JAMES DOUGLAS, }
JOHN LEVICK, } Sergeants.
EDWARD WATSON, }
ROBT. HUTCHINSON, } Corporals.
JOHN YOUNG, }
BENJ. ROBERTS, }
WILLIAM BAIN, } Lance-Corporals.
HUGH KINNAIRD, }
Captain CHARLES HOLLOWAY,
Commanding the Royal Military
Artificers, &c., at Woolwich.
Footnote 106a:
Enlisted as a matross in July, 1761, in the royal artillery, and was
pensioned from that regiment in October, 1783. On May 1, 1795, he
enlisted into the Royal Military Artificers, at the age of 52! and
died at Canterbury, August 10, 1799. Was known as the author of a
small work called “The Artillerist’s Companion,” published by Egerton
in 1786.
An expedition under Major-General Coote was fitted out in May, at
Margate, for service against maritime Flanders. The design of the
enterprise was to destroy the works and sluices of the Bruges canal near
Ostend, and to cripple the internal navigation. To effect these services
a detachment of the corps, experienced in mining, from the Chatham and
Plymouth companies,[107] under Lieutenant Brownrigg, royal engineers,
was attached to the force and sailed from Margate on the 14th May on
board H.M.S. ‘Expedition,’ in which was General Coote himself.
-----
Footnote 107:
The greater part of the detachment had been specially employed in
mining services at Dover.
-----
The force disembarked in three divisions on the 19th May, and the
artificers, who had been instructed on board ship by Lieutenant
Brownrigg in the duties required of them, accompanied the first
division, provided with intrenching tools, wooden petards, &c. On
landing, the troops took possession of the forts that protected the
sluices, in order that the intended work of destruction might be carried
on successfully. The artificers, with a company from the 23rd regiment
and a detachment of royal artillery, commenced the appointed work, and
in about four hours laid the locks, gates, and sluices in ruins, burned
several gun-boats, and effected an explosion in the basin of the canal
that almost demolished it, and drained it dry. In this service the
exertions and efficiency of the party may be inferred from the praises
bestowed by General Coote upon Lieutenant Brownrigg.[108]
-----
Footnote 108:
“Lieutenant Brownrigg, R.E., in about four hours, made all his
arrangements, and completely destroyed the sluices; his mines having,
in every particular, the desired effect, and the object of the
expedition thereby attained. * * * In Lieutenant Brownrigg, I found
infinite ability and resource: his zeal and attention were eminently
conspicuous.”—London Gazette, 17 to 21 July, 1798.
-----
Having thus accomplished the object of the expedition the troops were
ordered to re-embark. At the appointed hour the weather had become
boisterous, and the violence of the surf rendered it impracticable to
reach the shipping. A position was, therefore, taken up on the
sand-hills before Ostend, which was strengthened in the night by the
military artificers with intrenchments suitable to the occasion; but on
the 20th, the British, hemmed in by a much stronger force, were
compelled, after an obstinate contest, to surrender themselves prisoners
of war. The casualties in the detachment were—killed, two; wounded,
five; and thirteen, including the wounded, taken prisoners.[109] The
survivors returned to England, and rejoined their companies in March,
1799.
-----
Footnote 109:
‘London Gazette,’ 17 to 21 July, 1798.
-----
In the West Indies the Caribbean company was reduced at the end of the
previous year by fever to thirty-three men, who were distributed in ones
and twos through different districts of the conquered islands. None
could be spared for active duty without detriment to other services
equally important; and several expeditions were, therefore, undertaken
without a military artificer accompanying them. In some measure to
supply the numerous vacancies that had occurred, one corporal and
twenty-nine privates embarked in February on board the ‘Union’ transport
under Lieutenant T. R. I’Ans, R.E.; and on their arrival the company was
increased to fifty-seven non-commissioned officers and men.
On the 20th August, the expedition under Lieut.-General Trigge, which
included three corporals and eleven men of Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley’s
company, captured the Dutch settlement of Surinam, which surrendered
without resistance. One artificer, John Nancarrow, mason, was
accidentally drowned on this service; and this was the only casualty
that occurred to the expedition.
At St. Domingo the detachment fast wasted away on account of the arduous
services of the island and the diseases of the climate; and on the
evacuation of the place in September only two of the company, with
Lieutenant H. Morshead, of the corps,[110] survived to embark with the
troops. Of the original company, which numbered forty-seven on its
arrival in May, 1796, thirty-six died, seven were invalided, two
deserted, and the remaining two[111] were sent to do duty at Jamaica.
-----
Footnote 110:
This officer was “ordered to the West Indies with two companies of the
royal military artificers: himself and two of the privates only
escaped the baleful effects of the climate of St. Domingo.”—United
Service Journal, i., 1832, p. 142.
Footnote 111:
These were privates Adam Cowan and John Westo. The former was at once
appointed sergeant and conductor of stores to Commissary Meek of the
Ordnance. After delivering over the stores of the department at
Jamaica to a sergeant of Dutch emigrant artillery, he returned to
England, and was discharged with a pension of 2_s._ 0½_d._ a-day in
April, 1816.
-----
In November three sergeants, four corporals, fifty-five artificers,
three labourers, and one drummer, total, sixty-six, formed from the
party employed in Portugal, and from artificers of the companies at
Gibraltar, were sent with the force under General Charles Stuart against
Minorca. On landing, the Spaniards, without offering any resistance,
retired into the town of Citadella, which possessed a sort of fortified
_enceinte_. A battery for a few field-pieces was constructed against it
in the night by the artificers under Captain D’Arcy, royal engineers,
and after firing a few shots the place surrendered on the 15th November.
Soon after the capitulation, the detachment was very much dispersed
through the island, employed on various defensive works; and on Sir
Charles Stuart quitting it, the military artificers remained to restore
the fortifications. In January, 1801, the detachment was denominated the
Minorca company; but in August, 1802, it was withdrawn, and being
disbanded, the men were distributed among the companies of the corps at
home and at Gibraltar.
During their stay in Minorca it seems that their conduct was not above
reproach, nor their services on the works as useful as desired. Sir
Charles Pasley has recorded that they were found to be very inefficient,
and ascribes it to their having been selected for the expedition from
the Gibraltar companies, which, from circumstances, were for a number of
years the worst in the corps.[112] Here, however, it is proper to add,
that their inefficiency did not arise from their want of ability and
skill as mechanics,[113] but from their general irregular behaviour
occasioned chiefly by intemperance. Writing of the Gibraltar companies,
Sir Augustus de Butts, in a letter dated 11th July, 1848, says:—“I
cannot speak so confidently of their general conduct, but on the works,
under the eye of their officers, they behaved well, and were very good
artificers, particularly the non-commissioned officers.”
-----
Footnote 112:
Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification.’ Notes to Preface, p. iv., vol. i.
Footnote 113:
Several individual proofs could be adduced but two must suffice.
Private Evan Roberts, a talented mason, was detached to Malta during
the blockade of Valetta, and rendered good service as a foreman under
Captain Gordon, R.E. On the formation of the Maltese artificers, he
was appointed sergeant in one of the companies to prevent his removal
to another station: and Sergeant-major James Shirres, formerly of the
Gibraltar companies, from his correct conduct and merit as an
artificer, was appointed overseer of works in the royal engineer
department at Plymouth, in December, 1804.
-----
On the composition of detachments for foreign duty, Sir Charles Pasley
has made some observations which may not inappropriately be introduced
here. “When any expedition,” he writes, “was to be undertaken, the
number of royal military artificers required were in all cases, selected
by small detachments out of the stationary companies; and as the
commanding engineers at the several fixed stations were naturally averse
to parting with their best men, the detachments thus formed for field
service, were generally composed of the stupidest and least trustworthy
non-commissioned officers, and of the most ignorant, profligate, and
abandoned of the privates.”[114] This was, it would appear, the general
rule, but exceptions may fairly be taken in favour of the detachments
forwarded to Toulon, St. Domingo, Halifax, and Ostend, as well as to
some of the reinforcements sent to the Caribbee islands. These
detachments were not formed of bad men weeded from the different
companies, but of non-commissioned officers and privates whose
qualifications and utility as mechanics were unquestionable, and whose
conduct was approved.
-----
Footnote 114:
Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification.’ Notes to Preface, p. iv. vol. i.
-----
In April and May a corporal and party of carpenters of the Woolwich
company were detached to Sevenoaks, and there built temporary wooden
barracks for a company of artillery; a second party was employed in
repairing Falmouth Castle from May to November; and in the latter month
two carpenters and two masons, all privates, were sent to superintend
workmen in the erection of fortifications and temporary defences at
different places from Chelmsford to Harwich, in which duty they
continued until April 1800.
Napoleon, by a series of successes, had gained a firm footing in Egypt,
and the subjugation of India was contemplated by the French Directory.
As well to thwart the intention, as to stimulate the Turks, the British
Government determined to send a military mission to the dominions of the
Sultan, to cooperate with the Ottoman army in their hostile movements
against the French. The mission being formed of artillery, engineers,
and artificers, in all seventy-six persons, under Brigadier-General
Koehler, of the royal artillery, embarked in the ‘New Adventure’
transport in February, but did not sail from England till April. The
military artificers, selected by Major Holloway, royal engineers, from
the Woolwich company, numbered one sergeant—Edward Watson—two corporals,
nineteen artificers, and two labourers; and as Major Holloway had
proceeded overland to Constantinople,[115] were consequently placed
under the orders of Captain Lacy, R.E. On the near approach of the
‘Adventure’ to Gibraltar she was partially wrecked. A quantity of stores
and some pontoons were thrown overboard, and private Philip Patterson,
whilst exerting himself in casting away the stores, was washed off the
deck by a wave into the sea and drowned. On the 14th June the transport
arrived at Constantinople, and Major Holloway assumed the command of the
artificers.
-----
Footnote 115:
Brigadier-General Koehler, Major Holloway, and six other officers and
gentlemen proceeded by the overland route to Constantinople. Three of
the detachment accompanied them—privates Joseph Comfort, Jonathan
Lewsey, and David Waddell. “Their journey in the outset,” says Dr.
Wittman, in his ‘Travels in Turkey,’ &c., p. 6, “had been attended by
uncommon severities, such, however, as might have been expected from a
season more rigorous than any which had been experienced for many
years. In passing over the continent, they had, at the entrance of the
Elbe, been shipwrecked among the shoals of ice; and to relieve
themselves from the perilous situation, had been under the necessity
of passing over the ice to the extent of two miles, to gain the shore;
by this effort they were providentially saved.” They now prosecuted
their journey to Constantinople, where they arrived in March, 1799.
-----
On the removal of the mission to Levant Chiflick, five of the detachment
were detained with the officers at Buyukdere, and the remainder were
occupied in various services at the former place and Kaithana, where
they erected a furnace for heating shot. Shortly afterwards experiments
with red-hot shot were carried on in the presence of the Sultan, who, at
the close of the practice, having reviewed the mission, presented each
person with a gift suitable to his rank. Whilst building the furnace,
the artificers, exposed to marsh miasma, were early attacked with fever.
At first the cases were slight, but relapses following with malignity,
three of the detachment died. To preserve the mission, therefore, it was
removed in October to the Dardanelles. Previously to the embarkation,
the artificers constructed a handsome model of the upper castle at
Chennekalleh, on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, with Major
Holloway’s improvements, which model was presented by that officer to
Hadgi Ibrahim Effendi, Secretary at War for the Ottoman Porte.
Subsequently, at the Dardanelles,[116] they were employed in effecting
various alterations and additions to the castle until the 2nd December,
when the mission was suddenly recalled to Constantinople; and landing on
the 4th, awaited orders to proceed on more active service.[117]
-----
Footnote 116:
While here, sergeant Watson of the artificers, in preparing money for
the payment of the mission in the presence of a Turkish marine,
quitted the room for a moment, leaving the money on the table. “On his
return,” writes Dr. Wittman, “the marine had disappeared with 120
piastres, about 9_l._ English. Having described the person of the
delinquent to the Capitan Pacha, inquiries were at once commenced to
detect the thief. On the second day after, the marine confessed his
guilt to General Koehler, and begged his influence with the Capitan
Pacha to save his life. The General did so, but several days elapsed
before the affair was disposed of. During the interval, the General,
anxious to prevent the culprit being strangled, expressed some doubts
of the culprit’s identity; but in reply to this, the Pacha very
handsomely declared his full conviction that the marine _had_ taken
the money, as he was certain an Englishman would not tell an
untruth.”—Wittman’s Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, &c., p. 65.
Footnote 117:
The above particulars are chiefly taken from Dr. Wittman’s ‘Travels in
Turkey,’ &c.
-----
At the instance of the Admiralty, a detachment of one sergeant, one
corporal, and forty privates, chiefly masons and bricklayers,
able-bodied men and good artificers, under Lieutenant C. Mann, royal
engineers, sailed for Gibraltar in May on board the ‘Fortitude,’ and
landed there the following month. The party was specially employed in
constructing a cistern for naval purposes, under the military
foremanship of sergeant Joseph Woodhead; and in October, 1800, it was
incorporated with the Gibraltar companies.
England and Russia having concluded a treaty to send an army to
Holland to reinstate the Stadtholder, a corps of 12,000 men, under Sir
Ralph Abercrombie, embarked for the Helder and landed on the 27th
August. Attached to this expedition was a party of military
artificers, consisting of one sergeant, two corporals, thirty-five
artificers—seventeen of whom were carpenters—and one drummer,
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hay, R.E. The detachment embarked on
board the ‘Amphitrite,’ and disembarking with the second division,
were present in the action of that day.
After forming the engineer park near the Helder, about ten men were left
to repair the fort; and the remainder, divided into brigades of four to
each brigade, followed the troops in their forward movement in charge of
the intrenching equipment of the expedition, which was conveyed in
waggons. Early in September, the detachment constructed several
batteries for guns and mortars to defend the post at Zuyp; as also,
subsequently, at Hoorn and Egmont-op-Zee; and to facilitate the march of
the army to the latter place, they assisted in the formation of three
flying bridges over canals that intersected the route. In the retreat,
they were continually employed in throwing small bridges across the
canals by means of planking, felled trees, and other chance materials.
At Alkmaer they constructed several defensive works; and on retiring
from thence, where three roads met, they raised, in an incredibly short
time, a mound of earth about twelve feet high, across the junction, with
the view of impeding the enemy in their pursuit of the British. None of
the military artificers were killed or wounded on this service. On the
evacuation of Holland in November the detachment rejoined the companies.
Here, perhaps, it would be proper to allude, in a general remark, to the
practice of providing detachments for foreign service. It will already
have been observed, that whenever any expedition was undertaken, resort
was invariably had to the royal military artificers for a selection of
men to accompany it, suitable to the work upon which it was contemplated
they would be employed; but the numbers furnished were always
insufficient for the purpose, and no representations or remonstrances
could avail in altering a custom, which, from causes not easily
surmised, seems to have been pertinaciously persevered in.
This remark is fully borne out by the statement of a highly
distinguished officer;[118] and is moreover corroborated by the fact,
that about this time, the particular attention of the Commander-in-Chief
was drawn to the subject, without, however, accomplishing what the
interests of the service greatly needed. It is said, that when the Duke
of York was preparing his expedition for Holland, he demanded efficient
assistance from the royal engineers and royal military artificers,
which, for some reason, the Ordnance authorities reluctantly met with an
inadequate provision. Annoyed by the limited number tendered, his Royal
Highness determined to establish a corps competent to discharge the
duties usually devolving upon the royal engineers, “which should be
absolutely at the disposal of the Horse Guards; and as his Royal
Highness held office in times when the thoughts of statesmen were bent
rather to render the means of the country’s defence complete, and to aid
other nations in opposing the aggressions of an arrogant and
unscrupulous power, than to effect savings in the public expenditure, he
found no difficulty in consummating his wishes, and hence arose the
royal staff corps.”[119]
-----
Footnote 118:
Sir John Jones, in his ‘Sieges,’ vol. ii., note 38, p. 389, 2nd edit.
Footnote 119:
Gleig’s ‘Military History,’ xxxvii., p. 287.
-----
1800.
Mortality in the West Indies—Blockade of Malta—Capture of a transport on
passage from Nova Scotia—Movements and services of detachments in
Turkey; attacked with fever—Anecdote of private Thomas Taylor at
Constantinople—Cruise of expedition to Cadiz—Attack on the city
abandoned—Subsequent movements of the expedition; Malta; and
re-embarkation for Egypt—Statistics of companies at Gibraltar.
From the diminished state of the company in the West Indies, and the
impracticability of filling up the constantly-recurring vacancies by
drafts from England, authority was given to the Commanding Engineer in
the Leeward Islands, to obtain on the spot, men for the company properly
qualified and climatized, either by enlistment or transfer from other
corps. This led to an immediate incorporation, in April, of one
sergeant, twenty privates, and two drummers, from the 43rd and other
regiments; and though the plan was attended with considerable success,
the still greater mortality from fever always kept the company greatly
below its establishment.
In addition to the repeated allusion made to the military artificers in
the West Indies, the following statistics of mortality, as far as the
same can now be ascertained, affording a tolerably correct idea of the
unhealthiness of the climate, and the sufferings to which the men must
have been subjected, may here not be misplaced.
Number of Deaths.
1793 17
1794 65
1795 19
1796 70
1797 37
1798 12
1799 10
1800 9
—
Total 239
The aggregate number of artificers and labourers sent there from year to
year, including those transferred from other corps and enlisted on the
spot, amounted to about 350. More than two-thirds of the number,
therefore, fell victims to the war and the climate! Many also were sent
home invalided, several of whom died on the passage, or soon after
landing in England. At the close of 1800, the strength of the company
did not exceed seventy-eight of all ranks, twenty-two being required to
complete it.
In February, private Evan Roberts, an active and intelligent artificer,
was chosen from the Minorca company for service at the blockade of La
Valetta, and arrived at Malta before the end of the month. From that
time until the surrender of the fortress on the 15th of September, he
served in the department with zeal and efficiency under Captain Gordon,
royal engineers; and continued, though a private, to discharge the
duties of an overseer of works until the formation, in 1806, of the
first company of Maltese artificers, to which he was transferred as
sergeant.
At Halifax, Nova Scotia, three invalids embarked on board the ‘Diamond’
transport on the 15th of September, with several invalids of Captain R.
Wright’s company of royal artillery, and sailed with the fleet on the
19th of that month. Previously to weighing anchor, private Walter Allan
was accidentally drowned in the harbour by falling overboard; and the
other two, privates Ninian Kerr and Samuel Milman, were captured by the
French some time in October. But all efforts to ascertain where, or how,
the enemy effected the seizure of the vessel with her crew and
passengers, have proved unsuccessful.
Soon after the removal of the mission from the Dardanelles to
Constantinople, Captain Lacy and Lieutenant Fletcher, R.E., were
detached to join the Turkish army in Syria. With these officers two
military artificers were also sent, one of whom returned from Cyprus
with the former officer in April, and the other reached the mission
again, some two months later, with Captain Lacy. On the 13th of June,
the artificers sailed from Constantinople[120] with the mission, and
landed at Jaffa on the 2nd of July, where they encamped with the Turkish
army and commenced, under the foremanship of sergeant E. Watson, the
improvements suggested by Major Holloway in the fortifications of that
port. These, however, though far advanced, were ultimately set aside,
and the artificers were appointed to erect several new works in front of
Jaffa; which, in consequence of the French being in great force at
Catieh, were considered to be more essential than the proposed
alterations to the defences of the town. With great ceremony, on the
30th of August, the first stone of the intended new bastion was laid by
the Grand Vizier; and shortly after, his Highness having reviewed the
mission, marked his approbation of their appearance by a present to each
non-commissioned officer and soldier. In December the fever, which had
been alarmingly rife in the Turkish camp, attacked the mission. Its
first victim was a military artificer; and before the end of the month,
though the cases of mortality were few, the mission had to lament the
loss by death, of their commander, General Koehler, R.A., and his lady.
Major Holloway, royal engineers, then assumed the command, and at the
close of the year, a change of cantonment having re-established the
health of the men, the works at the new bastion progressed
vigorously.[121]
-----
Footnote 120:
Some time before leaving the city, private Thomas Taylor, royal
military artificers, was, without any provocation, assaulted by a
Turk, who attempted to stab him with his yatikan. On a report of this
outrage being made to the Capitan Pacha, to whose retinue the Turk
belonged, he came to a resolution to have him decapitated. By the
mediation and entreaties of Lord Elgin, a mitigation of the punishment
ensued, and the Turk, after receiving fifty strokes of the bastinado
on the soles of his feet, was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment
in the college of Pera, _to learn the Arabic language_.—Dr. Wittman’s
Turkey, p. 93.
Footnote 121:
Particulars for the most part obtained from Wittman’s ‘Travels in
Turkey,’ &c.
-----
In April, a detachment of one sergeant, two corporals, and thirty
artificers, under Captain Bryce, R.E., accompanied the expedition under
Sir Ralph Abercrombie, for employment on secret service. The men were
selected from the different home companies, and all were “sufficiently
qualified in their respective trades, as well as able-bodied.”
Proceeding to Portsmouth, they remained inactive for about six weeks;
and, at length embarking on board the ‘Asia’ transport, sailed in June
with the expedition. In the Channel off Portland, the fleet encountered
a gale, and was driven back to Portsmouth; but on a fair wind springing
up, got under weigh again, and in due time ran up the Tagus. From thence
the ‘Asia’ proceeded to Gibraltar, lay there about a month, and sailing
for Minorca, soon reached that island and landed the artificers; where,
for about seven weeks, they were employed in the construction of
temporary barracks, &c., for the troops put on shore. At the expiration
of this period, the artificers returned to the ‘Asia’ and retracing the
route to Gibraltar, anchored for a fortnight. There they were reinforced
by one sergeant, one corporal, and five miners of the companies at the
fortress; and at the appointed hour, the ‘Asia,’ again weighing anchor
for Tetuan Bay, took water there and sailed with the fleet for Cadiz.
When off Cadiz, the artificers were told off into two brigades, and six
of the boldest and most expert men were selected to land with the first
division, and the remainder with the second. On the morning of the day
in which the attempt was to be made, the artificers, as a preliminary
measure, removed all the intrenching tools and engineers' stores into
the launches, and then took their places in the boats, provided with
adzes, pole-axes, and miners' tools for removing impediments, &c. A long
interval of breathless suspense followed, in which the seamen rested
impatiently on their oars; but, as an epidemic raged at the time in the
city, the landing was countermanded, and the men and stores being
reshipped, the meditated attack upon Cadiz was relinquished. The ‘Asia,’
consequently, sailed for Tetuan Bay, where, exposed to a storm, she was
compelled to cut her cable and run for Cape Spartel. There she anchored
for four days, and on the wind shifting again made for the bay.[122]
-----
Footnote 122:
The seven non-commissioned officers and men embarked at Gibraltar to
join the expedition, returned to their companies at the fortress
immediately after the failure at Cadiz.
-----
At this rendezvous the fleet was divided into three divisions, and the
artificers accompanied that under Sir Ralph Abercrombie to Malta. There
they were landed; and after a stay of about seven weeks, during which
they were employed preparing platforms and fascines, re-embarked on the
17th of December, seven on board the ‘Ajax,’ 74, Captain the Hon. Sir
Alexander Cochrane, and the remainder on board the ‘Asia’ transport.
Hitherto the service of the expedition had been expended in a series of
cruises or reconnaissances alike harassing and wearying, but at length,
a glimpse of approaching activity burst upon the armament. Soon the
enterprise commenced, and terminated with glory to Britain by rescuing
an inoffensive nation from the eagle grasp of an oppressive republic.
Ever since the incorporation of the Gibraltar companies with the corps,
the power to recruit for those companies was vested in the commanding
royal engineer at the fortress, and, so far, was exercised with
tolerable success. This permission was the more necessary, as, from the
frequent calls made upon the home companies to detach parties for the
service of particular expeditions, it was impossible, so to attend to
those companies as to keep them numerically complete. The effect of that
power was, that from the date of the incorporation to the end of 1800,
ninety-six artificers had either been enlisted or received as transfers
from regiments in the garrison; but from the unavoidable exposure of the
men to the sun in carrying on their working duties, and the general
unhealthiness of the climate, the casualties in the companies far
exceeded the number that joined. Of the increase and decrease in the
companies for the above period, the following is an accurate
exposition:—
Strength at the incorporation, of all ranks 255
Joined from employment at the naval reservoir 36
Enlisted or transferred from regiments in garrison @b96
——
Total 387