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Leader (1850-1860), 10th February 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 124, Untitled Article

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      Eupatoria are completed , Omar Pacha will march 6 n ffistopol , and then doubtless ^ grand ba ttle will be fought . The Russians have fallen back on the 81 < ° ir ar ? rmnours that Osten Sacken , with 40 000 men and 90 guns , is advancing with all speed by Perekop to Eupatoria . Air the garrison and inhabitants of the town are entirely dependant on the supplies we send by sea , as the Cossacks have ^ cut offall the cattle which the country people used to drive in and sell . . , ¦ - .. Admiral Stewart , second in command of the English fleet in the Black Sea , and General Sir G . Brown , cured of his wounds , " left Malta on the 31 st ult . for Constantinople , on board the Spiteful . " Constantinople , Jan . 29 . " It is said that the tramroad at Balaklava has been commenced . ... " Coxmt Riverel , who is to assist in the organisation of the services of the Piedmontese army , arrived at Constantinople on the 28 th . " . .

      OUTRAGE ON THE AUSTRIAN FLAG . A telegraphic message appeared in the Mornina Post of "Wednesday , which has not been copied by the other papers ; neither has it been confirmed nor contradicted . It says that eight Austrian vessels arriving at Braila were fired upon by the Russians with a storm of musketry . The mate of one of the vessels was killed-. 7 ' ' ' '

      AUSTRIA AND THE PRINCIPALITIES . The Moniteur publishes the following from Bucharest , January 20 : — " News has reached ns by way of Matchin and Ibraila that the Russian expeditionary corps in the Dobrudscha , wishing to force the passage of a river , has been beaten with heavy loss , after a combat of some hours , by the rear-guard of Yaya Pacha , and that it has already crossed the Danube at Tultscha and Ismail . " For the last five or six days all the Turkish forces at Ibraila and the neighbourhood , under the command of Achmet Pacha , have been leaving in order to cross the Danube at Gouva-Yalonitza over to the right bank . " ¦ ' , * p , '

      Ismail Pacha arrived at Ibraila on the 31 st ult . Soon after -his arrival he issued a proclamation as Commander-in-Chief of the Danubian army , in which it was announced that a great contest would probably take place on the Lower Danube . The Cologne Gazette states that two French "divisions , as long since annouced , will now positively enter the Principalities , where , in conjunction with the Turks , they , are to occupy those strategic points which are not sufficiently secured against surprise by the Russians . • 1 1 !

      RUSSIAN MOVEMENTS . " "Warsaw , Feb . 6 . " Generals Plantine and Labentzow are ordered to advance with their corps to the Austrian frontier . ¦ " This measure has been determined upon in order to respond to the concentration of Austrian military forces in Gallicia . " According—to the ^ Danube ^ ( Journal .. pfJVjennaX letters from Kiew , of the 26 th January , state that

      numerous reinforcements are being sent to the Crimea . Two divisions of Grenadiers , more than 15 , 000 Tirailleurs from Siberia and Orenburg , and 15 battalions of reserve have occupied Perekop . A third corps , commanded by General Read , holds the second line of Bessarabia ; its columns reach as far as Chotin . Ismail , Kilia , and Bender have received 8000 men . General Siewers is organising the Baltic corps ; each regihient has eight battalions of the line and four of reserve .

      The Prussian Gazette , in a despatch from Warsaw , dated Feb . 5 , states that an order has been received that all the Russian forces in the vicinity of Cracow , and on the Austrian frontier , should retreat with all despatch into the interior of the country . BLOCKADE ! OF THE BLACK SEA . The blockade of the Russian ports of the Black Sea by the allied naval forces of France and England wbs notified by vessels of war of the two allied nations—namely , at Odessa , by the French steamfrigate Mogador , and the English frigate Gladiator ; and at KafFa , Kertch , Anapa , and Soudjak-Kaleh by the French steam-corvette Berthollet , and the Engish steamer Leopard . These notifications were made ind received in the usual manner .

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      NOTES OF THE SIEGE . DESPATCH ! FROM LORD RAdLAN . Tlip following despatch was received by tho Duke of Newcastle on Wednesday : — " " Before Sevastopol , January 28 . " My Lord Duko , —Nothing has occurred of importance in our front ; but the enemy has occasionally opened a Ore upon our left attack , and Mr . Spalding , a fine young man , an acting mate of Her Majesty ' s ship London , and in charge of tho battery , was unft > rtunately killed by a round ehot the day before yesterday . 1 " His loss is deeply deplored . I oncloao the return of oasualltiesto the 2 let inst . " Tho weather has become milder ; but tho country is mil In a dreadful state from melted snow .

      " The army is well supplied with warm clothing , and , if the Commissariat were adequately provided with transport , and the huts could be at once brought up , there would be no other cause of suffering than tne severity of a Crimean winter and the duties imposed of carrying on a siege in such a climate at this season of the vear ' ¦ ' "I have , &c , yea " Raglan . " His Grace the Duke of Newcastle , &c . " GETTING USED TO FIRE . The Morning Post correspondent thus describes a brisk fire , and how such events arc regarded : — " About two o'clock this morning I was aroused by hearing some of the heaviest firing I remember since the commencement of the siege . On looking up from my place of repose , the flashes were distinctly visible through the canvas of my tent . The heavens were a continuous . sheet of flame , and hundreds of shells were to be seen . passing through the air , and had much the appearance of , a display of fireworks . I fear , however , many brave fellows had seen daylight for the last time . It lasted about half-an-hour , but before it had expired , most people whom it had at first'disturbed had probably turned round and gone to sleep again ; and really , for all that is known of the cause of such an occurrence , on the following day it might have been a dream . Few people think more of it , and if the question is asked , ' Did you hear the row last night ? ' an answer in the affirmative is generally given ; but should you be inquisitive , and say , ' Do you know what it was all for ? ' you get the answer and the question into the bargain , ' No , do you ?'" BEGIMENTALS , &C . " My very ink has been so often frozen that it has become so pale I can scarcely see it . I suppose there are scores in the hospital frost-bitten ; no man is well . On every side , are cholera , dysentery , diarrhoea , rheumatism , catarrh , and scurvy . The army is covered with dirt , vermin , and rags . You would not know what nation they belonged to . Some wear long boots similar to the Americans , taken off dead Russians ; others old sacks stitched round their legs ; others have made gaiters of their knapsacks . I saw one wearing a sky-blue jacket , with yellow facings . On going up torhim L found it to be Tom Barnacle , dressed as a Cossack . I am now wearing a Russian officer ' s surtout ^—dark blue , scarlet lining and collar ; the gold epaulettes have been torn off , but 1 have got the two . little straps-which secured them . " STRENGTH OJ ? THE ALLIEO _ ARMY . _ The allied armies at the seat of war have been calculated , at the present moment , to amount-to 150 } OOO-men , divided thus , before Sebastopol : — English ... 27 , 000 French 80 , 000 Marines 6 , 000 Turks , Egyptians , and Tunisians 22 , 000 135 , 000 The remainder , forming the 15 , 000 , at various stations . Large numbers of the sick and wounded are reported . to . be . in . a state . which , will . enaj ^ le _ them , _ wthjn __ a ^_ few days , to join the camp at Sebastopol . The allied generals expect reinforcements to arrive within a month , which will place them at the head of 200 , 000 men . This very favourable statement is , we believe , as regards the English force , greatly exaggerated . Other , and more reliable accounts , estimate the English force at from 11 , 000 to 13 , 000 men . CLIMATE OF TOE CRIMEA , A young officer writes thus to his sister in Scotland ,. under date January 17 : — " Now first and foremost , you must quite divest your i mind of the grand pervading idea of a Russian winter ; for though in Russia , we are pretty well to the south , and do not get' quite the full benefit of the frost and snow . As yet we have not had such cold weather as in Buchan the last winter ; and , in fact , you may consider the winter here very much like that of Great Britain , with perhaps the snow lying a bit longer when it does come . It began about tho beginning of this month to lie on the ground . In tho low country it nearly all went away about a week ago , and then came a good heavy storm , and it lay about two feet deep . After that wo had a fine day , and then a drifting day , and then another fine day , and another storm , and so on it goes . Of course it is cold at times , and I would rather bo in a house than a tent , any day , oven in an English , let alone a Russian winter ; but as far as I ( or any man in health ) am concerned , J don't think the cold will kill us . Wo got very warm in bed , and out of bed strong exorcise is the fashion . The -Government have sent out lots of warm clothing , and , amongst others , I have got most of . miuo ; but there certainly are still many without , and they are not so well off . " ELEMENTS OF THE " CHEAP DEFENCE OF NATIONS . " A French war correspondent oxplnina . some hicasures taken for making warriors satisfied ;—" Our marine batteries distinguished tliemsolvea lately when tho fire was reopened . One ' of them , mounted from the Marengo , and commanded by Lieut . Martel , obtained a prize from the general-in-chief for the precision and rapidity of its fire , which was made with only

      an interval of 48 seconds between the discharges . On the 15 th we had a regular solemnity . Admiral Bruat decided that the speech delivered by the Emperor on opening the Legislative Assembly should be placed on the order of the day . Copies of it were , therefore , posted up at the foot of the mainmast on board all the ships of war , after having been read to the assembled crews . One phrase in particular produced a tremendous burst of enthusiasm . It is this : — ' Let us all agree that the army and the fleet have merited well of their country . ' You should have seen the men assembled round the masts , reading and commenting on the different passages of the speech , and heard the enthusiastic shouts of 'Vive

      1 'Empereur ! ' that were raised on board every vessel , and in which the crews of the French and foreign merchant vessels at anchor in the bay heartily joined , at the same time that they were all dressed out in flags . Admiral Bruat has decided that the battery on . the right of the Bay of Kamiesch , which defends the entrance , shall take the name of the ' Batterie Sommelier , ' after the lieutenant who was killed on board the Ville de Paris in the affair of the first attack on Sebastopol by sea and fend , and that the one on the left shall be called after M . Labourdonnaye , the midshipman who was killed on the same day on board the Montebello . This decision has given great satisfaction throughout the fleet . "

      THE TWO GUNS AT THE ALMA . Much discussion has laken place as to who should have the honour for the gallant working of the two guns on the heights of the Alma . Lieut . Colonel Dickson , who has had it assigned to him , thus writes to Major Turner , who appears to be the real

      man : — " When the first two guns of your battery had reached the top of the hill , and were in ' action on the spot where Lord Raglan and his staff were posted , very few men accompanied the guns , owing partly to the rapid pace at which they were brought up , and partly to some of them having remained behind to assist in extricating one of your gun-horses which had been shot in crossing the river ; seeing how few men there were to work the guns

      at the moment , General Strangways asked me to dismount and assist in working one of the guns . I did so , and remained with the . guns until after two or three rounds had been fired , when the men having all joined their guns , I remounted my horse , and remained a spectator of the excellent practice of your battery . Captain Gordon , R . A ., General Strangway's aide-decampj likewise assisted in working one of your guns , until the other men having s come up , he was no longer required . "

      OCCASIONAL OPINIONS ON THE " STAFF . ' "A heavy responsibillity rests on the shoulders of our military authorities out here ! I write strongly for I feel strongly , and see more , as a medical man , than others do of the effects of these privations , which , of course , I experience as well . as others . But the utter powerlessness of our department , amid all this miserycombined with the aforesaid uselessness of the staff , whose duty it is to house , feed , and clothe us—the confounded obstructiveness of the different and various departmental aulh ^ rit " ies : ^ th ^ t' ^ ru ^~ "coTorof"reol tape , " round official routine ( these inventions of the devil to make jnen honest , which Sidney Herbert calls ' checks upon cheeks' ) —all these strangle our best efforts .. Why , it takes about

      ten days to obtain officially a blanket for a poor sick man —and reams of paper are hourly sent about with ' Sir ' at the top , and ' I have the honour to be your obedient humble servant' at tho bottom—and often for nothing ; and all this nonsense makes an honest man sick . Since the day we landed at Eupatoria till the present moment , who are the men who have been subjected to the privations so much talked of ? Simply and solely the regimental ^ officers and the men in the ranks . . . All tho pains and trouble which the good people at homo have been taking for our comfort are neutralised by tho utter uselessness of our Commissariat and Quartermaster-General's Department . Lots of provisions , clothes , nnd houses lie on the . shore at Balaklava , and , for all the use

      they are to the generality of us out here , they might as well be in Nova Scotia . Tho staff , a set of useless , inexperienced , fine gentlemen , get np things for themselves ; but unfortunate regimental officers ' and soldiers , who do all the work , and aro exposed alone to the danger , cold , wet , nnd privation , got no help . All our applications for carriage for thoso necessary articles for tho soldiers are negatived . Tho answer ( whenever an answer is sent ) is invariably , that ' no carriage is available . Tho fact is , ns I said above , Lord Rnglnn and his staff know nothing , and take no trouble about us at all ; and , in truth , ho has lost casto entirely . Little is said , of course , among us ;

      but it is amusing to observe tho quiet sarcastic shrug of tho shoulder which tho French officers give when his name Is montloned . . . On our mnrch from our place of tliaeinbnrkation , when wo lay on tho ground at night our staff slept in thoir touts ; when wo poor doctors rushed up and down tho linos of croaking country carts , looking for places to lay down our men dying of agonising wounds or cholera , and asked a corner where might lay a gasping soldier—tho answer usually was , This cart is General , So-and-SoV , or , ? This is tho Adjutant-Genoral ' fi enrt Sir . ' Thoso wore tho universal replies , and at last lofting my temper ( as an old campaigner was entitled to do ) , * generally said , 'D- —— Gonoral So-and-So , and d- —

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      - e % A THE LEADER . { Saturda y , 124 i .. . ¦ , .. ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 10, 1855, page 124, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2077/page/4/