PANIC IN LANCASHIRE.
The Russians were within gunshot of Manchester! A profound sensation was
caused in that city about eight o'clock on the evening of September 6th,
by an announcement made by the _Evening News_--which still appeared in
fitful editions--that a Cossack patrol had been seen on the road between
Macclesfield and Alderley, and that it was evident, from the manner of
the Russian advance, that they meant to attack the city almost
immediately.
The utmost alarm was caused, and the streets were everywhere crowded by
anxious, starving throngs, eager to ascertain fuller details, but unable
to gather anything further beyond the wild conjectures of idle gossip.
The great city which, on the outbreak of war, was one of the most
prosperous in the world, was now but a sorry semblance of its former
self. Heated, excited, turbulent, its streets echoed with the
heartrending wails of despairing crowds, its factories were idle, its
shops closed, and its people were succumbing to the horrible, lingering
death which is the result of starvation.
Wealth availed them naught. Long ago the last loaf had been devoured,
the last sack of flour had been divided, and the rich living in the
suburbs now felt the pinch of hunger quite as acutely as factory
operatives, who lounged, hands in pockets, about the streets.
Manchester, like most other towns in England, had come to the end of
her supplies, and death and disease now decimated the more populous
districts, while those who had left the city and tramped north had fared
no better, and hundreds dropped and died by the roadside.
The situation in Lancashire was terrible. At Liverpool a few vessels
were arriving from America, under escort of British cruisers, bringing
supplies, but these were mostly purchased at enormously high rates, and
sent to London by way of Manchester and Sheffield, railway communication
by that route being still open. This fact becoming known in Manchester
caused the greatest indignation, and the people, rendered desperate by
hunger, succeeded on several occasions in stopping the trains, and
appropriating the food they carried. The situation in Manchester was one
of constant excitement, and fear that the enemy should repeat the
success they had achieved at Birmingham. The hundreds of thousands of
hungry ones who flocked Manchester streets and the grimy thoroughfares
of Stockport, Ashton, Oldham, Bolton, and other great towns in the
vicinity, feared that they, like the people of Birmingham, would be put
to the sword by the ruthless invaders.
The week that had elapsed had been an eventful one, fraught with many
horrors. After the success of the Russians at Birmingham, the British
troops, both Regulars, Volunteers, and improvised, fell back and formed
up north of the city, being practically nothing more than a strong line
of outposts without reserves, extending from Dudley, through West
Bromwich and Sutton Park, to Tamworth. This scheme, however, was
ill-devised, for the defenders, in order to act successfully, should
have fallen back much further, and concentrated their forces at one or
two strategical points on the line to Manchester, as it had been
ascertained from spies that a swift and vigorous attack on that city was
meditated.
The day following the taking of Birmingham was devoted by the enemy to
the reorganisation of their forces, and the rearrangement of their
transport and ammunition train. Large quantities of waggons and war
stores of all kinds had been found in the town and annexed by the
victors, and at Kynoch's Factory at Aston some hundreds of thousands of
rounds of ammunition had been seized. These had been made for a foreign
government, and fitted both rifles and machine guns of the Russians.
Having thus reorganised, the Russians, leaving 10,000 men in Birmingham
as a base, resumed their march north on the third day. The left flank,
consisting of 2000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry, took the road through
West Bromwich to Wednesbury and Bilston, but quickly found themselves
entrapped, for on account of the many canals their cavalry were unable
to act, and their transport was cut off. The miners and factory men had
armed themselves, and, acting in conjunction with the British troops
from Dudley and Great Barr, succeeded, after some hard fighting around
Tipton and Coseley, in completely annihilating the enemy, taking 5000
prisoners and killing the remaining 9000.
Meanwhile the right flank had passed out of Birmingham by way of Castle
Bromwich, and had advanced without opposition through Wishaw and
Tamworth to Lichfield, driving the defenders before them. The Russian
main column, however, were not allowed to go north without a most
desperate endeavour on the part of our men to hold them in check.
Indeed, if ever British courage showed itself it was during those dark
days. Advancing through Aston and Perry to Sutton along the ancient
highway, Icknield Street, the Russians sent a large force through the
woods to the high ground between Wild Green and Maney. Here the British
had established strong batteries, but after some desperate fighting
these were at length captured, the enemy losing heavily. At the same
time, fierce fighting occurred in Sutton Park and across at Aldridge,
the defenders making the most strenuous efforts to break the force of
the invaders. All was, alas! to no purpose. The British, outnumbered as
before, were compelled to fall back fighting, with the result that the
enemy's main column, pushing on, effected a junction with its right
flank, which had bivouaced on Wittington Heath, near Lichfield, and
occupied the barracks there.
On the day following the invaders broke into two columns and marched
again north, practically in battle formation, the right column
continuing along Icknield Street, through Burton, Derby, Bakewell, and
Marple, driving back the defenders, while the left column took a route
that lay through the hilly and wooded country near Cannock Chase. Both
columns, advancing in echelon of division, with cavalry on their flanks,
were constantly harassed in the rear by the British, and in their
advance lost numbers of waggons and a large quantity of ammunition; but
they succeeded in travelling so quickly north that they were actually
marching on Manchester before the people in that city could realise it.
Signal acts of bravery were being everywhere reported, but what could
individual heroism effect against the fearful odds we had to face?
Thousands of men in Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Wigan, Rochdale, and other
neighbouring towns had already armed themselves, and, on hearing that
Manchester was threatened, poured into the city to act their part
bravely in its defence.
It must be admitted that the British General commanding had, on gaining
knowledge of the intentions of the Russians, taken every precaution in
his power to prevent an advance on Manchester.
Our troops which had been defeated and driven back from Birmingham, had
at once retreated north to the Peak district, and about one-quarter of
the number had taken up excellent defensive positions there, while the
remainder, with small reinforcements of Regulars drawn from Lancaster,
Warrington, Bury, Chester, Wrexham, Burnley, Ashton-under-Lyne, York,
Halifax, and as far distant as Carlisle, had, in addition to those from
Manchester, been massed along the north bank of the Mersey from
Stockport to Flixton, with a line of communication stretching across to
Woodley Junction, and thence over Glossop Dale to the Peak.
Thus Manchester was defended by a force of 38,000 cavalry, infantry,
Volunteers, and colonials, against the Russian army, consisting of the
remaining 65,000 of the force which attacked Birmingham, and
reinforcements of 10,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry that had been pushed
rapidly forward from Sussex over the ground that the main body had
travelled. The total force of Russians was therefore 80,000.
From Stockport, the north bank of the Mersey to its confluence with the
Irwell past Flixton was well guarded. Earthworks had been raised,
trenches dug, walls had been loopholed, and houses placed in a state of
hasty defence. Among the reinforcements now under arms were several
portions of battalions of Lancashire Volunteer Artillery who had not
gone south to their allotted positions in the defence of London, and
five companies of the 1st Cheshire and Carnarvonshire Artillery under
Col. H. T. Brown, V.D., together with the Cheshire Yeomanry under Col.
P. E. Warburton. The Manchester Brigade was a strong one, consisting of
six Volunteer battalions of the Manchester Regiment, the 1st under the
Earl of Crawford, V.D., the 2nd under Col. Bridgford, V.D., the 3rd
under Col. Eaton, V.D., the 4th under Col. Lynde, V.D., the 5th under
Col. Rocca, V.D., and the 6th under Col. Lees; the Cheshire and
Lancashire Brigades included three Volunteer battalions of the
Lancashire Fusiliers under Colonels Young, Philippi, and Haworth, and
two battalions of the South Lancashire Regiment; while the Northern
Counties Brigade, composed of one Volunteer battalion of the Royal
Lancaster Regiment under Col. Strongitharm, two battalions of the East
Lancashire Regiment under Col. A. I. Robinson, V.D., and Col. T.
Mitchell, V.D., and two of the Loyal North Lancashire under Col. Widdows
and Col. Ormrod, also mustered their forces and performed excellent
defensive work. It was here, too, that the Volunteer cyclists were found
of the utmost value in scouting and carrying despatches.
The excitement in Manchester on that memorable September night was
intense. That a desperate and bloody fray was imminent, every one knew,
and the people were trusting to the defensive line on the river bank to
protect them from the foreign destroyer. Would they be strong enough to
effectively resist? Would they be able to drive back the Russians and
defeat them?
The people of Lancashire who condemned our military administration did
not do so without cause. It had been claimed by many that England could
never be invaded; nevertheless our course should have been to prepare
for possible events. Our Army, being small, should have been better
equipped and armed, as well as trained to balance weakness in numbers.
Again, there had always existed a hideous hindrance to the efficiency of
the Auxiliaries--the arms. Many of the Martini-Henrys carried by the
Volunteers bore date of a quarter of a century ago, and their barrels
were so worn they could not be fired accurately; while others possessed
the Snider, which was practically a smoothbore from wear. What was the
use of weapons surpassed in power by those of other nations? It was an
unpalatable truth that had now at last dawned upon Britain, that in
arming her soldiers she was far behind the rest of the world.
While Manchester spent the sultry night in feverish excitement at the
knowledge that the enemy had advanced almost to their doors, the British
outposts were being harassed by the enemy, who, flushed with success,
were advancing gradually onward towards the line of defence. The Russian
front had been suddenly widely extended, evidently aiming at a
concentric attack on Manchester, and an attempt to wholly envelop the
defenders' position by cavalry operating on both flanks.
Some terribly desperate encounters took place during a frightful
thunderstorm which lasted a portion of the night, and many a brave
Briton fell while performing valiant deeds for the honour of his
country. The anxiety within the British lines that hot night was
intense.
Reports coming in told of fierce fighting all along the line. Soon after
midnight a British patrol, supported by cavalry, that had been sent out
from Northenden to Baguley, was suddenly attacked by a party of
Russians, who lay in ambush close to Wythenshaw Hall. A short but fierce
fight ensued, but the British, knowing that part of the country well,
succeeded in totally annihilating their antagonists. The firing,
however, attracted attention in the Russian lines, with the result that
a second attack was quickly made upon them, compelling them to retire up
the hill at Lawton Moor, where they dashed into a small wood, closely
pressed by the enemy. The attack was desperate. There is something
terrible in a fight in a wood at night. The combatants could see nothing
save an occasional flash in the impenetrable darkness, and hoarse cries
went up from the mysterious inferno. Neither invader nor defender could
distinguish each other, and in the half-hour that followed, many a
Russian shot his comrade in mistake for his foe.
At last the defenders, finding that the slightest rustling of boughs
brought down a volley from magazine rifles, stood motionless, scarcely
daring to breathe, and waited anxiously, until at last the enemy, seeing
that their efforts to drive them out were useless, withdrew, and went
off towards Baguley.
In another direction, close to Henbury, near Macclesfield, a squadron of
British cavalry surprised a small outpost camp of Russians, and cut it
up terribly, killing half the number; but pushing on to Marthall, six
miles across country, they came into collision with a body of Russian
dragoons, and after a very fierce encounter were compelled to fall back
again after considerable loss. On the outskirts of Northwich, and on the
borders of Delamere Forest, skirmishes occurred, resulting in serious
loss on both sides. A reconnoitring party of Russians was totally swept
away and every man killed, by a British party who were concealed in an
old farm building close to Alderley village; while another engaged in
surveying the roads to Altrincham had been forced to retreat, leaving
half their number dead or wounded on the edge of Tatton Park.