The Express.
London, England, 1855-06-19 00:00:00

TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 19, 1855.

A were matte* itaiiipbotoes the meet errs
Admiolistazffieses had We to &spews with in
of peen.
The Ordeanee.even with its raster constitution, may
weak efficiently while under the superintendence of a vigi-
lant Mcor.e.l.-Oegeral; who has supreme authority, and who
b, therefore. justly held responsible for all its proceedings
het the substitutes of a Lientenantffieneral divided
'wherie system of the office; its duties are tnen
' moon the members of the b iard without any esperviehog
authority, and the business commenced by one member IMF
be taken up or interrupted by another without unity of pow
pew, and without due reeponeibility.
"The evils arising from the absence of the Master Ouses
Ware abundantly exhibited in the evidence. The states
MUSS of Bir T. Hostage, the Comptroller of Storer, and of
Moseell, the Clerk of the Ordnance, amply prove the
tuteatidaetory state of this department, while It would seem
*la the language of Sir Hew goes, that he was imperfectiy
acquainted with the constitution of the board of which he
was a member.
" From the evidence it will be Bien that a conflict of
authority arose between the members of this board. At a
time when urgent businen required their attention,
they were eogegod in disputes, in preparing statements,
and in making appeals to the Secretary of State for
War. Sir Thomas Hastings says that, although he made
more than one application informing the Secretary of State
that he had important communications to make to him, ha
received no answer to his letters. Mr. Monist, when
be
differed from the other members of his herd, applied to the
Secretary of State, who, by I aiding his 'suction to the
Clerk of the Ordnance, enabled him to over ule bath bb
colleagues, and thus interfered in a matter involving ques-
tions of military discipline, as well as of departmental sobs
ordination. In noticing the unseemly conduct of this
board, and the differences which were brought prominently
leeward in the evidence, your committee observe with
regret that the public service has suffered from tie want of
judgment end temper on the part of officers who were en-
treated, during a critical period, with important public
&tier.
"Your committee consider that it was detrimental to the
public service that the office of SurveyouGeneral should
kiwi remained so long vacant, and that the duties attached
to that office should have been consequently imposed upon
officers of the department who bad already as much upon
their hands as they wisps able to pertirm efficiently.
"Your committee believ • that Lord Aberdeen would have
meted more beneficially for the public service if Ais had
appointed another martersg I when Lord Raglan could
wo Mager discharge the duties of the office, and they are of
=that a vague intention of remodelling the Ordnance
fords to justification for the course pursued. If this
Ake were deemed to be imperfect, and ill adapted for its
hinatlons, there was the more need during its continued
eminence of an able man to superintend its proceedings.
The Ordnance-office striking:y exemilifies the disordered
state into which a department may fall when there is no
able hand to guide it.
"Alter perusing the evidence, it will excite no surprise to
I And that the arrangements attempted by this office in refer-
once to warm clothing, hate, and Minis rifles were imper
feet onddilitary. Huts were ordered at Constantinopie and
at Trieste, as well as in this country. The first order here
was issued on the 17th of November. Woen the huts at
length arrived at Balaklava, the exhausted transport
service was unable to convey them to the camp. It avows
from the evidence of Sir J. Burgoyne and Sir F. Smith
Shoal( canvas bad been sent for doubling the tents, aped
planks for flooring, effectual shelter for the troops would
have been provided at a much earlier periodond at a smaller
eat. It is impossible not to believe by then means the
'sickness and suffering of the troops would have been dint-

Usher'.
" Your committee must express their dissatisfaction with
the administration of the contract system under this depart-
ment, and they consider that no change will be effective
which does not lead to • revisal and amendment ot this
branch of the office.
" The tools supplied to the army are stated to be of but
quality. Under a recent order, the ordnance furnish all
tools. The pioneers' tools were beretdfore supplied by the
colonels of regiments. For this last supply the Ordnance is
not responsible. The officers examined almost uniformly
describe the tools supplied to the army ar unserviceable.
Sir Thomas Hastings, on the other hand, states that ' he
believes the great mass of the tools were go A, but thinks
that many have been ill-treated, and that good tools in the
hands of men who do not understand them may be readilly
destroyed.' There is, however, no doubt, that upon primly
ous occasions, as well as in the present csmpsign, these
articles of field equipment have been condemned. In this
country, under a proper system of contract and inspection,
there can be no difficulty in obtaining tools of the best
quality. The supply of inferi it tools must be ascribed to
carelessness or dishonesty on the part of the persons re-
sponsible for their supply. Your committee cusnot too
forcibly express their opinion of the importance of plariog
in the hands of the soldiers the very best articles that can be

provided.
" While the committee base felt it their duty to make
the observations on the inadequate and disordered state of
this department, and its failure in some imp vtant functions,
they feel bound, at the same time to mention the admirable
equipment of the corps of artillery attached to the army,
and the testimony generally given to the efficient armament
provided for the navy.
"VII TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT AT 1101111.
"The sea transport between this country and the seat of
war has been conducted by the Board of Admiralty, under
the immediate superintendence it Captain Mihte, one of the
Lords of the Admiralty. This business was formerly trans-
acted by a Transport Board, which was abolished many
years since. During the past year requisitions for transport
were sent to the Admiralty from I cliff. rent quarten ;
the inconvenience of this system was ea great that Sir
James Graham says be deemed it indispensable, with a
view to regularity and promptitude, to bring these requi
sitions to one common centre, from which the Admiral. y
might receive orders. This change had not, however, been
completed before he left office. The Duke of Newcastle
says that no system will work well until the sea transport,
is placed under the management of the Minister of War.
Such a course Sir J. Graham and Captain Milne consider
objectionable; it would, they say, divide authority, incre use
nerrespondence, end lead to confusion; whereas now the
whole service afloat is united together in one link of re-

" Sir J. Graben was, however, induced to reconstitute, the
Transport Board, for the reasons which will be found in his

evidence.
The mode is which ships were taken up is stated by Cap- ,
twin Milne, and, considering the urgent MOUT, of the
'public service, this business appears to have been ably con-
ducted. In pronouncing this opinion, your committee
'advert to the magnitude et the operations executed. Within
• year somewhen ~bout 160,000 men, and above 7,000
bones were con%eyed principally by steam, • large
country;ortio
al them to a point 3,000 miles distant from this
besides which, vessels had to be provided for stores to an
enormous amount, for the purposes of war, for the suite-
stance of both army and navy, and for the (fleetly' main-
tenance of a steam fleet. Sudden requisitions for huts and
ether urgent necessaries had also to be met.
" There is, it is said, an obvious error in comoaring the
(transport service between England and the Crimea to •
mercantile arrangement for the conveyance end delivery of
a given amount of tonnage. The transports, when seat to
the Crimes, could not deliver toeir stores and return ; a
large number were permanently detained, from military
considerations, and many others were kept at Selektive,
because there were no warehouses on shore to receive their

CITIIOII.
" Mazy complaints were made to your committee of the
mode in which stores were sent to the But. The undo tol
which stores were sent depended on the nature of the re-
lquisition. Navel stores were apparently seat under a saris.
factory system. When the Ordnance Board apply, a vessel
is placed at their disposal, provided they require it ; sad
latterly a similar genus bas been adopted with the
Iradical department. The chief complaints have arisen in
Inference to mixed cargoes. The captains of the
vessels, according to the Admiralty instructions, have
charge of the cargo; but it is admitted that when large!passenger steamers were employed in this service the cap-
! tains were often unaccustomed to these duties, and in such
1 eases the appointment of a supercargo would have been
beneficial. Until December it appears that a cargo book
' was not regularly kept. A Treasury minute, dated 12th
' December, 1854, state,. that some articles sent out to the
datkta
pebnatbi:ja eitnt
other
ot h
at
hi:l
Crimeageluad, iwbnehfteohr, the
ee atthaom:7:
vessels
ves-
sels,
the army, it has been three or four
had' been received by the commissariat.
which part of the cargo was destined, the position of that
Part of the cargo waituoknowe, and the ship bed to pro-
ceed on her voyage, carrying with her things that ought to
have been delivered at tho intermediate pert. Much suffer-
ing was the consequente of this hull mode of proceeding,
the sick at Scutari being in need of scores, which, in conse-
quence of bad arrangements, were carried to Belaklvva.
" The unnecessary sufferings of the soldiers directly re-
ferable to this neglect form one of the must painful por-
tions of the evidence; but on what department the blame
aCbirivimnn'eptasehdruaewesdmihbeei brought
onorealetelsoth;twhtsnaiityhut loaded that on arriving
should rest, whether on the office of the Commander-in-
Chief, or of the Secretary at-War, or of the Secretary of
State for War, your committee are unable to decide.
14 Me. Soria had also, in a report to Major Sillery, the
ussunastisest, dated the 7th of August, directed attentioa to
des subject.
. No steps having apparently been taken in pursuance of
Shie suggestion, or that of Dr. A. Smith to the Military
Beeretary, on the 25th of May, 1834, Sir J. 0-ahem, on the
kith of October, at the instigation of the Duke of New-
castle, wrote a private letter to Vice-Admiral Druid e, re-
lquesting him, after conferring with Lord Right°, to have
two large steamers fitted fur this service. Oa the receipt of
this letter, Admiral Dunces did not, as he states, sot, be-
ano everyone expected to be in Bebestopul in a few days,
assn wlereireer be did not consider the transports to be under
lie deuce.
a Theta it appears that the preparation of ships for the con-
veyance of the sick and wounded was at first forgotten, and
subsequently neglected. When it is remembered
.Ihat opt
et the limited number of the British army, 13.800 were re-
moved sick or wounded between the Nth of September mid
the 17th of February, the dreauful consequences of this
neglect may be imagined. No forelight, it is said, could'
have provided for this large number. Snot ships should,
Waverer, here been spireially fitted for a senior which it
Wait have been known the casualties of war would sender
.- -
0 viz vaailistoww-warifiew sw van ht.acw sta.
" The evidence readily's marked e•nat ty. of opinion es
to the responsibility for the transport undo to the Black
See. Sir James Liras= said that the naval comma, devia-

chief, Vise-Admiral Dud's, had, under the Queen's regu-
lations. authority user the whole of the transports, and us
cited, in confirmation of this statement, standey esthetes of
the Board of Admiralty; and he added that Lord Region
bad a coucuennt authority over this service.
Vise-Admiral Dundee, on the contrary, alleged that he
had nothing to do with the transports. Accordiag ta his
statement they were entirely under the management of Lord
Raglan, Rear-Admiral Bus r, and Captain Christie.
" Captain Milne, the member of the Board of Admiralty
who had the superintendeace of the transport department,
stated, that the admiral commanding in the Black Sea was
responsible for the transport service in that sea. A supreme
power was, however, given t, Lord who had a veto
over the movement of all the transports., and a cuscurrent
authority with the naval commander-in-chief.
" The difficulties of performing various services connected
with the army ere ascribed to the want of sea transport;
while the evidence of Captain Milne shows that no applies
tion was made to the Admiralty for additional transports
in the Black Sea. Numerous witnesses testily to the want
of arrangement in the harbour of B alaklava and to the dis-
order of the sh ire trues the want of any sufficient landing
places and wharves
" In Balaklava there was a division of authority; the
transports were under the immediate direction of Captain
Christie; the hob tur was under the management of another
naval officer, and the shore was subject to military authority.
Absence of regularity and gement on the those or in
harbour necessarily delayed the service of the transports; in
such cases it was not easy to ascertain on which of these
three authorities the blame should rest.
" The narrow limits of the harbour, which is described by
Ailmiral Dundee as • mere ditch, reudered it, under the best
system of gement, an inconvenient place for landing
the vast quantities of stores required for the army, including
"guns, ammunition, engineer north, fascists, ominous, camp
equipsg,, Quartermaster General's stores, and commissariat
supplies.
" The want of system which prevailed on the shore is gene- •
rally admitted: the harbour was not g d with the
authority tweets ry for the mint-mance of order, and the
transports were compelled to anchor outside the harbour, an
anchorage which naval men justly considered to be unease.
"THE TRANSPORT SERVICE IN THE BOSPHORCII.
"All transports, upon their arrival in the Bosphorus, were
plsced under the o' dens of Rear-Admiral Bon T. This
odium had been it:easily selected for this duty by Sir James
Graham, on account of his protessi teal character and ceps-
rience in matters connected with the embarkation and dis-
embarkation of troop*. He was plseed, in the first instance,
ander the orders of Vice-Admiral Dundee ; but a sep.rate
power was afterwards given to him within the limits of the
Bosphorus, subject al wile to his :sporting to the naval com-
mander-in chief.
" Aa early as the Bth of September, Bear Admiral Bone
" applied for a ship to be attached to himself, with an expe-
rienced minter, three good warrant office..., and a small
gang of artificers and mt chunks. A compliance with this
"request would, he said, obviate delay and unnecessary en.
pease in works which could otherwise only be executed by
I hired artific-rs. To this application the Botha of Admiralty I
replied, that the service being temporary, they were not
I prepared to send out a receiving ship, with its establish-
" ment.' On the 20th of November he rep. ated his applica-
' tion, but before it had been received, the board had recon-
sidered its decision, and had ordered a vessel, the Melampu.,
le be got ready for this service. The Melampus accordingly
sailed in December. Sir James Graham says he regrets
that the first application was not acceded to ; and when the
hurricane of the 14th of November, with all its disastrous
leonsequences, is remembered, it is obvious that this 'thieve-
nate decision may have increased the difficulties of tb et deple-
ted' ell,* and me, have subjected Rear-Admiral Boxer to
some of the charges brought against him
" It must be observed however, that Rear-Admiral Boxer
bad permitted Commander Borba*, on accnuut of his know-
ledge in gunnery, to join the forces in the Crimes, at hough
this officer, hosing been for three years in the Turkish
service, had been specially chosen to assist him. The Rear-
Admiral thus Inst the peresn best fitted to communicate
with the Turkish authorities, at a timo when his assistance
would have been most useful.
" Under such disadvantages he was reqaired to repair the
damages of the hurricane, and to forward to the Crimea
supplies of every kind In lieu of those which had been lost.
Dopaty Commissary• General Smith, anxious to fulfil the
duties of his office, thought that vessels were delayed for
coaling and watering, and that they were left in positions
where the loading was rendered uonecessarily difficult.
This mitmenagement he ascribed to Admiral Boxer; hence
differences arose between them, and both Lord Raglan sad
Mr. Commissary-General Folder were eventually applied to
on the master
" Your committee are of opinion that there was some un-
necessary detention of transports at Constantinople, and
that the arrangements for coaling were very deficient; but,
as they have not been able to examine Admiral Boxer, thi
cannot nronounce an opinion as to his share of responsibi-
lity. His letters in the appendix show that he exerted him-
self strenuously to discharge duties for which it is admitted
that his means were inadequate, and, if he failed under thew
diffieulties, his subsequent endeavour in the harbour of
Balaklava appeared to have been successful.
"THE ColllairMAßlAT DEPARTMENT AT HOME.
" The Commissariat has been, during many years, a sub-
ordinate deparment of the Treasury; and although nomi-
nally transferred to the Secretary of War in the summer of
1854, it was not placed under his immediate control until
the 22d of last December, when • Treasury minute was
issued authorising this arrangement.
" Up to that period Sir C. Trevelyas, the Assistant-
Secretary either Treasury, was practically the head of that
department. He stated that the forms of the Commissaeist
h d been improved and simplified some years ago, and that
although persons might misunderstand any regulations, yet
be did not believe these forms were to be blamed. He would
willingly submit them to any practised accountant for his
opinion. Deputy-Commissary-General Smith says, that as
long as regulations are required, none could be made of a
more simple form than those applicable to the Commissariat;
and he had beard say complaints arising out of the
observances of these foram
" THE COMMISSARIAT IN THE EAST.
" It is the duty it the commiasariat to furnish the
when in the field, with provisions for the men, forage far
the animate, and land transport.
" Commissary General Filder was appointed by the Trea-
sury to superintend the establishment of the commissariat
in tne East. He was selected, it is said, on account of his
experience and special fitness too the charge; and authority
was given to Lim to provide such persons as might be re-
quired for the service ; ample funds were also placed at his
disposal, and ships were provided and ordered to act under
his exclusive directions.
' " With these large powers, heavy duties were imposed
open him accordicg to au gement which appears to
have been injudiciously adcpted at the commencement of
{be campaign. It was determined that there should be cal,
ISO store department with the army, and that this should
be under the care of the commissariat. From this decision
It followed as a consequence that the Commissariat was
',eructed to make good the deficienles of many distinct
I" departments. All the miscellaneous articles of equipment
which come under the head of Quartermaster-General's
"stores were given in charge to the Commissariat, and, in
addition to these extraneous duties, this department was
required not only to keeps large amount of Ordnance stores,
but also to purchase materials and tools in the East for the
purposes of the siege.
• " The military system in this country affords the Com-
missariat no opportunity of becoming acquainted with
tbs army, or of ministering to its wants; so that in a
campaign the officers of this department find themselves
called upon to tarnish supplies, in regard to which they
may have hat no experience, while the titillates and men,
being often ignorant of the proper duties of the Commis-
sariat, consider this department responsible for everything
they may require.
" LAND TRANSPORT.
" From the first the oysters of the land transport was
found to be imperfect. No adequate measures were adopted
for its improvement, so that the army, when encamped
' before Sebastopol, depended for all its supplies upon a
service defective in its organisation and in its superin-
tendence.
" The army landed in the Crimea without the animals
Metnesary for the conveyance of the b scene', or for the re-
Weal of the sick and wounded ; much inconvenience and
suffering resulted from this deficiency ; but if, as stated to
year committee, every available vessel was employed for
other purposes, the Commissariat cannot be held responsible.
" When the arms had encamped before Sebastopol,
mules and baggage animals were brought over from Varna.
Oa the sth of October, Commissary-General Filch r asserted
that he had transport sufficient for all the purposes of the
army, and subrait.ed to Lard Raglan • 'cheme for disposi .g
of above 2,000 animals, which were at Varna, and which he
said were not wanted, and would only be an incunthrance
to the Crimea. Daring this same period, Sir Edmund
Lyons writes that the transport animals, though in fair
Sondition, were not sufficient io number.
" Oa the Bth of November the Commissary I was
informed that he must prepare for wintering in the Crimea.
At this period he still possessed • large number of baggage
anthills, and a considerable amount of hay and forage, on
board ships, in or near the harbour of Balaklava.
"About this period the Commissary-G e I became
alarmed, forming that the conveyance of guns and anima-
When for the siege and for the defence of our position, the
removal of the Pick and wounded, the distribution of rations,
of forage, of clothing, of fuel, of medicines, and of medical
comforts, besides numerous other supplies, which, in
the position of the army, were scarcely less important,
would all be imperilled by a failure in the land transport;
while the service was itself sertortely endangered from the
want of shelter and forage for the animals during the ap-
proaching winter. and from the bed condition of the roads
adoptedb•t.Yee rfßo committeeaBalaklava
theskpTr protection
tldieot hnneootthie; aware
animalsthat ae yn.
from
stehrees Lelree.
' mem of the season; Sir John Burgoyne thinks there was
a great wait of care, and that in • few instances, where
the animals were sunnied to, they were preserved. The
drivers were inefficient; and, being without proper super-
in made nee, lost or indolently neglected the animals entrusted
to their charge.
" THE ROAD.

" SI much of the suffering of we troops bat been ascribed
to the wretched—or, as some witnesses state, the allaolt
impassable condition°, the seven. miles bones*. Belsklava
and the camp, that your committee endeneured is neer-
tain who was respoositil4 for the oraititenaticsof the roads,
rd what insuperable obstacles tin %err Repair:
"V, hen thi way reached • tit igUsApie, Elebasteßol.
they found two principal roa natukijige to Bana-
-1 topol : one the fin government road ; the other fur-
ther to the left, a useful farm road. The army
held the Woronoff road up to the time of the battle of