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

JANUARY 20, 1855. has now lost about sixty since we came here, and other regiments are losing in proportion. The poor sick fellows are wonderfully patient, and their faces light up as I visit them in the cholera hospital tents, where they are lying cold and com fortless on the ground. Forty have just gone from thence, with the sick of some other regiments, to Balaklava ; but we shall soon have their places filled if this weather continues! There is great talk now about our soon going ahead to storm. I trust they will not delay much longer. Ido not care in the least for fatigue and hardships myself; but it is painful enough to lose one's comrades every day. . . . The other night the Russians made a sortie on the French advanced batteries. We were turned out; but our gallant allies drove them back without our assistance. We had, however, a good view of the firing, making the sky look like a scroll of fire. It. was kept up steadily with a roar like thunder for about two hours. lam concluding this letter on the 22nd. The weather is very wet, varied with snow, and sickness is on the increase; but I am safe and sound, thank God I don't deny we have plenty of hardships by day and by night; but what were soldiers meant for? I can willingly submit to there, and would to greater ; but I cannot but feel, and deeply too, seeing so many of our fine fellows dying daily. What should be done is to go ahead at once. S. MR. LINDSAY, M.P., AND THE ADMIRALTY. AT the anniversary dinner of the Equitable Freight and Insurance Association, held in Newcastle on the 12th, Mr. Lindsay, the borough member, entered into some criticisms touching the naval administra tion of the country, of which he had opportunities of judging from personal experience. The hon. mem ber said : In the navy there was great need of better organisation. This he knew. Vt ith regard to the management of mat ters connected with the transport service, France was greatly in advance of us. We had men of the first ability at the Admiralty: we could hardly find a more able man than Sir James Graham ; but when he told them that the same system was now in operation which was pursued a hundred years ago, they would not be surprised at the diffi culty and confusion which prevailed. The form of the charter party was verbatim the same as in the days of the Butch war and Lord Camperdowu, whereas the French adopted a similar form like tbat used in the merchant service, being in this respect, therefore, a great step in ad vance of us. (Cheers.) These were facts the recital of which might give offence to some, but he thought it his duty to the country to state them thus publicly. Then, again, France had a responsible head to whom all might appeal. If a merchant had occasion to send a message by telegraph to the Minister of War at Paris, requesting to know, for instance, what goods were to be shipped in a certain vessel, there was an answer by the same rapid me dium by four o'clock in the afternoon. But if you wrote to the British Admiralty, though so much nearer, the pro bability was you would not get an answer in a week, and sometimes five weeks elapsed before an answer was returned. (Hear, hear.) This was not the fault of the men, but the system : there was no responsible head, responsible to the House of Commons, and through it to the country Messages were sent from the Admiralty to the War-office, from the Minister of War to the Ordnance, from the Ordnance to Deptford, and then came back to the source from which they originally proceeded. A change, therefore, must be made in this respect before they could reasonably hope matters would improve. (Loud cheers.) He should wish it to he clearly understood that his com plaint was solely against the customs and old•fashioned systems to which they still rigidly adhered at the Admiralty. While that system was persisted in it was impossible for the business to be conducted with promptitude and eco nomy. There are too many heads—irresponsible heads— and far too great a machinery of useless forms. With such men as Captain Milne (of whose unwearied exertions and practical knowledge he could not speak too highly ), and a simple system—a system similar to that which is adopted in great mercantile establishments—we would not have heard of the fearful sufferings to which our troops had been subjected, through want of covering, food, and clothing. They had excellent men as subordinates, but the staff must be increased. At Deptford they had the same staff as during peace, which rendered it impossible for the men to get through the work; and he ventured to sly that if 10,IXXU. bad been disbursed in clerks at the corn: mencement of the war, some hundreds of thousands would have been saved to the country. (Cheers.) Having dwelt at some length on this question, he would only add a few words on the burdens on shipping. A consolidation of our maritime laws was effected last session—he wished it had been still more extensive and simple, but a great improve. went had been effected—but the Admiralty Court had not yet been reformed, consular charges had not been abolished, burdens on shipping still remained to be removed, and he would only assure them that to these measures he should continue to direct his attention so long as he had the honour and satisfaction of being their representative in Parliament. ( Cheers. ) GOVERNMENT have engaged the following steamers as regular transports, in addition to those already engaged, viz. the Amity„ Imperador, Retriever, and the Rajah. The screw-steamer Amity arrived at Southampton on Sunday, to take out wooden huts to the Crimea for the English army. THE PRESS. THE WAR. The latest news from the Crimea is of the 10th instant, on which date we learn that nothing of importance had occurred. The preparations for resuming the bombardment were slowly continuing, and the French works had been pushed somewhat nearer the Russian fortifications. Heavy snow had fallen, which had delayed the completion of the Eng lish batteries, but an interval of clear weather had occurred, and when the latest despatch was sent off the last parallel had been completed. The Russians made another vigorous sortie on the Bth, but were re pulsed with loss. A Constantinople despatch of the 4th states that five more ships laden with troops had passed here on their way to Balaklava. . . . . The first of a series of French cavalry brigades was expected to arrive on the 6th from Adrianople. The brigade of cuirassiers under General Forton would follow. On the sth instant Omer Pacha arrived at the camp before Sebastopol. Having made himself ac quainted with the intended movements of the allied armies, Omer departed, on the Bth, for Varna; and, after giving his orders at the latter place, was to proceed immediately to take direction of the oper ations. Half of the intended Turkish force had already landed at Eupatoria. Before the end of the present month their army in the Crimea was expected to muster 60,000 men. General Canrobeyt distributed decorations to the army on the 31st Decem b er. . ._ _ Lord Raglan, it is said, has sent to India for the 10th Royal Hussars. The regiment, numbering 050 sabres, is now on its way to Turkey. Accounts from Vienna state that Prince ➢fenschi koff had demanded a reinforcement of 40,0(X) men, and that 35,000 infantry and 500 cavalry had been sent to Bessarabia from the army of the north. The Austrian Military Gazette (formerly the Soldaten Freund) says : We place confidence in what we hear from Balaklava, that the allies, reinforced by the army under Omer Paella, aim at intercepting the communication between Sebastopol and the Russian army in the interior; at penetrating as far as Utsch-Kuju,on the route leading from Baktchi Serai to the forts on the north side ; that they have determined on executing this movement at a sacrifice, so as to hold the heights of Inkermann as far as Utsch-Kujn, and thus completely invest Sebastopol. According to the opinion of a military correspondent, this design is well conceived and capable of execution. A reconnaissance en force was made against the Russian camp on the opposite side of the Tsehernaya plain by a large body of French troops on the 29th ult., under General Bosquet. Several battalions of Ottoman troops accompanied the expedition. In cluding all arms, there were about 25,000 men. The Russian pickets having been driven in, it was found that a body of cavalry was drawn up to resist the advance of the French force, but a charge of the Chasseurs d'Afrique quickly caused them to disperse. The Russian troops abandoned their camp, and our allies did not give them time to take away much in their burry. Contrary to what had been anticipated from the reports made by deserters, it was dis covered that there was no scarcity of provisions, or of the necessary protection against the inclemency of the season. A quantity of cattle, sheep, and poultry were seized; there was also a considerable amount of timber ready sawn into planks. The men were living in huts, which were well covered in and warm. The road leading northwards towards Simferopol, and which winds along the foot of the mountain, was found to be in excellent condition. In consequence of the absence of proper persons at Balaklava to warehouse the vast quantity of goods lying at the port, a communication has been forwarded from the War-office to the directors of the London and St. Katharine Dock Companies, request ing them to provide a number of men who are to be despatched to the Crimea, and who are to be en gaged in unloading the vessels upon their arrival, and in placing the various articles in store-rooms that will be provided for that purpose. About 400 men will he required; the wages will be 24.. a week, with rations, for the labourers, and 2/. a week, with rations, for the foremen; and the men will be under an engagement for two years. A large number of men have offered their services, and above 100 have been approved of, who will be conveyed immedi ately to the Crimea. CHRONICLE OF SIEGE OPERATIONS. The narrative of the proceedings in the camp be fore Sebastopol is thus continued for the interval between the 25th and the 30th ult., by the corre spondent of the Morning Herald : English camp, heights of Sebastopol, Dec. 28. Very little has been doing since my last letters. On the night of the 24th there was a kind of half sortie made on the French lines; but the Russians were driven bask, after making so slight a resistance that most of them escaped unhurt. Only one man of the French was slightly wounded. In the sortie made on the advance picket of the 50th the other night 00th) our fellows were taken com• pletely by surprise. The bodies of some of the privates, who were supposed to have been made prisoners, have since been found at the bottom of a well in front of our trench. They were stripped completely naked, and almost covered with bayonet wounds. There is no doubt, from the testi mony of their comrades, that these men were taken alive, so that they must have been butchered by the enemy in cold blood. Heaven only knows what torments these poor fellows were made to undergo before death terminated their sufferings. Our men are perfectly wild at these re peated barbarities; and I fear the war, as far as the two armies are concerned, will become one of extermination. Certainly no quarter will be given by our men. The labour of getting up guns and ammunition still continues, though very slo Nly. It will at least be another fortnight, at the earliest, before we shall be able to open fire. The gentleman who is to manage the laying down the tramway from ltalaklava to Sebastopol has arrived. When that is finished I believe most of our difficulties will be nearly over ; but, like all steps in the right direc tion, it has been adopted too late. Now the tram can hardly be completed before the end of February, when we may reasonably expect that sufficient cold weather will have set in to make the roads bear anything. However, we are all glad at the proposed measure, because we see a prospect of the conduct of the war eventually getting into the hands of our great contractors. Had the Government, at the commencement of hostilities, arranged with Mr. Stephenson, or Mr. Pete, to remove Sebastopol by a eel.- fain time, I am sure the whole place would havo been dug into the sea long ere this. The most conflicting rumours are in circulation se to the probable time when we shall be in possession of the town. According to some in a week, others a fortnight, others a month, others three months. No one knows, though all profess to. I do not say that in a month we shall have conquered, but I am certain that within a month we shall have tried, and with our troops the attempt is generally the forerunner of suc cess. One thing is certain—viz., that our soldiers cannot last much longer in their present exposed and neglected state. With all our reinforcements we only muster now some 18,(X10 or 19,000 effective men, and among them so terrible is the sickness and so numerous the deaths that it will require 2,500 men a week to keep our forces, even at this low standard, up to say 20,000 men of all arms. To do the duty which the English troops are now doing, and to occupy the ground strongly on which our camp is formed, we should at least require 40,000, or even 45,000 men. I am very sorry to say that sickness prevails to an alarm ing extent. Scorbutic dysentery is spreading fast, and a more formidable disease, or one more difficult to arrest, never entered a camp. Unless there are quick and ample supplies of lime juice, fresh meat, and vegetables, it will soon have spread still further, and then the mischief will be irreparable. Every medical gentleman who has seen anything of camps knows the awful consequences of this disease obtaining a footing among men placed as ours are at present. These consequences are so well known and dreaded by army surgeons, that I have no doubt proper precautions will instantly be adopted to hinder the exten sion of the malady, and with the dry tine cold weather which may now be expected, I hope soon to report its die appearance. Christman-eve here was the very acme of wretchedness. The cold was intense, the wind, snow, and half-thawed rain never ceased or slackened for a moment,. It was certainly one of the most, if not the most, trying day we have yet had in the Crimea. Many of our men in the trenches were numbed with cold, and, being before in an exhausted condition, soon sunk and died. Numbers of our horses perished also. Altogether such a Christmas•eve, for cold and misery, I never spent, and most devoutly hope never to spend again. Christmas-day was the very reverse of this. It was just the sort of day when one ought to have been in London, clear, sunshiny, but very cold. The seamen were drunk at Balaklava, and some of the divisions got fresh beef, but beyond this it was like all our other days here. Among some of the officers' tents desperate efforts were made in favour of a cooked joint, and in one or two instances they were successful. Various, also, were the combinations which flour and plums underwent in the hope of turning out a pudding. But when I tell you that the cooks were either Maltese or Turks, you will easily guess the result of their ambitious efforts. Among some of my friends the failure of such attempts was productive of more mirth than the most triumphant success could possibly have caused. Still, in spite of these primitive merry-makings, the day was dull. A place can afford very little amusement when the only subject for laughter is the loss of half your dinner. To-day the air is clear but very cold, and it seems as if we might fairly hope for a continuance of dry days for some time to come. A number of sick are to be sent in for transmission to Constantinople and England. The Stromboli, steam•sloop, has arrived with troops. The Dauntless and transport No. 140 were also signalled yesterday as coming in with more reinforcements. The Medway arrived two days ago at Balaklava, with 1,500 bags of charcoal on board, and with nearly 100 stoves and funnels, for the use of the men. Unfortunately, just now, when most wanted, none of these comforts can be of any use, as the roads to camp are in too bad a state to allow of their being got up. Two or three days frost, how ever, will do wonders towards removing this difficulty. About 7,000 men have landed at Chersonese during the last week. Our allies cannot now muster less than 60,O(%) men. In a gale which blew two days ago some of the small French transports were stranded, and the Apollo " dragged," and got ashore. The latter was got off, with loss of rudder and other damage. Three nights ago, when the weather was perfectly clear, and a dead calm, a large English iron screw-steamer, in the employ of the French, and full of troops, ran ashore