GENERAL DUNDAS LANDS ON THE NORTH EAST SIDE OF THE ISLAND ...
TRINITE TAKEN ... COLONEL CRADOCK ATTACKED, CAPTAIN M'EWEN killed
... GENERAL DUNDAS FORMS A JUNCTION WITH SIR CHARLES GREY ... MARCH
TOWARDS ST. PIERRE ... COLONEL CAMPBELL KILLED ... ST. PIERRE
ATTACKED BY SEA, AND TAKEN ... DESCRIPTION OF THAT TOWN.
When Commodore Thompson with his division (having on board Major General
Dundas and the second brigade) parted from the fleet on their voyage
from Barbadoes, he proceeded with the utmost expedition to the north
east part of the island; and on Feb. 5th arrived off the bay of Gallion.
Captain Faulknor in the Zebra led in, and placed himself along-side of
the battery on Point a Chaux, from whence he soon drove the enemy. The
Beaulieu, Captain Salisbury, and the Woolwich, Captain Parker, followed;
and the troops were landed without further opposition about a league
from the town of Trinite, which was situated on the further side of the
isthmus that formed the bay of Gallion. Here General Dundas halted for
that night. Early the next morning he began his march towards Trinite.
As he moved off from the ground he had occupied during the night, the
enemy annoyed him much by a brisk fire of musketry from the cane fields,
where a large body of them were concealed; from thence however they were
soon driven by the bayonet, which (as the Commander in Chief
observed[12]) in the hands of a gallant British soldier is the first of
weapons. In this business we had one artilleryman killed, and two
officers and three privates wounded. The General then continued his
march to La Bruen, a strong post situated on an eminence immediately
over the town of Trinite. The light infantry drove the enemy from this
post after an action of about fifteen minutes. We had two men killed and
seven or eight wounded, among which were two officers. The enemy's loss
was much greater. Early on the night of the 6th our troops took
possession of Fort Louis (and changed its name to Fort Dundas), and Fort
Bellgarde, a post that commanded the harbour of Trinite. Mons.
Bellgarde, general of the army composed of people of colour, finding
that we had taken possession of the forts, made a precipitate retreat
towards the mountains, having previously set fire to the town of
Trinite, the best part of which, together with a great quantity of
stores of all kinds, was consumed; but Commodore Thompson took
possession of the vessels in the harbour and road. In all these attacks
the seamen (under command of Captain Salisbury) bore a part, and by
their intrepidity and good conduct gained the esteem as well as
applause of the army.
[12] Vide Appendix, page 7.
On the evening of the 7th General Dundas proceeded with his brigade to
the attack of Gros Morne, where he was informed General Bellgarde was
strongly posted in considerable force; but on his arrival he found the
forts evacuated. Gros Morne is a situation of great importance, being
strongly fortified, and commanding the principal pass between the
northern and southern parts of the island, and famous for being the
rendezvous of the democrats during the revolution, previous to our
arrival. Besides the principal fort, there is a redoubt on either side,
about a mile distant, commanding the road leading to the fort. A
detachment of the queen's regiment and a party of the marines being left
to garrison Trinite, under command of Major Skerret, and the battalion
of the 64th to garrison Le Gros Morne, the remainder of the brigade
marched early in the morning of the 9th instant, and on the evening of
the same day took possession of a strong situation called Bruno, where
there had formerly been a fort, some of the guns of which were still
remaining: it lies about two leagues north east of Fort Bourbon, and
from it our army could see the enemy in their out-posts from that
fort[13]. After the troops had halted for some time, Colonel Cradock
with three companies of the second battalion of grenadiers was ordered
to advance and take possession of the post of Maltide, where a
considerable number of the enemy were assembled with their colours
flying; but on his approach they evacuated the place in haste. Of this
post our troops had the quiet possession that night, and all the next
day; but in the night between the 10th and 11th they were attacked by a
party of the enemy, commanded by Mons. Bellgarde, amounting to about
eight hundred men, who, having crept up under cover of the canes and
underwood, commenced a heavy fire on our troops, who, though rather
taken by surprise, charged the enemy in their turn with such vigour and
determined bravery, as forced them sorely to repent their temerity, and
retreat towards Fort Bourbon with considerable loss. In this action
Captain M'Ewen of the thirty-eighth regiment and seven privates were
killed, and nineteen wounded. Next day a great quantity of fire arms
were picked up, which the enemy had left behind them in their
precipitate retreat. In the evening of the 11th the post was reinforced
by three companies of grenadiers and part of the second battalion of
light infantry; but that night all was quiet. Early on the morning of
the 12th the grenadiers were ordered back to Bruno, and the battalion of
the sixth regiment, commanded by Major Scott, took their place at
Maltide, and the wounded were sent on board the hospital ship.
[13] About this time the army had nearly experienced an irreparable
loss. As General Dundas was writing in his tent, a notorious
villain, of the name of Barbarose, presented himself at the door of
the tent, demanding to speak with the General, who, to drive him
away, called to the centinel to "bayonet the fellow;" on which, in
his fright, he dropped a dagger well oiled; and on being seized,
proved to have been the assassin of a French royalist.
As the bay and harbour of Fort Royal were now completely opened to our
shipping by the capture of Pigeon Island, the Commander in Chief moved
forward on the 14th from La Riviere Sallee to Bruno with the remainder
of the first brigade, a principal part of which had, under General
Prescott, reached that place the day before; having previously concerted
the attack of St. Pierre with General Dundas, that general marched on
the evening of the 13th from Bruno with the second battalion of
grenadiers, the thirty-third and fortieth light companies, and the
sixty-fifth regiment, to Gros Morne, where he halted that night, and
early on the 14th marched to Trinite; from whence he dispatched a sloop
with the packs and blankets of his army round towards la Basse Pointe,
in order to expedite his march toward St. Pierre, the capital of the
island, the capture of which was now his object. From Gros Morne General
Dundas had detached Colonel Campbell through the woods by Bois le Buc
with the second battalion of light infantry and sixty-fifth regiment to
Montigne. At five o'clock in the evening of the 14th General Dundas
marched from Trinite (being joined by a company of the second or queen's
regiment, commanded by the Honourable Captain Ramsay): after marching
all night he halted for three hours; and soon after day-break on the
morning of the 15th, having passed the river Capot, arrived at the
heights of Calbass, after a march of thirty miles over a rough
mountainous country. The fatigue of such a march in a tropical climate
can only be conceived by those who have experienced it: harassed and
worn down, it was necessary to give the troops some rest before they
attempted to ascend the steep and craggy mountain, over the top of which
was their road, commanded by a battery, where the enemy appeared in
great force, with their colours flying. The spirit of our soldiers
however overcame all difficulties, and they ascended the heights with
such alacrity, that the enemy, alarmed at their determined conduct,
evacuated the fort (fortunately for our men), without making any
resistance; as, by the time they reached the summit of the mountain,
they were so exhausted, that a steady opposition might have proved fatal
to them. From hence (the post having previously been destroyed by the
enemy, who had broken the guns and scattered the ammunition) General
Dundas proceeded about four miles further, to a place called Morne
Rouge: here he halted, and shortly after saw Colonel Campbell at Post au
Pin, half a mile short of Montigne, under a heavy fire from five or six
hundred of the enemy, strongly posted. General Dundas instantly pushed
forward his advanced guard, under command of the Hon. Captain Ramsay,
who gained the summit by extraordinary exertions, fired on the enemy, at
that time engaged with Colonel Campbell, and silenced their fire; and,
when joined by the second battalion of grenadiers, took possession of
Montigne, where he was reinforced by two companies of grenadiers. The
major general took post himself on Morne Rouge, and visiting Colonel
Campbell's column, found he had been attacked at half past nine o'clock
in the morning, and the enemy being within twenty yards of the fortieth
light company, at the head of which he was, had charged them with
bayonets, when, to the great grief of the whole army, he fell by a ball
through his head from the musket of a mulatto, who had concealed himself
behind a bush till the Colonel came close up to it. Colonel Campbell
was a man high in estimation as a military character, and no less
respected for his private worth, being sincere in his friendships and
steady in his attachments. When General Dundas arrived at Morne Rouge,
the enemy were on their march to re-attack our troops; but the
appearance of our grenadiers so near them, caused them to relinquish
their plan at that time: but in the evening of the same day the General
observed bodies of the enemy moving towards his front at Morne Rouge,
and forming under a small redoubt near that post. The thirty-third,
thirty-fourth, and forty-fourth companies of grenadiers, with a field
piece, and Captain Whitworth of the artillery (the whole under the
command of Major Forbes), were ordered to advance, when a smart
engagement commenced. The enemy were covered by a brisk fire from two
field pieces on Morne Bellvieu, a strongly situated battery immediately
in their rear. The action continued for about half an hour, when the
enemy gave way, and during the night abandoned the fort, leaving two
field pieces behind them. From the number of graves observed the
following day (corroborated by the accounts of some prisoners), their
loss must have been considerable; ours consisted of one officer
(Lieutenant Keating of the thirty-third regiment) and two privates
wounded, and one private killed.--At two o'clock the following morning
the sixteenth, thirty-fifth, and fifty-fifth companies of grenadiers
were ordered to advance and storm the battery upon Morne Bellvieu, and
were to be supported (if necessary) by the ninth and sixty-fifth
companies. All their flints were taken out, the bayonet alone to be the
soldier's defence. However, the enemy had been so roughly handled the
day before, that they thought fit to decamp during the night, and our
troops took possession of the fort without any opposition. Our army had
now arrived within two leagues of St. Pierre, from whence by day-break
the enemy sent a flag of truce, requiring three days to consider of a
capitulation; to which General Dundas returned an answer, that instead
of three days, he would allow them only three hours; and if they did not
surrender within that time, he would advance against the town. The
fifty-fifth company of grenadiers being left in possession of Bellvieu,
the remainder of the battalion moved on towards St. Pierre. In the mean
time the Admiral, Sir John Jervis, to co-operate with the land forces
under General Dundas, had ordered the following ships to sail for the
bay of St. Pierre, the Asia, Veteran, Santa Margarita, Blonde,
Rattlesnake, Zebra, and Nautilus, with the Vesuvius bomb. On board of
this fleet Colonel Symes had embarked with three light companies, and
Major Maitland with a detachment of the fiftieth regiment; Colonel Myers
with five companies of the first battalion of grenadiers, and five
companies of the third battalion of light infantry, (for the same
purpose of co-operating with General Dundas) had marched from Camp la
Coste towards Trinite.
The fleet on their arrival in the bay prepared for instant operation.
Colonel Symes, with the troops and seamen who were to land with him,
had, previous to their entering the bay, embarked on board of the Zebra
and Nautilus sloops, and some other vessels, which, being small, could
get nearer the shore, thereby rendering the debarkation of the troops
much less difficult.
In the evening of Feb. 16th they began to work towards the north part of
the bay, beyond the Jesuits' College, the other men of war standing
towards the town to cover them. About eleven o'clock the vessels with
troops and seamen on board were under a cross fire from two batteries of
red hot shot, which happily did them no damage, though they fell round
and near them. Captain Harvey in the Santa Margarita, perceiving the
troops were likely to be much annoyed, went close under the guns of the
most considerable of the two batteries, which he silenced; and about
four in the morning of the 17th the troops and seamen made good their
landing, and found that the enemy had left the other battery. During the
night the Vesuvius bomb did much execution with her shells, many of them
falling in the town, to which it set fire in some places: the fire
however was soon extinguished. The batteries in the town and on the
adjacent hills kept up a constant fire of shot and shells on the men of
war, as they advanced towards the town, which was returned with great
spirit. The Santa Margarita was struck with a shell, which fortunately
neither fired her, nor did any considerable damage. Colonel Symes on
landing advanced with the troops towards St. Pierre, which the enemy
evacuated on his approach, leaving their guns primed and loaded, and
their colours flying, which were hauled down by our people, and the
British union hoisted. About ten the whole of the troops and seamen had
marched into the town. No man was suffered to quit his ranks, nor was
the least injury done to any of the inhabitants, who, with the women and
children, sat at their doors and windows to see our army march in, the
same as when troops pass through a town in England. While our men were
drawn up in the market place, a flag of truce came in from General
Dundas, who with his army was on the hills near the town, and was on his
march to attack it. This flag was in answer to one sent by the enemy to
him, offering to capitulate. The officer who brought the flag was
agreeably surprised to find on his entering the town that it was already
in the possession of his countrymen. In the evening General Dundas with
the army marched in; and having taken possession of the
government-house, he instantly established quiet and good order in the
town. As our troops marched into St. Pierre a drummer was discovered in
the act of plundering one of the peaceable inhabitants, for which he was
instantly hung up at the gate of the Jesuits' College, by order of the
provost marshal. In the evening the seamen embarked on board their
respective ships. The men of war having anchored in the bay, were busily
employed in taking an account of and unbending the sails of the
different ships in the harbour. Unfortunately at day-break of this
morning, when the town surrendered, a schooner got out of the south side
of the bay, in which it was reported there was a considerable quantity
of money and some people of distinction. She passed within gun-shot of
the Santa Margarita, who (for some reason or other) did not fire at her
to bring her to. The next morning the Santa Margarita sailed to Fort
Royal bay with Mons. Au Cane[14], the mayor of St. Pierre, and Abbe
Maunier, the vicar general of the island, and other prisoners.
[14] On our first arrival at the island of Martinique, the
Commanders in Chief dispatched Captain Mason (aid de camp to the
General) bearing a flag of truce, with a summons to the town of St.
Pierre. Au Cane, the mayor, met him on the quay on horseback,
attended by a numerous body of armed men, with a field piece; &c.
and instead of reading the letter and summons, dismissed him rudely
with threats.
St. Pierre is a long handsome town, situated on the shore of an open
bay, and flanked by a strong battery at either end; also defended by two
redoubts on the hills which overhang the town. The surrounding country
rises in a succession of hills beautifully variegated with woods and
sugar plantations; and near the town are some fine gardens, which before
the revolution had been kept up in a superior stile of elegance and
convenience. Each street of this beautiful town is watered by a clear
stream from the mountains, running rapidly down the middle, which adds
greatly to the health as well as convenience of the place. The streets
in general are narrow and rough paved, but very regular; the houses are
built of a fine stone like free-stone, the lower apartments of which
were in general handsomely, and sometimes superbly, furnished.
There are two convents of nuns, one dedicated to St. Ursuline, the other
called Les Blancs. The Ursuline convent has very beautiful gardens,
situated at the declivity of a hill, which rises immediately behind the
town: it was in a wretched state when we took it, the poor nuns having
been deprived of their revenues by the revolutionists. Near this convent
is a neat church, whose high altar, as well as pavement, is of good
marble. Not far from the church is the opera house, which, from its high
roof, is a very conspicuous object. Towards the south end of the town is
the church of Notre Dame de bon Porte du Mouillage (of which Pere
Maunier, one of the chiefs of the revolution, was cure). It is a
handsome building: round the grand altar (which is of polished and well
sculptured marble) are several tolerable paintings of saints and the
Virgin Mary, as large as life. Over the bridge, at the north end of the
town, is another large church, and several others, small and mean in
their outward appearance and inside decorations. I was informed that
most of these churches were well endowed before the revolution, and the
religious houses were amply provided for, as is the case in all parts of
the new world where the Roman Catholic religion is professed.
At the northern extremity of St. Pierre is a spacious handsome house,
with good offices, stables, and gardens, which formerly belonged to the
Jesuits, in whose district the town and surrounding country is situated.
The Capuchins and Dominicans had the two other parts of the island.--The
government-house, which on our taking it was inhabited by Au Cane, the
mayor, is conveniently situated near the centre of the town, and was
formed for the residence of the chief magistrate or governor of the
island. The rooms are large and lofty, and there is a good garden at the
back of the house, in which, amongst a variety of fruit trees, was a
fine bread-fruit tree: how it came there, I could not learn, unless
some French ships had paid a visit to the islands in the South Sea, for
the same purpose that our ships of late have made that voyage; but then
I think more of the trees would have been seen in this and the
neighbouring French islands.--Towards the southern end of the town is a
large and commodious hospital, which had good revenues attached to it,
and was well regulated and attended. This we found of infinite use for
our sick and wounded, who were far better provided for here than they
could be in the hospital ships, or with the army.