History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1

The siege was conducted sternly and without intermission. In the words of the American historian "the answer was no sooner received than the British batteries commenced the dire assault, which continued without intermission." The investiture of Charlestown, by extending his operations to the north of Cooper's River, was Sir Henry Clinton's next object. By detaching 1500 men under an excellent officer Lieut. – Colonel Webster, and another whose reputation as a dashing officer has lived longer among his enemies than his friends, Lieut. – Colonel Tarleton, he completely succeeded in his purpose. Further reinforcements from New York enabled Clinton to strengthen this belt – which prevented the retreat of the Charlestown garrison – and Lord Cornwallis assumed the command of the forces on the land side. Then followed in rapid succession the surrender of Mount Pleasant, Lempriere, and Wando posts, and Fort Moultrie itself. "Soon followed the completion of the third parallel, which placed the garrison at the mercy of the besiegers. Unwilling, from motives of humanity, to increase the hardships of the unfortunate, the British Admiral and General a second time demanded surrender. Lincoln, now, from necessity, yielded up his army; but still, anxious to save the militia and inhabitants from captivity, he excepted them in his assenting answer, which exception being declared inadmissible, the negotiation ceased. Reluctantly Sir Henry Clinton renewed the contest by opening the batteries of the third parallel, and pushed his works under their fire to the brink of the canal, which by a sap to the dam was drained… The inhabitants became assured that the concluding scene could not long be deferred, and though heretofore devoted to the defence of the town, now with one accord supplicated General Lincoln to relinquish the exception made in their favour, and to accept the terms proffered. The amiable Lincoln could no longer hesitate in stopping the effusion of blood. He communicated to Sir Henry Clinton his readiness to lay down his arms upon the conditions before offered. Highly honourable was the conduct of the British commanders. They did not press the unfortunate, but agreed that the terms before rejected should form the basis of capitulation, which being soon prepared, signed, and ratified, Charlestown was surrendered on the 12th May, 1780, six days after the parallel was finished."42

Daring, or rather immediately after, the siege, a painful occurrence took place, which is thus alluded to in a report from the officer commanding the Royal Artillery: – "Although your Lordship is doubtless in possession of all the essential particulars relative to the reduction of Charlestown, I nevertheless beg leave to enclose the copy of the return I received from Major Traille of the killed and wounded during the siege of that town. I most sincerely regret the loss of that valuable officer, Captain Collins, as well as the rest who shared his unhappy fate. The misfortune was owing to the incautious proceedings in collecting and assorting the arms of the rebel prisoners in a house where a quantity of powder happened to be lodged. Besides the officers and soldiers, there was a conductor of stores and several artificers who perished by this accident."43

The rejoicings in New York on receipt of the intelligence of the fall of Charlestown are thus described in the Commandant's official report: – "We were made happy in the fullest degree by the glad tidings of the surrender of Charlestown and its garrison. So universal a joy was spread on the occasion in this city as was never known before; and if there be any who do not really feel it, they at least affect to express it. Permit me, Sir, with the most heartfelt satisfaction to offer my congratulations upon this glorious event."[45]

In writing to Major Traille, General Pattison said: – "The encomium you give of the good behaviour of the officers and men of the Artillery during the siege of Charlestown cannot fail to be very agreeable to me. I sincerely regret the loss of poor Collins, and all who shared his unhappy fate. The escape young Macleod had upon that occasion was very fortunate."[45]

In a very short time after the fall of Charlestown, South Carolina was cleared of rebels by the English troops, and Sir Henry Clinton returned to New York, leaving Lord Cornwallis in command.

The state of affairs in America at this time cannot but awaken comment and speculation in the student's mind. The speculation may be idle, but it is instinctive. What was the state of the rebel army at this time? of the rebel Government? of the rebel fleet? Let their own historian – so often quoted here – reply. The army was demoralized, neglected, almost mutinous. The Government was imbecile, interfering, and incapable. As to naval operations, Lee's own words were as follows: – "Every attempt made by the naval force of the enemy during the war succeeded: … and many such operations took place." And yet we lost our colonies.

New York was ours, – thoroughly, loyally ours, in spite of all that American writers may say. Canada was ours; then, as now, loyal and true. The great Middle and Western States did not exist, which now so swell the strength of the great Republic in riches and in muscle. And yet we lost our colonies.

Our fleets more than matched their foes; our soldiers fought then as well as they have ever fought since. The Peninsula, the Crimea, India itself, cannot show in their annals more determined courage than was shown in the English ranks between 1775 and 1781. And yet we lost our colonies.

Where was the weak place in our harness? God help us! it was where it will be again if Englishmen do not take care; if Englishmen do not sink class and party differences when the word is given to fight; if Englishmen do not remember that a nation is weak when disunited, and its army at such a time is weaker still.

There was another weak point, and to it we must now come in our narrative. Our Generals during this great war were brave; they were even in their way able; and, as we have seen, they were frequently successful. But they were in presence of a Master. Pettiness, obstinacy, blundering, on the part of his Government might vex and weary Washington; reluctance and timidity on the part of his allies might at times nearly ruin his plans; but his courage, his skill, his confident hope, survived and surmounted all obstacles. If one reckons up the qualities which make a General, we shall find he possessed them all. Patriotism – it was his almost to an exaggerated extent; for, having once adopted a view which he considered patriotic, he did not care to reason. Enthusiasm – would God that every man who draws a sword for England had but one-half of that which swelled Washington's bosom! Purity of motives – who can think of the scenes which are now historical, when he would have resigned the power he had so justly earned, without feeling (even after all these years) that he is in the antechamber of a man who was pure and above reproach? And skill – if any man doubts it, let him think of that scene at Yorktown to which this chapter slowly leads. To see one's schemes mature so surely and so happily is the highest reward for his exertions for which a General can hope; and as in this case it implied that independence for his country which had been his sole and unselfish aim, one can conceive Washington ready, even then, to resign his command and sheath his sword.

He was to America what Wallace was to Scotland, and Garibaldi to Italy; but he had a larger sphere of action than the former, and a more statesmanlike mind than the latter.

With dissension at home, and Washington against them in the field, who can wonder that, in spite of continued courage and spasmodic success, our armies failed to secure our colonies?

There was an acting-bombardier in the Royal Artillery, named Richard Atkinson Boddy, who died at Woolwich on the 18th January, 1837. Animated by the same desire which has filled the breast of many an Artilleryman, to commemorate in some durable form the services of his corps, Bombardier Boddy commenced to make extracts from all military histories which touched on the subject which he had so strongly at heart. A manuscript volume of such extracts was left by him at his death, and was thus alluded to in his will: – "To the library of the non-commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery I bequeath a manuscript book of the services of many of the officers, written by myself. In the event of the dissolution of the library, I will that the book do revert to my father."

Among the extracts contained in this volume are three, referring to the operations in America subsequent to the capture of Charlestown, and describing in detail the affairs known as Camden, Ninety-six, and Guildford.

Before proceeding to other operations, the result of Bombardier Boddy's industry will be communicated to the reader. And if by means of this work any tribute can be paid to the memory of a non-commissioned officer, whose esprit, diligence, and unselfish labour are well worthy of imitation, not merely will justice have been done, but others may be inspired to follow his example. There is no rank in the service in which men may not do something, – not merely to add to, but also to commemorate, the distinction of the corps in which they serve. In the case of the Royal Artillery this has been emphatically proved, not merely by the industrious labourer now mentioned, but also by one already quoted, the author of 'England's Artillerymen.'44

The Battle of Camden was fought on the 16th August, 1780. Lord Cornwallis commanded the English troops, whose total strength did not exceed 2000. General Gates – who had received General Burgoyne's submission at Saratoga – commanded the Americans, who were nearly 6000 in number. The Royal Artillery was represented by two subalterns (one of whom, Lieutenant William Marquois, died on the 15th October of wounds received during this action), two sergeants, and fifteen men. In spite of the disparity of strength, so complete was the victory of the English that 1000 of the enemy were killed or wounded; the pursuit by Colonel Tarleton and the English cavalry extended as far as twenty-two miles; the whole of the enemy's artillery, a large number of waggons, and 2000 stand of arms were captured; and "of the 6000 men who composed Gates's army, not sixty could have again been collected."45 The English regiments which most distinguished themselves were the 23rd, 33rd, and 71st, under Colonel Webster; and the heaviest loss fell upon the 33rd. Four guns were present with the Royal Artillery; but on account of the small number of gunners, men from the Line or volunteers must have assisted in working them. The total number of casualties on the English side was as follows —killed, 70; and wounded, 250.

The affair called "Ninety-six" in the MS. volume referred to is identical with that known as the "Battle of Cowpens." On this occasion the British were totally defeated, with a loss of their guns, two in number. Fortunately for the Royal Artillery, almost equal satisfaction can be obtained from this defeat as from many victories. Lord Cornwallis, in his despatch to Sir Henry Clinton, wrote as follows: – "In justice to the detachment of Royal Artillery, I must here observe that no terror could induce them to quit their guns, and they were all killed or wounded in defence of them." This engagement took place in January, 1781.

The last of the three actions mentioned in the extracts referred to, is that known as the "Battle of Guildford." It was a victory for the English arms, but a most expensive one. Nearly one-third of the Royal Army was left hors de combat. The Royal Artillery lost only Lieutenant Augustus O'Hara and one gunner killed, and four men wounded. Lord Cornwallis could not afford to follow up the victory; and although he captured the enemy's artillery, and the American losses far exceeded that of the English, there is no doubt that from this day the American spirits rose, and Lord Cornwallis's position became serious. The Battle of Guildford was fought in March, 1781. The American force was 5000 strong, but about one-half was composed of militiamen, who were of little use, and who fled to their homes after the battle. The total strength of the British force did not exceed 2400 of all ranks. Soon after the battle, Cornwallis had to commence a retreat.

It was in this battle that Lieutenant Macleod of the Royal Artillery – afterwards Sir John Macleod – behaved with a skill and gallantry which Lord Cornwallis never forgot. If the commendation of his own commanding officer must have been agreeable, how much more that of his enemies! Lee in describing this battle, of which he says, "On no occasion, in any part of the world, was British valour more heroically displayed," singles out young Macleod more than once for conspicuous notice. On one occasion he says that one battalion, which at a critical period had been driven back with slaughter, had "its remains saved by the British Artillery."

Leaving now these three engagements, the reader is requested to turn to an operation in the war, in which the Commander of the English forces was an Artilleryman.

In the beginning of 1781 Major-General Phillips, of the Royal Artillery, who had been a prisoner since the convention at Saratoga, was exchanged for the American General Lincoln. He was immediately appointed, by Sir Henry Clinton, to the command of a force of 2000 men to watch the French and prevent them from sailing for the south. He was then ordered to Virginia, to join General Arnold's force, which had been ravaging the country almost unopposed, but which was now in a somewhat hazardous position. On effecting the junction with Arnold, General Phillips assumed the command of the united force, numbering now about 3500 men. It was a change for the better in every way. Arnold was disliked by all under his command, for they never could forget that he was a traitor; and as a soldier he was in every way inferior to Phillips. Among the regiments forming the force for the service on which Phillips was to be engaged in Virginia were the 76th, 80th, Simcoe's Queen's Rangers, some German troops, and Arnold's American Legion. On the 19th April General Phillips proceeded up James River to Barwell's Ferry, and on the 20th he landed at Williamsburg, a body of the enemy's militia retiring on his approach. On the 22nd he marched to Chickahominy; and on the 25th, – early in the forenoon, – he set his army in motion for Petersburg, reaching it in the evening. A small encounter with some militia took place when within a mile of the town, in which the rebels were defeated, with a loss of 100 killed and wounded. Lee, in his 'Memoirs of the War in the Southern Departments,' writes very severely of the way in which untrained militia were exposed by the American Government to the attacks of regular troops. His strictures, and the lesson he draws from the experiences of this raid in Virginia, are worthy of quotation at a time when it is becoming more generally recognized in England that the profession of arms is one requiring special training as much as any other. "What ills," he writes, "spring from the timidity and impotence of rulers! In them attachment to the common cause is vain and illusory, unless guided, in times of difficulty, by courage, wisdom, and concert… Whenever the commitment of our militia in battle with regulars occurs, the heart of the writer is rent with painful emotions, knowing, as he does, the waste of life resulting from the stupid, cruel policy. Can there be any system devised by the wit of man more the compound of inhumanity, of murder, and of waste? Ought any Government to be respected which, when peace permits the substitution of a better system, neglects to avail itself of the opportunity? Were a father to put his son, with his small sword drawn for the first time, against an experienced swordsman, would not his neighbours exclaim, 'Murderer! vile murderer!' Just so acts the Government, and yet our parents are all satisfied, although whenever war takes place, their sons are to be led to the altar of blood. Dreadful apathy! shocking coldness to our progeny!"

In Petersburg, and, indeed, wherever the British troops went in Virginia, all military stores belonging to the rebels were destroyed, and the warehouses with their cargoes of tobacco and flour were systematically burnt. Lee is very severe in his description of this method of warfare, very bitter in his denunciations of the human vultures who follow conquering armies, and very ironical in his allusions to the tobacco war carried on by the English; and yet, in the same breath, he admits that no human foe went out to meet them and give them battle; that everywhere there was, on the part of the Americans, "a fatal want of preparation, of military apparatus, and of system." Wanton and purposeless devastation is strongly to be deprecated in war; but was this raid a purposeless one? The garrison of New York had been wofully weakened, and the English troops in the south were at times dangerously divided. If the American armies could not be drawn apart to meet the English by hope of victory, perhaps they might be tempted by the hope of saving Virginia from this "so dreadful visitation, precursor of famine and of plague."46 Doubtless there was this strategic purpose in the Virginian raid, just as there was later in the raid in Connecticut, by which Clinton hoped to tempt Washington back from that dreaded march which culminated so triumphantly for him at Yorktown.

Again, even admitting irregularities and excesses not to be justified by strategy (although this need only be done for the sake of argument, so much exaggeration is there in the American accounts of this expedition), were there not special reasons which might lead one to expect them? Who filled the ranks of the American Loyalist Regiments which fought under Phillips and Arnold? They were men who had lost everything for their King, whose homes had been confiscated, and who had been outlawed and execrated by their countrymen because, forsooth, they had come to a different opinion on a political question. Were these the men to walk through the enemy's country with dainty step and gloved hand? There is something brutalizing in war under the most favourable conditions; but when the combatants commence with feelings of hatred and thirst for revenge, he would indeed be a rare disciplinarian who could prevent an occasional outbreak in the course of a continued and successful campaign.

On the 27th April, 1781, General Phillips, with his force, marched for Chesterfield Court-house, and detached General Arnold to a place called Osborne's. According to some accounts, the two forces had again met before the circumstance occurred which is now to be related; but, according to a manuscript book in the Royal Artillery Record Office, it was while some guns were attached to General Arnold's detached force. It is not very material, but as it is to the credit of the regiment whose services these pages commemorate, one would rather believe that General Phillips, – an Artilleryman himself, – had been in command, than General Arnold. Some armed vessels had been collected in James River for a special purpose by the Americans, and either the whole or part of Phillips' force marched with a view to secure them. In reply to a summons to surrender, the Commodore replied that he was determined to defend himself to the last extremity.

Two 6-pounders and two 3-pounders (the latter called "grasshoppers" in Lee's account, a favourite nickname for these guns, although sternly forbidden to be used in any official returns to the Commanding Officer of Artillery) were then taken to the banks of the river, with a detachment of the Royal Artillery, under Captain Fage and Lieutenant Rogers. The King's troops were exposed to the fire of the 'Tempest,' twenty guns; the 'Renown,' twenty-six; the 'Jefferson,' fourteen; and several smaller vessels. Some few hundred Militia also kept up a fire from the other bank of the river. It does not say much, for the American fire to find it recorded that not a single English soldier was hurt. The fire of the Royal Artillery seems to have been of a very different description. According to one account, so effectual was it, that, in a very short time, the ships were obliged to strike their colours, and the Militia were driven from the opposite shore. From want of boats the English were unable to secure their prizes; and the Americans made their escape, scuttling some of their vessels and setting fire to others. The loss of the enemy, according to this account, was very great, "owing to the well-directed fire of the British Artillery." Lee's account is as follows: "Quickly two sixes and two grasshoppers were brought to bear upon the Commodore; when he as quickly scuttled and set fire to his vessels, escaping, with his crew, to the northern banks of the river, – one way of 'holding out to the last extremity,' but not that commonly understood by the term." Among the many services in which the Artillery was engaged during the American War, perhaps none were quainter than this successful duel between four light field-pieces and an armed squadron of no inconsiderable strength, supported by troops on shore.

On the 29th April General Phillips marched, with the main body, in the direction of Manchester, which he reached on the following day, and where he destroyed a quantity of stores. General Arnold went, with the remainder of the troops, up the river in boats. Although the Marquis de la Fayette, with a considerable force, was at Richmond, and saw what was being done, he made no attempt to stop the damage; and on the following day General Phillips returned to Osborne's, where the engagement with the ships had taken place. Here he became seriously unwell, with a bad form of fever; and although he lingered to the 13th May, he was unable to perform any active duty, and was carried about in a vehicle until unable longer to leave his couch. The army had reached Petersburg before he died. This place is described by Lee as "the great mart of that section of the State which lies south of the Appomattox, and of the northern part of North Carolina, standing upon its banks about twelve miles from City Point, and, after the destruction of Norfolk, ranking first among the commercial towns of the State." To the Royal Artilleryman this Virginian town will always have a peculiar interest, as having been the scene of the death of as brave and honourable a soldier as ever served in the Regiment. From the glorious day at Minden, his professional career of more than one-and-twenty years had been one of credit to his corps, honour to himself, and usefulness to his country. He had been thirteen years in the Regiment before the Battle of Minden, so that his total service when he died exceeded thirty-four years. He was beloved by all who served with him, and was a model for Artillerymen to imitate, in gallantry, ability, and progress. He was eminently a progressive officer.

With September, 1781, came the commencement of the operations which virtually terminated the war. Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis held different opinions as to the mode of prosecuting the war in Virginia: the former devoting his energies to the defence of New York; the latter anxious for increased numbers with which to carry on offensive operations. The Home Government was eager to secure some point on the southern coast, where the Army and Navy could mutually assist one another, and such a point Cornwallis was ordered by Sir Henry Clinton to secure. The place ultimately selected by him was a village called Yorktown, on a peninsula between James and York Rivers, along with the adjoining village of Gloucester, on the other bank of York River. This position he fortified to the utmost of his power, and communicated with Sir Henry Clinton at New York, with a view to reinforcements being sent to his assistance. Washington had completely deceived Clinton, and had induced him to believe that New York, not Virginia, was the object of the proposed operations of himself and his French allies. Taken by surprise by the sudden movement to the South now made by Washington and his forces, Clinton endeavoured to recall him by invading Connecticut, but without success; and having received an urgent letter from Cornwallis on the 23rd September, he called a Council of War, and on the 24th he wrote, promising to start about the 5th October with 5000 troops and twenty-three men-of-war to relieve him. Had he fulfilled his promise, a great disaster would have been spared; but instead of leaving on the 5th, it was not until the 19th, – the very day that Cornwallis, after a weary fortnight's expectation, had been obliged to surrender, – that he left Sandyhook; nor did he arrive off the Capes of Virginia until the 24th.