The Press.
London, England, 1855-03-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

MARCH 10, 1855.

clerks in the Treasury, but they did not understand the
service. One of them nearly lost his senses from the diffi-
culties he found himself in. After many conflicts with
the commissary-general and others he did get a compe-
tent deputy-commissary attached to his division, and he
was able to provide the men with food. The rations were
generally provided, but had heard th sometimes the rum was deficiethe
nt.
Even up to the 2nd of February he at by
exertions of a competent man the division had seldom
been without rations. There was much sickness among
the troops; they lost more by disease than by battle ; his
division, however, had not lost a fourth so many as some
others. The main cause of the evil was overworking the
men. The wooden huts were not thought of till after the
weather became very severe. But, much as they had
suffered from sickness and bad supplies, he thought the
principal cause of the losses was the overworit in the
trenches. He condemned the rigid adherence to official
forms for the issue of forage. The horses of his own staff
were kept without food almost a whole day because some-
body was not on the proper spot to sign some document
in an official manner.
By Mr. Lsvann.—The interpreters sent him were of no
use whatever. He had nothing to do with selecting them.
He knew that in the mercantile houses of Constantinople
there were many young memo ho could speak Turkish
fluently. As to the prepar for the reception of the
wounded at Constantinople, it would have been very easy
to run up a wooden building for a hospital. He was aware
that in the bazaars of Constantinople there were immense
supplies of clothing and bedding. In the means of trans-
port we were much stronger than our allies. We had by
far the best ships ; and he was surprised how the French
got on as they did in their little vessels; they had such
ships as were never seen in our fleet, ships of 150 tons
burdens. They had no vessel to compare with our large
transports, such as the Himalaya. The war was com-
menced as if it were of no moment. His impression was,
that the authorities did not make those arrangements which
ought to have been made. There were some regiments lie
was afraid which had had the same clothes on for two or
three months, and the officers had not more than a second
change. The troops were landed in cloth pantaloons and
cloaks ; but some detachments were sent out who had
their summer clothing. Many of the tents were very in-
different, having been used in the Peninsular war. There
was a new description of tent which the 80th Regiment
brought with them, and they were a very good pattern.
The tents of the men were not lined ; the marquees of the
officers had an inner lining. Had visited Balaklava before
be left the Crimea, and its condition was very indifferent.
The superintendent of the quartermaster-general's depart-
ment was Dr. Hamilton. Had heard of men being sent
down to collect provisions being detained at Balaklava for
a whole day, on account of the want of order and regularity
within the town. On Se
their arriv bore bastopol did
not hear of any arrangements hav aling boa made to meet
any emergency in the event of the communication with
Balaklava being cut off, and believed that in that cas
toe the
the
consequences would have been very lamentable
troops. Did not think there was any place to
could look for supplies but to Balaklava. Great difficulty
arose from the want of proper and efficient men to fill the
situations of the commissariat department. These com-
missariat officers were amenable to the commander of the
forces or Mr. Filder, but a reference, when complaint was
to be made, from Mr. Filder to Mr. Filder, could not
promise any result.
By Lord Sermot-B.—Knew nothing of the regulations of
this department ; but, assuredly, a very important part o
that distress and suffering which characterised the opera-
tions of the army, he thought, at least had their origin in
the offices of the higher authorities, though it was difficult
for him to answer that particular point. The whole com-
missariat was, numerically, completely inadequate for the
purposes required, especially in the subordinate appoint.
ments. He did not interfere to any extent, except as
o
the provisions when they were not ready. But oneepoint was the imbecile manner in which matters were con-
ducted. He believed that matters were conducted as if
the war was to be carried on without the necessity of the
explosion of gunpowder or the forming of magazines ;
all this was done in connection with the Treasury, where
there was a notion that this would be extravagance which
was not required by the event. Believed that the
Commissariat Department had been removed from tbe
the
Treasury, but wished to see it altogether removed from
civil authority, because there was not that cordiality
the
be-
tween the officer% that was necessary for the good of
service. The duties of officers in the army were defined,
but the operations of tee commissariat are peculiar in
their nature. Commissary Filder never visited the divi-
sion or the camp ; he resided at Constantinople. When
he (Sir De Lacy Evans) was in quarters at Balaklava,
afterwards, he never called upon him to consult with him
as to necessaries required. He declined to do so. He
thought, however, it was Aunts Filder's duty to do so. The
commissry-general was r the direct orders of the
commander of the forces. Lord Raglan would have sus-
pended him without a doubt. The greater part of the
commissariat officers knew litt ofme le d
from incomp
the field duties. Had
not heard of any ono being disetency.
The commissaries might be useful
were withso veie thryr pen—not for
as
the discharge of duties which arduous
those of the commiesariat depent. It was a different
thing from at to accaonnrtm ts kept by double entry.
There was a great quantity of supplies, &c., in the neigh-
bourhood of Balaklava. There was no officer appointed
to collect them. Did not hear of any such appoin•ment
as that of town-major ; but it was necessary to have a suffi-
cient staff to command the town.
By Sir JOUN PAKINGTON.---FOT the general objects of the
cempaign he should say they were not in a condition to
land in the Crimea. There was no absolute deficiency of
the medical staff, for this reason, that they carried
the ship off the
sick when they were conveniently situs'
When he landed in the Crimea his division consisted of

about 4,000 men, and he received reinforcements to the
extent of 000 or 700 while there. When he left the Crimea
his division did not consist of more than 2,000.
General BENTINCK, commander of the brigade of
Guards, stated that—
The brigade consisted of 2,500 men when it left
England ; they landed first at Scutari, and afterwards
proceeded to Varna. The transit voyage to Varna was well
conducted. Ile could not attribute the sickness that oc-
curred to any one specific cause. The natives of the
country said sickness always broke out at that time of
the year, and expressed sure de,
that we should have en.
camped there. Out of the 2,500 of the brigade, he thought
they lost 100 men. The Guards landed in the Crimea on
the 14th of September ; they landed withou tents,
they did not receive till the 17th.
The Cruntastr.—What provision was made for attend-
ing to the wounded after the battle of the Alma ?—They
were collected on the field by working parties, sent to the
seaside, where they were placed in the charge of medical
men, and sent off to the ships in boats. There were six
medical men attached to the brigade, but two were in-
valided; had the men remained in health four would have

been enough.
That is, if they had not been wanted there would have
been medical men enough, but when they were wanted
there were not?—Yes.
In reality, there was not a sufficient provision of medical
men in the brigade of Guards in the Crimea 7—No. He
left on the Bth of November, and they had not had an d
worky very
bad weather. The troops suffered more from har
than from anything else. As to their supplies, they had
four rations of fresh meat in the week, and two of sal
tht ;
the greatest want felt was of vegetables and tobacco. Wi
the rations, the ordinary food of the soldier, they were
supplied. No fuel was served out, the men had none
except what they procured for themselves. No special
winter clothing was sent out with the men. The ordinary
winter clothing was not sufficient for such a climate; he
had never heard that anything had been done to procure a
supply. He thought the mortality was principally caused
by the want of clothing and exposure under canvas at
such a season, the hard work, and want of st.
corn Thwasere
were no depots in the camp of forage or fuerel ;
but fuel there was none to be
brought up from day to day,
got. There was also an uncertainty how long they should
remain on the ground, which would have prevented depots
from being formed. The tools supplied to the pioneers
were bad ; they were too few and of inferior quality. The
same tools had been tried at Chobham, and tonna ineffi-
cient, yet the tools supplied to the pioneers in the Crimea
were of the same kind.
Captain WROTTESLEY, of the Royal Engineers :
Was sent to Gallipoli about the middle of March, to pre-
pare for the reception of troops. He afterwards went to
Varna to construct wharfs for landing the horses. He
never was in the Crimea. When the troops arrived at Varna
there was a great want of means of transport. It was the chief
difficulty the English engineers had to contend with ; the
French sappers brought their own horses from France,
while to convey wood for the wharfs the English engineers,
after sending a requisition to the q nai term aster-general' s de-
partment, whence another requisition went to the commis-
sariat. had to depend on the native arabas. Five hundred
bullock waggons were sent down to Varna by Omer Bache,
being all he could spare from his own army ; but when they
arrived there were no arrangements for organg them ;
the drivers were not regularly fed or paid, and gradually
they all ran away. There was an absolute want of horses,
though they had officers in Syria and Spain purchasing
them. No horse fit for the shafts of an army
carriag
constructed for English horses could be obtained ; the am•
bulance carts sent out could not be used, for there were no
means of drawing them. If a Turkish horse were placed
in a cart built for the English standard the shafts would be
on a level with his backbone ; few horses of the country
exceeded eleven hands in height. The mediascine chests
and of
the army were all too large; they were used tables,
would dine four persons very comfortably, but they could
not be carried by mules. He thought the mistake of our
commissariat was supposing that what worked well in the
high civilisation of Great Britain would do in semi-civilised
countries. The siege-train
thou not landed at Varna ; it
wasisent from England wiut the means of drawing it.
Mr. Layard, M.P., was examined at much length on
Thursday, and repeated the statements which he has
already so often made public in Parliament and else
where.

AMERICAN JOURNALS contain almost incredible
accounts of the effects of snow upon the railroads
crossing the great prairie of Illinois. The winds
bowl over it with even less broken force than over
the ocean, for there are no crests of waves to be
gathered up and carried with them to retard their
progress. The snow, which has this winter fallen in
most unusual quantities, has been piled in solid masses
along the railroad lines, sometimes fifteen or twenty
feet in height. The deadly cold has frozen the water
in the tank, so that the exhausted engines, left in the
middle of these prairies without water, found them •
selves unable to drag the trains through the snow;
and thus in several detached places passengers were
shipwrecked, far from human habitation or possibility
of human aid. In one case we are told that three
cars were split to pieces and burnt to keep warmth
in the body, and dogs killed and eaten for food before
aid was rendered.
A RETURN just printed by order of the House of
Lords shows that on the 31st January there were
5,6R6 convicts under sentence of transpocts rtation
large
in
confinement in England, and 2,369 convi at
with tickets of leave.