The War in Syria, Volume 1 (of 2)

CHAPTER V.

The Allied Troops landed in D’Jounie Bay—Encampment—Reconnoissances—Submission of the Emir Abdallah—Beyrout summoned to Surrender—Reply of Souliman Pacha—Impolicy of the Attack on Beyrout—Forbearance of Souliman Pacha—Capture of D’Jebail—Captain Martin’s Report—ReconnoissanceReconnoissance to Merouba—Report to the Admiral.

As Beyrout was surrounded by a slight wall without a ditch, it did not appear to me advisable to make our first impression there, because had we succeeded in obtaining possession of the town, we should have been penned in by a very superior force, and had no opportunity of communicating with and arming the mountaineers, without whose assistance it would have been quite impossible to have made any impression on Souliman Pacha’s army. Under these circumstances, I suggested to the Admiral, who was commander-in-chief of the allied forces by sea and land, that we should put the troops ashore in D’Jounie Bay, in the province of Kesrouan, there intrench ourselves, and arm the mountaineers, who, we had reason to suppose, would flock down and join the Sultan’s standard. This province is separated from El-Kata by a deep gorge, through which runs the Nahr-el-Kelb; a stream only passable at its mouth, a few miles higher up at Argentoun, four or five leagues from the sea, and at Basquinta, where it rises. A road leads from Beyrout along the sea-shore to its mouth, passing round a precipitous promontory jutting into the sea; on this promontory stands a convent of monks. Another road leads further inland to a village, and from that village you may descend by a very rugged path across Nahr-el-Kelb (or Dog River), and ascend to another convent, on the top of the hills which look down on D’Jounie Bay. To the northward a road leads from Tripoli along shore, and crosses a bridge over another gorge; besides which, there are several roads which can be traversed by troops from Balbeck, leading to Antoura and Gazir, the capital of the province.

After dark on the 9th of September, the Turkish troops and marines were moved into the steamboats, which was accomplished by two in the morning; soon after eight they weighed, and proceeded off Beyrout Point to draw the enemy’s troops in that direction, and there wait till the sea breeze set in. This had the desired effect, and a few shot and shell were pitched into their columns to keep them in play. At ten the Powerful weighed, accompanied by Admiral Walker, in the Turkish line-of-battle-ship, a frigate, and corvette, the Pique, Castor, Carysfort, Daphne, and Wasp, and stood towards D’Jounie. The Castor and one steamer were directed to anchor off Nahr-el-Kelb, enfilade the pass, and land a Turkish battalion to the north of the river, and occupy the high ground over it, to prevent the advance of the Egyptians when they discovered our real attack. The rest of the squadron proceeded towards D’Jounie, where they anchored at two in the afternoon, and the whole of the troops, under the judicious direction of Admiral Walker and Captain Reynolds, were landed by four o’clock. The heights were immediately occupied, a couple of companies of marines, commanded by Captain Childs, were detached to reinforce the Turks at Nahr-el-Kelb, and a battalion was posted in the village of Zug, about a league distant from the camp; beyond them, a couple of battalions of Turks occupied a strong position, having their left flank protected by an impassable gorge^[13]. I took up my quarters in a Maronite chapel, in which we placed a gun; this chapel served for dining-room, bed-room, and powder magazine. My establishment was landed from the Powerful, and I look back to the month I passed there as one of the happiest of my life. Provisions were abundant, wine not bad, and Archdukes, Princes, Pachas, and Emirs were entertained; and I fear the laws of the prophet were frequently infringed by our Turkish allies.

The Carysfort and Daphne were despatched to D’Jebail to drive the Albanians out of a strong chÂteau, and impede the sudden advance of troops from Tripoli. The Wasp flanked the bridge I have before pointed out. After the troops were landed, the ships and steamers took up positions to protect the flanks of the camp in the event of an attack, and those in advance, if hard pressed, were ordered to retire, disputing the ground, but not to risk a severe loss. The Admiral, with the Princess Charlotte, Bellerophon, Ganges, Thunderer, Edinburgh, Hastings, Benbow, and the Austrian squadron, remained at Beyrout; the Zebra, and the Austrian frigate Guerriera, commanded by the Archduke, covered the bridge near the quarantine ground, and the Revenge was stationed in the bay between it and Dog River, to harass the enemy (should they advance,) and give us timely notice of their approach. At midnight the Revenge made the signal the enemy were advancing; I immediately landed and turned out the troops, and the Powerful was warped closer in; but it proved a false alarm. The following morning we began throwing up intrenchments, which were finished on the fourth day; and much praise is due to the exertions of both officers and men; Captain Reynolds, Berkeley, and indeed all the Captains and Commanders, were indefatigable. The defences were much too confined to secure our whole force; and I wished them enlarged, but the Engineer officer differed with me, and the Admiral ordered them not to be changed. During the time they were in progress, I occupied myself in gaining a knowledge of the country, and of the roads leading to our position, and I soon ascertained that there was little danger of being disturbed, even had we to contend with a more powerful army.

At first the mountaineers came in slowly, and the Admiral gave directions to re-embark the troops in a few days, but I succeeded in persuading him to allow them to remain. Our stay gave confidence to the inhabitants, who in two or three days began to flock in in great numbers, and the Emir Abdallah, nephew of the Grand Prince, and governor of the province, who had retired before a Turkish battalion, sent to his capital the day after we landed, came over in good style, bringing with him a considerable number of followers tolerably well mounted and armed. I now ordered Gazir, the capital of the province, to be occupied, and the road reconnoitred leading to Merouba, where Ibrahim and Osman Pacha had collected a considerable force; another detachment was sent to the neighbourhood of the convent of Harissa, on the right of Gazir, under Captain LouÉ, a Prussian officer attached to the Turkish army, both detachments having orders to retire to the camp should the enemy advance on their line. On the 15th of September the enemy pushed a reconnoitring party as far as Ackshout, on the road to Harissa, where they remained an hour, and then returned to Merouba; they seemed undecided, whether to advance on Gazir, Harissa, or Argentoun; their position gave them the choice of the three roads.

On the 11th a flag of truce was sent into Beyrout by Sir Robert Stopford and Admiral Bandeira, with a summons to Souliman Pacha to withdraw his troops: subjoined are the summons and reply.

“We, the Admirals of the British and Austrian squadrons, acting in obedience to the instructions of our respective Governments, and in the interests of his Highness the Sultan, consider our duty to represent to your Excellency our earnest desire to stop the effusion of blood, and to call upon your Excellency to withdraw your troops from Beyrout, and to deliver the town to our united forces, to be retained in the name of the Sultan.

“Your Excellency will have observed, from the fire of the ships yesterday, a small specimen only of the course we shall be compelled to pursue. The fire has not been pressed this morning, that your Excellency may benefit by the pause, and upon reflection come to the decision in consonance with our benevolent views, to spare the innocent inhabitants from the inevitable horrors which a few hours would inflict upon them.

“We request your Excellency will send an answer as soon as you can, or at the latest by half-past one.

“(Signed) Robert Stopford, Admiral.

Bandeira, Admiral.

“His Excellency Souliman Pacha,

Major-General of the Egyptian army at Beyrout.”

In answer to the above the following was, after some time, forwarded:

“Beyrout, September 11, 1840.

“General Souliman Pacha has the honour to present his compliments to the Admirals of the English and Austrian squadrons, and to inform them, that not being acquainted with the language, it is impossible for him to return an answer unless the Admirals will be good enough to translate their communication into French, Turkish, or Arabic.

“(Signed)Souliman.”

“To the Admirals commanding the English and

Austrian squadrons before Beyrout.”

I should have thought that the Egyptian general could have found some one in Beyrout to have translated the summons, and it did appear that he treated the admirals rather cavalierly; nevertheless, the summons was sent in French, to which he replied that, he was engaged in a council of war, and that the reply would be ready in the morning. A heavy fire was immediately opened on the two forts, but the town was spared as much as possible, and the following morning a letter was brought off from Souliman, as follows:—

“Admirals,—You are acquainted with my orders, and after the refusal which, as was my duty, I returned to the proposals made me in the name of your Governments to betray my master and benefactor, it was impossible that I should act in opposition to his wishes.

“As you observe, I was enabled yesterday fully to appreciate all the extent of evil it was in your power to bring down on innocent families, strangers to the present misunderstanding.

“For the sake of killing five of my soldiers, you have ruined and brought families into desolation, you have killed women, a tender infant and its mother, an old man, two unfortunate peasants, and doubtless, many others whose names have not yet reached me; and, far from slackening the fire of your ships, when my soldiers (who during that deplorable day did not once fire) fell back on the town across the inhabited country of Beyrout, your fire, I say, became more vigorous and destructive for the unfortunate peasants rather than for my soldiers. You appear decided to make yourselves masters of the town, notwithstanding that, in any event, the question will remain as before. If the fortune of war prove adverse to me, Beyrout shall only fall into your power when reduced to cinders. This town has not ceased being inhabited, and moreover, it contains merchandise imported from Europe, the value of which is considerable. Under these circumstances I have constantly endeavoured to justify throughout, the grateful thanks which I have received from Europeans. Guards have been posted to secure respect to their habitations and their magazines. They will find them untouched on their return. It lies not in my power to deliver the town; my orders are for its defence, and I shall defend it come what may. I, therefore, am not the person to address if you are really desirous of sparing innocent persons from the inevitable horrors of warfare, which in a few hours you have power to bring down on them.

“Mehemet Ali alone can give you an answer on this question. If, then, you attack Beyrout, and if its inhabitants are buried in the ruins, let me not be responsible for the blood that is shed.

“I have the honour to remain,
“Your humble and obedient servant,
“Souliman.”

“Beyrout, Saturday, two hours after sunrise.”

I thought at the time it was impolitic opening a fire on Beyrout unless it was determined to follow it up by an attack. The mountaineers had before witnessed the little damage done at D’Jounie and along the coast by the Egyptian squadron, when they fired on the armed mountaineers, in various parts along shore; and when they saw that a powerful British squadron could not drive the Egyptian troops out of a defenceless town, it did not give them a very high opinion of our power. Souliman well knew the moral effect keeping possession of Beyrout would have on the mountaineers, and determined not to abandon it till forced; we ought to have taken the same view, and either not have opened a fire at all, or persevered until they were driven out, whatever mischief was done to the town. Had the same measures been taken at Beyrout that were taken at Sidon, there is no doubt but we should have got possession of it. We should have lost men, it is true, but in war that must be expected, when a great point is to be gained; and gaining the principal sea port on the coast of Syria, in view of the mountains, was a great point, and would have had an immense moral effect. Withdrawing the squadron, which we did on the 16th, with the exception of the Edinburgh and Hastings, which ships occasionally kept up a fire on the town, gave Souliman the opportunity of telling the mountaineers that he had beaten off the British squadron.

The Pacha, though much annoyed, no doubt, at our proceedings, yet showed himself a man of great forbearance. During the time the cannonading was going on, the Indian mail arrived; our intercepting despatches from Alexandria furnished him with a fair excuse for stopping this mail, but as its detention had nothing to do with hostilities then going on, he hoisted a flag of truce, and delivered the mail, with a very civil message that all letters to and from India should be religiously forwarded. The Admiral, not to be outdone in civility, wrote a letter of thanks, and sent Souliman, who I have since learnt was a jolly and hospitable old soldier, a package of wine, that had been detained in an Egyptian vessel.

At this time the Admiral arrived at D’Jounie Bay, and the Castor and Pique having embarked their marines, went off Acre, Caiffa, and Tyre; and the Bellerophon took her station, with the Revenge, off the Nahr-el-Kelb, and covered that most important pass; the road was broken up, and at night an officer was stationed on shore with blue lights to burn, should the enemy attempt to advance in that direction.

The Albanians at D’Jebail did not seem disposed to give up their castle. On the 12th I sent 220 marines and 150 armed mountaineers, with orders to Captain Martin to turn them out: his report will show that it was not easily done; the officer in command rather incautiously advanced to the castle, and met with a severe loss. The mountaineers in this district came in also for arms in great numbers. Captain Martin, with great zeal, pushed on to Batroun, a little to the northward of D’Jebail, and drove the Albanians from that neighbourhood, which gave him an opportunity of distributing more arms to the warlike inhabitants.

“Sir,

“H.M.S. Carysfort, D’Jebail,

September 13, 1840.

“I have the honour to inform you that, pursuant to your directions, I anchored yesterday off D’Jebail. The enemy have evacuated the town; the mountaineers are coming in fast for arms, and, as far as I can judge from their words and professions, the most enthusiastic feeling prevails among them. I trust that the results will, in some degree, excuse the loss we have sustained. I shall now proceed to detail the circumstances of the attack.

“At noon I anchored, with springs, within musket-shot of D’Jebail. The Dido took a good position ahead of the Carysfort, and the Cyclops astern; groups of mountaineers immediately came down to the beach, and many were brought off by the boats. Having given a sufficient time for the marines to prepare for landing, and for their commanding officer to reconnoitre the place of disembarkation, at 1 P.M. the ships opened their fire upon the castle and upon the points which the mountaineers designated to us as occupied by the Albanians. This was returned by occasional musket shots.

“When the fire had been continued with great precision, and apparently some effect, for about an hour, the marines, accompanied by a large party of armed mountaineers, pushed off from the Cyclops, and to cover their landing the ships re-opened upon the castle. About half-past 33 P.M., observing the detachment formed upon the beach to the south of the town, and believing all the effect likely to be produced by our shot was already done, and that the gardens had been swept by the launch’s caronnades, I made the signal to push on. The marines advanced briskly to the assault, but the cliff soon obstructed my view of their progress through the gardens in front of the castle. They reached within thirty yards of the tower, when a destructive fire was opened upon them from a crenelled outwork, having a deep ditch in front, which was completely masked from the fire of the ships. Finding his men were falling fast, that the wall of the castle was impracticable, that there was no gate accessible, and nothing but the muzzles of the enemy’s muskets visible through the loopholes, Captain Robinson very judiciously drew his men off. The marines retired to the beach steadily and in good order. Captain Austin, who superintended the landing, and accompanied the marines, having sent to me to say that nothing could be done unless the tower was levelled, the ships again commenced firing upon it. Finding, however, that the immense solidity of the building prevented our making a sufficient impression upon it, at half-past 5 I ordered the marines to be re-embarked and the firing to cease.

“An English flag, which had been planted on the garden wall as a signal to the ships, was accidentally left there by the pilot of the Cyclops after the marines had retired; Lieutenant Grenfell and — Macdonald, a seaman of the Cyclops, volunteered to recover it, and brought it off most gallantly amidst the cheers of the ships.

“At night a party of the mountaineers, whom we had armed, were established in the town; and at daylight this morning I found that the Albanians had evacuated the castle during the night, leaving three behind, one of them badly wounded, and since dead. The conduct of a Turkish soldier, who was sent up in the Cyclops, has been admirable in organizing and keeping together parties of the mountaineers.

“Having distributed all the arms, I now send the Cyclops for a fresh supply. I think we may dispose of more; and I take the liberty of suggesting that they should be sent immediately, before the present enthusiasm has time to subside.

“The painful part of my duty is, to inclose the list of killed and wounded in the attack on D’Jebail; I deeply lament that it has been so severe.

Benbow.—2 marines killed, 4 wounded severely.

Hastings.—2 marines killed, Lieut. C.W. Adair slightly, 7 marines severely, 3 slightly, wounded.

Castor.—1 marine wounded severely.

Zebra.—1 marine killed.

Cyclops.—Lieut. George Gifford wounded severely, 1 seaman severely.

Total killed, 5. Total wounded, 18.

“(Signed)Henry Martin.”

“To Commodore Napier.”

On the 22nd I marched, with a Turkish battalion and a battalion of marines, by the road of Antoura and Argentoun toward Merouba, through the strongest and most difficult country I ever beheld, over roads hardly passable, and under a fiery sun; the marine battalion, unaccustomed to marching, were sorely pressed, and arrived with difficulty at Argentoun; there they halted, and I went on with a couple of companies of Turks, who were good marchers, holding a party of marines, the least fatigued, ready to advance should we be pressed. About two hours before sunset we came in sight of Osman Pacha’s camp and the Albanian standards; they appeared intrenched in a very strong position. The marines were now ordered to move on and show themselves, and we continued to advance through a most difficult but beautifully romantic country. In an hour we joined the mountaineers, under the Scheik Francis (the person who had been designated the Seraskier by Mr. Wood), in position in a small village, a little distance from very precipitous rocks, through which an execrable road led to Merouba, where Osman was intrenched. I desired the mountaineers to throw themselves amongst the rocks, to see whether they were occupied or not, which they did with considerable reluctance, till assured all was safe; they then went on with great alacrity: this enabled me to reconnoitre Osman’s position; he appeared well fortified, and from that I augured he was as much afraid of being attacked by us as we were of being attacked by him. In the evening we returned to Argentoun, where we attempted to get some rest, but from the numerous bedfellows in the shape of monstrous fleas, our slumbers were anything but sound. At dawn of day we were again on the move, and returned to the camp, after a very hot and fatiguing march. The following is my report of this reconnoissance to the Admiral:—

“Sir,

“I last night reconnoitred the enemy’s position at Merouba, a long march from here; they seemed more afraid of us than we were of them, as they had fortified their position. Very few men showed themselves, which inclines me to believe that a great part have retired; it is certain the Druses are gone to their homes. This morning I reconnoitred the enemy’s position on our right; we have had a communication with their chief, who promises to come over: if he does not I shall beat up his quarters to-morrow, open the province between the Nahr-el-Kelb (Dog River) and Beyrout, and arm it; that done, we ought to make a reconnoissance on Beyrout, our left covered by the mountaineers, and our right by the steamers, gun-boats, and small craft. The proposal of Selim Pacha to advance on Ibrahim is out of the question; we have no means of transport, nor have the troops shoes. I am satisfied, were the Turks left to themselves, in one week they would be prisoners. I am glad the Emir Hanjar is come; he is a host in himself. I should have come off to you this afternoon, but I was on horseback yesterday from day-light till half-past six, and again to-day from day-light till sunset, with the exception of an hour and a half, added to which I have a devil of a ——, which requires a few hours to put to rights.

“Believe me yours very truly,

“Chas. Napier.”

13. See Letter to the Admiral, in the Appendix.

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