Sea Horses

Britain was the preeminant naval power of the Victorian age, not only guaranteeing her from invasion, but allowing domination of trade routes, and force projection almost anywhere on the globe. In theory, but in the 19th century, expeditionary forces meant cavalry, and horses are a lot pickier in their conditions than men. The Royal Navy was tasked with finding a solution.

HMS Himalaya was purchased from P&O as an emergency measure during the Crimean War to transport cavalry to the front. Originally designed as a passenger ship she was large (3,000 tons, the largest P&O ship at the time) and steam powered with a huge 18ft propeller, although she was also fully rigged. Despite being bought as a stopgap she was destined to remain on the books until 1920, carrying troops to India, South Africa and North America.


McClellan's Report

Fortunately, we have an eye witness of her use in the Crimea. Major General George McClellen (later one of the main American Civil War generals) toured Europe to assess the armies of the major powers with the aim of improving the army of the United States. Well, also probably checking out potential enemies, he had already carried out such a mission in Santo Domingo. Anyway, he seems to have enjoyed extraordinary access, not least as an observer in the Crimean war. Fortunately his report still survives and is freely available on the internet*. This is what he says about the Himalaya.

"The Himalaya was regarded as the most perfect horse-transport; the following description is based upon notes taken during a visit to that vessel in the harbor of Balaklava".

She "is commanded by Captain. Priest, R.N. To the courtesy of that very intelligent officer we are indebted for the details contained herein." The Himalaya "can carry 380 horses, as follows: on the spar-deck 200, main deck 130, orlopdeck 50; the corresponding number of troops can be carried at the same time."

"As a proof of the perfection of the system pursued on the Himalaya, it should be mentioned that Captain Priest had transported 3,000 animals while in command of her,—some of these direct from England to Balaklava. Out of this number but three (3) died."


Stabling

The horses were housed in stalls, each held by a sea haltar ("so that it cannot interffere with it's neighbours"). "The material used is felt, or raw hide, (the latter objectionable on account of the odor,) stuffed with cow's hair wherever the animal can gnaw it, with straw in other parts; the pads were from 2" to 3" thick. The feed-trough is of wood, the edges bound with sheet iron or zinc, and attached to the head-board by two hooks. The feed-troughs, head-boards, and stalls are whitewashed and numbered."

"Whenever it is possible, a staging is erected alongside, that the horses may be walked on and off the ship." However, each horse had a sling, which "with the addition of a breast-strap and breeching, is used for hoisting the animals in and out." as well as in "cases of necessity; that is, when the animal shows signs of weakness in bad weather; in this case, about 1" play is 'given to the sling, as it is only intended to prevent the animal from falling."

Preparing horses for embarkation to the Crimea

Cleanliness

"Not the slightest disagreeable odor could be detected on the Himalaya. The decks are washed everyday, and the stalls cleaned after every feed, —especially at 7 P.m. All wooden parts are washed with some disinfecting compound, or simply whitewashed. Chloride of zinc is freely used. The feed-troughs and the. nostrils of the horses are washed every morning and evening with vinegar."

"Great attention is paid to ventilation. Although the orlop-deck is so hot that the animals perspire a great deal, the animals carried there came off the voyage in better condition than the others. From the spar and main decks the stale passes off through the scuppers; from the orlop-deck it passes to the hold, and is pumped off by the engine."

Feeding

"The usual hours for feeding are 6 A.m., 11 A.M., 5 P.M.; if any horse refuses his food, the fact is reported at once. The horses drink condensed steam. The regulation ration at sea is: 10 pounds of hay, 6 pounds of oats, a peck of bran, and 6 gallons of water,—as a maximum. It was thought that this was generally too great, and that two-thirds of this allowance, except the water, would be ample, as it is found that there is great danger from over-feeding at sea. No grain is given the day they come on board,—only a mash of bran, which, latter is regarded as the best habitual food at sea."

"The horse-guard always remain at their posts, and send for the farrier or non-commissioned officers in case of necessity."

The troopers

In contrast to the care taken with the horses, "in regard to the transportation of men, bunks and hammocks are generally used. Standing bunks are found to be very objectionable, on account of the difficulty of keeping them clean; hammocks are regarded as preferable for men in good health, while many officers consider it best to provide neither hammocks nor bunks, but to allow the men to lie down on the fore-decks with their blankets and overcoats."

McClellan on the Light Brigade

So it was in ships like this that the horses of the Light Brigade arrived in the Crimea. Incidentally, McClellan has this to say about the light cavalry - "It may be a question whether they have light cavalry, in the true sense of the term, except, perhaps, some of the regiments who have been serving in India and are mounted on Indian horses; for the men and horses of the light cavalry are scarcely to be distinguished from those of the heavy, and it may be doubted whether they would stand the severe work, exposure, and short rations which usually fall to the lot of light cavalry in campaign, as well as the less imposing but lighter and more active material of the light cavalry of other nations".

*http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=xLgdAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader

Spain in 1860s America - Sources

General sources for the period

Illustrated London News (various online)

New York Public Library (excellent for uniforms)
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgtitle_tree.cfm?level=2&title_id=614973

The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html

British library digital archive
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/index.html

Google books (always worth a look)

Spanish forces

Spanish cruisers

http://oceania.pbworks.com/w/page/8470660/Spanish-Cruisers

Order of battle of the Spanish forces in Santo Domingo October 1863

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuerzas_espa%C3%B1olas_en_Santo_Domingo_en_octubre_de_1863

Cazadores

Battalion Segorbe (not in Santo Domingo)
http://www.aulamilitar.com/BATALLON_SEGORBE_1856_1960.pdf


History

Spanish Morrocan war (1859)

http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/spanish-moroccan-war/index.htm
Good general guide to the Spanish army of teh time

Mexico
Spain and Vera Cruz

The History of Mexico 1832 - 1918 by Herbert Howe Bancroft
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofmexico14bancrich

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo heads of Administraion 1861 - 65
http://www.archontology.org/nations/dominicana/00_1861_1865_s.php

The Dominican Republic: a national history By Frank Moya Pons (very thorough)
http://books.google.ca/books?id=8BfRF9B02kgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Santo Domingo and out - Spain in 1860s America Part 3

The first flicker of rebellion came in early February 1863 when 50 men stormed the local HQ in Neiba, but this was quelled almost immediately. Much more serious was a revolt planned by Santiago Rodriguez in Sabaneta in late February. This was tipped off to the Spanish authorities who mobilised and drove Rodriguez to sanctuary in Haiti and his followers to organise a guerrilla war in the countryside. Thus was started the pattern of the war, the Spanish controlled the coast and the main towns in the south, the Dominicans held the countryside, especially in the north west, supplied and sheltered in Haiti. Their heartland was protected by mountain passes and desert.

The troops were mainly from the Cuban and Puerto Rican garrisons, at least initially, infantry, cavalry and artillery being shipped over to the island. The Spanish navy had complete command of the sea and used a fleet of paddle wheel steamers to transport troops to, and around, the island. Typical was the Isabella la Catolica, built in 1850 and employed for most of her career in American waters - she was part of the fleet that went to Mexico in 1862. She carried 16 8 inch guns, 14 broadside and 2 pivots, had a top speed of 12 knots and a crew of 160. These steamers had quite a capacity, the Pizzaro, for example, conveying a whole battalion of artillery from Puerto Rico.

The Isabella II, sister ship to Isabella la Catolica

The Spanish had only themselves to blame for Haitian support of the rebels, making territorial claims there had driven the Haitians into the enemy camp, just one of a long stream of misrule that had caused this situation to come to pass. In April 1862 the news was of Spanish troops congregating in Azua on the southern coast, ready to occupy Haitian territories that were formerly Spanish in the old days. And invade they did, thus creating yet another drain on army resources.

The Spanish garrison by October 1863 was as follows.

Primera Brigada
Coronel Don Julián González Cadet
Batallón de Cazadores de La Unión.
Batallón de Tarragona.
Cuarta Compañía de Montaña del Regimiento de Cuba .

Segunda Brigada
Coronel Don Joaquín Suárez
Batallón de Isabel II .
Batallón de Nápoles.
Tercera Compañía de Montaña del Regimiento de Cuba.
Milicias del País, capitán Máximo Gómez (Militia)

Tropas del Cuartel General (Headquarters)
Primera Sección de Cazadores de Africa .
Primera Sección de Lanceros de la Reina (Lancers)

Lancer from the Cuban garrison, 1862

An idea of the to and through of the campaign can be be got from reports in this month. Pedro Santana claimed a great victory in the interior against the rebels....

"This morning at nine o'clock we met the enemy holding the River Guanuma, where they had their headquarters. They were completely beaten and routed by our valiant troops of the army and the reserve force of the country. After having pursued them for about a league we are now encamped this afternoon at 3 P.M. on their late position."

Santana, the former dictator, was by far the best Spanish general, though his hands were frequently tied by Spanish oversight. At that moment he was soon to be reinforced at Cotuy by General Gandara with a strong division containing the regiments Napoles (veterans of the occupation of Vera Cruz), Tarragona, Isabel II. and Union, six pieces of mountain artillery and a squadron of cavalry. The troops are to operate "with vigor" against the rebels of Cibao, which does suggest his victory is not a complete as Santana claimed.

In fact the same reports claim that troops are being shipped from Azua to Santo Domingo "to concentrate the divided forces in a single point so as to operate for the future with more unity and efficiency", which sounds suspiciously like an evacuation.

Soldier of the Cuban garrison 1862

It is hard to reconstruct the war in detail, depending as it does on reports in Spanish and American newspapers which were often diametrically opposed. For example, in the New York Times article quoted above the Spanish report that the Santa Lucia (a new screw corvette) went to the support of Spanish troops holed up in the fort at Puerto Plata and drove of the rebels by firing grapeshot. However the reporter claims it is "well known" that "a Spanish war steamer was terribly crippled at that place by the firing of the insurrectionists, and was obliged to be towed off by another Spanish steamer".

Gradually the Spanish were forced from even the northern coast. In November 1863 the 2,000 garrison of Santiago abandoned the city and marched to Puerto Plata, the main northern port, attacked by Dominicans all the way. There they joined the garrison in the fort, leaving the city to be pillaged by the rebels. Eventually 600 Spanish sallied out and drove off the rebels, with help from the cannon of the fort, but by the then the city had been plundered and burnt almost out of existence. The damage to Santiago and Puerto Plate was estimated at $5,000,000.

By mid November virtually the whole garrisons of Cuba and Puerto Rico were deployed on Santo Domingo and 8,000 troops had been sent from Europe, diverted from deployment in Morocco. At the same time a powerful fleet was assembled to convey the troops to Cuba, and probably to prevent outside interference - two screw frigates, the Concepcion (37 guns) and Villa de Madrid, one screw corvette, the Africa; four steamers, the Colon, Leon, Alava and San Antonio, two store-ships, the Pinta and Marigalante.

Spanish Marines, 1862

By March 1864 General Gandara was Captain General of Santo Domingo, in the place of General Vurgas, who had sent his 2nd in command to Spain to try to persuade them to abandon the island. There were rumours circulating the Spanish troops did not even have tents to sleep in. Huge numbers of Spanish troops were lost to dysentery and malaria, especially the native Spanish. One report claimed up to 1,500 per month lost to disease.

The Spanish had rigged up a telegraph line from Cuba to Santo Domingo by June, only for almost the first news to be the death of Pedro Santana, their best general. Nonetheless the tide had turned yet again, with the Spanish pushing along the Northern coast supplied by steamer and capturing Monte Cristi, close by the Haitian border. This seems to have caused a loss of heart amongst many of the rebels and many deserted.

An example of the warfare at this time can be found from the account from the troops at Monte Crisiti in July.

" In consequence of such a long drought, the ponds which afforded us water were dried up, and we were limited to a ration which was brought in ships from the river Tapion.

In consequence of this scarcity, Gen. Gandara ordered that all the horses and mules should be taken to drink at a small lake about two leagues from the camp, a force of two hundred soldiers going as a guard, and the horses and mules on their return being loaded with barrels, &c., of water. This was done for two days without molestation, but on the third day a small detachment of the enemy harassed their march, a sergeant being killed and several of the animals wounded. The next day a large force was sent to protect the watering party. The detachment was commanded by Count Balmaseda, who sent forward a vanguard under Col. Argenti , and composed of eight hundred infantry of the Cazadores of Isabella the Second, and the First and Fifth of the Marine Artillery, with two pieces. The vanguard, when near the watering-place and about to take up a position so as to protect the watering party, received a discharge from the insurgent force. It was returned, and with a bayonet charge the Spanish troops gained the position they desired. On hearing the firing, Count Balmaseda pressed forward with the Battalion of Spain and two more pieces of artillery, and after a heavy and prolonged fire of musketry, several bayonet charges, twenty-two rounds of artillery and eight charges by the King's Lancers, the insurgents were repulsed. On returning after watering the horses and mules, the Spanish troops attempted to molest the enemy, but were vigorously repulsed. This was, indeed, and in all respects a battle, both on account of the heavy firing on both sides, as well as from the large forces engaged".

During this time the Dominican leadership had changed frequently, only to be deposed in coups for corruption, politics or in the case of Polanco (who lasted 3 months) leading a disastrous direct attack on the Spanish at Monte cristi in December 1864.

Spanish troops routing Dominican rebels at Monte Cristi

Thus by the end of 1864, it could be said the Spanish were winning. But not for the first or last time in history, military victory was trumped by political defeat. The price of war in terms of money and lives had been huge, disease and the hardy, experienced fighters of the island causing many casualties that Spain could ill afford. With the prospect of a revived United States at the very least supplying rebels as they were doing to the Mexicans fighting France, it was no longer worth the candle. On March 1865, Queen Isabella signed a decree annulling the annexation, and by August all Spanish troops had left for Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Santo Domingo - Spain in the Americas Part 2

Spain had been expelled from nearly all Latin America in the early 1820s, but had designs on a return. This might have seemed a pipe dream, but they were about to have an incredible piece of luck - part of the old empire was about to ask to return.

Hispaniola had been Spanish since the days of Christopher Columbus, but the Western third was later taken over bu the French, resulting in two culturally different regions that we now know as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The Haitians, remarkably, threw off french rule, the Dominicans declared independence in 1821, and were almost immediately invaded by Haiti. Haitians were expelled in 1844 and there followed years of chaos, dictatorships and repeated Haitian invasions. Thus by the late 1850s people were looking around for an alternative.

Santana harbour 1870

The US had had designs on Santo Domingo for years, primarily the harbour at Santana, which would give the US a naval base in the centre of the Caribbean. The Spanish, British and French were opposed to any American takeover for exactly the same reason. In the 1850s though interest intensified as the American Secretary of State, Seward attempted to drag the US into a confrontation with Spain to distract the southern States from talk of Independence. Lincoln though refused to be deflected from internal politics.

A better alternative, from the viewpoint of the Spanish elite, was a return to Spain itself - strong enough to withstand Haiti, but not so strong as to absorb them completely. Consequently in 1859 a representative of the current dictator, Santana, approached the Spanish court to establish a protectorate over the island, fortifying it against any American incursions. Increasing American official and unofficial pressure caused Sanatan to ask for direct Spanish rule, under certain conditions, especially a guarantee Spain would never reestablish slavery, one of the worries about the United States. Annexation as the Spanish Maritime Province of Santo Domingo was announced in cathedral square on March 18 1861,

Pedro Santana, dictator of the Dominican Republic and 1st Governor of the Spanish colony

It should have gone so well, the easiest conquest in history. If Santo Domingo was not actually enthusiastic for Spanish rule, it was on the whole prepared to accept it. Two small rebellions were crushed and yet another invasion from Haiti ambushed and destroyed by government forces with out the Spanish needing to do anything. Unfortunately the Spanish played their hand badly, very badly.

Flag of the Santo Domingo Maritime Province

Many government officials were removed from office and replaced by Spanish officials from Cuba and Puerto Rico. Santana's cronies they might have been, but at least they understood the country. Even worse, many of the Dominican militia officers who had fought off the Haitians were considered not even worthy to wear Spanish uniforms, alienating many of Spain's natural allies. This was mirrored in society as a whole. Many Dominicans at all levels were mixed race to a degree, and many marriages were made outside the catholic church. Spanish officials, especially those from Spain itself, disdained contact with those not of European blood, who they considered inferior, and a new archbishop declared that all non-Catholic marriages invalid and the children therefore bastards. With these and other measures Spain alienated virtually all classes of society with incredible speed. The Dominicans had been fighting Haiti, and each other, for generations, the result was inevitable.