The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-12 00:00:00

Racing Fixtures for 1856.
FEBRUARY.

Lincoln
Derby Spring l9

MARCH.
Catterick
Coventry 04
Northampton 06

Nottingham Spring 4
Warwick Spring 10
Salisbury l3
Essex lB
AP:

Doncaster Spring 1
Thirsk 3
Croxton Park 3
Epsom Spring lO
Durham l4
M.

Newmarket C l4
York Spring 22
Malton 24
Newmarket F S 2B

Chester Spring 6
Shrewsbury 13
Manchester l4

Bath 2O
Epsom 27

Beverley
Ascot Heath 10
Hampton lB
Newton 18
JU

I Newcastle-on-Tyne 24
I Eibury 25
Stockbridge 26
I Winchester 27
*LY.

Newmarket
Car Hale
Liverpool .
Nottingham 15

Chelmsford 22
Marlborough 25
Goodimod

AU'

Brighton
Brighton Club

Reading l2

SEPT

Warwick Sept 2
Lichfield .
Doncaster.
Leicester

....16
....24
OCTI

Kelso 1
Chester Autumn 7
Bedford 9
Wrexham Autum❑
NOV ET
Worcester Autumn
Liverpool l2

,UST.
York
Radcliffe 95
Egham 26
:MBER.
Cardiff 24
Manchester Autumn 26
Newmarket F 0 30

IBER.
Newmarket S 0 l3
Warwick Autumn 2l
Newmarket H 27

IBER.
Shrewsbury Autumn ...1 S

Irish Racing Fixtures for 1856.

APRIL.

Curragh
MAY

_22

flowth and 8a1d0y1e...13 j Roscommon .7

JUNE.

Tramore
I
Ballyeigh l7

JULY.

Bellewstown 8 I Heath
Down R. Corporation 15

AUGUST.

Killarney 2l
SEPTEMBER.

03
30

..2.9

Curragh 2 Johnstown
Tramore
Jenkinatown Park l6
OCTI

Curragh 14
Down R. Corporation 21

IBER.
Cashel 2B

THE BALTIC FLEET.

The following letter has been addressed to the editor
of the Times

Sir,—l, in common with many naval officers who took
part in the naval proceedings of that period which Sir
Charles Napier calls " the last war," read with surprise
Sir Charles's letter of the Bth inst., in which he attempts
to justify the inertness of the fleet under his command
by stating that during his fifteen years' service it was not
the custom for ships to approach batteries at all. Now,
Sir Charles was in the Mediterranean in command of the
Thames in 1811, at which period so general was the
practice of attacking batteries that we often used to do
it to exercise our crews, and I believe there was not a
frigate on that station which had not at one time or
other attacked batteries and captured vessels lying under
their protection. It is really surprising that the egotism
of Sir Charles should lead him to forget the actions of
that nature performed by Hoste, Brenton, Cochrane,
Brisbane, Clifford, and others. Nor were those attacks
confined to single ships. Commodore Spranger attacked
the Greek Islands, and the Spartan there covered the
landing by attacking the Mole Head battery within mus-
ket shot. Rear-Admiral Fremantle, with his squadron
in the Adriatic, bombarded Pessaro and the other towns
upon the coast, in order to tire out the division of the
French army left there for its defence, ultimately taking
Trieste. Admiral Hotham, I think, commanded the
attack against Istria. I commanded the battery the
sailors erected against the fortress. Sir Charles after-
wards proceeded with a squadron of frigates to the coast
of America, and he ought to remember that a division
of them within a month afterwards attacked the batteries
in the Penobscot river, and burnt the New London
American frigate.

Sir Charles has made free with the name of Sir James
Saumarez, and is pleased to call him an enterprising offi-
cer little short of Nelson ; permit me to tell him that, in
enterprise, coolness, and daring, Sir James Saumarez
was in no way short of Nelson, and the victory of Alge-
siras still stands unrivalled in those respects. So far
from not venturing to take the squadron under his
command into an enemy's port, he anchored with
a division of the Channel fleet a whole winter in
Quiberon Bay. He attacked during his command at
Guernsey the batteries at Cherbourg, and arrested the
works going on at the breakwater ; his squadron at-
tacked the batteries at Granville and St. Malo, and, but
for the orders from the Admiralty, he would have
oftener done so. When Commander-in-Chief of a pow-
erful fleet in the Baltic he did not attack Cronstadt,
Revel, or Riga, because he felt persuaded that the only
means of bringing the war to a successful conclusion was
by forming a Northern coalition, and, as Russia had
been forced into a war against her will, such attacks
could be attended with no beneficial results. In that
measure he succeeded even against the expectations of
the Government of the day, and thus rendered an in-
valuable service to his country, which it had the can•
dour to acknowledge, but not the generosity to reward ;
but, so far from checking the enterprise of the officers
under his command in their attacks upon batteries, he
encouraged them in every way, and no officer was re-
ceived with so much welcome by h►m as Captain Stewart
was after his return from a gallant attack upon a Danish
squadron lying under the batteries of Mardoe, on the
coast of Norway. _ _

Now, sir, were the eaptains under Sir Charles Napier
similarly encouraged, or, on the contrary, were they not
checked, and reprimanded when incurring risk against
batteries ? In the opinion of Sir James Saumarez, the
best method of making an enemy feel the effects of the
war was to have flying squadrons, with an adequate
force of marines on board, which should lay waste the
whole line of coast. It is all very well finding fault
with the Admiralty, but there never was a fleet that
went to sea so well found in every respect (except the
training of the crews) as the fleet under Sir Charles, and
the old Baltic officers with whom I served agree with
you in thinking the Baltic fleet under Sir Charles could
not have done less.
And here he may again take a lesson from Sir James
Saumarez :----When Lord Melville addressed him a
semi-official letter, he requested his Lordship to transmit
all official communications through the Secretary of the
Board, and, upon an attempt being made to dictate to
him as to how he was to attack or annoy the enemy, he
gave the First Lord of the Admiralty a lesson Sir James
had learnt from St. Vincent, and tendered his resigna-
tion. Why did not Sir Charles do the same, or attack
the enemy agreeably to the printed instructions ? Far
be it from me to question the daring of the gallant offi-
cers of that fleet, but there is a moral courage often
brought to the test in naval affairs which seems not to
have been exercised—that of putting into one scale the
orders of the superior, and into the other what is beat
for our country's service, and, if necessary, sacrificing
ourselves for it. The heroes of our profession left us
this example. May it be never forgotten, and oftener
followed am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A RETIRED FLAC, OFFICER,
Bath, Jan. 10.