Chapter X: Part 10

Leaving sixteen men at Tholen and Zandaarbuiten, the remainder of the company, armed with short swords, felling-axes, saws, &c., and guarding an establishment of mules drawing about one hundred waggons laden with intrenching tools, commenced the march for Antwerp. They followed the royal artillery, and reliefs of twenty men were, by turns, repeatedly ordered to the front to remove abattis and other obstructions that were met with on the route. From intense frost and a heavy and continuous fall of snow blowing in their faces, they encountered many difficulties and suffered extremely during the journey.

Merxam being taken on the 2nd February the company and a strong force of the guards and line, began the erection of batteries to attack the fleet at Antwerp. By command, no relief was permitted to the sappers, and they continued on duty for seventy-two hours without intermission. Their steady labours at the Napoleon battery of sixteen guns, and their skill in revetting the embrasures, and in attending to the more perilous parts of the works, were the wonder of both officers and soldiers. Sir Thomas Graham, in general orders dated Merxam, 5th February, did full justice to the zeal and exertions of the sappers, and stated, “that they deserved the highest praise.” Two privates were wounded.[212]

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Footnote 212:

Here is a practical exemplification of _esprit de corps_. Whilst
engaged in the attempt to destroy the shipping in the basin of
Antwerp, his Royal Highness Prince William frequently visited the
Napoleon battery with several military officers. On one of those
visits a mounted veteran in the suite of the Prince approached private
John Brennan, and said, “Sapper, will you hold this horse for an old
guardsman?” Brennan, who was very busy at the time with his shovel,
turned his face towards the officer, and feeling that as a sapper he
was two or three removes above a groom, replied, “Egad, sir, I’d
sooner be shot layin' sand-bags.”

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Sergeant William Stevens and corporal Thomas Milburn distinguished themselves by their coolness and bravery in superintending the laying of platforms and making a splinter-proof magazine under a heavy fire. Recommended by Colonel Carmichael Smyth, the commanding royal engineer, the former was forthwith appointed colour-sergeant, and soon afterwards commissioned to a sub-lieutenancy in the corps; and the latter was promoted to be sergeant.

After the failure at Antwerp, the head-quarters of the company went into cantonments at Rosendaal, and parties were detached to Groat Zundert, Fort Henrick, Calmthout, Eschen, and Brieschaet. At Groat Zundert seven men under corporal James Hilton conducted some experimental bridging in the presence of Sir Thomas Graham and Colonel Carmichael Smyth, with the view of adopting the easiest plan for crossing ditches in future enterprises. Sir Thomas was struck with the simplicity of the corporal’s arrangement and the rapidity of its execution; and as a proof of his approbation gave him a Napoleon.

On another occasion, that distinguished general took particular interest in the formation of a ditch bridge and even laboured himself in its construction. From the unevenness of the banks the baulks did not lie firmly. Private James McKay was in the act of obtaining the desired steadiness, when Sir Thomas took a spare spade, cut some sods, and assisting to place them in the required positions, only gave up when the work was satisfactorily accomplished.

In the surprise of Bergen-op-Zoom on the 8th March, parties of the company were attached to each of the columns appointed for the attack. There were about forty men in all, who were provided with axes, saws, and crowbars, and also a few ladders to scale the walls of the fortress. At about half-past ten o’clock the attack was made. The sappers cut down the palisades, crossed the ditches, planted the ladders, and leading the way in the escalade, were the first soldiers on the enemy’s ramparts. They then pushed forward to remove any obstacle that opposed the advance of the assailants, and persevered in their several duties till the place was captured. A reverse, however, awaited the British: the enemy renewed the attack with unwonted vigour, and in a few hours regained the fortress. During these extraordinary operations the following casualties occurred in the detachment: Sub-Lieutenant Adamson was killed by a cannon-ball on the glacis when advancing. About twelve were wounded, of whom two mortally—privates John McKeer and James Munro—and ten were taken prisoners, and conveyed to Fynaart, but shortly afterwards released. Of the conduct of the sappers in this _coup-de-main_ Colonel Carmichael Smyth has left it on record, that the company conducted themselves with the utmost coolness and courage, and the Master-General, in a letter dated 2nd April, was pleased to express himself highly satisfied with the zealous conduct of the Royal Sappers and Miners on the above occasion.[213]

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Footnote 213:

The gentle Brennan, about whom an anecdote is told in a previous page,
very reluctantly quitted the ramparts. Finding, that to save himself,
retreat was inevitable, he turned his back on the fortress, and with a
scowl, such only as an Irishman could make, growled out, “Bad luck to
the whole ov yees!” With this mild curse, so unusual in a hot-headed,
free-spoken Milesian, he scampered down the ladder, escaped without
wound or touch, and finally halted, still breathing the anathema, “Bad
luck to the whole ov yees!” The incident is only remarkable for its
freedom from those horrible epithets and curses so common in Irish
execrations. Brennan was applauded for his bravery at the storming by
Captain Robert Thomson, and his subsequent exertions and constancy in
the restoration of the defences of Antwerp and Ypres, where he had
large parties of Hanoverian troops and Dutch peasants under his
superintendence, led to his promotion first to lance-corporal and then
to corporal.

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The gallant behaviour of corporal James Creighton and private Edward Lomas is deserving of notice. After breaking through a palisade on the ramparts, they dashed forward and were challenged by a vigilant sentinel, who fired and shot Lomas in the thigh and then charged Creighton. Creighton parried the bayonet with his axe, and, seizing the Frenchman’s musket, a desperate struggle ensued. The sentinel, who was a powerful man, at length threw his antagonist violently to the ground, and stamping his foot on his breast, endeavoured to wrest the firelock from the corporal’s grasp. His strength spent, Creighton could scarcely maintain the contest, when Lomas, yet bleeding from his wound, rushed to the rescue of his comrade and struck the Frenchman with a pole-axe on the back of his head. The blow was fatal. Lomas now armed himself with the musket and ammunition of the sentinel, and pressing forward into the fortress, his resolution and daring were further signalized by his killing two other Frenchmen, and wounding two more. The latter he delivered over as prisoners of war to sergeant Thomas Milburn of the company, first breaking their muskets in their presence, and then dispossessing them of their accoutrements.[214] Corporal Creighton followed Lomas in the adventure, but was too much fatigued and weakened to be of material service.

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Footnote 214:

Lomas was discharged in 1816 by reduction, and being a young soldier,
received no pension. Some thirty years afterwards, he applied for a
pension, and his exploits being still remembered, he was granted 6_d._
a-day.

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Soon after the reverse at Bergen-op-Zoom, the greater part of the company was sent to South Beveland and attached to the engineer brigades of Captains R. Thomson and Oldfield, to be employed in the attack of Fort Batz. The night that ground was to have been broken news arrived of peace. The company returned into cantonments at Rosendaal, then changed its head-quarters to Horst, and in May assembled at Antwerp, where it remained, with the exception of some small detachments, to the end of the year.

In July another company—fourth of the third battalion—under Lieutenant P. Cole, arrived in that city from Woolwich. It was sent there to assist in the demolition of its fortifications and arsenal, as, by treaty, it was decided that Antwerp should only be a commercial port. On the advice, however, of the Duke of Wellington, who inspected that great naval depôt on his way to Paris, the operations were suspended.

While stationed at Antwerp both companies were quartered in the Hotel de Salm, where the French had established their head-quarters and sapper barracks. When the Emperor Alexander of Russia visited the city, the two companies were turned out with the garrison to receive the Czar, and specially attracted his majesty’s attention. In September the companies, under the command of Captain Oldfield, were inspected at Antwerp by Lieutenant-General Clinton, who expressed himself highly pleased with their appearance.

The idea that the sappers should be properly educated, led, even in an enemy’s country, to the establishment of a school for their professional instruction, and they were permitted the privilege of assisting their officers in the preparation of projects for the destruction of the docks and several fronts of fortification. The drill too was strictly attended to, and to keep up their military spirit and bearing, they were marched two days a week into the country, and joined the troops at all garrison parades. Captain Oldfield, the resident engineer, commanded the companies.

The strength of the sappers in the Netherlands was now 152. The sub-lieutenants belonging to them were James Adam and Edward Sanders. For several months of the year the parties detached were employed at Liere, Schilde, Graven Wesel, Brussels, Tournai, and Mons. Subsequently the fourth company, third battalion, was wholly removed to Tournai, and employed in the repair of the citadel, under the command of Captain W. D. Smith.

The sixth company, second battalion, from Tarragona, with Sub-Lieutenant Gibb, landed at Genoa from the ‘Mercury’ transport on the 4th May; and on the 11th June following removed to Messina, leaving a small party at Genoa. Other detachments were also employed at Savona, Palermo, and Faro.

Sixteen men of the Maltese company at Palermo were attached to Lord William Bentinck’s Tuscany expedition, and served at Leghorn, Pisa, and Lucca from February to April. In the latter month the company of Maltese sappers at Tarragona was increased to forty-nine men. In May, it landed at Genoa, and changed its quarters to Palermo in June, where both detachments were incorporated into a company of 110 strong. In November seven men of the Maltese sappers were detached to Corfu.

The third company, third battalion, in Canada retained its head-quarters at Kingston; but throughout the campaign was much dispersed on various important duties to York, Point Kerry, Fort Niagara, Snake Island, Montreal, Ganonoque, Fort Wellington, Prescott, and Bridge Island. Parties are also traced at the attack and burning of Oswego under Lieutenant Gossett, and at the assault of Fort Erie under Lieutenant Phillpotts. In the latter service they received the acknowledgments of Lieutenant-General Drummond for their ability and exertions.

A second company—fourth of the fourth battalion—embarked for service in Canada in April, and disembarked at Quebec from the ‘Belfield’ transport in June. In August the company was attached to the expedition under Sir George Prevost, and was present at the attack on Plattsburg, where they constructed sand-bag batteries, temporary bridges of felled trees, and planted the ladders against the walls for the storm. Subsequently to the assault, the company removed to Lacolle, and, after fortifying Ash Island, wintered at Prescott. During the campaign parties were detached to Montreal, Cascade-Montmorenci, Isle-aux-Noix, Turkey Point, and Burtonville.

Captain Blanshard’s company-second of the fourth battalion—which sailed from Bayonne on the 27th May, was transhipped in July from the ‘Thames’ frigate to the ‘Golden Fleece’ transport, and landed at Benedict in the Patuxent on the 19th August. Marching with the troops, the company of sixty-two strong was present in the action at Bladensburg on the 24th, and had three men taken prisoners, two of whom were wounded. At Washington the company was employed in burning the Senate-house,[215] President’s palace, War-Office, and other public edifices and establishments. Fully expecting that the British would fall, as at Saratoga, a prize to the republic, the President, in the extravagance of his anticipations, had prepared a sumptuous repast to entertain the chiefs of the captive British staff; but so singular are the chances of war, it fell to the lot of the sappers instead of the staff to do justice to the President’s hospitality. Afterwards the company was present in the action near Baltimore and at the attack of New Orleans. In the latter they were joined by the seventh company, first battalion, with Sub-Lieutenant Calder under Captain A. Emmett, who disembarked from the ‘Bedford’ and ‘Maria’ transports. Both companies were of great service during the operations and at the assault. The casualties were one missing and four wounded—one mortally.

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Footnote 215:

Private Henry Scrafield behaved with spirit in overpowering two armed
sentinels in the Senate-house, and taking them prisoners. A more
uncompromisingly independent man perhaps never lived. Once he
complained, in a petition to George IV., of the conduct of an officer,
but it ended without the concession of the redress which he
unwarrantably sought from His Majesty. In February, 1831, he
endeavoured to save the lives of five boys who had fallen into
Mulgrave Reservoir, at Woolwich. An orange had been thrown on the ice
by some reckless fellow, and the unfortunate youths, scrambling after
it, fell into the water. Scrafield was soon on the spot, and at
imminent personal risk, crossed the broken ice on ladders, and, with
ropes and grapnels, succeeded in rescuing the poor boys, but not till
all life had departed. The first youth was got up in ten minutes after
the catastrophe. For his judgment and intrepidity on the occasion he
was promoted to be second-corporal, and the Royal Humane Society
granted him a pecuniary reward. Pensioned in November, 1833, he
afterwards obtained a lucrative situation on a railway, and died at
Bletchington, of cholera, in September, 1849.

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A party of one colour-sergeant and six men under Captain Nicolls, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, was attached to the expedition under Sir John Sherbrooke, and served, in August and September, at the capture of Moose Island, Castine, and Belfast, in the State of Maine.

1815.

Siege of Fort Boyer—Alertness of company on passage to New
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.

In February of this year nine men were present at the siege of Fort Boyer, near Mobile, and their services on the occasion have been cited as a remarkable proof of the utility of the corps. Sir Charles Pasley thus writes concerning the party:—“The first night of the operations soldiers of the line only were employed. From a want of skill and experience in the nature of the duties required of them, and there being very few engineer officers to direct, they collected in groups, instead of being spread out as they ought to have been. Consequently, out of one small party of twenty men, fourteen were killed and wounded by a single discharge of grape-shot; and such confusion ensued, that very little progress was made in the course of that night. On the second night of the siege, the small party of sappers was employed in addition to the troops of the line. By the assistance of these few men the officers of engineers were enabled to regulate their working party to so much advantage, that before morning they had completed a parallel of 200 yards in extent within 50 yards of the enemy’s works, besides approaches in advance, which, being filled with sharpshooters, the Americans were unable to show themselves at their guns, and the fort surrendered. It is proper to explain, that as the army sailed from the Mississippi in divisions, the main body of the royal engineer department had not arrived at the period of the attack. The nine men who so particularly distinguished themselves happened to be on the spot before the others, because, being all carpenters by trade, they had been lent to the Admiral to repair the boats of the fleet.”[216] One private was wounded.[217]

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Footnote 216:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ i., note D, p. x.

Footnote 217:

‘London Gazette.’

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After a detention of about six weeks from contrary winds, the eighth company, second battalion, with Sub-Lieutenant P. Johnston under Captain Harry D. Jones, cleared the channel on the 25th December and sailed for New Orleans. While off Madeira, the company was served out with the serviceable carbines and blunderbusses belonging to the transport, and drilled to the use of the carronades on board. These measures were necessary from the presence of American vessels and privateers hovering about the convoy. The company was consequently kept perpetually on the alert until it landed at Dauphine Island on the 28th February, too late to take part in the war.

Hostilities closed in North America with the capture of Fort Boyer, and the three companies with the force under Major-General Lambert, re-embarked at Dauphine Island for England in March. The eighth company, second battalion, returned to the ‘Dawson’ transport, and the other two companies were put on board the ‘Hyperion,’ and all arrived at Woolwich in June following.

The two companies in Canada were continually on the move fortifying the frontiers. The third of the third battalion maintained its head-quarters at Kingston; and the fourth of the fourth battalion commenced the year at the Holland River. It was next removed to Penetanguishine Harbour, where half of the company under Captain W. R. Payne, completed the military arrangements for establishing a naval depôt. It then proceeded to York; afterwards to Fort George, Sandwich, and Drummond’s Island, on Lake Huron. From one or other of the companies, parties were thrown out to Fort Niagara, Turkey Point, Amherstberg, Fort Wellington, Montreal, Coteau de Lac, and Lower Canada. In carrying on the various duties of the department, the sappers, who were employed as overseers of military working-parties, were found of great advantage.[218] During the year, eighteen men deserted from the companies, most of whom were seduced from their allegiance by sergeant Robert Hunter of the corps. When he headed the deluded party into the States, he was off Fort Grochett, River St. Clair, on his way from Sandwich to Machinac’, Lake Huron.

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Footnote 218:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ i., note B, page vi.

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From the company at Halifax detachments were sent on particular duties to the harbour posts, but chiefly to the works at Sherbrooke’s Tower on Manger’s Beach.

On the 2nd March, one sergeant and eight rank and file embarked at Barbadoes for special service under Captain A. Brown, R.E. On the 28th May, the party was increased to thirty-three men of all ranks, and was present with the force under Lieutenant-General Sir James Leith at the captures of Martinique on the 5th June, and Guadaloupe on the 9th August. In the latter attack the sappers were engaged with the artillery at the guns. The head-quarters of the sappers were then changed from Barbadoes to Guadaloupe; and the establishment of the corps in the West India command was reduced from two companies to one.

The sixth company, second battalion, and sixty men of the Maltese sappers at Messina, embarked at Milazzo on the 17th May and landed at Naples on the 27th. On the 2nd July following they re-embarked, and arrived at Genoa on the 11th of that month. There the Maltese sappers were reinforced by the landing of the remainder of the company from Messina on the 18th October. The number of the whole reached 101 men, including the small party which rejoined the company from Corfu in April. Throughout the year, detachments of the sixth company, second battalion, were maintained at Palermo and Faro; and a party of two sergeants and nineteen rank and file, sent on a secret expedition, was afterwards on duty for a few months at Milan and Marseilles.

Under a royal warrant, dated 5th October, the two companies of Maltese sappers stationed at Malta and Gozo, were disbanded; and the war company—retained for general service—was assimilated in all essential respects to the royal sappers and miners. The establishment of the company was fixed at one sub-lieutenant, five sergeants, five corporals, five second-corporals, three drummers, and seventy privates; and its strength was sustained, from time to time, by transfers of Britons, Maltese, Sicilians, and Italians—all properly-qualified artificers—from the regiments serving in the Mediterranean. The designation of the company—“Maltese Sappers and Miners”—assumed in 1813 for the sake of uniformity, was confirmed by the warrant, and the colour of the dress was changed from blue to red.

On the representation of four sub-lieutenants, the regimental allowances of officers of that rank were brought under consideration. On active duty the pay was found to be inadequate to meet the requirements of the service. In the Peninsula, the officers with the army had to endure much hardship, and were continually menaced with pecuniary difficulties and embarrassments. Aware of these facts, Lieutenant-Colonel Burgoyne and Major Rice Jones backed the appeal by forcible recommendations to Lieutenant-General Mann, and on the 9th November the Prince Regent was pleased to increase the pay of the sub-lieutenants from 5_s._ 7_d._ to 6_s._ 7_d._ a-day.

In January the fourth company, second battalion, moved from Antwerp to Ypres, where they were quartered in the bishop’s palace and adjoining convent, which had been sacrilegiously converted by the French into an engineer establishment. The defences of Ypres had not been repaired since the fortress was taken by the French in 1794. Two considerable breaches were in the body of the place and the various outworks were in a dilapidated condition. The officers of engineers and the company were employed in restoring the works to a state to resist a field attack or a coup-de-main. This last contingency, however, was not calculated upon until Napoleon had regained the capital and the royal family fled to the frontier. The startling intelligence was announced to the resident engineer—Captain Oldfield—at six o’clock one evening, and by the same hour next morning, parties of sappers under two officers of engineers had opened the sluices and covered, with inundations, the two breaches on the Bailleul front. Immediately after, large military parties under the direction of the sappers and the officers of royal engineers commenced the work of strengthening the fortress, and further assisted by labourers of all ages intermixed with stout women and sturdy girls from the town and adjacent villages, the fortress was renewed with singular despatch. Sub-Lieutenant Adam, who was appointed assistant engineer, superintended the restoration of the body of the place near the Lille gate and the outworks in front of the Menin and Dixmude gates; he also attended to the repairs of the communication boats and bridges, barriers, posterns, &c. With the exception of the sappers, the garrison was entirely composed of foreign troops who could not speak a word of English, and as the sappers had only mastered a few elementary snatches of the Flemish language, the duty of superintendence was not accomplished without difficulty.

To the force in Holland was added the fifth company, second battalion, which embarked at Woolwich on the 2nd January, and landed at Antwerp the same month. This company and two others already there, were employed for several months in improving the defences of the frontiers of the Netherlands, particularly at Ypres, Tournay, Mons, Menin, Dendermond, Ath, Namur, Charleroi, and Brussels. The various works were subdivided amongst the non-commissioned officers and privates, each of whom was held responsible for the proper execution of the work intrusted to his superintendence. The peasants and women under the direction of each counted from 20 to 100, and even more, according to circumstances.[219] Sergeant John Purcell had from 300 to 400 _women_ under his orders at Ypres; and from some winning peculiarity in his mode of command, obtained from their willing obedience and energies an amount of labour that was almost astonishing. No less than about 1,800 peasants and 2,000 horses were engaged in these works, and, by all accounts, they were conducted with the greatest regularity and despatch. Sir Charles Pasley attributes no inconsiderable credit to the sappers for their assistance in the general services of the frontier;[220] and the Master-General, the Earl of Mulgrave, in a letter dated 4th April, expressed his “warm approbation of their zeal and exertions.” The Duke of Wellington also on visiting the frontier, awarded similar praise to the officers and sappers, particularly for their efficient labours at Ypres.

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Footnote 219:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ i., note B, p. vi.

Footnote 220:

Ibid.

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Meanwhile Napoleon, breaking his captivity in Elba, reappeared in France, and wherever he journeyed, was enthusiastically welcomed by his former legions. As by a spell, the army gathered under the wings of his eagles, and again lifted him into the imperial seat from which he had been so recently expelled. Europe was once more thrown into commotion by the event, and to crush the lofty hopes and pretensions of an intolerable ambition, war was at once declared by the Allies against the usurper.

At the instance of the Duke of Wellington,[221] who requested “the whole corps of sappers and miners” to be sent to Brussels to join his Grace’s force, seven companies of the corps, instructed in their art, were hurried off to Ostend between the 24th March and 10th June, and distributed with all possible haste to those frontier posts and fortresses in the Netherlands that most required their services. Those companies were the

Third and sixth of the first battalion;
Second and eighth of the second battalion;
First and seventh of the third battalion; and
First of the fourth battalion:

and they were employed in constructing indispensable fieldworks, or improving the fortifications at Ostend, Ghent, Nieuport, Tournay, Oudenarde, Boom, Escaneffe, Antwerp, Lille, Liefkenshoek, and Hal. Not less than 20,000 civil labourers with very strong military parties, were employed on the line of works extending from Ostend to Mons, and it was due to the intelligent manner in which the sappers carried out the duties of overseers, that this important field operation was so efficiently executed. Hal was the depôt from which the engineer brigades were equipped. The three companies in the Low Countries, before the campaign opened, were the fourth and fifth of the second battalion, and the fourth of the third battalion. The total strength of the whole ten companies reached the following numbers:—

Sub- Second
Lieuts. Sergeants. Corporals. Corporals. Drummers. Privates. Total.
—— —— —— —— —— —— ———
10 35 32 42 19 644 782[222]

The Sub-Lieutenants were A. Ross, J. Sparks, W. Stratton, P. Johnston, W. Knapp,[223] J. Armstrong, A. Turner, C. Gratton, J. Adam, and E. Sanders.

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Footnote 221:

‘Wellington Dispatches,’ viii., p. 18, edit. 1847.

—

Footnote 222:

Corroborated, by the official State on the 18th June, 1815. See
‘Gurwood,’ vol. viii., App. xiii., p. 392, edit. 1847.

Footnote 223:

Died at Tournay, 16th June, 1815.

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In order that the organizations of every description with the army should be as complete as forethought could make them, the Duke of Wellington recommended the employment of two companies of seamen as pontoneers. No exertions were omitted to give effect to his Grace’s wishes, and 200 hardy man-o'-war’s men, with Captain Charles Napier, R.N., at their head, were speedily embarked in the ‘Euryalus’ to join the army as bridgemen for the campaign. Meanwhile the Duke, who was unaware of the extensive character of the instruction imparted to the sappers at Chatham, was informed, that the companies of the corps in the Netherlands had, for the most part, been trained in the art of constructing military bridges, and had acquired an expertness in all the details and management of floating equipments under the careful tuition of Lieutenant-Colonel Pasley, that promised to equal the most gigantic requirements of the service. His Grace, only too glad to learn this agreeable intelligence, revoked his original intention, countermanded the landing of the seamen, and thus the duty of forming the bridges for the passage of rivers, was wholly confined to the royal sappers and miners.[224]

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Footnote 224:

‘Wellington Dispatches,’ edit. 1847, (2 & 12 May,) pp. 55, 81.

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At the battle of Waterloo the royal sappers and miners were not engaged. Three companies, however, were brought conveniently near to act in the event of their services being needed; and two companies with the pontoons, were quartered at Malines. Of the former companies, the first company, fourth battalion, is considered to have behaved with discredit in quitting the field without sufficient reason, and losing, in the precipitancy and confusion of the march, its baggage and field equipment. But the stigma seems to have been attached to the company without an adequate investigation of the circumstances under which the retreat was imperatively resorted to.

The details of the affair are as follows:—On the 17th June the company moved from Hal by Braine-la-leud towards Waterloo, marching the whole of the night, and was on the position when the action commenced on the morning of the 18th. After a time, it was ordered to the rear by Major Sir George Hoste, and accordingly it marched to the furthest end of the village of Waterloo under Lieutenant W. Faris and Sub-Lieutenant R. Turner. There the company remained till between three and four o’clock P.M., when Lieutenant C. K. Sanders, R.E., joined it. About this time a brigade of Hanoverian artillery and cavalry, and several of the British cavalry, were retiring. The latter had vainly laboured to penetrate the retreating crowds, and informed Lieutenant Sanders that the French were at the other end of the village. In a wood on the right, discharges of musketry were heard, and both officers and men, who hurried away from the battle, corroborated the general testimony, that the enemy not only had possession of the wood, but in a short time would cut off the British from the road. Still incredulous of the alarming rumours which reached him, Lieutenant Sanders sought more decisive information as to the reported advantages of the French, and at length, satisfied with the additional affirmations of hundreds of officers and soldiers, who threatened in their flight to overrun the company, he at once ordered it to retire. The circumstances fairly justified this step. But the company had not proceeded far before it was unavoidably thrown into difficulties and disorder. To relieve itself from the masses was impossible. Driven in rear, and encompassed by overwhelming numbers of different regiments, it was borne along at a very rapid rate, in the vortex of the confusion. By the presence of cavalry and cannon, and of capsized waggons and baggage, its march was interrupted and its files broken. Many of the men, therefore, who could not keep up were dispersed among the fugitives; the brigade of waggons, stopped by insuperable obstructions on the road, was abandoned, and the company thus routed lost many of its knapsacks and most of its intrenching tools, baggage, and horses.[225] Such are the facts of this ill-understood affair, which deserve to be viewed more with regret than animadversion; but Colonel Carmichael Smyth, jealous of the honour of the corps, and feeling this apparent taint upon its character, was highly displeased, and refused to recommend the officers and men of the company for the Waterloo honours and advantages.[226]

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Footnote 225:

To show how serious was the alarm, and how great the number of
fugitives, the following extract from general orders, dated Nivelles,
20th June, 1815, will fully testify:—

“3. The Field Marshal has observed that several soldiers, and even
officers, have quitted their ranks without leave, and have gone to
Bruxelles, and even some to Antwerp, where, and in the country through
which they have passed, they have spread a false alarm, in a manner
highly unmilitary and derogatory to the character of soldiers.

“4. The Field Marshal requests the General Officers commanding
divisions in the British army, and the General Officers commanding the
corps of each nation of which the army is composed, to report to him
in writing, what officers and men (the former by name) are now, or
have been, absent without leave since the 16th instant.

“5. The Field Marshal desires that the 14th article of the 14th
section of the Articles of War may be inserted in every orderly book
of the British army, in order to remind officers and soldiers of the
punishment affixed by law to the crime of creating false
alarms.”—‘Gurwood,’ viii., p.156, edit. 1847.

Nearly 2000 men were returned “missing,” the greater number of whom
were said to have gone to the rear with wounded officers and
soldiers.—'Gurwood, viii., p.151, edit. 1847. But the probability is,
that very few of this strength returned into the battle, but, worked
upon by the alarm, helped to swell the force of the renegades. Under
the circumstances, the retreat of the company of sappers is fairly
exonerated, pressed as it was by masses of troops of all nations, who
fled from the field in infamous haste and terror.

It is right to go a step further, and show what was the effect of the
alarm at Brussels—24 miles away from the position; and thus notice the
conduct of one who should be recognized in these pages. Some hours
before the company arrived at Brussels, the panic was so complete,
that the inhabitants flew in all directions from the horrors of an
anticipated calamity, and not a few of the soldiers quartered in the
place swelled the rout. Sergeant-major Hilton in charge of a
detachment of sappers, prepared for the worst by packing the plans,
charts, &c., of the engineer department, and also the military baggage
of the commanding royal engineer. As all his own drivers had
disappeared, he harnessed a couple of horses in readiness to move
should necessity force him. A Belgic servant of Colonel Carmichael
Smyth’s, who had been in the French service, ought to have assisted,
but showing signs of treachery, an altercation ensued, in which, to
save himself from the cut of a sabre, the sergeant-major wounded the
shins of the Belgian with a stroke from a crowbar. Expecting no aid
from this faithless foreigner, the sergeant-major looked about for
more reliable intelligence respecting the rumoured reverse at
Waterloo. While doing so the Commandant of Brussels accosted him,
which led to his explaining the course he intended to pursue to
preserve the plans, &c., from falling into the hands of the enemy.
After remarking that there was no fear of the French reaching the
city, the Commandant desired him to order the provost, with all the
disposable men of his guard, to wait upon him immediately at the Rue
Royale. Sergeant Hilton promptly complied; but the provost—this
paragon of order and discipline—could not be found; and his irresolute
men were only too desirous of following in the wake of the winged
crowd. At last about nine of the guard accompanied the sergeant-major
to the Rue Royale, where the Commandant ordered him to station the men
across the road leading to Antwerp. “Stop every waggon,” he roared,
furious at the insane sight that everywhere met his gaze, “and run any
one through who attempts to pass in violation of your orders!” The
terror of the citizens was at its highest, soldiers of every country
were pouring into the capital; all was confusion and haste; the
streets were lined with vehicles in endless variety, and each owner
was striving to out-ride his neighbour in the frantic chase. It
required to be firm at such a time, and the sergeant-major, quite as
stern as the Commandant, drew his sword, and opposing himself and his
small guard to the onward movement of the vans, stemmed with
difficulty the flight. Quickly the horses were withdrawn from the
shafts, to prevent the possibility of whipping them forward; and
turning a waggon with its broadside to the stream, the outlet was thus
partially closed. So great now was the pressure from behind that
waggon drove on waggon, and smashing in the roadway, the passage was
at length blocked up with an impenetrable barricade, which effectually
checked the efflux of the fugitives to Antwerp, and calmed the
agitation of the people.

Footnote 226:

The only soldier of the corps actually in the battle was
lance-corporal Henry Donnelly, who was orderly to Captain and
Brigade-Major, now Major-General Oldfield, K.H. He was present on the
17th and 18th, and Colonel Carmichael Smyth, who was seriously
indisposed on the night of the 17th, was much indebted to him for his
care and attention. His claim to a medal was warmly advocated by the
Major, who testified to his presence in the field for two days, but
Colonel Smyth never would allow that he was entitled to it. At the
final rejection of his just right corporal Donnelly was so much
affected, that shortly after he went into hospital, and died on the
25th July, 1817.

The claim of corporal Donnelly had been officially recognized at one
time in the following order by the officer commanding his company:—

“Company orders. Argenteuil, August 6, 1815. In consequence of private
Henry Donnelly being present at the battle of Waterloo, he is entitled
to two years advance of service. He will therefore be mustered
according to the regulations of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent,
dated 29th July, 1815.—(Signed) ED. COVEY, Lieutenant Royal
Engineers.” And he was so mustered until July 1816, when Colonel Smyth
ordered its discontinuance, making at the same time these
remarks:—“The sapper in question rode out a horse of Major Oldfield’s
on the 17th, and returned to Brussels on the morning of the 18th,
without having seen an enemy or heard a shot fired. He was in Brussels
during the actions of the 16th and 18th; and under these circumstances
I should have been guilty of a dereliction of duty to have certified
that he was entitled to a medal, and which he could hardly have worn
on the parade of his company, in preference to the very good
non-commissioned officers and men of that company, who have constantly
done their duty much to my satisfaction and their own credit; and who
could not but have felt aggrieved to have seen a mark of distinction
bestowed upon private Donnelly without his having in any way deserved
it.”

-----

Another company ordered to Waterloo on the 18th June, gained much praise for its firmness and regularity in pushing up to the field. This was the eighth company, second battalion, under Sub-Lieutenant Patrick Johnston. At 2 o’clock on the morning of the 18th it marched from Antwerp, and on arrival at Brussels Lieutenant Johnston, finding that the captain of the company as well as the commanding royal engineer and his staff were in the field, at once moved on for Waterloo. Crowds of wounded soldiers, anxious runaways, dismantled waggons and cannon, greatly impeded the march. From all he met he received the most discouraging advice, but amid the general panic and the numerous obstacles he had to contend with, he resolutely pursued his march and reached the village of Waterloo at 4 o’clock P.M., in a state that reflected great credit upon the discipline and perseverance of the company. Late in the evening, after firing had ceased, as there were many inducements to plundering and straggling, Lieutenant Johnston withdrew the company a short distance on the Brussels road, and placed it in an empty barn till next morning, when it commenced its march for Paris. In applauding the company for its steadiness and order under trying circumstances, Colonel C. Smyth alluded in a particular manner to the meritorious conduct of Lieutenant Johnston. Neither the officer nor his men were considered entitled to the Waterloo medal and extra service; and for several years afterwards many of the company claimed these advantages with unprecedented pertinacity, but without effect.

“The experience of former defects in the Peninsula,” wrote Lieutenant-Colonel Pasley, “led to the more perfect organization of the field establishment of the royal engineer department.” On the 20th June orders to effect the arrangement were issued by Colonel C. Smyth. “ Every division of the army had one engineer’s brigade attached to it; each brigade consisting of a complete company of well-trained sappers and miners, with drivers, horses and waggons carrying entrenching tools sufficient to employ a working party of 500 men, besides a proportion of artificers' tools, and other engineer stores.”[227] The number of companies so distributed was six. “A captain and a certain number of subaltern officers were attached to each brigade, and were responsible for the discipline of the men and efficiency of the horses,” &c.[228]

-----

Footnote 227:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ i., note F, p. xii.

Footnote 228:

Ibid.

-----

Four companies were attached to the pontoon train, “which,” according to the same authority, “consisted of eighty pontoons, besides store-waggons, &c., and was drawn by nearly 800 horses, the whole being under the command of Brevet-Major Tylden of the engineers, assisted by a due proportion of captains and subalterns of the same corps.”[229] The second company, fourth battalion, under Sub-Lieutenant Samuel M‘Lean, of sixty-seven total, having joined the army from England soon after the disposition, was also added to the pontoon train.

-----

Footnote 229:

Ibid.

-----

The total of the engineer establishment with the army and in the Netherlands, under the command of about sixty officers of engineers, amounted to 10 sub-lieutenants and 838 soldiers of the royal sappers and miners, and, adds Lieutenant-Colonel Pasley, “550 drivers in charge of 160 waggons, pontoon carriages included, and more than 1,000 horses.” Besides medical officers and other non-combatants, and a large force of peasants employed on the works, “a small number of Flemish seamen, accustomed to rivers and coasting navigation, was attached to each division of the pontoon train.”[230] The hired drivers, paid at 1_s._ 6_d._ a-day each and rations, were provided with a uniform of grey clothing, having red cuffs and collars to their round jackets; and the Flemish seamen, receiving each an allowance of 2_s._ a-day and rations, were dressed like British sailors, having on the front of their low glazed caps, painted in white, the word “Pontoneer.”

-----

Footnote 230:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ i., note F, p. xii.

-----

All the companies of the corps moved with the army towards Paris, leaving a few small detachments dispersed in Flanders. The second company, second battalion, attached to the first division, was present at the capture of Peronne on the 26th June under Sub-Lieutenant W. Stratton and two captains of engineers. The ladders used on the occasion were collected in the neighbourhood, but being too short were lashed together. The company had the honour of leading the brigade of guards to the assault,[231] and behaved remarkably well.[232] Preceding the column, they threw a number of fascines and faggots, hastily prepared by them, into the ditch of the hornwork, and thus enabled the troops to pass its swampy bottom into the body of the place.[233] A party of the company advanced under a heavy fire to force the main entrance. No ladders were carried with it, nor any sledge-hammers or instruments by which to force it open. Daring men were in the batch, and their first impulse, forlorn as it was, urged them to mount the gate. Lieutenant Stratton and lance-corporal Edward Councill soon gained the top, and tearing themselves over the spikes which crowned it, jumped into the place, tore down the fastenings, and pulling the gate open, admitted the troops. In leading the stormers into the work, Captain Alexander Thompson, R.E., and Lieutenant Stratton were severely wounded, as also two men of the company. Corporal Councill was dangerously wounded in the breast.

-----

Footnote 231:

Ibid, i., note D, p. ix.

Footnote 232:

‘Wellington Dispatches,’ viii., p. 176, edit. 1847.

Footnote 233:

Colonel Carmichael Smyth’s ‘Plans of attack upon Antwerp,’ &c., p. 9,
and plan.

-----

For the passage of the army to Paris, a pontoon bridge was thrown over the Seine at Argenteuil early in July. Twenty pontoons were employed in its formation, and also some trestles, which were placed next to the banks of the river. On its completion, the Duke of Wellington, who was present during the greater part of the operation, first passed over leading his horse, and then the whole army with its artillery and baggage.

From the acute winding of the Seine it was again necessary to pass the troops over the river, and a pontoon bridge similar to the one laid at Argenteuil was thrown at Aniers. The fifth company, second battalion, and seventh company, third battalion, constructed these bridges. Some Flemish seamen assisted in their formation, confining their exertions chiefly to mooring the pontoons. Skilful as they were as sailors, their want of previous training as pontoneers, rendered them far less serviceable than the royal sappers and miners.[234] The bridges were maintained for some months on the Seine, facilities being afforded for continuing the navigation without interruption. For this purpose an opening was made in the centre of each bridge, and when required to be re-established for the passage of the troops, the floating rafts were lashed in their places and removed again when the occasion was served. A sufficient detachment under Sub-Lieutenant James Adam was posted for a season at Chatou, to attend to a similar duty at the bridge thrown there by the Russians. Three companies with forty pontoons were also stationed at Epinay.

-----

Footnote 234:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ i., note F, p. xii.

-----

After the capture of Paris, the Earl of Mulgrave, then Master-General of the Ordnance, in a letter dated 11th July, expressed his high appreciation of the zealous, able, and beneficial exertions of the officers and soldiers of the corps during the successful progress of the campaign; and also of the services of the officers and men at the different fortresses.

Corporal Joseph Coombs, of the fourth company, second battalion, detached to Maubeuge on the 23rd July, under Captain Harding, royal engineers, was present at the sieges of Philipville, from the 7th to 18th August, and Rocroy on the 15th and 16th following. He was with the army commanded by Prince Augustus of Prussia, and was the only British sapper engaged. On leaving that army in October, Captain Harding said that the corporal had conducted himself extremely well, and was both intelligent and active in the different services in which he had been employed.

During the year a number of hired drivers deserted. They were generally ignorant of their duties and many of them of bad character. To take care of the horses was the principal object of the chief engineer and his officers. Obtaining an equal number of foreign drivers to replace the vacancies occasioned by desertion, afforded no promise of advantage or improvement. It was, therefore, determined, to make an experiment by appointing the royal sappers and miners to the duty. Accordingly, the number of men required was attached to the horses, and “from their peculiar habits of zeal and exertion, they made no difficulty of reconciling themselves to the novel occupation of grooms and drivers.” The experiment was eminently successful. “The horses were kept efficient and in proper condition;” and, “but for this measure, a number of valuable horses must have been ruined, and the pontoon train, as well as the engineers' brigades, by degrees, have become totally unserviceable.”[235]

-----

Footnote 235:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ i., note F, p. xii.

-----

At Paris the sappers were called upon to perform a domiciliary visit to the capital, which probably is the only instance on record of British soldiers being so employed in an enemy’s country. The Duke of Wellington having been informed that arms were carried nightly into Paris from Montmartre, desired Sir Thomas Brisbane, commanding the seventh division of the army, to order Captain Harry Jones, R.E., to take the company of sappers attached to the division, with such tools as might be necessary, and examine rigidly every part of Montmartre where it was probable arms might be concealed. The officer commanding the troops stationed within the intrenchments, had orders not to allow any person to pass out, until Captain Jones had completed his examination. The sappers were employed nearly the whole day in making the search. Every cellar, house, and garden was examined; no place where it was possible to conceal arms was unexplored, but the result was unsuccessful. No doubt, however, existed, that the information communicated to the Duke of Wellington was well founded.

1816-1818.

Movements in France—Return of six companies from thence to
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.

After the capitulation of Paris, the royal sappers and miners were encamped in the vicinity of the city. Late in the year they were removed to other stations on the northern frontiers of France; and until the formation of the army of occupation, were constantly changing their quarters and furnishing detachments for particular services at different places.

To meet the arrangements for reducing the army in France, six companies quitted the country for England in January. Four embarked at Boulogne and two at Calais. The former arrived at Woolwich on the 9th February and the latter on the following day.

Five companies remained with the army of occupation and were attached to divisions as follows:—

1st division 8th com., 2nd batt. Sub-Lieut. P. Johnston.
2nd division 1st com., 3rd batt. Sub-Lieut. W. Stevens.
3rd division 4th com., 2nd batt. Sub-Lieut. J. Adam.
Pontoon train { 2nd com., 4th batt. Sub-Lieut. S. M‘Lean,
{ 5th com., 2nd batt. Sub-Lieut. C. Gratton.

Their united strength counted 435 of all ranks, and they were quartered at Valenciennes, Raismes, Cantain, Bellain, St. Amand, Pernes, Denain, and Houdain. These places were the chief stations of the corps until its removal from France in 1818. Parties were also detached to Cambrai, St. Pol, and other places. Raismes was the head-quarters of the pontoon train. Each company attached to the train had twenty pontoons with stores and waggons in charge. The second company, fourth battalion, was attached to the right bridge of the train, and the fifth company, second battalion, to the left. The former bridge was permanently stationed at Raismes, but the latter was repeatedly moved from village to village for service and instruction, making its chief halts at Raismes and Aubry.

On the 26th January the seventh company, fourth battalion, of forty-eight total under Sub-Lieutenant A. Wallace followed Napoleon to St. Helena, and landed from the ‘Phaeton’ frigate on the 13th April. Major Emmett, R.E. took command of the company on its arrival. In carrying on the duties of the island the men were much detached and separated. Many acted as overseers of the Chinese and line workmen, and were found very useful in their several occupations. The headquarters were at St. James', and parties at different periods were employed at Prosperous Bay, Turk’s Cap, Sandy Bay, Great Pound Ridge, Horse Pasture Point, Lemon Valley, Rupert’s Hill, Rupert’s Valley, Ladder Hill, &c. Besides attending to the repairs of the barracks and public buildings and strengthening the sea-defences, the company rendered efficient assistance in the building of a residence for Napoleon at Longwood. The structure was of one story only and contained about forty rooms. It was, however, never occupied, as the ex-emperor expired before the furniture had been arranged in the several apartments.

On the evacuation of Italy the sixth company, second battalion, under Sub-Lieutenant R. Gibb, sailed from Genoa and landed at Gibraltar on the 17th March. Two months after, a fourth company was added to the engineer force on the Rock, by the arrival, in the ‘Kennesby Castle’ transport, of the first company, fourth battalion, from Portsmouth.

The Maltese company of sappers quitted Genoa with the British troops and landed at Malta in March. It continued to maintain its military organization and character until the 31st March, 1817, when, by the Prince Regent’s command, it was disbanded. This was the _last_ company of the Maltese sappers and miners.