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1868-1870. PORTSMOUTH
Duties—Geology—Societies
formed—Portland prison—Parkhurst---Garrison prisons Gymnastics—Arrival
of 33rd and 101st Regiments—Man of 3rd Light Dragoons —Sale of
decorations—Illness—Discharging soldiers—Comments.
APPOINTED to the Southern
District,' the duties connected with departmental administration were
entered upon without delay. Within the garrison of Portsmouth,
headquarters of the district, they included work relating to embarking
and disembarking troops, in addition to ordinary routine; through the
district, inspections of military establishments and places with which I
was already familiar.
In visiting
establishments on the Isle of Wight some pleasant excursions were taken
in company with a kindred spirit in regard to natural things. With
geological map in hand, we walked from point to point comparing the
strata as we proceeded with the several illustrative sketches there
presented. So also official visits to the Isle of Portland gave
opportunity of studying the history presented by its rocks and strata,
with regard to its alternating elevations and submergences in geological
periods. The operations in progress at Spithead in connection with forts
intended to be built there supplied with ample material in different
shapes those among us whose tastes led us to take interest in them.
Among our numbers were
several men devoted to different branches of natural history; others
whose tastes and pursuits were in more purely professional subjects. By
means of a happy combination between the two a society was set on foot,
a room with fuel and light assigned to its use by the War Office, and an
excellent library collected. Papers were read at its meetings, abstracts
being published in the London professional journals. So great was the
success which attended our efforts that a society of allied kind was
established by scientific and professional residents of Portsmouth and
its vicinity.
The then governor of
Portland convict prison had previously held a similar position at
Norfolk Island, to which at that time the worst and most desperate
criminals were sent from New South Wales. The men he had there to deal
with were the most desperate and reckless of their class; but some of
the accounts Mr. Clifton gave regarding his method towards them were
most interesting, some even pathetic, the keynote of his system having
been, on suitable occasions, to appeal to their human nature. With
evident gusto we were invited to enter what he called his museum of
implements with which from time to time attempts on his life had been
made by convicts under his charge; and very miscellaneous were they as
they lay upon their shelves, duly labelled and arranged. Among the
convicts were some who had in their day occupied high social position,
one of them in particular. Passing them as we did, our gaze was averted
as we did so, but it was not in us to withhold from them a thought of
pity.
At Parkhurst the
"governor" of the convict prison was a lady, the convicts being women.
It was the boast of Mrs. Gibson that, in maintaining discipline and
administering justice for offences, no barrier of any kind separated her
from the offender brought before her, and yet, unlike the experience
already mentioned, with the exception of one occasion, violence had
never been offered her. "Unless," said she, "I have sufficient moral
power to maintain order, my influence would be gone." Her daughter had
been carefully tended from infancy to womanhood by a life convict. But
among her prisoners were some whose disposition was most desperate;
there were others who, when they "felt a fit of passion coming on," made
request to their "governor" that, as a favour, she would allow them to
"go to the pump," so that by the violent exertion there required of them
they might "work it off." A short time previous there had been under her
charge as life convict a young lady, the story of whose "crime" and
conviction occupied public attention to a more than usual degree, the
question of her guilt being no less discussed than were the
circumstances under which her confession had been obtained, the reality
of that confession, and the relation of "confessors" to the individual
on the one hand, and to law on the other.
The periodical inspection
of Garrison prisoners came within the ordinary routine of duty. As a
matter of information, inquiries on such occasions were directed to the
effect, if any, of punishments undergone by soldiers in deterring them
from subsequent crime, the usual reply received being that " the same
men come here over and over again." Past experience in regiments had
been to the same effect in regard to offences, and to a considerable
extent also to men coming "on the sick report" to hospital, the numbers
of the latter depending greatly upon the kind of duty, parades, drills,
and so on, that was about to take place. Regimental surgeons understood
all such moves on the part of the men, and for the most part were able
to estimate at its approximate value the statements made by individuals.
While visiting a military
gymnasium, attention was drawn to performances by the non-commissioned
officer in charge, a noted gymnast, some of whose feats on the trapeze
and otherwise were remarkable as showing high proficiency in his art. At
the time of their performance his appearance indicated advanced
phthisis, and within a month thereafter he succumbed to that condition.
Other instances more or less similar to his have come under notice,
indicating that the ability to perform feats of "strength" and agility
is not a constant indication of robust health, although it may be of
"knack" acquired by practice.
Duty brought me in
contact from time to time with regiments with which on previous
occasions I had been associated; for example, the 34th at Azimghur, 3th
at Dinapore, 97th at Sooltanpore, and 67th at Tientsin. The arrival of
the 33rd from Abyssinia was made an occasion to do honour to the gallant
"West Ridings" for its services in that campaign. That of the iorst on
its first tour of home service was attended by various incidents, some
amusing in their way, showing how new to the men were the conditions in
which they found themselves Fortunately for them "comrades" in garrison
gave them willing help in landing baggage, carrying coals, filling straw
beds, and so on.
Visiting the barracks at
Chichester, I learned some particulars with reference to the sequel of
the incident connected with a soldier of the 3rd Light Dragoons at
Wuzzeerabad in 1853. That regiment now occupied those barracks
preparatory to going on foreign service, but so numerous had been the
changes during the interval that with difficulty was one man found who
remembered it. According to his account the particulars given by the man
then alluded to, in regard to his part in the murder on Wandsworth
Common, the disposal of watch and chain of his victim, were confirmed by
subsequent inquiries. The man himself was condemned to a lunatic asylum,
and there he died.
While walking along High
Street on one occasion, attention was attracted to two medals exposed
for sale in the window of a well-known silversmith of that day. To them
was attached a short printed notice relating that they were the
identical decorations presented to the two men most distinguished for
gallantry in the battle of Waterloo. In default of heirs they had come
to be among the contents of an old curiosity shop. They had respectively
been bestowed upon Colonel Macdonell and Sergeant Graham, both of the
Coldstream Guards, for their defence of Hougomont against the combined
forces under Jerome Bonaparte, Foy, and Bachelu. On subsequent
occasions, orders and decorations for the Mutiny campaign were, for lack
of heirs, sold by public auction; a commentary on the passing value of
such things, highly prized though they are by those on whom, for
services rendered, they were conferred in the first instance.
In the spring of 1870 I
experienced in person what in many other instances is a sequence of
continued attacks of malarious illness, in that they seemed to culminate
in one of great severity, even after nearly a year and a half of English
climate. To the great care and skill of two army surgeons I owe my
recovery—indeed, my life.
Restoration to full
activity was slow. Meantime, a duty devolved upon me the nature of which
was unpleasant, as it seemed to me invidious. A scheme of Army
retrenchment was to be enforced. In accordance therewith reductions in
the numbers of men borne on their rolls were ordered to be carried out
in regiments in our particular district as in others; the instructions
under which officers concerned were obliged to act leaving to them
little, if any, discretionary power.
The classes of men to be
selected for discharge, and so make room or recruits to be enlisted
under the short service system, comprised— (1) the sickly and weak; (2)
those of bad character; (3) those who for reasons of their own were
desirous of obtaining discharge. It was felt that, of the first, the
greater number would be cast adrift, incapable of earning a livelihood,
and so be thrown upon parish relief; that by the second, a number of
incorrigible characters would be let loose on the public, to prey upon
it either by begging or by crime, to be further a burthen to the
taxpayer in respect to expenses of prosecution, and of maintenance in
prison while undergoing punishment for crimes committed. The third class
was composed of those who, having become trained soldiers, inured to
discipline, were lost to the service when their individual value was at
its greatest. Some of us felt strongly then that such numerical
reductions as were deemed necessary, on account of public reasons, might
have been carried out by the more gradual and less objectionable method
of ceasing to recruit for a few weeks or months. |
