Michael D.Heath-Caldwell M.Arch.

1882

22^{nd February 1882}

Gerard Moore Heath becomes a Lieutenant in the Army.

PB130135

Letter to Posy from her one of her sisters at the Isaacs place, Boughton Park, Worcester.

After 1882 if Amelia Isaac has five children.

Boughton

Friday

Dearest Posy,

It poured with rain all day yesterday except for about an hour when it ceased so that the crowds who accompanied the carriage from St.Johns Church when they took out the horses and dragged Amy and her son in triumph to the Hall door did not get soaked with rain. All the family went to [Shrub?] Hall to meet him. He arrived there with his brothers from Southampton by 4.30, and was utterly unprepared for such an ovation and was quite upset by it. Said it was more alarming than the Boers. In fact he did not like it at all! He got through his little speech at the Hall door very nicely all the same. And though it was so very disagreeable at the time I think he must have felt gratified by this proof of affection and good will. He is universally beloved and popular. Quite the favourite of the whole family. The were two handsome arches one at the Lodge gate and the other at the house gate, put up by Amys people and there was another arch over the road put up by the St. Johns people. Ross was immensely excited and [fested?] the people with cake and wine. John [John Swinton Isaac?] looks well and not a bit changed and is so simple and delightful and recounts his wonderful escapes and adventures in the most natural way in the world and indeed it is quite marvelous how he escaped with his life. He gave his mother the bullet which had been taken out of his back. How any one can live for 5 minutes with such a thing in them as a modern rifle bullet would pass belief if one did not see the thing and the man. His wound in the head was so dangerous that the doctor told the soldier who was selected for his attendant that he would not live 2 days. And John says he supposes he is the only man who has seen his own brains! It was lovely to see his dear mothers happy proud beaming face as she sat by him at dinner and she did look so gay and pretty. We were a larger party, Amy [Amelia A. Isaac 1849-1925] and her 5 children, Edie, Nele and May, Lucy, myself and Mr Banner, a great friend of Johns who is staying here. John is very conversational and has told us a great deal, most interesting. I miss a good deal because he speaks very fast, like the rest of the family and at dinner there was quite a roar of conversation. John cannot use one of his hands very well at present. His face is not at all spoilt by the scar on his cheek, and the wound on the head is just a white mark about the size of a dollar piece. The other wounds are, of course, under his clothes. I was so glad to hear that Fred [Frederick Heath-Calwell] had left Hoopstadt and happy he will not have to go back, as the war may be over before his leave. I wish Gerard [Heath] was a safe. Also, I am very very glad to hear all is comfortable at St.Saviour and that Mr Davies has found after May Day the Bread he caste on the waters for indeed he did a very good deed at a considerable sacrifice and it must make him feel happy that all was not wasted. I do so like hearing about all your friends near L.Wd [Linley Wood] and I shall be very glad my dearest sister to come back again but I do not think it will be just yet.

History of the Corps

Chapter XXVI.

The War in Egypt, 1882-1885

Engineer Staff in the Army of 1882 - Murder of Captain Gill in the Desert - Battle of Kassassin - Assault on the Line of Tel-el-Kebir - Close of the War - Expedition to Suakin under Graham in 1884 ...etc.The War which broke out in Egypt in 1882, led before its termination to the sacrifice of one of the noblest spirits ever enrolled in the ranks of the Engineers. The death of Charles George Gordon, at Khatoum, forms a fitting climax to the military history of the Corps. It remains in this, the last Chapter of that history, to trace the share which the Engineers bore in the various stages of that struggle.

pg 65..

2nd Division - Lieutenant-Colonel J. Maitland, C.R.E., with Captain A. Green as Adjutant, having under him the 26th Field Company, commanded by Major Blood; the other officers being Captain Dickinson, Lieutenants Blackburn, Pollen, and Tuke.The Engineers attached to the army as Corps Troops were the A or Pontoon Troop, commanded by Major Bond, the other officers being Lieutenants R. da C. Porter, Godsal, Pemberton, Irvine, and Sandbach; and the C or Telegraph Troop, commanded by Major Sir A. Mackworth, the other officers bing Captain Whitmore, Lieutenants Hippisley, Foster, Bond and Anstruther. The Field Par was under Captain Rochfort Boyd; the Railway Staff consisted of Major Wallace, Captain Scott, and Lieutenant Willock; and the 8th Railway Company under Captain Sidney Hepenstal, and Huleatt; the 17th Company under Captain Hyslop, the other officers being Lieutanants Heath and A. Thomson; and the 18th Company under Major Salmond, with Captain Gordon, Lieutenants Mantell, Norris and Winn.These various Troops and Companies left England for Egypt in the months of July and August, 1882...

Page 69

The victory at Tel-el-Kebir close the war. The Egyptian army utterly collapsed, and the rapid advance of the British cavalry to Cairo completed its disorganisation. No resistance was offered at any point, and on the arrival of Sir Drury Lowe at Cairo the citidel was surrendered.The garrison appointed for its occupation consisted of two Squadrons of the 4th Dragoon Guards and some Mounted Infantry, the whole being placed under the command of Captain Watson, R.E.The entire force gradually concentrated at Cairo, and after a review at which the Khedive was present, the major portion embarked at Alexandria for England, so that by the end of Octobery the army of occupation alone was left. The Engineers that remained were - Major-General Graham, commanding a Brigade; Lieutenant-Colonel Ardagh as Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quarter-master General; Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, C.R.E., with Captain Green as Adjutant; the 26th Field Company under Lieutenant-Colonel Blood, wiht Captain Dorward, Lieuntenants Blackburn, Mantell, and Tuke;the 17th Company under Major Wood, with Lieutenants Heath and Thomson; and the 21st Company under Major Puzey, with Lieutenants Elrington and Cleeve; Lieutenant-Colonels Sir C. Wilson and Warren, Major Chermside, Lieutenants Burton and Hayes were also attached for special duty.

Page 80

On receipt of the intelligence of the fall of Khartoum in England, the first impulse on all sides was toperseverein the war, recapture the place, and effectually punish the Mahdi.With this view a railway was to be laid down from Suakin to Berber, and Lieutenant-General sir Gerard Graham was appointed to command the troopsnecessary to protect its construction. The Engineers who were place under his orders were Colonel Ewart, with rank of Brigadier-General, Colonel Edwards, C.R.E., a Mounted Section of the Telegraph Battalion under Lieutenants Lindsay and Bowles;the 10th Railway Company under Major Rathbone,Captains Kunhardt and Sim, Lieutenants Molony and Bonham-Carter; the 24th Field Company under Colonel E.P. Leach, Captain Dickinson, Lieutenants McCarthy, Godby, and Buckland; the 17th Company from Cairo under Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, Lieutenants Heath, A. Thomson, and Layard; a mounted detachment of the 11th Field Company under Lieutenant Sandbach, which was to form part of the Mounted Infanty, a Balloon party under Major Templar, King's Royal Rifle Corps Militia [attached to the Engineers for the purpose], who was assisted by Lieutenant Mackenzie, R.E