The History of the First West India Regiment Part 17

"SIR,

"In bringing back the troops that have been embarked on board the _Prometheus_ and landed at Malageah, and who, whilst afloat, have been under my command, I beg to bear testimony to their quiet, orderly, and zealous conduct, both afloat and ash.o.r.e, where, had it not been for the above good qualities, collision would have been inevitable.

"To Captains Rookes, Mockler, and Fletcher, and the officers of the force, I beg to return my sincere thanks for their zealous and active co-operation; further comment on my part would be presumptuous.

"A. HESELTINE, "Commander and Senior Naval Officer.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Foster, "Commanding troops."

On the 14th of December, the Gambia contingent sailed for the Gambia in the Colonial steamer _Dover_, and the garrison of Sierra Leone remained at its ordinary strength of three companies.

In May, 1855, as the King of Malageah had not observed the stipulations of the treaty that had been forced upon him, and had not paid the fine of one thousand dollars, the Acting Governor of Sierra Leone, a gentleman of colour, determined to take steps for his punishment. On the 21st of May, accordingly, he sent for Captain R. D'Oyley Fletcher, 1st West India Regiment, who was then in command of the troops, and informed him that it was his intention to send a force of 150 men, that very day, to burn the town of Malageah, and, if possible, capture the king. He added that the troops would proceed in H.M.S. _Teazer_, then lying in the harbour.

Captain Fletcher, in reply, said that he could not approve of the proposed arrangements; that since a force of 400 men had been deemed necessary to extract a promise from the king, it was, to say the least, injudicious to endeavour to force him to fulfil that promise with only 150 men. He stated that at the last expedition more than 2000 armed natives had been seen, and he considered it inadvisable to proceed to actual hostilities without a force proportionate to the duty to be performed. He further suggested that the expedition should be delayed for two or three days, so that the detachments of the 2nd West India Regiment might be brought in from Waterloo and the Banana Islands, and the whole garrison employed on the duty. The Acting Governor overruled these objections, insinuated that Captain Fletcher was actuated by fears for his personal safety, and finally peremptorily ordered the force he had mentioned to embark.

In consequence, on the evening of May 21st, Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant Strachan, Lieutenant Wylie, and 69 men of the 1st West India Regiment, with Lieutenants Keir and Beazley and 79 men of the 3rd West India Regiment, embarked on board the _Teazer_. Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West India Regiment, was attached to the 1st for duty, and Deputy-a.s.sistant-Commissary-General Frith and Surgeons Marchant and Bradshaw accompanied the troops.

The _Teazer_ arrived off Benty Point, at the mouth of the Mellicourie River, on the morning of May 22nd, and, after a delay of a few hours, in consequence of the difficulty in crossing the bar, the expedition arrived off Malageah.

Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, of the _Teazer_, and Mr. Dillet, the Acting Governor's private secretary, had been appointed commissioners, and, by their direction, the troops disembarked about 10 a.m. A flag of truce was flying on the king's house, and, as he showed a disposition to come to terms, the commissioners determined to depart from their instructions, and make an attempt to settle the affair without having recourse to force. They accordingly informed the king that if he would pay the fine his town would be spared; and they granted him one hour for this purpose, warning him that if at the expiration of that time the money was not forthcoming, the town would be sh.e.l.led.

Two hours having pa.s.sed without any communication having been received from the king, the _Teazer_ at noon opened fire, and the troops advanced on the town, covering their flanks with skirmishers. This advance would have been unnecessary had the _Teazer_ been supplied with rockets; but there being none, the men were obliged to set fire to the houses. It would be difficult to imagine a worse-planned expedition.

The troops gained the central square of the town, and, in compliance with the written instructions, set fire to the mosque, the king's house, and other princ.i.p.al buildings; and ultimately the whole town appeared to be in flames. The left division, under Lieutenant Vincent, was exposed to a desultory fire, during the whole of these operations, from the enemy concealed in the bush; and large numbers of natives were observed gathering on the plateau to the north of the town. As it seemed impossible that any portion of the town could escape the conflagration, and as the heat from the burning buildings was intense, the troops retired to the river bank, and embarked in the _Teazer's_ boats.

Scarcely had the seamen dipped their oars into the water, to pull out into the stream, than a volley was poured into the boats from the dense bush which grew close down to the edge of the water; and the ambushed enemy then commenced firing rapidly, but fortunately with so little precision that the troops succeeded in reaching mid-stream with a loss of only five wounded.

The boats continued their course to the s.h.i.+p, and the troops re-embarked. The town was still in flames, but they were gradually subsiding, and before nightfall were entirely extinguished, leaving a considerable portion of the town still unconsumed. The commissioners, upon this, decided, as it was too late to land again that day, to drop down the river as far as Benty Point for the night, and to return next morning to complete the work of destruction. Captain Fletcher then objected to any second landing being made, pointing out that the whole country was now alarmed, and that the people of Malageah would be reinforced by those of Fouricariah (a populous town further up the river), and that quite enough had been done to punish the king. The commissioners agreed with his views, but decided that their orders were so peremptory that they could not, without running the risk of censure, leave the river until the entire town had been destroyed.

At 5.30 a.m. on May 23rd, the _Teazer_ left Benty Point, and steaming up the river, anch.o.r.ed off Malageah, in which the ruins were still smouldering. The vessel was so ill-provided with munitions of war that hardly any sh.e.l.l remained from the previous day. What little there was, was thrown amongst the houses to endeavour to fire them, and the attempt being unsuccessful, it became necessary to land the men. The dense bush around the town having been well searched with grape and canister to clear it of any lurking enemy, the troops, 135 in number, were landed on the bank of the mangrove creek running inland towards the town, and no enemy appearing, they advanced to set fire to the buildings that had hitherto escaped destruction.

The advanced guard of thirty men, with whom were Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas and Mr. Dillet, who had landed to point out which houses it was most important to thoroughly destroy, had only advanced some two hundred yards from the bank of the creek, when they were received with a murderous discharge of musketry from the enemy concealed in the bush.

Almost the whole of the advanced party were shot down in this one volley, twenty men being killed on the spot, and Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas and Mr. Dillet severely wounded. The main body, seventy-five in number, under Captain Fletcher, at once hurried up to prevent the wounded falling into the hands of the barbarous natives, and behaved with great gallantry, for though falling thick and fast under the tremendous fire which the concealed enemy--to the number of several hundreds--poured into them from a distance of ten or twelve yards, they held their ground until the wounded had been safely conveyed to the boats.

Scarcely had this been accomplished than the rear-guard of thirty men, under Lieut. Keir, 3rd West India Regiment, was attacked by a large number of natives who had moved through the bush, and actually succeeded in cutting off our men from the boats. The enemy advanced with great determination into the open, thinking to overwhelm this small party, and they were only driven back into the bush by repeated volleys and a final charge with the bayonet.

By this time fully one-third of the men who had landed having been killed, and a great number wounded, the order was given to retire, which was done steadily, the ground being contested inch by inch. At this time Company Sergeant-Major Scanlan, of the 3rd West India Regiment, and six men who were covering the retreat, fell, the former mortally wounded; and some of the bolder of the natives, rus.h.i.+ng out of their concealment, seized Deputy-a.s.sistant-Commissary Frith, and dragged him away into the bush, where he was barbarously murdered in cold blood. Scanlan was lying in the narrow path, his chest riddled with bullets, when the chief fetish priest of the place, to encourage the natives to make further efforts, sprang upon a ruined wall in front of him, and began dancing an uncouth dance, accompanying it with savage yells and significant gestures to the dying man. He paid dearly for his rashness, however, for Scanlan, collecting his strength for a last supreme effort, seized his loaded rifle, which was fortunately lying within reach, and discharged it at the gesticulating savage, who threw up his arms and fell dead. The next moment Scanlan was surrounded by a horde of infuriated barbarians, and his body hacked into an undistinguishable ma.s.s.

The troops, sadly diminished in number, at last reached that portion of the mangrove creek where they had left the boats. Of these there had been originally but two, and one having at the commencement of the action been used to convey Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas and Mr. Dillet, under the charge of Surgeon Bradshaw, to the s.h.i.+p, one only remained for the men to embark in. The tide having fallen, this was lying out near the entrance of the creek, separated by an expanse of reeking mud from the sh.o.r.e. The men, seeing their last chance of safety cut off, threw themselves into the mud, in which many sank and were no more seen. Some few, however, succeeded in floundering along, half wading and half swimming, until they reached her, and climbed in. She was, however, so riddled with bullets, that she filled and sank almost immediately.

Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant Wylie, Lieutenant Strachan, and Lieutenant Vincent, with some thirty men, endeavoured to make a last stand upon a small islet of mud and sand, near the left bank of the creek; but Lieutenant Wylie was shot dead almost at once, and Lieutenant Vincent, being shot through the body, jumped into the water, to endeavour to swim to the s.h.i.+p. In a few seconds seventeen men had fallen out of this devoted band, and the survivors, plunging into the creek, swam down towards the river. The natives lined the banks in crowds, keeping up a heavy fire upon the men in the water; and Captain Fletcher and Lieutenant Strachan, who were the last to leave the sh.o.r.e, only reached the _Teazer_ by a miracle, they having to swim more than half a mile to reach her.

As the last of the survivors gained the vessel, the natives, between two and three thousand in number, lined the banks of the river, brandis.h.i.+ng their weapons and uttering shouts of defiance; and the heads of several of the killed, horribly mutilated, were held out towards the s.h.i.+p on spears, amidst cries of exultation. All the ammunition for the _Teazer's_ guns having already been expended in sh.e.l.ling the town and clearing the bush, it was impossible to reply to the enemy, and the vessel proceeded slowly down the river, returning to Sierra Leone next day.

The casualties of this day were as follows: The 1st West India Regiment, out of 62 men who landed, lost 38 killed and 3 wounded. The 3rd West India Regiment, out of 73 men who landed, lost 46 killed and 8 wounded.

Total, 95 killed and wounded, out of a force of 135 men.

The casualties amongst the officers were nearly equally heavy. Out of the ten Europeans who were under fire, three, namely Lieutenant Wylie, 1st West India Regiment, D.A.C.G. Frith and C.S.M. Scanlan were killed; and three, Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West India Regiment, Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, and Mr. Dillet, severely wounded.

It was learned afterwards that the reason so large a force was a.s.sembled at Malageah was that it was the time for the annual gathering of the river tribes, to hear the laws read by the Alimani. This circ.u.mstance ought of course to have been known to the Acting Governor, who was well acquainted with the customs of the people. The Imperial Government held him responsible for this defeat, and, in November, 1855, he was relieved of his post, and charged "with having, when Acting Governor, on the 21st of May, 1855, without authority, and upon insufficient grounds, sent an expedition against the Moriah chiefs in the Mellicourie River, beyond the Colony, with orders to burn or destroy the town of Malageah, planned without foresight or judgment, disastrous in its termination, and disgraceful to the British power," and was suspended from his office of Queen's Advocate and from his seat at the Council Board.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE BATTLE OF BAKKOW, AND STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1855.[58]

The company of the 1st West India Regiment stationed at the Gambia was the next to see active service, but fortunately under circ.u.mstances less disastrous than had fallen to the lot of the company at Sierra Leone.

In June, 1855, the inhabitants of Sabbajee again began to exhibit signs of lawlessness; and, early in July, an influential Mohammedan of that town, named Fodi Osumanu, sent an armed party to the British settlement at Josswung to seize a woman, whose husband he had already placed in confinement in Sabbajee itself. In consequence of this outrage a warrant was issued for the apprehension of Fodi Osumanu, and, as a precautionary measure, the constables despatched to put the warrant in force were accompanied by a small party of the 2nd West India Regiment, under Lieutenant Armstrong, 3rd West India Regiment.

They arrived at Sabbajee on the morning of July 16th, and at first Fodi Osumanu offered no opposition to his arrest; but, on gaining the central square of the town, he endeavoured to break away from the police, and, upon this signal, the Mandingoes rushed upon the British from every street and alley. Nothing but the coolness and steadiness displayed by both officers and men, saved the whole from destruction. Forming square, they retreated steadily out of the town, repulsing the repeated attacks of the natives, and retired in good order to Josswung, and thence to the military post at Cape St. Mary's. In effecting this, two men were killed, and the Queen's Advocate, Lieutenant Davis, 2nd West India Regiment, and Lieutenant Armstrong were wounded, the latter so severely as to render amputation of the right arm necessary.

Intelligence of this occurrence being carried to Bathurst in a few hours, the Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel L. Smyth O'Connor, 1st West India Regiment, at once called out all the available force of the Colony; and, aware that every half-hour was of importance, as the inhabitants of Sabbajee were receiving reinforcements from the disaffected Mandingo towns of Jambool, Burnfut, and Cunju, and had already burned and pillaged Josswung, he marched the same day. The force consisted of 120 men of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments, with 120 of the Royal Gambia Militia; and, on arriving at Cape St. Mary's, on the evening of July 16th, it was joined by 26 pensioners of the West India regiments. The officers of the 1st West India Regiment present were Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor, Lieutenant E.F. Luke, and Lieutenant Henderson.

Early next morning the whole force marched towards Sabbajee, meeting with no resistance until it arrived at the wood of Bakkow. To reach Sabbajee it was necessary to pa.s.s through this wood, a jungle of dense tropical vegetation, only traversable by a single bush path some five feet in breadth, and, before entering this defile, Colonel O'Connor wisely ordered rockets to be thrown amongst the trees, with a view to ascertaining if they covered any concealed enemy.

Hardly had the first rocket fallen than the wood appeared alive with men, who, from every bush and tree, opened a destructive fire upon the British. This was promptly and steadily replied to by the detachments of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments, which were in the van, and the action became general. The militia were drawn up in two bodies, one acting as a support to the regulars, and the other as a reserve; and the latter, shortly after the commencement of the engagement, retreated without orders, and without firing a shot. The party of militia in support, as soon as they observed the flight of the reserve, fell back hurriedly in great confusion, nor could their officers nor the Governor himself succeed in stopping them, and both parties of militia retired upon Cape St. Mary's, abandoning their wounded.

The detachments of the West India regiments still held their ground; but at the end of half an hour, as it was manifestly impossible, with the now greatly reduced numbers, to force the pa.s.sage of the wood, and as the enemy were observed extending in large numbers round both flanks so as to threaten the line of retreat, the order was given to retire upon Cape St. Mary's. This was effected in good order, the victorious natives following the retreating force for more than two miles, and keeping up an incessant fire. The combined detachments suffered in this affair a loss of twenty-three killed and fifty-three wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor was himself severely wounded in the right arm and left shoulder.

The news of this repulse was received with the greatest consternation at Bathurst, which was entirely denuded of troops and quite at the mercy of the rebellious Mandingoes. Preparations for defence were at once undertaken, all the reliable natives, princ.i.p.ally persons in the employ of the Government or of the merchants, in all some 200 in number, were armed, and a vessel was despatched to the neighbouring French settlement of Goree to seek a.s.sistance. The Mandingoes, fortunately, made no attempt to follow up their success, and the chiefs of British Combo having volunteered their aid to the Government, a number of their men were armed, and on July 29th some sharp skirmis.h.i.+ng took place between them and the Mandingoes in the neighbourhood of Bakkow, in which the Combos lost twenty-five killed, but without reaping any success.

On the afternoon of July 30th, the French brig-of-war _Entreprenant_, Captain Villeneuve, arrived, bringing with her eighty men, which was all the disposable force the French Governor of Goree had at his command; and all preparations being completed by the night of August 3rd, the combined British and French force marched from Cape St. Mary's next morning at daybreak. The French had brought with them three twelve-pounder field-guns, which, with a 4-2/5-inch howitzer, and three rocket-troughs in the possession of the British, were formed into a battery under the command of Lieutenant Morel, of the French marine artillery. The force was further increased by an irregular contingent of some 600 loyal natives.

As on the former occasion, no opposition was encountered until arriving at the wood of Bakkow, where the enemy showed in great force, and opened a heavy fire from the shelter of the forest. The irregular contingent, supported by the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments, replied to the enemy's fire in a most effective manner; but so determined was the resistance, that the Mandingoes, when silenced in our front, taking advantage of the cover afforded by the high gra.s.s and clumps of monkey-bread trees, made repeated attacks on the flanks, and even at one time threatened the rear. Sh.e.l.l and rockets were thrown into the wood, and the village of Bakkow, which was occupied by the enemy, was burned; but it was not until after two hours' obstinate fighting, in the course of which the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiment had four times to repulse flank attacks with the bayonet, that the pa.s.sage could be forced.

The wood being traversed, the force debouched upon the plain of Sabbajee, a sandy level, covered with a scanty growth of Guinea gra.s.s and dotted with clumps of dwarf palm. The guns were at once placed in position for breaching the stockade, and fire was opened with wonderful precision. A few rounds only had been expended, when a large body of natives from the disaffected and neighbouring town of Burnfut made a sudden and determined onslaught on our flank, charging furiously forward with brandished scimetars. This was met by a party of French marines and the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments, who, after firing a volley at a very close range, charged gallantly with the bayonet and speedily routed the enemy, who took refuge in a neighbouring copse. Being ordered to dislodge them from this cover, the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments advanced in skirmis.h.i.+ng order, and after a short but sharp conflict, drove them out on the further side.

After a bombardment of an hour and a half, seeing that the enemy extinguished the thatched roofs of their houses as fast as they were ignited, and that the ammunition was becoming exhausted, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined to carry the stockade by storm.

The detachments of the West India regiments formed up in the centre, a division of French marines being on either flank, and the whole dashed forward to the a.s.sault in the face of a tremendous fire of musketry that was opened throughout the entire length of the loop-holed stockade. In a few seconds the troops were under the stockade, which was composed of the stout trunks of trees, standing some eighteen feet high, and braced on the inner side by cross-beams. A temporary check was here experienced (the men having no ladders for escalading), during which the Mandingoes kept up a close fire from their upper tier of loop-holes, while others crouching in the ditch in rear hewed and cut at the feet and legs of the troops through the apertures in the stockade on a level with the ground.

The check was, however, of short duration, for the British opened fire on the enemy through their own loop-holes, and drove them back, while others, clambering over the rough defences, effected an entrance.

After this, the Mandingoes offered but a feeble resistance, and soon fled into the open from the further side of the town. Here they were pursued and shot down by the irregular contingent, who had been sent to cut off their retreat as soon as it was seen that the stockade was carried. The enemy's loss during the a.s.sault was exceedingly heavy, the ditch in rear of the stockade, and in which they were princ.i.p.ally sheltered, being full of dead. The loss of the combined force, exclusive of irregulars, was seventeen killed and thirty-one wounded.

Inside the stockade the 1st West India Regiment captured two kettledrums, of which one was a war-drum, and the other a death-drum, that is to say, a drum that is only beaten when an execution is taking place. These drums, consisting of polished hemispherical calabashes, of a diameter of about thirty inches at the drum-head, are now in the possession of the regiment.

The following letter, referring to these operations, which terminated with the capture of Sabbajee, was published in general orders at the Gambia, on the 26th of October, 1855:

"HORSE GUARDS, "_Sept. 6th, 1855._

"SIR,

"The General Commanding-in-Chief having had before him the despatches which were addressed to the Adjutant-General on July 30th and 6th ultimo, giving an account of the proceedings, from the 16th July to the 4th August last, of the force under your command against the Mohammedan rebel town of Sabbajee, which was eventually taken by a.s.sault at the point of the bayonet, I am directed to a.s.sure you of Lord Hardinge's satisfaction at the perusal of those despatches, and that he considers the gallantry and steadiness displayed by the troops on this occasion, and the judgment with which they were directed by you, to be deserving of high praise.

"His Lords.h.i.+p further desired that the expression of his sentiments might be communicated accordingly to yourself and to all the troops concerned.