The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of the V.C., by A. L. Haydon This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: The Book of the V.C. A record of the deeds of heroism for which the Victoria Cross has been bestowed, from its institution in 1857 to the present time Author: A. L. Haydon Release Date: August 30, 2017 [EBook #55461] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE V.C. *** Produced by Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) THE BOOK OF THE V.C. BY THE SAME AUTHOR WITH PIZARRO THE CONQUISTADOR CANADA: BRITAIN’S LARGEST COLONY THE EMPIRE ELOCUTIONIST STORIES OF KING ARTHUR HOW LORD ROBERTS WON THE V.C. HE OVERTOOK THE PAIR JUST AS THEY WERE ABOUT TO SEEK REFUGE IN A VILLAGE, AND ENGAGED THEM BOTH AT ONCE.—Frontispiece.—See p. 75. [i] [ii] [iii] THE BOOK OF THE V.C. A Record of the Deeds of Heroism for which the Victoria Cross has been bestowed, from its Institution in 1857, to the Present Time COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL PAPERS AND OTHER AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY A. L. HAYDON AUTHOR OF “WITH PIZARRO THE CONQUISTADOR” ETC. ETC. WITH TEN ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET. 1907 [iv] Cover image TO MY SON ARTHUR CECIL HILLYARD (“MAC”) CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. THE ORIGIN OF THE VICTORIA CROSS AND THE FIRST PRESENTATION 1 II. THE CRIMEA.—THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA 9 III. THE CRIMEA.—IN THE BALACLAVA CHARGES 16 IV. THE CRIMEA.—THE HEROES OF INKERMAN 27 V. THE CRIMEA.—WITH THE SAPPERS AND MINERS.—IN TRENCH AND RIFLE-PIT 34 VI. THE CRIMEAN CROSSES OF THE NAVY 45 VII. PERSIA.—HOW THE SQUARE WAS BROKEN 57 VIII. INDIA.—THE GALLANT NINE AT DELHI 61 [v] [vi] [vii] IX. INDIA.—WITH SABRE AND GUN AGAINST SEPOY 69 X. INDIA.—THE BLOWING UP OF THE CASHMERE GATE 78 XI. INDIA.—THE STORY OF KOLAPORE KERR 84 XII. INDIA.—THE DEFENCE OF THE DHOOLIES 92 XIII. INDIA.—THREE BRAVE CIVILIANS: MANGLES, McDONELL, AND “LUCKNOW” KAVANAGH 102 XIV. INDIA.—SOME OTHER CROSSES OF THE MUTINY 112 XV. IN THE SIXTIES.—CHINA, JAPAN, INDIA, WEST AFRICA, AND CANADA 124 XVI. NEW ZEALAND.—FIGHTING THE MAORIS 133 XVII. IN ASHANTI BUSH AND MALAY JUNGLE 142 XVIII. HOW SOME AFGHAN CROSSES WERE WON 150 XIX. MAIWAND.—A GUNNER’S STORY 161 XX. ZULULAND.—THE DASH WITH THE COLOURS FROM ISANDHLANA 168 XXI. ZULULAND.—HOW THEY HELD THE POST AT RORKE’S DRIFT 178 XXII. SOME OTHER ZULU AND SOME OTHER BASUTO CROSSES 189 XXIII. SOUTH AFRICA.—AGAINST BOERS AND MATABELE 198 XXIV. IN EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN 207 XXV. V.C. HEROES OF THE INDIAN FRONTIER 216 XXVI. HOW SURGEON-CAPTAIN WHITCHURCH WON FAME 223 XXVII. WHEN THE AFRIDIS WERE UP 229 XXVIII. SOUTH AFRICA.—THE V.C.’S OF THE SECOND BOER WAR 239 XXIX. SOMALILAND—NIGERIA—TIBET 253 APPENDICES 263-294 APPENDIX A. ROYAL WARRANTS 263 ” B. THE FIRST PRESENTATION OF THE V.C. 269 ” C. WARS AND CAMPAIGNS IN WHICH THE V.C. HAS BEEN WON, FROM 1854 TO 1904 272 ” D. COMPLETE ALPHABETICAL LIST OF RECIPIENTS OF THE V.C. 274 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE HOW LORD ROBERTS WON THE V.C. Frontispiece THE VICTORIA CROSS 3 THE FIRST PRESENTATION OF THE V.C., IN HYDE PARK, JUNE 26, 1857 5 “I GOT HIM TO STAND AT THE HORSE’S HEAD WHILST I LIFTED THE CAPTAIN OFF” 22 THE ESCORT CAME SWINGING UP THE ROAD WITHOUT A SUSPICION OF DANGER 53 McMANUS NOW RUSHED OUT, ACCOMPANIED BY PRIVATE JOHN RYAN … AND CARRIED IN CAPTAIN ARNOLD 98 REINING IN HIS HORSE, HE TURNED TO CATCH VOSPER’S … AND HELPED THE ORDERLY TO REMOUNT 137 WITH THE FLAG … FIRMLY GRIPPED IN HIS HAND, MELVILL SPURRED HIS HORSE FOR THE RIVER 173 GRAVE OF MELVILL AND COGHILL 175 THE COLONEL HAD TO RIDE BACK … AND, WHILE ASSEGAIS AND SHOTS SPED PAST HIM, CARRY OFF THE DISMOUNTED MAN UPON HIS HORSE 193 [viii] [ix] PIPER FINDLATER … PROPPED HIMSELF UP AGAINST A BOULDER AND CONTINUED TO PLAY HIS PIPES 236 THE GUNS WERE REACHED, BUT AT ONCE BOER SHELLS AND BULLETS BEGAN TO DROP THICKLY AROUND 242 PREFACE The celebration this year of the Jubilee of the Victoria Cross may be offered as sufficient excuse for the appearance of this volume. Such a notable event deserves to be fittingly commemorated, and it is in the hope that it will be accepted as a standard work on the subject that the present book is put forth. My original intention of telling the stories of all the V.C. exploits was found to be impracticable within the limit of space prescribed. A selection, therefore, has been made, and these instances—a very large number—have been narrated more or less at length. The history of the Decoration has been brought right up to date. In such a book as this, accuracy is of course of the first importance, and in my account of the deeds that won the Cross I have been at considerable pains to verify the smallest particulars. To this end the London Gazette and other authentic sources have been consulted, while in many cases the information has been obtained from the V.C. men themselves. It is possible, however, that errors have crept in despite the care exercised, and I shall be grateful if any reader who detects a misstatement will notify me of the fact, that the correction may be made in a future edition. A. L. H. London, June 1906. Muscovite metal makes this English Cross, Won in a rain of blood and wreath of flame; The guns that thundered for their brave lives’ loss Are worn hence, for their fame! … The men of all the army and the fleet, The very bravest of the very brave, Linesman and Lord—these fought with equal feet Firm-planted on the grave. The men who, setting light their blood and breath, So they might win a victor’s haught renown, Held their steel straight against the face of Death, And frowned his frowning down. … And some who climbed the deadly glacis-side, For all that steel could stay, or savage shell; And some, whose blood upon the Colours dried Tells if they bore them well. Some, too, who, gentle-hearted even in strife, Seeing their fellow or their friend go down, Saved his, at peril of their own dear life, Winning the Civic Crown. Well done for them; and, fair Isle, well for thee! While that thy bosom beareth sons like those, “The little gem set in the silver sea” Shall never fear her foes! Sir Edwin Arnold. [x] [xi] [xii] [1] THE BOOK OF THE V.C. CHAPTER I. THE ORIGIN OF THE VICTORIA CROSS AND THE FIRST PRESENTATION. Every nation loves to honour the brave deeds of her sons. We know how in olden times this was done, how the Romans conferred a “Civic Crown” upon the hero who saved a citizen’s life, and inscribed his name in letters of gold upon the marble wall in the Capitol. In these modern days it is the custom to bestow a medal or similar decoration upon the bravest of the brave, as a public mark of appreciation of their heroism. So Russia has its Order of St. George, which is conferred solely for exceptional gallantry on the field of battle; Austria its Order of Maria Theresa (so exclusive that there are not more than twenty living possessors of its Cross); Prussia its Order “Pour le Mérite”; France its Legion of Honour and War Medal; and the United States a “Medal of Honour” which carries no privileges and confers no rank on the bearer, and which, curiously enough, is sent to the recipient through the post. Great Britain’s symbol of the grand democracy of valour is a little Maltese cross of bronze, insignificant to look at beside many a more showy medal, and intrinsically worth only fourpence halfpenny, but the most coveted decoration of all that our soldiers and sailors can aspire to. Somewhat reminiscent of a badge awarded to the 28th Regiment after the siege of Badajoz in the Peninsular War,— a badge which bore a crown, a star, and the letters V.S., signifying “Valiant Stormer,”—the Victoria Cross is adorned with a crown surmounted by a lion, and a scroll bearing the simple inscription “For Valour.” On the reverse side of the medal is given the date or dates of the act of bravery for which it has been awarded, while the name of the recipient is inscribed at the back of the bar to which it is attached by a V. The Cross, which is cast from cannon that were taken at Sebastopol, is suspended from its wearer’s left breast by a piece of ribbon, blue for the Navy and crimson for the Army. Such is the world-famed Victoria Cross. What, then, was its origin? For answer to this we must go back to the days of the Crimean War, fifty years ago. Up to this time decorations for distinguished services in the field were very sparsely distributed. The men of Wellington’s day were thought to be sufficiently honoured if they were “mentioned in despatches.” But after the Crimean campaign, in which British soldiers did such prodigies of valour, a feeling arose that some medal should be struck as a reward for bravery in the face of the enemy. Perhaps it was the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava that inspired the idea, but, however this may be, a certain Captain Scobell, R.N., sometime M.P. for Bath, set on foot an agitation which at length drew the attention of the authorities and led in due course to the institution of the Victoria Cross. The new decoration, which by Queen Victoria’s special desire bore her own name, was first announced in the London Gazette on February 5th, 1856. The present year, therefore, celebrates its jubilee. THE VICTORIA CROSS. As stated in the original Royal Warrant, which is given in full in the Appendix, the Cross entitles all its bearers below commissioned rank to a pension of £10 a year, with an additional £5 for each extra clasp or bar,[1] and, by a recent clause, an increase to £50 a year in cases where the recipient is incapacitated by old age or ill-health. Another important new alteration in the rules provides that if a man dies in winning the V.C. the decoration shall be handed to his relatives. It is the great distinction of the Victoria Cross that it may be won by the humblest member of the services. “Linesman and Lord,” private soldier, common sailor, Field-Marshal and Admiral, are all on a level on the Roll of Valour. Out of the 522 Crosses which have been bestowed up to the present time (June 1906), it has been, or is still, worn by three [2] [3] [4] Field-Marshals, six Admirals, one clergyman, three civilians, and twenty-five Army doctors. Furthermore, how truly democratic is the decoration is shown by the fact that it has been won by three men of colour —Seaman Hall, a negro serving in Captain Peel’s Naval Brigade at Lucknow, and Sergeant Gordon and Private Hodge, both of the West India Regiment. Of the different campaigns in which the Cross was won the Indian Mutiny yielded the greatest number, 182. The Crimean War accounted for 111; the recent South African War comes third with 78; while the Zulu War provided 23; and the Afghan War of 1870-80, 16. In the list of V.C. regiments—excepting the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers, which have forty-one and twenty-seven Crosses to their credit—the South Wales Borderers top the list with sixteen. Next in order come the Rifle Brigade (fourteen), the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, the 9th Lancers, and the Gordon Highlanders (thirteen each), and the Seaforth Highlanders (eleven). The Black Watch and the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) total ten each. It is pleasing to note, too, in this connection how many V.C.’s have been won by Colonial troopers, for the most part in the late South African War. No fewer than twenty-five were awarded to South Africans, Australians, Canadians, and New Zealanders, showing of what sterling metal were these Sons of the Empire who crossed the seas to fight at the call of the Mother Country. The first presentation of the V.C. took place on June 26th, 1857, the year after the close of the Crimean War. The scene of the ceremony was Hyde Park, and on that beautiful summer morning the sun shone down upon a brilliant spectacle. A large body of troops under the command of the veteran Sir Colin Campbell, comprised of Life Guards, Dragoons, Hussars, Royal Engineers, Artillery, and other regiments, together with a detachment of smart-looking Bluejackets, were drawn up in imposing array, and a vast number of people of all ranks had assembled to await the coming of Royalty, for the Queen herself was to pin the Crosses on to the heroes’ breasts with her own hand. Just before ten o’clock, to the booming of a royal salute, her Majesty, with the Prince Consort, the Crown Prince of Prussia, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince Alfred (the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), all on horseback, rode into the Park and took their places near the dais that had been prepared. On a small table near by, showing up strongly against the scarlet cloth with which it was covered, lay the Crosses that were to be bestowed that morning. The little band of sixty-two heroes, headed by Lieutenant Knox, of the Rifle Brigade, meanwhile stood at ease a little distance off, the observed of all observers, until the signal was given, and then one by one they came forward as Lord Panmure, the then Secretary for War, read out their names. As a complete list of these first recipients of the V.C. is given at the end of this volume I need not enumerate them here, but there were one or two, notably Lieutenant (now Rear-Admiral) Lucas, the first man to be awarded the decoration, Lieutenant Hewett (“Bully Hewett” as he was popularly known), the gallant Commander (late Rear- Admiral) Bythesea, and Lieutenant Knox, whose empty sleeve bore eloquent witness to his daring bravery at the storming of the Redan, who stood out from the rest. And hardly less conspicuous among those present were Lord Cardigan, at the head of the 11th Hussars and mounted on the very horse that carried him through the Balaclava Charge, and Fenwick Williams, the gallant defender of Kars. The presentation, the most historic ceremony that Hyde Park has ever witnessed, was over in barely more than ten minutes. After the last Cross had been pinned on Major Bourchier’s breast the little band of heroes was drawn up in line again, and a review of the troops brought the proceedings to a close. A truly glorious and inspiring record is that of the V.C. The stories of how the Cross was won, though they cannot be told as fully as one could wish, make a Golden Book of Valour that every British boy should be made familiar with, as the sons of the old Norsemen were made familiar with the sagas of their heroes. For they tell not merely of physical courage, which the ancients extolled as the highest of all the virtues, but of that moral courage which demands even more fully our admiration. [5] [6] THE FIRST PRESENTATION OF THE V.C., IN HYDE PARK, JUNE 26, 1857.—Page 5. One’s heart warms at the recollection of the giant M’Bean slaying his eleven sepoys single-handed at Lucknow, but his heroism pales before that of Kavanagh or of Surgeon Home and the other heroes of “Dhoolie Square.” Their gallant deeds were not performed in the fierce heat of battle, when in the excitement of the moment a man may be so lifted out of himself as to become unconsciously a veritable paladin, but done quietly, from a high sense of duty and in the name of humanity, in the face of what looked like certain death. There is room only in the succeeding chapters for a recital of a limited number of the deeds that won the Cross. One would like to tell of all, making no exceptions, but such a task is beyond the scope of this volume. The most striking and most notable acts in the annals of the V.C. have accordingly been selected, and while keeping strictly to fact the endeavour has been made to present them in a worthily attractive setting. And in calling to mind the heroism of the brave men who figure in these pages let us not forget those who may be said to have equally earned the distinction but who for some reason or other were passed over. Of such were Chaplain Smith, who was one of the heroes of Rorke’s Drift; Gumpunt Rao Deo Ker, the Mahratta sowar who stood by Lieutenant Kerr’s side at Kolapore, saving his leader’s life more than once in that terrible fight; and the gallant little bugler boy, Tom Keep, of the Grenadier Guards, who, while the battle of Inkerman was at its height and bullets were whistling round him (one actually passed through his jacket), went about tending the wounded on the field. These are names among many that deserve to be inscribed high up on the scroll which perpetuates the memory of our bravest of the brave. Out of the 522 winners of the V.C. some 200 are alive at the present time. Death has been busy of late years in thinning the ranks. Only the other day, as it seems, we lost Seaman Trewavas, Mr. Ross Lowis Mangles (one of the few civilians decorated), General Channer, and Baker Pasha. We have, however, still with us the senior winner of the distinction, Rear-Admiral Lucas, whose exploit is narrated at length in its proper place, Field-Marshals Lord Roberts, Sir George White, and Sir Evelyn Wood, Admiral Sir Nowell Salmon, General Sir Redvers Buller, and many another hero of high rank. May the day be far distant when their names have to be erased from the survivors’ roll! No such clasp or bar has yet been granted. CHAPTER II. [7] [8] [1] [9] THE CRIMEA.—THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA. It was in the Crimean War, as noted in the preceding chapter, that the first Victoria Crosses were won. I do not purpose giving a history of the war here, for space does not permit of it, nor would it be altogether in place. But for a proper appreciation of the incidents which I am about to describe it is necessary to say something about the events which led up to the war. The reader who wants to obtain a completer grasp of the campaign, the first great European war that our army had been engaged in since the war against Napoleon, will of course turn to an authoritative history for information, not forgetting to keep a map in front of him while he reads. The war in the Crimea originated in the aggressive movements of Russia against her old enemy the Turk. For centuries the Crimea itself had been the scene of constant warfare between the two nations, its independence as a separate state under the rule of its own Khans being at length secured towards the end of the eighteenth century, in the hope that peace would come to the troubled district. But it was not to be so. Russia could not keep her hands off the desired province, the possession of which meant a step gained in the direction of Constantinople and the conquest of the Ottomans. Accordingly the treaty with the Turks was violated by the Empress Catherine, and the Crimea was seized again by the Russians. Fortresses of formidable dimensions now sprang up on the borders, the greatest and most famous of these being the naval arsenal of Sebastopol, which was built at the southern extremity of the peninsula, in the Black Sea. In due time the Tsar Nicholas I. ascended the throne of Muscovy, and, believing that the hostility of France towards England needed little to be fanned into flame, he thought the time propitious to carry out his ambitious scheme of conquest. With France involved in a war with this country he had no reason to fear interference with his plans. Having picked a quarrel with the Sultan, therefore, on a matter of dispute between the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches, relating to the guardianship of the Holy Places, especially the Holy Sepulchre in Palestine, the Tsar flung an army into the provinces of the Danube. But he had reckoned without his host. In the face of this common danger (for the downfall of the Turks meant a Russian menace of the whole of Europe), England and France sank their differences and joined forces against the Russians. In obstinate mood, and confident in the strength of his huge army, the Tsar held on his way, with the result that the Allies declared war. This was in 1854. Contrary to Russian expectations, the war opened in the Crimea. Here the combined fleets made their appearance in September of the same year, the troops landing on the western coast. The English army was under the command of Lord Raglan, the French commander-in-chief being Marshal St. Arnaud. Marching southward towards Sebastopol, at which a blow was aimed, the allied army gained its first victories at Alma and Balaclava. Then commenced the long and memorable siege of Sebastopol, which was not reduced until September of the following year. In the meantime, however, was fought the great battle of Inkerman, “the soldiers’ battle,” as it has been called, one of the most terrible fights that Europe has seen. This took place in November 1854. The winter, spring, and summer of the following year were taken up with the siege operations, which progressed but slowly owing to the severity of the winter and the many natural difficulties to be overcome. Our troops, too, as is now a matter of history, were scandalously ill-equipped for the campaign, and when we read of how badly they were clothed and fed, of what little provision there was for the care of the wounded, and altogether of the gross mismanagement that characterised the conduct of the campaign, we feel all the more pride that our men fought so well and achieved so much success in the face of such tremendous odds. The tale of those eleven months, from October 1854 to September 1855, is one of sorties, of sapping and mining, of desperate deeds done in the trenches in the dead of night, of the gradual reducing of the Sebastopol outworks. Great things were done by our men at the attacks on the Mamelon Tower and the Redan, and by the French at the storming of the Malakoff, the capture of the last-named giving the command of the fortress. On the night that the Malakoff fell the Russians evacuated the town, and Sebastopol was taken possession of by the Allies. By the Peace of Paris, which was concluded on March 30th, 1856, the war came to an end, and our army, sadly reduced in numbers by cholera and other diseases, more than by the enemy’s shells and bullets, returned home. In giving an outline of the Crimean campaign mention must not be omitted of the British fleet sent into the Baltic at an early stage in the hostilities. This fleet was unsuccessful in doing much damage to the Russian ships which sought refuge behind the strong fortresses of Cronstadt and Sveaborg, but it stormed and took Bomarsund and the Äland Islands. In the following year (1855) it renewed the attack, and after a determined bombardment succeeded in partially destroying Sveaborg. It was in this naval campaign, and in the operations in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, that our Bluejackets and Marines did such signal service, and that several of them won the right to put V.C. after their names. Five of the Crosses won at the battle of the Alma were gained in defence of the colours. In the advance on the Russian batteries which were posted on the heights, the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers formed one of the regiments on the left wing, the French attacking on the right. It was a perilous climb up the precipitous rocky slopes, and particularly so for a marked man like he who bore the colours. Young Lieutenant Anstruther, a mere lad of [10] [11] [12] [13] eighteen, who proudly carried the Queen’s colours, learnt this to his cost, for when he was within a few yards of the nearest Russian earthwork a bullet through the heart laid him low. In a moment a private had caught up the silken banner now sadly stained with blood, but Sergeant Luke O’Connor, a young Irishman of twenty-four, who had followed close on poor Anstruther’s heels and had been himself struck down, regained his feet although badly wounded in the breast, and claimed the flag. “Come on, 23rd!” he shouted. “Follow me!” It was in vain that the gallant sergeant was ordered to the rear to have his wound attended to; he refused to abandon the colours, and right through that fierce fight he accompanied the Fusiliers, bearing a charmed life, as was made evident later. When the flag was inspected at the close of the action it was found to be riddled with bullet holes, having been hit in at least twenty-six places. O’Connor received a commission for his bravery on this occasion in addition to the Cross for Valour, but he did not exchange from the regiment. Loyal to the corps he loved, he remained in it, and in time rose to command it. On the same day another Welsh Fusilier, Captain Bell, distinguished himself by capturing a Russian gun which was limbered up and being dragged from the redoubt. Leaving his company and dashing after it alone, he pointed his revolver at the head of the driver, who incontinently dismounted and bolted. A private then coming to his aid, Captain Bell turned the gun team round, and was returning in triumph to his comrades when Sir George Brown, his superior officer, angrily ordered him back to his place in the regiment, reprimanding him for having quitted it without leave. He had to relinquish the gun forthwith, but some hours later, when he and his remnant of men marched in, he learnt to his great satisfaction that the gun was still in the English lines. The captured horses, it is recorded, were employed in one of our batteries for some time afterwards, while the gun itself was taken to Woolwich, where I believe it is still to be seen. For this action, which had not escaped notice despite his commander’s rebuke, Captain Bell received the Cross, but had it not been awarded then he would have undoubtedly won it later at Inkerman, where he displayed exceptional gallantry. Both O’Connor and Captain Bell became Major-Generals in after years; the ex-sergeant of the Welsh Fusiliers, who is still in the land of the living, enjoying the distinction of being one of the two V.C.’s who have risen to that high grade from the ranks. The second of the Crosses bestowed for defending the colours fell to Lieutenant Lindsay, of the Scots Fusilier Guards, afterwards well known as Lord Wantage. At a critical moment in the battle an order given to the Royal Welsh to retire was mistaken by the Scots Guards as meant for them, and they began to retreat in considerable disorder. Lieutenant Lindsay, who carried the regimental colours, stood his ground with his escort, endeavouring in vain to rally the broken ranks. The tide of men swept past him to the rear, however, and the little knot of soldiers round the colours was isolated. In this perilous position they were fiercely attacked by a body of Russians, the escort falling almost to a man, and leaving Lindsay and a fellow- officer to stand back to back and keep off the enemy with revolvers. Help was speedily forthcoming, however. Seeing their officer’s danger, Sergeants Knox and M’Kechnie, with Private Reynolds, hastened to his side and successfully held the Russians in check until the regiment re-formed and advanced again. All three men, it is satisfactory to add, were similarly decorated. Of Sergeant Knox more was heard later, especially at the storming of the Redan, where he lost an arm. By this time he had been promoted to a lieutenancy and transferred to the Rifle Brigade, from which he subsequently retired with the rank of Major. CHAPTER III. THE CRIMEA.—IN THE BALACLAVA CHARGES. It is not remembered as it should be that there were two brilliant charges made at Balaclava, on that grey day of October 25th, 1854. Tennyson’s stirring lines in honour of the Charge of the Light Brigade have given enduring fame to the “noble Six Hundred,” but the exploit of the “Three Hundred,” the Heavy Brigade, should make the name of Balaclava equally thrilling to us. The Heavy Brigade was composed of squadrons of the 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards, Scots Greys, Inniskilling Dragoons, and the 1st Royals, under the command of Brigadier-General Yorke Scarlett. At an early stage of the fight Scarlett was proceeding with his brigade to the support of the “thin red line” which was bearing the brunt of the Russian attack, when suddenly a huge mass of Russian cavalry, Cossacks and others, 3000 strong, loomed up on the heights to their left. The situation was a perilous one, as the General saw in a glance. The launching of that great crowd of Russians upon the valley below meant annihilation for his little force. With a quick command to “wheel into line,” Scarlett gave orders for the brigade to form up, facing the enemy. By some blunder, however, the movement was not properly executed, and when the Russians flung out in a wide-spreading crescent to envelop the few hundreds of British redcoats below [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] them, two squadrons of the Scots Greys with one of the 6th Inniskillings were left in front to receive the first shock of the attack. With that menacing horde of grey-coated, black-bearded Russians, poised like a hawk about to swoop upon its prey, there was no time for pause. Shrill on the air the “Charge!” rang out, and with Scarlett leading them, the little advance body of “Heavies”—300 men of the Scots Greys and Inniskillings—dashed off to meet the foe. We have no such details of the fight as were forthcoming after the Charge of the Light Brigade, but we know that it was a most desperate affair. For every one of that handful of men, flung into a mass of the enemy that outnumbered them many times over, it was a hand-to-hand struggle for life of the most heroic kind. For a few moments they were lost to sight. Then out of the heaving, surging multitude the black bearskins and brass helmets of the Scotsmen and Irishmen broke into view here and there, while their sabres flashed in the sun as they hewed their way through. It was a battle of giants. What wonder that the Russians gave for a brief moment under the fierce onset? “There’s fear in their faces; they shrink from the shock; They will open the door, only loud enough knock; Keep turning the key, lest we stick in the lock! Dear England for Ever, Hurrah!” “Scarlett’s Three Hundred,” Gerald Massey. At this juncture the other squadrons that had been left behind came galloping to the rescue. Into the swaying mass they plunged, and soon afterwards “Cossack and Russian,” reeling from the sabre-stroke as they did again a little later, fell back in confusion. The peril was past, the day won. Of how Brigadier-General Scarlett, Lieutenant Elliot, Captain Williams and Major Clarke of the Scots Greys, and the other officers who led that fierce charge, bore themselves, the regimental records tell more than do the history books. Very few escaped unscathed, and there were many like Elliot, who had no fewer than fifteen wounds, sword cuts and lance thrusts. And as with the officers, so was it with the men. There was not one but proved himself a hero that day. We can well understand how old Sir Colin Campbell was for once moved to emotion, as bareheaded he greeted the victors with the words, “Greys, gallant Greys! I am an old man, but if I were young again I would be proud to ride in your ranks!” Where all men are brave it is not easy to single out any for special distinction. But in that terrible death-ride there were two who merited honour above their comrades, Sergeant-Major Grieve and Sergeant Ramage. The former in the heat of the engagement saw an officer in imminent danger of being cut down. Riding to the rescue, he swept like a whirlwind upon the Russians, cutting off the head of one at a single blow and scattering the rest by the fury of his onslaught. For this deed he won a well-deserved Cross. Sergeant Ramage, like Grieve also of the Scots Greys, saved at least two lives on that day. He rescued first Private MacPherson, whom a body of Russians had hemmed in and who was fighting against odds that must have proved too much for him ultimately. Later on, when the “Heavies” were covering the retreat of the Light Brigade, a private named Gardiner was seen to be in a terrible plight. His horse was lagging behind the others, and one of the private’s legs had been shattered by a round-shot. The first to see Gardiner’s situation, Ramage rushed impetuously to his help, and although exposed to a cross fire that placed him in momentary danger for his life, he nobly carried in the wounded soldier to a place of safety. These were the actions that gained the brave sergeant the V.C., but they do not complete the story of his exploits that day. After the Charge of the Heavy Brigade, in which he had borne so distinguished a part, Ramage’s horse, a stubborn brute, would not follow the retreating Russians. No amount of spurring would induce it to go in any direction save that of home. Nothing daunted, the sergeant dismounted and, leaving his charger to find its own way back, actually rushed over on foot to the nearest Russian lines, collared a man and brought him back prisoner! The story of the Charge of the Light Brigade has been told a score of times. There is nothing to be added to it now, for the voices of its gallant leaders, of Cardigan, Morris, and Nolan, are hushed in death, and we shall never know what were the true facts of the case. That “someone had blundered” is at least certain. It is hard to believe that the order was actually given for such a brilliant but useless charge. Yet so Lord Cardigan interpreted the instructions brought to him by Captain Nolan, as the Light Brigade, consisting of the 17th Lancers, the 4th and 13th Dragoons, and two regiments of Hussars, was drawn up in the North Valley, on the other side of those hills whereon the Russian cavalry had been routed by Scarlett’s brigade. At the other end of the valley was a strong force of Russians, formed up behind a formidable battery of some thirty cannon. The order— wrongly given or misunderstood—was that the Light Brigade should advance and carry these guns. It was over a mile from the brigade’s position to that of the Russians. At a trot, then at a gallop, the Six Hundred, led by Cardigan in his striking hussar uniform, set off on their death-ride. Tennyson’s words, “Cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them volley’d and thunder’d,” are literally true. When the astonished Russians realised what was happening they opened a terrible fire with their batteries. Shot and shell hurtled through the ranks again and again, laying many a brave fellow low; but without wavering the Six Hundred closed up the gaps and pressed [18] [19] [20] on to their goal. In a very few minutes from the time the fatal order was received the Light Brigade had disappeared in the smoke of the Russian batteries, riding clean over the guns and sabreing the gunners as they stood linstock in hand at their posts. Then ensued as terrific a hand-to-hand combat as has ever been chronicled. “Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro’ the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reel’d from the sabre-stroke Shatter’d and sunder’d. Then they rode back, but not Not the Six Hundred.” It was in that ride back, when a large body of grey-coated lancers rode down upon their flank, and the Russian artillerymen rallying to their guns fired indiscriminately into the mass of English and Russians, that the other Balaclava Crosses were won. Major John Berryman, the most distinguished of the seven heroes of the Charge who were awarded the decoration, has told the story of his exploit himself, told it modestly and simply as becomes a brave man, but we can fill in the details of the picture for ourselves as we read. At the time of the Charge Berryman was Troop-Sergeant-Major in the 17th Lancers, well known as “the Duke of Cambridge’s Own” and “the Death or Glory Boys.” In the last mad leap at the guns, the mare he was riding was badly hit, and he dismounted, when he found that he too had been wounded in the leg. As he stood debating in his mind whether or not to shoot the mare, Captain Webb, on horseback, came up. He also had been struck in the leg, and to his query as to what he had better do, Berryman replied, “Keep to your horse, sir, and get back as far as you can.” Webb thereupon turned and rode back, while the sergeant-major, catching a loose horse, attempted to follow suit. But his new steed had its breastplate driven into its chest, and hardly had he mounted ere it fell to the ground. Giving up the idea of rejoining his regiment in the mêlée, he was making his way back on foot when he caught sight of Captain Webb, who had halted a little distance off, the acute pain of his wound preventing him riding farther. “Lieutenant George Smith, of my own regiment,” says Berryman in his account, “coming by, I got him to stand at the horse’s head whilst I lifted the captain off. Having accomplished this, I assisted Smith to mount Webb’s horse and ride for a stretcher, taking notice where we were. By this time the Russians had got back to their guns and reopened fire. I saw six men of my own regiment get together to recount to each other their escapes. Seeing their danger, I called to them to separate, but too late, for a shell dropped amongst them, and I don’t think one escaped alive.” Hearing him call to the lancers, Captain Webb asked Berryman what he thought the Russians would do. Berryman answered that they were sure to pursue, unless the Heavy Brigade came to the rescue. “Then you had better consult your own safety, and leave,” said the captain. Berryman shook his head. “I shall not leave you now, sir,” he replied, adding that if they were made prisoners they would go together. Just at this moment Sergeant Farrell hove in sight, and at Berryman’s call he came over. The retreat of the Light Brigade from the guns was already beginning, and the confusion and danger was augmented by the onslaught of the Russian lancers, who had now ridden down upon the devoted remnant. [21] [22] “I GOT HIM TO STAND AT THE HORSE’S HEAD WHILST I LIFTED THE CAPTAIN OFF.”—Page 22. The position of the wounded officer and his helpers was indeed precarious. Bullets and shells were flying by them, and at any moment a Cossack lance might have laid them low. But neither Berryman nor Farrell hesitated or thought of saving his own skin. Making a chair of their hands, they raised the captain from the ground and carried him in this way for some two hundred yards, until Webb’s leg again became very painful. A private of the 13th Dragoons, named Malone, was requisitioned to support the officer’s legs, and another start was made. The rear of the Greys was at last reached in safety, and here the sergeant-major procured a tourniquet which he screwed on to Webb’s right thigh (“I could not have done it better myself,” said the regimental doctor afterwards), together with a stretcher. We will let Berryman take up the story himself at this point. “I and Farrell now raised the stretcher and carried it for about fifty yards, and again set it down. I was made aware of an officer of the Chasseurs d’Afrique being on my left by his placing his hand upon my shoulder. I turned and saluted. Pointing to Captain Webb, but looking at me, he said— “‘Your officer?’ “‘Yes.’ “‘Ah! and you sergeant?’ looking at the stripes on my arm. “‘Yes.’ “‘Ah! If you were in French service, I would make you an officer on the spot.’ Then, standing in his stirrups and extending his right hand, he said, ‘Oh! it was grand, it was magnifique, but it is not war, it is not war!’” This French officer was General Morris. Resuming their task, Berryman and Farrell got the captain to the doctors, who discovered that the shin bone of his leg had been shattered. Farrell turning faint at the sight of the terrible wound, the sergeant-major was instructed to take him away, and this was the cause of bringing him near enough to the Duke of Cambridge and Lord Cardigan to hear the former say as he viewed the remnant that had come “through the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of Hell”:— “Is that all of them? You have lost the finest brigade that ever left the shores of England!” And to Captain Godfrey Morgan, now Viscount Tredegar, who had led the 17th Lancers (thirty-four returned out of one hundred and forty), the Duke could only say, “My poor regiment! My poor regiment!” Sergeant Farrell and Private Malone, as was only fitting, also received the Cross for Valour. [23] [24] I have given the account of the brave deed of Berryman and his companions at some length, because it is, to my mind, one of the most signal acts of devotion in the chronicles of the V.C. A very large proportion of those who have won the Cross distinguished themselves in the attempt, successful or otherwise, to save life, and there is no act that is more deserving of our fullest admiration. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” There were other lives saved in that death-stricken valley that day besides Webb’s. Captain Morris, who led a troop of the 17th Lancers, was taken prisoner by the Russians after a desperate encounter, but managed to escape in the confusion. Grievously wounded and on foot, for his second horse had been shot under him, he struggled towards the British lines, until from sheer exhaustion he fell beside the dead body of his brother-officer, Captain Nolan. It is stated that the two officers, knowing the peril that faced them, had each left in his friend’s charge a letter to be sent home if he fell and the other survived. These letters were found in the breasts of the two as they lay side by side. Captain Morris, however, was luckily still alive. To his assistance promptly came Sergeant-Major Charles Wooden of his own regiment, who pluckily stood by his body until he saw a surgeon. The latter, who proved to be Surgeon Mouat of the 6th Dragoon Guards (now Sir James Mouat, K.C.B.), promptly went over to the wounded man, and despite the heavy fire that was being kept up, dressed his wounds as coolly as if he had been in the operating-room. His skill stopped the hemorrhage, which undoubtedly saved the captain’s life, and for this, as well as for getting the wounded man back to safety, the brave surgeon in due course got his V.C. Sergeant-Major Wooden was decorated at the same time. One other man of the 17th Lancers who distinguished himself in this historic charge was the regimental butcher, John Veigh. Hearing that the dash for the Russian guns was to be made, he left his work in his bloodstained smock without seeking permission, borrowed a sabre, and rode through the valley with his comrades. “Butcher Jack” cut down six gunners and returned unhurt, still smoking the short black pipe which was in his mouth when he joined in the ride. The two remaining Balaclava Crosses were awarded to Private Samuel Parkes, a Light Dragoon, and Lieutenant Alexander Robert Dunn, of the 11th Hussars. Parkes’ exploit was a courageous rescue of Trumpet-Major Crawford, who, on being thrown helpless to the ground by his horse, was furiously attacked by a couple of Cossacks. Himself unhorsed, he fearlessly bore down upon the cowardly Russians, and plied his sword with such vigour that he sent them flying. The two were attacked again by a larger party of Cossacks, but Parkes maintained such a sturdy defence that he was only subdued when a shot struck his sabre out of his hand. He and Crawford were made prisoners, and not released until a year later. Lieutenant Dunn had the distinction of being the only officer of the Light Brigade to win the V.C. When Sergeant Bentley of his regiment fell behind in the dash back to safety, and was quickly set on by three Russians, the lieutenant turned his horse and rode to his comrade’s aid. Dunn was a less powerful man than Parkes, but he sabred two of the Cossack lancers clean out of their saddles and put the third to flight. Subsequently Lieutenant Dunn rescued a private of the Hussars from certain death in similar circumstances. He survived the Crimean War and rose to distinction in the service, but his career was cut short all too soon by an accident in the Abyssinian campaign. CHAPTER IV. THE CRIMEA.—THE HEROES OF INKERMAN. The fierce battle on the plateau of Inkerman, in the early morning of November 5th, 1854, was the most desperate engagement of the whole war. It has, indeed, been described as “the bloodiest struggle ever witnessed since war cursed the earth.” The sixty thousand Russians who made a sortie out of Sebastopol were able through the heavy mists that hung over the field to take the British force of eight thousand men by surprise, and the fight at once became a hand-to- hand encounter rather than a pitched battle. To call Inkerman the “soldiers’ battle” is to give our brave fellows who fought that day no more than their due. There was scant time for any plan of operations to be formed; as the guardsmen—Grenadiers, Coldstreams, and Scots— turned out of their tents at the warning bugle call it was to face immediately an enemy already entrenched behind battery and redoubt which belched forth shell and grape-shot incessantly. With bayonets fixed they went forward at the charge to silence those terrible flame-mouthed cannon and drive the Russians from battery and rifle-pit, and once among the foe British pluck could be relied on to carry the day. What deeds of daring were done in the mist-shrouded glades and dells of Inkerman, in the valley and on the heights that commanded the British position, can never be fully chronicled. We know, however, how some of our gallant soldiers bore themselves, for in that titanic struggle acts of signal bravery were performed that were remembered afterwards and deemed worthy of recognition. Charles McDermond and Thomas Beach, privates, made themselves conspicuous in saving the lives of two officers who were lying on the ground wounded and at the mercy of Russians, who never hesitated to kill a disabled man. So, too, did Sergeant George Walters of the 49th Regiment, who was more than a match for half a dozen Russians when [25] [26] [27] [28]