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

THE ARMY BEFORE SEBASTOPOL.

MR. ROEBUCK'S COMMITTEE.
Commander Clay, of the steam _`hip Emperors
chartered for the conveyance of horses and stoles, Was the
first witness ezamined yesterday. He arrived at UAW,* in December. The harbour was in a filthy condition. Vast
r iisantitiee of oxen, sheep, and offal, that had drifted in after
thematic, were lying in and about the harbour; and there
was a large ilfftrefft of barley and straw heaped on the
.ground without any covering. The transports were sadly
damaged after the storm, and many were completely
stove in. He pointed out to Captain Christie the
danger of their being outside the harbour, and men.
tinned It to other captains. He told his own captain never
to anchor there again, but rather to abrogate the charter
than do so. There were quantities of hay drifted in by the
gale from the wrecks. The harbour-mute,,, generally,
were active, but the stores were not landed from his vessels
till long after they arrived, and the planks for huts with
which the vessel Cottingham was laden were not taken out
until a week after. The reason assigned was that there
were not people to take them away. They were consigned
to the naval authorities, and it was the business of this
commissariat to attend to it. The roads from Balaklairs•
to the camp were up to the knees in mud, and in • dread-
ful condition. Many of the horses used in the conveyance
of materials died. The camp was in a bad condi-
tion, the men were ragged, the provisions low, and
the soldiers scantily fed. At oast time they could not
get provisions up to the camp at all, and the men frequently
ate the salt meat raw, and only had it two or three times •
week. The horses of the cavalry regiments were in such a
condition that they could not make a charge. They had
not a gallop in them. (Laughter.) He never saw such ob-
jects as the horses of the Scots Greys. All their manes and
tails were eaten off by one another, and twenty-eight horses
of the heavy brigade died in one night. The heavy
brigade were very "lousy" and dirty, but they seemed very
jelly and good in pluck—what was left of them. This
French seemed very comfortable, cocking and eating, and
they were building huts for themselves and the English.
The Zousves were employed in building a hut for the Scots
Greys, of granite. The Scots Greys were in a bad condition.
They were a hardy lot, ready for anything—what was left
of teem. The sick and wounded were brought down on
mules. The French were musical from morning to night,
and quite lively, and the constant sounds of harmony seemed
to have a great effect both on them and the English in the
valley below. The commissariat at Varna and Eupatoria
was excellent. Twenty men in the Monarch, consisting of
sick and wounded who were frostbitten, died, sad many of
their legs rotted off. He visited the hospital at Scutari, and
saw the mottling of the steamers at Constantinople. There
were general complaints by the master of every transport as
to Admiral Boxer's arrangements. The same might be
said of the arrangements at Balaklava, but the sperm was
bad, and not attributable to Admiral Boxer. The greet
fault at both places was, that men were not furnished suffi-
ciently to coal the ship at ones, as at Malta, and this alone
cost the government I,OOW. in the hire of the ship be com-
mended. The 17th Light Drago me had 2:50 homes on
leasing Portsmouth, and lost 27 when they arrived at the
Crimea. Deaths occurred among the horses owing to the
improper mode of shipping them. He had had many dis-
cussions on the mode of ehipyi .g horses with Captain
Milne, of the Admiralty. His suggestions were received
well, but were attended with no results. His mode of
shipping horses was that practised at Hull ever since she
peace, where more thoroughbred horses were shipped for
the Baltic, than any where else. They were all shipped on
ballast, and then bedded up, and they laid down at sea is a
gale; and out of the thousands shipped in this way abroad,
be never knew of a single death. They generally arrived
as well as when they went out. In very bad weather the
hones laid down, and if they got unruly the
mom adopted • peculiar method of quieting them.
They could not take so many by the Hull plan as by the
government plan, by which the horses were slung all the
Bytim ethtenegyowyeerpromone
government plan
d. Thetthey
werebal ballast e
t consisted
up tedo 4
a 2
sh m.
fgeel et.
stall, and they could not sometimes lie down for six weeks
together, if the voyage was of that duration. He did not
experience any differences with the government in chartering
his vessel.

By Mr. Layard—The horses he shipped at Woolwich
were walked on board. They all belonged to Lord It igisn's
staff. He n saw any cavalry horse. shipped. He was
not aware that the horse-boxes gave way, and that • large
number of hones were destroyed. The covering to the
horse-boxes was of deal, and the rain could not penetrate.
He did not know whether the hones were insured. The
(-hatter for the Emperor was 6601. per week, and that for
the Cottingham, of 260 tons, 21. 6s. per ton per month.
The government found all the fuel, and if the vessel steamed
all day the Emperor would consume two tons an hour, and
the Cottingharn one, and the other general transports
16ewt. The horses taken oat to the Crimea were very
much affected. Witness insured his own vessel. The
transport vessels remained • good deal in idleness,
and they were not hard worked. Not having the logs
with him he could not give an account or the time they
worked, but they were worked more than one-third of the
time they were engaged. It was a general remark that the
Emperor end City of London did more work than all the
rest. They were employed on spinal missions by Lord
Raglan to carry sick or rent for detschments. Ile did not
always bring full cargoes. Captain Christie had charge of the
transport service. He went out in the Emperor, and lived in
it for three or four months. The Emperor was one of the
leading vessels of the fleet. Witness had a conversation
with Captain Christie as to the transport service, which
seemed to him rather more disorganised than organised ;
and Captain Christie appeared to be overborne by work,
or not up to the mark. Ile was rather an elderly man,
and a more active one would have been better. lie (wit-
ness) never communicated with Commissary Filder, and
the commissariat bed nothing to do with their vessels. Ile
went out as an amateur. The bullocks and sheep were
received by the commissariat, and written receipts were
given for what was landed. Some confusion arose between
the officers of the commissariat and transport service at
times. His (witness's) officers considered them-
selves under the command of the transport ser-
vices, which looked on Captain Christie as their head.
The crews of the transports were g Ily discharging their
stores
but they might have been employed In removing the
offal, &c., at Baleklava ; but a " rake," as it was called,
could not have cleared it out. This neglect was unavoid-
able, as nearly all the labour was absorbed in the army.
Many oxen died on board, on coming from Eupatorie, and
they threw them over board into the harbour ; but if the
government had given compensation, the sailors and officers
might have taken them out to sea. It was the business of
a harbour master in England :ogee that these things were
not thrown into the harbour. The streets of Balaklava
were in a dreadful state, and generated di . No one
had the care of their sanitary condition. The officers did
not trouble themselves. The burial plain was very impro-
perly placed. Witness sailed to the island of Cerigo, in
Southern Greece, and the Dardanelles. It blew a heavy gale
all the voyage. If a proper system had been adopted, many
of the transports is Balaklava Harbour might have been
employed, and with one-third lees, they might have done
the work that was done. All that occurred was for want
of a proper system. It took ten days to coal 300 tons. He
had the large steamers employed between England and Alex-
andria, and at Malta they put 400 tons on board in one
night. Bands of men ought to have been organised for
coaling purposes at Belgian's, and he would have employed
some of those idle fellows on beard the line-of-battle ships,
or some Turks or Armenians. The vessels with the coals
from England were brought alongside the ships, and they
were so filled. There was tolerable order and regularity in
Balaklava harbour, and vessel, with some difficulty could
leave end get out. The wood at Sinope was bad, soft, end
not of mach value. It was willowy. No huts were put up
before he left. He visited some of the houses, and they
were inhabited by the sick Turks chiefly. Commis-
sary Heelless c lived in oar, and on a large one was
written Lord Raglan, but there were only a few black-
smiths in it. It was the largest house in the town, and
would have done for a store-house. He went into the hcia-
pitale. Some of the churches were converted into hospi-
tals. The Tucks died very fast in the hospitals from cholera,
resulting from bad food and fever. Visited the cavalry
camp, and thought the horses wets treated as well as they
could be. Those of the light brigade were picketed on the
mountain side inuiscrintiaately, but the heavy were in rows,
three or four feet intervening between each horse, with
their head. tied down to stokes ; and if their manes and
tails were eaten, how they got at them he could
not say. All he knew was they were eaten. (Loughter.)
He never saw them do it He did not see any case of
-curvy. There were depots of coal only on board ship at
Balaklava, and depots could not very well have been formed
there, there being no organised labour. The detention and
confusion in the transports could have been remedied by
proper expenditure and attention. Admiral Boxer suc-
ceeded Captain Christie at Halals's, and he heard com-
Boplaints from every captain of every transport about Admiral
Boxer's being an intemperate old man, and ae giving extra-
ordinary directions. Vessels could not lie in Cons..satinople
harbour so as to be protected from every wind. "there wise
vimerynsspoterta currentsongwere .0
scatteredol enH
all
and
oval
been cleared in • week. Such a state of thi-ogs could not
bare been tolerated in Hull harbour. Mr. P•.iest was owner
'thiets E
surface.nglish
t
With proper regulations, Balaklava harbour could have
of the Helen and Glide. They were laden with hay and
February, 1865, and it was a matter of complaint on the
re detain ed there fur want
Peet of the "Ptah° that they we
f the
troops • orders, although by despatches rom Raglan
stare% and arrived at Constantinople on the. 4th and 6th of
troops were greatly in want of the suppi es.
gn —Zed
about toßrasheektasie FTrehneych
were
low small shrubs, about two miles from the French
suppliedwith camp, which was in that way well fuel.
diets by scores
Visited Haraimch Bay, and went from Constantinople: with
statement between the harbour arrangements at Balaklava
p French regiment. Could not mete any comparative
seoj.rresekieuetocentained
end at Handset& Bay.
By Lord Seymour—Hi ratite his contract with Captain
Wine in Maroh to take the horses of Lord Raglan and his
star at 6601. per week. The Emperor was so built and
altered as to take the horme in What fashion. His mode—
the Hull—was infinitely cheaper and healthier for the horses
than the government plan. He showed letters to Captain
' Milos from the largest horse exporters, descriptive of the
Hall system. When the Emperor was on the eve of depar-
ture the boxes were altered, to carry the horses on the Hull
system. He knew Mr. Goodwin, • veterinary surgeon,
who took out horses to Ennis for the Emperor Alexander,
and he adopted tke jinn

,ONM 10r We Emperor Atezanaer,
systen and foua it miccessful.