The Express.
London, England, 1855-04-24 00:00:00

THE ARMY BEFORE SEBASTOPOL.

MR. ROEBUCK'S COMMITTEE.
EXAMINATION OF THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE.
Yesterday hie Grace the Duke of Newcastle (t►e Ron.
Mr. Sidney Herbert being also in attendasos) was examined
before the committee, the room being rovaarnably crowded.
The Chairman, addressing him, said—l believe your grace
was War Minister from the breakieg out of the war with
Rallis until your retirement from often, when the (Earl of
Aberdeen ceased to hold office ?—I was.

And that wu in consequence of you being Colonial Mi-
nister when the war broke out 7—Yes.

Will you shortly state to the committee what the powers
and the duties of War Minister were when conjoined with
the colonial secretaryship ?—They were of a general directory
character. The whole of the details at th►t time were al-
most entirely conducted at the Horse-Guards and other
military departments, and; with the exception of those
matters that appertains' more immediately to that portion
of the army that was in the colonies, the occuiou
1 for the interference of the Secretary of State for the
Colonies were not very frequent, and they were principally
°outland to matters like the following, for instance, the Se-
cretary of State would reoommend the amount of the esti-
mates and forces that should be voted by parliament ha the
coming year, and other leading points of that description,
but the whole of the details were at that time managed by
the military departments.

Was the scheme of the war within the duty of the Wer
Minister, or did he share it generally with the administra-
tion ?—I understand your question to apply to a state of
peace, but as regards a state of war of course my answer
was not correct.

If I reeollect right yon said you were War Minister
preview to the change f—Quite so.

Then if the war broke out previous to the change, you
were War Minister and Minister of the Colonies at one and
the same time during a state of war I—Quite so ; but what
I imagined you wished to know was what were the functions
of the Secretary fur War conjointly with the inlietiol2ll
of Secretary for the Colonies in time of peace.
No, in time of war I—Then the whole of my answers are
inapplicable.

Will you then shortly state what the powers end duties of
War Minister were during a state of war conjointly with
the powers and duties of Minister of the Colonies I—The
general direction of the war, of course; the number and
amount of the forces to be sent ; but it is difficult to define
it, because at the moment the Secretary for War became re-
sponsible for the whole conduct of the war, and had in fact
to direct everything, I am at a loss really to say what did
not come within his scope and aut►ority at that juncture.
Did he determine the quantum of the troops to form the
expedition to the Crimea I—Certainly.
Was that entirely left to his discretion, or did he share it
frith the administration I—Of course every order at that

time wu given after deliberation by the cabinet; but he
wee the responsible minister, the person frau whom all
these orders emanated.

And suggestions ?—Yes, and suggestions.
Now, were these powers changed when the offices of War
Minister and of Colonial Minister were separated ?—No,
there was no change made by that separation beyond this
feet that of course the Secretary for War being relieved of
the duties attaching to the taco of Secretary for the Cola
nice was enabled to devote his sole and undivided attention
to the duties of the war department ; but beyond that, no
increased powers were given to him by that separation.
Can you explain to the committee what relationship ex-
isted between the War Minister, the Commander-in-Chief,
and the Seeratary-at-War ?—As I have said, the general
direction of the war was, of coney', in the hands of the
Secretary for War. The duties of the Commander-in-Chief

applied more especially to the discipline of the army. In
that the Secretary for War interfered ; at any rate I
may say I might have had conversations, or have made sug-
gestions to the Commander-in Chief, but I did not °onsider
that it came within the immediate scope of the Secretary-at-
War.

Had the Secretary-at-War the anea,—
finance department of the army I—He bad.:
By Lord Seymour—Occupying the official position of
Secretary-at-War and for the Colonies, was it your duty to
give directions for the movement of troops to the bleffiter-
ranean ?—Certainly.
Now, that being your duty, what course did you take to
perform that duty—with what department aid you com-
municate ?—As regards the movement of cavalry and
infantry, I communicated with the Commander-In•Chief.
As regards the movement of the artillery, the ambulance
coil el, end the sappers and miners, I communicated with
the Muter-General of the Ordnance.
Did you also communicate with the Treasury as to the
commissariat 1-4
Did you communicate with the Director-Geneve'
medical department ?—No, not immediately. My commu-
nications with reference to the medical department, gene-
rally speaking, until the division el the two secretaryship',
were generally conducted through the Secretary-at-War, to
whom up to the time of the separation the medical depart-
ment had been considered to be more immediately subser-
visat.
You stated you commusicatei on matters generally with
the Board of Ordnance with regard to the movements of
artillery, cavalry, and engineers. Now, did you communi-
cate with the Board of Ordnance as to the military supplies
that were requisite for the army did.
Did you communicate with the Quartermaster-General
as regards the class and character of the store. that were to
be placed under the Quartermaster-General?—No; I never
had any Immediate communication with the Quartermaster-
General. I communicated always with the heads of the
department.
Did you submit for her Majesty's approval the names of
the °Olean selected to command I—No.
That was done by the Commander-in-Chief ?—Yes.
Not by the Administration P—No. By Lord Raglan. Of
course they were invariably submitted time as Secretary of
State.
Submitted by whom? By the Commander-in-Chief
before he made the recommendation to the Sovereign ; the
form being for the Commander-in-Chief to recommend to
the Sovereign the appointment of g le in command.
The Chairman—Suppose the adesiot --• of

of the

of the

different opinion to the
occur then ?—The Corn
' defer to that opinion,
Were any steps taken to obtain the consent of the admi-
nistration t—Generally speaking.
By Lord Seymour—Did you submit far her Majesty's ap-
proval the names of the officers appointed to command ?
No; the names were submitted to the Queen by the Cosa-
mander-in-Chlef.
The Chairman—After consultation through you with the
administration? Yes. I say It was generally done. There
were exceptions.
You say generally done—there has been only one Com-
mender-in-Chief to make the appointments ?—But I con-
sidered that the question put by Lord Seymour applied to
other generals in command of divisions and brigades, and
my answer referred to them. As regards the appointment
of Lord Bights, it was mentioned to me privately by Lord
Harding. fire, and in a more public manner afterwards.
Will yen state the exceptions 3—lf the committee think it
desirable, I have no objection ; but inasmuch as I consider
the cases in which these ntosee were not submitted was a
departure from the general practice, and that it arose
through inadvertence, I would rather net name the indi-
viduals, unless the committee particularly desire it.
The Chairman—l fear we ought to have them. When
you speak of exceptions, what I understand you to mean is,
that persons were appointed without the suggestion having
been made to the administration I—There were three gene-
rals who were submitted to the Sovereign by the Com-
mander-in-Chief before I was made acquainted with the

tr•tion were . •
Chief, what would
f would of course