Chapter I: Part 1

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Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are referenced. The numbering of footnotes began again at ‘1’ for each chapter. In this version, footnotes have been re-sequenced across the text for uniqueness of reference. There are several instances of footnotes appearing as glosses on other footnotes, identified in all instances as ‘a’. These have been numbered ‘Na’, where ‘N’ is the number of the note.

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SOLDIER ARTIFICER COMPANY Plate I.
UNIFORM 1786 Printed by M & N Hanhart.

]

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FROM THE FORMATION OF THE CORPS IN MARCH 1772, TO THE DATE
WHEN ITS DESIGNATION WAS CHANGED TO THAT OF
ROYAL ENGINEERS,
IN OCTOBER 1856.

BY

T. W. J. CONNOLLY,
QUARTERMASTER OF THE ROYAL ENGINEERS.

“Of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents, by flood and field; Of hair-breadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach.”—_Shakspeare._

“There is a corps which is often about him, unseen and unsuspected, and which is labouring as hard for him in peace as others do in war.”—_The Times._

=With Seventeen Coloured Illustrations.=

_SECOND EDITION, WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS._

IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I.

LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, AND ROBERTS.
1857.

LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING
CROSS.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

------------------

The First Edition of the Work has long been out of print, and the Second would have been published earlier, only that an expected change in the designation of the corps delayed its appearance. That change having occurred, the volumes are republished, recording the services of the corps to the date it continued to bear its old title.

Revised in many places, with verbal inaccuracies corrected, aided moreover by journals and official memoranda placed at my disposal to modify or enlarge certain incidents and services, the work is as complete as it would seem to be possible at present to produce it.

The concluding Chapters record the services of the corps in the Aland Islands, in Turkey, Bulgaria, Circassia, Wallachia, and the Crimea. The siege of Sebastopol and the destruction of the memorable docks have been given with the fulness which the industry and gallantry of the sappers merited; and in order that the many adventures and enterprises recorded in the final years of the history should not fail in interest and accuracy, Colonel Sandham, the Director of the Royal Engineer Establishment, with the permission of General Sir John Burgoyne, kindly lent me the assistance of the Engineers’ Diary of the Siege, as well as several collateral reports concerning its progress and the demolition of the docks. At the same time I think it right to say, that no attempt has been made in these pages to offer a history of the Crimean operations. So much only of the details has been worked into the narrative as was necessary to preserve unbroken the thread of sapper services in connexion with particular works and undertakings.

It should also be borne in mind, that these volumes are devoted to the affairs of the Royal Sappers and Miners; and, consequently, that care has been taken to touch as lightly as practicable on the services of other regiments. Hence the officers of the Royal Engineers have only been named when it was desirable to identify them with parties of Sappers, whom on certain occasions they commanded.

I feel a loyal pride in being able to state that the work has been honoured with the munificent patronage of Her Majesty the Queen, and of His Royal Highness the Prince Albert; than which nothing could be more acceptable to me, either as an author or a subject.

In closing I beg to express my deep obligations to General Sir John Burgoyne, Bart., G.C.B., the officers of the corps generally, my personal friends, and the public, for the patronage with which I have been favoured; and also to the Press, for the handsome manner in which it has noticed and commended my labours.

_Brompton Barracks,_
_March 1857._

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

------------------

In 1836, soon after Lieutenant Robert Dashwood, R.E., was appointed Acting Adjutant of the Royal Sappers and Miners at Woolwich, he was directed by Brigade-Major, now Colonel Matson, to prepare a list of officers of the Royal Engineers who had commanded, from time to time, the different companies of the corps. I assisted him in the duty; but while he was in the midst of his work, he was prematurely cut off by death, and the task of completing the statement devolved on me. It now forms a referential record at the head-quarter office.

Led in its progress to consult old documents and returns, I conceived the idea of making myself acquainted with the whole history of the corps. With this view, after daily fulfilling the routine duty of the office, I spent all my leisure intervals in bringing to light old books and papers, which for years had been buried in disused depositories and stores.

Whilst thus engaged, two Acting Adjutants, Lieutenants F. A. Yorke and T. Webb, R.E., were successively appointed to the corps at Woolwich. Both officers entered with some spirit into the attempt to trace a history of its services; but before they had proceeded to any great length, were interrupted in their labours by removal to other stations in consequence of promotion. Adjutant Yorke, however, succeeded so far, that he drew up a brief account of the formation of the sappers, commencing with the Gibraltar company in 1772, and detailed its subsequent augmentations and reductions. This statement also forms a permanent record in the office; and Captain Webb made fair progress with an outline account of its active services. To both officers it was my good fortune to afford such aid as they required, in the collection of information for their respective efforts.

In 1847, when medals were granted to the veterans of the last war, Brigade-Major, now Colonel Sandham, observed the readiness with which I spoke of historical events in which the corps was concerned, and of the services of particular individuals who had belonged to it. He also saw the facility with which I supplied the information required to establish the claims of the several applicants for medals and clasps. This induced him, after some little conversation on the subject, to direct me to prepare for publication a history of the corps. Much fragmentary matter I had already accumulated, for twelve years had been consumed by me in wading through books and documents in quest of dates and occurrences. Nevertheless, it was not without serious misgivings that I set myself officially to the task, and the researches and labours embodied in the following pages are the result.

In the intervals of important and onerous public duty, the materials for the memoir have been collected and the work methodized and written. Necessarily severe was the application required under such circumstances; but by steady perseverance, even at times when my health was scarcely able to bear up against the exertion it needed, I have succeeded, without omitting any service that I know of, in completing the history to the siege of Sebastopol.

The work certainly is one of no pretension, and on this score may be regarded as having cost but little toil in its preparation; but I may observe, that from the absence of many particular records, the unaccountable neglect in furnishing others, and the striking imperfections in many of the remaining papers, arising from complexity, vagueness, obliteration, or decay, more than ordinary difficulty, research, and trouble were experienced, in gathering the materials essential to give anything like a reasonable delineation of the events narrated in the Memoir. Paucity of detail in numbers, want of description with reference to particular occurrences, and gaps in many years from the loss of muster-rolls and official documents, run through a period of nearly half a century, from 1772 to 1815: and strange as it may appear, even the casualties in action so carefully reported in other corps, have, from some inexplicable cause, either been omitted altogether in the war despatches or given inaccurately. In later years, however, the connexion between the officers of the Royal Engineers and the soldiers of the Royal Sappers and Miners has been so fully established, that attention to these important minutiæ forms a decided feature in the improved command of the corps.

In employments of a purely civil character in which the Royal Sappers and Miners have shared, care has been taken to explain, as fully as the records and collateral evidence would admit, the nature of its duties; and, likewise, to multiply authorities to prove the estimation in which it was held for its services and conduct. This has been mainly done, to offer a practical reply to an association, incorporated within the last twelve years, which, in the course of a futile agitation, endeavoured by injurious statements to lessen the corps in public esteem.

All mention of the Royal Engineers in this memoir has been studiously suppressed, except when such was unavoidable to give identity to the different duties and services of the Royal Sappers and Miners, and also, when their direct and particular connexion with the corps in certain situations, rendered allusion to them justifiable. This course was suggested to me by an officer of high rank, for the obvious reason that, as the Royal Engineers is a body entirely distinct from the Sappers and Miners, and possesses its own annals, any reference to, or particularization of, its services in a work professedly confined to the corps, would not only be extraneous, but tend to lessen its value, and weaken its interest with those for whose information it was especially written.

Here, however, it should be observed, that the Royal Sappers and Miners, though a separate and integral body of itself, is nevertheless, and has been from the commencement, officered by the Royal Engineers; and whatever excellence or advancement is traced in its career and public usefulness, whether as soldiers or mechanics, is fairly, in a great degree, attributable to the officers; for, in every circumstance of service and situation, they have liberally opened up for them new channels of employment to engage their faculties and energies, and have afforded them at all times scope and facilities to develop their mental and physical resources, and to fit them to perform with credit, not only the circumscribed duties of soldiers, but the more extended requirements of sappers, artizans, and professional men.

By the omission of all but special reference to the officers, room has thus been given for mentioning many non-commissioned officers and privates, who have attracted public attention and gained encomium for their meritorious services; some for their skill and ingenuity; others for their integrity and devotion; and others for their acquirements, their vigorous exertions and labours; their ardour, their endurance, and their valour. While the recognition of such examples cannot fail to incite others to emulate the military virtues of their more distinguished predecessors and comrades, it is earnestly hoped, that every member of the corps will be led to feel a personal interest in its reputation and honour, and a pride in its discipline and loyalty; its usefulness and efficiency in peace; its heroism and achievements in war.

The drawings were executed on stone by George B. Campion, Esq., master of landscape drawing at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In illustrations like those in the present volumes, it was scarcely possible to delineate with exactness the complicated ornament which make up the _ensemble_ of a soldier’s uniform. Notwithstanding this disadvantage, the costume has been well defined, and much interest given to the embellishments, by the introduction of accessories, characteristic of the duties and employments of the corps.

My respectful acknowledgments are due to Sir John Burgoyne, the Inspector-General of Fortifications, for making the subject of my exertions known in a circular from his own hand, to the officers of the Royal Engineers; and in offering him the expression of my gratitude, I think it right with a feeling of sincere thankfulness to mention, that the success which has attended that kind appeal, has been more, perhaps, than I could reasonably expect. Several of the officers have afforded me much encouragement in the work, as well by suggestion and advice, as by the liberality of their contributions; but, wanting the liberty to publish their names, I am precluded from making a record, to which it would have been my pride to give publicity.

To my own corps I am also indebted for many pleasing proofs of concern, as evinced in their anxiety to see the undertaking prosper. Nearly 200 copies have been demanded by the non-commissioned officers, including a few of the privates, and when the price of the work is considered, the generosity of my patrons is as striking as noble.

To S. W. Fullom, Esq., I here offer the expression of my grateful thanks for his amiable and disinterested counsel, cheerfully accorded on the many occasions I had to seek it; and for kindly assisting me in looking over the sheets as the work passed through the press.

I now submit the volumes to my corps and the profession, and am not without hope that they may also be acceptable to a portion of the public. As far as the sources of my information and research have extended, the memoir will be found truthful and impartial. It was my aim to execute it with an integrity that would place me beyond impeachment: I therefore feel some confidence that indulgence will be shown for its defects, and also for whatever errors, through inadvertency, may have crept into the work.

THOMAS CONNOLLY.

_Royal Sappers and Miners’ Barracks,
Woolwich, March 1855._

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

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1772-1779.
PAGE

Origin of Corps—Its establishment and pay—Engineers to 1
command it—Its designation—Working
pay—Recruiting—Dismissal of civil artificers—Names of
officers—Non-commissioned officers—First
augmentation—Consequent promotions—Names of other officers
joined—King’s Bastion—Second augmentation

1779-1782.

Jealousy of Spain—Declares war with England—Strength of the 10
garrison at Gibraltar—Preparations for defence and
employment of the company—Siege commenced—Privations of
the garrison—Grand sortie and conduct of the company—Its
subsequent exertions—Origin of the subterranean
galleries—Their extraordinary prosecution—Princess Anne’s
battery—Third augmentation—Names of non-commissioned
officers

1782-1783.

Siege continued—Magnitude of the works—Chevaux-de-frise from 22
Landport-Glacis across the inundation—Précis of other
works—Firing red-hot shot—Damage done to the works of the
garrison, and exertions of the company in restoring
them—Grand attack, and burning of the battering
flotilla—Reluctance of the enemy to quit the contest—Kilns
for heating shot—Orange bastion—Subterranean
galleries—Discovery of the enemy mining under the
Rock—Ulterior dependence of the enemy—Peace—Conduct of the
company during the siege—Casualties

1783.

Duc de Crillon’s compliments respecting the 29
works—Subterranean galleries—Their supposed
inefficiency—Henry Ince—Quickness of sight of two boys of
the company—Employment of the boys during the siege—Thomas
Richmond and John Brand—Models constructed by them

1783.

State of the fortress—Execution of the works depended upon 39
the company—Casualties filled up by transfers from the
line—Composition—Recruiting—Relieved from all duties,
garrison and regimental—Anniversary of the destruction of
the Spanish battering flotilla

1786-1787.

Company divided into two—Numerous discharges—Cause of the 43
men becoming so soon ineffective—Fourth
augmentation—Labourers—Recruiting,
reinforcements—Dismissal of foreign artificers—Wreck of
brig ‘Mercury’—Uniform dress—Working ditto—Names of
officers—Privileges—Cave under the signal-house

1779-1788.

Colonel Debbieg’s proposal for organizing a corps of 53
artificers—Rejected—Employment of artillerymen on the
works at home—Duke of Richmond’s “Extensive plans of
fortification”—Formation of corps ordered—Singular silence
of the House of Commons on the subject—Mr. Sheridan calls
attention to it—Insertion of corps for first time in the
Mutiny Bill—Debate upon it in both Houses of Parliament

1787-1788.

Constitution of corps—Master artificers—Officers—Rank and 64
post of the corps—Captains of companies;
stations—Allowance to captains;
adjutants—Recruiting—Labourers—“Richmond’s whims”—Progress
of recruiting—Articles of agreement—Corps not to do
garrison duty—Sergeant-Majors—John Drew—Alexander
Spence—Uniform dress—Working dress—Hearts o'
pipe-clay—“The Queen’s bounty”—Arms, &c.—Distinction of
ranks—Jews’ wish

1789-1792.

Appointment of Quartermaster and 72
Colonel-Commandant—Distribution of corps, Captains of
companies—Jealousy and ill-feeling of the civil
artificers—Riot at Plymouth—Its casualties—Recruits
wrecked on passage to Gibraltar—Song, “Bay of Biscay,
O!”—Defence of the Tower of London against the
Jacobins—Bagshot-heath encampment—Alterations in the
uniform and working dress

1793.

War with France—Artificers demanded for foreign 81
service—Consequent effects—Detachment to West Indies—Fever
at Antigua—Detachment to Flanders—Siege of
Valenciennes—Waterdown Camp—Reinforcement to
Flanders—Siege of Dunkirk—Nieuport—Another reinforcement
to Flanders—Toulon—Private Samuel Myers at Fort
Mulgrave—Formation of four companies for service
abroad—Establishment and strength of corps

1794-1795.

Working dress—Company sails for West 90
Indies—Martinique—Spirited conduct of detachment
there—Guadaloupe—Mortality—Toulon—Flanders—Reinforcement
to company there—Return of the company—Works at
Gravesend—Irregularities in the corps—Causes—Redeeming
qualities—Appointment of Regimental Adjutant and
Sergeant-major—Consequences—Woolwich becomes the
head-quarters—Alteration in working dress

1795-1796.

Companies to St. Domingo and the Caribbee Islands—Reduction 101
of St. Lucia—Conduct of company there—Gallantry in forming
lodgment and converting it into a battery—Attack on
Bombarde—Distribution and conduct of St. Domingo
company—Mortality in the West Indies—Detachment to
Halifax, Nova Scotia—Dougal Hamilton—Detachments to
Calshot Castle and St. Marcou

1797.

Detachments to Portugal—To Dover—Transfers to the 105
Artillery-Enlistment of artificers only—Incorporation of
Gibraltar companies with the corps—Capture of
Trinidad—Draft to West Indies—Failure at Porto
Rico—Fording the lagoon, by private D. Sinclair—Private W.
Rogers at the bridge St. Julien—Saves his
officer—Casualties by fever in Caribbean company—Filling
up company at St. Domingo with negroes—Mutinies in the
fleet at Portsmouth—Conduct of Plymouth company—Emeute in
the Royal Artillery, Woolwich—Increase of pay—Marquis
Cornwallis’s approbation of the corps—Mutiny at the
Nore—Consequent removal of detachment to
Gravesend—Alterations in dress

1798-1799.

Contribution of corps to the State—Detachment with 116
expedition to maritime Flanders—Destruction of the Bruges
canal—Battle near Ostend—Draft to West Indies—Capture of
Surinam—St. Domingo evacuated—Expedition to
Minorca—Conduct of detachment while serving
there—Composition of detachments for foreign
service—Parties to Sevenoaks and Harwich—Mission to
Turkey—Its movements and services—Special detachment to
Gibraltar to construct a cistern for the Navy—Detachment
with the expedition to Holland—Its services—Origin of the
Royal Staff Corps

1800.

Mortality in the West Indies—Blockade of Malta—Capture of a 126
transport on passage from Nova Scotia—Movements and
services of detachments in Turkey; attacked with
fever—Anecdote of private Thomas Taylor at
Constantinople—Cruise of expedition to Cadiz—Attack on the
city abandoned—Subsequent movements of the expedition;
Malta; and re-embarkation for Egypt—Statistics of
companies at Gibraltar

1801-1802.

Distribution of corps—Dispersion of West India 132
company—Statistics—Detachment to St. Marcou—Capture of
Danish settlements—Casualties in West India
company—Compared with mortality in Gibraltar
companies—Working dress—Services, &c., of detachment at
Gibraltar—Conduct of Sergeant W. Shirres—Concession to the
companies by the Duke of Kent—Cocked hat superseded by the
chaco

1803-1805.

Party to Ceylon—The treaty of Amiens broken—State of West 141
India company—Capture of St. Lucia—Tobago—Demerara,
Essequibo, and Berbice—Works at Spike Island—Capture of
Surinam—Conduct of private George Mitchell—Batavian
soldiers join West India company—Fever at
Gibraltar—Consequent mortality—Humane and intrepid conduct
of three privates—Invasion of England—Works at
Dover—Jersey—Chelmsford—Martello towers at Eastbourne—Bomb
tenders at Woolwich—Recruiting—Volunteers from the Line
and Militia—Treaty of St. Petersburg—Party to Naples—Ditto
to Hanover

1806.

First detachment to Cape of Good Hope—Misfortunes at Buenos 153
Ayres—Reinforcements to Gibraltar—Services at
Calabria—Formation of Maltese military artificers—Increase
of pay to royal military artificers—Augmentation to the
corps and reorganization of the companies—Establishment
and annual expense—Working pay—Sub-Lieutenants
introduced—Indiscipline and character of the corps

1807.

Appointments of Adjutant and Quartermaster—Captain John T. 161
Jones—Disasters at Buenos Ayres—Egypt—Reinforcement to
Messina—Detachment of Maltese military artificers to
Sicily—Newfoundland—Copenhagen—Captures in the Caribbean
Sea—Madeira—Danish Islands in the West Indies—Hythe

1808.

War in the Peninsula—Expedition thither—Detachments to the 165
seat of war, with Captains Landmann, Elphinstone, Squire,
Burgoyne, and Smyth—Captain John T. Jones—Reinforcement to
Newfoundland—Discipline at Halifax—Services at
Messina—Parties temporarily detached to different
places—The queue

1809.

Retreat to Coruña—Miserable state of the detachment on 168
reaching England—Hardships of the stragglers—Capture of
Martinique—Skill of George Mitchell at the siege—Fever in
the West Indies—Reduction of the Saintes—Detachment to
Portugal—Battles of Oporto and Talavera—Casualties in the
retreat, and distribution of the party—Naples—Zante and
the Ionian Islands—Term of service of the Maltese military
artificers—Siege of Flushing—Services of the military
artificers there—Gallantry, in the batteries, of John
Millar, Thomas Wild, and Thomas Letts—Conduct of corps at
the siege—Casualties by the Walcheren fever—Skilful
conduct of Corporal T. Stevens in the demolitions at
Flushing—Captain John T. Jones—Servants—Incidental
detachments

1810.

Capture of Guadaloupe—Of St. Martin’s and St. 175
Eustatius—Torres Vedras—Anecdote of Corporal William
Wilson at the Lines—Almeida and Busaco—Detachments to
Cadiz—Puntales and La Isla—Destruction of Forts Barbara
and St. Felipe, near Gibraltar—Santa Maura—Occasional
detachments

1811.

Mortality in the West Indies—Strength and distribution of 178
detachments in the Peninsula—Recapture of Olivenza—Field
instruction prior to siege of Badajoz—Conduct of corps at
the siege—Conduct of Sergeant Rogers in
reconnoitring—Reinforcement to Portugal and duties of the
detachment—Its distribution and services—Battle of
Barrosa; gallant conduct of Sergeant John
Cameron—Tarragona—Defence of Tarifa—Augmentation to corps
and reconstruction of companies—Annual expense of
corps—Command of the companies—Their stationary
character—The wealthy corporal—New distribution of
corps—Commissions to Sub-Lieutenants, and ingenious
inventions of Lieutenant Munro

1812.

Plymouth company instructed in field duties—Engineer 187
establishment at Chatham—Major Pasley appointed its
director—Discipline and drill of corps—Its character—Sir
John Sinclair ex-private—Title of corps changed—Captain G.
Buchanan—A sergeant acrobat—Cuidad Rodrigo—Exertions of a
company on the march to the siege—Repairs to the
fortress—Siege of Badajoz—Difficulties in removing the
stores to the park—Duties of the sappers in the
operation—Gallant behaviour of Patrick Rooney and William
Harry—Also of a party at Fort Picurina, and of Patrick
Burke and Robert Miller—Hazardous attempt to blow down the
batardeau in the ditch of the lunette, and conduct of
corporal Stack—Bravery of a party in mining under the
bridge of the inundation—Distribution of the Peninsular
companies and their services—Bridges of Yecla and
Serrada—Reinforcement to Spain—Salamanca—Burgos, and
boldness of Patrick Burke and Andrew Alexander at the
siege—Bridge of Alba—Carthagena—Reinforcement to Cadiz;
action at Seville—Reinforcement to the Peninsula and
distribution of the sappers—Green Island—Tarragona—First
detachment to Bermuda

1813.

Designation of corps modified—Uniform—Working 197
dress—Arms—Mode of promoting non-commissioned
officers—Rank of colour-sergeant created—Company to
Canada—Reinforcement to Bermuda—Sub-Lieutenant Mackenzie
appointed Town-Major there—Sickness at Gibraltar—Services
of company in East Catalonia—Malha da Sorda—Services on
the advance to Vittoria—Bridge at Toro—Blockade of
Pampeluna—Pyrenees—Stockades near Roncesvalles—San
Sebastian and services of the corps at the siege—Valour of
sergeants Powis and Davis—Of private Borland; and of
corporal Evans—Casualties in the siege—Restoration of the
fortifications—Pontoon train—Bidassoa—Bridge across it,
and conduct of privates Owen Connor and
Nowlan—Vera—Nivelle, and behaviour of corporal
Councill—Bridge over that river—Bridges over the Nive, and
daring exertions of private Dowling—Fording the Nive, and
posts of honour accorded to corporal Jamieson and private
Braid—Strength and distribution of corps in the
Peninsula—Recruiting

1814.

Wreck of ‘Queen’ transport; humanity of sergeant Mackenzie; 209
heroic exertions of private M‘Carthy—Quartermaster;
Brigade-Major—Santona; useful services of corporal
Hay—Bridge of Itzassu near Cambo-Orthes; conduct of
sergeant Stephens—Toulouse—Bridge of the Adour; duties of
the sappers—Flotilla to form the bridge—Casualties in
venturing the bar—Conduct of the corps in its
construction—Bayonne—Expedition to North America—Return to
England of certain companies from the Peninsula—Company to
Holland; its duties; bridge over the Maerk; Tholen; Fort
Frederick—March for Antwerp—Action at Merxam—Esprit de
corps—Coolness of sergeant Stevens and corporal
Milburn—Distribution; bridge-making—Surprise of
Bergen-op-Zoom—Conduct of the sappers, and casualties in
the operation—A mild Irish-man—Bravery of corporal
Creighton and private Lomas—South Beveland—Reinforcement
to the Netherlands—Review by the Emperor of Russia—School
for companies at Antwerp—Detachments in the Netherlands,
company at Tournai—Movements of the company in Italy and
Sicily—Expedition to Tuscany; party to Corfu—Canada;
distribution of company there, and its active
services—Reinforcement to Canada—Washington, Baltimore,
New Orleans—Notice of corporal Scrafield—Expedition to the
State of Maine

1815.

Siege of Fort Boyer—Alertness of company on passage to New 225
Orleans—Return of the sappers from North America—Services
and movements of companies in Canada—Also in Nova
Scotia—Captures of Martinique and Guadaloupe—Services and
movements of companies in Italy—Maltese sappers
disbanded—Pay of Sub-Lieutenants—Ypres—Increase to
sappers’ force in Holland; its duties and detachments;
notice of sergeant Purcell—Renewal of the war—Strength of
the corps sent to the Netherlands—Pontoneers—Battle of
Waterloo—Disastrous situation of a company in
retreating—General order about the alarm and the
stragglers—Sergeant-major Hilton at Brussels—Notice of
lance-corporal Donnelly—Exertions of another company in
pressing to the field—Organization of the engineer
establishment in France—Pontoon train—Magnitude of the
engineer establishment; hired drivers; Flemish
seamen—Assault of Peronne, valour of Sub-lieutenant
Stratton and lance-corporal Councill—Pontoon bridges on
the Seine—Conduct of corps during the campaign—Corporal
Coombs with the Prussian army—Usefulness of the sappers in
attending to the horses, &c., of the department in
France—Domiciliary visit to Montmartre

1816-1818.

Movements in France—Return of six companies from thence to 241
England—Strength of those remaining, and detachments from
them—St. Helena—Return of company from Italy—Disbandment
of the war company of Maltese sappers—Battle of
Algiers—Conduct of corps at Valenciennes—Instances in
which the want of arms was felt during the war—Arming the
corps attributable to accidental circumstances—Training
and instruction of the corps in France—Its misconduct—But
remarkable efficiency at drill—Municipal thanks to
companies at Valenciennes—Dress—Bugles adopted—Reduction
in the corps—Sub-lieutenants disbanded—Withdrawal of
companies from certain stations—Relief of company at
Barbadoes—Repairing damages at St. Lucia; conduct of the
old West India company—Corfu—Inspection of corps in
France—Epaulettes introduced—Sordid conduct of four men in
refusing to wear them—Murder of private Milne, and
consequent punishment of corps in France by the Duke of
Wellington—Return of the sappers from France

1819-1824.

Reduction in the corps—Distribution—Sergeant Thomas Brown, 253
the modeller—Reinforcement to the Cape, and services of
the detachment during the Kaffir war—Epidemic at
Bermuda—Damages at Antigua occasioned by a hurricane—Visit
to Chatham of the Duke of Clarence—Withdrawal of a
detachment from Corfu—A private becomes a peer—Draft to
Bermuda—Second visit to Chatham of the Duke of
Clarence—Fever at Barbadoes—Death of Napoleon, and
withdrawal of company from St. Helena—Notice of private
John Bennett—Movements of the company in
Canada—Trigonometrical operations under the Board of
Longitude—Feversham—Relief of the old Gibraltar
company—Breast-plates—St. Nicholas’ Island—Condition of
company at Barbadoes when inspected by the Engineer
Commission—Scattered state of the detachment at the
Cape—Services of the detachment at Corfu—Intelligence and
usefulness of sergeant Hall and corporal Lawson—Special
services of corporal John Smith—Pontoon
trials—Sheerness—Notice of corporal Shorter—Forage-caps
and swords

1825-1826.

Dress—Curtailment of benefits by the change—Chacos—Survey of 263
Ireland—Formation of the first company for the
duty—Establishment of corps; company to Corfu—Second
company for the survey—Efforts to complete the companies
raised for it—Pontoon trials in presence of the Duke of
Wellington—Western Africa—Third company for the survey:
additional working pay—Employments and strength of the
sappers in Ireland—Drummond Light; Slieve Snacht and
Divis—Endurance of private Alexander Smith—Wreck of
‘Shipley’ transport—Berbice; corporal Sirrell at Antigua

1827-1829.

Augmentation—Reinforcement to Bermuda—Companies for Rideau 271
Canal—Reinforcement to the Cape—Monument to the memory of
General Wolfe—Increase to the survey
companies—Supernumerary promotions—Measurement of Lough
Foyle base—Suggestion of sergeant Sim for measuring across
the river Roe—Survey companies inspected by Major-General
Sir James C. Smith; opinion of their services by Sir Henry
Hardinge—Sergeant-major Townsend—Demolition of the
Glacière Bastion at Quebec—Banquet to fifth company by
Lord Dalhousie—Service of the sappers at the citadel of
Quebec—Notice of sergeants Dunnett and John Smith—Works to
be executed by contract—Trial of pontoons, and exertions
of corporal James Forbes—Epidemic at Gibraltar—Island of
Ascension; corporal Beal—Forage-caps—Company withdrawn
from Nova Scotia—Party to Sandhurst College, and
usefulness of corporal Forbes

1830-1832.

The chaco—Brigade-Major Rice Jones—Island of 281
Ascension—Notice of corporal Beal—Detachment to the Tower
of London—Chatham during the Reform agitation—Staff
appointments—Sergeant McLaren the first medallist in the
corps—Terrific hurricane at Barbadoes; distinguished
conduct of colour-sergeant Harris and corporal
Muir—Subaqueous destruction of the ‘Arethusa’ at
Barbadoes—Return of a detachment to the Tower of
London—Rideau canal; services of the sappers in its
construction; casualties; and disbandment of the
companies—Costume—First detachment to the Mauritius—Notice
of corporal Reed—Pendennis Castle

1833-1836.

Inspection at Chatham by Lord Hill—Pontoon 289
experiments—Withdrawal of companies from the
ports—Reduction of the corps, and reorganization of the
companies—Recall of companies from
abroad—Purfleet—Trigonometrical survey of west coast of
England—Draft to the Cape—Review at Chatham by Lord
Hill—Motto to the corps—Reinforcement to the
Mauritius—Inspection at Woolwich by Sir Frederick
Mulcaster—Mortality from cholera; services of corporals
Hopkins and Ritchley—Entertainment to the detachment at
the Mauritius by Sir William Nicolay—Triangulation of the
west coast of Scotland—Kaffir war—Appointments of ten
foremen of works—Death of Quartermaster Galloway—Succeeded
by sergeant-major Hilton—Sergeant Forbes—Notice of his
father—Lieutenant Dashwood—Euphrates expedition—Labours of
the party—Sergeant Sim—Generosity of Colonel Chesney,
R.A.—Additional smiths to the expedition—Loss of the
‘Tigris’ steamer—Descent of the Euphrates—Sappers with the
expedition employed as engineers—Corporal
Greenhill—Approbation of the services of the
party—Triangulation of west coast of
Scotland—Addiscombe—Expedition to Spain—Character of the
detachment that accompanied it—Passages; action in front
of San Sebastian—Reinforcement to Spain—Final trial of
pontoons—Mission to Constantinople

1837.

Change in the dress—Increase of non-commissioned 305
officers—Services of the detachment at Ametza
Gaña—Oriamendi—Desierto convent on the
Nervion—Fuentarabia—Oyarzun—Aindoin—Miscellaneous
employment of the detachment—Trigonometrical survey west
coast of Scotland—Inspection at Woolwich by Lord Hill and
Sir Hussey Vivian—Staff appointments—Labours of sergeant
Lanyon—Staff-sergeants' accoutrements—Expedition to New
Holland—Corporal Coles selected as the man Friday of his
chief—Exploration from High Bluff Point to Hanover Bay;
difficulties and trials of the trip; great
thirst—Exertions and critical situation of Coles—His
courageous bearing—Touching instance of devotion to his
chief—Employments of the party—Exploration into the
interior with Coles and private Mustard—Hardships in its
prosecution—Threatened attack of the natives; return to
the camp

1838.

Services of party in New Holland—Start for the 315
interior—Labours of the expedition; corporal Auger—Captain
Grey and corporal Coles expect an attack—Attitude of
private Auger at the camp against the menace of the
natives—Captain Grey and Coles attacked; their critical
situation: the chief wounded; devotion of Coles—Usefulness
of Auger—Renew the march; Auger finds a singular
ford—Discovers a cave with a sculptured face in it—Mustard
traces the spoor of a quadruped still unseen in New
Holland—A sleep in the trees—Trials of the party—Primitive
washing—Auger the van of the adventurers—Humane attention
of the Captain to Mustard; reach Hanover Bay; arrive at
the Mauritius—Detachment in Spain—Attack on Orio—Usurvil;
Oyarzun—Miscellaneous employments of the
party—Reinforcement to it; Casa Aquirre—Orio—Secret
mission to Muñagorri—Second visit to the same chief—Notice
of corporal John Down—Bidassoa—Triangulation of north of
Scotland—Also of the Frith of the Clyde—Insurrection in
Canada; guard of honour to Lord Durham—Company inspected
by the Governor-General on the plains of
Abraham—Inspection at Niagara by Sir George
Arthur—Services and movements of the company in Canada;
attack at Beauharnois—Submarine demolition of wrecks near
Gravesend—Expedient to prevent accidents by vessels
fouling the diving-bell lighter—Conduct of the sappers in
the operations; exertions of sergeant-major Jones—Fatal
accident to a diver—Intrepidity of sergeants Ross and
Young—Blasting the bow of the brig ‘William,’ by
sergeant-major Jones—Withdrawal of the sappers from the
canal at Hythe

1839.

Expedition to Western Australia under Captain Grey—Excursion 328
with Auger to the north of Perth—Search for Mr.
Ellis—Exploration of shores from Freemantle—Bernier and
Dorre Islands; want of water; trials of the party—Water
allowance reduced—A lagoon discovered—Privations and
hardships of the party—Return to Bernier Island for
stores—Its altered appearance—Destruction of the depôt of
provisions—Consternation of Coles—Auger’s example under
the circumstances—Expedition makes for Swan River—Perilous
landing at Gantheaume Bay—Overland journey to Perth;
straits of the adventurers—Auger searching for a missing
man—Coles observes the natives; arrangements to meet
them—Water found by Auger—A spring discovered by Coles at
Water Peak—Disaffection about long marches; forced
journeys determined upon; the two sappers and a few others
accompany the Captain—Desperate hardships and fatigues;
the last revolting resource of thirst—Extraordinary
exertions of the travellers; their sufferings from thirst;
water found—Appalling bivouac—Coles’s agony and
fortitude—Struggles of the adventurers; they at last reach
Perth—Auger joins two expeditions in search of the slow
walkers—Disposal of Coles and Auger

1839.

Services of the detachment in Spain—Last party of the 341
artillery on the survey—Survey of South
Australia—Inspection at Limerick by Sir William
Macbean—Triangulation of north of Scotland—Also of the
Clyde—Pontoons by sergeant Hopkins—Augmentation of the
corps—Also of the survey companies—Supernumerary rank
annulled—Tithe surveys; quality of work executed on them
by discharged sappers; efficient surveys of sergeant
Doull—Increase of survey pay—Staff appointments on the
survey—Responsibility of quartermaster-sergeant
M‘Kay—Colonel Colby’s classes—Based upon particular
attainments—Disputed territory in the State of
Maine—Movements and services of the party employed in its
survey; intrepidity of corporal M‘Queen—Experiments with
the diving-bell—Also with the voltaic battery—Improvement
in the priming wires by Captain Sandham; sergeant-major
Jones’s waterproof composition and imitation
fuses—Demolition and removal of the wreck of the ‘Royal
George’—Organization of detachment employed in the
operation—Emulation of parties—Success of the divers;
labours of the sappers—Diving-bell abandoned—Accident to
private Brabant—Fearlessness of corporal Harris in
unloading gunpowder from the cylinders—Hazardous duty in
soldering the loading-hole of the cylinder—First sapper
helmet divers—Conduct and exertions of the detachment

1840.

Return of the detachment from Spain—Its conduct during the 354
war—Survey of the northern counties of England—Notice of
sergeant Cottingham—Secondary triangulation of the north
of Scotland—Increase to survey allowances—Augmentation to
the survey companies—Renewal of survey of the disputed
boundary in the state of Maine—Corporal Hearnden at
Sandhurst—Wreck of the ‘Royal George;’ duties of the
sappers in its removal—Exertions of sergeant-major
Jones—The divers—An accident—Usefulness of the detachment
engaged in the work—Boat adventure at Spithead—Andrew
Anderson—Thomas P. Cook—Transfer of detachment from the
Mauritius to the Cape—Survey of La Caille’s arc of
meridian there—Detachment to Syria—Its active services,
including capture of Acre—Reinforcement to Syria

1841.

Syria—Landing at Caiffa; Mount Carmel—Cave of Elijah; 365
epidemic—Colour-sergeant Black—Inspection at Beirout by
the Seraskier; return of the detachment to
England—Expedition to the Niger—Model farm—Gori—Fever sets
in; return of the expedition—Services of the sappers
attached to it—Corporal Edmonds and the elephant—and the
Princess—Staff-sergeant’s undress—Staff appointments—Wreck
of the 'Royal George'—Sergeant
March—Sapper-divers—Curiosities—Under-water pay; means
used to aid the divers—Speaking under water—Gallantry of
private Skelton—Alarming accidents—Constitutional
unfitness for diving—Boundary survey in the state of
Maine—Augmentation to corps for Bermuda—Sandhurst;
corporal Carlin’s services—Quartermaster-sergeant
Fraser—Intrepidity of private Entwistle—Colonel
Pasley—Efficiency of the corps—Its conduct, and impolicy
of reducing its establishment—Sir John Jones’s opinion of
the sappers—And also the Rev. G. R. Gleig’s

1842.

Party to Natal—The march—Action at Congella—Boers attack the 384
camp—Then besiege it—Sortie on the Boers'
trenches—Incidents—Privations—Conduct of the detachment;
courageous bearing of sergeant Young—Services of the party
after hostilities had ceased—Detachment to the Falkland
Islands—Landing—Character of the country—Services of the
party—Its movements; and amusements—Professor Airy’s
opinion of the corps—Fire at Woolwich; its
consequences—Wreck of the 'Royal George'—Classification of
the divers—Corporal Harris’s exertions in removing the
wreck of the ‘Perdita’ mooring lighter—Assists an
unsuccessful comrade—Difficulties in recovering the
pig-iron ballast—Adventure with Mr. Cussell’s
lighter—Isolation of Jones at the bottom—Annoyed by the
presence of a human body; Harris, less sensitive, captures
it—The keel—Accidents—Conflict between two rival
divers—Conduct of the sappers employed in the
operation—Demolition of beacons at Blythe Sand,
Sheerness—Testimonial to sergeant-major Jones for his
services in connection with it

1842.

Draft to Canada—Company recalled from thence—Its services 401
and movements—Its character—Labours of colour-sergeant
Lanyon—Increase to Gibraltar—Reduction in the corps—Irish
survey completed; force employed in its
prosecution—Reasons for conducting it under military
rule—Economy of superintendence by sappers—Their
employments—Sergeants West, Doull, Spalding,
Keville—Corporals George Newman, Andrew Duncan—Staff
appointments to the survey
companies—Dangers—Hardships—Average strength of sapper
force employed—Casualties—Kindness of the Irish—Gradual
transfer of sappers for the English survey—Distribution;
Southampton

1843.

Falkland Islands; services of the detachment 412
there—Exploration trips—Seat of government
changed—Turner’s stream—Bull-fight—Round Down Cliff, near
Dover—Boundary line in North America—Sergeant-major
Forbes—Operations for removing the wreck of the 'Royal
George'—Exertions of the party—Private Girvan—Sagacity of
corporal Jones—Success of the divers—Exertions to recover
the missing guns—Harris’s nest—His district pardonably
invaded—Wreck of the 'Edgar,' and corporal Jones—Power of
water to convey sound—Girvan at the ‘Edgar’—An
accident—Cessation of the work—Conduct of the detachment
employed in it—Sir George Murray’s commendation—Longitude
of Valentia—Rebellion in Ireland—Colour-sergeant Lanyon
explores the passages under Dublin Castle—Fever at
Bermuda—Burning of the ‘Missouri’ steamer at
Gibraltar—Hong-Kong—Inspection at Woolwich by the Grand
Duke Michael of Russia—Percussion carbine and
accoutrements

1844.

Remeasurement of La Caille’s arc at the Cape—Reconnoitring 431
excursion of sergeant Hemming—Falkland Islands—Draft to
Bermuda—Inspection at Gibraltar by General Sir Robert
Wilson—Final operations against the ‘Royal George’—and the
‘Edgar’—Discovery of the amidships—incident connected with
it—Combats with crustacea—Success of corporal Jones—Injury
to a diver—Private Skelton drowned—Conduct of the
detachment employed in the work—Submarine repairs to the
‘Tay’ steamer at Bermuda by corporal Harris—Widening and
deepening the ship channel at St. George’s—Accidents from
mining experiments at Chatham—Notice of corporal John
Wood—Inspection at Hong-Kong by Major-General D’Aguilar

1845.

Sheerness—Increase to the corps at the Cape—Survey of 444
Windsor—Skill of privates Holland and Hogan as
draughtsmen—Etchings by the latter for the Queen and
Prince Albert—Unique idea of the use of a
bullet—Inspection at Gibraltar by Sir Robert
Wilson—Falkland Islands—Discharges on the survey duty
during the railway mania

1846.

Boundary surveys in North America—Duties of the party 448
engaged in it—Mode of ascertaining longitudes—Trials of
the party; Owen Lonergan—The sixty-four mile line—Official
recognition of services of the party—Sergeant James
Mulligan—Kaffir war—Corporal B. Castledine—Parties
employed at the guns—Graham’s Town—Fort
Brown—Patrols—Bridge over the Fish River—Field services
with the second division—Dodo’s kraal—Waterloo Bay—Field
services with the first division—Patrol under Lieutenant
Bourchier—Mutiny of the Swellandam native infantry—Conduct
of corps in the campaign—Alterations in the dress—Drainage
of Windsor—Detachment to Hudson’s Bay—Its
organization—Journey to Fort Garry—Sergeant Philip
Clark—Private R. Penton—Corporal T. Macpherson—Lower Fort
Garry—Particular services—Return to England

1846.

Exploration survey for a railway in North America—Services 465
of the party employed on it—Personal services of sergeant
A. Calder—Augmentation to the corps—Reinforcement to
China—Recall of a company from Bermuda—Royal presents to
the reading-room at Southampton—Inspection at Gibraltar by
Sir Robert Wilson—Third company placed at the disposal of
the Board of Works in Ireland—Sergeant J. Baston—Services
of the company—Distinguished from the works controlled by
the civilians—Gallantry of private G. Windsor—Coolness of
private E. West—Intrepid and useful services of private
William Baker—Survey of Southampton, and its incomparable
map

1847.

Detachments in South Australia—Corporal W. 478
Forrest—Augmentation to the corps—Destruction of the Bogue
and other forts—Services of the detachment at Canton—First
detachment to New Zealand—Survey of Dover and
Winchelsea—Also of Pembroke—Flattering allusion to the
corps—Sir John Richardson’s expedition to the Arctic
regions—Cedar Lake—Private Geddes’s encounter with the
bear—Winter quarters at Cumberland House—Road-making in
Zetland—Active services at the Cape—Company to Portsmouth

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOL. I.

PLATE PAGE
I. Uniform 1786 _To face Title._
II. Working-dress 1786 49
III. Uniform 1787 69
IV. Working-dress 1787 69
V. Uniform 1792 79
VI. Working-dress 1794 80
VII. Working-dress 1795 100
VIII. Uniform 1797 115
IX. Uniform 1802 140
X. Working-dress 1813 198
XI. Uniform 1813 198
XII. Uniform 1823 258
XIII. Uniform and working-dress 1825 262
XIV. Uniform 1832 287
XV. Uniform 1843 429

VOL. II.

XVI. Uniform 1854 }
XVII. Working-dress 1854 } _To face Title._

HISTORY

OF THE

ROYAL SAPPERS AND MINERS.

---------------------

1772—1779.

Origin of Corps—Its establishment and pay—Engineers to command it—Its
designation—Working pay—Recruiting—Dismissal of civil artificers—Names
of officers—Non-commissioned officers—First augmentation—Consequent
promotions—Names of other officers joined—King’s Bastion—Second
augmentation.

Before the year 1772, the works at Gibraltar were mainly executed by civil mechanics from the Continent and England, who were not engaged for any term of years, but were hired like ordinary artificers, and could leave the Rock whenever they felt disposed. Not being amenable to military discipline, they were indolent and disorderly, and wholly regardless of authority. The only means of punishing them was by reprimand, suspension, or dismissal, and these means were quite ineffectual to check irregularities. The dismissal of mechanics and replacing them by others was always attended with considerable inconvenience and expense, and often failed to secure an equivalent advantage. Consequently, the works progressed very slowly, imposing much additional trouble and anxiety upon the officers. Even the better class of artificers—locally termed “guinea men” from their high wages—who had something at stake in their situations, could not be relied upon. It therefore became necessary that steps should be taken to put a stop to the evil, and to secure the services of a sufficient number of steady, obedient mechanics, upon whom dependence could, at all times, be placed, for the proper execution of the works.

With this view, Lieutenant-Colonel William Green, the chief engineer at the fortress, suggested the formation of a company of _military_ artificers as the only expedient. Of the value of this suggestion some experience had been derived, from the occasional occupation on the works, of mechanics belonging to the different regiments in garrison. Indeed, ever since the taking of Gibraltar, in 1704, soldiers had so been employed, particularly artillerymen, whose services to the fortress were always found to be beneficial. There was every reason, therefore, to expect that, when the department became entirely military in its character, corresponding results on a large scale would ensue. Besides which it was considered, that the employment of a military company on the works, organized expressly for the purpose, would produce a great saving of expense to the public; and also, that the men would be ready to participate in any military operation for the defence of the place, either as artificers or soldiers, should our relations with other countries render it desirable.

Influenced by these considerations, Colonel Green submitted the suggestion to the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar. Too well aware themselves of the disadvantages of the system of _civil_ labour in carrying on the works of The fortress, they were favourable to the trial of any experiment that promised success; and in recommending the plan to the attention of the Secretary of State, they expressed their decided opinion that many advantages would certainly arise to the service and the fortress by its adoption. The royal consent was accordingly given to the measure in a Warrant, under the sign manual, dated 6th March, 1772; and thus originated the corps, whose history is attempted to be traced in these pages.

The Warrant authorized the raising and forming of a company of artificers to consist of the following numbers and ranks, with the regimental pay annexed to each rank:—

s. d.
1 Sergeant and as adjutant[1] 3 0 a-day.
3 Sergeants, each 1 6 ”
3 Corporals 1 2 ”
60 Privates, or working men skilled in the ”
following trades:—Stone-cutters,
masons, miners, lime-burners,
carpenters, smiths, gardeners, or
wheelers, each 0 10
1 Drummer 0 10 ”
——
68 Total.

And officers of the corps of engineers were appointed to command this new body, to which was given the name of “The Soldier-Artificer Company.”[2]

-----

Footnote 1:

The rank of sergeant and adjutant—an odd combination certainly—was not
adopted. The senior non-commissioned officer was styled
sergeant-major. The authority for this are the muster rolls and
returns of the company. But it is not a little remarkable that, in
opposition to the fact, evidence should exist of the best kind for
veracity, to oppose the averment. The error appears on a tablet built
in Charles the Fifth’s wall adjoining Hargrave’s parade at Gibraltar,
to the memory of the widow of the first sergeant-major of the corps.
Thus runs the epitaph:—

To the Memory of MARTHA, wife of
THOMAS BRIDGES, Sergeant, and as Adjutant
to His Majesty’s Artificers' Company.
She departed this life, 4th February, 1773,
Aged 38 years.

-------

A more loving wife or friend sincere
Never will be buried here—
Charitable she was to all,
Altho' her income it was small.

Excuse the stanza. Perhaps the sergeant-major was a tetchy man,
obstinate in maintaining his rights, and took this private opportunity
of asserting his warranted rank and publishing the military anomaly in
imperishable marble.

Footnote 2:

The Warrant does not designate the company by such a title. It is
there called “The Military Company of Artificers.” How the change took
place, does not appear.

-----

Each non-commissioned officer and man was to receive as a remuneration for his labour a sum not exceeding two reals[3] a day in addition to his regimental pay; but this extra allowance was only to be given for such days as he was actually employed on the works.

-----

Footnote 3:

A real is equal to 4½_d._ English.

-----

The recruiting for the company was a service of but little difficulty, as permission was granted to fill it with men from the regiments then serving in the garrison; and although the company was restricted to the taking of properly qualified mechanics of good character, yet, at the end of the year, after supplying the places occasioned by casualties, there were only eighteen rank and file wanting to complete. As vacancies occurred, such of the soldiers of the garrison as came up to the established criteria, and wished to be transferred into the company, were allowed the indulgence; and this mode was the only one followed, for filling up the soldier-artificers, for many years after their formation.

The whole of the civil mechanics were not discharged from the department on account of this measure. Such of them were retained as were considered, from their qualifications and conduct, to be useful in the fortress, and they were placed under the superintendence of the non-commissioned officers of the company, who were appointed foremen of the different trades. The foreign artificers were, with few exceptions, dismissed; and twenty English “contracted artificers,” or “guinea men,” were sent home. Previously, however, such of the good men of the number as were willing to be “entertained” in the company were permitted the option of enlisting, but none availed themselves of the offer.

The officers of engineers who were first attached to the company were the following:—

Lieutenant-Colonel William Green, captain.
Captain John Phipps, Esq.
Capt.-Lieut. and Captain Theophilus Lefance, Esq.
Lieutenant John Evelegh.

And they were desired to take under their command and inspection the non-commissioned officers and private men of the company, and to pay particular attention to their good conduct and regular behaviour.[4]

-----

Footnote 4:

The order upon this subject is given at length, as it touches upon
other matters besides the discipline of the company.

_Chief Engineer’s Orders, Gibraltar, 31st May, 1772._

“By the Governor’s orders of the 20th May, the company of
soldier-artificers now raising and forming under the command of the
Chief Engineer as captain, Captain Phipps, Captain-Lieutenant Lefance,
and Lieutenant Evelegh, are appointed officers to the said company,
and are, therefore, conformable to their respective ranks, henceforth
to take under their command the conduct and inspection of the
non-commissioned officers and private men of the said company, and to
pay all sort of military attentions to their good order and regular
behaviour, according to the rules and discipline of war;[4a] also to
the particular standing orders, as well as to the accustomary
regulations of the garrison relative to all the required and expected
duties of a soldier and an artificer, both when on, as well as when
off, duty. Captain Phipps is also appointed to keep the accounts and
to see the company duly paid their full military subsistence. The
company to be paid conformable to His Majesty’s Warrant dated March
6th, 1772, upon the same footing as the rest of the troops in
garrison, viz., at seventy pence sterling the Mexico or Cobb,
agreeable to which, the non-commissioned officers and men are to be
paid weekly as follows, the deduction for the surgeon excepted:—

Sergeant-major 5 dollars, 3 reals, 3-1/7 quarts. Sergeants—each 2 ” 5 ” 9-3/7 ” Corporals—each 2 ” 0 ” 12-4/7 ” Privates and drummer—each. 1 ” 4 ” 0

One-halfpenny sterling a-week to be stopped from each private and
drummer for the surgeon, and the non-commissioned officers to be
stopped in proportion to their respective pays.”

Footnote 4a:

No provision was made this year for extending the Mutiny Act to the
company; nor, indeed, was it noticed in any subsequent Act till 1788,
when its introduction gave rise to much discussion in the House of
Commons. The idea of subjecting artificers to martial law was attacked
with satirical bitterness by the eloquent Sheridan.

-----

On the 30th June, the date on which the company was first mustered, the non-commissioned officers were—

Sergeant-major Thomas Bridges.[5]
Sergeant David Young, _Carpenter_.
Sergeant Henry Ince, _Miner_.

To these were added, on the 31st December—

Sergeant Edward Macdonald.
Corporal Robert Blair, and
Corporal Peter Fraser.

and soon afterwards—

Corporal Robert Brand,

who completed the non-commissioned officers to the full number authorised by the warrant.

Footnote 5:

The more particular duties of the Sergeant-major, as described in the
Chief Engineer’s Order of 31st May, 1772, were “to carry all the
general orders to the Chief Engineer, and the officers of the company,
through the means of the other sergeants; also to make known the
general orders to the rest of the non-commissioned officers and
private men.” These he was required to attend to, “in lieu of an
adjutant.” By the royal warrant, he should have been appointed to that
rank, and not designated “sergeant-major.” No reason can be traced for
altering the title. The _first_ adjutant was an officer of
engineers—Lieutenant Evelegh. He was appointed 15th June, 1773.
Bridges enlisted into the 30th regiment in 1751, from which he was
transferred to the corps as Sergeant-major, and being reduced during
the siege (28th September, 1781), was discharged from the company 10th
October, 1781.

At the time the soldier-artificers were raised, the extensive works ordered to be executed by his Majesty in October, 1770, were in progress, and furnished an excellent opportunity for testing their capabilities and merits. The advantage of the change, and the consequent benefits accruing to the fortress, were soon apparent. Scarcely had the company been in existence a year, before Major-General Boyd, the Lieutenant-Governor, impressed with the conviction of its usefulness, represented, in several communications to Lord Rochford, the Secretary of State, the expediency of augmenting it; and he was the more urgent for its sanction as the new works in hand—which were absolutely essential for the defence of the place—required to be hastened with all possible despatch. The recommendation, coming from so high an authority, met with ready attention, and a Warrant dated 25th March, 1774, was accordingly issued for adding twenty-five men to the company. Its establishment was then fixed as follows:—

Sergeant-major 1
Sergeants 4
Corporals 4
Drummer 1
Private artificers @b83
——
Total 93

To the former list of non-commissioned officers were now added—

John Richmond, sergeant.
John Brown,[6] corporal.

Ensign William Skinner joined the company 20th May, and Ensign William Booth 23rd June.

Footnote 6:

In Hay’s ‘Western Barbary,’ chap. x., Murray’s edit., there is a very
pleasing anecdote of the “half-Irish Sultan,” Mulai Yezeed, in which
the name of Brown of the Royal Sappers and Miners, properly
Soldier-Artificers, is introduced. To controvert a particular point to
which it refers, the anecdote in an abridged form, is subjoined.

Sidi Mahomed, soon after his elevation to the throne of Morocco, about
the middle of the last century, was desirous of completing the
defences of Fez, and knowing the superiority of the English in
engineering, he applied to the British Government for the aid of some
person skilled in the art. The request was acceded to, and an
experienced sergeant of the Sappers and Miners having been selected as
a fit person, was placed at the disposal of his Majesty. Sidi Mahomed
received him with much kindness, and allotted a suitable house for his
reception. The sergeant continued in the service of the Sultan for
some time after he had completed the works at Fez, and at length died,
leaving his wife without issue. After his interment, the widow, who
was a pretty Irishwoman, sought an interview with the Sultan, in order
to obtain a pension and the means of returning to her own country. His
Majesty was much struck by her fair and comely appearance, treated her
with condescension and benevolence, and expressed in endearing
overtures his attachment to her. Under no promises of future greatness
could she be induced to relinquish the faith of her fathers for the
creed of Islam, and to take an exalted station in the imperial harem.
Sidi Mahomed, old as he was, was too much fascinated to yield so
choice a prize on a mere question of belief, and making the fullest
sacrifices to satisfy her religious scruples, the poor, friendless,
Irish widow, became the Sultana of Morocco!

Corporal Brown, afterwards promoted to be sergeant, is the
non-commissioned officer alluded to. He was a mason by trade, and
joining the artificers on the 2nd January, 1773, he seemingly soon
acquired the reputation of being an able foreman and an indispensable
man. It was in 1776 he was sent to Fez, not in the middle of the
century as stated in the anecdote, and he died there early in 1781.
That year, or probably later, Widow Brown became the Sultana of Sidi
Mahomet, and Mulai Yezeed, the reputed son of the widow by the Sultan,
_was then 31 years old_! The age of Mulai may be _gleaned_ from Hay’s
tale, but more directly _seen_ in Dr. Lempriere’s ‘Journey through the
Barbary States.’ According to the latter author, who was at Tetuan in
1790, Mulai was the “offspring of an English renegado,” and then about
40 years of age. The Sultan died at a patriarchal age in 1790, and
Mulai Yezeed succeeded him.

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No sooner was the company completed to its new establishment than the engineers proceeded with greater spirit in the erection of the King’s Bastion, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1773 by General Boyd.[7] This work, which was of material consequence for the safety of the fortress, caused the General much concern, and he employed his best efforts for its completion.[8] But, unavoidable delay in some official arrangements at home, coupled with a little misunderstanding and the loss of many civil mechanics, greatly retarded the work.

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Footnote 7:

General Boyd, attended by General Green, the chief engineer, and many
officers of the garrison, laid the foundation stone of this bastion,
with the ceremony usual on such occasions. When he had finished it, he
made this remarkable speech. “This is the first stone of a work which
I name the King’s Bastion; may it be as _gallantly defended_, as I
know it will be _ably executed_; and may _I live to see it resist the
united efforts of France and Spain_.”—Drinkwater’s Siege of Gibraltar,
p. 290, 1st edit. The desire of the worthy general was realized. He
not only lived to see what he wished, but materially to assist in the
operations of the siege.

Footnote 8: