Chapter VIII: Part 8

Newfoundland now became a station for the corps. A detachment of eighteen non-commissioned officers and men, all masons and miners, embarked at Plymouth in May, on board His Majesty’s ship ‘Isis,’ under Captain George Ross of the royal engineers, and arrived there in July. Before the end of August, the detachment was further strengthened by six artificers from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Until proper accommodation could be provided, they lived in huts like the Esquimaux or emigrant fishermen, or under canvas in a dreary uncleared valley between Signal Hill and the sea. In some measure to relieve the monotony and mitigate the rigours of an inhospitable country and climate, permission was granted to the men to spread their nets in the waters near St. John, and to catch as much fish as was needful for the sustenance of themselves and families. Provisionally, also, the married portion of the detachment were allowed small allotments of land, which they cleared and cultivated at intervals, when they were not employed on the works. From these sources of occupation they were kept in constant industry and amusement, and their health effectually preserved and invigorated.

Two sergeants, two corporals, six second corporals, and forty-one artificers, with Captain Fletcher, R.E., embarked at Woolwich for Copenhagen on the 29th July, and landed there the 16th August. In the bombardment of that capital they served under the immediate direction of Lieutenant-Colonel R. D’Arcy, R.E.; and, in returning to England, served as Marines under Lieutenant Bassett of the royal navy. The party rejoined their companies on the 7th November.

One second corporal and three privates of the West India company were embarked in August, on board His Majesty’s ship ‘Blonde,’ V. V. Ballard, Captain, to act as artificers and seamen during a short cruise in the Caribbean sea; and while forming part of the crew of this ship, they served at the guns in the capture of the undernamed French privateers:—

Guns. Men.
15th August ‘La Dame Villaret’ 5 69
16th ” ‘L’Hortense’ 8 90
14th September ‘L’Hirondelle’ 8 84
23rd ” ‘Duquesne’ 17 123
14th October ‘Alerte’ 20 149

An expedition was sent to Madeira in October under General Beresford, to which was added a detachment from the Spike Island company of one corporal, one second corporal, and ten privates, under Captain A. Morshead, royal engineers. They landed in December, and were stationed at Funchal until May, 1812, when they were withdrawn and despatched to their companies in Portugal.

In December, General Bowyer ordered a party of the West India company to be attached to his expedition about to sail against the Danish islands of St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix. Three sergeants, four corporals, and forty-two privates were accordingly selected, and embarked for that service on the 16th December; but the islands having surrendered without resistance, the detachment rejoined at Barbadoes on the 13th January, 1808. A sergeant was left at St. Croix to superintend repairs to barracks, &c. Six mechanics belonging to the Danish service, taken prisoners at St. Thomas and St. Croix, enlisted into the company.

Throughout the year a small party of the Dover company was employed on the works at Hythe, under sergeant Adam Cowan, and continued so occupied for several years.

1808.

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

Napoleon had now fairly reared his eagles in Spain and Portugal, and compelled the reigning monarchs of those countries to renounce their thrones. To his brother Joseph he gave the sovereignty of the former kingdom, retaining for himself the sceptre of the latter. England, more indignant than alarmed at these spoliations, but eager to dispossess the invader of his acquisitions, at once willingly responded to the desire of Portugal to restore the dynasty of Braganza to the throne, and also tendered her assistance, uninvited, to Spain, to carry on the war.

No sooner had the ministry determined upon sending succours to the Peninsula to effect the overthrow of Napoleon, than different expeditions were fitted out and sent to the seat of war. Small parties of the military artificers, selected from the various companies of the corps, were at the same time forwarded with these forces.

On the 13th May, two miners, under Captain G. Landmann, royal engineers, were sent from Gibraltar to Cadiz with the division under General Brent Spencer, and were afterwards removed to the scene of active operations in Portugal.

On the 18th June, one sergeant, one second corporal, and eleven privates, armed with small swords only, embarked at Woolwich under Captain Elphinstone, R.E., and joined the force under Sir Arthur Wellesley. Both these parties were present at the battle of Roliça on the 17th August, and Vimiera on the 21st of that month.

A detachment of one sergeant, one second corporal, and twelve privates, under Captains J. Squire and J. F. Burgoyne, royal engineers, was forwarded on the 29th April with Sir John Moore’s army to Gottenburg to assist the Swedes against the Russians. The arms and appointments of the corps were taken from them, and they were supplied for defence with a short hanger sword. Several of the party had already been on service at Buenos Ayres under Captain Squire, and were again solicited by that officer for this expedition. The rest were men specially selected for the duty, both on account of their abilities and conduct as artificers and soldiers. After the force was recalled from its inactivity in Sweden, the detachment of artificers accompanied it to Portugal.

About this period three artificers proceeded to the Peninsula with Sir David Baird’s division, and one man was attached to the force under Sir Harry Burrard.

In September, one corporal, one second corporal, and fourteen privates embarked for Spain on board the ‘Sisters’ transport under the command of Captain J. Carmichael Smyth, R.E., and joined the army under Sir John Moore in November.

The total artificer force in the Peninsula, comprising six different parties, was forty-nine of all ranks. This number does not include Captain J. T. Jones, the adjutant, who quitted Woolwich in July for special service in the northern provinces of Spain under the orders of Major-General Leith.[157]

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Footnote 157:

In the absence, on foreign duty, of Captain J. T. Jones, from July,
1808, to January, 1809, Sub-Lieutenant John Eaves performed the duties
of adjutant to the corps with credit and efficiency.

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To reinforce the party in Newfoundland, a detachment of one sergeant, one corporal, one second corporal, and forty-six privates embarked at Portsmouth in June, and landed at St. John’s from the ‘Vestal’ frigate on the 18th July. Early in the following year the detachment was increased to the establishment of a company.

Lieutenant Oldfield of the royal engineers—a painstaking officer—was removed to Halifax about this time and appointed adjutant to the company stationed there. Having previously held a similar commission at Portsmouth—the model station for discipline—he commenced his duties with a favourable prestige. The materials he had to work upon were old in years, misshapen from habit and labour, and somewhat addicted to the prevailing vice of intemperance; but even these worn-out men he moulded by his once a-week drill into an appearance which enabled them to march past creditably with the Line on the Sunday garrison parades. Most of the company had been many years in the Province, and though not very tight and tidy soldiers, were nevertheless valuable as workmen and specially useful as foremen when military working parties were employed.

Both parties employed in restoring the fortresses at Syracuse and Augusta were recalled to Messina, and assisted to repair and improve the defences of that place.

At the Cape of Good Hope parties were detached at intervals during the year to Stellenbosch, Simon’s Town, and Hout’s Bay; and at Halifax to St. Andrews and Fort Clarence. At the latter fort, the non-commissioned officer detached was employed surveying. From Newfoundland a detachment was sent to Cape Breton; and from Gibraltar, also, second corporal Thomas Paul and four privates were detached to Perexil, a small islet opposite the Rock between Ceuta and Apes' Hill, where they dismantled all its batteries, magazines, and storehouses. Parties were also employed at Hurst Castle and the Isle of Wight.

The time-honoured queue, which had long formed a conspicuous appendage to the soldier’s head-dress, was abolished in the corps in August; and the closely-cropped hair of the present day, and small whisker extending to the lobe of the ear, were then adopted.

1809.

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

Excepting the two miners with General Spencer, the whole of the royal military artificers in Spain joined Sir John Moore’s army. When the force was put in motion, the senior sergeant of the detachment was left at Lisbon for special duty. The remainder accompanied the army in the retreat, and with the exception of two men taken prisoners and seven stragglers, were present at the battle of Coruña.

Immediately after, the detachment embarked for England. The season being stormy there was no regularity in the arrivals. Some, therefore, landed at Portsmouth and others at Plymouth between January and March. They were destitute of every article essential to their comfort or equipment. Several were shoeless and clad in tatters and undistinguishable uniforms; while the majority, haggard and attenuated, suffering from shipwreck, privation, and sickness, afforded indubitable evidence of the severe and arduous campaign, through which the necessities of war had recently carried them.

Left to their own resources, the seven stragglers retraced their steps, between 300 and 400 miles, to Lisbon. In undertaking the journey, during a very inclement season, they encountered many dangers, endured frequent trials and hardships, and barely supported life upon the scanty offerings which chance and a ransacked country afforded them.

On the 28th January, three sergeants and seventy-one rank and file of the West India company, under the command of Brigadier-General Shipley, embarked at Barbadoes with Lieutenant-General Beckwith’s expedition and landed at Martinique on the 30th. The company was further increased by a sergeant, three corporals, and seventeen artificers under Lieutenant Robert Thomson, royal engineers, who embarked at Halifax, Nova-Scotia, with Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost’s division. Both parties, when not engaged as overseers, were employed in the general labour of the trenches and the park, and performed the duties allotted to them, particularly in the destruction of Forts Bourbon and Desaix, with activity and zeal. Several non-commissioned officers and men were distinguished by special commendation; and the skill of corporal George Mitchell gained for him the reputation of being the best miner in the service. Private George Thomas was killed 22nd February in the advanced battery before Fort Bourbon. After the surrender of Martinique it became the head-quarters of the company. The Nova Scotia party returned with Sir George Prevost and landed at Halifax the 17th April. During the operations the rains were heavy and incessant, and the men being much exposed, fevers and dysentery were rife among them. By the end of the year, twenty-one of the company had died and five were invalided.

In April, two sergeants and seventeen rank and file were present at the reduction of the Saintes under the command of Lieutenant Hobbs, R.E., and were employed during the service in the construction of the required batteries, magazines, &c. The party returned to Martinique the latter end of the month.

A detachment of one sergeant and eighteen rank and file embarked at Portsmouth, on the 14th March, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher, for Portugal, and arrived at Lisbon on the 5th April. It was composed of men chosen from the Portsmouth and Gosport companies, among whom were several who had served in the previous campaign. Writing from Portsmouth, the Colonel says, “I find that all the men now here, who were with me before, are very anxious to go out again, but one cannot ask for everybody.” On arriving at Lisbon the party was joined by a sergeant and the seven stragglers of the Coruna party. It was thus increased to twenty-eight total, and shortly after another private from England was added to the number.

On the 12th May was fought the battle of Oporto: twenty-five men of the artificers were present. They afterwards repaired the wooden bridge which led into the town. Moving with the army they mustered at Coimbra on the 1st June, and at Castello Branco on the 1st July. At the battle of Talavera, on the 27th of that month, fifteen of the detachment were present. Private Aaron Delacourt was taken prisoner while endeavouring to convey to the rear Captain Boothby of the royal engineers, who was wounded, and had his leg amputated. Of the artificers not present at the battle, two were at Lisbon, three on route to join the army, four at Abrantes, sick; and one on the Alberche. With the exception of two at Lisbon all joined at Talavera before the end of July.

A severe retreat succeeded the battle, in which the party suffered very much. At Merida they were mustered on the 1st September. Lisbon was their head-quarters in November, at which time they were greatly scattered. A sergeant only was at Lisbon and the rest were distributed as follows:—one Abrantes, one Badajos, one Oeyras, four Sobral, and six Torres Vedras. Of the other artificers in Portugal, four were in the general hospital sick, and one a prisoner of war. The casualties since the opening of the campaign were six deaths, two missing, and two invalided to England.

The company of Maltese military artificers at Messina was increased in April by seventeen rank and file from Malta. On the 1st June following, sergeant Roberts and thirty-eight men of the company, were attached to the expedition for the invasion of Naples. Twelve of the royal military artificers also went with the expedition, and served under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel A. Bryce, royal engineers, in the reduction of the islands of Ischia and Procida.

Returning to Messina in August, six of the royal and eight of the Maltese artificers were added to the force under Brigadier-General Oswald, and were present, on the 2nd October, at the surrender of Zante and other Ionian islands. These parties continued at Zante until after the taking of Santa Maura in the next year.

The Maltese artificers being enlisted for a term of three years only, their engagements expired in the summer. Upwards of sixty men consequently claimed their discharge, and in July the third Maltese company was re-formed.

In the mean time a force of one sub-lieutenant—George Robinson—two sergeant-majors—Joseph Forbes and John Smith—ten sergeants, and about 280 rank and file[158] had been selected for an expedition to Holland under the Earl of Chatham, to destroy the fleet and arsenals on the Scheldt. The youngest and most active men were chosen for the service, and were provided with swords and belts. The greater portion were also armed with muskets, under an impression that they would have to fight their way on shore. The detachment was divided into two operations to proceed against Flushing and Antwerp; the former under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel R. D’Arcy, R.E., the latter under Colonel Fyers, R.E. Both brigades embarked the 19th July, and having landed near Goes and Walcheren, a small force was employed in the operations in South Beveland under Captain Squire, R.E., and the remainder, with Sub-Lieutenant Robinson, were engaged in the bombardment of Flushing. The meditated attack on Antwerp was abandoned. Private Anthony Webster was killed at the seamen’s battery on the 13th August, and two men were wounded.

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Footnote 158:

In Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. ii., p. 269, 2nd edit., the number,
including the sub-lieutenant, is shown as 261 only; at p. 415, the
total of all ranks is stated to be 276; but both strengths differ from
the actual force engaged.

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During the bombardment, fifty of the detachment were permanently employed in making fascines and gabions, and about eighty carpenters prepared and put up the splinter-proof magazines and laid the platforms. The remainder were distributed to the batteries as sappers and miners or overseers. One of the batteries which was required in a hurry was worked solely by the royal military artificers, and completed in twenty-eight hours.[159] Generally they attended to the more difficult and dangerous portion of the batteries, and besides repairing the parapets and platforms, improved the embrasures when injured by the enemy’s cannonade.

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Footnote 159:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. ii., p. 279, 2nd edit.

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In this service privates John Millar,[160] Thomas Wild, and Thomas Letts acted very praiseworthily in situations of great danger, and showed examples of courage, zeal, and attention to duty much beyond the rest of the detachment. On occasions when particular parts of the batteries were broken, these men fearlessly forced themselves into the embrasures to renew the work. The firing upon them was usually heavy. To effect their purpose with less interruption, they spread across the mouths of the embrasures, wet bulls' hides with the hairy surfaces to the fortress; and bearing as they did a resemblance to the newly disturbed earth, the enemy was deceived and withdrew their firing upon the work. The injured parts of the embrasures were thus restored with incredible dexterity. The two former were promoted to be second-corporals for their gallantry, and a similar rise was offered to Letts but he preferred to remain a private.

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Footnote 160:

Was left property to the amount of 4000l. and purchased his discharge
in 1810.

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The conduct of the detachment at Walcheren is thus noticed by the Earl of Chatham:—“The active and persevering exertions of the corps of royal engineers have been conducted with much skill and judgment by Colonel Fyers, aided by Lieutenant-Colonel D’Arcy.”[161] Elsewhere their exertions in the construction of the batteries are stated to have been indefatigable.[162]

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Footnote 161:

‘London Gazette.’

Footnote 162:

Hargrave’s ‘Account of Walcheren and South Beveland,’ p. 16, edit.
1812.

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After the occupation of Flushing, the fever common to the country set in with peculiar virulence; and the royal military artificers suffered very severely. Employed as they frequently were in conducting excavations in marshy and unhealthy situations, nearly the whole of the detachment were seized with the malady and thirty-seven died. Sergeant-major Forbes was of the number.

By repeated removals of the sick, the detachment was reduced to about eighty of all ranks, who were employed, previously to the evacuation of the island, in the demolition of the basin of Flushing and the naval defences of the place under Lieutenant-Colonel Pilkington, royal engineers. Second-corporal Thomas Stephens was intrusted with the practical conduct of the destruction of one of the piers of the flood-gates. The task imposed on him was so ably executed, that when the explosion took place, the bottom of the pier was forced out and the superincumbent masonry fell without projecting a stone to any distance. Though only a second corporal he was appointed lance-sergeant on the spot for his skilful conduct.

Captain John T. Jones, the adjutant, was removed from the royal military artificers, on the 1st July by promotion, and was succeeded in the appointment by Captain Gilbert Buchanan, R E. In reorganizing the corps, Captain Jones had effected considerable improvements and raised in a high degree its morale and military efficiency.

The practice of employing men of the corps as servants to officers of royal engineers was discontinued in August. On active service the custom was found to be a great disadvantage. Stringent measures were therefore adopted to prevent its recurrence; and to this day, the officers are required to affirm quarterly, that they do not employ any men of the corps in their private service.

Detachments are traced during the year at the following new stations:—to Alderney, seven rank and file were removed from Guernsey by order of Lieutenant-General Sir John Doyle. Two armourers were employed in the royal manufactory for small arms at Lewisham, and continued on this service for many years. The Eastbourne party was scattered along the Sussex coast, working chiefly at Hastings and Bulverhithe. The Newfoundland company gave a strong party for the King’s works at the south side of the harbour, which remained there for many months. A non-commissioned officer of the Halifax company was employed on a tour of inspection to Cape Breton and Prince Edward’s Island; and the detachment at the Cape of Good Hope was distributed to Simon’s Town, Hout’s Bay, King’s Blockhouse, and Muyzenberg.

1810.

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

On the 22nd January, Colonel William Johnston and Lieutenant Hobbs, royal engineers, with three sergeants and forty-five rank and file of the West India company, embarked at Martinique under Lieutenant-General Beckwith. The detachment was appointed to the fifth or reserve brigade under the command of Brigadier-General Wale; and having landed at St. Mary’s Capisterre, served at the taking of Guadaloupe.

A small party under Captain Hobbs, R.E., afterwards accompanied the force under Brigadier-General Harcourt, and was present at the capture of the islands of St. Martin’s and St. Eustatius.

The celebrated Lines of Torres Vedras, commenced in October, 1809, were fully completed late in 1810. The number of the royal military artificers employed in their construction never exceeded eighteen of all ranks, who were distributed in ones and twos throughout the whole extent of country to be intrenched.[163] Under the superintendence and control of their officers, they directed the labours of many hundreds of the peasantry. Some of the party were responsible for the efficient services of no less than 500 to 700 workmen. In this duty second-corporal William Wilson and private James Douglas rendered themselves conspicuous by their skill and activity. Both were promoted in consequence.

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Footnote 163:

Jones’s Lines of Lisbon, 1829, p. 78.

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Corporal Wilson was selected by Colonel Fletcher, the commanding engineer, to be his orderly, in which capacity he served until the death of his chief at St. Sebastian. At Torres Vedras the corporal had charge of a work, and a party of the Portuguese Ordenanza Militia was placed under his orders to execute it. Two of the men were put to a task to be completed within a certain time; but regarding the work as impossible, they refused to comply and complained to their officer, who took their part and was inclined to censure the corporal. However, with more manliness than soldier-like propriety, the corporal offered to bet the officer a dollar that he would accomplish the task _himself_ within the time. The bet was accepted. Corporal Wilson stripped, easily won his dollar, and prevented the recurrence of similar complaints during the progress of the Lines.

Four of the royal military artificers were attached to the army on the Coa, and were present at the action near Almeida in July, and the battle of Busaco in September. Retreating with the army to Torres Vedras, the four men rejoined the detachment, and the whole continued to do duty in the Lines until removed for more active service.

On the 13th March, one corporal and eleven men of the Portsmouth and Gosport companies embarked with the force under Sir Thomas Graham for Cadiz. The non-commissioned officers were “careful trusty persons,” and the men “stout, able, and good tradesmen.” They landed from the ‘Concord’ transport on the 24th March, and were commanded by Major C. Lefebure, royal engineers, until he received his death wound, which took place in April as he was descending the walls of the fortress of Matagorda during its evacuation. Meanwhile a reinforcement from Portsmouth increased the party to two sergeants and forty-eight rank and file; and in October it was again augmented, by artificers selected from the different companies, to three sergeants, nine corporals, five second-corporals, two drummers, and seventy-three privates, with Sub-Lieutenant R. Davie. The last draft landed at Cadiz from the ‘Diadem’ transport.

In defending the fort of Puntales, which sustained a bombardment from across the water, a portion of the company was always employed. There private Benjamin Hall was killed, and several privates were injured by a wall, under which they were mining, falling on them. The remainder of the company were occupied in fortifying the position of La Isla for the defence of Cadiz. Their particular duty consisted in making platforms, palisades, &c., and in acting as overseers to the military working parties of the line, assisted by artificers drawn from the regiments in garrison. The principal share of the work was done by task, which, being laid out beforehand, the royal military artificers showed the workmen their respective portions as soon as they arrived on the ground,[164] and superintended its correct execution, both in quantity and detail. At La Isla, the company was stationed at the park, and domiciled in one of the powder-magazines which had been made defensible.

Under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Evatt and Captain G. J. Harding, royal engineers, Forts Barbara and St. Felipe, on the Spanish lines in front of Gibraltar, were demolished by a strong detachment from the two companies stationed at the fortress. The operations occupied a few months; and during the work the detachment was covered by a force from the garrison of 500 to 800 soldiers. In firing a mine near St. Felipe, private John Barber lost an arm, both eyes, and part of his chin and teeth. In springing another mine near Tarifa, private Thomas Hughes was killed.

From Zante a party of five royal and eighteen Maltese military artificers sailed with the force under Brigadier-General Oswald, and were present on the 16th April at the capture of Santa Maura. This service effected, the detachment returned to Messina, leaving for the works of the newly-captured island a corporal and a mason of the royal military artificers.

During the year, parties or individuals of the corps were employed on particular service abroad—at Ceuta, Tarifa, and at Sidney in Cape Breton; while, at home, men were detached to Hythe, Isle of Wight, and Northfleet. At the latter place the party was employed, from August to December, in surveying under Mr. Stanley of the royal military surveyors and draftsmen.

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Footnote 164:

‘Prof. Papers,’ iii., p. 94.

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1811.

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

The West India company being gradually reduced to about fifty men, it was strengthened in March to 110, by the arrival at Barbadoes, in the ‘Flora’ transport, of fifty-eight men. During the years 1810 and 1811 the number of deaths in the company from yellow fever was thirty.

The detachment of the corps in Portugal was increased to seventy-eight of all ranks, by the landing at Lisbon of two sergeants and fifty-seven rank and file under Lieutenant P. Wright of the royal engineers. Thirty-four of the reinforcement were forthwith sent to the Lines of Torres Vedras and the Almada position; and the remaining twenty-five joined the head-quarters of the army, under Captain George Ross and Lieutenant Stanway.[165]

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Footnote 165:

Jones’s ‘Sieges’ vol. i. p. 377, 2nd edit.

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While these movements were being effected, two artificers of the detachment were present at the recapture of Olivenza in April, under the command of Captain Squire, R.E.[166]

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Footnote 166:

Ibid. p. 6.

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Soon after the reduction of Olivenza the siege party was augmented to twenty-seven, by the arrival at Elvas of twenty-five men under Captain George Ross. Of this increase not a man had ever seen the construction of a sap, battery, or trench. The whole were therefore daily drilled in the formation of fieldworks and in making fascines and gabions.[167] In these instructional operations they soon acquired sufficient knowledge to render themselves useful to their officers; and, at the same time, showed intelligence and alacrity in aiding in the construction of the flying-bridges across the Guadiana at Juramenha.

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Footnote 167:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. i., p. 10, 2nd edit.

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These twenty-seven men were employed in the first siege of Badajoz. Reduced by two, they were also present at the second siege of that fortress. On both occasions the diligence and exertions of the detachment were prominent; and, assisted by the line workmen, they quickly repaired the broken batteries and damaged embrasures. “Many a fine fellow,” says a well-known author, “lost his life in endeavouring to vie with the men of the engineers.”[168]

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Footnote 168:

‘United Service Journal,’ ii., 1831, p. 329.

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In the second siege, on the night before the storming, sergeant William Rogers, and three intrepid men of the corps, accompanied Captain Patton, R.E., on the dangerous service of reconnoitring the fords of the Rivillas, and the approach to the castle breach beyond the river. They conducted the examination for a time and then returned to the works for a file of men as a guard. With this escort they retraced their steps; but left it behind at a short distance from the breach, when the captain and his “trusty sergeant” went forward alone and completed the reconnaissance. In returning to the guard the captain stumbled, and the clanking of his sword drawing the attention of the French sentinels, they fired, and he fell mortally wounded. Sergeant Rogers protected his captain till he gained the escort, with whose assistance he succeeded in bearing him alive to the trenches. Captain Patton was able to make his report of the practicability of the assault and soon afterwards expired.[169] Sergeant Rogers died at Fuente Guinaldo in the following August. Of him Colonel Fletcher wrote: “he was an attentive, good soldier, and in every way a most estimable character.”

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Footnote 169:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. i., p. 70, 2nd edit. ‘United Service Journal,’
ii., 1831, p. 331.

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In May the detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher received an addition of thirty-nine men; and on the 29th June a further reinforcement of sixty-three non-commissioned officers and men under Lieutenants Melhuish and De Salaberry, royal engineers. In consequence of this augmentation, the men of the infantry acting as overseers and mechanics on the lines, rejoined their respective regiments; and the posts thus vacated were occupied by the newly-arrived detachments of military artificers.[170]

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Footnote 170:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ vol. i., p. 90, 2nd edit.

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The whole force of the corps in Portugal amounted in July to 8 sergeants, 5 corporals, 16 second corporals, 3 drummers, and 145 privates; total, 177. Of this number a comparatively small party only was kept with the army, whilst the remainder were distributed to the lines, Sobral, Oeyras, the Almada position, Peniche, Abrantes, Alhandra, Fort St. Julian, &c. In conducting the works at those places, “the abilities and good conduct of the men were found of the utmost advantage.” At Fort St. Julian particularly, where they were employed in the formation of four extensive jetties for the embarkation of troops in case of necessity, their skill and expertness were found of great importance. Sergeant John M‘Kay had the executive superintendence of the work under the direction of Captain Holloway, R.E.

The detachment with the moving army was broken up into sections of five or six men to each division or corps, and one or other of them was at the blockade of Almeida, Fuentes d’Onoro, Albuera, Campo Maior, and the several other actions which occurred in the Peninsula during the campaign of 1811.

From Cadiz Sub-Lieutenant Davie and fifty men under Captain J. F. Birch of the royal engineers, were detached with Sir Thomas Graham’s force, and landed at Algeciras 22nd February. Being armed with short swords only, Sir Thomas caused them to be furnished with such spare muskets, accoutrements, and ammunition as could be collected, to defend themselves if necessary on the march. They were then placed at the head of the column to remove obstructions and facilitate the advance of the army. On the 5th March, Barrosa was fought, and the detachment of artificers was present in the battle. Here sergeant John Cameron gave a manifestation of his zeal by leading to the charge a section of seven men. They pressed where the fight was warmest; and in a few moments lost one private—John Storie—killed and two wounded. The blue uniform of the artificers was distinctly seen among the red coats of the line, and Sir Thomas Graham ordered the instant withdrawal of the party to the rear, observing that he might want it for other work. The sergeant was to have been tried by a court-martial for taking the men into action without orders; but his bravery saved him.

In June a second-corporal and four military artificers of the Cadiz company under Lieutenant Harry D. Jones, were attached to Colonel Skerrett’s expedition to assist the Spaniards in sustaining the siege of Tarragona; but the fortress fell while the British troops were in the roadstead. The party of artificers landed and occupied quarters in St. George’s Barracks, near Mahon, in the island of Minorca, and returned to La Isla in July.

In the following October, two artificers were sent from Cadiz for the defence of Tarifa under Captain C. F. Smith, R.E. Two also were sent there from Gibraltar by Colonel Sir Charles Holloway, the chief engineer at the fortress. Ultimately the engineers' means were increased to seventeen men of all ranks, who were employed as overseers in strengthening the defences of the place, and they carried on their duty with energy and credit. One private was wounded on the 29th December. A detachment of variable strength continued at Tarifa until April, 1813, when it returned to Cadiz.

A reinforcement of twenty men under Sub-Lieutenant Stewart Calder, sailed in November on board the ‘Tartar’ transport for Cadiz, and landed before the end of the year. The artificer force there now counted 101 of all ranks.

Anholt, an island of Denmark in possession of the British, had been attacked by the Danes in March, and the fortifications consequently were much damaged. No officer of the royal engineers being available for the duty of restoring the defences, corporal Alexander Borthwick of the royal military artificers, an experienced mechanic, was sent there in His Majesty’s ship ‘Helder,’ with two privates as overseers. They landed in September and were quartered in Fort Yorke under Lieutenant John Bezant, the ordnance storekeeper. The marines on the island were employed on the works, and each received for his labour 2_s._ 4_d._ a-day. They worked with attention and spirit. In six months all the authorized renewals and improvements were executed; and in May, a further sum of 3,700_l._ having been voted for completing the defences of the island, additional works were commenced to place the fortifications in a state to sustain a regular siege. In preparing to meet an apprehended attack on the island by the Danes, corporal Borthwick made various effective arrangements for the disposition and employment of the working parties, and gained the thanks of the Military Commandant, Major Torrens, royal marines. Shortly after, Admiral Martin being of opinion that the fortifications were sufficiently tenable to stand an attack, the works were suspended; and in August, 1812, Borthwick and his overseers returned to England. For his conduct and services at Anholt he was promoted to be sergeant; and a commission to a sub-lieutenancy was to have been conferred on him, but in the interim he became involved in some serious irregularities, which prevented the reward and ultimately ruined him.

So many detachments had been provided for the colonies and the war, that appeals for reinforcements or more extended aid could only occasionally be attended to. From the Peninsula and elsewhere, therefore, representations had been made of the necessity for increasing the corps, and augmenting the engineers' means for carrying on with efficiency the duties of the department. The proposals at length met with due consideration; and on the 28th May a warrant was issued for an improved organization of the corps, enlarging its establishment to an extent commensurate with the precautions which the disturbed state of Europe rendered advisable.

The warrant sanctioned an increase of 1,347 men, abolished the rank of company-sergeant-major, added to the number of the sub-lieutenants, and divided the corps into four battalions of eight companies, each company being constituted as follows:—

Sub-Lieutenant 1
Sergeants 5
Corporals 5
Second-Corporals 5
Drummers 3
Carpenters 15
Masons 10
Bricklayers 6
Smiths 4
Wheelers 2
Collar-makers 2
Cooper 1
Miners[171] 30
——
Total 89

The establishment of the corps was fixed as under:—

Staff { Adjutants[172] 4
{ Sergeant-majors 4
{ Quartermaster-Sergeants 4
{ Drum-major 1
Sub-Lieutenants 32
Sergeants 160
Corporals 160
Second-Corporals 160
Drummers 96
Privates 2,240
——
Total 2,861

exclusive of the three companies of Maltese military artificers.

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Footnote 171:

A third of whom were to be gardeners, hedgers, or canal-diggers, but
only to be enlisted on special authority from head-quarters.

Footnote 172:

These appointments were never conferred. The whole business of the
corps was carried on by an Adjutant, who held his office independently
of the battalions.

-----

The annual expense of the corps, not including working pay and other fluctuating contingencies, amounted to 87,736_l._ 14_s._ 3¼_d._ At this period 5 sub-lieutenants, 1 sergeant-major, and 130 men were employed on the recruiting service.

In all practicable cases, general and field-officers were deprived of the command of companies, which now ceased to be stationary, but were removed by rotation of relief from one station to another, the same as the companies of the royal artillery. The employment of men on detached duties was also discouraged, and companies were composed of a convenient strength to enable them to move in bodies.

Upon the stationary condition of the corps a celebrated officer of the royal engineers has made the subjoined correct remarks:—[173] “From the close of the American war till the year 1811, all the companies of royal military artificers were kept permanently fixed at their respective stations, both at home and abroad, where they remained for life, in what may, for military men, be styled a state of vegetation; so that they were, at that period, a vast number of men who had actually grown grey in the corps, who had never entered a transport, nor made a single day’s march from the head-quarters of their company. To the men at Gibraltar and other foreign stations the service of the corps was thus rendered almost equivalent to transportation for life. Everywhere they intermixed with civilians; they married in a proportion unknown in any other corps; so much so, that the number of women and children belonging to one company was often equal to that of a battalion of the line.”[174]

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Footnote 173:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ note a, p. iv., vol. i.

Footnote 174:

There was a William Painter at Gibraltar, whose affluence was
something extraordinary. He enlisted into the corps in July, 1798, and
though a man of very useful intelligence, only attained the rank of
second-corporal in 1807. He tried to procure his discharge to return
to his estate in Cornwall, but such was the pressure for men, his
desire was negatived. His humble position, however, did not prevent
his living in ease and luxury. He kept his servants, horses, and, it
is said, his carriage, and entertained and enjoyed very good society.
Well could he do all this, for, coupling with his own receipts his
wife’s settlement, he possessed an income of _eleven hundreds pounds
a-year_! He died at the Rock, August 13, 1811, aged 45 years. By his
Will he left 5000_l._ stock to his two sons—John, and William Grible;
300_l._ to Sub-Lieutenant Falconer and his family, and a few smaller
legacies to relatives and an attached servant, besides considerable
landed property, houses, and the usual legal addenda of “messuages,
tenements, and hereditaments” at Gwennap in Cornwall to his elder son
John, “and his heirs for ever.” The widow, under a jointure, was in
receipt of 550_l._ a-year.

As if to show how likely fortune is to be overtaken by calamity,
Sub-Lieutenant Falconer, five days after the death-bed remembrance of
the corporal, was fired at from an open window by private Samuel
Fraser. The ball luckily missed him, but whizzed sufficiently near to
be alarming. The ruffian was sent to a condemned regiment in
commutation for his sentence of one thousand lashes!

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Under the new arrangement the companies were distributed as follows:—

Companies.
Woolwich 6
Chatham 2
Portsmouth and Gosport 3
Plymouth 2
Dover 2
Guernsey 1
Jersey 1
Cork 2
Gibraltar 3
Newfoundland 1
Halifax 1
West Indies 2
Cadiz 2
Portugal 4

with detachments from the above to Eastbourne and the Sussex coast, Hythe, Cape Breton, New Brunswick, Ceylon, Cape of Good Hope, Sicily, the Ionian Islands, and Madeira.

The companies at Cadiz were the sixth and seventh of the first battalion; and those in Portugal were the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth of the second battalion. At this time the corps counted a force of nearly 1,500 men. More than half were employed in foreign possessions and colonial defence. The remainder, distributed in home garrisons and the Channel Islands, included a large proportion of aged men, invalids, and recruits. By the end of the year the reconstruction of the companies was completed; and from continual accessions of squads of recruits, rapidly equipped and disciplined, the corps was soon in a condition, to a greater extent than heretofore, to meet such incidental necessities as might arise.

Eleven sergeants were commissioned to be sub-lieutenants during the year. Some joined from the royal artillery. All were distinguished either as soldiers or artificers, particularly Sub-Lieutenant Munro, who was an “ingenious and skilful mechanic,” and his inventions, which met with general approbation, were attended with considerable saving to the Government. The captain of his company, in making a record of his acquirements, wrote that Lieutenant Munro “was the most zealous and intelligent non-commissioned officer whom he had met in the course of his services.”[175]

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Footnote 175:

He invented an engine for nipping lead shot, used for years in the
royal laboratory, but for which an impostor and spy, named De Haine,
received a reward of 500_l._ While filling the office of inspector of
ordnance stores, he made various improvements in the mechanical and
intrenching tools. He also detected many extraordinary frauds in the
deliveries made by contractors. In one attempted imposition only, he
saved the Government 2000_l._ He designed and constructed a
life-ladder, which was frequently used with success at fires, and an
ingenious mortar-mill which occasioned a great saving of expense to
the department. At Chatham he invented many useful tools, implements,
and apparatus, and his services were repeatedly acknowledged in the
order books of the establishment.

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1812.

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

Major Pasley, R.E., on his appointment to the Plymouth station, occasionally practised his company in sapping and mining. He was one of those officers who took pains to improve the military appearance and efficiency of his men, and to make them useful either for home or foreign employment. He is believed to have been the first officer who represented the advantage of training the corps in the construction of military field-works.

After the failure of Badajoz in 1811 the necessity of this measure was strongly advocated by the war officers. Then it was recommended to form a corps under the name of royal sappers and miners, to be composed of six companies chosen from the royal military artificers, which after receiving some instruction in the art, was to be sent to the Peninsula to aid the troops in their future siege operations.[176] Early in this year [1812] the suggestion was repeated by Sir Richard Fletcher; and Lord Wellington having also, in the most forcible manner, brought the subject to the notice of the Secretary of State,[177] a warrant was issued under date of the 23rd April for the formation of an establishment for instructing the corps in military field-works.

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Footnote 176:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ 2nd edit., ii., p. 390.

Footnote 177:

‘Wellington Dispatches,’ 1845, v., p. 508.

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Lord Mulgrave, the Master-General, selected Chatham as the most suitable place for carrying out the royal orders, and appointed Major C. W. Pasley director of the establishment. The exertions of that officer at Plymouth naturally singled him out for the post. The better to effect his purpose, he published for the use of the corps, elementary works on fortification, geometry, &c. of the greatest simplicity; and they have ever since been the text-books of the institution. In addition to sapping and mining, his system comprised bridge-making, pontooning, the use of ropes, mechanical appliances, and all other arts and contrivances, which the corps, in its connection with the engineer department, is likely to be called on to perform. “Uniting,” says Sir John Jones, “great zeal and unwearied perseverance with good talents” and judgment, Major Pasley “succeeded in extending the course far beyond these objects,” and not only “filled the ranks of the corps with good scholars, good surveyors, and good draughtsmen,” but enabled many, after quitting the service, to occupy with ability and credit, situations of considerable importance in civil life.[178]

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Footnote 178:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ 2nd edit., ii.. p. 392.

-----

The formation of the school at Chatham increased the means for discipline and drill. Other stations, stimulated by the example, paid greater attention to their enforcement. The injurious system of changing officers incessantly was now abolished; and the juniors, among a stated number of the second captains, first lieutenants, and second lieutenants of the royal engineers, were appointed regimental officers of the companies. Sir John Jones has recorded that “the men generally were of superior acquirements and well-disposed,” and the above changes had the best possible effect upon their general behaviour.[179] “By linking officers and men together,” he added, “and closely connecting their mutual interests, discipline and pride were given to the soldier,” and character to the corps.[180]

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Footnote 179:

Among the recruits at this period was Sir John Sinclair, Bart., who,
on the 12th August, 1812, enlisted in the name of John Smith. Through
various misfortunes he was reduced from affluence to poverty. Noticed
by Colonel Pilkington, R.E., for his uniform good conduct and
attainments, he was promoted to the rank of second-corporal, and
provided with a quarter at the main-guard in the royal arsenal. His
lady sometimes visited him in all the pride of her station, but his
own rank was as yet unsuspected. From a comrade—afterwards
Sub-Lieutenant H. B. Mackenzie—he frequently borrowed plain clothes to
elude arrest in the streets, and invariably proceeded to the Treasury
by water to receive his allowance. He was at length dogged to
Woolwich, and, on the 31st August, 1813, being taken, was thrown into
the debtors' side of Newgate, from whence he was removed to the Fleet
Prison, where, for a year and a half he was confined, and was then
only released by an error in law. Thirteen months' sickness and
distress followed his release, during which time he was supplied with
means by an acquaintance of his earlier and happier days. All the
while the whereabouts of John Smith was unknown, but, advised by his
friend, he confessed himself a deserter, and in imploring pardon and
indemnity for past errors, solicited to be received for life in the
New South Wales Corps. The pardon was granted, and being relieved from
further service in the sappers, he was again left at liberty to follow
his own inclination.

Footnote 180:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ 2nd edit., ii., pp. 390, 391.

-----

More fully to accord with its recognized duties the Master-General on the 4th August, ordered that the royal military artificers should be hereafter styled, Royal Military Artificers or Sappers and Miners.[181]

-----

Footnote 181:

Sir John Jones, by mistake, vol. ii. p. 390, makes the alteration of
the name of the corps antecedent to the creation of the establishment
at Chatham.

-----

Captain G. Buchanan, the adjutant, resigned the appointment, and Captain Rice Jones, under commission dated 1st February, succeeded to it. During his period of office, Captain Buchanan, besides attending to its many official requirements and details, performed duty on the works like other officers of engineers. By his application and exertions he ruined his health. Captain Rice Jones was relieved from the duties of the district, and the pay of the appointment was increased from 6_s._ to 10_s._ a-day.[182]

Footnote 182:

Soon after this change, an act of gross indiscipline occurred, which
will afford a tolerable notion of some of the singular characters who
held rank in the corps. A sergeant’s guard usually mounted in the
sappers' barracks at Woolwich. One morning sergeant Millar was
appointed to the new guard, and during the ceremony of “mounting,” was
posted in front of it. Lieutenant Eaves, the officer on duty, gave the
usual words of command. “Sergeant, to your guard, march!” Millar no
sooner heard it, than he whirled his halberd in the air, and as every
one stood amazed to see the upshot of this mad manœuvre, the pike
turned point downwards and stuck in the earth. At this moment, to
complete the extravaganza, Millar pitched on his hands, and with his
legs towering erect in the air, paddled, with all the flexibility and
steadiness of an acrobat, to his wondering guard!

The siege of Cuidad Rodrigo began on the 8th and terminated on the 19th January when the fortress was carried by storm. In this siege eighteen rank and file of the royal military artificers were present, of whom one was killed and ten were wounded. In carrying on their duties they were sometimes annoyed by the presence of light balls thrown by the enemy into the sap. The instant they alighted some bold sappers, heedless of the peril they incurred, rushed to the spot, and in a few seconds extinguished them with sand-bags or smothered them by shovelling earth upon the flames.[183] The conduct of the party during the operations was praised by Lord Wellington.[184]

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Footnote 183:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ i. p. 369, 3rd edit., and note added by Colonel
Harry D. Jones.

Footnote 184:

‘Wellington Dispatches,’ 1845, v., p. 476.

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To join the siege party, the fifth company second battalion of forty-one men, had been embodied at Alhandra from the different districts of Torres Vedras, and marched for Cuidad Rodrigo on the 2nd January. It had in charge a large assortment of intrenching tools to be used in the works before that fortress. The weather was bitterly cold, a considerable quantity of rain had fallen, and the roads were cut into deep ruts and covered with pools. Frequently the jaded mules dropped from fatigue; and to relieve them, the men were constantly compelled, either to lead them instead of the disaffected muleteers, or take the labour of the animals themselves. After a trying and toilsome journey of seventeen days, the company arrived in front of Cuidad Rodrigo on the night of the 19th January, but took no part in the storming.[185]

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Footnote 185:

Sir John Jones, in his ‘Sieges,’ i. p. 130, 2nd edit., records, by
mistake, the arrival of the company on the 15th instead of the 19th
January.

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The above company and detachment were afterwards employed in restoring and improving the defences of the place. Paid by measurement for their labour, they greatly exerted themselves, notwithstanding the bitter weather to which they were exposed. Corporal James Douglas was intrusted with the charge of the restoration.

In the siege of Badajoz from 16th March to 6th April, the military artificers bore an important part. There were present 115 of all ranks, being portions of the fifth and seventh companies, second battalion, from Cuidad Rodrigo; and the sixth of the second battalion from the Almada position. A company from Cadiz comprising men of the sixth and seventh companies, first battalion, did not join till nearly the conclusion of the siege. The company disembarked at Ayamonte and ascended the valley of the Guadiana on the Portugal side, partly by boats and partly by marching. No British soldiers, save this company, had ever been in that part of Portugal.