The Press.
London, England, 1855-08-04 00:00:00

Zile 3rnil•

WAR DEPARTMENT, Juicy 27.

The Queen has been graciously pleased to give orders
for the appointment of the following Officers of her
Majesty's Land Forces to be Ordinary Members of the
Military Division of the Third Class, or Companions of the
Most Honourable Order of the Bath
Major-General Henry William Barnard. Colonels
Charles Richard Sackville, Lord \Vest, 21st Regiment ;
Clement Alexander Edwards, 18th Regiment. Lieutenant-
Colonels Arthur Horton, 9th Regiment ; Stuilliolrue Brown-
rigg, Grenadier Guards ; Charles William Dunbar Staveley,
44th Regiment ; George Vaughan Maxwell, 88th Regiment;
John Douglass Johnstone, 33rd Regiment; Arthur Lowry
Cole, 17th Regiment; Robert Parker Campbell, 90th
Regiment ; Henry J. Warre, 57th Regiment ; Alexander
Macdonell, Rifle Brigade; Robert Nigel Fitzhsrdinge
Eingscote, Scots Fusilier Guards.
Officers whose names were omitted in the list of deceased
Officers of the Army and Navy, published in the Gazette of
10th July, who would have been recommended for the
honour of the Third Class of the Order of the Bath, had
they survived :
Colonel the Hon. Francis Grosvenor Hood, Grenadier
Guards; Lieut. Colonel Charles Francis Seymour, Scots
Fusilier Guards; Lieut.-Colonel Exhorn S. T. Swiney,
63rd regiment; Major Thomas Norcliffe Dalton, 49th
Regiment.
WAR-OFFICE, .IttLy 31.
BaavE•r.

To have the local rank of Lieutenant• General in Turkey
—Major•Generals Henry Barnard, Lord Itokeby, Sir W. J.
Codrington, K.C.8., Frederick Markham, C. 8.; the Hon.
Sir James Yorke Searlett, K.C.B. to command the cavalry.
To have the local rank of Brigadier. General inTurkey—
Colonels Robert Garrett, Maurice Barlow, Charles Warren,
C. 8., Charles William Ridley, Duncan Alexander Cameron,
C. 8., Charles T. Van Straubenzee, Hon. Augustus Almeria
Spencer, C. 8., John Lawrenson, William Parlhy, Charles
Trollope, Lord George Paget, C. 8., Horatio Shirley, C. 8.,
Henry K. Storkes.
4tith Regiment of Foot—Lieutenant H. G. E. Welby, to
be Captain; Ensign Edward Benbow, to be Lieutenant;
Cyril ltlackburne Tew, Gent., to be Ensign.
(18th Foot—Ensign Cyril B. Tew, to be Ensign.

FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE.
Tuesday, July 31.
BANKRUPTS.—THOMAS EMMET, Skiuner-place, City, mer-
chant—DE(lßa¢ HOOFER, Arbour.square, Commercial•road East,
shyowner—WlLLlAM Grottaz HRowe, Dartford, Kent, clothier
—IIIOMAS BACON, Colchester, FoileX, printer FREDERICK
GADD, Chichester, Sussex, grocer—JAMES STANDINO, Batters-
terrace, Peckham, china deaIer—EDWARD Coma, Edmonton,
timber merchant—EDWAßD Davis, Bromley and Tottenham,
licensed victualler—W ILLIAM QUINTON, Birmingham, builder—
WILLIAM FARMER, Birmingham, nail manufacturer LEWIS
HENRY MEAKIN and JOHN FARRALL, Shelton, Staffordshire,
earthenware manufacturers—Aunom OAKI.EY, Derby, rope ma•
nufacturer—WlLLlAM CANUTE BODLEY, Exeter, ironfounder---
HENRY Ewa SKINNER, Tiverton, Devonshire, saddier—JAMES
HENRY MILLS, Horton and Bradford, stuff merchant—Maar
TOPPER, Manchester, provision dealer—JOSEPH JAMES BRIER-
LEY and HOBERT ARROWSMITH, Jun., Manchester, silk menu-
racturers— PETER JAMIZsON, Staleybridge, Lancashire, tailor—
JAMES EDWARD DAWSON, Manchester, money scrivener.

Friday, August 3.
BANKRUPTS.—SAMUEL GAWAN, Kent-street, Southwark,
victualler—doemen Havvramn, Church-court, Old Jewry, woollen
warehouseman—JAMES MITCHELL, Jane Keighley,roanu-
facturer—JAMEB W:Leos, Bowling, Yorkshire, innkeeper—
JOSEPH Pnorerrr, Oldbury, Worcestershire, grocer—Joan
Starr, Nottinghun, grocer—Hummer Ligoacm JAMLS tad
JOHN JAMES, Leadeuliall-street, engineers—WlLLlAM SCUDDI,
Blackheath, livery stable keeper—Or:owls PELL, Welford,
Northampton, act ivener—WILLIAM THORKK, Queen-street-place,
City, railway contractor—WlLLlAM LiREOORY, Sheffield, toy
manufacturer—Vona SAtmort (known as Salmon and Cu.), 831
Brick•lane, bpitaltields, boot and shoe manufacturer—Wu-Liam
'l'eeoo, IU, Ounter's•grove, West Bromptou, builder—JAMES
11• LL, Nottingham, broker—WALTER JAMES PALMER, Hotwells,
Bristol, cattle deaIer—RICHARD HARDEE, Kingston-npon.Hull,
merchant—GZOßGE ARMITAOK, JOHN FRANKIRH, W. FRANKISH
and THOMAS BARKER, Sheffield, railway carriage manufacturers
—BRYAN KIKIINAN, MLOCheafkr, clothier—J 08E1.H TRAVIS,
Green Bridge, near Newchurcb, Lancashire, woollen manufac-
turer and printer.

r, after
y resi•

THE EARL OF SEFTON expired on
a protracted and painful illness, at the
deuce in Belgrave-square. The deceased, Charles
William Molyneux, Earl of Sefton and Viscount
Molyneux of Maryborough, in the peerage of Ireland,
Baron Sefton, of Croxteth, county of Lancaster, in
that of the United Kingdom, and a baronet of
England, was eldest son of William Philip, second
earl, and Maria, second daughter of William, sixth
Lord Craven. He was born 10th July, 1730, and
married, in June, 1834, Mary Augusta, only daughter
of the late Mr. Robert Gregge Hopwood, by whom
his lordship has a youthful family. The late earl,
like his father, was a Whig in politics. When
Viscount Molyneux, he was returned to the House of
Commons at the general election of 1832, in con-
junction with Mr. G. W. Wood, for the south division
of Lancashire ; but at the next general election, in
1835, was defeated, after a very severe contest, by
Lord Francis Egerton (now Earl of Ellesmere) and
the Hon. R. B. Wilbraham. He succeeded to the
earldom on the death of his father, in November,
1838. On the demise of the late Earl of Derby, in
July, 1851, the Earl of Sefton was appointed Lord
Lieutenant and Vice Admiral of Lancashire, which
now becomes in the gift of the Premier. The
deceased is succeeded in the family honours and
estates by his eldest son, Viscount Molyneux, now in
his twentieth year, lieutenant in the Grenadiet
Guards,

Xittraturt.

A Campaign with the Turks in Asia. By
Charles Duncan, Esq. London : Smith,
Elder, and Co.

WE have read these agreeable volumes with
pleasure, although some portions of them
have previously met our eyes in print. Mr.
Duncan commands an easy, flexible style, and
he possesses the faculties of a shrewd and
close observer. Hence the main part of his
work would interest even if told with less
skill. He does not in his preface deliberately
set himself down amongst the journalist
travellers of the age, but Mr. Duncan's position
makes his name well known in literary
circles.
Yet it is one of the chief merits of these
volumes that a reader would scarcely infer
from them the fact of Mr. Duncan belonging
to the literary profession. Although he has
recorded much that is only amusing, yet there
is not in his pages that besetting tendency to
writing for mere effect which is the principal
fault in literary tourists. He is neither a
phrase-maker nor twister of sentences, and he
has rather too much disdain for the artifices
of style. This composition is that of an un-
worn mind, and from first to last exhibits
those light, brisk, and readable merits which
on an
~important subject must attract many
readers. Yet we think that Mr. Duncan
would have done still better if he had given
us more disquisition upon Russian policy in
the East, and set before us at length all the
probable dangers which beset us on the north-
western frontier of our Indian provinces. He
has preferred to pay most attention to the
incidents of the campaign which he witnessed ;
and we must not forget that popular volumes
can be addressed only to the general public,
and not to the more narrow circles of the pro-
fessed politicians.
The hardships endured by Mr. Duncan,and
the remoteness of his route from our orlinary
travellers, lend much interest to his narrative.
Several of his companions (amongst whom
was Colonel Thorne, a correspondent of the
Time.) died from their fatigues. Trebizond,
Erzeroum, and Kars are all well described by
him in an offhand, careless way ; and his
account of General Guyon and his associated
officers is highly readable, on account of its
biographical details. There is certainly no
part of the world which swarms with
such legions of adventurers as the Turkish
and Russian dominions at the present time.
Mr. Duncan thus illustrates the fact :
No sooner had the political relations existing between
the Sublime Porte and Russia assumed a threatening
aspect, and the haughty mission of Prince hienschikoff had
sufficiently betrayed the real policy of the Czar, than the
quiet streets of Pent at once swarmed with military adven-
turers, who crowded from all parts of the globe to take
part in the approaching struggle. The motives which
prompted this sudden enthusiasm for the cause of the
Sultan were no less multitudinous than the different na-
tionalities of these applicants for military distinction.
Planarians, Americans, Italians, Poles, Germans, English,
and k'renchmen, one and all, pressed their respective
claims upon the attention of the unfortunate Seraskier,
and demanded rank in the Ottoman service ; not so much
in proportion to their merits as to the degree of modesty
they might possess. Thus an Englishman, enjoying an
unenviable reputation, who had served according to his
own account in every army of the world, was amongst the
first arrivals at Constantinople. This individual who, on
the same satisfactory authority, had commanded Mexican
and eabListrig-Holatein armies, and gained innumerable
pito lades that history, the slattern, had totally omitted
fl/ 111* also laid claim to nothing less than the throne
11110 and. A most conclusive genealogical tree was tan-
• placed before the eyes of tight-listed Armenian
nerds, 'lst a sight of the " George " was offered to the
delighted and discriminating gaze of the Frank shopkeepers
of Pers. That the lawful claimant of the crown of England
should have deigned to offer his sword and his military
genius to the hard-pressed Sultan was an act of condescrn-
dion that I should have felt bound to record, even if the
extraordinary modesty of the gentleman in question was
not deserving of publicity. One fine morning the respective
inhabitants of Stamboul, Galata, Pers, and Scutari were
thrown into a fever of ecstacy and astonishment by learning
that a great English warrior had arrived, and had kindly
offered to the Sultan, in the most disinterested manner,
utterly to annihilate the Russians on the following equitable
terms :—The applicant, who was no other than the above
" lawful claimant of the British throne," offered to produce
that desirable result, on condition that he should be placed
at the head of an army, totally independent of Omer Pacha
and other generals, whose professional jealousy might have
neutralised the efforts of h s great genius, and that,
amongst other equally reasonable stipulations, a monthly

THE PRESS.

allowance of 100,000 piastres, or 8001. sterling, should be
accorded to him This pmposition, owing to the baneful
influence exercised by Lord Stratford de ltedclitfe at the
Seraskierate, was, however, immediately rejected.

Of General Guyon, and the other Hungarian
officers in the Sultan's service, the author
speaks in high terms; and he was on the
most intimate relations with several of them,
playing the part of host to many. The
personal appearance of Guyon is thus de-
scribed :

The personal appearance of General Guyon, as it first
struck me, was prepossessing. His short but muscular
frame betrayed great strength and activity. His face ex-
pressed resolution and courage, and was soldier-like with-
out bearing the aspect of semi-ferocity which our historical
painters delight to bestow on the lineaments of their mar-
tial heroes. A clear sunburnt complexion, lighted up by
piercing blue eyes, and encircled by a curling cheanut-
coloured beard, presented a strange contrast to the dark
melancholic features of the Ottoman commanders who sur-
rounded him. General Guyon was in the prime of man-
hood, being forty-two years of age ; but premature wrinkles,
drawn strongly across the forehead, bore witness to a past
existence of fatigue and anxiety. A fine swordsman, a
splendid and graceful rider, Guyon was intended by nature
for a cavalry-general; and, if his talents as a commander
are contested, none can deny his generous qualities or his
brilliant courage. Guyon appeared insensible to fatigue.
His habits at Kars astonished the calm, indolent Turkish
pachas, and not a little annoyed the officers immediately
connected with him, who were totally unaccustomed to
such activity.

Guyon was certainly not well supported by
his assistant staff, and his temperament did
not well qualify him for gaining personal
ascendancy over the motley troop which he
had to sway. In point of fact he was not a
general-in chief, as his principal duties were
in advising the Commanding-General Zarif
Mustafa Pacha ; nor does General Guyon
seem to have had that adroitness which a man
in his position would require. Mr. Duncan
records :

By the upper ranks of the army General Guyon was
feared and detested. The Poles likewise disliked him.
Those who, like myself, had occasion to be constantly with
Guyon, admired and liked him for his unassuming quali-
ties, personal bravery, and amiable disposition. By many
of the foreign officers, including the Pules, Guyon was de-
nounced as haughty and inconsiderate, but then the extra-
ordinary ignorance of the greater part of these officers was
enough to try the temper of a saint. Perhaps General
Guyon did not sufficiently disguise his aversion to those
individuals who, though active and enterprising in intrigue,
were backward and incapable in the performance of their
military duties. He sinned less against common sense
than against tact.

Enough is stated by Mr. Duncan to account
for the want of success of the struggle which
he witnessed. Its importance arose from the
obvious utility of giving a blow to Russia in
its transcaucasian territory. Over that region
Russia has maintained her power chiefly
(according to most publicists) for the object
of gratifying her longings for India. Affairs
at present in Armenia are certainly in a most
threatening position. The Russian general
(Mouravieff) has received orders to act on the
offensive ; and the author entertains a strong
opinion on the policy that ought to be fol-
lowed. Thus, in his first volume, he says :

It is to be regretted that the Turkish regiments now
doomed to inaction before Eupatoria should not have been
despatched at once to the threatened province of Asia;
and it may be safely predicted that the presence of Omer
Pacha and his army in Armenia would be of far greater
value than the aimless military promenades on the. Tscher-
nays in which the Ottoman troops are at present employed.
The numerical forte of the Turkish army in Asia, unless
speedily reinforced, is far too small to admit of any hopes
of a successful termination of the present campaign, not-
withstanding the intelligent measures adopted by General
Williams to secure the possession of Erzeroum.
There was a time when the prospects of the Turkish
army in Asia were less gloomy, and when the presence of
a few thousand British and French troops would have con-
verted a disgraceful defeat into a signal triumph. That
period I have attempted to describe in the present work,
and the reader will but too readily discern the lamentable
causes that contributed to the disasters of the army of
Anatolia.

And, after relating the loss of the eventful
battle of Kurukdere, in his second volume,
Mr. Duncan observes

By this defeat of Kurukdere, Turkey had lost much, but
England has lost still more. And on whom lies the blame?
A (peat deal certainly on the Turkish soldiers; but, I
declare solemnly, still more on England. The British
authorities in London and Constantinople were well aware
of the doubtful condition of this army, and had been only
lately warned by the defeat of the liatoum corps. The
English consular body in this part of Asia had never
ceased impressing upon their responsible head the neces-
sity of the presence here of an English or French division,
however small its numerical strength : three thousand
bayonets would have sufficed, for it was only needed to
encourage the Turks by a brilliant example.

SATURDAY,

The result of the battle of Kurukdere was most perni-
cious to British influence in the East. The triumph of the
Russians circulated with boundless exaggeration through
timid Persia, and over the Caspian steppes, into the bar-
barous regions of Khiva and Bokhara. The nations and
tribes of the East were visibly impressed with the invinci-
bility of the Russians, and prepared, with barbarian craft,
to bow down their heads to the rising sun.

His remarks on the erroneous information
supplied by the consular body remind us that
no department of the public service stands in
more need of improvement than that body.
The nominations to its ranks are far too arbi-
trary, and our Administrative Reformers would
do well to turn their attention to its constitu-
tion. Several years since Mr. Disraeli did
good service upon the question by bringing
the subject specially before Parliament.
The battle of Kurukdere is described with
great ability by Mr. Duncan, and he distri-
butes his praise and blame with judicial
impartiality. In reflecting on the loss of the
battle, he relates :

The conduct of the Russian officers, both infantry and
cavalry, was admirable : unlike the Turkish commanders,
they were ever in advance of their men, exhorting them by
word and example to be firm and steadfast. The Ottoman
officers, on the contrary, displayed a cowardice above de-
scription : the greater part of the colonels and majors had
disappeared from the field at the commencement of the
action, leaving their unhappy regiments to fight or fiy ac-
cording to their inclinations. Many regiments were led
on by subaltern officers, and when these were killed or
disabled, nothing remained fur the forsaken soldiers but to
effect a retreat. One or two colonels of the Arabistany
corps behaved admirably on the field; but these formed an
insignificant minority. The European officets displayed
great gallantry, and exposed their lives in the most reckless
manner in the vain hope of animating the Turkish,
battalions with additional vigour. The Turkish cavalry
behaved detestably ; not once did they cross sabres or resist
the onset of the enemy's dragoons. The misconduct of
their cavalry, and the irregularity of the night march, cost
the Turks a defeat, and even the existence of their army.
From the incidents of the battle-field we
select some passages

It was now broad daylight, and galloping over the fields
of ripening corn trampled down by the soldiery, we came
upon some fifty skulkers, who had taken advantage of the
night to slip away ; some were concealed behind rocks,
whilst others were making off in the direction of Kars.
This sight was not at all reassuring. I asked one man why
he was running away, to which he naïvely replied, " Because
I am afraid."

In about ten minutes more we came upon the scene or
action. The cannonade was conducted with stubborn
energy on both sides, but the superior number of the
enemy's pieces rendered the contest hopeless. The ground
here was covered with flying cavalry, who had cowardly
given way before the Russian dragoons. In the confusion,
I here became separated from Captain Farnese, who sub-
sequently narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the
victorious cal airy. We then passed the reserve of recta's
or militiamen, who had never been under fire, and
now presented the picture of agonised terror. Hundreds
of the Turkish cavalry bad retired beyond cannon range,
and, having taken off their horses' bridles, were allowing
them to graze. In the meanwhile their comrades in the
infantry were being mowed down by hundreds. Five mi•
nutes more brought me to the side of Abdul Kerim Pacha,
the reis, or second in command of the army of Anatolia,
who commanded this wing. How the soldiers could have
fled with the example of this glorious old warrior before
them, is beyond my understanding In the hottest fire,
the figure of Kerim Pacha, scarcely bent by age, with his
flowing white beard and snowy hair, was seen ; in his hand
he held an Arab spear. with which he cheered on the men
to the fight. But alas ! all hope had vanished. The
Turkish artillery was slackening its fire, the cavalry had
fled, and the Russian guns were committing sad havoc on
the Turkish rank and file. At every successive discharge
of grape the Turkish battalions wavered and opened their
ranks.
This is vigorous description without affecta-
tion of style ; and the description of the
retreat is not less able. The frank confession
in the last sentence of the following passage
could be written only by a man of real nerve,
who is not afraid of being thought afraid :

For about a distance of three miles the Russian cavalry
pursued the flying Turks, whilst the enemy's artillery
swept down the hollows through which the fugitives were
retreating. The Russian dragoons were evidently fatigued,
and followed up their success without animation, but with
murderous result. As they passed through the line of
stragglers, a cut to the right and another to the left were
dealt without apparent effort or animosity, but at each
blow a Turk fell disabled on the field.
Nothing can Le more terrible than a retreat, when the
sentiments of exultation, hope or ambition, which animate
the heart in an attack, have entirely forsaken it. The hoarse
cries of the wounded, the terror of the fugitives, the sullen
roar of cannon followed by the whistling of grape, which
ploughed up the earth, and hurled dead to the ground
victim after victim; all these circumstances were frightful,
and I must confess that the happiest moment of my life
was that when the Russian cavalry, collecting its prisoners,
withdrew, and when the enemy's artillery, after one terrible
but final discharge, slowly returned to its first position.

The volumes clnse with a description of the
landing of the allied armies in the Crimea:;