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Leader (1850-1860), 9th December 1854, Edition Country of 2, Page 4

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      The Attack In The Pacific. Tub Following...

      " We were landed to be under the orders of Captain Parker , of the Royal Marines , but under the command of Captain Burridge , R . N ., late flag captain . As soon as the boats touched the shore , Captain Burridge cried out , ' Follow me , men ; follow me , marines . ' Off they all went into the thicket ; some taking one direction , some another , and all going in a different one to that which was laid down . At this time musket and grape shots were flying around us . After getting through the thicket we ascended a hill , when the enemy very soon surrounded us . It was dreadful to see how our poor fellows were falling in all directions . They drove us over an immense cliff ; how we got down it I don't know . At this time , poor Captain Parker was shot , and a

      French officer . Lieutenants H'Callum and Clements were each wounded badly in the head . A steamer seeing the state of affairs came up to cover our retreat . We were perfectly paralysed and took to the boats . Some few who were left on the beach were open to a deadly fire from the enemy , which came from all directions . A more disastrous or ill-managed , affair never took place . Out of 350 landed , about 107 were killed or wounded ; and the only effect produced must have been that of giving the enemy the most thorough contempt of the powers of the foe they have to deal with . Is it not deplorable that naval officers will take military command ;

      and the more so particulary in this instance , for a better officer than poor Parker was does not exist . In the rebellion in Canada , Captain Parker , then a young ; first lieutenant , proved himself to possess great judgment and undaunted courage , and for his gallant conduct was promoted by the conamander-in-chief in Canada to brevet captain . Had he in this instance been allowed to take military command , in all human probability many a valuable life would have been spared , and things would have assumed a very different aspect . Cannot the Admiralty put a stop to these things ? If not , God help us next spring !"—Daily News .

      1156 The Leader. [Saturday,

      1156 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

      The Late Admiral Pbicb.. Rear-Admiral D....

      THE LATE ADMIRAL PBICB . . Rear-Admiral D . Price , who committed suicide in the Pacific , had seen some active and severe service . He served as midshipman of the Ardent , at Copenhagen , in 1801 ; midshipman of the Centaur , which captured four French frigates in 1806 , and in the boats of that vessel at the bombardment of Copenhagen , in 1807 , and a second time in the boats of the Centaur , in cutting out a despatch boat under Moen Island , where he was slightly wounded , and in that ship , at the capture of a Russian 74-gun ship , in 1808 ; lieutenant of the Ardent in 1809 ; twice prisoner to the Danes , when protecting convoys in the Great Belt ; lieutenant of the Hawk at the destruction , of a French frigate , the Amazone , and capture

      and destruction of a French convoy and three armed brigs off Marcoufj and commanded the boats in bringing off some transports and a 10-gun brig in the face of a heavy fire from the shore . He served in the gig of the same ship in attacking a French convoy and a French schooner ; was on this occasion a second time severely wounded ; from 18 U to the termination of the war he served in various expeditions and engagements , including a night attack upon New Orleans , whore he was wounded a third time . He was also in the boats at the attack upon Fort Bowyer , in Mobile Bay , at the capture of transports , & e ., and boro the flag announcing peace . He had been officially mentioned eight times nnd gazetted three .

      Military Riot At Chatham. A Great Number...

      MILITARY RIOT AT CHATHAM . A great number of volunteers , chiefly from the 94 th Regiment , have recently joined the 18 tl > , ordered to the Crimea . As soon as the bounty money was paid the town became a scene of riot and debauchery . On Tuesday night , soon after " tattoo" had been sounded , a number of the 18 th commenced scaling the barrack wall , and pioceoded to visit the several public-houses , making a disturbance in each . Several of them were observed to be armed -with bludgeons and pieces of wood , with -Which they paraded the Btreeta

      , finally making their way into Rochester , where several of them entered the North Foreland public-house . The landlord , seeing thoir conduct was likely to become violent , called in police-constable Tromaine , and that officer after much entreaty persuaded them to leave . Aa soon as they had reached the street , thoir conduct became very violent , and a fight ensued with the police , many of whom were seriously hurt—one named Tussoll being in great danger . Finally , with the assistance of tlie more peaceable military , the rioters were overcome , and six ¦ wore made prisoners . They aro remanded .

      The Aristocracy And The Army. The Times,...

      THE ARISTOCRACY AND THE ARMY . The Times , in its impression of Wednesday , has tl » o following unintentionally truo remarks on some of the conventional ovila of " tho Service : "" Lot us sco how thin state of things boars at thia moment on tho prospects of our army in tho East . The moat important condition of ita success is tho , clxiraotor of tho Commandor-in-Chiof . Its courngo , ita fortitude , and ita discipline aro undoubted , and will bo shown even more la tho direst reverse than In the moat brilliant

      success . But something more is wanted to lead it to victory , and that must be found in the genius and enterprise of the commander . If the army is led by a man who has hitherto shown no other excellence than the art of keeping Ms men out of danger , it is obvious that no positive results are to be expected from such negative excellence . Nobody would say this of Lord Raglan . He has shown not only the utmost personal courage , but great enterprise and talent . He has only exposed himself to danger so much as to suggest the painful inquiry—Who is to succeed him , in the lamentable contingency of our losing his services ? As it happens , all the Generals who at first commanded divisions are either killed , or wounded , or invalided , with one

      exception . Sir Richard England is now second in command , and if Lord Raglan ' s health should fail him , or a shot from some flying battery hovering opposite the Commanderin-Cbief s staff should perchance hit its mark , then the future success of this unparalleled enterprise , and the whole of the great interests at issue , will be committed to a general in whom it would be ridiculous to say that confidence is placed , for the simple reason that nobody can point out anything he has done . We are not at all denying tlat discretion is a virtue necessary to success , and that a man who can take care of himself may so far be presumed to be capable of taking care of others , or any object committed to his attention . But Sir Richard England can scarcely be said to have been in

      action yet -during the present campaign , excepting as regards the work of the trenches . He was not engaged at Alma nor at Balaklava , and on the terrible day of Inkerman his division was only partially engaged , one brigade under Sir Richard himself taking the ground vacated by the Second Division as it advanced to the attack . Sir Richard may or may not be a man of the highest genius and courage , but he has not hitherto shown those qualities , and , strange to say , his not showing them , or not taking the opportunity to show them , has led to the present probability that he may one day take the high post from which some of the ablest and bravest men in the British army are now excluded by death , wounds , or sickness . Are we prepared to find

      Sir Kichard England as Commander-in-Chief ? Lord Raglan is 64 ; at that age he can hardly be expected to stand several weeks of a thermometer below zero so well even as the French General of 45 . He has always been forward in action ; he may not always be fortunate . Should he fall , it would , be forty days before a successor sent from this country , or appointed by orders from this country , could take the command . Meanwhile Sir Richard England would become general - — so saya irresistible routine . AVe may ask if Government is prepared for such an appointment , and whether it would not do "well to nominate at once a new second in command more worthy of eventually succeeding to the commandin-chief ?

      Again , after every battle there appears a solemn document awarding the meed of praise to those who have distinguished themselves in it . To be mentioned in the Gazette is an object of the most ardent ambition ; and the ceremony is suggestive , of the Fame we see on our monuments , crowning her sons with undying bays . But here again routine comes in with its usual crushing severity , and the whole affair has sunk into such a matter of form that very few readers think it worth while to go through the document , looking on it much aa they would on a page of the Army List . In the Gazette we published on Monday Lord Raglan named all the Generals of Division and Brigade , and all their staffs . As a record of services , nothing could be less to the

      purpose . The Battle of Inkerman was fought and won entirely by the battalion officers and the soldiers . It is called in tho camp ' tho Soldiers' Victory . ' In such a conflict one would think tho battalion officers , and even tho most prominent soldiers , should be named , —certainly not that they should be omitted , while officers on tho staff , even not engaged , arc duly enumerated . Again , at tho Alma , Captain Maude's battery of artillery con tributed greatly to the success of tho day , but it is only in this last despatch , and in deference to the universal feeling of the army which appreciated his services , now loudly expressed , that his name is mentioned . Tho staff , of course , consists , to begin with , of promising and generally meritorious men , and thoir sorvicos are

      nucesHaruy brought under tho eye of tho General ; but wo submit they ought not to bo brought forward ao exclusively as to give tho idea that it is they who have won . tho battle , and that all tlie rest aro mere servants and macliinca , who may do their duty , but have no pretensions to fame . Yet courage ia an indispensable clement of merit , and that courage cannot but bo much proved in a regimental command . It i « noticed by Napior thufc tho Duke of Hiolunond , then Lord March , ' had nerved on Wellington ' s staff during tho whole of tho war , without a hurt ; but , being made a captain of tho 52 nd .

      like ii good soldier , joined his regiment tho night )>« f « ro llvo battle . Shot through tho client n fow hours afterwards , ho learned by experience tho difl ' orouco between the labours and dangers of staff ami regimental officers , which aro generally in tho inverse ratio to thoir promotioiiB . ' In tho charge at ttnlaklava « . Captain Low , of the 4 th Light Dragoons , ia said to have performed prodigies of poraonnl valour , which belong rather to tho warfare of tho middle ages than to our d « y ; but he ia not ao much aa mentioned ; while at Inkerman tho doeclu of several private Boldiors , and of one sergeant of

      the Guards in particular , are the talk of the whole army , but find no place in the despatches . This , of course , is no fault of Lord Raglan , who only follows precedent ; but is it not time to change a system which makes the despatch of the Commander-in-Chief so little in accord with the observation and feeling of the army ? Several soldiers , indeed , have lately been presented with . commissions without purchase , but something more is wanted than the faint hope of a commission , which may possibly be a very inappropriate way of rewarding a particular act of courage . Men want honour , which is never out of place to those who deserve i t ; and this is not given by the indiscriminate distribution of medals , or even by an occasional commission . But the most serious consideration is , we want Generals , and we ought to encourage the production of the article by recognising merit wherever it makes itself apparent , instead of confining it to the staff , which is selected in great measure , not from merit , but from favour and family connexion . ' Every French soldier , ' said Napoleon , ' carries the materials of a marshal ' staff in his knapsack . ' It is far otherwise in our service ; at least , if the materials are there , the soldier is not permitted to turn them to account . " The Times is incorrect respecting Sir Bichard England—the command would devolve upon Sir John Burgoyne . However , that in no way affects their argnment .

      Alderman Sidney And Lord Aberdeen. Aldem...

      ALDERMAN SIDNEY AND LORD ABERDEEN . Aldemun Sidney , when Lord Mayor , laid before the Court of Aldermen notice of " A motion of an address to the Crown ' for the removal from her Majesty ' s Councils of the Right Hon . the Earl of Aberdeen . ' " The Court persuaded him to withdraw the motion , and subsequently branded him with * ' cowardice " for the withdrawal , at the same time saying that no motion could be withdrawn . The Lord Mayor also said that Alderman Sidney had since quite changed his ideas on the subject . The Alderman , in . an indignant letter to the Times , explains

      that—There is a wide distinction between the heroic bravery of our troops , and the policy of dooming those troops to perish on the inhospitable mountains of a foreign shore , in being ordered to undertake an herculean task at so advanced a period of the season , insufficiently provided with medical aid for the sick and wounded , badly clothed , with the cold earth their only bed and the heavens their only canopy , and reinforcements delayed until their numbers become so reduced as to make one tremble at the bare thought that 8 , 000 brave men should be compelled to conquer or die in the resistance of an enemy seven times their number . " He also says , that since giving notice of the

      motion" Parliament has been summoned to assemble at a very early day , and every one will prefer that the Minister should have the fullest opportunity for explaining Iris conduct to tlie country prior to a verdict being given , I urged this in a letter to the Lord Mayor , and that letter having been read to the aldermen assembled at the Mansion-house should , in common fairness , have been communicated to the public . "

      Continental Notes. French Hailwatts.—Tho...

      CONTINENTAL NOTES . French Hailwatts . —Tho railway from Calais to Boulogne , the idea of which is snid to be duo to tho Emperor himself , is not to follow the coast , but , starting from the Pont Sana Pareil , is to pass by Guines , and , after traversing the cantons of Marquise , Desores , and Samer , to join the Boulogne lino at Neuchutel . This route will bo somewhat longer , but will present fewer difficulties of execution . The principal work will bo a tunnel at F / ienne . Tick-Admiral . Hamklin Promoted . —M . de I . artic , aide-de-camp to tho Emperor , is about to proceed to the Black Sea to present Admiral Hamelin with tho biUon of n full admiral , just granted to him by the Emporor . Tents fou the IThenoh Army . —The Emperor has ma . de his choice among the model tents erected under his windows in the Tuileries gardens . A contract has been made , and tho Pa trie says that before tho end of the mouth a sufllcient number to sheltor tho whole Trench army , horses and men , will have arrived in the Crimea . FnisNcii Rminfohckmrnts . —Three thousand eight hundred infantry , of various regiments , have loft Marseilles for tlie Crimea , in tho lnrgo steamers Thames , Kipon , Candid , i \ nil Kmcu . Horses for the artillery and cavalry ure embarked daily , for the most part in sailing transports .

      A Dihtinction . —In a witty pamphlet , rocontly published ut Berlin , entitled MUUur and Schuhz ^ H Travel .- / in the ( SUvaiaii ) Hietscn Oefnrga , tho following dialogue ) pusses between Pusquino and Marttsa , of tho Prusaiua capital : — " Miillor : Shall wo go to Poson to soo tho frontier where liussia begins and Prussia ends ? " Schultzo : Thank yo , I'd rather seo tho frontier ¦ where Ituseia ends and Prussia commences !"

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 9, 1854, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09121854/page/4/