The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1855-02-23
The Starved Horses in the Crimea


the time (says the correspondent Of the
Daily Nsws), rode out to where the re-
mains Of our cavalry are encamped between
Kadikoi and Ksrani. AL the men were
working up to their thighs in mud to make
stables for the few wrelehsd horses that are
left. Horses and men had that indsscriba'
bic appearance which tells at the FIRST look
that they are dead beat. None Of tho ami
mails are, or ever will be. &c for cavalry SER
vice those tina, can walk at all have gone
down TO the rank Of bat horses, and travel
between their camp and Balaclava, taking
MP their own forage and the rations Of their
riders. Those at home who take special
interest in our cavalry will be glad 20 learn
that, there being sufficient number oil
horses leh, and thanks to the vicinity Of the
cavalry camp to tho depot, our dragons,
hussars, and lancers have been and are
drawing full ra'ions for all the men and for
oil the horses that are able to walk the two
miles down to Balaclaya.
Very seedy horses, that are not Ct to carry
their own food, must Of course 20 without,
or subsist on the small quantities Of barley
and straw which their stronger fellow horses
can carry up over and above their own ra-
tons. And then they stand in the camp,
these hungry invalids, neglected and un.
cared for, unfit to live and yet not able to
die. | noticed ono horse in particular. l.:
was the most pitiable sight l ever beheld.
Once upon day he had been handsome
charger, but now he was the veriest carica.
ture IF horse that Edwin Landseer-foist-
ed on the most atrocious nightmare that
ever weighed up Cruikshank-could con-
ceive or aelineate. That horse was grand
in its decay, for ii beggared description. A
skeleton covered with an old hide no name,
no tail; pair Of deep set. glaring, easily,
almost ferocious eyes, and lips shrunk away
FROM the long, bare, and hungry teeth
You could not tell the color Of the animal :
his coat Of hair was covered with thick
coat Of mud, which was baked on him, and
fitted him tight, like plush.colOred leather
jerkin.
And there he stood, shivering in the sun,
and up to his knees in mire, tied to what
had once been shrub, but was now n bun
de Of dry, witheIed, leaaess, branehless
sticks, rooted in the ground; and these
sticks the animal eyed with hungry glare,
and every now and then took bite Of them.
Oh, tbs miseries Of that animals existence !
the groans and signs Of his deep, darkened
heart. and the tears that must have anwsd
before he came to this-for horses weep as
tho sons Of women do. Many time and
Oft in this our purgatory, when we expiate
the oyi! deeds Of remissness, of Incidence,
and incapacity, done in high quarters, many
time and of have / seen the rot tears
ha Of -TNNt ,I
comrades, and with a shudder watched that
intensity of silent woe-that cry Of the
creature to its Creator.
Better by far Is the lot OF the soldier who,
overcome with cold, fatigue, and hunger
falls down in the trenches and dies before
the stretcher on which they carry him comes
within sight Of his camp. Ii is the same
suffering, but 1t is shorter; for the man
whom God has gifted with lesser tenacity
oil life, who to the last was upheld by the
consciousness Of duty nobly, generously
sacredly performed-who in the trenches,
rs at Inkermann. dies for the country which
is so dear to US all-who with his last dying
breath blesses that countrywide knows
that that country will honor his memory.
provide Tor those that are dear to him, and
redress his wrongs; while these noble ami
mails, the very sight Of whom made our
hearts leap with joy at Vsrna, in their nar.
row animal range Of thought, are ever face
TO face with the suaerings Of the hour, with
no clue to its cause or reason, and none Of
these inspiring instincts which convert mar
tyrs into heroes. S.erno wept fictitious tears
over the carcase Of an ass that lay by the
roadside. lie would have wept real tears
rs many stronger or better men have done
IL his Sentimental Journey" had brought,
him to anything like our cavalry camp.