Printed by M & N Hanhart.
1825-1826.
Dress—Curtailment of benefits by the change—Chacos—Survey of Ireland—Formation of the first company for the duty—Establishment of corps; company to Corfu—Second company for the survey—Efforts to complete the companies raised for it—Pontoon trials in presence of the Duke of Wellington—Western Africa—Third company for the survey; additional working pay—Employments and strength of the sappers in Ireland—Drummond Light; Slieve Snacht and Divis—Endurance of private Alexander Smith—Wreck of ‘Shipley’ transport—Berbice; Corporal Sirrell at Antigua.
Early in the year the breeches, long gaiters, and shoes, ceased to be worn by the corps, and in their stead were substituted light blue trousers, with scarlet stripes, and short Wellington boots. The coatee was stript of its frogging on the breast; and the skirts, with the slashes sewn transversely on the loins, were lengthened to the swell of the thigh. White turnbacks were added to the inner edges of the skirts, and brass grenades united the turnbacks near the bottom of the skirts. The working jacket was simply altered in the collar from the open to the close Prussian fashion, and the working trousers were dyed of a deeper grey.—See Plate [XIII].
These alterations were followed by curtailments of benefits heretofore enjoyed by the corps, inasmuch as the stockings, shirts, and forage caps, annually issued with the clothing, ceased to be provided at the public expense. The allowances for oil and emery, and shoes, were also abolished; but in lieu of the one pair of shoes formerly issued, and the compensation for a second pair, the corps had the advantage of receiving, yearly, two pairs of short Wellington boots.
The low chaco of 1817 gave place to one of about ten inches in height, bearing a goose feather of a foot long in an exploded grenade. The ornaments consisted of scales secured by lions' heads, the garter and motto encircling the royal cipher surmounted by a crown, and also a cluster of forked lightning, winged. For protection to the neck in wet weather, a varnished canvas ear-cover was attached to the back of the cap.—See Plate [XIII]. The ornaments on the staff-sergeants' chacos were of excellent gilt, and a band of rich silk, embossed with acorns and oak leaves around the top of the cap, gave it an elegant appearance. The sergeants' ornaments were manufactured of a metal resembling copper, and the black bands were of plain narrow silk. Both ranks wore white heckle feathers.
In June, 1824, a committee of the House of Commons recommended the trigonometrical survey of Ireland, with the view of apportioning equally the local burdens, and obtaining a general valuation of the whole country. The measure was sanctioned, and Colonel Thomas Colby, R.E., was appointed to superintend the work. It being intended that the survey should be conducted under military supervision, Major William Reid suggested the advantage to be derived from the co-operation of the royal sappers and miners in carrying out its subordinate details. Colonel Colby after due reflection, the result of a discussion of nearly six weeks' duration with Major Reid, considering the plan to be not only practicable but desirable, made known his wishes to the Duke of Wellington, then Master-General of the Ordnance, and on the 1st December, 1824, his Grace obtained a royal warrant for the formation of a company of sixty-two non-commissioned officers and men, to be employed in the operations of the survey in Ireland.[[250]]
This company was at once organized at Chatham; and the men, selected from the most intelligent of the corps at the station, were specially trained for the duty by Lieutenant-Colonel Pasley. It, however, remained for Colonel Colby, in giving effect to his great and comprehensive system, to develop and enlarge the acquirements and efficiency of the men, by adapting them to the various details and necessities of this novel service. In doing so he encountered difficulties of no ordinary character; but eventually he succeeded in achieving the end he sought, not without credit to the mass whom he moulded and fashioned to the purpose, as well as great honour to himself.
By the augmentation of this company the establishment of the corps was increased to thirteen companies, of 814 of all ranks, including the staff. The first detachment of one colour-sergeant and twenty rank and file was conveyed to Dublin in March under the command of Lieutenant Edward Vicars, R.E., and was soon removed from Mountjoy to Dromore, where, in April, further reinforcements arrived, completing the company to its establishment; and the whole were distributed in small sections to Antrim, Belfast, Coleraine, Dungiven, Londonderry, &c., from whence the corps, by degrees, traced its progress all over Ireland. Major Reid was appointed to command the first survey company, which was numbered the thirteenth.