On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (6)
-
n >*^ + %/lttX^iiViXt*
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
N ≫*^ + %/Lttx^Iivixt*
% ittnimt
Untitled Article
The Alma , BaJaklava , and Inkerman —a little while ago , and these natnea were unknown to us ; and now how familiar they seem to our lips ! So does the action of men streaming forth , year after year , in new geographical directions , consecrate and enrich new places "wit ! splendid associations ; so does war purvey for Phantasy and Literature . " The history of mankind , " said the present Emperor of the French , " is the history of armies ; " and it is in the spirit of this remark that writers among ourselves have represented the history of the world as involved in the list of some fifteen of its " decisive battles . " A remark apparently the opposite of this is that made by philosophers , that the true central thread of the world ' s history is the history of its speculative activity , so that the true course of humanity , from
first to last , is to be gathered best from the series of its successively evolved doctrines on subjects of high speculative interest . But the remarks are not contradictory . On the one hand , -wherever the physical force of the world is concentrated , wherever armies are fronting each other in mortal combat , there certainly the soul of the world is at work ; there is some knot , the resolution of -which is a necessary , part of the Mstoric evolution . On the other hand , the physieal force of the world goes forth precisely as speculation sways it ; and there never was a great battle yet that was not the trial and triumph of some tendency or doctrine . Extend this , and it follows that war will be made to cease , not by preaching peace , but by establishing the conditions of peace ; and that there will always be wars while there is intellectual anarchy . In the present war two fMths , as well as two
aggregations of military force , are grappling with each other—on the one side , Czarism , the doctrine of the supremacy of one man over the will and education of millions ; on the other side , that doctrine of political and individual freedom at which the West has reluctantly arrived . What function in connexion with this contest the events now going on the Crimea may be performing , remains to be seen . Meanwhile , we do see that wherever the car of Bellona advances , there the Muses follow , hovering fondly over ; and that action , only action , inspires History and Song . Are not the Alma , Balaklava , and Inkerman , already names of heroic sound ? and , though three thousand miles of sea and land intervene , is not the soul of Great Britain at this moment abroad in the * winds that sweep over the face of the Crimea ?
Untitled Article
Not a few of our military and naval officers now engaged in the East have come before the world as authors . Whether Lord Raglan has ever perpetrated a book we do not know ; but very probably he could write a book if he liked . Poor Captain Nolasi , who died in a cavalrycharge , was already known as the author of an original book on the capabilities of Cavalry . If Sir Edmunp Lyons is not an author , he has been a diplomatist , and he has very strong theories on the subject of Kussia and her intentions , in the eager service of which theories it is , and not merely as a bluff sailor obeying orders , that he drives his tl Brougham" into the teeth of Russian batteries . So also , and even more ostensibly , with Sir De Laos : Eyaks . His head aB well as his body is in the fight . It is twenty-six years since Sir Djb Lacy Evans , then only a Colonel , wrote an Essay , entitled The Designs of Russia . That ^ vas the time ( 1828 ) when Russia was engaged in her previous war with Turkey , the result of which was to procure for her that increase of her power in the East which makes her now so formidable . Colonel Evans ' s views wore then so far ahead of those of the
dominant politicians that he was ranked among the alarmists led astray by a foolish Rusaophobia . His pamphlet , however , was valued l ) y those who saw reason to think with him ; and so lato aa 1835 a Reviewer in one of the Quarterlies , referring retrospectively to the pamphlet , used these words : — . Colonel Evans , In this powerful effort to rouse the attention of Iris conntrymon , lias placed before them a collection of facts and a sorios of deductions , so strikingly illustrative of the designs of Russia , of the nature of her political objects , no long , so indofatlgably , so unswervingly pursued—of the orafty and unprincipled policy by which she has sought to attain them—and of the consequences that must result to Great Britain and all civilised Europe , should her Bchomoa bo successful ; and haa brought to bear upon the subject such a mass of information , detailed and digested with so much clearness and ability , that nothing but that judicial blindness which seems to seal tho mental eyes of men in this country to all remote , and peculiarly to Oriental , interests , can account for tho fact that Ilia vioivs have not niado their duo impression on tho public mind .
This may stand as a friendly indication of tho main drift of the Essay ; and here ia a further reference to one portion of it : — He ( Colonel Evana ) contends that not only aro Franco and England , from their geographical situation , as well as from thoir moral nnd political condition , tho powers that should place themselves in tho van for tho protection of civilisation against liarbariani , but that they aro of thcmsolvoa capable of doing it effectually ; that , if in earnest , they can move the "whole Continent to ofloct thla object ; that , if tho effort bo mode no-w ( 1828-85 ) , it -will bo successful ; but that delay will givo to Russia so monstrous an accession of power , particularly niwni , from tho exclusive possession of the Black Sea and that of Marmora , -with tho tw > straits that command them , that tho inevitable contest will then become inexpressibly onerous , if not vain . It is curious to think that now , after six-and-twenty years , during which tho gallant general has carried this fixed idoa of Russian preponderance in
Ms head , he is called upon to fight m the strength of it . Whether Sir De Lacy ' s brave comrade , Sir G-eobge Brown , whose noble grey head and calm features the Times' correspondent admired as he helped to carry him ¦ wounded off the field at Inkerman , Las also been fighting in the faith of any such fixed personal idea , or solely from the usual sense of soldierly duty to his country , we have no means of knowing . Of poor Sir Geobg e Cathcabt , however , whose death all the country is now lamenting , we know something more precise . Theories such as those of Sir Edmund Lyons and Sir De Lacy Evans respecting the political relations and designs of Kussia , he does not seem to have had ; but ho had theories respecting war and respecting the military qualities of the Russians . In 1850 , a little time before his appointment to the Cape , and -while yet only Colonel Cathcabt , he published a work entitled Commentaries on the War in Russia and Germany in
1812 and 1813 . This work consisted of a series of military notes and reflections from the author ' s recollections of his service in the Russian army at the period in question . Yes , in the Russian army ; for , at the time of Napoubon ' s invasion of Russia , Lord Cathcabt , the author ' s father , was British ambassador at St . Petersburg , and when Lord Cathcart accompanied the Emperor Alexander in the German campaign which followed , he took his son , then in his nineteenth year , and a lieutenant ia the 6 th Dragoon Guards , along with him as his aide-de-camp . Thus " he had , ' as he himself says , " the good fortune to see eight general actions lost and won in "which Napoueon commanded in person . " His Commentaries are chiefly mere records of these transactions , adapted for military reading ; they contain , however , some points of general interest . Here , for example , is a passage , as untechnical as any we have met with , on the science of strategy : —
The author is anxious to invite the attention of the reader to the first principles of strategy , which , like the elements of all sciences , are , when duly recognised , clear and self-evident truths . In point of theory , the admirable work of the Archduke Charles , or , for practical illustration , tlie base of Torres " Vedras covering Lisbon , and the glorious achievements which emanated invariably from it , will be consulted and considered with advantage by those who desire a thorough knowledge of this science ; but , for the present purpose , it -will suffice to point out that the elements inay be reduced to the three following postulates : —1 . A base of operations , being that locality from which the supplies of the army are to be furnished . 2 . The objective , being an object or goal , the attainment of which , must render the campaign decisive , and to which , therefore , all movements must have reference . 3 . The line of operations ,
being the most favourable route or communication leading from the base to the decisive point or objective . It follows , of course , that the base of the defending army must either be the decisive point itself that is menaced by the opposite party , or some other point covering it , and that the line of operations must be common to both . Bearing these principles in mind , it will be found in the history of modern , warfare , conducted by regular armies on both sides , that in every instance where they have been lost sight of , or departed from ( and there are many ) , victory has led to no good result , and retreat has proved an irretrievable disaster . "Whereas , where they have been duly attended to , each success las become a point gained in the progress of the campaign ; and though partial failures may have retarded operations , and even occasioned retreats , yet such failures have not proved decisive .
The following appreciation of the fighting powers of the different Continental nations possesses singular interest i—r-The French , proverbially a brave and excitable people , are brilliant and formidable in an attack . If repulsed , a revulsion equally violent usually takes place , and would often prove fatal if it were not for the precaution of placing reserves . "When these aro not wanting , they are capable of being easily rallied , and their lively spirit is soon restored . The Russians are less excitable ; but , nevertheless , in an attack are not to be surpassed in bravery and perseverance by the troops of any European nation , with this advantage , that tliey appear to bo incapable of panic , and though they mny be repulsed and defeated , they cannot be forced to run in confusion from the field of battle . The Prussian armies engaged in these campaigns were for the most part vory young soldiers ; a spirit of enthusiasm pervaded their ranks , which rendered thorn
capable of the most brilliant achievements . In cases of defeat , the effects of momentary hurry and confusion , to which all young troops are liable , were less violent with thorn than with tho French ; but though easily rallied , and their patriotic onthiwinni eoon restored , they could not rival tho Russian stoicism in adversity . * * The Austrians , properly so called , wore highly disciplined and brave : but tho infantry of that race appeared deficient in energy -when compared with the French or Prussians , and thoir physical powers could not l > o compared with those of tho sturdy Russian soldiery . The Bohemians appeared to bo somewhat more healthy and robust , but did not materially differ in point of national character from their Austrian , brethren in arms . Tho Hungarian infantry were decidedly superior to both , in point of energy and physical power , and tho select coxps of grenadiers furnished by that nation were equal , if not superior , to any in tho uold .
General Cathoart , then , was not one of thoso who entered on this war with a low idea of the soldiers he was to fight against . Next to the British , he seoms to have thought the Russians , on the whole , the best soldiers in Europe ; and ho died , gushed and dealing death around him , in tho midst of a storm of these Russians .
Untitled Article
Three deaths out of tho military world hnvo to bo recorded tins weekthat of Lord Dudley Stuart ; that of Mr . Frisphrick Knioht Hunt , editor of the Daily News , and author of A History of the Newspaper Press in Britain ; and that of Professor E » wak » Foiibkb , tho naturalist . Of Lord Dudi-thy Stuart and what he was , it is for tho political chronicler to speak . Tho death of Mr . Knight Hunt is chiefly remarkable us showing with how little public rumour a man holding in this country the position of editor of a first-class metropolitan journal may go to his grave . In Franco , journalists have public funerals ; but hero was a hard-working man , who night after night sal ; up , Bupox'intonding tho business of a < Uily journal , yet whom , an ho wailcod along neighbouring Floot-stroot , not ono in twenty thousand rocognisod , and who , dying at tho ago of forty-one leaves almost no mark aud no memory , savo within a narrow professional
Untitled Article
Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . Th . ey do not make lawg—they interpret and try to enforce th . era . —Edinburgh Review *
Untitled Article
1120 THE LEADER . [ Saturday .
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 25, 1854, page 1120, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2066/page/16/
-