The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-02-18


clsims the whole army, from the b1gsdiers to the
prvstes, inexperienced, ignorant Of their profesou
and absolutely helpless whom thrown on their own
resources. The Duke OF Newcastle gives up the
whole medical department, az thoroughly illcrgan-
lied and incapable, and pfonounces the commits.
saiiat a. utterly unequal to the pressure thrown
upon it. M. Bernal Osborne denounces the
constitution Of the staff, and declares that there
will b no effectual reform In the army which does
not commence with the Horse Glaris. Sir George
Grey adopts the apology OF "inexperience,"
Notwithstanding the fac. of the selection OF generals
10 manage the expedition having rested chiefly on
their Experience" to the exclusion OF activity,
genius. and even success. Some time since the
particular contemporary that had been ths most
accounts of the war; itself even surpassed us in its
. horrible and besrtreudipg" revelations, and to
this day keeps the lead in the dismal Of hor-
Iors. We look round in vain for any man who will
now venture 10 persuade US that ths is only the
nightmare Of dis0rdered imagina ion. Ia there
Bobooy who can wake as from this hdeous dream.
and show US the British army In the Crmea not 30
wholly unchanged from that which began to Land
there Oh the 18th OF September, only four months
SINGER Well TOR the credit of credulity In this IN
believing age, there is one man-ons ony-who
Department, the Horse Guards, the com missaria.
Lord Raglan and his staff, and every Official from
DR.. Andrew Smith down TO the half-dozen success
sive naIboimasters Of Balaklava.
TIE Chancellor Of the Exchequer Ia the ore man
faithful tcurd in an unbeleving age With the eye
OF faith. and on the strength Of sons unknown
a,t1mesical pei suasi0n be still sees thirty thousand
vel found, well clothed well ted British soldiers on
tie heights Of Ssbastopo, contending for the plea
sure OF turn in the trenches, prOmena ie and
fiom Bslaklava, laden for varietys sake, with bis
cults, thifteeninch shells casks Of rum and sections
OF wooden houses. Yet even Mr.. Gladstone, all.
hoping au.belcving rs he is-eyen he admits that
there IL much in the general arrang calls
for amendment, and that In some important particu
lars there Ia 30 much that Ia fectve that the &C.
counts are as Lord John represented them, horri-
ble9and hearrren ding" But OF all those Sho have
advocated inquiry, none have given such good rea-
son for it as the Chancellor OF the Exchsquer.
When he says that there Il still an effective British
force of $4,000 men in the Crimea and that the ma.
nsgement has been as good az could be- be offers 20
hat contradiction to the whole world that for the
mere sake Of truth becomes necessary to inquire
With Mr.. Roebuck, what is the condition OF the
British army In the East
But ii ia not on all these admissions not on any
amentary statements. that we would rest the
Gaze for inquiry. II Is the fact that the manage.
ment Of the war has broken down, not In this or
that department only, not temporarily, accidentally
or partially, but throughout, uniformly, from frat to
unvafied story Of failure, excepting only when II
came to the rough uninformed Nistle OF man with
man. The picture OF the camp, the trenches, the
road, the harbor the transports the hospitals and
even the arIangeme nts at home, as given not only
BY our own correspondents, but by every body who
pretencs to describe what he saw, is still the same.
Yes, at the very last date within this fortnight, all
thu evils, and more still than have been deplored
as the fruitful source Of disaster since the beginning
OF the campaign, have only increased. How should
It be otherwise when Balakava, the real basis Of
army, had, till the other day, not been visited for
more than thee months by Lord Raglao, while Ad-
miral Dundas had never once entered il?
At the Last date this harbor was still actually
instant would tile forever not only the fate of the
ships sailors, soldiers and material In the port or
the town, but the whole expedition. The ships
the .cs pe q DScturnsl C'gies and fire broke out
with gupp0vder. At the last date lint and other
medica stores sent out to Scutari, and anxiously
expected there, were oversho0ting their mark and
ADDING TO the confusion OF Balskava. At the last
date soldiers still doing drty in tie trenches
sometimes with the temperature at Is dag some
times yard deep in half frozen sudse, with
other covering for their limbs than the trousers they
first landed in, and In some cases with not even
these but only bis ,ut bags roughly tied round their
legs. With the best markets for wood and charcoal
in the world close at hand, and with coal easily
worked and inexhaustibie, within two days sail,
tie army was without fuel soldiers subsisting
for many days together on their raw rations and
steam transports were lying idle for want Of coal
at tie cost OF one hundred pounds each per
diem. 30 far from fortune being TO blame the win
ter bad been mild one for the Cfimea. But every
OF enDg Was left tor the inter veHtion Of disaster
that Providence might, If possible, be charged with
the inevitable failure. AT the last date the chief
evils Of the hospital at Scutar unamended, and
no preparation was made for the immense &C ,esslon
Of new cases Immediately to be ex oected. All this
rage amount Of misery, sickness and death unayod-
able in every campaign. Such uniformity Of dis
aster on the one hand, and such comparative free
dom on the other such darkness ali around, and
such light round the tents Of the French-could not
be accident. II Is inexplicable," aud we do not
see how my rational legislature could refuse to in
quire into the reasons OF contrast which we have
no right to ascribe to . miracle. The House of
Commons has decided on that inquiry by q crush
ing msjority, that will at least bring the whole
weight Of public opinion and feeling to bear on the
manage ment Of the war and to wha; further conss.
quences we fofbear now to anticipate.
MORT lity or the English Army Mt Sebastop0l.
From the London Times, Feb. IL
When the dreadful mortality Of our army In the
Crimea was brought under discussion on Friday
last, Mr.. Sidney Herbert took the opportunity Of
referring to the Losses experienced in the Peninsar
war, apparently with the impression that such dis
asteis were rendered more ex disable by precedent.
We fear, however, that It would be vain to search
even the annals IL those exhausting campaigns foe
any such list OF invalidings casualties
periodically reported from the East, In q docu
me Mt now before us, and to which we shall make
further reference below, it is stated that, sreas
the mean strength Of the British force In the Pc
Lirsua amounted, in officers and men, TO 56,372,
the deaths in that force during the fortyone months
ending the 25th of May, 1914, we're 65 SIS, Of
which number 94S occurred ia the battle or from
wounds It further appears that Of the 81 ,5ll
men, exclusive OF others, composing the
upon the sick list, ard that their mortality was al
the annual rate Of l6l in 900. Taking these figures
as trustworthy. We shall find that less than quar-
ter OF the whole force would usually bc In hospital
putting the case In other words, that regiment
coo sroDg. would be able. generally speaking. TO
bring upwards OF 700 bsyoDets into the field. We
have doubts whether the actual results did really
correspond with these deductions but unquestiona
bly, such invading an Is nov reported from the
Cfimes was never heard of In weliugtons army.
II u related % m0rable circumstance calculated
to give an idea Of the destruction which war, in its
mosi dHadful intensity, might possibly cause, that
when. after the most bloody fight record the
Ter OF Q particular regiment was called only three
privstes and one drummer answered 10 their names.
But this Was the result Of such battle had scarcely
ever been knosn for obstinacy and carnage; the
kal 49,