Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 26th February 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 13, ^, ^R ¦ TWuarv 26, 1859.1 THE LEADER, 26...

Page 13
Page 13
13 of 32

On this page

  • Text (3)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      . The Armies Of The Great Powers. The Ar...

      and independent ; he is treated very strictly , and is obliged to exercise—no matter the state of the weather—for six or eig ht hours in the barrackyard . The greatest possible variety is sought after , and he is even taught to dance and fence . Accord-Ino-to law he is obliged to serve seven years ; and : even in times of the deepest peace he must serve continuously at least four years and a half . . Hie discipliue he is placed under is very strict , and tlie punishments for offences are very severe . A French -. court-martial , orders the punishment of death where we should order penal servitude ; and imprisonment for three days is very common in cases where an English soldier would get on witn a reprimand . ^' It cannot be denied , however , that this severe discipline of the French troops , -which depends more on their -military intelligence than on their mechanical obedience to" their officers , possesses its dangerous aspect . This is moi-e especially the case when the army has , through unexpected reverses , lost all confidence in the leaders , find the soldiers themselves have yielded up the hope that their bravery can give a successful turn to affairs . The history of the French army supplies us with repeated instances that , after the loss of a campaign , it becomes more demoralised , and the bands of discipline and military order are more thoroughly dissolved , than was ever tlie case in the Russian or Austrian armies . T ^ ike every man of sanguine temperament ^ tlie 1 renchman soon grows desponding , and when this has once occurred , and the ambition which urges him on lias lost its elasticity , he becomes the very worst soldier in the world . All the difficulties which he endured with a smile when advancing appear to him doubly heavy on a retreat , and as he feels no fear of his superiors , he no longer obeys their orders with such precision as is found in those armies where discipline founded on severity is maintained . Hence we are firmly convinced that , although French troops would always defeat an equal number of Russians , unless the accidents of terrain -were too unfavourable , and -that a French officer vlid allowed himself to be beaten would deserve to bo tried by courtrmartial , still we hardly fancy that Frenchmen would have defended Webnstopol with that admirable perseverance which the troops under Prince Gortschakoll undoubtedly displayed . " One very excellent regulation is , that all brigar dier-generals above sixty-two years of ago , and generals of division over nixty-ttvo , are , transferred to what is called the 2 nd Section , ' or reserve force , find cm only bo employed on active service within the frontiers upon half-pay . The French army happily knows nothing ; of aged officers who cannot mount their horses without assistance . Next follows the Hussion avrmy ; and here our author confesses himself to be stranded for want of authentic figures . The million of armed men which the autocrat is said to have at his disposal must bo looked upon as n fablo , in the absence of reliable information ; though , at tho battle of Waterloo , ( 500 , 000 Russians wore on thy nmroh to the Rhine , and must luive crushed Napoloon had not Wellington saved thoin tho trouble . Tho groat animating features of tho Russian nnny are passive obedience and religious fervour . They fight for their God and their Czor . The worst feature of tho private soldier ' s life is the arbitrary wanner in wliioh ho is treated . Every man ' s hand is raised against him ,, and he . has no , ' . chance of redress ! Nothing but a modal , gained in a campaign , will keep him inviolate from a blow , and proouro him tlio protection of the law . " . Another peculiar organization in Russia is that ,

      JJ \ W . - » - . W 7 — -- —^—i ^—^ H ^^ Z ^^ Afield . Algeria can always be held \ by , 000 the neia- „ , n ^ depotS i the m Tnf the Sy fs at the free disposal of the ^ e ^ r ts ^ aieserve of 150 , 000 men , drawn S old lio n-comttiisaioned officers . who have Svedtileir time , and conscript whom it has not been considered necessary to-call out . This army is drawn from a population of 36 , 000 , 000 , ' speaking the same language and unbued with the same national feelings . I he emnne of France is centralised in Paris , a fact dSedly advantageous to perfect military government L no other European army are the troops Senced by the same universal spirit A French Sent does not bear the name of a varying possessor , nor the appellation of a province or I town , but merely a simple number . _ 1 his number , however , is permanent , and has its appointed place in the history of the army . The great Strength of the French army lies in its promotion from ^ the ranks . . , n- > v , ^ TP ^ o ^ li . sr . lrl W is rendered intelligent , active ,

      - of the MUitary Colonies , founded by the Emperor Alexander I , on the termination of the war with France . Count Arafctschiyeff drew up the ^ riginal scheme , vhich immediately Rec eived , the Imperial absent The objects proposed were—that the soldier Sid partly support himself by cultivating the land i irSreasirig tile reserve by means of the Crowu peasants providing a house for the soldier ' s family ' ? n the even ? of war ? andV lastly , populati ng districts where a want of hands was perceptible . . The > e colonies were founded on the frontiers of Poland , Austria , and Turkey , thus enabling Russia . to assemble a numerous corps ^ arr ^ e in the south-west in a very short time . The villages chosen for the experiment were inhabited by crown serfs , who were freed from all taxation ,, but in return had to receive the colonists . Their cabins were pulled down , and houses were built in regular streets . All the serfs . above fifty years of age were chosen as master colonists , each receiving about forty acres of land on which to support a soldier and his family and a horse , if the village was occupied by v _ ca . 'T W ; ment . The soldier , in return , assisted the colonist in cultivating his land , whenever his military duties jhv ——

      diu not- occupy i «» u » " =. .- ^^**~ . - . option of selecting the soldiers to be quartered on the master colonists . If he had several sons the eldest became his assistant ; the second belonged to the reserve ; the third could become a military peasant while the others were regarded as military pupils The colonists of Southern Russia , at the present time , occupy 380 villages in the governments of Kherson , Charcov , and Yekatennoslav and amount to 80 , 000 men . These military districts are watched so jealously , that no person can enter them without a special pass from the military , authorities . The greatadvantage Russia derives from this institution is , that she possesses in these colonies an inexhaustible resource for strengthening her army , which is constantl y supplied with recruits accustomed to the use of arms from their earliest youth . The Russian army suffers , like the Austrian , from being -composed of heterogeneous elements . There are G ermans and Great Russians , \\ Jute Russians , Lettonians , Sarmatiarisr Tartars , Cossacks , and Finns . Jews are compelled to serve ,. -but . are only used as workmen . Out of-G 5 or 70 millions of men subject , to the Czar , 4 Q millions to 4 o millions ( of whom 34 millions are Great Russians ) are liable to the conscription . All the Orreat Russians are most peaceable men , and unanimous in their honour of the military profession , liie Teat defect of the Russian army is , that it is composed of two classes , —men who are naturally pacific , and men who are forced into the ranks , and take no pleasure in doing . their'duty . The present available force is 637 , 000 men , with 1 , 436 guns , and 316 pontoons . We wind up with the British army , upon which little need be said . The systems of purchase , and army clothing ; the force of tradition and official obstinacy ; the spasmodic attempts at reform , and the establishment of amateur Camps , like Alder--shott and Ohobham , where the officers play at soldiers in the morning and run up to the Opera at night ; the lavish expenditure of money , and tlie unsatisfactory results ; to say nothing of our lamentable mistakes in the Crimea , are all familiar —too sadly familiar—to the public mind . In no European state is so much wealth bestowed upon this branch of the " national service , with so little return of which we may be proud . ^ lhe ^ courage , endurance , and physical stamina of the soldier win our battles , and not our military organisation . The greatest enemy he has to fight against is tlie system under which hp works . Our present disposable establishment , in any offensive war , may be taken at 120 , 000 infantry , 12 , 000 cavalry , 300 guns , awl 2 , 000 engineers . Our defensive army consists of 120 , 000 men in tho militia ; 12 , 000 volunteer cavalry ; tlijO Royal Dockyard Battalion , consisting of 10 , 000 powerful workmen trained to tho uso of arms ; and G 0 , 000 pensioners , one half of whom would bo available for home sorvico ; besides nine infantry regiments in tho Channel Islands' Militia ; several artillery companies , and the Honorable Artillory ' of London . Tho booU concludes with an appendix concerning tho Turkish and Sardinian armies , the latter of which shows a disposable force of 120 , 000 men . The information that our author is enabled to lay before hia readers , though only perhaps an approximation to tho truth , is particularly valuable at tlie prosont time .

      ^, ^R ¦ Twuarv 26, 1859.1 The Leader, 26...

      ^ , ^ R ¦ TWuarv 26 , 1859 . 1 THE LEADER , 269

      Oc15ola. - Ooeola. By Captain Mayno Itei...

      OC 15 OLA . - Ooeola . By Captain Mayno Iteid . 3 vols . Hurst and Blackott . Captain Kjbu > i » . not of tho bread-und-buttw

      school of novelists . He spices Ids lucubrations highly , and uses the literary cayenne so unsparingly , that none but the strongest-Stomachs can do * full homage to his specialty . OLn this threevolume banquet the condiments are-all of the highest and most pungent flavor . Murders , battles ' , and duels are mere entrees ; . pieces de resistance are concatenations of three-piled horrors ^ -the wind-up being a climax to be worked out only by calling in the aid of a rattlesnake of the lar g est dimensions . The story--as may be anticipated—is one of Indians , of Indian warfare , Indian oppression , Indian heroism , and Indian vengeance , interspersed with pale-faced villany and virtue . This field , one would think , was pretty well e xhausted ; but Captain Reid has shown that some unnoticed gleanings were yet unappropr ated ^ and , to do him justice , he has made the ntost of his materials . There is one noticeable cn-cumstance , that the interest rises as the tale proceeds , and that the closing scene is the fitting . ape * to a pyramid of literary wonders .

      Russia. Russia. By A Recent Traveller: A...

      RUSSIA . Russia . By a recent traveller : a series of letters , originally published in " The Continental Review . " ° ¦ William Francis Graham . There is so much that is valuable in this work--so much that strictly concerns the present and future of Russia—that it would be very unfair to pass it over with a merely cursory notice . A correspondent of " The Continental Review ,, the author is a man of extraordinary intelligence , who has recently visited Russia , and in these pages presents us with a record of his actual experience . He visited Russia in a moment of transition—in a moment when old traditions-are vanishing , and a new era of liberty of thought and discussion is commencing Such is the / authors statement ^ it ¦ obviously " adds interest and value to his book . The press " was comparatively free ; the Sovereign was en ^ ed in the task of reformation ; and the coimtr / was in an-attitude-of visibly progression . Much seems to have died with * flie Emperor Nicholas ; and much tliat existed as the the hidden life" of his epoch , awakened and revealed itself since his death . , The gossip of St . Petersburg which is the commonest source of informatioifto the English papers , is not at all to be relied on ; notwithstanding all it may assert , serf-emancipation is a fact , and Austria dreads the growth of a liberty wh ich already threatens to revolutionise her Slavonic provinces : "It is possible , continues our author , « that , the present Emperor mav not have inherited the iron will of Ins fathei , but it is certain that he has ne wavered ^ hitherto in his main purpose , and that all his intentions are -ood . " It is also " important to observe that the movement does not depend on a single life . Not only is the Grand Duke his brother ' s zealous and efficient supporter , but the necessity of a total reform has become a . oonviction with the nation at lar <* e . That conviction—they begin to admit itis chiefly the result of the last war . I he experiment of isolation has been tried for thirty years ; in compensation for many evils it was thought to have given Russia an invincible army , and m one year that army had been three tunes beaten , and Its stronghold taken . If we did not restore the fallen throne of the East , or secure the nympa hies of believers in Delhi and Jeddah , we have at least ooiKinered freedom for the Russian serf , and tree thought and speech fbr generations yet unborn . Our soldiers did not die for nothing at SebastO 1 That the sorfe arc not fit for freedom our author regards na an idle pbjeetiun . " . If the luw ^ nj applies to natural , capacity , it is refuted by tho numerous instnnces of natives who havo-rwen Jiom tho ranks , under tho vro « t 4 ™™)*^ ' ^ ° ^ come ti-adesmen and merchants . J ho case witu which tho Russian adapts hiniHol » , J J " ^* position is , in fact , one of hi . nicwt b . ^ ki , g ol . ju ctoristics . Also , With tho name b owl in 1 w vo'Uh tho middle elates are »^ w w highly w ^ J ^ J « tho nobles were under l ' otcr tlie Uieat , oi even under Catherine . They are , it I , soundby w ^ bv our intolliuunt tniwHor , a . i lit for tiectlom as tho Pa inn un « l DiiUj . ti . uWb wore for governmo t Among them , moreover , a few may not obh-o to be freed , fbr certain obvioiw roamm i but > r thc » mS « the general enthusiasm with which & y took 6 p ta tlfe QzW , b proof sufficient that ^ X niw ay ^ oS in fact , gradually grown up .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 26, 1859, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26021859/page/13/