John Brunt VC

Given the British military tradition, and love of beer, it is rather surprising that there is only one pub in the British Isles named after the winner of a Victoria cross, the John Brunt VC in Paddock Wood, Kent.

John Brunt was born in Shropshire in 1922, and in 1934 his family moved to Paddock Wood. The main pub in the town was the Kent Arms and apparently the teenage Brunt was ofter there, so it was apt that this was the pub destined to bear his name.

John helped with the Paddock Wood Home Guard untl he was old enough to enlist as a private in 1941. By January 1943 he was commissioned, and posted to North Africa with the 6th Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. On 9 September 1943, the Lincolns landed at Salerno in Italy and Lieutenant Brunt was given command of No.9 Platoon in A Company. For most of December and January Brunt platoon were in action, including on December 15th an assault across the river Asa that earned Brunt the Military Cross.

After R&R in the Middle East Brunt was back in Italy in July, promoted to temporary Captain, and 2nd in command of D company. The Royal Lincolnshires were part of the forces driving the German army back through Italy, and it was a hard slog, with each town being fiercely defended. By December 9th their divsion had stormed the town of Faenza near Ravenna, and established defensive positions expecting a counter attack. It was here that John Brunt won his Victoria Cross.

Ruins in Faenza

The full citation appeared in a supplement to the London Gazette of 6 February 1945:

   " War Office, 8th February, 1945

The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the posthumous award of the VICTORIA CROSS to:—

Lieutenant (temporary Captain) John Henry Cound Brunt, M.C. (258297), The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (Paddock Wood, Kent).

In Italy, on the 9th December, 1944, the Platoon commanded by Captain Brunt was holding a vital sector of the line.

At dawn the German 90 Panzer Grenadier Division counter-attacked the Battalion's forward positions in great strength with three Mark IV tanks and infantry. The house, around which the Platoon was dug in, was destroyed and the whole area was subjected to intense mortar fire. The situation then became critical, as the anti-tank defences had been destroyed and two Sherman tanks knocked out. Captain Brunt, however, rallied his remaining men, and, moving to an alternative position, continued to hold the enemy infantry, although outnumbered by at least three to one. Personally firing a Bren gun, Captain Brunt killed about fourteen of the enemy. His wireless set was destroyed by shell-fire, but on receiving a message by runner to withdraw to a Company locality some 200 yards to his left and rear, he remained behind to give covering fire. When his Bren ammunition was exhausted, he fired a Piat and 2 in. Mortar, left by casualties, before he himself dashed over the open ground to the new position. This aggressive defence caused the enemy to pause, so Captain Brunt took a party back to his previous position, and although fiercely engaged by small arms fire, carried away the wounded who had been left there.

Later in the day, a further counter-attack was put in by the enemy on two axes. Captain Brunt immediately seized a spare Bren gun and, going round his forward positions, rallied his men. Then, leaping on a Sherman tank supporting the Company, he ordered the tank commander to drive from one fire position to another, whilst he sat, or stood, on the turret, directing Besa fire at the advancing enemy, regardless of the hail of small arms fire. Then, seeing small parties of the enemy, armed with bazookas, trying to approach round the left flank, he jumped off the tank and, taking a Bren gun, stalked these parties well in front of the Company positions, killing more and causing the enemy finally to withdraw in great haste leaving their dead behind them.

Wherever the fighting was heaviest, Captain Brunt was always to be found, moving from one post to another, encouraging the men and firing any weapon he found at any target he could see. The magnificent action fought by this Officer, his coolness, bravery, devotion to duty and complete disregard of his own personal safety under the most intense and concentrated fire was beyond praise. His personal example and individual action were responsible to a very great extent for the successful repulse of these fierce enemy counter-attacks."
   
Tragically, having survived so many desperate actions, Brunt was killed by a fluke the next day. He and his men were having their first proper meal for 48 hours and Brunt was standing in a doorway holding a cup of tea when a mortar round landed right at his feet - he was killed outright.

In 1947, the Kent Arms was renamed the John Brunt VC in his honour.

Uruguay 1776

According to Hollywood, the late 1770s were all about a collection of farmers and militia rebelling against the might of the British Empire, but of course there was a lot more going on in the world. North America was only one front in a truly global war that saw Britain assailed on all sides by the French, Dutch and Spanish eager to carve up British territories. There were victories and losses, especially in North America, although Canada was held against overwhelming odds. And it didn't escape notice that Britain's ally Portugal was left without the support of her powerful partner.

Uruguay is maybe the Belgium of South America, having the great misfortune to lie on a geopolitical fault line, in this case between the Spanish and Portuguese Empires, or later their heirs, Argentina and Brazil. The small city of Colonia de Sacramento for example changed hands 12 times between 1680 and 1828, and even then was later conquered by Guissepe Garibaldi during the Uruguayan civil war. However, we are looking here at the events of 1776-7, whilst the British and Americans were fighting at Brooklyn Heights and Quebec.

The entrance to old Colonia de Sacramento

An earlier war (in 1763-5) had gone well for the Spanish, capturing Rio Grande (the present day Brazilian city), the fortress of Santa Tereza and several other key locations. Ever since the Portuguese had plotted their revenge. They assembled 6,000 men (against 1,450 Spanish in the area) and in February 1776 two Portuguese fleets arrived at the Spanish fortress of Rio Grande de São Pedro and opened fire. The Portuguese commanders were Robert MacDouall and Jorge Hardcastle, just two of many British, or British descended, officers in the Portuguese Navy. A Spanish fleet attempted to intervene but after an inconclusive naval battle withdrew, and the Portuguese invaders pressed on inland, forcing the Spanish out of the area. After 27 days of siege a force of 4 companies of grenadiers defeated a Spanish force of 8 companies at nearby Lagoa dos Patos (Duck Lake), also burring Spanish ships that could not escape against a strong head wind. Following this the fort surrendered.

Not Rio Grande de São Pedro, but Fort Santa Teresa, which is still standing open to visitors

Despite this apparent victory, the Portuguese had miscalculated badly. With Britain bogged down around the world Spain had little to fear, and the response was designed to be overwhelming. 9,000 men were assembled in Spain, with 6 front line warships, 8 frigates and about100 transports. As important, for once the Spanish put a capable commander in charge, Pedro Antonio de Cevallos, the Viceroy of the Río de la Plata (Argentina). He had local knowledge after winning several battles in the 1760s.

Pedro Antonio de Cevallos

The Spanish fleet arrived in South America in Feb 1777. They found MacDouall, but his much smaller fleet managed to escape, so they sailed for the island of Santa Catarina (site of the modern Brazilian city of Floionopolis). When the garrison saw the huge Spanish fleet they fled without firing a shot, so Cevallos sailed for his 2nd objective, recapturing Rio Grande de São Pedro. Here the Portuguese had a piece of luck, a storm so damaging the Spanish fleet that they had to go to Montevideo for repairs. Cevallos split his forces, personally taking all the artillery and 4,500 men by ship to Colonia del Sacramento to which he lay siege. Despite heavy rain they set up a mortar battery, an eight pounder battery firing heated shot and various other cannon. The Portuguese garrison of 1,000 men were already in dire straits after a Spanish blockade, and with little hope of relief they soon surrendered. Cevellos demolished the walls to prevent reoccupation, and sunk blockships in the harbour.

Meanwhile, the rest of his fleet, the heavier warships, he sent hunting for MacDouall´s squadron. MacDouall was too wily however, and even succeeded in picking off one of a reinforcing squadron just arrived from Spain, the San Agustin. This he added to his fleet under yet another Englishman, Arthur Philip.

Cevellos now sailed back to Rio Grande de São Pedro, joining forces with the Spanish garrison of Santa Tereza. But before he could capture it, he received word that peace had been declared.

Aftermath

In February 1777 the worsening military situation, and the accession of a new Spanish born queen (Maria 1), led to the Portuguese seeking peace, and signing the First Treaty of San Ildefonso. Spain returned the island of Santa Catarina to Portugal, and recognised Rio Grande de São Pedro as Portuguese territory, but kept Colonia del Sacramento, the Banda Oriental, and the Misiones Orientales. Except for the Misiones Orientales, a region near Paraguay, this more less remains the Brazilian/ Uruguayan border today.
Portugal had been disappointed by lack of British support, and so remained neutral when Spain and Britain declared war, leaving Spain free to concentrate on Florida, the Mediterranean and besieging Gibraltar, draining yet more British troops from North America.

Spanish Forces

Flag of the Regiment of Guadalajara

Naval

The Spanish invasion fleet consisted of the following....
(Poderoso, 70 guns, Santiago la América, 64, San Dámaso, 70, Septentrión, 70, Monarca, 70, and San José, 70), 9 frigates,Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Venus, Santa Floritina, Santa Tereza, Santa Margarita, Santa Rosa, Liebre,

The unfortunate San Agustin (74) was dispatched later intending to join the main fleet.

Army

Cevallhos's expedition from Spain included 8,600 infantry, 640 dragoons and 150 gunners, organised in four brigades.

A captain in the Lusitania dragoons 1776

The regiments were as follows;

Dragones de Lusitania
Regimiento de Toledo.1 batt
Regimiento de Murcia.1 batt
Regimiento de Hibernia.1 batt. Formed mainly of Irish mercenaries, the "Wild Geese". Cevallos left William Vaughn of the Hibernia Regiment in command of the garrison in Santa Catarina.
Regimiento de la Princesa.1 batt
Regimiento de Cordoba.2 batt
Regimiento de Galicia.
Regimiento de Zamora.2 batt
Regimiento de Guadalajara.1 batt, who later formed part of the garrison of Santa Teresa.
Regimiento de Saboya.1 batt
Regimiento de Sevilla, 2 batt

Voluntarios de Cataluna.1 batt
Companies of grenadiers

Portuguese Forces

The Portuguese forces were under the overall command of Lt. Gen. Joao Henrique Böhm, a Prussian mercenary. It is much harder to get information of them than the Spanish, in part possibly because the Portuguese relied much more on local, less well documented, militia. This print is from the museum at Fort Santa Teresa, showing "Portuguese colonial troops of the 18th century".

Macdouall's fleet consisted of four ships of the line, including the Sao Antonio, 62, and four frigates, including the Nossa Senhora do Pilar. under Arthur Philip
Hardcastles little fleet had only 2 corvettes 2 brigs and 2 zumacas.

Further reading

Wars of the Americas by David Manley
Guerras entre España y Portugal en la cuenca del Río de la Plata.By Santiago Gómez.

http://www.todoababor.es/articulos/esp-port.htm

The fort at Santa Tereza in Uruguay is open to the public. It is very well preserved and has an excellent museum, well worth a visit.

Last Stand at Bembridge

By 1860 French adventurism was causing concern all over Europe, if not the world. This also applied to England, especially when France started building new and advanced war ships, that could only have one conceivable opponent. The British Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, called a committee , the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdon to investigate Britain's Home defence, and the results were not good. Even with the new Volunteer units, if an invasion could get past the Royal Navy, it stood a very good chance to succeeding. The British response took the form of a fortification building program.

There were 3 main priorities.
a) Protect London - if this fell, England fell with it
b) Protect the main Naval bases - any invasion would need constant supplies, keep the fleet in being and the invaders could be starved of supplies.
c) The Isle of Wight. This is not so obvious, but was a historical worry. Ever since the days of the Spanish armada there had been the fear that a hostile power would not invade the homeland, but seize the Isle of Wight as both a bargaining chip, and to disrupt the Royal Navy base at Portsmouth. Virtually defenceless, the IOW would require a much less imposing force to conquer, and was a much more plausible proposition.

Between 1855 and 1870 12 separate defences were built around the island. If these could be overcome, the last defence on the east side of the island, the final citadel, was designed to be the Fort at Bembridge.


Fort Bembridge was constructed on the high ground between the town of Sandown and the village of Bembridge, on Culver Down, at 320 ft above sea level the highest point on this side of the island. It was built between 1862 and 1867, at a cost of nearly £50,000.

Bembridge Fort from above. A brick built hexagonal structure set into the chalk hillside with a cannon at each corner, and parapets all round. The exit is across a drawbridge to the road on the bottom of the picture.

Bembridge Fort had 3 main functions.

a) It was the barracks for two nearby batteries covering the coast.

i) Redcliff - three 7" rifled breech loading (RBL) guns covering Sandown Bay and one facing towards Culver cliff, 100ft up a cliff and defended on the land side by a deep ditch.

ii) Yaverland - 8x 7" RBL guns facing to sea. 100ft up but the cliff was climbable and so had infantry defences and a ditch on both seaward and landward sides. Note the reason for so many 7" RBL guns was that the navy didn't want them! Their performance had been less than satisfactory at sea and a rearmament program was taking place.

b) To secure the high ground behind the Sandown Bay beach defences.

c) If the defences at Sandown Bay were stormed, or successful landings were made elsewhere on the island, Fort Bembridge was to hold out against the invader.

Bembridge had a peacetime complement of 1 officer, 5 NCOs and 78 men. Water was pumped from a well at Yaverland and stored in a 22,000 gallon tank, making the fort self sufficient in water at least.

Men of the Royal Artillery (New York Public Library)

In 1871 the fort was manned by the 103rd regiment of the Royal Artillery, and from 1872-1874 the 7th Brigade.

Attacking Fort Bembridge

So if Napoleon III had successfully landed troops on the Isle of Wight, what would his blue coated infantry have encountered as they prepared to storm Fort Bembridge?

The view up the hill towards the fort, the small mound at the top

Cliffs on the seaward side and it's position on the highest point on this side of the island meant any attack would be up hill. Also being dug deep into the chalk, and the use of bomb proof shelters gave as much protection from artillery as possible. Each corner of the hexagon had a 7" RBL cannon and the fort was well supplied with over 2,000 rounds, and 1,200 shells, whilst all the time attackers would be under fire from infantry manning the parapets.


Any enemy reaching the walls would have to cross a deep dry moat. the single entrance crossed only via a draw bridge. If they entered the moat they would be in a crossfire from the caponiers, brick built covered walkways crossing the ditch. If the French could scale the inner wall and take the central parade ground then, well, all was probably lost.

Thankfully, Prussia put paid to Napoleon and his plans, (although causing other worries!) and the fort was never needed.

Aurora in the ice

This is HMS Aurora in the winter of 1866-7. She is not trapped in the Antarctic, she is in Winter Quarters just outside Quebec city, Canada. Her upper spars and rigging have been removed, and she has been wrapped up as protection against the wind. A temporary suspension bridge formed from the ships cables links her mooring at Commissioners Wharf to the shore.
But why was she there at all?

Protecting Canada

To deter raids from Fenian gangs into Canada the Royal Navy had deployed various units along the St Lawrence river during 1866 and 7 and the Aurora had been there since May 1866. Originally built in 1861, she was quite a new ship with 51 guns and screw powered, so she could navigate the local waters well. But in this period her main role was as a source of experienced naval crew, of which she carried 540.

Her crew were used to man gun boats patrolling the St Lawrence river,. These gunboats were mainly converted local craft such as the Rescue (under Lt Fairlie), Prince Alfred, and Michigan, purchased by the Canadian authorities and protected by boiler plates and heavy planking, armed with Armstrong ship guns and 9 and 12 pounders.
120 men were also sent by train down to Toronto in June 1866 to man the steamer Magnet and the gunboat Heron, for service on lake Ontario.

The Rescue

These "provincial gunboats" had originally been manned by the volunteer Toronto Naval Reserve, though even then the Aurora had made a contribution, a Toronto born midshipman home on leave, EB Van Koughnet, able to act as adviser to the commander, Captain McMaster.

The harsh Canadian winters meant that most waterways froze up, so the gunboats were laid up from November 1866 to March 67, and her crew returned to the Aurora.

In March 1867 her crew again manned gunboats, patrolling from Quebec up to Lake Ontario.
Prince Alfred - Lt. Archibald Douglas with 3 officers, 1 surgeon, 2 engineers and 64 men
Rescue - Lt Henry Fairlie with 2 officers, 2 engineers and 48 men.
Hercules, commanded by Lt Thomas Hooper with 2 officers, 2 engineers and 50 men.

The Prince Alfred

Quebec

Life on board the Aurora during the winter was hard. In Quebec temperatures can drop down to -30 during the winter, it is extremely cold! A constant battle had to waged to break up ice around the ship, cutting it into blocks to prevent it damaging the ship.

During the summer though, life for her crew had been rather more pleasant, at least for the skeleton crew not manning gun boats. According to the Illustrated London News
"The officers and men of the Aurora have, by their courtesy and efficient services they have rendered during their stay, become great favourites with the citizens.... The fine band has likewise lent it's aid at concerts for charitable purposes, as well as at citizen's balls."
This popularity was cemented during the Great Fire in the St Roch district in October, when over 2300 houses were destroyed. The
"officers and men vied with each other in their endeavours to save life and property".

Quebec City after the fire

In July the following year there was a minor diplomatic incident when the US ship Haze refused to salute the Aurora, as was normal courtesy.

The Aurora stayed on station until November 1867 when she returned to Plymouth.

The Mid Victorian Portuguese Navy

The Ships

In 1859 Husk's "The Navies of the World: their present state and future capabilities" lists the Portuguese Navy as follows...

1x Ship of the line 80 guns
The Vasco de Gama, built about 1841 in Lisbon. Although modern she was neither armoured or with steam propulsion, and so was rapidly becoming obsolete.
1x Frigate 50 guns
The Don Fernando II, built 1845, and actually still afloat and available to visit at Cacilhas near Lisbon*
3x Corvettes of 18 guns
2x Brigs of 18 guns
3x Brigs of 16 guns
1x Brig 14 guns
11x Schooners of 4-5 guns each
9x Transports
6x Steamers
including the Bartolomeu Dias, built in England in 1858, with 3 masts, but also steam propulsion

The frigate Don Fernando

"The Portuguese Navy contains 37 vessels large and mounting 362 guns and employing 2118 men. Of above 27 sailing vessels and 5 steamers are in commission the other 5 in ordinary "

It has to be said that for an imperial power with stations from Madeira to southern Africa to Goa and the East Indies, this was not terribly impressive. Even Sardinia, for example, had more steamers.

By 1863 the New York Social Science Review reports a fleet of;

1x ship of the line 76
1x frigate 44
3x corvettes
1x brig
6x schooners and cutters
11x transports
6x steam corvettes and 7x steamers

The steamer Bartolomeu Dias in 1859

At least there were now 12 steamers, but it was still a small fleet. The principle naval bases were at Lisbon and Oporto, but naval officers were often also colonial governors, for instance the Governor of Macao in 1859 was a captain in the Portuguese navy, as was the Governor General in Luanda (Angola) in 1866

Of course, as Britain's oldest ally, Portugal to a large extent was sheltering under the Pax Brittanica, any move against Goa, for example, would be inconceivable without the consent of British India. whilst Madeira would not be allowed to fall into the hands of any "major" power. But this is not to say that there were not issues.

Africa

Time and time again the Portuguese authorities in Angola and Mozambique were criticised in the House of Commons for "allowing" slave ships to take their cargo to Brazil. Royal Naval ships in Sierra Leone and later Simonstown intercepted many slave ships under the Portuguese flag, and although slave trading had been offically abolished in the Portuguese empire in 1836, over 20,000 slaves per year were exported from Angola alone during the later 1830s, mainly to Brazil. A clear distinction was also made, in Portuguese eyes at least, between slave trading and and slave ownership, which contiuned to be legal. A census in 1854 fround 60,000 slaves in Angola and 40,000 in Mozambique.

A report to the Earl of Aberdeen by the British consul in Luanda in 1845 compared 43 ships captured by the Royal Navy with 9 captured by the Portuguese and recommended strongly against leaving stretches of the coast solely to Portuguese patrols.
" in the first place because the number and efficiency of the Portuguese squadron are utterly inadequate to guard this extensive line of coast effectively many of their cruizers being employed on distant colonial service to the southward and also because the subordinate officers of the Portuguese navy to whose care this duty would necessarily be confided having with the feelings of most of their countrymen long been accustomed to regard the Slave Trade merely as a contraband traffic"
"The officers of the Portuguese naval service derive no pecuniary benefit whatever from the capture of slave vessels and consequently in this respect there is no inducement to zeal"

However, the Governor of Luanda at the time, Captain Pedro Alexandrine da Cunha, is praised for his " just and honourable principles far superior to those of the generality of his predecessors who have notoriously amassed fortunes by receiving douceurs from slave dealers".

By 1850 things seem to have improved, with, for instance, reports of the brig Corimba capturing 7 slave boats on the west African coast. The Goverenor of Angola, Jose de Coehlo de Amaral, also moved to close a loophole in the system. For years the ban on trading had been bypassed by using the independent native city of Ambriz, just up the coast from Luanda. In 1855, de Amaral sent a naval expedition to occupy the town and the traffic was stopped, and a trading city added to Portuguese territory of course. The late 1850s and 1860s saw new more dynamic governments in Lisbon developing plans to develop their African colonies, to form a "new Brazil in Africa" and the navy was reorganised around this, with more units based in Mozambique and Angola. The flagship Vasco da Gama was used to ferry extra troops down to Angola in 1859.

The flagship Vasco da Gama on a Mozambiquan stamp

The Americas

In 1849 the Vasco da Gama sailed for Brazil to show the flag, but rather embarrassingly lost all her masts in a storm and had to be towed to Rio de Janeiro.

In 1864 a Portuguese squadron including the Bartolomeu Dias was sent to Brazil to monitor Portuguese interests during the Paraguay war.

In 1865 Portugal entered briefly into the American civil war. The Confederate ironclad ram Stonewall entered Lisbon, as a neutral port, closely followed by the USS Niagara and Sacramento. The Stonewall was ordered to leave, but under international law, the US ships had to wait 24 hours before pursuing. Believing that they were about to break this law, and thus Portuguese neutrality, the guns of the ancient Tower of Belem opening fire, though causing no damage. The US ships retired, and covered also by the corvettes Sagres and Mindello, they waited with steam up until the deadline had passed. Portugal later offically apologised for the incident.

The Belem tower firing on the Niagara & Sacramento (on left)

Asia

The Portuguese had had a settlement at Macao on the Chinese coast since 1557, expanding the territory by taking over Taipa and Colerane in 1851 and 1864 respectively. One consequence of this was development of the "lorcha", a hybrid class of boat combining "junk" type sails with a "European" style hull. This type was both faster than traditional junks and simpler to build and sail than European types, and became very popular in the area.

Macau in 1859

In 1854, 4 Portuguese lorchas were part of a task force headed by USS Porpoise which attacked a pirate base near Macao, the US commander Lt Henry Rolando reporting that
"Captain Cavalho of the Portuguese navy reported that two of the junks were driven on shore and that he succeeded in making two prizes which were afterwards lost by the bad weather coming on rendering it necessary to cut them adrift from the vessel to which they were in tow".

Elsewhere in 1854 there was a showdown between a Portuguese corvette, the Don Joao, and a Chinese naval force at the city of Ningpo. Following tension between the Portuguese and Chinese in the city, which had resulted in deaths on both sides, the Portuguese sent the corvette to the city and a series of demands to the authorities there, basically requiring that the Chinese perpetrators be punished and steps be taken to ensure that local pirates did not interfere with Portuguese vessels in the future. Talks stalled and the Don Joao " took up a position opposite the east gate of the city. The Cantonese have become greatly excited. They have beached their junks in a line opposite the corvette and have taken possession of the city gate just mentioned and having mounted several guns upon the walls seem determined to make a bold resistance" (report of the US Consul in Ningpo, DB McCarter, who was firmly on the side of the Chinese in the matter).

Ning-Po in 1850

On July 10 the Don Joao, and a small fleet of 15 lorchas opened fire, sinking or capturing the junks and seizing all guns. The stand off continued until September, when a deal was reached, no Chinese were handed over but money was paid in lieu. It certainly did not end piracy in the area, McCarter reporting that
"there are fourteen Cantonese junks now lying at anchor off the city several of which are expected to leave in a few days for Chin kiangfu. A large fleet of pirates is outside mostly in the port and vicinity of Shih pu but some of them have visited the harbor of Chusan within three weeks compelling some sugar junks at anchor in the harbor to pay a heavy ransom and demanding supplies of rice &c from the city of Tinghai They are said to be about to start for the neighborhood of Shantung to intercept the trading junks engaged in the northern trade"

In 1859 there were again clashes between Portuguese and Chinese troops at Macao, and tensions continued for much of this period.

Further reading

The Navies of the World 1859
http://books.google.ca/books?id=8Xw5AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

British and Foreign state papers
http://books.google.ca/books?id=LdwMAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

US Congressional papers
http://books.google.ca/books?id=qWhHAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Visits

The frigate Don Fernando at Cacilhas near Lisbon
http://www.revistademarinha.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1444:dfernando-e-gloria&catid=108:historia-maritima&Itemid=295

Mr Hales´s Rockets and the Kossuth Affair

In April 15th 1853 a large building in Lower Deptford Road, Rotherhithe belonging to a Mr Hale was raided by the police, finding 257 lb of "gunpowder", and "... upwards of seventy cases, closely packed, containing, apparently for transmission to some distance, several thousand rockets, not such as are used at Vauxhall, but for the purpose of war". The rockets "were of great size, formed of cases with cast iron heads, and filled with powder."

Rockets were made in the building in the centre and stored on the shed on the left. The large factory behind was a rice mill and unconnected.

Hales and his son, who was also arrested, were taken to Bow Street Police Court and charged with possession of more than 200lb of gunpowder within 3 miles of the City of London (less than 200lb was apparently ok) and the illegal manufacture of rockets or fireworks. There was a vigorous argument whether it was actually gunpowder, Hales claiming it was "rocket composition" and if ignited would only "fizz like the Devil" whilst the laboratory of the Woolwich Arsenal counter claimed it would work exactly like gunpowder if loaded into a pistol, which they proved, The magistrate, Mr Henry, ruled that Hale was clearly guilty on both counts but the charge of rocket manufacture was withdrawn by the Crown whilst the gunpowder charge was referred to a sessions court.

Witnesses in the case included " some foreigners who were employed by Mr. Hales were witnesses. They were Hungarian refugees, who had been recommended by M. Kossuth, who seemed to take much interest in the manufacture." (Annual Register 1854) - it was this Hungarian connection which led to questions in the House, and it was also this that threatened to cause a major international incident between the British Empire and the Empire of Austro Hungary.

The Hungarian Revolution of 1848

In 1848 revolutionary fervour wept across Europe - in the sprawling Austro Hungarian Empire this was expressed as a revolt by the Hungarian part and a desperate bid for independence. There were victories against the Austrians, and even against a Russian Expeditionary force at the battle of Hermanstatt, but the forces ranged against them were simply too large. The Hungarians lost their capital Pest (Budapest is historically Buda and Pest, two cities on opposite banks of the Danube) and although they retook it and actually forced the Austrians back towards Vienna, they had to surrender at Vilagos in 1849.

Austrian trooper in the Raketen Korps (New York Public Library)

The Hungarian leader, Lajos Kossuth, escaped via Turkey and became the Hungarian voice in exile. Energetic, charismatic, he was a big hit in France and in October 1851 he landed in Britain. He received a hugely popular reception, with even a procession through London and a crowd of 75,000 people in Birmingham. He was also sympathetically received by the foreign secretary, Lord Palmerston, though they didn't officially meet, and there were many speeches against both the Austrians and the Russians.

After a wildly successful tour of the United States Kossuth returned to England, and formed part of a vocal Hungarian emigrant community.

Rockets

Congreve rockets had been used by the British in the Napoleonic wars, even mounted on ships. They looked, basically, like huge versions of the fireworks we use today, mounted on long sticks. William Hale, an English inventor, thought he could do better, and in 1844 patented a new type of rocket. Basically, his rockets vented part of their gases through little holes at the side, spinning the rocket like a rifle bullet and doing away with the need for a stick altogether. Not only did this make the rockets much more accurate, but they were also more portable, easily carried by mules. This made them ideal for expeditionary warfare. By 1846 the US army was using 6 pound Hale Rockets in their invasion of Mexico, firing hundreds during the siege of the port of Vera Cruz. They were also used at the battles of Cerro Gordo, Churubusco & Chapultepec.

US artillery outside Veracruz, with rockets in the background

The British army tried out the rockets, but didn't take any (although they were later to adopt an improved version in 1867) and so Hale looked around for other markets. His son declared in 1853 that patents had been sold to the US, Denmark, Switzerland "and other foreign powers".

These included the Austrian Empire. The Austrians had experimented with Congreve rockets as early as 1808, establishing a factory at Wiener-Neustadt and establishing one of the largest rocket corps in Europe.By 1856, the rocket corps contained 3,865 men (and 2,460 horses) , with 20 batteries, each of 8 rocket frames. In the campaigns of 1848/9 rockets of the Feuerwerk Corps (!) were used to considerable effect, in mountain warfare against the Italians, and in Hungary, the unit commander Field Marshall Franz von Hauslab declaring that "During the Hungarian campaign enemy cavalry always fled when rockets were used against them".

The Austrians were therefore not best pleased to hear that the Hungarians might be acquiring rockets of their own.

The Kossuth Affair

Lajos Kossuth

As a guard against industrial espionage, and possibly because they were cheaper, Hale preferred to employ foreign labour. A man named Usener had previously presented himself to Kossuth asking for work, and Kossuth directed him to Hale. How Hale and Kossuth knew each other is even now unclear, and there have been documents found in Hungarian archives suggesting that Hale and Kossuth were at least considering some sort of deal. That Usener had apparently served in the Hungarian artillery is also suggestive. On the other hand, Usener almost immediately went to the Austrian embassy and told them Hale was supplying rockets to the Hungarians, implying a certain amount of espionage on the Austrian side. Whatever Usener`s motives were, it was at the Embassy's request that British police searched both Kossuth´s house, and Hales's factory. They found no evidence of collusion, nor had there been any from previous police surveillance of Kossuth, and so, at the insistence of Palmerston, the matter was dropped. Palmerston's pro-Hungarian sympathies were well known, and he was forced to claim in the House that..

"I can assure my hon. friend that he is mistaken in supposing that the government are acting in this matter upon any pledge, promise, or engagement given to any foreign government, except that given in the face of parliament, viz., that we should use our utmost exertions to enforce the law in this country, for the purpose of preventing that shelter, which I trust will always be given to foreign exiles who may come here from any political cause whatever, being abused for the purpose of organising or carrying on hostile proceedings against other countries."

It has to be said that these claims were not universally accepted.

In fact the affair damaged neither Hale nor Kossuth. William Hale and his son continued developing and selling rockets, eventually winning a British army contract which saw Hale rockets used around the Empire, from the Abyssinia to the Zulu war. Kossuth continued as the unofficial head of Hungarian resistance, even organising Hungarian foreign legions for the Crimean and Franco Austrian war, although neither saw action. But the infighting so common in expatriate groups took its toll, and the leadership back in Hungary gradually came to terms with Vienna and signed an accord in 1867. Kossuth moved to Turin, and died in Italy in 1894.

Further Reading

Hungary & it's revolutions (1854)

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vnEIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR20&lpg=PR20&dq=austro+hungarian+%22hale+rockets%22&source=bl&ots=0qr5SQDu8D&sig=cl9zOBA6uNRc-DAosY67k8KvWFc&hl=pt-BR&ei=kdWmTqqXO4qdgQf46ckz&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=hale&f=false

The New Monthly Magazine (William Harrison Ainsworth) 1856

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XjoFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA181&dq=austrian+rocket+batteries&hl=pt-BR&ei=wyWoTtXcPIacgQervJ0E&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%20rocket%20batteries&f=false

Blazing the trail - the early history of rocketry (Mike Gruntman) 2004

http://books.google.ca/books?id=2XY9KXxF8OEC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=hales+rockets+mexico&source=bl&ots=gFEaxjc_ti&sig=jxuWhurmBQCc3uRfXwloj3VWphw&hl=en&ei=AyzgTvmWKILcggfcnuDyBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=hales%20rockets%20mexico&f=false

Austrians & Boxers (2)

In 1900 China imploded. A massive peasant uprising marched on Peking, massacring any aspect of non-traditional China, mainly foreigners and Christians. The weak Imperial government decided that could be turned to their advantage and threw in their lot with the Boxers. In Peking, hundreds of miles from the sea and any relief, the foreigners huddled together in the Legation Quarter, sandbagged the gates, and prepared to sell their lives dearly.

The Austrian Embassy was outside the central block, and though ornamental, was judged indefensible, at least by the Austrian commander, Captain Thomann. The Austrian sailors and civilians moved in with the French, which led to recriminations as it involved abandoning a large part of the perimeter. And it was jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, the French Legation was to see some of the most desperate fighting of the siege. The Chinese front line was only 50 ft away, negating a lot of the fire power advantage of the Europeans, even Boxers armed with spears and swords stood a chance of reaching the walls, and could attack at any time, day or night.

The gate of the French Legation

There was also a strong suspicion that sappers were digging under the walls, which did nothing for the nerves of the 78 Austrian and French soldiers, and 17 civilian volunteers guarding the Legation. The civilians included the Austrian Legation Secretary, Arthur Von Rosthorn, who had studied Chinese at Oxford in 1883 and had many business contacts amongst the Chinese. He and his wife Paula later wrote an account of the siege. But the quotes here come from highly readable account left by a British survivor, Putnam- Weale.*

For several days after June 20th, nothing happened. Not least because no one was in true command on either side. Within the Legation complex the candidates in terms of seniority were the Austrian captain, Thomann, the British Sir Claude MacDonald and the Japanese commander. It has to be said that there is speculation about Thomann, and his suitability for command. Responsibility for not just his troops but all the women and children in the legation, with many in the garrison believing their end was only a matter of time, would have daunted many men. Anyway, the Japanese had orders to defer to the British, and in the end MacDonald assumed command. In a way. Each nationality more or less defended it´s own embassy, and eye witnesses tell time and time again of lack of coordination. It is a tribute to MacDonalds diplomatic skills, as well as his military prowess, that the siege was survived at all.

Sir Claude McDonald

June 23rd

The whole defence nearly collapsed on the 23rd. Thomann suddenly ordered the Austrians, French and Italians to fall back on the British compound, the citadel of the defence. Troops poured into the legation, followed by the American Marines from the Tartar wall who feared they were being abandoned and their flank would be turned. It was now that McDonald really took command, with everyone in his embassy he held all the cards. He calmed everybody down and ordered them back to the outer defences, which, incredibly, had not been rushed, although the Italian embassy had been torched. The front was stabilised once more.

The Austro-French lines were defended by piquets, spread, desperately weakly, along the front. Putnam- Weale describes one consisting of four Frenchmen and two Austrians

"Here on roofs, squatting behind loopholes, and even on tree-tops, though these are very dangerous, French and Austrian sailors exchange shots with the enemy. Half a dozen men have been already hit here, but in spite of the strictest orders men are fearlessly exposing themselves and reaping the inevitable result.One giant Austrian had spread himself across the top of a roof near which I passed, with two sandbags to protect his head, and looked in his blue- black sailor clothes like an enormous fly squashed flat up there by the anger of the gods. Now leaning this way, now that, he flashed off a Mannlicher there towards the Italian Legation, where only one hundred hours ago no one ever dreamed that Chinese desperadoes would have made our normal life such a distant memory".

For a week Putnam- Weale wrote no notes, too tired and busy. During this time the Austrians lost their first casualties. Though suffering many wounded they had somehow still survived, but in the defence of the French legation Joesf Dettan fell on the 25th, then Marcus Badurina-Perić and Alfred Tavagna on the 26th and 29th.

Peking burning in June 1900

July 3rd

The Austrians and French "still sullenly cling to the ruins of the French barricades" but the Chinese now bought up two cannon.

" Under this devastating bombardment, almost a bout portant, as the French say, the last line of French trenches and their main-gate blockhouse became untenable. Pieces of shell tore through everything; men were wounded more and more quickly, ...... The French commander, disheartened by the treatment he had received from the commander-in-chief, and convinced that all his men would be blown to pieces if they remained where they were, ordered his bugler to sound the retire. The clarion's notes rose shrilly above this storm of fire, and dragging their dead with them, the Franco- Austrian survivors retreated into the fortified line behind them the Peking hotel.
Here they manned the windows and barricades of the intrepid Swiss' hostelry, which had already been heavily damaged by the Chinese guns. A determination was arrived at not to be driven out of this hotel until the last man had been killed ; it was necessary at all costs to prevent the enemy from breaking in so far. More volunteers were brought to reinforce this line, and the sinking spirits of the French were restored; for within half an hour of their retreat the bugler had sounded the advance again, and with a rush the abandoned positions were reoccupied and the Chinese driven back. Then the guns stopped their cannonade, and a breathing space was given which was sufficient to repair some of the damage done."

* http://www.archive.org/stream/indiscreetletter008256mbp/indiscreetletter008256mbp_djvu.txt