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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd February 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 104, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      sacks , are nearly all lost or damaged and ™™ f ™? ° f-. £ » Some of onr fellows have got good ^ titates for fryingpans in the shape of cuirasses , which they got afterthe battles of Balaklava and Inkerman . I am now , with the exception of some bread , nearly iifty fcou ^ s without food ; it is that and the chilly damp weather lying under tents , instead of . snug wooden huts like the French , that creates fevers , dysentery , diarrhoea , and causes such a frightful mortality , doing more deadly work than the swords of the enemy . The Strength (?) of a Brigade . — I will te ll you the strength of one brigade , so you may judge of their

      loss : — ' am The Rifles ... 210 63 d ... 12 . 46 th 175 68 th I 84 Sunsets . —We have usually magnificent sunsets , the whole western sky showing a contrast of the dullest purple with the most brilliant yellowish green . At this time the Black Sea merits well its name . Black and inhospitable it appears , indeed , till it is lost in the deep shadowy clouds , and all the more so from the contrast with its own snow-clad cliffs .

      Cool Statements . — "We feel our little wood fire in our hut a great luxury , notwithstanding the smoke , which makes our eyes water and kpeps us in a perpetual sneeze . It is still very severe weather , freezing hard , and the whole face of the country is ice and snow . When outside the hut my moustache is always a stiff frozen mass , and icicles occasionally form at the tip of my nose . The sides of our hill now resemble a glacier , and animal warmth cannot be obtained without the most active efforts . The cold is felt awfully in the trenches , and on the first night of the frost 150 men of the Light Division alone had to leave them . The thermometer has been frequent l y 17 deg . Fahrenheit , and yesterday morning , when the earth was somewhat " aired ? ' by occasional sun-glimpses , was at 21 deg . Icicles cl the largest size encircle the inside of our dwelling , a d give if somewhat the air of a transparent miniature edition

      of the Temple of Theseus . . . : An Excited Captain . —There is a story gc .. ig that the captain of a powder-ship , "in a moment _ of excitement , " began firing his pistols against the bulkheads of his cabin the other day . If this event had come , off , Balaklava . would have disappeared—ships , houses , and all- —and the gully would-have become for the time a mere l arge pieice of ordnance , to blow them out to sea and into the plain .

      New Commissariat Arrangements . ^ -As a newlyarrived and freshly-mounted officer , was riding along one of the narrow paths to the camp , he called out to a man who was toiling along with a sack of biscuit on his shoulders , the last of along file similarly engaged , "Now , then , soldier , out of the way , if you please . " The man turned his head round , and , with an expression I neyer shall forget , exclaimed , "Sojer , indeed ! Faix , we ' re no sojers ! we ' re only poor broken-down ould commissariat mules ! "

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      .- - _ MISCELLANEOUS FACTS . __ Deductions for the Sick and Wounded . —M £ Sidney Herbert , in the House of Commons , said that the sick and wounded had only 3 £ d . per diem deducted from their pay . It is a mistake ; the sick are mulcted in 9 d . and the wounded in 4 ^ d . ^ Price op Preserved Meats . —A letter from the camp says that preserved meat costs from 2 a . to 6 s . per pound . Mr . Gamble , of Cork , writes to 'the Times , saying that his offer to sell such articles ( meats , soups , &c . ) at from 7 d . to 9 d . per pound was refused . ' Thk Library at Sebastopol . —The Journal de St . Pitersbourg announces that the Czar has given 25 , 000 roubles to the officers of the Black Sea fleet , to repair the damage caused by the explosion of a bomb in the library of the fleet at Sebastopol .

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      INCIDENTS . The Lord Chamberlain ' s liberal gift of 8000 bottles of Scotch whisky and two tons of potted meats , for the Highland brigade serving in the Crimea , have been just shipped for Balaklava direct . . : Shooting a Deserter . —A working party at one of the batteries missed a comrade . They perceived him quietly making for the Russian lines , and , on being called to , he set off at a good run . A private named Phillips , however , managed to shoot him . The deserter was a well-known troublesome fellow .

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      THE TENTH HUSSARS . A letter from the dockyard at Bombay says that the preparations for 1 the transport of thia fine regiment to the Crimea are being carried on with the utmost vigour , although Hoar-admiral Sir H . Leeke , who superintends , is not on the " active list . " The cc-* lerity in said to beat that of * Portsmouth out of the field—or rather the harbour . It is rumourod that the Viceroy of Egypt is making great preparations for the arrival ' of the-regiment , which is expected this month ; and that ho insists on bearing all the ex' pense himself .

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      ARRIVAL OF THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE . H R . H . the Duke oj ? Cambridge landed ' at Dover on Tuesday . The Royal standard floated from the Admiralty Pier , and other points in the town ; and such demonstrations as the short notice would allow to be made were observed . A guard of honour of the Staffordshire Militia , under the command of Major Inge , was in attendance , besides the Mayor , the corporation , and other local authorities . The interchange of civilities between his Royal Highness and the gentlemen assembled was the signal for a shout from the multitude who had congregated , and amid vociferous cheers , the booming of a Royal salute from the Drop Redoubt , and the strains of military music , the gallant . Duke set foot again upon the soil of England . Notwithstanding the extreme severity of the weather , a great number of ladies had assembled , and their greeting formed not the least interesting of the demonstrations that were so generally displayed . On arriving at the Ship Hotel , a deputation presented an address of sympathy and congratulation , to which his Royal Highness re-¦

      plied : . - ' . . " Mr . Mayor and Gentlemen , —I thank you for the gratification you have rendered me in presenting me with the present address . I assure you that any inconvenienience or discomfort which I have experienced in the Crimea has been amply repaid by the bravery of the troops . All a general can do is to lead ; and my humble services have been given cheerfully ; : but it has not been a wm of generalships- the campaign has been a soldiers ' , and- nothing but a soldiers' campaign . Led on as they have been by their indomitable courage , these troops have performed prodigies of valour ; and I can assure you a finer set of fellows do not exist in the world . than the men who are fightings the battles of-Britain in the Crimea , and who have done everything in their power to sustain the honour of their country . Mr . Mayor and Gentlemen , I again thank you . " ' { Loud cheers . " ) The Duke was welcomed at the London terminus with marked respect and sympathy .

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      GENERAL SIR DE LACY EVANS . DEPUTATION PROM THE CITY OP WESTMINSTER . On Thursday , a deputation of electors of the City of Westminster waited , by appointment , on Sir De Lacy Evans , at his residence in J ^ ryonstone-square , . for . the . purpose _ of presenting j ^ n addres s of sympathy with his recent actions , and congf filiations ; onhis return , from the Crimea . Mr . Prout addressed Sir De Lacy in suitable terms , and then read the address which commented carefully on those details of the war in which the gallant general had taken an active command , and expressed perfect satisfaction with his conduct throughout . Sir De Lacy Evans then replied in a long speech , which was interrupted occasionally by his strong emotions . After thanking them all very heartily for their sympathy , he adverted to the , long , time that his constituents had known and approved him , and to the period of a former campaign which many persons had called dishonourable service , lie thanked them for the unanimity with which , they ha / d absolved him from his Parliamentary duties , and thought he had met with unparalleled confidence , lie considered the present address was also expressive of gratitude to his companions—a young and inexperienced army , which had displayed the utmost

      bravery and devotion . He would never ceaso to think with affection and gratitude of all his comrades of the Second Division . Many were dead—it was the fortune of war—but the sympathy so generally expressed would cheer the survivors . He was an old man , and' his health had broken down under the hard work . He had heard also that General Pennefftther , his successor , a ' man twelve year ? younger , had also been incapacitated for some time through the same cause . It was not for him to offer any comment on the conduct of the war , but ho wished to soy that the disastrous hardships lately described were not felt nor seen to such an extent while ho was in the

      camp . Tho war was a great , contest , perfectly necessary and justifiable ; and ho hoped it would be carried on with vigour to a victorious end . Ho thanked his parliamentary colleague , Sir John , Shelley , for some kind remarks which ho ( Sir , John ) the , n made . Some of tho papers called tho officers old " superannuated fellows , " whilst others called ) them " ignorant young fellows / ' It ^ vas impossible to please everybody . Ho hoped for improvement and

      good results . The gallant general concluded by lamenting the present ministerial criBb ^ which might have the effect of interfering with public business at the most urgent and critical moment . ;_ The reply was received with great congratulation , and the deputation withdrew . ..,

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      MR-. SIDNEY HERBERT AND THE « PENJNSUIiAB WAR " Sir Whxiam NAPiisBhas writteuto the Times on the subject of Mr . Sidney Herbert ' s quotations from the " Peninsular War . " He says : — " Mr . Sidney Herbert , when quoting passages from my ? History of the Peninsular War , ' showing the bad condition of the British army after Talavera , forgot an important consideration—namely , that the troops had been marching for months , had traversed a great part of Portugal and Spain , and their exhaustion and sufferings arose from Spanish civil mismanagement and breach of promises ; answering precisely to the civil mismanagement and breach of promises by the Duke of Newcastle and Mr . Sidney Herbert . . ' , ^ .

      ..- * ' Mr . Sidney Herbert spoke of the sufferings having arisen from the ignorance of the regimental colonels of brigade duties ; and of the brigadiers of divisional duties , and so on . What amazing ignorance in his auditors he must have calculated upon when he ventured that remark . The duties ' of those ' officers are to protect their troops from surprises , and to fight them well in battle . Have they not done so ? Tt is their duty , also , to report when their 6 oldiers are not clothed and fed . Have they not done so ? "But when was it ever their duty , in any army , to find stores , and provisions , and transports ? That is the duty of the Commissariat ,, and the Commissariat is a branch of the Treasury , under the control of the Duke of Newcastle and Mr . Sidney

      Herbert" Nor was it more true , or just , or grateful to say that the British , soldier does not know how to take care of himself . I say he does . I say he is as intelligent and as . full of resources , ay ! " more . so , when he has served a campaign , than the soldiers of any other nation , though he * cannot keep himself warm . in snow wi&out clothes , nor roast green coffee without fuel , nor find fuel on bare rocks ,, nor support life on quarter-rations witbTquadruple trench work , and the labour of Commissariat mules to remedy the Commissary-General ' sribaefficiency !"

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      CONTINENTAL 2 ? OTES . — The fo ll owing is a translation ofjthe secret despatch of the Austrian Government to the "Stater of the German Confederation tr— _ ( Confidential . ) ' — - ^ 'Vienna , January ^ 14 , 1855 . " We may still consider the adhesion Of Prussia to the alliance concluded by the treaty of the 2 nd of December as a probable eventuality , and for its part the Imperial Government will always consider it a . duty to do everything in fits power to put an end ( one way or another ) to the differences which , to it 3 regret , unhappily now exist between the two great German Powers . "If the hope of seeing Prussia adhere to tho alliance should be realised ,, the conuilete aji 4 . 8 iRcere _ conc « rrence of the two Powers in the quality pf German Federal Powers would thereby be assured . " Experience , however ,- bids us extend our prov isions to the case that Prussia should attempt longer to persist in her policy of ind « cision , and should even attempt to Act at Frankfort in a manner to thwart our propositions upon the necessity of the Confederation being prepared for war . " In such case , the Imperial Government would only the more resolutely desire to pursue , with the support of the other German . Governments , tho path traced by the Federal Constitution as regards the man in which thia great question ought to be considered , and it would regard itself as neglecting one of the most sacred duties of its mission in Germany if it did not endeavour above all things to attain that the Confederation should take constitutional resolutiona , and if , for its own part , it was not perfectl y ready to take upon itself tho consequences of those resolutions . M Therefore , at a moment when our confederates will have to decide upon their participation in events perhaps decisive for tho destinies of Germany , we cannot hesitate in putting the question to them , confidentially , as to how they will act in tho case of being resolved to go in accordance with ' us , should a conformable resolution not be obtained in the Federal Assembly . " , Wo do not hesitate openly to ask our confederates if , in that case , they will grant sufficient confidence to Austria to joiii her destinies ; and if , in caso all our endeavours to obtain a solid and suro poaco should fuiJ , Austria may , in tho most extreme ovontunlity , equally count upon their active co-oporation . "Tho Imperial Court would , in such cose , give the most solemn assurances to guarantee their territorial possessions and position Against every eventuality , and , moreover , to grant them their shoro of advantages resulting from the war in proportion to the number of troopH employed . . In exchange , Austria must put the cpndition that a body of troops , to bo determined upon , should bo at once mado ready for service ^ and claim that _ (" hero comes tho name of tho Government of the

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      NEW ORDER OF MILITARY MERIT . THEDuke of Newcastle has announced that it is the intention of her Majesty to institute a cross of military merit , which shall be applicable to ail ranks ^ of the army , from the general in command to the youngest private in the rank * The principle to be adopted in the distribution of thta- honourable distinction will be adjudication by jury , composed of persons holding a rank " similar to that of the soldier or officer whose . name shall be given in as deserving the decoration .

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      . .-fl , ¦ THE LEADER ^ [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 3, 1855, page 104, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2076/page/8/