The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-29 00:00:00

THE AgPA OF AZOFF.

The following letter is extracted from a morning con.
temporary :
Sir,—The interest excited 28 tO. Russian supplies to
the Crimea by way of Azoff, and the evidence before the
Sebastopol Committee of official " ignorance of that
route," may justify a notice of its actual use a century
and more ago, when it contributed essentially to the
Russian conquests of the Crimea.
At that time the Black Sea was in the possession of
the Turks, the Tartars and Turks held the Perekop
route, and Turkish vessels were in the Sea of Azoff, yet
Rus,ia conquered the Crimea from the then most daring
and warlike people in Europe.
Field Marshal Count de Lacy (an Irish warrior), in his
autobiography, in the possession of his kinsman, Cornet
Pierse, records, 1736, "The. 3d of August I marched,
cox( irmably to the orders I had from his Majesty, from
Azoff to Perekop, with 5,000 infantry, 500 Dragoons,
600 Cossacks, and 2,000 Calmucks. I passed by Murtza
Danza Sapiana, the river Salisch, Asalambek, south
side the riser Mehus, where I found the Cossacks coming
from Perekop with the news that Munich, wanting pro-
vision and forage, and the greater part of his troops sick
for want of regular supplies of bread and water, bad re-
tired from Perekop towards Russia. Munich passed the
whole of the campaign in 1736 in taking and restoring
the Crimea (Perekop ?), and in losing half of his army,
which on first entering it amounted to 54,000 men, the
amount of the killed did not exceed 2,000. He left me
to winter in the Marine, in command of both armies,
while he went to St. Petersburg."
From Prince Da Ligne's Memoirs of Marshal Lacy (as
quoted in Mrs. Nash's " Crimea") we extract, " In the
next year (1737) it was necessary the campaign should
be opened with eclat, an expedition to the Crimea being
quite the fashi in at court, this famous man (Lacy) was
therefore fixed on to take the sole command. . . . His
intrepid march, his passage across the arm of the sea
near Arabat, partly on cork bridges, partly by fording,
partly by swimming, are well known and will never be
forgotten. He was charged with the operations in the
Crimea—the enemy in possession of all the surrounding
points of strength, and seas—yet he penetrated it with-
out losing a man ; and it ought to be recorded how. He
had remarked that the excessive heats dried up a part of
the Sea of Az iff, and that with the wind in the west the
waves are so effectively driven back, that if advantage
be taken of the instant, a passage may be effected dry
footed." He did so with 10,000 men ;be turned Pere-
kop, which ho took "in reverse ;" blew up the impreg-
nable fortifications ;" levelled those famous lines, defeat-
ed the Tartars in a pitched battle ; he took himself to
winterhs qseuoaorotedrseoioncitoheest Uofktrhaeince
was Ukraine, as
awsithuosuutalp.asTsihnigs
by Perekop.
General Manstein's memoirs, too, record that "Lacy,
to the astonishment of all Europe penetrated the Crimea,
oc century
ouenroyduonnt
exploitwhere hes victoryave
saved
lawn aayrsm
army
attendedhioh must'hi
abvye w
beenthr 1.. u
ti
their gallant
in attacking the impenetrable linesm ofh; PerekiGopsa,cgoranificathende
n
north side."
It is not for one whore relations served Russia
and a half, and have been deniedservice for a
,ryitooncicaoym.ment on facts,—LlA.acmy,
_ _

(Letter from Lord Aberdeen to Lord J. Russell.)
Downing-street, Nov. 21, 1851.
My dear Lord John,-1 have shown yuur letter to the
Duko of Newcastle, and also to Sidney Herbert. They both,
as might have been expecte,d, strongly urged me to adopt
any snob arrangement wi'
Al respect to their offices as should
be thought most conduc'
aye to the public service. TJaques-
Itit object ; bat, on full consideration,
t whether, in the present state of
°enntaebrltYatinhis great is thedo firs
'•t
your propef,al would prove advantageous or desii -
a'de. It is mainly founded on the assumption that Her-
bert ought not I',o move the estimates next session in the
House of Co•eamone. Now, I fully agree with you in
thinking tl..at the office of Secretary at War, as at present
constituted, can,:ot he maintained, together with a Secre-
tary of State for the War Department. It is also ptefectly
true that Herbert expressed a similar opinion in the House
of Commons; but I think he spoke of this as a permanent
arraQement, and that he offered to continue his own ser-
vices as long as they could be useful, especiaily with refer-
ence to the duration of the war.
It is quite clear that an Under-Secretary of State could
not with any degree of propriety Move the estimates ; but.
looking at the present it tte of things as temporary, I douot
see why a Privy Councillor's °Pa a should not iu future be
constituted, cherged with all the financial concerns of the
army, and who might very properly move the es; imates. If
this should not be the case, your proposal would involve
the absolute necessity of the Secretar3 of State for War
always being a member of the Hausa of Commons. This,
I think, would be objectionable in principle, and might be
inconvenient in practice.
I can scarcely imagine that the- House of Commons, being
assured of the temporary natui o of the present arrange-
ment, would insist ou the suppree sion of the War office in
the first year of a war, bringing.greatly increased labours
and responsibility. In the meantime, therefore, and until
a final arrangement shall tike place, Herbert might con-
tinue to move the estimates, anti I should think that he
would do so with the acceptance of Ihe house, in which, I
believe, heia deservedly popular, and likely to find favour.
Your proposal being founded on the supposed impropriety
of Herbert moving the estimates„ and the consequent neces-
sity of the Secretary of State for War being in the House
of Commons would render the removal of the Duke of
Newcastle from his present o Mee unavoidable ; but al-
though you would regard this as the inevitable result of
an official arrangement, it is laot to be supposed that it
would be considered in this light 'by the public, or indeed
by any impartial person. The dislocation of the Govern-
ment would be so great, and the season assigned for it ap-
parently so inadequate, that it could only be considered as
a mode of substituting one man -for another. Although you
may be far from entertaining arty such desire, the transac-
tion could receive no other it .terpretation. In justice to
the Duke, I do not think that his colleagues, without very
strong grounds, would wish to place him in such a position.
Now, with respect to Lord Palmerston, I do not know
whether he is aware of the burden you are disposed to lay
upon him ? but, if not, I should greatly doubt his incline-
Coe to undertake it. Palmerston, within a few months,
is as old as I am ; and, without disparaging his inherent
vigour of mind, he possesses no immunity from the effects
of age. When I look at the laborious and complicated
duties discharged by the Duke of Newcastle and by Her-
bert, and anticipate others 'which must shortly be added to
them, I fear that I could not, honestly advise the Queen to'
intrust Palmerston, or any other man, with so great a re-
sponsibility.
I said in my former letter that your proposal was unex-
pected by me, because my strong impression had been,
from various conversations, that you greatly preferred the
nomination of the Duke of Newcastle to the War Depart-
ment instead of Palmerston, which had been canvassed at
the time in the press and in the House of Commons. But
I suppose that I must have been .isistakett in this respect.
It is useless, however, to enter into the qualifications of
different men, for, as I do not perceive the immediate ne-
cessity for the abolition of Herbert's office and the extinc-
tion of his functions, I cannot consider the proposed
:hemp as imperatively canted for.
I db not know that we gain -much by a reference to the
times of Lord Godolphin or -Lord Chatham. Godolphin,
as Prime Minister, undoub'nedly gave great assistance to
the Duke of Marlborough in the War of Succession, and
Chatham, as the head of • s :lispartmsnt, may almost exclu-
sively have originated the war measures of the Govern-
ment. It would be absr,rd if I were to pretend to take any
active part in the preparation of military details, or
the direction of milit•ery measures, which I can only very
ha Ably assist and promote. But, after all, instead of re-
ferring to these old times, perhaps it is more to the pur-
pose to recollect that in our own day the greatest, the most
glorious, anti by far the most successful war ever carried
on by this country was directed by Lord Castlereagh and
Lord Bathurst, under the superintendence of a Minister
who was certainly not very warlike in his character, al-
though he lived to see his threatened march to Paris car-
ried into effect. During the last years of this great struggle
the War Minister was in the House of Lerds, while Pal-
merston, as Secretary at War, although not in the Cabi-
net, moved the estimates in the House of Commons.—
Ever, my dear Lord John, sincerely yours,

ABERDEEN.

(Letter from Lord 3. Russell to Lord Aberdeen.)
Chesham-place, Nov. 23, 1854.
My dear Lord Aberdeen,—l have just received your
answer to my letter of the 17th. I have not hitherto spoken
to Palmerston on the subject, but on his return I shall
communicate to him our correspondence, and consult with
him upon it.
I remain, yours truly, 3. RUSSELL.

(Leiter from Lord John EMS zell to Lord Aberdeen.)
Pembroke•lodge, Nov. 28,1854.
My dear Lord Aberdeen,--A 8 Peluleretou's return is de•