Upon orders being issued by the Chief Engineer, twelve good miners of the company were selected for this novel and difficult service, and sergeant-major Ince was nominated to take the executive direction of the work. On the 25th of May, he commenced to mine a gallery from a place above Farringdon’s Battery (Willis'), to communicate, through the rock, to the notch or projection in the scarp under the Royal Battery. The gallery was to be six feet high and six feet wide. The successful progress of this preliminary work was followed by a desire to extend the excavation from the cave at the head of the King’s lines, to the cave at the end of the Queen’s lines, of the same dimensions as the former gallery. A body of well-instructed miners was expressly appointed for the duty,[[19]] and on the 6th July, they began this new subterranean passage. On the 15th, the first “embrasure was opened in the face of the rock communicating with the gallery above Farringdon’s.” To effect this, “the mine was loaded with an unusual quantity of powder, and the explosion was so amazingly loud, that almost the whole of the enemy’s camp turned out at the report: but what,” adds the chronicler, “must their surprise have been, when they observed whence the smoke issued!”[[20]] The gallery was now widened to admit of the placement of a gun with sufficient room for its recoil, and when finished, a 24-pounder was mounted in it.[[21]] Before the ensuing September, five heavy guns were placed in the gallery; and in little more than twelve months from the day it was commenced, it was pushed to the notch, where a battery, as originally proposed, was afterwards established and distinguished, on account of its extensive capacity, by the name of “St George’s Hall.”[[22]]
At Princess Anne’s Battery (Willis'), on the 11th June, a shell from the enemy fell through one of the magazines, and, bursting, the powder instantly ignited and blew up. The whole rock shook with the violence of the explosion, which, tearing up the magazine, threw its massive fragments to an almost incredible distance into the sea. Three merlons on the west flank of the battery, with several men who had run behind them for shelter, were blown into the Prince’s lines beneath, which, with the Queen’s lower down the rock, were almost filled with the rubbish ejected from the upper battery, as also with men dreadfully scorched and mangled. The loss among the workmen was very severe. Fourteen were killed and fifteen wounded.[[23]] Private George Brown, a mason of the company, was amongst the former.
In July the company could only muster ninety-two men of all ranks, including the wounded and sick, having lost twenty-two men during the siege by death, six of whom had been killed. This was the more unfortunate, as the siege was daily assuming a more serious aspect, the enemy collecting in greater force, and the effect of the cannonade upon the defences more telling and ruinous. Naturally the Governor’s attention was called to the deficiency; and as his chief dependence rested upon the soldier-artificers for the execution and direction of the more important works, he was not only anxious for their completion to the authorized establishment, but convinced of the desirableness of augmenting them. In this view he was the more confirmed, by the representations of Major-General Green, the chief engineer, and Lieutenant-General Boyd. As soon, therefore, as an opportunity offered, he urgently requested the Duke of Richmond, then Master-General of the Ordnance, to fill up the company with mechanics from England, and also to make a liberal increase to its establishment. His Grace accordingly submitted the recommendation to His Majesty, and a Warrant, dated 31st August, 1782, was issued ordering the company to be increased with 118 men. Its establishment now amounted to—
| 1 | Sergeant-major. | |
| 10 | Sergeants. | |
| 10 | Corporals. | |
| 209 | Working-men. | |
| 4 | Drummers. | |
| Total | 234 |
To carry out the wishes of General Eliott, the Duke of Richmond employed parties in England and Scotland to enlist the required number, which for the most part consisted of carpenters, sawyers, and smiths. With great spirit and success the recruiting was conducted; and in less than a month 141 mechanics—more than enough to meet both the deficiency and the authorized increase—were embarked for the Rock on board the transports which accompanied the relieving fleet under Lord Hood. Twenty landed on the 15th October; a similar number next day, and the remaining 101 on the 21st. By this increase the carpenters were 66 in number, the sawyers 31, and the smiths 57. The masons at this time were 30 strong.
The non-commissioned officers,[[24]] as they stood immediately after this augmentation, were as follows:—
| Sergeant-major—Henry Ince. | |
| Sergeants:— | |
| David Young, carpenter. | |
| Edward Macdonald.[[25]] | |
| Robert Blyth,[[26]] mason. | |
| Alexander Grigor. | |
| James Smith, smith. | |
| Thomas Jackson, smith. | |
| Robert Brand, mason. | |
| Robert Daniel. | |
| Joseph Makin, mason. | |
| Thomas Finch,[[27]] carpenter. | |
| Corporals:— | |
| Robert Newell, mason. | |
| Hugh Sirrige, carpenter. | |
| Joseph Chambers,[[28]] mason. | |
| James Carey, carpenter. | |
| Joseph Woodhead,[[29]] mason. | |
| John Morrison, mason. | |
| John Harrison, mason. | |
| John Fraser, carpenter. | |
| Thomas Harrenden, carpenter. | |
| Antonio Francia,[[30]] mason. | |
And the officers were, in addition to those mentioned at pp. 4 and 5, Lieutenants William M‘Kerras, John Johnston, and Lewis Hay.
1782-1783.
Siege continued—Magnitude of the works—Chevaux-de-frise from Landport Glacis across the inundation—Précis of other works—Firing red-hot shot—Damage done to the works of the garrison, and exertions of the company in restoring them—Grand attack, and burning of the battering flotilla—Reluctance of the enemy to quit the contest—Kilns for heating shot—Orange Bastion—Subterranean galleries—Discovery of the enemy mining under the Rock—Ulterior dependence of the enemy—Peace—Conduct of the company during the siege—Casualties.