Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 23.djvu/67

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Green
59
Green

the King's Library, British Museum. On 2 Jan. 1748 Green obtained the warrant of engineer-extraordinary. On his recall from the Netherlands he was sent to Portsmouth to push on the fortifications of the dockyard, and remained there until the summer of 1750, when he was removed to Landguard Fort under Justly Watson.

In 1752 Green was sent to Newfoundland, where he completed the survey and made a report on the defences. In 1755 he was appointed chief engineer at Newfoundland, and made a reconnaissance of Louisberg, sending a plan of the town and harbour to the king. In 1757 he was attached to the expedition commanded by the Earl of Loudoun. Green joined the army of which Dugal Campbell was chief engineer at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 14 May. On the previous 14 May the engineers for the first time received ordinary military titles, and Green was commissioned as captain-lieutenant in the army. At Halifax he was employed in instructing the troops in military engineering work. He accompanied the fleet in its reconnaissance of Cape Breton and Louisberg. On 4 Jan. 1758 he was promoted engineer-in-ordinary and captain He was present in the action of 8 June on landing at Cape Breton, and at the siege and capture of Louisberg. He was next sent to the Lake country for duty under Major-general James Abercromby, and detached to the Oneida station to build a fort. In the campaign of 1759 Green was attached to the division of the army under Wolfe, and was present at the repulse at Montmorenci on 31 July, at the siege of Quebec, and at the battle on the plains of Abraham on 13 Sept. At the latter he was wounded in the forehead by a splinter from a shell. While before Quebec he was promoted (10 Sept.) to be sub-director and major of the corps. He was engaged in the final operations for the subjugation of Canada, and in the capture of Montreal. In. 1760 he was present at the battle of Sillery, 28 April, and afterwards engaged in the defence of Quebec during the French siege.

On the conclusion of the Canadian campaign Green returned to England and joined for duty at Plymouth. He was shortly afterwards appointed senior engineer at Gibraltar. On 8 Feb. 1762 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel. In 1769 he came home to explain to the board of ordnance his projects for improving the defence of the Rock. He brought with him some osseous breccia which he presented to Mr. Boddington, the corps' agent, and an account was read by Dr. Hunter, F.R.S., on 17 Feb. 1770, to the Royal Society. In 1770 Green was back again at Gibraltar, and made his valuable report on the defence works of this fortress, and his proposals to render the Rock impregnable at an estimate of over 50,000l. This report is in the British Museum. On the recommendation of the chief engineer of Great Britain, General Skinner, the king sanctioned the expenditure, and the works were carried out in accordance with Green's plans. On 7 Nov. 1770 he was promoted chief engineer at Gibraltar, with extra pay of 30s. a day, derivable from the revenues of the place. In 1771 he designed the general hospital. In 1772, on Green's strong recommendation, the king granted him a warrant to raise a company of military artificers, which was the germ of the rank and file of the corps of royal engineers. On 29 Aug. 1777 Green was promoted colonel in the army, and was sent by the governor, Sir George Eliott (afterwards Lord Heathfield) to England to induce Lord Townshend to give additional money to perfect the works at Gibraltar. He had several personal interviews with the king, to whom he explained his plans (now in the British Museum), and he returned to Gibraltar in May 1778 with full powers to go on with the proposed new works. On 18 Dec. 1778 he was promoted to the engineer rank of director. Throughout the famous siege, which began in June 1779, he was prominent as chief engineer. On 17 April 1781 he was appointed brigadier-general. His house was so exposed to the fire of the enemy that he had to move his family into a bombproof shelter, where his wife caught a chill, from which, although sent to England in July, she never recovered. At the affair of 18 July, when the Queen's battery at Willis's was broken up by the enemy's fire, Green had it completely reconstructed during the night. In December Green received his commission as major-general, dated 19 Oct. 1781. In May 1782 he constructed the celebrated subterranean galleries in the north front, including St. George's Hall. On 13 Sept. he was conspicuous in his exertions during the combined attack by the land forces and the fleets, and the success of his kilns for heating shot was complete. The red-hot shot were supplied uninterruptedly throughout the day and night, destroying many ships. In Copley's picture of this day's work Green is depicted in the group round the governor. In November the enemy opened the cave on the precipitous side of the Rock, which Green had closed up before the siege, and, although fifty-seven years of age, he had himself lowered down the face of the Rock many hundred feet to ascertain what was being done. He rebuilt the Orange bastion on the sea face—a heavy piece of masonry—during a continuous cannonade. The siege was raised in February