Chapter Twenty.
A triple mounted row of pillars laid
On wheels (for like to pillars most they seem’d,
Of hollow’d bodies made of oak or fir,
With branches lopp’d in wood or mountain fell’d):
Brass, iron, stony mould, had not their mouths
With hideous orifice gaped on us wide,
Portending hollow truce.
Milton.
Woolwich is the great rendezvous and head-quarters of the Royal Artillery, the Military Train, and the Royal Engineers, and few troops, besides marines—who are continually moving in and out with the various men-of-war vessels—are ever quartered at Woolwich. The royal arsenal is the main attraction of Woolwich; and the principal part of the inhabitants derive their support from Government in some shape or other. The admission is by ticket; and the visitor is accompanied in his tour of inspection by policemen. The days of admission are Wednesdays and Fridays.
There are generally about 12,000 men employed at the arsenal; but the ordinary visitor is not allowed to walk into the workshops where ammunition is being made. He is restricted to the paved footpaths, from whence he can see the various artificers at work. The din of hammers, the movement of wheels, the rush of steam, and the roar of the furnace, is proof of the vast extent of the manufactures which are continually going on. All kinds of shot are cast here—grape, chain, canister, bullets, and cannon-balls. Rockets, percussion-caps, metal fusees, and stores of round shot and shell are accumulated to a vast extent, the two latter being piled up in pyramids to upwards of ten millions. There are store-rooms for saddlery and arms of every description, both ancient and modern; and a park of artillery numbering upwards of 30,000 pieces, which comprise the reserve from which the army, navy, garrisons, batteries, etc, are recruited. Sentries are stationed here and there to keep people in order, as there are great numbers of all classes constantly going through the arsenal. Not the least interesting, though melancholy, feature of the place is, the gangs of convicts chained together, and dragging heavily-laden trucks from one part of the yard to another. Some of these unhappy wretches have chains attached to their leg, and the expressions of their faces are as fierce as those of a hyena, while others look completely spirit-broken.
Nearly every kind of gun is made at Woolwich, from the light field-piece to the guns which form a siege-train. Every gun, after being cast, undergoes a proof process, the strength of heavy ordnance being tested by the fire proof. The guns being laid on the ground in front of a target, or butt, with their muzzles towards it, slightly elevated, they are loaded with the regulation proof charges, and fired by means of a galvanic battery, which is placed in a bomb-proof building, and the current of electricity conveyed to the tubes in the guns through copper wires. Each gun is then searched by a long rod having a number of steel springs at the end, each of which has a spike attached; these springs are released from a grasping ring when at the bottom of the barrel, in the same manner as a cork-drawer. Any flaw in the barrel is at once disturbed in passing the searcher up and down. The soundness of the metal itself is tested by what is called the water proof: a hollow, wooden plug, covered with leather, is fixed in the muzzle of the gun by chains, which pass round the trunnions and are connected with the main pipe of the waterworks. A pressure of about 50 pounds weight to the square inch is thus obtained, and water is forced into the gun barrel until it issues a continuous stream from the vent (touch-hole). A wooden plug is then inserted into the latter, and a few more strokes given by the engine. If any water has penetrated through the thinnest part (the neck), the metal is unsound. The next, and last, test is the sun proof. After two or three days, the bore, being supposed to be perfectly dry, is examined by reflecting the sun’s rays into it by means of a mirror, and if any part appears wet, it indicates a flaw. The sighting process is the last operation.
In the construction of carriages, wheels, etc, many men are constantly employed. The timber used is principally ash, elm, and oak; it is crosscut and planed, and all the holes for rivets, bolts, etc, are bored by machinery; but the various parts of the carriages are finished and put together by hand.
By taking the train from the arsenal station the visitor will easily escape passing through the dirty streets of Woolwich, which lie between the arsenal and the dockyard, and those who have not seen this latter magnificent establishment may spend a very agreeable hour or two. There are the enormous chimney-shaft—a landmark for miles; the engine-house; the saw-mills, with their marvellous machinery; the huge Nasmyth’s hammer, which can be made to crack a nutshell without injuring the kernel, or snap an iron bar like a rotten stick on the anvil. There, too, are the building slips, with the shipwrights hammering with an incessant din on the grand three-decker, piled up beam on beam, to which access is gained by inclined planes, reaching to the top of the factory-like structure. The yard is nearly a mile in length; the docks, the gunboats, the steel-plated floating batteries, the beautiful chapel built by Mr Scott, and a passing look at the craft on the Thames, will afford ample opportunity to indulge and gratify curiosity.
Leaving convicts and policemen, I now ascend the hill, on one side of which, among the trees, may be discerned the splendid new buildings of the hospital, and pass the barracks of the marines, capable of containing nearly 2000 men. A short walk farther, and I pass through a wicket-gate near the guardhouse, in front of which is the open common, with the Royal Military Academy for the cadets on the east, and crowned with the woods of Shooter’s Hill. To the left is the long range of the barracks of the Royal Artillery; while to the right is a park of artillery, gun-carriages, waggons, and limbers, divided by a road leading down to a pretty, picturesque valley, containing a small sheet of water, on which pontooning, passage of troops, diving, and transport of artillery are practised and carried out. Above it, on the opposite side, over the broken undulating ground, diversified by clumps of fir-trees, is seen the tent-like building known as the Rotunda, in front of which is an earthwork, green with turf, but having the dark muzzles of guns peeping through the grassy embrasures of the Repository ground. A monument to Sir Alexander Dickson stands in the enclosure, which is entered by a gate, and near by is a French cannon captured by Marlborough at Malplaquet, and many other specimens of the old style of ordnance. The Rotunda itself was removed from Cariton Gardens, where George the Fourth, then Prince Regent, entertained in it the allied sovereigns in 1814: it now contains models of fortifications, dockyards, every arm used by the artillery, and every conceivable specimen of bomb-ships, shields, kettle-drums, tilting lances, armour, all kinds of weapons, and all sorts of ordnance; trophies won by our soldiers in every quarter of the world; and a cinder that represents what was once fifty-six millions of one-pound notes burned by the Bank of England when they were called in.
The Royal Artillery is now in a high state of efficiency: the men are strong in their build, as well as the horses; no expense is spared by Government to obtain by competitive trials, and the employment of the most talented persons, the very best guns that can be manufactured.
The cavalry dépôts for regiments on service abroad are Maidstone and Canterbury, the former place being the more important of the two, because of the riding establishment being there. This establishment is kept up in order to give full effect to the only approved system of equitation which is in use throughout the whole of the cavalry service. The commanding officers are called upon from time to time to select certain non-commissioned officers and men, and to send them to the riding establishment at Maidstone, for the purpose of being thoroughly practised in horsemanship, and of being rendered competent, on returning to their regiments, to afford instruction and to maintain the system of uniformity in training both men and horses for active service. The selection of both men and horses for this important duty is made with the greatest care; and those men only who are remarkable for qualities constituting the good soldier and the active, intelligent dragoon, are detached upon this essential duty. They are in all cases unmarried men, and able to read and write. No unsound, inactive, or vicious horses are sent to Maidstone; the very best in the corps are generally detached for this duty. Upon the return of the parties to their regiments, they take their places in the ranks until the commanding officer sees an opportunity to encourage such as are favourably reported by the commandant of the riding establishment whilst under his instruction, by promoting them as opportunities occur, and making them assistants in the regimental riding-school. Thus a foundation is laid for promotion from the ranks to the position of riding-master, who ranks as a commissioned officer. It is always understood that no individual shall, upon any account whatever, succeed to this respectable position unless he can produce a certificate of perfect fitness both as to education, general character, sobriety, and a high degree of proficiency in the established system of horsemanship.
In order to prevent any men being sent to Maidstone who, from weakness of constitution or other cause, may not be fit for the duty of the riding-school, a medical examination is made into their fitness. In addition to the regular pay, a riding-master is entitled to the following fees:—For teaching young officers to ride, three guineas; and for training every horse into a charger, one guinea; and no officer is allowed to ride at field-drill a horse which the riding-master has not certified to the commanding officer as fit to be properly broken as a charger; and no officer is allowed to part with such horse without the commanding officer’s permission.
There are always two or more men from every cavalry regiment in the service at Maidstone. The recruits for the regiments in India, China, and the Cape are put through their drill with all possible despatch, both here and at Canterbury, and are generally considered proficient in about six months, after which they are drafted off in detachments to join the head-quarters of their corps on foreign service; and hundreds of them never return to their native land. I have, however, occasionally met with men who, after being discharged, from purchase or some other cause, have preferred to remain in India, the Cape, Canada, etc, until they have amassed sufficient means to return home and live in comparative comfort, like others of the same grade in society.