conducted by a lieutenant and five men; the ships were sixteen in
number, and some very heavy. When they got in, the French ships
cut and slipt, nine sail of the line got on shore on the Isle
of Aix, and the next morning we discovered them: the fire-ships
having done little good, the small craft and frigates were ordered
in to attempt to destroy them. The place where they lay was like
Portsmouth harbour, under the fire of the two batteries, each of
which had three tiers of guns, of twenty-nine each, all heavy
metal: the navigation to get at them was very difficult, in some
places there being only four fathoms water. Just as we were sitting
down to dinner on board the Revenge, our signal was made to go in
and assist the gun and mortar vessels; our ship was cleared for
action in fifteen minutes, and in half an hour we were alongside
of three sail of the line, when we opened a dreadful cannonade on
them, which continued for an hour and a quarter, the Warsaw, a
fine 80-gun ship, and the Aquilon, struck to us. We were now in a
very critical state ourselves, being in only five fathoms water,
which was ebbing very fast; the batteries on shore, having got
our length, struck us almost every shot for the last quarter of
an hour; luckily, a breeze springing up, we got off into deeper
water, and out of reach of their guns, when we anchored again, and
sent our boats to take out the prisoners, and set them on fire,
about seven, p.m. At nine they were all in flames, and at two in
the morning they blew up with a tremendous explosion; the French
set fire to the Tonniere, and the Imperieuse to the Calcutta; three
other ships of the line were on shore, very much mauled by the
frigates and boom-ships; some of them were on their beam-ends, and
but little chance of getting off again. The captain of the Warsaw
was on board our ship; he said, they were bound out to relieve
Martinique with troops and provisions. I went on board his ship
after she struck, and the decks were strewed with dead and dying, a
most dreadful slaughter. We also lost several killed and wounded,
and our ship was much cut up in sails and rigging.
Lord Cochrane caused about 1500 barrels of gunpowder to be started
into puncheons, which were placed end upwards: upon the tops of
these were placed between 3 and 400 shells, charged with fuses; and
again, among and upon these were between 2 and 3000 hand-grenades.
The puncheons were fastened to each other by cables wound round
them, and jammed together with wedges; and moistened sand was
rammed down between these casks, so as to render the whole, from
stem to stern, as solid as possible, that the resistance might
render the explosion the more violent.
In this tremendous instrument of destruction, Lord Cochrane
committed himself, with only one lieutenant and four seamen;
and after the boom was broken, his lordship proceeded with this
explosion-ship towards the enemy’s line. Let it be recollected,
that at this moment the batteries on shore were provided with
furnaces to fire red-hot shot, and then his lordship’s danger in
this enterprize may be properly conceived.
The wind blew a gale, and the tide ran three knots an hour. When
the blue lights of the fire-ships were discovered, one of the
enemy’s line made the signal for fire-ships; which being also a
blue light, the enemy fell into great confusion, firing upon her
with very injurious effect, and directly cut their cables.
When lord Cochrane had conducted his explosion-ship as near as was
possible, the enemy having taken the alarm, he ordered his brave
little crew into the boat, and followed them, after putting fire
to the fuse, which was calculated to give them fifteen minutes to
get out of reach of the explosion. However, in consequence of the
wind getting very high, the fuse burnt too quickly; so that, with
the most violent exertion against wind and tide, this intrepid
little party was six minutes nearer than they calculated to be, at
the time when the most tremendous explosion that human art ever
contrived took place, followed by the bursting at once in the air
of nearly 400 shells and 3000 hand-grenades, pouring down a shower
of castmetal in every direction. But fortunately our second Nelson
was spared, the boat having reached, by unparalleled exertion,
only just beyond the extent of destruction. Unhappily, this effort
to escape cost the life of the brave lieutenant, whom his noble
captain saw die in the boat, partly under fatigue, and partly
drowned with waves that continually broke over them. Two of the
four sailors were also so nearly exhausted, that their recovery was
for some time despaired of.
The repetition of his explosions was so dreaded by the enemy,
that they apprehended an equal destruction in every fire-ship,
and, immediately crowding all sail, ran before wind and tide so
fast, that the fire-ships, though at first very near, could not
overtake them, before they were high and dry on shore, except three
seventy-fours, besides the Calcutta, which were afterwards engaged,
taken, and burned.
Lord Cochrane now turned his attention to rescue the vanquished
from the devouring elements; and in bringing away the people of the
Ville de Varsovie, he would not allow even a dog to be abandoned,
but took the crying little favourite up into his arms and brought
it away. But a still greater instance of goodness was displayed in
his humanity to a captain of a French seventy-four, who came to
deliver his sword to Lord Cochrane, and lamented that all he had
in the world was about to be destroyed by the conflagration of his
ship. His lordship instantly got into the boat with him, and pushed
off to assist his prisoner in retrieving some valuable loss; but
in passing by a seventy-four, which was on fire, her loaded guns
began to go off; a shot from which killed the French captain by
Lord Cochrane’s side, and so damaged the boat, that she filled and
the rest of the party were nearly drowned.”
RODNEY’S, ADMIRAL, VICTORIES.--This renowned Admiral fought,
near Cape St. Vincent, the Spanish Admiral Don Langara, whom
he defeated, and made prisoner, destroying eight of his ships
and taking four, January 16th, 1780. On April 12th, 1782, he
encountered the French fleet in the West Indies, commanded by Count
de Grasse--took 10 ships of the line, and sent the French Admiral
prisoner to England. The enemy lost also one ship, sunk, and three
blown up.
ROSAS, BAY OF.--Brilliant naval action by the boats of the Tigre,
Cumberland, Volontaire, Apollo, Topaz, Philomel, Scout, and Tuscan,
commanded by Lieutenant Tailour, which ended in the capture or
destruction of 11 armed vessels in the bay. November 1st, 1809.
ROSBACH, BATTLES OF.--In the first battle fought at Rosbach 40,000
rebel Flemings, under the command of the Duke of Burgundy, the King
Charles VI in France being present, fell November 17th, 1382. A
second battle between the Prussians, commanded by their King and
the combined army of the French and Austrians, in which the latter
sustained a severe defeat. Many thousands were slain on both sides,
November 5th, 1757.
ROSES, WARS OF THE.--These wars arose out of a contest for the
throne, between the two houses of York and Lancaster. It was
termed the War of the Roses, from the badge of the York party
being a white, and that of the Lancaster a red rose. It arose in
complicated disputes about the succession among the descendants of
Edward III. The feud thus arising was not concluded until Henry VII
asserted the ascendency of the Lancaster party, on the field of
Bosworth, and united the two, by marriage with a daughter of the
York party.
King Richard was killed at Bosworth and the Crown conferred upon
the Earl of Richmond, and an end put to the wars between the two
houses of York and Lancaster, begun upon the intrusion of king
Henry IV, and continued till the death of King Richard III. There
were fought 12 pitched battles, and 2 kings, 1 prince, 10 dukes, 2
marquesses, 24 earls, 27 lords, 2 viscounts, 1 lord prior, 1 judge,
139 knights, 441 esquires, and 84,998 private soldiers were slain;
which, being added to the 638 of superior quality, there appears to
have been killed in the quarrels between the two roses, 85,625.
ROSS, BATTLE OF.--_In Ireland._--Fought, June 4th, 1698, between
the Royal troops and the insurgent forces, when, after the most
obstinate contest, the latter were defeated losing more than 2600
killed on the field.
ROXBURGH.--The following describes the razing of this fortress A.D.
1460: “Ever since the captivity of David II, a period of more than
a hundred years, the castle of Roxburgh had been in possession of
the English. James laid siege to it. He had gone with several of
his nobility to watch the effect of a battery of cannon which had
begun to play on the fortress. One of the pieces, a large gun of
Flemish manufacture, formed of iron bars hooped together, burst in
firing. A heavy fragment struck the King on the groin, and killed
him on the spot. A holly tree in the park of Fleurs Castle still
marks the place where James of the Fiery Face, not yet 30 years
old, came to his untimely end. On hearing the lamentable tidings,
the queen came immediately to the camp. She appeared in the midst
of the army, leading by the hand her little son, now the King.
The spirited woman exhorted the soldiers to spend no time in vain
regrets, but to show their regard for the dead, by gaining the
victory which he had so much at heart. Catching ardour from her
appeal, the army renewed the attack and carried the castle by storm
that same day. The ruins of the stronghold, which cost Scotland so
dear, are still to be seen on the tongue of land where Tweed and
Teviot join, a little way above Kelso Bridge.
S.
SACRED WAR.--_Sacrum Bellum._--The first, about the celebrated
temple of Delphi, took place B.C. 448. The second occurred also at
the same place, when it was attacked by the Phœnicians, B.C. 356.
SADOWA, BATTLE OF.--Fought, July 3rd, 1866, between the Prussians
and Austrians. Dr. Russel thus writes:--
“In spite of the sombre morning and of the grey clothing, relieved
only by the darker but livelier green of the Jagers and their
plumed hats, the effect of the whole host wheeling, deploying,
advancing, taking ground to the right or left, or marching in
lengthened column, was so bright that it was difficult to believe
they all, horses and men, had been sleeping out under the veiled
stars of heaven, and were still dank and heavy with the night
dew and the rain of the morning. But there could be no mistake
about the reality of the work in which they were engaged, for the
Austrians on the brow of the slope to the right were pounding away
fiercely at the invincible enemy in the valley. That there was
an enemy was plain enough, for the earth flew up on the slope as
the answering shells glanced upwards, and then exploded among the
infantry in the rear. This was about 8.30 A.M. At nine o’clock a
heavy shower obscured the field, and when it drifted northwards
three Austrian batteries were still busy on the slope, and several
columns of infantry, deploying on its side, moved up around it
and disappeared into the valley, whence there soon came masses of
curling smoke, and then the batteries limbered up and moved over
also, showing that the enemy were falling back. The second line on
the right made a slight movement to the right and upwards, but it
did not seem as if the Austrians concerned themselves much for the
ground between the rear of Imilovitz and the river. The cannonade
which had all this time been going on towards the right now
extended towards the middle or centre; a line of batteries moving
on or halting to fire could be seen on the plateau to the right of
Klum, and it was evident that the enemy was in great force in that
direction. It looked as if the Prussians had attacked the position
almost simultaneously from left to right, for no sooner had the
action developed itself on the centre than it rolled back from
Nechanitz on the left, and before 9.30 the whole range of hills and
valleys and slopes for nine miles and more was as if the earth had
been turned into snow wreaths agitated in a wintry gale. Before
10 o’clock a thicker and darker cloud rose from the trees and the
village on the right. “My God, Imilovitz is in flames,” exclaimed
the guardian of the tower. The officers said “_Ja so!_” “_Hem!_”
and uttered various other sounds of varied import possibly,
smoked their cigars, and looked on. Imilovitz, indeed, blazed up
furiously after a time, and in about a quarter of an hour more the
Austrian batteries which had gone down the slope toiled up again,
unlimbered, and fired from the brow. Puffs of smoke high in the air
or rising from the ground showed where the Prussian fire was plying
the Austrians on the right; but their guns replied vigorously, and
all through that day, though sometimes ill-placed, the Austrian
artillery behaved most gallantly. It was difficult to ascertain why
the Austrian corps on the right were so unsteady, and why so many
men were leaving the ranks of regiments still invisible; but after
a time another sponge-like rain-cloud wiped away everything, and
left it all like a clean slate, from behind which there issued a
rolling fire of cannon as close as the volleys of a _feu de joie_.
When the shower passed away, the cannonade on the right near the
tree had sensibly diminished, and the Austrians seemed to have the
advantage all along the front, judging by the advance of their guns
and infantry, except near the left centre and right of their line.
On the extreme left another black cloud now rose up, licked by
flames at the base. “_Gott in Himmel!_” exclaimed the guardian of
the tower, “Sadowa burns now!” And so it was. The pleasant little
village, snug church, hospitable mill--all were burning. It was
with surer divination of the coming woe than we had that the poor
people had fled in tears, or remained in hopeless sorrow in their
homes. The heat of this great battle burned up whatever it touched,
and sent forth the lava which destroyed as it flowed on all sides.
Between the big tree and Klum, in the centre and far away towards
the second ridge, the fight was raging with extraordinary fury from
10 o’clock till 10.30--and that half-hour seemed an age. But still
the Austrians advanced. One grey mass of men followed another into
the smoke, and was lost there. Towards Sadowa and Nechanitz on the
left they also were gaining ground, and before 11 o’clock their
columns had gone out of sight into the valley or undulations, and
the Prussians could be seen by their fire to have fallen back on
the opposing slopes of the second range of hills.
An animating and magnificent feature was now added to the terrible
spectacle by the forward movement of the heavy cavalry near the
Prague road and towards the centre. These great squares of white,
spreading out slowly, obliterated the cornfields. The very colour
of the ground was changed and darkened under the trampling of
horses. One column went towards the Nechanitz road, the other two
moved towards Klum; but after a few formations they halted again,
and some of these regiments dismounted and stood by their horses.
The Saxons, readily to be distinguished by their light blue, also
advanced parallel with the Prague road towards the top of the
slope. This was some time after eleven o’clock, when the Prussian
left and centre had visibly given way, though fighting with extreme
tenacity and fervour. The light cavalry, at the same time, or part
of them, advanced towards Klum in the centre, awaiting the moment
to deluge the plain with an exulting flood. But the time was not
come. The Prussians, reinforced, or calling in their second line
and reserves, came with a desperate impetus up the slopes on the
left and centre, and also developed a new attack on the left of
the Prague road, which looked like a black riband now and then as
the smoke was driven off by the wind. They were intent on turning
our left if possible, but they met with a stubborn and successful
resistance at that point. Soon afterwards, in the midst of a heavy
fall of rain, the cavalry made another advance, and when it cleared
the Austrian infantry were seen to have moved still further to the
left and centre, while the sound of the cannonade grew so deafening
that the Prussians must have been driven back beyond the position
they occupied when they began the action. Between half-past eleven
and twelve o’clock the Austrians were to all intents successful on
the centre and on its flanks, although the fury of the cannonade
and the incessant rattle of musketry all along the front, from the
front of Nechanitz to the plateau beyond Klum attested the severity
of the struggle and the obstinate resistance of the Prussians.
Probbis, another pretty village, was now in flames; three villages
burning at once, farmhouses adding their contingents to the fire
and smoke, caissons blowing up, shells bursting, and the slopes
and hill tops covered with grey and blue specs--each a man in
agony or in death. Again the cavalry moved onwards. This time one
division, in three bodies, crowned the ridge and formed near the
front line under the church, on the left of Klum, in the centre
and left of the position, and there they waited once more. But
now on the right the action awoke again, and, to our surprise, a
very heavy fire of musketry, comparatively close at hand, came
from the direction of Smirlintz; the Austrians on the crest of the
ridge moved uneasily, while many more stragglers than one cared
to see pressed down towards the railroad. Whatever the cause of
the agitation, the Prussians on the centre and left pressed their
attack with renewed vigour, and the contest which ensued was of
exceeding fierceness; but still the enemy did not prevail--the
Austrians not only held their ground, but repulsed the enemy
advanced against them, took their ground, and made prisoners. From
the left of Klum to the Prague road, and beyond it, all was fire
and smoke. The tumult of voices was dreadful, and such as is never
to be heard save in such awful agony of battle. The Austrians again
advanced a little nearer the big tree, and two batteries of reserve
artillery could be seen driving fast to the left to strengthen
the attack. But the Prussian reserves were once more called upon,
and from 12.30 till nearly 1 o’clock there was an artillery fire
from centre to left for six miles or more, which could not well
have been exceeded in any action of which history makes mention.
That ammunition was becoming needed in the advanced position was
evident from the motion of the trains of supply and reserve, and
we watched the cavalry with intense interest, as it seemed to
be the time for them to make an impression. The Prussians were
wavering. At 1 o’clock the Prussians, however, recovered some of
the ground on the right near the big tree. The Austrian artillery
began to fall back over the brow of the hill, and again battalions
of infantry came in sight and moved away obliquely towards the
centre. Still, no Prussians appeared in that direction, but they
were certainly forcing the Austrians back on the right. It might
have been expected that the reserves to the right would have been
sent up to hold the top of the slope, but I could not see it was
so. Many stragglers now appeared on the railway, the fields were
spotted with them; and now and then a shell bursting in or over
the infantry marching along the slope or the reserves, struck
them, or left a little pile of dead or struggling men in the voids
which the opening columns displayed. I confess the advance of the
Prussians in this direction appeared to me inexplicable and very
serious; for, although the left and centre of the Austrians might
be victorious, this movement threatened, by forcing back their
right, to cut them off from Konigsgratz--so, at least, was the
situation as viewed from the tower; but it is strange how different
a field of action appears from different points of view, as any one
may find out by riding from place to place on a field-day. However,
a General who saw what was visible to those in the tower would have
felt uneasiness and have turned his attention to fill the gap in
his line at the centre, and to drive back the Prussians who were
doubling up his right.