The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-17 00:00:00

LETTER FROM- SIR CHARLES NAPIER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—I have laid before the public my case up
to our departure from Kiel, by which it will be ob-
served that no stone was left unturned by me to
show the Admiralty that they had misinterpreted
my letters entirely ; but the injury was done, and
they were determined not to undo it. They pro-
bably thought I should be obliged to submit ; but
I was just as determined as they were not to sub-
mit to injustice, and to bide my time till Ireturned
to England.
When we lay at Kiel the squadron was reduced
to six sail of the line, and the Captain of the fleet
removed—a very unusual course—it, however,
showed the "animus." Shortly after his removal
a vacancy took place in the representation of Mary-
lebone. I asked by telegraph to be allowed to come
home on leave, which was refused ; but I might
vacate my command. This I determined not to
do, but to wait patiently till I came homes and
make one more effort to explain my conduct either
in writing or in person.
On the Wellington's arrival at Spithead I ol-
tained the Commander-in-Chief's leave to proceed
to town, and was certainly not received in a very
gracious manner by the First Lord of the Admi-
ralty. I was asked to sit down with that insolent
sneer on his countenance so well known in Parlia-
ment, which did not presage any change of opinion;
he told me he would hear what I should say ; but
would make no reply. He did hear what I had to
say, and I spoke to him as plainly as an officer be.
fore his chief could do ; and I only regretted that
respect, not for him, but for his office, prevented
me using the language his conduct deserved. After
having spoken my mind I retired, and proceeded to
Portsmouth, where I found an order to haul down
my flag, which produced the correspondence which
I now transmit to you for insertion.
It will be seen that there is some repetition, but
it was impossible to avoid it.
I have the honour to remain,
Your obedient servant,
CHAS. NAPIER.
Merchistoun Hall, Sept. 14, 1855.

SIR CHARGES NA .PIER-SIR JAMES
GRAHAM-THE A DMIRALT Y.

We resume the correspondence between Sir
Charles Napier and the Admiralty, together with
a letter to the Duke of Newcastle from the gallant
Admiral. The chief features in the correspondence
which we publish to-day are the details of the cir-
cumstance under which Sir Charles Napier ceased
to be Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic fleet, and
the demand which he immediately and energeti-
cally made to be tried by a Court-martial, on find-
ing that his conduct as Commander-in-Chief had
thus been, by implication, censured. It will be
observed that there are occasionally repetitions in
the facts, and even in the expressions emplo3 ed,
but that is an unavoidable necessity in a corres-
pondence of this nature. In all official communi-
cations there must be great precision, and conse-
quent repetition, in tLe phraseology used.

No. XXIV.
[Extract.]
On the 26th September the Admira:ty wrote as
follows, signed by Sir James Graham and Captain
Peter Richards :
We have approved your orders for sending Lome
the Cumberland and Ajax ; but the withdrawal of
the French fleet renders any further immediate
diminution of the strength of your line-of-battle
ships inexpedient • and the sailing ships, and even
the two three-deckers, must be detained till the last
moment consistent with their safety.
[I did detain them till the last moment, and then was
reproved for sending them home, though I did nut want
them.—C.N.]
An autumn cruise by the Russian fleet in the
Baltic, when the British fleet had abandoned it,
would bring dishonour on our arms. "At all
hazards " so great an evil must be averted ; and
you will remember that in former wars, when the
power of steam was unknown, a squadron of
British line-of-battle ships has maintained the
blockade in the Baltic till the end of November.
[The Baltic and the Gulf of Finland are very different,
—C. N.] •
And on the 22d December, signed by Admiral
Dundas and Mr. Cowper :

No. XXV.

The Baltic fleet, on its return to port, being now
dispersed in different harbours of Great Britain,
and several of the ships which composed this fleet
being under orders for service in the Black Sea
and Mediterranean, you are hereby required and
directed to strike your flag and come on shore.
To Sir Charles Napier, K.C.8., Vice-
Admiral of the Blue, &c.

No. XXVI.
[Copy.]
Merehistoun Hall, Horndean,
Dec. 25, 1854.

Sir,—l have the honour to acknowledge the
receipt of their lordships' orders, directing me to
strike my flag ; and with reference to the same I
request their lordships will inform me whether I
am to consider that my command is at an end.—l
have the honour, &c.,
(Signed) CHAS. NAPIER, Vice-Admiral.
The Secretary of the Admiralty.
They wrote on 2Gth December :

No. XXVII.

With reference to your letier of yesterday's date,
I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of
the Admiralty to acquaint you that the order which
you have received, agreeably to custom, to strike
your Flag, and come on shore, is always the ter-
mination of a Flag-officer's command ; and I am
directed by my Lords to take this opportunity to
express to you the sense their Lordships entertain
of your exertions during the period of your ser-
vice in command of the Baltic Fleet.—l am, Sir,
your very obedient, humble servant,
W. A. B. HAMILTON.

Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.8.,
Merchistoun. _ _

The following is a document of special import-
ance, and will hereafter be frequently and particu-
larly referred to in Parliament, as adverting to the
first adverse act of the Admiralty, namely, that of
dismissing Sir Charles Napier from the command
of the Baltic Fleet.

No. XXVIII.
Merchistoun, Horndean, Jan. 2, 1855.
Sir,—l have to acknowledge your letter of the
26th of December, acquainting me that the order
which I have received, agreeably to custom, to
strike my flag and come on shore, is always the
termination of an officer's command, and adding
that you are directed by my Lords to take this
opportunity to express to me the sense they enter-
tain of my exertions during the period of my ser-
vice in command of the Baltic Fleet.
I regret that their Lordships should not have taken
the opportunity of the dispersion of the Baltic Fleet
to recognise in any manner the services of the several
admirals, officers, and ships' companies, lately under
my command. lam not aware that their services
were inferior to those of the admirals, officers, and
ships' companies of the French fleet during the
period of our acting together, and they were ex-
tended over a much longer period of time—for their
Lordships know that the British fleet was sent to
the Baltic at a very inclement season, long before
it was joined by the French squadron, and that it
remained in the Baltic far into another very incle-
ment season, long after the French squadron had
gone home—yet while the French Emperor, in his
Speech to the Chambers, pays a just tribute to his
fleet, as well as to his army, for their devotion and
discipline iu the North, as well as in the South,
and records a success in the Baltic, in which the
fleet under my command participated, the Queen
was not advised to advert in her Speech to Parlia-
-1 ment to the services of her Baltic Fleet, nor do
their Lordships now notice them. It would have
been gratifying to me, certainly, to have been di-
rected, on hauling down my flag, to communicate
to all those lately under my command their
" Lordships' " satisfaction with their conduct.
I took to the Baltic a fleet, splendid and magni-
ficent no doubt in the size of the vessels of which it
was composed ; but their Lordships cannot be ig-
norant of the defects, in the composition and quality
of the crews hastily put on board. That fleet was
not manned like the fleets of Lord Nelson and Lord
St. Vincent, nor, with the exception of a few shipswhich had been off Lisbon, was it then fit to go
'
into action • but I brought back a flee. t really
crews
mag-
nificent, not iu vessels only, bhi4
or;i
nep.erfTe chteisne
(without which vessels a
gunnery, in seamanship,
enrde in
results were obtained by the unremitting
of the officers, and through the willing
obedience of
itg exertions
the seamen, many of whom had necessarily been
schare
ie
compelled to serve on their return frodm. foreign
or a
sta-
tions, when they had expected their
long run on shore on leave.
I consider the country to be greatly indebted to
those officers, and to those seamen, and it would,
indeed, be a subject of regret to me to think that
on account of any dissatisfaction their lordships
may entertain with respect to any part of my con-
duct, they should abstain from signifying to the
admirals, officers, and seamen of the late Baltic
fleet their grateful sense of their services.
As regards my own conduct, it would be most
gratifying to me if their lordships would afford me
the opportunity of justifying every part of it before
any tribunal composed of onicers competent to form
judgwent upon nadvia cplegiQuo but I cannot