-----
Footnote 34:
Sergeant John Richmond—date unknown.
Corporal Charles Tabb } 25th November, 1781.
Mason Adam Parsons }
Mason Adam Sharp—5th March, 1782.
Mason George Brown—11th June, 1782.
Nailor Robert Shepherd—16th January, 1783.
The name of the other man killed cannot be ascertained, as the
documents of the company from the commencement of the siege to the
30th September, 1781, are lost.
-----
Besides which, two men having plundered the King’s stores, were executed
for the offence at the Convent in Irish Town, on the 29th May, 1781.[35]
-----
Footnote 35:
The names of the criminals were Artificers Samuel Whitaker and Simon
Pratts.
-----
It is, however, satisfactory to mention, that of the forty-three
desertions recorded to have taken place from the garrison, none were
from the artificer company. One regiment was decreased eleven men from
this cause, and another nine.
1783.
Duc de Crillon’s compliments respecting the works—Subterranean
galleries-Their supposed inefficiency—Henry Ince—Quickness of sight of
two boys of the company—Employment of the boys during the siege—Thomas
Richmond and John Brand—Models constructed by them.
The cessation of hostilities brought the commanders of the two powers
together, and a most interesting interview took place between them.
During the visit of the Duc de Crillon, he was shown all the marvels of
the Rock; but the fortifications especially engaged his attention.
Having been conducted to the batteries on the heights, his Grace made
some remarks on the formidable appearance of the lower defences, and on
the good state of the batteries in so short a period. “These,” writes
Drinkwater, “produced some compliments to the chief engineer;” and,
continues the historian, “when conducted into the gallery above
Farringdon’s Battery—now called Windsor—his Grace was particularly
astonished, especially when informed of its extent, which at that time
was between 500 and 600 feet. Turning to his suite, after exploring the
extremity, he exclaimed, these works are worthy of the Romans.”[36]
-----
Footnote 36:
Drinkwater’s ‘Siege of Gibraltar.’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 163.
-----
For many years the galleries thus eulogized by the Duke were in course
of construction, and are formed, as already stated, by deep excavations
in the solid rock. Passing round the north face in two tiers,[37]
mounting about forty pieces of heavy ordnance, they command the approach
to the fortress from the neutral ground, and render it almost
impregnable on that side. Large magazines and spacious halls—in like
manner hewn out of the rock—are attached to them. The work, as a whole,
executed principally by the jumper and blasting, is curious and even
marvellous, bearing also unequivocal evidence of ingenuity and of
immense labour. Than these subterranean passages and chambers, no better
testimony need scarcely be desired of the successful superintendence of
sergeant-major Ince and of the skill and exertions of the company.
-----
Footnote 37:
Called Lower, or Union Galleries; and Upper, or Windsor Galleries.
-----
Notwithstanding the formidable character of these defences, doubts seem
to exist as to their real efficiency in a siege. These doubts have
arisen from the idea that the report of the explosion would not only be
deafening, but that the smoke would return into the galleries and
suffocate the men.[38] No experiments have ever been made with the view
of ascertaining these particulars: speculation is therefore properly
admissible. Once, indeed, in 1804, they were fired in salvo to dispel,
if possible, the then raging fever;[39] and at distant intervals since,
_some_ of the guns have been discharged; but no complaint was ever
made—at least became public—of the inutility of these galleries from the
causes stated. To expect a loud report is certainly natural, but much
less so the recoil of the smoke, as a strong current of air is always
passing in the galleries, and rushing with some force through the
embrasures. No matter how sultry the day, how still the air, or how
fiercely the sun may beam upon the Rock, in these galleries a strong
breeze is constantly felt; and the fresher the wind from the outside,
whether from the north-east, and blowing directly into the embrasures,
or sweeping round the Rock, the stronger is the current within the
galleries to force back or disperse the smoke. But little, therefore, of
the vapour can find its way back, and that little must be _much less_
annoying to the gunners than in an open field when, firing smartly in
the teeth of the wind, the whole volume turns back and beclouds them as
long as the cannonade continues. However, should the alleged defect be
found on trial to exist, there is no reason to fear but that the
military engineer will readily adopt some effectual contrivance for
removing the annoyance, and for obtaining all that power and efficiency
which the galleries were designed to possess and should be capable of
commanding.
-----
Footnote 38:
Walsh’s ‘Campaigns in Egypt,’ 1803, p. 5. Wilkie, ‘On British Colonies
considered as Military Posts,’ in United Service Journal, Part ii.,
1840, p. 379.
Footnote 39:
Maule’s ‘Campaigns of North Holland and Egypt,’ &c., p. 303.
-----
Since these excavations—these vaults of solitude—which excite some
degree of awe from their magnitude, and the proud array of ordnance that
arm them—have always been highly praised by military men, and been
visited both by officers and others as a species of marvel at the
fortress, it will not be out of place to introduce the projector—Henry
Ince—to notice. He was born in 1737 at Penzance in Cornwall, was brought
up to the trade of a nailor, and afterwards acquired some experience as
a miner. Early in 1755 he enlisted into the 2nd Foot, and served some
time with it at Gibraltar, where he had been much employed on the works
in mining and blasting rock. After a service of seventeen and a half
years in the 2nd regiment, he joined the company, then forming, on the
26th June, 1772. The same day he was promoted to be sergeant. Having
showed superior intelligence in the execution of his duties as a
foreman, and distinguished himself by his diligence and gallantry during
the siege, he was, in September, 1781, selected for the rank of
sergeant-major. In the following year he suggested the formation of the
galleries, and was honoured by being directed to conduct the work
himself. This he continued to do until it was finished. As “overseer of
the mines,” he had the executive charge of all blasting, mining, battery
building, &c., at the fortress, and was found to be invaluable. He was
active, prompt, and persevering, very short in stature, but wiry and
hardy in constitution; was greatly esteemed by his officers, and
frequently the subject of commendation from the highest authorities at
Gibraltar. In February, 1787, when the Duke of Richmond was endeavouring
to economize the ordnance expenditure at the Rock, the emoluments of
sergeant-major Ince claimed his attention: but remembering his fair
fame, his Grace thus wrote concerning him:— “I do not object to
sergeant-major Henry Ince being continued as overseer of mines at 4_s._
per day, as I understand, from all accounts, that he is a meritorious
man, and that he distinguished himself during the siege; but, as such
allowance, _in addition to his pay_, is very great, I desire it may not
be considered as a precedent; and whoever succeeds him must only receive
2_s._ 10_d._ per day, like the foremen in other branches, if he should
be appointed a foreman.” In 1791, after a period of thirty-six years'
active service, he was discharged from the company, but was still
continued on the works as an overseer. On the 2nd February, 1796, he was
commissioned as ensign in the Royal Garrison Battalion, and on the 24th
March, 1801, was promoted to be lieutenant. In 1802 the regiment was
disbanded. All this time, however, Ince was attached to the department
as assistant-engineer; but at length, having worn himself out in the
service of the fortress, he returned to Penzance, and died in June,
1809, at the age of seventy-two.[40]
-----
Footnote 40:
Ince had a farm at the top of the Rock, which is still called by his
name. He had an only son, a clerk in the Commissariat department at
Gibraltar, under Commissary-general Sweetlove, who, together with his
wife, died in the fever of 1804, leaving an infant son, who was
brought up by his grandmother. The eldest daughter of Lieutenant Ince
was married at Gibraltar to Lieutenant R. Stapleton, of the 60th
Rifles, who exchanged with Lieutenant Croker into the 13th Foot, and
then sold out.
One day Mr. Ince was trotting at an easy pace up the Rock, when the
Duke of Kent, overtaking him, observed, “That horse, Mr. Ince, is too
old for you.” “I like to ride easy, your Royal Highness,” was the
subaltern’s meek reply. “Right, but you shall have another, more in
keeping with your worth and your duties;” and soon afterwards the Duke
presented him with a very valuable steed. The old overseer, however,
was unable to manage the animal, and he rode again to the works on his
own quiet nag. The Duke, meeting him soon after, inquired how it was
he was not riding the new horse, when Ince replied, he was unable
sufficiently to curb his spirit and tranquillize his pace. Ince then
prayed his Royal Highness to honour his servant by receiving the noble
creature into his stud again. “No, no, overseer,” rejoined the Duke;
“if you can’t ride him easily, _put him into your pocket_!” The
overseer readily understood his Royal Highness, and exchanged the
beautiful steed for his worth in doubloons.
-----
Among the various stirring incidents narrated by Drinkwater, is the
following, relative to the peculiar advantage of the boys of the
soldier-artificer company during the siege.
“In the course of the day,” 25th March, 1782, “ a shot came through one
of the capped embrasures on Princess Amelia’s Battery (Willis’s), took
off the legs of two men belonging to the 72nd and 73rd regiments, one
leg of a soldier of the 73rd, and wounded another man in both legs; thus
four men had seven legs taken off and wounded by one shot. The boy, who
was usually stationed on the works where a large party was employed to
inform the men when the enemy’s fire was directed to that place, had
been reproving them for their carelessness in not attending to him, and
had just turned his head toward the enemy, when he observed this shot,
and instantly called for them to take care; his caution was, however,
too late; the shot entered the embrasure, and had the above-recited
fatal effect. It is somewhat singular that this boy should be possessed
of such uncommon quickness of sight as to see the enemy’s shot almost
immediately after they quitted the guns. He was not, however, the only
one in the garrison possessing this qualification; another boy, of about
the same age, was as celebrated, if not his superior. Both of them
belonged to the artificer company, and were constantly placed on some
part of the works to observe the enemy’s fire; their names were Richmond
(not Richardson, as stated by Drinkwater) and Brand; the former was
reported to have the best eye.”[41] Joseph Parsons,[42] another youth of
the company, was also employed as a _looker-out_ on the works; and
though his name has escaped the notice of the historian, he was
nevertheless no less efficient.
-----
Footnote 41:
‘Drinkwater.’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 108.
-----
Footnote 42:
Parsons joined the company in February, 1779, and was discharged, as a
private artificer, 1st January, 1809, on 1_s._ 4_d._ a-day.
It was an object that every one in the fortress should be rendered
useful in some way or other, and the boys of the company—out of
sympathy for their youth—were, for some time after the commencement of
the siege employed on the works at Europa quarry, then but little
annoyed by the enemy’s fire. At length, inured to labour, and taught
by events to expect danger, it was considered of greater advantage to
occupy their time at the different batteries; and on the 15th
February, 1782, the Chief Engineer directed their removal to the works
and fortifications,[43] with the view of looking out for the enemy’s
projectiles, and giving warning of their approach. On the 21st June
following, such of the boys as were masons in the company were engaged
under Mr. Hutchinson, a civil foreman, in rounding stones, agreeably
to the instructions of Major Lewis of the artillery. These stones,
according to Drinkwater, were “cut to fit the calibre of a 13-inch
mortar, with a hole drilled in the centre, which being filled with a
sufficient quantity of powder, were fired with a short fuse to burst
over the enemy’s works.” It was an unusual mode of annoyance, and for
its novelty was employed for some time; but not effecting the damage
that was desired, it was ultimately laid aside.[44] On the failure of
this experiment, the boys returned to the perilous posts assigned to
them on the batteries to look out. At this duty they continued as long
as the siege lasted, and doubtless, by their vigilance in its
execution, they were the means of saving many valuable lives, or
otherwise preventing casualty.
-----
Footnote 43:
Order Book—Chief Engineer’s.
Footnote 44:
‘Order-Book’ (Chief Engineer’s) of 21st June, 1782; and ‘Drinkwater,’
Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 118.
-----
Of the two boys who have been so favourably noticed by Drinkwater, it
may not be unacceptable to devote a small space here to their brief but
honourable history. Their names were Thomas Richmond[45] and John Brand;
the former was known at the Rock by the familiar sobriquet of _shell_,
being the better looker-out; and the latter by the name of _shot_.
Richmond was trained as a carpenter; Brand as a mason. Their fathers
were sergeants in the company.[46] Richmond’s was killed at the siege.
As might be expected, the beneficial services of these boys at the
batteries acquired for them no common celebrity and esteem.
-----
Footnote 45:
Not Richardson, as Drinkwater has it, p. 108.
Footnote 46:
Brand’s father, a mason by trade and a Perthshire man, was the first
artificer enrolled in the company.
-----
The siege being over, the youths were sent to Mr. Geddes’s school, at
that time the principal seminary at Gibraltar. This gentleman paid every
attention to their instruction and improvement, and, as a consequence,
they progressed rapidly in their studies. Being found quick,
intelligent, and ingenious, some officers of the company patronized
them, and placed them in the drawing-room under their own eye, with the
view of making them competent to fill better situations. Brand in time
became corporal, and Richmond lance-corporal, which ranks they held on
the 8th May, 1789, when they were discharged from the corps, and
appointed by the Commander-in-Chief assistant-draughtsmen.[47]
-----
Footnote 47:
‘Order-Book’ (Chief Engineer’s), 8th May, 1789.
-----
Having made considerable proficiency in their trades, they were employed
for some years previous to their discharge as modellers, which art they
continued to follow with great tact, skill, and perseverance, until they
quitted the fortress. After several trial models of various subjects,
these young men commenced the gigantic task of modelling Gibraltar, at
which they worked with unwearied application for nearly three years.
Succeeding so well in this their first great and public undertaking,
Brand[48] was directed to make a model in polished stone of the King’s
Bastion, and Richmond[49] a model of the north front of Gibraltar.
Nearly the whole of the years 1790 and 1791 were spent in perfecting
them; and for these noble specimens of art they were favoured with the
flattering congratulations of the highest authorities at the fortress.
The better to exemplify the appreciation entertained of the models, and
of the merits and talents of the modellers, they were recommended to the
Duke of Richmond for commissions. His Grace immediately ordered them to
proceed to Woolwich, to undergo some slight preparatory training. That
training was short—a few months sufficed, and then they were honoured
with appointments as second lieutenants in the royal engineers. Their
commissions were dated 17th January, 1793.[50] Soon the young
subalterns, rich in intelligence and full of promise, were sent abroad;
but before the close of the year, both fell a prey to the prevailing
yellow fever in the West Indies.[51]
-----
Footnote 48:
Assisted by sergeant James Shirres, an ingenious artizan and modeller.
This non-commissioned officer, after serving at the capture of
Minorca, was made a sergeant-major of the company that served there,
2nd May, 1800, and on the 31st December, 1804, was appointed overseer
in the royal engineer department at Plymouth.
Footnote 49:
Assisted by Antonio Marques, a Minorcaen artificer.
Footnote 50:
‘London Gazette,’ 13,494. 15 to 19 January, 1793.
Footnote 51:
The education of these youths is highly creditable to the officers of
engineers. Many similar instances of boys in the corps acquiring
distinction by their talents, have subsequently occurred, the honour
of which, in great measure, is due to the officers. Assistance and
encouragement they never fail to give in cases where their efforts are
likely to meet with success, and numbers have thus qualified
themselves to fill important situations with efficiency and credit, in
their own profession, and afterwards in civil life. Richmond and
Brand, however, are the only instances in which commissions have been
given from the ranks of the artificers, or sappers and miners, into
the corps of engineers.
-----
The three models alluded to were brought to England in 1793 by desire of
General O’Hara. The large model of the entire Rock was deposited in the
museum in the Royal Arsenal, and the other two were presented to His
Majesty George III. Private Joseph Bethell had charge of the first
model,[52] and Private Thomas Hague[53] of the other two. The large
model, from being lodged in a public place open to visitors, was well
known. It was an object of considerable attraction, “and was much
admired,” so Drinkwater writes, “for beauty of execution and minute
correctness.”[54] A visitor to the Arsenal in those days corroborates
the just encomium of the historian, and thus records his impressions:—
“I walked yesterday morning to Woolwich Warren, that immense repository
of military arts, the _palladium_ of our empire, where one wonder
succeeds another so rapidly, that the mind of a visitor is kept in a
continual gaze of admiration. Should I be asked what has made the
strongest impression on mine, it is a magnificent view of the rock of
Gibraltar, which was made there, formed of the very rock itself, on a
scale of twenty-five feet to an inch, and presents a most perfect view
of it in every point of perspective.”[55]
-----
Footnote 52:
Drinkwater says (p. 108), “that one of the works of these young men,
while pursuing their studies at Woolwich, was to finish the large
model of the rock of Gibraltar.” The historian has certainly been
misled here: the model was finished before it left the fortress, and
did not reach the Arsenal until after its makers had been
commissioned, and left England for the West Indies. The placement and
adjustment of its several parts were intrusted to a military artificer
named Bethell. He was to have been assisted by another private, who
accompanied him for the purpose, from Gibraltar; but having broken his
leg at Woolwich, his services were thus lost. Private John McNaughton,
a carpenter of the Woolwich company, was put to the model in his
place. I knew McNaughton well, and he assured me that the model was
not touched by any hands but his own and Bethell’s, and that on no
occasion were the modellers present during its fixation. McNaughton
seems to have been an excellent artificer, and always an active
soldier. During the mutiny of Parker, he was employed in repairing
Tilbury Fort, and in erecting temporary defences below Gravesend. He
afterwards served under the great Abercrombie in Egypt; next was
employed in constructing the towers on the Sussex coast, at the time
of the projected invasion of Napoleon; and, lastly, was many years in
Newfoundland. He was discharged 24th January, 1815, on 1_s._ 4_d._
a-day, and died at Woolwich in April, 1853, aged 84.
Footnote 53:
Hague was a tall, intelligent mechanic, a fine modeller, and a smart
soldier. On account of these qualities, he was selected to take charge
of the models for George III. Having put them together on their tables
at Buckingham Palace, His Majesty, the Queen, and royal family, with
other illustrious personages of the court, came to see them. Hague was
cited before them to explain the model, and to point out the defences
which, from their prominence in the late siege, had acquired historic
identity. His observations were listened to with attention, and His
Majesty awarded him a gratifying proof of his royal approbation. Soon
afterwards Hague returned to Gibraltar, and on the 31st March, 1815,
was discharged and pensioned at 1_s._ 8_d._ a-day. He was subsequently
employed as a modeller in the grand store; was married in 1827; and
died at the Rock about 1833, upwards of 100 years old.
Footnote 54:
‘Drinkwater.’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 108.
Footnote 55:
To this the visitor adds a description of the model, which is adjoined
here, on account of the model itself having long since been destroyed.
“First then,” says the writer, “are the Spanish lines; then the
perpendicular rock, rising bold from the neck of the neutral ground,
which is not many feet above high-water mark. On the east, or left
hand, is the Mediterranean Sea; and on the west, within the mole or
pier, is the Bay of Gibraltar, in which the largest ships in the
British Navy may ride safe. The garrison, town, and forts, are to the
westward, whence the rock rises with a more gradual acclivity to the
summit,—the east side of which is also perpendicular, and inhabited by
monkeys. On the highest point is the Levant Battery, which is nearly
three times and one half the height of St. Paul’s church, or 1375 feet
above the level of the sea. The southern extremity of the model of
this rock towards Europa Point, being too large for the room, and less
important, is cut off. This description ought to fill a
volume.”—Gentleman’s Magazine, part 2, 1798, p.648.
-----
Nine years after its placement, the museum in the arsenal was fired by
an incendiary, and this celebrated model was unfortunately
destroyed.[56] The other two models, which held a place in Buckingham
Palace for about twenty-seven years, were presented in 1820 by George
IV. to the Royal Military Repository at Woolwich. They are now daily
exhibited in the Rotunda, and are, perhaps, about the best specimens of
workmanship and ingenuity in the place. That of the King’s Bastion is
finely wrought, and is really beautiful; that of the north front, bold
and masterly. Both claim the particular attention of visitors, exciting
at once their surprise and admiration.
-----
Footnote 56:
This was on the 22nd May, 1802. The account given at the time of this
disgraceful act is as follows:—“A dreadful fire broke out at Woolwich,
and from the investigation which has taken place into this calamitous
circumstance, there is but too much reason to believe that this
disaster was not the mere effect of accident. The fire broke out, at
one and the same time, in three different places, besides which a
great mass of combustible materials have been discovered. The loss to
Government will be immense. The damage done to the Model-room is
particularly to be lamented, as several choice works of art have been
destroyed, without the power of reparation; however, the injury done
to the beautiful model of the rock of Gibraltar is not so great as was
at first represented, it having sustained but a slight damage, which
can be easily repaired, and the whole restored to its original
state.”—Dodsley’s Annual Register, 1802, p. 404. The journalist is
wrong in his remarks concerning the state of the model after the fire.
It was completely destroyed, and not even the fragments are now in
existence. Some persons, indeed, with whom I have conversed, bear out
the chronicler in his record, and affirm that the model was repaired,
and _is now_ in the Rotunda; but they have given me a fair inference
of the mistaken character of their recollections, by uniformly
referring to the model of the _north front_, executed by Richmond and
Marques, which, at the very time that the fire occurred, formed one of
the curiosities of Buckingham Palace. Drinkwater (p. 108, Murray’s
edit.) attests the fact of its destruction; and in this he is borne
out by the ‘Repository Detail of Arms,’ &c., printed in 1822. In that
catalogue (at p. 9-21) is a list of the arms, models, &c., of the
_original_ institution preserved from the fire of 1802, and collected
by Sir William Congreve, but no mention is made of the model in
question. This, then, is the best attainable evidence of the certainty
of its demolition, coupled with the acknowledgment, at page 52 of the
same catalogue, that the “North end of Gibraltar,” the model mistaken
for the one destroyed in the Arsenal, was presented to the Repository
by George IV. Had the large model of the Rock been preserved, Sir
William Congreve would most certainly have noted it in the detail.
-----
1783.
State of the fortress—Execution of the works depended upon
the company—Casualties filled up by transfers from the
line—Composition—Recruiting—Relieved from all duties, garrison and
regimental—Anniversary of the destruction of the Spanish battering
flotilla.
For about six months previously to the termination of hostilities, the
siege had been carried on with fearful vigour, and the destruction it
occasioned, revealed to a mournful extent the efficiency of the enemy’s
cannonade. The tiers of batteries on the north front, the whole of the
fortifications along the sea face, and indeed every work of a permanent
character, were considerably damaged or thrown down. The town too was
little better than a vast ruin, and its houses were levelled to the
rock, or were left standing in tottering fragments, or at best in their
shells, despoiled and untenanted, as so many monuments of an unbounded
calamity. The inhabitants, driven shelterless into the streets, were
compelled either to leave the fortress, or to locate themselves under
canvas amid the general desolation; or to seek a comfortless retreat in
the dark and gloomy caverns of the rock. Such was the wreck to which
Gibraltar was reduced at the close of the siege, and the work of
restoration, therefore, was both extensive and pressing.
The reconstruction or repair of the fortifications and other public
works at the fortress, in great part depended upon the company; and the
more so, since the numbers of the line competent to work as tradesmen
were inconsiderable. Assistance from the civil population of the place
was neither given nor expected, as the works in the town secured to them
abundance of employment and excellent wages. Policy, therefore, dictated
the expediency of paying particular regard both to the numerical and
physical efficiency of the company.
At the close of the siege, there were twenty-nine rank and file wanting
to complete the soldier-artificers, which number was increased to
thirty-nine by the end of May. To supply this deficiency, the Governor
ordered the transfer of an equal number of artificers from regiments in
the garrison; and on the 31st July, the company was complete. Still,
there were many of the men who, from wounds received at the siege, or
from privation and hardship, or from exposure in camp, in summer, to the
excessive heat of the sun, and in the autumn, to the heavy rains, were
unequal to the exertion required from them on the works. Among them were
the best masons and carpenters of the company, who were stated to have
been “expended” during the siege. Accordingly, on the 31st of August,
sixty-seven men, good “old servants, and those that had lost the use of
their limbs in the service,” were discharged and “recommended,” whose
vacancies were at once filled up by volunteers from the line.
After this desirable pruning, the composition of the company stood as
under:—
1 Sergeant-major.
10 Sergeants.
10 Corporals.
4 Drummers.
38 Masons.
33 Smiths.
54 Carpenters.
21 Sawyers.
32 Miners.
6 Wheelers.
5 File-cutters.
4 Nailors.
3 Gardeners.
7 Lime-burners.
3 Coopers.
1 Painter.
1 Collar-maker.
1 Brazier.
___
Total 234
As far as circumstances permitted, the strength of the company was never
allowed to sink beneath its establishment, for whenever a casualty
occurred, it was immediately filled up. Not only was the Chief Engineer
anxious on this point, but the Governor and Lieut.-Governor felt equal
concern, and were ready to give effect to any measure which should yield
the required result. If, at Gibraltar, the recruiting failed from the
want of the proper classes of mechanics to join the company, the Duke of
Richmond found means in England and Scotland to meet the case. His Grace
was both an admirer and an advocate of the military system of carrying
on the works, and took peculiar interest in the recruiting, even to
superintending the service, and acting in some cases as the recruiting
sergeant. Hence the company, seldom short of its complement of men,
invariably afforded a force of more than 220 non-commissioned officers
and artificers to be employed constantly in restoring the
fortifications, &c.: the sick at this period averaged about eight a day.
To obtain the full benefit of their services, and to expedite the works,
the soldier-artificers were excused from all garrison routine—as well as
from their own regimental guards and fatigues—and freed from all
interferences likely to interrupt them in the performance of their
working duties. Even the cleaning of their rooms, the care of their arms
and accoutrements, and the cooking of their messes, were attended to by
soldiers of the line. Every encouragement was thus given to the company
to work well and assiduously, and every liberty that could possibly be
conceded, not excepting a partial abandonment of discipline, was granted
to them. Nevertheless, to impress them with the recollection that their
civil employments and privileges did not make them any the less
soldiers, they were paraded generally under arms, on the Sunday; and to
heighten the effect of their military appearance, wore accoutrements
which had belonged to a disbanded Newfoundland regiment, purchased for
them at the economical outlay of 7_s._ a set. Perhaps no body of men
subject to the articles of war were ever permitted to live and work
under a milder surveillance; and it might be added, that none could have
rendered services more in keeping with the indulgences bestowed. They
did their duty with zeal, and the works progressed to the satisfaction
of the engineers and the authorities.
The remembrance of the late siege was not likely soon to be effaced from
the memory of those who participated in it; and hence the company,
regarding themselves in a peculiar sense as the fencibles of the
fortress, and as having contributed largely to its defence, commemorated
the event by means of a ball and supper. The festival was held at the
“Three Anchors Inn,” on the 13th of September—the anniversary of the
destruction of the battering flotilla—on which occasion Lord Heathfield,
and Sir Robert Boyd, the Lieutenant-Governor, with their respective
staff-officers, dined with the company, and retired after drinking one
or two complimentary toasts in praise of their gallantry at the siege,
and their useful services on the fortifications and works.[57]
-----
Footnote 57:
This anniversary supper was held by the non-commissioned officers
annually, on the date named, at the _Three Anchors_. After the first
year, the tickets of admission were 16_s._ 6_d._ each, or 5 dollars
and 4 reals, which provided, in the language of one who used to have a
seat at the table, “a sumptuous entertainment.” At that time the
dollar was 3_s._, and the real 4½_d._ Each ticket admitted a married
non-commissioned officer and his family, or a single one and his
friend. The privates took no part in the celebration. On each
occasion, the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, &c., honoured the company
with their presence, and made gratifying allusions to their services
at the siege. The night of the festival used to be familiarly termed
_Junk-ship night_, both by the inhabitants and the soldiers. The
custom was perpetuated till the year 1804, when, from the fearful
epidemic that prevailed, it was necessarily omitted, and was never
again held. It was a common opinion that the Duke of Kent interdicted
these loyal anniversaries, but such was not the case. The last one was
held in September, 1803, after his Royal Highness had been recalled
from Gibraltar.
-----
1786-1787.
Company divided into two—Numerous discharges—Cause of the men becoming
so soon ineffective—Fourth augmentation—Labourers—Recruiting
reinforcements—Dismissal of foreign artificers—Wreck of brig
‘Mercury’—Uniform dress—Working ditto—Names of
officers—Privileges—Cave under the signal house.
On the 30th June the Duke of Richmond divided the company into two,
owing to the professional duties of the Chief Engineer rendering it
impracticable for him to pay proper attention to the discipline and
interior management of so large a body. The two senior officers at the
fortress were appointed to take immediate charge of these companies, and
each was authorized to receive an allowance of 56_l._ 10_s._ per annum
in lieu of all charges for repair of arms, &c.[58] The Chief Engineer,
nevertheless, continued in command of both companies. In the estimates,
however, annually presented to Parliament, the corps was not recognized
as being formed into two companies, possibly with a view to prevent the
members of the House of Commons being drawn into a profitless debate
upon a fancied attempt to increase the corps; a debate which, very
likely, would not have been productive of compliments to his Grace, as
by his extensive but lately rejected schemes for national defence he had
made himself in some respects obnoxious to the House and to the country.
-----
Footnote 58:
This sum seems to be a sort of standing equivalent, and has existed
without alteration, through all the changes of advanced or reduced
prices in material and labour, to the present day.
-----
By this time there were many men in the corps, who from length of
service and other causes were no longer fit for the duties of the
department; and there were others, also, who from continued misconduct
were worthless and burdensome. Captain Evelegh, returning to England
about this period, lost no time in making the Duke of Richmond
acquainted with the state of the companies, and of advising the
discharge of all who were inadequate to their pay. His Grace at once
acquiesced, and the companies being well weeded, eighty-two men were
discharged during the winter and ensuing spring.
In so young a corps, scarcely fourteen years embodied, it might occasion
some surprise why so many men became ineffective in so short a time. The
reason is obvious. At all periods since the formation of the corps, the
demands for mechanics of good qualification were urgent. Under thirty
years of age men could seldom be had from the line, whose services were
worth acceptance, being either irregular in conduct, or possessing but
little pretension to ability as tradesmen. Mechanics were therefore
generally received at thirty-five to forty-five, and oftentimes at the
bald age of fifty. Neither age nor height was an insuperable
disqualification, provided the candidate for transfer or enlistment
possessed sufficient stamina for a few years' hard wear and tear. It was
not therefore to be expected that they could serve long in the
companies, more especially, as, the works of the fortress being always
important and pressing, the men were obliged to labour zealously to meet
the exigency, exposed to all the fitful and depressing changes of wind
and temperature.
In the course of the interview with the Duke of Richmond, Captain
Evelegh proposed that an augmentation of 41 labourers should be made to
the companies. Of the necessity for this his Grace was not so well
persuaded, for knowing the ready disposition of the Governor of
Gibraltar to provide men, at all times, for the services of the works,
he felt assured that no difficulty would be found in obtaining any
number required from the line, on a proper representation of their need
being made. He would not therefore sanction the measure; but, as his
Grace was aware, from the extent of the works in progress, that the
demand for mechanics was very great, and as he was moreover much averse
to the employment of civil artificers, he considered it would be a far
greater public benefit to increase the corps with mechanics than
labourers. He therefore, in September, took upon himself the
responsibility of augmenting the companies with forty-one masons and
bricklayers, which fixed the strength of the corps as under:—
1 Sergeant-major.
10 Sergeants.
10 Corporals.
4 Drummers.
250 Private artificers.
——
Total 275
Each company was to consist of 137 non-commissioned officers and men.
His Grace, moreover, ordered that such of the artificers as were not
sufficiently skilful at their trades, to the number of forty, were to be
employed as labourers, if required, but he did not contemplate that any
such could be found in the corps. From this slight innovation, however,
soon after followed the authorized enlistment of _labourers_ as a part
of the establishment,—a measure not in any sense welcomed by the old
artificers, who conceived they were losing caste and position by the
association.
Means for obtaining transfers and recruits at Gibraltar were now
considerably straitened. The Duke of Richmond, therefore, undertook to
furnish the number authorized to be added to the corps, and to supply
the constantly-recurring casualties. Upon this duty his Grace employed
several officers of engineers in the manufacturing districts of England
and Scotland. Captain Rudyerd was the chief recruiting officer in North
Britain, and he seems to have been the most successful in obtaining
recruits. Married men[59] with families were not debarred from
enlistment, if their personal appearance and talents as tradesmen were
favourable. More attention was now paid to age than heretofore; and none
were received over thirty-five years old, unless under extraordinary
circumstances. The bounty allowed to each candidate was 13_l._ 13_s._
6_d._
-----
Footnote 59:
The regulation with regard to the wives and families of recruits going
to Gibraltar, as established by the Duke of Richmond, is sufficiently
curious, by comparison with the present very limited system, to be
mentioned here. On the 9th September, 1786, the Duke arranged that to
every 20 men, 10 women and 10 children should be allowed to accompany
them. If there were more than that number with the party, lots were to
be drawn, and those who did not gain prizes were to find their own
passages; the lots were not to divide families, but were to be drawn
by the men until the number allowed was completed. If encouragement
had been given to any men to hope that their families would be
provided with passages, the bargain was to be faithfully adhered to.
-----
Five batches[60] of recruits, numbering in the whole 183 artificers,
were sent to the Rock in rapid succession; but as they were long in
arriving, it was considered expedient to hire civil artificers from
Portugal and Italy to expedite the works. However desirable it might
have been to adopt this course, the Duke of Richmond disapproved of it.
He had always a great aversion to the engagement of civil artificers,
whether from England or from places on the Continent, arising from the
great expense attending their employment and their general irregular
conduct. His Grace, therefore, ordered that the foreign artificers
should be discharged on the arrival of the recruits, which was
accordingly done.
-----
Footnote 60: