The cause of this war was the predatory incursions of a body of
Mussulman fanatics, and rebels, driven from Bengal at the time of the
Mutiny, who occupied the town of Mulkah, on one of the lower spurs of
the Mahabun, a ridge situated on the right bank of the Indus, about
forty miles from Attock. A force of about 5600 men of all arms was
assembled in the Eusufyze country on October, 1863, under the command of
General Chamberlain. On October 19th., with little opposition, he took
possession of the Umbeyla Pass, and established outposts on his flanks
in the mountains on both sides, strengthened with breastworks as far as
possible. The most advanced post on the left flank was called the
“Eagle’s Nest,” and that on the right the “Crag Picket,” and both posts
were invisible from the camp. On October 25th. the enemy made an attack
on the right, but were driven back by Colonel Keyes, and lost one of
their standards. The next day a fierce assault was made upon the
“Eagle’s Nest” post, and after four hours hard fighting the Hill-men
were repulsed with severe loss, but nearly half of the defenders were
killed or wounded. In the early morning of the 30th., the “Crag Picket”
being held by only twelve men, was surprised and taken by the enemy, but
it was splendidly recaptured, after a desperate hand to hand conflict,
by a small party of Pathans, led by Colonel Keyes (who was wounded), and
Lieut. Fosbery, who, for his gallant conduct, received the Victoria
Cross.
In the meantime an attack had been made on the front of the camp, which
was defeated, the assailants suffering heavily. The bodies of the
British slain were found shockingly mutilated by the enemy, and from
that time no quarter was given on either side.[145] On the night of
November 12th., the “Crag Picket,” held by 160 men, under Colonel
Brownlow, the successful defender of the “Eagle’s Nest,” was again
furiously assailed by about 3000 of the enemy, who made repeated
attempts to storm the works. In spite of heavy loss they made a
determined attack on both sides of the weakest angle of the post, pulled
down the wall, hurling the stones on the defenders, and gained
possession of part of the defences. Colonel Brownlow called for
volunteers, drove the enemy out, rebuilt the wall, and held the post
till morning. Shortly after daybreak the garrison was relieved by a
party of Punjaubees under Captain Davidson. Before they were properly in
position the Hill-men made another assault, killed Davidson and many of
his men, and captured the post, but it was retaken shortly afterwards by
the 101st. Bengal Fusiliers led by Colonel Salusbury. On November 18th.
there was more severe fighting, and on the next day, the enemy,
reinforced by tribesmen from Swat, Bonair, and other places, made
repeated and desperate attempts to recapture the “Crag Picket,” which
was held by 200 men of the 101st. Fusiliers and 20th. Punjaub Infantry.
After a hard struggle for four hours the defenders were driven out, and
for the third time the “Crag Picket” fell into the hands of the enemy.
In this affair two officers and a large number of men were killed.
General Chamberlain ordered the 71st. Highlanders to the front, which
regiment, led by himself and Colonel Hope, without a check, carried the
position at the point of the bayonet, and held it; but both the leaders
were severely wounded in the conflict. General Chamberlain being thus
disabled, General Garvock took the command, advanced against the enemy,
captured and burnt the village of Laloo, and drove the tribesmen back
into their valleys.
On December 16th. the troops descended from the hills, destroyed the
village of Umbeyla, and offered battle to their opponents on level
ground. Most of them declined the encounter, but a body of 250 Ghazees
made a frantic charge on the column, and were slain to a man, and with
this action the Umbeyla expedition came to an end.[146] In this brief
but sharp campaign of two months, 19 officers and 238 men were killed,
and 47 officers, and 670 men wounded. For his services General
Chamberlain was created a K.C.B. The British regiments employed in these
operations were the 1st. Battalion 7th. Fusiliers, 71st., 93rd., and
101st. Fusiliers.
BHOOTAN.
1864–65–66.
Bhootan is situated in the north-east of India, and comprises the almost
unknown and mountainous region lying between the Himalayas and the
British Provinces. The inhabitants are a different race from all others
in Hindostan, and apparently of Mongolian origin. They profess Buddhism,
and are ruled by a temporal and spiritual Governor, known as the Deb and
Dhurma Rajahs. The Dhurma Rajah has the most extensive power, and is
always a member of the priesthood. The Bhootanese had made raids into
British territory for years, and refusing to release their captives or
to agree to any terms of pacification, the Indian Government determined
to annex a portion of their frontier and to put an end to their outrages
for the future. In November, 1864, a field force was organised in three
columns, under the command of Brigadier Mulcaster, who operated on the
right from the Assam frontier, and Brigadier Dunsford, C.B., who crossed
the Teesta river and advanced on the left. On December 3rd. General
Dunsford pushed up the Ambiok Valley and captured the post of
Dhalimcote, with trifling loss. Another place called Chamoorchee,
containing a monastery full of sacred books, was assaulted and taken on
the 1st. of January, 1865. In the meantime a column under Colonel Watson
had marched across the Dooar and taken possession of a fort called Buxa,
and General Dunsford having established posts at the foot of the hills,
and completed his arrangements for the annexation of the country lying
between Dhalimcote and the frontier near Darjeeling, returned to his
camp in the plains. The force under General Mulcaster, crossed the
Brahmapootra, advanced up the Darungah Pass and captured the important
hill post of Dewangiri at its summit. This place contained three great
temples, situated on a ridge nearly 2000 feet above the level of the
plains below. A small garrison was left in possession and the annexation
of the Dooars was erroneously supposed to be completed.
The Government had issued orders for the breaking up of the Dooar Field
Force early in February, and arrangements were made for the civil rule
of the newly annexed territory, in districts, by deputy-commissioners.
But all this time the Bhootanese had been actively preparing for a
general attack upon the whole line of posts from Chamoorchee to
Dewangiri. Before daybreak on the morning of January 30th a furious
attack was made on the garrison of the latter place; but Colonel
Campbell, in command, as soon as the enemy could be seen, charged upon
and routed them. The Bhootanese though repulsed, harassed the garrison
by destroying their supply of water, and at length established
themselves at the mouth of the Darungah Pass, cutting off Campbell’s
communication with Assam. The garrison, not being strong enough to
dislodge the enemy, and being also short of ammunition, Colonel Campbell
evacuated his post in the night,[147] and after many difficulties and
dangers reached head-quarters. Buxa, and the other posts were attacked
in a similar manner, but in most cases the Bhootanese were beaten off,
and the garrisons as far as possible strengthened. The 55th. regiment,
with some companies of the 80th., and two batteries of Royal Artillery
were ordered to the front, and with some regiments of Punjaub Infantry
marched for the north-east frontier, under the command of
Brigadier-General Tombs, V.C., and Brigadier Fraser Tytler. On March
15th., the latter officer with his brigade recaptured Balla, and Buxa
and Chamoorchee a few days afterwards, with small loss. The brigade
under General Tombs marched to recapture Dewangiri, fighting their way
through passes which the enemy had fortified with stockades. The troops
arrived before the place on April 1st., and Dewangiri was carried by
storm the next morning. Being untenable during the rainy season, the
buildings were destroyed, and on April 7th. the force began its return
to India. General Tytler fixed his head-quarters at Gowhatti, and a
series of posts were established from Lower Assam to Darjeeling, which
for the time effectually curbed the Bhootanese. But though defeated they
were not subdued, and in 1866 the Indian Government assembled a force of
about 7000 men, to enter Bhootan in two columns, and to thoroughly
reduce the inhabitants to submission. The troops had scarcely commenced
their march, when the Deb Rajah of Bhootan, overawed by these
preparations, granted all that was demanded of him, and concluded a
treaty with Colonel Bruce, the civil commissioner. The British troops
that took part in these operations were Royal Artillery, the 55th. and
80th. Regiments.
LOOSHAI.
DECEMBER, 1871–FEBRUARY, 1872.
The Looshais, a predatory tribe inhabiting the hilly country to the
north-east of Chittagong, had long been a trouble to the Indian
Government. Their constant raids on villages under British
protection,[148] which they plundered and destroyed, was the cause of an
expedition being sent against them in December, 1871. A force of three
regiments, with Artillery and Sappers, and a Coolie Corps, under the
command of General Bourchier, operated from Cachar, and a smaller
column, under General Brownlow, from Chittagong. The enemy, armed with
old muskets, bows and arrows, spears, and knives, showed a bold front,
and their mode of fighting in their dense jungles and trackless hills
was much in their favour.
But General Bourchier steadily advanced among steep and wooded hills, by
rugged paths winding along the face of precipices, capturing village
after village by storm, and destroying them with the stores of grain
they contained, till the Looshais begged for a cessation of hostilities.
This was granted, but the enemy suddenly resumed the offensive, and
after a few more skirmishes, in one of which the General was wounded,
the stronghold of Poiboi, the Looshai leader, situated on a hill 8,500
feet in height, was taken and burnt; and the head men of the tribe
agreed unconditionally to the terms of peace dictated to them by General
Bourchier.
The column returned to Cachar in March, 1872, and was broken up.[149] No
British troops were engaged in this affair, but the medal and clasp were
given to the Native regiments and their European officers.
PERAK.
NOVEMBER, 1875–MARCH, 1876.
Perak is situated on the west side of the Malay peninsula, to the south
of the Wellesley Province. Being the scene of almost constant strife
between the Chinese and Malays, which often disturbed the peace of the
adjoining British territory, culminating in a civil war between
claimants to the succession as Sultan, Col. Sir W. D. Jervois, Governor
of the Straits Settlements, in 1875, accepted a surrender of the
sovereignty from Ismail, one of the claimants, and appointed Mr. W. J.
Birch, as British Resident in Perak. For some time all went on well, but
in November, Ismail, weary of the restraint of the Resident, and
intending to seize the throne for himself, attacked the Residency at the
head of a band of maurauders, tore down the British flag, and murdered
Mr. Birch in his bath, afterwards shamefully mutilating his body. Most
of the native rajahs joined Ismail, and an attack on a stockade held by
one of them, by Captain Innes, R.E., with a handful of the 10th.
regiment and some Sepoys, was repulsed, and Innes himself killed.
The news of this disaster reaching Singapore, General Colborne, with
about three hundred men of the 80th. regiment, set out at once for
Perak; artillery was sent from Calcutta, and a squadron consisting of
the “Modeste” corvette, and the gunboats “Thistle,” “Fly,” and
“Ringdove,” came from Hong Kong. An advance was made up the Perak river
by a small party of troops, and a Naval Brigade under Captain Whitlaw of
the 10th. regiment, and Commander Stirling, of H.M.S. “Thistle,” which
captured and destroyed the fortified village of Passir Sala, the hold of
the Maharajah Lela, and with other things gained possession of six guns,
a quantity of small arms, and Mr. Birch’s books and papers.
General Colborne, commanding in Perak, on hearing that Ismail and Lela
were at a town called Kinta, marched through the dense jungle against
them, storming stockades in his route, and capturing Kinta, which he
occupied with his troops. Ismail and the Maharajah fled into the jungle.
On January 4th, 1876, Brigadier-General Ross, with a column composed
chiefly of a detachment of the 3rd. Buffs and Goorkhas, attacked and
stormed Kotah Lama, the stronghold of the Malays, but in the affair
Major Hawkins was killed. Kotah Lama, which contained large stores of
rice, was burned, and the troops returned to Qualla Kangsa. On the 19th.
Ismail was attacked and routed with loss, seventeen elephants with all
his baggage being taken; and after much wandering in the jungle, on
March 22nd. he himself was captured and sent to Singapore.
The war was ended, and Perak has since remained under British
protection. The success of these operations were greatly due “to the aid
given by the Naval Brigades[150] as rocket and gun parties, and in
managing the country boats, which alone could be used.”
The British troops engaged were: Royal Artillery, 1st. Battalion of the
3rd. Buffs, and detachments of the 10th. and 80th. regiments.
JOWAKI.
1877–78.
The disturbances in the Malay Peninsular were scarcely settled when the
Indian Government was compelled to despatch an expedition against the
Jowakis, a ferocious tribe of the Afridis, occupying the hills on the
Afghan border to the west of the Indus. During the months of October and
November, 1877, they swept down from their mountains on the plains
below, slaughtered the inhabitants, burnt their villages, and carried
away their cattle and property. In one of these raids they had the
daring to attack a detachment of troops guarding stores near the
frontier, though a few months previously they had been severely
chastised by a small force sent against them under Sir R. Pollock. To
put an end to these continued incursions, and to reduce these
freebooters to submission, a regular force was organised under the
command of Generals Keyes and Ross, the former being Brigadier. General
Keyes with the main body advanced through the defiles, attacked the
Jowakis, destroyed their crops and walled villages, and blew up many of
their fortified towers. On the 1st of December he reached Jummoo, the
principal stronghold of the tribe; a town situated in a fertile and
cultivated valley, watered by a fine stream. The town was captured with
trifling loss, the Jowakis being taken by surprise, abandoned their
goods and dwellings and fled to the mountains. Here General Keyes for a
while halted, while the troops scoured the adjacent valleys, taking away
the cattle and burning the villages.
About the end of January, 1878, the head men of the Jowakis came into
the camp and made overtures for peace; but on learning the terms on
which it would be granted, declined to accept them, and withdrew.
Hostilities were resumed, and on February 15th., a body of troops,
consisting almost entirely of cavalry, inflicted a crushing defeat on
the tribesmen, which effectually dispersed them, and resulted in their
unconditional surrender. The British regiments employed in this
expedition were the 9th. and 51st. Foot, and 4th. Battalion Rifle
Brigade.
NAGA.
1875–1880.
In January, 1875, a party of about seventy Sepoys and Coolies, under the
command of Lieutenant Holcombe, were sent by the Indian Government to
survey a wild tract of country in the north-east part of Assam,
inhabited by the Nagas, an uncivilized race, whose name is derived from
_Nag_, the Hindustani word for a snake. As their name implies, these
people are very treacherous, and regardless of human life; but theft
they regard with detestation. Clothing they entirely dispense with, but
fantastically tattoo their totally naked bodies. A premeditated and
sudden attack was made by them on the surveying party, and Lieutenant
Holcombe, and the whole of his men were killed on the spot, or severely
wounded. A force, under Colonel Nuthall, was at once dispatched to
punish the tribe for this massacre, and after seven days’ march the
troops reached the jungle-covered hills of the Nagas. There was very
little fighting, and with the loss of one man, the villages and stores
of grain of the enemy were destroyed, and their flocks and cattle
captured. The effects of this lesson lasted for a long time, but about
the close of the year 1879, the Nagas, of Konoma, renewed their
outrages, and murdered Mr. Damant, the political agent in charge of the
Naga Hills, and were again severely chastised in January, 1880, by a
column commanded by Brigadier-General Nation.
No European troops were engaged in either of these expeditions, but the
medal and clasp were given to the Native regiments employed, and their
British officers.
BURMA.
1885–87, AND 1887–89.
The relations between the Indian Government and Burma had for some time
been unsatisfactory, but in 1885, Thebaw, the despotic and extravagant
King of Burma, finding his treasury exhausted, in an endeavour to
replenish it, entered into fruitless negotiations with the French. He
then began to extort money on different pretexts from the “Bombay and
Burma Trading Company,” and on the agents of the Company refusing to pay
the blackmail demanded from them, they were harassed and plundered, and
at last fired upon by some of the King’s troops. Remonstrances having
proved to be useless, the British representative was instructed to break
off the negotiations, and an ultimatum was presented to the King, which
embodied the British demands, one of them being that a British agent
should be received at Mandalay. Thebaw replied by a proclamation, in
which he stated that the British had made ridiculous proposals which he
could not accept, and called on his subjects to fight in defence of
their country and religion. He further declared his intention to conquer
and annex the country of the “barbarians.”
An expeditionary force was dispatched to Burma under the command of
General Prendergast, who arrived at Thayetmyo November 14th. A British
proclamation declaring the dethronement of King Thebaw was issued to the
Burmese people, and the first hostile act was the capture of one of the
King’s war vessels by two armed launches from H.M.S. “Turquoise,” after
a smart encounter. General Prendergast advanced up the Irrawaddy, and on
November 16th. shelled a position which the Burmese had fortified on the
left bank of the river, and which they abandoned on the landing of the
troops. Next day, another position at Minhla, was attacked and carried
by storm, after a contest of three hours, by three regiments of Native
Infantry, with small loss, and General Prendergast marched for
Mandalay.[151] On November 26th. he reached Ava when he was met by an
envoy from Thebaw, requesting an armistice, and terms of peace. The
General replied that the only terms he could offer were the surrender of
the King, his army, and Mandalay.
The following day the messenger returned with orders from Thebaw to
accede to all demands. Ava at once surrendered, the garrison laid down
their arms, and on November 28th. Mandalay was occupied by the British
troops without opposition. The day after, the King surrendered to
General Prendergast at Mandalay, and with his queen, and about seventy
members of his court, was put on board a steamer and sent to Rangoon.
Soon after he was removed to a place of security in British India, and
on January 1st., 1886, Lord Dufferin, Viceroy of India, announced the
annexation of Upper Burma to the British Empire.
But Burma for a long time continued in a very unsettled state. The
regular Burmese army for the most part had been disarmed, but swarms of
“dacoits,” or native insurgents, spread over the country, and encounters
between them and the British troops were of constant occurrence. A few
weeks after the annexation there were skirmishes with dacoits at Sagaing
and Kaddoo; and in April a daring attempt was made to burn Mandalay, the
town being fired in four places, and the walled city in two. Hundreds of
houses were destroyed, and the incendiaries escaped with little loss.
The same month, a small force of two hundred men, under Captain Wace,
had a sharp encounter with dacoits, near Bhamo, and was obliged to
retreat; and on June 12th. in an affair at Salen, Captain Durnford of
the 8th. King’s regiment, was killed. On the 26th. of the same month, in
an engagement near Mingyan, Lieutenant Shubrick was slain; and on July
19th., Lieutenant King, with a detachment of the Welsh Fusiliers, at
Shwebo, attacked and defeated a body of eight hundred insurgents with
loss, taking one hundred and eighteen prisoners.
General Sir Herbert Macpherson, V.C., who had succeeded General
Prendergast in the chief command in Burma, died of fever at Prome,
October 20th., and General Sir F. Roberts proceeded from India and took
the command.
During the month of November there was some sharp fighting. Colonel
Lockhart assaulted and captured the camp of an insurgent chief, called
the Kemendine Prince, who escaped; and on the 22nd., Colonel Holt of the
2nd. Queen’s regiment, attacked and carried the strong Burmese position
of Puzan Myang, at the point of the bayonet, the Burmese leader being
among the slain.
On New Year’s day, 1887, a party commanded by Major Jeffreys, Connaught
Rangers, attacked the Kemendine Prince at Meiktela, killing him and
forty of his followers, but the desultory warfare still continued.
Another dacoit leader, called Boshway, gave considerable trouble. His
camp was attacked and captured by a party under Captain Golightly, 60th.
Rifles on January 30th., but Boshway and most of his men escaped. His
good fortune at length deserted him.
In the month of October following, Major Harvey, 24th. regiment, with a
party of Mounted Infantry, after a forced march of fifty miles, made a
sudden dash on his camp, killed Boshway and dispersed his band. The same
month, Major Kennedy, Hyderabad Contingent, and Captain Beville,
Assistant Commissioner, were killed while leading an attack upon a
village occupied by dacoits. During the whole of the succeeding year,
1888, this guerrilla warfare was carried on, and the British troops were
worn out by incessant skirmishing, and the privations they endured in
scouring fever-haunted jungles in pursuit of dacoits, often with but
little success. At the end of the year a small force of one hundred
Mounted Infantry, one hundred of the Rifle Brigade, and about three
hundred Native Infantry and Sappers, commanded by Brigadier-General
Collett, was sent against a tribe called the Red Karens, who with their
chief Sawlapaw had given much trouble. On January 9th., 1889, Sawlon,
the chief town of the Karens, was captured, and Sawlapaw fled. In the
same month, Lieutenant W. H. Nugent in a daring attempt to carry a
dacoit stockade, with but sixteen men of the 17th. Regiment, was killed.
About the end of January, a column composed of a company of the 37th.
regiment, and three hundred Sikhs and Goorkhas with two guns, was
despatched against the Kachyins and Lepu tribes, in the north-east of
Upper Burma. After some weeks of toilsome marching and skirmishing,
Khama, the chief town of the Lepu tribe was captured and destroyed, and
the troops returned.
Upper Burma is still far from being in a quiescent state, and affairs
with dacoits and hill tribes seem to be almost perpetual.
The European regiments which served in Burma[152] in 1885–87 were Royal
Artillery, 2nd. Queen’s, 8th. King’s, 13th. Somersetshire, 21st.
Fusiliers, 23rd. Welsh Fusiliers, 24th. South Wales Borderers, 51st.
Yorkshire, 67th. Hampshire, 104th. Munster Fusiliers and Rifle Brigade.
In 1887–89—Royal Artillery, 9th. Norfolk, 17th. Leicester, 37th.
Hampshire and Rifle Brigade. The Native troops in the Expedition
were—4th. Punjaub, 81st. Bombay Mountain Batteries, 7th. Bengal Cavalry,
1st. Madras and 1st. Bombay Lancers, 3rd. Hyderabad and 2nd. Madras
Cavalry, eight companies Bengal, Madras, and Bombay Sappers and Miners,
1st., 2nd., 5th., 11th., 12th., 13th., 15th., 16th., 18th., 26th.,
27th., and 43rd. Bengal Infantry, 3rd. Goorkhas, 1st. Madras Pioneers;
3rd., 12th., 13th., 15th., 16th., 17th., 21st., 23rd., 25th., and 27th.
Madras Infantry, 2nd. and 3rd. Hyderabad Infantry, 1st., 5th., 7th.,
23rd., 25th., and 27th. Bombay Infantry.
SIKKIM.
1888.
The Thibetians having been for some time endeavouring to annex Sikkim, a
state lying between Nepaul and Bhootan, on the south-eastern slope of
the Himalayas; and treating the remonstrances of the Indian Government
as evidences of want of courage and ability to encounter them; in March,
1888, a field force was organised to expel them from the state, and
bring the dispute to a conclusion. The force consisted of two companies
of the 95th., 2nd. Derbyshire, 32nd. Bengal Pioneers, Goorkhas, etc.; in
all about 2000 men, commanded by Colonel T. Graham, R.A. The operations
lasted from March, with but little result, to September 24th, when
Colonel Graham attacked the Thibetan army of nearly 10,000 men, posted
on the Tukola Ridge, and completely routed it. Colonel Sir B. Bromhead
was wounded, and the total loss of the victors was very small. This
engagement practically ended the Thibetan campaign. A bronze medal and
clasp, similar to that in silver issued to the troops, was given to all
recognised followers who accompanied them.
HAZARA.
1888.
The operations against the Thibetans were not finished, when an
expedition was despatched against the fierce and warlike tribe of the
Azokais, inhabiting the Black Mountain, a range lying to the north of
Hazara, between the Indus and Cashmere. The tribesmen had been severely
punished for their raids, and their villages burnt, by a force commanded
by General Sir Thomas Wilde, in October, 1868,[153] which reduced them
to sue for peace, and to give hostages for their good behaviour in the
future. For many years they remained quiet, but on June 18th., 1888, a
body of them attacked a surveying party under Major Battye and Captain
Urmston, and massacred the two officers with several of their followers.
To chastise the tribe for this outrage, the Hazara, or Black Mountain
Field Force, comprising the 15th. Bengal Cavalry, a detachment of Royal
Artillery, and a Hazara Mountain Battery, 5th. Northumberland Fusiliers,
18th. Royal Irish, 12th. Suffolk, 107th. Sussex, 78th. Highlanders,
2nd., 3rd., 14th., and 45th. Sikhs, 5th. Goorkhas, 4th., 24th., and
29th. Punjaub Infantry, 34th. Pioneers, and 40th. Bengal Native
Infantry, about 8000 men, all told, commanded by Major-General McQueen,
and Brigadier-Generals Channer, V.C., and Galbraith, made an entrance
into the enemy’s country on October 3rd. Two days afterwards General
McQueen encountered and defeated the mountaineers near Surmulbutspur,
with the loss of Captain Beley, killed, and Colonel Crookshank, who died
of wounds received in the action. On November 2nd., a column under
General Channer, principally composed of the Northumberland Fusiliers
and Khyberees, assaulted and carried the Gorapher Peak, 9,500 feet above
the level of the sea, the most elevated position ever carried by British
troops, with the loss of one man killed and one wounded. Convinced of
the uselessness of further resistance, on November 5th., the tribesmen
unconditionally submitted, and the troops commenced their return march
to Oghi.
CHIN-LUSHAI.
1889–90.
The tribes inhabiting the Chin Hills and the Lushai country situated
between our Indian and Burmese frontier, had for some years occasionally
made incursions into British territory, culminating, on February 3rd.,
1888, in an attack on a surveying party under Lieutenant Stewart, 100th.
Leinster, in which that officer and two of his men were killed, after a
gallant resistance. A punitive expedition was formed, which was divided
into two columns, one operating from Burmah against the Chin tribes,
under Brigadier-General Symons, in chief command; and the other,
commanded by Brigadier Tregear, advanced from Chittagong against the
Lushais in November, 1889. The tribesmen made feeble opposition, but as
the troops were unprovided with tents, owing to the difficulty of
transport, they suffered very severely from sickness, both Europeans and
Natives; the Punjaub Coolies suffering most of all. The jungle, through
which the troops had to make roads, was very unhealthy; a dense greenish
mist being almost always prevalent, and the vegetation soaking wet.
During the month of February some skirmishes took place, and a stockade
or two was captured, but the natural difficulties of the country, and
the climate, were the greatest obstacles to the expedition. The villages
and crops of the tribes being destroyed, and they, finding the troops
gradually closing in around them on all sides, and roads made through
places they had regarded as impassable, grew disheartened and anxious
for peace. Their chiefs hastened to tender their submission, and two of
them who had been implicated in the attack on the party of Lieutenant
Stewart, surrendered (on the assurance that their lives would be
spared), and restored the head of that unfortunate officer, with the
guns and instruments they had taken in their raid.
A strong fort was erected in a position which commanded the adjacent
country, and being connected with posts garrisoned by the Frontier
Police, would render hostile incursions by the tribes almost impossible
in the future. On April 30th., 1890, the expeditionary force was broken
up, having been completely successful. The only European troops employed
were: 1st. Battalion 22nd. Cheshire, and 1st. Battalion 25th. Scottish
Borderers, in the Burma column.
The officers and men who had already gained the Indian Medal, received
the clasp only, inscribed “Chin-Lushai, 1889–90,” and a bronze medal and
clasp was given to the authorised Government followers who accompanied
the troops.
SAMANA.
1891.
Another expedition against the Meeranzies, who were severely chastised
by Sir Neville Chamberlain in 1855, was dispatched from Kohat, April
5th., 1891, under the command of Sir W. Lockhart. The tribesmen were
defeated with severe loss at Mastaon, and reduced to submission. The
operations were perfectly successful, but the British loss was greater
than usual in these frontier expeditions, upwards of one hundred men,
including five European and three Native officers, being killed and
wounded. Some Native regiments were left to garrison Samana, and the
tribes who had recently been fighting against us, readily brought in
grass and supplies.
The 1st. Battalion 60th. Rifles, and 96th. Manchester regiment were the
only European troops engaged in this expedition, which was ended May
25th., 1891. A bronze medal, as usual, was given to all authorised
Government followers of the troops.
THE CRIMEAN MEDAL AND CAMPAIGN.
1854–56.
In December, 1854, the Queen was pleased to command that a medal,
bearing the word “Crimea,” with an appropriate device, should be
conferred on all the officers, non-commissioned officers, and private
soldiers of Her Majesty’s Army, who had been engaged in the arduous and
brilliant campaign in the Crimea; and that clasps, with the words “Alma”
or “Inkermann” thereon, were to be also awarded to such as were present
in either of those battles. In February, 1855, Her Majesty granted a
clasp for the action at Balaklava, and in October following, a clasp
inscribed “Sebastopol” was added to the Crimean medal, and was awarded
to all present between the 1st. of October, 1854, the day on which the
Army sat down before the place, and the 9th. of September, 1855, when
the town was taken. Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, and Sebastopol, are,
therefore, the services to be most prominently described, as they are
commemorated not only by the clasps above referred to, but likewise by
inscriptions authorized by Royal Authority to be borne on the Regimental
Colours of the corps entitled thereto; those having no standards or
colours bearing these distinctions on their cap or helmet-plates, and
Rifle Regiments on their breast-plates and cap-plates. The following are
the Regiments in question:—
ALMA.—4 Light Dragoons; 8, 11 Hussars; 13 Light Dragoons; 17 Lancers;
Grenadier, Coldstream, and Scots Fusilier Guards; 1, 4, 7, 19, 20, 21,
23, 28, 30, 33, 38, 41, 42, 44, 47, 49, 50, 55, 63, 68, 77, 79, 88, 93,
and 95 Foot; Rifle Brigade.
[Illustration:
The Crimean Medal.
]
BALAKLAVA.—4, 5 Dragoon Guards; 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 17 Dragoons; 93
Foot.
INKERMANN.—4 Light Dragoons; 8, 11 Hussars; 13 Light Dragoons; 17
Lancers; Grenadier, Coldstream, and Scots Fusilier Guards; 1, 4, 7, 19,
20, 21, 23, 28, 30, 33, 38, 41, 44, 47, 49, 50, 55, 57, 63, 68, 77, 88,
and 95 Foot; Rifle Brigade.
SEBASTOPOL.—1, 4, 5, 6 Dragoon Guards; 1, 2, 4, 6 Dragoons; 8, 10, 11
Hussars; 12 Lancers; 13 Light Dragoons; 17 Lancers; Grenadier,
Coldstream, and Scots Fusilier Guards; 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 13, 14, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21, 23, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49,
50, 55, 56, 57, 62, 63, 68, 71, 72, 77, 79, 82, 88, 89, 90, 93, 95, and
97 Foot; Rifle Brigade.
Two companies of the 46th., which preceded the Regiment, were present at
Alma and Inkermann, and obtained medals for those victories, but the
head-quarters and remainder of the corps did not arrive until the day
following the last-named battle, and therefore did not receive these
inscriptions for the colours. Six officers and two hundred and
twenty-five men were granted the medal for the first-named battle, and
six officers and two hundred and one men obtained the clasp for
Inkermann.
The Crimean medal, designed by W. Wyon, has on its obverse the effigy of
Her Majesty, from the die of the Peninsular medal, with the legend
“Victoria Regina,” and in the exergue, the date 1854; the reverse has a
figure of Fame about to place a wreath upon the brows of a stalwart
hero, in classic military costume, bearing a round shield on his left
arm, on which is shown the British Lion, with the word “Crimea” on the
right of the figure. The ribbon is of pale blue with yellow edges. The
clasps are of silver, with acorn ornaments, and severally inscribed
“Alma,” “Balaklava,” “Inkermann,” and “Sebastopol.” The name and
regiment of recipient are indented or engraved on the edge of the medal.
A special clasp for “Azoff” was issued to the Navy, and the Marines
received medals with clasps for “Balaklava,” “Inkermann,” and
“Sebastopol.” The medal was also given to a selection of the French,
Sardinian, and Turkish troops engaged in the campaign.
THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA.
20TH. SEPTEMBER, 1854.
Lord John Russell’s memorable words in the House of Commons, on the
17th. of February, 1854, “May God defend the right,” like those of
Nelson, “England expects every man this day will do his duty,” had an
electrical effect, and made the country nerve itself for the approaching
contest, which, for some time threatening, shortly afterwards commenced.
The nation sympathized with the efforts of the Turks, under their
distinguished commander, Omar Pasha, and after the terrible massacre at
Sinope, hostilities became inevitable.
Before the end of February the Guards and other regiments had embarked
for the East, the Queen, from the Balcony of Buckingham Palace, bidding
the former farewell. Each regiment as it marched for the port of
embarkation, was greeted with hearty and sympathetic cheers, which
showed the popular opinion in favour of the coming struggle. Lord
Raglan, so long the Military Secretary of the great Duke of Wellington,
and afterwards the Master General of the Ordnance, was appointed to the
command of the British Forces destined for the East.
The official declaration of war appeared in the London Gazette, on the
28th. of March, and that of the Emperor of the French, the ally of
England, was published simultaneously. The first place of rendezvous was
Malta, and thence the troops proceeded to Gallipoli and Scutari, and
subsequently to Varna, which was reached towards the end of June. After
the gallant defence of Silistria, and the repulse of the Russians, in
which Captain James Armar Butler, Ceylon Rifle Regiment, and Lieutenant
Charles Nasmyth, Bombay Artillery, as volunteers, so highly
distinguished themselves, and where the former, with the brave Turkish
commander, Mousso Pasha, met a soldier’s death, Turkey became no longer
in danger of invasion, and the allied armies, being released from
supporting by their presence the valour of the Ottoman troops;—the
expedition to the Crimea was determined upon.
On Thursday, the 7th. of September, 1854, the fleet conveying the allied
army, sailed from Baldjick Bay, whither the troops had proceeded from
Varna, for the Crimea. Cholera still prevailed, but the voyage
materially improved the health of the soldiers. The British troops
consisted of one thousand one hundred cavalry, three thousand one
hundred artillery, and twenty-two thousand five hundred and ninety
infantry; making a total, of all arms, of twenty-six thousand eight
hundred men. The French troops, under the command of Marshal St. Arnaud,
amounted to nearly the same numbers, namely, twenty-six thousand five
hundred and twenty-six, which, with seven thousand Turks, under Selim
Pasha, attached thereto, made an aggregate force of sixty thousand three
hundred men, with one hundred and thirty-two guns, of which sixty-five
pieces of ordnance belonged to the British Siege Train. The general
rendezvous was the Isle of Serpents, whence, on the 11th. of September,
the expedition proceeded direct to its destination, and two days
afterwards the fleets halted in the Bay of Eupatoria. The occupation of
Eupatoria was gained without resistance, and the same night the fleet
sailed for Kalamita Bay, and anchored at 8 a.m. on the 14th., at the
position near Old Fort, distant about eighteen miles south of Eupatoria,
which had been ultimately selected as the point of debarkation.
The soldiers of No. 1 company of the 23rd. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, under
Major Lysons and Lieutenant Drewe, were the first British troops that
landed in the Crimea. Some arabas having been seen in the distance, this
party was at once dispatched by Brigadier-General Airey,
Quartermaster-General, in pursuit of them; after marching some distance
they got within reach of the waggons, and fired a few shots at the
Cossack escort who were endeavouring to save them. These horsemen
forthwith galloped off, leaving fourteen arabas full of fire-wood and
fruit, with their drivers and bullocks; this was the commencement of the
Land Transport of the Army.
No opposition was offered to the landing, which was effected without any
casualties or accidents, save a few horses drowned. The weather, which
had been fine, changed; in the afternoon it rained, and at night the
troops on shore were deluged, rain coming down in such torrents as could
scarcely be surpassed even in India. With morning the clouds cleared
away, and a bright sunshine made amends for the past night, and the
trials of the first bivouac in the Crimea.
The morning of the 19th. of September witnessed the commencement of the
march of the allied forces towards Sebastopol, and in the evening
occurred the first actual encounter with the enemy. This took place
between the advanced cavalry of the British, supported by the first
brigade of the light division, and a strong body of Dragoons and
Cossacks with artillery. The Earl of Cardigan’s brigade of Light Cavalry
exhibited most praiseworthy steadiness, his lordship’s coolness and
spirit being specially mentioned in the official despatch, and the
enemy’s artillery was soon silenced by the batteries which Lord Raglan
ordered to be brought into action. Four men only were wounded in this
affair, and the allies bivouacked on the left bank of the Bulganak. This
insignificant stream was most welcome after the wearisome day’s march,
made under a burning sun, and an absence of water. On the morning of the
20th. of September both armies moved towards the Alma. It was arranged
that Marshal St. Arnaud should attack the enemy’s left, by crossing this
river at its junction with the sea, and immediately above it; the rest
of the French divisions were to move up the heights in their front,
whilst the right and centre of the Russian position were to be attacked
by the British.
By nature the position taken up by the Russians, which crossed the great
road about two miles and a half from the sea, was very strong. The bold
and almost precipitous range of heights, varying from three hundred and
fifty to four hundred feet, that from the sea closely bordered the left
bank of the river, here terminated and formed their left; and turning
thence round a spacious amphitheatre, or wide valley, ended at a salient
pinnacle, where their right rested, and whence the descent to the plain
was more gradual. The front was about two miles in extent. Across the
mouth of this great opening occurred a low ridge of different heights,
from sixty to one hundred feet, distant about six hundred to eight
hundred yards from the river, to which it was parallel. The river,
although generally fordable, had extremely rugged banks, which were in
most parts steep;—the willows along it had been felled to prevent them
from affording cover to the assailants, with the exception of those
below the bridge, which were full of Russian riflemen.
On the right bank of the Alma, in front of the position, at a distance
of about two hundred yards from the river, is situated the village of
Bourliouk;—the wooden bridge of which had been partly destroyed by the
Russians.
The key of the position was the lofty pinnacle and ridge before
described, and there consequently the preparations for defence were the
most considerable. Half-way down the height, and across its front, was a
trench extending some hundred yards, to afford cover against an advance
up the even steep slope of the hill. Somewhat retired on the right was a
powerful covered battery, armed with heavy guns, which flanked the
entire right of the position. Artillery was also posted at the several
points which best commanded the passage of the river and its approaches.
On the slopes of these hills, which formed a kind of table-land, were
placed dense masses of the enemy’s infantry, and the heights above were
occupied by his great reserve, the whole variously estimated from thirty
to upwards of forty thousand men.
Such was the Russian position; but its extraordinary strength only
stimulated the allies to deeds of more than ordinary daring,—on this,
for the first time during many centuries, that British and French
soldiers were to fight side by side.
Half an hour before the battle is thus vividly described by Mr. N. A.
Woods, in his work entitled “The Past Campaign: a Sketch of the War in
the East, from the Departure of Lord Raglan to the Capture of
Sebastopol”:—“The day was clear and hot: not a cloud in the sky—not a
breath in the air. Except the clank of artillery chains, and the
occasional neigh of a horse, there was a dead silence, which, as your
eye glanced over the glittering masses of soldiers, was solemn and
impressive. The close dark lines of our adversaries at the side of the
Alma were equally steady. So still, so silent, lay both posts, that had
I shut my eyes, I could have imagined myself in a perfect solitude.”
A change was soon to come over the scene, and the stillness was about to
be broken by the stern alarums of battle. Both armies advanced on the
same alignment, the British in contiguous double columns, with the front
of two divisions covered by light infantry and a troop of horse
artillery; the second division, under Lieutenant-General Sir De Lacy
Evans, forming the right, and touching the left of the third French
Division, under His Imperial Highness Prince Napoleon, and the light
division, under Lieutenant-General Sir George Brown, the left; the first
being supported by the third division under Lieutenant-General Sir
Richard England, and the last by the first division, commanded by
Lieutenant-General His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge. The fourth
division, under Lieutenant-General the Honourable Sir George Cathcart,
and the cavalry, under Major-General the Earl of Lucan, were held in
reserve, to protect the left flank and rear against large bodies of the
Russian cavalry, which had shown themselves in those directions.
Upon approaching within range of the guns, whose fire soon became
extremely formidable, the two leading divisions deployed into line, and
advanced to attack the front, the supporting divisions following the
movement. Scarcely had this taken place, when the village of Bourliouk,
immediately opposite the centre, was fired by the Russians at all
points, creating a continuous blaze for three hundred yards, obscuring
their position, and rendering a passage through it impracticable. In
consequence of this, two regiments of Brigadier-General Adams’s brigade,
part of Sir De Lacy Evan’s division, had to pass, under a sharp fire,
the river at a deep and difficult ford to the right; whilst his first
brigade, under Major-General Pennefather, with the remaining regiment of
Brigadier-General Adams, crossed to the left of the conflagration,
opposed by the artillery from the heights above, and pressed on towards
the left of the position with the utmost gallantry and steadiness.
Meanwhile, Sir George Brown, with the light division, effected the
passage of the Alma in his immediate front. The advance was made under
great disadvantages, the rugged and broken banks of the river offering
most serious obstacles, whilst the vineyards through which the troops
had to pass (the men suffering from thirst eagerly seizing bunches of
grapes,[154]) and the felled trees rendered every species of formation
under a galling fire almost an impossibility. Sir George, nevertheless,
persevered in this difficult operation, and the first brigade, under
Major-General Codrington, succeeded in carrying the great redoubt, aided
materially by the judicious and steady manner in which Brigadier-General
Buller moved on the left flank, and by the advance of four companies of
the Rifle Brigade, under Major Norcott. The heavy fire of grape and
musketry to which the troops were opposed, and the casualties sustained
in consequence by the 7th., 23rd., and 33rd. regiments, compelled this
brigade partially to relinquish its hold. The Duke of Cambridge had
succeeded in crossing the river, and had moved up in support; when a
brilliant advance of the brigade of Foot Guards, under Major-General
Bentinck, drove the enemy back, and secured the final possession of the
work.
Major-General Sir Colin Campbell, with the Highland Brigade, advanced in
admirable order and steadiness up the high ground to the left,
co-operating with the Guards. Major-General Pennefather’s brigade, which
had been connected with the right of the light division, forced the
enemy completely to abandon the position they had taken such pains to
defend and secure, and which was considered almost impregnable.
The 95th. Regiment, immediately on the right of the 7th. Royal Fusiliers
in the advance, suffered equally with that old corps and the 55th. an
immense loss. The aid of the Royal Artillery in all these operations was
most effectual, whilst the exertions of the field officers and the
captains of troops and batteries to get the guns into action, were
unceasing, and the precision of their fire materially contributed to the
victory. Lieutenant-General Sir Richard England brought his division to
the immediate support of the troops in advance; and Lieutenant-General
Sir George Cathcart was actively engaged in watching the left flank of
the enemy. It likewise appears by Lord Raglan’s despatch, that although
the nature of the ground did not admit of the employment of cavalry,
they succeeded at the close of the battle in capturing some prisoners.
The cheerfulness with which the regimental officers had submitted to
unusual privations was not forgotten. It being necessary to bring into
the country every available cavalry and infantry soldier, prevented the
embarkation of the baggage animals, so that the officers had nothing but
what they could carry, and were, with the men, without tents or
covering. Not a murmur was, however, heard, for all appeared impressed
with the necessity of the arrangement. “The conduct,” adds his lordship,
“of the troops has been admirable. When it is considered that they have
suffered severely from sickness, during the last two months; that since
they landed in the Crimea they have been exposed to the extremes of wet,
cold, and heat; that the daily toil to provide themselves with water has
been excessive, and that they have been pursued by Cholera to the very
battle-field,[155] I do not go beyond the truth in declaring that they
merit the highest commendation. In the ardour of attack they forgot all
they had endured, and displayed that high courage, that gallant spirit,
for which the British soldier is ever distinguished, and under the
heaviest fire they maintained the same determination to conquer, as they
had exhibited before they went into action.”
Nor were the Royal Navy omitted, for his lordship continues,—“I should
be wanting in my duty, my Lord Duke, if I did not express to your Grace,
in the most earnest manner, my deep feeling of gratitude to the officers
and men of the Royal Navy, for the invaluable assistance they afforded
the Army upon this, as on every occasion where it could be brought to
bear upon our operations. They watched the progress of the day with the
most intense anxiety; and as the best way of evincing their
participation in our success, and their sympathy in the sufferings of
the wounded, they never ceased, from the close of the battle till we
left the ground this morning, to provide for the sick and wounded, and
to carry them down to the beach—a labour in which some of the officers
even volunteered to participate—an act which I shall never cease to
recollect with the warmest thankfulness.”
The various episodes of this victory would fill a volume of themselves;
the newspapers were eagerly sought after, and the letters from the
actors in the busy scene of war, and from correspondents of the public
journals proved of untiring interest. Some of the epistles are full of
graphic touches; they show how the Duke of Cambridge roughed it like the
rest, and slept with his head covered by a tilt cart. How Sir George
Brown’s horse, pierced by eleven shots, brought him to the ground, but
rising unhurt, he again led the soldiers on. How Colonel Chester, with
eight officers, fell at the head of the 23rd. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and
how severely the regiment suffered. As Corporal Harwood writes—“Our
artillery kept up a tremendous fire at them for an hour and a half, at
the end of which the order ran through our lines, ‘Light division
advance and take the entrenchments.’ The 23rd. was in the light
division, and on we went, covered by two companies of the Rifle Brigade.
We crossed a vineyard, and were led by Colonel Chester through the
river, the opposite bank of which was very steep. The Colonel went
through with us,—we all shared alike,—and as we clambered out the enemy
gave us a fierce fire, the cannon belching forth murderous volleys of
grape and round shot, and musket-balls fell as thick as hail. The men
fell dead and wounded before me and at my side. They fell in every
direction, and mechanically I still pressed on untouched. Up the hill we
went with the Rifle Brigades, and half-way up the heights we reached the
cannons’ mouths, which were planted on the entrenchments. Our regiment
was about to cross to the stockade in the enemy’s position, when the
word was given, ‘Cease firing, and retire,’ because we were in danger of
firing on the French. Our Colonel rushed in front of us, shouting ‘No,
no, on lads!’ He fell with the word on his lips; he never spoke or
raised his head again. We _did_ retire then, and an unfortunate mistake
it was, for the enemy returned to the guns we had once silenced, and
gave us some terrific volleys; but we soon rallied, and supported by the
7th., 33rd., a portion of the Guards, and the Highlanders, we rushed up
the hill again, and the enemy fled in every direction.”
This letter refers to an unfortunate mistake which occurred. A mounted
officer called out “Cease firing; you are firing on the French;” the
words ran down the line and caused some hesitation and confusion. The
Russians took advantage of it in a moment, and advancing some heavy
columns, drove the light division back from the redoubt; the first
division, then at some distance in the rear, at once advanced and
re-took the redoubt. The light division rallied, and again pushed on in
a second line, when the key of the enemy’s position having been thus
forced, and his left turned by the French, the foe retreated on all
sides.
More than ordinary interest was created by the circumstances under which
Captain and Lieutenant Eddington, of the 95th., met their deaths. When
the former dropped, early in the charge, with a ball in his chest, he
was left for a few moments on the hill side, while the regiment fell
back to re-form. A Russian rifleman, kneeling down beside him pretended
to raise his canteen to the wounded officer’s lips, and deliberately
blew his brains out. This was in sight of the regiment, and as they
charged up the hill, the Lieutenant, maddened by the sight, rushed
forward to avenge his beloved brother’s death, but in a few moments met
a similar fate, his breast being absolutely riddled with the storm of
grape shot and rifle balls.
During the battle the Russians had succeeded in getting away all their
guns but two, one of which, a sixteen-pounder, with two horses to it,
was taken by Captain Bell, of the 23rd., who received the Victoria
Cross. This officer ran up to the driver as he was trying to make off,
and held a pistol to his head; the man jumped off his horse, when the
captain took the gun back to the rear. Captain Donovan, of the 33rd.,
scratched his name on the other gun, but there being no horses to it, he
could not remove it. Lieutenant-Colonel Chester and Captain Evans were
killed near the redoubt, and Major Lysons being at the time with the
second division, as Assistant Adjutant-General, Captain Campbell next
took the command, but was soon hit, first slightly on the head;—in a few
minutes afterwards he received a ball in the thigh, which obliged him to
go to the rear; the honour of bringing the Royal Welsh out of the action
was thus reserved for Captain Bell.
In all battles the defence of the colours necessarily forms an
interesting feature, and Alma exhibited several instances. The 33rd.,
Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, had nineteen sergeants killed or wounded,
chiefly in defence of the colours. Captain Robert William Hamilton, of
the Grenadier Guards, was wounded when carrying the colours, but
continued with them throughout the day. The Scots Fusilier Guards had a
memorable contest for theirs. Lieutenants Lindsay and Thistlethwayte,
who carried the colours, cut their way through the enemy, and though the
broken staff and the marks of sixteen bullets showed the severity of the
struggle, and the colour-sergeants were struck down pierced with
bullets, yet, bearing as it were “a charmed life,” these gallant
officers, unwounded, bore their colours triumphantly to the top of the
hill.
Lieutenant Anstruther, of the 23rd. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, having been
killed near the redoubt, whilst carrying the Queen’s colour, it was
picked up by private William Evans, No. 8 company, who gave it to
Corporal Luby; it was afterwards carried by Sergeant Luke O’Connor, who
was shot in the breast, and fell, but, recovering himself, would not
relinquish the colour, and carried it till the end of the action
(although urged by Lieutenant Granville to go to the rear on account of
his wound), for which he was praised by Major-General Sir William
Codrington on the field, was recommended for, and obtained his
commission in the 23rd. (in which he is now a captain), on account of
his gallantry, and has received the Victoria Cross and the Sardinian War
Medal.[156] Corporal Luby has also obtained the latter for his services
on this occasion.
Lieutenant Butler was shot under the regimental colour; Lieutenant
Granville next volunteered to carry it, but there being no officer with
his company, Major-General Codrington, who was riding up and down the
ranks on his grey horse during the whole action, directed a sergeant to
be sent to take it. The honour of carrying the colour out of action fell
to the lot of Sergeant Honey Smith.
During the action the regimental colour of the 7th. Royal Fusiliers was
found by Captain Pearson (Aide-de-Camp to Sir George Brown), who was
then riding by, in the hands of a soldier lying on the ground, the
officers and sergeants that had carried it having been disabled. He
picked it up, but no officer of that corps being near, Major-General
Codrington desired him to give it to Captain Bell, saying that “it
cannot be in safer keeping than with the Royal Welsh.” The colour was
accordingly placed between those of the 23rd. regiment, and there
carried by a sergeant of the 7th., until the termination of the
battle.[157]
Lieutenant the Honourable Hugh Annesley, of the Scots Fusilier Guards,
was severely wounded by a ball, which entered the left cheek and went
out at the mouth, taking away the front teeth. So severe a wound did not
damp the spirits of this gallant officer, for in a letter to his mother
(the Countess Annesley), speaking of a friend who visited him and was
scarcely able to recognise him, he expressed a hope that one of his
decayed teeth had gone with the rest of his brethren; and adds that
“there is a good bit of tongue gone also, but the doctors say that will
not signify, and that I shall speak as plainly as ever, or at most with
a _becoming lisp_; so altogether I think even you must allow that I have
every reason to be thankful, and I hope you will not allow yourself to
fret the least about me.”
In “Letters from Head Quarters,” by an Officer on the Staff, the
termination of the battle is thus graphically told:—“The men were tired,
and many almost exhausted for want of water. Lord Raglan rode up and
down the line of troops, the men cheering him vociferously. There was
such a shaking of hands; one felt very choky about the throat, and very
much inclined to cry, as one wrung the hand of a friend; and “God bless
you, old fellow—so glad to see you all right!” and like expressions,
were heard on every side between brother officers. It was a touching
sight to see the meeting between Lord Raglan and Sir Colin Campbell. The
latter was on foot, as his horse had been killed in the earlier part of
the action. He went up to his lordship, and, with tears in his eyes,
shook hands, saying it was not the first battle-field they had won
together, and that now he had a favour to ask, namely, that as his
Highlanders had done so well, he might be allowed to claim the privilege
of wearing a Scotch bonnet. To this Lord Raglan, of course, gave a
smiling assent; and, after a few more words of friendship on both sides,
they parted to their several duties.”
The French, with their wonted chivalry, commenced the attack, and
Marshal St. Arnaud’s words evinced that they had not degenerated, and
that “they are the soldiers of Austerlitz and Jena;” and he thus paid a
deserved tribute to the British:—“On our left the English met with large
masses of the enemy, and with great difficulties, but everything was
surmounted. The English attacked the Russian positions in admirable
order under the fire of their cannon, carried them, and drove off the
Russians. The bravery of Lord Raglan rivals that of antiquity. In the
midst of cannon and musket-shot he displayed a calmness which never left
him.”
By six o’clock in the evening the French Marshal’s tent was set up on
the very spot where that of Prince Menschikoff had stood in the morning;
the Russian commander considered himself so secure of victory, that he
left his carriage there, which Marshal St. Arnaud took possession of;
and it is recorded that a party of ladies had journeyed from Sebastopol,
and were stationed on a hill to witness the destruction of the allies.
Such a success was not obtained without great loss. The battle commenced
about half-past one, and lasted a few minutes over two hours. The
British casualties were twenty-five officers killed, and eighty-one
wounded; three hundred and thirty-seven non-commissioned officers and
men were killed; one thousand five hundred and fifty wounded, and
nineteen missing. The French casualties were reported as about fourteen
hundred _hors de combat_, Generals Canrobert and Thomas being amongst
the wounded; these are believed to include all those who died in the
Dobrudscha.
According to Prince Menschikoff’s despatch, the Russians had one
thousand seven hundred and sixty-two killed, two thousand three hundred
and fifteen wounded, and four hundred and five contusions. Amongst the
former were forty-five officers. Major-Generals Karganoff and Shokanoff
(the first was very severely wounded, and did not recover), were taken
prisoners.
About midnight the Russians crossed the Katcha—the position which it was
reported to the Czar would, if not impregnable, at least be held for
three weeks, having been taken in as many hours.
The sun went down on the evening of this memorable day upon a scene
which words fail to describe, and scarcely imagination can conceive. For
two days the armies continued on the field,—the time passing rapidly in
tending the wounded and burying the slain. Short as the interval was,
death had been busy,—Brigadier-General Tylden, of the Engineers, died of
cholera on the morning of the 23rd. of September, just as the victors
were leaving the heights of the Alma, on their march to the Katcha.
Spite of warnings the soldiers devoured large quantities of grapes,
apples, and pears, so abundant in the Crimea, which tended to encourage
the disease. The account of victory would be incomplete without the
mention of two volunteers, who remained to attend to the wants of
upwards of two hundred wounded Russians that still lay upon the field;
these were Dr. Thompson, surgeon of the 44th., and his servant; and the
prayers of many a dying foe must have ascended to heaven for these good
men who thus exhibited the highest graces of Christian devotedness. The
noble-hearted Doctor fell a prey to cholera at Balaklava, on the 5th. of
October following, on which day the news of Marshal St. Arnaud’s death
was received in camp. He had been compelled, a week previously, through
ill-health, to resign his command to General Canrobert, and died at sea
on the 29th. of September, his remains arriving at Constantinople on the
following morning, whence they were conveyed to Paris, and honoured with
a public funeral.
While thanks were being offered on Sunday, the 30th. of September, 1854,
for the plenteous harvest, in every church and chapel of the land, a
telegraphic address announced the news of the glorious victory of the
Alma, and rumour with her thousand tongues volunteered the intelligence
that Sebastopol was taken. It does not appear that the false report was
the result of premeditation, and although the crowning event of the war
was not to take place so speedily, there was a glorious commencement of
the drama, notwithstanding that the fifth act had yet to be played out.
Her Majesty’s gracious approbation of the gallant conduct of the army at
the battle of the Alma, was notified to the troops on the 27th. of
October following, and Lord Raglan particularly adverted to that portion
in which the Queen’s sympathy is expressed for the fallen, the wounded,
and their sorrowing relatives.
Ultimately the allies proceeded to attack the south side of Sebastopol,
and the combined forces quitted the Belbec (where they had arrived on
the 24th.) on the 25th. of September, leaving a small force to threaten
the northern side of the fortress, in order to cover the celebrated
flank march of the combined armies, suggested by Lieutenant-General
Burgoyne. Whilst on the march through the “Bush,” by McKenzie’s farm, to
the valley of the Tchernaya, the cavalry and artillery fell in with the
rear of a Russian division, which was on its march from Sebastopol to
Simferopol; they captured all its baggage and a great quantity of
small-arm ammunition. The light division was in support of the cavalry
and artillery on this occasion, and the 23rd. Royal Welsh Fusiliers were
leading the column; the second battalion of the Rifle Brigade went on in
advance with the guns, and were in immediate contact with the enemy. On
that evening, and the morning of the 26th., the troops arrived at the
plain of Balaklava, having passed through a tract of country densely
wooded, and without regular roads. The small garrison of Balaklava,
consisting of about sixty men, surrendered at the first approach of the
light division, after firing a few shot from some mortars, when this
little town was forthwith entered and placed by the British in a posture
of defence.