'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎18v] (41/180)

26
Reconnais
sance and
blockade of
Ras-al-Khai-
mah, 25th
November
to 2nd
December.
Disembarka
tion, and
siege and
capture of
the town,
3rd to 9th
December.
Military
results.
On the 25th of November the " Liverpool,' 1 accompanied by the " Benares,"
arrived off Ras-al-Khaimah and blockaded the harbour, while the transports on
the 26th moved round to Qishm town to take in water. The 26th and 27th were
devoted by Sir W. Grant Keir and his chief engineer to an examination of the
defences of the town; and. as the result showed that the place might be taken with
the force already available at Qishm, the " Benares " was sent to summon the fleet
thence. The ships arrived on the 2nd of December, followed in the afternoon by
the four last transports, whose arrival—lest a change of weather should^ take
place—it had been decided not to await; and on tne same day Saiyid Said ot
Masqat made his appearance with two trigates and 600 men.
Upon this occasion the landing was effected about 2 miles south of the town,
and a cordon was immediately formed across the peninsula; the jrd of December
passed in these preliminary'operations and in disembarking tents, stores and
provisions. It was found that the old wall across the isthmus had been taken
down since 1809, leaving a bank in its place, and that a fort' haci been constructed
in the middle of the isthmus with the materials; a new wall had also been built,
nearer to the town than the old. Rifle pits had been dug by the enemy in advance
of his position. On the 4th a ridge about 900 yards from the nearest part of the
fortifications was seized by the" 5 " " skirmishers and pickets of the torce. the enemy
beins driven back upon the fort and town; in this engagement Major Molesworth
of the 47th, " a gallant and zealous off^csr, ,, was struck on the head and killed by
a shot from one of the enemies' auns, the fire of which he had mounted the ridge
to observe. During the following night a battery for four guns was completed
at a distance of 300 vards from the southernmost tower of Ras-al-Khaimah, with
a mortar battery on'the right of it about 100 yards from the edge of the inner
harbour or backwater. On the 6th the town was bombarded, and its defences
shaken by the guns of the fleet and of the land batteries, the response of the
defenders'was feeble, apparently for want of ammunition, for they frequently fired
large stones from their guns and darted out, between the discharges ot the British
arttllery, to collect round-shot which had lodged outside the walls. On the night
of the 6th, under cover of unusual darkness, the Arabs made a stealthy sortie;
and the British mortar battery on the right was actually in their possession for
a short time, during which they succeeded in removing a howitzer to a distance
of about 100 yards; but they were quickly driven out again at the point of the
bayonet, leaving six dead. During the 7th more guns and mortars were brought
into position, including two 24-poiinders from the " Liverpool, and during the
8th the enemy's works were subjected to almost continuous battering. A bombard
ment of the town was maintained throughout the night; and before daylight on
the 9th the guns re-opened against the fort, the breaches in which were reported
practicable at 8 a.m. The storming party, composed of 100 bluejackets and
marines, the whole of the 47th Regiment, and the grenadier and flank companies
of the other regiments, then advanced to the attack under the command of Colonel
Erlington of the 47th; but their advance were unopposed, and the town, which
had been evacuated in the night, was occupied as fast as the troops could run
through it. Boats were then brought into the creek, and a party were sent over
to Maharah on the Mainland and took possession of a round tower there. The
operations had involved much fatigue and privation, which were borne with
cheerfulness by the troops. The weather, during part of the time, was inclement
and unfavourable.
On the British side the total loss in the operations was 1 officer and 4 men
killed and 3 officers and 49 men wounded. The casualties of the enemy were
admitted by the Shaikh himself to amount to 400 killed and wounded, and some
reports placed them at so high a figure as 1,000. Very little ordinary property
except cattle remained in the town, the length of the siege having afforded the
inhabitants' ample opportunity to remove their effects across the harbour to the
mainland; but 60 or 70 guns, most of them small and unserviceable, and about
80 vessels of 40 to 250 tons were captured. The only persons found in the place
were a score of men and a few old women; of the former some were captives of
the Qawasim One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima. .
* The fort, which was 350 paces from the new town wall, was a quadrangular stone building
of much more solid construction than any ever before seen in ths Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . (Regimental
Records of the 65th Foot.)
t Viz., all the light companies of the force (5 in number) under Captain Backhouse of the 47th,
followed by pickets under Major Molesworth of the same regiment.