Chapter II: Part 2

To carry on the work with vigour, an opening was made in the sea-line,
which, as long as it continued so, made the fortress defenceless in
that part. Similar openings were made in the line some years before by
a storm, which, being observed by Monsieur Crillon, who commanded at
St. Roque, he proposed a scheme for an attempt on the Rock.
Remembering this, the General always kept an anxious eye upon the gap;
but he concealed his fears, lest they should fill the people with
alarm, and the French or Spaniards with notions of invasion. He would
not post any additional guards or picquets there for its protection,
but gave private directions that all the guns and howitzers that could
be brought into position in that part should be attended to. He,
however, did not conceal his uneasiness from the Secretary of State;
and in urging upon Lord Rochford the necessity for his being furnished
with the means for completing the bastion, he quaintly remarked,
“there is an idea of glory, my lord, in the thought of being killed in
defending a breach made by the enemy, but to be knocked o' th' head in
the defence of one of our own making would be a ridiculous death.”

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This led General Boyd in 1775 to apply for another augmentation to the soldier-artificers, which was the more necessary as three regiments, furnishing a number of mechanics for the fortifications, were about to leave the Rock; and also as the foreign artificers—several of whom had been re-engaged since the pressure of the works—were like birds of passage, abandoning the fortress when they pleased. This the soldier-artificers could not do. To their attention and assiduity, therefore, the progress of the bastion and other works of the garrison were mainly attributable; and General Boyd, in a letter to Lord Rochford, dated 5th October, 1775, gave them full credit for their services. “We can,” wrote the General, “depend only upon the artificer company for constant work, and on soldiers occasionally. Had it not been for the artificer company, we should not have made half the progress in the King’s Bastion, as well as in the other works of the garrison.”

On the 16th January, 1776, His Majesty sanctioned an addition to the company of one sergeant, one corporal, one drummer, and twenty privates, all masons, who were to be reduced again when the Hanoverian troops should leave the fortress.[9] With this increase the company consisted of 116 non-commissioned officers and men.

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Footnote 9:

When the Hanoverian troops left Gibraltar, the company had the best
character for efficiency and utility, and its numbers therefore were
not reduced.

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Steadily the works advanced; soon the King’s Bastion[10] was finished, and the fortress was now in such a state of defence as greatly to alleviate the apprehension, which, a few years before, caused General Boyd so much anxiety. Though not exactly all that could be desired to oppose the onslaught of a determined and daring adversary, it was yet capable of a long and obstinate resistance; and, from the political phases of the period, it did not seem at all unlikely that its strength would soon be tried, and the prowess and fortitude of the garrison tested.

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Footnote 10:

At this bastion the company worked, by express orders, from gun-fire
in the morning to gun-fire in the evening, as also on Sundays. All the
work was of cut stone, and skilfully executed. A model of it,
exquisitely wrought in polished stone, is in the Rotunda at Woolwich.
It formerly belonged to George III. In 1820, George IV. presented it
to the Royal Military Repository.

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1779-1782.

Jealousy of Spain—Declares war with England—Strength of the 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.

Gibraltar, ever since its capture by the English in 1704, had been a source of much jealousy and uneasiness to Spain, and her desire to restore it to her dominions was manifested in the frequent attempts she made with that view. Invariably she was repelled by the indomitable bravery of the garrison; but a slave to her purpose, she did not desist from her efforts, and in the absence of any real occasion for disagreement with England, scrupled not to create one, in order that she might attack, and if possible, regain the fortress.

A favourable opportunity for the purpose at length arrived. Soon after the convention of Saratoga in 1777, the Americans entered into an alliance with France, which was the cause of a rupture between the latter nation and Great Britain. Hostilities had been carried on for six months, when Spain insinuated herself into the dispute under pacific pretensions. Her proposals, however, were of such a nature as rendered it impossible for the British Government to accept them without lessening the national honour; and being rejected, the refusal was made the pretext for war. It was accordingly declared by Spain on the 16th June, and her eager attention was at once turned to Gibraltar. On the 21st of the same month she took the first step of a hostile nature, by closing the communication between Spain and the fortress.

At this time the garrison consisted of an army of 5,382 officers and men under General Eliott. Lieut.-General Boyd was second in command. Of this force the engineers and artificers amounted to the following numbers under Colonel Green:—

Officers 8
Sergeants 6
Drummers 2
Rank and File 106[11]
——
Total 122

No particular demonstration on the part of the Spaniards immediately followed the closing of the communication; but General Eliott, anticipating an early attack upon the Rock, made arrangements to meet it. All was activity and preparation within the fortress; and the engineers with the artificers were constantly occupied in strengthening the defences. For better accomplishing this paramount service, the company was divided into three portions on the 23rd August, and directed to instruct the line workmen in the duties required of them. To prevent misunderstanding with regard to the _line_ non-commissioned officers—who might under certain circumstances become litigious—the Chief Engineer issued orders to the effect, that all such soldiers coming into the king’s works, were to take directions from the non-commissioned officers of the company in the execution of their professional duty.[12]

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Footnote 11:

The company wanted two privates to complete.

Footnote 12:

As foreseen by the Chief Engineer, disputes soon arose between the
non-commissioned officers of the company and the line, with regard to
superintendence and direction. The fact having come to the Brigadier’s
knowledge, he renewed, on the 10th July, 1781, his former order in a
more imperative tone.

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On the 12th September, General Eliott commenced operations by opening a fire on the enemy, which was so unexpected, that the latter were surprised and dispersed. On recovering from the panic, they scarcely ventured, or indeed cared, to retaliate; for their object obviously was, not to subject themselves to a costly expenditure of ammunition, shot, &c., but to distress the garrison by famine, and thereby obtain an easy surrender. In this, however, they were disappointed; for the enduring hardihood of the garrison, and the occasional arrival of relief, frustrated their object, and compelled the Spaniards to have recourse to the more expensive and difficult method of besieging the place.[13]

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Footnote 13:

The strength of the company, including officers, when the provision
supplies arrived, under Admiral Rodney, in February, 1780, and again
under Admiral Darby, in April, 1781, was, on both occasions, stated to
be 124. See ‘An authentic and accurate Journal of the late Siege of
Gibraltar,’ pp. 22, 170.

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At this period the privations of the soldiers in the fortress were of so severe a nature, that many of them were constrained to seek expedients from unusual resources to supply their wants; and in this way, thistles, dandelion, and other wild herbs, the produce of a barren rock, were used to satisfy their cravings. The following enumeration of some of the necessaries of life, with their prices affixed, will afford an idea of the extent of the scarcity:—

_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._ Mutton or beef . 2 6 to 3 6 per lb. sometimes higher. Salt beef or pork 1 0 to 1 3 per lb. Biscuit crumbs 0 10 to 1 0 per lb. Milk and water 1 3 a pint. Eggs 0 6 each. A small cabbage 1 6 A small bunch of outward leaves 0 6

Thus curtailed in their provisions, the wonder is, that the men were at all capable of supporting life, and keeping their opponents in check. But notwithstanding this embarrassing privation, their energy and courage were by no means weakened, nor their spirit and ardour depressed.

In November, 1781, the Spaniards were very zealous in completing their defences; so much so that towards the latter part of the month their batteries presented an appearance at once stupendous and formidable. This proud bulwark naturally arrested the Governor’s attention, and as naturally engendered the determination to assault and destroy it. On the 26th November, he desired a selection to be made from the troops for this purpose. To each of the right and centre columns a detachment of the company—in all twelve non-commissioned officers as overseers, and forty privates—was attached, under Lieutenants Skinner and Johnson of the Engineers; and 160 working men from the line were directed to assist them. To the left column a hundred sailors were told off to do the duty of pioneers. The soldier-artificers were supplied with hammers, axes, crow-bars, fire-faggots, and other burning materials. Upon the setting of the moon at three o’clock on the morning of the 27th November the sortie was made. The moment Lieut.-Colonel Hugo, who had charge of the right column, took possession of the parallel, Lieutenant Johnson with the artificers and pioneers commenced with great promptitude and dexterity to dismantle the works. Similar daring efforts succeeded the rush of Lieutenant Skinner’s artificers and workmen into the St. Carlo’s Battery with the column of Lieut.-Colonel Dachenhausen; but the number of the soldier-artificers attached to the sortie, whose ardour and labours were everywhere apparent, being both inconsiderable and insufficient to effect the demolition with the expedition required, the Governor sent back to the garrison for the remainder of the company to come and assist in the operation.[14] Hurrying to the spot to share in the struggle, they were soon distributed through the batteries; and the efficiency of their exertions was sensibly seen, in the rapidity with which the works were razed and in flames. Only one of the company was wounded.[15]

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Footnote 14:

Captain Luttrell, in some remarks in the House of Commons in 1788,
relative to the expediency of raising a corps of military artificers,
stated, “that at Gibraltar, where a similar body had been kept up
during the siege, they had been of infinite service. When our troops
had, in a sortie, possessed themselves of some of the enemy’s works,
they could not destroy them until they had sent back to the garrison
for the corps of artificers, who soon demolished them.”—Gent. Mag. 58,
part 2, 1788.

Footnote 15:

London Gazette, 12,256. 25 to 29 December, 1781.

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General Eliott in his despatch on this sortie, observes, “The pioneers,” meaning artificers, “and artillerists, made wonderful exertions, and spread their fire with such amazing rapidity, that in half an hour, two mortar batteries of ten 13-inch mortars, and three batteries of six guns each, with all the lines of approach, communication, traverses, &c. were in flames and reduced to ashes. Their mortars and cannon were spiked, and their beds, carriages, and platforms destroyed. Their magazines blew up one after another, as the fire approached them.”[16]

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Footnote 16:

London Gazette, 12,256. 25 to 29 December, 1781.

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Shortly after the sortie the repairs to the defences at the north front and other works of the fortress, found full employment for the company. Leisure could not be permitted, and the necessary intervals of rest were frequently interrupted by demands for their assistance, particularly in caissonning the batteries at Willis’s.[17] Sickness also set in about this time; nearly 700 of the garrison were in hospital; the working parties were curtailed; and officers' servants and others, unused to hard labour and unskilled in the use of tools, were sent to the works to lessen the fatigue to which their less-favoured comrades were constantly subjected. Much extra duty and exertion were thus necessarily thrown upon the company, and though frequently exposed to imminent danger, they worked, both by night and day, with cheerfulness and zeal. In the sickness that prevailed, they did not share so much as might be supposed from the laborious nature of their duties, sixteen only being returned sick, leaving eighty-one available for the service of the works.

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Footnote 17:

To narrate the different services performed by the company during the
siege, would not only be tedious, but necessarily incomplete, from no
_detailed_ record of them being preserved. A reference, however, to
‘Drinkwater’s History,’ though particularization is not even there
attempted, will afford a tolerable idea of their labours.

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On a fine day in May 1782, the Governor, attended by the Chief Engineer and staff, made an inspection of the batteries at the north front. Great havoc had been made in some of them by the enemy’s fire; and for the present they were abandoned whilst the artificers were restoring them. Meditating for a few moments over the ruins, he said aloud, “I will give a thousand dollars to any one who can suggest how I am to get a flanking fire upon the enemy’s works.” A pause followed the exciting exclamation, when sergeant-major Ince of the company, who was in attendance upon the Chief Engineer, stepped forward and suggested the idea of forming galleries in the rock to effect the desired object. The General at once saw the propriety of the scheme, and directed it to be carried into execution.[18]

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Footnote 18:

Whether the sergeant-major obtained the thousand dollars as a douceur
from the General is a question never likely to be satisfactorily
answered. The probability is, that he did not receive the reward for
his suggestion in this form, but some daily allowance commensurate
with his skill and the importance of the duty. I was informed by the
late Quarter-master-sergeant Britton Francis, who possessed a
remarkable memory, and whose father was in the company before him,
that Ince contracted for the work, and—such was the story current in
his day—received for all the excavations, one guinea per running foot!
Judging from an expression in a letter from the Duke of Richmond to
Captain Evelegh, the Commanding Engineer at Gibraltar, dated 4th
August, 1784, this tradition is an extravagant exaggeration. His Grace
observes, “I am told that the excavation of the galleries is now
constructed for, all expenses included, at one rial per foot cube;”
and he adds, “I am very glad to find that a work which promises to add
such effectual defences to the place, can be carried on at so cheap a
rate; and I make no doubt, that great improvements will still be made
by the Governor in this system of defences and lodgment for stores and
troops under the rock.”

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Upon orders being issued by the Chief Engineer, twelve good miners of the company were selected for this novel and difficult service, and sergeant-major Ince was nominated to take the executive direction of the work. On the 25th of May, he commenced to mine a gallery from a place above Farringdon’s Battery (Willis'), to communicate, _through the rock_, to the notch or projection in the scarp under the Royal Battery. The gallery was to be six feet high and six feet wide. The successful progress of this preliminary work was followed by a desire to extend the excavation from the cave at the head of the King’s lines, to the cave at the end of the Queen’s lines, of the same dimensions as the former gallery. A body of well-instructed miners was expressly appointed for the duty,[19] and on the 6th July, they began this new subterranean passage. On the 15th, the first “embrasure was opened in the face of the rock communicating with the gallery above Farringdon’s.” To effect this, “the mine was loaded with an unusual quantity of powder, and the explosion was so amazingly loud, that almost the whole of the enemy’s camp turned out at the report: but what,” adds the chronicler, “must their surprise have been, when they observed whence the smoke issued!”[20] The gallery was now widened to admit of the placement of a gun with sufficient room for its recoil, and when finished, a 24-pounder was mounted in it.[21] Before the ensuing September, five heavy guns were placed in the gallery; and in little more than twelve months from the day it was commenced, it was pushed to the notch, where a battery, as originally proposed, was afterwards established and distinguished, on account of its extensive capacity, by the name of “St George’s Hall.”[22]

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Footnote 19:

The Chief Engineer’s orders for the performance of this service were
as follows:—“22nd May, 1782. A gallery 6 feet high, and 6 feet wide,
through the rock, leading towards the notch nearly under the Royal
Battery, to communicate with a proposed battery to be established at
the said notch, is immediately to be undertaken and commenced upon by
12 miners, under the executive direction of sergeant-major Ince.”
Again: “5th July, 1782. A gallery of communication, 6 feet 6 inches
high, and 6 feet wide, through the intermediate rock, between the cave
at the head of the King’s lines, and the cave near the west end of the
Queen’s lines, is forthwith to be commenced upon by a body of miners
and labourers expressly appointed for that service.”—See also
‘Drinkwater’s Siege,’ Murray’s edit., 1846, pp. 112 and 117.

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Footnote 20:

‘Drinkwater’s Siege,’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 118.

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Footnote 21:

Drinkwater observes, page 118, that “the original intention of this
opening was to communicate air to the workmen, who, before, were
almost suffocated with the smoke which remained after blowing the
different mines; but on examining the aperture more closely, an idea
was conceived of mounting a gun to bear on all the enemy’s batteries,
excepting Fort Barbara.” To ascribe it to this accidental circumstance
is natural enough, but there is reason to suppose, the statement
excusably differs from the fact. The galleries were begun with the
express object of arming them with ordnance to play on the enemy’s
works; and the formation of the embrasure alluded to, was simply the
earnest of a settled scheme; the first hostile step in its
development.

Footnote 22:

‘Drinkwater’s Siege,’ Murray’s edit., 1846, note, p. 118.

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At Princess Anne’s Battery (Willis'), on the 11th June, a shell from the enemy fell through one of the magazines, and, bursting, the powder instantly ignited and blew up. The whole rock shook with the violence of the explosion, which, tearing up the magazine, threw its massive fragments to an almost incredible distance into the sea. Three merlons on the west flank of the battery, with several men who had run behind them for shelter, were blown into the Prince’s lines beneath, which, with the Queen’s lower down the rock, were almost filled with the rubbish ejected from the upper battery, as also with men dreadfully scorched and mangled. The loss among the workmen was very severe. Fourteen were killed and fifteen wounded.[23] Private George Brown, a mason of the company, was amongst the former.

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Footnote 23:

‘Drinkwater’s Siege,’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 113.

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In July the company could only muster ninety-two men of all ranks, including the wounded and sick, having lost twenty-two men during the siege by death, six of whom had been killed. This was the more unfortunate, as the siege was daily assuming a more serious aspect, the enemy collecting in greater force, and the effect of the cannonade upon the defences more telling and ruinous. Naturally the Governor’s attention was called to the deficiency; and as his chief dependence rested upon the soldier-artificers for the execution and direction of the more important works, he was not only anxious for their completion to the authorized establishment, but convinced of the desirableness of augmenting them. In this view he was the more confirmed, by the representations of Major-General Green, the chief engineer, and Lieutenant-General Boyd. As soon, therefore, as an opportunity offered, he urgently requested the Duke of Richmond, then Master-General of the Ordnance, to fill up the company with mechanics from England, and also to make a liberal increase to its establishment. His Grace accordingly submitted the recommendation to His Majesty, and a Warrant, dated 31st August, 1782, was issued ordering the company to be increased with 118 men. Its establishment now amounted to—

1 Sergeant-major.
10 Sergeants.
10 Corporals.
209 Working-men.
4 Drummers.
——
Total 234

To carry out the wishes of General Eliott, the Duke of Richmond employed parties in England and Scotland to enlist the required number, which for the most part consisted of carpenters, sawyers, and smiths. With great spirit and success the recruiting was conducted; and in less than a month 141 mechanics—more than enough to meet both the deficiency and the authorized increase—were embarked for the Rock on board the transports which accompanied the relieving fleet under Lord Hood. Twenty landed on the 15th October; a similar number next day, and the remaining 101 on the 21st. By this increase the carpenters were 66 in number, the sawyers 31, and the smiths 57. The masons at this time were 30 strong.

The non-commissioned officers,[24] as they stood immediately after this augmentation, were as follows:—

_Sergeant-major_—Henry Ince.

_Sergeants_:—

David Young, _carpenter_.
Edward Macdonald.[25]
Robert Blyth,[26] _mason_.
Alexander Grigor.
James Smith, _smith_.
Thomas Jackson, _smith_.
Robert Brand, _mason_.
Robert Daniel.
Joseph Makin, _mason_.
Thomas Finch,[27] _carpenter_.

_Corporals_:—

Robert Newell, _mason_.
Hugh Sirrige, _carpenter_.
Joseph Chambers,[28] _mason_.
James Carey, _carpenter_.
Joseph Woodhead,[29] _mason_.
John Morrison, _mason_.
John Harrison, _mason_.
John Fraser, _carpenter_.
Thomas Harrenden, _carpenter_.
Antonio Francia,[30] _mason_.

And the officers were, in addition to those mentioned at pp. 4 and 5, Lieutenants William M‘Kerras, John Johnston, and Lewis Hay.

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Footnote 24:

It is not intended to give the names of the non-commissioned officers
entire at any future period. In this instance they have been
mentioned, not so much for the interest of the general reader, as to
preserve them. With those whose names have already been noted, these
constitute the first race of non-commissioned officers in the corps.

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Footnote 25:

By the Chief Engineer’s Order of 27th October, 1781, sergeant
Macdonald, an active and good non-commissioned officer, was appointed
to inspect and take care of all the drains throughout the fortress in
the room of sergeant-major Bridges, as also to keep the keys of the
gratings, and to see them locked, to prevent ingress or egress by
their means. This duty was considered a very important one, both from
the facility the drains afforded for the entrance of the enemy and for
desertions from the place, and also from the health of the garrison
being in a great measure affected by their state. Not unfrequently
during heavy rains, the gravel on the rock, washed down by the
torrent, would rush into the drains and choke them up. To clear them,
the company of artificers was invariably called upon, often at night;
and on one occasion, in April, 1813, private William Liddle, who was
foremost in one of the great drains, after unlocking the grating, was
carried down the sewer with the flood into the sea, and drowned.

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Footnote 26:

Blyth served fifteen years in the 2nd Foot, and joined the company
14th June, 1773. He was promoted to be sergeant on the 18th April,
1781, in succession to sergeant Brown who died at Fez, and whose widow
became the Sultana of Morocco. By his industry and frugality he
amassed considerable property, and expended about 20,000 dollars in
buildings at the fortress. He was well known as a zealous freemason,
and erected a wine-house at the corner of the Eleventh, since called
South Parade, in which the meetings or lodges of the fraternity were
held free of expense. He was much respected by the inhabitants, and
became very popular among them. On the 31st January, 1800, he was
discharged from the corps, after a service of nearly forty-two years,
and died at the Rock about 1804, Blyth had a nephew in the Tripoline
navy, of whom a few particulars may not be uninteresting. His name was
Peter Lisle. When quite a youth, Peter was wrecked at Zoara, on the
coast of Tripoli. He was one of three only who escaped. For a time he
endured great hardships, but at length succeeded in getting on board a
British merchantman. In 1792 he was at Gibraltar, on board the
‘Embden’ letter of marque, Lynch and Ross, owners. This vessel
afterwards went to Tripoli with two consuls on board; and Lisle, then
chief mate, was placed in charge of the cargo, some of which was corn.
On arriving at Tripoli, the barrels containing the corn were found to
have been plundered, and Lisle was called upon to account for the
deficiency. This he could not do; a quarrel ensued between the captain
and himself, and resigning his situation, he landed, and entered the
service of the Bashaw. Having been chief mate of an English vessel was
a strong recommendation in his favour, and he was at once appointed
gunner of the castle. Associated with a strange people, he readily
conformed to their manners and customs, embraced Mahommedan tenets—at
least in appearance—and assumed the name of Mourad Reis. About 1794 he
was nominated captain of a xebeck mounting eighteen guns; and in the
course of time, by his naval skill and abilities, became the High
Admiral of the Tripoline Fleet and Minister of Marine. He married one
of the daughters of the Bashaw, Sidi Yusuf, had a fine family, and
enjoyed an ample income. Besides a house in the city, he had a villa
and gardens in the Meshiah among the date-groves, which exhibited
evidence of great taste and care, and were enriched with many trees of
various species brought by him from different places at which he
touched in Europe. He was a prudent and sagacious counsellor, gave
excellent advice to the Bashaw, which was always based on good common
sense—a quality not superabundant in the Divan—and was of great
service to Lord Exmouth during his Algerine expedition. His appearance
was venerable, he dressed richly, commanded much respect, and when
addressing British officers—whom he always treated with great courtesy
and hospitality—spoke with a broad Scotch accent, and sometimes
entertained them with a relation of his own stirring adventures. He
was unpopular at times, as great politicians sometimes are. Blaquiere
says (1813), “Poor Peter was no longer an object of consideration with
any party.” During the stay of Captain Lyon at Tripoli in 1818, Peter
was in banishment, but the consul and chief people gave him an
excellent character. Later, however, he again rose into confidence,
for when Captain Beechey was there in 1821, Mourad Reis was much
considered by his Highness, and acted as interpreter on the occasion
of the Captain’s audience with his Highness the Bashaw. He also proved
of great service to Captain W. H. Smyth, R.N. On the fall of the
Bashaw—Yusuf Karamanli—he retreated to Sfax in Tunis, since which his
fate is uncertain. When in the zenith of his power and greatness he
paid occasional visits to Gibraltar. On entering the bay, he always
fired a salute of four guns in honour of his uncle, serjeant Blyth,
whom he treated with marked respect. This practice, however, he at
length discontinued, owing to a shot, fired by mistake from one of his
guns, having struck the wall of a ramp just above Hargrave’s Parade
whilst he was paying his relative the usual affectionate compliment.

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Footnote 27:

Finch joined the company on the 21st October, 1782, at the request of
the Duke of Richmond, in whose service he had been employed at
Goodwood. Anxious to secure him for the company, his Grace promised
not only to make him a sergeant at once, but to give him a written
protection to preserve to him as long as he remained, irrespective of
his conduct, the pay of that rank. Under these circumstances Finch
accepted the protective credential, enlisted, and sailed with Lord
Hood for the Rock. Holding such a charter, it was not to be wondered
at if he sometimes overstepped the line of prudence. Not by any means
particular in his appearance, nor scrupulous in his conduct or habits,
he was not unfrequently brought before his officers; but no matter how
flagrant his offence, the only punishment that could be awarded to him
was suspension for a month or two from rank, but not from pay. Captain
Evelegh, of the engineers, finding that Finch was becoming rather
troublesome, and his sentences of but little effect, endeavoured to
obtain the Duke’s warrant from its possessor, but he refused to
surrender it, observing to the captain, “If you get hold of it,
good-bye to my rank and pay.” Finch, however, was a first-rate
carpenter and foreman, and these qualifications more than
counterbalanced his occasional delinquencies. He was discharged from
the corps on the 13th April, 1802.

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Footnote 28:

Chambers joined the company 21st September, 1772, from the 2nd
Regiment of Foot, in which he had served two years. In 1791 he was
promoted to be sergeant-major, on the discharge of Ince. In the summer
of 1796 he was sent to Woolwich in a deranged state of mind, and on
the 1st December of that year was discharged. Soon afterwards he was
domiciled in a madhouse, where, his malady increasing, he was—it has
been reported—smothered according to the cruel practice then in vogue
with regard to incurable cases.

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Footnote 29:

Woodhead joined the company 16th May, 1774, from the 12th Regiment, in
which he had served seven years and a quarter. In November, 1791, he
was promoted to be sergeant, and was discharged 17th July, 1807, on a
pension of 2_s._ 7_d._ a-day, after a service of upwards of forty
years. At Gibraltar he was found to be invaluable in the construction
and repairs of the sea-line wall. He possessed a good share of
intelligence; was a strong, portly, blustering mason, and well adapted
for the heavy and laborious duties for which he was always selected.
At Woolwich he was the military foreman of masons for many years, and
was intrusted by Captain Hayter, then Commanding Royal Engineer, with
the building of the wharf wall in the Royal Arsenal—a work highly
creditable to the Engineer Department, and to Woodhead as the
executive overseer.

Footnote 30:

Afterwards anglicised to Anthony Francis, was wounded by a shell at
Willis’s. He and his brother Dominick were natives of Portugal, and
the only foreigners in the company. Antonio was a Catholic; and as it
was desired to preserve the Protestant character of the corps, a
simple but effectual plan was taken to win his adherence to the Church
of England. He asked leave to be married. The indulgence was refused
unless he became a Protestant. _La Fiancée_ was also a Catholic; but
as a great event in their lives—which promised them no end of
happiness—was likely to be indefinitely postponed by a stubborn
acquiescence to a creed for which, probably, they felt but little
interest, both renounced the belief of their fathers, and were married
as members of the national faith. Their family were baptized and
educated as Protestants, but the old man on his death-bed, returned to
Mother-Church and died a Catholic. Three of his sons, now old men,
fill comfortable appointments at Gibraltar. Their cousins, merchants
at the Rock, own the plain called the “Spanish Race-course,” above a
mile beyond the Lines. One, Mr. Francis Francia, is British Consul at
San Roque. Midway between the village of Campo and the consulate
stands his farm, which is cultivated with enlightened taste, and
enriched with rare exotics in fruits and flowers.—Kelaart’s Botany and
Topography of Gibraltar and its neighbourhood, pp. 179, 183.

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1782-1783.

Siege continued—Magnitude of the works—Chevaux-de-frise from 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.

In August the siege daily wore a more significant appearance, and the enemy was diligent in concentrating his resources—unlimited both in means and materials—to make an extraordinary attack upon the fortress. To cope with these preparations General Eliott was no less alert. All was ardour and cheerfulness within the garrison, and every one waited impatiently for an opportunity to end the strife, which had held thousands close prisoners to their posts for more than three years.

At this time the defensive works were very extensive, and many important alterations had yet to be made in several of the batteries, to afford more effectual cover to the artillery. The workmen consequently were greatly increased. Daily, nearly 2,000 men of the line were handed over to the engineers for the service of the fortifications; and the soldier-artificers were employed in their greatest force—two only being in hospital—to instruct and oversee them. In the more difficult works requiring experience, and the exercise of skill and ability, the company always laboured themselves.

In the most vulnerable part of the fortress, from the foot of Landport Glacis adjoining Waterport, to the sloping palisades on the causeway across the inundation, the greater part of the carpenters of the company were occupied in fixing a chevaux-de-frise. They completed the work without the least interference from the enemy—a surprising instance of his inattention or forbearance.

While the chevaux-de-frise was in course of erection, covered ways were being constructed at the different lines on the north front, large and lofty traverses were raised along the line wall, the flank of the Princess Anne’s Battery was rebuilt, the subterranean passages were pushed forward with vigour, and a covered way from the Grand Parade to the Orange Bastion was completed. Green’s Lodge and the Royal Battery were also caissoned with ship-timber, and considerable alterations were made at Willis’s. Indeed nothing was omitted to render the fortress capable of sustaining any attack to which it might be subjected from the enemy’s immense and well-armed batteries.

These works and many others of a similar nature were in progress when the firing of red-hot shot from the north front, under General Boyd’s directions, commenced upon the enemy’s batteries. The effect of this destructive expedient was astounding, and the demolition of the enemy’s lines in great part soon followed. Panic-stricken or confused, the besiegers returned but a tardy fire, and the injury sustained by it was of little moment.

The bold attack of the garrison, however, aroused the Spaniards, who, quickly repairing their works, opened, on the next day, a warm and powerful fire upon the Rock from 170 guns of large calibre. Nine line-of-battle ships also poured in their broadsides, in which they were assisted by fifteen gun and mortar boats. Considerable injury was thus done to the north front, as also to the Montague and Orange Bastions; the obstructions at Landport were likewise in great measure demolished, and many other works were partially razed. The engineers with the artificers and workmen were unremitting in their exertions, both during the night and in the day-time, to restore the defences where their importance, from their exposed situation, rendered immediate reparation desirable. At Landport, notwithstanding the sharp firing of the enemy, the carpenters of the company were constantly detached to repair the fresh-recurring breaches, which, Drinkwater states, “were kept in a better state than might have been expected.”

This attack and retaliation, however, were as yet only preliminary to the greater one which was to follow. The interval was filled up by discharges of cannon, averaging 4,000 rounds in the twenty-four hours. On the 12th September the combined fleets of France and Spain arrived before the Rock with ten floating batteries, bearing 212 guns; while their land batteries, strong and terrible, mounted 200 heavy guns, and were protected by an army of 40,000 men.

In their several stations the battering flotilla were soon moored, and the fleet anchored in less than ten minutes. The first ship having cast her anchors, that moment the garrison artillery began to throw its burning missiles. A tremendous rejoinder from the enemy succeeded. Upwards of 400 pieces of the heaviest artillery were disgorging their dreadful contents at the same instant. Of these the garrison only employed 96. For hours the balance of the contest was equal, the battering ships seemed invulnerable; but, at length, the red-hot shot gave evidence of their efficacy in the sheets of resistless flame that burst in all directions from the flotilla. By the 14th the whole of the floating batteries were burnt: their magazines blew up one after another; and it was a miracle, that the loss of the enemy by drowning did not exceed the numbers saved by the merciful efforts of the garrison.

Notwithstanding this appalling reverse the enemy were still reluctant to quit the contest. Many proofs they had had of the unconquerable spirit of the besieged even whilst suffering from pinching privation, and warring against such overwhelming odds; but they still clung to the hope of compelling the surrender of their invincible adversaries, though their repeated defeats should have taught them a far different lesson.

This obstinacy, of course, necessarily caused other and more effectual preparations to be made in the fortress, to meet and withstand any future attacks. Red-hot shot was considered to be the grand specific. To supply it in sufficient quantities, the company of artificers erected kilns in various parts of the garrison. Each kiln was capable of heating 100 shots in little more than an hour. By this means, as Drinkwater writes, “the artificers were enabled to supply the artillery with a constant succession for the ordnance.”

The struggle continued for some time much less terrific than has just been stated. From 1,000 to 2,000 rounds, however, were poured into the garrison in the twenty-four hours, and were followed up with more or less briskness for a few months, according to the varying caprice of the assailants. During this cannonade, the artificers under the engineers were constantly engaged in the diversified works of the fortress, and they began to rebuild the whole flank of the Orange Bastion on the sea-line, 120 feet in length. All the available masons and miners of the company were appointed to this important work, and were greatly strengthened on the arrival of the 141 mechanics under Lord Hood. In the face of the enemy’s artillery, the artificers continued fearlessly to rear the flank, and at last completed it in about three months, to the amazement and satisfaction of the Governor and the garrison. The erection of such a work, in solid masonry, and under such circumstances, is perhaps unprecedented in any siege, and is alike highly honourable to the engineers and to the company.

Nor was the subterranean gallery under Farringdon’s Battery prosecuted with less zeal under serjeant-major Ince. Five embrasures by this time had been opened in the front of the Rock facing the neutral ground. The miners exerted themselves with an energy that was conspicuous and commendable. This singular work seemed to be the Governor’s hobby; he expected much from it, and ordered a similar Battery for two guns to be cut in the Rock, near Croutchet’s Battery, above the Prince of Hesse’s Bastion. Its completion, however, was not effected until after the siege.

To the schemes of the enemy there appeared to be no end; neither did they lack hope nor want confidence. They had failed to obtain the submission of the garrison by famine; equally so, by a protracted bombardment; nor was their tremendous attack by a bomb-proof flotilla, assisted by their formidable land batteries, attended with better success. They now attempted a fourth stratagem, to mine a cave in the Rock by which to blow up the north front, and thus make a breach for their easy entrance into the fortress. Chimerical as the project might appear, it was conducted with some spirit, and occasioned the garrison much employment. Information of the infatuated design was, in the first instance, given by a deserter from the enemy, which, however, was cautiously received; and as it was impracticable to perceive the miners at work, doubts still existed whether the enemy had actually embarked in the scheme. These doubts were at length removed by sergeant Thomas Jackson,[31] of the artificer company, by whose enterprising efforts the movements of the enemy were rendered indisputable. It was his duty to reconnoitre[32] the north front, in addition to other services for which he was held responsible. Anxious to ascertain the cause of so much mysterious activity at the Devil’s Tower, he descended the steep and rugged rock by means of ropes and ladders. The attempt was as bold as it was hazardous. Stopped by an opening very near to the base of the cliff he explored the entrance, and hearing the hum of voices and the busy strokes of hammers and picks he was well assured of the purpose for which the excavation was intended. Climbing the steep again, he reported what he had discovered. A stricter watch was therefore kept upon the Tower to prevent communication between it and the Rock. Hand-grenades and weighty fragments of stone were frequently hurled over the precipice to terrify the workmen below, and choke up the entrance to the gallery; and though these means did not make the intrepid miners relinquish their project, they yet greatly interrupted its progress. The notion of the engineer who proposed the mine must have been the result of desperation, for what must have been its nature to crumble in its explosion a huge mass of compact rock, nearly 1,400 feet of perpendicular height, into a roadway, by which to enter the fortress as through a breach?

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Footnote 31:

Joined the company August, 1776, from the 56th Foot, in which he had
served eleven years. Discharged about 1789.

Footnote 32:

Reconnoitering appears to have been a duty that devolved upon
sergeants of the company. On the 25th December, 1782, two soldiers
attempted to desert from Mount Misery; one “got down, though the rope
broke, which accident was the cause of the other being retaken. A few
days after a sergeant of the artificers was ordered to reconnoitre the
place where this deserter descended, and he got down far enough to
discover the unfortunate man dashed to pieces at the foot of the
precipice,”—‘Drinkwater.’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 100.

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Since the flotilla had been burnt and the fleet had disappeared, it was evident that the enemy now depended for a triumph on their gun-boats and land-batteries, and also the mine at the Devil’s Tower. For a time they warmly plied the fortress with shot and shell, to which the garrison responded with considerable animation. Intervals followed, induced by indecision or caprice, in which the firing from the enemy was very desultory and inefficacious; but that from the garrison was always well sustained. The soldiers of the Rock seemed to rise in spirit and activity as the enemy declined in these qualities. With the latter, the barometer of their hopes fell with their energies. Still they fruitlessly laboured on, the mine under the Rock being the principal object of their attention, until relieved from the disgrace of another defeat, by the arrival of news from home of the signing of preliminaries for a general peace. The intelligence was communicated to the garrison on the 2nd February, 1783, and on the 5th, the last shot in the conflict was fired from the fortress. Thus terminated a siege, extending over a period of nearly four years, which, when all the circumstances connected with it are taken into account, can scarcely find its parallel in the chronicles of ancient or modern warfare.

During the whole of this memorable defence, the company of artificers proved themselves to be good and brave soldiers; and no less conspicuous for their skill, usefulness, and zeal on the works. With their conduct and exertions in the performance of their various professional duties, their officers were always well pleased; and, not unfrequently, the Governor, and General Boyd, in witnessing their services, encouraged and flattered them with expressions of their admiration. In later days, when the expediency of raising a _corps_ of military artificers was discussed in the House of Commons, Captain Luttrell stated, “that during the siege, the corps at Gibraltar had been found of infinite service.”[33]

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Footnote 33:

‘Gentleman’s Magazine,’ 58, part 2, 1788.

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The following is a detail of the casualties that occurred in the company at this siege:—

Officers. Sergeants. Rank and File. Total.

Killed[34] 0 1 6 7 }

Wounded, severely 0 0 7 7 } 49

Wounded, but recovered 2 3 30 35 }

Dead by sickness 0 0 23 23

—— —— —— ——

Total 2 4 66 72

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Footnote 34:

Sergeant John Richmond—date unknown.
Corporal Charles Tabb } 25th November, 1781.
Mason Adam Parsons }
Mason Adam Sharp—5th March, 1782.
Mason George Brown—11th June, 1782.
Nailor Robert Shepherd—16th January, 1783.

The name of the other man killed cannot be ascertained, as the
documents of the company from the commencement of the siege to the
30th September, 1781, are lost.

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Besides which, two men having plundered the King’s stores, were executed for the offence at the Convent in Irish Town, on the 29th May, 1781.[35]

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Footnote 35:

The names of the criminals were Artificers Samuel Whitaker and Simon
Pratts.

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It is, however, satisfactory to mention, that of the forty-three desertions recorded to have taken place from the garrison, none were from the artificer company. One regiment was decreased eleven men from this cause, and another nine.

1783.

Duc de Crillon’s compliments respecting the 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.

The cessation of hostilities brought the commanders of the two powers together, and a most interesting interview took place between them. During the visit of the Duc de Crillon, he was shown all the marvels of the Rock; but the fortifications especially engaged his attention. Having been conducted to the batteries on the heights, his Grace made some remarks on the formidable appearance of the lower defences, and on the good state of the batteries in so short a period. “These,” writes Drinkwater, “produced some compliments to the chief engineer;” and, continues the historian, “when conducted into the gallery above Farringdon’s Battery—now called Windsor—his Grace was particularly astonished, especially when informed of its extent, which at that time was between 500 and 600 feet. Turning to his suite, after exploring the extremity, he exclaimed, these works are worthy of the Romans.”[36]

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Footnote 36:

Drinkwater’s ‘Siege of Gibraltar.’ Murray’s edit., 1846, p. 163.

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For many years the galleries thus eulogized by the Duke were in course of construction, and are formed, as already stated, by deep excavations in the solid rock. Passing round the north face in two tiers,[37] mounting about forty pieces of heavy ordnance, they command the approach to the fortress from the neutral ground, and render it almost impregnable on that side. Large magazines and spacious halls—in like manner hewn out of the rock—are attached to them. The work, as a whole, executed principally by the jumper and blasting, is curious and even marvellous, bearing also unequivocal evidence of ingenuity and of immense labour. Than these subterranean passages and chambers, no better testimony need scarcely be desired of the successful superintendence of sergeant-major Ince and of the skill and exertions of the company.

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Footnote 37:

Called Lower, or Union Galleries; and Upper, or Windsor Galleries.

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Notwithstanding the formidable character of these defences, doubts seem to exist as to their real efficiency in a siege. These doubts have arisen from the idea that the report of the explosion would not only be deafening, but that the smoke would return into the galleries and suffocate the men.[38] No experiments have ever been made with the view of ascertaining these particulars: speculation is therefore properly admissible. Once, indeed, in 1804, they were fired in salvo to dispel, if possible, the then raging fever;[39] and at distant intervals since, _some_ of the guns have been discharged; but no complaint was ever made—at least became public—of the inutility of these galleries from the causes stated. To expect a loud report is certainly natural, but much less so the recoil of the smoke, as a strong current of air is always passing in the galleries, and rushing with some force through the embrasures. No matter how sultry the day, how still the air, or how fiercely the sun may beam upon the Rock, in these galleries a strong breeze is constantly felt; and the fresher the wind from the outside, whether from the north-east, and blowing directly into the embrasures, or sweeping round the Rock, the stronger is the current within the galleries to force back or disperse the smoke. But little, therefore, of the vapour can find its way back, and that little must be _much less_ annoying to the gunners than in an open field when, firing smartly in the teeth of the wind, the whole volume turns back and beclouds them as long as the cannonade continues. However, should the alleged defect be found on trial to exist, there is no reason to fear but that the military engineer will readily adopt some effectual contrivance for removing the annoyance, and for obtaining all that power and efficiency which the galleries were designed to possess and should be capable of commanding.

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Footnote 38:

Walsh’s ‘Campaigns in Egypt,’ 1803, p. 5. Wilkie, ‘On British Colonies
considered as Military Posts,’ in United Service Journal, Part ii.,
1840, p. 379.

Footnote 39:

Maule’s ‘Campaigns of North Holland and Egypt,’ &c., p. 303.

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Since these excavations—these vaults of solitude—which excite some degree of awe from their magnitude, and the proud array of ordnance that arm them—have always been highly praised by military men, and been visited both by officers and others as a species of marvel at the fortress, it will not be out of place to introduce the projector—Henry Ince—to notice. He was born in 1737 at Penzance in Cornwall, was brought up to the trade of a nailor, and afterwards acquired some experience as a miner. Early in 1755 he enlisted into the 2nd Foot, and served some time with it at Gibraltar, where he had been much employed on the works in mining and blasting rock. After a service of seventeen and a half years in the 2nd regiment, he joined the company, then forming, on the 26th June, 1772. The same day he was promoted to be sergeant. Having showed superior intelligence in the execution of his duties as a foreman, and distinguished himself by his diligence and gallantry during the siege, he was, in September, 1781, selected for the rank of sergeant-major. In the following year he suggested the formation of the galleries, and was honoured by being directed to conduct the work himself. This he continued to do until it was finished. As “overseer of the mines,” he had the executive charge of all blasting, mining, battery building, &c., at the fortress, and was found to be invaluable. He was active, prompt, and persevering, very short in stature, but wiry and hardy in constitution; was greatly esteemed by his officers, and frequently the subject of commendation from the highest authorities at Gibraltar. In February, 1787, when the Duke of Richmond was endeavouring to economize the ordnance expenditure at the Rock, the emoluments of sergeant-major Ince claimed his attention: but remembering his fair fame, his Grace thus wrote concerning him:— “I do not object to sergeant-major Henry Ince being continued as overseer of mines at 4_s._ per day, as I understand, from all accounts, that he is a meritorious man, and that he distinguished himself during the siege; but, as such allowance, _in addition to his pay_, is very great, I desire it may not be considered as a precedent; and whoever succeeds him must only receive 2_s._ 10_d._ per day, like the foremen in other branches, if he should be appointed a foreman.” In 1791, after a period of thirty-six years' active service, he was discharged from the company, but was still continued on the works as an overseer. On the 2nd February, 1796, he was commissioned as ensign in the Royal Garrison Battalion, and on the 24th March, 1801, was promoted to be lieutenant. In 1802 the regiment was disbanded. All this time, however, Ince was attached to the department as assistant-engineer; but at length, having worn himself out in the service of the fortress, he returned to Penzance, and died in June, 1809, at the age of seventy-two.[40]

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Footnote 40: