Naval Brigades
"The sailor who ploughs on the watery main,
To war and to danger and shipwreck a brother,
And the soldier who firmly stands out the campaign,
Do they fight for two men who make war on each other?
Oh no, 'tis well known,
The same loyal throne
Fires their bosoms with ardour and noble endeavour;
And that each with his lass,
As he drinks a full glass,
Toasts the Army and Navy of Britain for ever."
_Chorus_--"And that each, &c."
WHAT is a "Naval Brigade"? "Brigade" is a military term, and in our
service an infantry brigade now consists of four battalions, with their
head-quarters staff. Not long ago two battalions constituted a brigade.
So that we see a brigade is the combination of a small number of
complete units. In like manner a naval brigade is either, in the case of
a single ship, a landing-force composed of her bluejackets and marines
brigaded together, or, in the case of a fleet or squadron, of its
various ships' companies. In a fleet of any size the naval brigade
available for landing--if there was no chance of an attack by sea--might
amount to two or three battalions formed out of seamen and stokers, and
one of marines. It has frequently fallen to the lot of naval brigades to
carry on a small campaign "on their own", but very often a naval brigade
has been attached to an army on active service. A big book might be
written on the services of British naval brigades, so that we cannot
hope to do more than glance at a very few instances of their work in
"soldiering on shore".
"Naval Brigade", by the way, is not a very ancient term, though in the
sixteenth, seventeenth, and early eighteenth centuries we often find
references to the employment of a "regiment" or "battalion" of seamen.
This may possibly be because, although embarked as part complement of
our men-of-war, the marines, who were in those times organized in
regiments and not in one large corps, did not actually belong to the
Admiralty, but to the War Office. They were landed together, if
possible, in their own regiments, and became for the time being a part
of the army, to which, in addition, a battalion of seamen--which, it is
rather confusing to find, is sometimes referred to as a "marine
regiment"--might often be attached. But seamen and marines were not in
those times generally brigaded together, as they so frequently have been
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
[Illustration: UNIFORMS OF THE BRITISH NAVY
A. B. (Marching Order). 1st Class Petty Officer. Stoker.]
Though for many a long day the sailor proper "had no use for
soldiering", which he contemned as an inferior profession to his own, he
was always a pretty useful man with the heavy gun. Naturally, if a man
can make decent shooting with a weapon tossing about on an unstable
platform, he finds it comparatively easy to hit his target on terra
firma. One of the earliest references to the employment of seamen in
operations on shore is at the siege of Leith--then held by French
troops--in 1560. The town was beleaguered from seaward by the English
fleet under Admiral Winter, and on the shore side by a combined English
and Scots army; and in the list of troops detailed for an assault--which
unfortunately proved unsuccessful--we find that the "Vyce-Admyralle of
the Quene's Majestye's Schippes" was to furnish 500 men.
Drake's men in his expeditions to the Spanish coast were formed into
regiments and fought on shore, and after the Restoration a battalion of
seamen took part in the severe fighting with the Moors at Tangier. It
does not seem quite clear whether this included marines or not.[57]
Anyway, it was under the command of Admiral Herbert and had been put
through a special course of exercise "by an expert old soldier--Captain
Barclay", who, after the first engagement, was reproved by the Admiral
"for suffering too forward and furious advancement, lest thereby they
might fall into the enemy's ambushments". Captain Barclay retorted that
"he could lead them on, but the furies could not bring them off"!
At the siege of Cork by the Duke of Marlborough, in 1690, besides the
two marine regiments of the Earls of Torrington and Pembroke, a naval
brigade of 600 seamen and marines[58] was landed from the fleet, with as
many carpenters and gunners as could be spared, to assist in the
construction of the siege-batteries and gun-platforms. The brigade was
under the command of the Duke of Grafton, then captain of one of the
ships, though previously in command of the 1st Foot Guards. The
readiness and cheerfulness with which both seamen and marines dragged
their heavy guns into position in the face of the enemy's opposition is
specially recorded. The capture of the "Cat", an important outwork
covering the approaches to the city, is set down to the credit of two of
the seamen. These worthies, with or without leave, were cruising about
in front of the outposts in the early morning in the neighbourhood of
the "Cat", and, seeing no sign of life or movement, crept cautiously up
to its formidable ramparts and found that it had been deserted by the
Irish garrison. They installed themselves in possession and signalled
the state of affairs to their friends, on which 200 men of Colonel
Hale's regiment were sent to occupy it.
In the expedition to Flanders in 1694 it is stated that 6000 seamen were
"mixed with our land forces, and each of them on landing" was to receive
"a guinea a man".[59]
In the capture of Gibraltar in 1704 the seamen played a prominent part.
The marines were all landed together under the Prince of Hesse, to cut
off communication with the mainland, while the seamen, under Captains
Hicks and Jumper--Jumper's Bastion commemorates his name at the present
day--stormed its defences at the southern end. The marine regiments
played such a distinguished part in the gallant defence against
overwhelming odds which followed that the corps bears the word
"Gibraltar"[60] on its colours and accoutrements to the present day; but
at one part of the siege a force of seamen and guns was landed from the
fleet and did most useful service.
One of them[61] has left a very interesting account of his experiences
on this occasion. "On the morning we got thither", he says, "the
Spaniards were discovered that came up the back of the hill. Then there
was a command for twenty of our men to go ashore with fire-arms.... We
were all in high spirits and fit to do execution, not being at all
daunted at their numbers, for they were like swarms of bees upon the
hill and in great confusion, and we like lions in the valley seeking
whom we might devour; as our duty required. At it we went, loading and
firing as fast as we could. Our men had a great advantage of the
Spaniards in firing uphill, and it was a very great advantage they were
not obliged to wade, for the water often overflows that part where we
were obliged to engage them. We were happy enough in missing the tide;
had it been otherwise, we had been but in a bad situation. The Spaniards
rolled pieces of rocks down the hill and wounded a great many of our
men, but our advantage in firing was more than all they could do. When
they found they could do no good they laid down their fire-arms.... We
stayed ashore all night, and in the morning returned to our ship. They
found the duty too hard for the soldiers, and then there were orders
sent for ten men of a ship to go ashore again.... When we went over we
found that the works were very much demolished, for there was not a gun
that we could fire one day without its being unfit for service on the
next, for the Spaniards would dismount them.... We found the duty
extremely hard, for what they beat down by day we were obliged to clear
away at night."
After a further description of their work, the writer speaks of the
Spanish bombardment and tells how he just escaped a "Jack Johnson" of
the period by throwing himself flat on the ground. "Had I been so
unwise", he says, "as to have stood up when it fell, I should have been
lifted up on its wings. I was hardened in that employment, and a great
many of our men ran in a terrible fright, thinking that I was blown up.
They said, when they saw me, we are glad to see you alive. I thanked
them for their regard for me, and told them I never minded a bomb at
all, only to observe its falling and step out of the way and fall with
my face to the ground.... We continued making our works by night and in
the daytime we were employed in drawing guns from the New Mole to
Wills's Battery. We had very indifferent ground some part of the way,
therefore we were obliged to draw in gears, in the same manner as horses
do. But when we came among the rocks we were obliged to lay deal spars,
and parbuckle them up with hawsers, and by these means we haled them up
to the Battery."
It is in this kind of work that our seamen have ever proved so
invaluable to the sister service on shore. A military officer, writing
of the taking of Martinique in 1762, writes: "The cannon and other
warlike stores were landed as soon as possible, and dragged by the
'Jacks' to any point thought proper. You may fancy you know the spirit
of these fellows; but to see them in action exceeds any idea that can be
formed of them. A hundred or two of them, with ropes and pulleys, will
do more than all your dray horses in London. Let but their tackle hold
and they will draw you a cannon or mortar on its proper carriage up to
any height, though the weight be ever so great. It is droll enough to
see them tugging along with a good 24-pounder at their heels; on they go
huzzaing, hallooing, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, now sticking
fast in the brakes, presently floundering in mud and mire ... and as
careless of everything but the matter committed to their charge as if
death or danger had nothing to do with them. We had a thousand of these
brave fellows sent to our assistance by the Admiral; and the service
they did us, both on shore and on the water, is incredible."[62]
[Illustration: ENGLISH BLUEJACKETS AT THE DEFENCE OF ACRE
Seamen and marines constantly worked together on shore during numerous
expeditions in the course of the long series of wars which only
terminated with the Battle of Waterloo.]
Two or three years previously the seamen of the fleet had performed a
similar duty at the siege of Quebec, and it is related that after
bringing up the guns they met a battalion of soldiers about to go into
action and insisted in falling-in alongside them, some armed with
cutlasses, some with sticks, and others with no weapons at all. General
Wolfe, coming up, thanked them for their spirit, but urged them to
continue on their way to their ships, as they were both unarmed and
unacquainted with military discipline and manoeuvres. He said that it
would be of more service to their country if they did so than for them
to lose their lives for no result. To this address some of them called
out: "God bless your Honour, pray let us stay and see fair play between
the English and the French". Wolfe again urged them to go on board. Some
followed his advice, but others, as soon as his back was turned, swore
that the soldiers should not have all the fighting to themselves. They
contrived to remain with the redcoats, and whenever one of the latter
fell a seaman put on his accoutrements, seized his musket, and charged
with the battalion. Seamen and marines constantly worked together on
shore during the numerous expeditions that were directed against the
enemy's possessions in the course of the long series of wars which
only terminated with the Battle of Waterloo, not so very often in
regular brigades but in landing-parties from their own ships, notably at
the defence of Acre by Sir Sidney Smith, Captain of the _Tigre_,
assisted by Colonel Douglas of the Marines and by Colonel Philpoteaux,
an engineer officer and a French Royalist refugee. A very usual
operation was for one or two of our ships to set about the capture of a
number of the enemy's merchantmen and small craft that had sought refuge
in some harbour on the Mediterranean coast. If there was a battery
defending the entrance the ship would engage it, and after its guns were
silenced, it would be stormed by the bluejackets and marines. After this
the latter would take up a covering position while the seamen brought
out the shipping.
We have a somewhat amusing account of a naval brigade of seamen which
was put on shore during the unfortunate Walcheron Expedition of 1808. It
was written by a soldier, so perhaps may have been a bit overdrawn, but
it must be remembered that there was no attempt to teach seamen infantry
drill in those days, and none of them was enlisted for longer than a
ship's commission. "These extraordinary fellows", says the writer,
"delighted in hunting the 'Munseers', as they called the French, and a
more formidable pack was never unkennelled. Armed with a long pole, a
pike, a cutlass, and a pistol, they annoyed the French skirmishers in
all directions by their irregular and unexpected attacks. They usually
went out in parties as if they were going to hunt a wild beast, and no
huntsman ever followed the chase with more delight.... They might be
seen leaping the dykes by the aid of their poles or swimming across
others, like Newfoundland dogs; and if a few French riflemen appeared in
sight, they ran at them helter-skelter, and pistol, cutlass, or pike
went to work in good earnest. The French soldiers did not at all relish
such opponents--and no wonder, for the very appearance of them was
terrific, and quite out of the usual order of things. Each man seemed a
sort of Paul Jones, tarred, belted, and cutlassed as they were. Had we
had occasion to storm Flushing I have no doubt they would have carried
the breach themselves."
The writer gives a humorous description of their drill, of which they
wisely only attempted enough to assist them in moving from place to
place. "'Heads up, you beggar of a corporal, there', a little
slang-going Jack would cry out from the rear rank, well knowing that his
diminutive size prevented his being seen by his officers. Then, perhaps,
the man immediately before the wit, in order to show his sense of
decorum, would turn round and remark: 'I say, who made you fugleman,[63]
Master Billy? Can't you behave like a sodger afore the commander, eh?'"
Drill was looked upon merely as an amusing interlude in the serious
business of war and appreciated accordingly. It was an exhibition of the
same spirit of cheerfulness which has made us so proud of our Tommies
for "sticking it out" so heroically in the trenches. This spirit never
left these gallant seamen till the last, for the account above quoted
tells how, when one of them was brought to the ground by a bullet which
broke the bones of his leg, while pursuing some of the enemy's riflemen,
he "took off his tarpaulin hat and flung it with all his might after
them, adding a wish, 'that it was an 18-pounder for their sakes!' The
poor fellow was carried off by his comrades and taken to the hospital,
where he died. Such were the men who fought our battles."
At the landing in Aboukir Bay in 1801 a body of seamen under Sir Sidney
Smith were of great assistance to our army--very badly provided with
artillery with which to reply to the numerous French field-pieces. The
seamen, however, landed some guns, dragged them to a good position among
the sand-hills, and by their fire materially contributed to the victory
which ensued. It was in the same part of the world--to be exact, on the
coast of Syria--that some years afterwards, in 1840-1, a naval brigade
from the Mediterranean fleet, under Sir Charles Napier, assisted by a
reinforcement of the Royal Marines sent out from England, carried on a
campaign against Mehemet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, who had revolted from
the Sultan and forcibly occupied Syria. There were Turkish troops also
engaged and a small detachment from one or two Austrian ships, but Sir
Charles Napier was in charge of the operations, and no British soldiers,
other than the few marines, took part in the campaign.
Sir Charles, though a sailor, always thought that he was a soldier
spoiled, and was very proud of the rank of Major-General which had been
given him by the Portuguese Government about ten years before. He had
seen a little fighting on shore in the Peninsula, and entered into this
shore-going campaign with the greatest zest. The marines, who were
formed into two battalions, did the greater part of the fighting on
land, as the seamen were required to man the guns of their ships, which
constantly co-operated with the land forces by bombarding the enemy's
towns and positions; but the bluejackets took part in the storming of
Tortosa--where they preceded the marines as a pioneer party to remove
obstacles--the assault of a castle near Acre, the occupation of Tyre,
and the capture of Acre and Sidon. The seamen and marines of the fleet
engaged in the Chinese war of 1840-1 also did a considerable amount of
shore work of which space precludes any account, the operations they
were engaged in being so numerous and so scattered. But we may say that,
generally speaking, the seamen acted as gunners, while the marines were
employed as infantry.
Naval guns mounted in shore batteries played a most distinguished part
in the Crimean War. They were manned both by seamen and by marines, and
were employed at the bombardment and capture of Bomarsund in the Baltic
and in the trenches before Sebastopol. At the latter place, although a
brigade of the Royal Marines had been encamped on the heights above
Balaclava, and though they and the Royal Marine Artillery manned the
guns in the redoubts built to secure our right flank from a Russian
attack, it had not been intended to place naval guns in the
siege-batteries. But when our siege-train found that they had all they
could do to contend with the unexpected efficiency of the Russian guns,
it was hurriedly determined to call on the navy for assistance. Fifty
heavy guns were at once landed, with 35 officers and 732 seamen under
Captain Stephen Lushington. The reinforcement was most valuable. The
guns were powerful and the seamen's fire most accurate. The brigade did
"yeoman service", and sustained by the end of the siege the loss of 7
officers and 95 men killed, and 39 officers and 432 men wounded.
Perhaps the most famous naval brigade in history is the _Shannon's_
brigade, under Captain Peel, which made such a glorious record in the
strenuous days of the Indian Mutiny. Although nearly all accounts would
lead the reader to believe that it was entirely composed of seamen, it
consisted, in point of fact, of 450 seamen, 140 marines, and 15 marine
artillerymen, drawn from both the _Shannon_ and the _Pearl_. The guns
which they took with them and which did such invaluable service were
twelve in number--ten 8-inch guns--pretty heavy pieces to haul
along--and a couple of brass field-pieces. The brigade participated in
the action at Kajwa, 1st November, 1857, when Peel took charge of the
operations on the death of Colonel Powell of the 53rd, and brought them
to a victorious conclusion. On the 13th of the same month eight heavy
guns and 250 of the brigade, with Peel himself, arrived before Lucknow,
where they formed part of the army under Sir Colin Campbell which had
advanced to the relief of the Europeans besieged in the Residency. After
the capture of the Sikander Bagh, the relieving-force was checked in a
narrow way by the desperate resistance offered by the garrison of the
Shah Najif, "which was wreathed in volumes of smoke from the burning
buildings in front but sparkled all over with the bright flash of
small-arms".[64] The guns could make little or no impression on it;
retreat was impossible along the narrow crowded lane by which the
advance had been made. Desperate measures were necessary. Peel was equal
to the occasion. While his marines and the Highlanders did their best to
keep down the fire from the rebel loopholes, his seamen man-handled two
of their big guns to within a few feet of the walls. But they had to be
drawn off again under cover of the fire from a couple of rocket tubes,
which were brought into action for the purpose. Still their gunners had
made a small breach, which they had not even noticed themselves, and by
this breach fifty men of the 93rd Highlanders, under Colonel Adrian Hope
and Sergeant Paton--who received the V.C. for this service--later on
effected an entry and expelled the garrison. The naval guns were of the
greatest service during the withdrawal of the hardly pressed garrison of
the Residency, since they kept down the fire from the Kaisar Bagh, the
principal stronghold of the rebel sepoys. At Cawnpore and at the battle
of Futtygurh, and in the final relief of Lucknow, the _Shannon_ and
_Pearl_ brigades distinguished themselves time after time; but we must
leave further details, to deal with later naval brigades.
Passing over the operations in China in 1858-9-60, and the attack on
Simomosaki in Japan, in all of which both seamen and marines were
engaged, we come to the Ashanti War of 1873. The opening operations were
entirely carried out by the navy, with the assistance of a few black
troops. The invading army of Ashantis was forced back over the River
Prah by the marines and seamen of the squadron, reinforced by a small
force of the former sent especially from England, Cape Coast Castle and
Elmina were saved, and time was gained for the arrival of the
expeditionary force from England under Sir Garnet Wolseley. A small
naval brigade of 200 seamen, and 60 marines, with a rocket train,
accompanied the army on its advance to Kumassi and played a conspicuous
part in the battle of Amoaful, suffering a loss of six officers and
forty men wounded.
A little naval brigade of 3 officers and 121 men with two rocket-tubes,
six 12-pounders, and a Gatling gun participated in the fighting with the
Kafirs in South Africa in 1877-8; while in the Zulu War of a year or so
later the _Shah_, _Active_, _Boadicea_, and _Tenedos_ landed a brigade
of seamen and marines of the strength of 41 officers and 812 men, with
several guns. It was employed in somewhat scattered detachments. In 1881
a small naval brigade took part in the inglorious Boer War and suffered
heavily at the unfortunate battle on Majuba Hill, where it lost more
than half its strength. It is to one of the seamen present that the
following terse summary of that disastrous day is attributed. "We took
three mortal hours to get up that bloomin' hill," he said, "but we come
down in three bloomin' strides."
The navy and marines played a considerable part in the shore operations
which followed on the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882. After the fire
of Sir "Breach'em" Seymour's fleet had driven Arabi and his soldiers out
of the city, the mob gave itself up to murder, looting, and
incendiarism. No troops had yet arrived, and the only thing to do was to
land the naval brigade to keep order and save the city and its European
inhabitants. The bluejackets, with their Gatling guns, supported by the
marines with their rifles, lost no time in clearing the streets of the
murderous rabble. The work was done in a thorough and effective manner,
and as soon as possible a rough-and-ready tribunal was established to
deal with special cases. In addition to these duties the naval brigade
had to find detachments to hold a line of outposts round the landward
side of the city, ready to check a very probable attempt of Arabi to
recapture the city. In a day or so the hardly-worked seamen and marines
were strengthened by the arrival of a battalion of the Royal Marines
which had been specially sent out from England in the _Tamar_ in view
of possible hostilities. It could easily have arrived at Alexandria two
or three days earlier but for a series of orders and counter-orders from
home which delayed it at Gibraltar, Malta, and finally sent it out of
the way to Cyprus, where it was greeted with news of the bombardment,
and the _Tamar_ steamed straight out of Limasol harbour without letting
go her anchor. When the army began to arrive, the naval brigade was
gradually withdrawn on board its ships, but shortly afterwards was
employed in seizing Port Said, Ismailia, and other points on the canal.
In the advance along the Sweet-water Canal, which culminated in the
victory of Tel-el-Kebir, only a very small naval contingent from the
ships took part, but a battalion of the Royal Marine Light Infantry and
another of Royal Marine Artillery were attached to the army, the latter
being told off as a body-guard to Lord Wolseley. But we must not omit to
mention Lieutenant Rawson of the Royal Navy, to whom was committed the
important task of guiding the night march of the army against the
Egyptian lines of Tel-el-Kebir by the aid of the stars, and who fell in
the moment of victory. "No man more gallant fell on that occasion,"
reported Lord Wolseley.
Naval brigades were well to the fore in the fighting which took place in
the Sudan in 1884-5. At the Battle of El Teb 13 naval officers and 150
seamen, with six machine-guns, were present, as well as a battalion of
400 marines. It was in this action that Captain A. K. Wilson--now
Admiral of the Fleet, Sir A. K. Wilson, V.C., G.C.B., O.M.,
G.C.V.O.--gained the V.C. for the gallant way in which he,
single-handed, engaged no less than six of the enemy who had endeavoured
to capture one of his machine-guns. The naval brigade suffered heavy
casualties at the Battle of Tamaii, which took place not long
afterwards. In the Gordon Relief Expedition the naval brigade was
naturally of great use on the Nile, and a small detachment of
fifty-eight seamen under Lord Charles Beresford accompanied the Camel
Corps in its dash across the desert and took part in the
fiercely-contested fights of Abu Klea and Abu Kru. The marines formed
the fourth company of the Guards Camel Corps on this occasion. In the
operations on the upper Nile which preceded the fall of Khartoum there
were a few naval and one marine officer in command of the Egyptian
gunboats, whose fire proved such a useful auxiliary to the advance of
the Anglo-Egyptian Army, while about a dozen non-commissioned officers
of the Royal Marine Artillery were responsible for the instruction of
their Egyptian gunners and the direction of their fire.
[Illustration: THE NAVAL BRIGADE IN THE BATTLE OF EL-TEB]
Naval brigades were very much in evidence in the South African War. No
special squadron and no battalions of marines were sent out, because it
was necessary to keep our main fleet and its personnel ready to hand in
case of complications with European powers. The big cruisers _Terrible_
and _Powerful_, however, appeared on the scene, and their crews assisted
in the formation of the naval brigades. In October, 1899, one of these
was formed at Simonstown from the _Doris_, _Terrible_, _Powerful_, and
_Monarch_.
It is noteworthy that for the first time on record both seamen and
marines were provided with khaki uniform in place of their usual
blue-serge service-dress. This brigade was sent to Stormberg, on to
Queenstown, and then, to its intense disappointment, back to Simonstown
by sea from East London. That is, with the exception of the _Terribles_,
who sailed for Durban. However, the very day the brigade arrived at
Simonstown it was ordered off again to join Lord Methuen's force on the
Modder River. The khaki-clad bluejackets, with their straw hats covered
with the same coloured material, were rather a puzzle to the soldiers.
During one of the engagements which took place, some of the Scots
Guards, passing them standing by their guns, said to each other: "Blimy,
Tommy, there's them Boer guns we've took!"
At the Battle of Graspan the naval brigade particularly distinguished
itself. Captain Protheroe was in command, Commander Ethelston commanding
the seamen, and Major Plumbe the marines. In the course of the action
Captain Protheroe was wounded and both the other officers mentioned were
killed, the brigade being brought out of action by Captain Marchant of
the Royal Marines.[65] The Boers were strongly posted on a pair of
kopjes. The eastern kopje was attacked by a force distributed as
follows:--
_Firing Line._--One company bluejackets, 50 strong; three companies
Royal Marines, 190 strong in all; one company King's Own Yorkshire Light
Infantry.
_Supports._--Seven companies King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
_Reserve._--Half a battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.
The remainder of the seamen belonging to the naval brigade--about 150 in
number--helped to cover the attack by bringing their guns into action at
about 2800 yards range. The kopje was taken, but a heavy price was paid
by the naval brigade. There were 2 naval and 2 marine officers killed
and one of each wounded, 2 seamen and 6 marines killed, and 13 seamen
and 82 marines wounded. During the farther advance on our western flank
the guns of the naval brigade were constantly in action. One of the big
4·7 guns, mounted on the travelling carriage suggested by Captain (now
Admiral) Sir Percy Scott of the _Terrible_, and put into practical form
by one of her engineer officers, arrived in time for the naval brigade
to use it at Magersfontein with considerable effect. At Paardeberg they
had four of these weapons in action, besides smaller guns. Manned either
by bluejackets or marines, and hauled along either by teams of oxen or
by the men of the brigade themselves, they again and again proved most
effective during the operations which followed.
[Illustration: _Photo. Cribb, Southsea_
OUR SEAMEN GUNNERS WITH A MAXIM]
Meanwhile the _Powerfuls_ had formed a naval brigade of their own, and
in response to the appeal made by Sir George White, the defender of
Ladysmith, for more guns, Captain the Hon. Hedworth Lambton of that ship
rushed up 17 officers and 267 men with two 4·7 guns, four 12-pounders,
and four Maxims, just managing to get into the beleaguered town in time.
On the very first day the 12-pounders managed to put the Boer "Long
Tom", which was lobbing its big projectiles into the place, out of
action, and their presence undoubtedly saved the situation. Another
naval brigade formed part of the relieving force and fought at Colenso.
This force comprised 20 officers and 403 bluejackets and marines, to
whom must be added 2 officers and 50 men belonging to the Natal Naval
Volunteers. A formidable battery of one 6-inch, five 4·7-inch, and
eighteen long 12-pounders accompanied this brigade, which was of the
greatest possible assistance to the army.
About this time the Boxer outbreak in China led to the formation of
other naval brigades. Though hardly to be termed a naval brigade, it may
be noted that the British portion of the small international force which
so stoutly defended the Pekin Legations consisted of 79 Royal Marines
and 3 officers, together with a leading signalman, an armourer's mate,
and a sick-berth steward. But the relief column, under Vice-Admiral Sir
E. H. Seymour, was a big naval brigade of various nationalities, of
which about half were British--62 officers, 640 seamen, and 218 marines.
The British were under the immediate command of Captain J. R. Jellicoe,
C.B., C.V.O.,[66] the marines being under Major J. R. Johnstone,
R.M.L.I.[67] A determined attempt was made to advance along the railway
line to Pekin, but the Chinese troops, who were exceedingly well armed,
having thrown in their lot with the Boxers, the brigade was unable to
get farther than An-tung, which was occupied by Major Johnstone with
sixty men, while preparations were made to fall back on Tien-tsin.
The force had come up in a series of trains, but, the railway having
been broken behind it in more than one place, a great part of the return
journey had to be carried out on foot. Village after village had to be
stormed, and not far from Tien-tsin the retreating column had to pass
close under the walls of the important Chinese arsenal of Hsi-ku, which
stood on the opposite bank of the river. From this big fortified
enclosure a heavy fire was poured upon the Europeans at short range. It
was a regular death-trap. However, the principal part of the column
sought what cover the rather high bank of the river afforded, while
Major Johnstone, with the British marines and half a company of
bluejackets, contrived to get across in junks a little higher up, and,
forming under cover of a small village, fixed bayonets and stormed the
enclosure in flank with a tremendous rush, driving out the garrison
before him. The column halted for the night and for the next day or two
inside the arsenal, where it was attacked again and again till a relief
column moved out from Tien-tsin and brought off the harassed naval
brigade. In the meanwhile Admiral Seymour's brigade were fighting
fiercely in Tien-tsin itself. The Pei-Yang Arsenal held by the Chinese
had to be stormed, the European quarter defended, and finally the
high-walled native city had to be taken by assault, an operation in
which the British seamen and marines suffered very heavily.
This is the last important occasion on which a naval brigade was in
action until the European War. So far no naval brigade, in the sense of
a force of bluejackets and marines disembarked from their ships, has
taken part in the fighting, except perhaps at the Dardanelles. The Naval
Division which went to Antwerp was composed of marines and reservists
from their head-quarters and of naval reservists and volunteers, but we
have so little reliable information of what happened on that occasion
that it would be very inadvisable to attempt to give any account of its
performances at the present time.
FOOTNOTES:
[57] Possibly not, as there was a composite battalion at Tangier
composed of companies from various regiments, including one of marines.
[58] "Five or six hundred seamen and others of the Marine
Regiment."--_Reminiscences of Cork_, by Crofton Croker (MS.).
[59] Lutterell.
[60] Several years ago the Kaiser bestowed this distinction on a Hessian
Regiment on account of its ancestors--so it is stated--having
participated in the capture. I have studied the taking of Gibraltar
pretty thoroughly, but have never found any mention of a German regiment
taking part in it.
[61] _Life and Adventures of Matthew Bishop_. London, 1744.
[62] Quoted in Cassell's _British Sea Kings and Sea Fights_.
[63] A soldier who used to be placed in front of a regiment, by whose
motions the movements of the exercises with arms were directed. In some
regiments at the present day the right-hand man steps a pace forward on
the order "Fix bayonets", to give the time and ensure all moving
together.
[64] _Blackwood's Magazine_, October, 1858.
[65] Now Brigadier-General Marchant, C.B., A.D.C.
[66] Now Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., the famous
commander of our Grand Fleet.
[67] Now Major-General Johnstone, C.B.