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    -1140 THE IiEADEB. [Satuispay,

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    MEN AND HORSES FOE THE ARMY. Extraordina...

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    THE BESS ARABIAN CAMPAIGN. War grows wit...

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    The Voluntekk Force. We May Boast Of Our...

    iiary civil law , it must be an exceptional body ; Tind designed for a poorer class , it is necessarily less independent than a volunteer force . Consequently , it cannot , like that , be everywhere . But a time is coming- when we shall require a guartl everywhere . If Russia be not foiled , if -she be triumphant in the Crimea , she will grbw" insolent , aggressive , and invading ; and "we rhay have to pay at Southampton * for injuries inflicted at Sebastopol . We are in no

    fear of such a sequel , because we believe that Russia will be foiled , beaten—and rendered desperate ; and if she can evade us , she will invade us . We may look out for " sea kings , " or for more regular enemies , if Russia , which is not impossible , should beat us in council . Hence we want a force everywhere . This indicates an adoption of the American lawthat every able-bodied citizen , who is not in a militia regiment , should be in some volunteer corps authorised and recognised by the State .

    , . The Parliament must give the hint before we can expect Englishmen , the most herding community in the world , to come forward generally . Each . waits first to see what everybody else means to do . In the mean time , however , those who really understand the necessity and the opportunity would do a public service by setting a timely example . There must be many a serviceable man wishing to familiarise himself

    % ith the use of modern weapons and combined ' aetion , could the men only be introduced to each other , and fee provided with a good plan and a good eomittander . The plan would in a great degree depend upon the general feeling and 'circumstances' of each corps ; and the power of Accommodating the plan to circumstances is Orie incident that renders volunteer corps superior to the militia . For a commander would

    be required—a man not unacquainted with rnilitaryUfe—a patriot , a gentleman of leisure , of social " position , and of manners calculated to' engage confidence . It is not impossible to find such men . The first well-organised corps would , of course , be inspired by the wish to become a model for imitators , the leading- competitor for state recognition . It

    might be a model , especially as to its arms and accoutrements ; and the remark would apply equally to an artillery corps . Russia is cultivating the use of the rifle — why should not we ? That is the aim of the day ; but our volunteer corps could not make such mistakes a 8 a Government can make , and send its men into the field with " Brown Bess 1 "

    Even such a beginning would mark the commencement of a restoration from the degraded state in which England has been placed—as a people disarmed , and kept down by a mercenary army at the bidding of the officials . With arms returned to them , Englishmen would once more hold the right secured to them by the boasted Bill of Rights , and would become , in fact as well as name , constitutionally self-governing .

    -1140 The Iieadeb. [Satuispay,

    -1140 THE IiEADEB . [ Satuispay ,

    Men And Horses Foe The Army. Extraordina...

    MEN AND HORSES FOE THE ARMY . Extraordinary occasions supersede ordinary rules of action . When the deity who presided over the snow-storm in the theatre found his white paper exhausted , and told the manager that he could no longer snow white , ** Then , " said the inventive provincial Elliston , *? if you cannot snow white , you must Bnow brown ; " and a sudden substitution of material

    cast a lurid glare over the snow-storm more awful than the white paper with which the sublime scene commenced . Necessity often suggests improvements . We want trained soldiers in the Crimea , and there is some difficulty in supplying the want at once ; but there are resources which our authorities appear to neglect , They ao « m to have only no idea but the naked one of their requirements ; and yet they

    have soldiers ready made to their hand . At this moment there are a large number of soldiers , brave men and well trained , under confinement for offences of various grades against military laws . Some few of these offences , perhaps , are of a serious nature , but we believe they are mostly of comparatively slight gravity ; and this is not a time to stand on ¦

    niceties . Give these men a free pardon on condition that they at once serve in the Crimea , and we do not for a moment doubt that they would to a man gladly and rejoicingly accept the offer to wipe out the stain upon them by serving their country . We are not certain as to their numbers , but whatever they may amount to , they would be welcomed at Balaklava with a new style of forget and forgive .

    There is , however , no reason why the authorities should adhere exclusively to a direct supply of soldiers . The force can be effectually augmented by another process . Our-soldiers are employed in the East in all kinds of operations , and particularly , as the Times has remarked , in the work of navigators . Now , as a body , soldiers are inferior in that line to the workmen employed in the construction of railway works ; and a force of four or five thousand navigators sent out to work in the trenches would more than add five thousand worth of

    vigour to the army for purely military purposes ; while , trained to discipline , the navigators themselves would become a direct addition to the number of fighting hands on the spot . Again , there is a sudden demand for horses , the want -of which prevents the employment of some regiments of heavy dragoons or Life Guards . Now there is on hand a supply , not only of good horses , but of those who are attested and trained : they are the horses of the mounted police . Rogues and vagabonds are serious enemies ; but we could for a season confront

    their invasions for ourselves , in order to strengthen our force against the Russians . The police , dismounted , might be supplied again by degrees ; but a strong muster of horses could be collected as fast as they could be brought up from the provinces and from Ireland .

    The Bess Arabian Campaign. War Grows Wit...

    THE BESS ARABIAN CAMPAIGN . War grows with winter . In the good old times armies went into winter quarters when the snow began to fall and the wind to bring frost upon its wings . But with the progress of civilisation the art of destruction progresses too ; and so enlightened are we , and so hurriedly do we live , that our warriors no longer

    stop to take breath in November in order that they may renew operations in March . The value of time is felt in this fast period of the world's history ; and grim old Winter docs not bar the road to victory , although he naturally augments the horrors of defeat . Thus we must fight , more or less , it seems , through the winter in the Crimea ; and not only there , but , rumour will have it , in Bessarabia also .

    For some hundred years or so the field of warfare between Russia and Turkey gradually contracted around Constantinople . Peter the Great vontured to the Pruth , and , boing surrounded , was onl y saved by the address of Catherine , who managed to persuade the Grand Yizter to lot her husband go , Subsequently dire battles were fought between Turk and Russian on both banks of the Dniester and the left bank of the Pruth . Catherine crept

    along the coast , took Oozakow , the Crimea , and Ismail , and carried her flag to the Dniester . In our own day we have seen the Russian frequently at homo in the Principalities , seen him win the Danube , pass the Balkan , seize Adrianople , and go as fur south as Rodosto . But the WoBt being alarmed at the loss of the Danube and the danger of Constantinople , the margin , of resistance is thrust back again to the old battlo-noWa : the Western warriors are

    actually in the country of the Crim Tartars ; and the Turk carries the Crescent to the waters of the Pruth . Omar Pasha , we are told , is marching into Moldavia , where his advanced sentinels have for some time walked their rounds within sight of the white jackets of the Austrians ; and is about , in conjunction with two divisions or 20 , 000 men of the French army , to undertake

    a winter campaign . That the seventies of a winter in those regions do not stop military operations there are some striking evidences . Oczakow was taken on the 17 th December , 1788 ; Ismail on the 22 nd December , 1790 . Last year Omar Pasha began the campaign in November , and fought the battle of Citate in the snow on the 6 th of January following . In the Peninsula war Sir John Moore advanced

    and retreated in the winter months at the close of 1807 ; and Wellington warred through the Pyrenees , fighting frequent battles , all the winter of 1813-14 . Allowing that the winter is an impediment , yet it is not insuperable ; and therefore , as far as ice and snow are concerned , a campaign in Bessarabia is possible . It is quite another question whether it be probable . What are the facts . The Turkish army is the first element in the estimate of probabilities -is the Turkish army fit for a summer , much more a winter campaign , beyond the Pruth ?

    The bulk of the Ottoman army is , generally speaking , composed of men capable of being manufactured into a splendid soldiery ; but there are many other considerations to keep in view . The battalion officers know little or nothing of the art of war ; they seldom have an education or spirit higher than that of the men ; and they and the higher officers are but little accustomed to the theory or practice of war ; consequently , in spite of the great services which Omar Pasha has rendered to the Turkish army , we cannot account it a machine at all calculated to

    enter upon so momentous an operation as a regular offensive campaign . Nor are its numbers such as to enable Omar Pasha to act with large masses . Even in June last it is not likely that he had 120 , 000 men at his command on both banks of the Danube ; and that force , scantily supplied with reinforcements , has probably dwindled down to a much inferior number . It is true that the Austrians garrison both the Principalities , but some Turks must be left in Widdin , Kalafat , Silistria , Rustchuk ,

    Giurgevo , Schumla , and Varna ; and the force that Omar Pasha could place upon the Pruth would most likely not greatly exceed 45 , 000 bayonets , a few thousand sabres , and a good proportion of guns . But , it will be said , this is a respectable army—an army which the promised French divisions would raise to about 70 , 000 men . And it would be a strong force

    but for the causes above specified : imperfect drill , worse than useless officers , and the absence of confidence among the men in themselves . Behind the Danube , acting on the defensive , under able officers , these Turks would certainly behave well ; take away these advantages , attornpt a winter campaign in Bessarabia , and there is strong ground for believing they would be irretrievably ruined .

    For the enterprise would bo one of difficulty even to the soldiers of the West—unless conceived and conducted on a grand scale . The line of the Pruth is not strong , is passable at many points , and not diilicult of mastery . But below its confluence with the Danube there is the Russian fortress of Ianiail , strongly garrisoned ,

    and on the flank and rear of any force operating upon Kichenau . Bessarabia ia not deprived of its usual garrison ; neither are Kherson in its front and Podolia on its flank , without a good share of troona . Even supposing 20 , 000 Frenchmen , aided by river steamers , could besiege Ismail with any chance of success , can wo also suppose that Omar Pasha ' s army could

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 2, 1854, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02121854/page/12/