St. Pierre being now captured[15], the enemy's strength was concentrated in one point at Forts Louis and Bourbon: the latter is a work of late date, being built under the directions of the present Marquis de Bouillé, and is a well planned as well as strongly situated fortification; but in this mountainous country it is hardly possible to find any spot that may not be commanded by some neighbouring height, unless on the tops of the mountains, where it would be difficult to procure water and provisions sufficient for the subsistence of an army during a siege of any length. The town of Fort Royal is situated on a flat and swampy ground, at the foot of the hill on which is Fort Bourbon; and Fort Louis, the ancient strong-hold of this island, is on a neck of land running into the sea, and forms one side of the Carénage, an excellent harbour for shipping of all kinds.—The Admiral, from the day he anchored in Fort Royal Bay, began a heavy cannonade on Fort Louis. The Vesuvius bomb, commanded by Captain Sawyer, and under the direction of Captain Suckling of the artillery, threw shells into the fort from an eighteen-inch and twelve-inch mortar with great effect; and as soon as the evening shut in, the gun-boats, attended by several row-boats from the ships in the fleet (to assist in case of their being sunk by the enemy's shot) moved towards the mouth of the Carénage, and commenced a brisk fire on the fort, which was generally returned with equal spirit; but, from the smallness of the object, and frequently shifting their situation, they were less often hit than could have been expected, considering that they constantly were within the range of grape-shot, which fell in showers round them. Towards day-break they returned to their respective ships.—In the night of February 15th, the second and third companies of seamen, under the command of Lieutenants Miln and Ogle, left the Boyne; and, with other seamen from the fleet, the whole under command of Captain Rogers of the Quebec, landed at Cas Navire, and (occupying the posts that the troops under Colonel Myers had that day quitted, to assist in the attack on St. Pierre) formed a camp near Point Negro.—Our shipping having now, by the capture of Pigeon Island, free ingress to Fort Royal bay, most of the transports and store-ships, under convoy of his majesty's ships Santa Margarita, Solebay, Nautilus, &c. got up into the Cul de sac de Cohée, an harbour at the north-east end of the bay, from whence they had a communication with the army under Sir Charles Grey, and where they built a wharf to land provisions and stores; and a chain of posts was established from thence to the heights of Bruno, on which duty the fifteenth and twentieth regiments were employed.—On February 18th in the morning, General Bellgarde moved with nearly his whole force from his camp on the heights of Sourier, to attack the landing-place in the Cul de sac de Cohée, and by that means to cut off the communication between the army and the fleet. Sir Charles Grey, with that quickness of perception that has rendered him so often useful to his country, instantly perceived his design, and without loss of time ordered the grenadiers, under the command of Colonel Buckridge, and the light infantry, under that of Colonel Coote, to advance with the utmost expedition, and attack Mons. Bellgarde's camp at Sourier; and detached a strong corps from the heights of Bruno to support them. They began their attack on the enemy in the wood; and having driven them from thence, began to mount the rugged and almost inaccessible sides of the hill on which Sourier was situated. The troops gallantly forced their way through every obstruction, and mounted the heights under a heavy fire from the retreating enemy, whom they fairly drove up the precipice, and gained the heights, where they found an excellent dinner (provided for Bellgarde and his people) to refresh them after their fatigue. Our loss in this affair[16] was by no means so great as might have been expected, considering the length of ground, and the many disadvantages under which our troops engaged. While this was doing, General Sir Charles Grey cannonaded Bellgarde from the camp at Bruno, whose troops soon retired in confusion to their late camp at Sourier, which they found occupied by the British grenadiers, who turned their own guns on them (consisting of three brass field pieces), and drove them in confusion under the walls of Fort Bourbon. Our soldiers could not now be restrained, but with an impetuosity that General Prescott could not for the moment prevent, advanced so near the fort, that the enemy opening a heavy fire of grape shot on them, obliged them at length to retire with some loss to their new acquisition on Sourier, a post which Sir Charles Grey had intended to have attacked the following day, as being absolutely necessary to enable him to carry on his plan of attack against Fort Bourbon, and which the temerity of Bellgarde had thus put into his hands a day sooner.—The whole business of this action was conducted in such a manner, that each individual concerned partook of the glory of it; and when considered as to its utility, it was perhaps one of the most fortunate, as well as the best conducted, enterprises that happened throughout the campaign. The day after this event General Rochambeau, who commanded in Fort Bourbon, sent an aid de camp on board the Boyne, who went thence with Captain Grey to the Commander in Chief at head quarters. The terms of capitulation that he brought were, that the whole island should be delivered to the English on condition that, in case Louis the Seventeenth should ever come to the throne, it should be restored to him; if not, and the republic should be established, it should be given up to that government. The Commander in Chief returned for answer, 'that he came expressly to take this island for his Britannic Majesty; and that he hoped to take all the French islands in this quarter on the same account.'—The troops now pitched their tents, and formed their camp on Sourier. General Prescott's quarters were in this camp, where he commanded; and Sir Charles Grey established his head quarters at a small distance in the rear.—General Dundas having arranged every thing relative to the government of St. Pierre, left Colonel Myers of the fifteenth regiment with the battalions of the fifty-eighth and sixty-fifth regiments to garrison that town, and on February 20th embarked with the grenadiers on board the Veteran for Fort Royal Bay. The morning following they disembarked in the Cul de sac de Cohée, and marched directly to head quarters at Sourier, where they pitched their tents, and with regret parted from General Dundas, their commander hitherto, who went to Camp la Coste to take the command of the light infantry.—The artillery, artificers, and engineers, were now busily employed in landing stores and ammunition preparatory to the formation of the batteries necessary for the siege; in which business they received great assistance from a body of seamen landed for that purpose: three hundred of these brave fellows were landed at the wharf in the Cul de sac Cohée from his majesty's ships Santa Margarita, Captain Harvey, with his Lieutenants Woolley and Harrison; the Solebay, Captain Kelly, with Lieutenants Carthew and Schomberg; and Nautilus sloop, Captain Carpenter; with Lieutenant Bennet, Lieutenant Collins, and a party of marines, from the Santa Margarita. They instantly began to proceed with a twenty-four pounder and two six pounders[17] towards Sourier. They halted with the twenty-four pounder that evening on the side of the road between Fort Royal and the town of Lamantin, as they were obliged to cut a road through a thick wood for nearly a mile. The next day they completed the road, and also made a sort of bridge, or rather passage, across a river, which at times was of considerable depth, though fortunately there was now only four feet water in it. This they effected by filling it up with large stones and branches of trees, and then they proceeded with the twenty-four pounder and two eight-inch howitzers, which they left that night in charge of a piquet from the post above mentioned. On the third day they, to the astonishment of the whole army, got a twenty-four pounder to the heights of Sourier before the night shut in, and two howitzers within a mile of it; and to add to the difficulty, a considerable part of that day was employed in levelling the banks of the river that runs by Dillon's plantation, and making it fordable, by removing immense stones and fragments of rock. On the fourth day (notwithstanding they were obliged to employ a considerable party in making the road more complete) they got the two howitzers above mentioned, and two more twenty-four pounders, to the heights of Sourier. The distance from the wharf to those heights is near five miles; and when we consider that the road was to be formed for near four miles of the way, one of which was through a very thick wood, and that, as they approached the heights of Sourier, for near a mile the road was so steep, that a loaded mule could not walk directly up it, it seems scarce credible that so small a number as three hundred men should be able to have undergone such severe fatigue, considering the climate and the nature of the soil, which was a very stiff clay, intermixed with large rock stones.—A few days after, a reinforcement of seamen was landed from the Veteran, Captain Nugent, with Lieutenants Leaf and Whitlock, and the Winchelsea, Lord Viscount Garlies, with his Lieutenants Dixon and Watson; also Lieutenant Treminere of the marines, with a sergeant's party. They took post by the side of the road leading from Lamantin to Fort Royal, where the first twenty-four pounder was halted.—The first party of seamen took post on the banks of the river running past Dillon's plantation, at the foot of the heights of Sourier. But the Veteran being wanted for other service, in the course of the week one hundred and fifty men were reimbarked on board her, and the Winchelsea's crew joined the former party. The compliments paid the seamen in general orders for their spirited conduct, is a convincing proof that they never once relaxed from their first exertions from the beginning of the siege to the surrender of Fort Bourbon, a period of five weeks. Indeed their astonishing exertions were almost beyond probability: after rain (which in this climate is frequent) the steep parts of the road were so slippery, that a man even with the greatest care would frequently slip back ten and sometimes twenty feet at a time: but so determined were the honest tars not to fail in what they undertook, that when once they set out with their gun after a heavy rain, and they found it impossible to keep their feet, they have crawled up as they dragged the twenty-four pounder, and kept themselves from sliding back by sticking their fingers in the ground. But among the many compliments paid the seamen, none pleased them so much as having a battery appointed solely for them[18], where they used to relieve one another by turns, without even an additional allowance of grog as an encouragement. Sir Charles Grey paid the highest compliments to the zeal and ability with which the Admiral seconded all his plans. Indeed there never was an instance in which two commanders carried on a business of such importance so unalloyed by the least difference in opinion, or jealousy of command: each strove to prove his readiness to assist his friend and colleague; of course every thing succeeded, and was carried on with a promptness of execution that seldom has been equalled, never exceeded.
CHAPTER VII.
FORTS BOURBON AND LOUIS CLOSELY INVESTED … BATTERIES ON THE FIRST PARALLEL ERECTED … THE SEAMEN EMPLOYED IN GETTING GUNS TO THE BATTERIES ON THE WEST SIDE … A DANGEROUS PASS DESCRIBED … CAPTAIN MILN MORTALLY WOUNDED; HE DIES; HIS CHARACTER … BELLGARDE DELIVERS HIMSELF AND ARMY INTO THE HANDS OF SIR CHARLES GREY … HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE EDWARD ARRIVES, AND TAKES A COMMAND … BATTERIES OPENED AGAINST FORT BOURBON … LIEUTENANT BOWEN'S SPIRITED CONDUCT … FORT LOUIS TAKEN BY STORM … CAPTAIN FAULKNOR'S GALLANT CONDUCT … FORT BOURBON SURRENDERS.
From the 20th of February Forts Bourbon and Louis, with the town of Fort Royal, were completely invested, and the General was busily employed in erecting batteries on his first parallel. On the north-east side the army under General Prescott broke ground on the 25th of February, and on the west side towards La Coste (where Sir Charles Gordon commanded, Prince Edward not having as yet arrived from Canada) fascine batteries for mortars and cannon were erecting with every possible expedition. In this business the seamen, who formed a camp at Point Negro under Captain Josias Rogers of the Quebec, eminently distinguished themselves; and though the roads were not quite so bad as on the Sourier side, yet they had many severe difficulties to encounter, that rendered dragging the mortars and heavy ordnance to the batteries fatiguing and hazardous in a great degree. Part of the way which they were obliged to go was in sight of Fort Bourbon; soon after which they descended into a hollow way or ravine, where a rivulet invited them to refresh themselves, and it was with difficulty their officers could prevent them from slaking their thirst at this stream, which crossed them at a time when the fatigue and heat they sustained rendered the temptation almost irresistible, especially to men fearless of danger, and thoughtless to a proverb. No sooner did they begin to descend into this ravine, than the enemy threw their shells with such judgment, that they frequently fell at the moment our people were passing the rivulet. It was in the afternoon of the 22d of February that Lieutenant James Miln of the Boyne was proceeding with his company of seamen to relieve those who had been the fore-part of the day at work on one of the advanced batteries, and having been observed on his march by the enemy in Fort Bourbon, they as usual began to fire their mortars into the ravine; Mr. Miln, who, added to the greatest courage, possessed much prudence, was hurrying his men through this dangerous pass, and was in the act of calling to two men who were drinking at the rivulet (the rest of his company having passed on), when a shell burst near him, carried off one of his legs, and shattered the other in a dreadful manner. At the same time one of the men, who had loitered, lost a leg. In this dreadful situation he was carried two miles to Sir Charles Gordon's camp, before his wounds could be bound up, and from thence to his own quarters at Point Negro, where he suffered amputation of one leg. The next day the surgeon general of the navy went to him from the Boyne, and finding his situation dangerous in the extreme, having no better place than the ground, in an open sugar-house, part of which was the head quarters of the naval officers, and being within range of the enemy's guns, which frequently threw their shot and shells over him, he was conveyed to the royal hospital at St. Pierre; but from the loss of blood he had sustained, and the nature of the climate, he was seized with the lock jaw, of which he died on Sunday the 9th of March, and the next day was buried in the garden of the hospital with the honours of war, together with Lieutenants Spencer and Rosehill[19] of the Beaulieu, and Lieutenant Smith of the fifty-eighth regiment. The burial service was performed by the Chaplain[20] of the Boyne, and attended by Colonel Myers, commandant of St. Pierre, Captain Salisbury of the Beaulieu, and the other naval and military officers, and the principal English gentlemen who were in that town. The Admiral, who always distinguished merit, and rewarded it when in his power, had promoted Mr. Miln[21] to the command of the Avenger sloop, late Marseillois, taken at St. Pierre.
Bellgarde found it in vain to attempt any thing further, after his last shameful defeat; and being with his black army shut out of Fort Bourbon by General Rochambeau (who, when he retreated after the loss of his camp on Sourier under cover of the fire of that fort, shut the gates against him), he now determined to make the best bargain he could for himself; and accordingly on the 25th of February sent a message to Sir Charles Grey, offering to give up his army, on condition that himself, and certain others that he named, should be permitted to go to America; which request the Commander in Chief complied with; and on the 4th of March, Bellgarde, with his secretary, a white man, by whose councils he had always been guided, and eight people of colour, sailed in a schooner for America, whither he had taken the precaution at various times to forward a quantity of wealth against any change of circumstances should make such a retreat desirable[22].
On Tuesday the 4th of March his Royal Highness Prince Edward arrived at this island, and was received with a royal salute from the fleet. Immediately he took the command of that brigade of the army encamped on the Cas Navire side, and at La Coste, which had hitherto been under the direction of Sir Charles Gordon[23].—Intelligence having reached the Commander in Chief that a number of brigands, composed of some runaways from Bellgarde's army, and other wretches, had committed many depredations and murders, pillaging and burning houses and villages in several parts of the island; he dispatched a detachment of the fifteenth regiment, commanded by Lord Sinclair, with a party of the Prince of Wales's light dragoons, commanded by Lieut. Shadwell, and conducted by Captain Cunningham (one of his Excellency's aid de camps), who surprised one hundred and fifty of these people in the act of burning and plundering the village of Francois[24]. At the first charge the enemy were routed, thirty-six of them, with their chief (who was cut down by a dragoon), were killed, and four taken prisoners, who were instantly hung up, to deter others from such infamous acts as had been committed by these miscreants.—Every preparation was now made for opening our batteries against Fort Bourbon, which were constructed only about eight hundred paces from the fort, and about six hundred in front of our own lines. These batteries would have been constructed much sooner, but, owing to the heavy rains that fell almost constantly, and which, at this season of the year, were unusual, the works had been greatly retarded, and the difficulties encreased. On the morning of the 6th of March, every thing being ready for a heavy cannonade, Sir Charles Grey sent a flag of truce with a summons to the garrison to surrender, which was refused by General Rochambeau. Accordingly, at day-break on the 7th (the gun-boats having as usual attacked Fort Louis during the night) mortars, howitzers, and great guns, opened from five batteries at the same instant, keeping up an incessant fire on the fort and advanced redoubt the whole of that day and the night, from each of which it was returned with equal fury. All the following day the same spirited attack and defence was continued. On the 9th the enemy made a sortie from the fort, and attacked the advanced picquet from the camp at La Coste, composed of part of the third battalion of light infantry, and some sailors under command of Captain Faulknor of the Zebra. After an engagement of some length the enemy gave way, and were imprudently followed by our troops under the guns of the fort; by this excess of ardour we lost some men, while the enemy suffered but little. The gun-boats and Vesuvius now kept up a constant fire from Fort Royal Bay: in the former two seamen were killed by grape, and part of the head of the bomb ketch was shot away. On the 13th a melancholy accident occurred in one of our batteries, which was formed and manned entirely by seamen. Captain Faulknor of the Zebra, who commanded in it, being provoked by the interference of an officer of artillery in the works which one of the seamen of the Asia was employed in, and the sailor not obeying him with alacrity, was provoked to strike him with his sword, which unfortunately wounded him mortally, and he died in a few minutes. Captain Faulknor was acquitted by the court martial that was instantly summoned by the Admiral to investigate the matter; and the circumstance of its happening in the heat of action, when the least disobedience of orders involves the most fatal consequences, as well, as that it appeared there was no premeditated intention of killing the unfortunate man, but was a blow given from the impulse of momentary passion; the sentence was confirmed and approved.—From this time the siege was carried on with unremitted exertion by night and day; shot and shells were constantly flying, and new batteries daily constructed; so that our advanced batteries were at length brought within five hundred yards of the fort, and not more than two hundred from the redoubt: the latter indeed was so battered, that it might with ease have been stormed; but the General knew that a mine which communicated from the fort would involve in certain destruction all who attempted so desperate an action; and therefore preferred the more sure means of success, by regular and methodical approaches. On Monday the 17th of March two new batteries opened on Fort Louis from Point Carriere, a neck of land that forms the south-west side of the Carénage, and not more than two hundred yards across the mouth of that harbour to the walls of the fort; one of these was commanded by Captain Riou[25] of the Rose.—The French had a fine frigate called the Bienvenu, which was anchored in the centre of the Carénage, on board of which it was reported a number of English prisoners were confined, and were consequently exposed to the fire of our batteries. Lieut. Bowen of the Boyne formed a resolution to extricate his countrymen from their perilous situation; and having obtained the Admiral's permission, and approbation of his plan, at noon he boldly pushed into the harbour from Point Carriere, where he had collected his boats destined for the enterprise, well manned by tried and determined seamen. The instant he appeared round the point, the enemy prepared to give him a warm reception. The walls of Fort Louis were covered in an instant with troops, which kept up an incessant fire of musquetry on him; at the same time the frigate endeavoured to keep him off, by plying both her great guns and small arms; but at length, intimidated by the boldness of the attempt, they fled from their quarters, and Mr. Bowen at the head of his men boarded the frigate, and took the captain, officers, and crew of her prisoners without resistance. All this time the enemy in the fort continued to pour vollies of grape and musketry on the frigate, which was returned with great spirit by the British seamen, who now turned their own guns upon them, and would have brought her out of the harbour, but the sails being all unbent, it was impossible in such a situation to bend them: the tri-coloured flag, which was fastened to the gaff of the mizen, they were not able to strike, though a sailor had the audacity to go aloft for that purpose, scorning the musketry of the enemy. Mr. Bowen, seeing no chance of getting the ship out of the harbour, and finding that the English prisoners were in another vessel further up, from whence it was rendered impossible to release them, contented himself with securing the officers and crew of the frigate, whom he brought off, in spite of every effort made by the republicans to prevent him. As the bullets were flying thick around him, he suffered the Frenchmen to lie down in the bottom of the boats, that they might not be killed by their own countrymen; a very different conduct from what they had observed to our people who were in the same situation[26]. In this business he lost only three men killed, and four or five wounded. The success of this enterprise gave the Commanders in Chief confidence, that a spirited attack by land and sea on Fort Louis would succeed. Accordingly the Admiral ordered a number of bamboos of thirty feet long to be cut and made into scaling ladders, connected with strong line. The gun-boats and row-boats were collected in the bay round the Point Carriere, and the sailors' camp at Point Negro, with Prince Edward's camp at La Coste and Cas Navire, held themselves in readiness to co-operate in the grand attack. The navy to be employed in this business was under the immediate direction of Commodore Thompson. On Thursday the 20th of March, before day-break, the third battalion of grenadiers, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Buckridge, and the first battalion of light infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Coote, marched by the hill on which Fort Bourbon is situated from the camp on Sourier, unperceived by the enemy, and took a position that gave them the command of the bridge that connected the town of Fort Royal to the road leading up to that fort, the batteries on the second parallel being ready, those on Morne Tortenson and Point Carriere kept up a well-directed and heavy fire on Fort Louis, and all the other batteries cannonaded Fort Bourbon during the whole of the day and night of the 19th instant, and on the morning also, till about ten o'clock, when the Asia of 64 guns, Captain Browne, and the Zebra sloop of 16 guns, Captain R. Faulknor, got under way. The Zebra led in towards the mouth of the harbour, receiving the fire of grape and round, without returning a shot: the Asia had got within the range of grape shot, when, to the surprise of every body, she wore and made sail from the fort[27]. The Admiral, Sir John Jervis, had previously made the signal for the rest of the fleet to be ready to second the attempt of these two ships, by loosing the topsails of the Boyne, and lying at single anchor ready to slip and run in; on perceiving the Asia was foiled in her attempt, and supposing, as she was under a heavy fire from the fort, that either Captain Browne was killed, or that some other desperate accident had happened, he instantly dispatched Captain George Grey of the Boyne to take the command of the Asia, and if he could not get in, to run her aground under the walls of the fort. Captain Grey soon returned, and brought the pleasing intelligence that not a man was hurt on board of the Asia. She then stood in again, and again put about, when near the mouth of the harbour, and sailed from it. Captain Faulknor, seeing that he stood no chance of being seconded by the Asia, and being all this time under a dreadful fire from Fort Louis, boldly pushed in towards that fort, still reserving his fire till he came close to the walls of it; and then running his ship aground, plying his small arms and great guns, he drove the enemy from thence, and leaping into a boat, scaled the ramparts. Seeing the Zebra go in, all the boats with scaling ladders, attended by the gun-boats, seemed to fly towards the scene of action. Those from Point Carriere mounted the walls near where Captain Faulknor had so gallantly run his ship, and seconding him, drove the enemy out of the fort, hauled down the republican flag, and hoisted the British union in its stead[28]. The storming party of seamen from the camp at Point Negro, under Captain Rogers, landed at the town of Fort Royal, of which they soon took possession, being aided by the first battalion of grenadiers, under Lieutenant Colonel Stewart, and third light infantry, under Lieutenant Colonel Close, from Prince Edward's camp at La Coste.—While this was doing, Lieutenant Colonel Coote kept up a heavy fire of musketry on the bridge and road, over which the enemy were retreating to throw themselves into Fort Bourbon; and Captain de Revigne covering the attack of the infantry by a well-directed fire of some field pieces, the whole action was so eminently successful in every part, that it is hard to say where was the greatest glory, every one performing the service allotted to him in so excellent a manner. General Rochambeau, seeing that all resistance would now be useless, Fort Royal, his grand depôt of provisions and ammunition, being lost, sent a flag to General Grey, offering terms of capitulation; and commissioners being named, who met at the house of Madame Dillon to arrange the preliminary articles of it, the terms were finally adjusted and agreed to on the 22d instant; and the ratification thereof being signed by the Commanders in Chief on both sides, on the 23d following, at four o'clock in the afternoon, his Royal Highness Major General Prince Edward took possession of both gates of the fort with the first and third battalions of grenadiers, and first and third light infantry. On Tuesday the 25th of March, 1794, the garrison marched out of Fort Bourbon, to the number of nine hundred men; and being allowed the honours of war for their gallant[29] defence, they marched down the hill with their colours flying; and laying down their arms on the parade of Fort Royal, were embarked on board of ships which took them immediately to France. Our troops, both army and that part of the navy that had served (during the siege) on shore, lined the road as the enemy passed; and entering the fort, they struck the French and hoisted the British colours, changing the name from Fort Bourbon to Fort George, in compliment to our gracious Sovereign, which it now bears, and Fort Louis bears the name of Fort Edward.—At the commencement of the siege the garrison of Fort Bourbon consisted of one thousand two hundred men, which were reduced to nine hundred at the conclusion of it. Five stands of colours laid down by the garrison, and two colours of Fort Bourbon, were brought to England by Major Grey, second son of his Excellency the Commander in Chief, and presented by him (with the dispatches) to his Majesty, who ordered them to be hung up in the Cathedral of St. Paul, as a lasting memorial of the gallant action atchieved by Sir Charles Grey and Sir John Jervis, and their brave forces[30]; by which one of the most valuable of the French islands in the West Indies was added to the British dominions, possessing (besides great revenues and prodigious sources of wealth) one of the finest harbours in the world, in which the whole British fleet might safely anchor.