lengths of chevaux-de-frise in extension of the barricade across the
Woronzoff valley, and threw up a circular breastwork, issuing from the
trench on the right of No. 17 battery of the left attack to flank the
main road. An attempt was also spiritedly made to connect the two
attacks by running an arm across the ravine and up the hill from the
second parallel of the left attack to the right of the third. The
gabions laid for the purpose by the sappers were rapidly filled by the
line, and a few nights more would have witnessed the completion of the
communication, but ulterior events rendered further labour in that
trench unnecessary. In the fifth parallel, facing the Redan, two sappers
formed loop-holes, chiefly of bread-bags, at intervals along the entire
trench for light troops.
In the cemetery the gabionade being much shattered was quickly repaired.
A trench too was run out from that gloomy area, crested by a parapet
made up of the usual expedients; and the rude slabs and blocks which,
struck down and broken by shot and shell, lay confusedly over the
ground. Another was cleverly cut from the point where the double sap
joined the centre of the fifth parallel, and, descending the hill in a
backward sweep, connected with the approach from the cemetery. Two or
three brigades of sappers, working simultaneously at different parts of
the trench, fixed the gabions sometimes by the flying method, and at
others, when the firing was heavy, by the surer plan of completing the
cover before moving an inch in advance. One night at this sap corporal
Henry T. Stredwick had with him a half brigade of sappers who were
tasked to lodge and fill eighteen gabions, but the moment they began to
work a galling array of heavy projectiles opposed every foot of
progress. Repeatedly the gabions were capsized; full ones on two or
three occasions were blown from the trace, and the sappers knocked over
and buried under them. Even resolute men would have had ample excuse for
abandoning so murderous a spot; but regarding nothing as insuperable or
too hot, the sappers held obstinately to the work, and succeeded in
lengthening the trench by twelve gabions. A rifle-screen was partly
formed half way between the cemetery and the central communication to
the fifth parallel, and two old Russian pits, by a slight deviation,
were embodied in the sap. A gentle ridge being on the line of trace, the
sappers, too quick to calculate the inconvenience of their go-ahead
zeal, planted the gabions for the revetment nearly on its edge. Once
filled, the earth thrown up for the parapet fell down the slope, and no
end of bread-bags were emptied to gain cover. There was no remedy for
the defect but perseverance; and this being cheerfully yielded, a
tolerable mound in time had risen, which outvied in strength with the
contiguous parapets. The work was chiefly done at night; the darkness
was great, the firing incessant. Varied was the progress; sometimes as
few as nine or ten gabions were fixed, at others as many as twenty-four.
This was looked upon as excellent work, and St. Jacques of Monzon
himself might have been proud, to share in such success. Steadily was
the trench pushed on, and in a few days it was numbered among the
finished formations.
In the night of the 2nd it was intended to open a screen in advance of
the white rifle-pit on the right attack. Two officers of engineers
reconnoitred the ground, attended by a volunteer party carrying tools
and gabions. Being perceived, the enemy’s pickets plied them with so hot
a fire they were compelled to make a hurried retreat, while the men who
were struck bore on as best they could with gashing wounds; but one poor
fellow, more deeply injured than the rest, was left on the field.
Indisposed to yield their comrade, sergeant Newman of the 62nd led back
six men, one of whom was private McNamara of the sappers, to search for
the missing man and recover the abandoned tools; but another volley of
hissing bullets drove them in haste to the sap. Yet again did these men
offer their services to renew the search; but as the moon had newly
risen, rendering distant objects visible, the engineers wisely declined
to permit an exploit which in all probability would have sacrificed the
entire party. For his spirited conduct the sergeant received a present
of three sovereigns from General Simpson.
Passing on to the night of the 4th, there were 17 sappers in the
trenches on the left, and 32 on the right. Those on the left were
distributed in 17 and 19 batteries, and the circular breastwork,
flanking the Woronzoff ravine; a few also were in the cemetery, and
others in the excavation leading down the hill to it. Of this small
party two were wounded: private John Boyce severely in the eye, and
second-corporal Charles Phillips, “a most zealous and active
non-commissioned officer,” in both arms. The left was broken above the
elbow by a grape-shot, and though subsequently cured without amputation,
a frightful limb was left, withered, rigid, and useless. He had been
working during the early night in the double sap with Mooney and
Lancaster, two first-class sappers, from which he was removed by
Lieutenant Neville to complete the screen spotted half-way between the
cemetery and the sap to the fifth parallel. He had with him four men of
the 57th regiment. As the screen was small, and barely permitted the
little batch to move in it, the corporal jumped from the hole, and
directed their exertions on the open slope. He also withdrew one of the
privates, and soon after on came the grape, inflicting the injuries
described and striking the hilt from the bayonet of his comrade.
Boyce had missed his way and wandered with his men into the double sap.
Corporal Phillips happening to be there at the time, instructed him how
to rectify his course. The route was one of risk, for the trench down
the hill had only been cut in parts. Sooner than retrace his steps, and
thus obtain the cover necessary to protect him, he shot across the open
at the head of his men, and luckily reached the spot to which he had
been appointed without casualty. The injury to his eye occurred soon
after.
The sappers on the right were chiefly in the advance works, extending
the trenches by flying saps. That on the Redan was prolonged 31 gabions,
which were all loaded with earth and stones; and the other up the little
ravine had 36 gabions staked, but only 16 filled. The moon now appearing
put an end to the onward flight of the sappers, who when withdrawn into
safer cover brought with them the body of Captain Anderson of the 31st
regiment, assistant engineer, who was killed while directing the
approach to the Redan. Few, indeed, left those perillous saps without a
scar, or a shot-hole in their garments. “From the heavy fire maintained
on the head of our sap,” wrote General Simpson, under this date, “the
progress made has been slow, and accompanied, as must be expected, by
several casualties among the sappers and working parties.”
At the morning relief of the 5th there were 53 sappers and 41 line
miners in the left trenches from five to nine o’clock, and 17 from three
to seven in the evening, who placed the batteries in substantial order
for the intended cannonade, and completed the splinter-proof hut for the
surgeons in the first parallel. To-day commenced the sixth bombardment,
very warmly by the French, less so by the English, who only discharged
periodical shells at the Redan and Garden batteries. Brisk as was the
fire from the Russians, only one man of the working party, out of about
three hundred men, was killed on the left, viz., lance-corporal Richard
Pinch—a very useful sapper, who had been wounded on the 26th July.
On the right there were 16 sappers employed all day in superintendence,
chiefly in the deadly saps. A few were also scattered singly to No. 18
and the batteries in the first and second parallels, restoring
embrasures and revetments. Two or three were finishing the doctors’ hut
in the quarries, a like number plugged up shot-holes in the parapets,
and three others were founding a new battery—No. 22, near Egerton’s
pit—to open on the left flank of the Redan. With singular good fortune,
only one casualty occurred among the workmen in the right attack,
although a fire of average steadiness dismounted a gun in No. 17;
knocked down the embrasures of No. 14, and damaged two or three
magazines.
Night came on, and 32 sappers with 400 linesmen poured into the Gordon
trenches, and half the number were detailed for the Chapman lines. Both
parties were on duty for six hours, confining their exertions, in great
part, to the renovation of the embrasures, merlons, and magazines. The
front saps were still perseveringly advanced. Sixteen gabions were added
to that advancing towards the Redan; and the unfilled ones, lodged the
previous night near the little ravine, were crammed with earth in
sand-bags brought from the rear. What was most unusual, not a shot or
shell entered the saps during the darkness, and freed from this
annoyance the workmen added much to the solidity of the trench. No. 22
was rapidly rising amid the general restorations, and while the chasms
produced by driving shot and bursting shells were being filled up with
the readiest contrivances, the battered magazines stood up with stronger
roofs and stouter stanchions.
The effect of our fire was visible in the burning of a line-of-battle
ship in the harbour, which threw out sheets of flame of such breadth and
intensity, that the Russian works were wholly illuminated. Its magazines
blew up, one after another, its shotted guns exploded, and in time the
huge timbers which formed its ribs and walls were burnt to the water’s
edge. Some storehouses on the west side of the dockyard creek also took
fire, and blazed away till they had collapsed into ruins. These
calamities did not in the least check the vigour of the besieged; the
usual firing was kept up but with insignificant results. Not a man on
the left was injured; and this shows what an outlay of treasure,
endurance, and courage it costs to take at long ranges a single life.
Private James Chesterman, on the right attack, was wounded slightly.
Two old acquaintances who had not met for years chanced in the early
night, as the darkness was falling, to recognize each other in the
quarries. Each grasped the other’s hand, and while engaged in an
animated greeting, with the warm smile of welcome on their lips, a
round-shot struck off both their heads! The friends were sergeants
William Wilson of the corps and Morrison of the royal artillery. A
genuine Scotchman was Wilson, with an accent as provincial as a
Highlander. Thick-set, well knit, and athletic, he was formed for the
hardships of labour. His composure under fire was remarkable; of danger
he knew nothing. Among detachments of the corps he was the spirit of the
trench, and moved about the lines and batteries with the same air of
tranquillity as in a workshop. As a sapper few were more excellent, few
more apt and bold in situations of difficulty, peril, and surprise than
he. Throughout the siege he scarcely ever missed his turn in the front.
If counted up, it would be found there were not many in the corps who
had passed as many _months_ in the trenches as Wilson. Safe and
reliable, he was greatly in requisition by his officers. When new
approaches were to be opened or new batteries constructed, Wilson, if
not more importantly employed, was mostly deputed to start them. Indeed,
of the execution of many he had the charge, and the tact he exercised in
the arrangement of his working parties was something extraordinary. For
many weeks of the concluding operations he was rarely away from the
trenches, and had he lived, his brilliant services would have put him in
the possession of the highest honours it belonged to his class to wear.
That non-commissioned officer must have been a valuable public servant,
when testimonies like the following—written under feelings of sorrow and
sadness for his loss—became records of his merits:—
“I regret much,” wrote Lieut.-Colonel Chapman to Sir Harry Jones, on
the 6th, “to have to report that sergeant Wilson of the first company
royal sappers and miners was killed in the quarries by a round-shot
yesterday evening.
“Frequently commended, and not long ago promoted for his distinguished
conduct during the progress of the siege, this excellent sergeant of
sappers has earned the esteem not only of three successive directors
of the right attack, but also of every officer under whom he has done
duty.
“Always ready for whatever he might be called upon in the severe
weather of last winter; ever foremost at the point of danger, he has
left to the young soldiers of the corps an example of devotion to the
service which they may do well to emulate.”
This was the opinion of an officer who had a thousand opportunities, in
the different phases of the siege, of taking the measure of this
exemplary non-commissioned officer. A reflex of this commendation found
its place in the brigade-orders of the 6th September in these words:—
“The corps of royal sappers and miners has lost in the late sergeant
Wilson a non-commissioned officer distinguished for his conduct
throughout the siege; ever foremost in danger and respected by the
various officers of royal engineers under whom he served in the
campaign.
“Such an example is worthy of imitation by the young soldiers of the
corps, whose reputation must always be increased while numbering among
its members individuals like the late sergeant Wilson.
“By order,
(Signed) “E.F. BOURCHIER.”
Such was Wilson.
-----
Footnote 195:
‘Nav. and Mil. Gaz.,’ September 15, 1855.
1855.
6th September-9th September.
SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.
State of the batteries—The foremost saps—Repairs to embrasures while
opposed by blinding dust driven through the trenches by a fierce
wind—Distribution in the trenches—No. 22 battery—Final attack of the
Redan and the Malakoff—Names of the sapper storming party—Their brave
and steady demeanour and exertions—Escapes of corporal Baker—Valour of
private Bowman—Casualties—Continuation of the foremost saps—Daring
adventure of corporal Ross—His report leads to the bloodless
occupation of the Redan—Conduct of the corps in the siege—Captain
Ewart—Reflections.
With no abatement of activity the works progressed on the 6th. The sap
on the Redan had 60 men working in it, and extra efforts were given to
build No. 22 battery on the right. In both attacks there were 58
sappers, 32 of whom were carpenters. The embrasures were put in as fresh
a state as possible; the platforms were in good condition; the magazines
and traverses tolerably sound, and even the early batteries, whose age
and decrepitude gave reason to expect their fall, looked up with more
firmness than was warranted by their seared complexion and feebleness.
Broken and hollowed, as if water-courses had worn their faces, the best
that could be done was to bolster them up to stand a share of the fire
from day to day. Sand-bags were filled in great numbers during the
night, and eight sappers cut new embrasures in No. 13 battery, and
patched up its shivered parapets and merlons. Forty men of the 14th
regiment passed the materials to the sappers, and exerted themselves
with so much spirit that the work was nearly finished. “Great credit,”
says Captain Nicholson of the engineers, “is due to them and also to the
sappers who directed them.”
At eight in the evening 34 sappers were pushed into the right lines, and
16 into those of the left, who were generally employed in restoring the
bombarding batteries, several of which had been greatly injured during
the day; some of the merlons were also damaged, and there were gaps in
different parts of the revetments. Nearly all the repairs and reforms
had been executed before the parties quitted at two in the morning. The
few embrasures which could not be completed were masked, to protect the
sappers who might be allotted to the work next day.
In the fiery sap on the Redan there were 2 sappers and 40 of the 90th
regiment, by whose exertions twenty-five gabions were added to the
trench, which was, moreover, strengthened where necessary, and backed up
with earth. The approach now began to curve to the left, and thus to
form the starting-point of the sixth parallel. The head of the sap
turned into an indurated vein, which, from the difficulty of moving it,
augmented the fatigues of the men. Crowbars and picks driven into chinks
partially loosened the rock, which, broken up into fragments, was piled
into the parapet. All worked with so much zeal that notice was taken of
their services, and corporal John Wright and private Bernard Murray were
named to General Simpson for their personal labours and effective
superintendence. During its progress a light-ball fell very near the
sap, which exhibited its whole outline. Every head was sunk below the
revetment in an instant, and as the flaming compound was speedily
extinguished by earth thrown on it from the parapet, not a man was
touched.
In the right approach near the little ravine there were two sappers and
about 50 men. Its prolongation was by flying sap, but its progress was
exceedingly tedious. Eleven gabions were staked, but nine only filled.
So true was the work in range, that the party shelled out had to take
refuge in securer trenches, bringing with it four men wounded. Not only
had the workmen to bear a direct fire, and to be disturbed and
interrupted by light-balls, but to suffer from accidents arising from
shot and shell rebounding from the hill-side, and rolling in all their
fury into the sap beneath.
Six sappers in the 21-gun battery repaired each an embrasure, all of
which were in a very shattered state. Fierce and gusty was the wind at
midnight, collecting the dust and light sand in its vortex, and blowing
it in the faces of the workmen. The trenches were swept as if a
hurricane were passing. Difficult to hold up against an annoyance of
this kind, the progress made in every direction was, nevertheless,
satisfactory. “I may,” writes Lieutenant Ranken, who was the engineer on
duty for the right attack, “take this opportunity of reporting very
favourably of the manner in which the sappers and men employed in
repairing the embrasures of the batteries performed their work, in spite
of a high wind and blinding dust;” and Sir Harry Jones, in seconding the
commendation, thus wrote to the Commander-in-chief, “I should recommend
that notice be taken in general orders of the conduct of the sappers and
90th regiment.”
On the 7th, 55 sappers remained a long day of fourteen hours under fire.
On the right the linesmen were relieved four times; on the left twice in
the day. The carpenters, 16 in number, were chosen men under sergeant
Leitch, the master-carpenter of the right attack, who had been daily in
the trenches from the end of June. With energy never before surpassed
they laid four gun platforms in No. 22 battery and built there a
magazine, as well as one in the quarries for small-arm ammunition. In
the following night there was a similar force of sappers at work, who,
having had an ample supply of sand-bags and gabions, made good all the
breaches in the embrasures and parallels. Accustomed to encounter
danger, they worked steadily and manfully, as if the point of hazard and
duty were the place of safety. The distribution of the workmen on the
right attack was as follows:—
Sappers. Line.
No. 22 battery 4 60
Magazine in quarries 1 10
Fifth parallel 6 160
Repairing embrasures 14 70
Sap on Redan 4 80
—— ———
Total 29 380
—— ———
The working party and sappers on the left, were confined in great part
to the bombarding batteries.
No. 22 battery was completed during the night, its embrasures opened,
ramps cut and guns brought into it; but this formation, pushed on with
so much zeal, was never armed. Near Egerton’s pit it stood, the creation
of many hours’ strenuous toil, as impotent as a ruin.
The sap leading to the Redan was improved in cover by heaping sand-bags
on the gabions. It had been run out about 600 feet, and stopped 197
yards from the salient. As far as it went it was complete, and
banquettes were built along its length as also in the fifth parallel for
sharpshooters. A hundred men of the Highland brigade built the steps, of
old casks, broken gabions, and fascines, under private George Harvey,
whose spirit and steadiness never relaxed for the eighteen hours he was
on trench duty. Nothing was left undone to be ready for an attack, which
it was arranged should take place the following morning.
Next day—8th September—17 sappers and 50 men of the infantry were in the
left works, mending the breaches as they occurred in battery and trench;
and one man of the corps was wounded. No working party was given for the
night attack, as the assault on the Redan by the English, and the
Malakoff by the French, was ordered to take place at midday. A number of
scaling ladders had been carried to the sap approaching the salient
during the preceding night, and all the engineering details for the
storming were fully prepared by daybreak.
For the assault a column from the second and light division was formed
as under:—
Men.
Covering party 200— to keep down the fire from the enemy’s
embrasures.
Armed party 320— to carry and place ladders, with 21 sappers
under Lieut. Ranken, R.E.
Main body of assault 1000
Armed working party 200— with entrenching tools under Captain Sedley,
R.E., to follow when a lodgment had been
effected.
Supports 1500
Gunners 20— under an officer with spikes to spike guns,
or turn them if necessary.
Additional supports 3000— drawn up in 3rd parallel, in communication
with the French right attack, and in the
middle ravine.
The whole were under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir William
Codrington and Major-General Markham, but the storming party was
directed by Brigadier-General Windham. Sir Harry Jones, the chief
engineer, though suffering from an attack of sciatica, and barely
recovered from his wound, was borne to the sap on a litter to witness
the assault.
Three days’ incessant firing had considerably injured the enemy’s works,
and loosened the whole fabric of the lines; but the guns of the Redan
and various batteries, peeping from beneath strong rope mantlets, triply
plied and tarred, were still serviceable. The apertures through which
the missiles were disgorged—small as possible for the purpose—were
further blinded by a tarred rope disc matted round the muzzle of the gun
just in front of the trunnions, which interposed between the sight of
the English riflemen in the trenches and the unseen gunners in the
Redan. Ragged and deformed as were the batteries, they, nevertheless,
bore up with veteran fronts, and as but few of the Russian artillery
were silent, it was expected that the resistance would be obstinate.
At twelve o’clock the French, emerging from their saps—which were about
20 yards from the edge of the Malakoff ditch—bounded into the tower and
the little Redan. With a display of heroism which befitted their ancient
prestige they captured the Malakoff; but though the little Redan was
penetrated by a portion of the column, it was met by a solid mass of the
enemy, which sprang on the allies with a fierceness so irresistible it
was in vain they contended; and a few minutes more saw them hastily
retreating to their lines. Meanwhile the attack on the tower proceeded
with desperate violence. Few struggles for triumph were more determined
and terrific. At last the Malakoff was won; but the achievement cost a
shuddering sacrifice of the best troops of the Emperor.