COMMENCEMENT OF CRIMEAN WAR—INTERVIEW WITH NAPOLEON III

It is time now to pass on from the early reminiscences of a period of peace to the more interesting and important events of active service, in which for some years it was my good fortune to share.

In the spring of 1854, after a peace which in Europe had lasted nearly forty years, the British navy and army were again called upon to take part in a great war; and the whole nation soon became deeply absorbed in the stirring events of the Crimean campaign. Lord Raglan at that time was Master General of the Ordnance and was also appointed to command the expedition, and I had the good fortune to be selected as Brigade Major to the artillery under General Cator.

There is perhaps no operation of war more difficult than that which this country has to undertake in the embarkation of its army for a continental campaign. It is not merely as regards its personnel; but large reserves of ammunition and stores, and the armaments and equipments of the artillery, engineers, medical, commissariat, clothing, and other departments have to be embarked, and all so arranged as to be prepared for rapid landing after a long voyage, and possibly in the face of an enemy. In proceeding to the Crimea eight batteries of horse and field artillery, several siege train companies, and large reserves of munitions for the army were embarked in Woolwich dockyard during March and April. The combined naval and military arrangements were efficiently carried out; and although the field artillery were conveyed in sailing vessels, and were several weeks at sea before arrival at Constantinople, the loss of horses was only 4 per cent. out of about 1,600 embarked.

Towards the end of April Colonels Strangways and Lake, Captains Patton, Gordon, and myself (all artillery officers) were directed to proceed vi France to Marseilles for Malta. On arrival at Paris, Colonel Strangways, who was personally known to the Emperor Napoleon, received a message that his Majesty wished to receive him and his brother officers at the Tuileries. Strangways informed our ambassador, Lord Cowley, who, however, said it was not according to etiquette, and that we ought to attend a levee in the usual way, and declined to go with us; so we put on our uniforms and drove to the Tuileries in a fiacre without him. The servant at the entrance seemed rather surprised when we said we had come to see the Emperor; but after conference with a staff officer, we were conducted through the 'Salle des MarÉchaux' to an inner room, and were received very kindly by Napoleon, who was in the uniform of a general. He made inquiries about the amount of artillery we had embarked for the East; spoke about the difficulty of conveying horses for a long voyage; and expressed a hope that the French and English armies combined would be able to act decisively—and then, wishing us prosperity, he invited us to come and see him again on our return. Alas! we were not destined to do so. Strangways was killed at Inkerman; Lake, who had a horse shot under him at Alma, and another at Inkerman, was invalided and died soon after; Captain Patton died of cholera at Balaclava; and many years elapsed before I had another interview with Napoleon, under very altered conditions, shortly before his death at Chiselhurst.

We arrived at Malta about the middle of May. The streets were full of French soldiers on their way to the East; and there was a great deal of cheering and enthusiasm. On the 15th we embarked in the 'Medway' for Constantinople with the 55th regiment. As we approached the Dardanelles we passed a sailing transport, with part of a cavalry regiment on board, and as they had been some weeks at sea, and were making no progress owing to calm weather, we induced our captain to take her in tow. The officers in the transport made signs of their wish to communicate, so we lowered a bottle tied to a long string, which they picked up as it floated past, and we then pulled it back. We expected their inquiries might be as to the position of the Russians and the progress of the war, but their message was: 'Can you tell us who won the Two Thousand Guineas? We have several bets, and are very anxious!' As we entered the Dardanelles we were boarded by two French officers from a small transport, who begged assistance, as they were short of provisions, having only biscuits, and no water. We provided them with what was requisite, and also took them in tow. They belonged to the Chasseurs d'Afrique, and had been forty days on passage from Algiers. Passing Gallipoli, where there were several men-of-war at anchor and considerable French and English encampments on shore, we arrived at Constantinople on May 20.

Our troops of the various arms were now arriving daily, and were accommodated either in the great barrack at Scutari, or encamped on the plain outside, in close proximity to large Turkish cemeteries. All was bustle and animation. The scene, however, soon changed, and at the end of May the Light Division under Sir George Brown re-embarked, entered the Black Sea, and landed at Varna, followed shortly after by the whole of the allied armies.

Until my arrival at Constantinople, I had never seen Lord Raglan. Owing, however, to the failure of General Cator's health almost immediately on his landing, and to the numerous artillery matters which required discussion and decision, it so happened that I had from that time almost daily interviews with the Commander-in-chief. In fact, during the succeeding twelve months, and until his death in June 1855, it was my good fortune to be closely associated with Lord Raglan in the great events which rapidly succeeded each other. General Cator's advice to me was, never to trouble Lord Raglan more than absolutely necessary with details, to listen carefully to his remarks, to try and anticipate his wishes, and at all times to make as light as possible of difficulties. These excellent suggestions I did my best to carry out.

The original intention in massing the allied armies at Varna was with a view of an advance to the Danube, although, in regard to land transport, the English force was but little prepared for rapid movement. However, the raising of the siege of Silistria towards the end of June and the retreat of the Russians led to an entire change of plan, and the expedition to the Crimea was decided on. The Duke of Newcastle was then Minister for War, and in his despatch to Lord Raglan, of June 29,[2] he gave instructions that no campaign in the Principalities should be undertaken, but that measures should at once be concerted for the siege of Sebastopol.' Lord Raglan's reply on July 19 said, that 'the descent on the Crimea is decided upon, more in deference to the views of the British Government than to any information in the possession of the naval and military authorities as to the extent of the enemy's forces or to their state of preparation.'

Owing to the continued and severe illness of General Cator he was invalided home in August, and had to be carried on board ship in a hammock, being succeeded in command of the artillery by General Strangways. Lord de Ros, Quartermaster General, went home ill at the same time. During the month of August incessant preparations were made for the embarkation of the great expedition. The fleets of the allied powers arrived, and the bay of Varna was crowded with hundreds of transports, steam-tugs, flat-bottomed boats, and rafts; and the beach was strewn with thousands of gabions, fascines, and baggage of all kinds. Towards the end of the month the troops commenced embarking. One morning early, whilst superintending the departure of some batteries from the shore, Lord Raglan came up and spoke to me. He remarked that the artillery staff was insufficient, and that I had too much to do; and added, 'If you were a field officer I would appoint you Assistant Adjutant General, and give you help.' Having heard a rumour that an officer of high rank was coming from England as chief of the artillery staff, I ventured to say that I hoped Lord Raglan would not supersede me. He replied at once: 'Certainly not. I will take good care that you are not superseded.' The next day he sent for me, and said, 'I have got the Duke of Newcastle in a corner.' This rather puzzled me for the moment, but he continued: 'I have requested him at once to give you either brevet or local rank as a Major, and then the difficulty will be met.' The result of this was that within a month I was gazetted as a Major.'

After the expedition had been decided on, and even after it had embarked, great difference of opinion existed amongst the generals and admirals of both nations as to its expediency. The late season of the year, the want of accurate information as to the actual force of the Russians and of the condition of the defences of Sebastopol, all were matters of grave concern. The prevalence of cholera and fever—which had greatly weakened the allied armies and fleets, and which continued after leaving Varna—also added to the difficulties. These considerations, however, were not allowed to prevail, and on August 25 Marshal Saint-Arnaud issued a proclamation to the French army, in which he said that Providence had called them to the Crimea, a country healthy as France, and that ere long the three united flags should float over the ramparts of Sebastopol. Lord Raglan also issued his instructions, which were as follows: 'The invasion of the Crimea having been determined on, the troops will embark in such ships as shall be provided for their conveyance.'

Notwithstanding his proclamation, Saint-Arnaud, even when approaching the shore of the Crimea, remained in a somewhat vacillating condition of mind. During the voyage across, he made a signal requesting Lord Raglan and Admiral Dundas to come and see him on board the 'Ville de Paris.' They proceeded alongside in the 'Caradoc,' but Lord Raglan, having only one arm, was unable to go on board.[3] Admiral Dundas, however, visited Saint-Arnaud, who at the time was very ill and in great pain, and unable to converse. He handed the Admiral a paper without signature, in which it was urged that it would be too hazardous to land in face of a powerful enemy having a numerous cavalry; that the season was too late for a siege of Sebastopol, which, moreover, was known to be stronger than anticipated; and that consequently it was necessary to reconsider the situation and the measures to be adopted.

Admiral Dundas, accompanied by some French generals, then returned to the 'Caradoc,' and a long debate took place with Lord Raglan, who at length ended the discussion by declaring that he would not now consent to alter a decision which had been come to after careful consideration at the last council at Varna. Without doubt the enterprise was a bold and dangerous one, undertaken at a late period of the year, with troops that were physically weak from cholera and fever. The orders of the French and English Governments were, however, peremptory, and therefore the allied generals had in reality no option in the matter.

On the morning of September 14 the allied fleets and transports arrived off the coast of the Crimea, and the troops at once commenced landing on the shore about twenty-five miles from Sebastopol. The French were very quick in their movements, and, on our part, the Light Division under Sir George Brown lost no time; by the end of the day almost the whole of the British infantry, and twenty field guns horsed and equipped, were on shore. Just as the disembarkation commenced in the early morning a Russian officer with a Cossack orderly, rode up on some high ground between the French and English landing places, dismounted, and leisurely surveyed the scene; and then as our men on landing approached, he remounted and quietly trotted away. With that solitary exception, no enemy came near us during the five days occupied in disembarkation.

The first night on shore it rained heavily, our troops were without tents or shelter, and the operations on several subsequent days were considerably retarded by rough weather and a heavy surf, rendering our position somewhat precarious. It has always appeared inexplicable why Prince Menschikoff should have allowed so critical an operation on the part of the allies to be completed, without any attempt on his part to oppose or delay it; for nothing can be more helpless than an army with men, horses, and material of all kinds huddled together in boats, and landing on an open beach. The probabilities are that he was occupied in concentrating his troops at the strong position on the Alma, and felt himself unable to disturb our operations. One morning after landing, I rode with General Strangways inland for a mile or two to get water for our horses, and found a battalion of the Rifle Brigade in possession of a large farm. The officers complained that some of the French soldiers were pillaging the neighbourhood, and driving off the cattle, &c. Sir George Brown had sent a remonstrance to the French on the subject. As we left the farm we saw a French staff officer, evidently very angry and in pursuit of some of his men, and General Strangways recognised Prince Jerome Napoleon, who was in command of the division close by.

At length, on September 19, all being ready, the allied armies commenced their celebrated march on Sebastopol. The French were close to the shore, and the order of march is shown on the following plan.

armies

DIAGRAM OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH ARMIES

The strength of the British Army was approximately as follows:

The French were rather stronger in infantry, but had no cavalry. The division of Turks was about 6,000 strong.

The troops were in excellent spirits at the prospect of immediate action. The country was open and undulating; the distant smoke of burning villages, and the occasional appearance of a few Cossacks hovering about on the flank, were the only evidences that we were in an enemy's country. The arrival in the afternoon at the small fresh stream of the Bulganac was most welcome to the men and horses of the allies, who for days had suffered from a scanty supply of indifferent water. Late in the afternoon the enemy's cavalry showed in considerable force, at a distance almost out of range, beyond the stream, and Lord Raglan with his staff moved to the front, accompanied by the Light Cavalry under Lord Cardigan. Suddenly a Russian battery opened fire and a round shot passed through the Light Cavalry, taking off a man's leg, and bounding like a cricket ball over the heads of the staff. That was the first shot of the campaign in the Crimea. Two batteries of Horse Artillery were at once sent forward, and on their coming into action the enemy fell back out of range, covered by a cloud of skirmishers. Our loss was four troopers severely wounded. It was almost dusk, and Lord Raglan, being anxious to inform Prince Napoleon of what had occurred, as he was with his division about a mile distant, directed Colonel Count Lagondie, the French military attachÉ, to ride over and give him the necessary information. The French colonel was riding a fat Flemish mare which he called 'Medore,' and as he cantered leisurely off the remark was made, 'If Lagondie does not move a little faster it will be a long time before he comes back.' He never did come back, as will be explained presently.

Shortly after dusk all staff officers were directed to attend at head quarters, which were established in a small hut close to the Bulganac. General Airey, the Quartermaster General received us, and desired that all general officers should be informed that the enemy in considerable numbers being in the vicinity, a good look-out must be kept during the night, and that there should be no sounds of drums or trumpets. He then went on to say that the Russian army, computed at 45,000 men with a powerful artillery, occupied a strong entrenched position on heights beyond the Alma, a few miles distant, and that a general action was imminent on the morrow. The night passed quietly.

[2] Committee of the House of Commons on the state of the army before Sebastopol.