PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
PELLICO. 885
4PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
168
I had all along suggested the importance of arming a battery on Signal Hill for com- pletely commanding the basin of Esquimalt Harbour, and placing any ship entering there with hostile intent in a "shell trap;" but my recommendation was not adopted or authorized by the Government.
I had also myself, in the various Reports I have made on the defences of these harbours, recommended consistently with their purpose that the guns mounted for the defence of Esquimalt exclusively should be manned by marine artillerymen, and I am happy to know that Rear-Admiral de Horsey had already made the same recommendation to the Lords of the Admiralty.
Lieutenant-Colonel Irwin has been authorized to house all these guns with lumber abeda, to store away the moveable appliances, and a care-taker will be appointed for the duty of general superintendence. I should still be glad if a 1-gun battery were authorized for Signal Hill. I strongly urge and recommend its construction, in which my opinion iề supplemented by that of the Rear-Admiral.
I have, &c.
(Signed) ED. SELBY SMYTH, Lieutenant-General.
The Hon. the Minister of Militia and Defence.
No. 302.
Colonial Office to Colonial Defence Committee.
(Secret and Confidential.) Šir,
Downing Street, August 21, 1878. WITH reference to the Secret and Confidential letter from this Department, of the 19th instant,* I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to transmit to you, for any observations which the Colonial Defence Committee may have to offer, a copy of a despatch which has since been received from the Governor-General of Canada,t inclosing a copy of a Report by Lieutenant-General Sir E. Selby Smyth on the subject of the defences of Esquimalt and Victoria.
I am, &c.
(Signed)
No. 303.
R. H. MEADE,
Lieutenant-Governor Lees, C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Sir M. E. Hicks Beach, Bart.- (Received August 22.)
(Secret.) Sir,
Government House, Accra, July 9, 1878. REFERRING to your Circular despatch, Secret, of the 20th March, 1878, on the subject of the defence of the defence of the Colony in the event of an outbreak of war, I have the honour to transmit a Report, furnished at the request of Governor Freeling by Captain Stoker, Commanding the troops, with relation to the defence of the settlement on the Gold Coast.
2. I concur generally in the views expressed in this Report. As regards the sugges- tion, however, which Captain Stoker makes for the merchants' stores of spirits being placed in positions of safety, I am advised that without special enactment on the subject the Government has no legal power of compelling the removal of the spirits unless during war and in the event of the settlement being actually threatened, and I fear that even if it possessed such power, the carrying out of a measure of this nature would be attended with very considerable expense. The removal of the gunpowder in the stores (for which there are already statutory powers) would be much less difficult.
3. The channel by which Lagos is approached from the sea is of such nature that the removal of the buoys and landmarks, or the placing of fictitious buoys and prohibiting the pilots to give assistance to foreign war ships, except when directed by the Governor, would materially tend to prevent any hostile ship from coming sufficiently near the town to inflict serious damage. The gunpowder magazine at Lagos is situated nearer the sea than any other building, and it would probably be advisable to have it removed farther
I have, &c.
inland.
(Signed)
• No. 295.
+ No. 301.
C. C. LEES.
No. 15.
(Secret.)
167
Inclosure in No. 803.
Sir,
Garrison Office, Cape Coast Castle, May 2, 18784: I HAVE the honour to acknowledge your Excellency's despatch marked Souret, dated Government House, Acera, 20th April; 1878, immediately on receipt of which I communicated with Mr. Grant, the Acting Inspector-General of the Gold Coast Constabu lary, and I have this afternoon conferred with him on the several points raised for our consideration by the Secret Circular of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated 20th March, 1878.
2. I apprehend, your Excellency, that in the event of an outbreak of war, the forts and seaboard towns of this Colony would have a two-fold danger to guard against, viz. :-
First, a bombardment by a small hostile squadron or single cruizer. Secondly, a landing party to enforce requisitions or seize supplies.
3. Protection from the first of these dangers, I regret to say, it is entirely beyond the power of the land forces to afford, as the forts are of an obsolete and somewhat tumble- down character, their armament is of the old smooth-bore pattern, in many cases unser- viceable, and they are therefore incapable of replying to, or affording any shelter from, the fire of rifled ordnance.
4. This being so I would suggest, for your Excellency's consideration, that some steps might be taken to mitigate the evils of a possible bombardment by a hostile cruizer, as under existing circumstances a single shell might cause tremendous havoc, especially in such towns as Accra, Cape Coast, and Elmina, where there is a large population and much valuable property.
5. I refer to the stores of gunpowder and highly inflammable goods, such as spirits, etc., which I am given to understand the merchants have in large quantities in their warehouses, and I am of opinion that it would be desirable, for the safety of the community, to insist on such gunpowder and inflammable goods being temporarily removed and put in positions of safety, either under cover from, or out of range of, an enemy's guns.
6. In most places this would not be a matter of very great difficulty, and it would be particularly easy at Cape Coast from the conformation of the ground.
7. The positions of the Imperial magazines at Fort William, and in the Castle, Cape Coast, would also be sources of danger in the event of a bombardment, and I intend, should war be declared, to empty Fort William on my own responsibility, as, from its position it is a tempting target, and is stored with (L.G.) powder, which, except for saluting purposes, is almost useless.
8. From the second danger to which I have referred, namely, the landing of a requisitioning force, I conceive that we have nothing to fear, as taking into consideration the difficulty of getting ship-boats through the surf at any time, a small force armed with breech-loaders, and supported by a couple of Howitzers or 7-pounder rifled shell-guns, should be able to render a good account of any hostile party that I anticipate their being ever called upon to repel.
9. I would, however, suggest, for your Excellency's consideration, that a redistribu- tion of the military forces now serving in the Colony would be, in the event of an outbreak of war, desirable, and that every port or sea-board town worth defending should be garrisoned by at least fifty infantry and two shell-guns, with their complement
gunners or acting gunners, if fully trained men are not available.
of
10. Not having any information at my disposal as to the value of the merchandize and other stores at any of the windward or leeward stations, I am not prepared to recommend to your Excellency what the places are, which it would be advisable to defend, but I am of opinion that Accra, as the bead-quarters of the Government, should have, as a minimum, 200 infantry and four guns, whilst Cape Coast and Elmina might respectively be well defended by 100 men of the Imperial, or Colonial forces, and the same number of guns as for Accra.
11. From my experience of Fanti levies during the Ashanti campaign, I am inclined to attach no value to them whatever, with the exception of the Cape Coast Volunteer Corps of educated natives, raised, I believe, by Mr. John Sarbah, a native merchant; and if the same or a similar body of men could now be called together, they would be extremely useful as an auxiliary force, especially if it be found necessary to diminish the strength of the garrison of Imperial' troops, now at this station.
12. Your Excellency will perceive that such defensive measures, as I have here outlined, are based on the matériel actually at hand, and I have carefully refrained from proposing anything that would involve expense or make demands on the Imperial