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To the Gold Coast for Gold

R >> Richard F. Burton >> To the Gold Coast for Gold




'A second party was composed of the Infantry Battalion of the Canaries,
[Footnote: This battalion afterwards distinguished itself highly in the
Peninsular war.] under Sub-Lieutenant Don Juan Sanchez. A third,
composed of 70 recruits from the Banderas [Footnote: _Bandera_ is a
flag, a depôt, also a levy made by officers of Government.] of Havana
and Cuba, was led by Second Lieutenant Don Pedro Castillo; a fourth
numbered seventeen artillerymen and two officers, Lieutenant Don Josef
Feo and Sub-Lieutenant Don Francisco Dugi. A fifth, and the last, was of
twenty-five free chasseurs belonging to the town, and commanded by
Captains Don Felipe Viña and Don Luis Roman.

'Our Commandant-General, H. E. Señor Don Juan Antonio Gutierrez,
[Footnote: Not Gutteri, as James has it, nor 'Gutienez,' as Mrs. Murray
prefers.] was residing in the principal castle of San Cristobal. His
staff consisted of the commandants of the Royal Corps of Artillery and
Engineers, Don Marcelo Estranio and Don Luis Margueli; of the Auditor of
War (an old office, the legal military adviser and judge), Don Vicente
Patiño; of Lieutenant-Colonel Don Juan Creagh (locally pronounced
Cré-ah); of the Secretary of Inspection Captain Don Juan Creagh; of the
Secretary to Government and Captain of Militia Don Guillermo de los
Reyes; of the Captain of Infantry Don Josef Victor Dominguez; of
Lieutenants Don Vicente Siera and Don Josef Calzadilla,
Town-Adjutant--the latter three acting as aides-de-camp to his
Excellency--and of the first officers of the Tobacco and Postal Bureaux,
Don Juan Fernandez Uriarte and Don Gaspar de Fuentes.

'The five parties before alluded to, numbering a total of 191, were, at
his own request, placed under Lieutenant-Colonel the Marquess de la
Fuente de las Palmas, commanding the division of chasseurs. The first to
mount the hill nearest the enemy, he saw the increased force of the
attacker, who had placed a 4-pounder in position; whereupon he sent for
reinforcements and some pieces of cannon. Our Commandant-General, on
receipt of the message, ordered up four guns (3- and 4-pounders) with
fifty men under a captain of the Infantry Battalion of the
Canaries. Universal admiration was excited by the agility and
intrepidity with which twenty militiamen of the Laguna Regiment, under
the chief of that corps, Florencio Gonsalez, scaled the cliffs, carrying
on their shoulders, besides their own arms and ammunition, the four guns
and their appurtenances.

'Meanwhile our troops replied bravely to the enemy's deliberate fire of
musketry and field-pieces. As he sallied out to a spring in the Valle
Seco, two of his men were killed by the French party and the levies of
Havana and Cuba, whilst a third died of suffocation whilst scaling the
heights. At the same time Lieutenant-Colonel Don Juan Creagh, commanding
the Infantry Battalion, accompanied by a volunteer, Don Vicente Siera,
Lieutenant of the local corps (_fixo_) of Cuba, led thirty of his
men and fifty Rozadores [Footnote: The insular name of an irregular
corps, now done away with. Literally taken, the word means sicklemen.]
belonging to the city of La Laguna. They proceeded across country in
order to reconnoitre the enemy's rear. Before nightfall they succeeded
in occupying high ground in the same valley opposite the heights held by
the English, and in manning the defiles through which the latter must
pass on their way to the town.

'As soon as the enemy saw these troops, he formed in five companies near
his field-gun. Lieutenant-Colonel Creagh was joined by some 500 men of
the Laguna militia, and their lieutenant, Don Nicholas Quintin Garcia,
followed by the peasantry of the adjoining districts, under the Alcalde
or Mayor of Taganana. These and all the other troops were liberally
supplied with provisions by the _Ayuntamiento_ (municipality) of
the Island.

'On the next morning (July 23) our scouts being sent down to the valley,
found that the enemy had disappeared during the night. Notwithstanding
which, the Marquess de las Palmas ordered a deliberate fire to be kept
up in case of surprise. Our General, when informed of the event,
recalled the troops. The Marquess, who unfortunately received a fall
which kept him _hors de combat_ for many days, [Footnote: I find
pencilled in the original volume, 'Que caida tam oportuna!' (What a
lucky fall!)] obeyed with his command at 5 P.M., leaving behind him
thirty men under Don Felix Uriundo, second lieutenant of the Battalion
of Canaries. Don Juan Creagh did the same with his men. But as the
French commandant reported that some of the enemy were still lurking
about the place, our General-in-Chief directed Captain Don Santiago
Madan, second adjutant of the same corps, to reconnoitre once more the
Valle Seco with 120 Rozadores. This duty was well performed, despite the
roughness of the paths and the excessive heat of the sun.

'The enemy's squadron now seemed inclined to desist from its attempt. At
6 A.M. of July 23 Rear-Admiral Nelson's flagship, which, with the other
ships of the line, had kept in the offing, drew near, and signalled the
frigates to sheer off from the point and to rejoin the rest of the
squadron. These, however, at 3 P.M., allowed themselves to drop down the
coast towards the dangerous southern reaches between Barranco Hondo,
beyond the Quarantine-house and the village of Candelaria, distant a
day's march from Santa Cruz. To prevent their landing men, Captain Don
Antonio Eduardo, and the special engineer, Don Manuel Madera,
reconnoitred the shore about Puerto Caballas, to see if artillery could
be brought there. Meanwhile Sub-Lieutenant Don Cristobal Trinidad, of
the Guimar Regiment, watched, with fifty of his men, the coast near San
Isidro, [Footnote: Here the landing is easiest.] which is not far from
Barranco Hondo. The squadron, however, retired to such a distance that
it could hardly be discerned from the town, as it bore S.E. 1/4 E.:
notwithstanding which, all preparations were made to give the enemy a
warm reception.

'At daylight on July 24 the squadron again appeared, crowding on all
sail to gain the weather-side. The look-out at Anaga Point, north of the
island, signalled three ships from that direction, and two to the south,
where we could distinguish only one of fifteen guns, which was presently
joined by the rest. At 6 P.M. the enemy anchored with his whole force on
the same ground which the frigates chose on the 22nd, and feinted to
attack Paso Alto Fort. Our General and chiefs were not deceived.
Foreseeing that we should be assaulted in front, and to the
right or south, [Footnote: The town of Santa Cruz runs due north and
south in a right line; the bay affords no shelter to shipping, and the
beach is rocky.] they made their dispositions accordingly, without,
however, neglecting to protect the left.

'At 6 P.M. a frigate and the bomb-ketch approached Paso Alto, and the
latter opened fire upon the fort and the heights behind it. These
positions were occupied by 56 men of the Battalion of the Canaries, 40
Rozadores, under Second Lieutenant Don Felix Uriundo, and 16
artillerymen, commanded by Sub-Lieutenant of Militia Artillery Don Josef
Cambreleng. [Footnote: A Flemish name, I believe: the family is still in
the island.] Of 43 shells, however, only one fell in the fort, bursting
in a place where straw for soldiers' beds had been stored, and this,
like the others, did no damage. [Footnote: A fragment of this shell is
preserved in the Fort Chapel for the edification of strangers.] Paso
Alto, commanded by the Captain of the Royal Corps of Artillery, Don
Vicente Rosique, replied firmly. At the same time Don Juan del Castillo,
sub-lieutenant of militia, with 16 men, reconnoitred, by H. E. the
Governor's orders, the Valle Seco. The operation was boldly performed,
despite the darkness of night and other dangers; and our soldiers
returned with a prisoner, an Irish sailor of the _Fox_ cutter, who
had swum off from his ship.

'The enemy now prepared his force for the attack. One thousand five
hundred men, [Footnote: James numbers 200 seamen and marines from each
of the three line-of-battle ships, and 100 from each of the three
frigates, besides officers, servants, and a small detachment of Royal
Artillery. This made a total of 1,000 to 1,060 men, commanded by
Captain, afterwards Admiral, Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bart. Nelson
(_Despatches_, vol. ii. p. 43) says 600 to 700 men in the squadron
boats, 180 on board the _Fox_, and about 70 or 80 in a captured
boat; total, at most, 960.] as we were afterwards informed, well armed
with guns, pistols, pikes, swords, saws, and hatchets, and led by their
best officers, among whom was the Rear-Admiral, embarked in their
boats. At 2.15 A.M. (July 25) they put off in the deepest silence. The
frigate of the Philippine Islands Company, anchored outside the shipping
in the bay, discovered them when close alongside. Almost at the same
moment the Paso Alto Fort, under Lieutenant-Colonel Don Pedro de
Higueras, and the Captain of Artillery Don Vicente Rosique, gave the
signal to the (saluting) battery of San Antonio [Footnote: This old
work, _à fleur d'eau_, still remains; and near it are the ruins of
the Bateria de los Melones, on land bought by the Davidson family.] in
the town, held by the Captain of Militia Artillery Don Patricio
Madan. They alarmed the citizens by their fire, and the enemy attacked
with rare intrepidity.

'The defence was gallantly kept up by the battery of San Miguel, under
Sub-Lieutenant of Artillery Don Josef Marrero; by the Castle of San
Pedro, [Footnote: The San Pedro battery dated from 1797. It defended the
southern town with six embrasures and three guns _en barbette_. For
many years huge mortars and old guns lay outside this work.] under the
Captain of Artillery Don Francisco Tolosa; by the Provisional Battery de
los Melones, [Footnote: Now destroyed. It was, I have said, near the new
casemates north of the town.] under the Sergeant of Militia Juan
Evangelista; by the Mole-battery, under Lieutenant of the Royal Corps of
Artillery Don Joaquim Ruiz and Sub-Lieutenant of Militia Don Francisco
Dugi; by the Castle of San Cristobal, under the Captain of the Royal
Regiment of Artillery and Brigade-Major Don Antonio Eduardo, who
commanded the central and right batteries, and Lieutenant of Militia
Artillery Don Francisco Grandi, to whom were entrusted the defences on
our left; by the battery of La Concepcion, [Footnote: Where the Custom
House now is, in the middle of the town.] under Captain of the Royal
Regiment of Artillery Don Clemente Falcon; and by that of San Telmo,
[Footnote: Near the dirty little square south of the Custom House. The
word is thus written throughout the Canary Islands; in Italy, Sant'
Elmo.] under the Captain of Militia Artillery Don Sebastian Yanez.

'The rest of our line did not fire, because the enemy's boats had not
passed the Barranco, or stony watercourse, which divides the southern
from the northern town. In the Castle of San Juan,

[Footnote: It is the southernmost work, afterwards used as a
powder-magazine. To the south of the town are also the Bateria de la
Rosa, near the coal-sheds, and the Santa Isabel work. The latter had 22
fine brass guns, each of 13 centimètres, made at Seville, once a famous
manufactory.]

however, Captain Don Diego Fernandez Calderia trained four guns to bear
upon the beach, which was protected by the Laguna militia regiment,
under Lieutenant-Colonel Juan de Castro.

'So hot and well-directed was our fire, that almost all the boats were
driven back, and the _Fox_ cutter, with her commander and 382 of
the landing party--others said 450--also carrying a reserve store of
arms and ammunition, was sunk. [Footnote: Nelson, _loc. cit._, says
180 men were in the _Fox_, and of these 97 were lost. So Captain
Brenton, _Naval History_, says 97. In vol. ii. p. 84, speaking of
Trafalgar, he informs us that the French ship _Indomptable_ (84),
M. Hubart, was wrecked off Rota, where her crew, said to be 1,500 men,
_all perished_. Add, 'except M. Maffiote, of Tenerife, and about
143 others.'] Rear-Admiral Nelson lost his right arm before he could
touch ground, and was compelled to return to his flag-ship, with the
other officers of his boat all badly wounded. [Footnote: The grape-shot
was fired from the Castle of San Pedro; others opine from San Cristobal;
and the Canarese say that a splinter of stone did the work. According to
most authorities, Nelson was half-way up the mole. James declares that
Nelson's elbow was struck by a shot as he was drawing his sword and
stepping out of his boat. In Nelson's _Despatches, loc. cit._, we
read that the 'mole was instantly stormed and carried, although defended
by 400 or 500 men, and the guns--six 24-pounders--were spiked; but such
a heavy fire of musketry and grape-shot was kept up from the citadel and
houses at the head of the mole that we could not advance, and nearly all
were killed.'] The brave Captain Bowen was killed on the first step of
the Mole, a volley of grape tearing away his stomach. [Footnote: This
officer is said to have caused the expedition, by describing it to
Admiral Jervis and the British Government as an easy exploit. He had
previously cut out of this bay a Philippine Island frigate, _El
Principe Fernando_; and he had with him, as guide, a Chinese
prisoner, taken in that vessel. The guide was also killed. Captain
Bowen's family made some exertions to recover certain small articles
which he carried about him--watch, pistols, &c.--and failed. One pistol
was lost, and for the other its possessor modestly demanded 14_l_.]
Nineteen other Englishmen were struck down by a discharge of grape. The
gun which fired it had, on that same night, been placed by the governor
of the Castle of San Cristobal, Don Josef Monteverde, [Footnote: There
is a note in my volume, 'Father of the adopted son, Miguelito Morales.']
at a new embrasure which he caused to be opened in the flank of the
bastion. [Footnote: This part of the castle has now been altered, and
mounted with brass 80-pounders.] Thus it commanded the landing-place,
where before there was dead ground. The enemy afterwards confessed that
the injury thus done was the first cause of his misfortunes.

'Notwithstanding the Rear-Admiral's wound and the enemy's loss in men
and chief officers, a single boat, carrying Captain and Commodore
Troubridge, covered by the smoke and the darkness, landed at the Caleta
[Footnote: 'Caleta' means literally a _cul de sac_. At Santa Cruz
it is applied to a rocky tract near the Custom-house Battery: in those
days it was the place where goods were disembarked.] beach. At the same
time the main body of the English, who had escaped the grape of the
Castle of San Cristobal and the batteries La Concepcion and San Telmo,
disembarked a little further south, at the Barranquillo del Aceyte,
[Footnote: This ditch is now built over and converted into a drain. It
runs a little above the present omnibus stables.] at the Butcheries, and
at the Barranco Santo. [Footnote: Also called de la Cassona--'of the
Dog-fish'--that animal being often caught in a _charco_, or pool,
in the broad watercourse. So those baptised in the parish church are
popularly said to have been 'dipped in the waters of the Dog-fish
Pool.'] The levies of Havana and Cuba, posted in the Butcheries under
Second Lieutenant Don Pedro de Castilla, being unable to repulse the
enemy's superior force, retreated upon the Battalion of Infantry of the
Canaries, consisting of 260 men and officers, including the
militia. This corps, supported by two field-guns, [Footnote: In the
original 'canones violentos,' _i.e._ 4-pounders, 6-pounders, or
8-pounders.] ably and energetically worked by the pilots, Nicolas Franco
and Josef Garcia, did such damage that the English were in turn
compelled to fall back upon the beaches of the Barranco and the
Butcheries.

'These were the only places where the enemy was able to gain a footing
in the town. He marched in two columns, one, with drums beating, by the
little square of the parish church (La Concepcion) to the convent of
Santo Domingo, [Footnote: Afterwards pulled down to make room for a
theatre and a market-place.] and the other to the Plaza [Footnote: Plaza
here means the square behind the castle. In other places it applies to
the fortified part of the town.] of the San Cristobal castle. His plan
of attack was to occupy the latter post, but he was driven back from the
portcullis after losing one officer by the hot fire of the
militia-Captain Don Esteban Benitez de Lugo. Thus driven back to the
Caleta, the invaders marched along the street called "de las Tiendas."
[Footnote: It is now the 'Cruz Verde.' In those days it was the
principal street; the Galle del Castello (holding at present that rank)
then showed only scattered houses.] They then drew up at the head of the
square, maintaining a silence which was not broken by nine guns
discharged at them by the Captain of Laguna Chasseurs Don Fernando del
Hoyo, nor by the aspect of the two field-pieces ranged in front of them
by the Mayor, who was present at all the most important points in the
centre of the line. The cause was discovered in an order afterwards
found in the pocket of Lieut. Robinson, R.M. It ran to this
effect:--[Footnote: This and other official documents are translated
into English from the Spanish. According to our naval despatches and
histories the senior marine officer who commanded the whole detachment
was Captain Thomas Oldfleld, R.M. The 'Relacion circumstanciada'
declares that the original is in the hands of Don Bernardo Cologan y
Fablon, another Irish-Spanish gentleman who united valour and
patriotism. He was seen traversing, sabre in hand, the most dangerous
places, encouraging the men and attending to the wounded so zealously
that he parted even with his shirt for bandaging their hurts.]

'July 24, night.

'SIR,--You will repair with the party under your command
to H.M.S. _Zealous_, where you will receive final
instructions. Care must be taken to keep silence in the
ranks, and the only countersign which you and your men
are to use is that of "The _Leander_."

'I am, Sir, &c. &c.,
'(Signed) T. THOMPSON.

'Lieutenant Robinson, R.M.

'Standing at the head of the square, the enemy could observe that not
far from them was a provision-store, guarded by Don Juan Casalon and Don
Antonio Power, [Footnote: The original has it 'Pouver,' a misprint. The
Irish-Spanish family of Power is well known in the Canaries.] the two
"deputies of Abastos." [Footnote: Now called _regidores_--officers
who are charged with distributing rations.] The English seized it,
wounding Dons Patricio Power and Casalon, who, after receiving two blows
with an axe, escaped. They then obliged, under parole, the deputy Power
and Don Luis Fonspertius to conduct into the Castle a sergeant sent to
parly. Our Commandant-General, when summoned to surrender the town
within two minutes, under pain of its being burned, returned an answer
worthy of his honour and gallantry. "Such a proposal," he remarked,
"requires no reply," and in proof thereof he ordered the party to be
detained. [Footnote: According to James, who follows Troubridge's
report, the sergeant was shot in the streets and no answer was
received.]

'Meanwhile our militiamen harassed the first column of the enemy,
compelling it, by street-fighting, to form up in the little squares of
Santo Domingo and of the parish church. Our Commandant-General was
startled when he found that this position cut off direct communication
between San Cristobal and the Battalion of the Canaries, whose fire,
like that of the militiamen on the right, suddenly ceased. But he was
assured that the battalion was unbroken, and all the central posts
except the Mole were supported, by the report of Lieutenant Don Vicente
Siera: this officer had just attacked with 30 men of that battalion the
enemy's boats as they lay grounded at the mouth of the Barranco Santo,
dislodging the defenders, who had taken shelter behind them, and making
five prisoners. The English were stopped at the narrow way near the base
of the pier by the hot fire of the troops under Captain and Adjutant of
Chasseurs Don Luis Roman, the nine militiamen under Don Francisco Jorva,
the sergeant of the guard Domingo Mendez, and a recruit of the Havana
levy; these made forty-four prisoners, including six officers, whilst
twelve were wounded. Our Commandant-General was presently put out of all
doubt by Don Josef Monteverde. This governor of San Cristobal, when
informed that 2,000 Englishmen had entered the town, intending probably
to attack the Castle with the scaling-ladders brought from their boats,
resolved himself to inspect the whole esplanade, and accordingly
reconnoitred the front and flank of the Citadel.

'All our advantages were well-nigh lost by a report which spread through
the garrison when our firing ceased. A cry arose that our chief was
killed, and that as the English who had taken the town were marching
upon La Laguna, they must be intercepted at the _cuesta_, or hill,
behind Santa Cruz. It is easy to conceive what a panic such rumours
would cause among badly armed and half-drilled militia. The report arose
thus:--Our Commandant-General seeing the defenders of the battery at the
foot of the Mole retreating, and hearing them cry, "Que nos cortan!" (We
are cut off!), sallied out with Don Juan Creagh and other officers, the
Port Captain, the Town Adjutant, and the chief collector of the
tobacco-tax. After ordering the corps of Chasseurs, 89 men and 9
officers, to fire, our chief returned, leaning upon the arm of Don Juan
Creagh, and some inconsiderate person thought that he was
wounded. Fortunately this indiscretion went no further than the Chasseur
Battalion of the Canaries and the militiamen on our right.

'When this battalion was not wanted in its former position it was
ordered to the square behind the Citadel. The movement was effected
about daybreak by Don Manuel Salcedo, Lieutenant of the King.
[Footnote: An old title (now changed) given to the military governor of
Santa Cruz and the second highest authority in the archipelago. Marshal
O'Donnell was Teniente del Rey at Tenerife, and he was born in a house
facing the cross in the main square of Santa Cruz.] That officer had
never left his corps, patrolling with it along the beaches where the
enemy disembarked, and he had sent to the barracks twenty-six prisoners,
besides three whom he captured at San Cristobal. When the battalion was
formed up and no enemy appeared, the Adjutant-Major enquired about them
in a loud voice. Meanwhile the Laguna militia, who in two divisions,
each of 120 men, under Lieut.-Col. Don Juan Baptista de Castro, had been
posted from San Telmo to the Grariton, [Footnote: Meaning a large
_garita_, or sentry-box. It is a place near the windmills to the
south of the town.] were also ordered to the main square. In two
separate parties they marched, one in direct line, the other by upper
streets, to cut off the enemy's retreat and place him between two
fires. As the latter, however, entered the little square of Santo
Domingo, their commander, Lieut.-Col. de Castro, hearing a confusion of
tongues, mistook for Spaniards and Frenchmen the English who were
holding it. Thereupon the enemy fired a volley, which killed him and a
militiaman and wounded many, whilst several were taken prisoners.

'The attackers presently manned the windows of Santo Domingo, and kept
up a hot fire against our militiamen. They then determined to send an
officer of marines to our Commandant-General, once more demanding the
surrender of the town under the threat of burning it. At the order of
Lieut.-Col. Don Juan Guinther the parliamentary was conducted to the
Citadel by Captain Don Santiago Madan. Our chief replied only that the
city had still powder, ball, and fighting men.

'Thereupon the affair recommenced. One battalion came up with two
field-guns to support its friends, and several militiamen died
honourably, exposing themselves to the fire of an entrenched enemy. Our
position was further reinforced by the militia-pickets that had been
skirmishing in the streets, and by the greater part of those who,
deceived by a false report, had retired to the slopes of La Laguna.

'Already it was morning, when a squadron of five armed boats was seen
making for our right. Our brave artillerymen had not the patience to let
them approach, but at once directed at them a hot fire, especially from
the Mole battery, under Don Francisco Grandi. That officer, accompanied
by the second constable, Manuel Troncos, had just passed from the
Citadel [Footnote: La Ciudadela, to the north of the mole, is not built,
as we read in Colburn (_U. S. Magazine_, January 1864), on an
artificial wall. It has a moat, casemates, loopholes, and twelve
_bouches à feu_ for plunging fire. The lines will connect with La
Laguna and complete the defences of the capital.] to the battery in
question, and had removed the spikes driven into the guns by Citoyen
François Martiney when he saw them abandoned. [Footnote: The English
diary shows that the Spaniards had spiked the guns.] The principal
Castle and the Mole batteries, supported by that of La Concepcion,
rained a shower of grape at a long range with such precision that three
boats were sunk and the two others fell back upon the squadron. At the
same time the Port Captain and Flag Officer of the frigate ordered his
men to knock out the bottoms of eighteen boats which the enemy after his
attack had left on the beach.

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