The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-05 00:00:00

THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE CRIMEA.

We publish to-day a portion of the second report
of Sir John M‘Neill and Colonel Tulloch upon the
condition of the army last year in the Crimea :
"London, January, 18.56.
" My Lord,—Before entering upon the next branch
of our report, which relates to the supplies of clothing,
blankets, &c., it may be proper to advert to the condi-
tion of the troops in that respect when they arrived
before Sebastopol in the last days of September.
" SEPARATION FROM KNAPSACKS.
"The British soldier usually carries in his knapsack
clothing sufficient to admit of at least one change, but
on landing in the Crimea, so great was the anxiety to
advance rapidly upon Sebastopol, that authority was
given to leave the knapsacks in the transports, and of
this permission most of the corps appear to have availed
themselves. Generally, therefore, each soldier had only
a shirt, a pair of boots, and a pair of socks, loosely
rolled up iu his blanket ; and even of these a great part
was lust at the battle of the Alma, or during the march.
This separation from the knapsacks could have produced
but little inconvenience had it terminated with the
march ; but, unfortunately, they were left on board of
the different vessels from which the men had disem-
barked, and these, being urgently required to bring re-
inforcements and supplies, were sent to the opposite
coast, carrying the knapsacks with them. It appears
from the evidence that, on the average, more than six
weeks elapsed before they were recovered, and then, in
many cases, only after they had been plundered of a
great part of their contents. The valises of the cavalry,
which were likewise left behind, shared the same fate,
and the great majority of the troops were thus deprived
for a considerable time of a change of clothing.
" Had the whole of the knapsacks and valises been
collected under a proper guard, in one or two vessels
selected for the purpose, and instructed to proceed along
the coast till the army arrived before Sebastopol, no bad
effects would probably have resulted from an arrange•
anent which enabled the men to lighten the fatigue of the
march ; but for want of this precaution, the troops, with
few exceptions, had to commence the siege operations,
in the beginning of October, with hardly any clothing
beyond what they had on. The work in trenches is pe-
culiarly destructive, and the soldier's uniform was soon
reduced to a threadbare and tattered condition. This
separation from their knapsacks not merely affected the
comfort of the soldier, bat was in a great measure the
cause of the wretched and destitute state in which the
sick and wounded arrived at Scutari, as referred to in
the report on the State of the Hospitals of the Army in
the East.
"In such a place as Balaklava nothing could be pur-
chased for the re-equipment of the soldier ; he could
neither wash nor change his clothes. His person conse-
quently became covered with vermin, and where affec-
tions of the bowels prevailed, as was almost universal,
the shirt rotted from filth, and had generally to be cut
off his back when taken into hospital at Scutari.
"As a soldier usually takes into hospital, in his knap-
sack, everything that is required for keeping his person
in a state of cleanliness, no sufficient preparations had
been made at Scutari to meet the demands for shirts and
under-clothing of the thousands who arrived in this des-
titute condition. There was also a great want of knivee,
forks, and spoons, as it was the usual practice for the
soldier to bring these along with him. •
" It is necessary to trace this accidental destitution to
its true cause—viz., the separation of the men from their
knapsacks, otherwise it might be supposed of an event
of ordinary occurrence, arising from defective equipment,
whereas no troops can be better provided in this re:pect
than the British army.
" It will be seen from the evidence of Colonel Gordon,
then Assistant Quartermaster-General, that he attributes
the non-recovery of the knapsacks at an early period to
the general officers of divisions, with the exception of
the Duke of Cambridge, preferring not to receive them.
On referring, however, to two if the officers who cons-
mended divisions on that occasion, one of them states I
positively that no such offer was made to him ; another
that he has no recollection of it, though it may have
been so ; the third being absent, we have had no oppor-
tunity of communicating with him on the subject.
" Most of the knapsacks, with such of their contents
as could be recovered, were restored to the troops by the
middle of November. In a meteorological register kept
at Belaklava, it is stated that till then the weather was
generally fine, with little rain, but that during the latter
part of that month and a osneiderable portion of Dd-
ceruber there were heavy rains with cold nights. From
the time of his lauding in the Crimea the soldier had the
ordinary field equipment of a greatcoat and blanket,
which up to December appears to have been sufficient
for warmth ; but he suffered much discomfort from re-
maining constantly, for more than six weeks, in the
same clothes, occasionally wet, without the means of
changing them ; and it is not improbable that the seeds
of disease may thus, in some cases, have been sown.
What he principally suffered from, however, during the
early part of the winter appears to have been the want
of something, besides his blanket, to lay under him on
the ground et his tout, which, after heavy rains, was
(lamp or muddy.
!‘ WARM CLOTHING rnoxt ENGLAND.