The History of the First West India Regiment Part 10

On the same day, the 29th, the 2nd Division, after making a feint of disembarking at Trois Rivieres to draw off the attention of the enemy, proceeded in the s.h.i.+ps to the western side of the island.

On the 30th of January, at daybreak, the 1st Division again advanced.

Between 9 and 10 a.m. the light battalion, which was still leading, descended the heights on the side of Trois Rivieres, and coming up with the rear of a detachment of the enemy, dispersed it after a short conflict. Pursuing its march it reached the open ground, or savannah, at Loriols Trois Rivieres about 11 a.m., and there halted to allow the column to come up.

The enemy's position was now in front, and consisted of a line of redoubts and entrenchments on the commanding heights of Petrizel.

Major-General Hislop at once made his dispositions for an attack on the following morning; the light battalion moving to the left, and the 4th Brigade, with the remainder of the 3rd, extending along the heights to the right. In the execution of this order, the light battalion, advancing along the high road towards the enemy's position, alarmed him to such a degree as to induce him to open fire from all his batteries and entrenched lines, not only from Petrizel, but also from his post at Dole; from which he kept up for some time an incessant fire, without doing any other injury than killing one man, and wounding another. The troops took up their positions in the meantime without further inconvenience. Towards the close of the evening numbers of the enemy were seen ascending the mountains above their works at Petrizel. The heat this day had been excessive, and the country through which the troops marched exceedingly difficult, the strong pa.s.s of Trou au Chien lying in their way. The night closed in with heavy rain.

On the 31st, at daylight, not a soul was to be seen near the enemy's works; and, it having been ascertained that they were evacuated, the light company of the 1st West India Regiment was ordered to march at noon and take possession.

The 1st Division remained halted during the 1st of February, and on the 2nd, the light battalion, as advanced guard of the 4th Brigade, was ordered to march, by a very difficult ascent, to the centre of the Palmiste heights; while the remainder of the 3rd Brigade moved to the right of the same heights, by an easier route. The troops bivouacked on the heights for the night.

While these operations had been going on, the 2nd Division had, at 10 a.m. on the 30th of January, disembarked at a bay to the northward of the village of Les Vieux Habitans and about three leagues to the north of the town of Ba.s.seterre. The troops gained the heights above the village after a slight skirmish, and encamped on the ground for the night. During the two succeeding days the 2nd Division was employed in bringing up guns to a height near Post Bellair.

By the combined movements of the two divisions, General Ernouf, the French commander, was now, by the night of the 2nd of February, hemmed in at the extremity of the island between the sea and the British army.

He had judiciously chosen his position, which was naturally strong, and which he had strengthened by all the artificial means in his power. He was posted on heights, his left supported by the mountains of Matouba, and every accessible point of his line covered by abattis and stockaded redoubts. In his front was a river, the pa.s.sage of which, exceedingly difficult in itself, was rendered much more so by a detachment of troops stationed behind abattis. The ground also, between the river and the heights, was bushy and full of rugged rocks, and of course highly unfavourable to the march of the a.s.sailants.

It was on the 3rd of February that the British troops were put in motion to dislodge him from his advantageous position. The 1st Division, soon after dawn, descended the north side of Palmiste, pa.s.sed the river Gallion, and under a heavy fire from a battery at the bridge of Voziere, formed on the opposite heights, taking up a position so as to intercept the communication between the town of Ba.s.seterre and the enemy's camp.

The 2nd Division had, during the night of the 2nd, pushed forward the grenadiers of the 2nd Brigade and a detachment of the 6th West India Regiment to occupy the ridge Beaupere St. Louis, on the upper part of which the strong post of Bellair was situated. On the morning of the 3rd the enemy perceived what had been done, and moved out in force to dislodge the British. The 1st Brigade was immediately ordered up in support; but, before it could gain the heights, a smart action had taken place, and it only arrived in time to complete the defeat of the enemy.

In this engagement the grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment lost 2 rank and file killed, Captain Ca.s.sidy and 9 rank and file wounded. During the remainder of the day the troops of the 2nd Division were moved up to Bellair, and the whole army remained on the ground during the night.

Next morning, the 4th, the British advanced to the final a.s.sault of the position. The 1st Division was charged with the operations on the right, while the task of turning the left was entrusted to Brigadier-General Wale with the Reserve. At dawn of day the light company of the 1st West India Regiment and the York Light Infantry were ordered to advance to the enemy's post at the bridge of Voziere. For some time they were unseen, but a picket of the enemy, moving along the opposite side of the ravine, discovered them; and, opening fire, a general discharge soon followed, in the face of which the British rushed forward and carried the work. Almost at the same moment, Brigadier-General Wale, who, with the Reserve, had forded the Gallion River, and under a heavy fire ascended the heights, carried the enemy's works on the left; and General Ernouf's situation had become so critical, that he at once hoisted flags of truce in the works which he still retained at Matouba.

On the 5th of February, the terms of capitulation were signed, the French marching out with military honours, and becoming prisoners of war. The British loss was 52 officers and men killed, 250 wounded, and 7 missing. The French lost 600 killed, and 2000 prisoners. Captain H.

Downie, of the 1st West India Regiment, was mentioned in despatches for gallantry at the storming of the work at the bridge of Voziere.

The following general order was published, dated Beau Vallon, Guadaloupe, 6th Feb., 1810: "The enemy are now prisoners of war, to be sent to England, and not to serve until duly exchanged. Thus through the exertions and general co-operation of the fleet and the army, has been effected the important conquest of this colony in nine days from the landing of the 1st Division. The Commander of the Forces returns his public thanks to the officers of all ranks for their meritorious exertions, and to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers for the cheerfulness with which they have undergone the fatigues of a march, difficult in its nature, through the strongest country in the world, and the spirit which they have manifested upon all occasions to close with the enemy."

In this campaign, it may be observed, all the hard work had fallen to the lot of the 1st Division, and especially to that of the light infantry battalion of the 3rd Brigade, which had, by forced marches, moved across the whole breadth of the island, from St. Marie to the neighbourhood of Ba.s.seterre, over a wild and broken country, in six days.

For their services at the capture of Guadaloupe, Captains Ca.s.sidy and Winkler were appointed brigade-majors at Trinidad and Grenada respectively; and the words "Martinique" and "Guadaloupe" were inscribed on the colours of the regiment, "as a mark of royal favour and approbation of its gallant conduct at the capture of those islands in 1809 and 1810."

On the completion of this service the flank companies rejoined head-quarters at Trinidad, as did the two companies detached at Martinique and the two at Barbados. The whole regiment was then stationed in Trinidad, seven companies being at St. Joseph's and three at Orange Grove. This arrangement lasted until March, 1814, when the head-quarters and four companies were moved to Martinique, four companies to St. Lucia, and two to Dominica.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 35: This island had been restored to France by the Treaty of Amiens.]

[Footnote 36: The grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment lost 1 rank and file, killed; 1 drummer, 18 rank and file, wounded; 1 subaltern, missing.]

CHAPTER XIII.

THE EXPEDITION TO NEW ORLEANS, 1814-15.

In July, 1814, the 1st West India Regiment was removed to Guadaloupe, except two companies detached to St. Martin's and Marie-Galante, and remained so stationed until it was selected to take part in the expedition to New Orleans.

In June, 1812, the United States of America had declared war against Great Britain, Was.h.i.+ngton had been captured by the British on July 24th, 1813, and the war had been carried on with varying success until towards the close of the year 1814. In October of that year an expedition to New Orleans was decided upon; the force was to rendezvous at Negril Bay, Jamaica, and for that place the 1st West India Regiment embarked at Point a Prene, Guadaloupe, on November 14th, 1814. Lieutenant-Colonel Whitby, who had for the first time joined the regiment on the previous day, was then in command.

The a.s.sembly of the fleet, and the concentration of troops at a point so near to their own coast, had aroused the suspicions of the Americans; and the treachery of an official in the garrison office at Jamaica enabled them to receive positive information as to the aim and destination of the expedition. This official communicated the intelligence to an American trader residing in Kingston, and the latter at once sailed in a coasting schooner for Pensacola; where General Jackson, who commanded the United States army of the South, was on the point of marching to the relief of St. Mary's, then being attacked by a naval force under Rear-Admiral c.o.c.kburn. The American general, upon learning of the proposed expedition, at once marched to the Mississippi, concentrated a force of 13,000 men in and around New Orleans, and threw up works on either side of the river to defend the pa.s.sage in the neighbourhood of the town.

On the 26th of November, 1814, the British fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir A. Cochrane, having on board a force of some 5000 men under Major-General Keane, sailed from Negril Bay and arrived off the Chandeleur Islands near the entrance of Lake Borgne, on December 10th.

"To reduce the forts which command the navigation of the Mississippi was regarded as a task too difficult to be attempted, and for any s.h.i.+ps to pa.s.s without their reduction seemed impossible. Trusting, therefore, that the object of the enterprise was unknown to the Americans, Sir Alexander Cochrane and General Keane determined to effect a landing somewhere on the banks of Lake Borgne, and pus.h.i.+ng directly on, to take possession of the town before any effectual preparation could be made for its defence. With this view the troops were removed from the larger into the lighter vessels, and these, under convoy of such gun-brigs as the shallowness of the water would float, began on the 13th to enter Lake Borgne."[37]

The Americans, however, being well acquainted with what was taking place, opposed the pa.s.sage of the lake with five large cutters, each armed with six heavy guns, and these were immediately attacked by the smaller craft of the British. Avoiding a serious engagement, they retired into the shoal water where they could only be attacked by boats, and owing to the delay in getting together a sufficiently powerful flotilla, it was not till the 15th that they were captured, and the navigation of the lake cleared. The vessels of a lighter draught having all run aground in a vain endeavour to pa.s.s up the lake, the troops were embarked in boats to carry them up to Pine Island, a distance of thirty miles.

"To be confined for so long a time as the prosecution of this voyage would require, in one posture, was of itself no very agreeable prospect; but the confinement was but a trifling misery when compared with that which arose from the change in the weather. Instead of a constant bracing frost, heavy rains, such as an inhabitant of England cannot dream of, and against which no cloak could furnish protection, began. In the midst of these were the troops embarked in their new and straitened transports, and each division, after an exposure of ten hours, landed upon a small desert spot of earth, called Pine Island, where it was determined to collect the whole army, previous to its crossing over to the main.

"Than this spot it is scarcely possible to imagine any place more completely wretched. It was a swamp, containing a small s.p.a.ce of firm ground at one end, and almost wholly unadorned with trees of any sort or description. The interior was the resort of waterfowl; and the pools and creeks with which it was intercepted abounded in dormant alligators.

"Upon this miserable desert the army was a.s.sembled, without tents or huts, or any covering to shelter them from the inclemency of the weather.... After having been exposed all day to the cold and pelting rain, we landed upon a barren island, incapable of furnis.h.i.+ng even fuel enough to supply our fires. To add to our miseries, as night closed, the rain generally ceased, and severe frosts set in, which, congealing our wet clothes upon our bodies, left little animal warmth to keep the limbs in a state of activity; and the consequence was, that many of the wretched negroes, to whom frost and cold were altogether new, fell fast asleep and perished before morning."

By December 21st the whole army was collected at Pine Island, and next day it was formed into three brigades, the 1st West India Regiment with the 21st and 44th Regiments composing the 2nd Brigade. The 1st West India Regiment, which had left Negril Bay 500 strong, was now so reduced by mortality and sickness that barely 400 men were in a condition to take the field. The cold was intense, and, considering the lat.i.tude, 29 N., almost incredible. It appears that when the regiment left Jamaica no attempt was made to furnish the men with warm clothing, and their sufferings from this cause, they being all natives of the tropics, can be better imagined than described. During the voyage the regiment had been much scattered in small craft, where the soldiers were obliged to sleep on deck, exposed to the torrents of rain which fell by day and to the frosts that came on at night; and, being unaccustomed to the severity of an American winter, large numbers of them died from cold and exposure, the 5th West India Regiment suffering equally with the 1st.

On December 22nd, the 1st Brigade (1600 strong) left Pine Island in boats to proceed to Bayou Catalan, a small creek eighty miles distant, which ran up from Lake Ponchartrain, through the middle of an extensive swamp, to within ten miles of New Orleans. Next day it landed at the mouth of the creek and advanced along an overgrown footpath on the banks of a ca.n.a.l, its movements being concealed by the tall reeds of the swamp. After being delayed by several small streams, it finally emerged from the mora.s.s, and entering the cultivated portion of the district took up a position across the main road from Proctorsville to New Orleans, the Mississippi being on its left and the swamp on its right.

The exhausted troops, without any camp equipment, encamped for the night on the position. They were not, however, allowed to enjoy a long period of rest. Late in the evening a large schooner was observed stealing up the river, until she arrived opposite the bivouac fires around which the men were asleep; and before it could be ascertained whether she was a friend or foe, a broadside of grape swept through the camp. Having no artillery with them, and no means of attacking this formidable adversary, the troops sheltered themselves behind a bank. The night was as dark as pitch, and the only light to be seen was the flash of the enemy's guns as he continued to pour broadside after broadside into the camp. To add to the miseries of the condition of the British it began to rain heavily, and the earth, barely raised above the level of the river, became a vast puddle of slime, in which the soldiers were compelled to lie down to avoid the iron showers of grape that tore through the air.

In the meantime the 2nd Brigade, with the 1st West India Regiment, had embarked in the remainder of the boats from Pine Island, about ten hours after the departure of the 1st Brigade, and after being exposed to an incessant downpour of rain during the night of December 22nd, had arrived at the mouth of the Bayou Catalan at nightfall on the 23rd. In the stillness of the night the sound of the guns of the schooner as she opened fire on the 1st Brigade were distinctly heard, and the troops, stimulated to fresh exertions, hurried on to the a.s.sistance of their comrades. As they drew nearer to the camp, the roll of musketry was heard, for the enemy had brought up a force of 5000 men from New Orleans, thinking to overwhelm the solitary 1st Brigade in the dark, and had unexpectedly opened a semicircle of fire upon it. The 2nd Brigade pushed on, and arrived just in time to prevent the Americans turning the British right, which, owing to their local knowledge, they had partially succeeded in doing. Coming up the ca.n.a.l bank, the 2nd Brigade in their turn took the enemy in flank, and a hand-to-hand conflict took place along the whole line, the British fighting with the energy of despair in the darkness and depths of the wood, and trusting to the bayonet alone.

At last, about 3 a.m. on the 24th, the enemy retired, beaten off at all points.

The losses in the night's engagement, and the deaths from cold and exposure that had occurred during the pa.s.sage from Pine Island, had so thinned the already attenuated ranks of the 1st West India Regiment, that on the morning of the 24th, only 16 sergeants and 240 rank and file were available for duty. The officers serving with them were Major Weston, Captains Isles and Collins, Lieutenants McDonald, Morgan, Miller, Magee, Pilkington, McKenzie, and Dalomel.

Notwithstanding the repulse which the Americans had experienced, the schooner continued to annoy our troops. She had anch.o.r.ed in the river beyond musket range, and, from that safe distance, continued to pour round-shot and grape into the camp, which had been increased on the evening of the 24th by the arrival of the 3rd Brigade, consisting of the 93rd and the 5th West India Regiment. On December 25th, Captain Collins, 1st West India Regiment, was killed by a shot from one of her guns, and there were several other casualties in the regiment. On that day, however, Sir Edward Pakenham, who had been sent out from England to a.s.sume the command, arrived, bringing some guns with him. During the night a battery was quietly thrown up opposite the schooner, and at daybreak a heavy cannonade was opened on her with red-hot shot. Before long she was set on fire, and blew up, while another vessel, which had come to her a.s.sistance, was compelled to cut and run up the river.

The main obstacle to an advance being now removed, Sir Edward Pakenham divided the army into two columns. The right column, commanded by Major-General Gibbs, consisted of the 4th, 21st, 44th, and 1st West India Regiments; the left, under Major-General Keane, was composed of the 85th, 93rd, 95th, and 5th West India Regiments.

In the meantime the American general had occupied a position facing the British, with the Mississippi on his right, and an impenetrable mora.s.s on his left, covering New Orleans, and rendering an advance on that town impossible, until his position had been carried by a front attack. The ground thus occupied, about 1000 yards in breadth, had been fortified so as to be almost impregnable. Three deep parallel ditches had been dug across the whole front; in rear of these was a strong loop-holed palisade, and several batteries had been erected so as to bring a cross-fire to bear upon the level plain, across which the British would have to advance to the a.s.sault. The right flank of the enemy was further protected by a strong work thrown up on the right bank of the Mississippi, which effectually prevented our gun-boats turning the position, should they succeed in entering the river.

The night of December 26th was spent in continual alarms. Small bodies of American riflemen would creep down upon the pickets under cover of the darkness, and, firing upon the sentries, prevent the main body from obtaining any sleep. "Scarcely had the troops lain down, when they were aroused by sharp firing at the outposts, which lasted only till they were in order, and then ceased; but as soon as they had dispersed, and had once more addressed themselves to repose, the same cause of alarm returned, and they were again called to their ranks. Thus was the night spent in watching, or at best in broken and disturbed slumbers, than which nothing is more trying, both to the health and spirits of an army."

At daybreak on the 27th, the pickets were withdrawn, and the British formed in order of attack. The right column took post near the skirts of the mora.s.s, throwing out skirmishers half-way across the plain to meet the American riflemen, while the left column drew up upon the road. It was a clear, frosty morning, and in this formation the troops advanced, the enemy's skirmishers slowly falling back before them.

After an advance of about four miles the American position was sighted, and the British were saluted by a heavy cannonade from the batteries and s.h.i.+pping. "Scarce a ball pa.s.sed over or fell short of its mark, but all striking full into the midst of our ranks, occasioned terrible havoc.

The shrieks of the wounded, therefore, the crash of firelocks, and the fall of such as were killed, caused at first some little confusion; and what added to the panic was, that from the farm-houses beside which we stood bright flames suddenly burst forth. The Americans, expecting this attack, had filled them with combustibles for the purpose; and directing against them one or two guns, loaded with red-hot shot, in an instant set them on fire. The scene was altogether very sublime. A tremendous cannonade mowed down our ranks, and deafened us with its roar; whilst two large chateaux and their out-buildings almost scorched us with the flames, and blinded us with the smoke which they emitted."

The troops having formed line, advanced to storm the enemy's works. The right column, after a sharp and victorious skirmish with an advanced body of the enemy, arrived at the edge of the marsh, through which it endeavoured in vain to penetrate. At the same time the left column reached the first ditch, or ca.n.a.l, and, being unable to cross it, there halted, the men endeavouring to shelter themselves from the enemy's fire in a wet ditch about knee-deep. The troops being unable to close with the enemy, Sir Edward Pakenham ordered them to retire. This was effected by battalions, the last corps moving off about noon; and by nightfall the army was encamped about two miles from the former camping-ground, and the same distance from the enemy's position.

The 28th, 29th, and 30th, were occupied in bringing up guns from the fleet, on which duty the two West India Regiments and the seamen were employed. Major Weston and Lieutenant Magee, 1st West India Regiment, died from exposure and fatigue while engaged in this work.

During the night of the 31st, six batteries, mounting in all 30 pieces of heavy cannon, were completed, at a distance of some 300 yards from the American lines, and at dawn the artillery duel commenced. During the whole of the day a heavy cannonade continued, till, towards evening, the British ammunition began to fail, and the fire in consequence to slacken. The fire of the Americans, on the other hand, increased; and, landing a number of guns from their vessels, they soon compelled the British to abandon their works. The enemy made no attempt to secure the guns, and during the night they were removed.

Sir Edward Pakenham now decided to send a portion of his force across the river to attack the fort on the right bank and turn its guns upon the main position, whilst the remainder should at the same time make a general a.s.sault along the whole entrenchment. "But before this plan could be put into execution, it would be necessary to cut a ca.n.a.l across the entire neck of land from the Bayo de Catiline to the river, of sufficient depth and width to admit of boats being brought up from the lake. Upon this arduous undertaking were the troops immediately employed. Being divided into four companies, they laboured by turns, day and night.... The fatigue undergone during the prosecution of this attempt no words can sufficiently describe; yet it was pursued without repining, and at length, by unremitting exertions, they succeeded in effecting their purpose by the 6th of January."

On January 1st H.M.S. _Vengeur_ arrived off the Chandeleur Islands with a convoy of transports, containing the 7th and 43rd Regiments, under Major-General Lambert, and these two battalions, each 800 strong, joined the army on the evening of January 6th. Next day the final arrangements were made. Colonel Thornton, with the 85th, the marines, and a body of seamen, in all 1400 men, were to cross the river immediately after dark, seize the batteries on the right bank, and at daylight commence firing on the enemy's line, which at the same moment was to be attacked by the remainder of the army. Major-General Keane, with the 95th, the light battalion, and the 1st and 5th[38] West India Regiments, was to attack the enemy's right, Major-General Gibbs, with the 4th, 21st, 44th, and 93rd, force the left, whilst Major-General Lambert was to hold the 7th and 43rd in reserve.