Held Fast For England Part 56

On the 11th of June a sh.e.l.l from the enemy burst, just at the door of one of the magazines of Willis's Battery. This instantly blew up, and the explosion was so violent that it seemed to shake the whole Rock. Fourteen men were killed, and fifteen wounded, and a great deal of injury done to the battery; but strong parties at once set to work to repair it. A few days later a French convoy of sixty sail and three frigates anch.o.r.ed in the bay and, from these, another five thousand French troops landed.

At the end of the month the Duc de Crillon arrived, and took command of the besiegers. A private letter, that was brought in by a privateer that had captured a merchantman, on her way, gave the garrison an idea of the method in which the attack was to be made.

It stated that ten s.h.i.+ps were to be fortified, six or seven feet thick, with green timber bolted with iron, and covered with cork, junk, and raw hides. They were to carry guns of heavy metal, and to be bombproof on the top, with a descent for the sh.e.l.ls to slide off. These vessels, which they supposed would be impregnable, were to be moored within half gunshot of the walls with iron chains; and large boats, with mantlets, were to lie off at some distance, full of troops ready to take advantage of occurrences; that the mantlets of these boats were to be formed with hinges, to fall down to facilitate their landing. There would, by that time, be forty thousand men in camp, but the princ.i.p.al attack was to be made by sea, to be covered by a squadron of men-of-war with bomb ketches, floating batteries, gun and mortar boats, etc.; and that the Comte D'Artois--brother to the King of France--with other great personages, was to be present at the attack.

At this time the enemy fired but little, and the garrison were able to turn their whole attention to strengthen the points most threatened. The activity of the enemy on their offensive works on the neutral ground continued and, in one night, a strong and lofty work, five hundred yards long, with a communication thirteen hundred yards long to the works, was raised. It was calculated that ten thousand men, at least, must have been employed upon it; and no less than a million and a half sandbags used in its construction.

There could be no doubt, now, that the critical moment was approaching; and that, ere long, the garrison would be exposed to the most tremendous fire ever opened upon a besieged place.

Chapter 17: The Floating Batteries.

In spite of the unremitting work, of the daily cannonade, of illness and hards.h.i.+p, life on the Rock had not been unpleasant to the O'Hallorans. Although many of the officers' wives had, at one time or another, taken advantage of s.h.i.+ps sailing from the port to return home--or rather, to endeavour to do so, for a considerable number of the vessels that left were captured by the Spaniards, before getting through the Straits--there still remained sufficient for agreeable society; and the O'Hallorans' was, more than any other house, the general meeting place.

From its position in the hollow, it was sheltered from the fire of all the sh.o.r.e batteries--whose long distance shots searched all the lower parts of the Rock--while the resources of the establishment enabled the O'Hallorans to afford an open-handed hospitality that would have been wholly beyond the means of others. They had long since given up selling any of their produce, distributing all their surplus eggs among families where there was illness, or sending them up to the hospitals; and doing the same with their chickens, and vegetables. The greatest care was bestowed upon the poultry, fresh broods being constantly raised, so that they could kill eight or ten couple a week, and still keep up their stock to its full strength. Thus, with gatherings two evenings a week at their own house, and usually as many at the houses of their friends; while Captain O'Halloran and Bob frequently dined at the mess of their own, or other regiments, the time pa.s.sed pleasantly.

While Carrie was fully occupied with the care of the house, and a general superintendence of what they called their farm; Bob was never at a loss for amus.e.m.e.nt. There was always something to see, some fresh work being executed, some fresh development in the defences; while he was on terms of friends.h.i.+p with almost every officer in the garrison. It was two years and a half since he had come out, and he was now eighteen. His constant intercourse with people older than himself, and with the officers of the garrison, together with the exceptional position in which he found himself, made him in some respects seem older than he was; but he still retained his liveliness, and love of fun. His spirits never flagged, and he was a general favourite with all who knew him.

On the 19th of August, a boat with a flag of truce brought in a complimentary letter from the Duc de Crillon to the governor, informing him of the arrival of the Comte D'Artois and the Duc de Bourbon in his camp, and sending him a present of ice, fruit, partridges, and other delicacies. The governor returned a letter in similar complimentary terms, thanking the Duke for his letter and the presents; but declining with thanks the supplies that had been offered, saying that he never received, for himself, anything beyond what was common to the garrison.

The sailors of the s.h.i.+ps of war now pitched tents ash.o.r.e, for their use when they should be ordered to land to take part in the defence; and the heavy guns were, for the most part, moved down from the upper batteries to the sea lines. Day after day pa.s.sed, the bombardment being constantly expected; but the damage inflicted, by fire, on the enemy's works by our carca.s.ses delayed the attack.

On the 8th of September a tremendous fire was suddenly opened, with red hot shot and carca.s.ses, upon the enemy's works. The Mahon Battery was burned, while the San Carlos and San Marten Batteries were so damaged that they had almost to be rebuilt. The enemy, as on previous occasions, showed extreme bravery in their efforts to extinguish the fire and to repair damages; and it was afterwards known that the French troops, alone, had a hundred and forty killed and wounded. The damage done probably convinced the Duc de Crillon that no advantage could be hoped for by trying further to increase his works and, at half past five next morning, a volley of sixty sh.e.l.ls was fired by their mortar batteries, followed by the discharge of one hundred and seventy pieces of heavy artillery.

This tremendous fire was kept up for some time, while nine line-of-battle s.h.i.+ps, supported by fifteen gun and mortar boats, pa.s.sed to and fro along the sea face, pouring in their fire upon us. At nightfall the enemy's guns ceased firing, but their mortars kept up their sh.e.l.l fire all night. The next day the s.h.i.+ps of war renewed their attack, as did the land batteries. In the course of the day the Brilliant and Porcupine frigates were scuttled by the navy, alongside the New Mole, and their crews landed.

On the following day the enemy's fire was princ.i.p.ally directed against the barrier and chevaux de frise in front of the land port and, in the afternoon, these barriers and palisades were all in flames; and the troops at that end of the Rock got under arms, in case an attack should be made.

On the morning of the 12th the combined fleets of France and Spain, consisting of thirty-eight men-of-war, three frigates, and a number of smaller craft, sailed into the bay and anch.o.r.ed near Algeciras.

Their fleet now consisted of forty-seven men-of-war, ten battering s.h.i.+ps--considered invincible, and carrying two hundred and twelve guns--and innumerable frigates and small s.h.i.+ps of war; while on the land side were batteries mounting two hundred heavy guns, and an army of forty thousand men. Tremendous odds, indeed, against a fortress whose garrison consisted of seven thousand effective men, including the Marine Brigade.

For some days past Bob had been engaged, with their landlord and some hired labourers, in bringing in earth and filling up the lower rooms four feet deep, in order to render the cellars bomb proof.

Some beds and furniture were taken below, so that Carrie, the servants, and the Spanish family could retire there, in case the enemy's sh.e.l.ls fell thickly round the house.

It was noticed as a curious incident that, just as the combined fleet entered the bay an eagle, after circling round it, perched for a few minutes upon the summit of the flag post, on the highest point of the Rock; an omen of victory which would have been considered decisive, by the Romans, and which did, in fact, help to raise the spirits and confidence of the garrison.

On the morning of the 13th the enemy's battering s.h.i.+ps got under way, with a gentle breeze from the northwest and, at a little past nine o'clock anch.o.r.ed, in admirable order, in line of the sea face.

The nearest was about nine hundred yards from the King's Bastion, the most distant being about eleven hundred yards. Not a shot was fired before the enemy anch.o.r.ed, and then the whole of the batteries that commanded them opened fire, to which the battering s.h.i.+ps and the artillery in their lines at once replied.

Bob was standing on the roof of the house, with his sister.

"What a magnificent sight, Carrie!" he exclaimed. "It is well worth all the waiting, to be here to see it."

"It is terrible!" Carrie said. "It is like one great roar of thunder. How awfully the men must be suffering, in the batteries!"

"I don't suppose it is as bad as it looks," Bob said. "At any rate, you needn't be uneasy about Gerald. All the troops except those working the guns are in shelter, and won't be called out unless the enemy attempt to land.

"I wonder their fleet don't come across, to help their batteries. I suppose they are afraid of the carca.s.ses, and red hot shot.

"Well, there is one comfort, Carrie: none of their shot are coming this way. Their floating batteries, evidently, are firing only at our batteries by the water. As to the others, we know that we are safe enough from them though, certainly, the shot do make a most unpleasant noise as they fly overhead.

"I wish there was a little more wind, to blow away the smoke, so that we could see what effect our fire is having on those hulks. I shouldn't think that we had begun with red hot shot, yet. It takes three hours to get them hot enough. As far as I can see, whenever the wind blows the smoke away a little, our shot and sh.e.l.l roll off the roofs and sides, without doing any damage to speak of."

About noon the enemy's mortar boats and ketches attempted to come across, and a.s.sist their battering s.h.i.+ps; but the wind had changed and had worked round to the southwest, blowing a smart breeze and bringing in a heavy swell, so that they were prevented from taking part in the action. Our own gunboats were hindered, by the same cause, from putting out and opening a flanking fire upon the battering s.h.i.+ps.

The northern batteries, by the water, suffered heavily from the fire of the Spanish lines; which took them in flank and, indeed, some of the batteries in reverse, causing many casualties. The Artillery, however, refused to let their attention be diverted from the battering s.h.i.+ps.

By two o'clock the furnaces had heated the shot in all the batteries and, although some of them had been firing these missiles for upwards of an hour, it was not until two that their use became general. Soon afterwards--when the wind cleared away the smoke from the s.h.i.+ps--men could be seen on their sloping roofs, directing streams of water from the pumps upon small wreaths of smoke that curled up, here and there. Up to this time, the defenders had begun to fear that the craft were indeed as invulnerable as the Spaniards believed them to be; but these evidences that the red hot shot were doing their work greatly roused their spirits, and cheers frequently rose, as the men toiled at their heavy guns.

As the afternoon went on, the smoke from the upper part of the Spanish admiral's flags.h.i.+p rose more and more thickly and, although numbers of men continued to bring up and throw water over the roof--working with extraordinary bravery, in spite of the hail of projectiles poured upon them--it was clear that the fire was making steady progress.

Bob had, long before this, gone down to the works by the sea face--where considerable bodies of troops were lying, in the bombproof casemates, in readiness for action if called upon--and from time to time he went out with Captain O'Halloran, and other officers, to see how matters were going on.

In sheltered places behind the batteries, some of the surgeons were at work; temporarily binding up the wounds of artillerymen struck with sh.e.l.l, or splinters; after which they were carried, by stretcher parties of the infantry, up to the hospitals. Dr. Burke was thus engaged, in the battery where his regiment was stationed.

He had, since the first bombardment commenced, ceased to complain of the want of opportunities for exercising himself in his professional work; and had been indefatigable in his attendance on the wounded. Among them he was an immense favourite. He had a word, and a joke, for every man who came under his hands; while his confident manner and cheery talk kept up the spirits of the men. He was, too, a very skilful operator; and many of the poor fellows in hospital had urgently requested that, if they must lose a limb, it should be under the hands of Dr. Burke.

"It is much better to make men laugh, than to make them cry," he would say to Bob. "It is half the battle gained, when you can keep up a patient's spirit. It is wonderful how some of them stand pain.

The hard work they have been doing is all in their favour."

Bob several times went out to him, and a.s.sisted him as far as he could, by handing him bandages, sponges, etc.

"You ought to have been an a.s.sistant, from the beginning, Bob," he said. "By this time you would have been quite a decent surgeon--only you have a silly way of turning pale. There, hand me that bandage.

"All right, my man! We will have you patched up in no time.

"No, I don't think you can go back to your gun again. You will have to eat and drink a bit, and make fresh blood, before you will be much use at a thirty-two pounder again.

"What is this--a scalp wound? Splinter of a sh.e.l.l, eh? Well, it is lucky for you, lad, that you have been hardening your skull a bit, before you enlisted. A few clips from a blackthorn are capital preparation. I don't think you will come to much harm. You are not more hurt than you would be in a good, lively faction fight.

"There, you had better put down that sponge, Bob, and go into the casemate, for a bit. You are getting white again.

"I think we are over the worst now; for if, as you tell me, the smoke is beginning to come up from some of those floating batteries, their fire will soon slacken a bit. As long as they keep out the shot, those defences of theirs are first rate but, as soon as the shot begin to embed themselves in the roof, they are worse than nothing--for they can neither dig out the shot, nor get at them with the water. Once establish a fire, and it is pretty sure to spread."

Bob was glad to get back again into the bombproof casemates; for there was comparative quiet while, outside, the constant roar of the guns, the howl of shot, the explosion of sh.e.l.l, and the crash of masonry created a din that was almost bewildering.

Presently a cheer was heard in the battery, and Bob went out to see what it was; and returned with the news that the s.h.i.+p next to the Spanish admiral's was also smoking, in several places. As the afternoon went on, confusion was apparent on board several of the battering s.h.i.+ps and, by the evening, their fire had slackened considerably. Before eight o'clock it had almost entirely ceased, except from one or two s.h.i.+ps to the northward of the line which, being somewhat farther from the sh.o.r.e, had suffered less than the others.

At sunset the Artillery in our batteries were relieved--the Naval Brigade taking their place--and the fire was continued, without relaxation. As soon as it became dark, rockets were fired by several of the battering s.h.i.+ps. These were answered by the Spanish men-of-war, and many boats rowed across to the floating batteries.

By ten o'clock the flames began to burst out from the admiral's battering s.h.i.+p and, by midnight, she was completely in flames. The light a.s.sisted our gunners--who were able to lay their cannon with as much accuracy as during the daytime--and the whole Rock was illuminated by the flames. These presently burst out, vigorously, from the next s.h.i.+p and, between three and four o'clock, points of light appeared upon six of the other hulks.

At three o'clock Brigadier Curtis--who commanded the Naval Brigade encamped at Europa Point--finding that the sea had gone down, manned the gunboats and, rowing out for some distance, opened a heavy flanking fire upon the battering s.h.i.+ps; compelling the boats that were lying in shelter behind them to retire. As the day broke he captured two of the enemy's launches and, finding from the prisoners that there were still numbers of men on board the hulks, rowed out to rescue them. While he was employed at this work, at five o'clock, one of the battering s.h.i.+ps to the northward blew up, with a tremendous explosion and, a quarter of an hour later, another in the centre of the line also blew up. The wreck was scattered over a wide extent of water.

One of the gunboats was sunk, and another seriously injured; and the Brigadier, fearing other explosions, ordered the boats to draw off towards the town. On the way, however, he visited two of the other burning s.h.i.+ps; and rescued some more of those left behind--landing, in all, nine officers, two priests, and three hundred and thirty-four soldiers and seamen. Besides these, one officer and eleven Frenchmen had floated ash.o.r.e, the evening before, on the shattered fragments of a launch.

While the boats in the navy were thus endeavouring to save their foes, the land batteries--which had ceased firing on the previous evening--again opened on the garrison; but as, from some of the camps, the boats could be perceived at their humane work, orders were despatched to the batteries to cease fire; and a dead silence succeeded the din that had gone on for nearly twenty-four hours.

Of the six battering s.h.i.+ps still in flames, three blew up before eleven o'clock. The other three burned to the water's edge--the magazines having been drowned, by the Spaniards, before they left the s.h.i.+ps in their boats. The garrison hoped that the two remaining battering s.h.i.+ps might be saved, to be sent home as trophies of the victory but, about noon, one of them suddenly burst into flames, and presently blew up. The other was examined by the men-of-war boats, and found to be so injured that she could not be saved. She was accordingly set fire to, and also destroyed. Thus, the whole of the ten vessels, that were considered by their constructors to be invincible, were destroyed.