History of the Royal Sappers and Miners, Volume 2 (of 2): From the Formation of the Corps in March 1712 to the date when its designation was changed to that of Royal EngineersConnolly, T. W. J. (Thomas William John)
History
History of the Royal Sappers and Miners, Volume 2 (of 2): From the Formation of the Corps in March 1712 to the date when its designation was changed to that of Royal Engineers
Connolly, T. W. J. (Thomas William John)
Great Britain. Army. Royal Sappers and Miners
rescuing the body of his commanding officer, Lieutenant Burke, after he
had fallen; and that he may enjoy all the rights and privileges
thereunto annexed.”—“And also to command that Her Majesty’s said
concession and especial mark of her royal favour be registered, together
with the relative documents, in Her Majesty’s College of Arms.”
The four sappers landed from the ‘Agamemnon’ in May, were for six weeks
in Circassia with Captain Brock, R.N. In returning to the ship, they,
with six other men of the detachment on board of her, accompanied the
fleet in its subsequent cruises along the coast, and in the Black Sea.
No longer required for service afloat, the party landed at Baltschik,
and marching to Varna, rejoined their companies on the 16th and 18th
July.
Early in July, Lieutenant Lempriere left Varna for Circassia in the
French steamer ‘Vauban’ with orders to place in a state of defence, some
of the towns along the coast, which, having been wrested from the
Russians were now being menaced by them. Sergeant Marshall and private
Richards accompanied him. On the 11th the party landed at Churuksu, the
Turkish head-quarters on that frontier, and soon completed a survey of
the place and its vicinity. Obliged to remain there a few days, three or
four officers of the ‘Vauban’ and Lieutenant Lempriere visited some of
the Turkish outposts and detached forts. With the party were some French
sailors and private Richards. When about to return, two of the sailors
and the sapper were missing. Nothing could be heard of them, and it was
concluded they had strayed into the hands of the Russians. Skirmishers
were sent out to scour the country. Wood, wild, and mountain were
threaded in quest of the wanderers, and all hope of tracking them had
wellnigh been given up, when a quick eye observed them in the
bush—apparently unconscious of the concern they had created or of the
chances there were of the enemy capturing them—coolly stuffing
themselves with blackberries! Stocked with a good supply of the fruit,
they were guided back to the party, who, no longer uneasy about the
safety of their attendants, shared with the wayfarers the contents of
their wallets and enjoyed an agreeable dessert.
At Redoubt Kaleh a small body of Russian cavalry closely approached the
Turkish works to reconnoitre the position, but a few rounds from the
batteries quickly dispersed them. Information had reached the enemy of
the arrival of some English troops, which, in all probability, was more
than corroborated, by the glimpse they must have caught of one of the
four red-coated sappers constituting, at that time, the entire British
contingent on the coast of Circassia. Whether this was or was not enough
to excite the fears of the Russians, certain it is, that a considerable
body of them in anticipation of an attack, threw up some earthworks on
the banks of the river about five miles away.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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