The Express.
London, England, 1856-07-29 00:00:00

(Stamped ld. Additional.) [TWOPENCE.

LITERATURE.

Voice from within A. Walls of Moskva By
Captain R. HODASEVICH, late of the Tumid=
Regiment of Chewers, in the Rankin barrios.
Murray.
Captain R. Hodasevich I. a Pole, who served in the
Rosman war until after the battle of Inkermanc.
The injustice with which he was treated by the mili-
tary authorities after that battle was the last drop
which caused the overflowing of the cop filled already
with reminiscences of years of oppression. He deter-
mined to desert to the allied armies, and seising the
first favourable opportunity succeeded in his attempt,
bringing with him a countryman, Id. Romer. He
woe enabled to give the British military authorities
valuable information relative to the condition of the
Russian forme and the state of the &femme. His nar-
rative gives us a lively picture of the nature of the
life in the beleaguered town, and is in some degree
consolatory, for, smarting as we are under the con-
sciousness of the faults we committed in the late war,
it is something to know that our enemies committed
faults equally great or greater. There is only one
04c/silos that can be raised against Captain Rodeo-
vieh'a criticism, and that is, that they seem to prove
too much. If the corruption and disorganisation of
the Russian army are so great, how can we account
for the marvellous dance it made against the tn.
mandate attack of the besiegers
The fall investigatioas whit* have been made into
the aoudad of the comoksariat during the war have
shown that there was gross mismanagement in that
department of the British army. But the honour of
the British officer hes remained intact. If our soldiers
were half-starved, no one ever 'apposed that our
Alone made a profit oat of the starvation. Captain
Hodamsvieh says that the Russian often constantly
buy the cheapest sad wait meat in the market, in
ceder that they may imam their own galas.
I sweet kelp relating len a almainsteele that Istathroa
sad which win show the way is et hielt yossistlea
au. Is the sonissarlat mores at liebasespel the,. woe a
large quantity of salt beef, that, on assent et the length
of time it bad bees In salt mod the little sere that bad bees
used is salting, bed es totally oath for human food.
The anal solheillesof the Mown reared to receive it for
their nes, Gad in mnsmesiass it web throws upon the
h mimed the esthithuselet ethers. the la Ramis selling
=lla the giesestheat isyystrd to be spoilt. The
er seginewl. the Ids nes pelt, ordered a beard
of elbow to awn that the maid salt beef was fit for food ;
white of sew nes bat, sad this best that bed ben ens.
downed by the sad esibeeides woe gives to r nes.
Wise It was eases set edgier mould eves tryst, as tt,e
math wee enepowtriegow On I scald sot approach the
easy kettle is which h wee belled The neatday the
s Alien wen anus their dime end supper, till at last,
eseosered by hweger, they yenned is eat Iy sod we nut
per eceepaey to the hingilid hen these to ive nee daily.
who were watherieg hes absent oeured by the see of ma-
wholesome Seed. The Pinot Wed Mask his woo, but
it was of es avail t MA= at eleepr, with the I,ke re
salts ; till at last 1111 new to Nat It to be throws
sway, sad to make tsellhe set of his ows pos-
tai ; bet Ina this Idled* whaling he was a kw by the
treasectiee. _ _

Another colonel puts the money for the allowance
lel vodka (spirits) in his own pocket. Mosey that was
ordered to be distributed assompt the area for their
I sondoot on the 17th and 18th of October, and was
received for distribution a week before the battle of
lawman' was kept back benne it was known
that ea scion would be fought, and it would be a
west* to give money to inn who were going to be
killed. The balance was kept by the colonels.
Again, it has often bees mode matter of oomplaiatl
that the division of comanad ening* the allied
Ives. prevented print iv-operation. If we an to
trust per author, each regiment fought on its own
hook at the battle of the Alms. Mentehikoff made
the dispositions, arid then left everythieg to itself.
Darin noen Moan that the battle writ a we neither
saw ax hoardof oar punt of divines, brigadier, sr colo-
nel. Ws did set daring the whole tine mom soy orders
trenthsu Wino to ninon or to retire; sod what we retired,
snot; how whether we ought to go to the right or left.
la the antra of no its, it was W. sans ; sad it the nn
%tight, it was solely as the tarsal Wily of the oolongs of
replants, but wanly sot iron say orders of Prises
Goetabak, f 1. • for who would hers thought of nano" •
rinneat ths'aliarguwithoat ha bang supported by ana-
logy, whoa then wars *sty of pas is name ? Whore
then was NW/ ftlllll 01 sadder wet as the loft Ink, where
Prose fit weedditW wee Is pones ; but it was dillies's for
Min to stop the amass of the Fronk troop, as he eoald
asokiiiet up Ids reset,.. betas the bad orownd m.
is.
retreat seek platoon I said alma, without say
env, ed hat•alloa moved when eel where its sem-
wereller eiviesble. Wier panne the valley, IMO
aft belted end Onset late owlet of bank,
teem a sere et Meisel 1 while Gene et the reghweete formed
seefend nese of abeam of ell di* tear battalion toge-
ther—Ms was 'meddle the are with these reriseaes that
sairand non. With tea eseleilea swam the heeds of
the Bunn army, it is sot sannelag that the battle was
lost

Mach hes hese deservedly said as to the seglest
of the British commander in not properly for.' sag
the peados which was the first object of attack at
Inkermann. It appease that the neglect of the Roo-
slue to &draws ionnedlately after the rapture of the
battery most have been equally prejudicial to or
eneibili• The sement given of the state of the PAS.
elan solemn after the battery was taken is mithene.
The battery was coostrooted for two gook bet Hey
sot there; Willa the battery were ketileap=lies rutfine, aad most peobably the Hoards ware their
breakfast; several soldiers west late the battery, began
se look far Wender. Hen my impute borne 'aired up
with the crowd, is that it was impossible to restore order.
Close to me Wield spears assign of the saute of Protopopoff,
sad, sub, that he leeked doll, I asked what was the natter.
" Lb !" said he, "tell ay uncle to writs bone, and sty that
I was killed at the battle of I thermos l" His 'nub was
la war saglimat. I told kin that be ought sot to joke like
601. "SsitdoWt yea see the day is oar, ?" I had hardly time
'lloptionesse thus words before lb wan streak la the left side
by a rills-ball, and died almost inasediately. Shortly after
His I received a blow is the left shouldtr Irons snail nose,
sad 1 bard frogs all ride' cries that " the Rkatheebteo-
bonen are killing us I" I asked what was A. natter, sod
at the sane tunas • saw fell dead beside me. I ordered
the nsts who were sear at toss' who he was shot. They
said Is the back of the bead, so there could be no looser say
doubt. Takla( with no six um of toy tympany, I west
down to the minus of Ikathsriasaburs, which I food
about half way doers the kill is • annulled sun, sad
biog. Os my asking then what they wen firing at, they
said they were firing OM ear heads. "How use you be
firing over our head*, who you are killing oar sea ?" I
tried to ruses with this, sad persuade then If they would
sot Unapt at lout to ewes Snag, ekes a nu stopped out
sad flood ekes to no. I could cousin myself so longer,
bet bops to belabour his with the It of My sword,
wiles 1 sow • easier sailor use tone, and I tubed to mast
bin. " What ea earth are you about ? Why dea't you
look to your nett? Why doa't you &routes ? If you
un't advises, at least order your sea to sun STU', for
they an killiag !" The Slain said, in a plaintive voles,
"Whet us I do whoa they have killed non tbaa half of
as ?" Tibias, he raesat the 'army, I raid, " Led Is that
• rusts why you should sow kill your owe pearl. I"
"No' " said he, "it is they," poistiog to the ms.. why
hue shot u ; I us the say field of leer left, sad what au
I do with mach nelsos ?" "It is • *sue, Mr.

Major," mid I, "to fear your own EMU I" WO
went Joined by en cease from the regiment of Bo-
rodino, who added his reeneratrenoss to mine,
bet without .Sect. The major ►eft u, and went farther
down tbe hill out of the way. I refereed again to the
battery, but here reigned smelt confusion that it was int-
poesibn to distinguish the men of my own regional. Sed-
ately a erg was raised that we were bring oatiaaked ; I
Ghosted for the men of my eseepany, bat it was of no use,
and the erresest-teslor said they were mixed up with the
others, so thlt It would be impossible to mounts them. At
this time I met piing Bootie Annoutoe, who said, es
woolly as pomade, " How do you do ? T►ey would
not let me have ley sleep oat today r 'this
wise was alwen thought a toward In the regiment bi-
ome be trustee. I I asked some of the *Seen what we
had 12,ttar do, savant' or retire, as it was useless to resin
w►era we wen; bet they were all indecided, saying that
the Would wee sot that., en wen the monmanders of by,
Haloes, earl la many MINI t►e coptains bed Hese killed.
Is the mediation the Ire fres below kept Merman', for it
appeared that the Eketheriesubargers hsti resolved oe our
destruction. (Ensign Lepiasky, of our regiment, had a
Rendes bell entreated from ►I. beet after the hattic)
I afterwards lemon that the eommeader of a battery on
the hill Ind looeght four game to beer ■pee sr, es, seeing
we were Bred at by a Russian regiment, be took us estu•
rally tretregh for the essay ; forneetelv fee no, an colon,
who knew who we wen, rade up tr the MISS when the,
moo toady to en, **awls test los would am Dm nog

heavier than it was. The pieket that we found he the battery
still remained about 400 yards from no, thine, end when in
some cases I moppet* they ran short of ammusition they
came soarer and threw stones. The elmot was something
eatreordiaary monad the battery : some of the men wne
grumbling at the Regiment of likatherineobing, others weft
&patios for artillery to comae up, the buglers eonsteatly
played the signal to advance, and drummers best to the
attack, bat nobody thought of moving; there we stcod like
a Root of shims.
It will be seen that three regiments or twelve Unsling
stitched a battery in which there was' picket of stout forty
English soldiers, and, hiving gained pomettion of the bat-
tery, no oae ever thought et pueblos on, nor did we know
which direction to take. On the right Bank and centre
things were not is a mash better state. At the same time
thst the column of floimenoff 011110 oat of the Button J. the
regiment of Boutink same oat of Bastion 11. Ose of the
first shots that were fired balled G I Boimonoff, which
wee the chief eases of the disorder MU* 10th divot n. Tito
'filmiest of Eketberiitenbcrg having killed Vl' greeter

oil of its own officers (0;ly onslenth of the- num-
ber came out of actin)), the men, having no one to com-
mand them, wesdered heaven knows whitber, and led oar
brigade Wray, whisk brought us up to the two-gun battery,
where we ought never to have bees.
Finally, the state of our hospitals and the disor-
at one period of our medical raff hare
Misatia
made the subject of Memo. Nothing, however,
has been said which can bear comparison with our
author's description of the Russian hospitals.
On the esoming of the Bth I went to the !snack' on the
north side of the harbour to we • conned* who bed been
wosadsd en the 6th. Os reaching the barracks the Nene
precasted thus was so replete with honors that netting
will over dram it from my memory ; not only were the
bundler All of miserable maimed objects, bat the court-
yards were crowded with dead and dying, who lay there is
their egcay, with their ghastly wounds unwashed and na-
,is the dirt sad dart. Not only were these un-
fortunate men mmteended to, bat the dead were not named
away. IMI se pis through two of them morn of miter-
ing, whist' led ditto concentrated horrors of a field
of tattle wlikla the smallest possible space, and without ths
smitoment that Melba ewe to support the sight of sea in
their ages demos maim. I felt sick at heart, end could
why a Eustis soldier pesters death on the field
to a wound, hemmer alight. _ After paring thtewigh ono
roomfell ef wounded, I liamikoff, with whom I had
sat as the semollemateabooksed with whom I bad entered
the anima la the mese priseat He was wounded is
the rigida/seller by a tartish, but no surgeon had seer
esmaised W woad I then be lay, heaven only knows on
whet, leellel with bleed that bed Rowed from his womd.
Ho bilges/ of me to hied bin up with mythic', as be could
be the ball 'radon? *Wag teddy his body; he also
WNW ese memo of lines to be sent to hien, as what he
had OS Vas satersted with blood. I asked him if a doctor
had bus to see him. " No," said he, " a fold skier, or hoe-
pital dresser, cams sad &weed the wounds of those who
were slightly wounded, bat he said it was useless to do any-
this' s for me, as there were no hopes of my recovery, en I
shall die, and I hope soon." He tithed me to
make soh arrangements as I Gould abut his pro-
perty, and to writs to his father. I asked if the
Greed Dikes had beet there. " The day betas
yesterday they were in the next nom, bat they did
not mart is here." In the mem with my poor sem-
redo was an officer of the name of Ermolaiff, who bad been
slightly wounded with a mils*, of a shell. As 1 knew him
I naked after his health. " I am iniproviag slowly." said
he. " Has your wowed been dressed ?" I asked. " Yes,"
said he, " bat I ems obliged to pay those swine to gat them
to wash end dress my arm ; the dressers won't do anything
lifeboat mosey, the twain I But I must give all
La!:to • pot moo tram Ron t, poi; she is called
; she &Weeds to us as well as she cen—
tring* us toe, leashes end dresses meth wounds as
she is able—in test, takes can of us all." "Is riot
that the same woman," gated I, " whom I saw dressing
the mew& of the soldiers is the court-yard?" "Yost
f=ly, as me one she Is to likely oars for them, poor
1" At this time • soldier entered the room sad
sasenesed that the Greed Dukes were amiss, which wee
•ftad fee an visitors to retire. I waited oar the door
tetft their Weimer= visited the wounded I had jest left.
Illsheel was the first se setae ost, and, as he cum near me,
I add remark that Wert were standing in his eyes. As be
wed be setanted lay salute, and anted whether I wee
'wenaded. " I eat net, your Imperial Highness," I as-
sumed. " Were you In the fiction ?" " I was, your Im-
perial Riebroes, and Lave only 46 men left in my orespsay
elm of 120." " Tee, I remember your regiment was
the first in the lieglish battery." "It wee, year Imperial
llishasm." While this sonversation was smog on, a
amber of wounded soldiers beget to crawl along the ground
Menge us • is.. without arms, others without legs, each
man maize: wren ; altogether there must have been
seat ell remeents halasaity. It was • most
tesehlog spited&
The lib& beak is a curious commentary upon the
well-Imm fast that Ramie pays • heavy pries for
the apparent Moira:7 of her armies.