The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-20 00:00:00

(Original setters front ttr tErituta. Camp before Sebastopol, Dec. 23, 1854. My dearest —, A thousand thanks to all of you for your nice, long letters of 29th November and 27th December, which I got last night. I declare I haven't enjoyed anything so much since I have been in the Crimea as I did those letters, though the time at which they arrived was not the most opportune to be jolly or anything else : it was about four o'clock in the afternoon ; it had been raining all day and was still; I bad just been warned to go down with 150 men to the advanced trenches, the place where the enemy always make their night attacks, and I knew that I should be wet through in half an hour after I had been out, besides having to remain for twelve hours in the most uncomfortable place you can imagine—first having to blunder down two miles over muddy, rocky ground covered with Russian cannon-balls, which you could not see for the dark ness, and consequently tumbled over on your face every ten minutes, and when you got there having to lie in a trench with a foot of water in it, with your eyes and ears wide awake for a sortie. (That's what I don't call the "romance of war.") Well, after reading all your affectionate letters I declare that I felt for the moment quite unmanned and nervous at going to this post. I felt how sorry I should be to die when there were so many who cared for me alive, and how sorry they would all be at my death. That is the dark side of letters : they make you feel so anxious for your own safety, whereas if you are left here without seeing or hearing of anybody who cares for you, you get quite callous and don't care for any thing, and think you may as well be shot to-night as suffer all these hardships for months, and then per haps be shot, after all, at the end. Well, to continue with a short account of last night, just to give you a specimen of a subaltern's duty in a line regiment out here. It was the darkest night I ever saw, raining cats and dogs. After losing our way three or four times, we got to our post., re lieved the old guard there, and envied them going back to their wet tents, and then we began to settle, or rather unsettle, ourselves for the night. There was nothing between our sentries whom I threw out in front and the enemy but a small ravine, up which it is a favourite dodge of the Russians to crawl and try to take us in flank. Further up the ravine, to wards our trenches, was a guard of the Rifles—about one hundred men, I suppose. All went quiet for five hours or so, during which I was most miserable, suffering so awfully from cold feet every time I sat down on a lump of wet clay or stone to rest myself for a few minutes, and obliged to get up and kick my toes against a 68-pounder to warm them. About twelve o'clock the rain stopped, and it got a little lighter, and about two I heard somebody asking where the officer was. I called out, " Here lam : what du you want ? " It was a sergeant of my party coming to report that one of our sentries had come in to say that he saw a body of men moving up the ravine towards our right flank. Of course I was out in a minute, with my pistol handy, and examined them. I saw at once that it must be the enemy, so I despatched an intelligent corporal to the Rifles on our right to inform them of the fact. However, their sentries had already seen them, and the officer of the Rifles sent back to tell me to look out for my left and my front, as this might be a feint; and a few minutes afterwards, as I lay flat on the ground, with my eyes towards where I knew the Rifles were, I saw a burst of musketry, and after that heard a lot of shouting and rushing, and then the enemy were seen through the darkness retreating down the road; so I turned our men out, and gave them a volley, which they answered well, and the bullets whistled over our heads in a storm : they were too high, though, and only wounded two of our men. The Russians, finding that we were on the alert, retired at once, as they always do on these occasions. I do not know how many the Rifles killed, but we bagged one fellow. You must know that the Russians in these sorties are generally halt' drunk, and one of them came rushing up to our trench, and was shot by twenty bullets about thirty yards from it. We hauled him in, and the soldiers pulled off his long Russian boots, which they all wear. I bagged his bayonet to make a candlestick of. After the enemy had retired, their batteries, which of course from the. musketry could see exactly where we were, opened a regular tornado of shot and shell upon us, and we had to lie as close as wax to the parapet for an hour or so : as it was, two of our men were killed by a shell which burst just on the trench. After this affair was over we were left quiet till the morning ; and uncommonly glad I was to get back to my tent, cold, wet, and sick. I was obliged to break up my only table to make a fire to warm some coffee, and then I went to sleep for four or five hours, and woke all right, and very hungry, with nothing but salt meat to eat. However, that was the worst night, in Slim. THE PRESS. point of weather, I ever was out in. Towards morn ing it froze very hard, and you may guess how nice and warm my feet were. I long for a pair of high, waterproof boots. I sent to the commissary-general to-day, and he has no box of any sort for me ; but I am going to walk to Balaklava myself to-morrow, and will tell you the result in the latter part of this letter. I have heard nothing of beyond a short note on my arrival, which I answered, and asked him to send me some things which I wanted. I suffered very much at first here for want of blankets. At last I managed to get three, but paid a sovereign each for them. I also at the same time bought a dozen of port wine for 41., which I really think saved my life when I had the cholera and dysentery so had. People said you could not spend money out here. Why, at Balaklava you can buy almost anything, if you choose to pay for it and can get it up to camp. DEC. 24.—When I wrote these two sheets last night I had fully intended going into Balaklava to day, and hoped to be able to buy a turkey, fowl, or preserved meat from one of the fresh-arrived ships, so as to make something like a good dinner to-morrow (Christmas -day). But man proposes and God dis poses ; for it rained a perfect cataract all night, and when I awoke my head and pillow and everything in the tent was wet through : the rest of my body was wrapped up in my waterproof sheet. How I longed for one of those caps which you mentioned having sent to me ! It has continued to rain the whole day in a manner peculiar to the Crimea, and, as I have quite enough of getting wet when I am on duty, I am not in a hurry to go out unless compelled. I have consequently lain in blankets and waterproof all day, and don't intend to move out of them. I only wish I was going to have the leavings of the dinner in square to-morrow to put in my stomach. This will be the first Christmay-day in my life, I suppose, that I ever passed without eating plum-pudding. CHRISTMAS-DAY.—The weather this morning is really English Christmas—a thundering hard frost-- everything in our tent frozen. I was out to see sun rise over the camp, and a splendid sight it was. It had snowed a little in the night, and the tents were all white. This is the sort of weather for me. Lam as jolly as a sandboy, except that my Christmas din ner is very fishy—ration beef, salt ham, boiled rice, and jam! a bottle of port wine and two of some beastliness called malaga, got from a French canteen. After breakfast I started off to look up Mr. D—, of the —, and my parcel, which I dream about. Of course when I got there he had not arrived from England, but was expected every day ; so I shall have to trot over there again some fine day. While I was there I thought I might as well walk on to see our new batteries on the right which I had heard so much of; and going there I bad a terrible narrow escape of my life. I bad my new uniform on, by some accident, and I was standing on a hill by my self, not far from an out-picket of ours, about three quarters of a mile from a Russian battery, watching it pitching shell every now and then at a battery of ours about a mile to my right, when all of a sudden, I don't know what possessed the gunner, but be took it into his head to have a shot at me. I suppose my new red coat attracted him, and he thought I must be a prince of the blood at least, or some heavy swell. I saw the shot fired, and was looking at our battery to see it strike, when all of a sudden I heard the beast come whistling towards me. He rushed over my head and dashed into the ground about fifty yards behind me. That was quite enough for me. I was not on duty, and had no business to expose myself ; so I made my bow to the Russian battery, and set off at no slow walk to get under shelter of the hill. I had not gone thirty yards when I heard another discharge, and I said to myself "Here comes another for me" ; and sure enough it was; but I heard, from the peculiar whistling, that it was one of those big shells ; and, by Jove ! he sounded as if he was going to pitch exactly on my head. I turned round and looked out sharp for him, so as to be able to lie down directly. He dashed down not twenty yards from me, and the moment he dashed into the earth I dashed flat on my face. Then came a row as if heaven and earth had burst, and I heard one great piece tear away over my bead, so that if I had stood up it must have killed me. I got up and thanked God, and started off at a double till I got round the hill—two such good shots as those fright ened me. The post is going out to-morrow, so I must shut this up for to-night. The chief thing I want out here is grub—preserved meat, chocolate, biscuits ; for the beastly, bard, branny biscuits we get I can't stomach. Some bottles of cherry brandy would be worth their weight in gold. I saw a Times to-day of December 5. Shall we have a peace? How delighted I should be to get home, even after this short absence ! TIIFSDAY.—This letter ought to have gone yester day, but by some mismanagement our bag did not go at all. The frost has not lasted, and the miserable rain has set in to-night again. Our quartermaster made inquiries yesterday at Balaklava about the boxes for me, but there are none there, so I expect SATURDAY, those fellows Hayter and Powell are a take in.* Last night, luckily for me, was a very fine one, for I was on duty alone with 100 men for fourteen hours on a very important and dangerous post—so the field officer told me when he was giving me directi ons as to where to retire if compelled to do so by very superior numbers. It was about half a mile or less. from Sebastopol, on a high road, flanked on both sides with high and precipitous cliffs, not exposed to the fire of any guns, but a favourite spot for a sortie; in fact, this was the ravine that I spoke about in the earlier part of my latter. I had never seen the plate by daylight, and, of course, could only guess at.its appearance, and being the junior officer in the Crimea (a soldier of a few months) was not a little proud of having such a post intrusted to me. How ever, the night passed without an attack, though the Russian sentries, or rather spies, were close to my sentries all night, and when I was out visiting them. I could see the Rooshans quite plain creeping about. to see if we were on the alert. I had a good mind to pop at one with my pistol, but I knew that if I did. I should be saluted by a volley from their main body, which, of course, was just in their rear, and perhaps get potted myself, so I thought better of it, and let. the Bear alone. We were so close to the town that I. heard the clocks strike, and could plainly hear the houses smashing under the shells which the French, were pitching in all night. G. has lent me a pack horse, so I am going to Balaklava to-morrow to try and get some fresh meat on board some .Thip from England. I hope to find the Adelaide arrived. I hear the 18th are come, but have seen nothing of B. I hope to get a parcel from home by him. How I wish I had a hut of some sort out here, a tein is miserable ; many officers have built themselves. stone huts, and got wood for roofs from friends co board ships. I wish —were here at Balaklava. I hear to-day that orders were received from Lord Raglan to prepare quarters for Omer Pacha at Balaklava immediately. The eiderdown which I brought out is invaluable, though it is rather a small one, and will only make one part of me warm at once. FRIDAY, DEC. 29.—1 was at Balaklava yesterday, and could hear nothing of my parcels. I hope, though, that the box sent by the Adelaide will come all right. I made a most successful forage yester day, for on board a newly-arrived ship I bought st sheep (305.), a turkey (155.) My servant and I had an awful job to get the sheep up to camp, and did not reach it till eleven at night. To-day we haver mutton-chops for dinner! T. G. is going to dine with me. The post goes to-morrow, so I must con clude this long rigmarole. Thank M., H., and C., for their nice, long letters. Yours, affectionately, A. December 15-17. I have only returned about half an hour from the trenches of the advanced work, where I have been since half-past four this morning. The rain poured in torrents last night, and we indulged ourselves in the luxury of hoping that this gave us the better chance of a clear morning. However, we bad to turn out in the midst of it (three officers and 200 men), and started for the rendezvous, where detachments. from the various regiments assemble previous to , marching off for the trenches. We had to cross two mountain torrents, which considerably damped our . feet and legs, if not our ardour. When we reached the ground the rest had gone on—so we followed, tumbling in the mud at every step. At last we , arrived opposite the twenty-one-gun battery (Gor don's), and the rain having suddenly changed to. snow, we presented rather a wintry appearance as• we entered "the covered way." This was in parts' knee-deep in mud, through which we plodded, not. without great exertion. As we " cleared the way" we passed a poor fellow of the 77th Regiment lying on the bank wounded in the shoulder, and soon after we encountered a sharp fire of musketry, and a spent bullet struck me in the left side, but without hurting me at all, thank God. However, we lined the trench without any casualty, and took up our abode there for the day. The weather was so bleak and cold that we were obliged from time to time to walk about regardless of bullets flying about our ears like bees. A marine was mortally hit in the breast, and I saw the poor fellow carried past on a stretcher he died in less than half an hour. As one of my men was walking up and down close to the rampart a Minie ball hit him behind the ear, and he fell on his side and died without a groan ! I buried him at• dusk outside the trench. Poor Robert Turton sudden and awful was his death! What, and where, were his last thoughts when death met him in that short walk ? The Russian sentries did not molest us while we were digging his grave, although they must have heard us quite distinctly, for we can hear them talking and coughing at their works. Another of my company died this afternoon. The regiment. • Messrs. Hayter and Powell have fully exonerated themselves of all blame in those matters by their letter in the Times of Monday. The blame rests solely with the authorities.—ED, Pam's.