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30 diembut this is not an THE¦ ' ¦ IiBAJ...
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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.
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Tub Electric Wei-Egttapk. Tho Jaftest Fe...
irsmil pf ? reSived this one from a young Frenchman at Bou-J ^ fle wS a sergeant-major in one of the French JSSente of the line , and was very near making me a SrfKo our friendship . I was sincerely attached ^ to him and so would you have been , my dear friend , had you Sown Mm . But I lost him at Inkerman , where he was shot through the heart—a warmer than whichjiever beat . Now of Inkerman . Our division being on the extreme left of the English lines , next to the French , we were of course the latest , or nearly so , coming into action . Some of our regiments , however , of which the 28 th was one , had been all night in the ,, trenches , under General Torrens , and from the trenches marched to Inkerman at the first streak of daylight , where we stayed until evening , and though an eye-witness of the varying fortunes of the day , I can scarcely tell you what occurred . Ibelieve such a hidden fig ht never before took place . Every man was in some degree his own general , and every general had toJight his own battle . It was apparently the fig ht of a rabble ; but of a rabble that knew how to fig ht . Wtngs of regiments were severed , companies were separated from each other , but each wing and every company fought and cleared the ground in its own immediate neighbourhood . It was a complete massacre . On the night after the slaughter , one party of our regiment buried 100 men in a few hours , and in a very small space of ground . The second night after the battle we formed the covering party to a lot of Turks , who were making a fort oh the heights of Inkerman . I never spent a more miserable night in my life . The wind blew so strongly that the captain , with his hand upon my shoulder , and speaking at the highest pitch of his voice , could not make me understand him . In addition to this , it rained so violently that we could scarcely keep our eyes open to watch , though we were within 100 yards of the advanced pickets of the enemy . The only way to the battery which the Turks were constructing was commanded by the Russian guns , and their dead lay around us , not only unburied , but stripped naked , and exposed to all the inclemency of the season . Oh ! it was a horrible sight to see their white bodies gleaming through the thick darkness . The following morning -we returned to camp , and to our great dismay found our-tents prostrate . -We lay all day crouching in nooks and corners , shivering with cold and wet , and were sent again to the trenches that same night , where many men died from the exposure . But this Js past , and many other such days and nights . Yet we sometimes get a really fine day , such as one but rarely meets with in England even at midsummer . I think , however , that there is a move in contemplation . Regiments are moving up rapidly to reinforce us ; two regiments have joined our division within this fortnight , besides drafts from -the de ' pots . Should the assault take place , rumour has given the place of honour to the third division ; I may , therefore , before you receive this , be hors de combat , either rigid in death , maimed for life , or we may . be still "in ^ suspense , as _ we .... L , npw . ; _ but _ whatever may happen , I am still your devoted friend ! The mail closes in half an hour , so I must be quick . Give my love to my poor mother , and to all my old companions and acquaintances . Tell my mother she is all the tie I have in this world , and that should I be shot to-morrow , I will die blessing her name . But I "will not die , / will win my commission yet . With best wishes to all , I re-- main , my dear friend , yours ever truly and sincerely , » * * " Colour-Sergeant , 28 th Regiment . " a dragoon's account of balaklava . " I believe Captain Nolan was sent to reconnoitre the hills on each side . Whatever report ho took to Lord Raglan we knqw not , but I expect he reported they were all clear , as he came back with an order to Lord Lucan for the Light Brigade to charge and take the field guns , and the ammunition and guns taken from the Turks . Lord Lucan asked if Lord Raglan was aware of the enemy ' s position ? There is the order , and there is the enemy , ' Nolan is reported to have said . Lord Cardigan then got the order as given , and gave the order for the brigade to advance in two lines—first the 17 th , 18 th , and 18 th , second the 11 th and 4 th . Off we went tearing towards destruction . The round shot came first , killing' many a poor fellow . O * ne most wonderfully came past my shoulder , striking my rear-rank man , right in the chest . Onward wo wont . I could soo the shell
bursting over our hoads and hear the grape and canister hissing through us . The cross fire was murderous—a square of infantry and guns with grapo and canister pelting through us and shelling from the opposite heights . But I folt or feared nothing—a sort of wild " ness came over mo , and I seemed to caro not where I went or what I did . Onward still ! The first line had retired , the guns wore silenced , and retiring behind a largo horde of Cossacks ; they formed a front , but would not 8 tand our charge , but gallopped through guns and evoryii * ^ 0 Ut < * own tn 0 ffunnors and literally took tho whole lot . The Cossacks camo out by twos and throes , and kept firing away at us from their long pieces , annoying us dreadfully . We looked anxiously round for a support , when we perceived what we considered tho 17 th Lancers a good distance In the roar of us . « Hurrah , my
boys ' . ' sung out the brave Colonel Douglas , ' lets grve them anotLr charge ; the 17 th will be up then , and WU take guns home with us . ' ' Come on , lads ! ' said Lord George Paget , his gallant brother-in-law , Colonel oi > L IxIfighiS . I fouifd myself as excited as Possible singing out , ' Comeon , boys ! ' Anything is preferable to staing quietly . and being shot at . At last someone gave tie alaSn that it was a large body of Russian Lancers formed up to cut off our retreat . ' There ' s no help for it , said Lord George Paget , ' we must retire , and cut our way through them as well as we can . ' ^ We went threes about , and went calmly to the rear . They did not attempt to cross our front , but attacked our right flank and the riht flankandof course
rear . I was pretty near g , , , retiring in the rear rank ; I had allowed my horse to flag a little , when one of the gentlemen came on to attack me with his lance at a slanting position , and was making a . poke for my back ; I wheeled round in the saddle , pamed his lance , and gave him a second rear point to the left of his right shoulder , which I expect will * poil his lancing for some time . I was quite chuckling to myself over this affair , when we came to the horrid crossfire again . I had not gone far through till I got a rap in the leg as if from a sledge hammer . I looked down and saw the blood gushing from a good-sized hole . ' Now then , old horse' —he had carried me well through the campaign—' save my life now ! ' ( I had seen all over the field four or five Cossacks spiking any poor fellow who was down . ) I kept the right spur at work , and galloped a mile or more when I began to get blind and faint ; I saw dimly a tent chum , I hailed to lend a hand , he heard me and came gallopping , he stopped me the first thing , and gave me a good drink out of his water-bottle ; that revived me , and I just got to where the regiment was forming , and old Cardigan was sitting , with the tears almost in his eyes when he saw his smart brigade so cut up ; our fellows cheered him , when he said , ' You must not think , men , this is one of my madbrained actions ; I would have given almost anything rather than it had happened . ' " THE HOSPITAL AT SCUTARI . We append some extracts from a letter communicated to the Times by the Rev . Mr . Gleig . It is from the Key . I . E . Sabin , in charge of-the chaplain ' s department . It will be very gratifying to the sick and wounded to learn that the newspapers and books alluded to , which reach them so-regularly through the War-office , are the personal gift of the Queen , according : to a list of which her Majesty personally approves : — " Scutari , Dec . 27 .
"My dear Mr . Gleig , —Your anxiety to hear of our welfare at the Scutari hospitals induces me to write to you again this post . A walk through our vast corridors now , crowded as they are in every part , fills me with lively satisfaction , for I see how much has been done , and how rapidly , for the welfare of our soldiers . One corridor alone contains 225 beds , every one occupied , and the wards leading out of the same corridor contain 313 beds . The whole of this corridor has been repaved , and every ward had new floors and windows within the last month , and now it is occupied "from endtoend . SurgMesarebuilton the wide staircases , boilers for hot water are erected at intervals , stoves are kept constantly burning in each ward and down the corridor , which , to lessen the cold , is divided by wooden
partitions ; large tin baths are standing at the corners and entrances ready for use , and every man has a wooden bedstead and comfortable bed and bedding . Groups of men are sitting round the stoves reading , talking , and some few smoking , and altogether there is an air of comfort and enjoyment which I feared once never to see here . I have selected this one corridor to tell you of , because one month since it was unfit for use , and now is all that can be expected or desired . It has been rapidly completed under Mr . Gordon , an engineer officer ; and the Turks , under our Sappers , have worked well . It has been completed , too , just as it was most needed , for wo have had a great increase of sick during the last ten days , and without this corridor should have been sorely pressed for room . Our numbers now amount to 4200 sick and
convalescents ; distributed jn barrack hospitals , 2500 ; in general hospital , 1000 ; on the two hulks , 700 . Besides this , some 850 have been sent to Abydos . Tho medical staff seems now very efficient , and the number considerable—I should suppose nearly 100 ; and Dr . Mac Gregor , who has so ably and energetically worked the barrack hospital , is still at his post , and active as ever . .... Tho books wo hear of as being sent out from tho religious socioties come in very slowly , but , perhaps , it is not time for thorn yot . Tho books and papers from the Warofflco come regularly , and are much used . It is very pleasing to soo tho groups of men collected round the stoves to hear one man road , or a poor fellow with ono arm gono steadying a paper or a book with the other , and I am glad to say that tho most frequent book in their hands is tho New Testament .
" Copies of the Queen ' s letter to Mrs . Herbert have been made and distributed , and also posted , on tho walls in various places . Ono of the clergy wont into most of tho wards and road tho letter , ending with tho prayor ' God save tho Quoon ! ' to which tho responso was almost startling , so hearty and vigorous from tho lungs of sick and dying men camo tho eincoro 'Amen ! ' .... You may well suppose from our vast number tho severe cases are many . / The deaths during the last few days have
been on an average 30 per diem , but this is not an excessive number ( sad as it is ) when the vast number here are considered . But amid all these scenes of suffering and death , I cannot tell you what a load is off my mind when I know that all are cared for and none neglected , and that we have such an efficient band of nurses , medical officers , and clergy . We see with para the grievous untruths in many letters , especially of 11 men dying in one night for want of wine , which has since been declared untrue by the writer . But there are others which amuse us not a little , as when we learn the true history of a soldier killed and devoured by the poor dogs , who have so severely felt the weight of English rule and stones , that they have not spirit to raise a bark , unless they think their friends asleep in the dark night . " ,. , . ux ,,, ia nn * an
INCIDENTS . AnAddbessto Lokd Raglan . —The Melton Mowbray people have presented an address to Lord Raglan , complimenting him on his distinguished services , and on the valour of his troops . Lord Raglan has replied—without expressing the least astonishment whatever . The Minib Rifle in Circassia . —We read in a letter from Constantinople : — " A gentleman , who has been here for some time , and who had come out for the purpose of going into Circassia with a supply of Minie rifles ( which unfortunately were lost in the Prince ) , having now received a fresh , though not very numerous supply of this valuable arm , is about to proceed to that unexplored country , with the object of encouraging its inhabitants and instructing them in the use of that most terrible weapon . "
" Help the Fatherless , " writing to the Times , says : — " Having a large manufactory in London where some hundreds of men and boys are employed , I will take a son of one of our brave fellows who have fallen in the Crimea as an apprentice to a respectable trade , age from twelve to fifteen years . He shall be taken care of and provided for , free of all expenses , during the period of his apprenticeshipnamely , five years . When such period is finished , the average wages will be 5 s . per day . "
Mortar - Boat . —Messrs . Wigram , of Northamj near Southampton , are constructing a mortar-boat for the use of the English Government . The dimensions are 70 feet in length , 23 feet beam , and 9 feet 4 inches depth , and she will be equal in burden to a vessel of 170 tons . This boat will carry one 13-inch mortar slung in the centre of the deck on two pivots , thereby preserving its elevation and disposition in heavy seas . The vessel will be ready for use in April .
A Fire Brigade . —Government are about to despatch a portion of the London Fire Brigade to Constantinople , with the necessary apparatus , to protect the hospital at Scutari from fire . Sir Edmdnd Lyons . —Some time ago the Stromboli was sent in towards the batteries of Sebastopol with a flag of truce , in order to take back a Russian artillery officer in exchange for Lord Dunkellin . Sir Edmund Lyonsr tooK "" ad vantage" of "this" opportunity to send as a present a cheese to the Russian Admiral , with whom he had been acquainted in former days . A few days afterwards the compliment was returned . A fourteen-oared boat came out from
the town and brought a deer as a present back to the Admiral , together with a polite letter from the Rus sian Admiral , in which he said : — "The Russian Admiral remembers with pleasure the time of his acquaintance with Sir Edmund , and regrets not to have seen him for so long , except the other day , when he came in rather close with the Agamemnon . " A Signal Mistake . —When Admiral Dundas left the fleet at Kamiesh Bay , he signalled to Sir Edmund Lyons— " May success attend you ; " and to this a reply of " May happiness await you" was ordered to
be hoisted . Unfortunately , however wide the difference in real life , in the signal code hanging and happiness are very much alike ; and in his haste to reply , the signal officer hoisted " the former instead of the latter . Tho mistake was rectified , though not before it had been read by the whole fleet , and tho proper reply run up . However , like the signal which was forwarded tho other day from Balaklava to Lord Raglan , stating that " 12 hungry Turks had come in , " instead of 1200 Turks landed , tho whole thing lias only been laughed at as ono of those stupid errors which will occur occasionally .
Books fob the Hospital . —Mr . Arthur Smith , who so kindly took charge of presents of books for the hospital , thus writes to the Times : — "I have just received a letter from Mrs . Bracebridgo , of Scutari , who , writing for Miss Nightingale , says that the first freight of books has arrived at the hospital , and been distributed among the inmates , to thoir great satisfaction . She adds that ono in three are capable of rending , and tho others listen ,. I shall feel obliged by your inserting this littlo piece of information , as many of tho contributors who sent books for this purposo forwarded them anonymously , and I have no other means of informing them that their kind donations have been appreciated . Upwards of 22 , 000 volumes altogether wero collected and forwarded to the Crimea , as well as to Scutari . "
30 Diembut This Is Not An The¦ ' ¦ Iibaj...
THE ¦ ' ¦ IiBAJBT . [ Sattopay , O * l ____ . ^ * M ^ !
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 20, 1855, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20011855/page/4/
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