algiers.—admiral keppel and the dey.—the expedition of lord exmouth against algiers.—the christian slaves are set free, and such slavery abolished for ever.—the french at algiers.—the taking of jean d’acre by sir robert stopford.—the explosion of the powder magazine.—the mistake made by the garrison.—the operations of a siege.—the daring young soldier.—the siege of antwerp, by marshal gerard.—desperate defence of general chassé.—the surrender.
“i will now tell you of the siege of antwerp, by far the most memorable siege of modern 198times. but, first, a word or two on the bombardment of algiers, and of the taking of jean d’acre. algiers is on the coast of africa. it has many times been bombarded, for the deys, or governors of the place, have usually been sad pirates, taking the ships of all nations, and carrying their crews and passengers into captivity.”
“then they deserved to be punished for their robbery and cruelty.”
“when admiral keppel was sent to the dey of algiers, to demand restitution of two ships which the pirates had taken, he sailed with his squadron into the bay of algiers, and cast anchor in front of the dey’s palace. he then landed, and, attended only by his captain and barge’s crew, demanded an immediate audience of the dey. this being granted, he claimed full satisfaction for the injuries done to the subjects of his britannic majesty. surprised and enraged at the boldness of the admiral’s remonstrance, the dey exclaimed, ‘that he wondered at the english king’s insolence in sending him a foolish, beardless boy.’ a well-timed reply from the admiral made the dey forget the laws of all nations in respect to ambassadors, and he ordered his mutes to attend with the bowstring, at the same time telling the admiral he should pay for his audacity with his life. unmoved by this menace, the admiral took the dey to a window facing the bay, and showed him the english fleet riding at anchor, and told 199him, that if he dared to put him to death there were englishmen enough in that fleet to make him a glorious funeral-pile. the dey was wise enough to take the hint. the admiral obtained ample restitution, and came off in safety.”
“the cruel dey soon altered his tone.”
“in consequence of a massacre, that took place in 1816, of foreigners at bona, then under the protection of the british flag, lord exmouth was ordered to algiers to demand satisfaction of the dey for the insult offered to england.”
“there could be no satisfaction made to the poor foreigners who were massacred.”
“no; but had not the english interfered, the algerines might have done the same thing again without fear. the flag of lord exmouth was hoisted on board the queen charlotte, and the expedition was joined at gibraltar by a dutch squadron, under vice-admiral capellan. on sunday, the 25th of august, divine service was performed, and prayers offered up for success in their enterprise.”
“that must have been very solemn, as many of them might never again meet on such an occasion.”
“true. a flag of truce, with terms, was sent to the dey; and soon the queen charlotte came to an anchor by the stern, at about ninety yards from the muzzles of the guns of the mole-batteries. a sailor always obeys flag-ship signals. you may be sure, then, that the whole fleet soon drew up in 200battle order. as it was evident the algerines were preparing to fire, the queen charlotte poured in a broadside just as the smoke of one of the enemy’s guns was visible. on went the work of destruction! nor did it cease till the ships in the harbour were destroyed, and the fortifications rendered a heap of ruins. when the dey found algiers tumbling about his ears he surrendered, and the whole of the christian slaves he had in captivity were set free, and such slavery abolished for ever. the french fitted out an expedition against algiers a few years ago, and took possession of it. they are now practising great cruelties there, by what they call razias, but what might more properly be called, murderous inroads on the people. they go forth with their troops to surprise the arab tribes; they burn their villages, destroy their harvests, and slaughter men, women, and children. o france! where is thy shame? marshal clauzel asked the question of the french senate, ‘if the character of the inhabitants was such that the soil could not be occupied without their destruction?’”
“do they kill the women and children?”
“they do; but they will not do it with impunity. algiers is draining france of her treasures and troops. it may be called the french soldier’s grave. there is an eye above, boys, that marks oppression and cruelty, and an almighty arm to chastise the oppressor.”
“it must be shocking indeed, to act in that cruel manner.”
201“st. jean d’acre is a strong place in syria, on the coast of the mediterranean. the taking of this strong fortress by the squadron under the command of admiral sir robert stopford, after a cannonade and bombardment of only a few hours, is a most extraordinary affair, when we consider that sir sidney smith kept possession of this place against every attempt of the french army under napoleon buonaparte, to reduce it; though nine assaults were made, by some of the bravest troops in the world, on an open breach, it was all in vain. commodore napier, one of the bravest men in the british navy, commanded the princess charlotte, powerful, bellerophon, revenge, thunderer, and pique, on an attack of the west lines of the works, while the edinburgh, benbow, castor, carysfort, talbot, wasp, and hazard, attacked the south face. the fire of the ships on both sides was fearfully destructive. the austrian frigate, medea, and the guerriero, with the arabian corvette, lipsia, did much service, as well as the sultan’s ship, mookuddimay-i-hive. the steamers gorgon, vesuvius, ph?nix, and stromboli, threw shot and shells into the town; and one shot, supposed to be from the gorgon, occasioned the destruction of the powder-magazine. this explosion is said to have almost annihilated two whole regiments, formed in position on the ramparts; some say, more than a thousand, and others, that nearer two thousand were destroyed by it.”
202“terrible! terrible!”
“it may seem almost miraculous that the allied fleet sustained so little injury, but this was principally owing to a mistake made by the garrison. captain boxer, and, i think, captain codrington, in surveying the anchorage, discovered a shoal, of some extent, opposite the wall, at the distance of about two thousand yards, and as this was likely to injure the shipping, a few buoys were placed to mark the place. the garrison mistook the buoys for moorings, and concluded that they marked out the intended stations of the ships. their guns were accordingly elevated for that distance, and the embrasures filled up with sand-bags, to fix the elevation. this was a fatal error; for the fleet came inside the buoys; and taking up a position under the batteries, opened such a destructive fire as left the garrison no opportunity to alter their guns, or even to see their error, through the cloud of smoke, which, wafted by a light breeze, thickened, and hung like a dark canopy over the devoted fortress. the shot of the garrison, for the most part, passed over the hulls of the ships, only injuring the sails and rigging, so that the whole amount of killed and wounded, in a fleet of twenty-one ships, drawn up within a few hundred yards of a formidable battery, did not exceed three score men. some mischief was done on board the fleet by the shells thrown by the garrison mortars, but, during a fire of four hours, there was scarcely one 203shot in twenty from the heavy guns that did not go over the hulls of the ships.”
“if it had not been for the mistake of the garrison, one half of the british ships might have been destroyed?”
“they might. and we see, by this accident, how by skill and tactics the commander of a fleet might, in many cases, preserve his ships and men, and gain a great advantage over his enemy. so long as british men, in the army and navy, keep up their present character for courage and discipline, and are led on by commanders in whom they have confidence, they will always rank as the bravest of the brave. i was to tell you of the siege of antwerp. the general operations of a siege shall be described, and then we will come to antwerp itself. you may remember what i said about fortification, and the little that i told you of a siege. well, now i will be more particular in my description.”
“now for it! how do they begin to fight?”
“the attack commences, not with the firing of cannon, the throwing of shells, or by marching soldiers up to the walls or ditch of the fortified place, but with pickaxes and spades.”
“pickaxes and spades! what, do soldiers fight with such weapons as these?”
“yes, and very effectually too; but you shall hear. the first thing to be done, is to dig a trench, or ditch, parallel to the general outline 204of the fortress, and at a distance of about six hundred yards from it. the earth flung up out of the trench forms a bank, or parapet, on the side next to the enemy, and is, therefore, a defence to the besiegers. you will remember, then, that the first and most important object to be attained in a siege, is to carry forward a trench up to the walls of the place: the quicker this is done the fewer lives will be lost on the part of the besiegers.”
“but what is the ditch for?”
“the ditch is cut that batteries may be the more safely erected there, to concentrate their fire upon the part to be attacked. this ditch is called the first parallel. the men and guns are comparatively safe in the ditch, when they would be swept away by the cannon of the besieged, if they remained on the surface of the ground.”
“ay! we see now; digging the ditch is a capital plan. you told us about the first, and the second, and the third parallel before, but we shall understand you better now.”
“from this trench, or first parallel, a ditch is then cut, in a zigzag form, so as to get nearer and nearer to the fortress by degrees. when this has reached within the range of musketry, or about three hundred yards from the place, another trench is stretched out, parallel with the first; and this is called the second parallel.”
205“they are getting nearer to the place now; but what are the soldiers in the fortress doing all this time?”
“thundering away with their guns, or making sorties, and picking off men and officers where they can. well, on go the besiegers, working night and day; darkness, cold, rain, toil, and the fire of the enemy, trying them in every way; patient, uncomplaining, and persevering, on they go, cutting again in a zigzag form, till they come to the foot of the glacis, or sloping bank of earth of the fortress, and here they form their third parallel.”
“nearer still! there is no room now, however, for another parallel.”
“no, they are too close for that. the next step is to carry on the works up the glacis, on the crest of which they form batteries to demolish the defences, and open the revêtements, or walls of masonry. they then push on their operations across the ditch, into the very works of the fortress.”
“but how do they cross the moat if it is full of water?”
“they act according to circumstances. sometimes by escalade, which is a desperate attack on the place, by means of ladders, to cross the ditch with, and mount the ramparts without waiting to carry on the regular works against the place. if the ditch be muddy, they use 206boards, hurdles, and fascines. fascines are faggots of small wood, about a foot through them, and, perhaps, six feet long.”
“but, suppose the moat is full of water, how do they manage then?”
“if they cannot draw off the water, they cross it in small tin boats, or baskets covered with skins or oil cloth, resorting to all manner of contrivances. it is very necessary to find out the strength of the enemy’s works, to know how to act. when the french besieged montmelian, in 1691, the maréchal de catinat was in doubt whether the ditch of the place was sunk in the hard rock or only faced with masonry on the side of the glacis. to clear up this doubt, he caused soldiers to descend in a gabion, or basket, suspended by a cord; but so many brave men fell in this hazardous enterprize, that at last no one was found who would undertake it. after some time, a young soldier stepped forward as a volunteer. he was asked by the maréchal, what course he intended to take in ascertaining whether it was rock or masonry? to which he replied, ‘that by probing it with the point of his bayonet from the window of the gabion, he should know it very well.’ he descended on the daring commission he had undertaken, executed it in a satisfactory manner, and returned unhurt. ‘and now, what will you have for a recompense?’ asked the maréchal. 207‘i ask as a favour,’ replied he, ‘that i may enter the company of grenadiers.’”
“we thought he would have asked for money, and a discharge. and was he made a grenadier?”
“you may be sure of that, boys, after such a bold action as he had done. the siege of antwerp is one of the most celebrated of modern times. the fortress was unusually strong, well garrisoned with dutch soldiers, and provided with plenty of ammunition; and old general chassé was a resolute and experienced officer. on the other hand, marshal gerard, the french general, was a celebrated commander, and had an overwhelming force at his disposal.”
“how many men had he? and how many had general chassé?”
“the garrison amounted to between four and five thousand men, and the fortress had a hundred and thirty pieces of cannon. marshal gerard had under his command fifty-one battalions, fifty-six squadrons, and sixty-six field-pieces, besides an immense battering train, with sappers, miners, and engineers. altogether the french force amounted to more than sixty-six thousand men, fourteen thousand horses, and two hundred and twenty-three guns.”
“what an army! why, there was no hope for poor chassé!”
“there was a mortar, called the ‘monster 208mortar,’ used by marshal gerard; and well might it be so called, for the wood-work of it alone weighed sixteen thousand pounds, and the metal fourteen thousand seven hundred. the shell it threw was two feet across it, and when charged, weighed a thousand and fifteen pounds.”
“that was a monster mortar indeed!”
“it was, boys. i think there were, in all, eight shells thrown from the monster mortar into the citadel at antwerp; one, not reckoned, burst in the air, and of course did not reach its destination. every time one of these enormous shells, weighing nearly half a ton, which looked like a small balloon when in the air—for the burning fusee was visible by daylight—every time one of these burst in the citadel, a crowd of thoughtless belgians raised a shout. the volume of dust and smoke was like the effect of a magazine blowing up. one of these eight shells fell within twenty yards of the principal powder-magazine, which contained about two or three hundred thousand pounds weight of powder. had this been struck and blown up, there is but little doubt that half the city of antwerp, with its celebrated cathedral, would have been destroyed. before the attack chassé was summoned to surrender, but he replied, ‘never! he would first be blown up in the citadel.’”
“why, he could never hope to beat sixty thousand frenchmen?”
“from the time that chassé opened his fire 209there was no quiet night nor day. the french returned the fire with near a hundred pieces of artillery, and soldiers and miners, engineers and artillery-men, were fully employed.”
“no doubt they had enough to do. it must have been a terrible sight.”
“musket-shot, cannon-balls, and bombshells were flying in all directions—rattling, roaring and bursting—night and day, without intermission. three times did the dutch soldiers make a sortie, but they were beaten back. three mines were sprung by the besiegers, thousands of shot and shells were thrown, and the fortress was in many places set on fire. old general chassé held out bravely, but he was driven to great distress.”
“he should have surrendered. where was the use of his standing out against such an army?”
“he did surrender, but not till he was reduced to extremity. his well of water was almost dry, his men diseased and worn out, his guns dismantled, and his powder-magazine blown up. the bomb-proof hospital, too, was set on fire, and the blazing beams threatened to fall in upon his sick soldiery. there was no hope left; and so the old general gave up the place.”
“well! general chassé could not have done more. why, the place was battered almost to pieces!”
“it was. the following are instances of the gaiety of the french character:—on passing the 210angle of the boyau, or branch of a trench, leading into the second parallel, opposite st. laurent, which was partially enfiladed from kiel, an infantry soldier was met, floundering through the mud under the weight of a heavy gabion. a shot struck the parapet, and, either from this or a false step, down fell the man and his burden into the mire. one of our countrymen would have risen, and his first impulse would have been to have wished the besieged and the service at a much hotter place than the head of the sap; but the conscript sprung up, shook himself, and exclaimed, with a smile, ‘who says it is not a fine thing to be a soldier? i’ll enlist for ten years more from this day!’ and then, hoisting up his load, on he went. on another occasion, near the descent made in the ditch of the ravelin, the adjutant of the trenches was writing a memorandum: a shell pitched on the reverse of the trench, exploded, and covered him and his paper with a shower of sand. the officer slipped it off quietly with his hand, and said, ‘they are more polite than you, messieurs; they sent me the sand-box.’ a round shot struck a gabion close to the duke of orleans, and buried itself in the ground, within a few inches of his person. the prince took off his hat, and bowing, said, ‘one ought to be polite to new acquaintances.’”
“it seems a very strange thing that any one can have the heart to speak so in the very middle of danger.”
211“i will tell you of a curious circumstance. during the siege the theatre was converted into a place for observing the operations. the building being near maline’s gate, a sight might be obtained from it of part of the bastions, trenches, and batteries. the managers, therefore, profiting by the ardent desire of strangers to witness the novel spectacle, took off the roof of the building, and erected platforms for the accommodation of the curious, publishing the following handbill notice:—‘the public is informed that places are to be procured at the théatre des variétés at antwerp, for seeing the siege.’”
“what, did they make a show of the siege while hundreds of poor fellows were being killed?”
“such was the case; and it only shows how coldly those who are selfishly wrapped up in their own interest, can regard the ruin and destruction of those around them. always encourage, boys, a disposition to think of others as well as yourselves, to pity the distress that you cannot relieve, and to practise when you can the principles of humanity.”
