THE DEFENCE OF ORANGE WALK, 1872.
On the 1st of September, 1872, a most determined attack was made by the
Ycaiche Indians on the outpost of Orange Walk, British Honduras, which
was garrisoned by thirty-eight men of the 1st West India Regiment, under
Lieutenant Joseph Graham Smith.
Orange Walk is situated on a deep and sluggish stream in the northern
district, named the New River,[61] at a distance of some thirty-three
miles from its mouth, and, in 1872, contained a population of about 1200
souls, the majority of whom were either Indians or Hispano-Indians, and
indifferent to British rule. The business portion of the town, and most
of the shops or stores, were on hilly ground, considerably above the
river-bed, and built here and there, without an attempt at order or
regularity. About midway between the river and this upper portion of the
town was the barrack, consisting of one large room, sixty feet by
thirty feet, the two ends of which were partitioned off, leaving the
central part for the men's quarters. The partitioned portion at the
south end was used as a guard-room. The walls of the building were
constructed of _pimentos_, or round straight sticks, varying from
half-an-inch to three inches in diameter, driven firmly into the ground,
in an upright position, as close together as possible, and held in their
places by pine-wood battens. The roof was composed of palm-leaves, or
"fan-thatch." The floor was boarded.
On the south-eastern side of the barrack, the ground fell towards the
river, which was about fifty yards distant. About ten yards from the
water's edge was a large quantity of logwood, packed in piles four feet
high, and some little distance from each other. Across the road, on the
southern side, were several native houses; to the east, and about forty
yards distant, was a group of four small buildings consisting of
commissariat stores and the officers' quarters; while the nearest
building on the north was the Roman Catholic Church, about eighty yards
off.
How or when the invaders crossed the Rio Hondo, the northern boundary of
the colony, has not been ascertained; but it is a significant fact,
suggestive of strong suspicions against the loyalty of the Indian and
mixed Spanish-Indian population, whose small settlements were dotted
here and there on the line of march of the invaders, that no information
was conveyed, either to the district magistrate at Orange Walk, or to
the officer commanding the small detachment, that an enemy was at hand,
prepared, as the settlers must have known, to attack and plunder the
town.
The Indians, consisting of about 180 braves, or fighting men, and 100
camp followers, led by Marcus Canul, chief of the Ycaiche, approached
the town about 8 a.m. on Sunday, the 1st of September. They were divided
into three sections, each of 60 men, and they entered the town at three
different points; one attacking the upper portion, and pillaging and
setting fire to the houses and stores, the other two marching directly
upon the barracks, but from opposite sides. Of these latter two, one
took up a position behind the stacks of logwood, thus commanding one
side and one end of the barrack; and the other established itself close
to the officers' quarters, under cover of a stone building, which
commanded the other side of the barrack and the end already commanded
from the stacks of logwood.
So sudden and unexpected was the attack, that Lieutenant Graham Smith
and Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge, who were both at the time having their
morning baths, barely had time to escape to the barracks; Lieutenant
Smith, with nothing on but his trousers, and Dr. Edge in a state of
nudity; while the first notice the men in the barrack had of the
approach of the enemy, was the shower of lead which rattled on the
building.
Lieutenant Graham Smith says: "At about 8 a.m. on September 1st, I was
bathing, when I heard the report of a gun and the whizz of a bullet
along the road running past the south end of the barrack-room. I looked
out of the door of my house facing the barracks, and saw the corporal of
the old guard, which had just been relieved, running towards me. He
said, 'The Indians have come.' I repeated this to Dr. Edge, who was
living in the same quarters with me, then put on my trousers, ran across
to the barrack-room, and got the men under arms as quickly as possible."
Before Lieutenant Graham Smith had reached the barracks, the two
divisions of the enemy had taken up their respective positions, and were
pouring in unceasing discharges of ball, which penetrated the pimento
sticks and raked the building from end to end. The guard, the only men
who had ammunition in their possession, returned the fire, and at this
moment Lieutenant Smith arrived with Dr. Edge.
Sergeant Belizario, coming forward and asking for ammunition to serve
out, reminded Lieutenant Smith that he had left the key of the portable
magazine, in which the ammunition was kept, in his quarters. The open
space between his quarters and the barrack-room was swept with an
unceasing shower of lead; but there was no help for it, and the key had
to be fetched. Accompanied by Sergeant Belizario, Lieutenant Smith ran
over to his house, seized the key, and ran back. Most marvellously both
escaped injury, though the ground all around them was cut up by bullets.
The portable magazine was kept in the partitioned end that served as a
guard-room, and there was no door of communication between the central
portion, where the men lived, and this room. Sergeant Belizario
therefore ran out of the barrack-room, along the side of the building,
into the guard-room, and endeavoured to drag the portable magazine back
with him. He succeeded in moving it outside the guard-room and a little
way along the wall, but further he could not drag it. All this time he
was exposed to a heavy fire, and every musket-barrel from the stone
building on the eastern side of the barrack was pointed at his body.
Finding that all his efforts to move the magazine were fruitless,
Sergeant Belizario unlocked it, and, taking out the ammunition, passed
packet after packet to the men inside, through the opening under the
eaves left for ventilation, between the thatched roof and the top of the
pimento wall, till the magazine was emptied. This done, he returned to
the barrack-room. He seemed to have borne a charmed life, for he was
untouched, while the portable magazine was starred with the white
splashes of leaden bullets.
A hot fire was now opened by the soldiers, and Lieutenant Graham Smith,
taking a rifle, placed himself at the west door of the barracks to try
and pick off some of the most daring of the Indians. Whilst there he was
struck in the left side, and, at the same instant, Private Robert Lynch,
who was standing next him, fell dead, pierced by two shots.
Notwithstanding his wound, which was very severe, the ball penetrating
the left breast a little above the heart, and passing nearly through
him, finally lodging under the left shoulder-blade, Lieutenant Smith
continued directing and encouraging his men; and finding that the whole
interior was swept by the missiles of the enemy, against which the frail
pimento-sticks were no protection, he ordered the men to turn down their
cots, and, lying on their beds, to fire over the iron heads of the cots.
In this position they were tolerably well sheltered, though the Indians
were so close that several of the iron heads were shot through.
In this place it will be proper to refer to a soldier who, all this
time, was outside the barrack. This was Private Bidwell, who, when the
Indians arrived, had just been posted sentry on a commissariat store
close to the officers' quarters. The occupation of one of this group of
buildings cut him off from the barrack-room; so, after bayoneting one
Indian, he ran over to an enclosure belonging to Don Escalente, situated
to the north of the store. From the shelter of the fence of this
enclosure he fired into the Indians in the stone building till his ten
rounds of ammunition were exhausted. He then said to Don Escalente, "I
am going over to the barracks for more cartridges," and, before he could
be dissuaded, ran out from the shelter and endeavoured to cross the open
space to the barrack. On the way he received a mortal wound, but
succeeded in joining his comrades.
The Indians, impatient at the delay caused by the obstinate resistance
of the soldiers, now vacated the houses on the further side of the road,
opposite the southern end of the barracks, and set fire to the thatched
roofs, hoping to involve the barracks in a general conflagration. The
houses burned fiercely, and the flames spreading across the road, caught
a small kitchen situated not ten yards from the barracks. The Indians
raised yells of triumph, for they considered it certain that their foes
would now be driven from their shelter and then easily overpowered by
force of numbers. Indeed, it is difficult to understand how the dry
palm-thatch of the barracks did fail to ignite, but it did so fail, and
the kitchen, after blazing up violently for a few minutes, fell in and
burned itself out harmlessly.
By the destruction of these buildings the position of the soldiers was
improved, the Indians now having no cover immediately opposite the south
end of the barrack, and being compelled consequently to concentrate
behind the stacks of logwood. A party, however, of them made a circuit
and appeared on the north-west corner of the barrack, from whence they
commanded the road bounding the north side of the building.
After the firing had continued for an hour and a half, Mr. Price, and
another American gentleman from Tower Hill Rancho, about four miles from
the barracks, having heard what was taking place, mounted and rode
towards the scene of the conflict. Creeping up the river bank
unperceived through the thick woods, they suddenly rode into and fired
upon the Indians who were in rear of the stacks of logwood. The latter,
taken by surprise, and not knowing by what unexpected force they were
attacked, left their cover for a moment and appeared on the side nearest
to the barracks. The soldiers perceiving this movement, and thinking
that the Indians were going to attempt to rush the building, fixed
bayonets, and some ran to the doors to defend the entrances. Mr. Price
and his companion, taking advantage of this and the momentary surprise
of the Indians, rushed forward and threw themselves into the barracks.
The enemy's fire redoubled after this, and it was hotly kept up until
about half-past 1 o'clock; it then began to slacken, and by 2 o'clock
had ceased altogether. For some time no one stirred, it being suspected
that the cessation of the attack was only an Indian ruse; but after a
quarter of an hour had elapsed, Sergeant Belizario was sent out with a
party to reconnoitre. He reported that the enemy was in full retreat,
and was sent to follow them up and watch their movements. No pursuit
could be attempted. Lieutenant Graham Smith was, by this time, incapable
of further action, and out of the detachment of thirty-eight men, two
had been killed and fourteen severely wounded.
The attack lasted altogether six hours. The Indian loss was about fifty
killed; the number of their wounded could not, of course, be
ascertained, but amongst them was Marcus Canul himself, who was
mortally wounded, and died before recrossing the Hondo. Of the
civilians, the son of Don Escalente, a boy fourteen years of age, was
killed, and seventeen were wounded. While the Indians had been occupied
in their attack on the barracks, the European women and children had
escaped from the scene of the outrage and crossed the river in boats.
Thence they had made their way through the dense forest to the village
of San Estevan, about seven miles below Orange Walk. Over 300
bullet-holes were counted in the walls of the barrack-room, and in many
places the palmettos were shot away in patches.
On the morning following the attack, a rumour reached the barracks that
the Indians were again in force near the town, and preparing to renew
the attack. Every preparation for giving them a warm reception was made;
but Sergeant Belizario and a small party, who went out to reconnoitre,
found that the rumour was false, although several Indians were seen in
the bush and fired upon.
In the meantime the news of the invasion had reached Corosal and Belize,
and Captain F.B.P. White, with Lieutenant Bulger and twenty men, arrived
at Orange Walk at midnight on the 4th, being followed next day by a
further reinforcement of fifty-three officers and men, under Major
W.W.W. Johnston, but the Indians had already retired beyond the
frontier.
A colonist, in a letter to _The Times_ on this affair, says:
"Concerning the conduct and proceedings of the military during and
subsequent to the late invasion and attack, I have nothing to say but
what redounds to their credit and high character as British soldiers;
and if medals and crosses were distributed among the dusky warriors of
Her Majesty's land forces in this part of her dominions as freely as
among other branches of the service, all I can say is that every one of
the brave fellows, who held with such determined valour and tenacity the
barracks at Orange Walk on that memorable Sunday morning against such
fearful odds, would be entitled to a medal at least."
The following general order was issued: "The Colonel commanding the
forces in the West Indies has received with much satisfaction an account
of the successful defence of the post of Orange Walk, British Honduras,
by a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, under the command of
Lieutenant J. Graham Smith, against an assault of a large force of
Indians.
"He has much pleasure in recording his high approbation of the gallant
conduct of Lieutenant Smith, who, severely wounded at the outset of the
attack, maintained the defence of his post, and retained command as long
as his strength enabled him to do so; it was then successfully
maintained under the direction of Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge, and
Sergeant Belizario, 1st West India Regiment, to whom also great praise
is due for their conduct and exertions; the gallant conduct of
Lance-Corporals Spencer and Stirling, Privates Hoffer, Maxwell,
Osborne, Murray, and W. Morris, has also been favourably mentioned.
"The Colonel commanding will have great pleasure in bringing the conduct
of these officers and soldiers to the favourable notice of His Royal
Highness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, and also the judicious
and energetic measures taken by Major W.W.W. Johnston, 1st West India
Regiment, commanding the troops in British Honduras, who proceeded in
person to the post which had been assailed, and followed up the
retreating enemy."
In reply to the report made by Colonel Cox, C.B., commanding the troops,
the following letter was received, and ordered to be embodied in the
records of the regiment:
"HORSE GUARDS, WAR OFFICE, S.W.,
"_15th November, 1872_.
"SIR,
"Having had the honour to receive and submit to the Field-Marshal
Commanding-in-Chief, your letter of the 23rd September last, with
its several enclosures, containing a detailed account of the
exemplary and gallant conduct of a detachment of the 1st West India
Regiment, in repelling an attack of Indians on the Orange Walk
outpost of the Colony of British Honduras, together with a letter on
the same subject addressed to this department by the officer
commanding the 1st West India Regiment:
"I have it in command to acquaint you that His Royal Highness, after
consultation with the Secretary of State for War on the subject,
has decided that the following recognition shall be at once made of
the services of the officers and men employed on that occasion,
viz.:
"That Lieutenant Smith, late 1st West India Regiment, who was
gazetted to the 57th Regiment in August last, shall be immediately
promoted to a Company in the 97th Foot.
"That Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge shall be promoted to the rank of
Surgeon, as soon as he has qualified for the higher position, and a
notification to this effect will be published in the London Gazette,
hereafter.
"That Sergeant Edward Belizario shall receive the distinguished
conduct medal, with an annuity of L10, to be given at once, in
excess of the vote, until absorbed on the occurrence of a vacancy.
"That Lance-Corporals Spencer and Stirling shall be granted the
distinguished conduct medal without annuity, and promoted to the
rank of Corporal, to be borne supernumerary till absorbed.
"I am also to request that the men of the detachment specially named
in the margin[62] may be commended for their good conduct, and the
commanding officer of the regiment requested to record their claims,
and give such recognition of them regimentally as may be possible
from time to time.
"That you will publish these, His Royal Highness's decisions, in
your general orders.
"And that a copy of this letter may be furnished to the officer
commanding the 1st West India Regiment, for the purpose of being
entered in the Regimental Records.
"I have, etc.,
(Signed) J.W. ARMSTRONG, D.A.G."
In consequence of the attack on Orange Walk, and on the application of
the Governor of Honduras, Captain Gardner, Lieutenant Bale, and fifty
men of the regiment, embarked at Jamaica, on the 25th of September, in
H.M.S. _Fly_, as a reinforcement for Honduras.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 61: See Map.]
[Footnote 62: Privates Hoffer, Maxwell, S. Osborne, Murray, R.A. Morris,
and W. Tell.]