The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-10-18 00:00:00

RIOT AT CHELSEA.

(ADDITIONAL PARTICOL•II/.)
The following is from the Correspondent who furnished
the statement in our last :

In this paper of Saturday we gave an account of an affray at
Chelsea between several soldiers belonging to the Life Guards and
the Civil power, consisting of two constables, named Maybank
and Canning, and about fourteen watchmen, the majority of
whom were violently beaten, in their attempt to secure the aol.
diem, after they had committed assaults of a most desperate de.
saiption upon a watchman and several other individuals, without
any provocation. In our narration of the folloaing particulars we
are compelled, in justice to ourselves, to contradict part of a state.
went in an Evening Paper of Saturday, which attempted to show
that the conduct of the soldiers was not so violent as we had re.
presented ; the reverse, however, was the fact.
Three Life.guardsmen, named Fife, Seaton, and Crouch, and
two others, played several games at skittles, in Mr. Ansted's (the
Bedford Arms, Pont-street, Sloane-street), skittle-ground, and
lost a pint of beer each, and went into the tap-room to
drink IL They were then quite friendly with each other.
Several workmen in the ampler of Ale.% hitehead, a painter,
were drinktng,in the tap-room when the soldiers entered. One of
the soldiers proposed to a painter, named Carr, to toss for a pint of
beet ; Carr trrased and won ; and the soldier accidentally dropped
three halfpcnes on the floor, and ordered Can to pick them up.
Parr said he would not. The soldier swore he would snake him.
Can replied he was not his master, and he wished " God might
strike him dead if he did pick them up;" and the other workmen
told Can not to pick them up. The soldiers swore they would
knock his head off if he did not, and struck Can, and se-
veral of his companions, and knocked them from one side of the
room to the other. The tap-room window was thrown up, and all
who could get through from the dreadful violence of the soldiers,
made their quickest way into the street; but amend of them were
severely beaten before they could get away. Cries of " murder,"
were called, and on an old watchman entering the top-room the
three soldiers set upon him at once in the mast cowardly manner.
lie begged for mercy, and called upon them to spare his life,
but the soldiers, regiudlses of his cries, beat him in the most
assasain-like manner, till the tap-room tables wore covered with
streams of blood. One struck him on the head and face with a
pewter pot, and another struck him about the arms and legs with
the staff he had wrenched out of his hands on his entering the tap-
room. Another watchman entered, and one of the soldiers seized
a red-hot poker from the fire, a tremendous weapon, about an inch
and a quarter in thickness, and made a deadly blow at the watch-
man's head ; fortunately the square end struck against the wall. or
the watchman would not have lived to have related the murderous
maul:. The poker was bent very considerably by the force of the
blow. Two other watchmen received several blows from thesoldien
with the watchman's staff and a pint pot, which was bent nearly
double by their violence. During this almost unexampled outrage,
although fifty or sixty persons were outside the house, and saw the
conduct of the soldiers, they dared not interfere. A poor cobler,
named Ogleby, who keeps a stall near to the public house, was
shockingly used ; the soldiers not only beat and kicked this diminu.
tive son of St. Crispin, bat one of them actually bit a piece of the
scalp, with the hair attached to it, completely out of his head. The
watchmen that were moat ill-used, were Tomline, Elliot. Mason
Buttery, Rumble, and Warwick. On the arrival of 3laybank anti
Canning, with a reinforcement of watchmen, the former determined
to gerfor a file of soldiers, as his life was nearly sacrificed about
three years ago, in an affray with the Life Guards, and the parties
were never brought tojusnce.
LA Lifeguardsruan assaulted several females in the street, and
also a watchman, and ran away; " Stop him," was called, and a
surgeon, of Chelsea, tripped up his heels, and with the assistance
of another gentleman, gave him into the custody of several watch-
men. The soldier was carried to the watchhouse, and shortly -
ter,•ards a number of the Life Guards (privates), came in a body
' to the watchhoum, and demanded that their comrade should be
let Luisa. Mr. Maybank, the constable, refused to comply with tivir
demands, and they instantly forced the iron-gates, and having
beaten Mr. M. in a manner that put his life in danger, they car.
ried off the prisoner. An inquiry into the transaetiontook place
privately at the barracks before the Commanding Officer, and the
parties were never brought to justice.)
On his arriving at the public-house with the corporal's guard,
Canning entered the tap-room, and ordered the guard to secure the
three soldiers, when Fife struck at Canning with a fire-shovel;
and Canning retreated and avoided a blow, which was very likely
to prove fatal. The Corporal of the guard took Fife by the collar
and led hint to the door, when he suffered him to go, and he ran
away, and was secured in Cadogan.place. The constables then in-'
alined upon the guard doing their duty, and accompanied them and
the three soldiers to Knightsbridge Barracks. On the way, some
of the soldiers repeatedly attempted to assault Mr. Maybank. It
was the Adjutant who stated that the public-house kept by Mr.
Ansted was a disorderly house, and Canning replied that it was a
highly respectable house, and as well conducted as any house in its
parish. The Adjutant said, " who is that impudent fellow ?" and
ordered Canning to be turned out of the Barracks, which was no
sooner said than done. As soon as the soldiers were called out,
and it was reported several watchmen were in a dying state, Mr.
Bryant, a magistrate for the county, residing in Cadogan.place,
being informed of the *hocking circumstance, hastened to the spot.
Tontline the watchman and three other of the sufferers, named
Almon, Elliot, and Rumbold, were conveyed to the house of Mr.
Morrah, a surgeon, in Sloane-street, to be dressed. Another
wounded man was carried to Mr. Dickenson, a surgeon, in the
neighbourhood, and the shoemaker, whose head was bitten, went
to Mr. Richardson's, a surgeon, in Sloane-street. Tomline was in
so bad a state that he could not be dressed tl:at night, and next
morning was very feverish, and twenty-two ounces of blood wise
taken from him. To prove that this account to not exaggerated, we
give the following patticulars of the injuries sustained by the four
persons who were taken to Mr. Morrell's, having been furnished by
that gentleman with a copy of his memoranda taken upon the oc-
casion.
Tomline—Two severe cuts upon the left side of the head (one
semicircular, of about seven inches in length, such as would be the
effect of a blow given by the bowni of a pewter pot); another
wound on the right side, a blow on the eye, and other wounds.
Mason—A cut on the forehead, and other injuries not likely to
prove fatal.
Samuel Elliot—A very severe wound on the left hand, and other
injuries.
Rutubold—Divers wounds and bruises on the arms, shoulders,
&c.
[From an Evening Paper.l

. -
In our last we gave an account of au affray between some soldiers.
watchmen, &c. at Chelsea. On Saintday morning a communica.
tion was made to Lard Harrington, Colonel of the Ist Regiment of
Life Guards, relative to the cmduct of the three privates in the
above regiment, named Fife, Crouch, and Seaton the purport of
which Miring been made known to Licut.-Colonel Lygon, that
officer has been the whole of the morning endeavouring to in-
vestigate the affair. Front what he has been able to darn, it Is
evident that the soldiers were not so much to blame as has been re-
presented. It appears that they and some workmen, in the employ
of Mr. 11'hitehtwil, a plumber and glazier, in Sloane-street, had
been playing at skittles, and csrousiag the whole of the afternoon
at the public-housz, and in the cow; e of the play the workmen
lost considerably, which cvused them to be quarrelsome, and they
refused to pay their losing . The soldiers dmandetpayment,
which was peremptorily relits.de by the others: ti c,•-t4i•.t;;ee
was, words arose Myren their., and then the arfriy commenced;
at the beginning of lt, the s..:dter )'roach was outside, and on his
return he Mind his two cool •sitlcs on the ground, and the whole of
the company beating them most unmercifully. The raildiera then
armed themselves as above stated, and certainly did telose to sur.
render to the civil power; but when the tile of men cau.e they went
away quietly.
The soldiers are now in the Barrack Infirmary, in a very bad
state, frwii the wounds they have received. Tomline the watch.
man is somewhat better,