3-017-038 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The siege operations in St. Mary's Creek, Chatham: boats advancing to the assault, 1864. Mock battle. View of '...the advance of the Royal Marines in the boats which conveyed them up St. Mary's Creek to the place where they landed for the attack. The fragments of the boom, already destroyed by exploding a bag of powder against it, are seen floating on the water. The naval officer seated in a boat at the right-hand corner of our Engraving, is the Commander of her Majesty's ship Wellesley, the guard-ship to which these boats belonged, as did likewise the launch, armed with a small gun at her bow, and manned by the bluejackets, shown on the left hand. The intrenched lines of fortification, with several parties of the soldiery engaged respectively in the attack and defence, are plainly distinguished on the face of the opposite hill, with the places where an entrance was gained through the breach in the scarp and counterscarp, and where the ditch was passed by the aid of an extemporised bridge. The roof of the casemate barracks, an extensive pile of building on the summit of the hill, appears to be crowded with spectators'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.