THE EVE OF BATTLE.
Some idea of the gallant conduct of our Volunteers during the night may
be gathered from the following extract from a letter by Lieutenant John
Rowling of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment,
to a friend a few days afterwards. He wrote--
"You will no doubt have heard something about the warm work we had on
the night before the Battle of Manchester. The city, as you know, was
covered on the south by a long straggling line of outposts, extending
practically from Stockport to Altrincham. Late in the afternoon of
September 6th we received an order to proceed to Mere, about four miles
from Altrincham, having been detailed to form the section of the
outposts from New Tatton to Goodier's Green, and on arrival at Mere half
of our force of 600 was left in reserve there; the supports were moved
about half a mile down Watling Street, and the remainder was divided
into three piquets, No. 1 at Bentley Hurst Farm, No. 2 at Moss Cottage,
and No. 3 near Mereplatt Farm, with four double sentry posts out in
front of each piquet.
"I was in command of No. 2 picket, with Anderson and Wishton as subs,
and as soon as I returned to the piquet, after posting the sentries, I
sent the former with two sections to form a detached post at Over
Tabley, and instructed him to send a reconnoitring patrol as far down
Watling Street as he might consider consistent with safety. Anderson
posted his men, and returned to me about ten o'clock with a corporal and
two men, bringing in a man who had been pointed out to him at Over
Tabley as a suspicious character--in fact, he was said to be a spy. He
had been staying at an inn there for two or three days, and had very
little luggage. Anderson had examined his portmanteau, but found nothing
there; and as the man refused to give any account of himself, he made
him a prisoner. Fresh fires were continually breaking out, therefore I
thought it best to waste no time questioning him, but took him into a
room at Moss Cottage, where he was thoroughly searched. Notes were found
upon him from which it was evident that he had been obtaining
information for the enemy for some time, and, better still, particulars
of their proposed operations for the investment of Manchester, showing
that they were advancing in our direction along the old Watling Street.
"I sent the prisoner under escort to the commander of the outposts, and
at the same time sent word to Nos. 1 and 3 piquets, after which Anderson
and I went down to Over Tabley, leaving Wishton in charge of No. 2. The
machine gun that had been allotted to my piquet I also ordered to Over
Tabley, and on arrival there we threw up barricades, hastily constructed
of barrels, doors, and logs, banked with earth, across the road between
the Vicarage and the church. A quantity of barbed wire was found in the
village, and this came in very useful, for we stretched several lengths
of it across the roads on the off-side of the barricade.
"There were under thirty of us, but every man was determined to do his
duty unflinchingly. By this time it was past eleven, and very dark, yet
there was just light enough to train the gun on to the centre of the
cross-roads by Dairyhouse Farm. Very soon we could hear the enemy
approaching, and as their spy had not met them outside, they evidently
concluded that the village was unoccupied, and advanced in comparatively
close order, Cossacks leading, and the infantry so close that there was
practically no division between their vanguard and mainguard. The first
section of Cossacks very soon found our first wire, and the whole of
their horses came to grief. Those in the rear, thinking probably that
there was no other obstruction in the way, spurred their horses and
galloped over their friends, only to meet with a similar fate further
on.
"The pioneers doubled up, and began to cut the wires, and fearing that
the infantry in the rear would soon deploy, I gave the order for
independent firing. The Russians stood it for some minutes, and
attempted to reply, but not a man of ours was visible, and they soon
retreated to Tabley Hall, where I had no means of following them.
"It must be remembered that we were all Volunteers, the Regulars being
on the Stockport flank of the outpost line. My men behaved splendidly,
and the firing was excellent from first to last."
About the same time as the unsuccessful attack was made on the outposts
at Mere, the British line was broken through at Heald Green and
Appletree.
A cavalry patrol, supported by infantry, was feeling its way along the
road to Wilmslow, and had passed Willow Farm, at which point the road
runs beside the railway embankment.
The storm had burst, the thunder rolled incessantly, rain fell in
torrents, and the lightning played about them, causing their arms to
gleam in its vivid flashes.
Slowly, and without undue noise, the patrol was wending its way up the
hill towards Finney Green, when suddenly there was a terrific rattle of
musketry, and they discovered to their surprise that the enemy, who were
occupying the embankment of the North-Western Railway on their left,
were pouring upon them a fire sufficient to blanch the cheek of the
bravest among them.
Along the embankment for a mile or more were stationed infantry with
magazine rifles, and in addition they had brought two machine guns into
play with appalling effect. So sudden did this galling fire open upon
them, that men and horses fell without being able to fire a shot in
return. British infantry, however, stood their ground, and as the
lightning flashed, disclosing the position of the enemy, every Russian
who dared to stand up or show himself was promptly picked off. But
against the awful rain of deadly bullets ejected from the machine guns,
at the rate of 600 a minute, no force could make a successful defence.
Many British heroes fell pierced by a dozen bullets; still their
comrades, seeking what shelter they could, continued the defensive.
Meanwhile over the dismal muddy road the survivors of the cavalry
galloped back, and quickly reported to the commander of the piquet at
Appletree that the enemy were in strong force on the other side of the
embankment between Oaklands and Wilmslow Park, and as they had heard a
train run into Wilmslow Station and stop, it was evident that the enemy
had reopened the line from Crewe, and intended concentrating part of
their reinforcements to the general advance. The facts that the enemy
had succeeded in cutting all the telegraph lines in the district, and
had now obtained complete control over the railway, were most alarming,
and the outlook of the defenders was rendered doubly serious by the
large force they were compelled to keep east of Stockport, and in the
Peak district, to prevent the invaders getting round to attack
Manchester from the north.
On receipt of the news of the disaster to the patrol, the commander of
the piquet at Appletree immediately sent information to the commander of
the piquet posted at the railway station at Cheadle Hulme; but by a
strange oversight, due no doubt to the excitement of the moment, sent no
report to the commander of the outposts. The infantry engaging the
Russians on the embankment, though exhibiting most gallant courage, were
so exposed that it was little wonder they were soon completely
annihilated, only half a dozen escaping.
The enemy must have detrained a large number of troops at Wilmslow, for
the British cavalry scouts were quickly followed up by Cossacks and the
Tsar's Dragoons. Quickly the sentries between Heald Green and
Appletree were driven back on their piquets, the latter extending in
skirmishing order. Such a manoeuvre, however, proved fatal in the
darkness and on the heavy ploughed land over which they were fighting.
Alas! very few succeeded in reaching the supports, and when they did,
they all fell back hurriedly on the reserves at Pimgate.
[Illustration: THE BATTLEFIELD OF MANCHESTER.]
Then the commander of the piquet at Cheadle Hulme Station, finding that
he must inevitably be attacked by road and rail, set the station on
fire, and with the assistance of the railway officials blew up a large
portion of the permanent way with dynamite, thus cutting off the enemy's
means of communication. This accomplished, he fell back upon his
supports at Adswood, and they, at about 2 A.M., retreated with the
reserves to the embankment of the North-Western Railway which carries
the line from Stockport to Whaley Bridge, and took up a strong position
to assist in the defence of Stockport.
The latter town was defended on three sides by railway embankments,
which were now occupied by strong bodies of Regulars, with several
Maxims. One embankment ran from the west boundary of the town to
Middlewood Junction, another from Middlewood to Marple, and a third from
Marple to Mayercroft. Throughout the night the defenders were in hourly
expectation that an attack would be made upon their positions, with the
object of investing Stockport as a preliminary to the assault on the
defensive lines north of the Mersey; but the enemy apparently had other
objects, and the disaster to the British cavalry patrol on the Wilmslow
road was, unfortunately, followed by a second and more serious one. The
Cossacks and Dragoons that followed the British cavalry scouts overtook
them just as they had joined their reserves, a short distance beyond
Pimgate, about half-past two. A fierce fight ensued, and the force of
British cavalry and infantry was gradually drawn into a
cunningly-devised trap, and then there suddenly appeared a great force
of Russians, who simply swept down upon them, slaughtering the whole of
them with brutal ferocity, not, however, before they had fought
desperately, and inflicted enormous loss upon the enemy.
Having totally annihilated that detachment of defenders, the Russians
marched into Cheadle, and, after sacking the little town, burned it,
together with the Grange, the Print Works, the railway station, St.
Mary's Church, and a number of large mills.
The great army of the Tsar had bivouaced, reserving its strength for a
desperate dash upon Manchester. But the British outposts stood wakeful
and vigilant, ready at any moment to sound the alarm. To those
entrenched beyond the winding Mersey, soaked by the heavy rain, and
spending the dark hours in anxiety, there came over the dismal country
the sound of distant rifle-firing mingling with the roll of the thunder.
Ere long they knew that every man would be fighting for his life against
the great hordes of invaders who would descend upon them swiftly and
mercilessly. Across the country from the Peak away to Chester, the
Briton bravely faced his foe, anxious and vigilant, awaiting
breathlessly the progress of events.
Thus passed the stormy, oppressive night, till the grey dawn of a
fateful day.