New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-01

IN.
The opinions Of Dr. Russell respecting the man
arement Of English military affairs IN the Oi'-
noea have changed little in the forty years that
have elapsed since the siege of Seoastopoi' iie
makes only one apology in this book. and that Is
10 the Turks whom he. az well as others CEN
sured for their conduct at the battle OF baiacia''
Now he insists that IL these troops had been sup
norted as they should have been by the freno'
and English they could have held the reuouo's
which they were expected to defend AS u was
they numbered at most only l.ZOO NE" III
three detachments. so placed that they cou'u HUI
assist each other while the Russian foree was
an army of q. 900 strong. Though oVer""ee'
by the multitude Of their foes, they u| "o' ''
away without hard fighting. facl a''es'eu ~
the loss Of % per cent Of those VINO occupieO w
first redoubt. He now remembers tna' 'neie was
- MON on the field at the time who TOOK
favorable view Of the Turkish soidiery' i"''
NOS cenerol Eber. "a Hungarian who had peeh
q natriot in AS and who was correspondent III
"a now with the Turks. afterward general uhuel
Car,haldI member Of the Hungarian De' anu
a, the mixed committee Of the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
rual Government on Military Business queru-
Ions sarcastic capable and despondent' 'houen
brave as lion" This man answered ali 'ie
English prejudice which Dr. Russell admits thdt
no shared at the time. BAH vat damn non
.o,s. you make" he exclaimed. because dree
hatallvons did not beat sevendy bataliyons' lou
have not enough men, tell you. and know de
war. and YOU shall want de Turks CT course
this anology TO the Turks does not soften the re-
raxed censure on the conduct of the Enghsh
generals.
uo is still as he was at the time inclined to
nraise the French for their share in the war Their
-. orau,aer hotter cont rol from the first than
Tho English He gives his readers the impression
That The English had almost forgotten, In the
long interval of comparative peace, not how 70
fight. but how to provide for an army. He re-
members with something like resentment how MS
wel-meant censure on the lack of all appliances
for taking care Of the sick and wounded was re-
scented. and he mentions. an example, one naval
commander who had the ambulances that were
placed on his ship for transport 10 the scene OF
war thrown overheard with the remark that
there was no reason why the deck shouio De coV-
cred with such things. He gives none or the Eng
lsh generals credit for knowing beforehand ex-
actly what they wanted. and the anecdotes which
he relates imply very free criticism OF each other
among them Even Lord Raglan was never on
time according TO DR.. Russers view OF the duties
Of a commander-in- chief. Though warned on the
previous day. he allowed the battle of Balaclava
to begin with what amounted TO surprise AL
the Alma and Baaclava both he was too far from
the front to handle the divisions of his army ef-
Re lively. At Balaclava his position on the edge
of a plateau enabled him to see the whole HELD
In result being that he attributed to his generals
n @ plain knowledge which they could not
POSSESS. and based his orders on assumptions
which they had to leave to conjecture Mani
testify DR.. Russell thinks that the French under
stood each other better.
Dr. Russell does indeed. defend himself in the
matter of Lord Raglan. He insists that his criti-
csm early and late was directed against the
commander-in-chief. not against the man. He
thinks still that Lord Raglan was merely too
amiable and too yielding to command an army.
That is to say, he the very virtues that
made Lord Raglan so fine a figure in English
life 10 sharpen his criticism He dwells on the
personal charm about Lord Raglan which fasci-
mated others. He alludes to the handsome face.
the sweet smile. the kindly glance. the cour-
teous, gracious. gentle manner-and the empty
coatsleeve which reminded all of his services
under Wellington He was. says DR.. Russell.
1.-THE image Of a kindly English gentleman
Kinglake came within the ircle of Lord Rag
lan's personal influence, and TO him Raglan was
the one hero Of great DR.. Russell was
not attached anywhere and he never seems to
have erred the side Of Partially to anybody
certainly not to any English general Of that
day. II gratiies him to observe that great mill
tary critics Lord Wolseley, for example as
severe now on the management Of the army In
the Crmea as he was at the time But the con-
ditions under which he worked. treated as an
interloper and even threatened with expulsion.
were not such as to sweeten his letters TO The
Times" nor even the present memoir. He never
fat IN efnhe no which
was subjected by those in authority, and some
of his lveliest anecdotes those in which he
refers to them. There came time when he
was as we'll known to the army as any general.
But at first this was not the case. Shortly be-
fore the battle OF the Alma. he riding from
one command TO another. and at length came 10
the brigade OF General Pennefather-whom he
here apostrophizes excellent Copperdaddy,
fiery man-leader. most gallant warrior"-and
was at once summoned TO give an account OF
himself.
I'D as soon see the devil" exclaimed the gen
eral when he found out that he had a news
paper correspondent on his hands What on
earth do you know Of this kind Of work. and
what will you do when we get into action"
We'll general" was the answer iii Is quite
true / have very little acquaintance with the
business. but l suspect that there are great
many here with no greater knowledge OF II than
myself"
"Bedad. you're right. You're an Irishman
I'll be bound"
The rest was an unheeded warning to go to
the rear. What emphasized this warning, which
was repeated often enough in one form or an
other was the consciousness Of the correspon-
dent that II he were killed his only obituary
so far as army men could make II would be put
,teybt IT,
have a non-combatant proving along the front
in the midst of battle was novelty to the
soldiers OF forty years ago. Sometimes the warn
ing to keep out Of the lines took the form OF
an actual order Sir George Brown commanded
the expedition 10 Kertch remembered now, per-
haps only for what DR. Russell calls the stupid
al MILF hlIrnnP