Kitabı oku: «History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1», sayfa 17

CHAPTER XXIV.
The Journal of a Few Years

For a few years after the formation of the Fourth Battalion, the History of the Regiment contains little that possesses more than domestic interest. It was the stillness which precedes a storm.

In 1775, the Titanic contest commenced, in which England found herself pitted against France, Spain, and her own children.

From that year, until 1783, the student of her military history finds his labour incessant. America and Europe alike claim his attention; the War of Independence, and the Sieges of Gibraltar and Port Mahon, furnish a wealth of material for his examination.

But before entering on these, the ground must be cleared and the regimental gossip between 1771 and 1775 must be chronicled.

During that time, the relief of the battalion serving in America – by the 4th – took place, and on the latter fell all Artillery duties performed at the commencement of hostilities in that country. As the war developed, the 4th Battalion was reinforced by four companies of the 3rd, whose men – and also the Lieutenant-Fireworkers – were gradually absorbed into the 4th Battalion. At the same time, four companies of the 1st and 3rd Battalions, under the gallant Phillips, were ordered to America, and formed part of the force commanded by the ill-fated Burgoyne. During this decade, between 1770 and 1779, five companies of the 2nd Battalion relieved those at Gibraltar, and were the only Artillery present at that memorable siege, which sheds a lustre over this unhappy period in the national history.

Woolwich saw a good many changes at this time. The barracks in the Warren were inadequate to meet the wants of the Regiment, now that it had received so many augmentations. Some ground on the Common was, therefore, purchased by the Board, and the foundation laid of barracks, large enough to accommodate a battalion of eight companies. The building was completed, and the barracks inhabited, early in 1776.

Modifications in the dress of the Regiment took place; and the evil results of the liberty granted to the Colonels of Battalions with regard to their men's clothing manifested themselves to such a degree, that in March, 1772, an order was issued, forbidding any alteration in the clothing of the men, or uniform of the officers, without the previous knowledge and approbation of the Master-General.

From various Battalion Orders issued at this time, we learn that the officers had now to provide themselves with plain frocks, and plain hats with a gold band, button, and loop; and that the accoutrements of the men, which had hitherto been buff, were now changed, – becoming what they are at present – white. The dress for a parade under arms was as follows: – The men, in white breeches, white stockings, black half-spatterdashes, and their hair clubbed: – the officers, in plain frocks, half-spatterdashes, and queues, with white cotton or thread stockings under their spatterdashes, and gold button and loop on their plain hats. When the officers were on duty, they were ordered to wear their hair clubbed, and their hats cocked in the same manner as those of the men. The hats of the men were worn with the front loops just over the nose. Black stocks were utterly forbidden, white only being permitted to be worn, either by officers or men.

On the 22nd June, 1772, a Royal Warrant was issued, deciding that Captain-Lieutenants in the Artillery and Engineers should rank as Captains in the Army. Those who were then serving, were to have their commissions as Captain, dated 26th May, 1772; and those who might be subsequently commissioned, from the date of their appointment. The title of Captain-Lieutenant was abolished, and that of Second Captain substituted, in 1804.

In 1772 and 1775, the regiment was reviewed by the King – on both occasions at Blackheath. The inspections were very satisfactory; in 1772, "The corps went through their different evolutions with great exactness, though greatly incommoded by the weather, and obstructed by the prodigious concourse of people, which was greater than ever was known on any like occasion." In addition to these reviews, the King visited Woolwich in state in 1773, for the purpose of inspecting the new foundry and boring-room. In the latter, he saw a 42-pounder bored with a new and wonderful horizontal boring-machine. He saw many curious inventions; among others, a light field-piece, invented by Colonel Pattison, "which, on emergencies, might be carried on men's shoulders," and which was tried, "to the great amazement of His Majesty." He also went to the Academy, where he breakfasted; and then inspected the companies which happened to be in Woolwich, with whose manœuvres he expressed the utmost satisfaction. The review was marred by an accident which occurred. "Colonel Broome, in parading in front of the Regiment, before His Majesty, on a very beautiful and well-broke horse, but very tender-mouthed, checked him, which made the horse rise upon his hind-legs, and fall backwards upon his rider, who is so greatly bruised, that his life is despaired of."²⁴

In 1772, the officers, whose extra pay on promotion had been taken to make up the half-pay of Captain-Lieutenant Rogers, complained of the injustice, and their remonstrances were attended to. A warrant was issued on the 4th August, 1772, directing a vacancy of one Second Lieutenant to be kept open in one of the invalid companies, the pay to be employed towards Captain Rogers's half-pay.

It is impossible to stigmatize too harshly the system of non-effectives, borne for various purposes on the strength of the Regiment, in which the Board of Ordnance delighted. It was at once deceitful and unbusinesslike. If the purposes were legitimate, they should have formed the subject of a separate vote. At the risk of wearying the reader, a recapitulation will be given of the non-effectives in the Regiment at this time, and the purposes for which they were borne upon the establishment. There were thirty-two marching companies in the Regiment, and eight of invalids. On the muster-roll of each company, a dummy – so to speak – was borne, whose pay went to the Widows' Fund; another per company, for what was called the Non-effective Fund, and a third, whose pay went to remunerate the fifer. In addition to this, ten dummies were borne, whose pay went to swell General Belford's income, in the form of command pay; and nine were utilized for the band.

In short, out of 1088 matrosses, shown as the establishment of the marching companies, no less than 115 had no existence; and in the invalid companies, a Second Lieutenant and 16 matrosses were equally shadowy. If we examine the purposes for which the fund called the non-effective fund existed, shall we find them to be irregular, or such as could not be made public? Not at all; the charges on this fund were legitimate, and a separate vote might and should have been taken, particularizing them. They were to meet the expenses connected with recruits, deserters, and discharged invalids, as well as certain contingent charges, connected with the command of companies. Why then the mystery, and deceit practised upon the public? If the senior officer of Artillery was deserving of higher pay on account of his services or responsibility, why not openly say so, instead of showing to the country, as part of the Artillery establishment, ten men who had no existence? The wickedness and folly of such a means of keeping accounts could only have emanated from such a Department as the Board of Ordnance.

Mention has been made of recruiting expenses. Certain regulations which were in force at this time may be interesting to the reader. Levy money was not allowed to the recruiting officer in cases where the recruits were not approved by the commanding officer, but their subsistence after enlistment until rejection, was admitted. If a recruit deserted before joining, no charge whatever was admitted against the fund. But if he died between enlistment and the time when he should have joined, all expenses connected with him were admitted on production of the necessary vouchers and certificates. When the non-effective fund was balanced, which was done annually on the 30th June, 5l. was credited to the accounts of the coming year, for each man wanting to complete the establishment, in order to meet the expenses of the recruits who would be enlisted to fill the vacancies.

A word, now, about the invalids. They were for service in the garrisons; at first, merely in Great Britain, but ultimately also abroad, for in 1775, when the war in Massachusetts was assuming considerable proportions, the company of the 4th Battalion, which was quartered in Newfoundland, was ordered to Boston; and the two companies of invalids, shown as belonging to that battalion, and then quartered at Portsmouth, were ordered to Newfoundland for duty. Men over twenty years' service were drafted from the marching to the invalid companies, instead of being discharged with a pension; and the companies were officered from the regiment, appointments in the various ranks being given to the senior applicants.

In 1779, two additional invalid companies were added, and the ten were consolidated into one battalion, effective companies being given to the other battalions in their room.

The staff of the Invalid Battalion consisted of a Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant, a Major, and an Adjutant; and the establishment of each company was as follows: – a Captain, a First and Second Lieutenant, 1 Sergeant, 1 Corporal, 1 Drummer, 3 Bombardiers, 6 Gunners, and 36 Matrosses. Although this battalion was fifth in order of formation, and was frequently called the Fifth Battalion, – the real Fifth Battalion, the services of which are sketched in the end of this volume, was not formed until much nearer the close of the eighteenth century.

In 1772, a Military Society was founded at Woolwich for the discussion of professional questions. It was originated by two officers at Gibraltar – Jardine and Williams – extracts from whose letters to one another, when the idea occurred to them, are quaintly amusing. Lieutenant Jardine writes: – "I have been thinking that there must be a good deal of knowledge scattered about in this numerous corps. Could it not be collected, concentrated, and turned to some effect? We have already in this country all kinds of Societies, except Military ones. I think a voluntary association might be formed among us (admitting, perhaps, Engineers and others) on liberal principles, viz., for their own improvement and amusement, where military, mathematical, and philosophical knowledge, being the chief object of their enquiries, essays, &c., might thus be improved and propagated. They might thus communicate and increase their own ideas, preserve themselves from vulgar errors, and keeping one another in countenance, bear up against the contempt of pert and presumptive ignorance. If it increased in numbers, and grew into consequence, they might in time bring study and real knowledge into fashion, and, retorting a juster contempt, keep mediocrity, and false or no merit, down to their proper sphere."

His correspondent, who was then on board a transport, and wrote under difficulties, eagerly entered into the scheme, but for reasons stated could not go into details. "I have many things," he writes, "in my head, but our band (consisting of geese screaming, ducks quacking, hogs grunting, dogs growling, puppies barking, brats squalling, and all hands bawling) are now performing a full piece, so that whatever my pericranium labours with, it must lie concealed until I arrive at Retirement's Lying-in Hospital, in Solitude Row, where I shall hope for a happy delivery."

The friends reached Woolwich that year; and in October the society was formed. There happened to be many among the senior officers who sympathized with the promoters, notably Generals Williamson and Desaguliers, and Colonels Pattison and Phillips. The meetings took place at 6 P.M. on every Saturday preceding the full moon; and were secret, in order that an inventor might communicate his discoveries without fear of their appropriation. With the author's consent, however, papers might be published. The carrying-on of experiments was one of the main purposes which animated the society. At the present day, when the idea which animated the promoters of the old society has blossomed into a Literary and Scientific Institution, unparalleled in any corps in any land, which not merely encourages and developes the intelligence and literary talent of its members, but aids, in the highest degree, to lift the corps out of mediocrity into science, – these old facts connected with the infant society have a peculiar interest. The year 1872 may look back to 1772 with filial regard.

On the 8th July, 1773, the 4th Battalion arrived in New York – with the exception of one company, which went to Newfoundland.

Within a very brief period, the political atmosphere in that country became hopelessly overcast, and with the outbreak of the storm at Boston, in 1775, commences at once the active history of the American War, and of the Royal Artillery during that war, which is to be treated by itself. But parallel with that long and disastrous campaign, and occupying a period extending from 1779 to 1783, was the great siege of Gibraltar. To prevent an interruption in the thread of the American narrative, it is proposed to anticipate matters, and passing over the years 1775 to 1778, when the eye of the student can see nothing but America, proceed at once to the consideration of the siege, and then return to an uninterrupted consideration of the Artillery share in the American War from 1775 to the Peace of 1783.

CHAPTER XXV.
The Great Siege of Gibraltar

"Neither, while the war lasts, will Gibraltar surrender. Not though Crillon, Nassau, Siegen, with the ablest projectors extant, are there; and Prince Condé and Prince d'Artois have hastened to help. Wondrous leather-roofed floating-batteries, set afloat by French-Spanish Pacte de famille, give gallant summons; to which, nevertheless, Gibraltar answers Plutonically, with mere torrents of red-hot iron, – as if stone Calpe had become a throat of the Pit; and utters such a Doom's-blast of a No, as all men must credit." – Carlyle.

The year 1779 saw England engaged in war on both sides of the Atlantic, with bitter and jealous enemies. Her struggle with the revolted colonies offered a tempting opportunity to France to wipe out her losses during the Seven Years' War, – and to Spain, to wipe out the disgrace which she felt in the possession of Gibraltar by the English. France, accordingly, espoused the cause of the Americans; and Spain, under pretence of the rejection of an offer of mediation between England and France, proposed in terms which could not be accepted, immediately declared a war, which had been decided upon from the day of the disaster at Saratoga, and for which preparations had been progressing for some time without any pretence of concealment.

The Royal Artillery in this year consisted of thirty-two service companies, and eight invalid. The augmentation referred to in the last chapter did not take place until the end of the year. Of this number, one-half – sixteen companies – was in America; one company in Newfoundland; three in the West Indies; three in Minorca; and five in Gibraltar: – a total abroad of twenty-eight service companies out of thirty-two. Nor was it a foreign service, so weary and uneventful as it sometimes is now: it was a time when England was fighting almost for existence, and every company had to share the dangers. Should such a rising against England ever occur again, the Regiment could not select as its model for imitation anything nobler than the five companies which were in Gibraltar during the great siege.

They were the five senior companies of the 2nd Battalion, and they still exist, under the altered nomenclature, as, —

At the commencement of the siege, Colonel Godwin was in command of the Artillery; but he returned to England in the following year, on promotion to the command of the Battalion, and died in about six years. He was succeeded by Colonel Tovey, the same officer who had been present with his company at Belleisle; and who, having had practical experience of Siege Artillery of the attack, was now to head a train of Artillery of the defence, in which duty and command he died. On his death, which happened at a most exciting period of the siege, he was succeeded by Major Lewis, whose conspicuous gallantry and severe wounds earned for him a well-deserved Good Service Pension.

The strength of the Artillery was wholly inadequate to the number of guns on the Rock. It amounted to a total of 25 officers, and 460 non-commissioned officers and men; whereas, at the termination of the siege, the following was the serviceable and mounted armament: —

Guns.– Seventy-seven 32-pounders; one hundred and twenty-two 24-pounders and 26-pounders; one hundred and four 18-pounders; seventy 12-pounders; sixteen 9-pounders; twenty-five 6-pounders; thirty-eight 4-pounders and 3-pounders.

Mortars.– Twenty-nine 13-inch; one 10-inch; six 8-inch; and thirty-four of smaller natures.

Howitzers.– Nineteen 10-inch, and nine 8-inch.

One of the first steps taken by the Governor, General Eliott, was to attach 180 men from the infantry to the Artillery, to learn gunnery, and assist in the duties of the latter. The regiments in garrison were the 12th, 39th, 56th, and 58th, also the (then) 72nd regiment. The (then) 73rd and 97th regiments joined during the siege. There were also 124 Engineers and artificers, and three regiments of Hanoverian troops. The total strength of all ranks in June 1779, was 5382; but it increased before the siege was over – by means of reinforcements from England – to 7000.

A few statistics connected with the Artillery and their duties may, perhaps, with advantage be prefaced to the account of the siege.

The amount of ammunition expended between September 1779|and February 1783, was as follows:

In all 200,600 rounds, and 8000 barrels of powder.

The preponderance of the number of shell over shot was caused by the use, during the siege, of shell from guns, with reduced charges – as well as from mortars and howitzers; suggested by Captain Mercier, of the 39th Regiment, and found so successful, as almost to abolish the use of shot during the first two years. In the year 1782, however, the value of red-hot shot against the enemy's fleet and works was discovered; the amount of shot expended rapidly increased; and while there was hardly a battery without the means at hand for heating them, there was also a constant supply, already heated, in the chief batteries.

The batteries from which the Artillery generally fired on the land side were those known collectively as Willis's; but when the fleet, and especially the hornet-like gunboats, commenced annoying the garrison, the batteries towards the sea had also to be manned, and the duty became so severe, that at times the fire had to be slackened, literally to allow the men to snatch a few hours' sleep.

The proportion in the Royal Artillery of killed and wounded was very great. According to the records of the 2nd Battalion, the list was even heavier than that given by Drinkwater in his celebrated work; but even accepting the latter version as correct, it stood as follows: —

Out of a total of 485 of all ranks, there were: —

The officers who were killed were Captain J. Reeves and Lieutenant J. Grumley. The former commenced his career as a matross, and received his commission at the Havannah in 1762; the latter was a volunteer, attached in 1778 to the Artillery in Gibraltar, and commissioned in 1780; who enjoyed his honours for a very short time, being killed in the bombardment of the 13th of September, 1782. The officers who were wounded were Major Lewis, Captain-Lieutenant Seward, Lieutenants Boag, Willington, Godfrey, and Cuppage. Of these, Lieutenant Boag was twice wounded during the siege. He, like Captain Reeves, had commenced his service as a matross; nor was his promotion accelerated by brevet or otherwise on account of his wounds, in the dull times of reduction and stagnation, which followed the peace signed at Versailles in 1783. He was at last appointed Major in 1801. Retiring two years later, after a service of forty-five years, he died, as he had lived, plain James Boag, – unnoticed, forgotten, as the great siege itself was, in the boiling whirl which was circling over Europe, fevering every head and heart.

Two valuable inventions were made during the siege by Artillery officers, to increase the efficacy of their fire. By means of one, a gun could be depressed to any angle not exceeding 70° – a most important invention in a fortification like Gibraltar.

The other discovery – if it may be called so – was in an opposite direction. The nightly bombardment, in 1781, by the enemy's gunboats not merely caused great damage and loss of life, but also an annoyance and irritation out of proportion to the injury inflicted. Governor Eliott resolved to retaliate in similar fashion, and to bombard the Spanish camp, which it was hoped to reach by firing from the Old Mole Head. On it was placed a 13-inch sea-service mortar, fired at the usual elevation but with a charge of from twenty-eight to thirty pounds of powder; and in the sand alongside, secured by timber, and at an angle of 42°, five 32-pounders and one 18 pounder were sunk, and fired with charges of fourteen and nine pounds of powder respectively. The results were most satisfactory, – alarming and annoying the enemy, and in proportion cheering the garrison.

It was impossible that a siege of such duration could continue without the importance and responsibility of Artillery officers becoming apparent. This fact produced an order from the Governor, which saved them from much interference from amateur Artillerymen in the form of Brigadiers. The officers commanding in any part of the Fort were forbidden to interfere with the officers of Artillery in the execution of their duty, nor were they to give orders for firing from any of the batteries without consulting the officer who might happen to be in charge of the Artillery.

The life of the garrison during this weary siege was, as might be expected, monotonous in the extreme. The distress undergone, the want of provisions felt by all ranks, from the self denying Governor downwards; – the hoping against hope for relief; – the childish excitement at every rumour which reached the place; – the indignation at what seemed a cruel, unnecessary, and spiteful bombardment; – and the greater fury among the troops, when, among other results of the enemy's fire, came the disclosure in the damaged houses and stores of the inhabitants, of large quantities of wine and provisions, hoarded through all the time of scarcity, in the hope that with still greater famine the price they would bring would be greater too; – all these are told with the minuteness of daily observation, in the work from which all accounts of the siege are more or less drawn.

The marvellous contentment with which the troops bore privations, which they saw were necessary; the good-humour and discipline they always displayed, save on the occasion just mentioned, when anger drove them into marauding, and intoxication produced its usual effect on troops; the extraordinary coolness and courage they displayed during even the worst part of the bombardment, a courage which was even foolhardy, and had to be restrained; all these make this siege one of the noblest chapters in England's military history.

Although the blockade commenced in 1779, it was April, 1781, before the bombardment from the Spanish lines, which drove the miserable townspeople from their houses for shelter to the south of the Rock, can be said to have regularly commenced. When it did commence, it did so in earnest; shells filled with an inflammable matter were used, which set the buildings on fire; and a graphic description of a bombarded town may be found in Drinkwater's pages. "About noon, Lieutenant Budworth, of the 72nd Regiment, and Surgeon Chisholme, of the 56th, were wounded by a splinter of a shell, at the door of a northern casemate in the King's Bastion. The former was dangerously scalped, and the latter had one foot taken off, and the other leg broken, besides a wound in the knee… Many casks of flour were brought into the King's Bastion, and piled as temporary traverses before the doors of the southern casemates, in which several persons had been killed and wounded in bed… In the course of the day, a shell fell through the roof of the galley-house, where part of the 39th and some of the 12th Regiments were quartered; it killed two, and wounded four privates… In the course of the 20th April, 1781, the Victualling Office was on fire for a short time; and at night, the town was on fire in four different places… On the 21st, the enemy's cannonade continued very brisk; forty-two rounds were counted in two minutes. The Garrison Flag-staff, on the Grand Battery, was so much injured by their fire, that the upper part was obliged to be cut off, and the colours, or rather their glorious remains, were nailed to the stump… On the 23rd, the wife of a soldier was killed behind the South Barracks, and several men wounded… On the 24th, a shell fell at the door of a casemate in the King's Bastion, and wounded four men within the bomb-proof… The buildings at this time exhibited a most dreadful picture of the results of so animated a bombardment. Scarce a house north of Grand Parade was habitable; all of them were deserted. Some few near Southport continued to be inhabited by soldiers' families; but in general, the floors and roofs were destroyed, and only the shell left standing… A shell from the gunboats fell in a house in Hardy Town, and killed Mr. Israel, a very respectable Jew, with Mrs. Tourale, a female relation, and his clerk… A soldier of the 72nd Regiment was killed in his bed by a round shot, and a Jew butcher was equally unfortunate… The gunboats bombarded our camp about midnight, and killed and wounded twelve or fourteen… About ten o'clock on the evening of 18th September, a shell from the lines fell into a house opposite the King's Bastion, where the Town Major, Captain Burke, with Majors Mercier and Vignoles, were sitting. The shell took off Major Burke's thigh; afterwards fell through the floor into the cellar – there it burst, and forced the flooring, with the unfortunate Major, to the ceiling. When assistance came, they found poor Major Burke almost buried among the ruins of the room. He was instantly conveyed to the Hospital, where he died soon after… On the 30th, a soldier of the 72nd lost both his legs by a shot from Fort Barbara… In the afternoon of the 7th October, a shell fell into a house in town, where Ensign Stephens of the 39th was sitting. Imagining himself not safe where he was, he quitted the room to get to a more secure place; but just as he passed the door, the shell burst, and a splinter mortally wounded him in the reins, and another took off his leg. He was conveyed to the Hospital, and had suffered amputation before the surgeons discovered the mortal wound in the body. He died about seven o'clock… In the course of the 25th March, 1782, a shot came through one of the capped embrasures on Princess Amelia's Battery, took off the legs of two men belonging to the 72nd and 73rd Regiments, one leg of another soldier of the 73rd, and wounded another man in both legs; thus four men had seven legs taken off and wounded by one shot."

And so on, ad infinitum. The daily life was like this; for although even worse was to come at the final attack, this wearying, cruel bombardment went on literally every day. On the 5th May, 1782, the bombardment ceased for twenty-four hours, for the first time during thirteen months.

As in the time of great pestilence, after the first alarm has subsided, there is a callous indifference, which creeps over those who have escaped, and among whom the familiarity with Death seems almost to have bred contempt, so – during this long siege – after the novelty and excitement of the first few days' bombardment had worn off, the men became so indifferent to the danger, that, when a shell fell near them, the officer in charge would often have to compel them to take the commonest precautions. The fire of the enemy became a subject of wit even, and laughter, among the men; and probably the unaccustomed silence of that 5th of May, when the bombardment was suspended, was quite irksome to these creatures of habit, whose favourite theme of conversation was thus removed.

Among the incidents of the bombardment, there was one which demands insertion in this work, as the victim – a matross – belonged to the Royal Artillery. Shortly before the bombardment commenced, he had broken his thigh; and being a hearty, active fellow, he found the confinement in hospital very irksome. He managed to get out of the ward before he was cured, and his spirits proving too much for him, he forgot his broken leg, and falling again, he was taken up as bad as ever. While lying in the ward for the second time under treatment, a shell from one of the gunboats entered, and rebounding, lodged on his body as he lay, the shell spent, but the fuze burning. The other sick men in the room summoned strength to crawl out of the ward before the shell burst; but this poor fellow was kept down in his bed by the weight of the shell, and the shock of the blow, and when it burst, it took off both his legs, and scorched him frightfully. Wonderful to say, he survived a short time, and remained sensible to the last. Before he died he expressed his regret that he had not been killed in the batteries. Heroic, noble wish! While men like these are to be found in the ranks of our armies, let no man despair. Heroism such as this, in an educated man, may be inspired by mixed motives – personal courage, hope of being remembered with honour, pride in what will be said at home, and, perhaps, a touch of theatrical effect, – but, in a man like this brave matross, whose courage has failed even to rescue his name from oblivion, although his story remains – the heroism is pure and simple – unalloyed, and the mere expression of devotion to duty, for duty's sake. And this heroism is god-like!