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

.•' Tfiri

IMPERIAL P.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—MoNDAT, Jura 18. I,
Lord BlooollAll originated a convereation on the tarts
of feta paid by esiton in county watts, and ruiner' bill,
were fn warded a stage.
The house adjourned at ten manatee to 7.

HOUSE OF CONIIIONS.—MoNDAT, Jinn 18.
_ _ .•

- -
The boom cast at four o'clock.
SEBASTOPOL COMMITTEE
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO INQUI RE
INTO THE CONDITION OF THE ARMY BEFORE

SEBASTOPOL.
11r. ROBBUCH brought up the Report of the Co..
mines to nivel'e into the °audition of the Array beim*
Sebastopol. amidst loud cheers.
Mr. DiSHAELI moved Unit the Report be read at the

tag..
Tile !Wort wu then read at length by Sit D. Ls lass•

CHART.
" The complieated eater° of this inquiry, the variety of
subjects investigated, the numher of witnesses examined,
end the frequent icconsistency end contrariety of the evi-
dence, render it no easy task to present a clear, deficit',
and just exposition of the matters submitted to your com-
mittee.
"The difficulty of this task has been enhanced by the im-
possibility of summoning some persons as w
Front the
itnesses who
might have fern:shed tesportsnt information.
same cause some persons are left under imputation, to re-
gard to which your committee regret that they can pro.
nounce no conclusive opinion. The fulness of the investi-
gation has, moreover, been restricted by considerations of
state policy, so that in the outset ^f this report your com-
mtee must admit that they have been coerleted to end an
inquiry which they hats hers unable eatisfactorily to coin-
.

plate.
" Raving offered this preliminary ezpleattioa, your com-
mittee will endeavour to state, assbortly as the sehket will
allow, the opinions which they have formed in regarl to the
following heads of their inquiry, namely:
"1. The eon(Wioa of oar army before Sebestopol.
"2. The conduct of the departments, hoth at home and
&broil, whose duty it has been to minister to the wants of
that army. I.

"TIM CONDITION OP 011RAIINT BEFORE SEBASTOPOL.
" An army encemned in a hostile country, at a distance of
3,000 miles from England, and eogaged during a severe
winter in besieging a fortress which, from want of numbers,
it could not invest, wee necessarily placed in • situation
where unremitting fatigue and hardship had to be endured.
Your committee ars. however, of opinion that this amount
of unavoidable suffering has been aggravated by cacaos
hereafter enumerated, and which are mainly to be attrib ,ted
to dilatory and insufficient arrangements fur the supply of
this army with necessaries indispensable to its healthy and
effective condition. In arriving at this opinion, they have
made allowance for the unexpected severity of the storm on
the 16th of November, and thy have not been unmindful
of the difficulties which • long period of peace mu,' in.
eeitahly produce at the commencement of • campaign.
" In otter to obtain an adequate notion of the painful
condition of the army, the evidence must be perused ; and
your committee will only refer to such details as may be
requisite to sustain their opinions.
" Fr .m the 16th of September, when the army landed in
the Crimea, until the end of October, or, as witnesses state,
until about the middle of November, the troops suffered
from overwork and from dysentery, but wile not, upon the
whole, ill-provided with food; oven at this period there was
a want of elo hang for the men in health, and a painful de-
ficiency of all appliances for the proper treatment of the
sick and wounded. As the season advanced, the causes of
sickness lammed, and the army, with its number of effec-
tive men deny diminishing, became more and more dtepro-
portioned t 3 the amount of duty which it had to perform.
" From the 'Midi* of November this army was, during a
period of many weeks, reduced to a condition which it is
melancholy to contemplate, but which was endured both by
officers mid men with a fortitude And heroism ussurpassed
on the snail of war. They were 'mooed under single
canvas to all the sufferings sod inconveniences of cold, rain,
mud, and snow, on high ground and in the depth of winter.
They suffered from overwork, ezposure, want of clothing,
insufficient supplies for the healthy, mid imperfect &mons-
'iodation for the sick.
"The fatigue necessarily resulted from the inadequacy of
the force for the task assigned to it. The British army was
a portion of an allied force. The whole scheme of toe siege,
the extent of front to be defended, the positions to be main-
tained, and the works to be undertiken. depended on =S-
tay cozsiderstiona, and were decided upon in conjunction
with our allies. Your committee regard these OtatIODI as
beyond the limits of their inquiry.
" The other causes of suffering will be reviewed under the
following beads:—
It

" THU CONDUCT OP THE DiPAnTNINTII BOTH AT HOME'
AND ABWOAD WllO,ll DUTY IT HAS BAIN TO ADNI-
NISTAN TO THU WANTS OF THE MOT.
"TKO CONDUCT OF TAN 00VIANICaNT AT HOWL ,
" Tbe respossinility of the expedition to the Crimp;
rests epos the House °movement. The Duke of New-
castle, is his despatch addressed to Lord Reglan on the
10th of April, 18.54, 'directs careful, but secret inquiry' to
be IBMs into the present amount and condition of the Ras-
Man force in the Crimea, and ' the strength of the fortress
of Sebastopol. ' And his grace further observes that,
' before the siege of a fortress so strong can be attempted, it
is necessary that information which can be relied on shall be
obtained upon many points on which little or nothing is at .
present known.' A second despatch, dated the 29th of
June, directs that the safety of Constantinople having been
moored, whatever might be the movement of the Ramis&
forego, so campaign in the Prineipaiities should be and
taken, but that measures should be at once concerted for the
siege of Sebastopol. ' There is,' it is ad.led, 'no prospect
of a safe and honouraliv peace until the forties is reduced,
sad the fleet taken or destroyed.' The deeoetch I to
Lord Raglan a discretion only ' in ease of some insuperable
impediment, such as a want of ample preparation by either
ermy, or of the possession by Russia of a force in the Crimea
greatly outnumbering that which can be brought against it.'
"The Cabinet appear to have been confident of nevem
Lord Aberdeen states it to have been their impression that
Sebastopol would fall almost immediate y by a coop. de. main.
The Duke of Newcastle s Iv, that he expected the army,
after capturing Sebastopol, would winter there, or else, atter
destroying the fortress, would return to winter on the chores
of the Bosphorus. Sir James Graham has the stroageat
opinion that the order for the expedition was given at the
fight time, and was executed at the right time.
" This report shows the results which moored upon the
frustration of these expectation'. Your committee have in-
quired what information the government had obtained
which induced them to order this expedition. In regard to
this matter, it may be observed that the Duke of Newcastle
had, in his despatch of the 10th of April, estimated the
Russian forces in the Crimea at 30,000 men, and he believes
that when the expedition was ordered no more reliable
amounts had been received. Sir James Graham says, hew+
ever, that at a later period, namely, the last week in Joly,
he had obtained ' from • Crimean authority • complthe
amount of the Crimea, its localities, its harbours, its roads:
its productions, and supply of water, and, what was most
importance( all, a statement of the force, which was esti,.
mated by his informant at 70,090 tees, 8,000 of which were
cavalry, 40,000 oonstituten the garrison of Sebastopol, and
the rem +gulag 30,000 were dispersed through the Crimea.'
Vice. Admiral Daunts, had, on the 10th of May, 1814. written
to Lord Raglan • letter, in which, relying upon information
which he had obtained, he estimated the Russian forme in
the Crimea at 120,000 men. The embassies at StaPiVre-,.
burgh and Constantinople were unable to fur
information upon these important subjects.
" Lord Raglan, in Lis des..atch of the 19th of July, 011.41
that 'the descent on the Crimea is decided upon moan
deference to the views of the British Government thin to
any information is the possession of the navel and militarA
authorities, either as to the silent of the enemy's futon or
to their state of preparation.'
" The terms of reference do not call upon your eounelltee
to pronounce any opinion in regard to the policy of the go,
vernment in ordering the expedition to the Crimea I but ft
if their duty t' report how far the preparations Made 'Mire
• adequate to the preparations which had been ordered! •
" The 1 direction of the war was is the has& of the
Doke of Newcastle, who, in the spring of 18.54, held the
office of Secretary for War and Colonies. Is Job
departments were divided, and the duke, being mail;
from colonial duties, undertook the immediate congeal, of
the war. :
" When this important change was effected, it aside Isof
appear that any order in council, minute. or ether bear
mann woe proposed defining the special duties of Sas War
Department. The duke, as secretary of mete, li
ea
donbtedly, before as well as after the change, ample
tj
he considered himself officially responsible for all fit der
agents under hie control, ano he could issue such -ode se
be thought fit for their guidance. lie states, however, that '
he telt his means to be insufficient for the duo performance
of his separate duties as Secretary of State for-With ; lie
considered the organisation of all the war depeirtdients and
their relation to each other to be in an uosatiefastirythem;
bat he felt it to be impossible, coosistently with attentive
to pressiag besieges, to attempt their reorganisation.
" In making the separation between the Secrelasythipe
of War and Colosies, tneetber with the transition:le of
Commissariat from the Treasury to the Secretory. isp,Wl as,
the C 'billet emsidered that they haul adopted meassame
initiatory to other changes which would necessarily idiom.
The members of the Cabinet did not, home., i, bold any
consultation upon the changes to be made or the best
mode of effecting them ; they 'operated, aseltenal, at the
p
close of the parliamentary session is Aupusta asd,vms
were not snessn..ed to a meeting. they did not rotes e
in council until the emend week of October. Al a alit
period of the year, Lord John Rowell espressedth dietetic
faction with the state of the War Department, and
suggested Lord Palmerston as the fittest pee ga fecesViapAco
of Secretary of War. Hs adduced afste eases where Neisice
there had been • want of vigour is the exercise of authority,
although tie Cabinet, be added, ' Lad done meth in its
recent meetings to repair omissions.' Your segunittee
maim with repel that the Cabinet dad nni meet in August
or September, when these 01611010111 might have been sooner
remedied. Lord John Rusvil aim ob that 'the Rome

of Cemememe weld gel, di se laelltfee de-
liberative, • Ilan : ins Was- ens'
Year sole
sea an triegi-ef these ea ,
sad may nib that may have resulted from delay in such
armeasesseate are Uteref-re properly laid to the charge of
Ile Oa& . .
"At lb* date of tie expedition to the East, ao reserve
nornewided st Mme adequate to the undertaking. Mr.
lieseepassbert @teen in hie memorandum of the 27th of
Nweolle_,
_hee. 'the army in the East has been created by dia-
gnosing the future. Every regiment at home, or wrobbesi ithin
MN* emi an forming part of that army, has bee n
ea aerate it. The deeles of battalions under Lord'
Resin have hen similarly treated."
" The pre sent out to reinforce the army were nonits
was had not yet become fit for foreign service. nil On
depot, at home were too week to feed the companies a
" The seder to attack Sebastopol was seat to Lord
ea the 29th of June ; the formation of a reserve
was not deterudeed noon until early in November. at
" It will be seen from the eorrespondenes between Lord
Jahn Roopell and Lord Aberdeen, that Lord Raglan had re-1
Seelled,leat 'be wished he had been able to place in the
paid= of Balaklava, on the 26th of October, a more eon.
dideralsle force,' and also,' that on the sth of November the
heights of Inkermann were defended by no more than 8,000
British infantry. When the Duke of Newcastle informed
Lord Raglan that he had 2,000 recruits to send him he
replied that' these last sent were so young and unformed
that they fell victims to disease, and were swept away like
flies. He preferred to wait.'
" In December the power of reinforcing the army with
efficient soldiers was so reduced that the government thought
it necessary to introduce a Foreign Enlistment Bill for the
I purpose of raisins a foreign legion.
"Your committee must express their regret that the
I formation of a large reserve at home, and also in the proxi-
mity of the peat of war, was not considered at a much earlier
period, and that the government, well knowing the limited
number of the British army, the nature of the climate in the
1 Sae, as well as the Power we were about to encounter, did
gnat the cornmencearnt of the war take means to augment
the Tanks of the army beyond the ordinary recruiting, and
also that earlier steps were tot taken to render the militia
available both fit the purpose of obtaining supplies of men,
and also, in ease of ascent,, for the relief of regiments et
the line stationed in garrisons in the Medit an—mea-
sure& which they found themselves compeiled to adopt at a
later period.
"TER exCUTAIT OF !MATZ TOR WAR. '
"On accepting the Secretaryship for War, the Duke of
Newcastle found himseli in this disadvantageous position ;
be bad no separate office for hie departments ; he bad no do-
cument prescribing his new duties, no precedents for his
gaidance, and his under-secretaries were new to the
wbrk. In this situation he undertook the superintendence
of numerous departments, with whose internal organisation
hawse dissatisfied, and the management of a war urgently
requiring prompt and vigorous operations.
'The Duke was imperfectly acquainted with the best mode
of exercising his authority over the subordinate departments,
and these departments were not officially informed of their
relative position, or of their new duties towards the Minister
for War. His interference was sought for in matters of de
tail, wherein his time should not have been occupied, and he
wislets unacquainted with transactions of which he should
have received official cognisance. Feelinx his large respon-
sibilities, he took uric himself to remedy innumerable deft.
denies which were brought to his notice, and, in the mean-
: rims, matters of paremnunt necessity were postponed.
el The evidence, moreover, shows that the duke was long
lieli in ignorance, or was misinformed, respecting the peta-
-1 grim of affairs in the East. He was not, until a late period,
Mate acquainted with the state of the hospitals at Scutari,
;and the horrible mode in which the sick and wounded were
conveyed from Balekleva to the Bosphorus. Lord Aberdeen
irss sienificiantly observed, that the government were left in
ofseeremee longer than they ought to have been of the real
seals et matters in the East. The minister', he says, were
rateoned of the condition of the army from public papers
peel private sources long before they beard it officially, and
aid bearing it officially, they discredited the rumours around
,tliere. Thus, while the whole country was dismayed hy
Viporfs, and was eagerly looking for some gleam of official
islellipnce, the cabinet, according to the statement of
seeders, was in darkness.
I'' 'Harassed by these rumours, and perplexed by the in-
'ifiesimet silence of those who should have enlightened him,
IMO Doke sent a commission to inquire into the state of the
Ilielipleale at Scutari and is the Crimea. The commission
wile issued in October. It did not report until April. A
form St proceeding suited to redress grievances at barn, or
to become a basis for legislativ.lllollBUtel, was ill adapted to
relieve the pressing wants of 5,030 men suffering under mis.
management and neglect.
" With the same benevolent intention, the Duke, through
We channel of the Foreign-office, requested Lord Stratford
de Redcliffe to take upon himself, in addition to his many
Osseous duties, a certain ammint of supervision and assist-
ance of than hospitals.
"The clothing of the troops was not within the province
of the Secretary of State ; and, the Duke of Newcastle says,
It was extremely doubtfel wnether be had any right to
interfere. The foldiers had received the ordinary supply
fog the year • yet the neculiar circumstances in which the
tWillsDad been placed induced the Duke to recommend to
the -Commander in Chief that an extra supply should be
eignished, and in additi di to this, warm clothing should
liopeepared to meet the inclemency of the weather. The
mess of clothing the army was then, and still is, in a state
transition ; whenever the existing contracts cease, the
idgthing will be supplied by the Ordnance, or by a cloth-
leg department.
'' "The warm clothing was considered so important that,
Ilipme bearing of the limed the Prince steamer, all the mill-
iner Separtasenie were occupied with this supply. The'
Ilepretrry 1 ir War issued orders ; the Secretary at War was
eentantly at the Ordnance, crgiag and hastening these pro.
endings ; clot Ambassadorsug also in Austria and in
Bwitnerland. , ministers, consuls, agents,were
applied to for assistance. Money was profusely espeadeo,
Mid at a later period is the winter the troops must have re-
ligiose a supply far larger than was required for their
're-
eased numbers.
I "VIZ ARCRITART AT WAR.
. • "-The duties of the Secretary at War are shortly stated
ley Mr. Sidney Herbert; they will be found more fully
inuentrated in a memorandum which was given in evidence
before the Committee on Army and Ordnance Expenditure
in 1850.
Ile division of the Secretaryship of War and Colonies,
though technically it did not alter the position of the Seere,
tory at War, yet practically diminished the exercise of his
nwer, and tended to limit his functions to the original
deities of his office--namely, the financial business of the
tinny. Even in these matters the authority of a Secretary
of State, when exerted, must necessarily over ride the
'control of a Secretary at War. Mr. Sidney Herbert,
as Secretary at War, had no power to originate any
thing ; but from praiseworthy motives, and with a view to
relieve the Duke of Newcastle, be undertook to do a good
deal which was not the business of his office. Thus, in Deeem-
' bet, having learnt from private sources the deplorab e con-
', dision of the hospitals, be wrote to the commandant, to the
' chief medical officer, and to the purveyor, urging and
aathorising to procure whatever might be wanted, 'net mats,
Isupplies, or additional building., promising them his appro-
bation for such outlay, and placing unlimited funds at their

'While expenditure was thus encouraged, some financial
regations were still enforced, suited to a time of peace,
inafiplicable in a period of war, and operating unjustly on
the soldiers who had been wounded or afflicted with sick•
nese in the Crimea. According to these regulations, every
soldier ccintog into a hospital is ob'iged to bring with him
his kit ; but though the troops, upon landing in the Crimea,
had been deprived of their knapsacks, which in many casey
sire never restored, yet no order had been issued to furnish
*tether set in lien of those articles which the soldier had
been compelled to relinquish, and which are essential to his
cleanliness and comfort. Again, upon leaving the hospital,
men were exposed to a recurrence of sickness from insuffi-
cient clothing, and no proper arrangement had been made
to furnish this supply.
"An improvement, involving some outlay, has been sug-
peed to your committee, which deserves the attention of
Iti executive government. The general hospital at Chat
Ltd is said to be inconveniently situated, and ill suited tor
reception of invalids from the seat of war. Vessels ot
large size cannot go there, and consequently the sick and
Jpginded have either to be removed to a smaller ship, or
gm by other means to the place ot their destination. At
same time your committee may remark, that while
impitals are provided for the reception of officers in the
tipsy returning sick or wou.4ed, no each accommodation
piss ter officers of the army.
" Your committee may here also express a hope, that the
rib which have arsen from allowig toldiers' wives to ac-
tsdeepany an armyin the field will nprevent a repetition of
error.
A memoranduni will be found in. the appendix, • par-
ing to be by the Duke of Newcastle,' but written by
. Sidney limber% in January last. His views upon the
mode of constituting the War Department, and giving
it an effective control over the subordinate departments
MS here explained as far at least as he deems it advisable
he introduce change during the pressure of war, which
—.es little leisure for re.constituting the military depart.

lm
ORDNANCE
"Your committee deem it ounecesiary to state the
'Various duties of t►e Ordnanee Department, nor need they
jotter into detail with the view of proving that upon the
lflieieuey of this department the naval sod military services

'depend.
In April, 1851, Lord Raglan, the Master-General niche
Ordnance, was appointed to the command of the Prices in
then,Esst, and shortly afterliardll Sir Hew Roes was named
Lilffitenent-Geseral of the Ordnance, an effice which bad
been fee many years abolished, bat which was now revived.
net-Lord Aberdeen, in masinn this appointment, bad to
sum eztent in view the abolition of the office of Master-
general; this subject had sot, however, betu considered by
the cabinet, and in the meantime the ministers believed that
do- Lieutsauttaiserel would have all the anthlrity of

muter• general.
rtti.The Liestaniust General does not possess this power; be
~e....i. M only a board 'Meer, and while in reference to military
ditties be exertion the authority of Muter-General, yet as
~'garde the civil Auctions of the Ordnance be acts only as
a member of *eland.
he Maud el Ordnasce, moreover, differ from other
n
ia thistespect—samely, that, according to the peso
ties ont be WM regnlations of the department, the presence of
nawbeatigeseirmisistitutte a board. Daring the summei
NA maters of Ilik, a baud aloe?, the{Burveyor• 0 I,
was also employee. abroad ; e•t that Calor; a period when the
pressure of ►asinese was heavier, and when the expenditure
91 this department was larger than in any previous year,