The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-31 00:00:00

LANO,ASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY. —Traffic re•
turn for the week ending July 27, 1856 i;26,277 6 3
Corresponding week last year. 22,773 17 5
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for
the week ending July 27, 1856 £6.386 13 0
Corresponding week last year 5,742 2 6

Inerese in 1850 ... £644 18 6
GREAT LUXEMBOURG RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for the
week ending July 27, 1856 0i.,659 7 10

SPEECH BY MAJOR-GENARAL WIND.
C.B.

-,...5K ni uru;Ory addreSieWAS presented, and a public
breakfast given, to the above distinguished officer, at
Leamington, on Teesday, when
General WINDIIAM said—la.diegandgent!emen, this is
the second great compliment that I have received at the
hands of my friends, the inhabitants of Leamington.
The first was a spontaneous burst of good feeling on my
arrival. This, which is more elaborate and more ma-
tured, is; I am happy to say, more honourable to roe ;
and I think, as it is not only addressed to in eeelf but to
the army, it is more honourable to you. Before I pro-
ceed to touch upon any part of the service that I or the
army performed in the Crimea, I wish to thank the
committee of management for having chosen to give, as
an entertainment, a breakfast instead of a dinner. The
choice of this entertainment allowed us to have the plea-
sure of the company of a great many of the ladies,
and a vast portion of the beauty and youth of Leaming-
ton ; and lam perfectly certain that I speak the senti-
ments, not only of myself, but of every soldier here
present, that the committee could not have selected a
better method of showing respect to me or them. If I
were of a suspicious nature, I might perhaps conclude
that so many young ladies did not come here to look at
a married man turned forty, but that they came hen
exhibiting their eyes to my gallant aide•de-camp, Gip-
tarn Earle, and my young friend Lieut. Musgrave, an(
other gallant young heroes assembled at this table.
(Laughter.) Let me add, also, if my suspicions be con
root, that they could not show a juster or more proper
compliment to the young officers of the army who served
so ardently and well, whom fortune has not permitted
to attain the same benefits which I have reaped, bin
whose services were just as dangerous for them to pier
form as ever mine were to me. (Loud cheers.) There
are scores of regimental officers that lam acquainted
with whose services, I am perfectly convinced, wen
quite equal to mine, simply with this difference, that i
was an older officer, and, therefore, bad more men
under me. I served chiefly on the staff, but I had
also a good deal of duty to perform in the trenches,
and, therefore, know remarkably well the difference, of
the two services. I do think that those officers who
went through the whole campaign in the trenches ,of
Sebastopol deserve the thanks of every individual in this
country. It is all mighty fine to canter down to he
trenches for a few minutes, as I did before I was rode
a ,brigadiengeneral. It is very well to expose one elf
to sudden danger, which is soon over and soon forgotten ;
but it is a different thing to go day after day, night after
night, through dirt, wet, misery, destitute of comfdrt,
yet always to have sufficient moral force to say that, be,
cause it is my duty, I will not give in. (Cheers.) Thal
is precisely what the unnoticed regimental officers did
during the seige of Sebastopol. lam sure there is to
body at this table who would not have thought I should
have been the last man to receive such an address, anc
to have met with such a reception as I have experiencied
Fon this occasion. Had my old friend and late comman-
der, Sir George Cathcart, been pointed out as the Man
1 to have stood here, to receive the applause of hundreds
—TA 0n:,,,, • Of thorics,-,deil—zan und woufa nave been
surprised. His general character as a soldier, his pre-
vious services were so well known, that nothing would
have been more likely ; but that I, a bumble individual,
who has received, certainly, his friendly shake of tie
band and his desire for my advancement, but that of nr
one else—l say that, perhaps, the last man in the whoh
British army that any one would have selected to be
honoured by such a reception would have been myself,
(Cheers.) There were a vast number of other officers
connected with this locality whom one might have sup-
posed to be infinitely more likely than myself to have
stood here. There were the Adarnses, the Shirleye—
men of my own standing—the Shuckburgbs, the Somer-
villes, and other young men, many of whom, I am sorry
to say, it has pleased Providence to remove ; but I may
thank God for a most remarkable interposition. I landed
in the Crimea on the 14th of September, 1854. I was Pre-
sent at Alma, where I had nothing to do. I was present
at Balaklava, where I had almost as little to do. I was
present at the attack of the 20th of October, where
again I had nothing to do ; and, lastly, I came
down to the battle of Inkerinan, where I had a good deal
to do. (Laughter.) And I hope that, as I received the
approbation of those placed above me for doing my duty,
I did that duty well. The Fourth Division lost all its
generals, killed or wounded ; 740 men and officers wore
killed, out of 2,200; and I, unfortunately, had to write
my own despatch, and, perhaps, was fool enough not to
make the best of it. However, it is a great loss for an
officer to lose a general on such an occasion. It passed on,
however, and I went through the siege doing my duty,
not having really anything to perform more than other
people, until I came to the attack upon the Redan. i I
should wish you all distinctly to understand, that I Was
no volunteer for that assault. I was ordered to do it,
and I did no more than I was ordered to do. I led the
Second Division, but the Light Division led the attack.
I have seen constantly in the papers that I absolutely
led the whole assault.. I did not, and I wish my country-
men to know it. I never was a man that asked for false
honours. (Cheers.) A. brave and gallant wan—a War-
wickshire roan, moreover—tossed up with ins for the
choice oflead. That man was Col. Unett—the son of old
Mr. Unett, of Birmingham. He won the toss, and chose
the lead. I have nothing to say but that I had not the
choice, and I will even go so far as to say that Ido not
know that I should have chosen the lead, even if I could.
(Laughter.) Oae thing is quite clear, however, that I
did not lead it. Col. Unett was displaced in the morn-
ing by Gen. Shirley, who came to take the command of
the brigade, and I believe the lead ultimately fell to
Major Welsford, of the 97th, and to Colonel Handcock.
These gallant officers fell, and though the Light Division
that led us went on gallantly, one thing is certain, that
if those two officers had not fallen, the men might
have rushed into the battery, and the whole thing have
been altered, but as no one can control his life, so no offi-
cer, however brave, can control a stubborn fight of that
kind. Col. Unett was badly wounded in the attack. He
shook hands with me on the ground. After he was
drawn 1,500 yards from the Redan he was struck again
through the back with a shell and killed. As far
as regards my own business in the assault, I followed
close upon the Light Division, entered the battery, did
all that I could to get things into a proper form, and I
am happy to say that my exertions met with the appro-
val of that respected officer and Commander-in•Cnief,
Sir James Simpson. I also met the approval of my
gallant friends, Lieut.-General Markham and Sir Wm.
Codrington. As all those officers have thought proper
to give me due thanks for what I did, I think you will
excuse me troubling you further upon the subject.
Often as I have looked over the bloody list of all the
separate parties of those who were cut off—the leaders
being absolutely killed, with the exception of Colonel
Lysons (of the 23d), Colonel Maude (of the 3d Buffs),
both of whom gallantly went on and were wounded, and
Major Lewis—l say that, when I look over that list, I
congratulate myself on having escaped. Though that
day was a heavy day for many, it was a fine day for me ;
for it brought me before the notice of a favourable pub-
lic and well-feeling a-my. (Cheers.) Her Majesty
deigned to make me a Major-General. That gave me
the command of the fourth division ; and, lastly, with.
out any application of my own, I was made Chief of the
Staff. (Cheers.) Why her Majesty should have chosen
me for the Chief of the Staff I am not competent to say.
All I can say is, that I never asked for the appointment,
nor should I have taken it unless Sir William Codring-
ton had especially asked me to do so. I have known
that officer for many years, and if a man who has served
under him may I e al • ved to make a remark concerning
him, I would plainly say that I thoroughly respect him,
both as a man and a soldier. I think the country will
learn, and soon discover, that they have in him a good
and valuable public servant. It is not for me to say
more on that subject. As far as regards the duties of
Chief of the Staff, I did not find them near so difficult to
perform as'l had anticipated. The truth is, that I
had at head-quarters a very able body of officers. With
the excepticn of Colonel Herbert, Colonel Blayne (both
good men), and myself, the others were old hands at the
business, and I must say that Colonel Pakenham is one
of the best officers to fill the position of Adjutant-
General in her Majesty's service. Therefore, re-
ceiving as I did the assistance of such an able staff—and
Sir William Codrington commanding his own army,
which he certainly did—l had nothing to do but merely
to refer points to him which I thought questionable, and
then convey to my junior officers the orders to be carried
out. I found the task a most easy one ; and, therefore,