LANDING OF THE ENEMY AT LEITH.
All the vessels were now under steam and approaching Inchkeith, when
suddenly two shells struck the _Admiral Orlovski_ amidships, carrying
away a portion of her superstructure.
Several of the other vessels were also hit almost at the same moment,
and shortly afterwards a torpedo boat under the stern of the flagship
was struck by a shell, and sank with all hands. Time after time the
Russian vessels poured out their storm of shell upon the fort, now only
about a mile and a half distant; but the British fire still continued as
vigorous and more effective than at first.
Again the flagship was struck, this time on the port quarter, but the
shot glanced off her armour into the sea; while a moment later another
shell struck one of her fighting tops, and, bursting, wrecked two of the
machine guns, and killed half a dozen unfortunate fellows who had manned
them. The debris fell heavily upon the deck, and the disaster, being
witnessed by the spy, caused him considerable anxiety for his own
safety.
Even as he looked he suddenly noticed a brilliant flash from one of the
cruisers lying a little distance away. There was a terrific report, and
amid flame and smoke wreckage shot high into the air. An explosion had
occurred in the magazine, and it was apparent the ship was doomed! Other
disasters to the Russians followed in quick succession. A cruiser which
was lying near the Herwit light-buoy blazing away upon the fort,
suddenly rolled heavily and gradually heeled over, the water around her
being thrown into the air by an explosion beneath the surface. A contact
mine had been fired, and the bottom of the ship had been practically
blown out, for a few minutes later she went down with nearly every soul
on board.
At the moment this disaster occurred, the _Admiral Orlovski_, still
discharging her heavy guns, was about half-way between the Briggs and
the Pallas Rock, when a search-light illuminated her from the land, and
a heavy fire was suddenly opened upon her from Leith Fort.
This was at once replied to, and while five of the vessels kept up their
fire upon Inchkeith, the three others turned their attention towards
Leith, and commenced to bombard it with common shell.
How effectual were their efforts the spy could at once see, for in the
course of a quarter of an hour, notwithstanding the defence offered by
Leith Fort and several batteries on Arthur's Seat, at Granton Point,
Wardie Bush, and at Seaside Meadows, near Portobello, fires were
breaking out in various quarters of the town, and factories and
buildings were now burning with increasing fury. The great paraffin
refinery had been set on fire, and the flames, leaping high into the
air, shed a lurid glare far away over the sea.
Shells, striking the Corn Exchange, wrecked it, and one, flying away
over the fort, burst in the Leith Distillery, with the result that the
place was set on fire, and soon burned with almost equal fierceness with
the paraffin works. The shipping in the Edinburgh, Albert, and Victoria
Docks was ablaze, and the drill vessel H.M.S. _Durham_ had been
shattered and was burning. A great row of houses in Lindsay Road had
fallen prey to the flames, while among the other large buildings on fire
were the Baltic Hotel, the great goods station of the North British
Railway, and the National Bank of Scotland.
In addition to being attacked from the forts on the island, and on land,
the Russians were now being vigorously fired upon by the British
Coastguard ship _Imperieuse_, which, with the cruiser _Active_, and the
gunboat cruisers _Cockchafer_, _Firm_, and _Watchful_, had now come
within range. Soon, however, the enemy were reinforced by several
powerful vessels, and in the fierce battle that ensued the British ships
were driven off. Then by reason of the reinforcements which the
Russians brought up, and the great number of transports which were now
arriving, the defence, desperate though it had been, alas! broke down,
and before midnight the invader set his foot upon Scottish soil.
[Illustration: POSITIONS FOR THE DEFENCE OF EDINBURGH.]
Ere the sun rose, a huge force of 60,000 men had commenced a march upon
Edinburgh and Glasgow!
Events on shore during that never-to-be-forgotten night were well
described by Captain Tiller of the Royal Artillery, stationed at Leith
Fort, who, in a letter written to his young wife at Carlisle, on the
following day, gave the following narrative:--
"Disaster has fallen upon us. The Russians have landed in Scotland, and
the remnant of our force which was at Leith has fallen back inland. On
Friday, just after nightfall, we were first apprised of our danger by
hearing heavy firing from the sea in the direction of Inchkeith Fort,
and all civilians were sent on inland, while we prepared for the fight.
"Very soon a number of ships were visible, some of them being evidently
transports, and as they were observed taking soundings, it was clear
that an immediate landing was intended. Fortunately it was a light
night, and while two Volunteer field batteries were sent out along the
coast west to Cramond and east to Fisherrow, we completed our
arrangements in the fort. With such antiquated weapons as were at our
disposal defeat was a foregone conclusion, and we knew that to annoy the
enemy and delay their landing would be the extent of our resistance.
Some of our guns were, of course, of comparatively recent date, and our
supply of ammunition was fair, but the Volunteer guns were antiquated
40-pounder muzzleloaders, which ought to have been withdrawn years ago,
and the gunners had had very little field training. The arrangements for
horsing the guns were also very inefficient, and they had no waggons or
transport. Most of our forces having been drawn south, the only infantry
available was a battalion and a half--really a provisional battalion,
for it was composed of portions of two Volunteer rifle regiments, with a
detachment of Regulars. Our Regular artillery detachment was,
unfortunately, very inadequate, for although the armament of the fort
had been recently strengthened, the force had been weakened just before
the outbreak of war by the despatch of an Indian draft.
"It was apparent that the enemy would not attempt to destroy our
position, but land and carry it by assault; therefore, while the
Inchkeith guns kept them at bay, we undermined our fort, opened our
magazines, and got ready for a little target practice.
"The Volunteer batteries sent eastward had been ordered to do what
execution they could, and then, in the case of a reverse, to retire
through Portobello and Duddingston to Edinburgh, and those on the west
were to go inland to Ratho; while we were resolved to hold the fort as
long as possible, and if at last we were compelled to retire we intended
to blow up the place before leaving.
"As soon as we found the Russian flagship within range, we opened fire
upon her, and this action caused a perfect storm of projectiles to be
directed upon us. The town was soon in flames, the shipping in the
harbour sank, and the martello tower was blown to pieces. Our
search-light was very soon brought into requisition, and by its aid some
of the boats of the enemy's transports were sunk, while others came to
grief on the Black Rocks.
"By this time the enemy had turned their search-lights in every
direction where they could see firing, and very soon our Volunteer
batteries were silenced, and then Granton harbour fell into the hands of
the enemy's landing parties. Having first rendered their guns useless,
the survivors fell back to Corstorphine Hill, outside Edinburgh, and we
soon afterwards received intelligence that the Russians were landing at
Granton in thousands. Meanwhile, although our garrison was so weak and
inexperienced, we nevertheless kept up a vigorous fire.
"We saw how Inchkeith Fort had been silenced, and how our Volunteer
batteries had been destroyed, and knew that sooner or later we must
share the same fate, and abandon our position. As boatload after
boatload of Russians attempted to land, we either sank them by shots
from our guns or swept them with a salvo of bullets from our Maxims; yet
as soon as we had hurled back one landing party others took its place.
"Many were the heroic deeds our gunners performed that night, as hand to
hand they fought, and annihilated the Russians who succeeded in landing;
but in this frightful struggle we lost heavily, and at length, when all
hope of an effective defence had been abandoned, we placed electric
wires in the magazine, and the order was given to retire. This we did,
leaving our search-light in position in order to deceive the enemy.
"Half our number had been killed, and we sped across to Bonnington,
running out a wire along the ground as we went. The Russians, now
landing rapidly in great force, swarmed into the fort and captured the
guns and ammunition, while a party of infantry pursued us. But we kept
them back for fully a quarter of an hour, until we knew that the fort
would be well garrisoned by the invaders; then we sent a current through
the wire.
"The explosion that ensued was deafening, and its effect appalling.
Never have I witnessed a more awful sight. Hundreds of tons of all sorts
of explosives and ammunition were fired simultaneously by the electric
spark, and the whole fort, with nearly six hundred of the enemy, who
were busy establishing their headquarters, were in an instant blown into
the air. For several moments the space around us where we stood seemed
filled with flying debris, and the mangled remains of those who a second
before had been elated beyond measure by their success.
"Those were terribly exciting moments, and for a few seconds there was a
cessation of the firing. Quickly, however, the bombardment was resumed,
and although we totally annihilated the force pursuing us, we fell back
to Restalrig, and at length gained the battery that had been established
on Arthur's Seat, and which was now keeping up a heavy fire upon the
Russian transports lying out in the Narrow Deep. Subsequently we went on
to Dalkeith. Our situation is most critical in every respect, but we are
expecting reinforcements, and a terrible battle is imminent."
* * * * *
Thus the Russians landed three corps of 20,000 each where they were
least expected, and at once prepared to invest Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Three of the boats which came ashore at Leith that night, after the
blowing up of the fort, brought several large mysterious-looking black
boxes, which were handled with infinite care by the specially selected
detachment of men who had been told off to take charge of them. Upon the
locks were the official seals of the Russian War Office; and even the
men themselves, unaware of their contents, looked upon them with a
certain amount of suspicion, handling them very gingerly, and placing
them in waggons which they seized from a builder's yard on the outskirts
of the town.
The officers alone knew the character of these mysterious consignments,
and as they superintended the landing, whispered together excitedly. The
news of the invasion, already telegraphed throughout Scotland from end
to end, caused the utmost alarm; but had the people known what those
black boxes, the secret of which was so carefully guarded, contained,
they would have been dismayed and appalled.
Truth to tell, the Russians were about to try a method of wholesale and
awful destruction, which, although vaguely suggested in time of peace,
had never yet been tested in the field.
If successful, they knew it would cause death and desolation over an
inconceivably wide area, and prove at once a most extraordinary and
startling development of modern warfare. The faces of a whole army,
however brave, would blanch before its terrific power, and war in every
branch, on land and on sea, would become revolutionised.
But the boxes remained locked and guarded. The secret was to be kept
until the morrow, when the first trial was ordered to be made, and the
officers in charge expressed an opinion between themselves that a blow
would then be struck that would at once startle and terrify the whole
world.