The Press. — London, England, 1854-11-25 00:00:00

p ~;,,"Y. .•••••••••ock ••• • *~•~•~ww WE b t o f ett.6,5 ..,~e.~ - t • 11)4 + No. 82.—VoL. 11. (ri)t s. LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1854. A VICTORY, more remarkable, perhaps, than anything in the annals of war since Agincourt, has been gained by the sheer and splendid valour of troops who had 60,000 of the enemy before them and a Coalition Ministry behind them. Despite both obstacles, Inkermann was won. There is little fear lest the glorious deeds of the sth of November should lack record and eulogium. The nation has burst out with one exulting acclamation at the tidings transmitted by our Field Marshal. Not an incident of that day, from the church-bells sounding out in the darkness of the morning to the final retreat of the routed enemy at the dusk of evening, will ever be forgotten where the English history is read. And the journalist, who perceives a more imperative duty than the gratifying one of dilating upon the heroic actions of our soldiery, has at least the satis faction of knowing that there is no chance of their glorious valour and unhesitating self devotion going unrecognised. Unhappy England ! that the very glory of her soldiers is the shame of her statesmen. Unhappy, that in every one of the facts which make the victory a marvel and a miracle, is a damning charge against those who sent forth the expedition. The army was miserably scant to contend against the enormous force of the enemy—it did contend in the face of those fearful odds, and vanquished—hence its glory, but why were its numbers so few? Such a fight would have been impossible had Sebastopol been previously assaulted ; and the day of assault had been again and again named, but, unable to complete their pre parations, the besiegers allowed time to pass, the Russians came up, and this dreadful battle was fought. Why was the army unable to complete its preparations? Why, but because its resources were, by the criminal negligence of the Government, inadequate to its work. At no time was our armament at all propor tioned to the task act before it. Ere disease had thinned the ranks, and ere a single Rus sian shot had been fired, the army was—as every military man knew—far too small for the reduction of Sebastopol ; and yet, after thousands had rotted and died while Lord ABERDEEN was cackling over " negotiations," and after the slaughter of the Alma and of Balaklava, the Ministerial organs received orders to pretend to expect the fall of the great stronghold. The sudden shrieking and shouting for reinforcements is a cry of the very latest date—it was not set up until men, incensed at the fearful and wicked waste of life in the Crimea, and indignant at the cow ardly terror of the Administration to face Parliament, began to speak of holding their own meetings, and of considering for them selves the conduct of the war. The first of such assemblies would have sounded the Coalition knell ; and the cry for reinforce ments was made, we admit, with all the fervour and frankness of imbecile despair. Despite all that had been done to ensure failure and ruin, the little Crimean army has triumphed. Our best blood has been poured LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25,1854. out like water, a carnage which, had it been necessary, would have been dreadful, but which, seeing that it might have been spared, is utterly hideous, has been in part an nounced ; and there is other sorrow on its way. Scarcely a family of rank but is already in mourning. Our brave soldiers, slaughtered by the thousand, find nameless graves in the Crimean valleys. And yet the glorious little baud holds its own against all corners. How long it may be able to do so is a question too grave for discussion. A council of war has decided that the army is to winter in the Ciimea, from which resolution it is evident that no immediate effoi t was contemplated. Sebastopol is to be taken at our leisure. It is most probable, therefore, that our skilful generals will be able, Heaven only knows at what price, to secure and maintain a position which may defy the onslaughts of the enemy. Let us trust that such maybe the case. Had the Government at home made up its own mind as to the plan of operations, or made itself adequately acquainted with the nature of the task which was so glibly prescribed to our soldiers, not even a Ministry like Lord ABERDEEN'S would have sent out so miserably insufficient an army. A powerful force, with a defined object, would have at once proceeded to its work, and it is not too much to say, that in the presence of such an army as ought to have been despatched to the Crimea, such attempts us those of MENSCHIKOFF and LIPRANDI would have been military impossibilities. But, boasting as seemed the Prince's phrase, when he announced that he would " cast our forces into the sea," it was really no such absurd vaunt when the relative numbers of his own forces and ours are contrasted. The grand attack of the 6th was an attempt to fulfil this pledge, and if one man is matched against six—and these are the terms on which the Coalition has pitted our forces againnt the Russians— the six can hardly be charged with boasting in whatever way they may undertake to deal with the one. But those who expected the Coalition to manage the war boldly and practically mani fested a sanguineness in which we must avow that we were unable to participate. We showed at the very outset that the war, begun at the wrong time, was also begun in the wrong manner. Now, wrong seldom comes right, and the whole campaign has been a series of misfortunes, illuminated at intervals by the splendid valour of those wantonly ex• posed to such trials. It is almost useless, except in refutation of arrogant self-lauclution, to refer to the past conduct of the war. But now that our army is finally consigned to the inhospitable and iron-bound Crimea for a terrible winter—now, at the end of November, the Government is taking thought for the need of our soldiers, and " orders are given " for the preparation of winter clothing, which will doubtless be made, in time, and at some later time will be shipped, for the long voyage to the Black Sea. Wooden barracks are even talked about, and a very good sug gestion that holes should be dug in the ground, and that our soldiers should become Troglodytes during the winter, has been re ceived with favour. In the meantime, our soldiers, under the watchful eye of a practical Government, are shivering in the Euxine breezes, starving with miserable rations, and sickening in presence of medical assistance of so limited a character that it is little more than a cruel mockery. May Heaven preserve PRICE SIXPENCE. the brave fellows who have withstood the Russians, but who have yet to withstand the Coalition ! This is no time to mince words, or to seek for emasculated paraphrase in place of honest English. The nation knows that the army has been abominably treated, and that its con dition at this moment is one of peril and suf fering. Public indignation demands that every exertion be instantly made for the succour and solace of the troops now sentenced to a Crimean winter. Hands, hearts, purses are all open if the Government will do its duty. There is nothing which the nation will refuse to the Administration—except conti• deuce. OUR AIMS AND ALLIANCES. Tux position of England becomes more per. plexing from day to day. We are fighting in a dense fog. We make immense exertions ; the blood of our soldiers is poured out with a profusion unknown in former wars ; yet for all practical purposes we are but beating the air. We know not what we are striving for. With the old Greek hero, we pray in the midst of thick confusion for light, but, less fortunate than him, no light visits us. The mist thickens with the strife. As yet we know only that we have lost an army, and that Austria, without striking a blow, has obtained the principalities. While we sweat and bleed, that power for whose interests we are mainly battling lurks ia a state of grim neutrality— smiled on by our Premier—courted by our Cabinet—eager to seize every concession in its favour, but careful to avoid taking any part in the struggle. Meanwhile, "the sick man," whose strength it was our policy by every possible means to sustain, wastes visibly. The war, which may be merely disastrous to other States, threatens to be fatal to Turkey. She has neither the resources nor the stubborn energy of character to maintain a protracted contest. SheAus., tained the first shock of the war nobly;(bui l her first armaments impoverished hers 3 her credit is sinking, and without a treasury, * commissariat, or those regular supplies needful things on which the efficiency troops depend, her large levies are dwindli away, or sinking into a mere rabble. Aus sees this, as she sees the rapid destruction the allied forces in the Crimea, and still think* how well Lord ARERDEIN is doing her work. The greater portion of the immense fore* which attacked the allied camp on the day Inkermann was incontestibly drawn from army of the Danube. Those forces could n have marched without the knowledge a complicity of Austria. She must have kno of their movement, she must have known their destination ; but her" good wishes " to the allies did not extend so far as to warn them of the meditated attack, still less to make an effort to prevent it. Suppose that tremendous assault had been successful, that the allied camp had been stormed, and our forces, as the enemy with his overwhelming superiority of numbers not unnaturally anticipated, had been driven into the sea, would not Austria have been morally responsible for the disaster? As it is, our ter rible loss on that day must be laid to her door. The slightest demonstratii n on her part would have prevented DANNENBERG'S corps from moving. Is it possible to have patience longer /%