The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-04 00:00:00

QTJANTITIES STORE.

"The Commissariat have furnished return ta,„
tities in store, at various dates, of a great neuOnifi,;--
ar-
ticles,(lftlan-
as they appear upon the' books, but, as /-1 number ,credited in those books till the whole has been discharged
these these returns do not show the quantity afloat. 6,i'tl:ll'
&her hand, as issues were necessarily made, occasionally,
from cargoes still afloat, and which, therefore, had not y-ei,
been credited, the cargo, when credited, might, in fact,
have already bean issued wholly or in part. The Com-
missary-General has, therefore, been unable to furnish a
return of the smallest quantity at any time in store of any
of the articles constituting the rations of the troops, as re-
gulated by general orders. In regard to all of those arti-
cles, we must rely upon the general statements of the o-
cers of that department as to the sufficiency at all times of
the supplies in store. From those statements, however, the
accuracy of which we do not question, it appears that, in-
cluding what was afloat in the harbour, the Commissariat
has never been without a supply, at Balaklava, of the arti-
cles issued as rations to the men. But the ration of biscuit
having, on the 1:)th of October, been increased Or General
Order to in consideration of the severe labour to
which the troops were subjected, it was reduced on the
7th of Neyembe,r to Ilb , on the express ground of the
supply of biscuit being insufficient to furnish the increased
ration lately atithori,ed.,
ap;rietvnicalegdhe,,,a_rl that there had been such a deficiency, or
A of Januaryy
of salt neat as to make it DIECCS-
Nary to apply 'c
en the 21adency
ance, we inquiredtnitytettithe cirmitnstatnoceihs.e nFavryomforthaessirset:
his statements, it aturns banded to
e Commissary-General, and from
ppe
had at that time in store
in s that, although the Commissariat
.sufficient for several days' con-
sumption, there was still,lsequence of some mistake,
it is stated, on the part of the
considerable
Commissariat officers at
Constantinople, cause forft
without
anziety lest the
whole army should be 1,,
salt meat at a time
when no other articles of food wart available, except biz
ouit, rum, and the ordinary groo' •
eries. The arrival of a •

♦essel with a supply of salt meat, before that which had
been obtained from the navy was issued, relieved the Com-
missary-General from the anxiety which he had previously
felt upon that subject.
" SHORT RATIONS._ _

the Inspector• General, and had been especially pointed out
in those which he transmitted to the Adjutant-General for
the months of November and December. In these he anti-
cipates the speedy arrival of a supply that would admit of
the issue generally to the troops of what they so much
needed. Tet from the 10th of December, the limejuice
brought by the Esk was lying in the commissariat stores at.
Balaklava, and none of it was issued till the first week in
February, an interval during which the sufferings of the
army from scurvy were probably at their height. Had
the General Commanding been informed of the arrival
of that supply, it cannot be doubted that it would have
been issued to that part of the army which most required
it nearly two months earlier.
" It is somewhat remarkable that the regulations re-
quire the issue of limejuice to troops on board ship, when
salt meat is issued for a certain number of days, but that
there is not any similar provision for the protection of
troops on shore, though the necessity may be equally
urgent, as it has been in the Crimea, and would be in a
fortress that was invested or blockaded, It appears to us,
after careful consideration of the facts that have come to
our knowledge, that it would be expedient, whenever salt
meat is issued to troops, to assimilate their diet to that
which is used so successfully in the navy. This has been
strongly recommended by several officers, and especially
by Dr. Walsh, the naval surgeon in charge of the marines
on shore, who states, in his evidence, that during a ser-
vice of 17 years he has never seen scurvy in the navy.
FRESH ♦ND PRESERVED VEGETABLES.
" The health of the army also suffered from a deficiency
of fresh or preserved ♦egetables. Lord Raglan seems to
have been urgent to supply this deficiency ; but it ap-
pears that, according to the regulations, vegetables do not
constitute a part of the soldiers' rations, and it is there-
fore no part of the ordinary duty of the Commissariat to
issue, or even to provide them. This arrangement, which
leaves the soldier to purchase vegetables in the market,
may be an advantage to him where such a market exists,
but it is obviously inapplicable where, as in the Crimea,
there was none. The first attempts to import green vege-
tables were not successful, and some time elapsed before
the defects in the arrangements could be so far remedied
as to secure a regular supply. In the meantime scurvy in
its ordinary form, and scorbutic diseases in various forms
extended rapidly, till in several regiments hardly a man
was free from the taint.

" The evidence of the commanding officers and quarter-
masters showed what indeed was admitted by the Commis-
sariat, that on several occasions, especially in the month
of December, some of the divisions did not receive full
rations. For the purpose of ascertaining the precise amount
of these deficiencies returns were called for from each
corps, but in many cases, owing to the difficulty expe-
rienced in keeping or preserving records of any kind, the
regimental officers were unable to vouch for the accuracy
of the details. Au abstract of these returns has, however,
been printed in the Appendix.
" It appears that in the Cavalry and Ist Divisions, and
in the 2d Brigade, 2d Division, the deficiencies were merely
fractional ; and that even in the Third Division and the let
Brigade, 2d Division, where they were somewhat greater,
they were not such as could, in ordinary circumstances, ma-
terially affect the health of the troops.
"In the 4th and Light Divisions the deficiencies in the
rations were not only greater in amount, but also much
more continuous. In those divisions the men were fre-
quently on three-quarters, two-thirds, and sometimes on
half rations ef meat and of rum ; on two occasions they
had only quarter rations, and on one day they had none at
all. In the other items the defalcations were not very im-
portant except in rice, of which the Fourth Division did
not get any for the first 10 days in January, nor for three
other days in that month, while a brigade of the Light
Division received for six days iu that month only half the

usual quantity.
rr With reference to the probable effects of such deficien-
cies, it may be proper to state that, prior to December,
1850, the ration of salt pork, then issued twice a-week to
the British troops on several foreign stations, was only
12 oz., with 11b. of beef, fresh or salt, on the other five
days, and that, prior to 1337, the ration of pork was only
9oz. on three days in the week, with 11b. of beef, fresh or
salt, on the other four days, which is less than the average
quantity actually issued, even in those divisions in which
the deficiencies were greatest. On those stations, however,
in addition to 11b. of soft bread, the troops had at all times
either 4oz. of rice or half-a-pint of peas daily, besides which
a portion of their pay was expended in purchasing vege-
tables in the market, whereas in the Crimea, during the
greater part of November and December, and also in a
great measure during January and part of February, the
soldier was confined exclusively to biscuit in addition to
his salt set at.

" The advantages attending the use of preserved and
compressed vegetables, more especially when the army is
in motion, are so great and obvious, and the men have
now become so well acquainted with the manner of using
them, and relish them so fully, that we venture strongly
to recommend that they should be regularly issued to the
troops, when fresh vegetables, in sufficient quantity and in
good condition, cannot be provided, and that a specified
quantity of the one or of the other should constitute a part
of the regulated rations of troops in the field.
"FRESH BRZA.D.
" The only bread issued to the troops, till the month of
April, was biscuit, which appears, however, to have been
of excellent quality. The sick complained much of the want
of soft bread, and the men who were affected with scurvy,
many of whom ooatinued to perform their duties, wale
often unable, from the state of their gums, to eat the hard
biscuit, or could eat it only with much pain. At length
some private establishments for baking bread, in Russian
evens which had been found there, were set on foot by pri-
vate enterprise at Balaklava ; and the men, especially the
sick, eagerly purchased the loaf of the nominal weight of
two pounds, at 25., and even at 2s. 6d. or 3s. The most
urgent craving of the sick was for a morsel of soft bread.
Shortly after our arrival an arrangement was made with
those establishments, by Lord Ragan's direetions' by which
they engaged to supply the purveyor with a certain quan-
tity daily for the use of the hospitals, to be issued, on re-
quisition, as a medical comfort.
" We are not aware of any snfficient reason why soft
bread might not have been baked at any time for the use of
the sick, and also for the whole army. The French army
has been regularly supplied with fresh bread ; and the erec-
tion of a sufficient number of ovens was not an operation
involving any great expense, or reqniring much skill or much
time, if it had been undertaken by the proper publio de-
partments. There were bakers enough in the regiments to
have worked many more ovens than were required to supply
the whole army; and if these could not be spared from their
military duties there was no difficulty in procuring bakers
from Constantinople. But there appears to have been an
indisposition to make the attempt. (See Colonel Tulloch's
memorandum appendix, p. 20.) The Commissary-General
understood that a floating bakery had, for several months,
been in preparation in England, and it was considered un-
necessary, or impossible, to do anything till it arrived.
" From the information we have obtained, we are satis-
fied that it is of great importance to the hsalth of the
troops that they should be regularly supplied with a pro-
portion of soft bread, and is standing camp, where flour
tan be obtained, there is rarely any real difficulty in pro-
viding it.

The French troops, it is understood, had only 12oz. of
beef, or 10oz. of pork daily, when salt meat was issued ;
but, besides being always able to use their coffee and sugar
with advantage, they had 2.10 z. of rice or dried vegetables,
and 270 z. of soft bread, or 20oz. of biscuit daily.
"In considering the probable effects of the deficiencies
referred to, it may be presumed, from the facts above
stated, that it was not so much from default in the rations
of salt meat and biscuit that the diet of the troops affected
their health, as from the insufficiency of other descrip-
tions of food. At the same time there can be no doubt
that the short rations wore considered an additional hard-
ship and privation by those who could use them, and that
any diminution in the nutritive value of the diet, which,
even when issued in full, was insufficient to maintain
the strength of men undergoing hard labour and much ex-
posure, must have been injurious to all who could have
consumed it. Many of the men, however, did not eat
the salt meat, especially the salt beef, when full rations
were issued. The prevailing diseases were, at that time,
affections of the bowels, in most cases connected with
scorbutic tendency in the system ; and net only the men,
but the medical officers also, believed that those diseases
were aggravated, and that tendency increased, by the con-
tinued use of salt meat. In many cases, the aversion to
that description of food seems to have amounted to abso-
lute loathing. Several of the officers who had lived for a
considerable time upon their rations experienced similar
sensations, and ultimately found it impossible to eat the
salt meat, especially the salt beef, although it is admitted
that both beef and pork were quite sound and of good qua-
lity. It was remarked that, while whole pieces of salt
beef were frequently left unconsumed, sometimes to the
extent of hundreds of pounds' weight in a day by a single
regiment, nearly all the pork was eaten, except by some of
th Scotch regiments.

" DEFICIENCIES.

" The deficiencies in the supplies provided by the Com-
missariat, from which the army, and especially that part of
it which was encamped upon the heights before Sebastopol,
suffered most, were a deficiency of fresh meat, a deficiency
of vegetables, a deficiency of fresh bread, particularly for the
sick, aed more especially for those whose gums were affected
with scurvy, a deficiency of fuel, a deficiency of hay and
straw to such an extent that enough could not be procured
to fill the paillasses of the sick, and, above all, a defi-
ciency of land transport, to which many of the other defi-
ciencies are mainly to be attributed.
" FRESH MEAT.

" GREEN COFFEE.
" We need not revert to the issue of green coffee, which
has been alluded to by nearly all the witnesses whom we
examined. That subject had already been so fully discussed
that we did not consider it necessary to investigate it.
Bat there is reason to believe that, being imperfectly
roasted and pounded by the men, it became injurious to
their health. This is not only their opinion, but also that
of those medical officers upon whose judgment we should
be most disposed to rely, and it is much to be regretted
that the simple expedient of assembling a board of officers
as had been done at Varna, was net resorted to, as they
could have recommended tea to be substituted for coffee.
" When the difficulty about fuel to roast the coffee be-
gan to be seriously felt in December, there were 2,7031 b. of
tea (equal to 173,000 rations) lying in the Commissariat
stores at Balaklava. This would have afforded the usual
quantity of a quarter of an ounce per man daily to the
corps in front, where the greatest difficulty was experi-
enced in making use of the coffee, till a supply could be
obtained from Constantinople, or other quarters, suffiraent
to make the issue a general one. A temporary supply, too,
might probably have been obtained from the navy, as there
are generally large stores of tea on board. Nothing of this
kind, however, appears to have been attenalit,ed, and the
coffee continued to be issued in a green state to the men
in front till the mouth of February, though much of it
was not used in consequence of the difficulty of preparing
it.

" The army appears to have been supplied with a suffi-
cient proportion of fresh meat while in Bulgaria ; and dur•
ing the latter days of September, and nearly the whole of
October, the cattle obtained in the Crimea, either by cap-
ture or purchase, furnished the troops with a considerable
proportion, but after the beginning of November they were
dependent upon the cattle imported. From that time till
the month of March the supply of fresh meat was not suffi-
cient to maintain the health of the troops. During the
interval they suffered to an alarming extent from diseases
of the bowelq, to which there was a general predisposition;
and the medical officers of all ranks are of opinion, with
hardly one exception, that the continued use of salt meat
aggravated those diseases, and increased that predispo-
sition.

" With reference to this subject we have obtained returns
from all the regiments employed in tho Crimea, showing
the quantity of salt and fresh meat issued to each of them
respectively during the winter, an abstract of which has
been submitted in the Appendix. A return was also fur-
nished, at our request, by the Commissary-General, from
which it appears that the average quantity of fresh meat
issued to each man of the five divisions composing the
army, including the sick in camp, was in December 61b.
40z., in January about tub., in February glb 20z.; but
several of the issues which go to make up this amount
were in small quantities for the use of the sick only, to
whom a preference was given in almost all instances ' • and
it is probably that the men for duty did not actually
receive more than 31b. in December, 51b. in January, and
41b. in February. Some of the corps received even less
' than that quantity, and there is hardly any difference of
opinion as to the evil consequences.
"VEGETABLE FOOL

" That evil was aggravated by a deficiency of vegetable
food. The issue of 2oz. of rice daily to each man, which
had been ordered by Lord Raglan, in Bulgaria, to be con-
tinued till the 30th of September, in consequence of the
prevalence of bowel complaints, was extended, at the sug-
gestion, it appears, of the Commissary-General, till the
15th of November, when it unfortunately ceased, the order
not having been renewed. The Commissary-General states,
and the returns show, that the supply of rice in store was
such as would have enabled him to continue the issue;
but 1. also states that, from the deficiency of laud tran-
sport, it was impossible to carry that additional weight to
the front. The troops were then as completely dependent
upon th• Commissariat as if they been on board ship, and
were subsisting almost exclusively upon salt meat and bis-
cuit. It was, therefore, most unfortunate that the issue
of an article of diet so valuable, in those circumstances, as
rice should have been suspended in consequence of the
want of transport, just at the time when it was most
needed.

" When the original order for the issue of two ounces
of rice per man expired, on the 30th of September, the
Commissary-General states that, finding there was a suffi-
cient quantity in store, and that bowel complaints still
continued to prevail, he suggested, as a measure beneficial
to the health of the army, the extension of the order to
the 15th of November. It in much to bo regretted that,
when he subsequently found himself unable, from want of
transport, to carry the 2 ounces of rice iu addition to the
salt meat, he was not induced by the same motives to in-
form the General Commanding that he bad still enough
of rice in store to continue the issue, which had become
even more necessary than en the 30th of September, and
that he did not call for a decision as to whether the army
then suffering not only from bowel complaints, -but also
from scurvy, should be deprived of the only vegetable
food, besides biscuit, which was immediately available, or
should submit to r reduction of two ounces in the daily
supply of salt meat, which a large proportion of the men
did not consume. The troops felt the loss of the rice se-
verely, many of them declaring that they would rather
have lost their rum ; but they submitted without remon-
strance, because the belief appears to have been general
that the issue of rice had ceased in consequence of the
supply being exhausted.

"It appears tons, from the statements of a great majority
of the medical and other officers examined, that tea would
on the whole be preferable to coffee, especially on a march,
provided the ration of sugar were increased by one quarter
of an ounce, that is, from 1- °lances to 2 ounces.
That change would somewhat diminish the weight to be
carried, always an important co'imideration, and would
materially diminish the cost of the ration. It was objected
by the Cmtmissary-General, tkat tea is more likel:; to be
damaged than coffee, especiAly on a march ; but as the
whole of the tea used in Rassia, and in some countries of
A..ia, where it is largely consumed, is carried overland
from China, there can hardly be any serious difficulty in
carrying a supply with an army.
"DEFECTIVE COOKING.
"One of the causes of sickness is the army, to which all
the witnesses refer, is defective cooking. On the march
from Old Fort to the Alma, and during the battle, most
of the men threw away or lost their camp kettles. Some
divisions did not preserve even one in ten of the regulated
number, viz., one to every five men. When the army
arrived before Sebastopol it was, therefore, impossible to
organise the established regimental system of cooking,
which is by companies, telling off a certain number of men
per company as cooks. Each man had to cook for himself
in his small mess tin or canteen, to procure his own fuel,
and to light his own fire.

"FUEL.
" For a time there WAS little difficulty in procuring fire-
wood ; but after the brushwood in the vicinity of the camp
was consumed fuel could not be obtained, except by dig-
ging up roots, an operation which, to unskilful hands, in-
volved great labour, and, in bad weather, mach exposure.
When there was snow upon the ground, and during frost, the
men, who were inadequately supplied with tools, and who,
from want of skill in using them, soon spoiled or broke each
as they had, often found it impossible to procure elioueh of
fuel. In wot weather the inexperienced, who colnposed the
great majority, had much difficulty in getting the green or
',vet wood to burn. Men who had been e.fl night iu the
trenches, up to their anklesin mud, and who returned to the
camp exhausted and benumbed, c0u1..7t not cook food for
themselves without first grubbing up roots for fuel, which in
many cases were to be found only r,.6 a considerable distance.
Many of them wanted either e.,,orgy or streugh enough to
undergo that labour, and co'Atented themselves with their
biscuit and rum, adding in some cases a bit of raw pork.
liany more made the attemipt to cook their meat, hut, in
consequence of the diff.criltiea just referred to, the process
eaten half
was often very lil,Pe.rfectly performed, and the meat was
aw. Even .after kettles had been procured,
y
gimente was not until some time in Janu-
awrhi,cial and in
after Drat',:e' n had been told off to cook for companies'
the labour e:ed exposure undergone by the fatigue partis
sent out tA obtain fuel was a serious addition to the other
severe adad harassing dntiee which they had to perform.
" rne Commissariat maintained that it was not the
pra'ztice of the service to issue fuel to troops in the field ;
Qiee a soldier was not entitled to a ration of fuel unless in
barracks. Lord Raglan, however, on the 11th November
instructed the Commissary-General to provide a sufficient
supply of fuel for the ensuing winter ; and by a General
Order dated the 4th Dec., directed the issue of rations of
fuel to the troops. But, although it appeared that even
long before the 11th Nov. the Commissary-General had
provided a depot of fuel at Scutari for the use of the army
when in barracks, he was not prepared to issue fuel in the
field when it was ordered on the 4th December.
" To provide and issue fuel was, no doubt, a considerable
addition to the duties of the Commissariat, and the difficnl-
ties arising from the deficien'u state of the land transport, the
narrow space for landing stores at Balaklava, and the great
amount of labour which t'ae other duties of that' department
involved, in the pecul',.e.r circumstances of the army, may
have led the Comrni aaary-General to insist upon the alleged
previous practice in the Peninsula and elsewhere of leaving
troops in the field to find their own feel. But the circum-
stances of the army before Sebastopol were obviously ex-
ceptional, and an appeal to precedent was out of place. In
consequence of 'the representations of the Commissary-
General, howeever, the order of the 4th of Dec. appears to
have been Toodified, and it was not until the 29th of De-
cember that the troops in and near Balaklava received
rations of. food.
This rapparent want of alacrity on the part of the Cora-
missa.riat to provide fuel for the army in the field, could
not have arisen from any difficulty in procuring firewood.
The southern coast of the Black Sea is wooded down to
the shore for hundreds of miles; firewood could have been
procured there in unlimited quantity, but the resources of
that coast had not then been explored. Wood has more
recently been obtained thence at little more than one-fourth
of the price paid for it during the winter at Scutari and.
Constantinople. Unfortunately, after fuel had been pro-
vided at Balaklava, the want of land transport made it
impossible to carry it to the front, except in small quanti-
ties for the use of the hospitals ; and, being issued only
in the vicinity of Balnklava, it was of no use to the soldier
on the heights, unless he could find the means of carrying
it to tie regimental camp.
"IMPROPER DIET%
" From what line been stated, it appears that the diet
provided for the troops was net well calculated to preserve
their health in P,ny circumstances, and that, instead of
tending to count eract the other causes of disease to which
they were expo sad, it tended rather to aggravate thoso
evils. Aud the same unvarying diet of salt meat and bis-
cuit, without a *aufficient supply of vegetables, acting upon
constitutions gilebilitated by the other causes previously
referred to, produced scurvy, which, there is reason to be-
lieve, eonaPli .sated and rendered more fatal almost ever!
other dieea.,o by which the troops were attacked in D -
ember and January.

It' appears from the evidence of the Commissary-
General that it has not been the practice in the British
army to keep the General Commanding informed of the
amount of provisions in depot, or available for the use of
the troops, but only of finch as be in the possession of the
troops, and in the charge of the Commissariat officers of
divisions. It was not until the latter end of January,
when circumstances forced upon Lord Raglan's attention
the necessity for his being kept personally informed of the
actual amount of the supplies on which he could rely for
the maintenance of the troops, tfutt periodical returns of
the quantities in store at Balaklava were ordered to be
submitted to him.

" It appears to us, not only that periodical returns of the
supplies in store, and available, ought regularly to be sub-
mitted, but that it ought to be the duty of some officer to
call the attention of the Goaeral Commanding to such as
are likely, in special circumstances, to prove beneficial.
Had Lord Itaglar's attention been called to the stores of
rice, and other farinaceous and vegetable food at his com-
mand,* or had there been any officer on his Staff who could
be held responsible for the proper application of the avail-
able supplies, there can be no reasonable doubt that the
men would have received, in lieu of two ounces of the salt
meat which many of them could not oat, au equal weight
of food that would have been both more acceptable, and
infinitely more beneficial.

" The'doficiency of transport, which is assigned as the
reason why these supplies were not conveyed to the front,
need not have affected the corps in and around Dalaklava,
which were suffering from the same diseases, though not to
the same extent.

"LTNIEJUICE.

"A more unaccountable and still more unfortunate fail-
ure to apply to the use of the army stores, of which it stood
in the most urgent need, occurred in regard to limej nice.
On the 10th of December 278 cases, containing nearly
20,0001 b., arrived by the Esk, for the purpose of being
issied generally to the troops. Small quantities obtained
from the purveyor, and also, it is understood, from the
navY, bad been issued to the hospitals for the cure of scurvy
during the previous month, but no measures had been taken
ti,oprceoanteract the tendency to that disease which NV as rapidly
lactic ha },eon The
necessity for issuing limejuice as a prophy-
eon stated in many of the medical reports to

* The
the
table, abstracted from the store accounts,
will show the quantities of farinaceous and preserved vege-
table feed lying in the stores at Balaklava and Scutari,
while the troops were sufferinfi in health for want of them

nice. Available aPnr,elsedrrvieetildi Period
otalbto._es. availahle.
Awl the
------i
------4,574 IPF:rrist:lolv.. 3 Froin
At Balaava • • • • • • • • ••e
were lying ini
4, IhB 1 NOT.
store at Scutari, ready,
to be brought over asl
the above supplies be-
came reduced ........1 296,001 I Nov. COlO 1 Oct.
i I
--- Peas. i Period Scotch Period
.1.----
available. barley. available.
______—..---_.......—......_ —.........._ ---- ---
lb. 1 From lb. From
_it Barak-lava • • • • •• • • 31,200 I 16 Dec. ! 23,123 1 Jan.
And there were lying in
store at Scutari, ready,
to be brought over as
Nil. ""; 42,720 1 D3C.
pp. I. l,e.s be-
And about half
the above
..
that qzantity from
calve realleesciu
• -.l.`;' ' the ld vf October,

" ABUNDANCE OF CATTLE.
issue"lll, CADMlnisAary•General states that he considers the
but cluflenegb intuit the rule, and of salt meat the exception;
It he ILI,. s eet explained, iu a manner that we consider
s4isfac"°ry, the reason why this order was reversed. In
sibl:°,4infzies subject to Turkey, which were easily acces-
in 40" Aere is not, and there never has been, any difficulty
arm.% a sufficient number of cattle to supply the
bn, i 'with fresh oat. In Decemer, when scarcel an
salt meat was issued, the Commibssary-General says that
,zd 8. head of cattle seetred. He attributes trio de-
-7000
Lielei?a ill the camp to the want of sea transport, She ditli:

THE SUN, LONDOisi, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 4, 1856,

culties of the winter navigation, and the delays caused by
the tele of Balaklava as the port of the army.
" All of these circumstances, doubtless, increased the
difficulty of bringing forward a sufficient number of cattle;
but, looking to the ear *ant of sea transport at his command
after the 11th of December, when the sailing horse-trans-
ports were placed at his disposal, for another purpose to
which they were not applied, and could have been made
available for the conveyance of cattle, in addition to tho
steam vessels already at his disposal, and, considering the
vicinity of Samsoon and other ports on the southern shore
of the Black Sea, where cattle could net only have been
procured, but were actually tendered to him in December
and rejected, we are forced to the conclusion that the
Commissary-Goneral was not then sufficiently alive to the
importance of that article of food ; and that the quantity
might have been considerably increased during the months
of December, January, and February, if proper measures
had been taken for that purpose. The time is not very re-
mote when armies depended upon sailing vessels for all the
supplies transported by sea, but the Commissary-General
was deterred from using such vessels for the conveyance of
cattle by what he describes as the frightful' proportion of
casualties. This does not appear to us t be a sufficient rea-
son. 3,000 additional bullocks, in the three months above-
mentioned, would, on the average, have given the whole
army fresh meat every alternate day; and we cannot per-
suade ourselves that three or four of the sailing horse-
transports could scot have landed that number in three
months, in addition to all that were brought by steam ves-
sels, chiefly from the Bosphorus. If there was difficulty in
bringing the additional cattle alive, they might have been
slaughtered, and at that season of the year the meat might
have been carried without much loss. In short, it appears
to us that fresh meat, in much larger quantities, might
have been, and ought to have been, supplied to the army.
"The common belief that, in the navy, the seamen are
fel upon salt meat and biscuit, may, perhaps, have misled
persons who did not sufficiently attend to the precautions
which it has been found necessary to adopt in that branch
of the service, for the purpose of insuring variety of diet,
and of counteracting the effects of a diet consisting of the
two articles in question. It is also right to keep in view
that we are judging after the event, when the importance
of a sufficient supply of fresh meat has been proved, though
not by any means for the first time, by the consequences
resulting from the want of it.
IMPORTANCS OF FRESH MEAT-
" Wherever large armies have been collected a tendency
to diseases of the bowels has been manifested. These are
emphatically the diseases of the camp, and it is of the
utmost importance that every precaution should be taken
to counteract that tendency. But experience has proved
on many former, and some comparatively recent occasions,
that the long use of salt meat increases both the number
attacked and the Proportion of fatal cases. The influence of
improper diet is augmented in proportion to the constitu-
tional depression; and predisposition to disease produced by
other causes, and in circumstances so unfavourable to health
as those in which the army in the Crimea was placed, by the
nature of the service, the season at which it was carried on,
and the unusual disproportion of the numbers to the
amount of work to be done, no practical means ought to
have been left untried to protect the troops from the inju-
rious effects of diet—one of the few conditions of the sol-
diers' existence eehich were absolutely within control.
" Regarded merely in a pecuniary point of view, irrespec-
tive of higher considerations, moral and political, the most
wasteful of all expenditure is the expenditure of men.
There is hardly nny conceivable price that it may bo neces-
sary to pay for What is required to preserve the health and
efficiency of the soldier that is not advantageously laid out.
Every soldier ha: costa large sum before he is landed iu the
Crimea fi t for date., and it costs alike sum to replace him. The
valueof the other, onsideratione cannob be estimated in money
for they are above all price. But the h i ghost price that has been
paid per lb. for fresh meat, including freight and casualties,
was sd. or 6d., and therefore less than the lowest price at
which salt meat has been put into store in the Crimea ;
and if the casualties, which in the winter voyage from the
Bosphorus, in steeru-vessels, are variously stated at from 14
to 20 per cent., '„ad been double that amount, or even a
larger proportie -e that would not have been a sufficient
reason for leavin the army without an adequate supply of
what was necesse y to preserve the health of the troops.
"Considering vo preference which has been shown, not
only in the presen but iu other campaigns, particularly those
in the Burmese Ned Chinese empires, for issuing to the
troops salt meat, ~nd biscuit instead of fresh meat and
bread, notwithstaing the alarming extension of diseases
of the bowels which usually manifests itself in military
operations, there seems reason to apprehend that the faci-
lity of obtaining and distributing the former description of
supplies may not unfroquently have had an influence in
causing too extensive a use of them.
"The duties of the Commissariat are, then, in a great
measure confined to maintaining an ample store of these in
the general depot by shipments from home, which involves
little trouble; and the distribution of this supply, accord-
ing to the numbers in each division, merely involves the
simplest operation of arithmetic ; bat when cattle have to
be sought out and pnrchaeed, often in remote provinces,
have to be fed and cared for, and kept in condition before
shipment ; when transport has to be provided, forage ob-
tained for the voyage, and subsistence thereafter till they
are given over to the troops, the measure, however useful,
is one which must necessarily be attended with much extra
trouble, great complication of accounts, and no small per-
sonal exertion. 'the preparation of soft bread, in like
measure—involving, as it does, the purchase of wheat, its
conversion into fleet., the building of ovens, the hiring of
bakers, and extensive superintendence—requires a very
different amount of trouble and responsibility from
what would be created by the receipt and issue of
a certain number of bags of biscuit daily. It is,
perhaps, but natural under such circumstances that those
who have the charge of supplying the troops should cling
to a system which tends so materially to relieve their ditli-
culties during a protracted campaign ; but, as experience
has shown that this saving of trouble in the first instance
can only be effected at the risk of great suffering, vast ex-
pense, and tenfold trouble in the end, the dependence on a
diet of salt meat and biscuit only should in future be con-
fined to cases in which the general officer in command has
satisfied himself as to the impassibility of procuring other
supplies, and, therefore directs, in general orders, the issue
of that description of food. The restriction to this ration
should, then, be communicated immediately to the home
authorities, in order that they may send out guppliei of
preserved moats and vegetables, to counteract its same-
ness and innutritious otality.
" SUPPLIES OF VEGETABLES COULD BE OBTAINED.
" The deficiency in the supply of vegetables is even more
objectionable and more unaccountable than that of the
fresh meat. If the army was to bo fed on salt meat, a
sufficient supply of vegetable food was known to be indis-
pensable to the maintenance of health. The Turkish pros
viuces could have furnished, and a later and more unfa-
vourable season did furnish, a considerable amount. There
are several varieties which can safely be carried by sea,
and which will keep several months, of which potatoes
and onions are perhaps the best, and the different varie-
ties of preserved vegetables are available at all seasons,
and at a moderate cost.

will begin to fall off after the month of October, unless
arrangements are made by the Commissariat to have them
properly fed and kept in condition. Such arrangements,
instead of increasing the cost of the meat; would, probably,
produce a considerable saving; for the oxen, if se attended
to, would yield nearly double the quantity, and of better
quality. We anticipate no difficulty in maintaining, or,
if necessary, in largely increasing, the supplies of cattle,
and also of vegetables, from the Turkish provinces.

" BAT HORSES AND MULES.

" At the time when the army was suffering in conse-
quence of the want of vegetables there was in store, at BA-
laklava, a considerable supply of vegetable food, both peas
and preserved potatoes, which were not issued. The greater
part of the peas were not split, but whole, and the men, ex-
periencing great diflculty in boiling them, became unwilling
to take them. They did not know, and do not appear to
have been informed, that the addition of a small quan-
tity of soda would have made the process comparatively
easy ; but for this omission the Commissariat cannot
be considered responsible. As a reason for not issuing the
preserved potatoes during the winter, when they would
have been so useful in preventing scurvy, the Commissary-
General states that the men rejected them, and returned
into store several cases that had been issued. On investi-
gating the circumstances, however, it appeared that they
had been returned ,nto store at a time when the troops had
a sufficient supply of fresh meat, and when they understood
that they were to pay for one pound of the preserved the
price of four or fils pounds of the fresh potatoes. When
they were afterwaras issued gratis, and the mon had learnt
how to cook them, they became exceedingly popular.*
"NO ONE SPECIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR DIET, OR FOR
THE ADAPTATIOII OF THE RESOURCES TO THE WANTS OF
THE ARMY.

"The most disastrous of the deficiencies to which we have
referred was the deficiency of the land transport. This
was not confined to the transport more properly belonging
to the Commissariat, but extended also to the public and
private bat animals, the former being such ae, previous to
the formation of the Laud Transport Corps, were provided
by the Commissariat, and handed over to each corps in
regulated proportions for the carriage of the field equip-
ment, the latter being the private property of the officers,
who are, however, authorised to draw rations for them.
Public bat animals appear to have been provided for such
corps as were in Bulgaria, and most of the officers of those
corps also provided themselves ; but when the army em-
barked for the Crimea neatly all of both descriptions were left
behind, and it was not till the end of October that about
half the regulated number was landed in the Crimea. A
second and smaller detachment arrived in January, but by
that time a great part of those received iu Oct ber were
dead, or no longer effective, and, in consequence of the con-
tinued deficiency of forage, and the exposure and fatigue,
most of those received in January shared the same fate.
When the Commissariat transport failed, this deficiency
of regimental transport, which otherwise would have been
of comparatively little moment in a standing camp, was
severely felt.

" LAND TRANSPORT.
" All the witnesses examined upon the subject are of
opinion that the duties which the men had to perform
under arms in the trenches, and en pickets and guards, in-
volved an amount of labour and exposure as great or greater
than they could bear, without injury to their health. It
was, therefore, of the utmost importance that they should
be saved all additional labour and exposure, but, owing to
the delicieucy of land transport, they had to perform a
large amount of the work that ought to have been done by
horses and mules. The roads, or tracks, were so deep in
mud that the journey which the men had to perform from
the camp on the heights to Balaklava and back, carrying
up rations, warm clothing, huts, or ammunition, frequently
occupied 12 hours, during the whole of which time they
were without food, shelter, or rest—unless standing in deep
mud, drenched and cold, instead of struggling through it,
can be called rest. It was in consequence of the want of
transport that, even after firewood hail been provided at
Balaklava, the men had to undergo the labour and exposure
of digging up roots to cook thir food, without always
being able to procure enough for that purpose. It was in
consequence of the want of transport that the men were
repeatedly on short rations, and that they were deprived,
for about six or seven weeks, of their rations of rice,
which would have been so beneficial at that precise time,
when hardly any vegetables were supplied to them, and
hardly a man in the army escaped the prevailing disease.
The mon were overworked in the trenches, and on
pickets and guards ; and they suffered in health from the
excessive fatigue watching, and exposure which those
duties involved. To these, in consequence of the want of
transport animals, were superadded other duties, involving
an amount of fatigue and exposure which alone would
have been trying to their constitutions. Several of the
officers stated that the draughts for their corps, which were
excused duty in the trenches for the first ten days after
their arrival, were sent, during that interval, on fatigue to
Balaklava, but that it became necessary to relinquish the
practice, because a fatigue party to Balaklava seat se many
of the young soldiers into hospital.
" From the commencement of the campaign in the Cri-
mea the scale upon which the Commissary-General pro-
posed to provide land transport for the army appears to
us to have been dangerously small • yet the scale upon
which it was actually provided fell far short of even what
ho had proposed. From a return prepared by the Commis-
sariat, there appears the startling fact that in January,
1835, the whole number of effective animals belonging to
that department was 333 pack-horses and mules, and 12
camels. The Commissary-General had considered it ne-
cessary, before the army should move from Varna, to
have transport at his disposal equal to about 14,000 pack
animals.

"In the month of October, however, assuming that the
whole army was fixed immoveably in its position, the
available transport may have been sufficient fur purely
Commissariat purposes, exclusive of the conveyance of
firewood--that is, for the carriage of rations of food and
forage from Balaklava to the camps cf the different divie
sions. But from the commencement of the operations
transport was required for siege purposes also. From the
evidence of the Commissary-General it appears that this
diversion of a part of his transport from Commissariat to
siege purposes prevented him from completing the forma-
tion of a depot near head-quarters which he had com-
menced, and which was a measure of great importance to
the army, as subsequent events too cleaily proved. He
was, therefore, from the commencement of the operations
against Sebastopol, aware that the transport he had col-
lected was not all available for Commissariat purposes,
and was not sufficient for all the purposes for which it was
required. In answer to the question why, in those cir-
cumstances, he did net increase the transport in the
Crimea, he states that ho had as many animals as he could
feed. The measure of the amount of transport to be pro-
vided for the army in the Crimea was not, therefore, what
was required, but what the Commissariat could feed. The
reason for not increasing the amount of transport was not
that a greater number of animals was unnecessary, but that
a greatr number could not be fed in the Crimea. But if
proper arrangements had been made to provide the army
with forage for the winter, wherever it might be at that
season, the forage would have been available for use in
the Crimea.

" SUPPLY OF HAY.

" The Commissary-General had indeed concluded a con-
tract for about 1,000,000 pounds, or about 800 tons of hay,
to be made at Buyook Tchaktnedge, on the Seaof Marmora;
and hydraulic presses were sent out from England to com-
press it for shipment. The contractors failed, it is said, to
complete their contract, and only about 600 or 70 tons of
hay were made. They appear to have been rrkou withornt
capital, who borrowed money at a high rate of interest to
carry out their various contracts with the Commissariat.
Their credit was such that it was found necessary to make
an arrangement by which the sums falling du,) to them by
the Commissariat wero to be paid into the hands of the

banker who advanced the funds. The banker considered
it hazardous to make largo advances to enable thorn to
carry out a contract for hay which was liable to be rejected
on account of its quality, or because the whole quantity,
contracted for had not been prepared. Objections to re-
ceive delivery appear to have been raised on both of these
grounds, and payment was, in consequence, withheld.
The contractors having no means of discharging the debt
they had incurred to the bankers until they received
the price of the hay, and conceiving, as they assert,
that it had been rejected by the Commissariat, entered
into an arrangement to sell it to the French. The British
Commissariat then claimed it as their nroperty, and app!i-
cations were made by both parties to the Porte to compel
delivery of the hay, which each asserted they had pur-
chased. At length it was secured to the British Commis-
sariat. But in the meantime the hydraulic presses had
been erected in the vicinity of Constantinople, more than
15 miles from the place where it had been collected; and
it became necessary to carry the loose hay that distance,
either by land or water, before it could be pressed. This
operation could not be carried on in bad weather, and
thus, by defective arrangements throughout the whole
transaction, the only provision for supplying the army
with hay which had been ma•le in Turkey was rendered
nugatory, at a time when 600 or 700 tons in the Crimea
would have been invaluable. The Commissary-General
admits that if the presses had been erected at the place
where the hay was made he could have fed more animals ;
and there can be little doubt that every addition to the
transport ht the Crimea saved the lives of men.
" When the roads or tracks between Bale,klava and the
camp broke up about the 20th of November, and became
one great slough of deep and tenacious mud, impassable
for Commissariat carts, the transport power of that depart-
ment was reduced to one-third of its former amount, for
a horse or mule will draw in a cart three times the weight
it can carry on a pack. Even so early as the 14th of No-
vember, the day of the hurricane, the roads had become
difficult, and the transport animals began to suffer. Tho
Commissary-General then resolved to bring up a part of
the reserve transport which had been loft at Varna, and
had subsequently been ordered thence to Constantinople.
At this time, however, he only contemplated bringing up
250, and the Jason sailed for that purpose on the 26th of
November, and returned to Balaklava on the 16th of
December, having been absent twenty days. The average
passage at that season, including coaling, watering, &c.,
appears to have been about fifteen days. The Jason thus
exceeded the average time by a few days, of which two
may be accounted for by Cse, time occupied in sending for
and bringing in the mules from Tehakmedge, where they
were recovering from the effects of the journey from
Varna. They had been badly cartel for, and many were
utterly useless ; a certain number, however, arrived at
Constantinople, in vary bad condition, about the end of
November ; 250 of the most serviceable were selected to be
shipped in the Jason, but even these appear to have hardly
been considered effective by the Commissariat officers when
they arrived at Balaklava.

"ilt seems to be a defect, in the system of the 'gritish
army that no one is specially responsible for the fitness of
the diet supplied to the troops, or for the most advan-
tageous adaptatiot of the resources of the countries in
which military operations are carried on to the require-
ments, in this respnet, of the army. Supplies of the utmost
value to health may thus bo lying within reach, without
being made available, because they are not specified in the
scale of rations, awl because there is no ono whose special
duty it is to find them out and to suggest their employ-
ment. A commander-in•ehief may be a man of consum-
mate genius, capaWe of attending to everything great or
small, but a nation cannot safely ground its system upon
the assumption that it can at all times command the ser-
vices of suchimen ; and it may be worthy of consideration
whether there ought not to be upon the staff of •►n army
in the field an officer, holding high military rank, whose
duty it should be to devote his attention to the supply of
the army, who should be responsible for everything con-
nected with the receipt and issue of supplies and stores of
every description, in the same manner as the Quartermas-
ter-General and the Adjutant-General are responsible for
the manner in which their departments are conducted, and
who should be selected with reference to his special quali-
fications. •

"On the 11th of December the sailing horse transports of
the army were placed at the disposal of the Commissary-
General, to bring up transport animals, but wore not em-
ployed for that purpose. On the 24th he applied for a
steam-vessel, which appears. to have been immediately or-
dered. On the 28th he app!ied especially for the Jason, which
had then discharged her cargo of animals, &c., and, in pur-
suance of orders given on the 24th, she was immediately
placed at his disposal, and sailed on the 29th for Constan-
tinople. He makes it a ground of complaint, with refer-
ence to the reinforcement of the transport in the Crimea,
that, having sick on board for Scutari, she was detained till
the 7th Jan. lauding them; but, having been questioned on
the subject., he admitted that, after landing the sick at
Scutari, she was sent by the Commissariat, though not by
his orders, to the Sea of Marnaora to take in a cargo of fuel,
and he could not say that she might not have been absent
a week or 10 days for that purpose. The deficiency in the
land transport of the army cannot, therefore, be accounted
for on the ground that ho could not obtain sufficient sea
transport to convey the animals he was desirous of bringing
to the camp.
" The want of a road from Balaklava to the front, pass-
able for commissariat carts, greatly increased the difficulty
of supplying the army after the middle of November ; but
the officers commanding divisions, who were examined upon
the subject, are unanimous in their opinion that it would
have been i Eupossible to employ a sufficient number of m, n
to make the road, and at the same time to carry on,'th
e
the
military operations in which the army was engaged. on,
only remedy, therefore, was to increase the number of
transport animals ; and Lord Raglan, it is stated by the
Quartermaster-General, atter unceasingly and urgently'
impressing upon the Commissary-General the necessity of
preparing a sufficiency of transport, sentofficers of
the army to purchase animals at Eupatoria,.Constantanhoprlee.,
Smyrna, Sicily, &c. ; this measure was, however, dpcst
means
odbyt
fe
hheefoeuldng them.'miissary-General, who declared he had not
the
" In answer to the Teestion, was the Commissary-General
at any time urged to increase the amount of transport ? the
,Uanhcaeabsyininglyyseblyuthe Com-
12C!
!tuna rdtecrr
ofm atsht
ee rfoer
cneesr,apl
" The real cause of the deficiency of transport appears,
e saoyns
therefore, to have been the want of forage, not the want of
ships or of animals ; and a similar failure to provide the
requisite forage would again limit the number of animals
available for the army in the Crimea, whatever might be
the number in possession of the Land Transport Corps. It
may be hoped that the formation of that corps will prevent
the recurrence of any similar calamities from the same
cause.
" With respect to deficiencies of forage, which form the
next branch of our report, there is very considerable diffi-
culty in arriving at accurate conclusions, because, previous
to the Ist of January, no acoluut of such deicianeiea was
kept by the quartermasters of cavalry; but it is admitted,
both by the regimental and Commissariat officers, that
very large deficiencies did occur in the hay wad chopped