THE BROME FAMILY. 
301 
Sieges of artillery of the Bomb Vessels against Cadiz (Bor- 
1702 Fort^st. Catlierine, specialism being liis skill in the new use of 
Fort Malaga. mortars, 1 * many of which he designed, which skill is 
» Fort Duran, Yigo. specified in the first British Warrant conferred 
1705 d’Alcan- upon him) in the Expedition under the Duke of 
tra. Ormond and Admiral Rooke, during the war of the 
17 ! 3 Ai U eantr^ 0drig0 * Spanish Succession: and until 1709 Brome’s war 
1708 Capture of Minorca, services may be said to be a rehearsal of those so 
graphically described hy Borgard himself in his Memoirs, pp. 93-4 of 
Vol. I. of Duncan's “ History of the Royal Artillery/'’ including the 
siege and capture of Minorca in 1708. 
Minorca seems to have held an abiding fascination over Charles 
Brome —a foreign station, with delicious climate and environment, at 
which he was afterwards to spend a quarter of a century of his life, and 
with which the fortunes of himself, his son, and grandsons, were to be 
intimately associated. From the capture of Minorca, in September 
1708, until 1st February, 1709, Borgard and Brome remained in the 
Island “regulating the artillery 55 and the vast armament of 250 pieces 
of ordnance determined on for its future establishment. 3 Major Bor¬ 
gard tells us that in February 1709 he proceeded from Minorca in 
command of the Artillery train against Villa Nuova, on the River Segra, 
Catalonia; 3 and on 2nd of the same month and year Charles Brome was 
promoted to the grade of Matross 4 —vide “ Kane's (Artillery) List/ 5 p. 
3, and Ordnance Letter Book in loco. Whether this promotion involved 
separation from Major Borgard, or whether Brome accompanied that 
distinguished commander throughout the eventful campaigns until the 
expedition into Scotland in 1715, it is impossible accurately to deter¬ 
mine, as Artillery muster-rolls have'been regularly preserved only since 
1 And why Mortars ? Because the monk and chymist, Schwartz, discovered the force of gun¬ 
powder by the blowing up of his Mortar and Festal—(Traits d’ Artillerie, by Mons. Le Blond, 
(1742) p. 5. In pp. 132, 135 Cleaveland MSS. Mortars 13 // (first employed by Captain and Master- 
Gunner Silver) in Marlborough’s campaign, 1693, were the “making of the modern Royal Artillery,” 
and Borgard the Dane secured the services of the English expert, Silver, in the Spanish wars and 
capture of Minorca (referred to above). Mortars were first employed by the French in 1634 
(Traite d'Artillerie, par Le Blond (1740) p. 37. 
2 “ Hist. EA,” Vol. I, p. 94. These were, in 1715, reduced to 200 pieces—42-prs. being tho 
heaviest. (B.O. letter book, 1716). 
s “ Hist. E.A.” Vol. I, p. 94. 
4 Matross {deri¬ 
vation) from 
i- \ (Gr.) Matros, i.e , \ inspector, 
.. j (Gr.) Metros.1 measurer, 
3 “Search y e peece” j 
1 “ Guage y e peece” 1 
are positions 3 and 13 in 
" Eldred’s Drill Book,” 
1616. 
Latin, matrix ; as crux, cruces, became Anglicised into cross, crosses, so matrix, matrices (i e, 
bore of gun) became matross, matrosses. 
Matross duties. —To assist the gunners in traversing, springing, loading, and firing guns, &c. 
They carry fire-lock with bayonet since 1715 (prior to which a dagger and Snaphance musquett) 
and half-pike, and march as guard opposite the gunner, and guard the pioneers and waggons. 
Every peece hath its gunner, with his mate, and a man (boy) to serve them both, and helpe them 
charge, discharge, mount, wadde, dense, scoure, and coole y e peece being overheated. The ad¬ 
vanced guard to clear the road and put out of the way fire, or smokers of tobacco.—Cleaveland 
MSS., pp. 102, 259. 
Matross history. —Matrosses are first distinctly so named in the English Artillery Trayne of 1639 
(Cleaveland p. 38), after the war with France, but were the “mates ” or “ servitour gunners ” of 
temp. Hen. VIII., and the “villeins ” of Hen. III., who assisted the “master gunner,” but re¬ 
tained the official designation of “ Matross ” until 1783 (1798 in the Royal Irish Artillery), when 
the grade was abolished and the gunners proper were given the option of continuing to serve as 
“ gunners” but on “ matross” pay, or of transfer to the newly-formed Invalid (veteran) Battalion 
(of which a grandson of Chas. Brome became the first Colonel Commandant). So long as any of 
the original gunners remained these were called “ First Gunners.” 
