The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-04 00:00:00

THE BRITISH EXPEDITION.

LAW INTELLIGENCE—(This Day.)

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH. (Front the Times Special Correspondent.)
(Before Lord Campbell and a Common Jury.)
CAMP BEFORE SEBASTOPOL,
LEWIS V. EVANS.
TUESDAY, Nov. 20.
As if to mock us for our self-inflicted miseries of
This was an action brought by the plaintiff, a coke
and coal merchant, of Vauxhall-street, to recover of last year, the weather continues to present the most
the defendant, a veterinary surgeon of the borough, the delightful contrast to the storms and rains of this
' value of a horse alleged to have died from the unskilful time twelvemonth. How many lives, how many
treatment of the defendant. The defendant pleaded not reputations, might have been saved if the Novem-
guilty. ber of 1854 in the Crimea had been at all like the
Mr
. Sergeant for same month in this present year ! Up to the mo-
ment at which I write there has not been a day
the plaintiff;
gdl
eefveinedwane
tr
.e counsel
Air. S. hee
Chitty and
for I r.
the O
since last April in which military operations could
The plaintiff's case was that the defendant, who pro-
fessionally attended his horses, saw not have been undertaken. Either last year was
the horse in ques- remarkable in the annals of the Crimea for its se-
verity, or we are enjoying a season of exceptional
be suffering from the mange, which he said he could mildness. Storms have lowered over us
.and
cure. The horse was sent on the following morning to passed away ; dark skies have threatened us and
the defendant's infirmary, where its head, neck, chest, melted into floods of golden sunbeams. The wind
and belly were rubbed with something prepared by him. seems to be busied in tossing the French steamers
The horse was taken home and became restless, rubbing at sea and keeping the mail late, which it succeeds
his head, pawing the ground, and showing symptoms of in doing very happily, so that our letters are be-
great pain, which increased during the night and con- hind time with the greatest regularity. Up to this
tinned the whole of Monday. The defendant was sent period nothing has happened which could have
for, and on his seeing the horse he admitted it was in
affected the health or efficiency of the army—the
great danger, and according to his instructions it.was
of November 14 could not have occurred
washed with soap and warm water and taken great care disaster
of, but the symptoms of irritation and pain increased, -7-none of those poor
fellows would have perished ,
the horse foaming at the mouth, rearing, kicking, in the mud between ' the front" and the harbour
and destroying the manger. The horse was on ; whose bones are now turned up by the labourer's
Wednesday taken out for exercise, when it fell spade as he works on the roads. The country is
down and died. It was taken to the knacker's-yard open in very direction to carriage, man, or beast ;
and opened, and the intestines found to be perfectly the trenches are dry; in fact, the weather presents
healthy. The plaintiff's brother in-law who attended I contrasts of endless variety to that which prevailed
to the horses, said the horse in question was purchased last year, and affords ground for infinite specula-
lame for 301., which complaint the defendant cured, and I tion and comment. There is no reason, however,
that the horse when it died was worth 701. to suppose that the English army would have had
The defence was that the plaintiff did not take proper I much reason to congratulate itself on the fact that
care of the horse after it had been rubbed with the I clemency of the season had averted the evils which
liniment, which consisted of train 'oil, sulphur, and tur-
want of roads, excessive fatigue, and a false posi-
purchased lame was worth about 171. or 18/. A horse
tur-
pentine. The defendant considered the horse when
tion would have entailed upon them, inasmuch as
it .
is certain the bad weather paralysed the enemy,
suffering with the mange was considered to be value-
off th •
cut reserves, impeded their transport of
less, because the disease could not always he cured,
Mr. Vines, a member of the Royal College of Veterinary food and of reinforcements, and prevented their
Surgeons, examined the horse at the knacker's yard, and making another attempt—not at Inkerman, of
considered it died from inflammation of the bowels and which they had to their cost learnt the strength,
stomach, which complaint arises from a variety of causes. but from the Traktir bridge, or at some other
The defendant now said, that when he saw the horse, point of the Tchernaya then in their possession,
after it ha‘i been dressed, he found it in the yard, ex- from which they could have debouched into the
posed to the cold March winds. plain of Balaklava, and made a grand attack on
Lord Campbell, in summing up, said be thought the the rear of our lines. Although those lines
plaintiff had failed to make out a case of negligence and
were greatly strengthened, and the profile altered
want of skill on the part of the defendant.
The jury returned a verdict for the defendant. and improved, when the rumours of the Russians
gathering force towards Baidar with the intention
of assaulting us prevailed, they were far from being
perfect or unassailable last November. We now
learn that the country between Tchongar, Perekop,
and Simpheropol was in such a state that it was with
, the utmost difficulty the garrison of Sebastopolcould
be fed, and that very strong reinforcements were
kept for weeks waiting at Odessa, Nicolaieff, and
Cherson, till they could march into the Crimea, and
were, finally, detained till the spring of this year.
But for these impediments the Russians would have
had a prodigious army about Sebastopol this time
twelvemonth or early in December, and if they
were indisposed to try another Inkerman they
could certainly have pressed us much harder in the
trenches and tried our men by strong and repeated
sorties, to which, as it now appears, their hard-
worked and exhausted garrison was not adequate.
At times it was difficult to march even a battalion
from the army of the Belbek or Mackenzie's Farm
into the city or to effect the usual reliefs. If to
these considerations be added the notorious senti-
ments and opinions of persons high in authority,
who advocated the abandonment of the siege, and
the retreat of the army from the Crimea after the
battle of Inkerman, it will be seen that our pros-
pects would not have been much better had weather
like that we now enjoy prevailed last winter. One
of the best soldiers in the army, and our only
general—a veteran of great and varied experience
—was so struck with the dangers and falsity of our
position that he strongly advised the Commander-
in-Chief to withdraw our army, and renew the at-
tempt on Sebastopol in another form this year.
Theinconveniences to which the famous flank march
had subjected the army became more apparent
every dayafter the failure of the first bombardment.
The flank march was opposed, or was viewed with
disfavour, by officers of great authority, and by
one whose sagacity and skill are seldom deceived
in military operations, although he is not a soldier,
and does not command on laud. It is now evident,
at all events, that if we were where the Russians
were last year, not one of them could ever leave
the Crimea.
The descent on the Crimea itself was a bold
stroke towards the capture of Sebastopol. The
battle of the Alma left the approach to the city
open to us whenever we liked. Prince Menschi-
koff's flank march to Bakshi-Serai and Simpheropol,
although somewhat ridiculed at the time, is now
considered a judicious and daring movement, but
it certainly uncovered the north of Sebastopol, the
Tchernaya, and Balaklava ; and as it was deter-
mined by our generals to abandon the dashing cha-
racter of the expedition, and to assume for our
operations a strategical character, to which they
had no previous pretensions, we wore obliged to
look out for harbours, and the inlets of Balaklava,
Kamiesh, and Kazatch met the eye and fixed our
destiny. Then came the period during which,
without let or hindrance, or attempt at interfer-
ence or prevention, the Russians, recovering from
their surprise and alarm and flocking back to Se-
bastopol, under the directions of a man of extra-
ordinary genius began the rudiments of the vast
works which baffled our efforts for 11 long months
of toil, suffering, and bloodshed, heroically endured
and overcome. Now it is perceived that if the ad-
vice of Sir George Cathcart had been followed the
city might have been ours by a vigorous assault on
the day after we arrived on this plateau, for the
ships alone could never have defended the place,
and the greater portion of the feeble garrison, such
as it was, consisted of the equipages, or crews, of
those very ships. The enemy when they retreated to
the north side would have been as impotent as they
are now, and Sebastopol, in all its beauty, and with
all its vast stores and riches, would have been in our
possession. That is the hypothesis as to the result
of vigorous action from the south side. But had
we approached the city from the north side, there
can be no doubt that the forts would speedily have
fallen, the fire of the shipping could have affected
our operations very slightly, and the only inconve-
nience would have been ie want of a harbour.
The anchorage is good all along the coast up to
Eupatoria, and, except on the great gale of the
14th of November, no damage would have occurred
to our merchantmen or men-of-war riding off the
coast. The mouths of the Katcha, or even of the
Belbek, when the fire of the battery which just
reached the water was reduced, could have been
made available for landing such stores and ma-
teriel as we required. With the northern forts
the whole city of Sebastopol and the remainder of
the fleet would hare been ours, our army could
have reposed on its laurels for the winter in an im-
pregnable position, a year would have been saved
in the war, and the Crimea would have been
cleared of the Russians early in the spring of this
year. Such is the hypothesis respecting operations
from the north side. Such are the discussions which
arise in tho army now that it rests from its labours
and sees a vanquished army gathering strength in
a position which appears to us impregnable or un-
assailable. As to future operations it is not be-
coming in me to speak, but the Russian General
must be a man of extraordinary confidence if
he thinks he can extricate his army when the
spring comes from the grasp of an enemy which
already clutches the whole of his coast, is esta-
blished at two points in his rear, and has four dis-
tinct bases of operations, with sufficient troops to
use them all, and to concentrate a prodigious force
on any point he pleases. He may err, and if he
does, and the blot is hit, the result will be fatal.
The Russian infantry, in spite of his stubborn en-
durance and passive courage, is not equal to either
French, Sardinian, English, or Turkish troops.
Every day shows us that it has no chance even
against the latter when they are led and officered
by Englishmen or brave and skilful European
soldiers. Their cavalry in equal numbers will be
ridden down like grass whenever they stand
against English or French squadrons ; and,
notwithstanding the excellence of their artil-
lery compared with other arms of their ser-
vice, it cannot compete with ours for an instant
as regards rapidity of motion or precision of
fire.. Prince:Gortschakoff will be a grand strategist
opposed to very weak generals if he succeeds in
saving his army and marching them scatheless from
the Crimea. The health of our troops is excellent ;
the draughts which arrive are rather younger than
is desirable, but they will get experience and in-
struction during the winter. They are admirably
clothed, and fed as no army was ever fed before
—fresh meat, bread, and vegetables are issued to
all. Henceforth the men are to get fresh meat
only three times a week, and bread only three
times a week, instead of every day. On the other
days they will receive pork or salt beef, and excel-
lent biscuit. Ix respect of winter clothing, hut-
ting, and feeding, our men are immeasurably bet-
ter off than our allies, and it is not unusual to
see the latter eating in the English camp of the
excess of our soldiers' cooking kettles. Little
friendships have sprung up in this way. " Fran-
ceese" comes over with his spoon, a smile, an onion,
and a bit of salt, or savoury condiment, to some
sapper or grenadier, day after day, about dinner
time, indulges in pantomimic conversation,
o inter-
larded with many " bones," and regales n good
soup and broth, to the great delight of the enter-
tainer. Thus both are satisfied—a true entente
cordiale is established through the medium of the
stomach, and no one is a loser. The reinforcements
to our ally contain, like our own, many very young

SURREY SESSIONS.—(This Day.)

(Before Thomas Puckle and a Bench of Magistrates.)
IMPUDENT ROBBERY AT A LINENDRAPER'S.—Josepit
Slack, 18, described on the charge sheet as a slater's
labourer, was indicted for stealing 27 yards of flannel,
the property of John Noakes, linendraper, Kennington•
Cross.

Mr. Samuel Waite, a mason, residing in Marlborough-
place, Kennington-cross, stated that on the afternoon
of the 25th ult. he was standing at his door, when he
saw the prisoner deliberately walk into the lobby and
seize up a roll of flannel, which he ran off with. Wit-
ness pursued him, and, after a smart chase, secured him,
and handed him over to the custody of a constable.
The police-constable said he was on dnty in the Lower
Kennington road on the afternoon in question, when he
heard cries of " Stop thief," and " Police" proceed from
the Triangle. Witness went there and raw the prisoner
struggling with Mr. Waite, who said that he had stolen
a roll of flannel from Mr. Noakes's shop. Witness then
took him into custody.
The jury, without the least hesitation, returned a ver-
dict of guilty.
The Chairman asked what was known of the prisoner.
Sergeant Romaine, 14 L, said that he bad known the
prisoner as a thief for ten years. At the December
sessions last year he was tried and sentenced to six
months' hard labour at Wandsworth for a similar rob-
bery. He was connected also with a gang of notorious
thieves.

The Chairman said that the court must pass a heavy
sentence on such a dangerous person as the prisoner.
He sentenced him to six years' penal servitude.
John Jones, 28, collier, was indicted for stealing at
Wey bridge, a coat, the property of Joseph Purnell.
Verdict, guility. Sentence, two months at Wandsworth.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—(This Day.)

THE SUICIDE MANlA.—Elizabeth, Parsons, a young
married woman, who appeared in a state of very great
exhaustion and debility, and with a face as pale as a
spectre, was brought before Mr. Yardley, charged with
attempting to commit self-destruction.
Thomas Allwood, a police-constable, No. 422 K,
stated that on Friday last he saw the prisoner lying on
the foot-path, in the Mile-end road, surrounded by a
mob of persons, who said she had taken poison. The poor
creature was moaning, and in great pain, and he lost no
time in conveying her to the London Hospital, where
she had ever since remained.

Mr. John Porter, acting resident medical officer of
the London Hospital, said the prisoner was brought
there on Friday last. Some medicine, and an antidote,
was administered to her, which dislodged the contents
of her stomach, and she had since been under medical
treatment. She appeared to have something which
pressed more heavily on her mind than her body, and
was in a very depressed state.
Mr. Yardley—Were the contents of her stomach
analysed ? _ _

Mr. Porter—No, sir. I wish it to be publicly known
that people who attempt to commit suicide are amenable
to the law. People are being continually brought to
the hospital labouring under the effects of poison.
Mr. Yardley said there was no direct proof that the
young woman had taken poison, and for the want of proof
he could not commit he*for trial. Besides she appeared
cohavb suffered much al'
,ady, and as her husband was pre-
sent and would lake home he would discharge her.
He was sorry the sui de mania among women was so
prevalent. Females another class were almost daily
brought before him, , ::111.1arged with attempting to drown
themselves in the London Dock, while they were
labouring under exciteinent or intoxication, and it was a
dreadful state of thtligs. Self-murder was a felony;
and to attempt to commit a felony was a misdemeanour,
punishable by fine or; mprisonment, or both, Ile bad
frequently explaine hat the law was to unfortunate
creatures brought be e him. In this ca,ie he would
permit the husband`, the prisoner to take her home,
and he hoped her na ow escape would be a warning
to her.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.—(This Day.)

r,ounorr, Dec. 4.—Wind chis day at noon, W.
light breeze, and dull hazy Weather.
PORTSMOUTH, Dec. 3.—Wind N.E.—Arrived—Hector,
from Moulmein. Sailed—Negotiator, for the Cape of
Good Hope ; Queen VictoriaAterra Leone.
DARTMOUTH, Dec. 3.—Winch', N.E.— Off the port--Ze-
phyr, from Rio Janeiro, for Gothenburg.
FALMOUTH, Dec. 3.—Wind X.E.—Arrived—Rob Roy,
from Callao ; Earl of Leicester, Yarmouth, fcr Trieste,
with cutwater started, and with loss of bulwarks, sze.,
from contact with the Montcalm, of Llanolly.
SOUTHAMPTON, Dec. 3.—Arrivectr-Hermann (s.), from
Bremen for New York. Sailed—La Plata (s.), for the
West Indies. The Harriet, from Newport, reports having
fallen in with a steamer, in a sinking -Mato, 30th Nov.,
off the Ram Head of Plymouth, apparently fruit laden.
She is supposed to have been run down the night previ-
ous. She disappeared in half an hour after being fallen in
with.

COWES, Dec. 3.—Wind N.—Arrived—bon Antonia,
from Surinam, for Hamburg.
PLYMOUTH, Dec. 3.—Arrived—Conqueror;from Alex-
andi ia, for Amsterdam, to stop a leak ; Amazon, London,
for Adelaide ; Berwick (Ls.), London, for the Crimea.
Sailed—Alfred, for Jamaica.
PILL, Dec. 3.—Wind S.E. by E. —Arrived--W9rthy of
Devon, from Quebec; Nicolaus, Rio Grande.
QUEENSTOWN, Dec. '2.— Arrived -- Try Again and
Urania, from Quebec. Off the port—Lord Ashburton,
from Miremichi, and sailed for Liverpool.

men, and I was particularly struckwith the youth-
ful appearance of the men of a regiment which
arrived at Kamiesh on Monday. There is scarcely
any use in keeping up an appearance of a diary,
for one day is uncommonly like another. Prepara-
tions for the winter are evident on every side.
Wood, canvass, little bits of glass, tar, and
pitch, and, above all, nails and tacks, are
eagerly sought after. At the head-quarters' sale,
on General Simpson's departure the other day, a
hammer, hatchet, and saw sold for 2/. 15i. A bag
of nails was disposed of by auction the same week
for 405., and on counting the contents it was found
there were only 130 nails iu the bag. Friendly
little felonies of planking and such things are not
unheard-of, and the greatest favour you can do a
friend is " to let him have a piece of board about
six feet long by a foot wide ; ' or, " The captain
says, sir, as how he'd be very grateful if you could
give him a bit of glass about three inches square,
sir, for his winder." The heart soon grows har-
dened under such constant pressure, and one is
obliged to refuse " a couple of tenpenny nails"
or " the loan of the hammer for an hour" with the
sternness of a Brutus.
Mr. Stafford is going, it is understood, to move
for/an inquiry into the grievances of the medical
department on the meeting of Parliament.
I will now proceed with my diary, which is ne-
cessarily very meagre in incident, and, indeed,
there was no event to chronicle subsequent to the
terrible catastrophe of the 15th.
The manner in which this great disaster was
caused is said to be this :—" Some French artil-
lerymen were engaged in shifting powder from
case to case in the park, and, as the operation is
rather dangerous, every care was taken to pre-
vent accidents. The powder was poured from one
case into the other through copper funnels, and
no fire was allowed near the place whore the men
were so employed. As one of the soldiers was
pouring the powder out of a case he perceived a
fragment of shell gliding out of it into the funnel,
and, not wishing to let it get into the other
case, he jerked the funnel to one side; the
piece of shell fell on the stones, which were
covered with loose powder, and is supposed to
have struck fire in its fall, for the explosion took
place at once. Miraculous as it may appear, the
aitilleryman who was, as it were, in the focus of
the explosion, escaped alive, and is only slightly
burned and scorched. His comrade, who held the
other case, was blown to atoms. Another strange
incident was the death of the commandant of the
artillery for the day. He was in or near the park
at the time of the explosion, and as soon as he had
seen everything in order as far as possible he went
off to have a look at the French batteries in and
about Sebastopol, on which the Russians had
opened a heavy fire. As he rode along a cannon
shot struck off his head. Such is the story. The
escapes that day were astounding. Clothes were
torn off men's backs ; the chairs or beds on which
they sat, the tables at which they were eating, the
earth where they stood, were broken and torn by
shot, shell, rocket irons, shrapnel, grape, canister,
and musket balls, which literally rained down upon
them. It was fully two minutes ere the heavy
volleys of bursting shells ceased, and then sullen
explosions for an hour afterwards warned the spec-
tator from the scene. Some of the balls and
pieces of shrapnel, which must have been pro-
jected a prodigious height into the air, did hot
fall to the ground for a minute and a-half after
the last of the explosions. For two minutes,
which seemed as many hours, the terrible
shower endured, and descended on the camp.
The distance to which fragments flew exceeds belief.
It is difficult to explain it by mere ,names of locali-
ties. One piece of shell flew over Cathcart's-hill ;
another killed a horse in New Kadikoi. Some
struck men and horses in the Guards' camp. One
flew over my but ; another struck the ground
close to it ; another went into the camp of the
Land Transport Corps, behind it. Mrs. Seacole,
who keeps a restaurant near the Col, avers that a
piece of stone struck her door, which is three and a
half or four miles from the park. In the Laud
Transport Corps of the Light Division 14 horses
were killed and 17 were wounded. Pieces struck
and damaged the huts in New Kadikoi. Appalling
as was the shock to those who were near, the effect
was little diminished by distance. The roar and
concussion were so great in Balaklava that the ships
in harbour and outside at anchor trembled and
quivered, and the houses shook to their founda-
tions. The ships at Kamiesh and Kazatch
reeled and rolled from side to side. Mules and
horses seven and eight miles away broke loose,
and galloped across the country wild with fright.
The noises pealed through the passes at Baidar like
the loudest thunder. In fact, the effect resembled
some great convulsion of nature. Many thought it
was an earthquake ; others fancied it was the out-
burst of a volcano ; others that the Russians had
got hold of Lord Dundonald's invention, and that
they had just given it a first trial. Indeed, one
officer said to another, as soon as he recovered breath
and could speak, " I say, that's a nice sort of thing,
is it not ? The sooner we go after that the better."
He was persuaded the Russians had thrown some
new and. unheard-of instrument of destruction into
the camp. The sense of hearing was quite dead-
ened in many persons, and their nervous systems
have not yet recovered the shock, so that any
sudden noise startles them. The French had six
officers killed and 13 officers wounded ; 65 of their
men, mostly of the artillery, were killed, and
170 men were wounded, of whom many will never
recover. The destruction in money value of articles
appertaining to the siege train was very great, and
if the cost of the import of fresh articles be added
the sum will be considerable. But when we come
to men—to those gallant fellows who survive the
battles and the dangers of the campaign—we fear the
loss is irreparable. What value can be placed on
those noble artillerymen of the siege train who, with
little praise or encouragement, have stood by their
guns iu so many bombardments, and who have ac-
quired skill, practice, and hardihood in the greatest
siege the world ever saw ? It is to be hoped that
the non-commissioned officers of the artillery will
be rewarded for their exertions by the selection of
one of their body to fill Mr. Yellon's place. He
rose from the ranks of the corps, and when ho and
Mr. Hayter were appointed as Commissaries of the
Land Train great was the commotion in Wool-
wich at such unusual promotions. Latterly,
indeed, they are better off, so far as their pro-
spects of rising in the service are concerned, for
many sergeants of artillery have received com-
missions in the Land Transport Corps, and are
found most valuable and efficient officers as
quartermasters of brigade. The day before the
explosion an accident took place in the Redan,
which was also attended 'with melancholy re-
sults. The following are the particulars. On
the 14th Samuel Goodram, No. 6 Company C aid-
streams, another old soldier of the same regiment,
named Betts, and a serjeant, were on duty in
the Redan, and the two men went into one of the
casemates to remove some powder and rubbish
while the serjeant remained outside. Scarcely had
the men entered before an explosion took place,
which blew up the magazine and covered the men
and the serjeant with earth and sand. Goodram
was blown into the air and was then thrown down
amid fragments of gabions and falling earth, which
buried him to the depth of five or six feet, and Betts
was so terribly burnt that he died within an hour
after the explosion. Goodram was dug out
quite dead, and both men were buried in
the Guards' cemetery next day. Thus were
two excellent soldiers lost to the country,
and I am the more particular in giving the names,
in order that I may relate an anecdote of poor
Goodram at the attack on the Redan which I heard
at the time, but forgot to mention till this moment.
The night before the. attack the Coldstreams were
on duty in the trenches, and were relieved some
hours before the assault took place. On arriving
at camp it was found that a private named Samuel
Goodram, a butcher by trade, was missing ; and it
was feared that he had gone away to some canteen
to indulge in unfathomable potations, or had been
hit in some mysterious way as he came from the
trenches. But great wrong had been done to the
gallant soldier, who had remained behind from
pure love of fighting and from a desire " to have a
go in at the Roosians." Knowing that the assault
would take place in a few hours, Goodram had
secreted himself in the trenches as the regi-
ment mustered and marched off, and employed
at leisure time before his comrades left in
filling the breast of his coat and every avail-
able place about his person with cartridges from
their boxes, fearing that his private supply of o•
rounds would fail him before he had got his fill of
fighting. When the storming party was advancing
from the fifth parallel Goodram appeared rifle in
hand and joined it as a volunteer, and his regiment
claim him as being the first private soldier in the
Redan on that memorable day. He
was twice
driven out of the Redan, and was over and over
again engaged individually with the Russians, and
in these encounters he received two wounds—one
in the side and one in the arm—but still kept up a
fire when driven back by the last rush of the
enemy's infantry and forced over the parapet with
the rest of our men into the ditch. Instead, how-
ever, of retiring with the others, as opportunity
in the ditch or getting under
offered, and keeping
cover in the parallels, Goodram made an im-
promptu rifle pit on the broken glacis outside the
ditch, and there he maintained his fire on the enemy
till his ammunition became exhausted, and his
wounds so painful that he could no longer use his
rifle. Then be shouldered his arms and marched
stiffly up through the trenches and across the open
till he reported himself to his regiment. He was,
we believe, tried for being absent without leave
and for stealing his comrade's cartridges, but Minos
moll could not have condemned a gaifg like