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CHAPTER XXII.
Peace

At the conclusion of the war in 1763, the reductions in the Regiment were carried out on a different system from that which had hitherto prevailed. At the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, entire companies had been reduced, and the establishment of the remaining companies was left unchanged. Now, the cadres of the three Battalions with their companies remained, but the establishment of the latter was materially reduced. Besides the Cadet company, there were now thirty others; and the total in each company of all ranks was – as it had been twenty years before – 107. But the following reduction was now ordered – one Lieutenant-Fireworker, one Sergeant, one Corporal, four bombardiers, twelve gunners, and thirty-two matrosses per company, reducing the total from 107 to 57, a fifer having been added to each. The supernumerary fireworkers were put on half-pay, and brought in as vacancies occurred, – the last being absorbed in 1767.

From 1763 to 1771 was a singularly uneventful period in the history of the Regiment. One Battalion was quartered in America, its head-quarters being at Woolwich; the companies of another were divided between Gibraltar and Minorca, and the third was in Great Britain. The companies in the East Indies remained as before until 1765. A relief of the 2nd by the 1st Battalion took place towards the end of this time; and the companies at home were periodically relieved as at present. One peculiarity, however, existed then, which does so no longer. When two or more companies were required from Woolwich for out-stations at home, the Captains were ordered to meet at the Commandant's office, and draw lots for their destinations. As a means of silencing grumblers, it was certainly advantageous.

Although England was at peace, other countries had their troubles; and Portugal, being in distress as regarded her Artillery, applied during this time for the services of Captain Macbean, who had served her so well before, and various other officers of the Regiment. The request was granted: the officers being made supernumerary, their promotion going on, but their pay coming from the Portuguese Government. Captain Macbean reached the highest rank in the Portuguese service, and all the others received the strongest commendations. – One – Captain-Lieutenant Yorke – died in Portugal: the same officer, who, as a subaltern, with a handful of men, managed to get a gun up the heights above Quebec, when Wolfe made his famous and successful attack.

This was not the first instance of a Foreign Government paying the compliment to the Royal Artillery of asking assistance from its ranks. In 1744, the King of Sardinia asked and obtained the services of five officers and twenty-four men of the Royal Artillery, who were on board the bomb-vessels in the Mediterranean; and they served with distinction in his Army until taken prisoners at the capture of Montalban and Montleuze.

Some changes in the dress of the officers were made during this time. In 1768 white waistcoats, instead of scarlet, and white breeches were adopted both for officers and men. In 1770, swords were substituted for the fusees which had hitherto been the arms of the officers, and the same sword exercise was adopted as was in use among dragoons. At the same time, the Regiment adopted the German mode of wearing the sash round the waist, instead of over the right shoulder, as hitherto. Epaulettes were also substituted for laced shoulder-knots. The non-commissioned officers and men wore their hair plaited, and turned up behind with a black ribbon or tape, three quarters of a yard long, in a bow-knot where tied; and if any men were debarred by nature or accident from wearing their hair sufficiently long, they were compelled to wear a false plait – anticipating by a century the present custom of the other sex.

The letter-books of this time are chiefly devoted to correspondence on matters connected with clothing, promotion and reliefs. On the first named subject, the correspondence with Major James, who commanded at New York, is particularly voluminous.

Promotion was slow; and when accelerated by retirement of officers, the system pursued was peculiar. For example, it was decided to remove Captain-Lieutenant Rogers to the half-pay list. His half-pay, – six shillings per diem, was to be augmented by two shillings from the Board of Ordnance; but – by an ingenious arrangement, whereby the Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, and Lieutenant-Fireworker, who got promotion, were made to remain on their old rate of pay, six shillings and fourpence per diem was saved towards Captain Rogers' half-pay, and the Board had only to find the daily sum of one shilling and eightpence. At this time, in the year 1765, the Board placed the responsibility of the men's clothing on the Colonels of Battalions, declining any further interference. The wisdom of the change – except in so far as it saved trouble to the Honourable Board – was questionable; for some Colonels took a very liberal view of their discretion and power in the matter, going so far even as to alter the colour as well as the shape of the various articles of their men's uniform.

An excellent and hospitable officer, General Williamson, now commanded at Woolwich; and one of his invitations to his friends is so quaint as to be worthy of reproduction: – "July 25th, 1767. The gentlemen of twenty years' acquaintance are desired to meet General Williamson, and dine at 'The Bull' on Shooter's Hill, on Monday next, 1st August, their names to be sent to Dr. Irwin. Dinner on table at three o'clock." The General had a son in the Regiment, at this time in New York, who was as great a favourite as his father.

This time of peace was beneficial to the Royal Military Academy. More time was devoted to the curriculum, and inducements to proficiency held out successfully to the cadets. The King and Queen paid a visit to the Academy, among the other lions of Woolwich. It was on this occasion that "their Majesties saw many curious firings; among the rest a large iron cannon, fired by a lock like a common gun; a heavy 12-pounder, fired 23 times in a minute, and spunged every time by a new and wonderful contrivance, said to be the invention of Dr. Desaguliers, with other astonishing improvements of the like kind."²² In 1765, a most formal examination of the cadets had taken place in presence of the Master-General and principal officers of the Ordnance, and many other important officials, including the President of the Royal Society, who expressed their satisfaction with the "noble institution," and distributed gold and silver medals to the most distinguished cadets. In a hundred years, one who had been himself a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, and for many years an honoured officer in the Royal Artillery, Sir Edward Sabine, would occupy the chair filled by one of the visitors on that day, and be one of the most popular Presidents of the Royal Society.

The names of the following officers appear during this peaceful time, as in command of companies: – Captains Foy, Drummond, and Stehelin, at Minorca; Torriano, Innes, and Butler, at Gibraltar; Jeffery, Phillips, Smith, Carter, and Howdell, at Woolwich. In America, we trace companies commanded at different times by Captains Martin, Williams, Farrington, Hay, Ferguson, Webdall, Lewis, Dover, Walton, Winter, Carlisle, and Gillespie. The stations on that continent which were the head-quarters of the companies included New York, Pensacola, Quebec, Halifax, Pittsburg (Louisbourg), Montreal, and Placentia in Newfoundland. There were also detachments at Boston, Crown Point, Fort Ontario, and Niagara.

An amusing narrative of the service of a bombardier and two matrosses who were permitted to accept employment from the Emperor of Morocco may prove an interesting conclusion to this short chapter. It is based upon a manuscript in the Royal Artillery Library, framed by the bombardier himself, one John Turner by name, who had been called upon to make a report of his doings during his absence, and who certainly even on his own showing had a keen eye to the main chance. The ineffable conceit of the man, his firm impression that Emperors and Princes only existed to give him his daily pay and rations, and his exalted notion of his position as a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, can only be realized by a complete perusal of the manuscript. But even if curtailed, the narrative cannot fail to amuse.

John Turner was quartered at Gibraltar. He was a fair scholar, had a good opinion of himself, and was a bombardier. In the summer of 1769, the Emperor of Morocco sent a request to the Governor of Gibraltar for an Artilleryman to explain certain matters in gunnery, and to act as a tutor in the military art to the young Prince, his son. In 1872, it is probable that for such an appointment candidates would be innumerable, and would embrace even General Officers among their numbers. Possibly in Gibraltar, the Emperor was not very highly esteemed; be that, however, as it may, Bombardier John Turner was selected. He was to receive thirty-five dollars per month, besides certain other advantages, and this fact was very present to his mind during his absence. At first, a circumstance which occurred vexed John Turner's soul sorely: the wind having detained him some days, the Governor was relieved by one who would not assume the responsibility of letting him go, without an order from England. Until November the honest man was kept fretting and pining, but in the end he was rewarded not merely by the permission to go himself, but by an order to take with him two matrosses, who greatly swelled his importance. On the 3rd of December, he and his comrades landed about six miles from Tetuan, whither they were conveyed on mules and lodged in a house where they were treated "beyond their expectation." It was but seldom that in this respect John Turner's expectations were exceeded. He had a letter to the Governor, which he insisted on presenting; and with much presence of mind, on the morning after his arrival, he demanded an advance of money for himself and comrades. This was granted; but, as he plaintively wrote, it was made the subject of much misrepresentation, and he was reprimanded by his superiors in Gibraltar, on the story reaching them. The fact was, he innocently said, that he had borrowed some money on his note of hand in Gibraltar, "to clear some little obligations under which we lay," and the note met him at Tetuan, where he was led to believe he would be put in funds to pay it. On the 17th, the party left in great state "with an Alcayde and three horsemen for our guard, hired horses to ride on, and mules to carry our baggage and camp equipage." They encamped every night near some village, and the inhabitants were compelled to bring them food, and find sentinels for their baggage, under pain of being taken as rebels to the Emperor, for which purpose chains were carried by the escort. The good bombardier describes in his report at some length the nature of the food, some of which he was pleased to consider very good eating. At last they reached the place where the young Prince was encamped, and from that moment John Turner became an old man of the sea to that unhappy youth, and when he had any complaint to make would go nowhere but to head-quarters. His early interviews with the Prince, and every word that passed between them are duly chronicled. He accompanied him to Mequinez, and immediately sought the Emperor's Secretary, to whom he had letters. The frank manners of that official at first charmed John; but he soon found him to be but "a master of the French address, joined to all the villainies of the Court of Morocco, and a Jew in the very essence of the word." In a few days he had an interview with the Emperor himself, who in the course of conversation asked to see his instruments. It may interest the modern Artilleryman to know what a bombardier's instruments were in the year 1770. Those which John produced were his "quadrant, perpendicular, and Gunter's scales, together with a case of mathematical instruments."

The unfortunate bombardier never saw his instruments after he once let them into the young Prince's hands, and this called forth very severe strictures from him on princely nature. "Plundering," he writes, "is what these Princes are taught from their infancy."

The Emperor having expressed a wish to see the three Artillerymen throw a shell, they complied. The mortar was of a different calibre from any they had ever seen, nor did they know anything about the range; fortunately, however, they made a good guess, and the Emperor was much pleased with the practice. He ordered them a daily supply of provisions, "which order, however, was never complied with but in part."

From this moment John's domestic troubles were very great. While he had enough meat he never abused it; but when his allowance was cut short, he described it as "carrion meat." He was quartered in a Jew's house, and the Jew plundered him sorely, depriving him of the best part of his provisions. He said little, but thought a good deal; and receiving no satisfaction from the Imperial Secretary, demanded to see the Prince, who came to him immediately. "I acquainted him how ill we were treated with regard to provisions, and as our money was all gone begged of His Royal Highness to take some method that we might be better supplied. He asked whose fault it was. I answered, 'The Chief of the Jews.' He ordered our interpreter to go and tell him that if he did not find us everything, as his father had ordered, he would cut off his head, and burn his body; and desired, whenever we found him in the least deficient, to call a guard of Moors, and bring the Chief of the Jews to him, and we should see him executed. He then dismissed us, and we went home, and almost as soon as we went there one of the Prince's black servants came with the Chief of the Jews, and a halter about his neck, and told us by the interpreter that he was ordered to bring him there, and give him fifty bastinados in our presence, which he did, notwithstanding we offered to buy off the punishment with six ounces."

The climax of John Turner's narrative is when he describes a day's shell practice with the Prince in presence of the Emperor, when the powder of the country, of whose strength John was ignorant, was used. The young Prince made good practice with it, but as he would not impart the secret of its strength, the Artillerymen made very indifferent shooting. His Majesty remonstrated, making invidious comparisons, which roused John Turner into reminding the Emperor with due deference that he came there to instruct His Majesty's subjects in the English method of practice, not to be instructed by the Prince – he being master of his business before he came there.

Another day's practice followed: The Prince hit the mark with one of his shells, the bombardier did not. It was a painful circumstance; but the conceit of John Turner did not fail him. He first blamed the powder, and then asserted that, notwithstanding his failure to hit the mark, his general practice was infinitely superior to that of his Royal pupil. And he submitted a chart of the day's shooting in support of his statement.

It is but fair to say that Bombardier Turner was most conscientious in performing another duty which was enjoined upon him, the construction of a small laboratory. He writes with the greatest scorn of the native artificers, but he succeeded in making them do what he wished. Just, however, as he had overcome the main difficulties, his peace of mind was disturbed by his two chronic wants, lack of money and scarcity of provisions. This time he resolved to write to the Emperor himself; and endeavoured to get some one to translate his remonstrances into Arabic with that view. He failed, however, and had to content himself with the Prince, whose life, by means of his interpreter, he was able to make a burden to him.

The reader of his report is not surprised to find that after a very short time his services were dispensed with, and he was directed to return to Gibraltar. A man who insists on afflicting royalty with the most trivial complaints becomes a very unwelcome inmate of a despotic Court.

So John and his comrades started, grumbling to the last, and his conceit and self-importance manifesting themselves at every stage of the journey. Carefully mentioning that he was still allowed an Imperial escort, he points out another instance of shabby treatment to which he was exposed. It should be mentioned that when the horses requisite for his comfort were not forthcoming, the gallant bombardier always declined to move. On one evening he was informed that the requisite cattle would be ready next morning. "Our things being ready by the time," he writes, "I went to see the cattle that was prepared for us. I found only four mules barely sufficient to carry our baggage. I enquired where I and the two men were to ride, and was informed – on the top of the baggage. I said that since I had been in the country I was never asked to travel in this manner; neither did I think His Majesty would be pleased if he knew how we were treated; and, moreover, not any of my baggage should be moved until three saddle-horses should be brought for me and my companions. He said, as for me, I might ride on one of his horses, but I absolutely refused, adding it was equally my duty to take care of those men as of myself, and until I saw cattle enough to carry us and our baggage, I would not stir from the place, unless it was to return and acquaint the Emperor of our usage."

It is sufficient to say that on this, as on every similar occasion, the bombardier carried his point.

The day arrived when they were to take ship from Tetuan to Gibraltar. To the very last his pecuniary difficulties haunted him. They were directed to attend at a notary's office to receive their pay. A sum far inferior to what he considered his due was offered him. "I informed them," he writes, "that that was not near the sum that was due to us; but was given to understand that if I did not accept that, I might possibly get none; and rather than run that hazard, as I knew them capable of any meanness, I took what was offered, and gave a receipt in part payment. We were likewise out of this short payment obliged to pay our interpreter; but this I did with less reluctance, as I had been informed by Mr. Rodway, Master-Wheeler, of Gibraltar, that whenever he went to Mequinez by order of Government, he always paid his interpreter himself, but that the money was always returned to him at Gibraltar." The exquisite delicacy of the hint at repayment, embodied in an official report, cannot be surpassed.

In days long after John Turner's career was finished, the spectacle has been witnessed of an invaded country straining every nerve, and practising every self-denial, to procure the withdrawal from its occupied districts of the enemy's troops. It is questionable, however, whether its eagerness was equal to that which must have been felt on all sides when that memorable event occurred which it has been attempted to describe, – the invasion of Morocco by a bombardier.

In the year 1770, the Regiment suffered from two evils: one, the chronic slowness of promotion which has always afflicted it; the other, an inability to carry out the foreign reliefs with so small a number of companies at home. To meet these evils a remedy was devised, which shall be treated in the next chapter – the formation of another Battalion.

CHAPTER XXIII.
The Fourth Battalion. – The History and Present Designation of the Companies

This Battalion was formed on the 1st January, 1771, by drafting six companies from the Battalions already in existence, which were thus reduced from ten to eight companies, and by the formation, in addition, of two new companies. At the same date, eight companies of invalids were formed from the men on out-pension, two of which were attached to each Battalion, but were not borne upon the effective strength. These eight companies were consolidated in 1779 in one invalid battalion, with a regular staff, and effective companies were raised for the other battalions, in their stead.

On its first formation, the companies of the 4th Battalion were very weak, consisting each of 1 Captain, 1 Captain-Lieutenant, 2 First Lieutenants, 2 Second Lieutenants, 2 Sergeants, 2 Corporals, 4 bombardiers, 8 gunners, 52 matrosses, and 2 drummers. The staff of the Battalion consisted of a Colonel-Commandant, a Lieutenant-Colonel, a Major, an Adjutant, a Quartermaster, and a Chaplain. Colonel Ord, the first Colonel-Commandant, had greatly distinguished himself in North America in 1759 and 1760; and it was a happy coincidence that he should receive the command of a battalion whose services in that country were destined to be so brilliant. These services will receive more appropriate mention in the chapters connected with the American War of Independence, and with the gallant officer who commanded it during that war, General James Pattison.

But two of the companies received special marks of distinction which deserve to be mentioned. One, No. 1 Company, now No. 4 Battery, 7th Brigade, was singled out after the battle of Vaux, in 1794, for its gallant conduct during the day, and the whole Army was formed up to see it march past the Duke on the field of battle. Another company, No. 10, received a special mark of distinction for its gallantry during the second American War, and more especially at the capture of Fort Niagara. By General Order of 7th October, 1816, it was permitted to wear on its appointments "in addition to any badges or devices which may have been hitherto granted to the Royal Regiment of Artillery" the word "Niagara." This company subsequently fell a victim to change and reduction. It was reduced in January, 1819, after a service of forty years, having been one of the two companies formed in 1779 to replace the invalid companies of the Battalion. It was reformed at Woolwich on the 16th August, 1848; and on the 3rd November in that year it became No. 6 Company of the 12th Battalion. In 1859, when the Brigade system was introduced, it became No. 9 Battery of the 6th Brigade; on the 1st April, 1865, it was transferred to the 12th Brigade as No. 8 Battery; and on the 1st February, 1871, by reduction, it ceased to exist as such. It is a matter of regret that the pruning-knife should be applied to the companies which have a distinctive history.

The 4th Battalion afforded a precedent – although not a happy one – for the Brigade system as applied to the Royal Artillery. It was the only battalion which ever went on service with its head-quarter staff. Experience soon proved that it would have been better to leave that appendage – as was customary – at Woolwich. The Battalion letter-books teem with complaints as to clothing, recruiting, and pay, which might have been obviated by having at home the usual battalion officials, whose duties were connected with these details. With the companies detached over the American continent, and the head-quarters virtually imprisoned in New York, the confusion was endless, and the natural results excite a smile as the student reads of them. For the officials at the Board of Ordnance exercised the same paternal interference over the distant staff, as if they had been in Woolwich. The time occupied by correspondence across the Atlantic, rendered necessary by the stupidity and the curiosity of the Ordnance officials, told heavily against the comfort of the companies, and the peace of mind of their Captains. The circumlocution between London and New York, New York and all the stations on the continent where detachments of the Battalion were stationed, and back again to the Tower, was at once ludicrous and irritating. And the trouble caused by the absence from England of those who would have interested themselves in procuring suitable and creditable recruits cannot be realized save by those who have waded through the letter-books of the period. The companies were fettered to a beleaguered head-quarters, which in its turn was tied and bound to a distant department, nor was allowed the slightest independence of action. The result may easily be imagined. Questions which could have been decided in a few minutes, if those interested could have met, grew every day more complicated and unwieldy by the correspondence at long and uncertain intervals in which the Board of Ordnance revelled.

The services of the companies will now be given, in the same manner as those of the other battalions. There are few lists more noble than that of the military operations in which No. 1 Company was engaged. The battery – No. 4 of the 7th Brigade – whose history this is, may well be proud of such noble antecedents. The revival of these may prove a means of awakening a pride in its ranks which will be the strongest aid to discipline, the most powerful incentive to progress.

The succession of Captains of the various companies, as far as the somewhat mutilated records on this point will admit, will also be given, down to the time when the nomenclature of the companies was changed, since which date, so recent, no difficulty will be found in continuing the lists.

No. 1 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Now "4" BATTERY, 7th BRIGADE.

No. 2 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Now "6" BATTERY, 3rd BRIGADE.

No. 3 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Now "8" BATTERY, 2nd BRIGADE.

No. 4 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Afterwards "8" BATTERY, 1st BRIGADE.

Reduced 1st April, 1869.

No. 5 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Now "B" BATTERY, 9th BRIGADE.

No. 6 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Now "1" BATTERY, 6th BRIGADE.

Примечание 1²³

No. 7 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Now "6" BATTERY, 10th BRIGADE.

No. 8 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Now "E" BATTERY, 1st BRIGADE.

No. 9 COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

(Afterwards 4th Company, 11th Battalion),

Now "H" BATTERY, 4th BRIGADE.

No. 1 °COMPANY, 4th BATTALION,

Afterwards "8" BATTERY, 12th BRIGADE,

Now "5" BATTERY, 12th BRIGADE.