The Press.
London, England, 1855-03-17 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

nished any parties for the trenches for four or five days
before the battle of Inkermann.

In answer to questions from Sir J. PAXTNGTON, his Royal
Highness said, most of the guns went into action at the
battle of Inkermann with only the ammunition in their
limbers. As to the supply of medicines, he had heard,
since he left, that there was a considerable deficiency.
When he was with the army the supply was not so good as
could have been wished, but there was not up to that time
any actual want of medicine. The tools supplied for
working parties were very bad, especially the billhooks,
which rendered the obtaining fuel still more difficult, as
the men had nothing to cut it with. They had been corn•
plained of at Chobham.
Mr. LAY•RD.—Taking into

the many in-

ventions of modern science, do you think the state of the
army has been kept up to what it might have been ?
I have no doubt many improvements might have been
made that were not made.

No modern improvements in clothing have been intro-
duoed into the army, such as waterproof coats and sheet-
ing ?—No.
Then, generally, the army is in much the same state as
in the Peninsular war ?—I think generally there has not
been much change, except in the arms of the troops, in
which there has been a great improvement by the Minie
rifle.

Has there not been a change in the character of the
men ?—Very great. There has been a wonderful change
in the men, even in my time.
Can you say how the regimental officers performed their
duties ?—ln a manner that reflects the greatest credit on
them.

Do you know what was the strength of the army after
the battle of Inkermann ?—About 15,500 bayonets, but I
cannot say exactly.
Might not much of the sickness have been prevented if
the reinforcements of young soldiers had not been sent in
such small numbers and driblets ?—No doubt of it. The
young soldiers who arrived from England suffered more
than the old soldiers.

Colonel Wu.sou of the Coldstream Guards :

In what state was the clothing of the men when you left?
—lt was becoming very bad ; it was getting very thin. The
men were dressed in all sorts of things, and one could
hardly tell they were English soldiers. Very many of the
men wore Russian trousers. He had heard that some
clothing for the army was lost in the Prince ; but no new
clothing of any kind had been distributed. The officers
were us badly off as the men; from the 14th of September
till the 26th of November he had never changed his
clothes ; there were many others in the same condition.
He did not obtain his baggage till he arrived at Con-
stantinople; he never took off his trousers till be got on
board ship ; he had sometimes taken off his coat. He had
nut a change of linen, nor had the men ; he never heard
there was any expectation of there getting any.
Have you been in the field hospitals ?—Yes. The men
were lying on the bare ground, and much crowded; had
heard them complain, but not frequently. Indeed, one re-
markable thing with regard to the troops was the rarity of
complaints from them. He did not know which to praise
most, their surpassing bravery in action, or, when under
great suffering, their almost pious resignation. He attri-
buted much of the disease to want of fresh meat and over-
work. What the medical men called scorbutic diarrhoea
was brought on by want of vegetables.
You were at the camp at Chobham ?—Yes. He under-
stood the camp at Chobbam was formed for the purpose of
testing the efficiency of the dress of the soldiers, and other
matters, and that reports had been made on those points.
No improvements were made in consequence of the expe-
rience at Chobham ; the regiments embarked exactly as
they were then, except that before landing in the Crimea
the bearskin caps had been cut down.
Captain KELLOCK, late commander of the Himalaya
steamer, said
The Himalaya was a screw vessel of 3,550 tons and 750-
horse
power. She did belong to the Peninsular and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company, but was sold to her
Majesty's Government for, as he heard, 130,0001. Go-
vernment bought the ship in July. At Cork he em-
barked 402 horses, and he landed them all at Varna.
The vessel under his command had conveyed altogether
1042 horses, of which only two were lost. The
Himalaya took the horses of the ambulance corps to the
Crimea. The men of that corps were very inefficient—
old men and pensioners, and much addicted to drinking.
There were above 406 horses belonging to the corps; they
would have been well adapted to the purpose had they been
well fed. They were attended to by the men of the corps,
but he was frequently obliged to get the crew of the ship to
clean the stalls out. The horses were always put on board
by his own men. The Himalaya also took charcoal from
Constantinople to Balaklava. There were about 650 sacks.
It was much wanted by the army, and was pressed for the
service of the Government. When he arrived with it at
Balaklava it was not landed because Captain Christie would
not receive it, and he took it back to Constantinople again.
Witness was extremely anxious about the charcoal, and
offered Captain Christie, if he would receive it, to land it
by his own boats and with his own crew. It was not re-
ceived, and witness carried it backto Constantinople again.
There he delivered it to Admiral Boxer, who sent
lighters to land it.
111 Did you make any representation on the subject ?—He
did report the existence of great mismanagement to the
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company; he
was still in the pay of that company, and his crew also, he
believed, in consequence of an arrangement with the Go-
vernment. They had on board also some Moorsom shells
and engineering stores for the steamers of the fleet. Every-
thing was landed except the charcoal. He took convales-
cents from Scutari to the Crimea ; they were still mostly
very sick and ill ; he remonstrated with Majot Banbury
on the absurdity of taking such men to the Crimea again,