitable officer, General Williamson, now commanded
at Woolwich; and one of his invitations to his friends is so quaint as
to be worthy of reproduction:—"July 25th, 1767. The gentlemen of twenty
years' acquaintance are desired to meet General Williamson, and dine at
'The Bull' on Shooter's Hill, on Monday next, 1st August, their names to
be sent to Dr. Irwin. Dinner on table at three o'clock." The General had
a son in the Regiment, at this time in New York, who was as great a
favourite as his father.
This time of peace was beneficial to the Royal Military Academy. More
time was devoted to the curriculum, and inducements to proficiency held
out successfully to the cadets. The King and Queen paid a visit to the
Academy, among the other lions of Woolwich. It was on this occasion that
"their Majesties saw many curious firings; among the rest a large iron
cannon, fired by a lock like a common gun; a heavy 12-pounder, fired 23
times in a minute, and spunged every time by a new and wonderful
contrivance, said to be the invention of Dr. Desaguliers, with other
astonishing improvements of the like kind."[24] In 1765, a most formal
examination of the cadets had taken place in presence of the Master-
General and principal officers of the Ordnance, and many other important
officials, including the President of the Royal Society, who expressed
their satisfaction with the "noble institution," and distributed gold
and silver medals to the most distinguished cadets. In a hundred years,
one who had been himself a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, and for
many years an honoured officer in the Royal Artillery, Sir Edward
Sabine, would occupy the chair filled by one of the visitors on that
day, and be one of the most popular Presidents of the Royal Society.
The names of the following officers appear during this peaceful time, as
in command of companies:—Captains Foy, Drummond, and Stehelin, at
Minorca; Torriano, Innes, and Butler, at Gibraltar; Jeffery, Phillips,
Smith, Carter, and Howdell, at Woolwich. In America, we trace companies
commanded at different times by Captains Martin, Williams, Farrington,
Hay, Ferguson, Webdall, Lewis, Dover, Walton, Winter, Carlisle, and
Gillespie. The stations on that continent which were the head-quarters
of the companies included New York, Pensacola, Quebec, Halifax,
Pittsburg (Louisbourg), Montreal, and Placentia in Newfoundland. There
were also detachments at Boston, Crown Point, Fort Ontario, and Niagara.
An amusing narrative of the service of a bombardier and two matrosses
who were permitted to accept employment from the Emperor of Morocco may
prove an interesting conclusion to this short chapter. It is based upon
a manuscript in the Royal Artillery Library, framed by the bombardier
himself, one John Turner by name, who had been called upon to make a
report of his doings during his absence, and who certainly even on his
own showing had a keen eye to the main chance. The ineffable conceit of
the man, his firm impression that Emperors and Princes only existed to
give him his daily pay and rations, and his exalted notion of his
position as a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, can only be realized by
a complete perusal of the manuscript. But even if curtailed, the
narrative cannot fail to amuse.
John Turner was quartered at Gibraltar. He was a fair scholar, had a
good opinion of himself, and was a bombardier. In the summer of 1769,
the Emperor of Morocco sent a request to the Governor of Gibraltar for
an Artilleryman to explain certain matters in gunnery, and to act as a
tutor in the military art to the young Prince, his son. In 1872, it is
probable that for such an appointment candidates would be innumerable,
and would embrace even General Officers among their numbers. Possibly in
Gibraltar, the Emperor was not very highly esteemed; be that, however,
as it may, Bombardier John Turner was selected. He was to receive
thirty-five dollars per month, besides certain other advantages, and
this fact was very present to his mind during his absence. At first, a
circumstance which occurred vexed John Turner's soul sorely: the wind
having detained him some days, the Governor was relieved by one who
would not assume the responsibility of letting him go, without an order
from England. Until November the honest man was kept fretting and
pining, but in the end he was rewarded not merely by the permission to
go himself, but by an order to take with him two matrosses, who greatly
swelled his importance. On the 3rd of December, he and his comrades
landed about six miles from Tetuan, whither they were conveyed on mules
and lodged in a house where they were treated "beyond their
expectation." It was but seldom that in this respect John Turner's
expectations were exceeded. He had a letter to the Governor, which he
insisted on presenting; and with much presence of mind, on the morning
after his arrival, he demanded an advance of money for himself and
comrades. This was granted; but, as he plaintively wrote, it was made
the subject of much misrepresentation, and he was reprimanded by his
superiors in Gibraltar, on the story reaching them. The fact was, he
innocently said, that he had borrowed some money on his note of hand in
Gibraltar, "to clear some little obligations under which we lay," and
the note met him at Tetuan, where he was led to believe he would be put
in funds to pay it. On the 17th, the party left in great state "with an
Alcayde and three horsemen for our guard, hired horses to ride on, and
mules to carry our baggage and camp equipage." They encamped every night
near some village, and the inhabitants were compelled to bring them
food, and find sentinels for their baggage, under pain of being taken as
rebels to the Emperor, for which purpose chains were carried by the
escort. The good bombardier describes in his report at some length the
nature of the food, some of which he was pleased to consider very good
eating. At last they reached the place where the young Prince was
encamped, and from that moment John Turner became an old man of the sea
to that unhappy youth, and when he had any complaint to make would go
nowhere but to head-quarters. His early interviews with the Prince, and
every word that passed between them are duly chronicled. He accompanied
him to Mequinez, and immediately sought the Emperor's Secretary, to whom
he had letters. The frank manners of that official at first charmed
John; but he soon found him to be but "a master of the French address,
joined to all the villainies of the Court of Morocco, and a Jew in the
very essence of the word." In a few days he had an interview with the
Emperor himself, who in the course of conversation asked to see his
instruments. It may interest the modern Artilleryman to know what a
bombardier's instruments were in the year 1770. Those which John
produced were his "quadrant, perpendicular, and Gunter's scales,
together with a case of mathematical instruments."
The unfortunate bombardier never saw his instruments after he once let
them into the young Prince's hands, and this called forth very severe
strictures from him on princely nature. "Plundering," he writes, "is
what these Princes are taught from their infancy."
The Emperor having expressed a wish to see the three Artillerymen throw
a shell, they complied. The mortar was of a different calibre from any
they had ever seen, nor did they know anything about the range;
fortunately, however, they made a good guess, and the Emperor was much
pleased with the practice. He ordered them a daily supply of provisions,
"which order, however, was never complied with but in part."
From this moment John's domestic troubles were very great. While he had
enough meat he never abused it; but when his allowance was cut short, he
described it as "carrion meat." He was quartered in a Jew's house, and
the Jew plundered him sorely, depriving him of the best part of his
provisions. He said little, but thought a good deal; and receiving no
satisfaction from the Imperial Secretary, demanded to see the Prince,
who came to him immediately. "I acquainted him how ill we were treated
with regard to provisions, and as our money was all gone begged of His
Royal Highness to take some method that we might be better supplied. He
asked whose fault it was. I answered, 'The Chief of the Jews.' He
ordered our interpreter to go and tell him that if he did not find us
everything, as his father had ordered, he would cut off his head, and
burn his body; and desired, whenever we found him in the least
deficient, to call a guard of Moors, and bring the Chief of the Jews to
him, and we should see him executed. He then dismissed us, and we went
home, and almost as soon as we went there one of the Prince's black
servants came with the Chief of the Jews, and a halter about his neck,
and told us by the interpreter that he was ordered to bring him there,
and give him fifty bastinados in our presence, which he did,
notwithstanding we offered to buy off the punishment with six ounces."
The climax of John Turner's narrative is when he describes a day's shell
practice with the Prince in presence of the Emperor, when the powder of
the country, of whose strength John was ignorant, was used. The young
Prince made good practice with it, but as he would not impart the secret
of its strength, the Artillerymen made very indifferent shooting. His
Majesty remonstrated, making invidious comparisons, which roused John
Turner into reminding the Emperor with due deference that he came there
to instruct His Majesty's subjects in the _English_ method of practice,
not to be instructed by the Prince—he being master of his business
before he came there.
Another day's practice followed: The Prince hit the mark with one of his
shells, the bombardier did not. It was a painful circumstance; but the
conceit of John Turner did not fail him. He first blamed the powder, and
then asserted that, notwithstanding his failure to hit the mark, his
general practice was infinitely superior to that of his Royal pupil. And
he submitted a chart of the day's shooting in support of his statement.
It is but fair to say that Bombardier Turner was most conscientious in
performing another duty which was enjoined upon him, the construction of
a small laboratory. He writes with the greatest scorn of the native
artificers, but he succeeded in making them do what he wished. Just,
however, as he had overcome the main difficulties, his peace of mind was
disturbed by his two chronic wants, lack of money and scarcity of
provisions. This time he resolved to write to the Emperor himself; and
endeavoured to get some one to translate his remonstrances into Arabic
with that view. He failed, however, and had to content himself with the
Prince, whose life, by means of his interpreter, he was able to make a
burden to him.
The reader of his report is not surprised to find that after a very
short time his services were dispensed with, and he was directed to
return to Gibraltar. A man who insists on afflicting royalty with the
most trivial complaints becomes a very unwelcome inmate of a despotic
Court.
So John and his comrades started, grumbling to the last, and his conceit
and self-importance manifesting themselves at every stage of the
journey. Carefully mentioning that he was still allowed an Imperial
escort, he points out another instance of shabby treatment to which he
was exposed. It should be mentioned that when the horses requisite for
his comfort were not forthcoming, the gallant bombardier always declined
to move. On one evening he was informed that the requisite cattle would
be ready next morning. "Our things being ready by the time," he writes,
"I went to see the cattle that was prepared for us. I found only four
mules barely sufficient to carry our baggage. I enquired where I and the
two men were to ride, and was informed—on the top of the baggage. I said
that since I had been in the country I was never asked to travel in this
manner; neither did I think His Majesty would be pleased if he knew how
we were treated; and, moreover, not any of _my_ baggage should be moved
until three saddle-horses should be brought for me and my companions. He
said, as for me, I might ride on one of his horses, but I absolutely
refused, adding it was equally my duty to take care of those men as of
myself, and until I saw cattle enough to carry us and our baggage, I
would not stir from the place, unless it was to return and acquaint the
Emperor of our usage."
It is sufficient to say that on this, as on every similar occasion, the
bombardier carried his point.
The day arrived when they were to take ship from Tetuan to Gibraltar. To
the very last his pecuniary difficulties haunted him. They were directed
to attend at a notary's office to receive their pay. A sum far inferior
to what he considered his due was offered him. "I informed them," he
writes, "that that was not near the sum that was due to us; but was
given to understand that if I did not accept that, I might possibly get
none; and rather than run that hazard, as I knew them capable of any
meanness, I took what was offered, and gave a receipt in part payment.
We were likewise out of this short payment obliged to pay our
interpreter; but this I did with less reluctance, as I had been informed
by Mr. Rodway, Master-Wheeler, of Gibraltar, that whenever he went to
Mequinez by order of Government, he always paid his interpreter himself,
but that the money was always returned to him at Gibraltar." The
exquisite delicacy of the hint at repayment, embodied in an official
report, cannot be surpassed.
In days long after John Turner's career was finished, the spectacle has
been witnessed of an invaded country straining every nerve, and
practising every self-denial, to procure the withdrawal from its
occupied districts of the enemy's troops. It is questionable, however,
whether its eagerness was equal to that which must have been felt on all
sides when that memorable event occurred which it has been attempted to
describe,—the invasion of Morocco by a bombardier.
In the year 1770, the Regiment suffered from two evils: one, the chronic
slowness of promotion which has always afflicted it; the other, an
inability to carry out the foreign reliefs with so small a number of
companies at home. To meet these evils a remedy was devised, which shall
be treated in the next chapter—the formation of another Battalion.
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Footnote 24:
Cleaveland's MSS.