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Leader (1850-1860), 13th January 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 29, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      rod sent to the Crimea . They are to be armed with the Minie * rifle . . ¦ General Bosqtjet . —The English residents at ± * au iave presented a handsome silver-gilt chased coffee service , purchased by small collections made among ihemselves , to Madame Bosquet , the mother of the French general who so gallantly brought . up _ the roops under his command to the aid of the British it Inkennan . _ Telegraphic Communication with the Crimea . —Mr . Liddellthe engineer of the new Leicester and

      , aitchin Bailway in connexion with the Midland , las obtained leave of absence for two months , in irder to fulfil an important duty with which Governtient has intrusted him . This is no other than the aying of a submarine cable for telegraphic purposes rom Varna to either Cape Chersonese or Balaklava . ? he cable is ready , and Mr . LiddeH is also on the loint of sailing to complete his commission of thus ridging the stormy Euxine , 300 miles across , for the light of intelligence between the allied armies in he Crimea and their respective Governments .

      Medical Neglect—General Order . —The fol-> wing is a General Order of Lord Raglan , express-» g great dissatisfaction at the results of the Court f Inquiry respecting the neglect of the sick and rounded on board the Avon : — " It having been represented to the Commander of the orces that the 297 sick and wounded on board the team-ship Avon , under orders to proceed to Scutari , ad not received that care and attention to which they ere entitled , the Commander of the Forces directed a ourt of Inquiry to meet on board that ship , on Saturay , the 2 nd of December . " The Court , of which Colonel Cameron , of the 42 nd [ ighlanders , was President , after making a personal in-> ection of the ship , and receiving evidence , has made a report to the Commander of the Forces .

      . " The report takes notice of several deficiencies , which , t the opinion of the Court might , with due care , have sen remedied . " The report particularly draws the attention of the ommander of the Forces to the want of a sufficient umber of medical men and hospital attendants for the irvice of the sick and wounded , on board . " The report further states , that this deficiency of edical men and attendants was known to Dr . Lawson , le principal medical officer at Balaklava , but that he iok no steps to have it supplied . " In this opinion , after a careful perusal of the evidence , ie Commander of "the Forces fully concurs .

      " Lord Raglan has seen with pain and sorrow the > athy and want of interest which . Dr . Lawson exhited , as appears by the" evidence , with respect both to ie due care and the sufficient supply of what was relisite for the comfort and well-doing of the suffering en who were io be placed on board the Avon , and he compelled to visit such conduct with the severest cenu-e . " The Inspector-General of Hospitals will take immeiate steps to relieve Dr . Lawson from his present aarge . " The Commander of-the Forces is unable to exoneite Dr . Hall , the Inspector-General of Hospitals , from 1 blame in this matter , as it was his duty , either by srsonal inspection , or by the reports of his subordinates , i have ascertained that the ship was furnished with rerything necessary for the comfort of the many sick id wounded on board which the public service could by ly possibility afford . "

      How the Zouaves do their Work . —At night wo of them will go out with five or six muskets trapped to their backs . As it is quite dark , they re enabled to creep round the Russian sentries and it close to the walls , when they , as rapidly as posble , fire their weapons . Immediately the Russian rtillerymen fly to their guns ; a storming is ex . ected , and off goes every gun that bears in the dijction of the French works . As soon as the ouaves have alarmed one extremity they rush to ie other , and again musketry , rapid musketry , is eard , and again the artillery set to work , and fire ith all possible zeal for some twenty minutes , when , earing nothing more of the foe , they consider that a oodly number has been repulsed , whereas the two ouaves have quietly retreated to their tents , and ad a hearty laugh with their comrades over the ubbub they have created in the renowned

      Sebas-> poi . Shooting the Emperor op Russia . —On Christlaa-day , two soldiers of the 99 th , at Chatham , ensred the barrack-room during the time the troops ere at chapel or away , and , after expending their lilitary ardour in words , proceeded to take the wrack-room table , on which they roughly sketched figure to represent the Emporor Nicholas , placing * e table on end against tho wall , tho figure serving i a target . They then exhibited their intense hatred f the autocrat by loading their muskets and llring mural rounds at tho imaginary figure , their military nthuaiaam behigonly stopped by some of their com * idea coming in , attracted by tlio reports . A courtlartial will inquire into this , as it is against tho rticles of war to waste ammunition .

      The Goat of the 23 bd . —The celebrated snowwhite goat presented by her Majesty to the 23 rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers is dead . After weathering the campaign in Bulgaria , and marching proudly at the head of his regiment from Kalamita Bay to Sevastopol , he has at last fallen without wearing the Alma medal he had earned on the way . ' His statelydemeanour , and reverend beard , made him a prominent feature in the appearance of the regiment as it moved along , and the gap left by his absence will force a recollection of the fine animal upon the memory of every one familiar with the gallant 23 rd . He had been hutted , and every care had been taken to protect him against the exposure and inclement weather , but all this attention was unavailing .

      Lord Raglan's Leniency . —At the general courtmartial , held before Sebastopol , on the 18 th December , Private Francis Hagerty , 4 th Regiment , was tried for having struck an officer and a sergeant , while in the execution of their dutj-. The prisoner was drunk . He was found guilty , and sentenced to 50 lashes and 12 months' imprisonment with hard labour , which Lord Raglan confirmed ; hut remarks : " The offences of which the prisoner has been very properly found guilty ^ are of so serious a character as

      to justify the infliction of the whole punishment awarded by the court ; but , in consideration of the youth and inexperience of the prisoner , and the circumstance under which the crimes were committed , and in the hope that his expressions of sorrow and contrition are sincere , the Commander of the Forces is induced to remit all punishment , and to award his pardon ; thus affording him an immediate opportunity of showing , by his conduct , that he is not unworthy of the lenity that is now extended to him . "

      Comforts for the Crimea . —The dealers of Campbelton have resolved to present a cask of about fifty gallons of whisky—upwards of 700 gallons in all—for the use of the army in the Crimea . The Duke of Newcastle has conveyed the thanks of the Government to the distillers for their generous offer . Three hundred pair of oxen have just been embarked at Cologne , on board a magnificent steamer for the Crimea . They are destined for the allied armies . Sir George Brown . —The correspondent of the Daily News says ;—

      . " I regret to have to mention that , since I last wrote , General Sir George Brown has been compelled from the state of his wound to counter-order the arrangements being made for his reception in camp , and to relinquish for the present his intention of resuming the command of the Light . Division . He has been suffering for some days past in general health , though not to such , an extent as to occasion any anxiety in the minds of his friends respecting his speedy recovery . The wound in the arm , however , has not healed so favourably , in consequence of this illness , and it has been thought advisable by his medical attendants that he should leave the Crimea for change of scene and climate . It is understood that the general will proceed to Malta , and make a sojourn there until his health and wound are improved . "

      Untitled Article

      THE QUEEN AND THE ARMY . A general order has been issued in the camp which has given great and general satisfaction to both officers and men . Her Majesty ' s approbation , and the promise of a medal were enthusiastically received : —

      " GENERAL ORDER . " Head-quarters , before Sebastopol , 24 th December , 1854 . " The Commander of the Forces has the greatest satisfaction in publishing to the army two despatches from , tho Minister of War , the one expressing the Queen ' s entire approbation of the conduct of the troops at the battle of Iiikonnan , the other signifying her Majesty ' s gracious intention of conferring a medal upon all tho officers and soldiers of the army who have been , engaged in the arduous and brilliant campaign in the Crimea .

      " The Commander of tho Forces congratulates tho army on receiving so distinguished a mark of her Majesty's favour and high appreciation of their gallant exertions ; and he deems it his duty at the same time to draw tho particular attention of all to the following passage in the Duke of Newcastle ' s despatch of the 27 th inst . : —' Let not any private soldier in tho ranks beliovo that his conduct is unheeded—the Queen thanks him—his country honours him . ' "

      Untitled Article

      " War Department , 27 th November , 1854 . u My Lord , —I received on tho 22 nd instant your lordship ' s despatch of tho 8 th of this month , communicating the intelligence of tho glorious battle of the 5 th , in which a determined attack by vastly superior numbers of tho enemy were completely repulsed by tho unfaltering steadiness and gallantry of tho allied armies . , " I immediately laid before tho Queen tho details of this important victory , and it in now my grateful duty to express to your lordship her Majesty ' s high appreciation of tho noble exertions of her troops in a conflict which is unsurpassed In the annals of war for

      persevering valour and chivalrous devotion . The strength and fury of the attacks , repeatedly renewed by fresh columns with a desperation which appeared to be irresistible , were spent in vain against the unbroken lines and the matchless intrepidity of the men they had to encounter . Such attacks could only be repulsed-by that cool courage under circumstances the most adverse , and that confidence of victory which have ever animated the British army . " The banks of the Alma proved that no advantages of position can withstand the impetuous assault of the army under your command . The heights of Inkerman have now shown that the dense columns of an entire army are . unable to force the ranks of less than onefourth their numbers in the -hand-to-hand encounters with the bayonet which characterised this bloody day .

      " Her Majesty has observed with the liveliest feelings of gratification the manner in which the troops of her ally , the Emperor of the French , came to the aid of the divisions of the British army engaged in this numerically unequal contest . The Queen is deeply sensible of the cordial co-operation of the French Commanderin-chief , General Canrobert , and the gallant conduct of that distinguished officer , General Bosquet , and her Majesty recognises in the cheers with which the men of both nations encouraged each other in their united charge , proofs of the esteem and admiration mutually engendered by the campaign and the deeds of heroism it has produced .

      " The Queen desires that your lordship will receive her thanks for your conduct throughout this noble and successful struggle , and that you will take measures for making known her no less warm approval of the services of all the officers , non-commissioned officers , and soldiers , who have so gloriously won by then : blood , freely shed , fresh honours for the army of a country which sympathises as deeply with their privations and exertions as it glories in their victories and exults in their fame . Let not any private soldier in those ranks believe that his conduct is unheeded . The Queen thanks him , his country honours him .

      " Her Majesty will anxiously expect the further despatch in which your lordship proposes to name those officers whose services have been especially worthy noice . t In the mean time , I am commanded by her Majesty to signify her approbation of the admirable behaviour of Lieutenant-General Sir George Brown , and her regret that he has been wounded in the action . Her Majesty has ~ received with feelings of no ordinary pleasure your lordship ' s report of the manner in which Lieutenant-General his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge distinguished himself . That one of the illustrious members of her royal house should be associated with the toils and glories of such an army , is to the Queen a source of great pride and congratulation .

      " To Major Bentinck , Major-General Codrington , * Brigadier-Generals Adams , Torrens , and Buller , your lordship will be pleased to convey the Queen's sympathy in their wounds , and thanks for their services . " To the other officers named by your lordship , I am directed to express her Majesty ' s approbation . The gallant conduct of Lieutenant-General Sir De Lacy Evans has attracted the Queen ' s especial thanks . Weak from a bed of sickness , he ; rose at the sound of the battle —not to claim his share in prominent command , but to aid with his veteran counsel and assistance the junior officer upon whom , in his absence , had devolved the duty of leading his division .

      " Proud of the victory won by her brave armygrateful to those who wear the laurels of this great conflict—the Queen is painfully affected by the heavy loss which has been incurred , and deeply sensible of what ia owing to the dead . Those illustrious men cannot indeed receive the thanks of their Sovereigns which have so often cheered the soldier in his severest trials , but their blood has not been shed in vain . Laid low in their grave of victory , their names will be cherished for ever _ by a grateful country , and posterity will look upon the list of officers who have fallen as a proof of the ardent courage and zeal with which they pointed out the path of honour to no less willing followers .

      " The loss of Lieutenant-General the Honourable Sir George Cathcart is to tho Queen and to her people a cause of sorrow which even dims the triumph of this great occasion . His loyalty , his patriotism , and selfdevotion were not less conspicuous than his high military reputation . One of a family of warriors , he was ^ an honour to them and an ornament to his profession . Arrived in his native land from a colony to which lie had succeeded in restoring peace and contentment , lie obeyed at a moment ' s notice tho call of duty , and hastened to join that army in which the Queen and the country fondly hoped ho would have lived to win increased renown . ¦ . " Tho death of Brigadier-General Strangways and Brigadier-Gonoral Goldio has mlued to tho sorrow which mingles in the rejoicing of this memorable . battle .

      The Queen sympathises in the loss sustained by tho families of her ofneors and soldiero , but her Majesty bids them reflect with her , and derive consolation from the thought , that tboy fell in the sacred cause of justice , and in tho ranks of « i noblo army . I have tho ho-

      Untitled Article

      * Major-General Codrington is erroneously stated to have been wounded . ,

      Untitled Article

      January 13 , 185 E . ] THE LEAPEB , 29

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 13, 1855, page 29, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2073/page/5/