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1166 THE LEADEI, . [SATtTRBAT,
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RAILWAY CONTRACTORS CARRYING ON TJSE WAR...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
" The Cambridge Row" , At Inkerman. One ...
perpetrated by the brutal and savage cut-throats , who , wearing the livery of the Czar of Russia , are a disgrace to the name and profession of a soldier . "
The modes in which , this " overthrow" manifested itself have been variously stated ; but one statement isj that the Duke of Cambridge Bad some over-animated discussion with . Lord Uaglan on the subject of military conduct . ^ Letters from , the Crimea speak of the subject as ** the Cambridge row . " Other versions of the story represent Major-Geuera . 1 Henry Bentinck as the offended party . General Bentinek was wounded , but not very severely . He returns , lowever , to this country , and pavs one of his first
¦ visits to the Duchess of Gloucester , at whose house he is met by the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Mary . It had been stated in the papers that lie had received an invitation from the Queen , but had excused himself on the score of his bad state of health . Later , however , the General did visit the Queen , and had a long 1 interview with her Majesty and Prince Albert . He has subsequently been appointed Governor of
Portsmouth . It is reported by the telegraph that the Duke of Cambridge " had left the army invalided . " These are some of the very few ascertained facts , mingled with mere rumours , whieh throw a doubtful light upon the subject . The reports have been repeated ; their bearing has T > een pointed , as we have observed , by the Standard ; they remain without contradiction , and the whole subject is involved in what looks like a systematic mystery . We are therefore left to put our own inferences .
The appointment of the Duke of Cambridge is the most conspicuous , but not the- sole example of those made apparently on some ground of connexion or favour . Others have given occasion to remark . Why was the venerable but hot-headed Lord Lucan placed in . position to make that suicidal charge at Balaclava , the discredit of which was for a time thrown , upon poor Captain Nolan ? What are Lord Cardigan ' s characteristics , . beyond
tlaose of a trooper ? What admirable qualities of command has he displayed , to redeem his black bottle stains , that he should be chosen to dash his men into action and to bring so few of them out of action ? It could not be for want of cavalry officers who have shown genius and have gained experience , since there is a Thackwell at home , —employing his great ability in recruiting horses for the troops ! The Quarter-Master-General in the East was by some reason or ofcher induced to return home soon after the
commencement of the campaign , and his return called attention to the question why he ever went out ? Was it because of his connexion with a Minister in office ? What have been the services of the Duke of Cambridge ? The incessant restlessness with which he rode about the camp at Chobham was marked , and looked meritorious ; and he had shown a similar vivacity of self-display at the Wellington funeral ; but Chobham and the Strand aie not fields
¦ w hich test the genius or experience sufficient to make a General of Division . On the field of battle , as at Alma , ho displayed a laudable desire that his troop should "form up ; " his anxieties however seeming mox-e for parade niceties than for snatching a rough victory out of a rough field . It must have taxed Lord Haglau ' s tact to give the Duke a service suitable j but why oncumbor the Commandcr-in-Chief with a Royal Highness , when ho wanted an efficient General of Division ? In a field
where five Generals may bo wounded , and three killed , in one day , it is not desirable to have ornamental officers , or to give away posts in " a particular service , " for the claims of family connexion . Ab exceptions amongst the mass of eloquent Wttd chivalrouB literature that the post pours Wok from the East , come a few grumWincrs ,
disparagements , and despondencies . Some of the officers grumble , and go on ; others mix with their grumbling the talk of their returning home ; and cynies observe that these homesick people are the sons of hatters and grocers who have crept into commissions by the unaristoeratic laxity of the Horse Guards . If such is true , perhaps we shall find that the batters and grocers had commercial relations with the aristocracy , and that the Horse Guards had favoured lenient creditors . But what are the facts ? There are some tolerably notorious instances of gentlemen who have shown the utmost dislike to the trenches and
enterprises of Sebastopol , or the victories of Balaklava and Inkerman ; but it is not the sons of hatters and grocers who are reported to have bolted , or to hare laid themselves down upon the ground , " roaring" with terror at the idea of being ordered to advance ! If you go down to the humblest classes , you may repeat , without ceasing , instances of a chivalry equalling that of romance . A Sullivan , acting as one of a small picket party ,
withstands an approaching host of Russians , as we hear of knights withstanding armies ; and a Hewitt remains alone to man a gun against the advancing- enemy : but these are noncommissioned and warrant officers , whom , with many others of the same rank , the authorities are forced to recognise by military promotion . These men have " crept into commissions , " though they are probably the sons of those who are even " lower" than hatters and
grocers . They have the capacity for understanding their duty ; the fidelity to render just obedience in a field where infidelity of obedience is the frustration of victory , courage to snatch triumph from the very hands of death , fortitude to sustain death itself with patience , and gentleness crowning the chivalrous character which worships female presence . Hear what Mr . Sidney Herbert says of the private soldiers in the Crimea : —
" He had witnessed \ rith great pleasure for many years past the endeavours which had been made to improve our soldiers by giving them a better education and more comforts , and he disagreed with those who thought that we -were doing too much for the British army ; he also thought that opinions would be greatly changed by what had recently taken place . " There could be no doubt that in all armies there was a feeling , whieh was shared in both by officers and men , of indifference of life ; but in the present campaign the warmest feeling of attachment to each other had been shown by all , and the strictest order
and discipline had beeu followed out . tie was looking but a few days since over the late Duke of Wellington ' s despatches relative to the Peninsular campaigns , and one of his chief complaints was the total want of discipline , and the outrageous brutalities committed by his army , which nothing but the greatest severity could put an end to . JL'et them turn to the army now in the Crimea , and compare it in this respect with that in the Peninsula , The army under Xord Raglan was , as he was informed by an officer who had just arrived from the seat of
war , an army without a crime , with great order , with no complaints , and with no bad conduct , und the office of Judge-Advocate was n perfect sinecure . There was no doubt that much of this was to bo attributed to tho Duke of Wellington himself , who had left tho army in the highest state of self-control . Ho had seen a letter from the lady who had gone out to take charge of the Bcik and wounded , which stated that in her progress through tho various hospitals , which extended over a distance of four miles , ehe had not hoard a single word unfit for a lady to hear , nor a single complaint . "
It is not , therefore , for want of materials thaV they choose unsuitable cadots of aristocratic housos , or select Royal Highnesses to put in place of officers and Generals of division . Certain failures of persons who have not known how to nse tho opportunities thrust upon tliom in the Crimea , corroborate all that wo have said as to the mischief of choking- up tho higher ranks in tho army with tho favourites or rninions of court or aristocracy , instead of lotting appointments go according to tho direct claims of merit and capacity .
1166 The Leadei, . [Satttrbat,
1166 THE LEADEI , . [ SATtTRBAT ,
Railway Contractors Carrying On Tjse War...
RAILWAY CONTRACTORS CARRYING ON TJSE WAR . ( From a Correspondent . ' ) Messes . Brasses * , Peto , Bette , and Co ., having entered into an engagement to send to the -Crimea certain cwil engineers , railway navvies , railway plant , & c ., the public will no doubt wait most anxiously the results . That one or more thousand men innured to labour may be made useful no one need doubt—that is , their power to labour will be so much added to the available stock of
power on liand . But , that they will add to the efficiency and strength of the army , in proportion to their numbers and cost ( if used as proposed , namely , to construct railways ) , may reasonably be doubted . Horses , mules , and donkeys , or even Turks , present labour in a much cheaper and more available form : these , or a combinatioa of these , will convey ammunition and stores generally from the shipping to the army quite as well , and at a cheaper rate , than the navvies can—under the circumstances .
Does the Duke of Newcastle expect that railways can or -will be laid during the continuance of this siege ( Sebastopol ) so as to be useful ? If so , other than wooden houses should be sent out ; the nation may look for a repetition of tie siege of Troy , and should prepare for it accordingly . The army may require model lodging-houses , baths and wash-houses , patent soil pans , & c . ; the question of brick sewers , or earthenware tubular pipe drains may probably be settled at the camp , and the metropolis benefit by the experience accordingly .
But , in all serious earnestness , to return to the question of navvy labour in war—for the subject is a grave one- —how snail it or how « an it answer ? It is said one navvy will be worth , in the trenches , several soldiers . —Query ! This depends upon the judgment of the general . Soldiers axe , for the most part , day labourers and artisans , men brought up to labour , and who Lave been drilled into obedience . Then there are the Sappers and Miners— -artisans of good character , and skilled in the use of their tools , prepared by precept and practice in entrenching- and fortifying . Surely no man will say " a raw , clumsy , uncouth , untrained , and mulish navvy is even equal to one of these men . Then why not send out every available sapper ?
Those who have employed , superintended , and paid gangs of navvies , know something about their tempers and their working powers . In temper , they are obstinate , in disposition , brutish ; and , at any other labour than filling a waggon or wheeling a barrow , clumsy . They labour like asses , but eat , drink , and sleep like pigs . By constant labour of one form their limbs arc strong , but stiffened and ungainly . They can neither ran nor fight— -to advantage . A London pugilist of ten stone ¦ weight would beat a score of the largest and stoutest navvies as fast as they could stand up before him , one
after the other , and . would only be beaten in turn by the dam ago to his fiats . All this may seem beside the question of their use at the war , but it is not . Men are required , not only strong , but activo , and , above all , amenable to discipline . Thia tho navvies arc not , neither will they bo made so in tlie time required . Wo do not expect to hoar of " single and double runs , horse rnns and waggon roads" being regularly " worked night and day by double shifts " in the trenches 5 if so , the navvy will require "« ai " and have his " drinking bouts , " or tho men sent out will alter in their nature and in their conduct .
There is another and more serious feature of tho case to bo considered , namely , tho presence of free men and their pay—that ia , tho association of tho unenlistcd raw material at 7 a . a day with tho soldier doing heavier duty and risking his life at Is . a day . Will this tend to harmony ? Will it create content ? Will it improve discipline ? Wo fear not . Tho wording of tho agreement i » not very clear . Tho navvies arc to bo employed in tho formation of
railways from Bftluklavn to the heights round SebaBtopol . They had bettor bo employed to carry or wheel up tho material , ammunition , stores , & c . By tho time tho railway is formed tho -war may bo at an end . Ono thouoand men will carry or wheel ton thousand _ tons eight milus long before they -would complete ono mile of railway j thoroibro , eighty thousand tons may bo placed on the Jtiolghta round Scbaatopol before a einglo lino of rails could bo laid .
Tho -wliolo hcIiuuu ) looka vastly liko an absurdity , and indicated tho shiftH a Ministry may bo driven to . Government might comlxact for many thingn with udvunlago—whips of -war , & c . Ynnkoy backwoodsmen would have shot down the CnflYen by contract nt a tonth of the Hum [ Mild . Wo might ovon bo governed by contract ohoapwr tlwin irt present . At nil ovtmts , tho Qiicon jirifllut 1 iry tho vctuilt of nn advertisement for a W'ftjr Mmbter , -wivxumtod to unftor » U « id Jus business .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 9, 1854, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09121854/page/14/
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