Our Sailors Part 7

Soon after the army reached Balaclava, portions of the crews of most of the larger ships had been sent on sh.o.r.e, at first simply to a.s.sist in garrisoning the heights above Balaclava, and placed under the command of Captain Lushington. The brigade was soon afterwards increased by a party under Lord John Hay, of the _Wasp_. Both officers and men, however, very soon volunteered for other services, and in every post of danger there was some portion of the naval brigade to be found. It was here that Captain William Peel first showed the gallantry and judgment for which he became so conspicuous. He took command of one of the advanced batteries before Sebastopol, which did good service. During the first six days of the bombardment, ending October 22nd, the naval brigade lost twelve killed and sixty-six wounded.

From the first, the conduct of all the men, though placed in a novel situation, was excellent, and the gallantry of officers and men conspicuous. From being near Balaclava, and from being supplied with tents and clothing and food from their ships, they had not the same dreadful hardships to endure as the soldiers; they yet sought out danger, and as readily exposed their lives on sh.o.r.e as they are accustomed to do at sea.

Among all the acts exhibiting gallantry, coolness, and judgment, one performed by Mr N.W. Hewett, then acting mate of HMS _Beagle_, stands conspicuous.

On the 26th of October 1854, the day after the battle of Balaclava, he was in charge of the right Lancaster battery before Sebastopol, with a party of bluejackets under him, when the Russians made a desperate sortie from the walls against Sir De Lacy Evans' division. The advance of the Russians placed the gun in great jeopardy; and their a.s.sault was so vigorous that their skirmishers had got within 300 yards of the battery, and were pouring in a sharp fire from their Minie rifles. By some misapprehension the word was pa.s.sed to spike the gun and retreat; but Mr Hewett, taking upon himself to disregard what he heard, answered, "That order did not come from Captain Lushington, and till he directs us to desert the gun, we'll not move." This proceeding was hazardous, for at the time the gun was in an ineffectual position, in consequence of the enemy advancing on its flank. With the a.s.sistance, however, of the seamen with him, and of some soldiers who came to his aid, he got round the gun into position; then, blowing away the parapet of the battery, he opened on the advancing column of the Russians so effective a fire, that they were completely staggered, and their progress was stopped. Seconded by his companions, whom his spirit animated, again and again he discharged his death-dealing gun, till the enemy gave way and retreated.

A story is current that he actually did receive an order to abandon the gun, and that afterwards, while he was reflecting what might be the consequences of having disobeyed it, his commanding officer inquired, "Mr Hewett, were you not ordered to spike that gun and retreat?"

"I was, sir."

"And you chose to disregard the order, and fight the gun?"

"I did, sir; but I am sorry if--"

"Well, then, you are promoted." Sir Stephen Lushington brought Mr Hewett's conduct before the commander-in-chief, and he received from the Admiralty, as a reward, his lieutenancy, which he so well merited. At the battle of Inkermann his bravery was again conspicuous, and he was soon afterwards appointed to the command of the _Beagle_ gunboat in the Sea of Azov.

A LIVE Sh.e.l.l AMONG THE POWDER.

Captain Peel of the _Leander_ repeated the exploit of Mr Lucas, already related, under even more exciting circ.u.mstances.

He was in command of a battery outside Sebastopol on the 18th of October, when a live sh.e.l.l with fuse burning fell among the powder cases outside the magazine. Had it exploded, it would in any case have created great havoc, but there was the additional risk that it might explode the magazine, in which case everyone near would have been killed. The moment it fell, Captain Peel seized it and threw it over the parapet, which was not quite the same as throwing it overboard at sea, for it exploded as it fell, but happily, being outside the battery, caused no mischief.

Captain Peel distinguished himself on many occasions during the war. At the battle of Inkermann he joined the officers of the Grenadier Guards, and a.s.sisted them in defending and saving the colours of the regiment when hard-pressed in the Sandbag Battery. At the a.s.sault of the Redan he volunteered to lead the ladder-party, and carried the first ladder until disabled by a severe wound.

EDWARD SAINT JOHN DANIELS.

This young officer, a midshipman of Captain Peel's ship, took example from the conduct of his n.o.ble chief, and vied with him in feats of daring. In Captain Peel's battery there was a call for volunteers to bring in powder to the battery from a waggon in a very exposed situation, a shot having disabled the horses. Instantly Mr Daniels sprang forward, and, followed by others, performed the dangerous service. At the battle of Inkermann he followed his captain as his aide-de-camp through the terrific fire of that eventful day. Again, on the 18th of June, he accompanied Captain Peel when he led the ladder-party in the a.s.sault on the Redan. Together they approached the deadly breach, when Captain Peel was struck in the arm, and might have bled to death, had not young Daniels remained by him on the glacis under a terrific fire, and with admirable devotion and perfect coolness applied a tourniquet to his arm, not leaving him till he was able to gain a less exposed position.

BRAVERY OF FIVE SEAMEN AT INKERMANN.

During the battle of Inkermann, while the right Lancaster battery was fiercely attacked by the Russians, five gallant bluejackets, picking up the muskets of the disabled soldiers, mounted the banquette, and, under a fierce fire, kept rapidly discharging them, while their comrades below loaded and handed them up others as fast as they could, contributing much to keep the enemy at bay. Two were killed, or died from their wounds; but the three survivors, Thomas Reeve, James Gorman, and Mark Scholefield, obtained the Victoria Cross.

COMMANDER ROBY.

John Taylor, captain of the forecastle, and Henry Curtis, boatswain's mate, were in the advance sap opposite the Redan on 18th June 1855, immediately after the a.s.sault on Sebastopol, when they observed a soldier of the 57th Regiment, who had been shot through both legs, sitting up, and calling for help. Lieutenant D'Aeth, of HMS _Sidou_, was also of the party, but died of cholera soon after. The brave seamen could not bear to see their poor countryman thus perishing, and, though the Redan was still keeping up a tremendous fire, climbing over the breastwork of the sap, Captain Roby and the two seamen proceeded upwards of seventy yards across the open s.p.a.ce towards the salient angle of the Redan, and, at the great risk of their own lives, lifted up the wounded soldier and bore him to a place of safety.

John Sullivan, boatswain's mate, while serving in an advanced battery, on the 10th of April 1855, showed the most perfect coolness and bravery, by going forward and placing a flag on a mound in an exposed situation, under a heavy fire, to enable another battery, Number 5, to open fire on a concealed Russian battery, which was doing great execution on the British advanced works. Commander Kennedy, commanding the battery, spoke in the highest terms of Sullivan's bravery on that and on other occasions, and recommended him for promotion.

DASHING SERVICE OF JOHN SHEPHERD, A BOATSWAIN.

While he was boatswain's mate of the _Saint Jean d'Acre_, and serving in the naval brigade, he volunteered to proceed in a punt, during a dark night, into the harbour of Sebastopol, and to endeavour, with an apparatus he carried, to blow up one of the Russian line-of-battle ships. He reached the harbour, and had got past the enemy's steamboat at the entrance of Careening Bay, when he was prevented from proceeding farther by a long line of boats, which were carrying troops from the south to the north side of Sebastopol. On the 16th of August, he again made the attempt from the side of Careening Bay, then in possession of the French.

The above are only some few of the gallant deeds done by the officers and men of the naval brigade before Sebastopol. All, from Sir Stephen Lushington downwards to the youngest midshipman or ship-boy, did their duty right n.o.bly; and though the bluejackets of England have no cause, as a rule, to complain that their gallantry is not sufficiently appreciated, perhaps on this occasion the service they rendered to their country is scarcely understood as it should be. On the disastrous a.s.sault on the Redan, 18th of June 1855, the naval brigade consisted of four parties of sixty men each, one for each column; but two only went out, the other two being kept in reserve. They were told off to carry scaling-ladders and wool-bags, and to place them for the storming-parties. They were led by Captain Peel. Severely they suffered. Out of the two small parties, fourteen were killed and forty-seven were wounded.

When the soldiers, overwhelmed by the terrific fire of the batteries, retreated towards the trenches, several officers and men were left behind wounded, and endured fearful agonies for hours, without a drop of water or a cheering voice to comfort them. Among others, Lieutenant Ermiston lay for five hours under the abattis of the Redan, and was reported dead; but he had only a contusion of the knee, and, watching his opportunity, he got safely away.

Mr Kennedy, mate of the _London_, was also left behind, close to the abattis, and, after several hours of painful suspense, concealed among the dead, he rolled himself over and over down the declivity, and managed to get into the trench.

Lieutenant Kidd came in all safe, and was receiving the congratulations of a brother officer, when he saw a wounded soldier lying out in the open. He at once exclaimed, "We must go and save him!" and leaped over the parapet in order to do so. He had scarcely proceeded one yard on his errand of mercy, when he was shot through the breast, and died an hour afterwards.

Lieutenant Dalyell, of the _Leander_, had his left arm shattered by a grape-shot, and underwent amputation.

Lieutenant Cave, and Mr Wood, midshipman, were also wounded; as was Captain Peel, as has been described. Indeed, of the whole detachment, only three officers came out of action untouched.

Not only were the subordinate officers of the navy thus conspicuously brave and active, but a sailor was from the first one of the ruling spirits of the campaign. To Sir Edmund Lyons did England owe, in an incalculable degree, the success which attended our arms on the sh.o.r.es of the Euxine.

He it was who organised and conducted the expedition to the Crimea, prepared the means of landing, and superintended all so closely, that "in his eagerness he left but six inches between the keel of his n.o.ble ship and the ground below it." Not only in matters connected with the transport of the troops, but also in every subsequent stage of the expedition, Sir Edmund Lyons gave the most valuable a.s.sistance to Lord Raglan and his successors. How, at the battle of the Alma, he supported the French army by bringing the guns of his ship to bear on the left flank of the Russians, and what a conspicuous part he took with the _Agamemnon_ on the first bombardment of Sebastopol, are incidents well-known at the time. But he had more to do in the way of advice and of encouragement than the public ever heard of. Day after day he might have been seen on his grey pony, hovering about the English lines on the heights of Sebastopol; he was present at Balaclava, and he was present at Inkermann. It was thus that, having conveyed our soldiers to the Crimea, he saved them from being compelled to leave it, baffled, if not vanquished. A day or two after the battle of Balaclava, Sir Edmund Lyons, on landing, learnt to his astonishment that orders had been issued to the naval brigade to embark as many guns as possible during the day, for Balaclava was to be evacuated at night,--of course, surrendering to the enemy the greater portion of the guns. On his own responsibility, the admiral at once put a stop to the execution of this order, and went in search of Lord Raglan, who, it appears, had come to the resolution of abandoning Balaclava, in consequence of the opinion expressed by the engineers, that, after the loss of these redoubts in our rear lately held by the Turks, we ought to concentrate our strength on the plateau. Taking Lord Raglan aside, Sir Edmund Lyons strongly opposed these views. He pointed out that the advanced position in the valley in front of which these redoubts were situated had been originally occupied in accordance with the advice of those very officers, and in opposition to that of Sir Edmund, who had suggested at the time that they were covering too much ground. He argued that, as the engineers had been mistaken once, they might be wrong again; and he clinched his argument by saying that, whatever might be the value of his opinion in such a case, he was at all events ent.i.tled to p.r.o.nounce an opinion as to the insufficiency of Kamiesch as a harbour for the allied armies; that this harbour was utterly inadequate; and that the abandonment of Balaclava meant the evacuation of the Crimea in a week.

After some conversation, Lord Raglan said, "Well, you were right before, and this time I will act upon your advice." Sir Edmund obtained leave to countermand the orders which had been issued; Balaclava was maintained as our base of operations, and the army was saved from what might have proved an inglorious defeat, if not a terrible disaster.

This, as we have said, was perhaps the most important of all the services rendered by the admiral, and he well deserved the peerage which it earned for him.

Sir Stephen Lushington, having attained his rank as admiral in July 1855, was succeeded in the command of the naval brigade by Captain the Honourable Henry Keppel, whose gallantry on various occasions had been especially conspicuous. At length, on the 19th September, Sebastopol having fallen, the gallant naval brigade was disbanded,--the jovial bluejackets leaving Balaclava to return to their ships, amid the enthusiastic cheers of their red-coated comrades, among whom but one feeling was universal, that of regret at losing the company of so merry a band. Not a soldier but admired their bravery, their invariable good-humour, and marvellous apt.i.tude in adapting themselves to whatever circ.u.mstances they might fall in with.

EXPEDITION TO KERTCH.

The importance of securing the outlet to the Sea of Azov had long been seen; and on the 22nd of May an expedition sailed from Balaclava, under the joint command of Sir George Brown and General D'Autemarre, for the purpose of capturing the fortresses of Kertch and Yenikale, which command its entrance. They had under them 15,000 troops and five batteries of artillery. Admirals Lyons and Bruat accompanied the expedition. While the troops were landed some miles to the south of Kertch, the squadron proceeded on to attack it in front; but, before they arrived, the Russians, believing that they could not defend the place, evacuated it, as did most of the inhabitants. Yenikale was deserted in the same manner, and the armies and fleets achieved a bloodless victory, while the smaller steamers of the squadron were sent off up the Sea of Azov in chase of the Russian men-of-war.

A light squadron of English and French vessels was placed under the command of Captain Lyons of the _Miranda_, with directions to capture and destroy all the ships, magazines, and stores of provisions belonging to the enemy. The larger quant.i.ty of provisions for the Russian army in the Crimea had hitherto been conveyed across the Sea of Azov. In a few days the _Miranda_ and her consorts destroyed four months' rations for 100,000 men, and not less than 300 Russian vessels.

This work was ably done, and individuals often even thus had opportunities of exhibiting their gallantry. Arriving off Genitchi on 29th May 1855, with his little squadron, Captain Lyons sent Commander Craufurd with a flag of truce, to demand the surrender of a number of vessels which were seen, as well as government stores. This demand being refused, the squadron opened fire on the town, while the boats under the command of Lieutenant Mackenzie pulled in, and set fire to seventy-three vessels and some corn-stores on sh.o.r.e. The wind shifting, there seemed a probability that the more distant vessels and stores might escape.

As the enemy had had time to make preparations, another expedition would be, it was evident, more dangerous than the first. As, however, the vessels were in a favourable position for supplying the Russian armies in the Crimea, and their destruction was of the greatest importance, Captain Lyons despatched the boats, commanded and officered as before.

Seeing that there would be great risk in landing a party in presence of a superior force out of gunshot of the ships, Lieutenant Cecil Buckley, _Miranda_, Lieutenant Hugh Burgoyne, _Swallow_, and Mr J. Roberts, gunner of the _Ardent_, volunteered to land alone and fire the stores.

While these three gallant officers proceeded on their dangerous undertaking, Lieutenant Mackenzie pushed on under a fire of four field-guns and musketry, and destroyed the remaining vessels, the ships resuming their fire on the town. The sh.o.r.e party succeeded in reaching the stores, to which they effectually set fire. On their retreat to their boat, they were, however, very nearly cut off by a body of Cossacks who charged down on them, but they got safe on board. Though several shots struck the boats, only one man was slightly wounded.

PROCEEDINGS AT TAGANROG--3RD JUNE.

Captain Lyons arrived off this place with a large mosquito fleet of steamers, gunboats, and boats from the English and French men-of-war.

Taganrog was summoned to surrender, but the governor refused, and a brisk fire was opened on the place. In vain the enemy endeavoured to get down to the store-houses on the beach to protect them. Lieutenant Mackenzie, first of the _Miranda_, had charge of a separate division of light boats, with rockets and one gun, to cover the approach of Lieutenant Cecil Buckley, _Miranda_, who, in a four-oared gig, manned by volunteers, accompanied by Mr Henry Cooper, boatswain, repeatedly landed and fired the different stores and public buildings. This dangerous, not to say desperate, service, when carried out in a town containing upwards of 3000 troops, constantly endeavouring to prevent it, and only checked by the fire of the boats' guns, was most effectually performed.

GALLANTRY OF S. TREWAVAS, SEAMAN.

The _Beagle_, to the command of which ship Lieutenant Hewett had been appointed on the 3rd July, was off the town of Genitchi, where there was a floating bridge which it was most important to destroy, as it communicated with the town and the Arabat spit. Mr Hewett accordingly despatched his gig, under command of Mr Hayles, gunner of the _Beagle_, and paddle-box boats under Mr Martin Tracy, midshipman of the _Vesuvius_. The undertaking was one of considerable danger, for troops lined the beach not eighty yards off, and the adjacent houses were filled with riflemen, all of whom opened a hot fire on the boats. The _Beagle_ fired on them in return, as did Mr Tracy from the paddle-box boats, causing great confusion and dismay in their ranks. However, Mr Hayles pulled in, ably seconded by a seaman lent from the _Agamemnon_, Stephen Trewavas, who, though already wounded from the fire of the enemy, cut the hawsers and cast the boats adrift. Mr Hayles was also wounded. Trewavas obtained the Victoria Cross for his coolness and determination on this occasion.

The squadron continued its course round the coast, destroying fisheries, guard-houses, barracks, stores of forage and provisions, and vessels, wherever they could be found.

BRAVE DEVOTION OF F. KELLAWAY, BOATSWAIN.

The _Wrangler_, Commander Burgoyne, came off Marioupol, Sea of Azov, where some boats, fishing-stations, and haystacks were discovered across a small lake. On this, Commander Burgoyne despatched Mr Odevaine, mate, and Mr Kellaway, boatswain, to destroy them. They had nearly reached the spot, when they were fired on by a party of Russians, who suddenly rushed out from their ambush, and endeavoured to cut off their retreat. One seaman fell into the enemy's hands, but the rest of the party were making good their escape, when Mr Odevaine tripped up and fell. Mr Kellaway, believing that his commanding officer was wounded, though at the risk of his life, ran back to his rescue. While lifting him up they were surrounded by the Russians, and though the gallant boatswain made a stout resistance, they were both made prisoners and carried off. Commander Burgoyne and the other officers of the ship were witnesses of the devoted conduct of Mr Kellaway, but were unable to render them a.s.sistance.

LIEUTENANT G.F. DAY AT GENITCHI.

While Lieutenant Day was in command of the _Recruit_ he performed several very gallant acts, but none surpa.s.sed the following:--

It was important to ascertain the practicability of reaching the enemy's gun-vessels which lay within the Straits of Genitchi, close to the town.

With this object in view, Mr Day, having provided himself with a pocket-compa.s.s, went on sh.o.r.e one dark but fine night, and proceeded through the enemy's lines, traversing a distance of four or five miles, occasionally up to his knees in water, till he got within 200 yards of the vessels. From the perfect silence which reigned on board them, he was persuaded that they were without crews; and when he returned, it was with the conviction that the expedition was a feasible one. The correctness of this opinion he was induced to doubt on the following day, in consequence of the increased activity apparent in the direction of the vessels. Notwithstanding the danger he must have been aware he was running,--for it was in attempting a reconnaissance on the same ground that Captain L'Allenand, of the French steam-vessel _Monette_, lost his life,--he resolved to pay another visit to the spot. The night was squally, and he thought it wiser to take a larger circuit than before. He persevered, and gained the spot, when he ascertained that the vessels were manned, and that their crews were apparently on the alert. He decided, consequently, that it would be out of the question to make any attempt to surprise them.

CLOSELY PURSUED.