REMINISCENCES OP A VOLUNTEER, A.D. 1925.

Otago Witness, Issue 1029, 19 August 1871, Page 10

REMINISCENCES OP A VOLUNTEER, A.D. 1925.

THE BATTLE OF BORKINO.

(From (he Spectator.)

Everybody is talking about the first paper in Blackwood for this month, and everybody is quite right. We do not know that we ever saw anything better in any magazine, or any better example of the vraisemblanca which a skilled artist can produce by a variety of minute touches. If the writer is, as reported, Colonel Hamley. then Colonel Hamley, when he wrote the charming story of "Lady Lee's Widowhood," misconceived as a novelist the nature of his own powers. He should rival Defoe, not Anthony Trollope. The writer of this paper, living about 1925, gives his son an account of his adventures as a volunteer during the invasion of England 50 years before, and so powerful is the narrative, so intensely real the impression it produces, that the coolest disbeliever in panics cannot read it without a flush of annoyance, or close it without the thought that after all, as the world now stands, some such day of humiliation for England is at least possible. The suggested condition precedent of invasion, the destruction of the fleet by torpedoes attached by a new invention to our ships, has attracted many minds, and with the destruction of the regulars, the helplessness of the brave but half-organised volunteers, and the absence of arrangement, make up a picture which, fanciful as it is, we seem as we read it almost to have seen. Tt describes so exactly what we all feel that, under the circumstances, Englishmen, if refused time to organise, would probably do. It is impossible to make extracts such as would give an idea of the pa;jer, for its effect depends upon a thousand minute touches, which would be unintelligible without tlie context ; but we must give the writer's account of the destruction of the fleet. The German Government has found means of transport, by laying an embargo on every vessel in the northern ports of Europe ; but England, though unready, had still «i fleet which, visited by the Queen, and calmly complimented by the Times, steamed out to destroy the advancing armada. A cable was laid down as it advanced :—: —

" I had just come up to town by train as usual, and was walking to my office, when the newsboys began to cry, ' New edition — enemy's fleet in sight ! * You may imagine the scene in London ! Business still went on at the banks, for bills matured although the independence of the country was being fought out under her own eyes, so to say ; and the speculators were active enough. But even with the peoplewho were makingand losing their fortune, the interest in the fleet overcame everything else ; men who went to pay in or draw out their money stopped to show the last bulletin to the cashier. As for the street, you could hardly get along for the crowd stopping to buy and read the papers ; while at every house or office the members sat restlessly in the common room, as if to keep together for company, sending out some of their number every few minutes to get the latest edition. At least, this is what happened at our office ; but to sit still was as impossible as to do anything, and most of us went out and wandered about among the crowd, under a sort of feeling that the news were got quicker at in this way. Bad as were the times coming, 1 think the sickening suspense of that day, and the shock which followed, was almost the worst that we underwent. It was about 10 o'clock that the first telegram came ; an hour later the wire announced that the admiral had signalled to form line of battle, and shortly afterwards that the order was given to bear down on the enemy and engage. At 12 came the announcement, ' Fleet opened fire about three miles to leeward of us' — that is, the ship with the cable. So far all had been expectancy ; then came the first token of calamity. 'An ironclad has been blown up '— ' the enemy's torpedoes are doing great damage '— ' the flaghip is laid aboard the enemy '— ' the flagship appears to be sinking' — 'the vice-admiral has signalled ' — then the cable became silent, and, as yoix know, we heard no more till two days afterwards. The solitary ironclad which escaped the disaster steamed into Portsmouth. Then the whole story came out — how our sailors, gallant as ever, had tried to close with the enemy ; how the latter had evaded the conflict at close quarters, and, sheering off, left behind them the fatal engines which sent our ships, one after the other, to the bottom ; how all this happened almost in a few minutes. The Government, it appeal's, had received warnings of this invention ; but to the nation this stunning blow was utterly unexpected." That scene will happen some day, though

the means of destruction will probably be the fall of barrels of nitroglycerine, or some similar compound, thrown from catapults on to the decks of our ironclads, and exploding downwards — so as to avoid all danger to the assailants — and we can only hope that the second line of defence may then be in better order. If it is not, the rest of the picture may yet be realised :—: —

"We had heard of generosity in war ; we found none : the war was made by us, it was said, and we must take the consequences. London and our only arsenal captured, we were at the mercy of oxir captors, and right heavily did they tread on our necks. Need I tell you the rest \ — of the ransom we had to pay, and the taxes raised to cover it, which keeps us paxipers to this day )—) — the brutal frankness that announced we must give place to a new naval power and be made harmless for revenge — the victorious troops living at free quarters, the yoke they put on us made the more galling that their requisitions had a semblance of method and legality ? Better have been robbed at fir&t hand by the soldiery themselves, than through our own magistrates made the instruments for extortion. How we lived through the degradation we daily and hourly underwent, I hardly now even understand. And what was there left to us to live for ] Stripped of our colonies ; Canada and the West Indies gone to America ; Australia forced to separate ; India lost for e"\er, after the English there had all been destroyed, vainly trying to hold the country when cut ofi' from aid by their countrymen ; Gibraltar and Malta ceded to the new naval Power ; Ireland independent and in perpetual anarchy and revolution. When I look at my countxy as it is now— its trade gone, its factories silent, its harbours empty, a prey to pauperism and decay — when I see all this, and think what Great Britain was in my youth, 1 ask myself whether I have really a heart or any sense of patriotism that I should have witnessed such degradation and still care to live."

It is said this paper is to be published separately. If its author will add one page explaining why a new army could not be raised in the north, and a second displaying the helplessness of a people like that of London without weapons or the habit of using them, and then sell his pamphlet in the fashion of Dame Europa's School, he will produce an efi'ect of which he little dreams, perhaps do more to arm England than Mr Cardwell, with his 10 millions, will be able to accomplish.

We publish the following extracts from this interesting article, which appeared in Blackwood's Magazine. It is rumoured that the writer is Lieut-Colonel Hamley, a well known author, and a constant contributor to that journal. Whoever the writer may be. it is evident that he has adopted the style employed by MM. Erck-mann-Chatrian in their charming stories, illustrating scenes in the wars of the first Napoleon. There is no reason to regret that lie has done so, as his account of the invasion of Great Britain in 1875 is so graphically told that it becomes painfully interesting to the reader. The terrible realism there is about his descriptions will strike all who road them, and there is no difficulty in understanding how an uncomfortable feeling should have been created in the minds of all classes at home from the p\iblication of the article. Recent events on the continent have shown so clearly how a nation with great military prestige may be humbled in a short time when < >pposedby superior organisatii >n and skill, that it is no wonder an earnestness, such as never before manifested itself during the present generation, to provide efficient means for the defence of the country is being displayed by the British Parliament. The narrative is supposed to be written in 1925, by a volunteer who took part in the stirring events at the time of the invasion of Great Britain by the Germans in 1875. HOW THE CRASH CAME ABOUT. First, the rising in India drew away a part of our small army ; then came the difficulty with America, which had been threatened for years, and we sent off 10,000 men to defend Canada—! a handful which did not go far to strengthen the real defence of that country, bait formed an irresistible temptation to the Americans to try and take them prisoners, especially as the contingent included three battalions of the Guards. Thus the regular army at home was even smaller than usual, and nearly half of it was in Ireland, to check the talked of Fenian invasion fitting out in the West. Worse still — though I do not know it would really have mattered, as things turned out — the fleet was scattered abroad, some ships to guard the West Indies, others to check privateering in the China seas, and a large party to try and protect our colonies on the North Pacific shore of America, where, with incredible folly, we continued to retain possessions which we could not possibly defend. America was

not the great power forty years ago that it is now, but for us to try and hold territory on her shores which could only be reached by sailing round the Horn, was as absurd as if she had attempted to take the Isle of Man before the independence of Ireland. We see this plainly enough now, but we were all blind then.

It was while we were in this state, with ships all over the world, and our little bit of an army cut up into detachments, that the Secret Treaty was published, and Holland and Denmark were annexed. People say now that we might have escaped the troubles which came on us if we had at any rate kept quiet till our other difficulties were settled ; but the English were always an impulsive lot ; the whole country was boiling over with indignation, and the Government, egged on by the press, and going with the stream, declared war. We had always got out of our scrapes before, and we be lieved our old luck and phick would pull us through.

Then, of course, there was a bustle and hurry all over the land. Not that the calling up of the army reserves caused much stir, for I think there were only about 5000 altogether, and a good many of these were not to be found when the time came ; but recruiting was going on all over the country, with a tremendous high bounty, 50,000 more men having been voted for the army. Then there was a Ballot Bill passed for adding 55,000 men to the militia ; why a round number was not fixed on I don't know, but the Prime Minister said that this was the exact quota wanted to put the defences of the country on a sound footing. Then the shipbuilding that began ! Ironclads, despatch boats, gunboats, monitors — every building yard in the country got its job, and they were offering 10s a day wages for anyone who could drive a rivet. This didn't improve the recruiting, you may suppose. I remember, too, there was a squabble in the House of Commons about whether the artisans should be drawn for the ballot, as they were so much wanted, and I think they got an exemption. This sent numbers to the yards, and if we had had a couple of years to prepare instead of a couple of weeks, I dare say we should have done very well.

It was on a Monday that the declaration of war was announced, and in a few hours we got our first inkling of the sort of preparation the enemy had made for the event which they had really brought about, although the actual declaration was mr.de by us. A pious appeal to the God of battles, whom it was said we had aroused, was telegraphed back ; and from that moment all communication with the north of Europe was cut off. Our embassies and legations were packed off at an hour's notice, and it was as if we had suddenly come back to the middle ages. The dumb astonishment visible all over London the next morning when the papers came out void of news, merely hinting what had happened, was one of the most startling things in this war of surprises, but everything had been arranged beforehand ; nor oiight we to have been surprised, for we had seen the same power, only a few years before, move down half a million of men on a few days' notice, to conquer the greatest military nation in Europe, with no more fuss than our War Office used to make over the transport of a brigade from Aldershot to Brighton — and this, too, without the allies it had now. What happened now was not a bit more wonderful in reality ; but people of this country could not bring themselves to believe that what had never occurred before to England could ever ]>ossibly happen. Like our neighbours, we became wise when it was too late.

To add to the confusion, a portion of the fleet which would have been available was decoyed down the Dardanelles, and another portion of the channel fleet was on the coast of Ireland looking after Fenian filibusters. In the meantime the German Government had found means of transport by laying an embargo on every vessel in the north of Europe, but England had still confidence in what remained of her fleet, and after being visited by the Queen, it steemed out to meet and overwhelm the German Flotilla.

Then follows the account of the defeat of our fleet of ironclads, only one vessel escaping from the disaster ; the rest having been destroyed by the enemy's torpedoes. HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED IN LONDON. The panic and excitement of that day — how the funds went down to 35 ; the run upon the Bank and its stoppage ; the fall of half the houses in the city ; how the Government issued a notification suspending specie payment and the tendering of bills — this last precaution too late for most firms, Carter and Co. among the number, which stopped payment as soon as my father got to the office ; the call to arms, and the unanimous response of the i country — all this is history which I need

not repeat. You wish to hear about my own share in the business of that time. Well, volunteering had increased immensely f rum the day war was proclaimed, and our regiment went up in a day or two from its usual strength of GOO to nearly 1000. But the stock of rides was deficient. We were promised a further s\xpply in a few days, which, however, were never received ; and while waiting for them the regiment had to be divided into two parts, the recruits drilling with the rifles in the moming, and we old hands in the evening. The failures and stoppage of work on this black Friday threw an immense number of yo\mg men out of employment, and we recruited up to 1400 strong by the next day, but what was the use of all these men without arms } On the Saturday it was announced that a lot of smooth-bore muskets in store at the Tower would be served out to regiments applying for them, and a regular scramble took place among the volunteers for them, and. our people got hold of a couplo of hundred. But you might almost as well have tried to learn rifle drill with a broom-stick us with old Brown Besa ; besides, there was no smooth-bore ammunition in the country. A national subscription was opened for the manufacture of rifles at Birmingham, which ran up to a couple of millions in two days, but, like everything else, this came too late. To return to the volunteers : camps had been formed a fortnight before at Dover, Brighton, Harwich, and other places, of regulars and militia, and the headquarters of most of the volunteer regiments were attached to one or other of them, and the volunteers themselves used to go down for drill from day to day, as they could spare time, and on Friday an order went out that they should be permanently embodied ; but the metropolitan volunteers were still kept about London as a sort of reserve, till it could be seen at what point the invasion would take plaoe, We were all told off to brigades and divisions. Our brigade consisted of the 4th Surrey Militia, the Ist Survey Adninistra* tive Battalion, as it was called, at Clapham, the 7th Surrey Volunteers at Southwark, and ourselves, but only our battalion and the militia were quartered in the same place, and the whole brigade had merely two or three afternoons together at brigade exercise m Bushey Park before the march took place. Our brigadier belonged to a line regiment in Ireland, and did not join till the very morning the order came. Meanwhile, during the preliminary fortnight, the militia colonel commanded. But though we volunteers were busy with our drill and preparations, those of us who, like myself, belonged to Government offices had more than enough of office woi-k to do, as you may suppose. The volunteer clerks were allowed to leave at four o'clock, but the rest were kept hard at the desk far into the night. Orders to the lord-lieutenants, to the magistrates, notifications, all the arrangements for clearing out the workhouses for hospitals — these and a hundred other things had to be managed in our office, and there was as much bustle indoors as out. Fortunate we were to be aobusy — the people to be pitied were those who had nothing to do. And on Sunday (that was the 15th August) work went on just as usual. We had an early parade and drill, and I went up to town by the nine o'clock train in my uniform, taking my rifle with me in case of accidents, and luckily too, as it turned out, a mackintosh overcoat. When I got to Waterloo there were all sorts of rumours afloat. A fleet had been seen off the Downs, and some of the despatchboats which were hovering aboutthe coasts brought news that there was a large flotilla off Harwich, but nothing could be seen from the shore, as the weather was hazy. The enemy's light ships had taken and sunk all the fishing boats they co\ild catch, to prevent the news of their whereabouts reaching us ; but a few escaped during the night, and reported that the Inconstant, frigate, coming home from North America, without any knowledge of what had taken place, had sailed right into the enemy's fleet and been captured. In town the troops were all getting ready for a move ; the guards in the Wellington barracks were under arms, and their baggage waggons packed and drawn up in the Birdcage walk. The \isual guard at the Horse Guards had been withdrawn, and orderlies and staff officers were going to and fro. All this I saw on the way to my office, where I worked away till twelve o'clock, and then, feeling hungry after my early breakfast, I went across Parliament street to my club to get some luncheon. There were about half a dozen men in the coffee room, none of whom I knew, but in a minute or two Danvers of the Treasury entered in a tremendous hurry. From him I got the first bit of authentic news I had had that day. The enemy had landed in force near Harwich, and the metropolitan regiments were ordered down there to reinforce the troops already collected in that neighbourhood ; his regiment was to parade at one o'clock, and he had come to get something to eat before starting.

ASPECT OF THE CITY. 1 ran off as hard as I could for Westhiinster Bridget and so to the Waterloo station. The place had quite changed its aspect since the morning. The regular service of trains had Ceased, and the station and approaches were full of troops, among them the Guards and Artillery. Everything was very orderly ; the men had piled arms, and were standing about in groups. There was no sign of high spirits or enthusiasm. Matters had become too serious. Every man's face reflected the general feeling that we had neglected the warnings given us, and that now the danger so long derided as impossible and absurd had really come and found us imprepared. But the soldiers, if grave, lot >ked determined, like men who meant to do their duty. whatever might happen. A train full of Guardsmen was just starting for Guildford. I was told it would stop at Surbiton, and with several other volunteers, hurrying like myself to join their regiments, got a place in it. We did not arrive a moment too soon, for the regiment was marching from Kingston down to the station. The destination of our brigade was the east coast. Empty carriages were drawn up in the siding, and our regiment was to go iirst. A large crowd was assembled to see it off, including the recruits who had joined during the last fortnight, and who formed by far the largest part of our strength. They were to stay behind, and were certainly very much in the way already : for as all the officers and sergeants belonged to tht; active part, there was no one to keep discipline among them, and they came crowding around us, breaking the ranks, and making it difficult to get into the train. Here I saw our new brigadier for the first time. He was a soldierlike "man, and no doubi knew his duty, but he appeared new to volunteers, and did not seem to know how to deal with gentlemen privates. I wanted very much to run home, and get my great coat and knapsack, which I had bought but a few days ago, but feared to be left behind. A good-natured recruit volunteered to fetch them for me, but he had not returned before we started, and I began the campaign with a kit consisting of a mackintosh and a small pouch of tobacco.

It ivas a tremendous squeeze in the train ; f<;r, besides the ten men sitting dowu, Quitu were three or four standing up in eveiy compartment, and the afterijoyn was close v.nd sultry, and there were so many sixjpiK*ges on the way that we took nearly an huuv n^d si half crawling up to Waterloo. It v/HH be.tween live and six in the afternoon when we arrived there, and it was nearly seven before we marched up to the Shoreditch Station. The whole place Was tilled xip with stores and ammuni£Uy^. f,o he sent off to the East, so we j>ile<J $*m«! in the street and scattered About to g<4 food and drink, of which ;n<;st of us atuoii i}} need, especially the letter, for some were feeling the wwse £ov the heat and eras}*. I was just stepping into a publjic-house witif Travers, when who should drive up but his pv.eity wife. Most of our friends had paid their adieus at the Surbiton station, but she fcsd driven up by the road in his brougham, jbiiiiigijjaf their little boy to have a last look fit papaT She had also brought his knapsack and gjk-ttfcjtpoat, and, what was still ay ore accepfotbifci ;j basket containing ivjvjs, tongues, bveiid <},nd butter, and b£s<i\i£is, ancjl a couple of of claret, which priceless luxuries they itysjsted on jny sharing.

Meanwhile the hours went 011, I%c 4th Surrey Militia, which had niiir,chod all fjje way from Kingston, had come up, as iwtfli n,s the other volunteer corps ; the «jtati<->ii Sim. 1 ! been partly cleared of the stores that e^ymbered it; some artillery, fw<> militia regui^ts. and a battalion of 'the line hud been de^.^t^hed, and our turn to start had coiijie, and loijtr lines of carriages were drawn up ready rovu^, but still we remained in the street. Y<ai ■j#*Y fancy the scene. There seemed to foe as«;nny people as ever in London, and 35 c could fyitf 'rtly move for the crowds of spec-tators—fe-Hvw is hawking fruit and volunteers' comforts, i^tysboys, .and so forth, to say nothing of the vA& /Mid omnibuses ; while orderlies and staft ofWj'j? were constantly riding up with messages, 4 good lUiatyj'" of the militiamen, and some of uuv Ifceoplfcj jt.oo, had taken more than enough t<> drink j Jr^rhfips a hot sun had told on empty stwuaA&i / anyhow, they became very noisy. Thfc 4ir c , dirt, and heat were indescribable. So rin» evening wore on, and all the information o\t* officers #ttuld get from the brigadier, who apv jpbwfld to be acting under another general, sjvtis tVa^ orders had come to stand fast for itlve present,.

8y this thve, win']' 1 the volunteers were €H route for Dorking, iffc^s reached them that the enemy had landed j^ force at Worthing. AH was cynfusiow a,u<fc didorder, and in two days the invaders had got jßiere than twenty miles inlw4> a»d

nothing effectual had been done to stop them. WAITIXC FOR THE ENK"MY. Tho ignorance in which we volunteers, from the colonel doivnwards, were kept of their movements, iilled its with uneasiness. We could but depict to ourselves the enemy as carrying out all the while tinaly his well - considered scheme of attack, and contrasting it with our own uncertainty of purpose. The very silence with which his advance appeared to be conducted iilled us with mysterious awe. Meanwhile the day wore on, and we became faint with hunger, for we had eaten nothing since daybreak. No provisions came up, and there were no signs of any connnissiarat officers. It seems that when we were at the Waterloo station a whole train full of provisions was drawn up there, and our colonel proposed that one of the trucks should be taken off and attached to < >ur train, so that we might have s>ome food at hand ; but the officer in charge, an assistant-controller 1 think they call him — this control department was a new-fangled aii'air, which did us almost as much harm as tho enemy in the long run — said his orders were to keep all the stores together, and that he couldn't isjue any without authority from the head of his department. So we had to go without. Those who had tobacco, smoked — indeed there is no solace like a pipe under such circumstances. The militia regiment, I heard afterwards, had two days' provisions in their haversacks ; it was we volunteers who had no haversacks, and nothing to put in them. All this time, I should tell you, while we "were lying on i the grass with our arms piled, the General, with the brigadiers and stall', was riding about slowly from point to point of the edge of the common, looking out with his glass towards the south valley. Orderlies and staff officers were constantly coming, and about three o'clock there arrived up a road that led towards Horsham a small body of lancers and a regiment of yeomanry, who had, it appears, been out in advance, and now drew up a short way in front of us in column facing the south. Whether they could see anything in their front I could not tell, for we were behind the crest of the hill ourselves, and so could not look into the valley below ; but shortly afterwards the assembly sounded. Commanding officers were called out by the General, and received some brief instructions ; and the column began to march again towards London, the militia this time coming last In our brigade. A rumour regardi ing the object of this counter-march soon spread through the ranks, the enemy was not going to attack us here, but was trying to turn the position on both sides, qne column pointing to Reigate, the other to Aldershot ; and so we must fall back and take up a position at Dorking. The line of the great chalkrange was to be defended. A large force was concentrating at Guildford, another at Eeigate, and we should tind supports at Dorking. The enemy would be awaited in these positions. Such, so far as we privates could get at the facts, was to be the plan of operations. JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE. Vig had scarcely reached the hill above tlie town which we were told was to be our bivouac for the night, when the welcome news came that a food-train had arrived at the station, but there were no carts to bring the things up, so a fatigue party went down and carried back a supply to us in their arms — loaves, a barrel of rum, ]>ackets of tea, and joints of lneat — abundance for all ; but there was not a kettle or a cooking pot in the regiment, .and we could not eat the meat raw. The eiflnnel and officers were m> better off. j They had avi'mjgei] to have a regular mess, with crockery, steward, ;ujd all complete, but the establishment never | turned up, and what had become of it no one knew. Some of us were sent back into the town to see what we could procure in the wny of cooking utensils. We found • the streets full of artillery, baggage waggons, and mounted officers, and volunteers shopping like ourselves ; and all the housos appeared to be occupied by troops. We succeeded in getting a few kettles and saucepans, and I obtained for myself a leather bag, with a strap to go over th,e shoulder, which proved very handy afterwards ; and thus laden, we trudged back to our camp on the hill, tilling the kettles with dirty watei' fl'oj)) the little stream which runs between the hill mv] the town, for there was none to be had above. It "\>7]s nearly a couple of miles each way, and ox* haustcd as we were with marching and want of rest, were almost too tired to eat. 'Thu cooking was of the roughest, as you niay suppose ; all we could do was to cut oft' slices of the meat and boil them in the saucepans, using our fingers for forks. The teu, however, was very refreshing, and, thirsty as we were, we drank it by the gallon. Just before it grew dark the brigade major came round, »u4> V"i*li the adjutant, showed our wtoflSJ Iww to 99$ ft j>icfcet in advance

of our line a little way down the face of the hill. It v.'as not necessary to place one, I suppose, because the Town in our front was still occupied with troops, 1 ut no doubt the practice would be useful. We had also a quarter-guard, and a line of sentries in front and rear of our line, communicating with tho.se of the regiments on our "Hanks. Firewood was plentiful, for the hill was covered with beautiful wood; but it took some time to collect it, for we had nothing but our pocket-knives to cut down the branches with.

So we lay down to sleep. My company had no duty, and we had the night undisturbed to ourselves. Btit, tired though I was, the excitement and the novelty of the situation made sleep difficult. And, although the night was still and warm, and we were sheltered by the wood, lsoon found it chilly with no better covering than my thin dust coat, tho more so as my clothes saturated with perspiration during the day, had never dried ; and before daylight 1 woke from a short nap shivering with cold, and was glad to get Avarm, with

others, by n tire. I then noticed that the opposite hills on the south were dotted with fires, and we tin night at first they must belong to the enemy, but we were told that the ground up there was still held by a strong rear-guard of regulars, and that there need be no fear of a surprise. (To be continued )