The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-07 00:00:00

DISEMBARKATION OF TliE FRENCH

moors IN STRIA.

A letter from Beyrout, dated August 18, says:—
In my last letter, despatched via Alexandria, on
the 16th inst., I mentioned that two vess Is, having
on board a portion of the French expedition, had
that morning anchored in the roadstead. But as
the men were not disembarked until after post
hour, I was unable to furnish any account of their
landing. This commenced about two hours before
sunset, the English, Dutch, Austrian, Sardinian,
Greek. and Russian, as well as French men of war,
lending their boats for the occasion. The number
of men that have arrived amounted to rather more
than 1,700, of which about 500 came in the Messa•
genie mail beat, and the rest in a large steam
transport. In the latter was General Beaufort
d'Hautpoul, who commands the expedition, and
who (from the fact of his having served all
through the Syrian campaign of 1840 as aide-
2e-camp to Suliman Pacha (Colonel Sevres), the
Egyptian general (a Frenchman by birth) com-
manding the troops of Ibrahim Pacha, seems to be
the right man in the right place. The disembarka-
tion was by no means well managed. The men
were landed at Ras Beyrout, to the south of the
town, the very furthest possible point from where
their camp was to be. Instead of being brought
ashore in large bodies, and directly marched off at
an easy pace to their camp, they came ashore by
driblets, were kept hours in the fearfully hot Syrian
sun, and then marched off at the rate of six miles
an hour along a dusty road, over a very steep hill,
through ankle deep sand, to a second road more
dusty than the first, and so some three miles to their
camp, reeking with perspiration, covered with dust,
overladen with baggage, jingling with mess tins
and canteens slung about them, and having the
most unimposing appearance it is possible to conceive.
It was really almost as if an enemy had done it,
and pained one to see such really fine troops made
to look so little in the eyes of the natives. But
French troops do not embark or disembark well ;
all connected with the sea is their weak point.
Any Eaglish colonel of a regiment or staff officer
who had disembarked his brigade or regiment as
these men were landed the other day would have
received such a wigging as he would not have for-
got in a hurry. Even the first detachment that
marched off did not reach their camping ground
until long after sunset, and the latter could not
have arrived until an hour or more after it was
quite dark. This two in a new country, where
every arrangement had to be made, and where the
men had to pitch their camp before they slept
Apart, too, from this it was of importance that the
natives of the country should see a body of troops
land and march in a soldierlike imposing manner,
whereas they looked to the mere superficial be-
holder but very slightly removed from the Turkish
soldiers. This, too, is the more extraordinary, as
there had been here for the last fortnight or more
a French staff colonel, who came to select the ground
for the camp, and make all arrangements for their
disembarkation. I never saw the most slovenly
English regiment land in so unsoldierlike a man-
ner as did these troops.

But here all fault-finiing must end. The sol-
diers had no sooner got to their ground than they
commenced pitching their small tentes d'abris (each
of which is divided into three parts and carried by
as many men), preparing their soup kettles, and
otherwise making themselves comfortable. I vi-
sited the camp the following day, and went all over
it ; the men looked as comfortable and as perfectly
settled down as if they had been a year in the
place. Their commissariat arrangements, packing
of stores, &c., appear most admirable. Every two
bags of flour, every two barrels of wine, every two
cases of ammunition, form together exactly a load
for a mule or horse. Everything connected with
the whole economy of the force seems to fit due into
another, like the pieces of a child's puzzle ; there
seems to be a place for everything, and everything
is in its place. What a difference from our mar-
vellous Anglo-commissariat mismanagement, waste,
and ignorance ! Who that has ever landed with
English troops in a strange country, or even in a
well-known country with troops new to it, can
forget the utter disorder, discomfort, and muddle
which prevail in every civil department of oar ser-
vice ! I have seen an English regiment, in times
of profound peace, land in an Indian Presidency
town where the authorities had been expecting
them for six months, and there was nothing more
ready for the men than if they had arrived at one
of the Feejee islands. How the French exceed us
in this ! Had the troops which came here the other
day landed at Marseilles or Toulon, they could not
have been better cared for in all that regards their
eating, drinking, and general comfort.
The detachments which have already arrived
consist of the 16th battalion of Chasseurs a Pied—
a corps which distinguished itself greatly at Sol-
ferino—a portion of the sth and 11th of the Line,
and a complete company of Engineers. They are
all young—but not too young—men, and appear
healthy, hardy, and well-trained. The 16th Chas-
seurs, in particular, is a very fine regiment, and
on parade, as I saw them early this morning, look
the very picture of what a rifle corps should be.
Some few, very few, of the men have been
drunk about the town, but the great civility they
show towards all who• go near their camp, and the
individual intelligence of even thd privates, are
very striking indeed. All ranks of the detachments
speak in raptures of their first reception in Pales-
tine. The French mail steamer, having about 500
of the 16th Chasseurs on board, reached Jaffa on
the 15th instant, the Emperor's birthday. The
English line-of-battle ship Victor Emmanuel, 91,
Capt. Clifford, was at anchor before the town. The
moment the steamergeast anchor, Capt. Clifford sent'
on board to know whether he could be of any use
to the officers or men, at the same time manning
yards and firing a salute in honour of the Emperor's
fete. When the steamer left Jaffa for Beyruut, .
n
the afternoon, the Victor Emmanuel manned yards
again, and gave the French troops three parting
cheers. This little piece of cheap civility has created
a most wonderfully warm feeling towards us, both
amongst the French troops and French navy here,
and they declare that we are the least jealous and
the most braves gens in the world. Well, better by
tfarirgtuhei,s,
with
hn
whichth
evesrolmasetimngensotrny to account for all
song of " French in-
that has happened in Syria. I met a Frenchmen
the other day who tried to make out that English
t the u
ds s Were the cause of the
irnetereingtue m
ms
oassaoenrgs. w ey
es
stupid as is such a
creed, and doubly criminal as it is to ventilate the
intrigues
moregues s
ino than2yritt.
Why,
ofsathe doltish repetition
what in the
name of common sense has either one or the other
same,
his