incidents of arctic travel were calculated to produce, the men relaxed
no effort, and avoided no danger, in their endeavour to achieve the
great purpose of the enterprise. Against obstacles both by land and sea,
from wind and storm, they bore an undismayed front, and, driving on day
by day, they gained Basil Hall Bay, and encamped about eight miles from
Cape Kendall. In dragging the boats over the floes in these parts they
were greatly shattered, the planks being torn and broken, although they
had been strengthened by the sappers “on the water-line with sheets of
tin beat out from the pemican cases.”[26]
Here terminated the coasting voyage, some distance from the Coppermine
River, on account of the ice having, from the severity of the weather,
become too thick and firm to admit the continuance of the ascent,
without jeopardising the safety of the expedition, in the few frail
boats employed in their along-shore adventures. An overland journey in
quest of Sir John Franklin and his missing crews was therefore decided
upon, and arrangements for the march were at once entered into. Thirteen
days’ provisions were packed up for the party, with cooking utensils,
bedding, snow-shoes, fowling-pieces, a portable boat, &c. The burdens
were apportioned by lot, each load weighing about 70lbs.[27] The boats,
tents, stores, &c., that could not be taken on were abandoned on the
coast; and on the 3rd September, after breakfast, prayers being read to
propitiate guidance and protection from a gracious Providence, the march
commenced. With few exceptions, the men trudged on with so indifferent a
pace, that to keep up they lightened their loads by leaving their
carbines behind. About seven-miles from Cape Kendall a halt was made,
and the men slept at night in the cold air, under the miserable shelter
of some towering blocks of basalt 200 feet high. Private Donald Fraser
this day sprained his knee, and on the next he was so unfit for his task
that his burden was eased by throwing away his large hatchet, and
distributing, for carriage, a portion of his pemican among the other
travellers. Several of the men straggled and made but slow progress.
Rae’s and Richardson’s Rivers being crossed—the latter by a portable
boat fastened to a hawser—the expedition reached, on the 5th September,
the Coppermine River and bivouacked about three miles above a dreary
spot bearing the tragic designation of the Bloody Fall.[28]
On the 6th the weather was clear, with a hard frost, but the sun, which
had been a stranger for more than a fortnight, now shone brilliantly.
Generally the party walked briskly, protected in some degree from
frostbite by an addition to their cumbersome apparel of warm seal-skin
boots; “but three of the seamen and two of the sappers and miners were
so lame it was necessary to make long and frequent halts to allow them
to close in;” so much so, that they “were unable to accomplish two
geographical miles in the hour.” To give respite to their sufferings and
time to gather strength, a camp was formed which greatly refreshed them;
and next day they resumed the march in the face of a snowstorm,
heightened by a piercing northerly wind.[29] Two rapid torrents, full of
boulders, were forded in the course of the day’s journey, and “the
discomfort of the march was greatly augmented by the men’s clothes,
which had been saturated in crossing the streams, freezing on their
backs.” In the vicinity of some narrow lakes by the side of a cluster of
low, naked, but wide spreading spruce trees the expedition encamped, and
here, as in other places, they arranged a “bivouac by placing small
branches between the frozen ground and their blankets.” The following
day found them resting near the Copper Mountains, crossing which, they
walked onwards in snow-shoes, not without much difficulty and fatigue;
and those of the travellers who lagged were assisted on their way by
easing them “of everything but their blankets, spare clothing, and a few
pounds of pemican.”[30]
The Kendall River was crossed on the 11th by a raft made on the spot of
dry timber assisted by the sappers. It supported in its transit three at
a time. A fresh disposition of the burdens was made here, and the
carriage of some books and dried plants relinquished. The log raft was
also broken up to recover the cordage by which the timbers were lashed
together. This done the course of the party was shaped across the
country for Dease’s River. They started in a fog, which became denser as
they proceeded, so that at length an object three yards in advance could
not be seen. The compass was necessarily used to steer by; all wended
onwards in Indian file, and though the pace was brisk none fell back.
The lakes which barred their way had a dreary aspect, for they were not
seen until the travellers “came suddenly to the brink of the rocks which
bounded them, when the contrast of the dark surface of their waters with
the unbroken snow of their borders, combined with the loss of all
definite outline in the fog, caused them to resemble hideous pits
sinking to an unknown depth.” The intersection of their track by these
lakes was very hazardous, and it was a wonder none of the straggling
explorers fell into the abysses and met their fate. At night they spread
their blankets on an isolated rock, and without supper, or the cheering
gleams of a fire to give solace to their spirits, sought to snatch some
repose. Snow fell on their exposed bodies as they lay. Many groaned
bitterly with pain, and but few could sleep. Next morning, however, all
were early afoot, and before the day fairly opened, they had marched
three hours, and forded, up to their waists, a tributary of the Kendall,
by which they “were all more or less benumbed.”[31]
In a country like the arctic region much is uncertain, and extremes may
be experienced with almost incredible rapidity. Here a supperless night
was succeeded by one which gave a sumptuous meal of venison, and a sound
night’s rest in a snug encampment. With light loads, full stomachs, and
a long halt in prospect, the spirits of the party received a
barometrical rise that indicated alike their satisfaction and
cheerfulness. Hill after hill they mounted; and traversed, with unusual
alacrity and ardour, stretches of undulated country. Now they were
wading through a swamp, now trending a rough hummocky tract of land, now
scaling a difficult height, and then forcing across an expanse of deep
snow. The journey was trying and harassing, and each night, the party,
jaded, lame and footsore, sought repose in open bivouac; but on the
morning of the 15th of September, after fording the Dease, the
travellers arrived at Fort Confidence—the haven appointed to recruit
their wasted energies, and to shelter them from the storms and tempests
of the coming winter. The overland journey had occupied thirteen days.
Three days subsequently, Sir John Richardson, finding he could dispense
with the services of eighteen persons, sent them on to the fishery
location of Big Island on Great Slave Lake. Ten of the detached party
were sappers, leaving only three of the corps with the chief, viz:
lance-corporals James Mitchell and Robert Mackie, and private David
Brodie. The two latter fitted up the meagre establishment with tables
and chairs, and such other social commodities as were considered to be
requisite to give the fort a character of domestication, and to afford
facilities of comfort to the adventurers. The fort was about three miles
from the mouth of the Dease River and near to Fishery Island.
As far as the European contingent was concerned, the expedition was
brought to a close; and the search, prosecuted under very trying
circumstances, amid perils, hardships, and want, failed to discover any
trace of the whereabouts of Sir John Franklin and his crews. The shores
of Wollaston and Victoria could not be examined as had originally been
intended, as Sir John Richardson had no means of carrying out the
project, his craft having, unavoidably, been abandoned in September,
1848. With the only boat, however, taken up to Fort Confidence, Mr. Rae,
with a party of natives, essayed unsuccessfully to pass to Wollaston
land. Had this been achieved, a defined clue, in all probability, would
have been presented to the track of the missing adventurers. It was in
the vicinity of this region, a few years after, that the mournful relics
of the fated explorers, found by some Esquimaux, passed into the
possession of Mr. Rae, and confirmed in this country the certainty of
the appalling destiny of the expedition.
-----
Footnote 1:
For some twenty years he was in charge of office and field parties on
the detail survey and plan drawing. He had the local superintendence
and direction, under Captain Williams, R.E., of the survey of the
property belonging to the duchy of Lancaster at Langeinor, in South
Wales, and of the Royal domain of Windsor Castle, under Major Tucker,
R.E. His qualifications, as displayed in the direction of these
surveys, led to his selection for the charge of the London survey, but
his connection with it on the part of the Ordnance, was early broken,
by his receiving, in July, 1848, the appointment of surveyor to the
Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers, at 200_l._ a-year, which salary
has since been considerably increased. On leaving the corps he
received a silver medal and gratuity for his long services and
exemplary conduct. Ever since his discharge he has had the
superintendence of a large staff of draughtsmen and men surveying
underground in the sewers. In February, 1851, seven hundred miles of
sewers had been thoroughly examined, and the levels of the different
parts minutely ascertained. “The result of this,” observed Sir Henry
de la Beche, “is that they had documents connected with the condition
of these seven hundred miles of sewerage, such as were not possessed
by any metropolis in Europe. It was but justice,“ adds Sir Henry, “in
referring to the work as examined, to call attention to the officer
who had charge of it—Mr. Joseph Smith, who had executed his task with
an ability, a zeal, and perseverance, deserving the highest eulogiums
both of that court and the inhabitants of the whole metropolis.”—‘The
Times,’ 1st February, 1851. Mr. Smith afterwards became conspicuous
for his report condemning the construction of the Victoria Sewer,
which was nullified by an entirely antagonistic report from Mr.
Forster, the engineer, and gave rise to some little discussion in the
House of Commons between Sir Benjamin Hall and Lord Ebrington.—‘The
Times,’ July 30, 1851.
Footnote 2:
Remarkable for his great endurance of fatigue and exertion, and as
being one of the best and quickest surveyors in the Ordnance. In his
early career in Ireland, it is said, he once walked twenty-two miles
to work, surveyed twelve miles of lines, and returned the same
evening—twenty-two miles—to his quarters! This was considered at the
time to be fair progress for six days; indeed, it was facetiously said
of him that he carried on his work by _moonlight_. He was also clever
as an observer with the two-feet theodolite, and the accuracy of his
arcs was so rigidly faithful, that an officer visited him specially to
watch his work, and test the value of his services. More than
twenty-one years he took part in the national surveys, and had the
local superintendence for many years of large parties dispersed over
extensive districts. He also assisted with much credit in the survey
of the disputed territory in North America; and, receiving for his
good conduct and long services a gratuity and silver medal, was
discharged from the corps in January, 1851. Soon afterwards he
emigrated to Canada.
Footnote 3:
‘Companion to Almanac,’ 1849, p. 37.
Footnote 4:
Ibid., p. 38.
Footnote 5:
Ibid.
Footnote 6:
‘The Observer,’ April 9, and June 4, 1848; ‘Civil Engineer and
Architectural Journal,’ and some of the London press.
Footnote 7:
The ‘Times,’ June 10, 1848. “The example of the employment of this
corps,” said Mr. Chadwick, “on beneficial public works, qualifying
them for civil employment, was worthy of public note, for in their
case, the discharge from the military service was not, as he had in
Poor Law administration too frequent occasion to observe, the creation
of paupers, or mendicants, or worse. There was no class of persons who
so soon got into productive civil service.”—Ibid.
Footnote 8:
‘Illustrated London News,’ June 24, 1848.
Footnote 9:
Ibid.
Footnote 10:
The privates here named have died under rather singular circumstances;
Porteous _suddenly_, in September, 1853, when encamped on
Brandon-hill; Pemble in June, 1854, at Elvanfoot, in Lanarkshire, from
exhaustion and exposure to stormy weather. The latter had been sent
from the camp to build a pile for trigonometrical purposes, and next
evening, after a fatiguing day’s work, he was returning to the
station, when he lay down to rest himself by the side of a mountain
stream, and perished. Both these soldiers were the chief practical
workmen in the formation of the structures for the observatories. At
lofty heights, where the senses of most men would paralyze, borne up
on shaking props or slender supports, they calmly carried on their
dangerous operations with spirit, activity, and ingenuity.
Footnote 11:
‘Illust. Lond. News,’ June 24, 1848; ‘Historic Times,’ January 19,
1849. In both of which are spirited cuts of the scaffolding, &c.
Footnote 12:
The ‘Times,’ November 4, 1848.
Footnote 13:
Ibid. Here, however, it should be noted, that a pole about four feet
long, on being let down into the boarded screen below, struck on a
moulding and went down whirling. In its descent it struck the great
dome, where it received a shell-like range, and dashed off, at a sharp
angle, to the North Transept, where it made a hole through the lead of
the roof, similar to what a ball of the same diameter would have done
if let fall from the same height. In taking down the scaffolding, an
eight-feet plank fell on its flat side from the lantern to the
pavement in the area of the Cathedral, and the report was like the
booming of a piece of ordnance from the deck of a ship of war.
Footnote 14:
Distinguished himself by his gallantry in the storming of the Redan on
the 8th September, 1855.
Footnote 15:
The ‘Times,’ November 4, 1848.
Footnote 16:
‘Builder,’ 7th April, 1849, p. 165.
Footnote 17:
The ‘Times,’ February 1, 1851.
Footnote 18:
Sir John Richardson’s ‘Boat Voyage,’ i., p. 53.
Footnote 19:
Sir John Richardson, ii., p. 141.
Footnote 20:
Sir John Richardson, i., p. 110.
Footnote 21:
Ibid., i., pp. 110, 111.
Footnote 22:
Ibid., i., p. 115.
Footnote 23:
Ibid., pp. 119-131.
Footnote 24:
Sir John Richardson, i., p. 289.
Footnote 25:
Ibid., i., p. 294.
Footnote 26:
Ibid., p. 299.
Footnote 27:
Sir John Richardson, p. 308.
Footnote 28:
Ibid., i., pp. 309-318.
Footnote 29:
Sir John Richardson, i., p. 321.
Footnote 30:
Ibid., p. 326.
Footnote 31:
Sir John Richardson, i., p. 331.
1848.
Augmentation to corps—A calculating prodigy—Company removed from
Portsmouth to Ireland—Chartist demonstration and services of the
sappers in London—Road-making in Zetland—Company to the
Mauritius—Major Sandham—Sergeant Anderson—Sergeant Ross—Sir
Harry Smith’s frontier tour at the Cape—Passage of the Mooi;
corporal Pringle—Passage of the Konap; sergeant McLeod; also of
the Orange River—Boem Plaatz—Spirited conduct of a party in
removing an ammunition tumbril, which had upset in some burning
grass—Peace—Inspection at Gibraltar by Sir Robert Wilson—Also at
Hong-Kong by Major-General Stavely—Company at Corfu—Return of
party to England from the Falkland Islands—Sergeant Hearnden.
The nineteenth company was formed on the 1st of April and appropriated
for the duties of the survey.[32] On the 1st of September, another
company, numbered the 20th, was organized, which increased the
establishment from 1,800 to 2,000 of all ranks. The detachment of one
sergeant, one corporal and twelve privates, formed by royal warrant in
July, 1839, for service in South Australia, merged into the
establishment in December, by an order dated 15th of that month, and
thus reduced the corps from 2,000 to 1,985 of all ranks. This measure
was effected to simplify details and to make the detachment form part of
a company, without removing it from the province. Its expense still
continued to be borne by the colonial government.
The company at Portsmouth, ninety-eight strong, under Captain Robertson,
R.E., was sent by rapid conveyances to Dublin, and arrived there on the
2nd of April, to assist in quelling the rebellion in Ireland. Late in
July, Lieutenant Akers, R.E., with one sergeant and fifteen rank and
file, accompanied the troops under the command of Major-General
Macdonald to Thurles, and encamped about a mile from the town, and
returned to Dublin in September, without any necessity for their
services arising. The meditated revolt was crushed, and Smith O’Brien
with some other demagogues, convicted of traitorous designs, were
expatriated. The company on being withdrawn from Ireland, removed to
Woolwich, where it arrived on the 19th of February, 1849.
A rising of the Chartists being anticipated, measures were taken to
thwart their designs. Troops were collected with rapidity from all
quarters and appointed to various posts in London, to act if occasion
required. Late in the evening of Saturday the 8th of April, a company of
100 strong with sergeant-major Bradford, under the command of Captain
Tylee, R.E., was detached from Woolwich to the Tower of London. Each man
took with him forty rounds of ammunition. The company slept in the Tower
that night, but early next morning, two sergeants and thirty-two rank
and file, under Lieutenant Sedley, R.E., were sent to the Ordnance
Office, Pall Mall, to oppose any attempt at possession by the Chartists.
Another party with sergeant-major Bradford under Lieutenant Wilkinson,
R.E., was removed to the Bank of England. On the roof of this edifice
were built platforms; and at certain places, massive timbers with
loop-holes were run up as positions for defence. Several thousand
sand-bags filled the upper tier of windows facing the Royal Exchange,
and others as high as a man were piled upon the parapet of the roof,
with apertures between them for musketry. Over the entrance of the
building, a strong wooden machicouli, resting upon ponderous beams,
projected into the street, which held a party of the corps ready to open
a volley on the rabble, had an attempt been made to force an entrance.
In the yard leading to the workshops, &c., the sappers also erected an
enormous barricade of casks, handcarts, &c.
The detachment at the Tower was no less zealous. At the Byward tower,
the face—overlooking the entrance to the fortress from the Thames by the
bridge—was loop-holed, as also a building to command the other entrance.
About thirty yards inside—from the gate of the Byward tower—a strong
intrenched stockade was erected; and on the wharf near the Traitor’s
tower, two barricades were constructed of crates with bricks in them,
iron coal boxes, &c., which were loop-holed for musketry. Along the
Traitor’s wall was an erection of sand-bags with openings for firing,
and on the roof of the barracks, banquettes, to enable the troops to
play on the mob in the rear near to the Mint, were formed of scaffolding
and military forms. The old bricked-up embrasures facing Tower Hill were
also rendered ready for the reception of guns by picking out the bricks
and clearing away the debris, which for years had been accumulating
there. Fortunately no outbreak occurred, and the company returned to
Woolwich on the 14th of April.
There happened at the time to be a handful of the corps in London
employed in the metropolitan survey, who, as the occasion was ominous
and pressing, were relieved from their professional operations to assist
in those of defence. So well did they discharge the duties intrusted to
them in barricading the entrances to the high offices of the State, that
their conduct was acknowledged in a communication from Lieut.-Colonel
Alderson of the engineers in these terms. “I have been requested by Mr.
Trevelyan, on the part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other
authorities of the government, to express their satisfaction at the good
conduct of the detachment of royal sappers and miners, under the command
of colour-sergeant Smith, during their employment under me at the
Treasury and government-offices on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday last; also
in the efficient professional aid they afforded, in putting the
Treasury-buildings and Downing-street in a state of defence.”
In May, Captain Webb, R.E., with one sergeant and one private, both
surveyors, proceeded to Zetland by an order from the Commissioners of
the Treasury, and laid out and surveyed nearly ninety miles of road,
upon which the poor of the islands were employed to afford them relief.
In September, the party returned to Woolwich, where Captain Webb and the
sergeant completed the plans of the work for the Home Office. The
conduct and zeal of sergeant R. Forsyth were specially brought to the
notice of the Treasury, and in a letter from Sir Charles Trevelyan to
Captain Webb, dated 26th of December, 1848, it is stated, “that my lords
have received with satisfaction your report of the zeal and intelligence
displayed by sergeant Forsyth in assisting in this service; and that if
his exertions shall continue to be equally useful, they will be prepared
to grant him some moderate additional remuneration when these operations
have been brought to a close.”[33]
A new station was opened for the corps this year, by detaching to the
Mauritius a company of 100 strong, under the command of Captain J.
Fenwick, R.E., which embarked at Gravesend on the 2nd of May, and landed
from the ‘Edmundsbury’ on the 19th of August. A half company had
previously been employed there, but on the completion of the citadel in
1840, it was removed to the Cape of Good Hope.
Captain John Walpole, R.E., was commissioned as brigade-major to the
corps on the 1st of June, 1848, _vice_ Major Sandham removed to the
ordnance office as second inspector-general. With the sappers, Major
Sandham had served for many years, and the great interest he took in
their concerns is well known. Strict impartiality and a penetrating
discrimination marked his whole conduct; and his attention to the
discipline and drill, raised the character of the corps for military
appearance and efficiency. The ready testimony of Lord Bloomfield, the
commandant of Woolwich garrison, was frequently awarded to Major Sandham
for his success in these particulars, and never was the corps present at
a garrison parade, but his lordship called the attention of his staff to
its correct marching and manœuvring. A sterling friend to the
sappers, Major Sandham, with hearty goodwill, provided many
non-commissioned officers and men with comfortable and lucrative
situations in civil life, although in doing so, he laid himself under
many and deep obligations to those from whom he obtained the
patronage.[34]