Chapter VI: Part 6

Determined upon relinquishing Porto Rico, Sir Ralph ordered Lieutenant C. Lefebure, of the royal engineers, with a detachment of the artificers, early in the morning of the 30th April, to repair to the bridge which connected the island of St. Julien with the Main and demolish it, for the purpose of preventing the Spaniards following and harassing the army during the retreat. The bridge was an old crazy structure of stone consisting of nine arches. All were directed to work at the road-way of the centre arch, but to private William Rogers, at his particular request, was assigned the difficult and dangerous duty of dislodging the key stone. The ground was soon harrowed up, a gap made across the middle, several stones were removed from the pier-heads, and the bridge exhibited signs of instability. Nothing daunted, Rogers boldly stepped upon the crown of the arch, and after a few heavy blows with his pickaxe, scooped the stone from its bed. At once the arch gave way; and the others leaning towards it, cracked as though torn by an earthquake and fell beneath him. Rogers’s situation was one of imminent peril, but with a fearlessness that was remarkable, he plunged from the crumbling bridge into the stream, and was fortunately preserved from any serious harm, whilst five of his comrades were crushed to death by the fall; four also were severely wounded; and all the rest, save corporal William Robinson, were injured.

Nor was this all. Rogers swam about the heap to afford help to those who were suffering and dying. It was yet dark, and the thick dust still rising from the fall, made the darkness denser. Groping, therefore, among the ruins, he found an individual who still had signs of life, struggling, ineffectually, to free himself from some massive fragments that entangled him. Rogers set to work to release the drowning man: this he quickly accomplished, and, swimming with his charge to the shore, the rescued turned out to be his own officer—Lieutenant Lefebure. The life of that gallant subaltern, however, was only prolonged to fall a sacrifice to his heroism on the walls of Matagorda in 1810. Rogers’s exertions were not confined to his officer only, for several of his comrades who were precipitated into the water and were unable to swim, he saved, assisted by those of the party who had sustained but trivial injuries.

A desolating epidemic still raged in the Caribbee Islands and greatly diminished the numbers of the company. In November particularly, the climate was extremely hot and unhealthy and the deaths by fever considerable. During the year the casualties were, deaths, thirty-one, of which fifteen occurred in November; sent home invalided, six; deserted, two; total, thirty-nine; leaving the company, of all ranks, only thirty-three strong at the end of the year.

At St. Domingo the great want of artificers for the service of the engineering department being severely felt, Captain McKerras, R.E., in February, represented the expediency of keeping up the company with negroes. The number of the military artificers then serving in the colony was nineteen of all ranks, a third of whom were constantly unfit for any kind of duty, suffering as they did from over exertion and frequent relapses of remitting fever. To Europeans the climate was “the most pernicious and abominable in the universe,” and none but the strongest could at all bear up against its influences. To fill up the vacancies in the company, therefore, by drafts of mechanics from England, would have incurred a heavy outlay without reaping a commensurate return. Considerations like these prompted Captain McKerras to suggest the measure, and he was further influenced by the conviction, that, since civil labour could not be procured in the colony unless at an enormous expense, that of the slave would, after receiving instructions from the present climatized artificers of the company, be found of great advantage to St. Domingo, and a vast saving to the public. The slave artificer was to receive food, clothing, and barrack accommodation, but no pay. Whatever attention may have been paid to the proposal, certain it is, that the company was never recruited by blacks. This probably arose from the island having been abandoned in the autumn of 1798.[103]

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Footnote 103:

Sir Charles Pasley, in the prefatory notes to his work on ‘Elementary
Fortification,’ vol. i., p. 4, writes of the inefficiency and
misconduct of detachments sent on foreign service, and concludes his
observations by saying, “I am told in the West Indies, it had actually
been proposed to employ negroes as engineer soldiers.” If the above is
the recommendation Sir Charles alludes to, he has either been
misinformed of the reasons for that proposal, or he has mistaken them;
for the detachment was composed of good non-commissioned officers and
well-qualified artificers from the Woolwich and Chatham companies; and
in the discharge of their several duties, gave every satisfaction to
their officers. The proposal was dictated by humanity, as well as with
a view to the prospective advantage of the public, and in no respect
originated in the misbehaviour or inefficiency of the men.

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The memorable mutinies in the fleet at Spithead at this time were followed by the rising of some unprincipled men, who, as emissaries of revolt, traversed the country endeavouring by every device to shake the allegiance of the soldiery. Efforts of this kind were also attempted with the royal military artificers, particularly at the ports, but beyond a few desertions, without effect. Most of the companies publicly opposed these agencies; but the Plymouth company in an especial manner distinguished itself by its open and soldierlike activity against their disloyal exertions.

The document,[104] printed by the company and widely circulated through Devonshire, was sent by Major-General Mercer, captain of the company, to Lord Cornwallis the Master-General; who expressed very great satisfaction with the loyal sentiments it avowed, and highly approved of the spirit and zeal of the men in giving the declaration publicity at so opportune a moment.

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Footnote 104:

A copy of the document is subjoined:—

Plymouth Lines, 31st May, 1797.
We, the
Non-commissioned Officers
Of the Company of Royal Military
Artificers and Labourers,
Stationed at Plymouth Lines,

Come forward at the unanimous request of the Company, to avow at this
momentous crisis, our firm loyalty, attachment, and fidelity to our
most gracious _Sovereign_ and our _Country_, and solemnly declare our
firm determination to maintain subordination and discipline to our
officers, with whom we have every reason to be fully satisfied, and
request they will accept these, our most grateful acknowledgments for
their humane attention towards us, and beg they will let this our
determination be made known to the _Right Honourable General Lord
George Henry Lennox_, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in this
district.

That, as we learn, there are men endeavouring to withdraw His
Majesty’s _soldiers_ from the duty they owe to their _King_ and
_Country_, we are determined should any such proceedings appear
amongst us, to take the earliest opportunity of checking the same;
and, as a mark of our attachment to our most gracious _Sovereign_ and
glorious _Constitution_, we do hereby offer a reward of

_Ten Guineas_,

to any _soldier-artificer_, that will discover any person, or persons,
offering them _money_, _seditious handbills_, or otherwise, with an
intent to withdraw them from their duty, on conviction of the person,
or persons, before a civil magistrate.

God save the King!
Witness our hands,

(Signed) WM. BROWNE, Sergeant-major.
ROBT. WAKEHAM, }
WM. BURGESS, } Sergeants.
JAS. MOIR, }

JNO. EVELYN, }
WM. HUTTON, } Corporals.
WM. MCBEATH, }

WM. COTTEY, }
JOSH. WELLS, } Lance-corporals.
WM. BEER. }

Some delay occurring in extending the King’s beneficence to the Ordnance corps with respect to the increase of pay, the royal artillery at Woolwich, impatient to obtain it, exhibited unmistakable symptoms of discontent and insubordination. “More pay; less drill!” were their constant complaints, and hundreds stood by their arms ready to use them in compelling attention to their claims. One night particularly there was much disturbance, and next morning about daybreak, the Commandant of the garrison, Colonel Farringdon, of the royal artillery, ordered the whole of the military artificers to proceed to the artillery barracks and barricade the rear entrances. Captain Holloway, R.E., complied; and whilst the men were effecting the service as quietly as circumstances would admit, they were discovered by the mutineers, who showered upon them sundry articles of barrack furniture; and then bursting open the doors, fell upon the party and forced them from the barricades. Colonel Farringdon, who was witnessing the progress of the work, felt the shock of the sortie, and at once ordered the company of artificers to be withdrawn to preserve them from further danger. In the course of the morning the Duke of York made his appearance, and on promising to give the claims of the regiment immediate consideration, the disaffected were appeased and returned to duty.

Already the subject of pay to the Ordnance corps had been under review, but the _émeute_ at Woolwich hastened the decision upon it. It was clear that the various allowances—permanent, incidental, and temporary—were insufficient to answer the objects for which they were intended; and also, that the application of them from sundry causes was both intricate and difficult. It was therefore recommended to discontinue all extra allowances, except a small sum, annually, for defraying the expense incurred in altering clothing; and issuing a rate of pay to all ranks adequate for every purpose, which measure His Majesty approved in a warrant dated 25th May. A comparison of the military allowances of the artificers prior to the promulgation of the new warrant, and the pay sanctioned on 25th May, is subjoined:—

Pay per diem Extras Pay per diem
before a-day.[105] by Warrant of
25th May, 25th May,
1797. 1797.

s. d. d. s. d.

Sergeant-major 2 3 1 2 9¼

Sergeant 1 9 1½ 2 3¼

Corporal 1 7 1½ 2 0¾

Artificer 0 9 1¾ l 2½

Drummer 0 9 1¾ 1 2½

Labourer 0 6 2¼ 1 0½

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Footnote 105:

The extras were allowed the men to provide them with bread, a pair of
breeches once in two years, and a rosette; and to pay the expense of
making up their gaiters, and converting their uniform coats, after a
certain period, into jackets.

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In promulgating the augmentation of pay to the corps, Lord Cornwallis felt it his duty to accompany the pleasure of the King with an expression of his own sentiments; and accordingly, in the orders dated 31st May, issued on the 2nd of June, he thus wrote:—

“Marquis Cornwallis, Master-General of the Ordnance, feels himself happy in announcing to the corps of royal military artificers and labourers the increase which His Majesty has been graciously pleased to make to their pay, which puts it in their power to enjoy every comfort which a good soldier can reasonably desire.

“The Master-General takes this opportunity of expressing his satisfaction at the regular behaviour and good conduct which this corps has manifested, and trusts it is not in the power of the most artful traitor to seduce the soldiers of the royal military artificers and labourers from their loyalty and attachment to their King and country; and when he assures them he shall always take the greatest pleasure in rendering them a service, he is persuaded they will continue to prove themselves deserving of his good offices.”

Scarcely had the mutinies at Portsmouth subsided, before a more formidable one appeared in the fleet at the Nore. Equitable concessions had already been made to the navy; but at the Nore these were not received with satisfaction. Other exorbitant demands were made by the Nore seamen, and legitimate authority was resisted even by force of arms. This bold menace then led the Government to compel unconditional submission; and the instigators of the mutiny, with Richard Parker at their head, suffered the extreme penalty of the law. During this alarming outbreak, the company of artificers in the Medway division were very zealous in the completion of various works to be employed against the mutineers, should the crisis arise to require them. The companies at the different ports were also on the alert and distributed to several posts of importance. A detachment of sixteen non-commissioned officers and men—withdrawn from Gravesend in April—were returned to that station in June. This detachment erected two batteries at Northfleet for four and two guns of heavy calibre, to fire into the ‘Neptune,’ 98, and ‘Lancaster,’ 64, lying off Greenhithe, should they attempt without proper orders to pass to the Nore. They also made such repairs as were necessary to the blockhouse and batteries at Gravesend, and also strengthened the fortifications and renewed the furnaces for heating shot red-hot at Tilbury Fort. Here also, before returning to Woolwich in August 1798, the detachment built a wooden river-wall at the Ferry-house.

This year the cocked hat was revived. It was an adaptation of the pinched-up Nivernois hat and the ample Ramilies. The flaps were edged with broad black binding instead of gold lace as formerly. The cockade and gold loop were retained; but the short red feather was displaced by an eight-inch length white heckle. At each of the shoots or angles of the hat was a rose-shaped ornament of gold lace. The hats of the sergeants and sergeant-majors were of equal fineness and edged with black silk lace, flowered; while those of the corporals, artificers, and drummers were much superior to the labourers. The latter did not wear roses. Alterations were also made in the dress, inasmuch as the coatee, with its long skirts, was reduced to what was called a half-coat with short skirts. Lappels were abolished, and the laced looping was succeeded by frogging. The drummers wore scarlet for the first time, with the usual livery lace. Clubs were still in vogue; but the use of hair powder ceased. Sashes were now worn over the coatees of the ranks entitled to the distinction. See Plate VIII.

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Royal Military Artificers. Plate VIII.
UNIFORM, 1797 Printed by M & N Hanhart.

]

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

1798-1799.

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

France, having but little occupation for her armies, turned her attention to England and matured arrangements on a scale of surpassing magnitude for its invasion. In this country all ranks and orders of men were affected by the threat; and such was the spirit of military ardour it induced, that corps of volunteers were rapidly embodied to meet the exigency of the times. Throughout the kingdom the wealthy contributed largely to assist the measures for defence; and the army, influenced by the popular feeling, joined in the demonstration and tendered subscriptions to the Government to aid in the realization of its purposes. The corps of military artificers also, prompted as well by a desire to relieve the general burden of the nation as from gratitude to the King for the recent addition to their pay, gave, in February, a contribution of three days' pay to the Treasury, to be applied as should be considered best for the defence of the state.[106] In acknowledging the letter conveying the gift, General Morse, the Colonel-Commandant, writes under date of 13th February, “their loyal and laudable offer has afforded me great satisfaction.”

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Footnote 106:

The following is a copy of the letter of the Woolwich company,
offering the contribution above alluded to:—

_Woolwich, 12th February, 1798_.

SIR,

At a time when the exigencies of the State appear to require the
assistance of every good subject to alleviate the general burden our
fellow-subjects bear, it is the unanimous wish of the non-commissioned
officers, artificers, and labourers of the corps of Royal Military
Artificers, &c., at this place, to manifest the gratitude they owe
their King and country for the late increase of pay, as well as their
attachment to His Majesty’s person and government, and their zeal for
the service in which the country is engaged, by offering a
contribution of three days' pay, to be applied as may be thought best
to the defence of the State.

We request you will be pleased to lay this our wish before the Colonel
Commandant of the corps for his approbation.

Signed on behalf of the artificers and labourers, &c., of the corps of
Royal Military Artificers, &c., at Woolwich, and with their unanimous
consent.

THOS. FORTUNE, Sergeant-major.[106a]

JAMES DOUGLAS, }
JOHN LEVICK, } Sergeants.
EDWARD WATSON, }

ROBT. HUTCHINSON, } Corporals.
JOHN YOUNG, }

BENJ. ROBERTS, }
WILLIAM BAIN, } Lance-Corporals.
HUGH KINNAIRD, }

Captain CHARLES HOLLOWAY,
Commanding the Royal Military
Artificers, &c., at Woolwich.

Footnote 106a:

Enlisted as a matross in July, 1761, in the royal artillery, and was
pensioned from that regiment in October, 1783. On May 1, 1795, he
enlisted into the Royal Military Artificers, at the age of 52! and
died at Canterbury, August 10, 1799. Was known as the author of a
small work called “The Artillerist’s Companion,” published by Egerton
in 1786.

An expedition under Major-General Coote was fitted out in May, at Margate, for service against maritime Flanders. The design of the enterprise was to destroy the works and sluices of the Bruges canal near Ostend, and to cripple the internal navigation. To effect these services a detachment of the corps, experienced in mining, from the Chatham and Plymouth companies,[107] under Lieutenant Brownrigg, royal engineers, was attached to the force and sailed from Margate on the 14th May on board H.M.S. ‘Expedition,’ in which was General Coote himself.

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Footnote 107:

The greater part of the detachment had been specially employed in
mining services at Dover.

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The force disembarked in three divisions on the 19th May, and the artificers, who had been instructed on board ship by Lieutenant Brownrigg in the duties required of them, accompanied the first division, provided with intrenching tools, wooden petards, &c. On landing, the troops took possession of the forts that protected the sluices, in order that the intended work of destruction might be carried on successfully. The artificers, with a company from the 23rd regiment and a detachment of royal artillery, commenced the appointed work, and in about four hours laid the locks, gates, and sluices in ruins, burned several gun-boats, and effected an explosion in the basin of the canal that almost demolished it, and drained it dry. In this service the exertions and efficiency of the party may be inferred from the praises bestowed by General Coote upon Lieutenant Brownrigg.[108]

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Footnote 108:

“Lieutenant Brownrigg, R.E., in about four hours, made all his
arrangements, and completely destroyed the sluices; his mines having,
in every particular, the desired effect, and the object of the
expedition thereby attained. * * * In Lieutenant Brownrigg, I found
infinite ability and resource: his zeal and attention were eminently
conspicuous.”—London Gazette, 17 to 21 July, 1798.

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Having thus accomplished the object of the expedition the troops were ordered to re-embark. At the appointed hour the weather had become boisterous, and the violence of the surf rendered it impracticable to reach the shipping. A position was, therefore, taken up on the sand-hills before Ostend, which was strengthened in the night by the military artificers with intrenchments suitable to the occasion; but on the 20th, the British, hemmed in by a much stronger force, were compelled, after an obstinate contest, to surrender themselves prisoners of war. The casualties in the detachment were—killed, two; wounded, five; and thirteen, including the wounded, taken prisoners.[109] The survivors returned to England, and rejoined their companies in March, 1799.

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Footnote 109:

‘London Gazette,’ 17 to 21 July, 1798.

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In the West Indies the Caribbean company was reduced at the end of the previous year by fever to thirty-three men, who were distributed in ones and twos through different districts of the conquered islands. None could be spared for active duty without detriment to other services equally important; and several expeditions were, therefore, undertaken without a military artificer accompanying them. In some measure to supply the numerous vacancies that had occurred, one corporal and twenty-nine privates embarked in February on board the ‘Union’ transport under Lieutenant T. R. I’Ans, R.E.; and on their arrival the company was increased to fifty-seven non-commissioned officers and men.

On the 20th August, the expedition under Lieut.-General Trigge, which included three corporals and eleven men of Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley’s company, captured the Dutch settlement of Surinam, which surrendered without resistance. One artificer, John Nancarrow, mason, was accidentally drowned on this service; and this was the only casualty that occurred to the expedition.

At St. Domingo the detachment fast wasted away on account of the arduous services of the island and the diseases of the climate; and on the evacuation of the place in September only two of the company, with Lieutenant H. Morshead, of the corps,[110] survived to embark with the troops. Of the original company, which numbered forty-seven on its arrival in May, 1796, thirty-six died, seven were invalided, two deserted, and the remaining two[111] were sent to do duty at Jamaica.

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Footnote 110:

This officer was “ordered to the West Indies with two companies of the
royal military artificers: himself and two of the privates only
escaped the baleful effects of the climate of St. Domingo.”—United
Service Journal, i., 1832, p. 142.

Footnote 111:

These were privates Adam Cowan and John Westo. The former was at once
appointed sergeant and conductor of stores to Commissary Meek of the
Ordnance. After delivering over the stores of the department at
Jamaica to a sergeant of Dutch emigrant artillery, he returned to
England, and was discharged with a pension of 2_s._ 0½_d._ a-day in
April, 1816.

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In November three sergeants, four corporals, fifty-five artificers, three labourers, and one drummer, total, sixty-six, formed from the party employed in Portugal, and from artificers of the companies at Gibraltar, were sent with the force under General Charles Stuart against Minorca. On landing, the Spaniards, without offering any resistance, retired into the town of Citadella, which possessed a sort of fortified _enceinte_. A battery for a few field-pieces was constructed against it in the night by the artificers under Captain D’Arcy, royal engineers, and after firing a few shots the place surrendered on the 15th November. Soon after the capitulation, the detachment was very much dispersed through the island, employed on various defensive works; and on Sir Charles Stuart quitting it, the military artificers remained to restore the fortifications. In January, 1801, the detachment was denominated the Minorca company; but in August, 1802, it was withdrawn, and being disbanded, the men were distributed among the companies of the corps at home and at Gibraltar.

During their stay in Minorca it seems that their conduct was not above reproach, nor their services on the works as useful as desired. Sir Charles Pasley has recorded that they were found to be very inefficient, and ascribes it to their having been selected for the expedition from the Gibraltar companies, which, from circumstances, were for a number of years the worst in the corps.[112] Here, however, it is proper to add, that their inefficiency did not arise from their want of ability and skill as mechanics,[113] but from their general irregular behaviour occasioned chiefly by intemperance. Writing of the Gibraltar companies, Sir Augustus de Butts, in a letter dated 11th July, 1848, says:—“I cannot speak so confidently of their general conduct, but on the works, under the eye of their officers, they behaved well, and were very good artificers, particularly the non-commissioned officers.”

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Footnote 112:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification.’ Notes to Preface, p. iv., vol. i.

Footnote 113:

Several individual proofs could be adduced but two must suffice.
Private Evan Roberts, a talented mason, was detached to Malta during
the blockade of Valetta, and rendered good service as a foreman under
Captain Gordon, R.E. On the formation of the Maltese artificers, he
was appointed sergeant in one of the companies to prevent his removal
to another station: and Sergeant-major James Shirres, formerly of the
Gibraltar companies, from his correct conduct and merit as an
artificer, was appointed overseer of works in the royal engineer
department at Plymouth, in December, 1804.

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On the composition of detachments for foreign duty, Sir Charles Pasley has made some observations which may not inappropriately be introduced here. “When any expedition,” he writes, “was to be undertaken, the number of royal military artificers required were in all cases, selected by small detachments out of the stationary companies; and as the commanding engineers at the several fixed stations were naturally averse to parting with their best men, the detachments thus formed for field service, were generally composed of the stupidest and least trustworthy non-commissioned officers, and of the most ignorant, profligate, and abandoned of the privates.”[114] This was, it would appear, the general rule, but exceptions may fairly be taken in favour of the detachments forwarded to Toulon, St. Domingo, Halifax, and Ostend, as well as to some of the reinforcements sent to the Caribbee islands. These detachments were not formed of bad men weeded from the different companies, but of non-commissioned officers and privates whose qualifications and utility as mechanics were unquestionable, and whose conduct was approved.

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Footnote 114:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification.’ Notes to Preface, p. iv. vol. i.

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In April and May a corporal and party of carpenters of the Woolwich company were detached to Sevenoaks, and there built temporary wooden barracks for a company of artillery; a second party was employed in repairing Falmouth Castle from May to November; and in the latter month two carpenters and two masons, all privates, were sent to superintend workmen in the erection of fortifications and temporary defences at different places from Chelmsford to Harwich, in which duty they continued until April 1800.

Napoleon, by a series of successes, had gained a firm footing in Egypt, and the subjugation of India was contemplated by the French Directory. As well to thwart the intention, as to stimulate the Turks, the British Government determined to send a military mission to the dominions of the Sultan, to cooperate with the Ottoman army in their hostile movements against the French. The mission being formed of artillery, engineers, and artificers, in all seventy-six persons, under Brigadier-General Koehler, of the royal artillery, embarked in the ‘New Adventure’ transport in February, but did not sail from England till April. The military artificers, selected by Major Holloway, royal engineers, from the Woolwich company, numbered one sergeant—Edward Watson—two corporals, nineteen artificers, and two labourers; and as Major Holloway had proceeded overland to Constantinople,[115] were consequently placed under the orders of Captain Lacy, R.E. On the near approach of the ‘Adventure’ to Gibraltar she was partially wrecked. A quantity of stores and some pontoons were thrown overboard, and private Philip Patterson, whilst exerting himself in casting away the stores, was washed off the deck by a wave into the sea and drowned. On the 14th June the transport arrived at Constantinople, and Major Holloway assumed the command of the artificers.

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Footnote 115:

Brigadier-General Koehler, Major Holloway, and six other officers and
gentlemen proceeded by the overland route to Constantinople. Three of
the detachment accompanied them—privates Joseph Comfort, Jonathan
Lewsey, and David Waddell. “Their journey in the outset,” says Dr.
Wittman, in his ‘Travels in Turkey,’ &c., p. 6, “had been attended by
uncommon severities, such, however, as might have been expected from a
season more rigorous than any which had been experienced for many
years. In passing over the continent, they had, at the entrance of the
Elbe, been shipwrecked among the shoals of ice; and to relieve
themselves from the perilous situation, had been under the necessity
of passing over the ice to the extent of two miles, to gain the shore;
by this effort they were providentially saved.” They now prosecuted
their journey to Constantinople, where they arrived in March, 1799.

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On the removal of the mission to Levant Chiflick, five of the detachment were detained with the officers at Buyukdere, and the remainder were occupied in various services at the former place and Kaithana, where they erected a furnace for heating shot. Shortly afterwards experiments with red-hot shot were carried on in the presence of the Sultan, who, at the close of the practice, having reviewed the mission, presented each person with a gift suitable to his rank. Whilst building the furnace, the artificers, exposed to marsh miasma, were early attacked with fever. At first the cases were slight, but relapses following with malignity, three of the detachment died. To preserve the mission, therefore, it was removed in October to the Dardanelles. Previously to the embarkation, the artificers constructed a handsome model of the upper castle at Chennekalleh, on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, with Major Holloway’s improvements, which model was presented by that officer to Hadgi Ibrahim Effendi, Secretary at War for the Ottoman Porte. Subsequently, at the Dardanelles,[116] they were employed in effecting various alterations and additions to the castle until the 2nd December, when the mission was suddenly recalled to Constantinople; and landing on the 4th, awaited orders to proceed on more active service.[117]

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Footnote 116:

While here, sergeant Watson of the artificers, in preparing money for
the payment of the mission in the presence of a Turkish marine,
quitted the room for a moment, leaving the money on the table. “On his
return,” writes Dr. Wittman, “the marine had disappeared with 120
piastres, about 9_l._ English. Having described the person of the
delinquent to the Capitan Pacha, inquiries were at once commenced to
detect the thief. On the second day after, the marine confessed his
guilt to General Koehler, and begged his influence with the Capitan
Pacha to save his life. The General did so, but several days elapsed
before the affair was disposed of. During the interval, the General,
anxious to prevent the culprit being strangled, expressed some doubts
of the culprit’s identity; but in reply to this, the Pacha very
handsomely declared his full conviction that the marine _had_ taken
the money, as he was certain an Englishman would not tell an
untruth.”—Wittman’s Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, &c., p. 65.

Footnote 117:

The above particulars are chiefly taken from Dr. Wittman’s ‘Travels in
Turkey,’ &c.

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At the instance of the Admiralty, a detachment of one sergeant, one corporal, and forty privates, chiefly masons and bricklayers, able-bodied men and good artificers, under Lieutenant C. Mann, royal engineers, sailed for Gibraltar in May on board the ‘Fortitude,’ and landed there the following month. The party was specially employed in constructing a cistern for naval purposes, under the military foremanship of sergeant Joseph Woodhead; and in October, 1800, it was incorporated with the Gibraltar companies.

England and Russia having concluded a treaty to send an army to Holland to reinstate the Stadtholder, a corps of 12,000 men, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, embarked for the Helder and landed on the 27th August. Attached to this expedition was a party of military artificers, consisting of one sergeant, two corporals, thirty-five artificers—seventeen of whom were carpenters—and one drummer, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hay, R.E. The detachment embarked on board the ‘Amphitrite,’ and disembarking with the second division, were present in the action of that day.

After forming the engineer park near the Helder, about ten men were left to repair the fort; and the remainder, divided into brigades of four to each brigade, followed the troops in their forward movement in charge of the intrenching equipment of the expedition, which was conveyed in waggons. Early in September, the detachment constructed several batteries for guns and mortars to defend the post at Zuyp; as also, subsequently, at Hoorn and Egmont-op-Zee; and to facilitate the march of the army to the latter place, they assisted in the formation of three flying bridges over canals that intersected the route. In the retreat, they were continually employed in throwing small bridges across the canals by means of planking, felled trees, and other chance materials. At Alkmaer they constructed several defensive works; and on retiring from thence, where three roads met, they raised, in an incredibly short time, a mound of earth about twelve feet high, across the junction, with the view of impeding the enemy in their pursuit of the British. None of the military artificers were killed or wounded on this service. On the evacuation of Holland in November the detachment rejoined the companies.

Here, perhaps, it would be proper to allude, in a general remark, to the practice of providing detachments for foreign service. It will already have been observed, that whenever any expedition was undertaken, resort was invariably had to the royal military artificers for a selection of men to accompany it, suitable to the work upon which it was contemplated they would be employed; but the numbers furnished were always insufficient for the purpose, and no representations or remonstrances could avail in altering a custom, which, from causes not easily surmised, seems to have been pertinaciously persevered in.

This remark is fully borne out by the statement of a highly distinguished officer;[118] and is moreover corroborated by the fact, that about this time, the particular attention of the Commander-in-Chief was drawn to the subject, without, however, accomplishing what the interests of the service greatly needed. It is said, that when the Duke of York was preparing his expedition for Holland, he demanded efficient assistance from the royal engineers and royal military artificers, which, for some reason, the Ordnance authorities reluctantly met with an inadequate provision. Annoyed by the limited number tendered, his Royal Highness determined to establish a corps competent to discharge the duties usually devolving upon the royal engineers, “which should be absolutely at the disposal of the Horse Guards; and as his Royal Highness held office in times when the thoughts of statesmen were bent rather to render the means of the country’s defence complete, and to aid other nations in opposing the aggressions of an arrogant and unscrupulous power, than to effect savings in the public expenditure, he found no difficulty in consummating his wishes, and hence arose the royal staff corps.”[119]

-----

Footnote 118:

Sir John Jones, in his ‘Sieges,’ vol. ii., note 38, p. 389, 2nd edit.

Footnote 119:

Gleig’s ‘Military History,’ xxxvii., p. 287.

-----

1800.

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

From the diminished state of the company in the West Indies, and the impracticability of filling up the constantly-recurring vacancies by drafts from England, authority was given to the Commanding Engineer in the Leeward Islands, to obtain on the spot, men for the company properly qualified and climatized, either by enlistment or transfer from other corps. This led to an immediate incorporation, in April, of one sergeant, twenty privates, and two drummers, from the 43rd and other regiments; and though the plan was attended with considerable success, the still greater mortality from fever always kept the company greatly below its establishment.

In addition to the repeated allusion made to the military artificers in the West Indies, the following statistics of mortality, as far as the same can now be ascertained, affording a tolerably correct idea of the unhealthiness of the climate, and the sufferings to which the men must have been subjected, may here not be misplaced.

Number of Deaths.
1793 17
1794 65
1795 19
1796 70
1797 37
1798 12
1799 10
1800 9
—
Total 239

The aggregate number of artificers and labourers sent there from year to year, including those transferred from other corps and enlisted on the spot, amounted to about 350. More than two-thirds of the number, therefore, fell victims to the war and the climate! Many also were sent home invalided, several of whom died on the passage, or soon after landing in England. At the close of 1800, the strength of the company did not exceed seventy-eight of all ranks, twenty-two being required to complete it.

In February, private Evan Roberts, an active and intelligent artificer, was chosen from the Minorca company for service at the blockade of La Valetta, and arrived at Malta before the end of the month. From that time until the surrender of the fortress on the 15th of September, he served in the department with zeal and efficiency under Captain Gordon, royal engineers; and continued, though a private, to discharge the duties of an overseer of works until the formation, in 1806, of the first company of Maltese artificers, to which he was transferred as sergeant.

At Halifax, Nova Scotia, three invalids embarked on board the ‘Diamond’ transport on the 15th of September, with several invalids of Captain R. Wright’s company of royal artillery, and sailed with the fleet on the 19th of that month. Previously to weighing anchor, private Walter Allan was accidentally drowned in the harbour by falling overboard; and the other two, privates Ninian Kerr and Samuel Milman, were captured by the French some time in October. But all efforts to ascertain where, or how, the enemy effected the seizure of the vessel with her crew and passengers, have proved unsuccessful.

Soon after the removal of the mission from the Dardanelles to Constantinople, Captain Lacy and Lieutenant Fletcher, R.E., were detached to join the Turkish army in Syria. With these officers two military artificers were also sent, one of whom returned from Cyprus with the former officer in April, and the other reached the mission again, some two months later, with Captain Lacy. On the 13th of June, the artificers sailed from Constantinople[120] with the mission, and landed at Jaffa on the 2nd of July, where they encamped with the Turkish army and commenced, under the foremanship of sergeant E. Watson, the improvements suggested by Major Holloway in the fortifications of that port. These, however, though far advanced, were ultimately set aside, and the artificers were appointed to erect several new works in front of Jaffa; which, in consequence of the French being in great force at Catieh, were considered to be more essential than the proposed alterations to the defences of the town. With great ceremony, on the 30th of August, the first stone of the intended new bastion was laid by the Grand Vizier; and shortly after, his Highness having reviewed the mission, marked his approbation of their appearance by a present to each non-commissioned officer and soldier. In December the fever, which had been alarmingly rife in the Turkish camp, attacked the mission. Its first victim was a military artificer; and before the end of the month, though the cases of mortality were few, the mission had to lament the loss by death, of their commander, General Koehler, R.A., and his lady. Major Holloway, royal engineers, then assumed the command, and at the close of the year, a change of cantonment having re-established the health of the men, the works at the new bastion progressed vigorously.[121]

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Footnote 120:

Some time before leaving the city, private Thomas Taylor, royal
military artificers, was, without any provocation, assaulted by a
Turk, who attempted to stab him with his yatikan. On a report of this
outrage being made to the Capitan Pacha, to whose retinue the Turk
belonged, he came to a resolution to have him decapitated. By the
mediation and entreaties of Lord Elgin, a mitigation of the punishment
ensued, and the Turk, after receiving fifty strokes of the bastinado
on the soles of his feet, was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment
in the college of Pera, _to learn the Arabic language_.—Dr. Wittman’s
Turkey, p. 93.

Footnote 121:

Particulars for the most part obtained from Wittman’s ‘Travels in
Turkey,’ &c.

-----

In April, a detachment of one sergeant, two corporals, and thirty artificers, under Captain Bryce, R.E., accompanied the expedition under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, for employment on secret service. The men were selected from the different home companies, and all were “sufficiently qualified in their respective trades, as well as able-bodied.” Proceeding to Portsmouth, they remained inactive for about six weeks; and, at length embarking on board the ‘Asia’ transport, sailed in June with the expedition. In the Channel off Portland, the fleet encountered a gale, and was driven back to Portsmouth; but on a fair wind springing up, got under weigh again, and in due time ran up the Tagus. From thence the ‘Asia’ proceeded to Gibraltar, lay there about a month, and sailing for Minorca, soon reached that island and landed the artificers; where, for about seven weeks, they were employed in the construction of temporary barracks, &c., for the troops put on shore. At the expiration of this period, the artificers returned to the ‘Asia’ and retracing the route to Gibraltar, anchored for a fortnight. There they were reinforced by one sergeant, one corporal, and five miners of the companies at the fortress; and at the appointed hour, the ‘Asia,’ again weighing anchor for Tetuan Bay, took water there and sailed with the fleet for Cadiz.

When off Cadiz, the artificers were told off into two brigades, and six of the boldest and most expert men were selected to land with the first division, and the remainder with the second. On the morning of the day in which the attempt was to be made, the artificers, as a preliminary measure, removed all the intrenching tools and engineers' stores into the launches, and then took their places in the boats, provided with adzes, pole-axes, and miners' tools for removing impediments, &c. A long interval of breathless suspense followed, in which the seamen rested impatiently on their oars; but, as an epidemic raged at the time in the city, the landing was countermanded, and the men and stores being reshipped, the meditated attack upon Cadiz was relinquished. The ‘Asia,’ consequently, sailed for Tetuan Bay, where, exposed to a storm, she was compelled to cut her cable and run for Cape Spartel. There she anchored for four days, and on the wind shifting again made for the bay.[122]

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Footnote 122:

The seven non-commissioned officers and men embarked at Gibraltar to
join the expedition, returned to their companies at the fortress
immediately after the failure at Cadiz.

-----

At this rendezvous the fleet was divided into three divisions, and the artificers accompanied that under Sir Ralph Abercrombie to Malta. There they were landed; and after a stay of about seven weeks, during which they were employed preparing platforms and fascines, re-embarked on the 17th of December, seven on board the ‘Ajax,’ 74, Captain the Hon. Sir Alexander Cochrane, and the remainder on board the ‘Asia’ transport. Hitherto the service of the expedition had been expended in a series of cruises or reconnaissances alike harassing and wearying, but at length, a glimpse of approaching activity burst upon the armament. Soon the enterprise commenced, and terminated with glory to Britain by rescuing an inoffensive nation from the eagle grasp of an oppressive republic.

Ever since the incorporation of the Gibraltar companies with the corps, the power to recruit for those companies was vested in the commanding royal engineer at the fortress, and, so far, was exercised with tolerable success. This permission was the more necessary, as, from the frequent calls made upon the home companies to detach parties for the service of particular expeditions, it was impossible, so to attend to those companies as to keep them numerically complete. The effect of that power was, that from the date of the incorporation to the end of 1800, ninety-six artificers had either been enlisted or received as transfers from regiments in the garrison; but from the unavoidable exposure of the men to the sun in carrying on their working duties, and the general unhealthiness of the climate, the casualties in the companies far exceeded the number that joined. Of the increase and decrease in the companies for the above period, the following is an accurate exposition:—

Strength at the incorporation, of all ranks 255
Joined from employment at the naval reservoir 36
Enlisted or transferred from regiments in garrison @b96
——
Total 387

The decrease was:—

Deaths 45
Discharges 31
Invalided 38
Desertions 4
-- 118
——
269
Wanted to complete 6
——
Establishment 275
===

1801-1802.

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

On the 1st January the corps was distributed in companies and detachments as follows. The names of the officers in command and the senior non-commissioned officers at the several stations are also added:—

Sergeant-majors. Woolwich Lieut.-Col. B. Fisher John Eaves. Chatham Lieut.-Col. Thos. Nepean John Palmer. Portsmouth } Col. John Evelegh { James Smith. Gosport } { Alexander Spence. Plymouth Maj.-Gen. Alex. Mercer William Browne. Jersey Capt. John Humfrey Anthony Haig. Guernsey Lieut.-Col. J. Mackelcan Andrew Gray. Dover Gibraltar Lieut.-Col. Wm. Fyers Joseph Makin. Minorca Capt. Robert D’Arcy { Sergeant Jas. Shirres, { _Foreman of Carpenters_. Nova Scotia Capt. Wm. Fenwick { Sergeant John Catto, { _Foreman of Masons_. West Indies Col. Chas. Shipley Serg.-Maj. Matthew Hoey. Egyptian Capt. Alex. Bryce { Sergeant John McArthur, Expedition { _Master Smith_. Jaffa, with the } Major C. Holloway { Sergeant Edward Watson, Ottoman army } { _Master Carpenter_.

The head-quarters of the West India company were at Martinique, from which non-commissioned officers and men were detached to St. Lucia, St. Vincent’s, St. Kitt’s, St. Pierre’s, the Saintes, Surinam, and Barbadoes, for the purpose of acting as overseers on the works or for employment on particular services.

The establishment of the corps was 975; but wanting 232 to complete, its strength only amounted to 743 of all ranks. Of this number 403 were abroad and 340 at home.

Early in the year a small party of one sergeant, and seven artificers from the Portsmouth and Gosport companies were sent to St. Marcou, an island on the coast of France, seven miles east of Cape la Hogue, to repair the fortifications; and having accomplished the service returned to their companies in November.

To the expedition which proceeded against the Danish settlements in March, under the command of Lieut.-General Trigge, were attached one sergeant-major, two corporals, and twenty privates of the military artificers, who were present at the capture of the islands of St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. John, and Santa Croix.

The loss in the West India company by fever and other diseases during the year amounted to twenty, whose vacancies were immediately filled up by transfers from the line.

In May the working dress consisted of a blue cloth jacket with skirts, two serge waistcoats with sleeves, two pairs of blue serge pantaloons, a black round hat, and a pair of half black gaiters. One of the waistcoats and a pair of pantaloons formed the second working dress. The new jacket was made of stouter and better cloth than formerly; sleeves were added to the serge waistcoats, and the second pair of pantaloons were substituted for the canvas ones. These improvements were considered equivalent to a linen shirt, a pair of stockings, and a canvas jacket previously supplied with the working suit, but which, from this year, ceased to be issued to the corps.

At the opening of the year the military artificers with the British mission to Turkey, reduced to fifteen men, were occupied in the erection of the new bastion at Jaffa, which was finished and the guns placed on the platforms with great pomp on the 27th January. Of the detachment with the mission, two were styled labourers, from their not having been promoted to the rank of artificers; and they, when not immediately occupied on the works, acted in the capacity of servants to Major Holloway. One of these labourers when out one afternoon some distance from Jaffa, exercising the Major’s horses, was attacked by a party of Arabs on a predatory excursion, by whose fire the Major’s horse was killed, and the bâtman wounded with balls and slugs in nine different places. The servant of Major Hope, R. A. was also in the assault; and by great exertion succeeded in bearing his comrade back to the camp. Dr. Wittman, of the mission, with celerity equal to his skill, extracted the missiles and the sufferer speedily recovered.[123]

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Footnote 123:

Either private Jonathan Lewsey or private David Waddell, both of whom
acted as servants to Major Holloway, R.E. The former was a powerful
man, and remarkable from the circumstance of his having _four thumbs_!
two on each hand in addition to the proper complement of fingers. On
the breaking up of the mission at Grand Cairo, these privates returned
to England with that officer by the overland route.

-----

On the 2nd February, Captain Lacy, royal engineers, was despatched to El Arish to collect military information, accompanied by a private of the artificers who early fell a sacrifice to the plague that prevailed there. On the 25th of that month, the Ottoman army commenced its march to Grand Cairo, the British mission being attached to the body guard of his Highness the Vizier, mounted on fine horses superbly caparisoned, and attended by Arabs. Passing through Ashdod, the army encamped for a while at Gaza, where the military artificers were separated into three parties, and attached to the divisions respectively commanded by the Grand Vizier, Mahomed Pacha, and Taher Pacha; but it is difficult to record with satisfactory distinctness, the particular services in which they subsequently participated. On the 28th March the army entered the Desert at Kahnyounes, and traversing that arid and inhospitable region for about 150 miles, subjected to occasional deprivation of food and water, and exposed to sultry heats, infectious diseases, and danger, reached Salahieh on the 27th April, after a tedious and harassing march of thirty-two days. Two of the military artificers died in the Desert; and the survivors, who were present at the capture of Salahieh and Belbeis, and in the action near the village of Elhanka, entered Cairo on the 11th July. There they were employed during the remainder of the year, in renewing the bridge of boats across the Nile constructed by the French to preserve a communication with Gizeh, and also in repairing the fortifications of the city, until the 19th February, 1802, when they quitted for Rosetta. From this town they were removed to Alexandria, and afterwards to Malta, where, finally embarking for England, they arrived at different periods in the fall of 1802 and spring of 1803.[124] The strength of the detachment on joining the Turkish mission, was twenty-four of all ranks; eleven only returned! Of the casualties eleven died of fever or the plague, and two were drowned accidentally. “After a series of painful, harassing, and critical events,” says the journalist, “the labours of the mission closed; and the patience, forbearance, and circumspection of the individuals engaged in this long and perilous service, were manifested on a variety of trying occasions, which required all the energy inherent in the British military character.”[125]

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Footnote 124:

Sergeant Edward Watson, who enlisted into the artillery as a matross,
January 28, 1775, and joined the corps at Woolwich, March 1, 1792, was
the senior non-commissioned officer with the mission; and in
consideration of his zeal, ability, and uniform exemplary conduct, as
well in discharge of his military duties, as in the executive
superintendence of the several works undertaken by Major Holloway, he
was promoted, on his arrival in England, to be sergeant-major of the
Woolwich company. On December 1, 1810, he was discharged. For similar
reasons corporal David Pollock was advanced to the rank of sergeant,
and appointed master-smith.

Footnote 125:

Wittman’s ‘Turkey,’ p. 395.

-----

Meanwhile the detachment of the corps with the force under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie reached Marmorice Bay; and with the exception of the party on board the ‘Ajax’, landed, and prepared a shipload of fascines and gabions to be used in the intended enterprise. Five of the ‘Ajax’ men were employed in different repairs to the vessel; and the other two, assisted by a corporal of the 44th regiment, made an elegant double couch of mahogany covered with various beautifully-marked skins from Rhodes, for the Turkish General Mustapha, which was presented to him by Captain the Hon. Alexander Cochrane, R.N. On the 17th February, the fleet set sail for Egypt, and running into Aboukir Bay on the 1st March, the troops landed on the 7th, and then followed a display of invincible ardour and bravery on the part of the British, that checked France in her career of success, and turned all her glorious Egyptian conquests into painful disasters and capitulations.