The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-26 00:00:00

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seat of war. That, indeed, is 'very much the theory
of the offiCe, and we have no doubt that a Minister
with the requisite personal qualities would find the
subordinate departments sufficientlyat li,is disposal,
and prompt enough 'to execute his orders. But
then it must be a man who has- his heart and soul
in the war, who is beforehand with every conjunc-
ture, who suffers nothing to go by default, and
urges on the war instead of lagging behind. Such
a War Minister we certainly had not last year.
Nor have we now. We believe that --at this mo-
ment the British army in the Crimea is as unpre-
pared for almost any change of operations as it was
any time last year. Whether we take Sebastopol,
or give it up as hopeless for the present, there is
the greatest probability of our finding it' necessary
to take the field and penetrate into the country.
For that we are certainly unprepared. We have
not anything like the proper number of animals,
vehicles, or other equipages. We have not even
that summer clothing which by this time must be
necessary, whether we take the field or retain our
present position before Sebastopol. Rejoiced indeed
should we be to find ourselves mistaken ; but we feel
hardlya doubt that in the event of a Connell of War
deciding to take the field as soon .as possiblt, it
will be found necessary to wait an indefinite period
for the arrival of proper supplies from this country.
When those supplies at last arrive the opportunity
may have passed, new difficulties may have risen
up, the Russian army in the field may have been
doubled or trebled, and another Council of War
'nay decide on another course, for which our army
will be equally unprepared. •
. Ths Duke of Newcastle doubtless aid his best ;
always seeing
but, as he appears in his own evidence, he was
obstacles which he-was unable to
remove, and attempting in vain to produce direct-
ness and unity of action amid warring departments
and complicated forms. We have seldom read a
more painful narrative. Indeed the authorities in
now retort triurapha tl
the Crimea, when accused of • ement can
Duke
nthme mismanagement,
at home.
From first to last theenDY
justly dissatisfied with nth') aptpaetaersatit°a rh:lavteionsbeeonf
all the departments connectedewith the war. He
was slighted by 'the H
and the system Of su
n tiarl:. He thought
the whole system of theoMee? eipartmentdiexl-
tremely bad,
comforts through the Admiralty PatoYing usme Heae
could get no information from the medical autho-
rities, but only denials, which turned out to be
tion
untrue. He was dissatisfied with the'orgamsa•
of the Medical, the. Ordnance, the Com • *, and the Transport Departments--with how many more we cannot say at this moment. Re Suggested
remedies, overruled forms, ' and did some things
on his personal responsibility. But, somehow
or other his well-intended measures fell wide of
the mark, or short of it, like Old Priam's jave-
lin. He had just misgivings,- but *they , did him
no service. For example, he was always appro.
hensive, he says, of the number of soldiers' wives
sent with the army, but was overruled by prece-
dent and the foolish wishes of the soldiers, and
found his own views too. well justified b_y the re-
sult. He felt himself deserted by his colleagues
last August and September, and would have pre-
ferred some. Cabinet meetings.; perhaps, however,
he says, it did not signify so long_ as there was
nothing of importance—that is, in a period that
included the embarkation of the troops from Varna,
the landing in the Crimea, and the Battle of the
Alma. He suffered from the Board of Ordnance
the same insubordination as from the Horse Guards,
in the shape of a peremptory order from that board
stopping the manufacture of winter huts which he
had ordered on his own responsibility. In both
instances the insubordinate officials ought to have
been instantly dismissed the public service, but
the Duke of Newcastle, not having called them to
accent, himself
,pays the penalty, as indeed he
ought to do. If there is one thing more than
another on which Lord Raglan appears to be ob-
servant and well informed it is the weather. As
early as October his Lordship had formed a dis-
tinct and very unfavourable view on this important
subject, and written home accordingly. The Duke
of Newcastle's prescience, so often exhibited to so
little purpose, here whollyfailed him,-and he would
not believe a winter in the Crimea so formidable
as had been represented, though any schoolboy
might have told him that the inhospitable climate
of the Euxine was proverbial from the remotest
antiquity.