SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.
Lord Raglan--His Life--Battle of Inkerman--Morning of Battle
--Sons of Emperor Nicholas--The Attack--Troops Engaged--Fierce
Encounters--Sir George Cathcart--His Death--Russian Cruelty
--French Infantry--The Zouaves--Chasseurs--Russians Retire
--Renewed Attack--Repulsed by the French--Defeat--Sorties--Night
after Battle--Treaty with Austria of 2d Dec.--Negotiations for
Peace--The Four Points--Landing of Omer Pacha at Eupatoria--Death
of the Emperor Nicholas--Alexander II.--Fall of Sebastopol.
FIELD-MARSHAL LORD RAGLAN.
Lord Raglan, Commander-in-Chief of the English army, is a descendent
of the Somersets, the youngest son of the fifth Duke of Beaufort. He
was born in Sept. 1788, and christened Fitzroy James Henry Somerset.
He was a cornet in the 4th light dragoons at sixteen, and rose in
military rank, as the boyish sons of Dukes do rise, over the heads of
their seniors. He was a captain at twenty. He went with the troops
to Portugal, and fought in the first great battle--that of Talavera,
in which the French and English armies fairly and singly tried their
strength against each other.
Lord Fitzroy Somerset was then under one-and-twenty, and it was
not the first battle he had seen since he landed in the Peninsula.
He learned much of his military science within the lines of Torres
Vedras, and was severely wounded at the battle of Busaco.
[Illustration: LORD RAGLAN]
By this time, the young soldier had won the notice and strong
regard of Wellington, who had made him, first, his aide-de-camp,
and then his military secretary, a singular honor for a man under
two-and-twenty. The duties of his various functions kept him
diligently occupied during the whole of the Peninsular War. He was
present and active in every one of the great Peninsular battles,
and was, in the intervals, the medium of the Duke’s commands and
arrangements. The Duke’s avowed opinion was, that the successes of
that seven years’ war were due, next to himself, to his military
secretary. He became Major in 1811, and Lieutenant-Colonel the year
after. He returned to England after Bonaparte’s abdication, in 1814.
Lord Fitzroy Somerset married in the August of that year the second
daughter of Lord Mornington, and thus became the nephew, by marriage,
of the Duke of Wellington. None then dreamed what misfortune
awaited the young bridegroom within the first year of his marriage.
On Napoleon’s return from Elba, the Secretary went out with the
Commander-in-Chief, and as his aide, he was on the field during the
three days of June, which ended the war.
The Duke was wont to offer to bear the responsibility of an omission
in the Battle of Waterloo--the neglecting to break an entrance in the
back wall of the farmstead of La Haye Sainte, whereby the British
occupants might have been reinforced and supplied with ammunition. It
was the want of ammunition which gave the French temporary possession
of the place, and that temporary possession cost many lives, and Lord
Fitzroy Somerset his right arm.
He came home to his bride thus maimed before he was twenty-seven, but
with whatever compensation an abundance of honor could afford. For
nearly forty years afterwards it was supposed by himself and the
world, that his wars were ended, and he devoted himself to official
service at home.
He entered Parliament in 1818. He was always in request for
secretaryships at the Ordnance and to the Commander-in-Chief. He rose
in military rank at intervals, and became a Lieutenant-General in the
year 1838.
When the Duke of Wellington died, and Lord Hardinge was made
Commander-in-Chief, Lord Fitzroy Somerset became Master-General of
the Ordnance, and was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron
Raglan.
It presently appeared that his wars were not over. During the long
interval he had sent out his eldest son in the service of his
country, and lost him in the field at Ferozeshah in 1845. Nine years
after this bereavement, the father went out himself once more, and
this time in full command.
When war with Russia was determined on, with Lord Raglan dwelt the
traditions of the Iron Duke, and no one was so thoroughly versed in
the wisdom which had for seven long and hard years won the successes
of the Peninsular war. No one seemed so well to know the army and its
administration, and no one else so effectually combined the military
and practical official characters, a combination which, if always
necessary to make a good general, is most emphatically so in the
country which is the scene of the present war. To Turkey, therefore,
he went, and after the battles of Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman, was
raised to the rank of Field-Marshal.
Public opinion is divided in this country as to his merits as a
general; but the sequel will show, should the war be continued,
whether he is capable of occupying the place inherited from
Wellington.
BATTLE OF INKERMAN.
On Sunday, the 5th of November, 1854, one of the most sanguinary
battles ever fought within the memory of man, took place on the
heights of Inkerman, under the walls of Sebastopol.
It is a difficult task, in a few lines of prose, to render justice to
a bravery which excels that sung by the blind and immortal bard of
Greece. We might devote page after page to individual feats of heroic
daring in this fearful struggle, when 8,000 British troops and 6,000
Frenchmen defeated an army of 60,000 Russians, who left more killed
and wounded upon the battle-field than the whole force the Allies
brought against them.
* * * * *
From the preceding pages, the position of the besieging forces is
already familiar to our readers. On referring to the map of the
Crimea, may be seen a road connecting Balaklava and Sebastopol. From
this road to the heights which crown the valley of the Tchernaya,
extended the British lines. These heights form a right angle nearly
opposite the ruins of Inkerman, and there run parallel with the river
from which the valley has derived its name. On the other side of the
Tchernaya rise a succession of hills above the ruins of Inkerman,
where the Russians had established themselves.
The night between the 4th and 5th November was passed without
apprehension by the allied troops. It had rained almost incessantly,
and the early morning gave no promise of any cessation of the heavy
showers which had fallen for the previous four-and-twenty hours.
Towards dawn a heavy fog settled down on the heights, and on the
valley of the Inkerman. The fog, and vapors of drifting rain were so
thick as morning broke, that one could scarcely see ten yards before
him.
At four o’clock the bells of the churches in Sebastopol were heard
ringing drearily through the cold night air; but the occurrence had
been so usual that it excited no particular attention.
No one suspected for a moment that enormous masses of Russians were
creeping up the rugged sides of the heights over the valley of
Inkerman, on the undefended flank of the Second Division. There all
was security and repose. Little did the slumbering troops in camp
imagine that a subtle and indefatigable enemy were bringing into
position an overwhelming artillery, ready to play upon their tents at
the first glimpse of daylight.
Yet such was the case. The arrival of the Grand Dukes Michael and
Nicholas, sons of the Emperor, with large reinforcements, determined
Prince Menschikoff to make the attempt to annihilate the besieging
forces, and raise the siege.
At daybreak (that is, at six o’clock), the alarm was given in the
British camp that the Russians had surprised the advanced picquets,
and were already in possession of all the heights commanding their
position. The whole army stood to arms without delay. Presently a
Russian battery appeared upon the crest of the height known as
Shell-hill, near Careening Bay, whilst columns of infantry were
descried already descending the hills, or marching up the ravines,
which faced the front of the British position. The most serious
attack of the Russians was, however, directed against the flank of
the British army, along the heights running parallel to the valley of
the Tchernaya.
The entire force which the British mustered to defend their vast
front and flank lines, was confined to the following. The remainder
of the army were in the trenches, prepared to oppose any attack upon
the siege batteries:
Guards, about 1,000
Second Division 2,500
Light Division 1,000
Fourth Division 2,200
Third Division 1,000
-----
7,700
The odds were therefore, frightful, and it was only three hours later
that General Bosquet opportunely arrived with his splendid division,
six thousand strong, the same which had fought at the Alma.
* * * * *
The Russians in the front had now advanced to within five hundred
yards of the encampment, and the action commenced. The musketry fire
was awful, and the enemy, who had now guns upon every favorable
position, hurled shell and round shot at the advancing lines.
The enemy’s columns continued to push forward, trying to overwhelm
the British regiments with their superior numbers. “And now (to quote
the words of an eye-witness of the battle) commenced the bloodiest
struggle ever witnessed since war cursed the earth. It has been
doubted by military historians if any enemy have ever stood a charge
with the bayonet, but here the bayonet was often the only weapon
employed in conflicts of the most obstinate and deadly character.
Not only did the English charge in vain, not only were desperate
encounters between masses of men maintained with the bayonet alone,
but they were obliged to resist bayonet to bayonet, with the Russian
infantry again and again, as they charged the British with incredible
fury and determination.”
The battle of Inkerman admits of no description. It was a series
of dreadful deeds of daring, of sanguinary hand-to-hand fights, of
despairing rallies, of desperate assaults, in glens and valleys, in
brushwood glades and remote dells, hidden from all human eyes, and
from which the conquerors, Russian or British, issued, only to engage
fresh foes.
It was essentially a struggle between pluck and confidence, against
fearful odds and obstinate courage.
No one, however placed, could have witnessed even a small portion of
the doings of this eventful day, for the vapors, fog, and drizzling
mist, obscured the ground where the struggle took place to such an
extent, as to render it impossible to see what was going on at the
distance of fifty yards. Besides this, the irregular nature of the
ground, the rapid fall of the hill towards Inkerman, where the
deadliest fight took place, would have prevented one, under the most
favorable circumstances, seeing more than a very insignificant and
detailed piece of the terrible work below.
* * * * *
It was six o’clock when all the Head-quarter camp was roused by roll
after roll of musketry on the right, and by the sharp report of
field-guns.
Lord Raglan was informed that the enemy were advancing in force,
and soon after seven o’clock he rode towards the scene of action,
followed by his staff, and accompanied by Sir John Burgoyne,
Brigadier General Strangways, and several aides-de-camp.
As they approached the volume of sound, the steady unceasing thunder
of gun, and rifle, and musket, told that the engagement was at its
height. The shell of the Russians, thrown with great precision, burst
so thickly among the troops that the noise resembled continuous
discharges of cannon, and the massive fragments inflicted death on
every side.
Colonel Gambier was at once ordered to get up two heavy guns
(eighteen pounders) on the rising ground, and to reply to a fire
which the light guns were utterly inadequate to meet. As he was
engaged in this duty he was severely wounded, and obliged to retire.
His place was taken by Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson, who, in directing
the fire of these two pieces, which had the most marked effect in
deciding the fate of the day, elicited the admiration of the army.
But long ere these guns had been brought up, there had been a great
slaughter of the enemy, and a heavy loss of the British. The
generals could not see where to go. They could not tell where the
enemy were--from what side they were coming, or where going. In
darkness, gloom, and rain, they led the lines through thick scrubby
bushes and thorny brakes, which broke the ranks, and irritated the
men, while every place was marked by a corpse or man wounded from an
enemy whose position was only indicated by the rattle of musketry,
and the rush of ball and shell.
Sir George Cathcart, seeing his men disordered by the fire of a
large column of Russian infantry, which was outflanking them, while
portions of the various regiments composing his division were
maintaining an unequal struggle with an overwhelming force, went down
into a ravine in which they were engaged to rally them. He rode at
their head encouraging them, and when a cry arose that the ammunition
was failing, he said coolly, “Have you not got your bayonets?” As he
led on his men, it was observed that another body of men had gained
the top of the hill behind them on the right, but it was impossible
to tell whether they were friends or foes. A deadly volley was poured
into the scattered British regiments. Sir George cheered them, and
led them back up the hill, but a flight of bullets passed where he
rode, and he fell from his horse close to the Russian columns. His
body was recovered mutilated with bayonet wounds.
When he fell, Colonel Seymour, who was with him, instantly
dismounted, and was endeavoring to raise the body, when he himself
received a ball which fractured his leg. He fell to the ground beside
his general, and a Russian officer and five or six men running
in, bayoneted him, and cut him to pieces as he lay helpless. The
Russians bayoneted the wounded in every part of the field, giving
no quarter, and apparently determined to exterminate the Allies, or
drive them into the sea.
The conflict on the right was equally uncertain and equally bloody.
To the extreme right a contest, the like of which, perhaps, never
took place before, was going on between the Guards and dense columns
of Russian infantry of five times their number. The Guards had
charged them and driven them back, when they perceived that the
Russians had outflanked them. They were out of ammunition, too, and
were uncertain whether there were friends or foes in the rear. They
had no support, no reserve, were fighting with the bayonet against
an enemy who stoutly contested every inch of ground, when the corps
of another Russian column appeared on their right far to their rear.
Then a fearful _mitraille_ was poured into them, and volleys of rifle
and musketry.
The Guards were broken; they had lost twelve officers dead on the
field; they had left one-half of their number dead on the ground; and
they retired along the lower road of the valley; but they were soon
reinforced, and speedily avenged their loss.
The French advance, about ten o’clock, turned the flank of the enemy.
[Illustration: ZOUAVE CHIEF.]
When the body of French infantry appeared on the right of the British
position, it was a joyful sight to the struggling regiments. The 3d
regiment of Zouaves, under the chiefs of battalion, supported in
the most striking manner the ancient reputation of that force. The
French artillery had already begun to play with deadly effect on
the right wing of the Russians, when three battalions of chasseurs
d’Orleans rushed by, the light of battle on their faces. They were
accompanied by a battalion of chasseurs Indigènes--the Arab Sepoys
of Algiers. Their trumpets sounded above the din of battle. Assailed
in front, broken in several places by the impetuosity of the charge,
renewed again and again, attacked by the French infantry on the
right, and by artillery all along the line, the Russians began to
retire, and at twelve o’clock they were driven pell-mell down the
hill towards the valley, where pursuit would have been madness, as
the roads were covered by their artillery. They left mounds of dead
behind them. At twelve o’clock the battle of Inkerman seemed to have
been won; but the day, which had cleared up for an hour previously,
again became obscured. Rain and fog set in; and as the Allies could
not pursue the Russians, who were retiring under the shelter of
their artillery, they had formed in front of the lines, and were
holding the battle-field so stoutly contested, when the enemy, taking
advantage of the Allies’ quietude, again advanced, while their guns
pushed forward and opened a tremendous fire.
General Canrobert, who never quitted Lord Raglan for much of the
early part of the day, at once directed the French to advance and
outflank the enemy. In his efforts he was most nobly seconded by
General Bosquet. General Canrobert was slightly wounded, and his
immediate attendants suffered severely.
The renewed assault was so admirably managed that the Russians
sullenly retired, still protected by their crushing artillery.
The loss sustained by the English army was 2,400 killed or wounded:
of the French, 1,726. The Russians, in killed, wounded, and
prisoners, 15,000.
THE NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE.
An eye-witness thus describes the night after the battle:
“On the evening of the battle I went over the field. All the wounded
had been removed. There is nothing so awful as the spectacle of the
bodies of those who have been struck down by round shot or shell.
Some had their heads taken off by the neck, as with an axe; others,
their legs gone from their hips; others their arms; and others again,
who were hit in the chest or stomach, were literally as mashed as
if they had been crushed in a machine. Passing up to Sebastopol,
over heaps of Russian dead, I came to the spot where the Guards had
been compelled to retire from the defence of the wall above Inkerman
valley. Here the dead of the Allies were nearly as numerous as the
enemy’s. Beyond this the Russian Guardsmen and line regiments lay
as thick as leaves; intermixed with dead and wounded horses. The
path lay through thick brushwood, but it was slippery with blood,
and the brushwood was broken down and encumbered with the dead. The
scene from the battery was awful beyond description. I stood upon its
parapet at about nine at night, and felt my heart sink as I gazed
upon the scene of carnage around.
“The moon was at its full, and showed every object as if by the light
of day. Facing me was the valley of Inkerman, with the Tchernaya,
like a band of silver, flowing gracefully between the hills, which,
for varied and picturesque beauty, might vie with any part of the
world.
“Yet I shall never recall the memory of Inkerman valley with any but
feelings of horror; for round the spot from which I surveyed the
scene lay upwards of five thousand bodies.
“Some lay as if prepared for burial, and as though the hands of
relatives had arranged their mangled limbs; while others again were
in almost startling positions, half standing or kneeling, clutching
their weapons or drawing a cartridge.
“Many lay with both their hands extended towards the sky, as if to
avert a blow or utter a prayer; while others had a malignant scowl
of fear and hatred. The moonlight imparted an aspect of unnatural
paleness to their forms, and as the cold, damp wind swept round the
hills and waved the boughs above their upturned faces, the shadows
gave a horrible appearance of vitality; and it seemed as if the dead
were laughing, and about to rise. This was not the case on one spot,
but all over the bloody field.”
The whole of the 6th (the day after the battle) was devoted to the
sorry task of burying the dead. A council of war was held, presided
over by Lord Raglan, at which it was determined to winter in the
Crimea, and orders were issued accordingly.
Large reinforcements were demanded both by Lord Raglan and General
Canrobert, which, with considerable promptitude, have been despatched
by their respective governments, and many of them are already on the
spot.
In the period which has elapsed since the battle of Inkerman no
battle has been fought. The usual routine of siege operations has
gone on; sorties have taken place from the besieged city, both upon
the French and English lines, which have, in every instance, been
victoriously repulsed. But a more formidable enemy than the Czar of
all the Russias has taken the field against the Allies. Winter, with
his chilling aspect and freezing breath, accompanied by his suite of
sleet and storm, and hurricane and snow, has made his appearance more
terrible than for many a year past. At times all operations have been
suspended; the trenches filled with water, and many a shivering form
has laid itself down without even the comfort of a plank between it
and the dripping earth to dream of home and to die. The sufferings of
such are known only to Him who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.
On the 14th November, one of the fiercest storms known within the
memory of man burst over the Black Sea. Off Balaklava, where the
cliffs are steep and abrupt, eight transports became total wrecks,
and every soul on board but 30 perished.
A magnificent new steamer, the “Prince,” of 3,000 tons burden, having
arrived but a few days previously from England, and landed in safety
the 46th regiment, was obliged to anchor outside in consequence of
the crowded state of the harbor. The hurricane took her unawares,
and was so severe that her cables parted; the roaring surf tossed her
like an egg-shell upon the rocks, and the next instant nothing but a
wreathing mist could be seen hanging over the spot where her noble
timbers lay buried. Out of 150 souls on board, but six were saved.
Her cargo was invaluable at that particular time, and consisted of
a great portion of the winter clothing for the troops, including
40,000 suits of clothes, and large quantities of shot, shell, and
medical stores. Altogether, 18 British and 12 French ships were lost
at Balaklava.
Off the Katcha, five English and eight French ships were cast ashore.
At Eupatoria, the Henri IV., a French ship of the line, the French
war-steamer, Pluton, seven French and five English transports, and a
Turkish line-of-battle ship, were driven on shore.
During the confusion of the storm, an attack was made on the town of
Eupatoria by 4,000 Russian cavalry, with 14 pieces of artillery, but
was gallantly repulsed by the cannon and rockets of the garrison.
The continuance of unfavorable weather has rendered the camps almost
untenable, and the roads impassable. The British government, to
obviate the difficulty, have sent out all the materials necessary for
the construction of a railroad from Balaklava to Sebastopol heights,
with a sufficient number of navvies (or laborers) to complete the
same at an early day.
On the 2nd of December, a change took place in the views of the
Austrian cabinet, which was interpreted as favorable to the Western
Powers.
A treaty was signed at Vienna by the Earl of Westmoreland, the
Baron de Bourgueney, and Count Buol, as representatives of their
respective governments, of which the following are the principal
conditions:--The high contracting parties engage not to enter into
any engagement with Russia without deliberating in common. The
Emperor of Austria engages to defend the Principalities against any
attack by the Russians, and that nothing shall be done by his troops
to interfere with the free action of the Allies against the Russian
frontier. A commission, to consist of a plenipotentiary from each
government, with the addition of a Turkish commissioner, is to sit
at Vienna, to decide all questions arising out of the occupation. In
case of hostilities arising between Austria and Russia, an offensive
and defensive alliance is to be _de facto_ established between the
former and the Western Powers, and no suspension of hostilities will
be concluded without the agreement of all the three Powers.
The ratifications of this treaty were exchanged on the 14th.
The King of Prussia had played so vacillating a part that the
influence of that cabinet had ceased to be felt, and she was neither
consulted nor regarded.
Negotiations for peace have been set on foot, with some hope of
success, but as a basis for negotiation, Great Britain, France, and
Austria, unanimously determined to insist upon, and abide by, the
following four points:
_1st. The abolition of the Protectorate over the Danubian
Principalities, and the privileges of those provinces placed under
the collective guarantee of the contracting powers._
_2d. The free navigation of the mouths of the Danube secured
according to the principles established by the Congress of Vienna._
_3d. The revision of the Treaty of 13th July, 1841, in the interest
of the balance of power in Europe._
_4th. The abandonment, by Russia, of her claim to exercise an
official protectorate over the Christian subjects of the Porte
(to whatever rite they might belong) in consideration of the
Powers giving their mutual assistance to obtain from the Sultan
a confirmation and observance of the religious privileges of all
Christian communities._
A period of fourteen days was given Prince Gortschakoff in which to
communicate with his Imperial master.
In less than eight days, instead of the fourteen allowed him, the
Plenipotentiary of the Czar was instructed to negotiate a peace on
the minimum proposed.
No cessation of hostilities has taken place; no armistice will be
listened to, and the siege goes on. Enormous preparations have been
made both by the French and English, for continuing their operations
with increased vigor as soon as the weather will permit. Omer Pacha
has been ordered, with his army of forty thousand men, to proceed to
Eupatoria, where he has landed, and will be able to operate on the
rear of the Russians, while the British and French attack in front,
and if kept well supplied both with men and means, we may expect
something brilliant from his well-earned prowess and reputation.
Whether we are approaching the close of the war, or the beginning
of it, is a question which no human foresight can, at the present
moment, determine.
The question is one of deep importance to the world generally, for
war brings so many evils in its train, is so exhausting in blood
and treasure, interrupts the commercial transactions of nations so
painfully, and retards civilization so seriously, that we cannot but
hope that the year which thus commences with slaughter may close in
peace.
A winter campaign under the most favorable circumstances is rife with
suffering and death; but much can be done to mitigate these evils by
a system of thorough discipline on the part of those in command.
Every arrival, however, from the Crimea, brings tales of woe
and misery coupled with additional confirmation of the gross
mismanagement which has characterized the conduct of the British army
since its first arrival in the East. In battle, British officers
and soldiers have proved themselves heroes, yet in the organization
of the different departments, in everything which contributes to
the comfort and health both of officers and men, as well as in the
commissariat, they have proved themselves lamentably deficient.
In contrast with the admirable organization of the French army under
similar circumstances, it would seem difficult to account for the
comparative comfort in the one case, and the miserable lack of it in
the other; but upon a careful analysis of the two systems, the cause
becomes at once apparent. The French army is essentially a democratic
institution, in which promotion depends entirely upon individual
merit. Vigilance, activity, and energy is the price of position, and
with a possibility of attaining a higher rank, the common soldier
as well as the officer, has an incentive for extra exertion, and
something to hope for in the future.
But with the British it is quite the reverse. Once in the ranks the
soldier hopes for no higher position, because it is unattainable.
Their officers are selected, not on the ground of merit, but because
by chance born a “Somerset” or in the shadow of a title. By education
well fitted to shine at court, or amid the butterflies of fashion,
practical knowledge and business capacity are things of which they
have never dreamed, and which so savors of the plebeian that they are
led to believe themselves degraded by giving attention to details, or
in the exhibition of that energy which is the secret of success in
every calling.
While the execution of these minor details renders the French
comparatively comfortable on the heights of Sebastopol, the British,
for lack of them, are undergoing the horrors of the campaign of
Moscow.
With a superabundance of everything on board ship; with cargoes of
furs and warm clothing at Balaklava, the soldiers on half rations
are suffering famine, and in summer garments are shivering and dying
in the cold blasts of a Crimean winter. By the humanity of their
allies, some have been protected from freezing by donations of the
well known Algerine caban (heavy cloaks with hoods), from the French;
and the British army presents the strange and humiliating spectacle
of appearing in French habiliments and sacrificing its identity. If
the present disasters in the Crimea shall have the effect to cause a
breaking down of that Feudal system in England, which recognises one
man as entitled to all privileges, and his neighbor to none; which,
regardless of capacity, places _names_ rather than men in command
of armies, and in cabinets: if this change shall be effected, then
will more good have been accomplished than would result from the
subjugation of Russia and downfall of Sebastopol.
[Illustration: NICHOLAS, LATE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.]