MANCHESTER ATTACKED BY RUSSIANS.
With the first streak of daylight the anxious, excited crowds of men and
women, surging up and down the principal streets of Manchester, were
alarmed by the sounds of heavy firing. A terrible panic instantly
ensued. The battle had actually commenced!
Half-starved operatives, with pale, wan faces, stood in groups in
Deansgate, Market Street, Piccadilly, and London Road, while men, armed
with any weapons they could obtain, rushed out along the main roads to
the south of the city to assist in its defence. Lancashire men exhibited
commendable patriotism, even though they had not hesitated to criticise
the administration of our War Department; for now at the critical hour
not a man flinched from his duty, both old and young taking up arms for
their country's honour.
During the eventful night at all approaches to the city from the south
the roads had been thrown into a state of hasty defence. A formidable
barricade had been constructed at a point in the Stretford Road close to
the Botanical Gardens to prevent the enemy from advancing up the Chester
or Stretford New Roads; another was thrown up at the junction of
Chorlton Road, Withington Road, Upper Chorlton Road, and Moss Lane West;
a third opposite Rusholme Hall prevented any march up the Wilmslow Road;
while others of minor strength blocked the Anson Road close to the Elms,
the London Road at Longsight, the Hyde Road opposite Belle Vue Prison,
and at Ivy Place in the Ashton Old Road.
These had all been raised out of any materials that came to hand.
Barrels, brick rubbish, planks, doors, flooring of houses hastily torn
up, and scaffold poles lashed together; in fact, the barriers were huge
piles of miscellaneous and portable articles, even furniture from
neighbouring houses being utilised, while lengths of iron railings and
wire torn from fences played an important part in these hastily-built
defences. Behind them, armed with rifles, shot-guns, pistols, knives,
and any other weapon that came handiest, the men of Manchester waited,
breathlessly impatient in the expectation of attack.
As dawn spread bright and rosy, and the mist cleared from the low
meadows beside the Mersey, the distant firing was continuous, and the
one or two shells that fell and burst in the centre of the city were
precursory of an awful sanguinary struggle. Scarcely a person in that
densely populated area had slept that night, and the streets were
everywhere full, the most exciting and heartrending scenes being
witnessed.
A great crowd that assembled in Albert Square was addressed by the Mayor
from the steps of the Town Hall, and urged to strain every muscle to
drive back the invaders, in order that the disaster at Birmingham should
not be repeated. Even as he spoke, in the interval of wild cheering and
the energetic singing of the National Anthem and "Rule, Britannia," the
distant crackling of rifles and the low booming of field guns could be
heard.
It was the din of battle--the catastrophe caused by the cunning spy Von
Beilstein, who was still living in luxury in London, and who still posed
as the friend of Geoffrey Engleheart and Violet Vayne!
Geoffrey was still with the Volunteers assisting in the defence of
London, but the French spy who had sent the forged orders to our Navy
had apparently made good his escape.
Here, in Manchester, the sound of the guns aroused that patriotic
enthusiasm latent in the heart of every Briton. True, they were weary,
famished, ill from lack of food, yet they were fiercely determined that
the invader should never tread their streets, nor should incendiaries
burn or Russian artillery destroy their handsome buildings--monuments of
England's wealth and greatness. In St. Peter's Square, at a mass meeting
attended by nearly twelve thousand people, a demonstration was made
against the enemy, and it was resolved that every man should act his
part in the struggle, and that no quarter should be shown the legions of
the Tsar; while at another impromptu meeting held in Piccadilly, in the
open space opposite the Infirmary, the conduct of the Russians before
Birmingham was denounced; and some speakers, using violent language,
lashed their hearers into a frenzy of mad excitement, causing an eager
rush to the barricades in readiness for the terrible fray.
As the sun shone out pale and yellow in the stormy sky, the fighting
spread quickly down the Mersey banks from Haughton away to Flixton. It
became fiercest around Stockport, and over the level pastures the white
smoke of rifles puffed from every bush, wall, and fence.
The Russians were the superior force, for, while all were trained
soldiers, not more than a third of the defenders had taken the Queen's
shilling, and not more than half of them had ever had an hour's drill in
their lives. They were simply volunteers who had found their own arms
and banded for the defence of their homes.
The soldiers of the Tsar, trained under the most rigorous discipline,
had considerably improved in tactics, in drill, and in munitions of war
since the Crimea,--a fact overlooked by the majority of Britons,--and
they had now taken possession of every strategical position where
batteries might be established. After fierce fighting over Lyme Park
across to Norbury Hall, in which the Russians lost very heavily owing to
the British gun fire from the railway embankment, a great charge was
made by an enormous body of infantry, who succeeded, after several
futile attempts, in carrying the position, and driving the British
artillerymen back to the road which runs from Stockport to Marple.
The embankment which thus fell into the hands of the Muscovite infantry
formed one of the strongest defences of Stockport, therefore they at
once moved the guns up towards Davenport Station, and commenced shelling
the city with the defenders' own guns!
The panic caused in Stockport was awful, when without warning shells
commenced to explode in the crowded barricaded streets, but the Russians
were not allowed to have things their own way for long. The British
batteries on the opposite railway embankment between Heaton Norris and
New Mills formed up at the junction almost opposite Davenport, and
opened a terrific fire upon the captured guns.
For half an hour this continued, and the Russians, standing in an
exposed position right on the sky-line, were being swept away by British
shells, when suddenly the enemy were joined by reinforcements, whereupon
a small force of British infantry, who had been brought quickly along,
unperceived by the enemy from Marple, suddenly swarmed up the embankment
at Norbury, and, charging along to the Russian position, added a strong
rifle fire to that of their artillery.
The officer commanding the British batteries watched the infantry
advance through his field glass, and in a few minutes suddenly ceased
his fire, so as to allow the infantry to make the dash for which they
were preparing. A heliograph signal was flashed from the batteries, and
then, without hesitation, the order was given to charge.
It was a terribly exciting moment. If they succeeded they would in all
probability save Stockport. If they were driven back the town was
doomed.
With admirable pluck the British rushed upon the guns, and for a few
minutes there was a fierce struggle hand to hand. Russians, although
making a most desperate stand, were every moment being impaled on
British bayonets, or, pierced by bullets, they rolled down the slopes
into ditches covered in stagnant slime. Hacked to pieces by the small
but gallant force of Britons, the enemy were forced at last to give in
and retire, leaving more than half their number killed; but with
admirable tact, the fugitives were forced down the bank nearest the
British batteries. Thus they fell into a trap, for as soon as they
attempted to recover themselves, and make a dash to reorganise their
line of communications, two British Maxims uttered their sharp rattle,
and the whole force were simply mowed down where they stood.
The fight had been a most desperate one, but, thanks to the heroic
charge of the British infantry, Stockport was again safe, and the guns
once more in the hands of her defenders.
Meanwhile, fighting of the fiercest possible description was taking
place across the meadows lying between Norbury and Bramhall, and the
Russians, unable to withstand the withering British fire, were gradually
forced back to Cheadle Hulme, where they were surprised by the defenders
and utterly routed. So great was the slaughter, that it is estimated
that in this engagement alone, after the recapture of the guns by the
British, over 4000 Russians were shot down and 3000 taken prisoners!
The Russians, finding how desperate was the resistance, and how heavily
they were losing, quickly brought up strong reinforcements upon Cheadle,
and, after a fiercely-contested conflict, succeeded in driving back the
small British force, they being compelled to retreat back over the
Mersey to Parr's Wood and Didsbury, afterwards blowing up the bridges,
and keeping up a hot fire from the bank, where a large body of
Volunteers were already entrenched. By this means, although they were
unable to save Cheadle from being burned, they succeeded, by reason of
the excellence of their position and the admirable tactics they
displayed, in mowing down another 2000 of the Tsar's soldiers. In this
instance the laurels remained with a portion of the Manchester Volunteer
Brigade, the effect of whose rifle fire was appalling.
It was now about ten o'clock, and the sky had cleared for a brilliant
day. At Chapel-en-le-Frith a large detachment of Cossacks had been swept
away by a body of British Hussars who had suddenly descended upon
Whitehough, while almost at the same moment a British battery that had
been hastily established on Chinley Churn succeeded in wiping out a
body of infantry that was advancing with all speed in the neighbourhood
of Yeardsley Hall. But one of the most sanguinary portions of the battle
was the conflict which spread westward from Cheadle across to
Altrincham, Lymm, and Warrington. Already Altrincham had fallen. The
fine villas of wealthy Manchester tradesmen and manufacturers, deserted
by their owners, had been entered by the uncouth Muscovites and sacked.
Every nook and corner had been searched for plate, jewellery, and money,
paintings had been ruthlessly torn down, furniture broken and burned,
and Russian troopers had made merry in many a handsome drawing-room. Old
Field Hall and Timperly Hall had both been ransacked and set on fire
with petroleum, while every house at Dunham Massey had been destroyed by
incendiaries.
Elated over their successes, the Russians were collecting their forces
preparatory to a decisive rush over the Mersey to Stretford, intending
to take that place, and advance by that route upon Manchester. The
defenders, who had been warned of this through spies, awaited their
chance, and suddenly, when the Russians least expected an attack, a body
of British cavalry, backed by infantry, crossed the Mersey, and sweeping
down the level turnpike road to Sale, came upon their opponents before
they were aware of their presence. The effect of this was frightful. A
small body of British Hussars, with some Lancashire Yeomanry, made a
splendid charge, exhibiting magnificent courage, and cut their way clean
through the Russian lines with irresistible force; while the infantry,
advancing cautiously, and taking every advantage of the small cover
afforded on that level country, poured forth a deadly rifle fire.
Indeed, so gallant was this charge, that the Tsar's forces were almost
annihilated. They endeavoured to make a stand near the cross-roads
leading from Carrington Moss, but the rifle fire of the defenders was so
heavy that they dropped by hundreds under the deadly rain of British
bullets.
The disaster to the Russians being signalled back by them to their
reserves at Tatton Park and around Knutsford, had the effect of bringing
up an enormous force of infantry. Signallers were at work in all
directions, and those who watched the progress of the action found the
next two hours full of exciting moments. It was apparent at once that
the Russians had marked out Stretford as the gate by which they intended
to enter Manchester, but they must have been misled by their spies as to
the strength of the defenders in this direction.
Indeed, if they had surveyed the whole of the southern line defending
the city, they could not have discovered a point more strongly
fortified; therefore it was a somewhat curious fact that they should
have concentrated their forces upon that part. Possibly it was because
they had formed an opinion by studying their Ordnance Maps--so
generously provided for them by the British Department of Agriculture at
a cost of one shilling each--that, if they succeeded in breaking the
defence at Stretford, they would also secure the road running in a
circular direction up to Barton, by which means they could enter
Manchester by way of Eccles, Pendleton, and Salford at the same time as
the march through Trafford. Such a design was, of course, cleverly
planned. It must be admitted that, from a strategical point of view, the
taking of Stretford would mean the fall of Manchester, a fact which the
Russian commanding officer had not overlooked.
But the soldiers of the Tsar had reckoned without their hosts. They only
saw along the Mersey a thin and apparently weak line of defence, a
massing of defenders without undue ostentation and without any
particular show of strength. A balloon sent up by the Russians to
reconnoitre from Sale had been fired at and brought down by the
defenders, but with this exception scarcely a shot had been fired north
of the Mersey. Britons were watching and waiting. Their foe, ridiculing
the idea that a town like Manchester, almost utterly devoid of positions
whereon batteries might be established, could be successfully defended,
therefore kept up a desultory fire upon the British detachment that had
swept away their advance guard, in the meantime covering the massing of
their enormous force. This latter consisted of Cossacks, guards,
infantry, artillery, and two companies of engineers, with pontoon
sections, as well as a ballooning party and two field hospitals.
The British detachment that had crossed the river were, however, unaware
of the enemy's intention until too late. The manoeuvres of the Russians
were being watched by a British balloon sent up from Old Trafford, but
the signals made by the aeronaut were unfortunately unobserved by the
party, so desperately were they fighting; otherwise a disaster which
befell them on the sudden rush of the enemy towards the river might
possibly have been averted. However, no blame could be attached to the
officer in charge of the detachment. The men acted their part bravely,
and displayed that courage of which the Briton speaks with justifiable
pride, even though, alas! they fell, every one of them fighting till the
last, their bodies being afterwards frightfully mangled by horses'
hoofs, as hundreds of Cossacks rode over them. Not a man of that party
escaped, but each one had once more shown the world what pluck and
courage could accomplish, and had gone to his grave as a sacrifice for
his country and his Queen.