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| Page revised: Fri 14-Sep-2007 |
Engineer Soldiers (1772-1856) |
| During the 18th century any artisans, tradesmen or labourers required for military engineering tasks were raised from the local pool of suitably qualified civilians. However, in Gibraltar there were insufficient numbers of locally reliable and skilled workmen to carry out the crucial defensive work so labourers had to be sent out from Britain to make up the short fall. |
Company of Soldier Artificers - 1772-1797 |
The situation led on 6 March 1772 to the issuing of a Royal Warrant authorising the transfer of suitable men from the Gibraltar garrison's regiments to form the 'Company of Soldier Artificers'. This marked a turning point and created for the first time a body of skilled tradesmen and labourers who were enlisted permanently onto the Board of Ordnance establishment for the purpose of carrying out military engineering projects. |
 Lieutenant Colonel William Green Chief Engineer, Gibraltar (1760-83) |
It was the brainchild of the garrison Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Colonel (later General Sir) William Green (?-1811), who suggested to the Governor, General (later Lord Heathfield) George Augustus Eliott (1718-90), who had been an Engineer himself, that a unit be raised to supply a constant and reliable pool of skilled labour, which also fell under military discipline, to build and strengthen the garrison's fortifications. |
 Soldier Artificers 1772 (Lithograph: George Campion) |
The Company was officered by the Corps of Engineers.
Its establishment of sixty-eight was set at:
The newly formed company was immediately put to work building and constructing defences. |
| During the siege of Gibraltar (1779-83) individuals of the Company acquitted themselves well, in particular Sergeant Major Ince. It is said that Eliott offered "a thousand dollars to anyone who can get guns to the Notch", a point from which fire could be brought down on the enemy lines. Sergeant Major Ince proposed the idea of tunnelling to site the guns. It was taken up and so the tunnels were built and the guns sited. It is not clear whether he got his money but Ince's Farm in Gibraltar today, suggests that he may have received his due reward. |
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Ince's tunnels cut into the north face of ‘The
Rock’ during the siege remain today as a memorial to the Soldier
Artificers' work. |
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| This led to the raising of a 'Corps of Royal Military Artificers' consisting of six Companies each of 100 men by Royal Warrant (10 October 1787). The companies were stationed at: Woolwich, Chatham, Gosport, Plymouth and the Channels Islands, and were not transferable. For work purposes the Corps of Royal Engineers acted as their officers. Four additional companies were authorized in 1793 for overseas service, but only two were raised. Their memorials are the remaining Martello Towers that stand today on the coastlines of the British Isles, and in various parts of the former colonies of the British Empire. In 1797 the Gibraltar companies were incorporated into the Royal Military Artificers, and they lost their scarlet coats in exchange for the blue ones of the Artificers. |
 Military Artificers 1787 (Lithograph: George Campion) |
 Military Artificers in working dress - 1787 (Lithograph: George Campion) |
By 1806 there were twelve companies each identified,
for the first time, by their own number. Each company was 126 strong
and deployed as follows:
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In the same year (1806) three companies of Maltese Military Artificers were raised, two for service in Malta, Gozo and one for general service throughout the Mediterranean. The two companies in Malta and Gozo were disbanded in 1815, whilst the third company was retitled the 'Maltese Sappers and Miners'. Headquarters of the Corps of Royal Military Artificers was established at Woolwich in 1807. The establishment of the Corps was set at thirty-two companies by Royal Warrant (28 May 1811). The companies were no longer localised but removed by rotation from station to station. The stations were:
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In 1811 the Corps was organised into battalions. 4 battalions were created each with 8 companies. The following Royal Military Artificers companies accompanied the British Army fighting the French on the Iberian peninsular:
However, although the members of these companies were expert at constructing static fortifications and other works they had little experience of field (combat) engineering. Their shortcomings became very apparent during the early stages of the wars with France (1793-1815) and there were soon calls for improvements. |
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In 1812 General Sir Arthur Wellesley (1769-1851), (later Duke of Wellington - 1814), requested of the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool that the British Army have a corps of sappers and miners along the lines of the French Army. Within the ranks of the Corps of Royal Engineers there were men who agreed with Wellesley. Captain (later General Sir) Charles Pasley (1780-1861), Royal Engineers, an experienced campaigner, was the most vocal but as the commanding officer of 6th Company, Royal Military Artificers he took some tangible action to remedy the situation by developing a field engineer's training course at his station in Plymouth. |
Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners - 1812-1856These calls and training courses eventually led, on 4 August 1812, to the formation of 'The Royal Military Artificers, or Sappers and Miners'. A year later (1813) its title was changed to the simpler one of 'Royal Sappers and Miners'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In the same year (1813) the colour of their dress was changed from blue to Scarlet, to render the wearers less conspicious to the enemy when acting with working parties of the line. The members of the new Corps formed from the Royal Military Artificers, were retrained as field sappers and miners to replace the system of reliance on infantry of the line for field engineering duties. It had its own officers, called sub-lieutenants (abolished in 1816), responsible for discipline and administration, but for work the Royal Engineers commanded them. |
 Royal Sappers and Miners - 1813 (Lithograph: George Campion) |
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| By the end of the Peninsular War (1809-14) there were five companies serving with Wellington's Army. On commencement of peace in Europe they were dispersed as follows; four companies were returned to England and one company was sent to North America. The three companies (the one from Spain and two others) in North America returned to England in 1815 on the conclusion of the American War (1812-14), while they were serving in North America they were engaged at Oswego, Plattsburg, Lacolle Mills, Ash Island, Washington, Bladensburg, Baltimore, New Orleans, Fort Bowyler, and Mobile.
A full account of the the engineers' activities during the Peninsular war is given at Engineers and the Peninsular War 1808-14 At the start of the Waterloo Campaign (1815) the three companies sent to the Netherlands in 1813 were moved south to Belgium, they were reinforced by a further seven companies. After Napoleon's defeat two companies returned to England, while the remaining five remained with the army of occupation. In 1817 one of the battalions was disbanded leaving a total of 24 companies. There was a further reduction in 1819 which fixed the peace time establishment at 12 companies of 62 men each. They were stationed at:
It is from the post-1819 period that the modern day Squadrons usually trace their histories. On 1 December 1825 a Royal Warrant authorised the raising of 13th (Survey) Company of 62 men for survey duties in Ireland. It was the first time that such a company had been raised for that specific purpose. A Royal Warrant (4 April 1825) authorised the raising of two more Survey Companies (14th and 16th) and a General Service company (15th) for service in Corfu, Mediterranean. The Royal Warrant (27 March 1827) set the Corps at nineteen companies (1,262 all ranks). The number of companies was reduced by two on the completion of the Rideau Canal, Canada. The 7th and 10th Companies returned to Britain from Canada. By 1846 the total establishment had grown to 2,185 men, forming eighteen Service Companies and four Survey Companies. |
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Author: SC Fenwick, FoREM Sources:
Links to further reading:
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Royal Engineers Museum main site