Gibraltar and Its Sieges, with a Description of Its Natural Features.

by Frederic George Stephens

On the evening of the 14th, says Drinkwater, the enemy’s shells were very profusely distributed; some that did not burst were examined, and on the fuse being drawn it was found that inflammable matter had been mixed with the powder. These combustibles set on fire a wine-house near the Spanish church, and before the conflagration could be extinguished four or five houses were burned to the ground. Detachments of infantry were sent to quench the flames, but the enemy’s cannonade became so brisk that great confusion ensued. From this disaster may be dated the irregularities into which, through the combined influence of drink and resentment, many of the soldiers fell. Some died of intoxication on the spot, and others were with difficulty recovered.

“Though riot and violence,” continues Drinkwater, “are most contrary to that spirit of regular discipline which should always prevail in military affairs, something may yet be urged in extenuation of the conduct of the troops. The extreme distress to which they had been reduced by the mercenary conduct of the hucksters and liquor-dealers, in hoarding, or rather concealing their stocks, to enhance the price of what was exposed for sale, raised amongst the troops (when they discovered the great quantities of various articles in the private stores) a spirit of revenge. The first and second days they conducted themselves with great propriety; but on the eve of the third day their discipline was over-powered by their inebriation, and from that instant, regardless of punishment or the entreaties of their officers, they were guilty of many and great excesses. The enemy’s shells soon forced open the secret recesses of the merchants, and the soldiers instantly availed themselves of the opportunity to seize upon the liquors, which they conveyed to haunts of their own. There, in parties, they barricaded their quarters against all opposers, and, insensible of their danger, regaled themselves with the spoils. Several skirmishes occurred amongst them, which, if not seasonably put a stop to by the interference of officers, might have ended in serious consequences.”

Such is life in a beleaguered town! There is something more to be feared than the attacks of external enemies, and that is, the irregularities within; the outbursts of a spirit of military insubordination, and the follies and crimes of the non-combatants,—all adding to the anxiety and increasing the responsibility of the military and civil authorities. At Gibraltar the entire burden rested on the shoulders of General Elliot,—who bore it, however, with inflexible calmness and resolute patience, tempering justice with mercy, but not fearing to strike heavily when it was necessary for the common safety.

The bombardment continued briskly, and casualties occurred daily. On the 21st, the besieged counted forty-two rounds in a couple of minutes! The garrison flag-staff was so much damaged that the upper part had to be cut off; but the shot-torn colours were nailed to the stump. From the enemy’s gun and mortar boats on the 23rd, two hundred and sixty shot and forty shells were discharged. The wife of a soldier was killed behind the South Barracks. The relaxation of discipline among the soldiers had become so alarming that, on the 26th, General Elliot issued orders, which were strictly carried out, that any soldier found drunk or asleep on his post, or plundering, should be executed. Everybody’s spirits were raised on the 27th by the arrival of twenty ships with provisions from Minorca; and this encouragement was sorely needed at a time when the garrison was harassed not only by fire but water—the rains falling heavily, and thunderstorms being of frequent occurrence. It was awful to hear the reverberating peal mingling with the roar of cannon, and to see the smoke-clouds of battle pierced by the lurid arrows of the lightning.

It must not be supposed that the English endured the enemy’s bombardment in silence. The guns of the Rock were plied at times with equal alacrity and effect; but the prudent general would not allow his men to waste their shot and powder, and they fired only when the enemy were well within range. On the morning of May the 7th, the gun and mortar boats opened upon the town and the New Mole for about an hour. The garrison replied with four hundred rounds, at which the governor was much displeased. “There would be no end,” said he, “of expending ammunition, if we fired every time they came, and while they were at so great a distance.”

Among the incidents which marked the history of the siege within the walls, we may mention that, on one occasion, a Hanoverian and some other ill-disposed fellows were detected in plundering a store. They were given in charge to a sentry; but the Hanoverian attempted to escape. “Halt!” cried the sentry, “or I’ll fire!” The marauder continuing his flight, the sentry carried out his threat, and the man fell dead on the spot. A soldier of the 58th was, on another occasion, hung at the door of the store in his robbery of which he had been surprised. On the 9th, an officer lost his leg by a shot. The remarkable feature of this occurrence was, that the wounded man saw the shot coming on its fatal errand, but was so fascinated by it that he could not move out of the way. A shell fell into a house in which fifteen or sixteen persons were huddled together; all escaped except a child, whose mother had been killed by a shell only a few days before. A soldier, rambling about the town, came upon a store of watches and other valuable articles, among the ruins of a house, and hastened to take possession of them. Then arose the puzzling question, What should he do with this treasure-trove? To convey them to his quarters was impossible, as every one was examined on his return from duty. The expedient to which he finally resorted was very curious. He took out the wad of a gun on the King’s Bastion, and tying his prize in his pocket-handkerchief, secreted it in the bore of the gun as far as he could reach; afterwards replacing the wad. In the piping times of peace a better repository could hardly have been invented; but it happened that on this same evening, while the marauder lay asleep in his casemate, the hostile gunboats approached, and fire was vigorously opened upon them. One of the first guns discharged was that which contained the soldier’s ill-gotten wealth, and all his visions of future greatness were dissipated in a moment!

The incessant bombardment had, of course, a ruinous effect upon the town. Scarcely any of the houses north of the Grand Parade were inhabitable; all of them were deserted. The families of some of the soldiers lingered still in a few near South-port; but even of these only the walls remained standing. The governor and lieutenant-governor, however, maintained their quarters,—men being kept constantly employed in repairing the damage done by shot or shell. But the general aspect of the town was most pitiful; the streets were solitary, and instead of the hum of voices one heard only the whirr of shot and the rush and explosion of shells.

On the 9th of June, the garrison was aroused by the blowing-up of one of the Spanish magazines. The effect was that of a continual roll of fire, like repeated volleys of musketry, which led the besieged to conjecture that the accident had befallen their repository for fixed ammunition and live shells. Their drums immediately beat to arms; and the entire force, numbering thirteen battalions of infantry, besides cavalry, paraded in front of the camp. It was thought that the enemy by this disaster must have suffered severely in men as well as munitions.

The British batteries, though constantly repaired, were much damaged by the incessant fire; and the enemy’s shot frequently drove through seven solid feet of sandbag-work. As an additional protection, strong wooden caissons were constructed; filled in compactly with clay, and covered in front and on the top with junk cut in lengths for the purpose. These proved very effectual. The bombardment was not wholly without profit to the besieged; for it directed their attention to the weak points of their fortifications, which were immediately strengthened, until they were rendered virtually impregnable.

The monotony of the siege—and all soldiers agree that a siege, with its daily round of duties, and its continuous roar of cannon, becomes in time distressingly wearisome from its lack of variety—was interrupted on the 7th July by another lively episode of British seamanship. At early morn the Spaniards at Cabrita Point were observed signalling that an enemy was in sight; and when the mists dispersed, the English themselves could see a vessel becalmed at a considerable distance, but rowing, with the current, towards the beleaguered Rock. Fourteen gunboats had put out from Algesiras to cut her off; whereupon Captain Curtis, of the Brilliant man-of-war, ordered Sir Charles Knowles, with three barges, to endeavour to get alongside and receive any despatches she might have on board, while he himself towed out a couple of praams to cover and protect her. Sir Charles’s errand was soon accomplished, and he returned with letters for the governor. By this time the vessel, an English sloop-of-war, was within a league and a half of the garrison, but the headmost Spanish gunboat had got up within range, and hurled at her a torrent of round and grape shot, which was followed by rapid discharges from her consorts. The Helma, Captain Roberts, carried only fourteen small guns; but her crew handled them gallantly, and poured in volleys of fire from the quarter-deck. So unequal a contest, it was thought, could have but one, and that a disastrous, issue; the English sloop was lying becalmed, a league from the Rock, with fourteen gunboats, well-manned, and each mounted with a twenty-six pounder, crashing into her timbers repeated avalanches of grape shot and round shot. Captain Roberts, however, showed no signs of yielding, and maintained a steady and well-directed, if not a heavy fire. Had the calm lasted, he would probably have sunk rather than have surrendered; but happily a westerly breeze sprung up, and, rippling across the waves, soon filled his canvas, and carried him and his gallant crew into safety. The loss of the Helma, notwithstanding the tremendous fire to which she had been exposed, was only one man killed and two men wounded, but her upper rigging and sails were much torn by the shot. Had the gunboats been well handled, it is difficult to believe that she could have escaped; but the inferior gunnery of the Spaniards was proved on many occasions during the war.