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11
GIBRALTAR AND ITS SIEGES.
GIBRALTAR AND ITS
SIEGES.
^£0i:ription of its Natural ^Rcature©.
■■ Where Gibraltar's cannoned steep
O'erfrowns the wave."— MATTHEW Aknolu.
LONDON: THOMAS NELSON AND SONS.
EDINBURGH AND NEW YORK.
1879.
^onitntB,
PART I.
NAVAL AND MILITARY ANNALS: —
r. SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR IN 1704. ...
II. AN INTERVAL,
III. THE GREAT SIEGE,
IV. THE FLOATING BATTERIES,
V. THE RELIEF, ...
PART II.
GIBRALTAR AS IT WAS AND IS : —
I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION, . .
11. EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROCK, ..
116
li2
^ist of 2l:lhi5triitions.
GIBRALTAR FROM THE NORTH-WEST,
ROCK OF GIBRALTAR FROM THE NEUTRAL GROUND,
VIEW FROM THE SIGNAL-STATION,
THE LANDING-PLACE, AND REMAINS OF MOORISH CASTLE,
EUROPA POINT,
MAP OF GIBRALTAR AT THE TIME OF THE GREAT SIEGE,
LARBOARD AND STARBOARD SIDES OF A SPANISH BATTERIN(
THE GRAND ATTACK UPON GIBRALTAR, SEPTEMBER 13, 17S2,
THE king's BASTION, AND OLD MOORISH CASTLE, ..
THE ROCK AND BAY OF GIBRALTAR (MODERN MAP),
THE SIGNAL-STATION,
THE MARKET-PLACE,
THE ALAMEDA,
A MOTLEY GROUP IN THE MAIN STREET,
O'HARA'S TOWER ON THE SUGAR-LOAF,
CATALAN BAY FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN BATTERY,
martin's CAVE,
ST. GEOKGe'S HALL,
s'TISPlECE
12
30
32
38
72
SO
86
96
110
lis
120
122
126
130
132
136
140
THE ROOK OF GIBRALTAR.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR IN 1704.
Haaft ig «i
HE year 1704 was the year of Blenheim,
that wonderful victory of Marlborough's
which dissipated Lewis the Fourteenth's
dreams of universal empire. As stars are extin-
guished in the light of dawn, so in the lustre of this
great triumph England's minor successes by sea and
land were forgotten. And to this day, while most
men remember when Blenheim was won, few are
mindful of the year in which Gibraltar was taken.
Yet it may well be doubted whether the latter, though
the less famous, was not, so far as British interests
are concerned, the more important success. It is
10 A SPANISH EXPEDITION.
difficult, perhaps, to determine any direct advantage
which England gained by the battle of Blenheim ;
but by the possession of Gibraltar she secured the
command of the Mediterranean and of the highway
to India.
Gibraltar was captured in the same year in which
the battle of Blenheim was won.
While the Duke of Marlborough was leading his
troops to the Rhine, the Archduke Charles, who had
assumed the title of King of Spain, had landed at
Lisbon, with the view of taking the command of an
army collected on the western frontier of the kingdom
to which he laid claim. This army was composed
of contingents furnished by England, the Netherlands,
and Portugal ; but it was prevented from making
any progress by the military genius of the Duke of
Berwick, natural son of James II., who was at the
head of the Spanish forces. At the opposite ex-
tremity of the Peninsula, an effort was made to
provoke a rising of the Catalans on behalf of King
Charles. For this purpose, a division of five or six
thousand men was placed under the command of the
Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, who embarked at Lisbon
in May, in an English fleet of which Sir George
Rooke was the admiral.
ARRIVAL IN GIBRALTAR BAY. 11
The expedition landed at Barcelona, but found
the people indisposed to welcome or support it. It
was, therefore, re-embarked ; and Rooke, sailing down
the Mediterranean, passed through the Strait, and
effected a junction with the fleet under Sir Cloudesley
Shovel. The two admirals were unwilling that so
powerful a force should return to England without
accomplishing something ; and a council of war was
held on the l7th of July, at which several schemes
were proposed and discussed — among others, an
attack upon Cadiz. This, however, was deemed
imprudent with so small a body of troops ; and at
length it was decided to strike a swift and vigorous
blow at Gibraltar. The strength of the fortress was
well known ; but it was equally well known that
the garrison was weak, and that the Spaniards relied
too confidently on the assistance supplied by Nature.
On the 21st of July, the fleet crossed from
Tetuan, and anchored in Gibraltar Bay. The
marines, English and Dutch, numbering one thousand
eight hundred, were then landed, under the orders of
the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, to the northward, on
the isthmus, now called the Neutral Ground, which
connects the Rock with the mainland. By this
movement, the garrison was prevented from obtain-
12 ATTACK ON THE FORTRESS.
ing provisions or reinforcements from the interior.
A summons was sent to the governor to surrender
the stronghold for the service of Charles III., King
of Spain ; but the governor replied that he and his
veterans were true and loyal subjects of their natural
lord, Philip V., and would sacrifice their lives in
defence of the place. Sir George Eooke immediately
ofave directions for the attack to commence : and
Rear-Admiral Byng, with one 80-gun and fourteen
70-gun ships, together with Rear-Admiral Vander-
dussen, and six Dutch men-of-war, and some vessels,
under Captain Hicks, destined for the attack of the
South Mole, took up their positions before daylight
on the 23 rd.
A heavy cannonade was now hurled against the
fortifications. In five or six hours no fewer than
fifteen thousand shot were expended ; and the enemy,
though they showed the most admirable intrepidity,
were driven from their guns. Captain Whitaker,
with the armed boats, was then ordered to carry
the Mole head ; a position from which the town
would be at the mercy of the attacking force. The
landing was eflfected with the utmost alacrity ; but
Captain Hicks and Jumper, who lay next the mole,
got ahead with their pinnaces, and dashed headlong
(619)
ITS SURRENDER. 13
against the works. The Spaniards had prepared for
the assault, and before abandoning their post sprung
a mine, which blew up the fortifications, killed two
lieutenants and forty men, and wounded sixty.
The survivors, however, would not surrender the
ground so hardly gained ; and Captain Whitaker
coming up, they warilj'- pushed forward, and carried
a small redoubt half-way between the Mole and the
town. A second summons being addressed to the
governor, the Marquis de Salines, the garrison
capitulated; and thus, on the 24th, this famous
fortress fell into the hands of the assailants.
The attack was exceedingly brilliant, and the
seamen fought with equal cheerfulness and resolution.
It is a proof of the strength of the fortifications,
which mounted one hundred guns, that though the
garrison consisted of only one hundred and fifty
men, the loss of the attacking force was severe.
Two lieutenants, one master, and fifty-seven men
were killed ; one captain, seven lieutenants, a boat-
swain, and two hundred and sixteen men wounded.
The marquis was allowed to march out with all the
honours of war ; and those inhabitants who chose to
remain were guaranteed the same rights and privi-
leges which they had enjoyed under Charles II.
(619) O
14 THE TWO FLEETS.
Having appointed the Prince of Darmstadt gov-
ernor, and left as many men to garrison the Rock as
could be spared from the fleet, Sir George Rooke
sailed for Tetuan to take in wood and water. He
then went in search of a French fleet which had
been equipped at Toulon, and was under the orders
of the High-Admiral of France, the Comte de
Thoulouse, who had been joined by some Spanish
vessels. Rooke came up with the enemy ofl" Malaga
on the 13 th of August. The superiority of force
lay with the French, who counted fifty line-of-
battle ships, carrying 3543 guns and 24,155 men;
eight frigates, mounting 149 guns, with 1025
men ; nine fire-ships ; and a couple of transports.
Sir George Rooke had under his command forty-one
English and twelve Dutch sail of the line, carrying
3700 guns and 23,200 men, with six frigates,
and seven fire-ships. The French vessels, however,
were better built than the English, and better armed.
They included three ships of 104 guns, and four of
92 and 90 guns, all the rest being from 88 to 52
guns. On the other hand, the combined fleet
contained only three of 9 6 guns and two of 9 guns,
the remainder being from 80 to 50.
On Sunday morning, the 13th, the combined fleet
AN UNDECIDED BATTLE. 15
being to windward, the centre led by Sir George
Rooke, the van by Sir Cloudesley Shovel and Sir
John Leake, and the rear by the Dutch vice-admiral
Callunbuy, signal was made to bear down upon the
enemy ; and upon reaching within half gun-shot, the
action began. It was long and hotly contested ;
the combatants fought all day ; yet not a ship of
the hundred vessels engaged on either side was
taken, or burned, or sunk. The French had not at
that time acquired that sense of the superiority of
the British at sea which was forced upon them by a
disastrous series of defeats in the Revolutionary
and Napoleonic wars ; and the British admirals
lacked that boldness of attack and contempt of the
enemy which Howe, Jervis, and Nelson made a
tradition. At all events, the battle, though it lasted
all day, had no decisive result ; and both fleets drew
off at nightfall, having gained nothing except honour.
Sir Cloudesley Shovel describes the fight as " very
sharp;" and adds, " There is liardly a ship that must
not shift one mast, and some must shift all." The
French fleet suflercd even more than the English,
and on the ibllowing morning sailed away for Toulon,
with a loss in killed and wounded variously estimated
at from 2000 to 3000. The loss of the En dish
16 SIEGE BY THE SPANIARDS.
was 695 killed, and 1663 wounded ; that of the
Dutch, 400 killed and wounded. So far as the
" butcher's bill" went, both England and France had
equal reason to claim a victory ; and thus, while
a Te Dewni was chanted in Notre Dame, thanks-
givings were also publicly offered at St. Paul's.
The Court of Madrid felt the loss of Gibraltar to
be a very serious blow, and, before the autumn was
passed, despatched the Marquis of Villadaria, with
8000 men, to attempt its recovery. The Earl of
Galway, then in command of the Allied forces in
Portugal, sent four regiments, with supplies of pro-
visions and ammunition, to the relief of the garrison;
and Sir John Leake soon afterwards arrived in the
Bay with twenty sail of English and Dutch ships.
Meantime, the Spaniards jDrosecuted the siege with
much vigour, and harassed the garrison with a
constant and heavy fire.
Sir John Leake, hearing that the enemy were
preparing to attack him with a very powerful fleet,
withdrew to Lisbon, in order to refit, and pick up
some ships which he had left behind. On the 25th
he again put to sea; and on the 27th suddenly
made his appearance in the Bay, where he surprised
A DARING ENTERPRISE. 1 /
three frigates, two English prizes, and some small
vessels. He then landed the reinforcements, and
six months' supplies of stores, together with a body
of five hundred sailors to assist in repairing the
breaches made by the hostile guns. His arrival is
described as very opportune, for the Spanish general
had fixed on that same night for an attack by sea
and land at five several points.
Baffled in this design, and conceiving that the
garrison would be less on their guard while the
English fleet rode in the Bay, the marquis conceived
the idea of attempting a coiip-de-main. On the 3 1st
of October five hundred picked volunteers pledged
themselves on the Holy Sacrament to capture the
fortress or perish. A goatherd led this daring little
band to the south side of the Rock, by the so-called
Pass of Locust-trees ; and under cover of the dark-
ness they contrived to climb to St. Michael's Cave,
where they spent the night. On the following
night they boldly scaled Charles the Fifth's Wall,
and surprised and slew the guard stationed at the
Signal-House and at Middle Hill. They then pro-
ceeded to lower their ropes and ladders, and in this
way drew up several hundreds of their supports.
So far they had been favoured by fortune. But the
18 A SECOND ATTACK.
English sentinels discovering them, now gave the
alarm. All was instant activity and alacrity. A
strong detachment of grenadiers immediately marched
up from the town ; and plied their bayonets so
lustily that a hundred of the assailants were killed
or hurled headlong over the precipice, while the
remainder, with a colonel and thirty officers, sur-
rendered themselves prisoners.
The Marquis of Villadaria was not disheartened
by this failure, and though the garrison was well
supplied with stores by the English fleet, while his
own army was ill-fed and ill-clothed, he kept up a
continual fire. Having received considerable re-
inforcements, he resolved to storm a breach which
had been effected at two points of the fortifications.
One of these, on the hill, was occupied at night by
a captain, three subalterns, and ninety men ; but at
daybreak the captain, two of the subalterns, and sixty
men were accustomed to retire. The other breach, in
the Round Tower, was defended by one hundred and
eighty men, under a lieutenant alone. Through de-
serters from the garrison the marquis had ascertained
these dispositions, and planned his attack accordingly.
The forlorn hope detailed for the upper breach scaled
the Rock at night, and sheltered themselves in its
THE SPANIARDS REPULSED. 19
hollows until the captain withdrew in the morning.
They then pushed forwards, and, with a discharge of
grenades, cleared the works of the subaltern and his
small party. Simultaneously the Round Tower was
surrounded by three hundred men, and Lieutenant-
Colonel Bain, after a gallant defence, was forced to
seek shelter in the covered way. But, as before,
just when the Spaniards thought success within
their grasp, they were doomed to discomfiture. The
garrison had taken the alarm ; drum and bugle sum-
moned the regiments to their different quarters ;
and a body of five hundred men flung themselves on
the enemy with such determined valour that they
were forced to yield. The tower was retaken, and
the Rock cleared of Spanish soldiers.
The Governments of Spain and France did not yet
abandon all hope of recovering Gibraltar. The Mar-
quis of Villadaria having failed, was superseded by
a veteran French general, the Marshal Tess^ ; and a
powerful fleet, under Admiral Pointis, was ordered
to blockade the port. The besieging army was
reinforced ; the entrenchments were repaired and
mounted with new and heavier guns. The English
Ministry, apprised of these measures, strengthened
Sir John Leake with some additional ships ; and the
20 CESSION OF GIBRALTAR.
gallant admiral, sailing from Lisbon on the 6th of
March, came up with M. Pointis on the 10th, and
cut off five of the French ships — three of which
were taken, while the others were driven ashore and
burned. He then stood into the Bay and landed
supplies for the use of the garrison. Despairing of
success in any direct attack, the marshal withdrew
his troops from their old positions, and entrenched
himself across the isthmus, so as to prevent the
English from making any forays into the interior.
No further attempt was made upon a fortress
which, in the hands of English soldiers, had proved
impregnable ; and by the Treaty of Utrecht, in
1713, Gibraltar was formally ceded to England.
CHAPTER II.
AN INTERVAL.
E read of no further attempt upon Gibraltar
until 1720. At that time the Spanish
fortress of Ceuta, on the African coast,
was beleaguered by the Moors ; and with the pro-
fessed intention of relieving it, a large armament
was collected in Gibraltar Bay, under the Marquis
de Leda. The British Government, however, re-
ceived information that the real object of the expedi-
tion was the surprise of Gibraltar ; and accordingly
ordered the governor of Minorca to embark imme-
diately with a portion of his troops and reinforce its
garrison. On his arrival, he found that this important
post was defended by three battalions only ; that
the stores contained provisions for scarcely fourteen
days ; and this with a strong Spanish fleet in the
Bay. He took such active measures, however, that
22 HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS.
the Marquis de Leda was obliged to abandon all
hopes of carrying the Rock, and to sail for Ceuta.
Towards the end of 1726 the Spaniards assembled
an army near Algesiras, which, in the following
January, they moved to the plain below San Roque.
Soon after this camp was formed, the Count de Los
Torres, the Spanish commander, advanced within
reach of the garrison. Brigadier Kane then de-
spatched a message, desiring the count to retire from
the range of his guns, or he would do his utmost to
force him. The count replied that, as the garrison
could command no more than they had power to
maintain, he should obey His Catholic Majesty's
orders, and push forward as far as he was able.
The English general was forced to bear with this
insolence, because war had not yet been formally
declared between England and Spain.
The situation was altered, however, when in
February the Spaniards began to erect batteries on
the Neutral Ground. It was felt that this move-
ment was an open declaration of hostile intentions,
and the English guns began to fire on the Spanish
workmen. Information having been received that
the enemy were constructing a mine, our engineers
succeeded in discovering the spot, and baffling their
AN INTENDED ALARM. 23
operations. On the morning of the 22nd a sharp
fire was opened on the garrison, and new batteries
were run up which commanded the Old Mole and
the town. The besieged, however, relaxed nothing
in their efforts, and maintained the defence with
persistent vigour, though their ordnance, being old,
were constantly bursting, and inflicting almost as
much injury on our own gunners as on the enemy.
The English admirals, on the 2nd of April, re-
solved on bombarding Algesiras, whence the Span-
iards received their supplies of ammunition ; but the
ships being becalmed, were compelled to drop anchor ;
after which, says Drinkwater, the navy never gave
themselves any further concern about annoying them
in that quarter. On the 16 th, two sergeants, with
ten men each, were ordered to push along under the
Rock, and alarm the enemy in the trenches ; the
governor intending, when they were sufficiently'
aroused, to rake them with discharges of grape. The
sergeants did their duty, and the enemy instantly
beat to arms; but the bombardier charged with the
duty of signalling to the batteries fired too soon, and
the Spaniards, discovering the manoeuvre, quickly
retired under cover.
Shortly afterwards news arrived of the con-
24 HALF A CENTURY.
elusion of peace, and the Spanish accordingly dis-
mantled their works and retreated to their different
quarters.
The Rock now continued in the possession of the
English for many years, without any attempt being
made to disturb them ; and we may pass over half
a century in silence, taking up our record again in
1776, when the Right Hon. General George Augustus
Elliot was appointed Governor. His name will long
be remembered in connection with the famous siege
of 1779.
CHAPTER III.
THE GREAT SIEGE,
|EFORE entering on a description of the
Great Sieo:e, which stands foremost among
the brilliant episodes of our military his-
tory, it will be necessary for the reader's under-
standing of its details to put before him a view of
the Rock and its defences as they then existed. In
doing so we must necessarily avail ourselves of the
close and careful account furnished by Captain
Drinkwater, who ^vrote from personal knowledge,
and shared in the various experiences of the siege.
We shall, however, as far as possible, spare our
readers the infliction of purely technical language.
The Rock of Gibraltar forms a kind of promontory
rising seaward to a height of 1300 feet, and con-
nected with the mainland by a low sandy isthmus.
The landward face varies considerably in elevation.
26 THE FORTIFICATIONS DESCRIBED.
The breadth of the isthmus at the foot of the Rock
is about 2700 feet, but towards the country it
broadens rapidly. Across this neck of land, which,
with the Rock and the Algesiras coast, forms the
Bay, the Spaniards, before the Great Siege, had
erected a line of fortifications, 1700 yards in length,
and distant about a mile from the nearest posts of
the garrison. At each extremity a fort of twenty-
four guns was erected ; one christened St. Barbara,
and the other St. Philip. Their cross-fire com-
pletely commanded the so-called Neutral Ground,
a narrow belt or strip between English Gibraltar
and the Spanish mainland.
The Rock, we must add, is divided into two
unequal parts by a ridge extending from north to
south. The western section is a gradual slope,
broken up with precipices ; but the eastern, which
looks out upon the blue Mediteiranean, and the
northern, facing the Spanish batteries, are both very
steep, and, in fact, inaccessible.
At the foot of the north-west slope, and sur-
rounded by irregular fortifications, lies the town,
which communicates with the isthmus by a long,
narrow causeway, strongly bristling with defensive
works. These, and the causeway itself, are over-
"the devil's TONGUE." 27
looked by the guns mounted in the King's, Queen's,
and Prince's lines ; rampaits excavated out of the
solid rock, and practicable only to birds of prej''.
At different heights, up to the very crest, batteries
are planted so as to present to an enemy a peculiarly
grim and forbidding aspect. The Old Mole, to the
west of the Grand Battery, joined with the above
lines to pour a tremendous cross-fire on the cause-
way and Neutral Ground. So great an annoyance
did this battery prove to the besiegers, that, by way
of distinction, they named it the Devil's Tongue ;
and the entrance into the garrison, with its batteries
here, there, and everywhere, and its cannons and
mortars on the causeway and Old Mole, suggested
to them the picturesque title of the Mouth of Fire.
All along the sea-line were stout bastions, joined
by curtains, which were mounted with great guns
and howitzers, and supplied with casemates for 1000
men. These sufficiently defended the town ; which was
protected also by a rocky shoal, stretching along the
front far into the Bay, and preventing the approach
of largo ships. From the south bastion a curtain
stretched up the base of the hill, and terminated the
fortifications of the town at an inaccessible precipice.
Here was placed the South-port gate, with a dry
28 THE SIGNAL-HOUSE.
ditch in front of it, a covered way, and glacis.
Above this gate, on the rugged slope of the hill, and
connected with the curtain, was a large bastion,
pointing its guns at the Bay. Further up, an ancient
Moorish wall ran along to the ridge of the rock, in the
front of which a curtain, with loop-holes and redans,
built in the reign and christened by the name of
Charles V., extended to the summit. Between these
two walls, the Moorish and the Emperor's, stood the
Signal-House, whence, on a clear bright day, the guard
could command an unimpeded view of the Mediter-
ranean, and discern even the shining waters of the
Atlantic over the Spanish mountains. " Signals,"
says Drink water, " formerly were made at this post
on the appearance of topsail vessels from east and
weut, but soon after the commencement of the late
war we discovered that the Spanish cruisers were
more frequently informed of the approach of our
friends by our signals than by their own. The sig-
nals were therefore discontinued during the siege,
but resumed after the general peace of 1783."
Following a line of ramparts along the beach, the
visitor, at the time we are speaking of, came to the
New Mole, with its 26-gun battery, and thence pro-
ceeded to the well-known quay of the Ragged Staff,
BATTERIES AND BATTERIES. 29
usually employed for the landing of stores for the
garrison. Ships of the line could lie along the Mole^
such was the depth of water ; and at the Mole head
was stationed a circular battery for heavy cannon.
The Rock is not easily accessible from the New Mole
fort to the north end of Rosia Bay, but it was
defended, like every other point, by batteries and
ramparts.
From the south end of Rosia Bay the cliff rose
gradually to Buena Vista — so called on account of
its beautiful view of the Spanish and African coasts,
bathed in a glow of colour. Several guns were
mounted there, and the hill towards Europa Point
bore some defensive works. Thence the Rock sweeps
down by the Devil's Bowling-Green — so named, on
the lueus d non lucendo principle,* from its rugged
surface — to Little Bay, where a battery stood sur-
rounded by frowning precipices ; and onward
stretched the line of works and batteries to Europa
Point, the southern extremity of the garrison,
though not the southern extremity of the European
continent. From this point frown precipitous cliffs
of the gloomiest aspect to Europa Advance, where
* A r.inge of granite mountains in Argyllsliire is similarly named the "Duke
of Argyll's Bowling-Green."
30 ABOUT THE TOWN.
the fortifications were terminated by some few
batteries.
Whether the young reader can or cannot follow
in every particular the foregoing description, he will
at least derive from it the idea of a not insuflBcient
system of defensive works, which did credit to the
abilit}'- of the engineer-officers of the time. Every
point of vantage had its battery or bastion. The
natural advantages of the position were carefully
utilised, and the approaches were commanded by
heavy guns, which could pour on an advancing
enemy a withering fire. In all, the fortifications
were ai'med with six hundred and sixty-three pieces
of artillery.
The town of Gibraltar, says Drinkwater, is built
on' a bed of red sand. The houses were composed
of different materials, principally of a solid well-
tempered cement called tapia ; but some of the rock-
stone, plastered, and blue- washed on the outside, so as
to moderate the fiery ra3^s of the sun. These were
generally covered with tiles, but the flat terraced
roofs remained in the Spanish houses, and, in many,
the mirandas or towers, whence the inmates, with-
out removiniif from home, could luxuriate in a bright
and ample prospect of the Bay and neighbouring coasts.
MOORISH EDIFICES. 31
Most conspicuous among the buildings was the
old Moorish castle, which recalled to the spectator
the palmy days of Saracenic supremacy in Spain.
It was situated on the north-west side of the hill,
and originally consisted of a triple wall, the outer-
most of which rose sheer from the water's edge.
The lower portions, however, had been destroyed
before the siege, and on their ruins was planted the
Grand Battery. The walls formed an oblong, ascend-
ing the hill, with the principal towei-, or governor's
residence, at the upper angle. The remains of a
mosque were still visible ; as also those of a Saracenic
court, and a tank or reservoir for water.
Ruins of Moorish edifices were discernible also on
Windmill Hill, and at Europa. Those on the hill
were in a condition which rendered it impossible to
determine their original character ; at Europa they
have been converted by the Spaniards into a chapel,
dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Fragments of Moorish
walls run along the water's edge ; and near Europa
Advance is a Moorish bath, which our English
soldiers named the Nuns' Well. It is sunk eight
feet deep in the rock, and measures seventy-two feet
by forty-two feet. Over it is an arcaded canopy,
supported by graceful Saracenic columns.
32 ST. Michael's cave.
In the hill are numerous caves and hollows, some
natural, and some improved by the hand of man.
Of the former the most considerable appears to be
St. Michael's Cave, vrhich lies on the south side,
about eleven hundred feet above the sea-level. The
remains of a strong wall are visible near this entrance,
which is only five feet wide. On entering, the
stranger finds himself in a considerable cavity, about
two hundred feet in length, and ninety feet in breadth ;
and the light of his torch, if he penetrate into the
interior, reveals the mouths of several other caves.
From the roof depend stalactites of great size and
curious shape, giving to the whole that character of
Gothic architecture which is noticeable in all stalac-
titic grottoes. There are also numerous stalagmites,
which in some cases almost join the calcareous drop-
pings from the roof, and appear to form supporting
pillars.
Mr. Bartlett describes in some detail a visit which
he paid to this remarkable cave. Accompanied by
a guide with blue lights, he descended the slippery
pathway between lofty pillars of stalactite, to find
himself in a darkness visible, and in a silence so
deep and still that the droppings of the water which
filters through the roof above could be distinctly
A BRILLIANT DISPLAY. 33
heard as they fell at intervals on the rock beneath.
The guide lighted a heap of brushwood, the blaze of
which disclosed to view a lofty vault-shaped dome,
supported as it were on columns of milk-white stal-
actite, not unlike the trunks of palm-trees, and a
variety of fantastic foliage, some stretching down tt)
the very floor of the cavern, others resting midway
on rocky ledges and congealed calcareous masses,
springing from the floor, " like the vestibule of some
palace of the genii." At a given signal the blue
lights were kindled, and the entire scene, which
before had been but partially illuminated, flashed
into sudden splendour ; hundreds of stalactites shone
with a mysterious gleam ; the lofty columns, fan-
tastically wrought, seemed suddenly converted into
silver, as if by the wand of some magician. This
revelation of the wonders of the cavern was but
transient ; for the lights speedily burning down, Mr.
Bartlett was forced to retire before he became involved
in dangerous darkness. And this was the more
necessary, in order to avoid a certain deep gloomy
Assure, which forms the pathway into the unknown
depths below. " While our eyes were endeavouring,"
says a traveller, " to penetrate a little further into
its mysteries, I suddenly flung my torch into it.
34 A TERRIBLE CHASM.
The effect was beautiful : the torch blazed brightly
as it fell, makinar for itself a sort of halo of glitter-
ing gems, as it lighted the walls of the gulf momen-
tarily but beautiful. We tried this with all the
torches it was safe to spare, for we were far from
daylight, and then tossed fragments of rock and
crystals, which echoed far in the depths, and fell we
knew not where. It is supposed that the whole
Rock is galleried in this way. Explorations have
been attempted, and two soldiers once undertook to
descend this very gulf One only returned, how-
ever ; his comrade had disappeared for ever."
An ominous and gloomy character attaches to this
chasm, and it has been supposed that more than one
poor fellow has here met with foul play, — having
been enticed by assassins on various pretences into
the cave, and, after having been plundered, flung
into this horrible gulf, as a place that tells no tales.
Not long before Mr. Bartlett's visit, a gentleman
who was desirous of investigating into the penetralia
of the cave, caused himself to be let down by ropes,
bearing a light in his hand ; but what was his horror,
on his foot meeting with some resistance, to find
that he was treading on a dead body, while his torch
at the same time disclosed to him the livid features
SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES. 35
of a murdered man ! Another gentleman of Mr.
Bartlett's acquaintance explored the windings of the
cave for a distance of four hundred feet. The actual
extent of the subterranean passages has never been
ascertained, and exaggeration and popular fancy find
in it a fertile subject ; the vulgar believing that it
is the mouth of a communication beneath the Strait
with Mount Abyla, and that by this sub-oceanic
passage the apes upon the Rock found their way
from Africa. The Moors, it is said, had a complete
knowledge of the interior of the cave ; and a fancy
has sometimes prevailed that through these subter-
ranean windings an enemy might obtain admission
into the fortress !
The reader may be reminded that Captain Hamley,
in some of the amusing tales which he formerly con-
tributed to Blackivood's Magazine, made good use
of the Rock and its natural curiosities.*
In different parts of the hill may be found several
other caves of the same description. One of these,
called Pocoroca, was fitted up, at the beginning of the
Great Siege, for the governor ; but was afterwards
converted into a powder-magazine, which proved
greatly convenient for the batteries on the height.
These are reprinted in " Tales from Blackwood."
36 ANIMAL LIFE.
The fossils discovered in various parts of the
Rock rank among its curiosities ; but the visitor
takes more interest in the apes which have colonized
it. They breed in places inaccessible to man, and
climb up and down the craggy precipices with
wonderful celerity. The supposition is that they
came from Barbary with the Saracens, as a similar
species inhabit Mens Abyla, or, as it is popularly
called, Apes' Hill. In former days red-legged part-
ridges, woodcock, teal, and wild rabbits frequented
the Rock, but these have almost wholly disappeared
before the rifles of our English sportsmen.
Drinkwater records that eagles and vultures
annually visited Gibraltar on their way into the
Spanish interior ; and that the former bred among
the precipices, and, with the hawk, might often be
seen wheeling above its summit. The green lizard
is still numerous ; and scorpions and other reptiles
haunt the neighbourhood of the fissures and the
crevices of the Rock. The climate on the whole is
genial. Winter loses all its severity ; and the
summer-heats are tempered by refreshing breezes
from the sea. The worst inconvenience is the recur-
rence in December and January of violent thunder-
storms, with gales, and heavy rains, almost tropical
A GLORIOUS PROSPECT. 37
in their fury. Yet there is so little soil on the
Rock, that the climatic advantages do not produce
any abundant vegetable-growth. When the rains
set in, wild grasses shoot up in the chinks and
fissures ; but as soon as the sun reasserts its power,
these disappear, and the eye rests only on bare,
sombre, and steiile rock. The western slopes, how-
ever, present an agreeable contrast to the barrenness
which everywhere else is dominant. There the
vegetation, though dwarfed, is dense ; palmettos
flourish, and lavender, and Spanish broom, while
the rugged rock absolutely blooms with roses, peri-
winkles, and asphodels.
The view from the summit is perhaps sufficient
to compensate for any deficiency of beauty in the
Rock itself The spectator stands there on the
boundary, as it were, of the Old World, on the con-
fines of two great continents. At his feet the low
and narrow tongue of land, called Europa Point,
stretches far into the sea, covered with bastions and
casemates, intermingled with villas and gardens. To
the west extends the undulating line of the Strait,
with its waters of an intense blue, and beyond rises
the rocky coast of Tarifa, while the mighty sweep
of the Atlantic Ocean is lost in the western vapours.
38 VIEW OF THE BAY.
On the right, the Mediterranean, of a pale azure,
relieved by flashes and gleams of silver, beats in
pearly foam against the very foot of the Rock ;
opposite frown the dusky elifts of Africa, with the
white houses and dismantled fortifications of Ceuta,
visible at the bottom of a vast bay, and the Mount
Abyla of the ancients, that other " Pillar of Hercules,"
looking as if, in truth, a demigod had torn it from
the Rock of Gibraltar, and planted the two huge
fragments as gigantic landmarks at the extremity of
the universe.
Bring your gaze back to nearer points, and on
the right you see the graceful rounded outline of the
sheltered Bay, associated with the names of Rodney,
and Howe, and Nelson, and Collingwood, whose
" tall ships " have so often rested upon its waters.
Gibraltar stands on the one side, its harbour thronged
with masts ; on the other, the small town of Alge-
siras lies on the slope of the hills, and bathes its
feet in the warm, bright wa>'es. In the curve
shelters the village of San Roque, the first the
traveller meets with on entering Spain ; nearer still,
and in the rear, we see the thin sandy isthmus which
links Gibraltar to the mainland. The division be-
tween English and Spanish territory is marked by a
EUROPA POINT.
r<i£t 37.
GREAT BRITAIN IN 1777. 39
row of towers, and we can distinguish close at hand
the tents of a small camp always occupied by a few
regiments. Finally, the background of the picture,
beyond San Roque, is filled in with the green moun-
tains of Ronda ; and towering above and behind
these, the rose-tinted peaks of the Sierra Benneja,
and the snowy summits of the Alpuxarras. It is
difficult to conceive a grander spectacle.
We have thus endeavoured to furnish the reader
with a general view of the Rock, and town, and
fortifications of Gibraltar at the time that General
Elliot assumed the governorship.
In 1777 the position of Great Britain was one of
apparent peril, and her enemies were not without
grounds for their belief that her power had received
a mortal bluw. Her North American colonies had
seceded, and all her attempts to reduce them to
obedience had failed, while her military prestige
had been obscured by the surrender of Burg05'ne's
army at Saratoga. France had espoused the cause
of the American States, whose ambassador had been
received at Versailles with special distinction. The
circumstances of the time seemed favourable to Spain
to attempt a recovery of her coveted fortress ; and
(ci'j) 4
40 OUTBREAK OF WAR.
in June she issued a declaration of war. But in-
stead of being cowed by this demonstration on the
part of another enemy, the public spirit of England
was roused to a fever of patriotism. The fleets of
Spain and France rode in the Channel with as
mighty a display as when Drake and his compeers
launched their frigates against the Invincible Armada.
To their sixty-six sail of the line, the British admiral.
Sir Charles Hardy, could oppose only thirty-eight ;
but with them he succeeded in preventing the enemy
from landing an invading army. The chief attack
of Spain, however, was directed against Gibraltar,
and she eared little to expend her resources in any
other direction.
At the outbreak of hostilities. General Elliot, the
veteran governor of the Rock, found himself at the
head of a garrison 5382 strong. He had 428
artillerymen and 106 engineers ; and as soon as he
had been apprised of the possibility of war, had
privately made preparations for defence. On the
21st of June, by order of the Spanish Court, com-
munication between Spain and Gibraltar was closed;
and eflforts were made to arrange for constant supplies
of provisions from Barbary. Admiral Daff, at the
GIBRALTAR BLOCKADED. 41
same time, brought his ships — a 60-gun man-of-war,
three frigates, and a sloop — alongside the New Mole ;
the barriers were everywhere shut ; and at all ex-
posed points the guards were strengthened. Mean-
while, the enemy made no overt movement against
the fortress ; but it was observed that in various
jtlaces they were collecting deposits of earth and
other materials, and mounting new guns along their
line of entrenchments. And in the course of July
they assembled a powerful fleet in the Strait ;
while the camp was constantly being reinforced
with additional regiments of cavalry and infantry.
Towards the middle of August the enemy suc-
ceeded in establishing a strict blockade, and it was
conjectured that their object was to reduce the
garrison by famine. Only forty head of cattle were
in the place, and the vigilance of the Spanish cruisers
interrupted the supplies from Barbaiy. Two bul-
locks, however, by the governor's order, were killed
daily for the use of the sick. Due warning had
been given to the inhabitants of the peril impending
over them, and each person had been directed to
have in store six months' provisions. By far the
greater number this precaution had been neglected ;
and as they could not be supplied from the garrison
42 SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS.
stores, most of them were compelled to quit Gibral-
tar and go elsewhere in quest of subsistence.
On the 12th of September some of the British
batteries opened fire on the enemy, with the view
of interrupting the workmen engaged in enlarging
and pushing forward their fortifications ; and for
several days the firing was kept up, though with no
particular vigour. In November the garrison began
to experience the effects of scarcity, and provisions
fetched the most extravagant prices. Mutton was
8s. and 3s. 6d. per lb. ; veal, 4s. ; pork, 2s. and 2s.
6d. ; a pig's head fetched 19s., and ducks from 14s.
to 1 8s. a couple ; while a goose was prized at a
guinea. Fish was not less dear, and vegetables
were scarcely attainable "for love or money;" but
bread, the staff" of life, was the article most wanted.
It was about this period, says Drinkwater, that the
governor made trial what quantity of rice would
suffice a single person for twenty-four hours, and for
eight days he actually lived on four ounces of rice a
day. General Elliot, however, was always remarkable
for his abstemiousness of living, his general fare
being vegetables, simple puddings, and water. He
was not the less a robust and healthy man, capable
of much hai^d work and exercise; but the scanty diet
A NAVAL ENGAGEMENT. 43
just mentioned would certainly not suffice for a man
working hard in a climate where the heat makes
exhausting demands on the human frame.
On the 14th October occurred an episode which
gives a striking idea of the courage and resources of
the British seaman " of the olden time." About
eight in the morning the look-outs discovered a small
cutter, flying the British flag, coming down towards
the Bay with a westerly wind. It proved to be
the Buck, Captain Fagg, fitted out as a privateer,
and carrying 24 nine-pounders. Tlie Spaniards also
sighted her, and made the usual signal for seeing an
enemy, at Cabrita Point. Immediately, the Spanish
admiral, with a ship of the line, a 50-gun ship, a
40-gun frigate, and some smaller craft, twenty-one
in all, got under weigh to intercept this formidable
foe ! The Buck, nothing daunted, changed her
course, and stood direct for the Barbary coast,
speeding along at a gallant rate ; while the Spanish
frigate, xebecs, and lighter ' craft, unable to sail so
closely to the wind, were carried downward by the
strength of the current, like a squadron of huntsmen
when baflied by the sudden doubling of a hare.
When the Spanish admiral, who was last in the
chase, became aware of this misadventure, he tacked,
44 THE ENEMY BAFFLED.
wore round, and returned to the Point, so as to cut
off the Buck in the Bay. The 5()-gun ship also
wore, and in this way checked her drift to leeward.
Captain Fagg at this moment steered direct for the
garrison. The 50-gun ship endeavoured to intercept
her, but the batteries at Europa opened fire, and
drove her off. Then the Spanish admiral bore down
heavily from Cabrita Point, but the Bach nimbly
manoeuvred past her, and replied to a couple of
irregular broadsides of shot and shell with her little
stern-chase guns, — soon afterwards anchoring safely
under the cannon of the Rock.
The privateer brought neither news nor supplies,
and, indeed, was sadly in want of provisions. Yet
the incident cheered the garrison greatly, for it
showed that the Bay was still open to ships from
England, if managed as skilfully and boldly as
Captain Fagg's cutter.
We pass on to Januar}^ 1780. On the 8th a
Neapolitan vessel was wind-driven within range of
the British guns, and compelled to surrender. She
proved to be an argosy of great price, having on
board about six thousand bushels of barley, than
which nothing could have been more acceptable to
A BLOCKADED TOWN. 45
the garrison. The inhabitants had for some time
been put upon a daily ration of bread, which was
delivered by the bakers under the protection of sen-
tries with fixed bayonets. Yet even this precaution
did not prevent a scene of excitement daily; and in
the struggling, pushing, heated crowd it was neces-
sarily the strongest who gained the advantage, —
forcing their way to the front, and frequently carry-
ing off the portions that should have gone to feeble
women and helpless children. Nor were the inhabi-
tants the only sufferers. Many officers and soldiers
had to support their families on the scanty dole
allowed by the victualling-office ; and a jnivate,
with his wife and three children, must have been
starved, but for the assistance generously rendered
by his comrades. It is recorded that one woman
actually perished of hunger ; others were reduced
to such a condition of feebleness that it was with
difficulty they were saved ; and numbers eked out
a wretched existence on wild leeks, thistles, dande-
lions, and the like.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and hunger
sharpens the wits of needy men. Some Hanoverian
soldiers, in their distress, were stimulated to devise
a new process of chicken-hatching. The eggs wei'e
46 DAILY INCIDENTS.
placed, with some such warm substance as cotton or
wool, in a tin case capable of being heated by a
lamp or hot water ; and a proper temperature being
maintained, they were hatched about as quickly as
if a hen had sat upon them. A capon was then
trained to rear the little ones ; and, to prepare him
for this unusual duty, his breast and belly were
stripped bare of feathers, and he was cruelly flagel-
lated with a bunch of nettles. When placed upon
the brood, they afforded so much warmth and com-
fort to his poor smarting body, that he addressed
himself to the task of rearing them with consider-
able satisfaction.
On the 10th a soldier of the 58th Regiment was
executed for stealing, — a sharp but necessary
example.
On the 12th the monotony of the siege was in-
terrupted by a discharge of ten shot from one of
the Spanish forts. They did some slight damage to
houses, and wounded a woman ; but their principal
effect was to scare the inhabitants, who, fearing that
a bombardment was about to commence, packed up
their valuables, and made preparations for concealing
themselves in all kinds of places. On the cessation
of the firing, however, they regained courage.
ARRIVAL OF RODNEY's FLEET. 47
On the 15th, wistful eyes looking out to seawaixl
were rejoiced by the appearance of a brig carrying
the British flag, which, regardless of the enemy's
batteries, stood right into the Bay, and brought the
glad intelligence that she was the forerunner of a
large convoy which had sailed from England in
December with ample supplies for the blockaded
garrison. After the first emotions of surprise and
pleasure had subsided, fresh apprehensions seized the
wavering minds of the besieged. They concluded
that the enemy could not fail to have obtained
information of the approaching relief, and that
they would be prepared to intercept it. The event
proved, however, that the Spaniards had received no
certain intelligence, and, concluding that the convoy
would be escorted only by a small squadron, had
despatched eleven men-of-war to make short work
of it. But these were attacked by Admiral Sir
George Rodney with a powerful fleet of twenty-one
sail of the line, and driven into headlong flifijht.
The British admiral also fell in with fifteen Spanish
merchantmen, escorted by six ships of war, all of
which he captured ; and before the end of the
month, with his prizes and transports, he dropped
anchor in the Bay.
48 A ROYAL " MIDDY."
On board Sir George Rodney's fleet was a royal
midshipman, the young Duke of Clarence, afterwards
William IV. He was entrusted to the charge of
Admiral Digby ; and when, one morning, Don
Juan Langara, the Spanish admiral, visited the
British commander, he was introduced to the youth-
ful prince. During the conference between the
two admirals, Prince William Henry withdrew ;
and when it was announced that Don Juan wished
to return to his own ship, the royal midshipman
appeared, touched his hat, and intimated that the
admiral's boat was ready. Whereupon, it is said,
Don Juan exclaimed, — " Well does Great Britain
merit the empire of the sea, when the humblest
stations in her navy are supported by princes of the
blood ! "
For a time the garrison and inhabitants of Gib-
raltar enjoyed both peace and plenty. The Spanish
forces seemed to have abandoned their task ; and a
constant interchange of courtesies was maintained
between their leaders and the British officers. On
the 13th of February Sir George Rodney's fleet got
under weiofh, leaving behind two men-of-war and
a couple of frigates, and sailed for England ; and
soldiers' rations. 49
immediately afterwards the Spaniards renewed the
blockade. About the middle of March, General
Elliot found it necessary once more to regulate the
issue of provisions, and gave directions that the
garrison should be victualled monthly (bread ex-
cepted) in the following proportion : — For a soldier,
each first and third week, 1 lb. of pork, 2| lbs. of
salt cod (which, by the way, proved very injurious,
and caused the appearance of that terrible disorder,
scurvy), 2 pints of pease, 1 lb. of flour, | lb. of
raisins, 1 lb. of rice, 5 oz. of butter, 1^ pint of oat-
meal. Second and fourth week, Ij lb. of beef,
2 lbs. of fish, 2 pints of pease, 1 lb. of rice, 5 oz. of
butter, 1| lb. of wheat, and ^ lb. of raisins. This,
it must be owned, was but meagre fare.
In the month of June the Spaniards showed signs
of prosecuting the siege with greater vigour, and
made a bold attempt to destroy the vessels in the
Bay with fire-ships. But the alarm being given,
the Panther, a 60-gun man-of-war, and the other
armed vessels, immediately opened a brisk cannonade
to check their progress ; and springing into their
boats, the officers and seamen, with characteristic
vigour, grappled the blazing ships. The flames
raged fiercely, but our sailors, nothing daunted,
50 INCREASING SCARCITY.
towed them under the British guns, where they
were soon destroyed.
The blockade increasing in severity, both the
garrison and inhabitants felt the pressure of want,
and provisions were once more selling at almost
fabulous prices. Such vessels as escaped the enemy's
cruisers were chiefly loaded with '' luxuries " rather
than " substantial ; " but a cargo of fruit which
arrived in October proved of inestimable value in
checking the ravages of scurvy, a disease that at one
time threatened to prove much more destructive
to the garrison than the enemy's fire.
In March 1781 the want of bread was severely
experienced, many families having received none for
several days, and biscuit-crumbs selling for tenpence
and one shilling per pound. Fresh meat and fish
were equally scarce and equally dear. The dietary
of the garrison was reduced to the barest neces-
saries ; and the distress which the women and chil-
dren must have undergone may be inferred from the
nature of the weekly allowance to each soldier,
which was — 5i lbs. of bread, 13 oz. of salt beef and
18 oz. of pork (both almost putrid), 2h oz. of rancid
butter, 1 2 oz. of raisins, half a pint of pease, a pint
of Spanish beans, a pint of wheat (which was ground
ARRIVAL OF A CONVOY. 51
into flour for puddings), 4 oz. of rice, and quarter
of a pint of oil.
Great, therefore, was the joy of the besieged
wlien, on the 12th of April, a convoy of nearly one
hundred vessels arrived from England, escorted by
a strong fleet under Admiral Darby. The historian
of the sieo^e, in describing this event, soars almost
into the region of poetry. " At daybreak," he says,
" the much-expected fleet, under the command of
Admiral Darby, was in sight from our signal-house,
but was not discernible from below, being obscured
by a thick mist in the Gut. As the sun, however,
became more powerful, this fog gradually rose, like
the curtain of a vast theatre, discovering to the
anxious garrison one of the onost beautiful and
pleasing scenes it is possible to conceive. The
convoy, consisting of near a hundred vessels, was in
a compact body, led by several men-of-war, their
sails just enough filled for steerage ; whilst the
majority of the linc-of-battle ships lay-to under the
Barbary shore, having orders not to enter tlio Bay,
lest the enemy should molest them with their fire-
ships. The ecstasies of the inhabitants at this grand
and exhilarating sight are not to be described.
Their expressions of joy far exceeded their former
52 THE TOWN BOMBARDED.
exultations. But, alas ! they little dreamed of the
tremendous blow that impended, which was to anni-
hilate their property and reduce many of them to
indigence and beggary."
As the convoy drew near, a squadron of fifteen
gun-boats advanced from Algesiras, and, assembling
in regular array under the batteries at Cabrita
Point, opened a smart fire on the nearest ships,
supported by the gun and mortar batteries on the
land ; but they were soon compelled, by an English
line-of-battle ship and a couple of frigates, to effect
a precipitate retreat.
This second relief of the garrison stung the
Spaniards into the adoption of a measure which had
little value in a military sense, but inflicted a large
amount of suffering on the inhabitants of the town of
Gibraltar. The convoy had scarcely anchored, when
they bombarded the town and fortifications with
sixty -four heavy guns and fifty mortars. The unfor-
tunate inhabitants, who were busily congratulating
each other on the arrival of the fleet, exchanged their
exultation for sorrow, and fled in the greatest con-
fusion — old and young, men, women, and children
— to the southward, abandoning their property to
DAILY INCIDENTS. 53
the mercy of the soldiers. Soon after noon the
firing ceased, and the inhabitants hastened to secure
such valuables as could be easily removed ; but
those bulkier articles which " the avaricious and
hard-hearted hucksters" had concealed in their
stores, to retail in small quantities at exorbitant
prices, were all destroyed.
About five o'clock the hostile batteries reopened,
and their storm of shot and shell was continued
uninterruptedl}^ ; without interfering, however, with
the disembarkation of the supplies. Several soldiers
were killed and wounded in their quarters on the
13th. The Spaniards being accustomed to indulge
themselves with a siesta in the middle of the day,
the garrison and inhabitants enjoyed an interval of
peace every noon ; otherwise, the roar of the guns
and the hiss of the rapid missiles made day and
night equally hideous.
On the evening of the 14th, says Drinkwater,
the enemy's shells were very profusely distributed ;
some that did not burst were examined, and on the
fuse being drawn it was found that inflammable
matter had been mixed with the powder. These
combustibles set on fire a wine-house near the
Spanish church, and before the conflagration could
54 A MILITARY EJIEUTE.
be extinguished four or five houses were burned to
tlie ground. Detachments of infantry were sent to
quencli the flames, but the enemy's cannonade
became so brisk that great confusion ensued. From
tliis disaster may be dated the irregularities into
which, through the combined influence of drink and
resentment, many of the soldiers fell. Some died
of intoxication on the spot, and others were with
difiiculty recovered.
" Though riot and violence," continues Drink-
water, " are most contrary to that spirit of regular
discipline which should always prevail in military
affairs, something may yet be urged in extenuation
of the conduct of the troops. The extreme distress
to which they had been reduced by the mercenary
conduct of the hucksters and liquor-dealers, in
hoarding, or rather concealing their stocks, to en-
hance the price of what was exposed for sale, raised
amongst the troops (when they discovered the great
quantities of various articles in the private stores) a
spirit of revenge. The first and second days they
conducted themselves with great propriety ; but on
the eve of the third day their discipline was over-
powered by their inebriation, and from that instant,
regardless of punishment or the entreaties of their
LIFE IN A BESIEGED TOWN. 55
officers, they were guilty of many and great excesses.
The enemy's shells soon forced open the secret
recesses of the merchants, and the soldiers instantly
availed themselves of the opportunity to seize upon
the liquors, which they conveyed to haunts of their
own. There, in parties, they barricaded their
quarters against all opposers, and, insensible of their
danger, regaled themselves with the spoils. Several
skirmishes occurred amongst them, which, if not
seasonably put a stop to by the interference of
officers, might have ended in serious consequences."
Such is life in a beleaguered town! There is
something more to be feared than the attacks f)f ex-
ternal enemies, and that is, the irregularities within;
the outbursts of a spirit of military insubordina-
tion, and the follies and crimes of the non-combat-
ants, — all adding to the anxiety and increasing the
responsibility of the military and civil authorities.
At Gibraltar the entire burden rested on the shoulders
of General Elliot, — who bore it, however, with in-
flexible calmness and resolute patience, tempering
justice with mercy, but not fearing to strike heavily
when it was necessary for the common safety.
The bombardment continued briskly, and casual-
(619) 5
56 DAILY INCIDENTS.
ties occurred daily. On the 21st, the besieged
counted forty-two rounds in a couple of minutes!
The garrison flag-staff was so much damaged that
the upper part had to be cut off; but the shot-torn
colours were nailed to the stump. From the enemy's
gun and mortar boats on the 28rd, two hundred and
sixty shot and forty shells were discharged. The
wife of a soldier was killed behind the South Bar-
racks. The relaxation of discipline among the
soldiers had become so alarming that, on the 26th,
General Elliot issued orders, which were strictly
carried out, that any soldier found drunk or asleep
on his post, or plundering, should be executed.
Everybody's spirits were raised on the 27th by the
arrival of twenty ships with provisions from Min-
orca; and this encouragement was sorely needed at a
time when the garrison was harassed not only by fire
but water — the rains falling heavily, and thunder-
storms being of frequent occurrence. It was awful
to hear the reverberating peal mingling with the
roar of cannon, and to see the smoke-clouds of battle
pierced by the lurid arrows of the lightning.
It must not be supposed that the English endured
the enemy's bombardment in silence. The guns of
the Rock were plied at times with equal alacritjr
PLUNDERERS PUNISHED. 57
and effect; but the prudent general would not allow
his men to waste their shot and powder, and they
fired only when the enemy were well within range.
On the morning of May the 7th, the gun and
mortar boats opened upon the town and the New
Mole for about an hour. The garrison replied
with four hundred rounds, at which the governor
was much displeased. " There would be no end,"
said he, " of expending ammunition, if we fired
every time they came, and while they were at so
great a distance."
Among the incidents which marked the history
of the siege within the walls, we may mention that,
on one occasion, a Hanoverian and some other ill-
disposed fellows were detected in plundering a store.
They were given in charge to a sentry; but the
Hanoverian attempted to escape. "Halt!" cried
the sentr}^, " or I'll fire!" The marauder continuing
his flight, the sentry carried out liis threat, and
the man fell dead on the spot. A soldier of the
58th was, on another occasion, hung at the door of
the store in his robbery of which he had been sur-
prised. On the 9th, an ofiicer lost his leg by a
shot. The remarkable feature of this occurrence
was, that the wounded man saw the shot coming
58 AN ILL-CHOSEN REPOSITORY.
on its fatal errand, but was so fascinated by it that
he could not move out of the way. A shell fell
into a house in which fifteen or sixteen persons were
huddled together ; all escaped except a child, whose
mother had been killed by a shell only a few days
before. A soldier, rambling about the town, came
upon a store of watches and other valuable articles,
among the ruins of a house, and hastened to take
possession of them. Then arose the puzzling ques-
tion. What should he do with this treasure-trove?
To convey them to his quarters was impossible, as
every one was examined on his return from duty.
The expedient to which he finally resorted was very
curious. He took out the wad of a gun on the
King's Bastion, and tying his prize in his pocket-
handkerchief, secreted it in the bore of the gun as
far as he could reach ; afterwards replacing the wad.
In the piping times of peace a better repository could
hardly have been invented ; but it happened that
on this same evening, while the marauder lay asleep
in his casemate, the hostile gunboats approached,
and fire was vigorously opened upon them. One of
the first guns discharged was that which contained
the soldier's ill-gotten wealth, and all his visions of
future greatness were dissipated in a moment !
EFFECTS OF THE BOMBARDMENT. 59
The incessant bombardment had, of course, a
ruinous efiect upon the town. Scarcely any of the
houses north of the Grand Parade were inhabitable ;
all of them were deserted. The families of some of
the soldiers lingered still in a few near South-port ;
but even of these only the walls remained standing.
The governor and lieutenant-governor, however,
maintained their quarters, — men being kept con-
stantly employed in repairing the damage done by
shot or shell. But the general aspect of the town
was most pitiful; the streets were solitary, and in-
stead of the hum of voices one heard only the whirr
of shot and the rush and explosion of shells.
On the 9th of June, the garrison was aroused
by the blowing-up of one of the Spanish magazines.
The effect was that of a continual roll of fire, like
repeated volleys of musketry, which led the besieged
to conjecture that the accident had befallen their
repository for fixed ammunition and live shells.
Thei]- drums immediately beat to arms ; and the
entire force, numbering thirteen battalions of in-
fantry, besides cavalry, paraded in front of the
camp. It was thought that the enemy by this
disaster must have suffered severely in men as well
txs munitions.
60 A VESSEL BECALMED.
The British batteries, though constantly repaired,
were much damaged by the incessant fire; and the
enemy's shot frequently drove through seven solid
feet of sandbag -work. As an additional protec-
tion, strong wooden caissons were constructed; filled
in compactly with clay, and covered in front and on
the top with junk cut in lengths for the purpose.
These proved very efi'ectual. The bombardment
was not wholly without profit to the besieged; for
it directed their attention to the weak points of their
fortifications, which were immediately strengthened,
until they were rendered virtually impregnable.
The monotony of the siege- — and all soldiers
agree that a siege, with its daily round of duties,
and its continuous roar of cannon, becomes in time
distressingly wearisome from its lack of variety —
was interrupted on the 7th July by another lively
episode of British seamanship. At early morn the
Spaniards at Cabrita Point were observed signalling
that an enemy was in sight; and when the mists
dispersed, the English themselves could see a vessel
becalmed at a considerable distance, but rowing,
with the current, towards the beleaguered Rock.
Fourteen gunboats had put out from Algesiras to
A GALLANT CONTEST. 61
cut her off; whereupon Captain Curtis, of the
Brilliant man-of-war, ordered Sir Charles Knowlcs,
with three barges, to endeavour to get alongside
and receive any despatches she might have on board,
while he himself towed out a couple of praams to
cover and protect her. Sir Charles's errand was
soon accomplished, and he returned with letters for
the governor. By this time the vessel, an English
sloop-of-war, was within a league and a half of the
garrison, but the headmost Spanish gunboat had
got up within range, and hurled at her a torrent
of round and grape shot, which was followed by
rapid discharges from her consorts. The Helma,
Captain Roberts, carried only fourteen small guns;
but her crew handled them gallantly, and poured
in volleys of fire from the quarter-deck. So un-
equal a contest, it was thought, could have but one,
and that a disastrous, issue ; the English sloop was
lying becalmed, a league from the Rock, with four-
teen gunboats, well-manned, and each mounted with
a twenty-six pounder, crashing into her timbers
repeated avalanches of grape shot and round shot.
Captain Roberts, however, showed no signs of yield-
ing, and maintained a steady and well-directed, if
not a heavy fire. Had the calm lasted, he would
62 THE NUMBER THREE.
probably have sunk rather than have surrendered ;
but happily a westerly breeze sprung up, and, rippling
across the waves, soon filled his canvas, and carried
him and his gallant crew into safety. The loss of
the Heliiia, notwithstanding the tremendous fire to
which she had been exposed, was only one man
killed and two men wounded, but her upper rig-
ging and sails were much torn by the shot. Had
the gunboats been well handled, it is difficult to
believe that she could have escaped; but the inferior
gunnery of the Spaniards was proved on many
occasions during the war.
The bombardment for some weeks had gradually
slackened, and by this time was reduced to a dis-
charge of three shells in twenty -four hours ; which
the English soldiers, from an idea that the Spaniards
intended by the number some allusion to the Trinity,
with much more profanity than humour named
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Captain Drinkwater
gravely observes that probably the Spaniards might
entertain a bigoted respect for that mystical number,
and, remembering the heretical condition of the
English, might apprehend some efficacy from it in
the great work of " converting the garrison to the
Catholic faith;" an attempt at jocosit}^ not much
BRITISH SOLDIERS A CENTURY AGO. G3
more successful than that of the soldiers ! Uncle
Toby, in Sterne's gTeat fiction, tells us that " our
army swore terribly in Flanders." There seems
good reason to believe that they swore terribly and
acted vilely in Gibraltar. A wide chasm separates
the British soldiers of to-day from the British
soldiers of yesterday. They were then recruited
from the lowest classes, the scum and refuse of
society, the outpourings of our jails, and it was
with difficult}^ that even a terribly rigid discipline
kept them in order. They were ill-fed, ill-paid, ill-
treated; and their moral character was of the very
lowest. But to-day the soldier is thoughtfully
cared for, not only as regards his material but his
moral and intellectual wants. Hence the ranks of
our army now include a large proportion of respect-
able young men, who are aware that good conduct
wnll place great prizes within their reach. The
only bonds between them and their predecessors
are those of loyalty and courage. The soldiers of
Napier who stormed Magdala are as eminent for
their courage and fjiithfulness as were those of
Elliot who defended Gibraltar. In these virtues
they could not surpass their predecessors; but in all
other respects they arc unquestionably above them.
64 EXPLOSION OF A SHELL.
An incident occurred on the 27th which is worth
recording. During an attack made by the gun and
mortar boats, a shell burst within the hospital and
killed an artillerist. Some time before, this man,
a very gallant fellow, had broken his thigh; his
active spirit was ill able to endure the confinement
his case rendered necessary, and he tottered abroad
in oi'der to enjoy the fresh air in the hospital court.
Unfortunately, in one of his lively moods he fell,
and was compelled to take to his bed again. He
was lying there when a shell from the mortar boats
crashed into the ward, and rebounding, lodged upon
him. The invalids and convalescents in the same
room contrived, by vigorous exertions, to crawl out
on hands and knees, while the fuse was burning;
but the unfortunate artillerist was kept down by
the weight of the shell, which after some seconds
exploded, tore off both his legs, and scorched him
piteously. Strange to say, he survived the shock,
and was sensible up to the moment that death re-
lieved him from his agony. His last words were a
regret that he had not died on the batteries, " with
his face to the foe," as all true soldiers wish.
A few days later a shell wounded a private of the
A WONDERFUL CURE. 65
73i'd ; that is, he was knocked down by the wind
of it ; and the shell, instantly bursting, killed a
soldier standing close by, and mangled most terribly
the hero of our anecdote. His head was fractured,
his left arm broken in two places, one of his legs
shattered, the skin and muscles of part of his right
hand torn off, the middle finger crushed, and his
whole body most severely bruised. In a word, the
man was reduced to a bleeding and mutilated mass
of flesh, and his recovery seemed hopeless. The
surgeons who took charge of him were at a loss to
which injury they should first give their attention.
That evening, however, he was trepanned ; a few
days afterwards his leg was amputated. All his
wounds and fractures were carefully dressed, and,
thanks, it may be supposed, to a wonderfully robust
constitution, as well as to the skill of his medical
attendants, his cure was completely effected. His
name, adds the historian, is Donald Ross ; and he long
continued to enjoy His Majesty's bounty in the shape
of a pension of ninepence a day. " Ninepence a day,"
however, seems but poor payment for a trepanned
skull, an amputated leg, and a shattered right hand !
The enemy, by this time, had completed the
66 GENERAL ELLIOT's PLAN.
construction of an advanced range of batteries,
which, in spite of the continual fire of the garrison,
assumed a threatening aspect. They rolled a storm
of shot and shell upon the British works, doing
serious execution ; and the strength and energies
of the defenders were severely taxed. A battery
named St. Carlos was especially annoying, from its
position, and the heavy ordnance with which it
was mounted. Acting on information which he
obtained from two deserters, General Elliot deter-
mined on an attempt to destroy it. He formed his
plans with the secrecy and deliberation character-
istic of the man, and communicated them to no one
until the hour fixed for their execution. On the
evening of the 26th of November, as the gates were
shut after first gun-fire, he assembled on the Red-
sands, now called the Alameda, a detachment con-
sisting of a couple of regiments, the grenadiers and
light infantry from the other regiments, one hundred
artillery, and two hundred workmen (or sappers and
miners, as we now call them), — in all, about 2074
men, with 99 ofiicers, and 147 non-commissioned
officers. Each private carried thirty-six rounds of
ammunition, and " a good flint in his piece, with
another in his pocket." In those days rifled guns.
SORTIE OF THE GARRISON. G7
Sniders, and Martini-Henrys had not been dreamed
of ; and the British musket was a cumbrous weapon,
in which the charge was ignited by a spark from a
flint.
The officers having received their instructions, the
whole force, with one hundred sailors from the ships
in the Bay, assembled under the command of Briga-
dier Ross, and being divided into three columns,
armed with fire-fagots and other implements, ad-
vanced, under cover of the darkness, against the
enemy's batteries. In the deepest silence they
marched under the dark shadow of the Rock ; but,
in spite of all their precautions, the right column
was seen and challenged by the Spanish sentinels,
who instantly fired. The officer in command, form-
ing his attacking corps, dashed forward at a brisk
pace for the extremity of the parallel, which he
entered without opposition, and began to dismantle.
Part of Hardenberg's regiment in the darkness mis-
took their way, and found themselves, before they
discovered their error, in front of the terrible St.
Carlos battery. Satisfied with the object before
them, they rushed at it, cheering, mounted the
parapet, and flung themselves into tlie middle of the
works. There was no resource for the Spaniards,
68 SPANISH BATTERIES DESTROYED.
in the presence of men so determined, but to retreat ;
which they did, without loss of time. The central
and left columns were equally successful ; for Elliot's
warriors were men of a very resolute temper, and
having made up their minds to carry the Spanish
batteries, what could the Spaniards do but let them
have their way ! The British commanders then re-
formed their ranks, while the pioneers and artillery-
men proceeded to do their duty.
The batteries were soon prepared for the operation
of the hre-fagots, and these being ignited, the flames
spread rapidly in every direction. The whole line
of works soon presented one vast mass of fire and
lurid smoke, which threw its glare over the Rock,
was reflected in the waters of the Bay, and revealed
every object in the vicinity.
Their task thus successfully accomplished, the
British soldiers prepared to regain their own lines.
Such had been their dash and courage that the Span-
iards, though at a short distance they had one hun-
dred and thirty-five guns mounted, seemed stricken
with a panic, and made no eftbrt to impede their
operations. Thus, in a single hour the British were
able to reduce to ruins the labours of many weeks.
The event " challenges greater admiration," says
A BRILLIANT ACHIEVEMENT. G9
Drinkwatev, " when we reflect that the batteries were
distant near three-quarters of a mile from the garrison,
and only within a few hundred yards of a besieging
enemy's lines." There can be no doubt that the
achievement was a brilliant one ; the coup de Triain
was well conceived, and well executed, with but a
trifling loss of life. Only five men were killed; the
wounded and missing did not exceed twenty-five.
Altogether, it served to show the Spaniards of what
Bort of stuff" the British soldier was made.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FLOATING BATTERIES.
HE blow SO suddenly and effectually levelled
at the Spaniards seems for a time to have
paralyzed their energies. But about the
beginning of December they recovered themselves to
some extent, and the besieged could see a large
body of their men busily engaged in making fascines,
with a view to the reconstruction of their batteries.
It was also ascertained that the allied Governments of
France and Spain had determined upon concentrat-
ing in front of Gibraltar a force which should render
resistance impossible ; that several French regiments
were to be despatched to the assistance of the besieg-
ing army ; and the conduct of the operations en-
trusted to the Duke of Crillon, who had recently
gained a high reputation by his conquest of Minorca.
Meantime, General Elliot and his officers main-
A SPANISH PRISONER. 71
taiued their composure. Every precaution was
taken against surprise ; and the weak points of the
fortifications, as indicated by the enemy's fire, were
assiduously strengthened.
But before resuming our narrative of the siege,
we must pause to record an example of that gener-
ous courtesy which sometimes relieves the horrors
of war. Among the Spanish officers taken prisoner
was one Baron von Helmstadt, an ensign in the
Walloon Guards. He was dangerously wounded in
the knee, and when the English surgeons informed
him that amputation was necessaiy, he resolutely
refused to submit to it. The operation, he said,
was seldom successful in Spain ; and for himself,
he was then engaged to be married to a lady, and
would rather risk his life than jn-cscnt himself
before his betrothed in a mutilated condition.
Apprised of this dangerous effusion of a false senti-
ment, General Elliot visited the baron, and used
every argument to dissuade him from adhering to
so rash a determination. His lady-love, said the
general, very sensibly, would not esteem him the
less for having received an honourable wound in
the service of his country. As to the operation
being fatal, he could assure him tliat the contrary
(610) 6
72 A GALLANT ACTION.
was the case ; he knew that the EngHsh surgeons
were ahnost always successful ; and, for his better
assurance, he introduced into his chamber several
" mutilated convalescents." The governor's gener-
ous attention had so gi-eat an influence on the
baron, that he consented to the operation, which
was performed with great skill, and resulted most
favourably. As the baron's lady-love would doubt-
less have considered a lover with one lee; better
than no lover at all, we are convinced she would
often have blessed General Elliot for his chivalrous
interposition, but that, unfortunately, the baron
afterwards died of some internal disease.
The New- Year's Day of 1782, says our historian,
was remarkable for an action of gallantry which is
worthy of being rescued from oblivion. An officer
of artillery at one of the batteries observing a shell
whizzing its way towards his post, got behind a
traverse for protection. This he had scarcely done
before the shell fell into the traverse, and instantly
entangled him in the rubbish. A soldier named
Martin, seeing his distress, bravely risked his own
life to save his officer, and ran to extricate him.
His effiDrts proving useless, he called for assistance ;
and another soldier joining him, they succeeded in
MAP OF GIBRALTAR
AT THE TIME OP
THE GREAT SIEGE.
{From an Old Engraving.)
Cruise of the Fire-Ships ^*^ /*"
in yime jySi
'■>.' .• . ■ , ^^ig .>---..
J\I E IJ> I TERR --^ ..r E ^-l .V .V E A
PREPARATIONS OF THE ENEMY. 73
extricating their officer. Almost at the same
moment the shell burst, and levelled the traverse to
the ground. For this courageous action, Martin was
deservedly rewarded and promoted.
The defenders of the Rock now watched with
intense interest the preparations of the enemy, in
whose lines the greatest activity was visible. They
could note the almost daily arrival of fresh troops,
until the whole shore of the Bay, from Carteia to
the heights of San Roque, was covered with tents.
Thousands of workmen, under cover of night, pushed
the approaches nearer and nearer to the beleaguered
fortress. Heavy guns bristled from every point of
vantage, and hour after hour poured out their fell
contents of shot and shell. It was obvious, too, that
the huge men-of-war at Algesiras were being equipped
as batteries of a new and formidable character. The
eagerness of the besiegers was stimulated by the
arrival in their camp of two French princes of the
blood, the Count of Artois and the Duke of Bourbon ;
the enemies of Great Britain everywhere turned
their attention towards the great fortress which, as
they confidently believed, would soon cease to be
occupied by her soldiers.
74 DAILY INCIDENTS.
It may not be uninteresting if we borrow from
Captain Drinkwater's pages a record of the opera-
tions of a few days, with the view of giving the
reader some idea of the incidents which characterize
the course of a great siege : —
The 1st of March, he says, a flag of truce went to
the enemy, in answer to one from them some days
before. The Spanish officer who received the packet
informed us that Fort St. PhiHp, in Minorca, had
surrendered on the 5th of February. The succeed-
ing day, a "carcass" set fire to the enemy's 13-
gun battery, which continued blazing for two hours.
On their attempting to extinguish the fire, we plied
them so briskly, that several were killed and most
of them driven from their work ; but their usual
gallantry at last prevailed. This is an honourable
tribute to an enemy who fought with considerable
courage and perseverance.
At night they raised a jplace d' amies at the
western extremity of their 13-gun battery; these
defensive works demonstrating that they were deter-
mined to provide as much as possible against another
sortie. The following night they repaired the dam-
age done by the fire. The carpenters of the navy,
on the 4th, laid the keel of one of the new gun-
DAILY INCIDENTS. 75
boats. The 6th, six rows of tents, ten in each row,
were pitclied in the rear of the second line of the
enemy's camp, near the horse-barrack. A large
party was also employed in making a road from the
beach to the barrack, and others were engaged in
landing shells and different ordnance. These, with
other appearances, showed that the enemy were in
earnest in their prosecution of the siege.
On the other hand, General Elliot unweariedly
engaged the garrison in repairing, and putting in
the best order of defence, the upper batteries and
other works which had sutiered from the storm of
fire directed against them.
On the 8th, the enemy raised one face of the
eastern redoubt several fascines in height. The day
following, Lieutenant Cuppage, of the Royal Artillery,
was dangerously wounded on the Royal battery, from
a splinter of a small shell, which burst immediately
after being discharged from the rock gun above and
in the rear of the Royal battery ; this was the second
accident of the same nature. On the 11th a fri-
gate and xebec passed to the west, with six topsail
vessels, supposed to be part of the late Minorca
garrison. On the night of the 1 3th the enemy tz-aced
out a work within the western ijlace d'armes of the
76 A FATAL SHOT.
St. Carlos Battery, apparently with an intention of
extending the epaulement. The firing on both sides
was now considerably increased ; that from the enemy
amounted to about five hundred rounds in the
twenty-four hours.
In the course of the 25th a shot drove through
the embrasures of one of the British batteries, took
off" the legs of two men, one leg of another, and
wounded a fourth man in both legs ; so that " four
men had seven legs taken ofi" and wounded by one
shot." The boy who was usually posted on the
works where a large party was employed, to inform
the men when the enemy were directing their guns
towards them, had been chiding them for their
disregard of his warnings, and had just turned his
head towards the hostile lines, when he observed
this shot on its dreadful path, and called to them to
beware. Unfortunately, his caution was too late ;
the shot entered the embrasure, with the fatal
result we have described. It is strange that this
boy should have been so keen-sighted as to distinguish
the enemy's shot almost immediately after it quitted
the gun. But another boy in the garrison possessed
an equal, if not a superior sharpness of vision.
Passing on to the 1 1 th of April, we find that on
A SINGULAR CANNONADE. 77
that day the garrison obtained information as to the
exact nature of the preparations which were being
made for conquering their stubborn resistance. They
learned that the Duke of Crillon was in command,
with twenty thousand French and Spanish troops,
in addition to those who had previously formed the
besieging force ; that the besieging operations were
directed by Monsieur d'Ar^on, an emiuent French
engineer ; and that Admiral Don Buenaventura
Moreno was prepared to support the attack with ten
men-of-war, besides gunboats, mortar boats, floating
batteries, and other vessels. Next day the enemy's
cannonade was of a peculiar character; from six in
the morning until sunset a single gun or mortar was
discharged every two or three minutes. Our British
soldiers remarked that, as the day was the anniversary
of the bombardment, the Spaniards were probably
keeping it with prayer and fasting, and the minute-
guns were intended to express their sorrow at the
expenditure during the past twelvemonth of so many
barrels of powder and rounds of cartridges without
any result !
On the 2Sth of May the enemy sent in a flag
of truce. Before the object of it was known, the
governor remarked to the officers near him that
78 A COURTEOUS FOE.
he supposed the duke had arrived, and had sent to
summon the garrison to surrender. His reply, he
said, would be brief, "No — no;" and he hoped his
oflScers would support him. The summons, however,
was not made, and the laconic answer, therefore,
was not given. But it is due to the Duke of
Crillon to record his courtesy. He wrote to General
Elliot to acquaint him with the arrival of the French
prince, and in their name to express their high
estimation of his courag-e and character. The letter
was accompanied by a present of fresh fruits and
vegetables, with ice, cfame, and other luxuries for
the use of his staff. He knew, said the duke, that
the governor lived wholly upon vegetables, and if
informed of the description he preferred, he would
furnish a daily supply. The governor replied in
suitable terms ; but while accepting the Spanish
commander's gifts, begged of him to send no more,
as he made it a point of honour to share with the
meanest of his fellow-soldiers both want and plenty.
In planning a combined attack by land and sea
upon the Rock, the besiegers felt it was necessar}^ to
guard against the destruction of the naval force by
the batteries of the fortress before it could get near
enough to render any service. But how was the
THE FLOATING BATI'EIUES. 79
fire of the English guns to be silenced? It occurred
to M. d'Ar(;on that what was wanted was a number
of fireproof batteries, Mhich could take up and
maintain a position in the Bay, regardless of the
cannonade delivered against them by the garrison.
In the construction of these floating castles M.d'Ar(;on
exhausted all his ingenuity. There were ten of
them, each armed with fifteen heavy guns, and
their structure was as follows : — On the larboard
side they were six or seven feet thick, made of green
timber, bolted and cased with cork, iron, and raw
hides. Inside they were lined with a bed of wet
sand, and in case they should nevertheless take fire,
currents of water were poured through them by a
system of pumps and channels, so that, should any
red-hot shot pierce the vessel and open up any one
of the ducts, the water would pour forth instantly
and extinguish the flames. As an additional protec-
tion, each tower was covered with a slanting bomb-
[)roof roof, capable of being raised or lowered at
[jleasure, by means of machinery, from which, it was
calculated, the balls would glide harmlessly into the
sea. In fact, the devices for the protection of the
besiegers seem to have been more numerous and more
skilful than those for the attack of the besieged. We
80 KNERGY OF THE DEFENCE.
must add that these })onderous floating Latteries were
masted and rigged, so as to sail like frigates.
It must not be thought that General Elliot had
made no provision against the coming storm. He
was a man fertile in expedients, and it would appear
that his engineer-officers were as able as they were
zealous ; so that at all the exposed points new works
of great strength were thrown up, and the fortifi-
cations were everywhere repaired and put in order.
A fleet of gunboats was got ready in the Bay ; a
body of Corsicans, under the leadership of a nephew
of the celebrated Paoli, had arrived to offer their
services ; and some vessels loaded with ammunition
had run the blockade, and refilled the magazines of
the fortress. The garrison reposed the most absolute
confidence in their commander, and after so pro-
tracted a siege had come to think of themselves as
invincible. Nor was their confidence lessened by
the news which reached them of Admiral Rodney's
great victory over a French fleet in the West Indies.
For some time the governor had looked on very
calmly at the new works raised by the Spaniards
across the isthmus and along the shore, but as they
had been pushed forward to an inconvenient position,
he thouoht the moment had come for administering
THE HOSTILE ARMADA. 81
a stern rebuke. He therefore opened upon them a
cannonade of red-hot shot, which in a few hours
involved the greater portion in flames.
This contemptuous demonstration so annoyed the
Duke of Crillon, that, though his lines were in-
complete, he ordered a general bombardment. It
began with a volley of about sixty shells from the
mortar boats ; then all his artillery, numbering
one hundred and seventy pieces of heavy calibre,
joined in the feu d'enfer ; while nine line-of-battle
ships hurled their broadsides as they sailed along
the sea-front. The attack was repeated on the
following day, in the hope apparently of terrifying
the garrison by revealing the formidable nature
of the preparations made for their destruction.
While the air echoed with the hurtling missiles, the
astonished soldiers saw through the occasional gaps
in the smoke-clouds a vast press of sail coming up
from the westward ; it proved to be the combined
fleets of France and Spain. Such an accumulation
of force, by land and sea, could not fail to surprise,
though it did not alaru), Elliot and his veterans.
The armada, beneath which, to use the expression of
an old poet, " the waters groaned," consisted of 47
sail of the line, and 10 battering-ships, regarded
(619) 7
82 TKEMENDOUS DISPLAY OF FORCE.
as impregnable and invincible, carrying 212 guns,
besides frigates, xebecs, bomb-ketches, cutters, gun
and mortar boats, and smaller craft for disembarking
men. On the land-side the batteries and works
were of the most formidable character, mounting
200 pieces of heavy ordnance, and protected by an
army of nearly 40,000 men, under the command of a
general of experience and ability, and animated by
the presence of two princes of the royal blood of
France, with other eminent personages, and many of
the Spanish grandees. No such naval and military
combination had been attempted in Europe since the
days of the Armada ; and it was not unnatural that
the Spaniards should anticipate from it a decisive
triumph. They seem, however, to have put their
faith more particularly in the battering-ships ; and
so great an enthusiasm was excited, that to hint at
their possible failure was considered a mark of
treason.
General Elliot was in nowise shaken from his
usual calmness by this tremendous display of force.
His garrison at this time (September 1782) numbered
about 7500 men, of whom 400 were in hospital.
These he distributed so as to guard most efficiently the
points at which the enemy's attack would probably
ACTIVITY OF THE GARRISON. 83
be delivered. The fortifications were carefully ex-
amined, and additional works erected wherever they
could be of service. Though the Spaniards poured
on the garrison an incessant storm of shot and shell,
the governor, in order to husband his resources,
permitted but little firing in return, except when it
was necessary to silence or destroy some particular
battery. The troops under his command were few
in number, it is true, but they were veterans, inured
to war, who had been long accustomed to the effects
of artillery, and gradually prepared to meet the
supreme ordeal that now awaited them. His
subordinates were ofiicers of approved courage,
intelligence, and discretion ; eminent " for all the
accomplishments of their profession," and enjoying
the entire confidence of the men under their orders.
And the spirits of all were animated by the ease
with which former attacks had been defeated, as
well as by the success attending some recent experi-
ments of firing red-hot shot, which, on this occasion,
would enable them, they hoped, " to bring their
labours to a period, and relieve them from the
tedious cruelty of another vexatious blockade."
In critical circumstances, men, the sagest and
coolest, are apt to be influenced by trivial incidents.
84 THE SUPPOSED SIGNAL.
which they convert into good or evil omens ; and
such is especially the case when life and liberty are
the stakes for which they are about to contend.
As the British soldiers, from the summit of their
famous Rock, looked out upon the crowd of masts
which gathered in the Bay, it was generally reported
among them that their arrival was occasioned by the
pressure of a British fleet in hot pursuit. Suddenly
a loud cheer was raised, and all exclaimed that the
British admiral was certainly in their rear, as a
flag for a fleet in sight was waving, they said, from
the Signal-post. Hope beamed radiant on every
countenance ; but a revulsion succeeded when the
signal suddenly disappeared. The guard at the
signal-station afterwards informed them that the
supposed flag was really an eagle, which, after
several evolutions, had perched for a few minutes
on the westernmost pole, and then spread its broad
wings to the eastward. Though less superstitious,
says the historian gravely, than the ancient Romans,
many could not help accepting it as a favourable
omen ; and the prognostication, happily, was fully
justified by the events of the succeeding day.
The grand attack took place on the loth of
THE GRAND ATTACK. 85
September. Shortly after nine in the morning, the
ten battering-ships took up their several positions
in admirable order : the admiral, in a two-decker,
dropping anchor about nine hundred yards off the
King's Bastion, and the others successively falling into
their places to the right and left of the flag-ships ;
the most distant being about 1100 or 1200 yards
from the garrison. General Elliot reserved his fire
until the first ship anchored, and then began a well-
directed cannonade. The enemy occupied about
ten minutes in their manoeuvres ; after which they
returned our fire, and the stress of battle waxed fast
and furious. The air was darkened by the clouds
of smoke which rose from shore and sea, while the
rattle of shot and the whirr of shells seemed to
silence the very echoes. Four hundred pieces of the
heaviest artillery were discharging their murderous
missiles simultaneously, until one might have
thought that all the thunders of heaven were let
loose.
After a few hours' cannonade, our soldiers found
that the battering-ships were fully as formidable as
they had been represented. " Our heaviest shells,"
says Drinkwater, " often rebounded from their tops,
whilst the 32-pound shot seemed incapable of making
86 A HEAVY FIRE.
any visible impression upon their hulls. Frequently
we flattered ourselves they were on lire ; but no
sooner did any smoke appear, than, with admirable
intrepidity, men were observed applying water,
from their engines within, to those places whence
the smoke issued. These circumstances, with the
prodigious cannonade which they maintained, gave
us reason to imagine that the attack would not be
so soon decided as, from our success against their land-
batteries, we had fondly expected. Even the artillery
themselves, at this period, had their doubts of the effect
of the red-hot shot, which began to be used about
twelve, but were not general till between one and
two o'clock." The ordnance portable furnaces for
heating shot being too few to supply the demands
of the artillery when the battle reached its culmina-
tion, huge fires of wood were kindled in the corners
of the nearest buildings, in which the shot were
speedily prepared for use. Our soldiers jocularly
termed these supplies "roasted potatoes."
At first the enemy's cannon were too much
elevated, but about noon they obtained the range,
and their firing was powerful, and skilfully directed.
The casualties then became numerous, particularly
on those batteries north of the King's Bastion, which
£ >
V >
ATTACK AND DEFENCE. 87
were exposed to a cross-fire from the Spanish land-
fortifications. Our gunners, liowever, disregarded
this attack, and concentrated all their efforts on the
battering-ships, the steady opposition which they
offered inciting the British to a boundless resent-
ment. The fire of the garrison increased, if that
were possible, in intensity. Every man served the
guns as if he were aiming at some personal enemy.
From all quarters rained incessant showers of hot
balls, carcasses, and shells of every description ; and
as the masts of several of the ships went by the
board, and the rigging of all hung in shreds and
tatters, the hopes of the garrison began to revive.
For some hours, however, it was difficult to say
whether the attack or the defence would prevail.
The wonderful construction of the floating batteries
apparently defied the heaviest ordnance that the
garrison could bring to bear upon them. In the
afternoon, however, a considerable change was
apparent, and the besieged observed with delight
that the flag-ship and the admiral's second were on
fire, and that on board several of the vessels an
evident confusion prevailed. Their cannonade
slackened rapidly towards the evening ; and about
seven or eischt o'clock it almost ceased. Various
88 FLOATING BATTERIES DESTROYED.
signals were thrown up from the suffering ships,
and rockets were discharged to inform their friends
of their distressed condition.
As night came on, says Botta, the flames defied
the most anxious efforts of the Spaniards to ex-
tinguish them ; and the disorder which reigned on
board the burning batteries soon communicated
itself to the whole line. To the diminished fire of
the enemy the garrison returned a cannonade which
seemed actually to increase in rapidity and power.
It was maintained throughout the night. At one
in the morning the two ships already named were in
flames. The others speedily caught fire, either from
the effects of the red-hot balls, or, as the Spaniards
pretended, because they set them on fire, when they
had lost all hope of saving them. The light and
glow of this tremendous conflagration illuminated
the entire Bay, as well as the sombre Rock, and
assisted the British gunners to point their artillery
with the utmost precision. The trouble and despair
of the enemy now reached a climax. The Spaniards
hastened to send off all their boats, which sur-
rounded the floating batteries, in order to save their
crews ; an operation accomplished with much cool-
ness and courage, in spite of the peril attending it.
FINAL CATASTROPHE. 89
For not only was it necessary to brave the British
fire, but to incur the greatest risk in approaching
the burning vessels. Never, perhaps, says a writer,
did a more horrible or deplorable spectacle present
itself to the eyes of men. The deep darkness that
shrouded the distant earth and sea, vividly con-
trasted with the columns of flame that rose up-
wards from the blazing wrecks ; and the shrieks of
the victims were heard even above the roar of the
incessant cannonade.
Brigadier Curtis, who, with his briorade, was
encamped at Europa, finding that the moment had
come for bringing into operation his little flotilla of
twelve gunboats, each of which carried an 18 or
24-pounder in its bow, drew them up in such a
manner as to take the floating batteries in flank.
This cross-fire compelled the relieving boats to
retire. As morning dawned, Curtis pushed forward,
and captured a couple of launches loaded with men.
These boats attempted to escape, but surrendered
after a shot had killed and wounded several on
board. The horror of the scene was now almost too
great to witness. The daylight showed a piteous
spectacle : in the midst of the flames appeared the
unhappy Spaniards, who with loud shrieks implored
90 A GENEROUS PROCEEDING.
compassion, or flung themselves into the waves.
Some, on the point of drowning, clung with frenzied
grasp to the sides of the burning ships, or to any
floating spar which came within their reach, while,
in. the depth of their despair, they implored the
compassion and succour of the victors.
Moved by a sight so painful, the English, says
Botta, listened to humanity alone, and ceasing their
fire, occupied themselves solely with the rescue of
their enemies ; a proceeding the more generous on
their part, as it exposed them to the most imminent
hazard. Curtis, in particular, covered himself with
glory, and freely risked his own life to save that of
his fellow-creatures. He led his boats up to the
burning, smoking hulks, to assist the poor wretches
on the point of falling victims to the fire or the
waves. Climbing on board the battering-ships, with
his own hands he helped down the Spaniards, who
loaded him with words of gratitude. While he and
his men were thus generously engaged, the flames
reached the magazine of one of the battering-ships
to the northward, and about five o'clock it blew up,
with a crash which seemed to shake the very Rock.
A quarter of an hour later, another, in the centre
of the line, met with a similar fate. The burning
RESCUING THE ENEMY. 91
wreck of the latter was hurled in every direction,
and involved the British gunboats in serious danger ;
one was sunk, but happily the crew were saved. A
hole was forced through the bottom of the brigadier's
boat, his coxswain killed, the strokesman wounded,
and for some time the crew were enveloped in a cloud
of smoke. After this incident the brigadier deemed it
prudent to retire under cover of the Rock, to avoid
the peril arising from further explosions. On his
return, however, he approached two more of the
ships, and finally landed nine officers, two priests,
and three hundred and thirty-four private soldiers
and seamen, all Spaniards, — who, with one officer
and eleven Frenchmen who had " floated in " the
preceding evening, brought up the total number
saved to three hundred and fifty-seven. Many of
these, who were severely, and some even dreadfully
wounded, were immediately removed to the hospital,
and attended with the utmost carefulness.
Notwithstanding all the heroic efforts of Curtis
and his men, on board the burning ships many
victims were left to perish. " The scene at this
time was as affecting as during the previous
hostilities it had been terrible and tremendous.
Men crying from amidst the flames for pity and
92 TOTAL DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY.
assistance ; others, on board those ships where the
fire had made little progress, imploring relief with
the most expressive gestures and signs of despair ;
whilst several, equally exposed to the dangers of
the opposite element, trusted themselves, on vari-
ous parts of the wreck, to the chance of paddling
ashore."
A Spanish felucca, probably with the view of
taking on board these unfortunates, approached
from the shore ; but the garrison suspecting her of
a design to set on fire one of the comparatively
uninjured battering -ships, by a brisk cannonade
compelled her to retreat. Of the six ships still in
flames, three blew up before eleven o'clock ; the
other three burned down to the water's edge, the
magazines having been wetted by the enemy before
they abandoned them. On one of the latter waved
the admiral's flag ; it perished with the ship.
The besieged hoped to secure the remaining two
batteries as trophies of their victory ; but one of
them suddenly burst out into flames, and blew up
with a tremendous crash ; and as it was found
impracticable to preserve the other, it was destroyed
in the afternoon. Such was the fate of the " float-
ing: castles" which had been constructed with so
THE king's bastion. 93
much labour, and from which so differeut a result
had been anticipated.
It is interesting to remember that during the
heat of the struggle General Elliot's post was the
King's Bastion ; and it is a curious circumstance,
not unworthy of record, that when General Boyd,
some years previously, had laid the first stone, with
the usual ceremonies, he observed, — " This is the
first stone of a work which I name the ' King's
Bastion.' May it be as gallantly defended as I
know it will be ably executed ; and may I live
to see it resist the united efforts of France and
Spain."
Of the courage, patience, and perseverance dis-
played by the garrison during this arduous struggle,
as of the skill and energy of the artillerists, it is
impossible to speak in terms of too high praise ;
and the name of " Gibraltar " is rightly blazoned as
a title to honour on the flags of the regiments who
served in the famous siege.
The enemy's principal objects of attack are
recorded to have been the King's Bastion, and the
line of fortifications extending to the north of the
Orange Bastion. To silence the former important
94 COUNTING THE COST.
post, they emploj^ed their largest ships, while the
others endeavoured to effect a breach in the curtain
extending to Montague's Bastion. Had they suc-
ceeded in this attempt, their grenadiers, it is said,
were to have stormed the garrison under cover of
the combined fleets. The prisoners inveighed
against their officers for having described the
floating batteries as invulnerable, and promised that
ten sail of the line should support them, as well as
all the gun and mortar boats. They had been led
to believe that the garrison would not be able to
discharge many rounds of hot balls ; their astonish-
ment, therefore, was very great, when they found
them discharged with as much ease and regularity
as cold shot. The loss sustained by the Spaniards
was never officially made known ; but a moderate
estimate puts it at 2000 killed, wounded, and
taken prisoners. On the other hand, the casualties
of the garrison were very few, and it is surprising
that so tremendous a cannonade should have en-
tailed so small a loss of life. The number of the
killed was sixteen only ; eighteen officers, sergeants,
and rank and file were wounded. The damage done
to the fortifications was equally inconsiderable, and,
by the activity of the artillery, the whole of the sea-
EXPENDITURE OF SHOT. 95
line, before night on the 1 4th, was repaired and put
in complete order.
While the garrison could bring to bear no more
than 80 cannon, 7 mortars, and 9 howitzers, the
enemy employed no fewer than 828 pieces of heavy
ordnance. The English gunners expended upwards
of 8300 rounds, more than half of which were hot
shot, and 716 barrels of powder. Of the quantity of
ammunition wasted by the enemy, we possess no par-
ticulars. The following is given by Drinkwater as a
correct list of those unfortunate battering-ships which
so fatally belied the hopes of their inventors :* —
* An Italian officer, who served on board the combined fleet, may here be
quoted in reference to the failure of these experiments : — " Our hopes of ultimate
success became less sanguine," he says, " when, at two o'clock, the floating
battery commanded by the Prince of Nassau (on board of which was also the
engineer who had invnted the machinery) began to smoke on the side exposed
to the garrison, and it was apprehended she had taken fire. The firing, how-
ever, continued till we could perceive the fortifications had sustained some
damage ; but at seven o'clock all our hopes vanished. The fire from our
floating batteries entirely ceased, and mckets were thrown up as signals of
distress. In short, the red-hot balls from tlie garrison had by this time taken
.such good efTect, that nothing now was tliouglit of but saving the crews, and the
boats of the combined fleet were immediately sent on that service. A little
after midnight, the floating battery which had been the first to sliow symptoms
of conflagration burst out into flames, upon which tlie fire from tl)e Rock was
increased wiih terrific vengeance ; the light produced from the flames was
equal to noonday, and gre:illy exposed the boats of the fleet in removing the
crews. During the night one or other of these batteries was discovered to be on
flre ; they were so close to the walls that the balls pierced into them full three
feet, but being made of solid beds of green timber, the holes closed up after the
shot, and for want of air they did not immediately produce the efTect. At five
A.M. one of them blew up witli a very great explosion, and soon after the whole
of them, having been abandoned by their crews, were on fire fore and aft. and
many of their gallant fellows were indebted to the exertions of the English
for their lives." — Bakrow, "Life of A<lmiral Earl Howe."
(619) 8
96
THE FLOATING BATTERIES.
The Pastora: 21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men, — Rear- Admiral
Buenaventura Moreno.
The Tailla Piedra: 21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men, — Prince
of Nassau-Sieghen.
The Paula Prima: 21 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 760 men, — Don
Gayetana Langara.
El Rosario : 19 guns in use, 10 in reserve, 700 men, —Don Francisco
Xavier Munos.
The San Christoval: 18 guns in use, 10 in reserve 650 men, — Don
Frederico Gravino.
The Principe Carlos: 11 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 400 men, — Don
Antonio Basurta.
The San Juan : 9 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 340 men, — Don Joseph
Angeler.
The Paula Secunda: 9 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 340 men, — Don
Pablo de Cosa.
The Santa Anna: 7 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 300 men,— Don Joseph
Goicocchea.
Los Dolores: 6 guns in use, 4 in reserve, 250 men, — Don Pedro
Sanchez.
In all, ten ships (five two-deckers, and five one-
decker), with 142 guns in use, 70 in reserve, and
5260 men.
A movement took place among the enemy, on the
afternoon of the 14th, which gave rise to appi-e-
hensions that the attack was to be renewed. The
batteries, therefore, were kept fully manned, and
the shot-heating furnaces ready lighted, in case that
an attempt should be made to storm the fortress.
It afterwards transpired that such a project had
been spoken of, but put aside by the Duke of
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM. 97
CrilloD, who was of opinion that it could end only
in the destruction of both the army and the fleet,
They contented themselves, therefore, with main-
taining a vigorous cannonade from the land-works,
and during the remainder of the month they ex-
pended daily from 1000 to 2000 rounds. General
Elliot, meanwhile, having had convincing proof of
the efficacy of red-hot shot, caused kilns for heating
them to be erected at various convenient points.
They were large enough to heat about one hundred
balls in an hour and a quarter ; and were a great
improvement on the furnaces and grates used for the
same purpose on the memorable 13th of September.
During the following days a westerly wind pre-
vailed, and numerous dead bodies were thrown
ashore, as also many articles of more or less value
which had floated about the Bay after the de-
struction of the battering-ships. Among these were
large wax tapers, such as are used on the Roman
Catholic altars ; cases of salt provisions ; and
ammunition boxes, each containing ten rounds of
powder in linen cartridges. From the captured
wrecks which did not blow up were obtained con-
siderable pieces of cedar and mahogany ; and " the
governor," it is recorded, " had a handsome set of
98 MEMOPJAL OF THE SIEGE.
tables made for the Convent (the holes in the cedar,
where the fire had penetrated, being filled up with
sound wood, cut in various figures, forming a
beautiful contrast with the burned part), which will
serve as a standing monument of the transactions
of that glorious day."
CHAPTER V.
THE RELIEF.
HILE the veterans under Elliot were thus
nobly maintaining the honour of the
English flag on the beleaguered Rock,
it must not be supposed that England was unmind-
ful of them, or ignorant of the danger in which they
were involved. The British Government hastened
their preparations for the relief of the garrison, and
assembled as speedily as possible a powerful fleet,
under Admiral Lord Howe, — afterwards the hero
of the 1st of June, — to escoi't a large convoy con-
taining fresh troops and provisions. When off" the
Portuguese coast, Lord Howe received information
of Elliot's gallant repulse of the combined French
and Spanish attack, and proceeded at once to enter
the Gibraltar Strait. The enemy, whose only hope
of success lay in reducing the place by famine,
100 ARRIVAL OF LORD HOWE.
endeavoured to prevent this relief from reaching the
garrison ; and, for this purpose, assembled a power-
ful fleet in the Bay. On the night of the 10th of
October, however, a violent storm arose, which
greatly distressed the French and Spanish vessels.
At daybreak, the garrison discovered that a Spanish
two-decker had been driven close in-shore. She
made every effort to stand out into the Bay, but in
vain : grounding under the guns of the garrison,
she was compelled to strike her flag. The British
immediately took possession of her, and she proved
to be the San Miguel, of 72 guns, commanded by
Don Juan Moreno.
This was not the only disaster experienced by
the hostile fleet. Another ship had gone ashore
near the great magazine. A French ship of the
line had lost foremast and bowsprit ; and three or
four others had driven nearly within range of the
guns of the Rock. While thus disordered, Lord
Howe's fleet could be seen approaching in order of
battle, together with the convoy under its protec-
tion ; but this, with the exception of three or four
transports, was swept by the current to the east.
The Spanish admiral, however, offered no opposition
to their passage, though he had still forty-two sail of
RELIEF OF THE GARRISON. 101
the line, and Lord Howe had only thirty-four; but he
seemed to pluck up resolution when they began to work
their Avay back to Gibraltar with an easterly wind,
and endeavoured to intercept them. Lord Howe's
object was not to fight a greatly superior force, but
to get his transports into Gibraltar. By a series of
skilful manoeuvres, this he accomplished, while en-
gaging the attention of the combined fleet for a
couple of days ; after which he set sail, and stood
away to the westward. Drinkwater remarks that
it was no very pleasing prospect for a British
garrison to behold a British fleet retiring before the
enemy. But Lord Howe's strategy had been
perfectly successful ; and it would have been
exceedingly imprudent for him in the circumstances
to have risked a decisive action. In every respect
the enemy had the advantage; and though we may
feel persuaded that the result would have been
creditable to the British arms, yet the loss of life
would have been disproportionate to any advantage
that could be gained.
The blockade, after this event, was virtually at
an end. Not one cruiser, says Drinkwater, was now
to be seen in the Strait or to the eastward, and
102 SLOW PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE.
few vessels of force were stationed at Cabrita Point.
The enemy seemed to have abandoned all idea of
recovering the Rock, either by force or stratagem.
It is true that they maintained a desultory cannon-
ade, but it gradually diminished, and did no execu-
tion. On the 23 rd a couple of boats arrived from
Portugal, bringing intelligence of an action between
the British and combined fleets, which had ended to
the advantage of the former.
" Though every appearance in their camp indicated
that they had given up all hopes of subduing the
garrison by force, their parties on the isthmus con-
tinued to be very busy, and some evenings they
made additions of traverses to their works. Heavy
timber was also brought forward to the parallel, but
for what purpose we could not then imagine. Their
advance parties had likewise the audacity frequently
to approach half-way upon the causeway from Bay-
side ; but the artillery having orders to scour the
gardens and the neighbourhood of Bay-side with
grape from the Old Mole, their curiosity in a short
time was pretty well cooled. Toward the close of
this month the enemy's fire became more faint and
ill-directed, whilst ours was more animated and
eflfectual. Our engineers continued to be constantly
" WE ARE ALL FRIENDS !" 103
engaged. The rebuilding of the whole flank of the
Prince of Orange's Bastion, one hundred and twenty
feet in length, with solid masonry (which was now
nearly finished), in the face of such powerful artil-
lery, can scarcely be paralleled in any siege."
On the 2nd of February 1783, the governor re-
ceived formal despatches from the Duke of Crillon
that the preliminaries of a general peace had been
signed between Great Britain, France, and Spain.
When the boats bearing the intelligence met the
British, the Spaniards rose up with " transports of
joy," exclaiming, " We are all friends ! " The gar-
rison were scarcely less delighted at the prospect of
rest after so long and arduous a struggle, though
they felt some anxiety as to the fate of the fortress
which they had defended with such pertinacity. On
the 5th the port was declared open. Thenceforth
provisions every day became more abundant, and the
soldiers were able to regale themselves with their
accustomed fare. Towards the end of the month
the governor and the duke exchanged visits. When
the latter appeared within the walls of the fortress,
the British soldiery saluted him with a general
cheer, Avhereat his grace was exceedingly confused,
104 VISIT FROM THE DUKE OF CRILLON.
until it was explained to him that such was the
British method of honouring a gallant opponent.
The garrison officers were duly introduced to the
duke, who received them with characteristic cour-
tesy. To the artillery he said: "Gentlemen, I would
rather see you here as friends than on your batteries
as enemies ; where," he added, " you never spared
me." Proceeding to inspect the batteries on the
heiffhts, he remarked on the formidable nature of
the lower defences, and in reference to the Old Mole
Battery observed, " that had not his judgment been
overruled, he should have directed all his efforts
against that part of the garrison." Entering the
Faringdon, now called the Windsor Battery, he was
surprised at its extent, which at that time was
between 500 and 600 feet. " Such works," he
exclaimed, "are worthy of the Romans!" After
dinner, at which the generals and brigadiers in the
garrison, with their suites, were present, he passed
through the camp to Europa, each regiment turning-
out and giving three cheers. " The youth and
good appearance of the troops," we are told, " much
engaged his attention." At his departure in the
eveningf he was saluted with seventeen cannon. His
horse started at the flash, and almost threw him
WELL-DESERVED HONOURS. 105
from his saddle; but he escaped without injury. lu
the course of the conversation at dinner, he warmly
complimented the governor and garrison on their
brilliant defence ; adding that he had exerted him-
self to the utmost of his abilities, and though he
had not been successful, yet he was happy in having
his sovereign's approval of his conduct.
On the 23rd of April, St. George's Day, the King's
Bastion, of which our readers have heard so much,
became the scene of an unusual and a striking cere-
mony. The king having conferred upon General
Elliot the well-deserved Order of the Bath, and
having intimated his pleasure that Lieutenant-
General Boyd should act as his representative in
investing him with the insignia, it was resolved
that the occasion should be celebrated with as much
pomp as could be commanded. The troops being
previously assembled on the Red Sands, Sir George
officially communicated to them the unanimous
approval of their heroic services expressed by both
Houses of Parliament, and then proceeded : —
" No army has ever been rewarded by higher
national honours ; and it is well known how great,
universal, and spontaneous were the rejoicings
106 WELL-DESERVED HONOURS.
throughout the kingdom upon the news of your
success. These must not only give you inexpres-
sible pleasure, but afford matter of triumph to your
dearest friends and latest posterity. As a further
proof how just your title is to such flattering dis-
tinctions at home, rest assured, from undoubted
authority, that the nations in Europe and other
parts are struck with admiration of your gallant
behaviour ; even our late resolute and determined
antagonists do not scruple to bestow the commenda-
tions due to such valour and perseverance.
" I now most warmly congratulate you on these
merited and brilliant testimonies of approbation,
amidst such numerous, such exalted tokens of ap-
plause ; and forgive me, faithful companions, if I
humbly ciave your acceptance of my grateful ac-
knowledgments. I only presume to ask this favour,
as having been a constant witness of your cheerful
submission to the greatest hardships, your match-
less spirit and exertions, and on all occasions your
heroic contempt of every danger."
The soldiers then fired a grand feu de joie, each
discharge being heralded by a volley of twenty-one
guns, and the ceremony concluded with three such
cheers as only British troops can give. Afterwards the
A MARTIAL PROCESSION. 107
governor and his staff and the field-officers withdrew,
and the detachments marched into town, lining the
streets from the Convent to the King's Bastion.
At about half-past eleven the procession began to
move in the following order : —
Marshal.
Band of the 12th Regiment, playing " See the
Conquering Hero Comes."
Artillery.
Quarter-Master-General, and Adjutant-General, Town-Major and
Deputy, -with other Staff of the Garrison.
First Division of Field-OiScers, youngest first.
Band of the 58th Eegiment.
The Commissioner's Secretary, bearing on a crimson velvet cushion
the Commission.
The Commissioner's Aides-de-Camp.
Lieutenant-General Boyd, the King's Commissioner.
The Governor's Secretary, bearing on a crimson velvet cushion the
Insignia of the Order of the Bath.
The Governor's Aides-de-Camp as Esquires.
General Elliot, the Knight Elect, supported by Generals de la Motte
and Green.
Aides-de-Camp to the Major-Generals.
Major-General Picton.
His Aide-de-Camp.
The Brigadier- Generals, eldest first.
Band— De la Motte's.
Second Division of Field-Oflacers, eldest first.
Band of the 56th Regiment.
The Grenadiers of the Garrison.
Such was the procession ; and interesting it must
have been to see those bronzed and battle-worn
heroes, who had but just been released from the toils
108 THE NEW KNIGHT.
and anxieties of a protracted siege, assembled in
recognition of the honour paid by their sovereign
to the commander whose resolution, devotion, and
military capacity had so largely conduced to bring
about a successful result.
The following particulars are borrowed from
Drinkwater, whose minute history of the siege is
necessarily the authority to which all later writers
resort : —
No compliment was paid to the knight elect, but
as the commissioner passed, each regiment, with the
officers, saluted. When the procession arrived at
the bastion, the general and field-officers placed
themselves on each side of a throne that had been
erected for the purpose, the artillery formed around,
and the grenadiers fronting the bastion, along the
line-wall. The proper reverences being made to the
vacant throne, the commissioner desired his secre-
tary to read the commission ; which being done, he
addressed the knight elect in a short complimentary
speech, taking the ribbon at the conclusion and
placing it over the govei'nor's shoulder, who inclined
a little for that purpose. Three reverences were then
a second time made, and each took his seat on a
crimson velvet chair on each side of the throne, the
GENERAL REJOICINGS. 109
commissionei" sitting on the right hand. The governor
was no sooner invested than the band struck up
" God save the King." The grenadiers fired a volley,
and a grand discharge of one hundred and sixt}''
pieces of cannon was fired from the sea-line. The
detachments were afterwards dismissed, and each
non-commissioned officer and private received a
pound of fresh beef and a quart of wine. The
generals, with their suites, and the field-officers,
dined at the Convent. In the evening the bastion
was illuminated with coloured lamps and trans-
parencies ; and at nine o'clock a display of fire-
works took place from the north and south bastions,
in the presence of Sir George Augustus Elliot and
his principal ofiicers.
Thus, in rejoicings and ceremonial display, termi-
nated the labours of the veterans of Gibraltar.
Calculatinjj from the commencement of the block-
ade to the cessation of hostilities, the siege lasted
three years, seven months, and twelve days ; and
throughout that long period the garrison had been
kept continually on the watch, enjoying no interval
of repose, exposed to the attacks of a powerful
enemy, worn with fatigue, and harassed by all the
incidents of a protracted blockade. They had some-
(cio) 9
110 MONOTONY OF A SIEGE.
times failed in the strict requirements of discipline,
and acts of plunder and violence had occasionally
tarnished the lustre of their laurels ; but in courage
and patience and intrepidity they had never been
wanting, and their morale improved as the siege
advanced. The stir and tumult of the battle-field,
with its brilliant episodes of valour, its charges of
cavalry, its encounter of bayonets, its individual
deeds of heroism, and its exhibition of strategical
genius, necessarily lend themselves more readily to
the description of the chronicler, and exercise a more
powerful influence on the imagination of the reader,
than the monotonous incidents of a siege. It is
difficult to invest with any attraction the daily
record of garrison work ; and the reader has no
means of forming an idea of its arduous character.
He wearies of bastions and batteries ; of rounds of
shot and shell expended ; of labours the issue of
which is not apparent ; of demonstrations which are
seemingly all in vain. Yet it is certain that a
campaign in the open field, or a great battle like
that of Waterloo, makes less demand on the best
qualities of a soldier than a protracted siege. The
long roll of victories of the British army is em-
blazoned with names which will never be forgotten
ENGLAND AND THE ROCK. Ill
SO long as England retains her imperial spirit or her
])ride in the past, and among those names, if loyalty
and true bravery and heroic endurance are to re-
ceive their just recompense, conspicuous and thrice-
honoured will always shine that of Gibraltar ! And
the true Englishman, remembering how steadfastly
Elliot and his veterans maintained their hold upon
the Rock, will sympathize with the generous senti-
ment of the poet, when he says, —
" Nobly, nobly Cape St. Vincent to the north-west died away;
Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay,
Bluish 'mid the burning water, full in face Trafalgar lay ;
In the dimmest north-east distance dawned Gibraltar grand and
gray;
' Here, and here, did England help me; how can I help England?'
—say;
Whoso turns as I, this evening, turn to God to praise and pray,
While Jove's planet rises yonder, silent over Africa. "
Since the Great Siege no attempt has been made
to wrest the Rock from our firm British grasp ; nor
are we likely to surrender it, holding it as we do in
the interests of Europe. Its military importance
may be less than it was in the days before steam
became one of the instruments of war ; but still it
is one of the keys of the Mediterranean, which we
cannot afford to see in the hands of any other
Power. We do not hold it selfishly, being con-
112 THE LATE DUKE OF KENT.
cerned, not to shut up the Mediterranean, but to
keep it free for the commerce of every nation. More-
over, it is a symbol of power which we cannot
relinquish without disgrace.
In the later annals of Gibraltar the chief event is
the mutiny of the garrison, under the governorship
of the Duke of Kent, the father of the Queen.
The young prince, when he entered on a military
career, was sent to Hanover to learn the duties of
his profession, and there he acquired that scrupulous
regai'd for the smallest externals and that " pipe-
clayed pedantry" which, before the days of Moltke,
were the vice of the German army. Afterwards he
was sent to Geneva, where he soon fell into debt,
owing to the meagre allowance which he received
from his royal father. Returning to England, in
the hope that George III. would assist, he was
ordered to start in twenty-four hours for Gibraltar,
with the rank and position of colonel of the 7th
Fusiliers. His rigid disciplinarian habits here made
him unpopular with the common soldiers, who, how-
ever, at that time contained a large percentage of
desperate and dissolute characters ; but by the
officers of the garrison he was as much esteemed on
A VIGOROUS DISCIPLINARIAN. 113
account of his excellent qualities as he was respected
on account of his rank.
In the course of his professional career the Duke
of Kent served in Nova Scotia, and in 1799 acted
as commander-in-chief of the British forces in North
America. Afterwards he was again sent to Gibral-
tar — this time as governor. The garrison was in a
state of open insubordination, and had acquired an
ill repute for its drunkenness and profligacy. To
cleanse this Augean stable, a kind of military Her-
cules was required; and the duke was chosen, partly
on account of his rank, partly on account of his
known strictness as a disciplinarian. He went,
carrying with him the most positive instructions,
and relying upon promises of hearty support from
the British Cabinet. A more unpleasant task seldom
fell to a prince of the royal blood, for it could not
be efficiently discharged without loss of popularity.
The duke, however, set to work most vigorously.
He abolished one half the wine-shops ; established
a regimental canteen ; ordered out the troops for
proper periods of drill and exercise ; and punished
laxity and disobedience with an unfaltering hand.
In the course of hiz reforms he found occasion to
deal severely with some of the officers, and there is
114 A MUTINY REPRESSED.
reason to fear that they did their utmost to foster a
spirit of revenge among the private soldiers. How-
ever this may be, a mutiny broke out, with the
object, it is said, of compelling the duke to retire on
board ship, and leave the garrison ; though it may
well be doubted whether the mutineers, in the in-
toxication of success, would not have gone further,
and perhaps have stained their hands with blood.
Happily, a part of the garrison stood firm ; the
mutineers disagreed among themselves ; the out-
break proved a failure ; and the ringleaders were
arrested and tried by court-martial. Ten were
sentenced to death, but only three were executed.
In less than three months all symptoms of disaf-
fection subsided ; the influence of a steady discipline
was felt in the improved condition of the soldiers,
morally and physically ; and the duke was entitled
to pride himself on the full success with which he
had accomplished the difticult duty imposed upon
him. At this moment, to his utter surprise, he was
suddenly dismissed from his post, and recalled to
England, to give an explanation of his conduct.
The prince obeyed these ungracious orders ; and on
his return, finding himself unaMe to obtain a dis-
tinct statement of any chai-ges made against him,
MILITARY VALUE OF GIBRALTAR. 115
demanded a court-martial. This was curtly refused,
and the duke involved in suspicions which he was
not allowed to dissipate. That he was unfairly
treated cannot be doubted; he was made the victim
of personal and political intrigues. He had the
satisfaction, however, of receiving from the inhabi-
tants of Gibraltar a testimonial of attachment and
respect, valued at one thousand guineas ; while the
British adjutant-general pronounced his "military
code of instruction for the garrison of Gibraltar" an
"enlightened and excellent system."
Of late years the command at Gibraltar has
usually been given to some officer of rank who has
distinguished himself by his services in the field.
It has been held by such men as Sir William Gom
and Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars ; and at the
present time (1879) it is in the hands of one of our
most distinguished soldiers, Lord Napier of Magdala.
As the first of the line of strongholds which o-uard
our highway to India, it still possesses and must
always possess a value and a significance ; and it
is well that such a post should be reserved for a
veteran general, who, in case of need, will know
how to utilise its capabilities and maintain its
reputation tbi impregnability.
PART II.
^ibraltiiv as it Mas anb is.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
HE Atlantic is connected with the Medi-
terranean, as everybody knows, by a
narrow channel of irreo-ular configura-
tion, the Strait of Gibraltar, which flows between
the Rock of Gibraltar on the north, and the Rock
of Ceuta, backed by the strange mass of Mons Abyla,
or Apes' Hill, on the south.
Gibraltar was anciently called Calpe ; and Calpe
and Abyla were the legendary Herculis Columnce,
or " Pillars of Hercules," which mai-ked the limit of
the mythical hero's conquests, and formed the sup-
posed boundary of the Western world. The fable
originated doubtlessly in the fact that the sun, or
Hercules, to the navigators of the Mediterranean,
THE PILLARS OF HERCULES. 117
sets behind these imposing promontories, dipping
below " the rim of ocean " as if to disappear for
ever !
The first Greek author who mentions the famous
Pillars is the poet Pindar. He speaks of them as
the point to which the renown of his heroes ex-
tended, beyond which no mortal, whether wise
or foolish, could advance. As thus in his Srd
Olympic : —
" As water's vital stream all things surpass,
As gold's all-worshipped ore
Holds amid fortune's stores the highest class ;
So to that distant shore,
To where the jjillars of Alcides rise.
Fame's utmost boundaries,
Theron, pursuing his successful way,
Hath deckt with glory's brightest ray
His lineal virtues. Fai-ther to attain,
Wise and unwise, with me despair, th' attempt were vain."
In the time of Herodotus they formed a perfectly
familiar position ; and they did not long remain the
ne iilus ultra of human enterprise, the Phoenician
mariners sailing far beyond them, and reaching the
coast of Britain. Even in the days of Strabo, how-
ever, a good deal of confusion prevailed in the minds
of men respecting these Pillars. He tells us that
some supposed them to be islands, others rocky
headlands ; both rising sheer out of the sea like
118 FABLE AND FACT.
colossal columns. Others expected to find them
indicated by cities, or columns^ or statues, erected
either by Hercules himself as the proud memorials
of his westward conquest, or by the Tyrian seamen,
dedicated to their tutelary god to commemorate
the farthest limit of their discoveries. Later
writers indulged in various conjectures. Pliny
records the myth that Hercules rent asunder the
rocks which had previously divided the Mediter-
ranean from the ocean ; while another legend as-
serted that he had narrowed the strait in order to
exclude the sea-monsters which had hitherto forced
their way from the ocean into the Mediterranean.
Let us turn from ancient fables to modern facts.
The voyager who now approaches the Strait sees
on the one hand the picturesque coast of Spain,
with its green slopes and mountains of purple splen-
dour, and on the other the low sandy shores of
Africa, suddenly broken up by the heights of Ceuta.
Gibraltar towers before him a narrow promontory
of rock, facing the sea with gloomy precipices, and
connected with the mainland by a low sandy
isthmus. The Bay is on the western side of the
promontory, which there assumes a striking and
THE PRINCIPAL SUMMIT-POINTS. 119
romantic appearance. Along the whole face of the
lofty cliff, tier after tier, stretch ranges of formidable
batteries, with the town of Gibraltar lying sheltered
at the northern end. From every nook and every
coign of vantage bristle heavy cannon. The mid-
way slope, from the town to the summit of the
great Rock, is occupied by white barracks and
pleasant villas, which rest in the shadow of leafy
groves. The eastern side, however, is one unbroken
mass of precipice, relieved by none of those indica-
tions of peaceful civilization.
The three principal points of the rocky ridge to
which we have alluded, are the Rock Mortar, north,
1350 feet; the Signal, in the centre, 127G feet;
the Sugar-loaf Point, south, 1439 feet. The length
of this ridge, which consists of limestone, com-
pletely honeycombed with caverns, is about two
miles and three-quarters, with an average breadth
of one half to three-quarters of a mile, and a
circumference of about seven miles.
The north face of the Rock overlooks the sandy
isthmus of the Neutral Ground ; but at the north-
west angle a line of fortifications separates it from
the shore. To the south a rapid slope extends from
Sugar-loaf Point to the oval-shaped platform of
(619) 10
120 OUTLINE OF THE BAY.
Windmill Hill, below which the steep crags of
Europa extend into the sea. At the north-west
corner of the Rock the town is defended by the
formidable Lower Lines ; and thence a continuous
series of defensive works stretches along the western
front, and round the southern side of the Rock,
until terminated by precipitous and inaccessible
heights. This grand range of batteries, bastions,
and ravelins is now armed with upwards of one
thousand guns.
To the west lies the Bay, which measures nearly
eight miles and a half in length, and upwards of
five in breadth ; its circuit being between thirty
and forty miles. On its western curve, facing the
town of Gibraltar, is situated the Spanish town of
Algesiras. It boldly indents the shore on the north
of the famous Strait, which extends, we may add,
from Cape Spartel to Ceuta, on the African coast,
and Cape Trafalgar to Europa Point, on the Spanish
side. Its length is about thirty-six miles, its average
breadth from fifteen to twenty.
The voyager, as his ship passes under the Rock,
comes to regard it as one immense mass of fortifi-
cations, which Nature seems specially to have con-
APPEARANCE OF THE ROCK. 121
stnicted for the reception of artillery. Batteries
frown on its precipitous sides ; batteries crown its
rugged summit ; batteries line the water's edge ;
and batteries project audaciously even into the very
sea. Such is the Old Mole, or "Devil's Tongue,"
which played so famous a part in the celebrated
siege, and received from the Spaniards its expressive
though certainly too emphatic appellation. Half-
way up the slope may be seen the walls of the old
Moorish castle. To the right, the irregular build-
ings of the town, " of all imaginable shapes and
colours," are clustered in picturesque variety at the
foot of the precipices. To complete the picture, the
Bay is studded with numerous craft, from the stately
man-of-war and the great India-bound steamer, to
the smart-looking felucca which spreads its lateen-
sails to the Mediterranean breeze.
On landing, the traveller pushes his way througli
a motley crowd, crosses the double enceinte, ditches,
and drawbridge, and enters the market-place, an
open area surrounded by barracks, four, five, and
six stories high. Here ai-e to be seen a throng of
interesting characters : Algerians and Morocco mer-
chants, with half-naked legs, slippered feet, their
shoulders wrapped in their large white bernouse.
122 UNDKR THE WALLS.
and their head crowned with the turban or tar-
bouche ; Jews, with venerable beards, black robes,
and pointed bonnets ; the turbaned Moors, with
loose flowing robes, and vests and trousers of crimson
cloth ; and Spanish peasants, with velvet breeches
and leggings of embroidered leather, and the navaja,
or knife, thrust into their tight crimson sash.
Among these the English soldier winds his way,
neat, erect, and clean-shaven, as on parade in St.
James's Park ; or the Spanish lady lightly treads,
her face concealed by her black silk mantilla, and
her hand fluttering the inevitable fan.
Gibraltar has no public buildings of architectural
importance ; it is essentially a garrison town, a
fortified post, in which art and beauty are subordi-
nated to the useful. Except, indeed, at one spot,
the Garden, or Alameda — one of the most charming
promenades in the world — which extends from the
sea-wall to the base of the precipices, formerly
known as the "Red Sands." Here blooms a garden
which is truly " a miracle." The sub-tropical flora
is displayed in all its magnificent variety. A forest
of aloe and cactus, of cistus and sweet-scented broom,
clothes the rugged flanks and steep declivities of the
mountain, if such it may be called. The winding
THE GARDEN, OR ALAMEDA. 123
alleys creep in and out of masses of rose-trees and
flowering geraniums ; while tall pines, huge mimosas,
arbutes, and pepper-plants spread a pleasant shade
around. Through these thick screens of verdure a
glimpse is here and there obtained of the mast-
studded harbour, and the shining waters of the Bay,
and the azure hills beyond. Is it possible to con-
ceive of a spot more enchanting ? The great defect
in landscapes on the border of the sea is, as a French
writer remarks, the want of greensward and leafy
trees. But here these charms are combined ; the
richness of a beautiful vegetation blends with the
transparency of a sunny sky, and the sapphire light
of a sea like that of Naples, to form a picture of
supreme attraction.
The town of Gibraltar is of limited extent, and
the peculiar nature of its position prevents it from
enlarging itself in any direction. Its two or three
long streets run parallel to the sea-lines, and are
intersected at right angles by numerous narrow
squalid lanes, which ascend the precipitous acclivity
by flights of rugged steps, called "Ramps." The
general aspect of the town reminds the visitor of
Landport ; but these lanes resemble the wynds in
124 A MILITARY HOTHOUSE.
the " Old Town " of Edinburgh. " Toilsomely clam-
bering to the top of the Ramps, we find," says Bart-
lett, " still narrower lanes parallel to those below,
resting on the bare hillside, but the houses having a
fine look-out, and being often half buried in shrub-
bery and creepers, and peeping down upon the con-
fused bee-hive below. Crouching thus, as it does, at
the foot of the hot and arid rock, with its streets and
alleys closely jammed together for want of room to
expand, the town of Gibraltar is in summer exces-
sively close and oppressive, and at no time can it be,
we should imagine, an agreeable place of residence ;
for not only are its habitations confusedly huddled
together, but for the most part exceedingly ill built
and unsuitable to the climate." This unfavourable
opinion, however, is not confirmed by every traveller ;
and, as a matter of fact, for some months in the year
the climate of Gibraltar is anything but unhealthy.
Byron called Valletta, the principal port of Malta,
a " military hothouse ;" but the term is much more
applicabk to Gibraltar, where the principal ornaments
are cannon, and half the population soldiers or soldiers'
wives, or soldiers' purveyors. If not the pomp and
circumstance of war, at least its more prosaic side
is everywhere visible. At every corner parties are
DESCRIBED BY THACKERAY. 125
relieving guai-d ; the patrol pace the crowded streets
to the ear-splitting music of fife and drum ; watches
are regulated, morning and evening, by gun-fire ;
the gates are closed at a certain hour ; peaceable
amateurs sketching bits of the Rock are ferociously
challenged by suspicious sentinels ; you cannot
move a step without abundant evidence that you
are in a fortified town, where reigns an unrelaxing
vigilance. Yet it is not without its semi-humour-
ous, semi-picturesque aspects, such as Thackeray has
drawn with his accustomed distinctness. Suppose,
he says, all the nations of the earth to send suitable
ambassadors to represent them at Wapping or Ports-
mouth Point, with each under its own national
signboard and language, its appropriate house of
call, and your imagination may figure the Main
Street of Gibraltar. Thei'e the Jews predominate,
and Moors abound ; and from the " Jolly Sailor," or
the brave " Horse Marine," where the people of our
nation are drinking British beer and gin, you hear
choruses of " Garry o wen " or " The girl I left be-
hind me ;" while through the lattices of the Spanish
wine-shops come the clatter of castanets and the
jingle and moan of Spanish guitars and ditties.
" It is a curious sight at evening, this thronged street,
126 A BEAUTIFUL PROMENADE.
with the people, in a hundred different costumes,
busth'ng to and fro under the coarse glare of the
lamps : swarthy Moors, in white or crimson robes ;
dark Spanish smugglers in tufted hats, with gay-
silk handkerchiefs round their heads ; fuddled sea-
men from men-of-war or merchantmen ; porters,
Gallician or Genoese ; and, at every few minutes'
interval, little squads of soldiers tramping to relieve
guard at some one of the innumerable posts in the
town."
Thackeray refers in a similar strain to the Garden,
or Alameda, which we have just described. It is,
he owns, and he might well have said more, a beau-
tiful walk ; of which the vegetation has been as
laboriously cared for as the tremendous fortifications
which flank it on either side. On the one hand
rises the vast Rock, with its interminable works of
defence ; on the other shines Gibraltar Bay, out on
which, from the terraces, immense cannon are perpet-
ually looking, surrounded by plantations of cannon-
balls and beds of bomb-shells, sufficient, one would
think, to blow away the whole peninsula. The horti-
cultural and military mixture is, he continues, very
queer : here and there temples and rustic summer-
seats have been raised in the garden, but from
A MOTLEY GROUP IN THE MAIN STREET.
rase ns-
THE SCENE AT EVENING. 127
among the flower-pots you are sure to see a great
mortar peeping ; and amidst the aloes and geraniums
stalks a Highlander, in green petticoat and scarlet
coat. Fatigue-parties are seen winding up the hill,
and busy about the endless cannon-ball plantations ;
awkward squads drill in every open space ; and
sentries are marching to and fro perpetually. Yet
the scene, says Thackeray, is always beautiful ;
especially at evening, when the people are saunter-
ing along the walks, and the moon pours its light
on the waters of the Bay and the hills and the
twinkling white houses of the opposite shore.
Then the place becomes quite romantic : it is too
dark to see the dust on the dried leaves ; the in-
trusive cannon-balls have for a while subsided into
the shade ; the awkward squads are at rest ; even
the loungers have retired, — the fan-flirting Spanish
ladies, the sallow black-eyed children, and the trim
white-jacketed dandies. From some craft nestling
on the quiet waters comes the sound of fife or song ;
or a faint cheer from yonder black steamer at the
Mole, which is bound on some nocturnal voyage.
You forget the squalor and motley character of the
town, and deliver yourself up entirely to romance.
The sentries pacing in the moonlight look like feudal
128 "all's WELL."
knights of old ; and there is music in the old historic
challenge, " Who goes there ? "
'"All's well,'" says Thackeray with humorous
exaggeration, " is very pleasant when sung decently
in tune, and inspires noble ideas of duty, courage,
and danger ; but when you have it shouted all the
night through, accompanied by a clapping of muskets
in a time of profound peace, the sentinel's cr}^ becomes
no more romantic to the hearer than it is to the
sandy Connaught-man or the barelegged Highlander
who delivers it. It is best to read about wars com-
fortably in ' Harry Lorrequer ' or Scott's novels, in
which knights shout their war-cries, and jovial Irish
bayoneteers hurrah, without depriving you of any
blessed rest. Men of a different way of thinking,
however, can suit themselves perfectly at Gibraltar ;
where there is marching and counter-marching,
challenging and relieving guard all the night through.
And this all over the huge Rock in the darkness ;
all through the mysterious zigzags, and round the
dark cannon-ball pyramids, and along the vast rock-
galleries, and up to the topmast flag-staff, where the
sentry can look out over two seas, poor fellows
are marching and clapping muskets, and crying,
'All's well,' dressed in cap and feather, in place of
THE SIGNAL STATION. 129
honest nightcaps best befitting the decent hours of
sleep."
Every visitor to Gibraltar makes a point of
ascending to the Signal Station, though tlie climb
is somewhat arduous, and the higher we ascend
the more rugged and rocky becomes the winding
path. It must be owned, however, that the view
from the summit repays one for the fatigue of the
ascent. From this point is clearly seen the ridge-
like character of the Rock, dividing it into two steep
declivities, which vary considerably in their character.
On the east, as we have already said, nothing is
visible but an inaccessible precipice; on the west,
the slope is more gradual, is broken into terraces,
and descends to a narrow level running parallel
with the shore, where cluster the houses of the
town and the villas on its outskirts, with batteries
and other defensive works stretching right away to
Europa Point.
Immediately at the foot of the Rock observe the
New Mole and the Dockyard. The works which
protect the sea-front of the town extend to this
point, where they are strengthened by the com-
paratively new batteries, Victoria and Albert, and
the sunken zigzag, poetically named the " Snake
(619) 11
130 o'hara's tower.
in the Grass." Beyond lies the sheltered nook of
Rosier Bay, where ships of the line frequently drop
anchor; on the high ground above are situated the
Naval Hospital and Barracks. The terraces of
Europa and Windmill Hill next come in sight,
with an apparently endless series of barracks, forts,
magazines, officers' residences, bastions, curtains,
and batteries. Across the Strait the eye rests
upon the Spanish fortress of Ceuta, and the moun-
tain-chain which extends from Tetuan to Tangier.
The visitor may prolong his excursion to the
ruins of O'Hara's Tower, above Europa Point. It
was built by Governor O'Hara as a belvedere, and
forms a picturesque object. Thence, the descent of
the eastern side of the Rock is accomplished by a
staircase known as '' the Mediterranean Steps,"
which winds and bends and twists around precipice
after precipice, and from point to point, with the
Rock above and the blue expanse of the Mediter-
ranean below. The silence and solitude of the spot
produce a deep impression on the mind, which seems
to enter here into an intimate communion with
Nature. We forget the works of man and the pur-
pose for which the grim Rock is so stoutly held;
when, on turning a sudden angle, we see, at the
ttTE ''mouth of fire." 131
extremity of a small platform, and in a situation
inaccessible if not invisible from below, a solitary
but formidable gun, commanding Catalan Bay and
the Neutral Ground. At a short distance is another,
but of less calibre. This singular recess is known
as the Mediterranean Battery.
So much for the Rock itself. Let us now invite
the reader to accompany us on an excursion to
Carteia. We pass through the Lower Lines, which
to the unmilitary eye appear absolutely impregnable,
and enter upon the sandy isthmus of the Neutral
Ground. A survey of the works at this point of
access to the mainland convinces us that the
Spaniards are justified in calling it the Boca del
Fuego, or " Mouth of Fire." The narrow cause-
way which crosses the artificial morass can be
blown away at once by the fortress guns. But
even if an enemy overcame this obstacle, he would
find himself confronted by a line of strong batteries,
stretching from the foot of the Rock to the sea, and
at the same time exposed to the cross-fire of three
or four rows of guns, placed in tiers along that side
of the precipice. As we continue our way along
the Neutral Ground, we observe that military science
132 THE ISTHMUS, OB. NEUTRAL GROUND.
has done its utmost to render it impassable by a
hostile force. Willis's Batteries are planted on a
bold crag, half-way up the Rock, so as to be able
to sweep the isthmus with a withering fire; and
the rugged front of the Rock yawns with fissures,
— los diantes de la vieja, or " the old lady's teeth,"
— from each of which frown the black muzzles of
heavy guns; while, in addition, the Old Mole, or
" Devil's Tongue," projects its threatening mass
into the sea.
The isthmus is a sandy level, with patches of
grass and vegetables, two parallel lines of British
and Spanish sentinels, barracks of a squalid char-
acter for the Spanish soldiery, and still more squalid
hovels for Spanish peasants. Here the ruins of
Fort St. Philip remind us of the former existence
of Spanish military works of a formidable character.
Philip V. erected in 1751 two advanced forts, now
heaps of shattered masonry; one called after his
tutelar saint, Felipe, the other after Santa Barbara,
the patroness of the Spanish artillery. They were
so strong, says Ford, that when the French advanced,
in the Peninsular War, the modern Spaniards, being
unable even to destroy them, called in the aid of
our British engineers, under Colonel Harding, by
CATALAN BAY FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN BATTERY.
Pagt IJt.
AN HISTORICAL ANECDOTE. 1 33
whom they were effectually dismantled. This is at
least un fait accompli, and they never ought to be
allowed to be rebuilt, adds Ford, since to raise
works before a fortress is a declaration of war ; and
as Buonaparte's announced intention was to take
Gibraltar, Sir Colin Campbell (afterwards Lord
Clyde) was perfectly justified in clearing them
away, even without leave or license from the
Spaniards. It was fortunate for many Spaniards
that Campbell effected this work of destruction,
for thus General Ballasteros was saved from annihi-
lation, when the French pursued him and his un-
disciplined mob of troops, by skulking under our
guns. Yet no sooner was Ferdinand VII. replaced
on the throne of Spain by British arms, than this
man urged him to reconstruct the lines as both
dangerous and offensive to England. Thereupon
said General Don to the Spanish commander at
Algesiras, " If you begin, I will fire a gun; if that
won't do, I shall fire another; and if you persevere,
you shall have a broadside from the galleries." So
the lines were never rebuilt.
Carteia was in old days a Phoenician colony,
situated at the point where the river Guadaranque
134 ABOUT CARTEIA.
enters Gibraltar Bay, and forms a small but shel-
tered port. The Phoenicians called it Melcarthes,
in honour of their tutelary god, the African Her-
cules ; and for centuries it flourished as the empo-
rium of a very extensive commerce. Having fallen
into the hands of the Romans, it was renamed
Carteia; and it is mentioned in the annals of the
Second Punic War as an important naval sta-
tion, and the scene of a great sea-fight, in which
Lselius defeated the Carthaginian Hadherbal, B.C.
206. Thirty -five years later, the Roman senate
assigned it as a place of residence to upwards of
four thousand men, the offspring of Roman soldiers
and Spanish women, who had been manumitted by
the praetor L. Canubius. They amalgamated with
such of the inhabitants as chose to remain, and
their city was declared a Latina colonia liber-
tinorum. Such is Livy's statement.
During the desperate civil war in Spain, Carteia
seems to have been the naval headquarters of Cneius
Pompeius, who fled thither after his severe defeat
at Munda, but was compelled to abandon it through
the disaffection of a large portion of its inhabitants,
B.C. 45. Betaking himself to the forests, he was
discovered by his pursuers. Weary and desperate,
RUINS OF THE ROMAN CITY. 135
he flung himself at the foot of a ti'ee, where he was
speedily overtaken, and killed after a miserable
struggle.
At the death of Julius Caesar, Sextus Pompeius
collected his adherents at Carteia, from which he
marched at the head of six legions. This is the
last incident of any importance in its history. It
appears gradually to have sunk into decay; its port
was forsaken, its commerce disappeared. After the
Moorish invasion its masses of masonry were used
as a quarry for the erection of the Torre de Cartha-
gena, and the Spaniards afterwards pillaged them
for their town of San Roque. Hence its remains
are now of small extent. Corn gi'ows upon the
site of the once populous and wealthy city; and
the ruins of its theatre are the only memorials of
its glory.
The city walls may also be traced; they ran
parallel with the river, and then crossed the higli
ground to the sea-shore. The ancient harbour was
within the river-mouth, the entrance to which is
now obstructed by a bar. It is very narrow, and
easily rendered impracticable for hostile ships.
Livy records that when Varus, Pompey's admiral,
was defeated off the Rock by Didius, he withdi-ew
136 RELICS OF ANTIQUITY.
to the harbour of Carteia, and fixed a number of
anchors or grapnels across its mouth. Against these
the ships of Didius struck, when they attempted to
enter ; and by this simple expedient Varus saved
his entire fleet from destruction. Two hundred
years ago the ancient mole, with its solid Roman
work, was almost entire ; and the ruins of many
splendid buildings still existed. No statues or art-
relics have been found; but as Carteia was allowed
the privilege of a mint, the coins dug up have been
numerous and interesting.
An extensive tunny-fishery formerly existed at
Carteia.
Returning to Gibraltar, we find that there are
still two or three of its " lions " to be inspected.
We have visited neither St. Martin's Cave nor the
Galleries.
The former is reached by a path not to be re-
commended to any but the firm of foot and clear
of brain. It passes the Jews' Cemetery, and then
climbs the eastern side of the Rock, until it reaches
a craggy buttress, which overhangs a tremendous
abyss, and commands a fine view of the southern
precipices. Standing there, the adventurous spec-
A DANGEROUS PATH. 137
tator takes in a panorama of the Strait from Eu-
ropa Point to Ceuta, with the lighthouse rearing its
white tower on the wave-washed promontory, and
the white surf of the Atlantic breaking in ripples
on the Mediterranean current.
Still following up the hazardous path, we find that
it skirts the brink of a steep stony slope, descending
from the precipice down to the very water's edge, —
" a truly perilous spot, where a single slip over the
loose pebbles must send us rolling several hundred
feet, into the Mediterranean." It is said that a boy
of Gibraltar, who had conceived the idea of revenof-
ing himself on a schoolfellow, induced him and two
other boys to visit in his company the famous cave.
As they approached this dangerous spot, he exclaimed,
" We are four that go up, but only three will come
down ! " and hastened to fulfil his prediction by
hurling his victim into the sea below.
Having passed the slope, we creep on our hands
and knees through a gap in the rock, and, a short
distance beyond, come upon a narrow ledge, which
proves to be the threshold of the cavern in question.
Along this ledge we ascend to a small oval platform,
and thence enter within the gray obscurity of the
cave.
138 ST. martin's cave.
Here is a description of its principal features by
an accurate observer : —
The roof is encrusted with pendent stalactites, and
supported by stalactitic pillars, some of which are
solid and massy, others so slender and delicate that
they might have been the work of fairy hands. In
the deepest recesses, a still pool of water, formed by
the constant percolation through the rocky vault,
vividly reflects the fantastic objects above and around
it. " The perilousness of the access, the deep seclu-
sion of the site, hung half-way up a precipice 1400
feet high, with the inaccessible rock above and the
murmuring sea below, make this cavern as it were
a temple, erected by the hand of Nature herself, for
the lonely enthusiast who delights to worship her in
her most hidden solitudes. We continued to wander
about, fascinated by the strange beauty of the spot ;
and, loath to leave it, lingered until the declining
beams of the sun warned us that we had to return
by a path which it would be difficult, if not danger-
ous, to retrace in the obscurity of twilight. Almost
dazzled as we emerged into open day, we stood a
moment beneath the dark arched entry, to look out
upon the expanse of sea, glowing in the sun, with a
few white feluccas catching its declining beams ; and
THE ROCK-GALLERIES. 139
then creeping cautiously down the narrow ledge by
which we had ascended, began to wend our way to-
wards home."
To the Galleries the best route is by Willis's
Batteries, which were finished in 1732, and, from
their commanding position, proved exceedingly annoy-
ing to the Spaniards in the Great Siege. The execu-
tion done was so serious, that it led them to form a
plan for mining and blowing them up. They began
their operations at the top of a slope, above the
Moorish ruins of the Devil's Tower, on the north side
of the Rock ; but while burrowing through the solid
mass were overheard by a watchful sentinel. He
gave the alarm, and the works were quickly destroyed
by the besieged. Having reached a narrow terrace
about half-way up the northern angle, the visitor, as
he surveys its face, discerns a long series of cave-like
openings, from which protrude the black muzzles of
cannon, so pointed as to command the Neutral
Ground below. Throuiih an iron ffate he now enters
into the upper galleries, which were excavated dur-
ing the Great Siege, and lead to the Windsor Galleries,
likewise provided with port-holes, as it were, and
thence proceeds by an irregular path to St. George's
(619) 12
140 ARCHBISHOP trench's SONNET.
Hall. This is excavated in a mass of rock, which
externally resembles a projecting dome, and here at
the eastern angle corresponds with the craggy plat-
form of Willis's Batteries at the western. Its dimen-
sions are considerable, and on more than one occa-
sion it has been used as a banqueting-chamber.
Lord Nelson was entertained here prior to the battle
of Trafalgar.
We now take leave of Gibraltar, its town, its
fortifications, its Alameda, its rock-hewn batteries,
repeating the fine sonnet of Archbishop Trench : —
GIBRALTAR.
" England ! we love thee better than we know;
And this I learned when, after wanderings long
'Mid people of another stock and tongue,
I heard again thy martial music blow,
And saw thy gallant children to and fro
Pace, keeping ward at one of these huge gates
Which like twin giants watch the Herculean straits.
When first I came in sight of that brave shore.
It made my very heart within me dance
To think that thou thy proud foot shouldst advance
Forward so far into the mighty sea.
Joy was it and exultation to behold
Thine ancient standard's rich emblazonry,
A glorious picture by the wind unroUed."
It is, doubtless, with such feelings as these de-
scribed by the poet that most Englishmen will gaze
upon the famous Rock ; though there are not want-
A POLITICAL STRONGHOLD. 141
ing philanthropists to remind us that it rightfully
belongs to Spain, and that our possession of it is an
insult to a friendly power. Had we surrendered it,
however, it would probably have been seized by
France ; and it is not so much for our own interests
we hold it as for those of Europe. While the British
flag waves from its summit, it is a sign and symbol
that the Mediterranean will be the free highway of
all nations.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROCK.
the earliest navigators who penetrated
westward the Rock must have been a
conspicuous landmark, and we have seen
what fables were gradually associated with it. Sud-
denly rising, erect and defiant, from the mainland,
with the waters whitening in surf at its very base,
and apparently defining the boundary of the inhabit-
able world, it is no wonder that men learned to
invest it with a certain mystery and awe. Its
records, however, at the outset, are vague and con-
jectural. We are told that the Phoenicians called it
"Alabe," which the Greeks corrupted into "Calpe;"
but the true meaning of the name is quite uncertain.
According to an ancient writer, it signifies " a lofty
mountain ; " and some modern authorities connect it
with the well-known root Alp. Others identify it
THE " HILL OF TARIK." 143
■with a word which in the south of Spain occurred
in the various forms of Carp-e, Cart-eia, and Tart-
essus.
Strabo speaks of a city of Calpe, situated about
four and a quarter miles from the Rock, which was
formerly an important naval station of the Iberians.
Some say, he adds, that it was founded by Heracles,
and anciently named Heracleia ; and that the great
circuit of its walls and its docks could be seen in his
time. It is a moot point with antiquaries whether
Calpe and Carteia were one and the same city.
The present name of the Rock is derived from
Jebel-Tarik, or " hill of Tarik," — so called from the
Moorish conqueror who landed here, April 80, 711.
Every reader of Southey will be familiar with his
tragic poem of " Roderick, the Last of the Goths,"
and will remember the story on which it is founded,
— how that Roderick, the Gothic king of Spain,
betrayed the daughter of Count Julian, the governor
of Ceuta ; and how that the latter, to revenge his
dishonoured house, allied himself with Muza, the
Moorish ruler of West Africa, to accomplish the con-
quest of his native land : —
" Mad to wreak
His vengeance for his violated child
144 THE MOORISH INVASION.
On Roderick's head, in evil hour for Spain,
For that unhappy daughter and himself,
Desperate apostate, on the Moors he called;
And like a cloud of locusts, which the South
Wafts from the plains of wasted Africa,
The Mussulmen upon Iberia's shore
Descend."
Muza, having obtained the sanction of the Caliph
Al Walid Ebn Abdalmslik, sent over a small force
of 100 horse and 400 foot to examine the country,
and the best line of operations for an army. This
advanced guard was commanded by Tarik Ebn
Zarca, a veteran warrior of high repute, who crossed
the Strait, accompanied by Count Julian, and landed
on the Spanish shore near the present Spanish town
of Algesiras. Meeting with no opposition, he ravaged
the neighbouring towns, and, loaded with plunder,
returned to Africa.
Incited by the prospect of absolute success, Muza
collected in the following year a well-equipped army
of 1 2,000 men, to the command of which Tarik was
appointed. Embarking on board a large flotilla, he
once more crossed the Strait, and, this time, landed
on the sandy isthmus which connects the Rock with
the Spanish mainland. Before entering on the con-
quest of the country, he deemed it advisable to secure
his communication with Africa, by establishing a
THE MOORISH INVASION. 145
strong military position on the coast ; and his keen
eye having at once detected the value of the Rock,
he ordered a castle to be raised upon it. Some por-
tions of this ancient structure still remain ; and an
inscription discovered over the principal gate, before
it was demolished, recorded the completion of the
work in 725.
" Thou, Calpe, saw'st their coming; ancient rock
Renowned, no hunger now shalt thou be called
From gods and heroes of the years of yore,
Kronos, or hundred-handed Briareus,
Bacchus or Hercules ; but doomed to bear
The name of thy new conqueror, and thenceforth
To stand his everlasting monument.
Thou saw'st the dark -blue waters flash before
Their ominous way, and whiten round their keels;
Their swarthy myriads darkening o'er thy sands.
There on the beach the Misbelievers spread
Their banners, flaunting to the sun and breeze ;
Fair shone the sun upon their proud array,
White turbans, glittering armour, shields engrailed
With gold, and scymitars of Syrian steel ;
And gently did the breezes, as in sport,
Curl their long flags outroUing, and display
The blazoned scrolls of blasphemy. Too soon
The gales of Spain from that unhappy land
Wafted, as from an open charnel-house,
The taint of death ; and that bright sun, from fields
Of slaughter, with the morning dew drew up
Corruption through the infected atmosphere."
Leaving a small force at the foot of Jebel-Tarik,
as the Sai"acens named the Rock, in honour of their
14G THE GREAT BATTLE NEAR XERES.
leader, Tarik pushed forward to the westward, cap-
tured Carteia, and encountered the Goths, under
King Roderick, near Xeres in Andalusia. The battle
was fiercely contested. The Goths fought with all their
old valour, and victory might have rested with King
Roderick, had not some of his nobles, with their
followers, deserted him at the crisis of the fight, and
joined the invaders. The Goths then gave way,
and the Moors pressing them closely, their retreat
soon became a headlong flight.
" Eight summer days, from morn till latest eve.
The fatal fight endured, till perfidy
Prevailing to their overthrow, they sank
Defeated, not dishonoured. On the banks
Of Chrysus, Roderick's royal car* was found,
His battle-horse Orelio, and that helm
Whose horns, amid the thickest of the fray.
Eminent, had marked his presence. Did the stream
Receive him with the undistinguished dead,
* The following quaint description of tbe royal car may interest the reader : —
"The wheels were made of the bones of elephants, and the axle-tree was of fine
silver, and the perch was of fine gold. It was drawn by two horses, who were of
great size, and gentle ; and upon the car was pitched a tent, so large that it
covered the whole car, and it was of fine cloth of gold, upon which were wrought
all the great feats in arms which had been achieved until that time ; and the
pillar of the tent was of gold, and many stones of great value were set in it,
which sent forth such splendour, that by night there was no need of any other
light therein. And the car and the horses bore the same adornments as the
king, and these were full of jewels the largest that could be found. And in the
middle of the car there was a seat placed against the pillar of the tent ; and this
seat was of great price, insomuch that the value of it cannot be summed up, so
many and so great were the stones which were set in it ; and it was wrought so
subtly, and of such rare workmanship, that they who saw it marvelled thereat.
And upon this seat the king was seated, being lifted up so high that all in the
host, little or great, might behold him. And in this manner it was appointed
that the king should go to war."
SUCCESS OF THE MOORS. 147
Christian and ISIoor, who clogged its course that day?
So thought the conqueror, and from that day forth,
Memorial of his perfect victory,
He bade the river bear the name of Joy." *
Flushed with victory, Tarik advanced into the
country, and meeting with no organized attempt at
opposition, rapidly made himself master of the pro-
vinces of Asturias, Biscay, and of the interior of
Spain. The Goths, driven into the mountains,
■gradually settled down into little communities, which
after a while were attracted towards one another by
the common sentiment of patriotism and hostility
towards the infidels. Then they descended from
their mouutain-recesses, and after a protracted series
of contests succeeded in expelling the Moors from
the northern provinces. Encouraged by this success,
the chiefs allied themselves together for the purpose
of driving them wholly out of Spain; and this being-
accomplished, they founded the several independent
kingdoms of Leon, Galicia, Asturias, Navarre, and
Castile.
Meantime, Gibraltar had increased in importance,
though at that time it was surpassed by the
neighbouring town of Algesiras. Early , in the
fourteenth century, however, Ferdinand, King of
* The river Guadelete.
148 ATTACK BY THE SPANIARDS.
Castile, wrested it from its Moorish garrison, and it
remained in the hands of the Spaniards until 1333.
Then Abomelique, son of the Sultan of Fez, having
landed on the coast with a force to assist the
Moorish king of Granada, immediately attacked the
fortress of the Rock, and captured it after a brave
resistance. The Spanish troops fought with deter-
mined resolution, and surrendered at the approach
of famine rather than to the summons of the enemy.
Alonzo XL, King of Castile, was hastening to the
relief of the beleaguered stronghold, when news of its
capitulation reached him. He resolved to attempt its
recapture before the Moors could throw in provisions
or repair and strengthen its defences. Pressing
forward with great rapidity, he arrived before
Gibraltar on the fifth day after its surrender.
Dividing his army into three sections, he posted the
main body on the isthmus, a second on the Red
Sands, while the third occupied the north side of
the Rock above the town. He made several desperate
efforts to storm the castle, but each time was re-
pulsed with severe loss ; and eventually found himself
in the position of the besieger besieged — the king of
Granada uniting his forces with those of Abomelique,
and encamping in the rear of the Spaniards so as to
A SECOND SIEGE. 149
raise a formidable barrier across the isthmus I'rom
the Bay to the Mediterranean, and cut off their
supplies of provisions. For a few days longer
Alonzo desperately pressed his attacks ; but at length
was compelled by famine to open up negotiations
with the Moorish chiefs, which resulted in his being
allowed to retire with his troops, unmolested.
Soon afterwards the Christians surprised the Moorish
camp, and Abomelique was slain. His father avenged
his death by falling upon the Spanish fleet, which
he completely destroyed ; but Alonzo was still bent
on the recovery of Gibraltar, and in 1349 collected
a powerful army for this purpose. His task was
more difficult than on the previous occasion, the
Moors having greatly added to the strength of the
fortifications, and garrisoned it with their best
troops.
It was in the spring of the year that Alonzo sat
down before Gibraltar, and he conducted the siege
with great vigour, harassing the garrison with con-
stant attacks and incessant storms of missiles, and
intercepting their communications by land and sea.
He was on the point of success when the plague broke
out in his camp, sweeping away thousands of his
soldiers, and cairying off himself on the 26th of March
150 THE DE GUZMANS.
1350. The siege was immediately raised, and the
Crescent still shone luridly from the battlements of
the fortress-crowned Rock. But dissensions breaking
out among the Moors themselves, the castle was
seized, in 1410, by Jusef III., King of Granada.
His rule, however, proved so distasteful to the
inhabitants that they rose against him, compelled
his garrison to retire, and then implored the Emperor
of Morocco to take them under his protection. The
emperor despatched his brother Said to their assist-
ance with 1000 horse and 2000 foot ; but the King
of Granada was unwilling to surrender his prize, and
assembled a fleet and army which speedily com-
pelled the unfortunate Said to capitulate.
After an interval of a quarter of a century, the
hopes of the Spaniards once more turned towards
the famous Rock, which had been the object of so
many vicissitudes. In 1435 Henry de Guzman,
Count de Niebla, resolved to invest it by land and
sea ; but having disembarked from his galleys, and
attacked the Moors, before his son John had brought
up the land-forces, he was driven back pell-mell into
the sea, and with many of his followers perished.
In 1462, John de Guzman had the satisfaction of
CAPTURE OF GIBRALTAR. 151
avenging his father's death. A civil war had
broken out in Moorish Granada, and a considerable
portion of the Gibraltar garrison had been withdrawn
to strengthen the army of one of the aspii'ants to
the crown. The governor of Tarifa, apprised of the
opportunity thus offered, rapidly collected a body of
Spanish troops and appeared before Gibraltar. The
inhabitants defended it bravely; but John de Guzman
arriving with reinforcements for the besieging army,
they surrendered, and the Cross supplanted the
Crescent after a period of seven hundred and forty-
eight years. This event was so grateful to Henry
IV., King of Castile and Leon, that he added Gibraltar
to his royal titles, and bestowed upon the fortress
the armorial bearings of a castle, gules, proper, with
a key pendent to the gate, or, — thereby indicating
that Gibraltar was the key to the Mediterranean.
Don Pedro de Perras was appointed governor ; but
the post was afterwards given to Don John de
Guzman, who seems to have held it as a semi-
independent fief until 1502, when, in the reign of
Ferdinand and Isabella, it was reclaimed by the
Crown.
In 1589 its fortifications were extended and
modernized by the imperial engineer, Daniel Speckel:
152 GIBRALTAR AND BRITISH HISTORY.
from which date it was regarded as impregnable,
until Sir George Rooke dispelled the long-cherished
delusion.
In concluding our brief description of Gibraltar,
and our summary of its history, we may allude to its
intimate connection with the naval annals of Great
Britain. How often have our fleets sailed forth
from under its guns to encounter the armaments of
hostile Powers ; how often have they returned
victorious, carrying with them the trophies of their
prowess ! Let us glance for a moment at the most
brilliant of these triumphs ; that last crowning
victory of Nelson's, off Trafalgar, which was won
almost within sight of the celebrated Strait. A
memorable victory, for it swept the French and
Spanish flags from the sea, while it defeated
Napoleon's masterly combination by which he had
hoped to have effected the invasion of England.
The French and Spanish fleets, under Admiral
Villeneuve, were lying in Cadiz, closely watched by
Nelson, with an inferior force, when Napoleon sent
them an imperative order to put to sea. Against
his better judgment, Villeneuve weighed anchor on
the 19th and 20th of October 1805, and forming
BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR. 153
in five divisions, — in all 33 sail of the line and 3
frigates, mounting 2626 guns, — stood for the mouth
of the Strait. This was the opportunity Nelson
long had wished for ; and with his 27 ships of the
line and 6 frigates, canying 2148 guns, he sailed
in immediate pursuit. When, on the 21st, the
French admiral became aware of the approach of the
British, and discovered that it was impossible to
avoid an engagement, he drew up his ships in an'ay
of battle, — forming a double and even a treble line,
nearly five miles in length, and resembling a curve,
or half-moon.
Meanwhile, Nelson advanced with his ships
arrayed in two columns, and pressing forward
under a cloud of canvas ; Collingwood leading the
leeward division in the Royal Sovereign, and
Nelson himself the weather line in the Victory.
The wind was blowing freshly from the west, and
a heavy swell rolled along the sea. At this
moment the great English Sea-King withdrew to
his cabin, where he drew up a memorandum of a
domestic character, and wrote the following prayer,
evidently under the influence of a presentiment of
coming death : —
" May the great God, whom I worship, grant to
(019) 13
154 NELSON AND THE "VICTOR\."
my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general,
a great and glorious victory, and may no misconduct
in any one tarnish it ; and may humanity after
victory be the predominant feature in the British
fleet ! For myself, individually, I commit my life
to Him that made me ; and may His blessing alight
on my endeavours for serving my country faith-
fully ! To Him I resign myself, and the just cause
which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen.
Amen."
Dressed in his customary well-worn uniform, with
the four time-tarnished stars of the orders he gene-
rally wore. Nelson went upon deck. Aware that in
the ensuing battle his life would be specially aimed
at, his captain. Hardy, implored him not to lead his
division into the storm, and he reluctantly consented
that the Leviathan and Timeraire should pass ahead.
But while he issued the necessary order, he took
good care it should prove fruitless. The Victory
was a swift sailer, and could not fail to keep the
lead, unless she shortened sail. But it was evident
that Nelson delighted in crowding on all the canvas
his spars could carry. Confident of victory, he
turned with a smile to Captain Blackwood, and
asked how many ships of the enemy's he should
THE FAMOUS SIGNAL. 155
consider a fair triumph ? Blackwood, knowing how
well they fought, answered that he thought fourteen
would be a glorious result. " I shall not be satis-
fied," said Nelson, "with less than twenty."
The British fleet was rapidly closing up with the
enemy, when, at about twenty minutes to twelve.
Nelson again turned to Captain Blackwood, observing
that it appeared to him some other signal was want-
ing. He paused a few moments, and then directed the
signal-lieutenant to proclaim to the fleet that fine
historic thought, —
" England expects every man will do his duty ! "
As soon as its purport was understood by the fleet,
a strong and earnest cheer arose, which showed with
how heroic an enthusiasm the British were going
into the storm and stress of battle. Shortly after-
wards Captain Blackwood, having to return to his
frigate, the Euryalus, shook his commander by the
hand, and expressed a hope he should return to con-
gi-atulate him on the capture of twenty prizes.
" God bless you, Blackwood," said the admiral ; " I
shall never see you again."
The division under Nelson had to bear away to
the north, in order to ffet between Cadiz and the
15G GOING INTO ACTION.
enemy. Thus it came to pass that Collingwood's
division first joined battle, — his flag-ship, the Royal
Sovereign, breaking the enemy's line at ten minutes
past twelve, lufiing under the stern of the Santa
Anna, and pouring into her a tremendous broadside.
Three others of the enemy then gathered round the
British man-of-war, hurling at her such a hurricane
of shot that they were seen to strike each other in
the air. " Rotherham," said Collingwood to his
captain, " what would not Nelson give to be here
now ? " Almost at the same time, Nelson, on board
the Victory, exclaimed, " See how that noble fellow
Collingwood takes his ship into action !"
Ten minutes later, the Victory broke the enemy's
line to the northward, and was soon receiving the
fire of no fewer than six ships. The incessant dis-
charges were murderous, and men fell quickly. With
upwards of fifty killed and wounded, and her sails
torn into ribbons, the Victory still drove through
the enemy, completely breaking up their trim array ;
her example being followed by each man-of war as
it came up. The battle was at its fiercest when the
Victory came into collision with the Redoubtable,
which she engaged with her starboard guns, while
she directed her larboard on the Bucentaure and
DEATH OF NELSON. 157
Trinidad. A constant rattle of musketry was main-
tained from the tops of the Redoubtable, which were
filled with soldiers. In a few minutes the dead
encumbered the gangways and quarter-deck of the
Victory, while her cockpit was filled with wounded.
Meantime, Nelson and Hardy continued to pace to
and fro along a space of deck not more than seven
yards in length ; and at about twenty -five minutes
past one, just as they had reached within a pace of
the regular turning-point, Nelson, who was on the
larboard side, faced about, and, before Hardy could
support him, fell. " They have done for me at last,
Hardy!" he exclaimed. "I hope not," answered the
captain. "Yes; my backbone is shot through."
A musket-ball from the mizzen-top of the Redoubt-
able had entered his left shoulder through the fore
part of the epaulet, and descending, lodged in the
spine. He was removed to the cockpit, and examined
by the surgeons. The wound was mortal. All
was done that could be done to alleviate his suffer-
ings ; and he lingered until half-past four, when,
murmuring, " Thank God, I have done my duty ! "
the greatest seaman of this or any age passed away.
And passed away in the arms of victory. His
daring manoeuvre had been completely successful ;
158 "GIBRALTAR — TRAFALGAR'."
and out of the formidable fleet which represented
the united power of Fi-ance and Spain, nineteen
men-of-war were captured. Trafalgar gave the
supremacy of the sea to Great Britain.
Gibraltar — Trafalgar ! These are names which
will stir the heart of every Englishman, so long as
patriotism is recognized as a virtue, — so long as
England's sons continue to cherish England's
honour.
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