The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-07 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRU

THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE CRIMEA.

We continue today the publication of the second re-
port from Sir John WNeill and Cal. Tulloch upon the
state of the army last year in the Crimea :

41 TENTS.

" Numerous complaints were made regarding the tents,
principally that many of them were old, thin, and worn out,
and that a sufficient number of marquees had not been avail-
able for the hospitals. It may, therefore, be necessary, briefly
to advert to this supply, although our information in regard
to it is very imperfect, owing to the interruption of our in-
quiries in the Quartermaster-General's department, from tho
causes previously referred to.
" It appears from a return, printed in the Appendix to the
third report of the Committee on the Army before Sebasto-
pol,' that the total number of tents issued to that army, up
to the 31st of March, 1855, was—hospital marquees, 194 ;
officers marquees, 223; and circular tents, 10,733. Of these,
it is stated that none had previously been issued, except 65
hospital marquees, 101 officers' marquees, and 1,238 circular
tents, which had been employed only during the temporary
encampment at Chobham ; 122 of the circular tents had also
been used elsewhere. Considering that the ordinary duration
of a tent is generally from two to three campaigns, and that
those in question were examined, and all requisite repairs
effected, before thoy were again issued, it is improbable that
they could have been in an insufficient state. It is more likely
that complaints on this head have arisen from the insufficiency
of any tents, of the ordinary structure, to afford shelter
against the inclemency of the winter in the Crimea.
" The scale on which the circular tents was issued was :
To Officers of Infantry and j 2 eircular tents to eachfiold officer
Cavalry
men.
To Infantry Regiments
{ 1 do. to every 15 4
do. extra for guards
1 go. to every 12 men
To Cavalry Regiments

" Each regiment took out a sufficient number of tents on.
this scale for the fall establishment, though many were consi-
derably below it, and the draughts subsequently forwarded
to the Crimea also took out tents -proportioned to their
strength. There must, therefore, have been enough, beyond
what was really necessary for the accommodation—of the
troops, to replace any that might have become unserviceable,
either from wear and tear or from accident ; but a reserve of
above 500' tents was also seat out in the course of the sum-
mer, expressly to provide for any such wants. It would be
superfluous to go further into the particulars of this supply.
That the number of tents furnished -to the army much ex-
ceeded what they were ever likely to require, is sufficiently
established by the fact of its having, at tho beginning of De-
cember, been m,realhan equal to one-fourth of the numerical
force then present.
" In order to provide against any want of hospital mar-
quees, each regiment, whether of cavalry or infantry, took
out at least one with it ; a few went out in the waggons of
the Ambulance Corps, and a reserve of 70 were sent out at
the request of Dr. Smith, on the 29th of April, 1854, and
reached Varna in August, where they were distributed as
stated in page 115 of Appendix.
" Altogether there could not have been fewer than 120 hos-
pital marquees in possession when the force left for the Cri-
mea, yet,ln the end of that year, it appears from the Report
of the Medical Commissioners (page 9),' that there were only
37 marquees with the whole force. The regimmts' it is un-
derstood, left their marquees with their heavy baggage at
Varna, beyond which we have been unable to trace them. It
is said that a large quantity of stores was lost or abandoned
there after the removal of the troops, of which these may
have formed a part ; but we are without any decided evidence
to that effect.
"When it became necessary, in consequence of the ad-
vanced state of the season, to provide some better shelter
than tents for the troops, great difficulties presented them-
selves. The whole of the country, within the narrow limits
occupied by the army, had already been denuded of wood
for the sake of fuel ; most of the houses of the former inhabi-
tants had been destroyed for the same object; and even the
loose surface stones had, in most places, been used up in
building low walls to afford a slight shelter for the regimental
horses, or for cooking places ; consequently few materials of
any kind were available exctpt what could be imported.
" No scarcity of wood existed along the shores of the Black
Sea, but the difficulty was to provide it at the camp in suffi-
sient quantities for building purpoi.es. Hired labour could
not be obtained, and the demands for the services of the
troops in the trenches, and for other milit try duties, were
such that they could not bo spared to prepare it, even had

they been capable of doing so.
" As soon as it was decided, therefore, that the army was
to winter in the Crimea, vessels were despatched by Lord
Raglan to several of the ports in the Black Sea, in the hope
of obtaining boarding and scantling of such dimensions as to
admit of being cut into tho required lengths, to afford shelter.
Contracts were also entered into in England, about Vie middle
of November, for wooden huts, of which the parts were so
fitted that, with the aid of the printed directions and litho-
graphed plans which accompanied them, the whole might be
put together even by unskilled workmen.
" These huts were framed of the lightest material that could
with safety be used, the boards being only about three-Aual-
ters °tan inch in thickness ; they were 281 t. long, 6ft. wide,
and from 11 to 12ft. in height to the ridge pole; with a gra-
dual slono to about Eft at the side, and c ilculated to contain
from 20 to 25 persons, though, under ordinary circumstances,
they would scarcely have been considered sufficient for half
that number. The men were raised from the ground by slop-
ing floors, on each side, of inch-plank, leaving an unfloored
space of about 3ft. wide down the centre, in which there was
a stove for the purpose of cooping and wa7ath. The total
weight of each but, including . the irOn-work, was about
2. tons. Of these nearly 1,400-were sent out. Annther
description of wooden hut, but less complete, and formed
of heavier timber, was obtained from Trieste, to the
number, it is understood, of nearly 100 ; consequently
there can be no doubt that a sufficiency of hut accommoda-
tion or building materials, was provided for all, had it only
been practicable to make it available.
" The difficulties which subsequently arose in regard to
land transport do not appear to have been contemplated
when these huts were ordered ; otherwise it must have oc-
curred to the authorities, that when the whole land trans-
port of the army was insuffisient to carry to the front the
supplies necessary for the subsistence of the men, the arrival
of 2,500 tons of building material' was more likely to aid to
the confusion of a crowded harbour and crowded wharves than
to diminish the sufferings of the troops. Even now it is
doubtful whether the labour undergone by the men in carry.
ing those huts to the heights, during the months of January
and February, was compensated by the advantages derived
from them, though these were admitted to bo great. Some
of the commanding officers declined to employ their mon on
that duty, believing that the evils were greater than the ad-
vantages.
" The first arrival of the loose boarding and scantling from
ports in the Black Sea took place on the 25th November,
and the distribution commence d on the 2d December, when
Major Hall was appointed to superintend it, whose evidence,
in regard to the mode of distribution and the extent to which
it was carried, will be found elsewhere.
" The quantities received, and the vessels by which they
were brought, as well as the dates of their arrival, are as
follow :

Number 'Sumba
of of
Date of Arrival. Names of Boards Pieces Remarks.
Vessels. and of Scant-
Planks. ling.
1854.
November 25.... Cottingham 14,431 1,699
1855.
Janu try 1.... Paramatta .... 10,560 3,793
I 6.... Sea Nymph . 22,734
February 3•• • • 4urinam 1,255 760
19 9 • • .. Charity .. . • .. 436 217
t 10.... Niagara.— 1,514
„ 12.... Blundell ..... 12,761 6,891
March 1.. • . Herefordshire 675 498
these boards
were lent to
the Depart-
„ 3.... lAcn 1,030 5,573 merit by the
Commissary.
IGeneral at a
time of scar-
-99 8.... It. Hilda .... 5,610 ...I city.
lt 13.... William Hutt 6,628
Total.. 77,672 19,434

" Though this supply was estimated to provide shelter for
10,000 men and 3,500 horses, it could be of little use during
the winter, even if there had beau opportunities of convey-
ing it to the front ; for,
.ewing to a want of proportion in
the quantities which arrived of scantling for rafters and
uprights as compared with planks and boarding, most of the
latter received by the Sea Nymph, on the 6th .Tanuary, were
of little or no use till the arrival of the•Blundell, with a large
quantity of scantling, on the 12th of February ; so that, for
upwards of six weeks, the supply available for building
purposes was limited to the cargoes of the first two ships. It
is probable that this circumstance may have given rise to the
complaints of wood having been reftised during this period,
though there was abundanCe in store. There was plenty,
certainly, but not of a suitable description for building pur-
poses, as boards from an inch to an inch and a-half thick
could not be made to serve the purpose of uprights, particu-
larly where tempestuous weather was to be expected.
" Efforts were made by scarping the sides of hills to obtain
cover with a very limited quantity of scantling, particularly
for horses and baggage animals ; but this expedient only af-
forded a very partial remedy.
" The supply obtained by the vessels before referred to was
chiefly used by the Royal Artillery, the Cavalry, the 71st and
93d Regiments at Balaklava, and two or three of the corps in
front ; but it must be borne in mind that, for the reasons
before specified, comparatively few of the buildings for those
regiments could be erected till the severest part of the winter
was over.
" A detailed statement of the quantity distributed to each
regiment up to the 30th of April, hanged in by Major Hall,
will be found in page 124 of Appendix, of which the following
is a summary :

The total vras.... : •• • • • •
And there remained on hand at that date, as
shown at page 12:5 of Appendix

• Total accountel for
The total quantity received originally was

Unaccounted for according to the returns fur-1
ntehed —

Boards and acantilng
I planks. pieces.

69,890 I 11,829

1,500

60,531 13,329
77,672 19,434

17,141 1 6,105

" It is stated by Major Hall that great difficulty was expe
rienced durinc, the winter in the custody of the timber, in
consequence of the want of space near the wharves to stack it
properly, and that a considerable loss was also sustained in
conveying it to its destination by fatigue parties ; both of
which circumstances may no doubt have contributed to so
large a proportion being unaccounted for as appears in the
above summary.

" HUTS FROM TRIESTE.
" The Trieste huts were not received by the engineer's de-
partment, and, therefore, we are unable to furnish any par-
ticulars in regard to the distribution of them; it is under-
stood they were principally used for stores, civil establish-
ments, and the accommodation orsome of the labourers and
followers attached to the army, as the boarding and scantling
was of too heavy a description to admit of being readily
moved to the localities occupied by the troops.

"HUTS FROM ENGLANV. -
" The huts constructed in England were ready within a
very short period, but considerable difficulty arose in obtain-
ing transport, so that the first cargo did not arrive at Bala-
klava till the 25th of Denriber. Three mere arrived in the
C(.41410 of that mouths Iva in t4O ant week olJativazy three

at the end of that month, and the remainder in February.
Before the first vessel arrived, however, the troops had to be
employed in carrying provisions to the front, and so ranch
had their strength been reduced by tlaeir 'sufferings, and such
was tile state of the roads, that a weight of front gOlb to, 25111.
wits as much as a man could bring up from Balaklava:
In-
deed it is stated in evidence that men could not bare .car-
ried their arms, accoutrements, and ammunition from the
heights to Balaklava and back in a day through such mud as
it was necessarito traverse. It consequently required from
250 to 300 men to carry up a single hut sufficient to accom-
modate, at the utmost, 25, men ; and as, at this rate, it was
impossible tp spare a sufficient numbei from their other duties,
the attempt had to be abandoned, ab h nigh that ac.:o.nutio la-
tion, if there had been transport,, would have been of theut-
most advantage during the rest of the winter.
" It appears from the evidence of the Compaissary.General
that 270 Spanish mules were appropriated by Lord Raglan to
the conveyance of these huts; but when we arrived early in
March, although they had been erected for a considerable por-
tion of the corps in the immediate vicinity of Balaklava, only
two or three of those in front were hutted; by great exertion
a few huts had also been got up there for hospitals.
• " A summary of the information received from officers com-
manding corps, ,in reply to No. 20 of the printed queries,
shows that, by the end of April or beginning of May, the
Guards, Cavalry, Royal Horse Artillery, and .9
Infantry Corps,
with the Artillery of two Divisions, had been completely hut-
ted: that S Infantry Corps were still Without any huts; that
12 Infantry Corps, the Artillery of three Divisions, Naval
Brigade, and Siege Train, hadlitftefor their hospitals only ;
and that 11 Infantry Corps, with the Royal Marines, were
partially hutted, to the extent of from one-fourth to one-half
of the men.

" A letter from Capt. Keane, of the Royal Engineers, the
officer in charge of woodon huts sent from England, shows
generally the state of the supply, and the reason why it mend
sooner made applicable to the accommodation of the men.

" SHELTER FOR 110R8E8.
" The date at which the hutting of the cavalry commenced
was in no case earlier than the end of Jan. or beginning of
Feb., and it was not completed before the Middle of March;
by which time the severity of the season tad so far •afsifed,
that this shelter was of comparatively little importance. Con-
sidering that these men were within about a mile of the
wbereilwwgo4.3xlight be- obt,ained, that they 1704416 ireekti
the trenches, and that the only duties likely to laterftrewtthtl
the application both of horses and men to this important ob-
ject was the carrying up of their own forage from Balaklava,
and furnishing parties occasionally to bring down sick, and
carry up provisions to the front (which seems never to have
occupied more than about a sth part of the whole), it appears
strange that more rapid progress was not made in obtaining the
advantage of hut accommodation, particularly when they are
described as having suffered so much in their tents.
Considering, also, the suffering and severe loss of horses
from exposure to the weather in the commencement of the
winter, there appears to have been a want of promptitude or
ingenuity in devising for them some means of temporary
shelter, such as saved the baggage-horses of the Sappers and
Miners at Balaklava Experience has now proved that even
a very moderate degree of shelter would have been sufficient
to save the live's of many of the horses, if not to maintain
them in serviceable condition ; and it must be presumed that
such measures were considered practicable, for a proposal to
erect, with the assistance of his men, some sort of cover for
the horses of the corps, appears to have been made by the
officer commanding the Scots Greys, but the manner in which
it is stated to have been received by the Lieut.-General com-
manding the cavalry was calculated, to deter other officers
from making any similar proposal.

" CAUSES OF MORTALITY.
" The returns of sickness and mortality furnished by the
medical officers relate to matters which are beyond the limits
assigned to this inquiry, and, therefore, have not been sub-
mitted on this occasion ; but the mortality in the Crimea has
been too remarkable not to excite a strong desire to ascer-
tain, if possible, its causes. The medical evidence appears to
be conclusive against attributing it to anything peculiarly
unfavourable in the climate, and all the officers, of whatever
rank or profession, whom we examined, referred to overwork,
improper diet, exposure to cold and moisture, with deficient
shelter, inadequate clothing, and defective boots, as the
causes of disease. Some of the witnesses appeared to attri-
bute gre tter influence to one of these causes, some to another,
but there can bo no doubt that the mortality wits really the
effect, not of any cause apart from the others, but of a com-
bination of the whole. It was the greatest among the in-
fantry corps employed in front, upon whom the duty fell
most severely, but those corps were also more exposed to the
ether causes of disease. The barbour of Balaklava was the
source of all supplies,- and the corps necessarily suffered more
than the rest of the army from the deficiency of transport.
When the men were compelled, in consequence, to carry up
their own stores of every sort, they suffered in proportion to
the distance to bo traversed in the mud, and the length of
time they were ox.posed to the weather.
" The corps stationed in front aloe suffered more from the'
deficiency of everything that was necessary to tho proper
treatment of the sick ; they could not even get their share of
such supplies as-could be procured at Balaklav,t; Men who
were struck down by disease in the camp in front had thus
less chance of recovering than those of other corps, and the
proportion of deaths to admissions into hospital is accordingly
much greater than in the rest of the army. But that is not
all; when patients were to be sent to Scutari the difficulty of
removing them from the front to the harbour was sometimes
found to be insuperable, in consequence of the want of trans-
port, while the corps stationed near Balaklava removed them
with comparative facility. Even. when the means of convey-
ance were provided, it was a formidable demand upon a sick
man's remaining strength to require him tosit, exposed to the
weather, upon a cavalry horse era pack mule, floundering
through deep mud, for the two or three hours which the jour-
ney from the front to Balaklava occupied during a great part,
of the winter. His chance of recovery was thus further dimi-
nished by the delay, the exposure, and tho fatigue attending
his removal.
" The mortality in the whole'army was further increased
by the disease which broke out at Scutari, and carried off
many men who had entered the hospital with a prospect of
speedy recovery, or who had actually recovered from the dis-
eases for which they were admitted. Had the sanitary condi-
tion of those establishments been from the first what it after-
wards became, there can be little doubt that the mortality
would have been perceptibly reduced.
" MEDICAL SUPPLIES,

" The supplies and arrangements connected with the me.
dical department of the army in the Crimea have been in-
vestigated by a medical commission, whose report supersedes
the necessity for any detailed consideration by us of those
subjects; but, as much of the evidence we have received re-
lates to a period subsequent to the date of that report, we
think it right to state shortly the results of the information
we have obtained.
" The army landed in the Crimea without hospitaj mar-
quees, conveyance for the sick, or any other supplies for the
hospitals than were contained in the pair of pa.nttiors belong-
ing to each corps, and the supplies of almost every descrip-
tion required for the proper accommodation and treatment of
the sick in camp seem to have been very deficient till the
middle of February. There was also a scarcity of cots, or of
any substitute, such as boards and trestles ; but this was not
much complained of, because they could not have been used
in the tents in which most of the sick were placed. There
was a great deficiency of mattresses ; and straw, or other
materials to fill paillasses could not be supplied ; and even
as late as the month of April many of the sick in front had no
other bedding than blankets or buffalo robes, the latter of
which were not issued till the end of January. They suffered
still more, perhaps, from the want of adequate shelter and
sufficient space to admit of their being properly attended to ;
as, owing to the want of hospital marquees in the camp, the
greater part of the sick lay in circular tents,* which are alto-
gether unfitted for the purposes of an hospital, and it was not
until the huts sent out from England were erected iu Febru-
ary and March that the accommodation was such as to admit
of proper medical treatment. .
" Nearly all the medical officers of the infantry corps in
front complained of the want of transport to bring up from
Balaklava even the most indispensable supplies to the hospi-
tal. Major-General Codrington, commanding the first bri-
gade of the Light Division, says :,--4 The hospitals suffered
terribly from this want of transport. Their state was fright-
ful, from the increasing number of sick, the diminishing
means of transport, and the consequent impossibility of doing
anything for the sick.'
" During the month of February the supplies of me('

eines and medical comforts
began to improve, and by the
middle of March they seem to have been generally ample.
The issues of blankets and the supply ef buffalo robes in the
end of January had previously provided a tolerable substitute
for bedding, and when the hospital buts were erected, these,
together with such marquees as, the corps had previously pos-
sessed, afforded sufficient and comfortable accommodation.
In the month of April, when fresh bread was issued, the me-
dical officers generally declared that they wore,perfectly satis-
fied with the supplies and the accommodation provided for
their patients.
" Even after the supplies of medicines had become gene-
rally abundant, it occasionally happened that some ef those
which were most employed by the medical officers could not
be supplied from the general store. Thus there had been a
deficiency of opium and of some other medicines much em-
ployed during the prevalence of diseases of the bowels, and
after the store had been amply replenished with those reme-
dies the decrease of that class of ailments and the increase of
fevers caused a demand for quinine which the stores were not
always able to satisfy.
" The proportion of deaths to admissions in some of the
diseases bears painful evidence, particularly in the month of
December, to the absence of those remedies on which reliance
the
could best be placed for relief.. In cholera, for instance, the
usual loss has, in our army, been about one in three at home,
or on foreign stations where this epidemic has prevailed ; but
in the Crimea, during the period under observation, it was
two in every three attacked.
" As instances of the difficulty of procuring medicines, we
have give* the requisitions made by several of the medical
officers, with the quantities received; but it must not be
deficiency y
wanted. Most of
appears in the requisi-
tionssupposed,
o f
others,thatbecause not
hsouyc such
received
all
the officers, finding it useless to send for medicines and medi-
cal comforts not in store, limited their requisitions to such as
they knew could be given, and did the best they could with
them.
" The circumstances in which the medical officers were
placed, owing to the want of those supplies, as well as of
every description of diet, accommodation, or comfort essen-
tial to the recovery of the sick, were the most painful that
can be conceived. We prefer leaving it to. be described iu
their own words, and shall confine ourselves to the expression
of our conviction that if they were unsucceseful in their treat-
ment to an extent which has seldom occurred in the annals
of medical practice, it has not been for want of constant at-
tention and unceasing and energetic efforts on behalf of their
patients. The appeals of scree of them to those authorities
whom they, perhaps erroneouslyf conceived had the power of
assisting them were most forcible and pathetic ; and if all did

" * The circular tent used in the British army, which is
calculated to contain 15 men, is altogether unsuited for an
hospital in any climate. It affords veryinsufficient protection
against cold, or rain, or heat. When there is much wind in
wet weather, the rain beats through the canvass, and when it
blows upon the door, which is continually opened for ingress
and egress, the rain is driven to all parts of the tent. The pole
being in two pieces, for the- convenience of carriage, is weak
at the joint, and in stormy weather is apt to give way. The
side wall is too low to admit of any
kind of cot, if there be
more than two or three men in the tent ; the space is too con- '
fined to admit of proper attendance on the paidents, even by
the medical officer; and it is impossible with safety to use a
stove or other means of wauziing it. In short, whatever may
be the supp osed advantagerliat have led to its adoption as a
barrack tent, it would be difficult to contrive vythipg much
ilagTe Unfit 1.0)!AIN accommpdgaola of
_llc