Maguire, royal sappers and miners, who has, notwithstanding a serious
indisposition under which he suffered in the beginning of our journey,
used every exertion to promote the object of the expedition, and behaved
in the most praiseworthy manner.” For his services corporal Church
received a gift of 15_l._ from the foreign minister and a silver watch
from the Royal Geographical Society.
The small party under Captain Owen, R.E., at Marlborough House, was
increased in February to five rank and file. On the completion of the
referential arrangement of the correspondence and documents connected
with the Great Exhibition, they were attached in May to the department
of practical science and art, under the superintendence of Mr. Henry
Cole. Since the transfer they have been engaged in services of a very
miscellaneous character, embracing the distribution to national and
public schools of examples and models for teaching elementary knowledge,
form, and colour, mounting and tinting examples and prints, preparing
models, &c., and officiating as clerks and draughtsmen in the offices at
Marlborough House. Corporal Mack, in addition to his ordinary duties,
produced two or three plans of an interesting character. In arranging
some dietary tables Dr. Lyon Playfair engaged the assistance of the
corporal. The ingredients used as food, extending to twenty-three
substances, having been subjected by the professor to analysis, required
to be classified into a simple and consistent arrangement. This the
corporal effected by means of an ingenious diagram in colours. Dr.
Playfair was well pleased with the illustration, and when at a meeting
of the Royal Society, to which the corporal had the honour of being
invited, the professor announced his intention of publishing it for the
use of schools, the promise was received with applause. True to his
intention, Professor Playfair afterwards produced the plan in colours on
a very large scale, and gave it a distribution as wide as the United
Kingdom. On the 8th June, 1853, the diagram was exhibited at the
Mansion-house, and attracted much attention. A reduced plan of the
illustration was also made for the Dean of Hereford, which forms the
frontispiece to the sixth edition of his work on ‘Secular Education.’
Corporal Mack constructed another elementary diagram, commencing with
the diet of an agricultural labourer and _ascending_ to that of a
convict. Singular to add, by this scale it appears that good diet is
increased in the same ratio as crime; and the industrious husbandman
fares worse than the felon!
Corporal Gardner, with an assistant sapper, had charge of the decorative
furniture of cabinetry, silk tapestry, and drawings, exhibited at Gore
House. He received the various specimens, assisted to arrange them, and
was intrusted with the responsible duty of securing their safety. On his
removal to the royal mint, to receive instructions in the process of
coining, he was succeeded by second-corporal John Pendered, who retained
the charge of the cabinetry until the close of the exhibition in
September, 1853. He also had the care of Gore House estate and the
adjoining grounds, purchased by the Royal Commissioners. Second-corporal
Frederick Key, the foreman of carpenters at Marlborough and Gore Houses,
superintended the construction of the fitments for the exhibition of
cabinetry, and the necessary repairs to the interior of Gore House. The
working pay of the party, in addition to their regimental allowances,
was 2_s._ each a-day, but corporal Pendered was allowed 3_s._ a-day, in
consideration of the extra charge confided to him in the care of Gore
House estate.
On the 15th February was commenced the sanitary survey of Woolwich for
the Local Board of Health by corporal James Macdonald, having under him
a small variable party of sappers and civil assistants. The survey
comprised that part of Woolwich lying south of the river Thames, and was
finished in October, the work having been delayed for a few months by
the withdrawal of the party for the military survey of Chobham. Corporal
Macdonald was provided with outline tracings from the 5-feet initial
plan of the metropolitan survey, enlarged to ten feet to a mile. These
he carefully corrected, and filled in the details, embodying such other
minutiæ as were necessary to assist the local authorities in effecting
improvements in the drainage, &c. The whole work, so creditable to
corporal Macdonald, mapped on about twenty full sheets, was done at the
expense of the Woolwich Board of Health for 450_l._
Under the authority of a royal warrant dated 24th February, a detachment
of one sergeant, two corporals, and twelve privates was raised for the
survey of Van Diemen’s Land, which brought the establishment of the
corps to a force of 2,200 officers and men. In anticipation of this
sanction, the party had been organized and sent to Hobart Town in 1852.
On the 1st April two Quartermasters were added to the corps by the
Master-General—Lord Raglan. One was attached to the royal engineer
establishment at Chatham, and the other to the companies employed on the
ordnance survey. Major Walpole originated the former, Lieutenant-Colonel
Hall the latter, and Sir John Burgoyne, the inspector-general of
fortifications, ably supported the suggestions by his recommendation.
These commissions were bestowed to reward merit, and to place the corps
on an equal footing of advantage with the royal artillery, which
regiment, taking its published force at the time as a datum, gave one
commission from the ranks for every 700 men.
The eleventh company was removed from Alderney to Woolwich on the 2nd
June, owing to the diminished strength of the corps there and at
Chatham, rendering the withdrawal expedient. For twelve months it had
been stationed on the island, and during that period its services were
confined principally to the construction of the Longy lines and to
scarping the rock in front of them, with the view of making the place
less accessible to invasion. The masons always had full employment, but
the greater part of the company, failing work at their own trades, took
service in the quarries, and furnished the stones for the
fortifications. Private Simon Williams was noticed as the best and most
successful cutter and builder. On the removal of the company, a small
party was left for special duties as foremen and clerks.
An incident occurred in July which from its novelty is deserving of
record. Private William Calder committed forgery and theft, and deserted
from the corps. His movements being traced and his assumed name
discovered, second-corporal James S. Taylor, fully acquainted with his
delinquencies, was sent to the United States, provided with a warrant
from the Foreign Secretary, to demand, under the Convention, the
apprehension and extradition of the culprit. He had embarked at a
Scottish port on board the ‘Dirigo,’ and as she was sailing up to New
York, corporal Taylor, who had arrived in a steamer before her, boarded
the trader, captured the thief, and found in his possession all the
property he had stolen from his comrades and the Ordnance. The case was
taken before Judge Edmonds—notable for his eccentric decisions—and,
contrary to the clearest evidence, he discharged the offender, and
insinuated, from some extraordinary reasoning he employed, that the
corporal himself had committed the forgery. Protesting against the
inference, with soldier-like forbearance and respect, he induced the
judge to make a promise to cancel his unjust remarks, but his Honour,
regardless of his word, afterwards published them without modification.
The unmerited accusation, however, did not discourage the corporal from
following up his duty; and he made two other attempts to secure the
person of the deserter, by asking a remand until direct evidence could
be adduced from England, but the partisan judge, proof against proof,
ordered the unconditional dismissal of the thief, and thus afforded an
asylum to a fugitive, whose character is a reflection on the verdict
that shielded him from justice. The exemplary conduct of second-corporal
Taylor, eulogized by Sir John Burgoyne and Lord Raglan, gained for him
promotion to the rank of corporal. ‘The Albion,’ a New York Paper, of
3rd September, 1853, gave a spirited leader in vindication of the
“soldierly honour” of the corporal; and added, that he “gave his
testimony with an air and tone manly, direct, and irreproachable.” On
the other hand, the forensic turpitude of Judge Edmonds was strongly
condemned, for treating the prisoner as the victim of government
persecution instead of a renegade charged with heinous and multiplied
crime. The prompt measures taken in the case were intended not merely to
punish the offender but to deter others of the corps intrusted with
responsibility, money, and property, from the commission of similar
offences; and though it failed to secure the delinquent, it opened up
for future guidance a sure line of proceeding, which it is hoped there
may never be occasion to resort to.
Soon after the close of the Kaffir war the ninth company was withdrawn
from the Cape, and landed at Woolwich the 19th September. During its
service in the colony, its casualties in action were ten men killed and
eleven wounded.
On the representation of Lieutenant-Colonel Waters, commanding royal
engineer at the Mauritius, a company was detached from head-quarters in
May, which disembarked there on the 25th September. On landing, the fine
appearance of the men, their size and soldierlike bearing, attracted the
attention of the staff officers and officers of the garrison. In the
afternoon they were entertained with a substantial repast, furnished by
the spontaneous generosity of the company of royal artillery there. On
the following day they were inspected by Major-General Sutherland, who
complimented Colonel Waters by observing, “that they were the finest
company of soldiers he had for a long time seen.” A testimony like this
from the Major-General, who is known not to be satisfied with even
mediocrity, was certainly flattering.
A party of three men embarked under Captain A. P. G. Ross, R.E., for the
colony of Victoria, landed at Melbourne on the 14th October. Selected as
they were with reference to their qualifications as mechanics and
general intelligence, they had been appointed to oversee the skill and
labour employed in the construction of works for the defence of the
harbour, and the rapidly-increasing towns in its vicinity. The defence
of the bay by the contemplated fortifications was reported by the
Captain to be impracticable, and the party awaited for a time the
decision of the provisional government on the point. Meanwhile the
sappers were efficiently employed in carrying out some subordinate
details connected with the Melbourne Exhibition. It was also proposed by
the Harbour commission that works should at once be commenced for the
extension of the wharfage on the river Yarra, to give importance and
vitality to the shipping and commercial aspects of the colony. Tenders
were even called for to carry out the work, but, difficult to satisfy
the antagonistic views of a capricious legislature, the suggestion was
indefinitely postponed. Thereupon the Captain and his three sappers
returned to England, arriving at Woolwich in the summer of 1855.[118]
The yellow fever, so frequently the scourge of the Bermuda islands was
prevalent at St. George’s from August to November, and carried off its
victims in greater numbers than in the fatal epidemics of 1819 and 1843.
It commenced among the convicts in the ‘Thames’ hulk, and spread with
frightful rapidity, first to the military and civil establishments, and
then to the residences of the native population. The first soldier who
died was a sapper, and before the sickness had ceased, no less than
twenty-five men of the corps, out of a detachment of forty-seven of all
ranks, became its victims. Three women and one child of the party also
died. Colonel Phillpotts, the commanding royal engineer, and Lieutenant
Greatorex, R.E., were among the dead, as also the wife of Lieutenant
Whitmore, R.E. All the men of the detachment except three were attacked
with the fever, and many suffered relapses. To relieve them as much as
possible from the influence of infection, they were early removed from
their quarters to an encampment on the north side of the island, near
the naval tanks, and finally to Prospect Hill and Port’s Island. “Those
who were able,” reports Captain White, R.E., “showed themselves to great
advantage by the cheerful way in which they attended to the sick. Their
exertions were above all praise.” Several opinions have been ventured
relative to the exciting cause of the epidemic, but the general belief
was, that from some disturbance in the position of the hulk by the
pressure of strong winds and agitated tides, the atmosphere became
impregnated with mephitic gases emitted from the accumulation of
impurities around her bottom. Ireland Island, where a half company of
sappers was stationed, was not visited by the calamity.
A warrant dated 15th of August, sanctioned the formation of a detachment
of one sergeant, one corporal, three second-corporals and eleven
privates, for service in the mint at New South Wales, which increased
the corps to a total of 2,218 of all ranks. To fit them for the duty,
they were quartered for several months within the royal mint, near the
Tower, where the departments of the establishment were thrown open for
their instruction. From a desire to monopolize the craft of the mintage
to themselves and their families, the moneyers viewed the employment of
the sappers in this confidential work with jealousy and opposition, and
just imparted to their military pupils as much knowledge of the art as
they cared to divulge. The party, however, made up by attention and
observation for what was withheld from them, and promptly acquired full
information with respect to the working of the machinery, and the
various processes used in coining. Two or three of the smiths were also
initiated in the method of adjusting weights and scales, and in the
construction of balances and patent locks and safes. Instruction in
these mechanical expedients was given them by Mr. Hobbs, celebrated for
his exploits in picking locks before considered invulnerable. The first
instalment of the detachment, consisting of sergeant Archibald Gardner
and nine rank and file, embarked at the London Docks on board the ‘Maid
of Judah,’ on the 3rd of December, 1853, and landed at Sydney in March,
1854.
The grey greatcoat, which for nearly half a century had been worn by the
corps without improvement, was in November of this year superseded by a
blue cloth greatcoat of the same cut and fashion as its predecessor,
except that the cuffs for all ranks were abolished, the capes
diminished, and the sergeants’ collars were of scarlet, instead of blue
cloth.
-----
Footnote 118:
The sappers were very popular with the good people of Melbourne.
Wherever their red-coats were seen, all sorts of inconvenient
invitations followed. He must have been more than Bacchus to have
accepted a tithe of their overflowing attentions. Luckily the men were
impregnably temperate. To escape from the extravagant compliments of
the citizens, Captain Ross, on the representation of corporal Goodear,
permitted his sappers to appear in plain clothes. They were thus lost
among the people, and saved from the friendly annoyances to which
their bright uniform had honourably exposed them.
1853.
CHOBHAM CAMP.
Nature of the ground—Position of the sappers—Their strength—Quarters and
cantonments—Equipment—Duties and services—The survey—Marking out
the encampment—Forming tanks—Wells—Lakes—Construction of
stables—Camp-kitchen—Oven—Incidental employments; Royal
pavilion; Queen’s road—Sentry-boxes—Post-office and postal
statistics—Intrenchments—Submarine mining—Passage of Virginia
Water—Her Majesty’s gracious acknowledgments of the conduct of the
sappers in the operation—The second passage of the lake—Also of the
Thames at Runnymead—Field-days—Inspections by the Queen—Breaking up
the camp—Satisfaction of Colonel Vicars and Lord Seaton.
In common with the army, the royal sappers and miners furnished
detachments for the camp at Chobham about four miles from Chertsey. The
common where the encampment was formed was an extensive tract of waste,
varied with hill and dale. The amplitude of the district, its freedom
from enclosures, from wood or bush, or from barriers or hedges to mark
the boundaries of individual or corporate properties, and its succession
of swelling heights, well adapted it for the purposes of an
instructional encampment, and for the campaigning evolutions of a
concentrated force, assembled less for military parade and display than
to realize in degree some of the chequered difficulties and vicissitudes
which fill up the hard and comfortless career of an army engaged in the
active operations of war.
The camp was established on the concave edge of the ridge. Each end was
advanced, while the centre with a sweep receded, giving to the position
a curved line approaching the segment of a circle. The detachment of
sappers was tented south of the ‘Magnet,’ the name given to the hill
where the head-quarters were established, and next to the left of the
Coldstream guards, close to the road leading across the common to
Bagshot. The line regiments which succeeded, fell back from the
detachment. To be regimentally correct, the sappers should have been on
the right of the Grenadier guards, but the position was chosen for the
corps because it was central, prominent, and easily accessible to the
troops requiring the use of entrenching tools and field implements. The
division, consisting of a due proportion of cavalry, artillery and
infantry, was under the orders of Lieutenant-General Lord Seaton, G.C.B.
The sappers were among the first troops on the ground. As soon as it was
determined to form the camp, the party at Sandhurst—one sergeant and
twelve rank and file—was directed to suspend its services at the
college, and remove to the encamping district. It commenced work on the
21st of April and ceased on the 7th of May, when it returned to the
royal military college to carry out the concluding operations of the
term. Lieut. Drake, R.E., commanded this party.
To make a hurried survey of the ground one sergeant and eighteen rank
and file were detached from Southampton between the 27th of April and
the first of May, who, as the service permitted, returned in sections to
the ordnance survey. A small party detained at Windlesham for special
purposes, in connexion with the military survey, did not quit the
district till late in July. Lieutenant Stotherd, R.E., directed the
detachment.
Colour-sergeant Henry Brown and twenty rank and file from Chatham,
reached the encamping ground on the 9th of May. On the 13th following,
this detachment was increased to a company (numbered the 2nd) of three
sergeants and eighty-seven rank and file from the royal engineer
establishment, under the command of Captain Lovell, R.E. Lieutenant and
Adjutant Somerset from Woolwich, joined the company on the 14th of June.
The whole were under the orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Vicars, R.E.
To diversify the operations, a pontoon train was ordered to be attached
to the division; and on the 20th of June, the sappers appointed for this
duty commenced to move in detachments. The force consisted of drafts
from the first, fifth, and eleventh companies detached from Chatham, and
reached a total of
1 quartermaster—George Allan,
1 sergeant-major—William Read,
12 sergeants,
16 corporals,
3 buglers, and
156 privates.
—-
189 Total
===
under the command of Colonel Harry D. Jones, assisted by Captains H. St.
George Ord, G. Ross, and W. M. Inglis, and ten subalterns of the royal
engineers. The great bulk of the men arrived at Wellington camp on the
22nd of June, on which date the totals of the combined force of sappers
counted 297 of all ranks.
A day or two after the pontoon operations at Virginia Water were
concluded, the first company, with a detachment of the eleventh, quitted
Wellington camp, and returned to Chatham the same day.
The second company at Chobham camp was relieved on the 22nd of July by
the fifth company, with the greater part of the eleventh from the
Wellington camp, and repaired that day to Chatham. The company was
played from the ground by the band of the 79th Highlanders, who, from
good feeling, volunteered to confer the honour; and as it passed the
tents of the 79th three cheers from the assembled regiment testified its
esteem and friendship for the departing company.[119] The total force
then left for the field duties of the camp, exclusive of the surveyors,
numbered 100 men of all ranks.
As some further pontoon operations were ordered to be executed, and the
force at the camp was considered to be numerically inadequate for the
duty, sixty-five non-commissioned officers and men were sent to the
field from Chatham on the 25th of July, and after the completion of the
work, they returned on the 28th to their destination.
The party from Sandhurst and colour-sergeant Brown’s detachment were
billeted at Sunning-hill and Sunning-dale. On Captain Lovell arriving
with his company at Shrub’s-hill, finding no billets or tents he stayed
for three days in a barn at Bagshot Park House. On the 16th of May the
company was for the first time tented on the skirts of Colonel
Challoner’s wood, then on Sheep’s-hill, and lastly on the
Oystershell-hill near the “Magnet.” The division under Lord Seaton
reached the encampment on the 14th of June, when in allusion to the
appearance and exertions of the troops as they took up their ground, a
leading journal of the day observed, “that the sappers and miners,
probably the most intelligent and best-educated men in our army, make
the least external show.”[120] The pontoon train was encamped about one
and a half miles from Virginia Water, near the Wellington Bridge, from
which the camp took its name. The detachment of sixty-five men furnished
to assist in the formation of the bridge across the Thames at Runnymede,
was billeted during its short stay at Egham.
The camp equipment for the Chobham company embraced five marquees,
fourteen circular tents, one hospital tent for officers’ mess, one for
orderly room, one guard tent, and one store and ammunition tent, besides
fourteen Flanders’ kettles. For the pontoon train there were four
marquees, thirty-four circular tents, two hospital tents for workshops
and stores, one laboratory tent, and twenty-five camp kettles. Each man
was supplied with a wooden canteen, haversack and blanket, but no
bedding. Straw was afforded in abundance to sleep on. The men were
distributed in parties of nine and ten to each tent, which permitted the
senior non-commissioned officers to be provided with ample canvas
accommodation, and some spare tents to be used for various incidental
military purposes.
A detail of the duties and services performed by the sappers and miners
in connexion with the encampment follows. In some of them they were
assisted by small levies from the guards and the line. The senior
non-commissioned officers were colour-sergeants Henry Brown, Noah Deary,
and Timothy Sillifant, who throughout the service were indefatigable in
their exertions, and their skill and contrivances were on many occasions
found very useful.[121] In the early stage of the preparations, Viscount
Hardinge inspected the camp on Sheep’s-hill, and expressed in a few
pointed sentences his satisfaction of the appearance of the field, and
the steps taken to render the accommodation of the troops as comfortable
as the resources of the district would admit.