Chapter IX: Part 9

All the engineers' means for the operation were conveyed from Elvas to Badajoz under charge of the corps, for which purpose 120 pairs of bullocks were pressed into the service. The effectual removal of the stores was accomplished under great difficulties. From the desertion of the drivers, taking with them their oxen, and the weakly condition of others, many of the sappers frequently yoked themselves to the abandoned burdens, and in carrying them through the Guadiana at the fords, were sometimes borne down the stream by the rapidity of the current. Nearly all the stores, however, reached the depôt at the appointed time.

In the distribution of the men, a strong party was nominated for the duty of the park, to repair tools, make scaling-ladders, platforms, &c., and the remainder, told off into seven brigades, performed good services as overseers and leading sappers in the trenches and the batteries. Sub-Lieutenants A. Wallace and R. Gibb who joined in January, volunteered their services as assistants in the trenches, and both discharged their duties “extremely well.” Their conduct was noticed in flattering terms in a letter to General Mann, the inspector-general of fortifications.

Soon after commencing operations, corporal Patrick Rooney signalized himself by laying gun platforms in the day-time under a warm fire from the enemy. No less conspicuous was private William Harry, who opened in daylight under fire of the Picurina, the embrasures of a masked battery. In executing these dangerous services, their firmness and skill had the effect of stimulating the workmen to the prompt performance of similar exploits.

At the storming of Fort Picurina the royal military artificers who preceded the columns, conducted themselves with the “greatest gallantry and coolness.” Particular mention is made of those who accompanied Captain Holloway of the royal engineers, in leading the reserve column to the place. Encumbered with ladders and axes, they broke through a line of palisades on the covertway, planted the ladders against the counterscarp, and then, descending into the ditch, moved the ladders across to the scarp with the greatest “steadiness and precision.” Instantly they mounted, and after tearing down the fraises to a sufficient extent for the escalade, ascended the ramparts and dashed through the embrasures into the fort. Private Patrick Burke, a bold soldier, took a leading part in the assault and was amongst the foremost that entered the place. On the parapet Captain Holloway fell severely wounded. Lance-corporal Robert Miller rushed to his rescue, and at imminent personal peril, guarded his body and bore him in safety to the camp.

Late in the siege a hazardous attempt was made by Lieutenant Stanway, R.E. to blow down the batardeau in the ditch of the lunette for the purpose of drawing off the inundation. He was accompanied by an officer and twenty men of the royal military artificers, of whom lance-corporal William Stack gave proof of prominent zeal and daring. The powder-barrels were duly placed against the dam and fired; but the effect intended was not produced, and the party returned to the trenches without loss.

In the final assault of Badajoz, selected men of the corps accompanied each of the columns to the breaches, bearing ladders, hatchets, crowbars, &c., and executed the duty allotted to them with the utmost bravery. After storming the lunette St. Roque, a party of the royal military artificers, under Lieutenant Wright, R. E. displayed expertness and courage in mining under the dam and bridge of the inundation. Of the general services and conduct of the sappers “during the operations of the siege and in its close,” it is recorded that they “distinguished” themselves.[186]

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Footnote 186:

‘Wellington Dispatches,’ edit. 1845, v., p. 579.

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Privates William Bond and Edward Doran were killed, and five rank and file wounded at the storming. In the trenches, during the operations, corporal John Blackadder was killed, and Sub-Lieutenant Wallace wounded. Many others also were wounded, but the precise number cannot be traced.

Soon after the capture, the detachment of the sixth and seventh companies, first battalion, returned to Cadiz, Major-General Cooke having represented the desirableness of maintaining the corps in adequate strength to carry out the defensive operations under his orders.[187] The sixth of the second battalion was attached to the expedition for besieging Tarragona,[188] and portions of the fifth and seventh companies, second battalion, remained at Badajoz to assist in the repairs of the breaches, and in improving the defences of the town. One private was killed by the unexpected explosion of a blast when he applied the match to fire it. The restorations were effected before the close of the year, and to mark the date, some masons of the corps built the number of the year with 24-pound shot in the escarp wall of the face of the bastion La Trinidad.

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Footnote 187:

Ibid, v., p. 650.

Footnote 188:

In the Dispatch to the Earl of Liverpool, dated Fuente Guinaldo, 10th
June, 1812, the Earl of Wellington states, “I have likewise sent from
this country to Gibraltar Lieutenant-Colonel Jones and four subaltern
officers of engineers, and two companies of military artificers,
including all the sappers there are with the army,” to join the corps
d’armée under Lieutenant-General Lord William Bentinck, “to make an
attack on the eastern coast of the Peninsula, with the troops from
Sicily.”—Wellington Dispatches; 1845, v., p. 706, 707. The above
company, 92 strong, was the only one despatched from Portugal, but one
of the Maltese military artificers from Messina was added to the
engineers' means for the siege, which made a combined sapper-force of
134 strong.

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The bridges of Yecla and Serrada, which spanned the Yebra—a branch of the Douro between Salamanca and Cuidad Rodrigo—were mined in December 1811 by Spanish miners, with a few privates of the sappers as overseers, under the direction of Lieutenant W. Reid, royal engineers. Owing to the flinty nature of the cement giving the compactness of rock to the structures, it required a fortnight’s unceasing toil—day and night—to drive the shafts. The mines were fired in April, following, when one arch of the Yecla was blown down, and a pier and two arches of the Serrada were destroyed.

Sub-Lieutenant C. Booth and ninety-five men reinforced the companies in Spain under Sir Richard Fletcher. Nine men also joined from Madeira. Both parties landed in April increasing the artificer force to 273 of all ranks. All the effective men were attached to the different divisions of the army, or were dispersed on various duties throughout the country. Those remaining at Badajoz were instructed in sapping and mining under Lieutenant Harry Jones of the royal engineers.

In June, nine rank and file were present under Lieutenant-Colonel Burgoyne, R.E., at the siege of the fortified posts at Salamanca. Private James Durant was killed in the trenches on the night of the 17th June, and four privates were wounded. Thanks for their good conduct in the siege of the forts was conveyed to them in general orders.[189]

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Footnote 189:

‘Wellington Dispatches,’ 1845, v., p. 724.

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Eight of the corps were present in August at the capture of the Retiro at Madrid, and at the siege of Burgos in September and October. All were employed as overseers in the park and the trenches. Corporal M. Develin was killed, and the remaining seven were wounded. The whole party proved themselves to be good soldiers and skilful miners. Deriving their instruction, in great part, from the labours of previous sieges, they knew the best methods to achieve success. At Fort Christoval the want of experienced miners rendered it impracticable to crown the glacis and prevent the garrison removing the debris from the foot of the breach. At Burgos, on the contrary, though the assaults were frequent before the place fell, this handful of sappers, assisted by some miners from the guards, successfully worked up to the fortress, and formed effective breaches by mining, in the castle walls.[190] Private Patrick Burke, a distinguished stormer at Badajoz, was remarked for his usefulness and resolution in the explosion of a mine; and private Andrew Alexander for his valour in leading the workmen to crown the crater of a mine on the enemy’s glacis before the breach. The fifth company, second battalion, was sent in advance with stores for the siege but arrived too late to share in the operation.

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Footnote 190:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ notes by Colonel Harry D. Jones, i., p. 135, 377,
3rd edit.

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In the retreat to the frontier of Portugal a few men of the corps mined the bridge at Alba on the Tormes, under Captain Goldfinch of the engineers. An eye-witness who observed their exertions says, “In crossing the bridge, we found the sappers hard at work mining and laying barrels of gunpowder to blow up the centre arch.”[191] The bridge was accordingly destroyed to check the advance of the enemy. This small party also assisted in the hasty intrenchments thrown up to defend the castle, and was present in repulsing the attack on the place.

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Footnote 191:

‘United Service Journal,’ 2, 1829, p. 284, 285.

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In January a corporal and nine privates were detached from La Isla to Carthagena to strengthen the fortifications there. Private Thomas Grewer was killed in springing a mine. The detachment returned to La Isla in April, 1814.

A draft of twenty-eight non-commissioned officers and men landed at Cadiz in April to reinforce the sixth and seventh companies, first battalion. In August following, a sergeant and ten rank and file were present with Colonel Skerrit’s force in the action at Seville on the 27th of the month. They rejoined their companies in September.

Late in the year Lieutenant Matson of the royal engineers, having under his command Sub-Lieutenants R. Turner and C. Gratton and 135 non-commissioned officers and men, joined the corps in the Peninsula. Many of them had been instructed in the formation of military field-works. The total of the artificer force in Spain and Portugal in December, reached the following numbers:—

Lisbon, Badajoz, and with the army in the field 303
Alicant 92
Cadiz 103
Tarifa 11
Carthagena 6
——
Total 515

including Sub-Lieutenants Wallace, Gibb, Booth, Turner, and Gratton. During the year the casualties in the detachment under Sir Richard Fletcher were, nine invalided and forty-three deaths. In May the number sick counted thirty-one; in December it was increased to sixty-one.

At Green Island, opposite Algeciras, four privates were employed in repairing the defences early in the year under Lieutenant A. Brown of the corps. When completed they returned to Gibraltar.

The first company of Maltese Artificers of forty-one total, and one smith of the royal military artificers, left Messina in June under the command of Major Thackeray, R.E., with the expedition against Tarragona. At Port Mahon, Minorca, they were joined by the sixth company, first battalion. Both companies soon afterwards landed at Alicant, and portions of them were employed on such occasional services as the course of events demanded.

Bermuda was this year appointed a station for the corps. Two sergeants, one drummer, and fifty rank and file, embarked on the 21st August on board the ‘Catherine,’ freight-ship, and arrived at the island 20th November. The detachment generally were inferior artificers and ill-behaved men. Throughout the voyage they were discontented and mutinous; and after landing, animadversion and punishment for a long time had but little effect in checking their excesses and insubordination. Captain Cunningham, royal engineers, commanded the party.

1813.

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

To correspond with the intentions of the Government with respect to the future duties of the corps, the title was again changed on the 5th March, from “royal military artificers or sappers and miners,” to “Royal Sappers and Miners.” Some mistrust and discontent were occasioned by this second alteration, but conciliatory explanations restored confidence and satisfaction.

A change of dress followed the change of name. This originated with the war officers in the Peninsula. Working with the line at the sieges, it was considered desirable to assimilate the dress of the two services; and scarlet with blue facings was introduced to render the men less conspicuous to the enemy and less subject to danger. No material alteration was made in the cut and frogging of the coatee. For particular parades, the white breeches and long gaiters were continued, except in the Peninsula, where grey trousers and ankle gaiters were substituted. The chaco—a singular concoction from the German mitre, preserved in Hogarth’s “March to Finchley,” and the “smoke-jack”—was much higher in front than in rear and decorated with yellow cords and tassels. A short white feather, worn at the left side of the chaco, just peered above the curve of the fan. See Plate X.

The working dress consisted of a plain red jacket with short skirts, grey trousers with red stripes, short spats, shoes with brass clasps, and a leather cap worn lengthways, or square, bearing on its front leaf in brass, the initials of the corps, and subsequently a crown and garter ornament. This much-disliked head-covering was a remote but unsightly variety of the cocked hat; and in lieu of tassels was furnished at the corners with black silk ribbon ties of some length. See Plate XI. Some companies wore white linen overalls, buttoned the whole length of the outer seam. At Cadiz, previous to the general change, the companies wore grey trousers with a black stripe down each outer seam, and a grey cloth forage-cap, trimmed with black braid, and the letters R. M. A. on the left side of the cap.

Greater attention was now paid to arming the corps. Heretofore, in this respect, many irregularities had crept in. At Newfoundland the detachment was armed with swords, cutlasses, and accoutrements of every shape, saved from the American war. In the West Indies the companies used the shattered remains of old armouries and black accoutrements of various patterns. In Sicily the military artificers could only muster a few foreign cumbersome firelocks; whilst the Maltese artificers were unable to appear with a weapon of any kind. For a number of years the Gibraltar companies wore the obsolete accoutrements and cartouche-boxes of a disbanded Newfoundland regiment; and a party of the corps on its way to the Peninsula, did duty with pikes and blunderbusses. Among the sergeants the swords and belts were very dissimilar. Permitted to purchase their own arms, more attention was paid to fancy and ability of payment than uniformity. These and other anomalies were progressively removed from the corps in consequence of the improved method of officering the companies.

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Royal Sappers & Miners Plate X.
WORKING DRESS, 1813 Printed by M & N Hanhart.

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Royal Sappers & Miners Plate XI.
UNIFORM. 1813 Printed by M & N Hanhart.

]

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In March an important plan was adopted for the promotion of non-commissioned officers. All men at home recommended for advancement, were sent to Woolwich to be examined. If found competent as artificers and soldiers, they were especially instructed in a uniform system of routine and drill, and returned perfect to their companies. A few years, however, showed the expense and inconvenience of the system, and it was necessarily relinquished.

In July the rank of colour-sergeant was granted to the corps. One was appointed to each company with the pay of 2_s._ 9¼_d._ a-day, and was distinguished by the badge of the open colour and cross swords on the right arm. Sixpence a-day was also added to the pay of the sergeant-majors, which raised it to 4_s._ 1¼_d._ a-day.

The third company, third battalion, of eighty-one men under Lieutenant G. Philpotts, R.E., and Sub-Lieutenant James A. Stephenson, sailed for Canada on board the ‘Zodiac’ transport on the 23rd April, and landed at Quebec on the 5th June. They had been trained in the field duties of the department at Chatham, and were the first of the corps ever employed in the Canadas. Nothing satisfactory is known of their services; but they appear to have been much dispersed through the country, the greatest numbers being at Burlington Heights, Prescott, Point Henry, York, and Kingston. The last station was the head-quarters of the company.

In the summer the detachment at Bermuda was increased to a company by the arrival of thirty men under Sub-Lieutenant Hugh B. Mackenzie,[192] from his Majesty’s ship ‘Ardent.’

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Footnote 192:

In 1816 this officer was appointed Town-Major at Bermuda, and from the
able manner in which he discharged its duties, was honoured with the
confidence and approval of his patron, Sir James Cockburn.

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At Gibraltar the companies suffered much from sickness during the year. Ophthalmia was also very prevalent. In December a malignant epidemic appeared in the garrison and nineteen deaths occurred in the companies. Nine other deaths took place in the year, and twenty-four were invalided. The three companies at the Rock were now reduced from 267 to 141 of all ranks.

The sixth company, second battalion, attached to the Anglo-Sicilian army at Alicant, sent during the year portions of the company with three expeditions undertaken by Sir John Murray and Lord William Bentinck, who were present in the several movements and affairs of the campaign, including the action at the Biar Pass, battle of Castalla, siege and capture of Fort Belaguer, and the second and third sieges of Tarragona. Thirty-nine men of the Maltese sappers and miners accompanied these expeditions. Detachments of both corps were also cantoned, at different intervals, at Valencia; and thirty men of the company made, in the island of Ivica, a liberal provision of fascines, gabions, and platforms, for the last siege of Tarragona. After Suchet evacuated the place, and Lord William had marched to Villa Franca, the royal and Maltese sappers and miners commenced to clear and repair the breaches, and to restore, generally, the fortifications. Until April 1814 they continued so employed, when, the works having been placed in as defensible a state as before their recent destruction,[193] they sailed to rejoin the force under Lord William Bentinck in Italy.

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Footnote 193:

‘United Service Journal,’ iii., 1844, p. 77, 78.

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With the exception of a few scattered detachments, the companies in the Peninsula under Sir Richard Fletcher were concentrated at Malha da Sorda, and in January the seventh company, first battalion, from Cadiz, also joined there. All were practised as occasion permitted in the construction of field-works under Lieutenant E. Matson, royal engineers. Sub-Lieutenant Gratton, who was appointed adjutant, drilled the companies and conducted the roster.

On the army breaking up cantonments, the seventh company, first battalion, and the fifth and seventh companies, second battalion, with Sub-Lieutenants Calder, Gratton, and Wallace, were attached to the pontoon train. The royal staff corps also accompanied it. Both corps assisted in the formation of bridges for the passage of the army. Carrying the pontoons down the steep banks of the Esla was an arduous service, but the bridge was thrown across the river with promptitude. Without loss or material casualty, the companies reached Vittoria, but were not present at the battle. At Zamora and Toro parties were left to construct earthworks for cover in the event of a retreat. Others stationed on the Douro and the Esla, guarded and used the flying bridges over those rivers whenever required by the troops.

The eighth company, second battalion, with Sub-Lieutenant Turner, was attached to the light division and encamped with the 43rd regiment. At night, while the Toro bridge was still burning, the company repaired the broken arch with ladders, trees, and planks, under the direction of Lieutenant Edward Matson, R.E.,[194] and was present at the battle of Vittoria on the 21st June, but not actively engaged. One private was severely wounded; and Sub-Lieutenant Turner received three shots about his person, but remained unhurt.

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Footnote 194:

Sir W. Napier, in his ‘Peninsular War,’ attributes, by mistake, this
service to Lieutenant G. Pringle, R.E.

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At the blockade of Pampeluna, from 25th June to 1st November, a detachment of twelve sappers and miners was employed and superintended the working parties under the direction of Major Goldfinch, royal engineers. Private James Napier was killed.

The seventh company first battalion, with Sub-Lieutenant Calder, attached to the corps of the army under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, was present at the operations in the Pyrenees, including the actions at Maya and Roncesvalles.

Under Lieutenant Peter Wright of the engineers, this company, assisted by working parties from the line, erected several musket-proof stockade-redoubts on the summits of the ridges in the neighbourhood of Roncesvalles; and as the weather was extremely cold, accompanied with rain and sometimes snow, the interior was so constructed as to serve the purpose of a barrack to shelter a garrison of about 200 men. Young trees were found in great abundance on the mountain sides, which were sawn in two for the work, and “the berms were filled up with a triangle of earth,” to prevent the enemy creeping up the slopes and firing into the loop-holes. Attention was also paid to providing the troops with sufficient sustenance and the means of defence for a fortnight. Water was obtained from a cask sunk in the centre of the stockade, and an ample supply of loaded shells was procured from a foundry in the neighbourhood, to roll down the mountain should the enemy attempt to pass at its base, or to hurl into the ditch should he assail the garrison. The stockades were also provided with small ordnance when the situation required a more powerful armament.[195]

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Footnote 195:

Manuscript, Royal Engineer Establishment. The model in the Model Room
at Brompton, showing the details of one of the stockades, was made
under the direction of Sub-Lieutenant Calder.

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The fifth, seventh, and eighth companies, second battalion, and detachments of the sixth and seventh companies, first battalion, were present at the siege of San Sebastian from the 11th July to the 8th September. The second company, second battalion, joined there on the 20th August from England, and was the first company in the corps that appeared in the scarlet uniform. All the men composing it had been instructed at Chatham, and were derisively styled “Pasley’s cadets.” The greatest number at the siege counted five Sub-Lieutenants—Gratton, Stratton, Turner, Wallace, and Johnson, and 305 non-commissioned officers and men. The eighth company, second battalion, with Lieutenant Turner, was posted on the Chofre hills, and the other companies on the isthmus. The men were divided into three reliefs; each relief was on duty eight hours, but when the works required to be pressed, the periods of rest were shortened to meet the emergency. The sub-lieutenants acted as assistant engineers. A large party of the corps did duty in the park, and the remainder were employed as overseers of the working parties. They also had to place the gabions, fascines, platforms, &c., open and repair the embrasures, and execute all services requiring more than ordinary skill, such as commencing the saps and leading their progress. In the early part of the siege the batteries and communications were wholly constructed by the sappers; but from the 16th July, these services, except in occasional instances of difficulty and danger, were performed by the line.

In both assaults parties of the corps assisted in carrying and placing the ladders for the stormers; others bore axes, crowbars, and intrenching tools. In the second assault it is recorded, that the party with picks and shovels “long persevered, with cool intrepidity, to form cover on the face of the breaches, but in vain.” The assault, however, ultimately succeeded. As well in the trenches as at the stormings, the sappers and miners distinguished themselves by their usefulness, intelligence, and gallantry.[196]

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Footnote 196:

Sir Thomas Graham, in ‘Wellington Dispatches,’ vi., p. 650, edit.
1845. Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ ii., p. 391, 2nd edit.; and Pasley’s
‘Elementary Fortification,’ note D, p. ix., vol. 1.

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Here may be given a little incident to show how cool were the sappers in carrying on their duties. Colonel Pasley has stated that “several of the embrasures of the breaching battery were cut in broad daylight, under fire, by a party of the corps under Lieutenant E. Matson, R.E., after the guns in a part of the battery previously finished, had actually opened against the fortress.”[197]

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Footnote 197:

Pasley’s ‘Operations of a Siege,’ ii., p. 246, note.

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Another instance is equally worthy of notice. “At one time,” according to Major Reid, “the trunk of a large poplar tree completely stopped the progress of the men and defied all their efforts to move it, until a daring sapper gallantly jumping from the trench, stood exposed until he moved it from the head of the sap, and returned without being wounded.”[198]

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Footnote 198:

‘Instructions for the Defence of Fortresses,’ translated by Major
Reid, R.E., 1823, p. 20.

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Striking instances of individual exploit follow, which are creditable to the soldiers whose names are associated with their performance. Sergeants William Powis and John Davis accompanied the first assault. Forced down the breach with the retreating stormers, they perceived Captain G. G. Lewis, R.E., lying badly wounded exposed to the enemy’s fire; and Davis, who but a few moments before had been wounded in the arm, returned with Powis to the breach and carried off their officer to the trenches. In effecting this gallant and humane act, Davis was a second time struck by a musket-ball, through which he lost an eye. By Major Pasley he was reported to be “a man of extraordinary merit and abilities, and a most skilful and ingenious artificer.”[199]

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Footnote 199:

From his perfect knowledge of the duties of field engineering, he was
known among his comrades by the title of “Sap Major.”

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No less distinguished was private Hugh Borland at the second storming. In placing his ladders he discovered that they were likely to become useless, from the joints being insecure, and while in the act of binding the ends together with his braces—an act of supererogation which the service scarcely contemplated—a ball pierced the root of his tongue and killed him.

Santa Clara, a rocky island off St. Sebastian, had been taken, and it was necessary to communicate with the officer of engineers there on a matter of great importance. It being broad daylight, no boat could venture across the bay without the certainty of being sunk. Corporal Thomas Evans therefore volunteered to execute the service. He immediately stripped himself, tied his cap round his neck with the despatch in it, and plunging into the stream, performed, under fire from the castle, this gallant exploit unscathed. The distance to the island was nearly a mile, and he returned with an answer in about an hour.

The casualties at the siege were as follows:—

At the sortie—one killed; private James Hicks: three taken
prisoners,[200] one of whom, private Owen Connor, was wounded.

In the trenches—four killed; second-corporals Findlay McDonald and
Daniel Niblock, and privates Thomas Penhorwood and Peter Milne;
Sub-Lieutenant Turner, wounded.

First storm—five killed; privates Samuel Clarke, James Dunn, William
Cormack, Jonathan Millar, and James Morris: one died of wounds,
private Stephen Teaff.

Second storm—four killed; second-corporal Henry Logan, privates
Peter Walsh, John Flannagan, and Hugh Borland: twenty-nine
wounded, of whom one died, second-corporal William Dodds.

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Footnote 200:

Corporal Charles Ford was one of the prisoners. He was of a
respectable family, and had a brother a clergyman in the Church of
England, presiding over the cure of the parish of Kilbeaconty in
Ireland. In an article in the ‘United Service Journal,’ headed,
“Captivity in San Sebastian,” Captain Harry Jones, R.E., who also had
been taken prisoner, alludes to this non-commissioned officer. “In the
course of the day,” he says, “I was asked whether I would like to
speak to a corporal of sappers, who had been made a prisoner during
the sortie. I was delighted at the prospect of seeing one of my old
friends, but was greatly astonished, in the afternoon, by seeing a
fine tall young man, a stranger, walking into the ward, dressed in a
red jacket. He was the first sapper I had seen in the new uniform, as
blue was the colour worn when I was taken prisoner. Upon inquiring
when he joined the army from England, he replied, 'Yesterday morning.
I was put on duty in the trenches last night, and was shortly
afterwards brought into the town by the enemy.'”—‘United Service
Journal,’ 1, 1841, p. 198.

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Correct particulars of the wounded from the opening of the operations until the last assault cannot be obtained. The three prisoners taken at the sortie were returned to the corps on the 8th September. Not allowed, during their confinement, to throw up cover for their own safety, they were exposed in the castle, in the yard of the magazine, to all the fury of the siege.

On the removal of the troops from St. Sebastian, the fifth company, second battalion, was left at the fortress. Under the orders of Captain Frank Stanway, royal engineers, it superintended a body of Spanish soldiers in reforming and restoring the fortifications. The company continued so employed for nearly five months after the abdication of Napoleon, and returned to Woolwich in September, 1814.

The remaining four companies moved with Lord Wellington’s army, having in charge the stores and _matériel_ of the department. On the arrival of the pontoon train at Passages, a strong detachment of the corps was placed under the direction of Lieutenant Piper, R.E., to assist in the formation of the required bridges.

In the passage of the Bidassoa on the 7 th October, the sappers threw a pontoon bridge across the river near Irun. It was soon afterwards carried away by the tide; but, on being recovered, was speedily replaced.

About three miles higher up the river, at the foot of the Pyrenees, they also constructed a trestle bridge with a roadway of sleepers, covered by fascines and earth, under Captain Dickens, R.E. This bridge also was washed away by the violence of the current, and with it privates Owen Connor and John Nowlan, who at the time, were under the superstructure, fastening ropes from the land to the trestles to give stability to the bridge. Both these intrepid bridgemen, after a hard struggle, gained the shore.

The second company, second battalion, under Captain Pitts of the corps, was present in the action at Vera, and afterwards threw up a line of breastworks at the gorge of one of the passes through the mountains, and constructed several other works about the position.

At the battle of Nivelle, on the 10th of November, the four companies above mentioned were present but not actively engaged. Two or three small parties of the corps, however, had the honour of leading a strong force of the 27th regiment to the storming of a strong redoubt, under Lieutenant George West, R.E. They took with them long sand-bags, filled at the instant with fern, which they threw into the ditch; and jumping upon them, sprang to the parapet and entered the redoubt. Lance-corporal Edward Councill of the corps, led one of the detachments to the storm and dashed into the works with the foremost soldier, who was a sergeant of the 27th regiment.

On the 11th November the second company, second battalion, threw a trestle bridge across the Nivelle, below Sarre, constructed from materials obtained from a farmhouse, under the direction of Captain Pitts and Sub-Lieutenant Stratton.

The seventh company, second battalion, being detached to Socoa, to arrange the hawser bridge for the passage of the Adour, the three remaining companies were present at the battle of the Nive, and the actions in front of Bayonne, from the 9th to 13th December. For the passage of the _corps d’armée_ under Marshal Beresford and Sir Rowland Hill, the companies threw two bridges at Ustaritz, and repaired the shattered arches of another bridge at that place and one at Cambo. The first bridge thrown was made of pontoons under Captain Boteler, R.E., in which private William Dowling distinguished himself by gallantly swimming across the river with the sheer line, and securing it to a picket on the enemy’s side. When striking home his stake, he drew the fire of some French sentinels upon him, but returned unhurt. The second bridge resting upon eleven bays, was made by the second company, second battalion, under Sub-Lieutenant Stratton, directed by Captain Henderson, R.E., and formed from chance materials collected in the wood and the village. During the operations, another bridge was thrown by the sappers over a deep stream with a rapid current, beyond the Nive, and was formed of wine pipes and barrels, strengthened by two skiffs or chasse-marées, with a hastily-prepared roadway laid upon them.

Previous to the battle a few expert swimmers were selected to find the fords of the Nive, and to note the exact rising and falling of the tides. Corporal Alexander Jamieson and private William Braid found the three fords near Cambo. In the passage of the troops these two men, by appointment, guided the columns of Generals Byng and Barnes across the stream; and for their coolness and steadiness in executing the service, were rewarded by the Generals. The former received two doubloons, the latter one.

The four companies with the army were reinforced in November, by forty-nine men under Captain English, royal engineers, from England. On the 30th of the month, the total number in the south of France, at St. Sebastian, and Alicant, reached six sub-lieutenants and about 500 non-commissioned officers and men. The number sick in the different hospitals amounted to between sixty and seventy. The casualties during the year were, killed fifteen, deaths thirty-three, missing five, and invalided thirteen. The head-quarters of the companies with Lord Wellington’s army, were at Cambo, Ustaritz, and St. Jean de Luz, but the men were greatly dispersed and variously employed, in making redoubts, batteries, and entrenchments, and in the preparation of materials and appliances for the formation of bridges.

During the year the recruiting was carried on with great spirit. The number received by enlistment was 431, and by transfer from the militia 334. Six sub-lieutenants, one sergeant-major, and 144 non-commissioned officers and men, were employed on this service in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The corps now counted a total strength of 2,373, leaving still to complete it to the establishment 484 men.

1814.

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

Late in December, 1813, sergeant Richard Mackenzie with six invalids and their wives and children, embarked at Lisbon on board the ‘Queen’ transport. Separated during a tempest from the convoy, the vessel, after a dangerous passage, arrived off Falmouth, and entering the harbour, anchored at about half a mile from the shore to await a fair wind to sail for Portsmouth. On the 14th of January, at night, a violent storm arose; and early next morning, the ship, snapping her cable and parting her anchor, drifted on the rocks off Trefusis Point near Falmouth. The unabated severity of the wind kept the vessel constantly bumping upon the rocks, and in a short time the ‘Queen’ broke amidships. As long as practicable the crew and passengers clung to the gunwale and rigging, but the long-boat being at last disengaged, numbers crowded into it. Sergeant Mackenzie was about the last who entered it; and even then, though the chance of life was hanging upon the prompt effort of the moment, he caught up a poor orphan boy shivering from cold and fright, and pushing him into the vessel _first_, followed after, and wedged himself in the bow of the boat. Without rudder or oars, the boat, scarcely able to hold the weight she bore, drifted to sea. Masses of the wreck floated about her and beat against her sides. Shock succeeding shock soon loosened her timbers, and the bottom giving way, the human freightage was cast into the sea. In less than two hours, out of 336 souls, 195 were lost. Two of the number with three women and their children, belonged to the party of sappers. One was private James M’Carthy, who had gained the shore on a fragment of the wreck, and plunging into the sea again, perished in an heroic attempt to save the wife of a comrade.

The commissions of Adjutant and Quartermaster, hitherto held by one officer, were separated in February; and quarter-master-sergeant James Galloway was promoted to be Quartermaster from the 1st of that month, with the pay of 8_s._ a-day, and 18_l._ 5_s._ a year for a servant. His dress and appointments were assimilated to those of the subaltern officers of royal engineers, with the exception of the head-dress, which was a cocked-hat, plumed with flowing cock-tail feathers. On the 20th of December following, the Adjutant, Captain Rice Jones, was advanced to the staff appointment of Brigade-Major; which rank has ever since been borne by the chief executive officer of the corps.

After the passage of the Bidassoa, Captain Wells, with two men of the eighth company second battalion, marched to Santona to co-operate with the Gallican, or fourth Spanish army, under General Barco. The historian of the Peninsular war has stated, that _some_ sappers and miners were sent to quicken the operations of the Spanish officers, but a French writer, erring beyond all excuse, has magnified the _two_ men into a _whole_ battalion.[201] Under their captain, they superintended the prosecution of various field-works; and on account of his usefulness and intelligence, lance-corporal Hay was styled assistant engineer. Several villages in the vicinity of Santona were called upon to supply a certain number of scaling ladders for the operation, and corporal Hay, furnished with authority from General Barco, visited those localities, superintended the making of the ladders, and had them conveyed to the park. Both the sappers were present in the escalade of the fort of Puntal on the 13th February, and at the storming of the town and fort of Laredo on the 21st. Throughout the operations, corporal Hay was particularly noticed for his ability and zeal. Santona ultimately capitulated, and the two sappers rejoined their company in front of Bayonne.

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Footnote 201:

Napier’s ‘Peninsular War,’ vi., p. 502, edit. 1840.

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Early in January ten artificers of the seventh company, first battalion, assisted by fifty Spanish soldiers, threw a very efficient bridge across a loop of the river Nive at Itzassu near Cambo, under the direction of Sub-Lieutenant Calder. The bridge was constructed by order of General Hill at the request of the Spanish General Morillo, to establish a communication with the rear and a brigade of his division which had not crossed the stream. A ferry had formerly existed at the spot by means of a small canoe which the enemy, in his retreat, had taken the precaution to sink. It was recovered by the sappers and turned to advantage in the operation. The site chosen for the bridge was accessible and convenient, being directly in rear of the division. For some distance along the shore the north side had a perpendicular face, high and craggy with projecting ledges; whilst the opposite shore was low and shingly, and inundated in wet weather. The bed of the river was rocky and uneven, showing such abrupt variations in its level, that piles or trestles could not be used for the formation. In some places the depth was 15 feet; in others not more than 4 or 5. Boats or craft of any kind could not be procured, and the expedient of a bridge of casks was therefore resorted to.

Barrels for the purpose—four feet long by two feet at the swell—were obtained from a wine manufactory in the village; chestnut planking, nails and bolts from different houses; trees from the adjacent plantations to form the framework and shore piles; and bars of iron grating, taken from the vaults of a country churchyard, were converted into a chain of 20-inch links, and stretched across the river. This chain was fastened at one bank to a huge fragment of rock, brought from a distance by means of a hastily-constructed sledge; and at the other it was held firmly by one of the ordinary methods. The number of casks employed in the formation were thirty-five, arranged in five floats or piers of seven each, two piers being lashed together at each end of the raft, 18 feet from either shore, and one in the centre with a space between of 12 feet from either float. The piers were fixed in strong cradles or frames, and by simple connections each maintained a reciprocal bearing upon the other. From the low or south shore the raft was approached by a jetty 120 feet in length, resting on young trees driven into the soil in a double row, 8 feet wide and 10 feet asunder; and from the other by a wide gangway supported on a sunken rock, which was heightened to the required altitude by a pier of stout masonry built at the moment. The superstructure consisted of planks secured to frames, and also to baulks longitudinally laid on the floats; and when all was completed, the bridge was held in position by means of poles, 8 feet in length, running from the piers and linking to small double chains, which again were moored to the great chain cable by a series of stout hanger hooks. The slopes to the raft at each end were easy and natural, and contrivances were effected which permitted the bridge to ride with the tide without disarrangement. On both sides a hand-rail was placed for the convenience of the troops, which gave it a neat and finished appearance; and though executed with the hurry which a pressing movement demanded, it was so firmly put together that it fulfilled in every respect the objects of its construction, without even sustaining a break from the force of the current or fury of the storm.[202]

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Footnote 202:

Manuscript, Royal Engineer Establishment. The details of the
construction of this bridge have been considered sufficiently
interesting to be preserved in a model at the royal engineer
establishment at Chatham.

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The above company with its sub-lieutenant, and the eighth company, second battalion, struck camp in February and moved forward with the army. The former company was attached to the column under Sir Rowland Hill, and the latter to Marshal Beresford’s. Both companies, numbering 130 of all ranks, were present at the battle of Orthes on the 27th of February, but their services in the action were of little importance. A portion of the companies being attached to the pontoon train, assisted to re-establish the ruined bridge of Berenx during the night of the 26th; and on the 27th, a small party under sergeant Thomas Stephens, who had distinguished himself in the demolition of the flood-gates at Flushing, destroyed a barricade in front of a bridge which led into the town of Orthes. In this little rencontre, sergeant Ninian Melville and private Samuel Needham were wounded, the latter mortally.

These companies, still attached to the advancing army, aided in forming the several pontoon and flying bridges required for the passage of the troops, both on the march from Orthes and just before the battle of Toulouse. In this action, fought on the 10th of April, the two companies were present, but were not required to perform any service worthy of especial remark.

During the winter of 1813, the seventh company, second battalion with Sub-Lieutenant Wallace, was detached to St. Jean de Luz to prepare a bridge for the passage of the Adour; and early in January, Sub-Lieutenant Stratton with the second company, second battalion, was sent to Socoa to hasten its completion. These companies with the artificers of the guards and staff corps, and large parties of the royal navy, worked incessantly at the undertaking under the direction of the engineers.[203]

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Footnote 203:

Jones’s ‘Sieges’ ii., p. 107, 2nd edit.

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In the middle of February, the necessary apparatus and stores being ready and every preliminary arrangement completed, the greater part of the two companies were shipped on board the chasse-marées, intended to form the bridge. In two vessels six sappers were embarked, in others three, but the majority carried only two, who were destined to cut “away the waste boards to render the deck level, and also to spike down the timber, prepared with grooves to receive the cables, the moment the vessels should be moored.”[204]

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Footnote 204:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ p. 109.

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On the night of the 22nd, the flotilla put to sea and encountered some stormy weather on the passage. In the afternoon of the 24th it neared the Adour, when the sea, tossed into foaming waves by a driving gale, wore an aspect of peculiar danger. A high and angry surf being on the bar and the tide furious, many of the native crews ran below in terror and refused to navigate their boats. Several fell on their knees and spent much of their energy in earnest devotion. At length, urged to their duty by the angry threats of the engineers and sappers, most of the masters yielded a reluctant but desperate submission, and steering into the channel, one vessel after another cut through the frightful breakers and soon gained the position chosen for the bridge.

This hazardous service was not accomplished without loss to the sappers. In an instant, one vessel was engulphed on the bar, and second-corporal Patrick Power and private John M‘Knight, perished. Another vessel had safely outridden the surf, but was overtaken by an overwhelming wave that dashed her to pieces. In this wreck, corporal James Gorman and private William Bunn were washed to the shore, and after several hours' insensibility and exposure to cold, reached their company in a miserable plight, the next morning.

In forming the bridge, the chasse-marées were anchored head and stern, about 30 feet apart; and as soon as the washboards were cut away and the grooved timbers spiked to the decks, the cables were stretched across the vessels from shore to shore, and the planks or superstructure quickly lashed to them. On the right bank of the river, the ends of the cables were secured to some 18-pounder guns half buried in the marsh; and on the left bank were hauled taut by mechanical ingenuity. From the violent heaving of the vessels it was unsafe to fix the planks in the intervals between them, but there were not wanting men who thought less of the danger than the prompt execution of the service. With skill equal to their assiduity, the companies laboured in completing the bridge, even working throughout the night, and the structure was fully ready for the passage of the troops on the 26th of February.[205] The boom was laid by the navy and completed soon after the bridge.

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Footnote 205:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ ii., p. 118, 2nd edit. As a reward for their
services, most of the men that belonged to the flotilla received a
guinea and a pair of shoes.

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Admiral Penrose, in his despatch of 25th February, thus notices the services of the sappers, “That so many chasse-marées ventured the experiment, I attribute to their having been one or more sappers placed in each of them, and a captain and eight lieutenants of engineers commanding them in divisions.”[206] The Admiral further stated, “that the sappers not only proved themselves good soldiers, but intrepid seamen.”[207] Major Todd of the royal staff corps, who assisted in planning the bridge, informed the author of the ‘Peninsular War,’ “that he found the soldiers, with minds quickened by the wider range and variety of knowledge attendant on their service, more ready of resource, and their efforts, combined by a more regular discipline, of more avail, with less loss of time, than the irregular activity of the seamen.”[208] Honourable mention is also made by the great historian of the intrepidity of the sappers; and in winding up his remarks upon the operation, he writes, “this stupendous undertaking must always rank amongst the prodigies of war.”[209]

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Footnote 206:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ ii., p. 117, 2nd edit.

Footnote 207:

Colonel Harry D. Jones, royal engineers.

Footnote 208:

Napier’s ‘Peninsular War,’ vi., p. 542, edit. 1840.

Footnote 209:

Ibid., p. 543.

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The subsequent charge of the bridge being confided to the royal staff corps under Major Todd, the two companies of sappers were removed to Bayonne to take part in the siege. Including the second company fourth battalion with sub-lieutenant Millar under Captain Blanshard, R.E., which arrived from Portsmouth in the ‘Warren’ transport, and landed at Passages on the 16th March, the royal engineers had collected for the blockade four sub-lieutenants—Wallace, Gratton, Stratton, and Millar—and a body of nearly four hundred well-trained sappers and miners,[210] who were chiefly employed as overseers in conducting the execution of the required fieldworks. A strong party was on duty in the trenches when the sortie was made from the citadel on the night of the 14th April, but no casualties among the men were reported. Throughout the operations the sappers and miners, from their skill and exertions, gave the highest satisfaction to their officers.

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Footnote 210:

Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ ii., p. 126, 2nd edit.

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At Bayonne the last blow of the war was struck; for as soon as the news of Napoleon’s abdication had arrived, hostilities ceased. In May the five companies at Bayonne and Toulouse marched from their respective cantonments to Blanquefort and Bordeaux, where they were encamped for a few weeks awaiting the general evacuation of the country. An expedition being ordered to proceed to North America, the second company fourth battalion embarked with it on the 27th May; and the other four companies, viz., the seventh of the first battalion and the second, seventh, and eighth of the second battalion, sailed from Poulliac on the 22nd June, and landed at Portsmouth the 10th and 14th July, leaving fifty-five men sick in France. The casualties in these companies for the half year were thirty deaths and one missing.

The sixth company second battalion was removed to Italy in April. The sixth company first battalion from Cadiz, and the fifth company second battalion from St. Sebastian, sailed from Spain the latter end of August, and arrived at Woolwich early in September. These two companies were with the last troops which left the Peninsula after the close of the war.

The fourth company second battalion, counting eighty-two men, with Sub-Lieutenant T. Adamson under Captain R. Thomson, left Margate with the expedition under Sir Thomas Graham, and landed at Williamstadt the 18th December, 1813. There the company suffered loss by the accidental burning of the barracks in which it was quartered. After removing the stores from the shipping, parties were employed in preparing fascines and gabions, in bridge-making, constructing a landing place of faggots for the disembarkation of the cavalry, and in removing the platforms and heavy mortars from the ramparts at Williamstadt for carriage to Merxam.

These services being accomplished, the company was distributed to Klundert, Groat Zundert, Zandaarbuiten, Tholen, Steenbergen, and Fort Frederic near Lille. Among other duties the detachment at Zandaarbuiten formed, in a very expeditious manner, a bridge of country-boats over the river Maerk under two young lieutenants of engineers, which served for the conveyance of the heaviest artillery. The boats were of different shapes and sizes, collected for the occasion, and the materials for the superstructure were of irregular scantling, partly collected in the neighbourhood and partly felled on the spot.[211] At Tholen a corporal and eight men under Lieutenant Eyre, R.E., attached to the Prussians, built a battery on the bank of the river for the protection of a flying bridge; and at Fort Frederic a party restored a battery for two guns, which afterwards held an unequal contest with a French eighty-four gun ship, and prevented her proceeding to Bergen-op-Zoom with provisions. No less than forty-one, including the commander, were killed and wounded on board the man-of-war, while the casualties at the battery only amounted to one killed and two wounded.

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Footnote 211:

Pasley’s ‘Elementary Fortification,’ note C, p. viii., vol. 1.

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