27 January 1817:
deaths of Campbell, Coane and Haswall

"...On Monday the 27th about 8 O'Clock in the Evening a Cutter from the Iphigenia was upset at a little distance from the Zeburgh Battery.

There were on board Lieut. Saunders of the Iphigenia, Mr. Windsor a Midshipman, eight seamen & a boy; with Lieut. Foster of H.M. 2d Ceylon & Ensigns Campbell, Haswell & Coane of the 73d Regiment.

Lieut. Foster, the Midshipman & 6 seamen were saved, but Lieut. Saunders, all the three Officers of the 73d two seamen & the boy unfortunately perished — The night was clear and the moon shone bright, but the wind was blowing fresh & the sea was running high — There does not appear to have been the least reason to attribute this calamitous event to any fault whatever of the Commanding Officer or the boats crew — It was a mistake that could neither be foreseen nor prevented. — A great sea broke over the beam quarter & she was instantly filled & turned keel upward — Two of the Seamen who could not swim clung to the boat & were saved — Lieut. Foster got hold of an oar & with the help of one of the Seamen reached the harbour when after being nearly exhausted he was assisted by Mr Windsor in saving himself upon a Dhony — The other Seamen escaped by swimming — Ensign Campbell was thrown upon the rocks at the mouth of the harbour & every means were used in vain by the Medical Gentlemen to restore his lifeless body — In the course of the next morning the bodies of Ensign Haswell and two Seamen & the boy were found, & at 5 O'Clock the two Officers & the boy were interred in the burial ground on the South Esplanade — His Excellency the Governor with all his Staff, the Captain & Officers of the Iphigenia, the 73d Regt. the Officers of the other Regiments & Artillery in Garrison & all the Civilians in Colombo attended — The muffled drums & band playing a solemn piece of music, the long procession of the Governor & every Civil & Military Officer, with the Naval Officers of the Iphiginia, all walking in solemn silence after the coffins of these unfortunate young men cut off in the flower of their age, presented a most mournful sight, that deeply affected every mind already agitated with the recent shock of this dreadful calamity — the two Officers were buried in one grave, the funeral service was read with impressive devotion by the Honble & Reverend T. J. Twistleton & three vollies were fired by a detachment of the 73d Regiment.

... The seamen were interred at 8.

On the morning of the 30th the body of Lieut. Saunders was brought ashore by Fishermen, and his funeral was attended in the evening by the Commandant and all the Officers of the Garrison. He was buried close to his fellow sufferers.

... The body of Ensign Coane we regret to say has not yet been found.

Lieut. Saunders was much esteemed for his excellent disposition and lively temper by his brother officers.

The three young Officers of the 73d were lately arrived from England, but they had been long enough with their Regiment to conciliate the regard of those knew them, & their untimely death is a subject of deep regret.

The great sorrow for Ensign Coane who was a remarkably fine young man is much increased by concern for the sufferings of Captain Coane of the same Regiment whose agony of grief at the water side, was a most afflicting sight — He has already lost three gallant brothers in the service of their Country one at Buenos Ayres, another on the frontiers of Portugal at the battle upon the Coa & a third who died of fatigue in a Campaign against the Mahrattas — He has a fourth brother a Captain in the 73d who was severely wounded in the glorious battle of Waterloo — It was the desire of all at Colombo to mark their respects for the Officers of H.M. Ship Iphigenia by shewing them every attention in their power — a ball was to have been given on the 28th & a play acted soon afterwards in which poor Ensign Haswell was to have performed a principal part but this deplorable catastrophe has interrupted every design of amusement with the gloom of sorrow & mourning."

Source:
Ceylon Government Gazette 1 February 1817 [No. 802] p.4c-4d - and an edited transcript published in Lewis P.L. List of Inscriptions on Tombstones and Monuments in Ceylon [originally publ. 1912] pp.29-30. (A shortened version of this text was also published in the Asiatic Journal July 1817 p.98).

Manuscript Transcripts
Transcript prepared by Robin Walsh
Macquarie University Library, Sydney, Australia. © 2004

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