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Leader (1850-1860), 10th February 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 125, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      the Adjutant-General too , ' and put the men on the waggons ; but novices didn't like to do this . " It is gratifying to be able to state that the latest accounts announce some satisfactory changes . The Times correspondent ( January 22 ) , after describing the very variable nature of the weather which drops 40 degrees in five days , whilst the wind whips you off your legs just as you are commenting on the geniality of the day , thus adverts to the supplies received : — "I rejoice "heartily to think that before severe cold sets to meet it with better

      in again the army will be prepared chance of success than before . Warm clothing is arriving in great quantities , and the remnant of our army will soon be all comfortably clad , or it will be their own faults . It is difficult to distribute it , as the mere work of carrying it up to the camp must give way to the more urgent necessity of supplying the army with food and fuel . There is this sad consolation , that the reduced numbers of our army place the duty of feeding and curing it more within the grasp of the various departments charged . with its execution . mits furnished

      " The greatcoats , boots , jerseys , and by the Government to officers and men are of excellent quality , and the distribution , though late , is most liberal . A fur cloak , a pea jacket , a fur cap , a pair of boots , two jerseys , two pair of drawers , and two pair of socks are to be given to each officer , and several of them have received the boon already . Still it is a fact that at this moment there is but one hospital marquee in the whole of the Second Division camp , unless my eyes quite deceived me when last I visited it . There is no hospital hut whatever . The sick and wounded were and have been in ordinary tents , and , though the weather is bearable now , it may be imagined what sick and wounded men have endured under such protection in the piercing winds and cold days and nights now past . " .

      PROMOTION FOR THE ZOUAVES . "The Zouaves are in great delight at the high honour paid them by the Emperor . * He bas ordered that fourty picked men out of each company shall be selected to form a body to be called ' Zouaves of the Imperial Guard , ' and the regiments are to be eligible henceforth to serve in France . The excitement of the men while the selection was going on , the delight of the chosen , the despair of the rejected , were , I am told , beyond air description . "

      NEWS OF THE ROADS . " Major Fellowes is now off on his expedition to organise a waggon and transport tram at Constantinople or elsewhere , but it wilt be rather late in the day , I fear f ere his work is done . The railway will be equally behind the time , for the road-making is at last progressing . However , the surveys for the railway have been nearly completed , but Mr . Campbell finds the gradients will be more heavy than he was led to expect . The ground rises not less than 630 feet from the head of the harbour of Balaklava to the outskirts of the camp near headquarters . "

      THE FATE OF DESERTERS . " Desertions have taken place to the enemy both from the French and from our own ranks , but there is a great disposition to exaggerate _ them . Tlie deserters from the French have generally belonged to the Foreign Legion "; the deserters from the English have generally been from the young draughts and from regiments just sent out . I have already mentioned the case of a man in the 93 rd , who was killed by the enemy as he approached their pickets , in the act of desertion . A soldier of the 19 th was since killed by his own comrades as he was escaping to the Russians from the third parallel . He had hinted to one of his friends hi the same company that it would be a good thing to go over to the Russians . His suggestion was received by a threat , ' If you attempt to run , I'll shoot you , as sure as you are a living man . ' The fcilow watched his opportunity , and , slipping across the parapet , made towards the Russian lines , but his friend had perceived the man , and called on his comrades to fire . They did 80 , and missed him , and he neared the Russian picket . ' Here goes for you now , according to promise , ' exclaimed his Achates ; and , taking a long aim , he stopped the career of the deserter and dropped him , writhing and bleeding , in front of the Russian vedettes . " ROUTINE AND CINDERS . " From Balaklava wo hear , numbers of largo steamers come in hero every week and . shoot into the sea excellent roadstuff , in the shape of cinders . It has been suggested that the Jcaptatns of these steamers should be ordered to keep as much of these cinders as possible , and to send them on shore in their boats , where a few men could easily lay them down , but no one is ' responsible' for carrying out the suggestion , and every day one hcos tho cinders of tho newly-arrived steamers shot into tho harbour , within a few yards of tho spot where ho is standing over the nnkles in mud " h

      . i /* 4 v iiiivMvo ami in \ i \ ti - . . HOW THE RUSSIANS OBTAIN RKLHSF . " About four p . m . yesterday , nearly 2000 Russians woro ueen marching into Sebastopol , and nbout the same number going , out . -It was probubly one party relieving tho other . They wore on tho opposite side of tho harbour from our camp . There seems to be a continual change of troops on the part of tho enemy , from the town to their camp , and vice vered . . They have thus an

      advantage over the Allies , who are compelled to remain without relief . " Yesterday a large convoy , apparently of provisions , entered Sebastopol by the north side of the harbour in mid-day . It consisted of light carts , which were drawn principally by two horses , and in some instances by one only .. There were also a few sledges . " ; . RESULTS \ versus EXPECTATIONS . ' " I have just read the following : — ' If the Crimean Army Fund progresses as it has begun , our brave fellows before Sebastopol will spend a jolly Christmas . ' Ah me ! I made my dinner that day of a 21 b . loaf purchased in the French camp for 2 s . 8 d . "

      THE NAV 1 T AGAIN . " Her Majesty ' s ship Highflyer and the Curlew have come in . The former has been cruising off Odessa , but the officers say they did not attempt to stop any ships in or out , as they had no orders to blockade the port ! They boarded a vessel inwards , laden with cotton , which the captain said was intended to be manufactured by the Russians , as the Manchester goods were not sent to them now . At a little ptace called Ekmetchete " , north of Cape Tarkan , the Highflyer exchanged some shots-with a body of Russians within a small fort ; they soon silenced the Russian fire , and drove the enemy out . They landed a party , blew up the Round Tower of the place , and received a good supply of provisions from the Tartar inhabitants ;" The correspondent of the Daily News says : —

      " Captain Mitchell , of the Grenadier Guards , and some brother officers saw a Russian steamer leaving the harbour and standing out for the open sea . One of the allied ships went in chase , and after some hard steaming came within range of the Russian . A cannonade ensued , the Russian all . the while endeavouring to escape . The chase was watched with intense interest , but the result remained a mystery , for the two ships , stealing hard and exchanging shots , disappeared at last on the verge of the horizon . The officers who saw the affair made all inquiries as to the facts and the final result of the engagement , but to no purpose . We have all got so accustomed to hard knocks , that a partial affair makes no impression and usually excites no curiosity whatever ; and it is only by chancing to fall in with one of the men actually engaged , that a vague account of particulars can be obtained . " -

      THE IMPERIAL GUARD . " Since the departure of the last mail , 4000 of the Imperial Guards have arrived in the Bosphoriis ; and during to-day and yesterday groups of these splendid fellows were to be met in almost every street in Pera and Stamboul . Their physique is quite equal to that of the choicest household troops , and the uniform ( the half-Glengarry sort of undress cap excepted ) shows it off to the best advantage . French human nature has seldom been exampled abroad by such stalwart and unobjectionable specimens of the genus homo . Our Life Guardsmen have the advantage in height , but in compactness and symmetry of frame their Gallic rivals will suffer nothing by comparison . , Then * very physical excellence , however , adds to the sorrow with which one reflects upon how few of these- picked-men-of-France will . ever . look upon the minarets of Stamboul again . "

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      INCIDENTS . Shooting at the Emperor ov Russia . —Private W . Gibson and Private W . Gallahar , of the 99 th Regiment , were tried by district court-martial at- Chatham , for the offence of making away with their ammunition in shooting at the Emperor of Russia , whom they had drawn on the barrack table with chalk . A most severe , and , as wo think , unnecessary , sentence has been passed upon them—that of Gibson to fifty-two days with hard labour , and Gallahar to 162 days' hard labour in tho military prison , Fort Clarence .

      Two Thousand Police Officehs Fon the Crimea . —Sir Richard Maync has called iipon the superintendents of police to report to him , and recommend any inspectors , sergeants , and private constables who may feel inclined to volunteer and form a transport corps in tho Crimea . The body is to consist of a quartermaster , sergeants , or superintendents , drivers , and corporals . Tho strength of tho whole is to be 2 , 000 . Pout for the French .- —A personage belonging to one of the highest families in Portugal , who desires to prosorvo a strict incognito , has placed 10 , 000 bottles of port wine nt tho dinposal of tho French Government for tho army in tho Crimea .

      Mortality at the Military Hospitals in Turkky . —The following painful statement is published by a French contemporary , on tho authority of a correspondent at Constantinople : — " Tho difference , in fact , between tho deaths in tho two nations is enormous . In the French hospitals there is only one death out of 271 cases , whilst in tho English hospitals there is ono out of 88 . " Tub Ajmerican Prijss . —Tho Washington correspondent of tho Neio York Herald says : —" Tho services of ono of your largo newspaper sheets havo been bought up for a considerable amount , by an English nobleman , during tho continuance of tho war in tho East . Tina explains the causo for that disinterested energy which

      has , within the month or two past , so distinguished that sheet in support of England and France , and in hostility to Russia and Russian success . " A Library , consisting of nearly three hundred volumes of books , has been fitted up on board the hospital ship Severn , which is about to proceed to the Black Sea . This library is intended'for the invalids oh the passage between Balaklava and Scutari . The idea of this library originated with" Messrs . Forbes and Marshall , the . booksellers of Southampton , who gave a number of books towards it . The rest of the books were given by the ladies and gentlemen of Southampton and its neighbourhood .

      Candle Stoves for the Hospital ^—Messrs . Price writes to the Times : — " Sir , —Will you give us room to state , for the information of many who take an interest in the sending out the candle stoves to the army , that Government has given an order for 250 of them , and 2 , 000 boxes of their fuel , for hospital use in the Crimea and at Scutari and Smyrna ?" The Csar at Sebastopol . —A letter from the Emperor to Prince Menschikoff , contains the following passage : — " I am very anxious to push on the campaign in the Crimea as rapidily as possible , and to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion . If facts do not correspond to my expectations , I think , God willing , that I shall myself visit you and my dear army . "

      Life in the Trenches . — " When we are in the trenches , if it be in our turn to be "in the first parallel , i . e ., farthest from the enemy , we walk about as much as possible to keep ourselves warm , and if a shot comes , which is often the case , we bob our heads to let the rascal pass over us . In the second parallel we walk about as in the first , but almost double ; and in the third , if you so much as show your little finger above the parapet , you find twenty rifle bullets whizzing about it immediately . "

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      PROMOTION FOR SERGEANTS . The following is from the London Gazette : — War-Office , Feb . 6 . To be CoENETS , without purchase :- — 4 th Regiment of Dragoon Guards — Regimental Sergeant-Major George Price . _ 5 th Dragoon Guards—Regimental Sergeant-Major Hobart Evans Fitzgerald . . . _ ¦ Tlst Dragoons—Regimental Sergeant-Major John Lee . 2 nd Dragoons—Sergeant David Gibson . 4 th Dragoons—Regimental Sergeant-Major Henry Jennings . - 6 th Dragoons—Troop _ Sergeant-MajorJWilUam Hall . 8 th Light Dragoons—Troop Sergeant-Major Henry Harrison . . 11 th Light Dragoons—Troop Sergeant-Major T . R . Silver .

      13 th Light Dragoons—Sergeant-Major Francis Levison Michael . 17 th Light Dragoons—' Troop Sergeant-Major James Duncan . To be Ensigns , without purchase : — lstltegimentof Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant Thomas C . Brown . 4 th Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant Thomas Burridge . 7 th Fbbt = Colour = Sergeant Adrian Bennet .- - 17 th Foot—Sergeant-Major John Lee . 19 th Foot—Sergeant Frederick Arthur . 20 th Foot—Colour-Sergeant Patrick Geraghty . 21 st Foot—Sergeant-Major Thomas Vauxden . 28 th Foot—Sergeant-Major Jonathan Twaites . 30 th Foot—Sergeant-Major John Moon . 33 rd Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant John Thompson .

      34 th Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant Robert Reay . 38 th Foot—Sergeant-Major John Evans . 41 st Foot—Sergeant James Baird . 42 nd Foot—Sergeant-Major William Lawson . 46 th Foot—Sergeant-Major Andrew Witten . 47 th Foot—Sergeant-Major Thomas Young . 49 th Foot— Sergeant-Major Edward Mackay . 50 th Foot—Sergeant-Major James Lamb . 55 th Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant James Scott . 67 th Foot—Colour-Sergeant Thomas Grace . 62 nd Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant William Dring . 63 rd Foot—Sergeant-Major Walter Samuel Marson . 68 th Foot—Sergeant-Major Joseph Thompson . 77 th Foot—Colour-Sergeant William Minister . 79 th Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant William M'Gill . 88 th Foot—Quartermastcr-Sergeunt John Fredericl

      Gner . 93 rd Foot—Colour-Sergeant John Gordon . 95 th Foot—Colour-Sergeant John Sexton . 97 th Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant Isauc Harmond Rifio Brigade—Sergeunt-Mnjor James Singer .

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      CONTINENTAL NOTES . On tho 26 th of January M . Drouyn do Lhuys addressed a despatch to tho diplomatic ugentB of Franco in Germans * . Tho following in a tmccinct aualywin of the document . After expressing regret that tho crisis so long nronariuK is at la , st about to . break out , stating tho object * of tho policy of tho Western Powers : —to constrair Russia to abandon her aggressions , and to unite al Europe ttguitiMt tho common aggressor : tho despatel Htntes that when tho timo'cauie for proceeding from con

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      I February 10 , 1855 . J THE . LEAPEB . 125

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 10, 1855, page 125, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2077/page/5/