Still their gunners had made a small breach, which they had not even noticed themselves, and by this breach fifty men of the 93rd Highlanders, under Colonel Adrian Hope and Sergeant Paton--who received the V.C. for this service--later on effected an entry and expelled the garrison. The naval guns were of the greatest service during the withdrawal of the hardly pressed garrison of the Residency, since they kept down the fire from the Kaisar Bagh, the principal stronghold of the rebel sepoys. At Cawnpore and at the battle of Futtygurh, and in the final relief of Lucknow, the _Shannon_ and _Pearl_ brigades distinguished themselves time after time; but we must leave further details, to deal with later naval brigades. Passing over the operations in China in 1858-9-60, and the attack on Simomosaki in Japan, in all of which both seamen and marines were engaged, we come to the Ashanti War of 1873. The opening operations were entirely carried out by the navy, with the assistance of a few black troops. The invading army of Ashantis was forced back over the River Prah by the marines and seamen of the squadron, reinforced by a small force of the former sent especially from England, Cape Coast Castle and Elmina were saved, and time was gained for the arrival of the expeditionary force from England under Sir Garnet Wolseley. A small naval brigade of 200 seamen, and 60 marines, with a rocket train, accompanied the army on its advance to Kumassi and played a conspicuous part in the battle of Amoaful, suffering a loss of six officers and forty men wounded. A little naval brigade of 3 officers and 121 men with two rocket-tubes, six 12-pounders, and a Gatling gun participated in the fighting with the Kafirs in South Africa in 1877-8; while in the Zulu War of a year or so later the _Shah_, _Active_, _Boadicea_, and _Tenedos_ landed a brigade of seamen and marines of the strength of 41 officers and 812 men, with several guns. It was employed in somewhat scattered detachments. In 1881 a small naval brigade took part in the inglorious Boer War and suffered heavily at the unfortunate battle on Majuba Hill, where it lost more than half its strength. It is to one of the seamen present that the following terse summary of that disastrous day is attributed. "We took three mortal hours to get up that bloomin' hill," he said, "but we come down in three bloomin' strides."