1845. Jones’s ‘Sieges,’ ii., p. 391, 2nd edit.; and Pasley’s

‘Elementary Fortification,’ note D, p. ix., vol. 1. ----- Here may be given a little incident to show how cool were the sappers in carrying on their duties. Colonel Pasley has stated that “several of the embrasures of the breaching battery were cut in broad daylight, under fire, by a party of the corps under Lieutenant E. Matson, R.E., after the guns in a part of the battery previously finished, had actually opened against the fortress.”[197] ----- Footnote 197: Pasley’s ‘Operations of a Siege,’ ii., p. 246, note. ----- Another instance is equally worthy of notice. “At one time,” according to Major Reid, “the trunk of a large poplar tree completely stopped the progress of the men and defied all their efforts to move it, until a daring sapper gallantly jumping from the trench, stood exposed until he moved it from the head of the sap, and returned without being wounded.”[198] ----- Footnote 198: ‘Instructions for the Defence of Fortresses,’ translated by Major Reid, R.E., 1823, p. 20. ----- Striking instances of individual exploit follow, which are creditable to the soldiers whose names are associated with their performance. Sergeants William Powis and John Davis accompanied the first assault. Forced down the breach with the retreating stormers, they perceived Captain G. G. Lewis, R.E., lying badly wounded exposed to the enemy’s fire; and Davis, who but a few moments before had been wounded in the arm, returned with Powis to the breach and carried off their officer to the trenches. In effecting this gallant and humane act, Davis was a second time struck by a musket-ball, through which he lost an eye. By Major Pasley he was reported to be “a man of extraordinary merit and abilities, and a most skilful and ingenious artificer.”[199] ----- Footnote 199: From his perfect knowledge of the duties of field engineering, he was known among his comrades by the title of “Sap Major.” ----- No less distinguished was private Hugh Borland at the second storming. In placing his ladders he discovered that they were likely to become useless, from the joints being insecure, and while in the act of binding the ends together with his braces—an act of supererogation which the service scarcely contemplated—a ball pierced the root of his tongue and killed him. Santa Clara, a rocky island off St. Sebastian, had been taken, and it was necessary to communicate with the officer of engineers there on a matter of great importance. It being broad daylight, no boat could venture across the bay without the certainty of being sunk. Corporal Thomas Evans therefore volunteered to execute the service. He immediately stripped himself, tied his cap round his neck with the despatch in it, and plunging into the stream, performed, under fire from the castle, this gallant exploit unscathed. The distance to the island was nearly a mile, and he returned with an answer in about an hour. The casualties at the siege were as follows:— At the sortie—one killed; private James Hicks: three taken prisoners,[200] one of whom, private Owen Connor, was wounded. In the trenches—four killed; second-corporals Findlay McDonald and Daniel Niblock, and privates Thomas Penhorwood and Peter Milne; Sub-Lieutenant Turner, wounded. First storm—five killed; privates Samuel Clarke, James Dunn, William Cormack, Jonathan Millar, and James Morris: one died of wounds, private Stephen Teaff. Second storm—four killed; second-corporal Henry Logan, privates Peter Walsh, John Flannagan, and Hugh Borland: twenty-nine wounded, of whom one died, second-corporal William Dodds. ----- Footnote 200: Corporal Charles Ford was one of the prisoners. He was of a respectable family, and had a brother a clergyman in the Church of England, presiding over the cure of the parish of Kilbeaconty in Ireland. In an article in the ‘United Service Journal,’ headed, “Captivity in San Sebastian,” Captain Harry Jones, R.E., who also had been taken prisoner, alludes to this non-commissioned officer. “In the course of the day,” he says, “I was asked whether I would like to speak to a corporal of sappers, who had been made a prisoner during the sortie. I was delighted at the prospect of seeing one of my old friends, but was greatly astonished, in the afternoon, by seeing a fine tall young man, a stranger, walking into the ward, dressed in a red jacket. He was the first sapper I had seen in the new uniform, as blue was the colour worn when I was taken prisoner. Upon inquiring when he joined the army from England, he replied, 'Yesterday morning. I was put on duty in the trenches last night, and was shortly afterwards brought into the town by the enemy.'”—‘United Service Journal,’ 1, 1841, p. 198. ----- Correct particulars of the wounded from the opening of the operations until the last assault cannot be obtained. The three prisoners taken at the sortie were returned to the corps on the 8th September. Not allowed, during their confinement, to throw up cover for their own safety, they were exposed in the castle, in the yard of the magazine, to all the fury of the siege. On the removal of the troops from St. Sebastian, the fifth company, second battalion, was left at the fortress. Under the orders of Captain Frank Stanway, royal engineers, it superintended a body of Spanish soldiers in reforming and restoring the fortifications. The company continued so employed for nearly five months after the abdication of Napoleon, and returned to Woolwich in September, 1814. The remaining four companies moved with Lord Wellington’s army, having in charge the stores and _matériel_ of the department. On the arrival of the pontoon train at Passages, a strong detachment of the corps was placed under the direction of Lieutenant Piper, R.E., to assist in the formation of the required bridges. In the passage of the Bidassoa on the 7 th October, the sappers threw a pontoon bridge across the river near Irun. It was soon afterwards carried away by the tide; but, on being recovered, was speedily replaced. About three miles higher up the river, at the foot of the Pyrenees, they also constructed a trestle bridge with a roadway of sleepers, covered by fascines and earth, under Captain Dickens, R.E. This bridge also was washed away by the violence of the current, and with it privates Owen Connor and John Nowlan, who at the time, were under the superstructure, fastening ropes from the land to the trestles to give stability to the bridge. Both these intrepid bridgemen, after a hard struggle, gained the shore. The second company, second battalion, under Captain Pitts of the corps, was present in the action at Vera, and afterwards threw up a line of breastworks at the gorge of one of the passes through the mountains, and constructed several other works about the position. At the battle of Nivelle, on the 10th of November, the four companies above mentioned were present but not actively engaged. Two or three small parties of the corps, however, had the honour of leading a strong force of the 27th regiment to the storming of a strong redoubt, under Lieutenant George West, R.E. They took with them long sand-bags, filled at the instant with fern, which they threw into the ditch; and jumping upon them, sprang to the parapet and entered the redoubt. Lance-corporal Edward Councill of the corps, led one of the detachments to the storm and dashed into the works with the foremost soldier, who was a sergeant of the 27th regiment. On the 11th November the second company, second battalion, threw a trestle bridge across the Nivelle, below Sarre, constructed from materials obtained from a farmhouse, under the direction of Captain Pitts and Sub-Lieutenant Stratton. The seventh company, second battalion, being detached to Socoa, to arrange the hawser bridge for the passage of the Adour, the three remaining companies were present at the battle of the Nive, and the actions in front of Bayonne, from the 9th to 13th December. For the passage of the _corps d’armée_ under Marshal Beresford and Sir Rowland Hill, the companies threw two bridges at Ustaritz, and repaired the shattered arches of another bridge at that place and one at Cambo. The first bridge thrown was made of pontoons under Captain Boteler, R.E., in which private William Dowling distinguished himself by gallantly swimming across the river with the sheer line, and securing it to a picket on the enemy’s side. When striking home his stake, he drew the fire of some French sentinels upon him, but returned unhurt. The second bridge resting upon eleven bays, was made by the second company, second battalion, under Sub-Lieutenant Stratton, directed by Captain Henderson, R.E., and formed from chance materials collected in the wood and the village. During the operations, another bridge was thrown by the sappers over a deep stream with a rapid current, beyond the Nive, and was formed of wine pipes and barrels, strengthened by two skiffs or chasse-marées, with a hastily-prepared roadway laid upon them. Previous to the battle a few expert swimmers were selected to find the fords of the Nive, and to note the exact rising and falling of the tides. Corporal Alexander Jamieson and private William Braid found the three fords near Cambo. In the passage of the troops these two men, by appointment, guided the columns of Generals Byng and Barnes across the stream; and for their coolness and steadiness in executing the service, were rewarded by the Generals. The former received two doubloons, the latter one. The four companies with the army were reinforced in November, by forty-nine men under Captain English, royal engineers, from England. On the 30th of the month, the total number in the south of France, at St. Sebastian, and Alicant, reached six sub-lieutenants and about 500 non-commissioned officers and men. The number sick in the different hospitals amounted to between sixty and seventy. The casualties during the year were, killed fifteen, deaths thirty-three, missing five, and invalided thirteen. The head-quarters of the companies with Lord Wellington’s army, were at Cambo, Ustaritz, and St. Jean de Luz, but the men were greatly dispersed and variously employed, in making redoubts, batteries, and entrenchments, and in the preparation of materials and appliances for the formation of bridges. During the year the recruiting was carried on with great spirit. The number received by enlistment was 431, and by transfer from the militia