The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-10 00:00:00

THE SEBASTOPOL BREVET.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—The long delayed Sebastopol brevethas at length
appeared, and I beg now to send you the following
analysis thereof, showing the number of officers on the
staff as well those serving with their regiments who
have been promoted.

Regimental.
Staff. Officers. Total.
Promoted to be colonel 1 ... None ... 1
Ditto lieut.-colonel
Ditto majors 2O ... 66 ... 86
The rule by which these promotions have been
made it is impossible to discover, as they could not
have been more arbitrary had they been the
result of a lottery. Some of those promoted are at
home, and I believe I could point out more than
one who has never been in the Crimea at all. As
usual the staff have monopolised about one-fourth of
these good things. Of course, in the regimental promo-
tions, the aristocratic claims of the Guards have not been
lost sight of. In the official "Army List" for September,
Major Thesiger, of the Grenadier Guards, is noted as
employed recraiting, so that he has received his promo-
tion for about one month of active service ; the total
amount of his service, according to Hart's last annual
"Army List," is 9 years. But there are still more for-
tunate gentlemen. First, Major the Hon. S. J. G.
Calthorpe, Bth Light Dragoons. His total service is 7
years, but he was A.D.C. to Lord Raglan, and as
such, of course, his service, however comfortable
and easy it might have been, must of necessity
have been distinguished. Secondly, Major G. Byng
Harman, 34th Regiment, total service 6 years,
junior captain but two of his regiment, promoted
over the heads of 10 of his brother officers, one
of whom has served 21 years on full pay. Perhaps Field
Marshal the Earl of Strafford can tell us if there be not
something in a name. lam sure I need not inform you
that there are hundreds of captains now doing regimen-
tal duty in the Crimea of double the service of these
for ate officers.
Tile only lieutenant-colonel promoted is Colonel S.
BroWnrigg, Grenadier Guards, Assistant Adjutant Ge-
neral ;he has been 23 years in the service. Now, there
are no less than 39 lieutenant-colonels serving in the
Crimea, who are senior to him, one of whom has a ser-
vice of 48 years, whilst many of theta have been wounded
in the present war. We have here a splendid specimen
of selection by merit. Faugh ! merit, indeed ! Let an
officer be first cousin to a nobleman's butler, and his merit
will be more conspicuous than if he were a Bayard.
But one of the greatest hardships is the adherence to
that old and most ridiculous custom, of not allowing
brevet promotion to descend lower than the rank of cap-
tain. How long is this senile regulation to do injustice
to the subaltern ranks ? We are calling loudly for the
renovation of our decrepid old system by the infusion of
younger blood, and yet the very means of obtaining it is
prevented by nonsensical rules and customs. If, how-
ever, this senseless regulation is to be continued, then
surely those noble youths, die subalterns of our Crimean
army, who have so fearlessly and gallantly performed
their duty, should be permitted to reckon every year of
active service as three towards that period when, as
lieutenants, they would become entitled to the extra
shilling per diem, and that period should not count
from the date of their having become lieutenants, but
from their entrance into the service.
There is another circumstance connected with the fall
of Sebastopol which I would beg to bring under your
notice. It would appear that the evacuation of the
Redan was ascertained by a party of volunteers from
each of the Highland regiments (see Blackwood's Maga.
zinc for November, p. 622). This was of course a ser-
vice of extreme danger, and it proved to be one of the
greatest utility, as hundreds of the unfortunate wounded
were in consequence attended to hours before they would
otherwise have been. Notwithstanding this the names
of the officers and men who so gallantly executed this
duty have never been even so much as mentioned in the
despatches; perhaps the reason is that no officer of the
staff crept over that blood-stained ground, or entered
the burning and exploding Redan, and that those who
did so were not born to enjoy the blessings of nepotism.
—I am, &c. AN OLD FIELD OFFICER.