As the bay and harbour of Fort Royal were now completely opened to our shipping by the capture of Pigeon Island, the Commander in Chief moved forward on the 14th from La Riviere Sallée to Bruno with the remainder of the first brigade, a principal part of which had, under General Prescott, reached that place the day before; having previously concerted the attack of St. Pierré with General Dundas, that general marched on the evening of the 13th from Bruno with the second battalion of grenadiers, the thirty-third and fortieth light companies, and the sixty-fifth regiment, to Gros Morne, where he halted that night, and early on the 14th marched to Trinité; from whence he dispatched a sloop with the packs and blankets of his army round towards la Basse Pointe, in order to expedite his march toward St. Pierre, the capital of the island, the capture of which was now his object. From Gros Morne General Dundas had detached Colonel Campbell through the woods by Bois le Buc with the second battalion of light infantry and sixty-fifth regiment to Montigné. At five o'clock in the evening of the 14th General Dundas marched from Trinité (being joined by a company of the second or queen's regiment, commanded by the Honourable Captain Ramsay): after marching all night he halted for three hours; and soon after day-break on the morning of the 15th, having passed the river Capot, arrived at the heights of Calbass, after a march of thirty miles over a rough mountainous country. The fatigue of such a march in a tropical climate can only be conceived by those who have experienced it: harassed and worn down, it was necessary to give the troops some rest before they attempted to ascend the steep and craggy mountain, over the top of which was their road, commanded by a battery, where the enemy appeared in great force, with their colours flying. The spirit of our soldiers however overcame all difficulties, and they ascended the heights with such alacrity, that the enemy, alarmed at their determined conduct, evacuated the fort (fortunately for our men), without making any resistance; as, by the time they reached the summit of the mountain, they were so exhausted, that a steady opposition might have proved fatal to them. From hence (the post having previously been destroyed by the enemy, who had broken the guns and scattered the ammunition) General Dundas proceeded about four miles further, to a place called Morne Rouge: here he halted, and shortly after saw Colonel Campbell at Post au Pin, half a mile short of Montigné, under a heavy fire from five or six hundred of the enemy, strongly posted. General Dundas instantly pushed forward his advanced guard, under command of the Hon. Captain Ramsay, who gained the summit by extraordinary exertions, fired on the enemy, at that time engaged with Colonel Campbell, and silenced their fire; and, when joined by the second battalion of grenadiers, took possession of Montigné, where he was reinforced by two companies of grenadiers. The major general took post himself on Morne Rouge, and visiting Colonel Campbell's column, found he had been attacked at half past nine o'clock in the morning, and the enemy being within twenty yards of the fortieth light company, at the head of which he was, had charged them with bayonets, when, to the great grief of the whole army, he fell by a ball through his head from the musket of a mulatto, who had concealed himself behind a bush till the Colonel came close up to it. Colonel Campbell was a man high in estimation as a military character, and no less respected for his private worth, being sincere in his friendships and steady in his attachments. When General Dundas arrived at Morne Rouge, the enemy were on their march to re-attack our troops; but the appearance of our grenadiers so near them, caused them to relinquish their plan at that time: but in the evening of the same day the General observed bodies of the enemy moving towards his front at Morne Rouge, and forming under a small redoubt near that post. The thirty-third, thirty-fourth, and forty-fourth companies of grenadiers, with a field piece, and Captain Whitworth of the artillery (the whole under the command of Major Forbes), were ordered to advance, when a smart engagement commenced. The enemy were covered by a brisk fire from two field pieces on Morne Bellvieu, a strongly situated battery immediately in their rear. The action continued for about half an hour, when the enemy gave way, and during the night abandoned the fort, leaving two field pieces behind them. From the number of graves observed the following day (corroborated by the accounts of some prisoners), their loss must have been considerable; ours consisted of one officer (Lieutenant Keating of the thirty-third regiment) and two privates wounded, and one private killed.—At two o'clock the following morning the sixteenth, thirty-fifth, and fifty-fifth companies of grenadiers were ordered to advance and storm the battery upon Morne Bellvieu, and were to be supported (if necessary) by the ninth and sixty-fifth companies. All their flints were taken out, the bayonet alone to be the soldier's defence. However, the enemy had been so roughly handled the day before, that they thought fit to decamp during the night, and our troops took possession of the fort without any opposition. Our army had now arrived within two leagues of St. Pierre, from whence by day-break the enemy sent a flag of truce, requiring three days to consider of a capitulation; to which General Dundas returned an answer, that instead of three days, he would allow them only three hours; and if they did not surrender within that time, he would advance against the town. The fifty-fifth company of grenadiers being left in possession of Bellvieu, the remainder of the battalion moved on towards St. Pierré. In the mean time the Admiral, Sir John Jervis, to co-operate with the land forces under General Dundas, had ordered the following ships to sail for the bay of St. Pierre, the Asia, Veteran, Santa Margarita, Blonde, Rattlesnake, Zebra, and Nautilus, with the Vesuvius bomb. On board of this fleet Colonel Symes had embarked with three light companies, and Major Maitland with a detachment of the fiftieth regiment; Colonel Myers with five companies of the first battalion of grenadiers, and five companies of the third battalion of light infantry, (for the same purpose of co-operating with General Dundas) had marched from Camp la Coste towards Trinité.
The fleet on their arrival in the bay prepared for instant operation. Colonel Symes, with the troops and seamen who were to land with him, had, previous to their entering the bay, embarked on board of the Zebra and Nautilus sloops, and some other vessels, which, being small, could get nearer the shore, thereby rendering the debarkation of the troops much less difficult.
In the evening of Feb. 16th they began to work towards the north part of the bay, beyond the Jesuits' College, the other men of war standing towards the town to cover them. About eleven o'clock the vessels with troops and seamen on board were under a cross fire from two batteries of red hot shot, which happily did them no damage, though they fell round and near them. Captain Harvey in the Santa Margarita, perceiving the troops were likely to be much annoyed, went close under the guns of the most considerable of the two batteries, which he silenced; and about four in the morning of the 17th the troops and seamen made good their landing, and found that the enemy had left the other battery. During the night the Vesuvius bomb did much execution with her shells, many of them falling in the town, to which it set fire in some places: the fire however was soon extinguished. The batteries in the town and on the adjacent hills kept up a constant fire of shot and shells on the men of war, as they advanced towards the town, which was returned with great spirit. The Santa Margarita was struck with a shell, which fortunately neither fired her, nor did any considerable damage. Colonel Symes on landing advanced with the troops towards St. Pierre, which the enemy evacuated on his approach, leaving their guns primed and loaded, and their colours flying, which were hauled down by our people, and the British union hoisted. About ten the whole of the troops and seamen had marched into the town. No man was suffered to quit his ranks, nor was the least injury done to any of the inhabitants, who, with the women and children, sat at their doors and windows to see our army march in, the same as when troops pass through a town in England. While our men were drawn up in the market place, a flag of truce came in from General Dundas, who with his army was on the hills near the town, and was on his march to attack it. This flag was in answer to one sent by the enemy to him, offering to capitulate. The officer who brought the flag was agreeably surprised to find on his entering the town that it was already in the possession of his countrymen. In the evening General Dundas with the army marched in; and having taken possession of the government-house, he instantly established quiet and good order in the town. As our troops marched into St. Pierre a drummer was discovered in the act of plundering one of the peaceable inhabitants, for which he was instantly hung up at the gate of the Jesuits' College, by order of the provost marshal. In the evening the seamen embarked on board their respective ships. The men of war having anchored in the bay, were busily employed in taking an account of and unbending the sails of the different ships in the harbour. Unfortunately at day-break of this morning, when the town surrendered, a schooner got out of the south side of the bay, in which it was reported there was a considerable quantity of money and some people of distinction. She passed within gun-shot of the Santa Margarita, who (for some reason or other) did not fire at her to bring her to. The next morning the Santa Margarita sailed to Fort Royal bay with Mons. Au Cane[14], the mayor of St. Pierre, and Abbé Maunier, the vicar general of the island, and other prisoners.
St. Pierre is a long handsome town, situated on the shore of an open bay, and flanked by a strong battery at either end; also defended by two redoubts on the hills which overhang the town. The surrounding country rises in a succession of hills beautifully variegated with woods and sugar plantations; and near the town are some fine gardens, which before the revolution had been kept up in a superior stile of elegance and convenience. Each street of this beautiful town is watered by a clear stream from the mountains, running rapidly down the middle, which adds greatly to the health as well as convenience of the place. The streets in general are narrow and rough paved, but very regular; the houses are built of a fine stone like free-stone, the lower apartments of which were in general handsomely, and sometimes superbly, furnished.
There are two convents of nuns, one dedicated to St. Ursuline, the other called Les Blancs. The Ursuline convent has very beautiful gardens, situated at the declivity of a hill, which rises immediately behind the town: it was in a wretched state when we took it, the poor nuns having been deprived of their revenues by the revolutionists. Near this convent is a neat church, whose high altar, as well as pavement, is of good marble. Not far from the church is the opera house, which, from its high roof, is a very conspicuous object. Towards the south end of the town is the church of Notre Dame de bon Porte du Mouillage (of which Pere Maunier, one of the chiefs of the revolution, was curé). It is a handsome building: round the grand altar (which is of polished and well sculptured marble) are several tolerable paintings of saints and the Virgin Mary, as large as life. Over the bridge, at the north end of the town, is another large church, and several others, small and mean in their outward appearance and inside decorations. I was informed that most of these churches were well endowed before the revolution, and the religious houses were amply provided for, as is the case in all parts of the new world where the Roman Catholic religion is professed.
At the northern extremity of St. Pierre is a spacious handsome house, with good offices, stables, and gardens, which formerly belonged to the Jesuits, in whose district the town and surrounding country is situated. The Capuchins and Dominicans had the two other parts of the island.—The government-house, which on our taking it was inhabited by Au Cane, the mayor, is conveniently situated near the centre of the town, and was formed for the residence of the chief magistrate or governor of the island. The rooms are large and lofty, and there is a good garden at the back of the house, in which, amongst a variety of fruit trees, was a fine bread-fruit tree: how it came there, I could not learn, unless some French ships had paid a visit to the islands in the South Sea, for the same purpose that our ships of late have made that voyage; but then I think more of the trees would have been seen in this and the neighbouring French islands.—Towards the southern end of the town is a large and commodious hospital, which had good revenues attached to it, and was well regulated and attended. This we found of infinite use for our sick and wounded, who were far better provided for here than they could be in the hospital ships, or with the army.
CHAPTER VI.
THE ENEMY RETIRE INTO FORT BOURBON AND FORT LOUIS … THE ADMIRAL ATTACKS FORT LOUIS WITH THE BOMB-KETCH AND GUN-BOATS … CAMP OF SEAMEN FORMED AT POINT NEGRO … A WHARF BUILT IN THE CUL DE SAC DE COHEE, STORES AND AMMUNITION LANDED THERE … GENERAL BELLGARDE ATTEMPTS TO CUT OFF THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE ARMY AND NAVY, BUT IS BEATEN, AND HIS CAMP ON SOURIER TAKEN … HEAD-QUARTERS ESTABLISHED ON SOURIER … GENERAL ROCHAMBEAU SENDS AN AID DE CAMP TO THE COMMANDERS IN CHIEF … THE NAVY MAKE A ROAD, AND DRAG THE GUNS TO THE HEIGHTS OF SOURIER.