SIE EICHAED CHUECH C.B., G.C.H. COMMANDEK- IN -CHIEF OF THE GREEKS IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE • BY STANLEY LANE-POOLE AUTHOB OF 'THE LIFE OF VISCOUNT STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE WITH TWO PLANS LONDON LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16 th STREET 1890 PBIKTKD UY BI'OITISWUODB AND CO., KKW-STRKR SyUAUB LONDON LOAN STACK ess MA/aJ ADVERTISEMENT This sketch of the military adventures of General Sir Richard Church is reprinted by permission from the English Historical Review. Its composition has been greatly assisted by the notes and suggestions of the Rev. C. M. Church, who also placed at the writer's disposition a large number of unpublished letters and other documents illustrative of his uncle's career. S. L.-P. Ballaigues, Vaud : August 1890. 916 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAOH The Expedition to Egypt, 1801 t ••..... 3 CHAPTER II. The Army in Sicily, 1802-6 ... 10 CHAPTER III. The Defence of Capri, 1806-8 17 CHAPTER IV. The Ionian Islands, 1809-14 24 CHAPTER V. The Army of Italy, 1813-16 31 CHAPTER VI. The Brigands of Apulia, 1817-20 38 CHAPTER VII. The War of Independence, 1826-7 45 CHAPTER VIII. The Campaign in Western Greece, 1827-9 ........ 59 SIR RICHARD CHURCH. CHAPTEE I. THE EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 1801. THE War of Independence left Athens a heap of ruins : not the battered fragments of her imperishable art alone, but unsightly wrecks of modern houses, overthrown by Eeshid's artillery. Even in the year of revolutions, the ominous epoch of 1848, when twenty years and more had passed since the surrender of the Acropolis, little had been done to repair the ravages of the war. Four streets of mean-looking houses crossed one another at right angles ; above, on Constitution Place, rose the bald white outline of the palace ; and miserable twisting lanes, with neither lighting nor pavement, bordered for the most part by wretched cabins or high garden walls, extended on either side of the main thoroughfares. One such lane, called ' the Street of Hadrian,' ran below the old wall at the north- east angle of the Acropolis, and in it stood a house familiar to every resident in Athens. It was built round an open court, in eastern fashion, with a cypress and a pepper-tree for shade and fragrance. One side was formed by a three-storied tower, a relic of the Turkish domination, still kept in a state of defence with a view to possible revolutions. On another side stairs led up to a gallery out of which three sitting-rooms opened. Beneath were the offices and dwellings of the trusty Palicari who formed the voluntary garrison of the house in all Greece least likely to need defence. Its master was sure to be found, in the forenoon, in his corner of the divan in the reception-room, where a motley crowd of visitors was commonly assembled, smoking the long chibuk and speculating on the turns of politics — senators and deputies of the opposition, B 2 4 SIR RICHARD CHURCH Suliots of Albania, nomarchs of the islands, chiefs of western Greece attired in Jloccata, embroidered vest, and fustanella, save where the sense of fashion had prescribed the unsightly dress of the West. There sat Makrijanni, Monarchides, Argyropoulos, and Demozelio, the * white devil ' of Acarnania, his aides Mostras of Arta, Theagenes of Thebes— men who had given their all (such as it was) for their country. They were discussing the immensi evenimenti, the sequels of the Paris revolution of February 1848, the prospects of their friends in the Boule and Gerousia, the raids of the brigand bands of Papacosta or Velenza, and all the news of the hour. The master talks freely, genially, humorously with his friends in French or Italian, and more seldom in Greek, his clear blue eyes flashing now and again as he denounces some treachery of the powers that be, or moistening with the warmth of enthusiasm as he recalls some golden deed ; for age has not availed to quench the generous pas- sion of his youth. His slight figure bears the stamp of the man of action, and his eager glance confirms it. All who surround him, Englishmen, Greeks, be they who they may, evidently revere him. For the master is Sir Eichard Church, formerly commander-in-chief of the Hellenes in the war of independence, and still and for always the best-beloved Englishman in Greece. In 1848 he was approaching his threescore years and five, and had sheathed his sword for many a long day. But few men had seen more service — more responsible and adventurous service — than Bichard Church. His early commands went back to the days of the great French war ; he had served under Abercromby and Stuart, Kempt and Hudson Lowe, and had met the armies of Menou, Massena, and Murat, in the days of the consulate and empire. He had seen the birth of the modern English army ; and a handful of raw undermanned regiments had grown before his eyes into the victorious legions of Wellington. He had taken a foremost part in the long battle which England, and England alone, waged in the Mediterranean against the Napoleonic dream of eastern empire ; Alexandria, Maida, Capri, Zante, Santa Maura, all these had viewed him at his post ; and the man who landed at Aboukir in the open- ing year of the century, who had fired a salute in honour of Trafal- gar, had conversed with dolosissima Caroline, queen of Sicily, and had passed through countless perils and faced a thousand ventures since then, lived to hear of France and Germany fighting on the Rhine. The soldier who fought against the first Napoleon, before he 1800 THE EXPEDITION TO EGYPT 5 was emperor, survived to witness the fall of the Second Empire at Sedan. It speaks well for the Society of Friends that so sturdy a fighter as Eichard Church should have been born a quaker. He was the second son of Matthew Church, a merchant of Cork, and Anne Dearman, his wife, and was born in 1784. His school career was cut short by an adventure which was to be predicted in the son of such peaceable parents. Eichard ran away, and took the king's shilling before he was sixteen. His father wisely abandoned the attempt to make a quaker of a son of war, and, instead of reproach- ing him, purchased a commission in the 13th (Somersetshire) light infantry. Eichard was never a big man, but when he was gazetted ensign (3 July 1800) he was unusually small for his age, and apparently ill-prepared to battle with the hardships and privations of an eastern campaign. Nevertheless to Egypt he went, when the 13th was despatched in the autumn of 1800 to join Major-General Cradock's brigade in the Mediterranean, on the most important service that England at that time had to demand of her little army. We find him in February 1801 on board the transport ' Adventure ' in the harbour of Marmarice, on the Karamanian coast, where Sir Ealph Abercromby and Lord Keith had found refuge from the winter storms — rather, indeed, to their own surprise, for even their pilots were not aware of the exist- ence of this opportune haven. The general, thus unexpectedly pre- served from shipwreck, was busily collecting information, drilling his raw army, negotiating through Sir John Moore with our allies the Turks, and gathering horses and transports, with very dispro- portionate results ; meanwhile the men were being practised in dis- embarking and landing under the imaginary guns of the enemy. From this scene of deferred expectation, Church wrote to his sister (10 Feb. 1801) :— We have been here about six weeks, but expect to leave it for our final destination in about a week more. It is the most savage country imaginable. You see nothing from the ship but the most tremendous mountains all round which form the harbour. He was not favourably impressed with either the town of Mar- marice or the people : the former was ' filthy,' and we quite believe it ; ' the inhabitants are the most ferocious as well as the most indo- lent in the world ' — a more questionable statement, since they once formed the best oarsmen in the Turkish galleys. Pashas then were 6 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1801 much as they are now, but more splendid in dress, and at least equally addicted to coffee and pipes. Thunder-storms accompanied by heavy hail, and the nightly approach of wild beasts, added to the inconvenience of the camp, and even in February the heat and effluvia were distressing. The letter continues : — We are about two or three days from Alexandria, where the French have their chief army and where we expect the greatest resistance. It is reported that they have received a reinforcement of 1,800 men. . . . We have here Le Tigre and Sir Sydney Smith ; he is to command a battalion of marines and seamen and act on shore :— with him there must be suc- cess. His dress is curious, a large pair of mustachios, a long blue cloak lined with ermine, gold epaulets, and a large sabre. . . . Shocking idea ! five paras— a coin of this country worth only one halfpenny — is the inducement held out to these wretches, the Turks, for the head of a Frenchman, and wonderfully well it succeeds ; but it matters not whether French or English, so they have an opportunity of murdering him ; his head goes to the Grand Vizir, and the assassin receives his paras. The Greeks, who are slaves to the Turks and are Christians, are as opposite a people as possible, a brave, honest, open, generous people, continually making us presents of fruit. If they make any money by trade, when it pleases the Turk he takes it from him, and if he murmurs, death is his redresser. Oh, how I hate the Turks ! . . . We, the army, certainly go through more than any people in fatigue, hardship, dreadful living, and storms : living on salt pork, towed three days astern of the ship, and still so full of salt you eat it with the greatest difficulty ; foul water, maggotty biscuit : such living is common to us, and happened no less than four times riding at anchor, twice before enemy's towns — Vigo and Cadiz — and twice in Tetuan Bay. I felt that I never knew the real sweets of home, and how many dangers, hardships, and fatigues would I now go through, and smile at, for the happiness of a return home to my dear parents, sisters, and brothers. General Abercromby sailed from Marmarice on 22 Feb. and anchored in Aboukir Bay on 2 March. For the third time Aboukir was to be the scene of a battle. Here Nelson had destroyed the French fleet in 1798, and here Buonaparte cut the Turkish army to pieces in 1799. The bay was now filled with English transports, bringing some 14,000 men to dislodge the French who defended the beach with all arms, including fifteen cannon on the sandhills. Stormy weather delayed the encounter, but on the 8th General Moore took his division ashore in open boats under the enemy's fire, and, forming on the beach, carried the French battery at a rush, seized four guns, and drove their two battalions from the field. 1801 SIEGE OF ALEXANDRIA 7 General Oakes with the other division repulsed the attack of cavalry and infantry, and sent the enemy flying over the sandhills with the loss of three guns. The whole position was brilliantly stormed, and *he French took refuge within their lines at Alexandria. 2 The 13th foot was not in the front at the landing, but it had its full share of work afterwards. Cradock's brigade, to which it belonged, formed part of the centre column in the advance of 13 March, and was exposed to a most destructive fire ; and in the victorious battle of the 21st, when Abercromby fell, it held a critical position on the left of the British line resting on Lake Mareotis. It also took part in the capture of Eosetta and forced the surrender of Cairo, escorted the French army down to its embarkation in July, and witnessed the fall of Alexandria in August. Contemporary documents relating to the expedition are very scarce, and the following letter from Church to his mother (written, he says, upon * the only sheet of paper in the camp ') is therefore valuable. Egypt, 7 Sept. 1801. The two letters [not preserved] I wrote from Eosetta, my dear parents, must have long ere this arrived. We then were prepared to march to the siege of Alexandria, which was to be stormed on all sides, and would undoubtedly have been taken with a tremendous loss to both parties. Fate ordained it otherwise. General Menou, having often tried the valour of the British troops in the field, and dreading the dreadful slaughter which would be made by the Turks on every armed as well as unarmed person (more particularly the latter), the evening [26 Aug.] previous to the assault sent into our camp his aide-de-camp with a flag of truce to ask for a cessation of arms for six-and-thirty hours, to con- sider the terms we had offered. Our commander-in-chief [General Sir John Hely Hutchinson] agreed to an armistice, in the course of which time General Menou thought fit to capitulate, to the great joy of both French and English. Thus has the campaign in Egypt finished to the great glory of the British army. The 2nd of September 1801 was the memorable day when the grenadiers of the whole British army, under the command of Major- General Cradock, took possession of the heights and fortifications of Alexandria, and hoisted the British flag in place of that of the French Eepublic. The terms are the most honourable on our part. The French are allowed six pieces of cannon, six-pounders, and their private property, and small arms only ; and without sacrificing one soldier we have possession of the whole of the transports which brought out the whole of Buonaparte's army, besides six new frigates (two sixty- four's), and a vast number of vessels of different sizes, upwards of 600 1 See Sir H. Bunbury's Passages in the Great War, pp. 93 ff. 8 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1801 pieces of ordnance, principally brass, besides thousands of all descriptions of stores, and granaries full of wheat and rice. The taking of Kosetta, Aboukir, Cairo, and Alexandria, with a number of small forts and castles all through the country, afforded us a vast deal of trouble, and is expected to yield us some prize money. We landed in this country 14,000 men to attack 22,000 French bayonets (from the French returns for embarkation), and before the arrival of any troops from Europe three battles were fought between us, in every one of which we were victorious. The landing on 8 March gave us a footing in the country ; the action of the 13th insured that footing to us by driving that enemy from the heights they occupied, and the glorious battle of the 21st sealed, with the death of our noble commander-in-chief, the entire possession of the country to our arms. M6nou shut himself up in Alexandria, and Belliard retreated to Cairo in the greatest precipitation. We followed up the blow, leaving a sufficient force to guard the heights in front of Alexandria. The remainder of the army marched for Cairo, and on their march reduced Fort Julian, a strong fort at the mouth of the Nile, took Kosetta and a fort on the bank, and encamped before Gizeh, a town at the opposite side of the river from Cairo. We were hardly arrived ere the French sent in an offer to surrender on the terms which they should propose. With some alterations we agreed to them ; their private property and some pieces of ordnance were no object to us. Our numbers at the greatest calculation amounted to about 5,000, and theifs" at the smallest weae 9,500 fighting men. A few days were allowed them to get ready ; they marched to Eosetta to embark, French in one column, English in another, and they embarked at Aboukir to the amount of 20,000 persons of every description. Once the French under General Belliard embarked, the general lost no time. We proceeded to Alexandria and invested it on all sides. General Coote with a division of the army landed to the westward ; we on the eastward made a false attack, which deceived the enemy ; they turned their attention to us ; in the meantime General Coote surprised the castle of Marabout and landed his army to the westward without the loss of a man. On our side we were equally fortunate. It was the dead of the night, and so dark that we got, without being perceived, within the range of the guns on the batteries ; the guns had no effect, their whole line appeared one blaze and one continued roar of thunder, all to no purpose ; we gained our own line with the trifling loss of a few horses. The next night we cut off the whole of their picquets, took seven officers and a hundred and twenty men ; our loss was trifling. Our works to the eastward approached every day ; from our trenches we picked their artil- lerymen from the guns, our friends the Turks were excellent at that : they would lie the whole day behind anything that would conceal them, purposely to pick off the men on the front lines or any other situation. They are the greatest cowards in the world ; they never once fought with 1801 IMPRESSIONS OF EGYPT 9 us in the field. At last our force on their right, the sea to their left, an army in front, and an army in their rear, cut off every chance of supply ; we harassed them day and night. The ' heroes of Italy ' were obliged to surrender to the paid troops they despised so much on hearing of their arrival in Aboukir Bay. . . . Impressions of Egypt — ' this infamous country ' — follow, such as might be expected from a young ensign with little opportunity for close observation. He has seen ' everything worth seeing — the Pyramids, Pompey's Pillar, Sphinx, Cairo, Eosetta, and Alexandria, the Delta, and the country all along the banks of the Nile ; ' he has encountered ' reptiles of all sorts, a dreadful scorching sun, deserts without a drop of water,' and sums up Egypt as a country with 1 some good qualities, though but very few.' The principal amuse- ment of the inhabitants appeared to be smoking, and though there were Christians at Eosetta, it was hard to distinguish between them and the Turks, when it came to cheating. Like all Englishmen, Church admired the Mamluks, but even at this early period the Turks excited his utmost scorn and detestation. We had at Cairo the Grand Vizir and his army. We have here the Captain Pacha and his also — such a set of villains never were seen before ; they go loaded with arms to molest every one they meet, yet are the greatest cowards in the world. The greater the rank the greater the rascal ! From seven months' residence in the country I know so much of the Arabic language as to be able to converse with the Arabs ; the French speak it fluently. I must now conclude about Egypt, only add, once out of it I would never wish to see it again. A soldier could hardly begin his career better than in the Egyptian expedition of 1801. It was commanded by officers of ex- ceptional ability and character, and its success effected a signal change in the position of the English army. Before 1801 we were discredited, and it was believed, not only abroad but at home, that our officers could never cope with Buonaparte's * heroes of Italy ' and of Germany. Alexandria restored our confidence, and Eng- land began to recover her faith in her generals. Eichard Church shared in this revival of hope, and it was his good fortune to bear a hand also in the next triumph of the British arms : Alexandria and Maida were the prelude to Talavera, Vittoria, and Waterloo. 10 CHAPTEK II. THE ARMY IN SICILY. 1802-1806. The illusive peace of Amiens in 1802 interposed a brief truce in the war between England and France, but in 1804 Eichard Church shared in the patriotic fervour which lined our southern coast with hundreds of thousands of troops, militia, and volunteers, eager to repel the invasion of ' the common enemy of Europe.' Buonaparte's vast preparations for the conquest of London, his thousand trans- ports at Boulogne, and the splendid troops which were massed on shore ready for instant embarkation, had roused England to strenuous exertions, and recruits and reserves mustered so rapidly that the regular infantry, which in 1803 was reckoned at 40,000 (and this figure exaggerated the effective strength of the thinned and worn- out battalions) sprang at a leap in 1804 to 75,000, besides 80,000 militia and no less than 343,000 volunteers. Never had the nation more heartily responded to the call of the crown. To present any- thing like a practical opposition to Buonaparte's veterans, however, these large bodies of raw recruits and volunteers needed constant drilling ; camps of instruction were forthwith established along the Essex, Kentish, and Sussex coasts, and Sir John Moore at Hythe set that model of discipline which, emulated by the other camps, served more than anything else to prepare our soldiers for the long trials and triumphs of the Peninsular campaign. In one of these camps at Hailsham — * a paltry place, but still on the coast (sic), and an advanced post, which is the only satisfac- tion we have to enable us to bear it ' — Church and his new regiment, the 39th, into which he had exchanged, were stationed, and here he had the time and opportunity of learning those lessons in the art of war which the brief campaign in Egypt could scarcely have taught him. But he was not long forced to endure the rustic monotony of Hailsham, lighted up, as it was from time to time, by rumours of the approach of that hated enemy whose ships lay 1805 EXPEDITION TO MALTA ir almost in sight across the narrow strait. The 39th were on their way to the Mediterranean in the spring of 1805, though what they were going for they knew not. That they were going to fight ' Bony ' somewhere was enough. Few people take much interest in the minor efforts of the great French war ; yet they sometimes presented features of romance and opportunities for daring and resource such as the movements of great armies rarely afford. Nor were they without their due effect upon the main struggle. The unremitting attacks of our small forces in the Mediterranean upon every possible vantage- ground of the enemy drew off large detachments of the French armies from more vital spots, and, while depriving Buonaparte of many important depots for arms and supplies, effected what was at least equally important, by raising the credit of the British army wherever it landed, and showing Europe that, if we could not turn out vast numbers of troops, at least those who did battle for us knew how to fight. The dash and vigour of our onslaughts upon the French positions in the Mediterranean, from Alexandria to the islands of the Adriatic and the bay of Naples, did much to restore that prestige which the triumphant course of French successes had impaired. The expedition with which Church sailed, on 19 April 1805, consisted of about 7,000 men under the command of Sir James Gibson Craig, who was to proceed to Malta and thence carry on operations, of what description the government had no precise idea, except that they would be against the French in Italy or Sicily, or perhaps Sardinia or Minorca, according as circumstances and instructions should dictate. The principal object, however, was to keep the treacherous court of Naples out of the arms of the French, and for this purpose to land in Italy, in company with a large force of Bussians, then at Corfu, and to endeavour jointly to protect the Neapolitan capital from invasion. It was a curious plan, and with such allies was bound to fail ; but at least it did not lack able officers. Craig,. Sir John Stuart, Fox, and Sir John Moore successively held the chief command in Sicily, and they were admirably seconded by men who afterwards made their mark in greater fields, such as Lowry Cole, Hudson Lowe, Boss of Bladensburg, Kempt, and Sir Henry Bunbury, who has ably recorded his recollections of the military operations of the time. The expedition did not reach Malta till July. Alarms of the French fleet and a long detention at Gibraltar, where it had to 12 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1805 wait for further orders, delayed it ; but to one at least of the officers the interval of leisure was not unwelcome. Church was for his age an ardent student, and took a keen delight in French and still more in Italian literature. At Gibraltar, when there was no Spanish gunboat to be attacked or avoided, he spent his time * reading the few books I have, amusing myself with fortifica- tion, as usual, occasionally taking a row about the fleet, bathing. Ossian, Ariosto, and Plutarch's Lives are my chief authors, and one constantly relieves the other.' He was very romantic, and his letters are full of poetical quotations, varied by metrical outbursts of his own. At Malta the young lieutenant of the 39th received unexpected promotion. He was made adjutant of the light battalion then being formed under Colonel Kempt. Writing from Valetta, 5 Oct., he says : — The several light companies (Chasseurs) are embodied and made for the time being one regiment, to act, when in service, as sharpshooters, riflemen, &c, and to form invariably the advanced guard of the army. We consist of 890 select men, from all the British regiments on the island, and placed under the command of Colonel Kempt, a very excellent officer, who was military secretary to Sir R. Abercromby in Egypt and in all his campaigns elsewhere. I am placed on the staff as adjutant to the light infantry battalion. Believe me that I am sensible that there are many officers whose abilities make them more fit for the situation. There were no less than fifteen applications made by different officers, and all strongly recommended by their commanding officers, and I am really astonished to find that I succeeded in obtaining what I so little deserved or expected. It is of all others the most advantageous situation an officer of my rank could obtain, and to me the most flattering. You know that I am devoted to the life of a soldier and can relish no other, so I have at least that to urge in my favour ; inclination will not be wanting in doing my duty, whatever may be the case with the abilities. I have at last stepped out of the common track in the army, and I sin- cerely hope never to return into it again. — We sail to-day [he adds, 8 Nov.], supposed for Naples, and it is believed we shall proceed 200 or 300 miles in Italy without having any affair with the French. A great many regi- ments who served in Egypt are with us, and if we meet the ■ invincible army of Italy,' I hope grenadiers and light infantry of the British will be able to give a good account of them. — The last cannon from the fleet has fired. It was a fine sight to view the flotilla of more than a hundred ships making out of Malta harbour, and finer still when nine Russian- 1805 THE ENGLISH AT NAPLES 13 ships of the line and eighty-five transports joined them off Syra- cuse ; and the fact that all this brave array was bound on a bootless i rrand did not at the moment diminish its imposing effect. Ten days they tacked in sight of Etna, and at last weathering the western point of Sicily — for the fleet was too large to risk the passage of Scylla and Charybdis, — they began to disembark at Castelamare on 20 November. Here Church's duties as adjutant began in earnest, though indeed the beginning seemed more like play. There was a grand review of the troops before the king of Naples, and exultant volleys were fired by the British when at length the tidings reached them of Trafalgar and ' the glorious 21st of October.' Then up the country they all marched, and occupied the defiles of Itri and Fondi, and other strong positions. They little knew then what was going on beyond the distant Alps, but the disastrous news travelled fast. Mack had capitulated at Ulm ; the fatal field of Austerlitz had been fought and lost ; the French were advancing in overwhelming force upon Naples ; and the perfidious court of Ferdinand had already submitted to the demands of Buonaparte. There was nothing for it but to beat as dignified a retreat as circumstances permitted. General Craig on his own responsibility, and in spite of the remon- strances of our minister, Mr. Hugh Elliot, re-embarked his army on 20 Jan. 1806, and set sail for Messina. 3 He was only just in time. "What happened in the next three weeks may be told in the words of the contemporary Neapolitan historian Coletta : — The king, queen, and the royal family flying, the Princes Leopold and Francis retreating with the army through the Calabrias, a timid and inexperienced regency in Naples, the kingdom laid open to hostile armies, the city undefended, the partisans of the king fugitives or hiding, the mob fluctuating between lust of plunder and fear of chastisement, the honest with arms in their hands for the defence of their own lines and for the maintenance of order in the city : — such was the state of Naples in the first days of February 1806, while at the same time 50,000 French under Marshal Massena were conducting to his throne Joseph Buonaparte, with the name of lieutenant of the Emperor Napoleon. 4 Sicily now assumed a double importance in the eyes of England. It was her advanced outpost against the enemy, and must be held at any cost against the army which General Begnier was leading into Calabria with the express design of reducing the remnant of " See Mr. Oscar Browning's article on * Hugh Elliot at Naples,' in the English Historical Bevieic, No. 14, April 1889. 4 Storia di Napoli, ii. 10. M SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1806 the Bourbon kingdom, which Buonaparte had declared to be extinct. The Neapolitan court, piqued at our retreat, had at first forbidden a single English soldier to land at Messina ; but no sooner had the queen taken refuge at Palermo than fear got the better of resent- ment, and General Craig was invited to disembark his troops for the protection of Sicily. It was a welcome bidding, for four weeks in transports had not improved the health or temper of the men. The English army, numbering about 7,500, was now posted with its centre at Messina, the left fortified at Milazzo, and the right stretching towards Taormina and Cape Passaro. An active flotilla of Sicilian boats scoured the straits, and a corp of natives was raised in our service. Church was zealous in his duties as adjutant of the light division ; he was at the taking of the fort of Scylla, which guarded the straits on the opposite shore ; and his familiarity with Italian brought him into useful intercourse with the Sicilians, among whom he mentions * about 1,000 friars and monks, the apothecaries and parsons in the six parishes around our cantonments, many of whose names I do not know, and all the fishermen from Messina to Scarletta, whose names I do know, because I have them regis- tered.' He was already beginning to exercise that influence over foreign peoples which afterwards became the chief pride and delight of his life. In the same letter he records his first experiences of an earth- quake, and its different effects upon the English soldiers and the Sicilians : — A battle is nothing to it ; it was a most deplorable scene to see the whole of the inhabitants on their knees, in the middle of the street, in the most dreadful rain. The villagers were surprised and en- raged to see us performing all the duties of the regiment as if nothing had happened, and in a great degree they attribute this event to our being in the country. The daily sight of the French encampments across the narrow straits irritated our men beyond measure, and in the summer plans were matured for anticipating the threatened French invasion by a landing upon the Calabrian coast. Church had gained credit by the zeal of his service, and in the arrangements for the advance he was attached as brigade major to Colonel Kempt's division. His zeal and attachment to the duties of his profession [wrote Sir J. Stuart, the hero of Maida, to the Horse Guards] were conspicuous in a series of services that occurred within my own observations. I hardly. 1806 THE BATTLE OF MAI DA 15 know a more promising young man, or professionally a more deserving one. I gave him to Kempt as brigade major at Maida, and he always fully appreciated him. The battle of Maida is the best known of the military operations during the occupation of Sicily. 5 It was in effect a successful sortie of the British garrison against the advanced position of the French army on the Calabrian coast. The English to the number of 5,000 landed on 1 July in the bay of St. Eufemia ; the battle was fought on the 4th. The marshy plain of the river Lamato, which lay between the forest of St. Eufemia and the hill of Maida, where the French were posted, formed a most unhealthy camping-ground, and had the French left us alone the battle might never have been won. The English army, massed on the heated sands of that desert beach, struck during the day by the burning rays of the July sun, and by night breathing in the pestilential vapours of the neighbouring marshes, were sickening and on the point of abandoning the enterprise, when Regnier, longing for revenge, flung himself upon their camp ; he who had fought unsuccessfully against Stuart in Egypt hoped a return of fortunes in Calabria. 6 In vain : he was completely routed ; Kempt's light brigade broke the attack, and pushed the enemy relentlessly over the plain to the slopes of Maida ; the guns and stores collected for the invasion of Sicily fell into our hands ; Lower Calabria was cleared for a time of the French ; the victory broke their prestige, and raised the spirits of our army. The pity was that it was not followed up. In August of the same year, Church was entrusted with a mission which called forth to the full those qualities which after- wards proved so valuable against the secret societies of Apulia. At this time the Sicilian authorities, aided by Sir Sydney Smith, were encouraging by every means in their power the numerous bands of masse, or banditti, which the barbarities of the French army had fostered among the miserable population of Calabria. No weapon against the enemy could be neglected, and war, as well as adversity, sometimes makes strange bedfellows. To investigate the doings of these disreputable allies, and to discover the strength and position of the French troops, became a matter of necessity ; and the task demanded not only considerable courage and presence of mind, but 5 The best account of this and other military operations in the Mediterranean during the great French war is to be found in Sir H. Bunbury's Passages. " Coletta, vi. 14. 16 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1806 a familiarity with Italian. Church was in a manner marked out for the work, and he hastened to volunteer. The risk was so great that his colonel, the Hon. Lowry Cole, hesitated for a whole day and, even when he had consented, knew no peace of mind till he saw the young officer safe back again. Accompanied by only twelve Neapolitan cavalry, Church pushed his reconnaissance to Nicastro, where he found matters in a critical state. The brigands were pouring into the town to the number of 1,500, murdering the in- habitants in the streets and making targets of the syndic and other notables. It was then that Church displayed that cool mastery over lawless ruffians which so often, in after years, stood him in good stead. With his twelve men he not only drove the masse out of a house which they had attacked, but ordered the chiefs to leave the town, an order which, strange to say, was for the most part obeyed. All night, however, his little company had to patrol the streets, and it was not till morning that he felt he could safely leave Nicastro, restored by his efforts to comparative tranquillity. For this service, and for his detailed report on the movements and positions of the French, he received the thanks of Generals Stuart and Fox, and was shortly promoted to the rank of captain in the Corsican Eangers. But the chief reward to one of his chivalrous nature was the thought of the rescue of hundreds of women and children from the tender mercies of the brigands. He had resolved to * perish rather than leave the helpless people in the hands of assassins,' and a sentence in a letter to his mother shows us the generous humanity which was ever his characteristic : — I feel more real pleasure at having been the sole instrument in the salvation of these hundreds than in having assisted in the destruction of the thousands of our abominable and treacherous enemies at Maida. 1/ CHAPTER III. THE DEFENCE OF CAPRI. 1806-1808. A month before the battle of Maicla, Church had written home (10 June 1806), ' Sir S. Smith sails this day. On his way here from Gaeta he took the island of Capri in the bay of Naples. Colonel Lowe with five companies of the Royal Corsican Chasseurs sailed four days ago to garrison the island, as an attack from the French is daily expected." Capri now formed a sort of vedette of the Sicilian garrison, whence a sharp look-out could be kept upon the enemy's doings in Naples, and communications established between the English army and the continent. It was a post for bold and venturesome men, and the authorities instinctively sent Church to the point of danger as captain of the Corsican rangers. For two years, from October 1806 to September 1808, he com- manded the upper town of Ana Capri, which looks down eastward from its lofty terrace of lava over rugged precipices to the Marina and Lower Capri, and on the west hangs steeply over the blue waters of the Mediterranean. Colonel Hudson Lowe in the nether town placed entire confidence in his lieutenant above ; and, unlike some others, Church always entertained a warm esteem and affec- tion for his commanding officer, who, whatever his faults, was at least a gallant soldier. At first the novelty of the situation, and the delight of flaunting the flag of England in the very eyes of Joseph Buonaparte over the way at Naples, were pleasurable enough, but after a while the monotony of the place and the association with none but foreigners began to weary him. He describes his life in a series of letters to his sister : — 14 Oct. 1806. How fast is the scene changed ! A twelvemonth has not yet passed and I have written you from Malta, from various part? of Italy, from c 18 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1806 Sicily, from Calabria, from Sicily again, from Capri. I have been re- peatedly changed on duty from one of these places to another ; served an unsuccessful campaign allied with the Russians against the French in Italy ; and been on a most glorious expedition against the same enemy in Calabria. I have been under arms three times to be reviewed by two crowned heads— twice for the king of Naples, once for the king of Sardinia. I have witnessed an earthquake ; scarcely been, even for a week, out of sight of Mount Etna, Vesuvius, or Stromboli. I formed a party with the army selected to besiege Scylla, and was at the taking of it ; and have had the good luck to have been actually shipwrecked at Charybdis ; and have been no less than seven times embarked, and as often landed, . . . mixed up alternately with Russian and Neapolitan troops, Calabrese, Sicilians, and French. ... I have served in the various capacities of lieutenant, ad- jutant, brigade-major, and captain, and have had no less than four different commanding officers in that space of time. To conclude this history, I am now, through the great favour of my present commanding officer, Colonel Lowe, duly installed captain-commandant of Ana Capri. . . . From Capri you have the most beautiful view imaginable of Naples and Vesuvius, as well as of Baiae, Pozzuoli, the Elysian fields, Portici, the palace of La Favorita, and all the towns in the bay of Naples towards Castellamare, . . . the islands of Ischia and Procida, and Ponza in the bay of Gaeta, and on a very fine day, with a glass, Gaeta itself. You have a fine view of the Apennines and the highlands in the Neapolitan territory for many miles. From the back of the island you command a prospect of the gulf of Salerno and the various towns on its shores. So much for the views : now for the island itself. It is about 5^ [3g] miles in length, and perhaps its greatest breadth is not above two. It is divided in two parts, Capri and Ana Capri, and has three towns, or rather villages, S3veral convents, and a bishop, and several remarkable ruins of palaces, &c, built by Tiberius when that wretch made the island his place of residence. The whole island is a perfect garden, is covered with vines, figs, &c. Capri is the chief town and port, and has a castle ; it is the seat of government and headquarters of the regiment, and has about 3,000 inhabitants ; the roads are all very hilly, narrow, and, for the most part, in steps. Ana Capri is above two-thirds of the island, and once up, a level terrace abounding in fruit, wine, and oil ; it has no place of anchorage for shipping, but several creeks and small bays where an enemy may attempt a landing. The only road from Capri here is (do not be surprised at an absolute fact) up a rock, cut into 600 [535] perpen- dicular steps, and this is the only communication between the two places. . . . Fancy my leading a high-spirited Arabian horse up these steps, which I have done, and he is the only horse in this part of the island. . . . My residence is in the Palazzo, a delightful house, one of those belonging to the many Neapolitan nobility who formerly spent a month or two of each year here previous to the French occupation. i8o6 ANA CAPRI 19 I am sole governor here, civil and military ; my military force con- sists of two companies, besides an officer's detachment of forty men, making my regular troops about 200, and two four-pounders. Besides these I have about sixty militia, and some few of the king of Naples' gamekeepers. I am at the advance post, the first to be attacked when King Giuseppe shall be that way inclined. I am totally independent of the commanding officer, except what relates to the regiment, and com- municate with him by telegraphic and night signals. The population consists of about 900 people, not one of whom can go down to Capri without my passport. There is here a convent of nuns and a college for ecclesiastical education. I am on great terms with the abbadessa, a most respectable old lady, who was obliged to fly from Naples by the French, and is much attached to the English. We correspond almost daily, and as often as possible I make her a present of fish, fresh butter, hams, and anything else that I accidentally pick up. . . . On 3 Nov. 1806 Church writes to his mother : — My time is at present occupied in entrenching this part of the island, making a harbour, building towers of defence, making roads — any- thing whatsoever that renders my post so strong as to be able with a very few men to defend the place against whatever number of men King Joseph may think proper to attack me with. . . . These works, and exercising the men, signing passes from this to Capri for the country people, and now and then a ride or walk round my whole territory, or a game of rackets, fully occupy the morning from daylight, at which I invariably rise, until dinner, 5 o'clock. It is in the evening that ennui becomes a guest, for there is no society except of the few officers composing the detachment, for instance, a German, a Piedmontese, a Corsican, &c. So long have I been accustomed to foreigners [he adds in another letter] that my native language seems of little use— French and Italian are our only languages now. I shall soon forget my native tongue. Would I could have some lessons in it from you ! I am absolutely remarkable in the regiment for the number and the length of the letters I write, and also for various translations from foreign papers. His copious note-books full of poetry, and many extracts from books of history, bear witness to his love of reading. Since I last wrote [this to his brother in April 1807] we have been on the point of attack. ... On 1 March a division of about 2,500 or 3,000 French troops under General Merlin embarked . . . from Baiae and were half-way across, when a tempest arose which obliged them to put back. . . . We had only at most 700 men, and it requires 2,000 to guard all the landing-places, but I do not think we should have lost the island. We have worked night and day to increase our strength. ... I often wished for c 2 20 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1807 practice in fortification ; I have now plenty of it, as Colonel Lowe has made me chief engineer and inspector of the coast, and I have the whole of the fortifications for Ana Capri to design and complete with my own resources and according to my own ideas. Since we heard of M. Merlin's intentions we have considerably increased our ammunition. . . . By offering rewards for the balls fired by the British ships into the island when the place was taken, and which were to be found in the vineyards, I have recruited as far as 500 extra rounds ; . . . since that we have received from Messina a large supply of ammunition and provisions, and we only wish to see our friends [the French]. Lowe manages so well that in spite of precautions we have almost daily correspondence with Naples, and are informed of everything going on there. Italy is like a barrel of gunpowder, and only wants a match to blow it all up : that match is an English army of 20,000 men under Moore. If the English at Capri managed to get wind of the enemy's movements, the scent of English doings at Capri was at least equally burning at the Court of Naples, and the intrigues of the French and of Queen Caroline of Sicily compelled the garrison to keep a strict watch on the inhabitants. ' This is a rascally island,' wrote Church in 1807, * as you will see by this report of mine to Colonel Lowe. I have arrested some priests detected in correspond- ence with the French. This is a nuisance, for we are now obliged to fortify against the inhabitants on shore as well as against the enemy at sea.' The island seems to have been left by our com- mander-in-chief strangely unprotected at sea, considering its advanced and exposed position. Six months without a ship- of- war of any sort, our greatest distance from the enemy's head-quarters being only eighteen miles, nearest two miles. My detachment and myself have had the hardest duty I ever experienced — watching and patrolling night after night, and working in the day-time : an enemy without, treason within, is enough to keep one on the alert. Enough of this vile island. During 1808 the monotony of his island service was relieved by employment on expeditions along the Calabrian coast, watching and gaining information of the enemy's movements. He even seems to have been to Naples, doubtless in disguise, and to have been im- prisoned there for four days on account of a dispute with a French officer ; and he was sent with despatches to Messina to the com- mander-in-chief with a report of the affair. So long as Church commanded at Ana Capri the rock w T as safe. But two events happened in the course of 1808 which materially 1 808 THE FRENCH A TTA CK 2 1 affected the issues of the contest. Joseph Buonaparte was suc- ceeded by Murat, and those who knew the two men were aware that this meant a complete change in the conduct of the war — a change from languor to masterly activity. The other event was the reinforcement of the garrison of Capri by the royal regiment of Malta — an increase merely in numbers, for the Maltese were not fit to stand in the shoes of the Corsicans, and the issue demon- strated the blunder of placing such troops at the post of danger. One important effect of the change was to transfer the command of Ana Capri to Major Hamill, who now occupied the advanced position with the Malta regiment, while Church and his Corsicans joined Hudson Lowe in Capri. The relief took place on 10 September, and the French were not slow to turn it to their own advantage. Church had been longing for an attack, though he knew that if the island were taken * I should get into such a passion as to fight to the last rather than let the monsieurs have it without paying for it more than it is worth.' But now he had lost hope of a scrimmage. ' There is no chance of our being attacked,' he wrote, ' as at present we have two regiments here ; I kept the place for two years with one ' '(26 September) . Only a week after this confident assertion a large flotilla sailed from Naples with 3,000 men under Lamarque. The French attacked the island on all sides (4 October), but were vigorously repulsed by Hudson Lowe from the lower town. Ana Capri was less fortunate, and less well defended. Church and his Corsicans were ordered up to support the Maltese, but these had already allowed the enemy to land, under cover of the guns of a considerable flotilla, including a frigate, sloop-of-war, mortar vessel, and twenty-four gun-boats, which kept up a perpetual cannonade against the heights, under which their men ascended to the summit. In spite of their superior numbers the French were four times driven back with loss, and at sunset they had apparently made up their minds to return on board, for they were seen hiding among the rocks at the landing-place. In the evening, however, they were reinforced by other troops, who had been repulsed from Lower Capri, and as the moon rose Church saw three formidable columns advancing over the plain of Orico upon the town of Ana Capri. He kept up a brisk fire on their flank, but could not pursue as he found another body of the enemy threatening his right. The Malta regiment precipitately retired, the French passed through the lines, Church and his company of Corsicans were separated from the two other companies of his regiment ; defence of Ana 22 SIR RICHARD CHURCH iSoS Capri was already hopeless, and the enemy's guns could be heard in the town. All that remained was a perilous retreat. Church flung his guns into the sea, and guided his men through vineyards and narrow tracks towards Capo di Monte, whence a descent by steps led to Capri. On his road, to his intense surprise, for he had imagined the French at some distance, he suddenly fell in with a strong division of the enemy, and was instantly challenged. With prompt presence of mind he answered in French that his party were French troops pushing on to the town, and was allowed to proceed, the Corsicans actually brushing the enemy as they passed. Some of the Malta regiment in the rear, however, by their red uniforms betrayed the deception, and the result was a brisk fire, which pursued them for a mile. At last Church got his men, closely followed by the enemy, to Capo di Monte, and thence to Monte Salaro, picking up the two missing companies on the way. Here a letter from Hudson Lowe determined him to continue his retreat to Capri. The adventures of the night were not yet over. To reach Lower Capri, where Lowe held his ground, was impossible unless the cliffs, some 150 feet high, and nearly perpendicular, were scaled. His local knowledge served him well in this emergency. The or- dinary step-road was held by the French, but he knew of a path, scarcely practicable indeed, save to mountaineers, but such as Corsicans might compass ; and down went the whole regiment, man by man, ammunition, guns, and all, in the blackness of night. It was a perilous descent, but only one man missed his footing ; the rest with their officers joined Colonel Lowe at Capri the same night. The French had won the day by a surprise, largely due to the supineness of the Malta regiment, but Church and the Corsicans enjoyed the full measure of praise for their daring. ' Captain Church's exertions,' reported Hudson Lowe, c were peculiarly con- spicuous. The orderly retreat of this detachment, through parties of the enemy and down precipices heretofore deemed impracticable, forms the highest eulogium on the officers who guided it. They had been twenty hours under arms and in constant movement.' For a fortnight the garrison in Lower Capri held out against the slow siege of the French, who did not venture on an assault. For twelve nights and days the garrison was perpetually under arms. The reinforcements despatched by Sir John Stuart from Sicily were impeded by calms or dispersed by gales, and meanwhile 1808 SURRENDER OF CAPRI 23 ammunition ran short and a successful assault became imminent. When the enemy offered honourable terms of capitulation, Colonel Lowe had no alternative but to accept them (18 Oct.), and to with- draw his force to Sicily. 7 It was a severe blow to the British fame, and grievously weakened the effect of Maida. The French had enjoyed every advantage : an English frigate had retired before them, no sufficient succour had been attempted, the weather had been unprecedentedly calm for the time of year and had allowed a singularly easy disembarkation of troops and guns, and then changing to a gale prevented the arrival of British reinforcements ; while the regiment at the point of attack had proved unequal to its duties. Nevertheless it was a calamity which the English burned to retrieve. Church had been wounded in the head by a splinter from the last shot fired by the enemy (15 Oct.), while he was leading the sharp-shooters of Capri, and was put on board ship in a disabled state. On his arrival in Sicily he became the hero of the hour, and was warmly welcomed by the Commander-in-Chief and recom- mended for the majority in the Malta regiment, vacant by Major HamhTs death. He never joined the regiment, however, for he was soon well enough to ride across the island to Messina, where he was placed under Bunbury as assistant-quartermaster-general. 7 See Papers presented to the House of Commons relating to the capture of the Isle of Capri by the French Forces. (Ordered to be printed March 29, 1809.) 24 CHAPTEK IV. THE IONIAN ISLANDS. 1809-1814. How to retrieve the loss of Capri was the anxious thought of the British commanders in the Mediterranean, and especially of Lord Collingwood, who had succeeded Nelson in the com- mand of the fleet. An expedition was despatched in the summer of 1809 to the Bay of Naples to make a reconnaissance ' for a par- ticular object,' 8 but though Ischia and Procida were taken, and many of Murat's gun-boats captured, the movement was apparently a feint to deceive the enemy as to our real intentions. Church, who was honourably selected (27 June) to accompany the recon- naissance on board the Canopus, was sorely disappointed that no attempt was made to recover Capri, but subsequent proceedings restored his equanimity. In September the fleet sailed again from Sicily under sealed orders, the purport of which was unknown even to him (he was now assistant -quartermaster-general and chief of the staff to General Oswald, who commanded the troops of the expedition), and, instead of carrying on the usual operations agains', the Italian coasts, boldly sailed for the Adriatic and attacked the Ionian islands, then occupied by the French. The islanders had already sent urgent appeals to Collingwood and Stuart for English aid, and the result was the despatch of the 35th regiment, the Corsican rangers under Hudson Lowe, two companies of the 44th, a few dragoons, and a company of artillery, with the co-operation of H.M.S. Warrior (Captain Spranger) and other vessels. The first point of attack was Zante, where the French, taken completely by surprise, capitulated on the spot. Church conducted the landing, and drew up the terms of surrender (2 Oct.). Thenceforward, until the cession of Corfu by the French in 1814, Zante was the head- quarters of the British government in the islands. Cephalonia 8 Despatch from Lt.-Col. Coffin, D.Q.M.G., to Capt. Church, June 27, 1800. 1810 THE IONIAN ISLANDS 25 fell two days later to the onslaught of Colonel Lowe, and the re- duction of Ithaca, in which Church himself commanded (supported by Captain Crawley of the Philomel) and ' made the French com- mander surrender unconditionally,' and of Cerigo, which had long been a nest of privateers, speedily followed, each in a single day. 9 For five years the young officer's life (he was only twenty-six) was spent in active employment in the Ionian islands. It was work that was in every way suited to his special capacity ; it tended more than any other experience to confirm the high opinion which he had, from the very first contact, formed of the Greeks, and which moulded the whole course of his later life. His genius lay in the command and discipline of native regiments ; he seemed to possess a potent charm which gave him ascendency over rough and un- tutored ragamuffins, whom none but he could convert into some- thing like orderly troops. Hardly had he arrived on the shores of Greece when he began to prepare for the levy of native regiments. His zealous enterprise in anticipating the requirements of his government led him immediately to prosecute a series of inquiries into the condition and resources of the Ionian islands and the adja- cent mainland, and to report the results, illustrated by plans and maps of Corfu, Zante, Santa Maura, &c, to General Coffin at Messina. The information was especially welcome just then, for there were rumours, as an intercepted letter from the Morea to Buonaparte afterwards disclosed, that England contemplated the occupation of the Peloponnesus as a place d'armes against France ; and a despatch from General Coffin (16 Jan. 1810), commending Church's zeal and discretion, emphasised the importance of his continuing to furnish reports, especially on the resources and dis- position of the Moreotes, and the possibility of defending the isthmus of Corinth. The detailed report did not come in till many months later, and meanwhile the idea of an occupation had been abandoned ; but it is full of minute information as to the propor- tions of Turks and Greeks in the Morea, and the probable number of fighting men, all of which proved of the utmost service to Church in his later dealings with the Greeks. His observations of the qualities of the Greeks soon streng- thened his estimate of their capabilities as soldiers, and in 1810-11 he was hard at work raising a force of 950 men. The first regiment of the duke of York's Greek light infantry was soon 9 Despatches from Brig.-Gen. Oswald and Capt. Church, A.Q.M.G., in London Gazette, 16322, Dec. 5-9, 1809. 26 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1811 placed upon its trial. For three months the army in the Ionian islands was left without a word of instructions from head-quarters at Messina, and did not know what to do next : a delay, wrote Church, ' characteristic of the manner in which we generally carry on military matters.' In March 1811, however, it was decided to attack the island of Santa Maura, and Church led his Greek recruits to the assault of 'that diabolical castle seated like a magician's fortress in the middle of the sea.' The new regiment behaved with great steadiness and pluck, and the fort was taken ; but in the moment of victory Church's sabre was smashed by grape, and his left arm was at the same instant shattered by a bullet. 10 For two months he was seriously ill, for the bone was divided, but a sound constitution and a skilful surgeon pulled him through, and in the summer of 1811 he was allowed to go on leave for a tour through Greece to Turkey and Asia Minor. With two companions he rode through Northern Greece, Thessaly, and Mace- donia, visiting Delphi, Chaeroneia, Thermopylae, Pharsalia, Philippi, and other homes of classical associations ; at Constantinople he found a hospitable welcome at the embassy, and began a life- long friendship with Stratford Canning, the twenty-four-year-old minister at the Porte ; while a row up the Bosphorus to the mur- muring rocks of Jason, and an excursion to Smyrna and Magnesia, completed a tour replete with intense interest to Church's romantic imagination. On his return he devoted himself again to the duties of his Greek infantry. He had been appointed major commanding the rpgiment early in 1810 by Sir John Stuart, for whom he always testified a warm admiration and esteem : ' I look up to him as a father,' he wrote home (12 Nov. 1811), ' (a sacred name not to be adopted without good cause) ; it is difficult to conceive the affection he has for me ; believe me, mother, it was a cordial to my grateful heart to receive his unlimited approbation to my exertions on his reviewing my regiment, which he did some time ago whilst on a tour to these islands.' It remained to be seen, however, whether Sir John's appointment would be ratified by the Horse Guards : f Sir D. Dundas,' said Church, ■ may have some of the MacSyco- phant family to provide for, whose campaigns in England may 10 What was thought at the Horse Guards of this exploit may be judged from a letter from Sir H. E. Bunbury to Church, Aug. 9, 1810, in which he hoped his arm was mending and that he might ' be able to enjoy the high credit you have so nobly gained, without any alloy of sickness.' i8ii THE GREEK LIGHT INFANTRY 27 entitle them to promotion prior to those sons of St. Patrick whose services are confined to the Mediterranean.' He was not fond of Scotsmen, and made unfavourable comments on the Highland regi- ments in Sicily. His fears, however, were groundless, and in November 1811 he was able to write, ' I am now full and approved major in His Majesty's service, and commanding a regiment originally raised, organised, and disciplined by myself,' where he had gained ' the warm approbation of my superiors, and the decided love and attachment of those placed under my command. My constant prayer is that I may be allowed to be of service to man- kind and particularly to my country.' His letters are full of patriotic fervour, strong family love, and simple unaffected piety. The command of the regiment taxed Church's powers to the utmost. He was far from well ; his wound was still open, after a year and a half ; and his visit to Turkey had been followed by a severe and distressing fever. Moreover, the management of raw Greek levies was a very different matter from a parade in Welling- ton Barracks. You will conceive [he told his mother, 12 Nov. 1811] that my charge is no light one — that of a thousand men — and that my mind is continually occupied with the cares, the necessary attendants of so heavy a trust ; for do not conceive that I have the easy task of an officer in command of an English regiment where all is clock-work, and where the men are accustomed to the rules of discipline. Far different has been my task, and through the Almighty's assistance I have been enabled to reduce to obedience and military discipline men whom English, Kussians, or French, could never in any way discipline or civilise. To you, mother, I do not boast ; but I have now, thank God, divested those men of prejudices rooted by ages, and converted them from the most lawless of mankind, not only into good soldiers, but also into praiseworthy members of civilised society. These men, who once knew no law but their sword, are now the admira- tion of the inhabitants for their correct, quiet, and obedient conduct. My maxim has been to treat them with mildness and humanity, and by that means I have succeeded in gaining the love of these people beyond what can be imagined. The number of recruits that flock to me from all parts of Greece is really extraordinary. . . . Should government wish fcr men, I will answer from my character alone in this country to raise G,000 or 8,000 men in as many months. The regiment is now regularly approved of by government, and will enjoy the same advantages as all other in His Majesty's service. General Oswald was much impressed with the ability displayed by his chief of the staff in recruiting the regiment. ' The first 28 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1812 embodiment of the Greeks in our service,' he wrote, 21 Aug. 1811, ' was one of those delicate experiments demanding a rare and un- usual combination of conciliation and firmness, and indeed of that enthusiasm by which great difficulties alone can be overcome. No one,' he added, * was so capable of embodying and disciplining people whose love and respect you had by the most valid titles acquired,' and he not only assured Church that the regiment would remain under his command, but that he might look forward to the formation of a second regiment of the same kind which would also be placed under his orders as lieutenant-colonel. ' For my own part,' said the general, * I am convinced that our corps is but the commencement of a great plan for engaging numbers of Greeks in our service.' The wheels of government roll slowly, and it was not at once that these predictions were realised. Church, however, lost no time in making preparations for embodying another Greek regiment so soon as permission should arrive from home. Considerable enthu- siasm had been aroused in the Morea by the success of the first experiment, and numerous offers of assistance came in from the chiefs, insomuch that the Turkish authorities took alarm, and complained of what they imagined might be construed as an in- fraction of their neutrality towards France. Volunteers wrote from all parts of Greece, and their letters possess a singular interest in view of later events. They show that the Greeks were already looking to England as their champion against the misrule of the Turks, and they also bear witness to the eagerness of the Greeks to profit by the advantages of English discipline, which they plainly foresaw would turn to their profit in the deadly struggle which was already flashing upon their horizon. The Greek regiments raised by Church in the Ionian Islands took no small part in the War of Independence ; the names of Colocotroni, Valaeti, Vlacopoulo, Htratto, and other prominent leaders in the revolution, figure among his recruits at Zante ; and his influence over the men was the direct cause of their eager desire to serve under him again in their effort for freedom in 1827. They had grown to love him in the earlier years at Zante, when they served as mercenaries of a foreign power, and would have no other leader when they fought for their own homes. How strong and beloved that influence was, may be gathered from the memorial (24 July 1812) which the first regiment of Greek light infantry presented to their major on his departure for 1814 GREEK VOLUNTEERS 29 England on sick-leave, for his wound still troubled him. They recited their experience of three years' service under his orders, and spoke of his success as a ' zealous, benevolent, and mild ' com- mander, who had ' won them by affection from their own country to learn military science ' under his direction, and had even con- verted those who had always maintained that the Greeks were in- capable of discipline. Among those who signed this memorial were names conspicuous under the same leader in the War of Independence. There was no doubt that the experiment had succeeded ; and even the Horse Guards, after a period of bewildered surprise, were free to express their entire satisfaction with the zeal and enthu- siasm of the young major, who was now pleading his cause in person at Whitehall. All the authorities concurred in admiration of his energy and tact ; the duke of York, commander-in-chief, was ' fully impressed with the judicious and zealous conduct he had invariably manifested in the command and organisation of the Greek light infantry; ' " and the recommendations of Sir J. Stuart, Generals Campbell and Airey, and Colonels Bunbury and Torrens, induced the home authorities to waive the objection of his youth and brief period of service, and to create a special second lieutenant- colonelcy expressly for him in the 1st Greek light infantry. 12 Moreover, the commander-in-chief, alive to the importance of Colonel Church's recruiting abilities, favourably entertained and. supported his memorial and offer to raise a second corps like the first. 13 A despatch from Lord Palmerston to Church (W^ar Office, 29 June, 1813) gave the necessary permission and regulations for the new regiment, which was to be officered by Greeks, with the exception of the lieutenant-colonel and one British captain. The men of Sparta, Elis, Epirus, Arcadia, Aetolia, Messene, Acar- nania, and the Islands, came forward with enthusiasm, and the regiment was speedily embodied at Cephalonia to the permitted strength — first of 450, and subsequently of 580 men, with English staff and field officers. The corps was engaged for five years and for service in any part of Europe, but the only action in which it took part was the capture of Paxo on 14 Feb. 1814 ; when, by skil- ful combination with Captain Taylor of the Apollo, Church and 11 Despatch from H. Torrens to K. Church, Feb. 26, 1813. 12 H. Torrens to K. Church, Horse Guards, Nov. 25, 1812. u Despatch from Frederick, Comm.-in-Chief, to Lt.-Col. Church, March 9, 1813 and from the same to Earl Bathurst, April 27, 1813. 30 STR RICHARD CHURCH 1814 Arata surprised the citadel. 14 A garrison order of 8 July, 1814, gives a very favourable report of the steadiness and soldierlike bearing of the 2nd Greek light infantry, and its good conduct throughout its year of service ; but its work was now over. The general peace put an end to all military operations in the Mediter- ranean : the Greek regiments were disbanded 15 in October, partly in deference to the representations of Turkey ; 16 and the men returned quietly and in excellent spirits to their homes. 17 To Church personally the disbanding was a severe pecuniary loss ; he had spent considerable sums in recruiting, and lost his pay and appointments after a single year's tenure. The Septinsular Eepublic was now revived under the protection of Great Britain, and the officer who had taken so large a share in its recovery and organisation was summoned to Vienna to lay before the Congress of Europe a report on the conditions and resources ot the islands. The report is an excellent summary of the strategical and commercial importance of Corfu as a possession of Great Britain, and upon it the Ionian treaty was largely founded. This closed th^ fourth period of Colonel Church's services. His con- nexion with the Ionian Islands terminated amid the cordial congratu- lations of the comma nder-in-chief, the general in command, and all others in authority. He had played an important part in the organisation of the Septinsular Eepublic, which for half a century formed a valuable and legitimate field for British influence in the Mediterranean. 1 ' Lt.-Col. Church to Lt.-Gen. J. Campbell, Paxo, Feb. 15, 1814. 13 General Order, Corfu, Sept. 14, 1814. 18 Lt.-Gen. J. Campbell to Lt.-Col. Church, Zante, Nov. 8, 1818. 17 General Orders, Argostoli, Oct. 1 ; Corfu, Oct. 25, 11'. 3i CHAPTER V. THE ARMY OF ITALY. 1813-1816. From 1814 to 1820 Church's energies were diverted into a new channel, where he found even more scope for his passion for adventure than in the hazards of Capri or the training of Greek brigands. Had he pursued the ordinary course of service in the English army, there can be no doubt that he would have % risen to high command ; but his nature was altogether opposed to such monotonous advance. He loved peril and adventure ; he delighted in feeling his power over undisciplined mountaineers, and seeing raw recruits of the most unpromising appearance grow under his keen yet sympathetic eye into orderly and steady troops. The command of the Corsican Eangers had accustomed him to dealing with such materials, and the levy of the Greek regiment at Zante had perfected his experience. To give up such exciting and re- sponsible work for the routine of an English parade-ground, now that the Peninsular war was over, was repugnant to his energetic nature ; and so we find him taking service where there was plenty to be done and seen, and where he soon had an opportunity of ex- tending his experience in managing men who lived in open con- tempt of all authority. The particular direction now taken was due in a large measure to a new influence which had come upon him, and which for many years reigned over his enthusiastic and loyal disposition. This influence belonged to Count Nugent, an English officer attached first to the Austrian and then to the Neapolitan service, who seems to have been the Prince Rupert of the southern campaigns against Buonaparte — a man of high mettle, beloved by his comrades, eager for battle, and carrying with him that good fortune which often accompanies brilliant audacity. Church was already intimately acquainted with Nugent when he joined him at Vienna in 1813. On his way back to the Ionian 32 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1813 Islands after his absence on leave in England, the young lieutenant- colonel of Greek light infantry was entrusted by Lord Castlereagh 1S with a political mission to Constantinople, with orders to go by way of Vienna and on his road to visit the chief armies of the allies. He had begun with Sweden, where he travelled from Gottenburg to Ystad ; and then, crossing to Stralsund, met his old friend Sir Hudson Lowe, and Sir Charles (afterwards Lord) Stewart, Lord Castlereagh's brother, in whose company he witnessed a review of Arenschild's Kusso-German legion, and drank a bumper to Wel- lington for his triumph at Vittoria. Passing through Berlin, he arrived at Vienna in August, where Lord Cathcart received him very graciously, and gave him a commission as flattering as it was agreeable, though it practically superseded his original route to Constantinople. ' He has directed me,' wrote Church to Colonel Bunbury (11 Aug. 1813), ' to proceed to join General Nugent, with whom I am at present here. We leave to-day for Agram, and the corps under his command is destined to open the communication with the Adriatic. After the communication is opened I shall pro- ceed to Zante, and return from thence to the continent, bringing with me such troops as General Campbell may spare, together with my own men, and also leaving proper officers for the recruiting of the regiment and the forwarding them to us as speedily as possible ; and I reckon upon good service from them even in an undisciplined state.' This was just the sort of vigorous work he enjoyed, and he looked forward with his usual sanguine hopefulness to a brilliant campaign under the man for whom he had already conceived a strong affection. As usual, too, he spent what he could in aiding the public cause. ' I am likely to be the first British officer em- ployed actively in this service, adding also my inconsiderable means to it. I am sanguine enough to trust that my exertions will not fail to gain me credit in the field.' He had not, however, advanced far into Croatia when matters began to assume a less rosy hue. He wrote to Colonel Bunbury from Carlstadt (20 Aug. 1813), ' I confess I am thunderstruck with the appearance and system of the Austrian generals whom I have seen, nor can I augur anything favourable from their proceedings. If those in Bohemia are not better than the gentlemen I have seen hitherto, I candidly confess I have no wish to serve with them. I believe our friend General Nugent feels these things as much as I do, and sees them in the same light. ,8 ' Lord Castlereagh to Lieut.-Col. Church, 1 Aug. 1813. 1814 WITH THE AUSTRIAN ARMY 33 ... If he extricates himself altogether from their hands, something may be done, but as long as he remains under their orders nothing brilliant can possibly take place. ... I have never suffered so much ennui in my life as since I have mixed with and become a companion of the Austrian officers. I could say a great deal about everybody, but I dare not. . . . Having nothing to do, I am more like a spectator, a situation the most abominable of all others. . . . The Austrian army amounts to '260,000 men, neither more nor less. The soldiers and people are enthusiastic, and bitter enemies of the French ; but how they will be conducted by their chief, God knows ! ' As it happened, none of the things he dreaded came to pass. The Austrians under Nugent, by a series of rapid marches and brilliant surprises, drove the enemy from before Carlstadt, oc- cupied Fiume (26 Aug.) with only 1,500 men, and opened com- munications with the British fleet under Admiral Fremantle in the Adriatic. 19 Church then left for Zante to draw off a contingent of troops for the Italian campaign, but men could not be spared. 20 The 2nd Greek regiment, however, as we have seen, 21 was raised and placed under his command, Paxo was taken, and then came the general peace, and the services of the Ionian regiments were no longer needed. On the conclusion of an armistice with Murat in February Church was sent to Naples 22 to negotiate on the situation of Corfu, which was shortly afterwards surrendered to Great Britain ; and after disbanding the Greek regiments he was summoned by Lord Cathcart in November 1814 to make his report on the Ionian Islands to the Congress of Vienna. He was still there when the news of Buonaparte's escape from Elba, in the spring of 1815, dropped like a bomb in the midst of the stately ceremonies of that portentous conclave. Among the various hurried dispositions which ensued, the influence of Nugent made itself felt in Church's destination. At the count's special request he was appointed to accompany him as British military resident with the Austrian army during the campaign against Murat in Italy, and subsequently against the army of Provence. His reports from head-quarters to Lord Stewart at Vienna 23 have been preserved, and form a con- 19 Church to Lord Cathcart, Carlstadt, 20 Aug., Fiume, 27 Aug. 1813 ; to Lord W. Bentinck, Zante, 23 Sept. 1813. 20 Church to Lord W. Bentinck, Zante, 23 Sept. 1813. 21 Supra, p. 29. 22 Lieut.-General J. Campbell to Church, Zante, 9 Feb. 1814. 23 To Lord Stewart, head- quarters, Mantua, 23 April ; Serravalle, 30 April ; Home, 3, 5, 9, and 11 May; Arce, 15 May; San Germano, 17 May; Caijanello, 18 May; Aversa, 21 May ; Naples, 22 May, 1815. D 34 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1815 nected narrative of a short, little-known campaign, in which (April- May 1815) Murat's army was driven from Mantua all the way to Naples. When he arrived on the scene of action he found Bianchi's and Neyperg's divisions of the imperial army of Italy, under Frimont as commander-in-chief, already in the thick of the fray. Marat and the Neapolitan troops had been defeated on the Tanaro, and forced to abandon the whole line of the Po. Nugent, com- manding Bianchi's advance guard, was pursuing Murat with his usual dash towards Kimini. Step by step the Austrians and Tuscans, in a series of small engagements, pressed ' King Joachim ' southward, while Nugent and Church, marching, with their cus- tomary rapidity, 100 miles in three days, occupied Borne and pre- pared for the advance upon Naples. The usurper's army was gradually melting away; 400,000 had dwindled to 10,000, and when Nugent with but a tenth of their numbers forced battle on the Neapolitans at Miguano, near San Germano, hardly 700 escaped to announce the destruction of the ■ Army of the Interior.' The remnant capitulated at Capua ; Murat took to flight ; and the im- perial army escorted Prince Leopold of Sicily into Naples amidst the plaudits of the fickle inhabitants (22 May 1815). The cam- paign had been full of interest and excitement, and Church had himself specially contributed to its success by raising 5,000 recruits in Borne, where he enjoyed the curious distinction of being sole military commander for over a fortnight. His conduct received the unqualified approval of the general commanding the forces in Sicily, and the thanks of the king ; he was decorated with the order of the Fleur de Lys; and created a maresciallo di campo (major- general) by his restored Neapolitan majesty, Ferdinand IV. Hardly was this business over when Bianchi and Nugent were sent to Provence to put down the remains of Buonapartism there, and to moderate the excesses of the royalists, who were exacting sanguinary reprisals from the vanquished. Church accompanied the army in the same capacity as before, from July to November 1815. Landing at Nice, he found the whole country roused to indignation by the barbarities of the Buonapartists under Marshal Brune, the same who was said to have exhibited the head of the beautiful and unfortunate princesse de Lamballe to Marie Antoinette on the point of a pike at the window of her prison in the Temple. Church confirmed the story of his atrocities, 24 and no one seems 24 Despatch to Lord Burghersh, head-quarters, Nice, 21 July 1815. "1815 IN PROVENCE 35 to have been very sorry when Brune was lynched by the people of Avignon. Little of importance marked the occupation of the south of France. 25 The garrison of Antibes was composed of staunch Buona- partists, who refused to surrender. They were the same men who had lately erected a monument on the shore of the bay of Jouan, hard by, to commemorate the spot where Buonaparte had landed on his return from Elba. Bianchi besieged the garrison, and Church razed the monument. Under it was found a box containing a report of the commemorative ceremony, signed by all the officers of the 87th and 106th regiments (who thereby solemnly pledged themselves to the emperor's cause), together with coins, stars, and eagles of the Legion of Honour. The copper tablet on the monu- ment, which was given to Church, and is still in the possession of the family, bore this inscription, rudely cut : NAPOLEON TRAHI S'ELOIGNA DU TRONE ET SE RETIRA A L'lLE D'ELBE. RAPPELE PAR LES VCEUX DE LA NATION, C'EST ICI qu'il DEBARQUA LE l Ea MARS 1815. LE 87 EME REGIMENT LUI ERIGEA CE MONUMENT. 25 Provence was then overrun by foreign troops. Sir Hudson Lowe commanded the British land force at Marseilles ; Lord Exmouth and the Mediterranean squadron co-operated with Bianchi along the coast ; the latter's advance guard under Nugent was already within the French border. Church perceived, with that ready sympathy for the unfortunate which was one of his leading charac- teristics, that the luckless Provencaux, most of whom were loyal to the old order, were driven to the brink of ruin by the successive incursions of Buonapartist and royalist armies, and he immediately despatched vigorous remonstrances to Lord Castlereagh at Paris, urging him to have Bianchi's orders cancelled and the Austrian army stopped at the frontier. What success he had at head- quarters is uncertain ; but his direct appeal to Bianchi had the de- 25 Despatches to Lord Burghersh, Cannes, 24 July ; to Lord Castlereagh, Cannes, 25 July; Marseilles, 28 July ; Aix, 1 Aug. ; Marseilles, 4, 5, 12, 16 Aug. ; Aix, 27 Aug. ; Avignon, 29 Aug. ; Nismes, 30, 31 Aug. ; to Lord Exmouth, Avignon, 31 Aug. ; to the senior officer of the fleet, Avignon, 1 Sept. ; to Lord Castlereagh, Avignon, 2 Sept. ; to Colonel Burrows, Avignon, 8 Sept. ; to Lord Exmouth, Avignon, 14 Sept. ; to Lord Castlereagh, Avignon, 15, 18, 19 Sept., 4, 15 Oct. ; to J. Planta, Marseilles, 20 Oct.; to Lord Castlereagh, Marseilles, 24, 29 Oct. 1815. 26 To Lord Castlereagh, Cannes, 25 July 1815. d 2 36 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1815 sired effect : the order to advance was recalled, and Provence was saved from further exactions. Before this, in August, he and Nugent accompanied Lord Exmouth on a visit of inspection to the French arsenal at Toulon. They saw twenty-four ships of the line, and twelve or fourteen frigates ; 'not one of which is in a state to go to sea,' 27 since only one of them had any rigging. Nor were there many guns ; in fact, ' the arsenal seems to me almost destitute of the means of equipping a squadron of three or four sail of the line.' Soon after this visit Nugent left France to take command of the Austrian troops at Naples, and, as Bianchi's army also evacuated Avignon, Church's commission came to an end. A letter from Lord Castlereagh (18 Oct. 1815) conveyed permission to return to England, and the Prince Kegent's ' entire approbation of the manner in which he had per- formed the duties of the missions with which he had been entrusted.' He had shortly before received the decoration of a Companion of the Bath, in common with a few other distinguished officers, who had been similarly employed as residents with the continental armies — among them Sir H. (afterwards viscount) Hardinge and Colonel Leake, well known as the topographer of Greece. What Church was doing during the next year or two can only be gathered from a few letters. He was still at Marseilles in November 1815, for there he received a very friendly note from Lord Exmouth, strongly advising him to stick to Naples, ' under Nugent's wing,' and thus to keep his name before the Austrian authorities, who were sure to hold the predominant influence in Italy for some time at least ; and proposing a meeting at Leghorn and a month together at Home. But a call from his general drew him now to Naples, where he had already received the title of major-general in the Neapolitan army. A letter at this time from his old colonel, Hudson Lowe, mentions the consent of the Horse Guards to Church's Neapolitan appointment : he adds, ' I am going out to St. Helena — wide as the poles asunder ! I hope, however, not for any long period.' Church was evidently attracted by Lord Exmouth's impetuous character, and must have sought to share in the vigorous action taken by the admiral in the spring of 1816 for the suppression of slavery in the Barbary states. It was just the work he would have relished, and, in sending home more than 1,100 Sicilian and Neapolitan slaves, Lord Exmouth wrote to him as to a trusted sympathiser — 27 To Lord Burghersh, Marseilles, 12 Aug. 1815. 1816 LORD EXMOUTH yj Boyne, off Lampedosa : 1 May 1816. My dear Church, — I will not permit the transport with the last of the slaves from Tripoli to proceed to Naples without giving you my farewell from the Mediterranean for old England. I have to call only at Algiers, where I should rejoice to give them a lesson from the sides of the old Boyne. If I dare act, as I wish, my only hope is of meeting some orders from home which may allow me to go further than I have done. I am sure there is but one feeling amongst us all, from the flag to the keel. We have obtained from Tunis and Tripoli signed declarations that they will make, or rather keep, no more slaves, but, in case of war, exchange prisoners and treat them with humanity and in the same manner as European nations. I think we have released about twenty-four or twenty- five hundred, and shipped them off at once. . . . You will laugh when I tell you the Bey of Tripoli, who has murdered his father and brother with some half-score cousins, absolutely cried like a child the morning his slaves embarked. We had four who slept in his room for years from fear : for you must know that his conscience troubles him in his dreams. God bless you ! I repeat no offers of friendship, having done so in my last, and I wish you to believe me sincere, and that I am, my dear Church, with great truth and regard, Your faithful friend and servant, Exmouth. The admiral's desires about Algiers were soon gratified, and in August came the famous bombardment which ought to have put an end for ever to slavery in the deylik. Church must have been greatly disappointed that he was not with Lord Exmouth at the time ; for by a despatch from the marquis de Circello, dated 13 Aug. 1816, he was appointed on a special mission for the king of Naples to accompany the English admiral, and to recover the Neapolitan prisoners then in confinement, and obtain certain ad- vantages for the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It sounds very strange to us now that the Neapolitan government were bound by ancient treaty to pay to the dey of Algiers 20,000 dollars annually ; but it is notorious that all the maritime powers of Europe had been in the habit of paying black-mail to the Barbary States ever since the days of Ochiali and the battle of Lepanto. 28 There were besides 600 or 700 Neapolitan slaves, for whom the ransom of 1,000 dollars a head was demanded. But Lord Exmouth's cannon had blown up existing treaties, and Church could not have been in time to join his friend in the deliverance of the prisoners, nor does it appear that he accepted the mission. 28 See the writer's Barbary Ccrsairs, (1890), ch. xix. 38 CHAPTER VI. THE BKIGANDS OF APULIA. 1817-20. A new and arduous field of work now opened before him. The recovery of the crown by Ferdinand IV, or I of the Two Sicilies, had not been attended with propitious consequences. The king's treachery in the matter of the constitution, the jealousy of Murat's old officers, and the rivalries of Italians and Austrians, tended to paralyse the government and breed discontent throughout the provinces. Moreover the policy of encouraging secret societies in their war against the French now bore fruit ; what had been used as a tool against Buonaparte now became a weapon against all constituted authority. The country was overrun by brigands of the most desperate character. Communications were interrupted ; the roads were perilous to the last degree ; government specie was intercepted ; and, in spite of the deterrent effect of highwaymen's heads stuck up in the valley of Bovino, few travellers ventured to thread that gloomy pass to the Apulias. Canosa's foundation of the Calderari as a counterpoise to the Carbonari had done more harm than good ; the new society only irritated the people and intimidated the magistrates, who found themselves surrounded by a new body of spies quite as dangerous as the ' good cousins ' who levied black- mail on all the respectable inhabitants. 29 In 1817 affairs had grown to a crisis. The secret societies were supreme in the land. Besides the Carbonari, who were sometimes honest politicians — like Gabriele Bossetti, the poet's father — and sometimes ruffians, there were such sects as the 'European Patriots ' and the ■ Philadelphia in themselves comparatively innocent of 29 The materials for most of the facts related in this chapter are found in General Church's manuscript memoirs on the state of the Apulias, and in Baron Bertholdi's anonymous Memoirs of the Carbonari (Murray, 1821). 18 1 7 THE DECISI 39 crime, though their members often belonged to more guilty associa- tions. Worst of all was the company of the ' Decisi,' or ' Order of Jupiter Tonans,' a species of nihilists, vowed to the destruction of all existing institutions and the assassination of all obstructors. The records of this society, which were afterwards seized by Church, proved that their immediate objects were murder and plunder. No one could join unless he could boast of two murders committed with his own hand, and every member was pledged to assassinate any person whom the order might choose to condemn. If it was desired to get a rival or a creditor out of the way, all that was necessary was to apply to the Decisi, and pay a sufficient fee, when the man's life was not worth a week's purchase. The villains did their work neatly and with becoming solemnity, and, as at some sacred rite, accompanied by the blare of trumpets, plunged their daggers into their victim's heart con vero entusiasmo. Threatening letters formed part of their method, and lands and property of all sorts were annexed at the point of the dagger. Four dots added to a threatening letter secured instant obedience : for they signified death. As a symbol of their sanguinary character the diplomas of membership were written in blood. The president of this dreaded society was the abbate Ciro Annichiarico, a priest of Grottaglie, who had begun his ecclesias- tical career with the extermination of a neighbouring family, and had revenged himself for his consequent imprisonment by vowing war against all authority, human and divine, for the rest of his unnatural life. Ciro was one of those dazzling scoundrels whose daring and address are apt for the moment to make one forget their crimes. He was a splendid horseman and unerring shot; no danger cowed him, no risk was too great to be run. His fertility in disguise and marvellous adroitness in escape gave him the reputation of an enchanter, so that folk hardly dared to whisper his name for fear his imps should seize them ; and true to his character, like Claver- house, he is said to have met his death at last by the silver bullet. Women adored him, and he had a mistress in every town and village in the wide circuit of his depredations, who loved him none the less that he was an assassin of a dye as black as history or romance has ever painted. He was now a man of forty, and for eighteen years had been the scourge of the Apulias — or the Terra di Bari and Terra di Otranto, to give them their modern names — when General Church was appointed, first to inquire into the state of the provinces, and 4 o SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1817 then to take over the supreme command (1817). At that time there were at least 30,000 members of secret societies in the Apulias, many of whom, however, belonged more from fear tha^ inclination ; for it was well known that he who was not for the Decisi was counted as against them, and such did not dare to cros;, their own thresholds, lest they should meet the poniard. From twenty to twenty-five murders were taking place every week, many of them accompanied by details of a revolting nature. A beautiful girl, a princess, whose youth and beauty and total lack cf protection should have been defence enough, was brutally murdered, and worse, in her own chamber, out of mere greed of gold. A band c ruffians was disguised as policinelli, and attended the village merrymakings, only to plunge their steel into their unsuspecting partners or boon fellows at the dance or evening carouse. So far all efforts to suppress these terrible associations had been fruitless. The fault did not lie with the central government, which was for the moment exceptionally able. Canosa's successor, Dom Luigi de' Medicis, the leading minister, was a man of talent, a scholar, and a gentleman ; old Danero, the minister of the navy , ' who slept every night of his life in his red pantaloons with his sword by his side,' ready for emergencies, and who lived to be 103, was the type of an honest if somewhat antique officer ; Count Nugent was captain-general, and had immense influence with the king; and Church was inspector-general and commander of th( foreign troops. All these were unaffectedly eager t j restore order and Nugent and Church worked together in perfect trust and sym • pathy. Moreover, but for their jealousies and distrust of the king and government, the officers of the army were efficient and apparently trustworthy, and good materials for recruiting were at hand ; while the gendarmerie proved themselves brave and steady under a leader who inspired confidence. But the local authorities were either the accomplices or the tools of the secret societies, who held their lives in their hands, and such of them as were really honest dared not stand forth without some better guarantee of protection than was then offered. Towards the close of 1817 Church left Naples to take command of the terror-stricken provinces. He was furnished with a force of Neapolitan troops, of various nationalities, which was soon supple- mented by a corps of his favourite Greeks ; and early in 1818 he was granted the alter ego, or royal prerogative of life and death . by autograph letter from the king and upon the unanimous recom • 1817 THE ABBATE DON CIRO 41 mendation of the council of ministers. 30 At first people only- thought that a new do-nothing had come among them ; they had seen many generals, and none had yet proved a match for Don Ciro. But Church soon showed them that he was not made of Neapolitan stuff. His physique, though not commanding, gave an impression of great energy. He was described in 1820 as ' below the middle height, extremely well built, spare, sinewy, and active, with a well-proportioned head, sharp piercing eyes, rather aquiline nose, and a closely compressed mouth, denoting great firmness and resolution.' 31 But his perfect dauntlessness was perhaps the chief argument in his favour among a frightened population. They knew he carried his life in his hand every day, but he seemed to care as little for danger as if he had been dipped in Styx. Again and again he stood the brigands' fire with a smile of amusement ; he ventured almost unattended into places noted as the ambushes of the outlaws, and fearlessly accepted the hospitality of persons who, he was warned, were the secret accomplices of Ciro and quite capable of mixing poison in his wine. Once he was surprised by a strong party of the Yardarelli, a body of brigands and political assassins, who boasted that they were the real sovereigns of the country, and nothing but his perfect sang-froid and contempt of danger carried him safely and even amicably through an inter- view which seemed fated to a bloody end. The people began to understand that they had a new sort of governor to deal with, and Annichiarico himself bit his thumb with spite, and swore, in his rather ambiguous slang, ■ I have pooped lots of generals, French, Italian, and Neapolitan, but this fellow will end by pooping me ! ' The process took less time than the reverend outlaw imagined. One by one the authorities of the towns and villages threw off their allegiance to the secret societies and joined the cause of order ; step by step Church narrowed the circle which he had drawn with his troops round the district affected by Ciro and his followers ; one after the other the ruffians were caught and executed, and at last the desperate remnant of the gang and their leader were run to earth. The chase and capture of Ciro Annichia- rico would fill a lively chapter. Brought at last before the court martial without which Church suffered no prisoner to be condemned, the felon was asked how many murders he had committed. ' Sixty 30 Count Nugent to Church, Naples, 20 Feb. 1818. 31 Sir J. Iiennie, Autobiography, p. 55. The author was Church's guest at Lccce in 1820. 42 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1818 or seventy,' he answered carelessly, E chi lo sa? saranno tra sessanta e settanta. A priest offered him the last consolations, but Ciro laughed : Lasciate queste chiacchiere ; siamo delV istessa professions non ci burliamo fra noi. Then on 8 Feb. 1818 he was led out to execution at Francavilla, in the presence of 40,000 people, and placed, like other malefactors, back to the firing party. Twenty-one shots took effect, and still he breathed ; then, ' seeing that he was enchanted,' the soldiers gravely loaded his own gun with a silver ball, and the spell was immediately broken. The spell was broken indeed throughout the provinces. As soon as the centre and soul of the organisation had paid the forfeit, his subordinates hastily submitted. * A few months were sufficient,' said Church, ' to totally destroy the assassins and brigands, and to break up the different revolutionary societies, to receive the sub- mission of their chiefs and the surrender of their arms.' How complete was the suppression may be gathered from the fact that, during the two years that Church continued to govern the Apulias after this decisive stroke, not a single instance of murder or brigandage occurred in a population of three-quarters of a million. The grateful people held solemn services of thanksgiving in every church in the provinces ; a commemorative column was erected at Lecce, and the freedom of the city and the sword of honour were presented by the citizens to their deliverer. ' You seem to have come out most triumphantly,' wrote Sir W. A'Court (the English minister at Naples, afterwards Lord Heytesbury) to Church (Naples, 16 Sept. 1818), 'from a most delicate and perilous situation, and I can assure you that your merits in the exercise of the powers in- trusted to you are fully appreciated here. I have reason to know that the king as well as the whole of his administration are in the highest degree sensible of the prudence and vigour which you have displayed.' Impressed with the value of his services, the government of Naples resolved to keep a tight hold on him, and his requests for leave of absence to England were met by De' Medicis with affec- tionate assurances that, so far as his power went, he would not suffer Church to quit the kingdom, where his services were indis- pensable. In 1820 a fresh mark of the royal esteem towards him was shown in his appointment as governor of the district of Palermo and commander-in-chief of the army in Sicily, with the rank of lieutenant-general. Je me flatte, wrote De' Medicis, 22 March, que vous verrez dans la nouuelle charge que le Roi vient de vous i82o REVOLUTION IN SICILY 43 confier une preuve eclatante de la bienveillance de S.M. et de sa satis- faction pour le service que vous ne cessez de rendre avec un zele et un empressement tout particuliers. The appointment, however, did not prove auspicious : his career under the Neapolitan government was destined to end as suddenly and disastrously as its beginning had been rapid and triumphant. The shiftiness of the king and the intrigues of the Carbonari had allowed the germs of revolution to ferment. Church found the troops at Palermo radically dis- affected, and either themselves Carbonari or fraternising with the sectaries. The garrison was altogether inadequate and quite un- trustworthy ; military discipline appeared to be unknown, and the soldiers wore the badges of the Carbonari in the streets. His own antecedents, as a resolute suppressor of secret societies, deprived him of all hold over the mass of the population. Hardly had the new commander arrived when news came of the revolution at Naples and the king's forced promulgation of the ' constitution of Spain.' The effect upon the Sicilians was instantaneous. Soldiers and civilians alike broke into open revolt, cheered the constitution, derided the king, and shouted for ' Kobespierre' and the ' inde- pendence of Sicily.' A courageous attempt to restore order ended in threats against the general's life. Church was mobbed by armed fanatics, and when at last he entered a carriage and drove away, two aides-de-camp with drawn swords hardly availed to keep off the infuriated crowd, who pressed about the carriage, throwing stones, brandishing daggers, and shouting Mori ! mori ! Church himself was stunned by a stone, and an officer by his side was stabbed, before they effected their escape to the coast. All attempts to return to the scene of action proved futile and fraught with peril, and at length, with much reluctance, the general gave orders to sail for Naples, there to give an account of his proceedings to whatever authority he might find in power. 32 He knew he was running into the lion's jaws, but he hardly realised how voraciously they would snap upon him. When he reached Naples he found the ministry overturned by the Carbonari and the king a prisoner. The royal flag was struck down as soon as the vessel was boarded by the officials, and Church was hurried away to the Castello dell' Ovo without being informed of any charge to be brought against him. He had verily fallen among thieves. ' The parliament,' wrote Sir W. A'Court, ' is composed of a set of 32 General Sir Kicharcl Church's ' Personal Narrative of the Revolution at Palermo,' in Monthly Magazine, Feb. -March 182G. 44 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1S21 Carbonari scoundrels, over whom neither the prince nor his ministers have any more influence than you or I.' Indeed Church's return was exactly the Quixotic act of a chivalrous nature winch might have been expected of him. ' I admire,' wrote A' Court again, ' the spirit of rectitude which brought you here, however I may lament the imprudence of your committing yourself into the hands of your enemies, and that in a moment of revolution, when reason and justice are hushed and nothing but the most malevolent passions in play. Why did you not go on board the frigate in the bay ? . . . What can I do for you ? How can I serve you ? Eemember I have no power now, no influence at all. . . I wish you had gone to Gaeta, as the prince proposed, but General Eamsay tells me you would not hear of it. .. It is an infamous business altogether. Campochiaro himself says he is ashamed of it.' For six months the general who had deserved so well of Italy suffered the misery of a Neapolitan prison. In vain the British minister presented official remonstrances ; in vain the English resi- dents, including Lords Ruthven, Clarina, and Colchester, and other well-known names, petitioned (Sept. 1820) for his release. The only mitigation he was offered was to go out on parole, on condition of appearing at any moment before the commission which was to try his unknown crime, and this he indignantly refused. At length he was put upon a sort of trial, which ended in his acquittal (Jan. 1821) of whatever he was charged with, and it is not to be wondered that he shook off the dust of Naples from his feet in disgust and returned to England. He lost his property in the revolution at Palermo and Naples, and received no recompense from the constitutional government. But amidst all the intrigues of parties he had upheld the English name by his straightforward honesty and simplicity of character, and it was no slight satisfaction to him, on his return to England, to receive from his own government a mark of their approbation. On 3 March 1822 he was made Knight Commander of the Roya* Hanoverian Guelphic Order, ■ in consideration of distinguished services, and in particular those which you have rendered in Germany and Italy since the year 1813, when appointed to attend the allied armies on the continent.' 45 CHAPTER VII. THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 1826-1827. To students of history Sir Richard Church's name is chiefly known in connexion with the operations of the Greek army during the closing years of the War of Independence. His interest in the Greeks was, as has been shown, no new sentiment. He had sym- pathised with their humiliation as early as 1801, when a boy-soldier in Abercromby's army, and his later command of Greek levies in the Ionian islands and the Peloponnesus had induced him not only to form a high opinion of their military capabilities, but also to cherish a sincere attachment to their character as displayed in many of his comrades in arms. On their side, the Greeks, who came in contact with him in the light infantry regiments which he had raised, were irresistibly drawn towards his frank and sympa- thetic nature, and would have done any service to merit his appro- bation and win his esteem. It was natural, in these mutual relations, that the War of Independence which broke out in 1821 should excite the deepest sympathy in one whose military and patriotic teaching had directly contributed to the insurrection. The only matter of surprise is that Church did not at once throw his lot in with his old officers and place his sword at the service of the Hellenic nation. The reasons are doubtless to be found in the weariness and disgust which attended his late experience in Palermo and Naples ; in the reluctance of a British officer to risk his rank in his own service by volunteering in a cause which could not be countenanced by the Horse Guards ; and in the natural desire, after so many years of exile and hard fighting, to settle awhile at home, among friends and in civilised society, and to take such pleasure and advancement as might be in store for him. Even so genuine an enthusiast as Sir Richard Church might well reflect before he sacrificed rank, fortune, ease, and prospects, in a cause which from the outset seemed absolutely desperate. 46 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 18(26 But as the war went on, and Greece grew weaker and weaker, he found his thoughts incessantly engrossed in her fate ; and at length he could no longer resist the impulse to throw himself into the fight. In 1825 he was in frequent communication with Mr. Canning on the subject of the future of Greece, and soon after- wards the Greek deputies in London were soliciting his aid ; but misunderstanding his character they coupled their invitation with inducements of high pay, and of course received an indignant refusal. 33 If he went at all, he said, it should be without the sus- picion of self-interest or the hope of reward. In this frame of mind he wrote to his friend Blaquiere, the well-known Philhellene : 15 Feb. 1826. The cause is a sacred one, and Heaven will not abandon it in its hour of need. What do the Greeks wish me to do ? Do they wish me to go ? Do they wish that I shou'd not go ? They must be explicit. I have no bargain to make with them, and this they clearly understand. I am ready to sacrifice everything to the cause, and this they know full well. ... It is the feeling of my heart, and one that years has cherished. But I will not go as an Adventurer, no, never. What I have done for the Greeks, they themselves well know ; if I have not done more, it is their fault and not mine. But this state of uncertainty must have an end — it kills me by inches. ... Do the Greeks wish me to go, or not ? It is for them to determine. If they think my services can be of use to their cause, let them say so, let them invite me. I ask no more, and I will with as little delay as possible add one more individual to the number of warriors fighting for Greece and freedom. At length the official invitation was issued. Like the ' man of Macedonia,' the administrative commission of Greece sent forth the appeal : ' Come over and help us.' The formal request, written in Greek (with translations in French and English), is dated Napoli di Komania, 30 August, 1826 (O.S.) :— Excellency, — Your well-known military experience, joined to your noble sentiments and love of liberty, were calculated to draw towards you the attention of the Greek government, and the more so as it is suffi- ciently convinced of the warmth of your wishes for the success of the sacred struggle of Greece. The government has long desired and wished to see your excellency connected with the struggle of Greece for her holy rights ; this would be considered a most fortunate event for our country, which would rightly expect from your talents great and pre-eminent ad- 33 Finlay's imputation of ' mercenary ' service (vi. 416, 417) is, like many other of his statements and inferences, the reverse of the truth. iS26 APPEAL OF THE GREEKS 47 vantages. The government, therefore, founding its hopes on your sincere love of Greece, and on your desire of real glory, invites your excellency expressly by these presents, and requests you to hasten to Greece, that you may take a principal part in her contest, and one conformable to your rank and character, and that you may employ your distinguished talents for the benefit of the Greek nation. The government confidently trusts that you will readily accept this invitation. It awaits with impatience your arrival, which it hopes will not be delayed, since the present critical position of Greece renders it most desirable. Among the signatories to this document were the president, Andreas Zaemes, P. Mavromichales, A. Deliyannes, A. Monarchides, J. Vlachos, and other well-known names. More impetuous was the personal letter which soon followed 34 from Church's former officer, and most typical of Klephts, Koloko- trones. Though parted for eight years, he tells the general — My soul has never been absent from you. . . . We, your old com- panions in arms ... are fighting for our country — Greece, so dear to you ! — that we may obtain our rights, as men and as a people, and our liberty. . . . How has your soul been able to remain from us ? ... I know your love for [Greece] increases in the same proportion as the respect and esteem of your old companions increases with regard to your- self. They all salute you most cordially, and hope even now soon to obtain your co-operation. Come ! Come ! and take up arms for Greece, or assist her with your talents, your virtues, and your abilities, that you may claim her eternal gratitude ! It is easy to imagine Church's reply to such an appeal. Yet he accepted in full cognisance of all the difficulties in his path. Per- sonal sacrifices were nothing to him ; even his recent marriage (in July) to a sister of Sir Eobert Wilmot Horton (who was under- secretary for the colonies in Canning's ministry and afterwards governor of Ceylon) did not weigh in the balance against what he felt to be the call of duty. He knew the perilous uncertainty of the enterprise, and it is characteristic of his generous nature that, whilst freely devoting his all to the cause, he resolutely refused to have to answer to any friend for leading him into possible disaster. His letters to the officers who volunteered to accompany him are full -of considerate balancing of risks. ' Count the cost ' was his invariable advice. Nor was he blind to the jealousies and dissen- sions which paralysed the action of the Greeks, or to the lack of funds and provisions, which was enough to damp the ardour ,4 Napoli di Komania, H September 182G. 48 SIR RICHARD CHURCH 1827 of better troops than the undisciplined levies of Karaiskakes and Gordon. In spite of all this he went, and November found him at Naples, successfully negotiating with his old ally Luigi De' Medicis for the opening of the ports of Apulia to Greek provision ships. He was at Leghorn in January 1827, and arrived in Argolis, on the eastern coast of the Peloponnesus, in March, a few days before Lord Cochrane' s yacht made its appearance. The state of Greece was then well-nigh desperate. Ibrahim Pasha, son of the viceroy of Egypt, held the western side of the Peloponnesus with an army of nearly 50,000 men of all arms. His troops were strongly posted from Navarino to Patras, and he was receiving, so far, ample supplies from Alexandria. His personal ferocity, the raids of the Egyptians into central Peloponnesus, and the looting of helpless villages, had crushed the spirit of the inhabitants in many districts, insomuch that the Greeks on the west coast were beginning to submit to his yoke. Towards the eastern coast the people were still in arms — perhaps to the number of 10,000 ; the Maniats, the men of Sparta, of Monemvasia, and Corinth, were still able to harass the enemy ; but it was hardly possible that they could repel him if he attempted to advance on Nauplia or Hydra. In continental Greece matters were even worse. Mesolonghi had fallen ; the Turks he ] d the northern shore of the gulf of Corinth with numerous garrisons, and kept their communications open for supplies and reinforcements with Larissa, Monastir, Arta, Preve»a, and Joannina ; whilst Reshid Pasha Kiutahi dominated Attica with 40,000 men. Athens itself had fallen, but the Acropolis, garrisoned by over a thousand volunteers, and a small force of regulars under Colonel Eabvier, still withstood the pasha's siege. Between these two fires— Eeshid in Attica and Ibrahim in the Peloponnesus — stood what remained of the Greek army. About 4,000 men under Karaiskakes were posted at Keratsina, near Port Phoron opposite Salamis, and Colonel Gordon had established a brigade on the heights of the Phalerum. Whatever good these small forces might have effected if properly employed was for the time frustrated by the dissensions of the Greek leaders. Two distinct assemblies, each styling itself the national assembly, were sitting, the one at Aegina, the other at Hermione (Kastri) : the former advocated moderate measures, under the guidance of President Notaras ; the latter was overruled by the turbulent spirit of Kolokotrones. Each rendered the other futile, and hampered the efforts of the provisional government, 1827 COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 49 which was then led by the temperate counsels of President Zaemes. Such was the depressing condition of the Greeks when Sir Eichard Church landed near Kastri on 13 March, 1827. He was received with enthusiasm as an old friend by Kolokotrones, and with esteem by a staunch Philhellene, Captain Hamilton, of H.M.S. Cambrian, who described him as ' certainly a fine fellow, but a complete Irishman, with their great virtues and little faults. 35 Kara'iskakes sent him a warm letter of welcome, and begged the assembly to make him commander-in-chief. The government at Aegina, to whom he immediately reported himself, was equally sanguine as to the good influence he would bring to bear upon the distracted nation. Church took neither part in the dispute between the assemblies, but established himself at Poros to consider the situation. Here he received invitations from both sides to mediate between them ; and so successful were his arguments that all differ- ences were rapidly smoothed away, and a combined assembly, uniting all parties, was appointed to meet at Troezene (Damala). 36 This new body proceeded to the election of chief officers in April, and appointed Count John Capodistrias 37 president of Greece, Lord Cochrane high admiral, and Sir K. Church archistrategos or com- mander-in-chief of the land forces. 38 He took the oaths on sword and book, 15 April. The new generalissimo's first anxiety was of course to relieve the Acropolis of Athens, but without men, money, ammunition, or food, how was this to be done ? Church's opinion was strongly in favour of a diversion in continental Greece, which, by raising the Albanians, Epirots, Akarnanians, and others, should draw off the attention of the besiegers from the Acropolis ; but he was fully aware of the hazards of this plan. There was a pressing want of 35 Hamilton to Stratford Canning, Poros, 19 April, 1827. 36 A letter from Kolokotrones to Church, 24 March (5 April), distinctly ascribes this happy result to Sir Richard's mediation, and the same conviction is stated by Capt. Fallon, A.D.C. (letter to Sir K. Wilmot Horton, 14 Nov. 1828), who adds : ' No other person could have effected the herculean task of accommodating and reconciling hitherto inimical parties.' Kolokotrones concluded his letter with the deprecatory sentence : 01 "EWrjves %vai clkS/xtj edj/os vi]mou, kcu vr]inudri ra 'EWrjuiKa, '6dev fii] dv