Bermuda - Fortress Bermuda
After the American Revolution, the Royal Navy began improving the harbours and built the large dockyard on Ireland Island, in the west of the chain, as its principal naval base guarding the western Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes. During the American War of 1812, the British attacks on Washington, D.C. and the Chesapeake, that would result in the writing of The Star-Spangled Banner, were planned and launched from Bermuda, the Royal Navy's 'North American Station'.
It was here that the British soldiers assembled before being sent to attack Baltimore and Washington. In 1816, James Arnold, the son of famed U.S. traitor Benedict Arnold, fortified Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard against possible U.S. attacks. Today, the "Maritime Museum" occupies the Keep of the Royal Naval Dockyard, including the Commissioner's House, and exhibits artifacts of the base's military history.
As a result of Bermuda's proximity to the southeastern U.S. coast, it was regularly used by Confederate States blockade runners during the American Civil War to evade Union naval vessels and bring desperately needed war goods to the South from England. The old Globe Hotel in St. George's, which was a center of intrigue for Confederate agents, is preserved as a museum open to the public.
Probably the most important position in the Bermudas was Ireland Island; which although not much more than a mile in length, or a quarter of a one in breadth, contained the dockyard and other establishments connected with the Royal Navy.
The "Royal Naval Hospital" stands on a hill immediately above the dockyard, while beneath, occupying a large space of ground, prettily ornamented by cedar groves and smooth grassy glades, is the Naval Cemetery. Here are several melancholy memorials, some to officers and crews of men of war which sailed from Bermuda and were lost at sea; and others to young officers of the navy or army, whose lives were cut short ere they began their wordly career.
There are three Admirals buried here, one of them, Sir Charles Paget, left Jamaica, in January 1839, in H. M. Steamer "Tartarus," to proceed to Bermuda for the benefit of his health ; he being ill of yellow fever at the time. But it is related that for five weeks the steamer could not find the islands, having no chronometers on board and being unable to make out the latitude. At last it finally arrived safely at its destination, but the voyage was too much for the admiral and only his mortal remains reached here.
It was not till after the American revolution that the British Government discovered the great strategic importance of these islands. As a matter of fact, it was the loss of her thirteen American colonies that enhanced their value as a strong military and naval position. Mention is made of the presence of the Royal Artillery in 1783, and in 1797 seven companies of the 47th regiment arrived from New Providence, and since that time Bermuda has been garrisoned by regular troops.
It was at the close of the civil war in America, that the Imperial Government made the largest expenditures on the military defences. It was then that the present system of elaborate fortifications, of such immense strength that there is nothing equal to them out of England, was commenced, and Bermuda, hitherto attached to the Halifax command, was erected into a separate and independent one.
There are commodious barracks for the troops at St. George's, and an airy, convenient camp at Prospect Hill, a high commanding position nearly in the center of the island, near Hamilton. In addition to the headquarter stations of Prospect and St. George's, there are detachments of troops at Ireland Islands, Boaz and other points, and a rifle range at Warwick. In 1794 Captain Hurd reported to Admiral Murray the importance of Bermuda as a naval station, this fact was recognized, and the preliminary operations for the establishment of a dock-yard were commenced in January, 1810, on Ireland Island. Skilled artisans were despatched from England to direct and superintend the slave labor, by which the work was to be done.
In 1842 it was decided to substitute convict labor in these operations, and three hundred convicts were sent out from England as a commencement; these were gradually increased by fresh arrivals until, in 1848, they numbered over 1,500. They were distributed in hulks, in the Camber of the dock-yard, and in prisons erected on the adjoining island of Boaz, now used as barracks. In 1861, it was determined to abolish the system, and successive drafts were sent to Australia and England. The last in March, 1863, closed the convict period in the islands.
From first to last over 9,000 convicts arrived in the colony, and above 2,000 of them died, the yellow fever epidemic of 1853 falling heavily on the convict establishment.
As Bermuda was a British Army and Navy Station, by the end of the 19th Century it had a society remarkably good, superior to what may be found in any other winter resort. Strangers bringing letters of introduction would meet with ample attention and visitors generally would be treated with every courtesy.
There are usually two regiments stationed here, and in the winter season it was the station for the North American fleet, this gave a certain tone to society. The officers of the army and navy, church and state had led a life of so much variety and action, that talking with them was like a chapter in a fascinating novel, so full are they of incidents and adventures they had encountered in their varied experiences all over the world.
Equally at home in courts and camps, they had served their country in the chair of state, as well as on the field of battle. Many of them had been in every country on the globe, and seen foreign life under its best aspects. On the sands of Africa, on the burning plains of India, on the bloody fields of Russia, Turkey and Egypt, they were known as men who never flinched in danger, but were ever ready to lay down their lives at their country's call. Meeting such people here was one of the charms of Bermudian society.
The First Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps Contingent, raised in 1914. By the war's end, the two Bermuda contingents had lost over 75% of their combined strength.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
