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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL Sir Harry Smith BART., G.C.B.
FIRST EDITION (_2 vols._) _December, 1901_.
_Reprinted_ _January, 1902_.
_Reprinted_ _February, 1902_.
_Reprinted_ _April, 1902_.
ONE VOL. EDITION _September, 1903_.
[Illustration: Harry Smith]
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL
Sir Harry Smith
BARONET OF ALIWAL ON THE SUTLEJ
G.C.B.
EDITED
WITH THE ADDITION OF SOME SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTERS
By G. C. MOORE SMITH, M.A.
WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1903
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
PREFACE.
The Life of Sir Harry Smith here offered to the public consists of
an Autobiography covering the period 1787 to 1846 (illustrated by
notes and appendices), and some supplementary chapters contributed by
myself on the last period of Sir Harry’s life (1846-1860). Chapter
XXXI. carries the reader to the year 1829. This, it is interesting to
remark, is a true turning point in the life of the great soldier. Till
then he had seen warfare only on two continents, Europe and America
(the Peninsula, France, the Netherlands, Monte Video, Buenos Ayres,
Washington, New Orleans); from that date onwards the scene of his
active service was Africa and Asia. Till 1829 his responsibility was
small; after 1829 he had a large or paramount share in directing the
operations in which he was engaged. This difference naturally affects
the tone of his narrative in the two periods.
The Autobiography (called by its author “Various Anecdotes and Events
of my Life”) was begun by Sir Harry Smith, then Lieutenant-Colonel
Smith, at Glasgow in 1824. At that time it was only continued as far
as page 15 of the present volume. On 11th August, 1844, when he had won
his K.C.B., and was Adjutant-General of Her Majesty’s Forces in India,
he resumed his task at Simla. He then wrote with such speed that on
15th October he was able to tell his sister that he had carried his
narrative to the end of the campaign of Gwalior, that is, to 1844 (p.
490). Finally, on 7th September, 1846, when at Cawnpore in command of a
Division, he began to add to what he had previously written an account
of the campaign of the Sutlej, which had brought him fresh honours.
This narrative was broken off abruptly in the middle of the Battle of
Sobraon (p. 550), and was never completed. Accordingly, of Sir Harry
Smith’s life from February, 1846, to his death on 12th October, 1860,
we have no record by his own hand.
The Autobiography had been carefully preserved by Sir Harry’s former
aide-de-camp and friend, General Sir Edward Alan Holdich, K.C.B.,
but, as it happened, I was not myself aware of its existence until,
owing to the fresh interest awakened in Sir Harry Smith and his wife
by the siege of Ladysmith early in 1900, I inquired from members of
my family what memorials of my great-uncle were preserved. Sir Edward
then put this manuscript and a number of letters and documents at my
disposal. It appeared to me and to friends whom I consulted that
the Autobiography was so full of romantic adventure and at the same
time of such solid historical value that it ought no longer to remain
unpublished, and Mr. John Murray, to whom I submitted a transcription
of it, came at once to the same conclusion.
My task as Editor has not been a light one. In Sir Harry’s letter to
Mrs. Sargant of 15th October, 1844,[1] he says of his manuscript,
“I have never read a page of it since my scrawling it over at full
gallop;” and in a letter of 14th January, 1845, “Harry Lorrequer would
make a good story of it. You may ask him if you like, and let me know
what he says of it.” It is clear from these passages that Sir Harry did
not contemplate the publication of his story in the rough form in which
he had written it, but imagined that some literary man, such as Charles
Lever, might take it in hand, rewrite it with fictitious names, and so
fashion out of it a military romance. The chapters[2] on Afghanistan
and Gwalior, already written, were, however, of a serious character
which would make them unsuitable for such treatment; and the same was
the case with the chapters on the Sikh War, afterwards added. Whether
Lever ever saw the manuscript I do not know; at any rate, the author’s
idea was never carried out.
It is obvious that now that fifty years have passed, some of the
reasons which made Sir Harry suggest such a transformation of his story
are no longer in force. The actors in the events which he describes
having almost all passed away, to suppress names would be meaningless
and would deprive the book of the greater part of its interest. And for
the sake of literary effect to rewrite Sir Harry’s story would be to
destroy its great charm, the intimate relation in which it sets us with
his fiery and romantic character.
The book here given to the public is not indeed word for word as
Sir Harry wrote it. It has often been necessary to break up a long
sentence, to invert a construction—sometimes to transpose a paragraph
in order to bring it into closer connexion with the events to which it
refers. But such changes have only been made when they seemed necessary
to bring out more clearly the writer’s intention; the _words_ are the
author’s own, even where a specially awkward construction has been
smoothed; and it may be broadly said that _nothing_ has been added to
Sir Harry’s narrative or omitted from it. Such slight additions to the
text as seemed desirable, for example, names and dates of battles,[3]
have been included in square brackets. In some cases, to avoid awkward
parentheses, sentences of Sir Harry’s own have been relegated from
the text to footnotes. Such notes are indicated by the addition of his
initials (“H. G. S.”).
Sir Harry’s handwriting was not of the most legible order, as he
admits, and I have had considerable difficulty in identifying some
of the persons and places he mentions. Sometimes I have come to the
conclusion that his own recollection was at fault, and in this case I
have laid my difficulty before the reader.
I have not thought it my duty to normalize the spelling of proper
names, such as those of towns in the Peninsula and in India, and
the names of Kafir chiefs. Sir Harry himself spells such names in a
variety of ways, and I have not thought absolute consistency a matter
of importance, while to have re-written Indian names according to
the modern official spelling would have been, as it seems to me, to
perpetrate an anachronism.
I have, indeed, generally printed “Sutlej,” though Sir Harry frequently
or generally wrote “Sutledge;” but I have kept in his own narrative his
spelling “Ferozeshuhur” (which is, I believe, more correct) for the
battle generally called “Ferozeshah.” Even Sir Harry’s native place
(and my own) has two spellings, “Whittlesey” and “Whittlesea.” In his
narrative I have preserved his usual spelling “Whittlesea,” but I have
myself used the other, as I have been taught to do from a boy.
Perhaps it is worth while to mention here that Sir Harry’s name was
strictly “Henry George Wakelyn Smith,” and it appears in this form in
official documents. But having been always known in the army as “Harry
Smith,” after attaining his knighthood he stoutly refused to become
“Sir Henry,” and insisted on retaining the more familiar name.[4] As
the year of his birth is constantly given as 1788, it is worth while to
state that the Baptismal Register of St. Mary’s, Whittlesey, proves him
to have been born on 28th June, 1787.
While the documents put into my hands by Sir Edward Holdich enabled
me to throw a good deal of additional light on the events recorded
in the Autobiography, I thought it a prime duty not to interrupt Sir
Harry’s own narrative by interpolations. Accordingly I have thrown this
illustrative matter into Appendices. In some of these, especially in
his letters to his wife of 1835 (Appendix iv.), one sees the writer,
perhaps, in still more familiar guise than in the Autobiography.
But I had not merely to illustrate the period of Sir Harry’s life
covered by his Autobiography; I had a further task before me, viz. to
construct a narrative of the rest of his life (1846-1860), including
his Governorship of the Cape (1847-1852). For the manner in which I
have done this, I must crave indulgence. At the best it would have
been no easy matter to continue in the third person a story begun by
the main actor in the first, and in this case the letters and personal
memoranda, which were tolerably abundant for Sir Harry’s earlier years,
suddenly became very scanty when they were most required. Accordingly,
for much of Sir Harry’s life I had no more sources to draw on than are
accessible to anybody—histories, blue-books, and newspapers. I can
only say that in this situation I have done the best I could. My chief
difficulty was, of course, in dealing with the time of Sir Harry’s
command at the Cape. It would have been inconsistent with the scope of
the whole book to have attempted a systematic history of the colony
or of the operations of the Kafir War. At the same time I could not
enable my readers to form an estimate of Sir Harry’s conduct at this
time without giving them some indication of the circumstances which
surrounded him. If I am found by some critics to have subordinated
biography too much to history, I can only hope that other critics will
console me by finding that I have subordinated history too much to
biography.
Amid a certain dearth of materials of a private kind, I do
congratulate myself on having been able to use the packet of letters
docketed by Sir Harry, “John Bell’s and Charlie Beckwith’s Letters.”
General Beckwith was an earlier General Gordon, and his letters are
so interesting in matter and so brilliant in expression that one is
tempted to wish to see them printed in full. Perhaps some readers
of this book may be able to tell me of other letters by the same
remarkable man which have been preserved.
The latter part of this book would have been balder than it is, if it
had not been for the help I have received from various friends, known
and unknown. I must express my thanks in particular to the Misses
Payne of Chester, who lent me letters addressed to their father,
Major C. W. Meadows Payne; to Mrs. Thorne of Chippenham, who lent me
letters addressed to her father, Major George Simmons; to Mrs. Fasson,
daughter of Mr. Justice Menzies of the Cape, and Mr. W. F. Collier of
Horrabridge, who gave me their reminiscences; to Colonel L. G. Fawkes,
R.A., Stephen A. Aveling, Esq., of Rochester, Major J. F. Anderson
of Faringdon, R. Morton Middleton, Esq., of Ealing, Captain C. V.
Ibbetson of Preston, Mrs. Henry Fawcett, my aunt Mrs. John A. Smith,
Mrs. Farebrother of Oxford, Mr. B. Genn of Ely, Mr. Charles Sayle of
Cambridge, Mr. G. J. Turner of Lincoln’s Inn, Mr. A. E. Barnes of the
Local Government Board, the Military Secretary of the War Office,
and others, for kind assistance of various kinds. I am indebted to
my cousins, Mrs. Lambert of 1, Sloane Gardens, S.W., and C. W. Ford,
Esq., for permission to reproduce pictures in their possession, and
to General Sir Edward Holdich for much aid and interest in my work
in addition to the permission to use his diary of the Boomplaats
expedition. Lastly, my thanks are due to my brothers and sisters who
assisted in transcribing the Autobiography, and in particular to my
sister, Miss M. A. Smith, who did most of the work of preparing the
Index.
I shall feel that any labour which I have bestowed on the preparation
of this book will be richly repaid if through it Harry and Juana Smith
cease to be mere names and become living figures, held in honour and
affection by the sons and daughters of the Empire which they served.
G. C. MOORE SMITH.
Sheffield,
_September, 1901_.
For some of the corrections now introduced I am indebted to Lieut.-Col.
Willoughby Verner, Rifle Brigade, and to the Rev. Canon C. Evans, late
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
G. C. M. S.
University College, Sheffield,
_April, 1902_.
DATES OF LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR HARRY SMITH’S COMMISSIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
REGIMENTAL RANK.
Second Lieutenant, 1st Battalion 95th Regiment 8 May, 1805
Lieutenant 15 Aug. 1805
Captain 28 Feb. 1812
Major, unattached 29 Dec. 1826
Lieut.-Colonel, unattached 22 July, 1830
Lieut.-Colonel, 3rd Foot 13 May, 1842
Lieut.-Colonel, unattached 25 Aug. 1843
Colonel, 47th Foot 18 Jan. 1847
Colonel, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade 16 April, 1847
Colonel, 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade 18 Jan. 1855
ARMY RANK.
Major 29 Sept. 1814
Lieut.-Colonel 18 June, 1815
Colonel 10 Jan. 1837
Local rank of Major-General in the East Indies 21 Aug. 1840
Major-General 9 Nov. 1846
Local rank of Lieut.-General in South Africa 1847-1852
Lieut.-General 20 June, 1854
STAFF APPOINTMENTS.
Peninsular War.
A.D.C. to Colonel T. S. Beckwith Oct. 1810
Brigade Major, 2nd Brigade, Light Division under } Mar. 1811 to
Major-General Drummond, Major-General Vandeleur, } the end of
Major-General Skerrett, and Colonel Colborne } the war, Mar.
successively } 1814
Washington Expedition.
D.A.G. to Major-General R. Ross 1814
New Orleans Expedition.
A.A.G. to Major-General Sir E. Pakenham 1814
Military Secretary to Major-General Sir J. Lambert 1815
Waterloo Campaign.
Brigade-Major, afterwards A.Q.M.G. to 6th Division
(Major-General Sir J. Lambert and Major-General
Sir Lowry Cole successively) 1815
[Returns to his regiment.]
Occupation of France.
Major de Place of Cambray 1815-1818
[Returns to his regiment.]
Glasgow.
Major of Brigade to Major-General Sir T. Reynell
(commanding Western District) and Lieut-General
Sir T. Bradford (Commander-in-Chief in
Scotland) successively 1819-1825
[Returns to his regiment.]
Nova Scotia.
A.D.C. to Lieut.-General Sir James Kempt, Governor 1826
Jamaica.
D.Q.M.G. under Lieut.-General Sir John Keane,
Governor 1827
Cape of Good Hope.
D.Q.M.G. under Lieut.-General Sir Lowry Cole, Lieut.-General
Sir B. D’Urban, Major-General Sir G.
T. Napier, Governors, successively 1828-1840
Chief of the Staff under Sir Benjamin D’Urban in
the Kafir War 1835
India.
A.G. to Her Majesty’s Forces, under Lieut.-General
Sir Jasper Nicolls and Lieut.-General Sir Hugh
Gough, Commanders-in-Chief, successively 1840-1845
Sikh War.
In Command of the 1st Division Infantry 1845-1846
Cape of Good Hope.
Governor and Commander-in-Chief 1847-1852
Home Staff.
In Command of the Western Military District 1853-1854
In Command of the Northern and Midland Military
Districts 1854-1859
STEPS IN THE ORDER OF THE BATH.
C.B. for Waterloo 1815
K.C.B. for Maharajpore 1844
G.C.B. for Aliwal and Sobraon 1846
BOOKS USEFUL FOR REFERENCE IN CONNEXION WITH SIR HARRY SMITH’S LIFE.
_An Authentic Narrative of the Proceedings of the Expedition
under ... Craufurd until its Arrival at Monte Video, with
an Account of the Operations against Buenos Ayres.... By an
Officer of the Expedition_ (1808).
Sir William F. P. Napier: _History of the War in the Peninsula_.
Sir H. E. Maxwell: _Life of Wellington_.
Sir William H. Cope: _History of the Rifle Brigade_ (1877).
Edward Costello: _Adventures of a Soldier_ (1852).
_A British Rifleman_ (Major George Simmons’ Diary), edited by
Lt.-Colonel Willoughby Verner (1899).
Sir John Kincaid: _Random Shots by a Rifleman_.
Sir John Kincaid: _Adventures in the Rifle Brigade_.
_Recollections of Rifleman Harris_ (1848).
Surtees: _Twenty-five Years in the Rifle Brigade_ (1833).
Colonel Jonathan Leach: _Rough Sketches in the Life of an Old
Soldier_ (1831).
_A Narrative of the Campaigns of the British Army at Washington
and New Orleans. By an Officer_ (1821).
Charles Dalton: _The Waterloo Roll Call_ (1890).
George McC. Theal: _History of South Africa_, vol. iv. (1893).
R. Godlonton: _A Narrative of the Irruption of the Kafir Hordes
into the Eastern Province of the Cape of Good Hope, 1834-5_
(1836).
Sir J. E. Alexander: _Narrative of a Voyage, etc._ (1837). This
work contains in vol. ii. a history of the Kafir War of
1835, with illustrations.
H. Cloete: _The Great Boer Trek_.
_The War in India. Despatches of Viscount Hardinge, Lord Gough,
Major-General Sir Harry Smith, Bart., etc._ (1846).
J. D. Cunningham: _History of the Sikhs_.
McGregor: _History of the Sikhs_.
General Sir Chas. Gough and A. D. Innes: _The Sikhs and the Sikh
Wars_ (1897).
J. W. Clark and T. McK. Hughes: _Life of Adam Sedgwick_.
Harriet Ward: _Five Years in Kaffirland_.
J. Noble: _South Africa_ (1877).
A. Wilmot and J. C. Chase: _Annals of the Colony of the Cape of
Good Hope_ (1869).
Alfred W. Cole: _The Cape and the Kaffirs_ (1852).
W. R. King: _Campaigning in Kaffirland_ (with illustrations),
(1853).
W. A. Newman: _Memoir of John Montagu_ (1855).
_Correspondence of General Sir G. Cathcart_ (1856).
Earl Grey: _The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell’s
Administration_ (1853).
Blue-Books: _Cape of Good Hope (1830-1852)_.
M. Meille: _Memoir of General Beckwith, C.B._ (1873).
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Monte Video and Buenos Ayres, 1806-7 1
II. With Sir John Moore—Battle of Coruña,
1808-9 14
III. Back to the Peninsula under Sir Arthur
Wellesley, 1809 18
IV. Campaign of 1810—The 1st German Hussars 24
V. Campaign of 1810—Battle of the Coa 28
VI. Campaign of 1811 41
VII. Campaign of 1812: Storming of Ciudad Rodrigo 55
VIII. Campaign of 1812: the Storming of Badajos—Harry
Smith’s Marriage 61
IX. Campaign of 1812: Battle of Salamanca—Occupation
of Madrid—Retreat to Salamanca 75
X. Campaign of 1812: Retreat to the Lines of
Torres Vedras—Winter of 1812-13 84
XI. Campaign of 1813: Battle of Vittoria 93
XII. Campaign of 1813: Advance to Vera 104
XIII. Campaign of 1813: In the Pyrenees—General
Skerrett—Combat of Vera—Fight at the
Bridge, and Death of Cadoux 113
XIV. Campaign of 1813: Colonel Colborne—Second
Combat of Vera 129
XV. Campaign of 1813: Battle of the Nivelle 140
XVI. Combat of the 10th December—Harry Smith’s
Dream and the Death of his Mother 152
XVII. Campaign of 1814: Battle of Orthez—Anecdote
of Juana Smith 162
XVIII. Campaign of 1814: at Gée, near Aire—Battle
of Tarbes—Battle of Toulouse—end
of the War 170
XIX. Harry Smith parts from his Wife before
starting for the War in America 182
XX. Voyage to Bermuda—Rendezvous in the
Chesapeake—Battle of Bladensburg and
Capture of Washington—Harry Smith
sent Home with Dispatches 191
XXI. Harry Smith once more in England—Reunion
with his Wife in London—Interview
with the Prince Regent—Dinner at Lord
Bathurst’s—A Journey to Bath—Harry
Smith introduces his Wife to his Father—Visit
to Whittlesey—He receives Orders
To return to America under Sir Edward
Pakenham 209
XXII. Sails with Sir Edward Pakenham on the
Expedition against New Orleans—Reverse
of 8th January, 1815, and Death of
Pakenham—Sir John Lambert succeeds to
the Command, appoints Harry Smith his
Military Secretary, and withdraws the
Force 226
XXIII. Capture of Fort Bowyer—Disembarcation
on Ile Dauphine—End of the American
War—Visit to Havana and Return-Voyage
to England—News of Napoleon’s Return
to Power—Harry Smith at his Home at
Whittlesey 248
XXIV. Harry Smith and his Wife start together
for the Waterloo Campaign—Ghent—Battle
of Waterloo 263
XXV. Juana’s Story 281
XXVI. March to Paris—Harry Smith Quartermaster-General
of the Reserve—He
becomes Lieut.-Colonel and C.B.—The 6th
Division moved from Neuilly to St. Germain—the
Duc de Berri as a Sportsman—On
the Reduction of the 6th Division Harry
Smith rejoins his Regiment as Captain—March
to Cambray—He is made Major de
Place of that Town 290
XXVII. Cambray, 1816-1818—Sport and Gaiety—The
Duke of Wellington—Harry Smith receives
a Visit from his Father 301
XXVIII. Return to England (1818)—Harry Smith rejoins
his Regiment—Shorncliffe—Gosport—Discharge
of the Peninsular Veterans 317
XXIX. Glasgow (1819-1825)—Radical Disturbances—Harry
Smith once more on the Staff as
Major of Brigade—George IV.’s Visit to
Edinburgh—Harry Smith revisits Paris—He
rejoins his Regiment in Ireland 324
XXX. 1825-1828: Harry Smith accompanies his
Regiment to Nova Scotia—Sir James Kempt—Harry
Smith parts with his old Regiment
On Being Appointed Deputy Quartermaster-General
in Jamaica—He has to deal with
an Epidemic of Yellow Fever among the
Troops—Appointed Deputy Quartermaster-General
at the Cape of Good Hope 338
XXXI. After staying Three Weeks at Nassau,
Harry Smith and his Wife sail for England,
and after a Miserable Voyage land
at Liverpool—He visits London and
Whittlesey, and leaves England (1829),
not to return till 1847 351
XXXII. Voyage to the Cape—Military Duties and
Sport, 1829-1834—Sir Benjamin D’Urban
succeeds Sir Lowry Cole as Governor of
the Colony 359
XXXIII. Outbreak of a Kafir War—Harry Smith’s
Historic Ride to Grahamstown—On his
Arrival he proclaims Martial Law—Provides
for the Defence of the Town—Attacks
the Kafirs and rescues Seven
Missionaries 369
XXXIV. Harry Smith Chief of the Staff under Sir
Benjamin D’Urban—He makes Two Forays
into the Fish River Bush and One into
the Umdizini Bush—The Force under Sir
B. D’Urban marches from Fort Willshire
to the Poorts of the Buffalo, from
whence Harry Smith makes another Foray 382
XXXV. Over the Kei into Hintza’s Territory—War
declared against Hintza—His Kraal
being destroyed the Chief comes in, and
agrees to the Terms of Peace—He
remains as a Hostage with the British
Force, which marches back to the Kei—Harry
Smith marches under Hintza’s
Guidance into his Territory to recover
the Stolen Cattle—Near the Xabecca
Hintza tries to escape, and is shot 390
XXXVI. March across the Bashee to the Umtata
and back to the Bashee—Death of Major
White—Difficult March from the Bashee
to rejoin Sir B. D’Urban on the Kei—Annexation
of the Territory called
the “Province of Queen Adelaide,” and
Founding of its Capital, “King William’s
Town”—Return of the Governor to
Grahamstown 408
XXXVII. Harry Smith left in Command of the New
“Province of Queen Adelaide” at King
William’s Town—Death of Lieutenant
Bailie—Harry Smith joined by his Wife—Forays
on the Kafirs—Conclusion of
Peace 420
XXXVIII. Harry Smith’s Attempts at civilizing the
Kafirs—The Chiefs made British Magistrates—A
Census taken—A Police Force
established—A Great Meeting of Chiefs—Witchcraft
forbidden—A Chief punished
for Disobedience—A Rebellious
Chief awed into Submission—Agriculture
and Commerce introduced—Nakedness
discountenanced—Burial of the Dead
encouraged—Buying of Wives checked—Hopes
of a General Conversion to Christianity 430
XXXIX. Lord Glenelg orders the Abandonment
of the Province of Queen Adelaide, and
appoints Captain Stockenstrom to succeed
Harry Smith on the Frontier—Grief of
the Kafirs at the Change—Journey of
Harry Smith and his Wife to Cape Town—He
is exonerated by Lord Glenelg,
and receives Testimonials for his Services
to the Colony—Leaves Cape Town
June, 1840, on being appointed Adjutant-General
of the Queen’s Army in India 452
XL. Voyage from Cape Town to Calcutta—Harry
Smith’s Disappointment at not
receiving the Command in the Afghan
War—His Criticism of the Operations 469
XLI. Sir Hugh Gough succeeds Sir Jasper Nicolls
as Commander-in-Chief in India—Affairs
in Gwalior—Battle of Maharajpore—Harry
Smith made K.C.B. 480
XLII. Affairs in the Punjaub—Sir Henry Hardinge
Succeeds Lord Ellenborough as
Governor-General—Outbreak of the
First Sikh War—Battle of Moodkee 497
XLIII. Battle of Ferozeshah (or Ferozeshuhur)
21st December, 1845, and Resumed Battle
of 22nd December—The Army moves into
Position at Sobraon 507
XLIV. Sir Harry Smith detached from the Main
Army—He reduces the Fortresses of
Futteyghur and Dhurmcote—Combines
with Colonel Phillips at Jugraon, and
after changing his Route To Loodiana
encounters the Enemy at Budowal, and
loses Some Part of his Baggage—He relieves
Loodiana, and, being reinforced
and the Enemy having retreated, occupies
his Position at Budowal 523
XLV. The Battles of Aliwal and Sobraon—End
of Sir Harry Smith’s Autobiography 536
XLVI. (_Supplementary._) Honours and Rewards, and
Knitting of Old Friendships 554
XLVII. (_Supplementary._) In England once more—A
Series of Ovations—London, Ely, Whittlesey,
Cambridge—Appointed Governor
of the Cape of Good Hope 571
XLVIII. (_Supplementary._) South Africa in 1847—Sir
Harry’s Reception at Cape Town and on
the Frontier—End of the Kafir War—Extension
of the Boundaries of the
Colony and Establishment of the Province
of “British Kaffraria”—Visit to
the Country beyond the Orange and to
Natal—Proclamation of the “Orange
River Sovereignty”—Triumphant Return
to Cape Town—Disaffection among the
Boers in the Sovereignty—Expedition
thither and Battle of Boomplaats—Return
to Cape Town 582
XLIX. (_Supplementary._) The Question of the Establishment
of a Representative Assembly
in the Cape Colony—The Convict Question—Kafir
War—Recall of Sir Harry
Smith—His Departure from the Cape 609
L. (_Supplementary._) Again in England—Last
Years, 1852-1860 652
APPENDIX I.—Diary of the Expedition to Monte
Video, etc., 1806-7 691
APPENDIX II.—Some Family Letters preserved by
Harry Smith with Particular Care 700
APPENDIX III.—Memorandum addressed to Sir B.
D’Urban on the Diet and Treatment of
Soldiers in Confinement 715
APPENDIX IV.—Extracts from Harry Smith’s Letters
to his Wife during the Kafir War, 1835 718
APPENDIX V.—Address of Colonel Smith to the
Caffer Chiefs, 7th January, 1836 760
APPENDIX VI.—Extracts from Sir Harry Smith’s
Letters from India, to his Sister, Mrs.
Sargant 766
APPENDIX VII.—Sir Harry Smith’s Recall from the
Cape—
A. _Earl Grey’s Despatch_ 782
B. _Sir Harry Smith’s “Memoranda” in Reply_ 787
APPENDIX VIII.—Sir Harry Smith’s Paternal and
Maternal Ancestry 794
INDEX 795
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Sir Harry Smith _Frontispiece_
(_From a picture painted by Levin about 1856._)
Sir Harry Smith’s Birthplace, Whittlesey _To face p._ 156
(_From a photograph by A. Gray, Whittlesey, 1900._)
Juana Smith " 218
(_From a picture painted in Paris in 1815._)
St. Mary’s, Whittlesey " 260
(_From a photograph by A. Gray, Whittlesey, 1900._)
Lieut.-Colonel Harry Smith " 294
(_From a picture painted in Paris in 1815._)
John Smith (Sir Harry Smith’s Father) " 314
(_From a picture painted by J. P. Hunter in 1837._)
Cape Town and Table Mountain " 370
(_From a lithograph, 1832._)
Map to illustrate the Sutlej Campaign, 1845-6 " 498
Plan of the Battle of Aliwal " 536
“Aliwal,” Sir Harry Smith’s Charger " 576
(_From a picture painted by A. Cooper, R.A., 1847._)
Government House, Cape Town " 584
(_From a lithograph, 1832._)
Map of South Africa, 1847-1854 " 594
Plan of the Field of Action at Boomplaats " 600
Map of the Eastern Frontier of the Colony
of the Cape of Good Hope (Seat of the
Kafir War, 1850-1853) _To face p._ 620
Lady Smith " 658
(_From a drawing by Julian C. Brewer, 1854._)
Sir Harry’s Chapel (in St. Mary’s Church, Whittlesey) " 684
(_From a water-colour by Mrs. B. S. Ward._)
_On the Cover._
Arms granted to Sir Harry Smith in 1846.
They are thus described by Sir Bernard Burke:—
Arms—Argent, on a chevron between two martlets in chief gules,
and upon a mount vert in base, an elephant proper, a
fleur-de-lis between two lions rampant, of the first: from
the centre-chief, pendant by a riband, gules, fimbriated
azure, a representation of the Waterloo medal.
Crest—Upon an Eastern crown or, a lion rampant argent,
supporting a lance proper; therefrom flowing to the
sinister, a pennon gules, charged with two palm-branches, in
saltier, or.
The supporters are a soldier of the Rifle Brigade and a soldier
of the 52nd Regiment.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
Lt.-Gen. Sir Harry Smith,
BARONET OF ALIWAL, G.C.B.
CHAPTER I.
MONTE VIDEO AND BUENOS AYRES.
1806-7.
_Written in Glasgow in 1824._—H. G. Smith.
I was born in the parish of Whittlesea and county of Cambridgeshire
in the year [1787]. I am one of eleven children, six sons and five
daughters. Every pains was taken with my education which my father
could afford, and I was taught natural philosophy, classics, algebra,
and music.[5]
In 1804 the whole country was _en masse_ collected in arms as
volunteers from the expected invasion of the French, and being now
sixteen years of age, I was received into the Whittlesea troop of
Yeomanry Cavalry, commanded by Captain Johnson. During this year the
Yeomanry in the neighbourhood patrolled through Norman Cross Barracks,
where 15,000 French prisoners were kept, when the Frenchmen laughed
exceedingly at the young dragoon, saying, “I say, leetel fellow, go
home with your mamma; you most eat more pudding.” In the spring of
1805 the Whittlesea Yeomanry kept the ground at a review made by
Brigadier-General Stewart (now Sir W. Stewart), when I was orderly
to the General, who said, “Young gentleman, would you like to be an
officer?” “Of all things,” was my answer. “Well, I will make you a
Rifleman, a green jacket,” says the General, “and very smart.” I assure
you the General kept his word, and upon the 15th [8th?] May, 1805,
I was gazetted second lieutenant in the 95th Regiment Riflemen,[6]
and joined at Brabourne Lees upon the 18th of August. A vacancy of
lieutenant occurring for purchase, my father kindly advanced the money,
and I was gazetted lieutenant the 15th September [August?], 1805. This
fortunate purchase occurred when the 2nd Battalion of the corps was
raising and the officers had not been appointed, by which good luck
twenty-seven steps were obtained by £100.
In the summer of 1806 a detachment of three Companies was directed
to proceed from the 2nd Battalion of the corps from Faversham to
Portsmouth, there to embark and form part of an army about to proceed
to South America under the command of Sir Samuel Auchmuty. This
detachment was under the command of Major Gardner, and I was appointed
Adjutant, a great honour for so young an officer.[7] The army sailed
for America, touching at Plymouth, Falmouth, Peak of Teneriffe, and Rio
Janeiro, at which place it stayed one week to take in water, stores,
etc., and, covered by the detachment of Riflemen, landed within a few
miles of Monte Video upon the 16th of January, 1807. Some skirmishing
took place the whole day with the light troops of the enemy. Upon the
17th and 18th the army halted for the artillery, stores, etc., to be
landed. The outposts (Riflemen) were employed both of these days.
Upon the 19th the army moved forward, and a general action took
place, the result of which was most favourable to the British, and a
position was taken up in the suburbs of Monte Video. Upon the 20th
the garrison made a most vigorous sortie in three columns, and drove
in our outposts, and a heavy and general attack lasted for near two
hours, when the enemy were driven to the very walls of the place. The
Riflemen were particularly distinguished on this occasion.
The siege of Monte Video was immediately commenced, and upon
the morning of the 3rd of February, the breach being considered
practicable, a general assault was ordered in two columns, the one upon
the breach, the other an escalade. Both ultimately succeeded. Not a
defence was destroyed nor a gun dismounted upon the works. The breach
was only wide enough for three men to enter abreast, and when upon the
top of the breach there was a descent into the city of twelve feet.
Most of the men fell, and many were wounded by each other’s bayonets.
When the head of the column entered the breach, the main body lost
its communications or was checked by the tremendous fire. Perceiving
the delay, I went back and conducted the column to the breach, when
the place was immediately taken. The slaughter in the breach was
enormous owing to the defence being perfect, and its not being really
practicable. The surrender of this fortress put the English in the
possession of this part of the country.
I was now afflicted with a most severe fever and dysentery, and owe
my life to the kind attentions of a Spanish family in whose house I
was billeted. My own relations could not have treated me with greater
kindness. My gratitude to them can never be expressed or sufficiently
appreciated.[8]
In the autumn[9] an outpost was established on the same side of the
river as Monte Video, but nearly opposite to Buenos Ayres, at Colonia
del Sacramento. This had formerly belonged to the Portuguese. It was
situated on a neck of land, and a mud wall was carried from water to
water. There were no guns up, and in one place a considerable breach.
One particular night a column of Spaniards which had crossed the
river from Buenos Ayres stormed this post, and were near carrying it
by surprise had it not been for the valour of Scott and his guard
of Riflemen, who most bravely defended the breach until the troops
got under arms. The enemy were not pursued, as their numbers were
not known and the night was dark. Why this breach was not repaired
one cannot say, except that in those days our commanders understood
little of the art of war, and sat themselves down anywhere in a state
of blind security without using every means to strengthen their posts.
Experience taught us better.
The enemy did not re-cross the river, but took up a position about
fourteen miles from Colonia, in which Colonel Pack (afterwards Sir
Denis Pack), who commanded the British force, resolved to attack them.
The column consisted of three companies of Riflemen, the 40th Regiment,
two 6-pounders, and three light companies. It marched upon the night
of [6-7 June], and arrived in sight of the enemy at daylight in the
morning. They were drawn up on an elevated piece of ground, with a
narrow but deep, muddy, and miry river in their front. Their cavalry
formed a right angle upon the right of their infantry and they had
seven guns upon the left. The Rifle Brigade covered the troops whilst
crossing the rivulet, and in about twenty minutes by a rapid advance
the position was carried, the enemy leaving behind him his guns, tents,
stores, etc., with a great quantity of ammunition. In the destroying
of the latter poor Major Gardner and fourteen soldiers suffered most
dreadfully from an explosion. Some flints had been scattered upon the
field; the soldiers took the shot to break the cartridges, and thus
the whole blew up. About two hundred shells also exploded. The army at
a short distance lay down, and not an individual was touched. Colonel
Pack, with his army, the captured guns, etc., returned to Colonia in
the evening.[10]
A considerable force having arrived under General Whitelock, who took
the command, the army was remodelled and embarked in August [really on
the 17th of June], 1807, to attack Buenos Ayres. The post of Colonia
was abandoned, and the three companies of the 2nd Battalion Rifle
Brigade were embodied with five of the 1st just arrived from England,
and I was appointed adjutant of the whole under the command of Major
McLeod. The army landed upon [28 June], and was divided into two
columns, the one consisting of the light troops under General Craufurd,
and of a heavy brigade, the whole under Major-General Leveson-Gower.
[Some uncomplimentary epithets are here omitted.] His column was one
day in advance of the main body commanded by General Whitelock in
person. His orders were to march up to the enemy’s outposts and take
up a position. In place of obeying his orders, General Leveson-Gower
immediately attacked the enemy in the suburbs of Buenos Ayres, and
drove them in with great loss, leaving their cannon behind them.
Having thus committed himself, in lieu of following up the advantage
he had gained and pushing forward into Buenos Ayres, which would have
immediately surrendered, he halted his column and took up a position.
The enemy recovered from his panic, and with the utmost vigour turned
to and fortified the entrances of all the streets. (Buenos Ayres is
perfectly open on the land side, but has a citadel of some strength
within the town and upon the river. The houses are all flat-roofed,
with a parapet of about three feet high.) The day after the affair
alluded to, General Whitelock with his column arrived. The next day
he reconnoitred the enemy, drove in their outposts, and partially
invested the city. Some very heavy skirmishing took place in the
enclosures, the fences consisting of aloe hedges, very difficult to get
through, but making excellent breastworks. The Rifle Corps particularly
distinguished themselves.
Upon the [5 July] the whole army attacked in four columns. The men were
ordered to advance without flints in their musquets, and crowbars,
axes, etc., were provided at the head of the column to break open the
doors, which were most strongly barricaded. It must be stated that
the streets of Buenos Ayres run at right angles from each other. Each
street was cut off by a ditch and a battery behind it. Thus the troops
were exposed to a cross fire. The tops of the houses were occupied by
troops, and such a tremendous fire was produced of grape, canister, and
musquetry, that in a short time two columns were nearly annihilated
without effecting any impression. The column I belonged to, under
Brigadier-General Craufurd, after severe loss, took refuge in a church,
and about dusk in the evening surrendered to the enemy. Thus terminated
one of the most sanguinary conflicts Britons were ever engaged in,
and all owing to the stupidity of the General-in-chief and General
Leveson-Gower. Liniers, a Frenchman by birth, who commanded, treated
us prisoners tolerably well, but he had little to give us to eat,
his citadel not being provisioned for a siege. We were three or four
days in his hands, when, in consequence of the disgraceful convention
entered into by General Whitelock, who agreed within two months to
evacuate the territory altogether and to give up the fortress of Monte
Video, we were released. The army re-embarked with all dispatch and
sailed to Monte Video. Our wounded suffered dreadfully, many dying from
slight wounds in the extremity of lockjaw.
The division of troops I belonged to sailed upon [12 July], under
the command of Brigadier-General Lumley. I confess I parted from
the kind Spanish family, who during my illness had treated me with
such paternal kindness, with feelings of the deepest sorrow and most
lively gratitude. The old lady offered me her daughter in marriage and
$20,000, with as many thousand oxen as I wished, and she would build me
a house in the country upon any plan I chose to devise.
Now that I am brought to leave the fertile plains of the Plate, let
me make some little mention of its climate, soil, and productions.
Its summer is, of course, in January; during this time it is very
hot. Still you have a sea breeze and a land breeze, which is very
refreshing. During the rainy seasons the weather is very tempestuous.
The climate altogether is, however, most mild and salubrious. Corn of
all descriptions grows with the least possible care. The fertile grass
plains are immense. The country is not a dead flat, but undulated like
the great Atlantic a few days after a gale of wind. Upon these plains
thousands of oxen and horses are grazing; they are so thick that were
an individual ever entangled amongst them he would be lost as in a
wood. These animals are, however, all the property of individuals,
and not wild as supposed, and each horse and ox is branded. You could
buy a most excellent horse for two dollars (I gave ten for one, he
being very handsome, which was a price unheard of before), a cow and
calf one dollar, a pair of draft oxen five (they are thus dear in
consequence of being trained). The country abounds in all sorts of
wild fowl and innumerable wild dogs, which nature must have provided
to eat the carcases of the slaughtered cattle, many of which are
killed merely for their hides, a few of the prime pieces alone being
made use of for food. The marrow is usually also taken and rendered
into bladders, with which they cook everything, using it, in short,
as we use butter, which makes their dishes very palatable. The native
inhabitants, called “peons,” or labourers, are a very superior race of
men, almost Patagonians, are beautiful horsemen, and have a peculiar
art of catching horses and oxen by what is termed the “lasso.” This
is a leathern thong of about thirty feet resembling the lash of a
hunting-whip. An iron ring is at one end, through which the other end
is passed, by which means a noose is formed; the end is then fastened
to the girths of the horse. The lasso is collected in the man’s hand,
he swings it circularly round his head, and when the opportunity
offers, he throws it over the head of the animal he wishes to catch. He
is sure of his aim; the noose draws tight round the animal’s throat,
and he is of course choked, and down he drops.
In killing bullocks they are very dexterous. The moment the bullock
finds himself caught he begins to gallop round; the end being fast
to the saddle, the horse turns gradually round so that he is not
entangled. A second peon with his lasso gallops after the bullock, and
throws his lasso round the hind leg above the hough and rides in a
contrary direction to the other horseman, consequently the bullock is
stretched between the two horses. The riders jump off and plunge their
knives into the bullock, and other persons are employed to dress it,
etc.
The fleet separated in a gale of wind off the Azores. During this gale
the transport I was in carried away its rudder. Our captain had kept so
bad a reckoning we ran four hundred miles after he expected to make
the Lizard. In the chops of the Channel we fell in with the _Swallow_,
sloop of war, to whom we made a signal of distress, and she towed us
into Falmouth Harbour [5 Nov.]. It blew the most tremendous gale of
wind that night. A transport with the 9th Dragoons aboard was wrecked
near the Lizard, and this would inevitably have been our fate had we
not been towed in by the sloop of war. The rudder was repaired, we
were driven into Plymouth, and in the middle of December anchored at
Spithead, where we delighted to have arrived. However, to our great
mortification, we were ordered to the Downs, there to disembark.
I obtained leave of absence, and was soon in the arms of a most
affectionate family, who dearly loved me. My mother’s delight I shall
never forget. There are feelings we possess in our youth which cannot
be described. I was then only nineteen. My brothers and sisters were
all well, and every moment called to my recollection some incident of
juvenile delight and affection.