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The Romance of Modern Sieges
The Romance of Modern Sieges
The Sally from the Fort at Kumassi Led by Capt. Armitage, some two hundred loyal natives sallied forth. At their head marched the native chiefs, prominent amongst whom was the young king of Aguna. He was covered back and front with fetish charms, and on his feet were boots, and where these ended his black legs began. THE ROMANCE OF MODERN SIEGES DESCRIBING THE PERSONAL ADVENTURES, RESOURCE AND DARING OF BESIEGERS AND BESIEGED IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD BY EDWARD GILLIAT, M.A. SOMETIME MASTER AT H
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PREFACE
PREFACE
These chapters are not histories of sieges, but narratives of such incidents as occur in beleaguered cities, and illustrate human nature in some of its strangest moods. That “facts are stranger than fiction” these stories go to prove: such unexpected issues, such improbable interpositions meet us in the pages of history. What writer of fiction would dare to throw down battlements and walls by an earthquake, and represent besiegers as paralysed by religious fear? These tales are full, indeed, of
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THE ROMANCE OF MODERN SIEGES CHAPTER I SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR (1779-1782).
THE ROMANCE OF MODERN SIEGES CHAPTER I SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR (1779-1782).
The position of the Rock—State of defence—Food-supply—Rodney brings relief—Fire-ships sent in—A convoy in a fog—Heavy guns bombard the town—Watching the cannon-ball—Catalina gets no gift—One against fourteen—Red-hot shot save the day—Lord Howe to the rescue. Gibraltar! What a thrill does the very name evoke to one who knows a little of English history and England’s heroes! But to those who have the good fortune to steam in a P. and O. liner down the coast of Portugal, and catch sight of the Rock
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CHAPTER II DEFENCE OF ACRE (1799)
CHAPTER II DEFENCE OF ACRE (1799)
Jaffa stormed by Napoleon—Sir Sidney Smith hurries to Acre—Takes a convoy—How the French procured cannon-balls—The Turks fear the mines—A noisy sortie—Fourteen assaults—A Damascus blade—Seventy shells explode—Napoleon nearly killed—The siege raised—A painful retreat. Napoleon Bonaparte had crushed all opposition in Central and Southern Europe, but there was one Power which foiled him—Great Britain. The French Government compelled Spain and Holland to join in a naval war against England, but Jerv
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CHAPTER III THE WOUNDED CAPTAIN IN TALAVERA (1809)
CHAPTER III THE WOUNDED CAPTAIN IN TALAVERA (1809)
Talavera between two fires—Captain Boothby wounded—Brought into Talavera—The fear of the citizens—The surgeons’ delay—Operations without chloroform—The English retire—French troops arrive—Plunder—French officers kind, and protect Boothby—A private bent on loot beats a hasty retreat. Captain Boothby, of the Royal Engineers, left behind him a diary of his experiences in Spain during part of the Peninsular War in 1809. It will help us to understand how much suffering war inflicts, and how much pain
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CHAPTER IV THE CAPTURE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO (1812)
CHAPTER IV THE CAPTURE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO (1812)
A night march—Waiting for scaling-ladders—The assault—Ladders break—Shells and grenades—A magazine explodes—Street fighting—Drink brings disorder and plunder—Great spoil. After Talavera Sir Arthur Wellesley became Lord Wellington; he was opposed by Soult, Marmont, and Masséna. On the 1st of January Wellington crossed the Agueda, and advanced to the assault of Ciudad Rodrigo, which had to be hurried on because Marmont was advancing to its relief. Fortunately, we have descriptions from more than o
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Escalade of the Castle.
Escalade of the Castle.
General Picton with the Third Division was ordered to attack the castle by escalade. The castle was an old building on the summit of a hill about 100 feet high, on the north-east of the town. At about ten o’clock on the night of the 6th of April, 1812, the Third Division advanced in that profound silence that rendered the coming storm more terrific. Our men were not perceived until they arrived at a little river not very distant from the works, when they distinctly heard the entire line of the F
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Another Account.
Another Account.
“I was on a hill with the medical staff during the night of the assault of Badajos. For two hours we watched the fire, the bursting of shells and hand-grenades. Then the wounded began to arrive, and we were busy. “Lord Wellington rode up with his staff, and soon after a staff-officer came up at a gallop, shouting, ‘Where is Lord Wellington?’ “‘There, sir.’ “‘My lord, I am come from the breaches. The troops after repeated attempts, have failed to enter them. So many officers have fallen that the
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CHAPTER VI A PRISONER IN ST. SEBASTIAN (1813)
CHAPTER VI A PRISONER IN ST. SEBASTIAN (1813)
The coup de grâce —The hospital—A cruel order—An attempt at escape—Removed to the castle—The English at the breach—Many are wounded—French ladies sleep in the open—A vertical fire—English gunners shoot too well—A good sabre lightly won. Colonel Harvey Jones, R.E., has left us an interesting account of the siege of St. Sebastian by the British forces. The town, situated close to the French frontier, just south of the Pyrenees and by the sea, contains 10,000 inhabitants, and is built on a low peni
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CHAPTER VII JELLALABAD (1842)
CHAPTER VII JELLALABAD (1842)
Position of the town—Sale’s brigade rebuilds the defences—A sortie—Bad news—A queer noise—A ruse that did not succeed—The only survivor comes in—Story of a massacre—The earthquake—The walls are down—Are rebuilt—English magic—Pollock comes—Fight outside—The peril of Lady Sale. In November, 1841, the English Resident at the Afghan Court of Cabul was treacherously assassinated. General Elphinstone, who was left in command of the English troops, being in feeble health, attempted to leave the country
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CHAPTER VIII SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL (1854-1856)
CHAPTER VIII SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL (1854-1856)
The English land without tents—Mr. Kinglake shows off before Lord Raglan—The Alma—Strange escapes—Looted houses—Fair plunder—Balaklava Bay—Horses lost at sea—A derelict worth having—Jack very helpful—The Heavy and Light Brigades—Spies—Fraternizing. The Crimean War, fought between Russia on the one hand and England, France, Turkey, and Sardinia on the other, consisted mainly in the Siege of Sebastopol, a strong fortified port in the South of Russia. They fought ostensibly about the guardianship o
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CHAPTER IX AFTER INKERMANN (1854-55)
CHAPTER IX AFTER INKERMANN (1854-55)
Valiant deeds—Lord Raglan under fire—Tryon the best shot—A Prince’s button—A cold Christmas—Savage horses—The Mamelon redoubt—Corporal Quin—Colonel Zea. The Battle of Inkermann was fought on the 5th of November, 1854, in a thick fog. It began very early in the morning with a surprise, and developed into a series of desperate deeds of daring, of hand-to-hand fights, of despairing rallies, of desperate assaults in glen and valley, in brushwood glades and remote dells. At six o’clock in the morning
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CHAPTER X THE INDIAN MUTINY—DELHI (1857-1858)
CHAPTER X THE INDIAN MUTINY—DELHI (1857-1858)
The Mutiny begins—A warning from a sepoy—A near thing—A noble act of a native officer—In camp at Delhi with no kit—A plan that failed—Our first check—Wilson in command—Seaton wounded—Arrival of Nicholson—Captures guns—The assault—The fate of the Princes—Pandy in a box. A rumour had been going through the bazaars of India that the British rule was to be limited to one hundred years from the date of the Battle of Plassey (1757). The sepoy troops had grown self-confident and arrogant through the vi
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CHAPTER XI THE DEFENCE OF LUCKNOW (31st of May to 25th of September, 1857)
CHAPTER XI THE DEFENCE OF LUCKNOW (31st of May to 25th of September, 1857)
Firing at close quarters—Adventures of fugitives—Death of Sir H. Lawrence—His character—Difficulty of sending letters—Mines and counter-mines—Fulton killed—Signs of the relief coming—A great welcome—Story of the escape from Cawnpore. For about ten days previous to the outbreak at Lucknow daily reports were made that an émeute was intended, and Sir Henry Lawrence, the brother of Sir John Lawrence, had ordered all kinds of stores to be bought and stored. The ladies and children had been removed fr
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CHAPTER XII THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW (1857)
CHAPTER XII THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW (1857)
The scene at Cawnpore—Fights before Lucknow—Nearly blown up—A hideous nightmare—Cheering a runaway—All safe out of the Residency—A quick march back—Who stole the biscuits?—Sir Colin’s own regiment. “I had enlisted in the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders to go to India to put down the Mutiny,” writes Mr. Forbes-Mitchell, an old friend of the author. “We reached Cawnpore on the 27th of October, having marched the last forty-six miles in two days. We were over 1,000 strong, and many of us had just been
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CHAPTER XIII RUNNING THE BLOCKADE (1861)
CHAPTER XIII RUNNING THE BLOCKADE (1861)
North v. South—A new President hates slavery—Fort Sumter is bombarded—Ladies on the house-top—Niggers don’t mind shells—A blockade-runner comes to Oxford—The Banshee strips for the race—Wilmington—High pay—Lights out—Cast the lead—A stern chase—The run home—Lying perdu —The Night-hawk saved by Irish humour—Southern need at the end of the war—Negro dignity waxes big. In November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. As the new President was in sympathy with those who
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CHAPTER XIV THE FIRST IRONCLADS (1862)
CHAPTER XIV THE FIRST IRONCLADS (1862)
Will they sink or swim?—Captain Ericsson, the Swede—The Merrimac raised and armoured—The Monitor built by private venture— Merrimac surprises Fort Monroe—The Cumberland attacked—The silent monster comes on—Her ram makes an impression—Morris refuses to strike his flag—The Cumberland goes down—The Congress is next for attention—On fire and forced to surrender—Blows up at midnight—The Minnesota aground shows she can bite—General panic—Was it Providence?—A light at sea—Only a cheese-box on a raft—Su
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CHAPTER XV CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS (1862)
CHAPTER XV CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS (1862)
New Orleans and its forts—Farragut despises craven counsel—The mortar-fleet in disguise—Fire-rafts rush down—A week of hot gun-fire—A dash through the defences—The Varuna’s last shot—Oscar, aged thirteen—Ranged before the city—Anger of mob—Summary justice—Soldiers insulted in the streets—General Butler in command—Porter nearly blown up in council—Fort Jackson in ruins—“The fuse is out.” New Orleans, on the Mississippi River, was the great market of the South, a rich and powerful city of 200,000
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CHAPTER XVI THE SIEGE OF RICHMOND (1862 AND 1865)
CHAPTER XVI THE SIEGE OF RICHMOND (1862 AND 1865)
Fair Oaks a drawn battle—Robert Lee succeeds Johnston—Reforms in the army—Humours of the sentinels—Chaffing the niggers—Their idea of liberty—The pickets chum together—Stuart’s raid—A duel between a Texan and a German—Effect of music on soldiers—A terrible retreat to James River—Malvern Hill battle-scenes—Three years after—General Grant before Richmond—Coloured troops enter the Southern capital in triumph—Lee surrenders—Friends once more. The battle of Fair Oaks had been fought, and General McCl
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CHAPTER XVIII THE SIEGE OF PARIS—Continued WITH THE BESIEGED (1870-1871)
CHAPTER XVIII THE SIEGE OF PARIS—Continued WITH THE BESIEGED (1870-1871)
Moods in Paris—The Empress escapes—Taking down Imperial flags—Playing dominoes under fire—Cowards branded—Balloon post—Return of the wounded—French numbed by cold—The lady and the dogs—The nurse who was mighty particular—Castor and Pollux pronounced tough—Stories of suffering. One who was in Paris on the 3rd of September, 1870, might have heard strange things said in the cafés as evening came on. The French had suffered a great disaster; they had surrendered to the Germans at Sedan! MacMahon was
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CHAPTER XIX METZ (1870)
CHAPTER XIX METZ (1870)
Metz surrounded—Taken for a spy—Work with an ambulance—Fierce Prussians rob an old woman—Attempt to leave Metz—Refusing an honour—The cantinière’s horse—The grey pet of the regiment—Deserters abound—A village fired for punishment—Sad scenes at the end. One Englishman, the Special Correspondent of the Manchester Guardian , contrived to enter Metz shortly before it was besieged. But he had not been there long before a disagreeable experience befell him. He was riding quietly outside the city towar
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CHAPTER XX PLEVNA (1877)
CHAPTER XX PLEVNA (1877)
An English boy as Turkish Lieutenant—A mêlée—Wounded by a horseman—Takes letter to Russian camp—The Czar watches the guns—Skobeleff’s charge—The great Todleben arrives—Skobeleff deals with cowards—Pasting labels—The last sortie—Osman surrenders—Prisoners in the snow—Bukarest ladies very kind. After Turkey had put down the insurrection in Bulgaria (1876) and had beaten Servia (October, 1876), Russia made her tenth attempt to seize Constantinople. The Czar, Alexander II., declared war against the
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CHAPTER XXI SIEGE OF KHARTOUM (1884)
CHAPTER XXI SIEGE OF KHARTOUM (1884)
Gordon invited to the Soudan—The Mahdi—Chinese Gordon—His religious feeling—Not supported by England—Arabs attack—Blacks as cowards—Pashas shot—The Abbas sent down with Stewart—Her fate—Relief coming—Provisions fail—A sick steamer— Bordein sent down to Shendy—Alone on the house-top—Sir Charles Wilson and Beresford steam up—The rapids and sand-bank—“Do you see the flag?”—“Turn and fly”—Gordon’s fate. In January, 1884, Charles Gordon was asked by the British Government to go to Egypt and withdraw
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CHAPTER XXII KUMASSI (1900)
CHAPTER XXII KUMASSI (1900)
The Governor’s visit—Pageant of Kings—Evil omens—The Fetish Grove—The fort—Loyal natives locked out—A fight—King Aguna’s triumph—Relief at last—Their perils—Saved by a dog—Second relief—Governor retires—Wait for Colonel Willcocks—The flag still flying—Lady Hodgson’s adventures. In 1874 Sir Garnet Wolseley captured Kumassi, the capital of the Ashantis, whose country lies in the interior of the Gold Coast, in West Africa. In March, 1900, Sir Frederick Hodgson, Governor of the Gold Coast, set out w
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CHAPTER XXIII MAFEKING (1899-1900)
CHAPTER XXIII MAFEKING (1899-1900)
Snyman begins to fire—A flag of truce—Midnight sortie—The dynamite trolley—Kaffirs careless—A cattle raid—Eloff nearly takes Mafeking—Is taken himself instead—The relief dribble in—At 2 a.m. come cannon with Mahon and Plumer. On the 7th of October, 1899, Colonel Baden-Powell issued a notice to the people of Mafeking, in which he told them that “forces of armed Boers are now massed upon the Natal and Bechuanaland borders. Their orders are not to cross the border until the British fire a shot. As
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CHAPTER XXIV THE SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY (1899-1900)
CHAPTER XXIV THE SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY (1899-1900)
The diamond-mines—Cecil Rhodes comes in—Streets barricaded—Colonel Kekewich sends out the armoured train—Water got from the De Beers Company’s mines—A job lot of shells—De Beers can make shells too—Milner’s message—Beef or horse?—Long Cecil—Labram killed—Shelter down the mines—A capture of dainties—Major Rodger’s adventures—General French comes to the rescue—Outposts astonished to see Lancers and New Zealanders. Kimberley is the second largest town in Cape Colony, and is the great diamond-mining
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CHAPTER XXV THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH (1899-1900)
CHAPTER XXV THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH (1899-1900)
Ladysmith—Humours of the shell—The Lyre tries to be funny—Attack on Long Tom—A brave bugler—Practical jokes—The black postman—A big trek—Last shots—Some one comes—Saved at last. Ladysmith, where Sir George White and his men detained the Boers so long, is a scattered town lying on a lake-like plain, and surrounded by an amphitheatre of rocky hills. To the north-west was Pepworth Hill, where the Boer Long Tom was placed; north-east of the town, and four miles away, was Unbulwana: here the Boers ha
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CHAPTER XXVI SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR (1904)
CHAPTER XXVI SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR (1904)
Port Arthur—Its hotel life—Stoessel not popular—Fleet surprised—Shelled at twelve miles—Japanese pickets make a mistake—Wounded cannot be brought in—Polite even under the knife—The etiquette of the bath—The unknown death—Kondrachenko, the real hero—The white flag at last—Nogi the modest—“Banzai”—Effect of good news on the wounded—The fleet sink with alacrity. Port Arthur consists of a small land-locked harbour surrounded by hills. As you sail into the harbour you have on your right the Admiralty
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