LARBOARD AND STARBOARD SIDES OF A SPANISH BATTERING-SHIP.(From on Old Engraving.)Page 70.
LARBOARD AND STARBOARD SIDES OF A SPANISH BATTERING-SHIP.(From on Old Engraving.)Page 70.
LARBOARD AND STARBOARD SIDES OF A SPANISH BATTERING-SHIP.
(From on Old Engraving.)
Page 70.
a stern rebuke. He therefore opened upon them a cannonade of red-hot shot, which in a few hours involved the greater portion in flames.
This contemptuous demonstration so annoyed the Duke of Crillon, that, though his lines were incomplete, he ordered a general bombardment. It began with a volley of about sixty shells from the mortar boats; then all his artillery, numbering one hundred and seventy pieces of heavy calibre, joined in thefeu d’enfer; while nine line-of-battle ships hurled their broadsides as they sailed along the sea-front. The attack was repeated on the following day, in the hope apparently of terrifying the garrison by revealing the formidable nature of the preparations made for their destruction. While the air echoed with the hurtling missiles, the astonished soldiers saw through the occasional gaps in the smoke-clouds a vast press of sail coming up from the westward; it proved to be the combined fleets of France and Spain. Such an accumulation of force, by land and sea, could not fail to surprise, though it did not alarm, Elliot and his veterans. The armada, beneath which, to use the expression of an old poet, “the waters groaned,” consisted of 47 sail of the line, and 10 battering-ships, regardedas impregnable and invincible, carrying 212 guns, besides frigates, xebecs, bomb-ketches, cutters, gun and mortar boats, and smaller craft for disembarking men. On the land-side the batteries and works were of the most formidable character, mounting 200 pieces of heavy ordnance, and protected by an army of nearly 40,000 men, under the command of a general of experience and ability, and animated by the presence of two princes of the royal blood of France, with other eminent personages, and many of the Spanish grandees. No such naval and military combination had been attempted in Europe since the days of the Armada; and it was not unnatural that the Spaniards should anticipate from it a decisive triumph. They seem, however, to have put their faith more particularly in the battering-ships; and so great an enthusiasm was excited, that to hint at their possible failure was considered a mark of treason.
General Elliot was in nowise shaken from his usual calmness by this tremendous display of force. His garrison at this time (September 1782) numbered about 7500 men, of whom 400 were in hospital. These he distributed so as to guard most efficiently the points at which the enemy’s attack would probablybe delivered. The fortifications were carefully examined, and additional works erected wherever they could be of service. Though the Spaniards poured on the garrison an incessant storm of shot and shell, the governor, in order to husband his resources, permitted but little firing in return, except when it was necessary to silence or destroy some particular battery. The troops under his command were few in number, it is true, but they were veterans, inured to war, who had been long accustomed to the effects of artillery, and gradually prepared to meet the supreme ordeal that now awaited them. His subordinates were officers of approved courage, intelligence, and discretion; eminent “for all the accomplishments of their profession,” and enjoying the entire confidence of the men under their orders. And the spirits of all were animated by the ease with which former attacks had been defeated, as well as by the success attending some recent experiments of firing red-hot shot, which, on this occasion, would enable them, they hoped, “to bring their labours to a period, and relieve them from the tedious cruelty of another vexatious blockade.”
In critical circumstances, men, the sagest and coolest, are apt to be influenced by trivial incidents,which they convert into good or evil omens; and such is especially the case when life and liberty are the stakes for which they are about to contend. As the British soldiers, from the summit of their famous Rock, looked out upon the crowd of masts which gathered in the Bay, it was generally reported among them that their arrival was occasioned by the pressure of a British fleet in hot pursuit. Suddenly a loud cheer was raised, and all exclaimed that the British admiral was certainly in their rear, as a flag for a fleet in sight was waving, they said, from the Signal-post. Hope beamed radiant on every countenance; but a revulsion succeeded when the signal suddenly disappeared. The guard at the signal-station afterwards informed them that the supposed flag was reallyan eagle, which, after several evolutions, had perched for a few minutes on the westernmost pole, and then spread its broad wings to the eastward. Though less superstitious, says the historian gravely, than the ancient Romans, many could not help accepting it as a favourable omen; and the prognostication, happily, was fully justified by the events of the succeeding day.
The grand attack took place on the 13th ofSeptember. Shortly after nine in the morning, the ten battering-ships took up their several positions in admirable order: the admiral, in a two-decker, dropping anchor about nine hundred yards off the King’s Bastion, and the others successively falling into their places to the right and left of the flag-ships; the most distant being about 1100 or 1200 yards from the garrison. General Elliot reserved his fire until the first ship anchored, and then began a well-directed cannonade. The enemy occupied about ten minutes in their manœuvres; after which they returned our fire, and the stress of battle waxed fast and furious. The air was darkened by the clouds of smoke which rose from shore and sea, while the rattle of shot and the whirr of shells seemed to silence the very echoes. Four hundred pieces of the heaviest artillery were discharging their murderous missiles simultaneously, until one might have thought that all the thunders of heaven were let loose.
After a few hours’ cannonade, our soldiers found that the battering-ships were fully as formidable as they had been represented. “Our heaviest shells,” says Drinkwater, “often rebounded from their tops, whilst the 32-pound shot seemed incapable of makingany visible impression upon their hulls. Frequently we flattered ourselves they were on fire; but no sooner did any smoke appear, than, with admirable intrepidity, men were observed applying water, from their engines within, to those places whence the smoke issued. These circumstances, with the prodigious cannonade which they maintained, gave us reason to imagine that the attack would not be so soon decided as, from our success against their land-batteries, we had fondly expected. Even the artillery themselves, at this period, had their doubts of the effect of the red-hot shot, which began to be used about twelve, but were not general till between one and two o’clock.” The ordnance portable furnaces for heating shot being too few to supply the demands of the artillery when the battle reached its culmination, huge fires of wood were kindled in the corners of the nearest buildings, in which the shot were speedily prepared for use. Our soldiers jocularly termed these supplies “roasted potatoes.”
At first the enemy’s cannon were too much elevated, but about noon they obtained the range, and their firing was powerful, and skilfully directed. The casualties then became numerous, particularly on those batteries north of the King’s Bastion, which
VIEW OF THE GRAND ATTACK UPON GIBRALTAR, SEPTEMBER 13, 1782.(From a Drawing by Lieutenant Sandby of the 12th Regiment.)Page 84.
VIEW OF THE GRAND ATTACK UPON GIBRALTAR, SEPTEMBER 13, 1782.(From a Drawing by Lieutenant Sandby of the 12th Regiment.)Page 84.
VIEW OF THE GRAND ATTACK UPON GIBRALTAR, SEPTEMBER 13, 1782.
(From a Drawing by Lieutenant Sandby of the 12th Regiment.)
Page 84.
were exposed to a cross-fire from the Spanish land-fortifications. Our gunners, however, disregarded this attack, and concentrated all their efforts on the battering-ships, the steady opposition which they offered inciting the British to a boundless resentment. The fire of the garrison increased, if that were possible, in intensity. Every man served the guns as if he were aiming at some personal enemy. From all quarters rained incessant showers of hot balls, carcasses, and shells of every description; and as the masts of several of the ships went by the board, and the rigging of all hung in shreds and tatters, the hopes of the garrison began to revive.
For some hours, however, it was difficult to say whether the attack or the defence would prevail. The wonderful construction of the floating batteries apparently defied the heaviest ordnance that the garrison could bring to bear upon them. In the afternoon, however, a considerable change was apparent, and the besieged observed with delight that the flag-ship and the admiral’s second were on fire, and that on board several of the vessels an evident confusion prevailed. Their cannonade slackened rapidly towards the evening; and about seven or eight o’clock it almost ceased. Varioussignals were thrown up from the suffering ships, and rockets were discharged to inform their friends of their distressed condition.
As night came on, says Botta, the flames defied the most anxious efforts of the Spaniards to extinguish them; and the disorder which reigned on board the burning batteries soon communicated itself to the whole line. To the diminished fire of the enemy the garrison returned a cannonade which seemed actually to increase in rapidity and power. It was maintained throughout the night. At one in the morning the two ships already named were in flames. The others speedily caught fire, either from the effects of the red-hot balls, or, as the Spaniards pretended, because they set them on fire, when they had lost all hope of saving them. The light and glow of this tremendous conflagration illuminated the entire Bay, as well as the sombre Rock, and assisted the British gunners to point their artillery with the utmost precision. The trouble and despair of the enemy now reached a climax. The Spaniards hastened to send off all their boats, which surrounded the floating batteries, in order to save their crews; an operation accomplished with much coolness and courage, in spite of the peril attending it.For not only was it necessary to brave the British fire, but to incur the greatest risk in approaching the burning vessels. Never, perhaps, says a writer, did a more horrible or deplorable spectacle present itself to the eyes of men. The deep darkness that shrouded the distant earth and sea, vividly contrasted with the columns of flame that rose upwards from the blazing wrecks; and the shrieks of the victims were heard even above the roar of the incessant cannonade.
Brigadier Curtis, who, with his brigade, was encamped at Europa, finding that the moment had come for bringing into operation his little flotilla of twelve gunboats, each of which carried an 18 or 24-pounder in its bow, drew them up in such a manner as to take the floating batteries in flank. This cross-fire compelled the relieving boats to retire. As morning dawned, Curtis pushed forward, and captured a couple of launches loaded with men. These boats attempted to escape, but surrendered after a shot had killed and wounded several on board. The horror of the scene was now almost too great to witness. The daylight showed a piteous spectacle: in the midst of the flames appeared the unhappy Spaniards, who with loud shrieks imploredcompassion, or flung themselves into the waves. Some, on the point of drowning, clung with frenzied grasp to the sides of the burning ships, or to any floating spar which came within their reach, while, in the depth of their despair, they implored the compassion and succour of the victors.
Moved by a sight so painful, the English, says Botta, listened to humanity alone, and ceasing their fire, occupied themselves solely with the rescue of their enemies; a proceeding the more generous on their part, as it exposed them to the most imminent hazard. Curtis, in particular, covered himself with glory, and freely risked his own life to save that of his fellow-creatures. He led his boats up to the burning, smoking hulks, to assist the poor wretches on the point of falling victims to the fire or the waves. Climbing on board the battering-ships, with his own hands he helped down the Spaniards, who loaded him with words of gratitude. While he and his men were thus generously engaged, the flames reached the magazine of one of the battering-ships to the northward, and about five o’clock it blew up, with a crash which seemed to shake the very Rock. A quarter of an hour later, another, in the centre of the line, met with a similar fate. The burningwreck of the latter was hurled in every direction, and involved the British gunboats in serious danger; one was sunk, but happily the crew were saved. A hole was forced through the bottom of the brigadier’s boat, his coxswain killed, the strokesman wounded, and for some time the crew were enveloped in a cloud of smoke. After this incident the brigadier deemed it prudent to retire under cover of the Rock, to avoid the peril arising from further explosions. On his return, however, he approached two more of the ships, and finally landed nine officers, two priests, and three hundred and thirty-four private soldiers and seamen, all Spaniards,—who, with one officer and eleven Frenchmen who had “floated in” the preceding evening, brought up the total number saved to three hundred and fifty-seven. Many of these, who were severely, and some even dreadfully wounded, were immediately removed to the hospital, and attended with the utmost carefulness.
Notwithstanding all the heroic efforts of Curtis and his men, on board the burning ships many victims were left to perish. “The scene at this time was as affecting as during the previous hostilities it had been terrible and tremendous. Men crying from amidst the flames for pity andassistance; others, on board those ships where the fire had made little progress, imploring relief with the most expressive gestures and signs of despair; whilst several, equally exposed to the dangers of the opposite element, trusted themselves, on various parts of the wreck, to the chance of paddling ashore.”
A Spanish felucca, probably with the view of taking on board these unfortunates, approached from the shore; but the garrison suspecting her of a design to set on fire one of the comparatively uninjured battering-ships, by a brisk cannonade compelled her to retreat. Of the six ships still in flames, three blew up before eleven o’clock; the other three burned down to the water’s edge, the magazines having been wetted by the enemy before they abandoned them. On one of the latter waved the admiral’s flag; it perished with the ship. The besieged hoped to secure the remaining two batteries as trophies of their victory; but one of them suddenly burst out into flames, and blew up with a tremendous crash; and as it was found impracticable to preserve the other, it was destroyed in the afternoon. Such was the fate of the “floating castles” which had been constructed with somuch labour, and from which so different a result had been anticipated.
It is interesting to remember that during the heat of the struggle General Elliot’s post was the King’s Bastion; and it is a curious circumstance, not unworthy of record, that when General Boyd, some years previously, had laid the first stone, with the usual ceremonies, he observed,—“This is the first stone of a work which I name the ‘King’s Bastion.’ May it be as gallantly defended as I know it will be ably executed; and may I live to see it resist the united efforts of France and Spain.”
Of the courage, patience, and perseverance displayed by the garrison during this arduous struggle, as of the skill and energy of the artillerists, it is impossible to speak in terms of too high praise; and the name of “Gibraltar” is rightly blazoned as a title to honour on the flags of the regiments who served in the famous siege.
The enemy’s principal objects of attack are recorded to have been the King’s Bastion, and the line of fortifications extending to the north of the Orange Bastion. To silence the former importantpost, they employed their largest ships, while the others endeavoured to effect a breach in the curtain extending to Montague’s Bastion. Had they succeeded in this attempt, their grenadiers, it is said, were to have stormed the garrison under cover of the combined fleets. The prisoners inveighed against their officers for having described the floating batteries as invulnerable, and promised that ten sail of the line should support them, as well as all the gun and mortar boats. They had been led to believe that the garrison would not be able to discharge many rounds of hot balls; their astonishment, therefore, was very great, when they found them discharged with as much ease and regularity as cold shot. The loss sustained by the Spaniards was never officially made known; but a moderate estimate puts it at 2000 killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. On the other hand, the casualties of the garrison were very few, and it is surprising that so tremendous a cannonade should have entailed so small a loss of life. The number of the killed was sixteen only; eighteen officers, sergeants, and rank and file were wounded. The damage done to the fortifications was equally inconsiderable, and, by the activity of the artillery, the whole of the sea-line, before night on the 14th, was repaired and put in complete order.
While the garrison could bring to bear no more than 80 cannon, 7 mortars, and 9 howitzers, the enemy employed no fewer than 328 pieces of heavy ordnance. The English gunners expended upwards of 8300 rounds, more than half of which were hot shot, and 716 barrels of powder. Of the quantity of ammunition wasted by the enemy, we possess no particulars. The following is given by Drinkwater as a correct list of those unfortunate battering-ships which so fatally belied the hopes of their inventors:[3]—
ThePastora:21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men,—Rear-Admiral Buonaventura Moreno.TheTailla Piedra:21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men,—Prince of Nassau-Sieghen.ThePaula Prima:21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men,—Don Gayetana Langara.El Rosario:19 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 700 men,—Don Francisco Xavier Munos.TheSan Christoval:18 guns in use, 10 in reserve 650 men,—Don Frederico Gravino.ThePrincipe Carlos:11 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 400 men,—Don Antonio Basurta.TheSan Juan:9 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 340 men,—Don Joseph Angeler.ThePaula Secunda:9 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 340 men,—Don Pablo de Cosa.TheSanta Anna:7 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 300 men,—Don Joseph Goicocchea.Los Dolores:6 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 250 men,—Don Pedro Sanchez.
ThePastora:21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men,—Rear-Admiral Buonaventura Moreno.
TheTailla Piedra:21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men,—Prince of Nassau-Sieghen.
ThePaula Prima:21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men,—Don Gayetana Langara.
El Rosario:19 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 700 men,—Don Francisco Xavier Munos.
TheSan Christoval:18 guns in use, 10 in reserve 650 men,—Don Frederico Gravino.
ThePrincipe Carlos:11 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 400 men,—Don Antonio Basurta.
TheSan Juan:9 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 340 men,—Don Joseph Angeler.
ThePaula Secunda:9 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 340 men,—Don Pablo de Cosa.
TheSanta Anna:7 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 300 men,—Don Joseph Goicocchea.
Los Dolores:6 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 250 men,—Don Pedro Sanchez.
In all, ten ships (five two-deckers, and five one-decker), with 142 guns in use, 70 in reserve, and 5260 men.
A movement took place among the enemy, on the afternoon of the 14th, which gave rise to apprehensions that the attack was to be renewed. The batteries, therefore, were kept fully manned, and the shot-heating furnaces ready lighted, in case that an attempt should be made to storm the fortress. It afterwards transpired that such a project had been spoken of, but put aside by the Duke of
THE KING’S BASTION, AND OLD MOORISH CASTLE.Page 93.
THE KING’S BASTION, AND OLD MOORISH CASTLE.Page 93.
THE KING’S BASTION, AND OLD MOORISH CASTLE.
Page 93.
Crillon, who was of opinion that it could end only in the destruction of both the army and the fleet.
They contented themselves, therefore, with maintaining a vigorous cannonade from the land-works, and during the remainder of the month they expended daily from 1000 to 2000 rounds. General Elliot, meanwhile, having had convincing proof of the efficacy of red-hot shot, caused kilns for heating them to be erected at various convenient points. They were large enough to heat about one hundred balls in an hour and a quarter; and were a great improvement on the furnaces and grates used for the same purpose on the memorable 13th of September.
During the following days a westerly wind prevailed, and numerous dead bodies were thrown ashore, as also many articles of more or less value which had floated about the Bay after the destruction of the battering-ships. Among these were large wax tapers, such as are used on the Roman Catholic altars; cases of salt provisions; and ammunition boxes, each containing ten rounds of powder in linen cartridges. From the captured wrecks which did not blow up were obtained considerable pieces of cedar and mahogany; and “the governor,” it is recorded, “had a handsome set oftables made for the Convent (the holes in the cedar, where the fire had penetrated, being filled up with sound wood, cut in various figures, forming a beautiful contrast with the burned part), which will serve as a standing monument of the transactions of that glorious day.”
WHILE the veterans under Elliot were thus nobly maintaining the honour of the English flag on the beleaguered Rock, it must not be supposed that England was unmindful of them, or ignorant of the danger in which they were involved. The British Government hastened their preparations for the relief of the garrison, and assembled as speedily as possible a powerful fleet, under Admiral Lord Howe,—afterwards the hero of the 1st of June,—to escort a large convoy containing fresh troops and provisions. When off the Portuguese coast, Lord Howe received information of Elliot’s gallant repulse of the combined French and Spanish attack, and proceeded at once to enter the Gibraltar Strait. The enemy, whose only hope of success lay in reducing the place by famine,endeavoured to prevent this relief from reaching the garrison; and, for this purpose, assembled a powerful fleet in the Bay. On the night of the 10th of October, however, a violent storm arose, which greatly distressed the French and Spanish vessels. At daybreak, the garrison discovered that a Spanish two-decker had been driven close in-shore. She made every effort to stand out into the Bay, but in vain: grounding under the guns of the garrison, she was compelled to strike her flag. The British immediately took possession of her, and she proved to be theSan Miguel, of 72 guns, commanded by Don Juan Moreno.
This was not the only disaster experienced by the hostile fleet. Another ship had gone ashore near the great magazine. A French ship of the line had lost foremast and bowsprit; and three or four others had driven nearly within range of the guns of the Rock. While thus disordered, Lord Howe’s fleet could be seen approaching in order of battle, together with the convoy under its protection; but this, with the exception of three or four transports, was swept by the current to the east. The Spanish admiral, however, offered no opposition to their passage, though he had still forty-two sail ofthe line, and Lord Howe had only thirty-four; but he seemed to pluck up resolution when they began to work their way back to Gibraltar with an easterly wind, and endeavoured to intercept them. Lord Howe’s object was not to fight a greatly superior force, but to get his transports into Gibraltar. By a series of skilful manœuvres, this he accomplished, while engaging the attention of the combined fleet for a couple of days; after which he set sail, and stood away to the westward. Drinkwater remarks that it was no very pleasing prospect for a British garrison to behold a British fleet retiring before the enemy. But Lord Howe’s strategy had been perfectly successful; and it would have been exceedingly imprudent for him in the circumstances to have risked a decisive action. In every respect the enemy had the advantage; and though we may feel persuaded that the result would have been creditable to the British arms, yet the loss of life would have been disproportionate to any advantage that could be gained.
The blockade, after this event, was virtually at an end. Not one cruiser, says Drinkwater, was now to be seen in the Strait or to the eastward, andfew vessels of force were stationed at Cabrita Point. The enemy seemed to have abandoned all idea of recovering the Rock, either by force or stratagem. It is true that they maintained a desultory cannonade, but it gradually diminished, and did no execution. On the 23rd a couple of boats arrived from Portugal, bringing intelligence of an action between the British and combined fleets, which had ended to the advantage of the former.
“Though every appearance in their camp indicated that they had given up all hopes of subduing the garrison by force, their parties on the isthmus continued to be very busy, and some evenings they made additions of traverses to their works. Heavy timber was also brought forward to the parallel, but for what purpose we could not then imagine. Their advance parties had likewise the audacity frequently to approach half-way upon the causeway from Bay-side; but the artillery having orders to scour the gardens and the neighbourhood of Bay-side with grape from the Old Mole, their curiosity in a short time was pretty well cooled. Toward the close of this month the enemy’s fire became more faint and ill-directed, whilst ours was more animated and effectual. Our engineers continued to be constantlyengaged. The rebuilding of the whole flank of the Prince of Orange’s Bastion, one hundred and twenty feet in length, with solid masonry (which was now nearly finished), in the face of such powerful artillery, can scarcely be paralleled in any siege.”
On the 2nd of February 1783, the governor received formal despatches from the Duke of Crillon that the preliminaries of a general peace had been signed between Great Britain, France, and Spain. When the boats bearing the intelligence met the British, the Spaniards rose up with “transports of joy,” exclaiming, “We are all friends!” The garrison were scarcely less delighted at the prospect of rest after so long and arduous a struggle, though they felt some anxiety as to the fate of the fortress which they had defended with such pertinacity. On the 5th the port was declared open. Thenceforth provisions every day became more abundant, and the soldiers were able to regale themselves with their accustomed fare. Towards the end of the month the governor and the duke exchanged visits. When the latter appeared within the walls of the fortress, the British soldiery saluted him with a general cheer, whereat his grace was exceedingly confused,until it was explained to him that such was the British method of honouring a gallant opponent.
The garrison officers were duly introduced to the duke, who received them with characteristic courtesy. To the artillery he said: “Gentlemen, I would rather see you here as friends than on your batteries as enemies; where,” he added, “you never spared me.” Proceeding to inspect the batteries on the heights, he remarked on the formidable nature of the lower defences, and in reference to the Old Mole Battery observed, “that had not his judgment been overruled, he should have directed all his efforts against that part of the garrison.” Entering the Faringdon, now called the Windsor Battery, he was surprised at its extent, which at that time was between 500 and 600 feet. “Such works,” he exclaimed, “are worthy of the Romans!” After dinner, at which the generals and brigadiers in the garrison, with their suites, were present, he passed through the camp to Europa, each regiment turning out and giving three cheers. “The youth and good appearance of the troops,” we are told, “much engaged his attention.” At his departure in the evening he was saluted with seventeen cannon. His horse started at the flash, and almost threw himfrom his saddle; but he escaped without injury. In the course of the conversation at dinner, he warmly complimented the governor and garrison on their brilliant defence; adding that he had exerted himself to the utmost of his abilities, and though he had not been successful, yet he was happy in having his sovereign’s approval of his conduct.
On the 23rd of April, St. George’s Day, the King’s Bastion, of which our readers have heard so much, became the scene of an unusual and a striking ceremony. The king having conferred upon General Elliot the well-deserved Order of the Bath, and having intimated his pleasure that Lieutenant-General Boyd should act as his representative in investing him with the insignia, it was resolved that the occasion should be celebrated with as much pomp as could be commanded. The troops being previously assembled on the Red Sands, Sir George officially communicated to them the unanimous approval of their heroic services expressed by both Houses of Parliament, and then proceeded:—
“No army has ever been rewarded by higher national honours; and it is well known how great, universal, and spontaneous were the rejoicingsthroughout the kingdom upon the news of your success. These must not only give you inexpressible pleasure, but afford matter of triumph to your dearest friends and latest posterity. As a further proof how just your title is to such flattering distinctions at home, rest assured, from undoubted authority, that the nations in Europe and other parts are struck with admiration of your gallant behaviour; even our late resolute and determined antagonists do not scruple to bestow the commendations due to such valour and perseverance.
“I now most warmly congratulate you on these merited and brilliant testimonies of approbation, amidst such numerous, such exalted tokens of applause; and forgive me, faithful companions, if I humbly crave your acceptance of my grateful acknowledgments. I only presume to ask this favour, as having been a constant witness of your cheerful submission to the greatest hardships, your matchless spirit and exertions, and on all occasions your heroic contempt of every danger.”
The soldiers then fired a grandfeu de joie, each discharge being heralded by a volley of twenty-one guns, and the ceremony concluded with three such cheers as only British troops can give. Afterwards thegovernor and his staff and the field-officers withdrew, and the detachments marched into town, lining the streets from the Convent to the King’s Bastion.
At about half-past eleven the procession began to move in the following order:—
Marshal.Band of the 12th Regiment, playing “See theConquering Hero Comes.”Artillery.Quarter-Master-General, and Adjutant-General, Town-Major andDeputy, with other Staff of the Garrison.First Division of Field-Officers, youngest first.Band of the 58th Regiment.The Commissioner’s Secretary, bearing on a crimson velvet cushionthe Commission.The Commissioner’s Aides-de-Camp.Lieutenant-General Boyd, the King’s Commissioner.The Governor’s Secretary, bearing on a crimson velvet cushion theInsignia of the Order of the Bath.The Governor’s Aides-de-Camp as Esquires.General Elliot, the Knight Elect, supported by Generals de la Motteand Green.Aides-de-Camp to the Major-Generals.Major-General Picton.His Aide-de-Camp.The Brigadier-Generals, eldest first.Band—De la Motte’s.Second Division of Field-Officers, eldest first.Band of the 56th Regiment.The Grenadiers of the Garrison.
Such was the procession; and interesting it must have been to see those bronzed and battle-worn heroes, who had but just been released from the toilsand anxieties of a protracted siege, assembled in recognition of the honour paid by their sovereign to the commander whose resolution, devotion, and military capacity had so largely conduced to bring about a successful result.
The following particulars are borrowed from Drinkwater, whose minute history of the siege is necessarily the authority to which all later writers resort:—
No compliment was paid to the knight elect, but as the commissioner passed, each regiment, with the officers, saluted. When the procession arrived at the bastion, the general and field-officers placed themselves on each side of a throne that had been erected for the purpose, the artillery formed around, and the grenadiers fronting the bastion, along the line-wall. The proper reverences being made to the vacant throne, the commissioner desired his secretary to read the commission; which being done, he addressed the knight elect in a short complimentary speech, taking the ribbon at the conclusion and placing it over the governor’s shoulder, who inclined a little for that purpose. Three reverences were then a second time made, and each took his seat on a crimson velvet chair on each side of the throne, thecommissioner sitting on the right hand. The governor was no sooner invested than the band struck up “God save the King.” The grenadiers fired a volley, and a grand discharge of one hundred and sixty pieces of cannon was fired from the sea-line. The detachments were afterwards dismissed, and each non-commissioned officer and private received a pound of fresh beef and a quart of wine. The generals, with their suites, and the field-officers, dined at the Convent. In the evening the bastion was illuminated with coloured lamps and transparencies; and at nine o’clock a display of fireworks took place from the north and south bastions, in the presence of Sir George Augustus Elliot and his principal officers.
Thus, in rejoicings and ceremonial display, terminated the labours of the veterans of Gibraltar.
Calculating from the commencement of the blockade to the cessation of hostilities, the siege lasted three years, seven months, and twelve days; and throughout that long period the garrison had been kept continually on the watch, enjoying no interval of repose, exposed to the attacks of a powerful enemy, worn with fatigue, and harassed by all the incidents of a protracted blockade. They had sometimes failed in the strict requirements of discipline, and acts of plunder and violence had occasionally tarnished the lustre of their laurels; but in courage and patience and intrepidity they had never been wanting, and theirmoraleimproved as the siege advanced. The stir and tumult of the battle-field, with its brilliant episodes of valour, its charges of cavalry, its encounter of bayonets, its individual deeds of heroism, and its exhibition of strategical genius, necessarily lend themselves more readily to the description of the chronicler, and exercise a more powerful influence on the imagination of the reader, than the monotonous incidents of a siege. It is difficult to invest with any attraction the daily record of garrison work; and the reader has no means of forming an idea of its arduous character. He wearies of bastions and batteries; of rounds of shot and shell expended; of labours the issue of which is not apparent; of demonstrations which are seemingly all in vain. Yet it is certain that a campaign in the open field, or a great battle like that of Waterloo, makes less demand on the best qualities of a soldier than a protracted siege. The long roll of victories of the British army is emblazoned with names which will never be forgottenso long as England retains her imperial spirit or her pride in the past, and among those names, if loyalty and true bravery and heroic endurance are to receive their just recompense, conspicuous and thrice-honoured will always shine that of Gibraltar! And the true Englishman, remembering how steadfastly Elliot and his veterans maintained their hold upon the Rock, will sympathize with the generous sentiment of the poet, when he says,—
“Nobly, nobly Cape St. Vincent to the north-west died away;Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay,Bluish ’mid the burning water, full in face Trafalgar lay;In the dimmest north-east distance dawned Gibraltar grand and gray;‘Here, and here, did England help me; how can I help England?’—say;Whoso turns as I, this evening, turn to God to praise and pray,While Jove’s planet rises yonder, silent over Africa.”
“Nobly, nobly Cape St. Vincent to the north-west died away;Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay,Bluish ’mid the burning water, full in face Trafalgar lay;In the dimmest north-east distance dawned Gibraltar grand and gray;‘Here, and here, did England help me; how can I help England?’—say;Whoso turns as I, this evening, turn to God to praise and pray,While Jove’s planet rises yonder, silent over Africa.”
“Nobly, nobly Cape St. Vincent to the north-west died away;Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay,Bluish ’mid the burning water, full in face Trafalgar lay;In the dimmest north-east distance dawned Gibraltar grand and gray;‘Here, and here, did England help me; how can I help England?’—say;Whoso turns as I, this evening, turn to God to praise and pray,While Jove’s planet rises yonder, silent over Africa.”
Since the Great Siege no attempt has been made to wrest the Rock from our firm British grasp; nor are we likely to surrender it, holding it as we do in the interests of Europe. Its military importance may be less than it was in the days before steam became one of the instruments of war; but still it is one of the keys of the Mediterranean, which we cannot afford to see in the hands of any other Power. We do not hold it selfishly, being concerned, not to shut up the Mediterranean, but to keep it free for the commerce of every nation. Moreover, it is a symbol of power which we cannot relinquish without disgrace.
In the later annals of Gibraltar the chief event is the mutiny of the garrison, under the governorship of the Duke of Kent, the father of the Queen.
The young prince, when he entered on a military career, was sent to Hanover to learn the duties of his profession, and there he acquired that scrupulous regard for the smallest externals and that “pipe-clayed pedantry” which, before the days of Moltke, were the vice of the German army. Afterwards he was sent to Geneva, where he soon fell into debt, owing to the meagre allowance which he received from his royal father. Returning to England, in the hope that George III. would assist, he was ordered to start in twenty-four hours for Gibraltar, with the rank and position of colonel of the 7th Fusiliers. His rigid disciplinarian habits here made him unpopular with the common soldiers, who, however, at that time contained a large percentage of desperate and dissolute characters; but by the officers of the garrison he was as much esteemed onaccount of his excellent qualities as he was respected on account of his rank.
In the course of his professional career the Duke of Kent served in Nova Scotia, and in 1799 acted as commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America. Afterwards he was again sent to Gibraltar—this time as governor. The garrison was in a state of open insubordination, and had acquired an ill repute for its drunkenness and profligacy. To cleanse this Augean stable, a kind of military Hercules was required; and the duke was chosen, partly on account of his rank, partly on account of his known strictness as a disciplinarian. He went, carrying with him the most positive instructions, and relying upon promises of hearty support from the British Cabinet. A more unpleasant task seldom fell to a prince of the royal blood, for it could not be efficiently discharged without loss of popularity. The duke, however, set to work most vigorously. He abolished one half the wine-shops; established a regimental canteen; ordered out the troops for proper periods of drill and exercise; and punished laxity and disobedience with an unfaltering hand. In the course of his reforms he found occasion to deal severely with some of the officers, and there isreason to fear that they did their utmost to foster a spirit of revenge among the private soldiers. However this may be, a mutiny broke out, with the object, it is said, of compelling the duke to retire on board ship, and leave the garrison; though it may well be doubted whether the mutineers, in the intoxication of success, would not have gone further, and perhaps have stained their hands with blood. Happily, a part of the garrison stood firm; the mutineers disagreed among themselves; the outbreak proved a failure; and the ringleaders were arrested and tried by court-martial. Ten were sentenced to death, but only three were executed.
In less than three months all symptoms of disaffection subsided; the influence of a steady discipline was felt in the improved condition of the soldiers, morally and physically; and the duke was entitled to pride himself on the full success with which he had accomplished the difficult duty imposed upon him. At this moment, to his utter surprise, he was suddenly dismissed from his post, and recalled to England, to give an explanation of his conduct. The prince obeyed these ungracious orders; and on his return, finding himself unable to obtain a distinct statement of any charges made against him,demanded a court-martial. This was curtly refused, and the duke involved in suspicions which he was not allowed to dissipate. That he was unfairly treated cannot be doubted; he was made the victim of personal and political intrigues. He had the satisfaction, however, of receiving from the inhabitants of Gibraltar a testimonial of attachment and respect, valued at one thousand guineas; while the British adjutant-general pronounced his “military code of instruction for the garrison of Gibraltar” an “enlightened and excellent system.”
Of late years the command at Gibraltar has usually been given to some officer of rank who has distinguished himself by his services in the field. It has been held by such men as Sir William Gom and Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars; and at the present time (1879) it is in the hands of one of our most distinguished soldiers, Lord Napier of Magdala. As the first of the line of strongholds which guard our highway to India, it still possesses and must always possess a value and a significance; and it is well that such a post should be reserved for a veteran general, who, in case of need, will know how to utilise its capabilities and maintain its reputation for impregnability.
THE Atlantic is connected with the Mediterranean, as everybody knows, by a narrow channel of irregular configuration, the Strait of Gibraltar, which flows between the Rock of Gibraltar on the north, and the Rock of Ceuta, backed by the strange mass of Mons Abyla, or Apes’ Hill, on the south.
Gibraltar was anciently called Calpe; and Calpe and Abyla were the legendaryHerculis Columnæ, or “Pillars of Hercules,” which marked the limit of the mythical hero’s conquests, and formed the supposed boundary of the Western world. The fable originated doubtlessly in the fact that the sun, or Hercules, to the navigators of the Mediterranean,
[Larger view][Largest view]
[Larger view][Largest view]
sets behind these imposing promontories, dipping below “the rim of ocean” as if to disappear for ever!
The first Greek author who mentions the famous Pillars is the poet Pindar. He speaks of them as the point to which the renown of his heroes extended, beyond which no mortal, whether wise or foolish, could advance. As thus in his 3rd Olympic:—