The Press. — London, England, 1854-10-21 00:00:00

cut out for our troops in the ensuing campaign, if the rumours circulated here be correct ; but, whether they be so or not, it is certain that in the opinion of the French Government we are only at the com mencement of the war, and that it is making pre parations on a gigantic scale for future operations. A viva number of gun-boats have been ordered, and the dockyards are in full activity. Great bodies of men are on their way to Marseilles and Toulon, where they will be immediately embarked, and 15,000 men have already been despatched. Orders have also been given for a supply of fusees for con greve rockets to the amount of 0,000, and for other supplies on a similar scale; and, in short, the preparations now making are greater than they have been at any period since the commencement of the war. THE FUSILIER GUARDS AT ALMA. The following letter from the seat of war, addressed to the Countess of Annesley, by her non, the Hon. Hugh Annesley, of the Fusilier Guards, contains an interesting account of the part taken by the writer in the victory of the Alma : H.M.S. London, Sept. 21. My dear Mother,— . . . We forced the passage of the Alma yesterday, and defeated the Russians most glo riously, though with great loss to ourselves, owing to their extraordinarily strong position. Old officers say it was as strong as Torres Vedras. The Russian army was drawn up on the heights, upwards of 40,000 strong, and with im mensely heavy artillery, 24 and :12-pounders. The light division advanced to the attack, supported by the first divi sion (Guards and Highlanders). They got across the river, and then advanced against the entrenchments. The 2.3 rd was in column when the brigade of Guards charged in line. My company (4th) was next to the colours, and in the very centre of the line. We got up to within fifty yards of the ditch, when the regiment before us (which has had the three senior officers killed) turned right about, and came down in our face, thus breaking our line. We were about thirty paces then from the ditch, and the fire was so hot that you could hardly conceive it possible for anything the size of a rabbit not to be killed. I kept on shouting, " Forward, Guards!" to the few men that were not swept away, when a ball came and stopped my mouth most un ceremoniously. It entered the left cheek, and went out at the mouth, taking away the front teeth. I instantly turned to the rear, feeling it was about 100 to 1 against my ever getting there, as the bullets were whizzing round me like hail. I tripped, and thought it was all over with me. However, I got up again with the loss of my sword and bearskin, and at last got into the river, and out of tire. 1 had then another struggle on the other side, where grape and round shot were ploughing up the ground, and shells bursting ; however, I stumbled on, and at last got out of fire, and sat down among wounded and dying soldiers and horses. The doctors gave me some water, and then were obliged to go to others ; so when they left I sat there for above half an hour before I could find out where our hospital was. At last an officer of the 10th, though wounded himself, gave me his arm, and took me to the Fusilier Hospital, where I got some water, and sat down to bathe my face. There were six or seven of our fellows there ; one with five balls in him, another three, and a third with his leg broken. My servant got me some blankets, and then we got a stable, half burned down, cleaned out, and five of us lay there for the night, very wretched, as you may suppose, operations going on all round us. Some weak brandy and water and some tea were all we had. The shed we were in was a horrid thing—the heat, and dust, and flies into lerable ; so in the morning four of us came down to the fleet, and I with two others am on board her Majesty's ship London. W. S. has been most kind and attentive. I shall never forget his kindness. I had shot bath and some arrowroot. I was nearly famished, having had nothing to eat since four o'clock a.m. the day before. The doctor says the swelling will soon go down; it is rather painful, of course, at present. B-- is all right; the cavalry, being so few, were not made use of. They showed themselves at the end of the action, and more than double the number of Russian cavalry ran away from them like sheep. Poor B— came to see me in the hovel we were lying in, and burst into tears when he recognised me, I was so altered. Of course one cannot have an ounce of lead through one without swelling, and my face is like a good-sized turnip ; my mouth much larger than I have any desire to see it in future. Ido not suppose the ball could have hit me in any other part of the head where it would not have been attended with mote danger. A most summary dentist the ball was to take out all my teeth at one smash, except four grinders (there was a decayed one, which I hope has gone with its brethren, but I can't make out yet if it has or not). There is a good bit of tongue gone also ; but the doctors say that will not signify, and that I shall speak as plain as ever, or, at most, only with a becoming lisp; so, altogether, I think even you must allow that I have every reason to be thankful, and I hope you will not allow your self to fret the least about me. Just as we were charging the great redoubt, I prayed " 0 God I spare me!" and I really no more expected to return alive than if I had been tied to the cannon's mouth. Only fancy grape and canister being tired at us within thirty yards, besides a whole battalion letting drive as hard as they could into us. Both the other officers in my com pany were wounded. The colonel (Berkeley) had his leg broken. All the sergeants were wounded, and two killed ; and, I believe, at least twenty or thitty of our men. I was close to Lindesay when the Queen's colour was smashed in his hand ; there were twenty bullet-holes in it, yet he was not touched ! Our loss has not been exactly ascertained, but I should say it is above 1,000 killed and wounded, and that of the French, I believe, is greater, THE PRESS. Lord Raglan said it was one of the most glorious things the British army have ever done. Two Russian generals are prisoners. They said their lines were thought to be so strong that they could have kept us in cheek for three weeks ! . . Tell I.l I shall, perhaps, have some shooting with him this winter, after all. I shall, at least, try to get home. . . . Ever your affectionate son, This letter, says a correspondent of the Times, was written while suffering from all the horrors of war, and his own wounds are glossed over, not to add to the afflicted feelings of his mother. On the fourth day after the battle his brother, the Hon. Robert. Annesley, of the 11th Hussars (who took share in the melancholy glories of Alma), was struck by virulent cholera; he was curried on board her Majesty's ship London (where his elder brother lay wounded), and, after three days, expired. it will be remembered that this fine young officer, who was only in his twenty-first year, was quartered the last two winters in Dublin, where he was a general favourite. When his re• giment was ordered for service he was offered 1,0001. to exchange, but he spurned the proposition, and gloried in the idea of devoting his life to his country. RELICS OF THE FIGHT. Almost as soon as the men got up on the hills after action, they spread over it, opening the knap sacks which were lying in thousands all over the field, many of the enemy having lightened them selves in order to run the better. While the soldiers were still excited, they commenced breaking all tho enemies' firelocks and rifles which lay on the ground. Many of them were loaded. The concussion set many of them off,•and the result was that balls were singing through the air in all directions on the night of the 20th, and during the two following days ; in fact, dropping shot never ceased for forty hours. The Russian musket is a good weapon to look at, but must be rather a bad one to use. The barrel, which is longer than ours and is kept polished, is of iron, and is secured to the stock by brass straps like the French. The lock is tolerably good. The stock is of the old narrow Oriental pattern, and the wood of which it is made—white-grained and something like sycamore—breaks easily. From the form of the heel of the stock, the " kick " of the musket must be sharp with a good charge. The cartridges are beau tifully made and finished, the balls being strongly gummed in at the end; but the powder is coarse and unglazed, and looks like millet-seed; it is, however, clean in the hand and burns very smartly. The rifles were a better description of arm : they were two-grooved, and projected a large conical ball with two raised grooves in it. The ball is flat at the base, and has neither hollow cup nor pin ; its weight must exceed that of our Minie ball. The bayonets were soft, and bent easily. Some wooden bayonets were left on the ground, and one officer is in possession of a " wooden pistol," found on the road subse• quently. Some good swords belonging to officers were picked up, and very effective weapons, probably belonging to drummers or bandsmen, exactly like the old Roman sword, very sharp and heavy, were also left on the field. Some six or seven drums were left behind, but nearly all of them were broken— several by the shot which killed their owners. No ensign, eagle, standard, or colour of any kind, was displayed by the enemy or found on the field. Our regiments marched with their colours as a matter of course, and the enemy made the latter a special mark for the rifles. Thus it was so many ensigns, lieu tenants, and sergeants fell. The 33rd Regiment lost no less than twenty sergeants, killed and wounded, nearly all of them round the colours. The Queen's colour was struck in fourteen, the regimental colour in eleven, places. DEATH OF DR. MACKENZIE. Dr. Mackenzie, one of the best operators in Edinburgh, who came out for the purpose of studying gun-shot wounds, was with the Highlanders at Alma, foremost in the field. So unremitting was his attentions to the Highlanders, to which, though a civilian, by a general order of Lord Raglan acknowledging his services, he had been attached, that after the battle the brigade, with one voice, asked permis sion to give him three cheers as he came up the hill. There are few gentleman who stood so high in their profes sion as Dr. Makenzie who would have given np a lucrative practice for the purpose of devoting their services unpaid to the relief of their countrymen during an arduous cam paign. Unhappily the disease which has laid so many brave men low proved fatal in his case also, and Dr. Mackenzie died of cholera at Belbeck after a few hours' illness. His loss was more sincerely lamented than that of any man who fell at Alma. THE HIGHLAND FEATHER. Sir Colin Campbell would not let his Highlanders fire a single shot until they had arrived within thirty feet of the enemy. Then their mnrder3us discharges carried all he fore tlem. By not firing the bonnie Scots were enabled to advance with such rapidity that the enemy's cannon had hardly time to get their range before they were out of it again. Consequently, their loss was but slight compared with that of some other brigades. Lord Raglan was so pleased at this proof of Sir Colin's experience and general ship that he rode up on the field of battle, and, shaking him warmly by the hand, asked him what he could do for him? Sir Colin acknowledged the thanks, and asked his lord ship's permission to wear the Highland feather bonnet for the reat of the campaign' instead of the general's cocked , SATURDAY, hat. Of course the permission was instantly given, and Sir Colin appeared the next morning in the bonnet of waving plume, to thelintense delight of the Highlanders, who went into ecstasies of cheers whenever he came among them. LIFE ON THE MARCH. I sleep under an araba, at the warm side of a bush, or near a bivouac fire, wake with cold at five, get a little break• fast, march till twelve, partake of a meal that is called by courtesy a dinner, then march till dark. if I am not too fatigued on arriving at the halting•place for the night, I wait till my servant has searched for wood, made a fire, searched for water, and made some tea. With that light but unsatisfactory supper I wind up a miserable day, sleep on the ground as before, and recommence marching again on the following morning. These hardships, with intense heat by day, bitter cold dews by night, incessant fatigue, and bad living, are some of the difficulties we have all had to contend against during this campaign in the Crimea. Never has there been known a campaign in which the forces, without any exception, have suffered more. Since the day we landed, the 14th of September, all, except the generals of division, have slept in the open air, and except the generals of division (and I am not even sure of some of them) not a man has had his clothes off since he set foot on the Crimea. We have only washed at the three rivers we passed, Alma, Tchatka, and Balbek, elsewhere we have not had enough water to drink, much less to wash with. Owing to the scarcity of the latter necessary, some of our horses have died ; and what was as bad, where there was no water there was no wood, and of course we had to do without bivouac fires, or even fires to cook our victuals. Yet, in spite of these privations, privations which it is easy to speak of, but terrible to bear, not a man of our troops has murmured. Satisfied with their victory, and with the prospect of inflicting a tremendous blow upon the enemy at Sebastopol, they bear all cheerfully, and even laugh off the dreadful sickness which infects their ranks. But we are likely to have one or two days' resthere while the siege guns are landing, which will do them all the good in the world. THE CIVILIAN ELEMENT. Of what may be called the civilian element, unfortu nately truth hardly allows much to be said iu its praise. The commissariat has shown itself sadly out of joint. The least unforeseen difficulty has brought them to a stand-still. Ample stores have been sent out, but, owing to the bungling of those upon whom devolves their distri bution, the soldiers have at times been half-starved in the midst of abundance. This is a serious matter. The pre serving the health of an army in the field is of secondary importance to no other consideration. And nothing so endangers the health of a rather thoughtless multitude as a sudden change in their dietetics. On the qu.rslio rezatil of surgical and medical accommodation it is premature to speak. A prima facie case has been made out by the heads of home departments, by publishing the invoices of medi caments sent out, and the roll-call of those entrusted with their application. Still the question will obtrude itself — how have these supplies been turned to account on the scene of action? But the climax of inefficiency is the Post-office department. A more irritating spectacle of helpless inefficiency cannot be imagined than is presented in the Post-office transport : its cabins, between-decks and tipper deck, strewed with newspapers and letters, and un opened bags containing both; a few lubberly officials, with their hands in their pockets, eyeing with grim despair the piles before them ; and a few impatient officers diving for letters amid the chaotic mass. The shortcomings of the civilian element of the expeditionary army have their origin in a cause so broadly staring us in the face that no one can fail to detect it. The departments are manned by junior members of the upper class of clerks; juveniles who can go through the routine duties of superintendence when they have plenty of labourers under them, but who lose their heads when placed in unaccustomed positions, and called upon to lay hand to work themselves. It would have been better to send out some shrewd and active men, without any knowledge of office duty, with a strong corps of mere workers under them. Such men could have in vented a system for themselves, and set it a -working. I he helpless pupils of routine can do neither. CAMPAIGNING INCIDENTS. The colours of the 7th Regiment were, for a short time, left upon the field under the batteries. This was by no means the fault of the gallant 7th. Literally there was no one to bring them off. Every one who advanced for that purpose fell either dead or mortally wounded beside them. The 7th, having lost half its strength from the fire of the battery on its flank, was compelled to fall back to re-form. There for a time the colours remained upon the field until the arrival of the Guards made a diversion, when Captain Pearson, Sir George Brown's aide - de - c am p , rode in and took the standard from the hands of a sergeant who was mortally wounded. No enemy's hand had touched them, though they had a very narrow escape. The French suffered severely as they climbed the hil ched l to turn the enemy's flank. As the Zouav es a pp roa. the Russians, misled by their red fezzes and peculiar dress, rushed down upon them, shouting " Turco ! Turco! ex pecting an easy victory. They were Miserably deceived. The Zouaves halted, deployed into line, gave one tremen dous volley, and then charged with the bayonet, driving the enemy back with fearful slaughter. Colonel Lagondie, a French officer attached to Lord Raglan's general staff, being short-sighted, made a strange mistake. He bad been reconnoitring, and on his return rode headlong into a red-uniformed Cossack regiment, supposing it to be English, and was of course taken prisoner, but afterwards managed to escape. By a farmhouse near the Belbeck a beehive was disco ' vered, and, after a little hesitation, one heroic individual dashed at it, and completely knocked it to pieces. Rut, • like many other great men, this praiseworthy gentlemsi! failed to reap the advantage of his energy, for the insulted