THE CRIMEA, DANUBE, AND ARMENIA.
Charles Gordon reached Balaclava on New Year's Day, 1855. He found
everyone engaged in foraging expeditions, that the siege of Sebastopol
excited no interest, that the road from the bay to the hill was like a
morass, and that a railway to traverse it was being slowly laid down.
Gordon remained about three weeks at Balaclava assisting in the
erection of huts, and in the conveyance of some of them to the front.
When this task was accomplished he was himself ordered to the
trenches, where his work could not fail to be more exciting and also
more dangerous than that upon which up to this he had been engaged.
Before following him it will be useful to summarise the leading events
that had taken place in the Crimea up to this date. War between
England and France on the one side, and Russia on the other, was
finally declared in March 1854, the allied forces landed in the Crimea
early in September 1854, and the first battle was fought on the Alma
stream on the 20th of that month. In that battle 60,000 allied
troops--20,000 English, 40,000 French--attacked 120,000 Russians in a
strong and well-chosen position. The result was a brilliant victory
for the allies, and there is no doubt that it was mainly won by the
dashing attack of the English Infantry. The losses were--French, 60
killed and 500 wounded; English, 362 killed and 1620 wounded, thus
furnishing clear evidence as to the force which bore the brunt of the
engagement. The Russian loss was computed to be not less than 6000, or
double that of the allies.
As the allied forces advanced towards Sebastopol the Russian Army
assumed the offensive. The brilliant and never-to-be-forgotten Cavalry
charges on 25th October, of the Light and Heavy Brigades, under
Cardigan and Scarlett respectively, at Balaclava in the valley that
stretched at the foot of the hills overlooking the bay of that name,
had not merely vindicated the reputation of English horsemen for dash
and daring, but had done something--at excessive cost, it is true--to
clear the advance for the whole army. When the Russians, assuming in
their turn the offensive, attacked our camps on the heights of
Inkerman, they were repulsed with heavy loss on both sides, and with
the result that more than six months elapsed before they again
ventured to show any inclination to attack in the open field, and then
only to meet with fresh discomfiture on the banks of the Tchernaya.
The battle of Inkerman was fought in the early morning of 5th
November, and again the brunt of the fighting fell on the English
army. The Russian General, Todleben, subsequently stated that he
reluctantly decided to attack the English camp instead of the French,
because "the English position seemed to be so very weak." Here again
the losses give no misleading idea of the proportionate share of the
two allied armies in the struggle. While the Russian loss was put down
in all at 11,000 men, the French lost 143 killed and 786 wounded; the
English, 597 killed and 1760 wounded.
The opinion has been confidently expressed that if a rapid advance and
attack had been made on Sebastopol immediately after Inkerman, the
fortress would have been easily captured; but both before and during
the siege the Russians made the best use of every respite the Allies
gave them, and this lost opportunity, if it was one, never recurred.
It will thus be seen that some of the most interesting incidents of
the war had passed before Gordon set foot in the Crimea, but for an
engineer officer the siege and capture of the fortress created by
Todleben under the fire of his foes presented the most attractive and
instructive phase of the campaign.
At this time the French army mustered about 100,000 men, the British
about 23,000, and the Russian garrison of Sebastopol 25,000. In
addition, there was a covering army, under the Grand Dukes and General
Liprandi, which, despite its losses at Inkerman, was probably not less
than 60,000 but the successive defeats at Alma, Balaclava, and
Inkerman had broken the confidence of the troops and reduced their
leaders to inaction. The batteries were nearly completed when Gordon
reached the front, and a good deal had already been written and said
about the hardships of the soldiers. Gordon was a man of few wants,
who could stand any amount of fatigue, and throughout his life he was
always disposed to think that soldiers should never complain. Writing
as late as 12th February 1855, when the worst of the winter was over,
he says: "There are really no hardships for the officers; the men are
the sufferers, and that is partly their own fault, as they are like
children, thinking everything is to be done for them. The French
soldier looks out for himself, and consequently fares much better."
Something of the same conclusion had been forced on him when on board
the French transport between Marseilles and Athens when he wrote: "The
poor French soldiers, of whom there were 320 on board without any
shelter, must have suffered considerably from cold; they had no
covering, and in spite of the wet, cold, and bad weather, they kept up
their health however, and their high spirits also, when our men would
have mutinied." And again, later on: "We have capital rations, and all
the men have warm clothing, and more than enough of that. They of
course grumble and growl a good deal. The contrast with the French in
this respect is not to our advantage." It must in fairness be
remembered that the worst of the maladministration was over before he
reached the scene, and that he came with those reinforcements, not
merely of men, but still more especially of supplies, which ended "the
winter troubles," and converted them into the sanguine hopes and views
of the spring.
Gordon was not long in the trenches before he came under fire, and the
account of his first experience of real warfare may be given in his
own words:--
"The night of February 14th I was on duty in the trenches, and if
you look at the plan I sent you and the small sketch enclosed I
will explain what I had to do. The French that night determined
to join their sentries on their right and our sentries on our
left, in advance of their and our trenches, so as to prevent the
Russians coming up the ravine, and then turning against our
flank. They determined to make a lodgment in the ruined house
marked _B_ on the sketch, and to run a trench up the hill to the
left of this, while I was told to make a communication by
rifle-pits from the caves _C_ to the ruined house _B_. I got,
after some trouble, eight men with picks and shovels, and asked
the captain of the advance trench to give me five double sentries
to throw out in advance. It was the first time he had been on
duty here; and as for myself, I never had, although I kept that
to myself. I led forward the sentries, going at the head of the
party, and found the sentries of the advance had not held the
caves, which they ought to have done after dark, so there was
just a chance of the Russians being in them. I went on, however,
and, though I did not like it, explored the caves almost alone.
We then left two sentries on the hill above the caves, and went
back, to get round and post two sentries below the caves.
However, just as soon as we showed ourselves outside the caves
and below them, bang! bang! went two rifles, the bullets hitting
the ground close to us. The sentries with me retired in a rare
state of mind, and my working party bolted, and were stopped with
great difficulty. What had really happened was this: It was not a
Russian attack, but the two sentries whom I had placed above the
caves _had fired at us_, lost their caps, and bolted to the
trench. Nothing after this would induce the sentries to go out,
so I got the working party to go forward with me. The Russians
had, on the report of our shots, sent us a shower of bullets,
their picket not being more than 150 yards away. I set the men to
work, and then went down to the bottom of the ravine, and found
the French in strength hard at work also. Having told them who we
were, I returned to the trench, where I met Colonel ---- of the
1st Royals. I warned him if he went out he would be sure to be
hit by our own sentries or the Russians. He would go, however,
and a moment afterwards was hit in the breast, the ball going
through his coats, slightly grazing his ribs, and passing out
again without hurting him. I stayed with my working party all
night, and got home very tired."
In further illustration of the confusion prevailing in the trenches at
night, he mentions in the same letter that while trying to find the
caves he missed his way, and "very nearly walked into the town by
mistake."
This was the more surprising because Gordon's intimate knowledge of
the trenches was remarkable and well known. The following testimony
given by Sir Charles Staveley affords striking proof that this
reputation was not undeserved:--
"I happened to mention to Charlie Gordon that I was field officer
for the day for command in the trenches next day, and, having
only just returned from sick leave, that I was ignorant of the
geography of our left attack. He said at once, 'Oh! come down
with me to-night after dark, and I will show you over the
trenches.' He drew me out a very clear sketch of the lines (which
I have now), and down I went accordingly. He explained every nook
and corner, and took me along outside our most advanced trench,
the bouquets (volleys of small shells fired from mortars) and
other missiles flying about us in, to me, a very unpleasant
manner, he taking the matter remarkably coolly."
The late Sir George Chesney, a very competent and discriminating
witness, gives evidence to the same effect:--
"In his humble position as an Engineer subaltern he attracted the
notice of his superiors, not merely by his energy and activity,
but by a special aptitude for war, developing itself amid the
trench work before Sebastopol in a personal knowledge of the
enemy's movements _such as no other officer attained_. We used to
send him to find out what new move the Russians were making."
The next incident of the siege described by Gordon occurred about a
week after his _bapteme de feu_ in the caves. While the French were
somewhat deliberately making at Inkerman a battery for fifteen guns,
the Russians, partly in a spirit of bravado, threw up in a single
night a battery for nearly twenty guns immediately opposite, at a
distance of not more than 600 yards from the French. As this was made
in the open ground, it was a defiance which could not be tolerated,
and the French accordingly made their arrangements to assault it.
Kinglake has graphically described the surprise of the French when
they discovered this "white circlet or loop on the ground," and the
attempt made by three battalions, with two other battalions in
reserve, to capture it. A battalion of Zouaves, under the command of
Colonel Cere, carried it in fine style, but the Russian reserves came
up in great force, and their own reserves "declining to come to the
scratch," as Gordon laconically put it, the Zouaves were in their turn
compelled to fall back, with a loss of 200 killed. Encouraged by this
success, the Russians gave the French another surprise a few days
later, throwing up a second battery 300 yards further in advance of
the first "white circlet." These two batteries, mounting between them,
according to Kinglake, twenty-two guns, were finally strengthened and
equipped by 10th March, and although the French talked much of
storming them, nothing was done, much to Gordon's disgust. It was
while these operations were in progress that Charles Gordon had a
narrow escape of being killed. A shot from one of the Russian
rifle-pits "as nearly as possible did for me," he wrote; "the bullet
was fired not 180 yards off, and passed an inch above my nut into a
bank I was passing." His only comment on this is very characteristic:
"They are very good marksmen; their bullet is large and pointed."
This was the first but not the last escape he had during the siege.
One of his brothers, writing home some three months later, a few days
before the assault on the Redan, wrote as follows: "Charlie has had a
miraculous escape. The day before yesterday he saw the smoke from an
embrasure on his left and heard a shell coming, but did not see it. It
struck the ground about five yards in front of him and burst, not
touching him. If it had not burst it would have taken his head off."
Of this later shave Gordon himself says nothing, but he describes a
somewhat similar incident, which had, however, a fatal result. "We
lost one of our captains named Craigie by a splinter of a shell. The
shell burst above him, and by what is called chance struck him in the
back, killing him at once."
During the three months March, April, and May, the siege languished,
and Gordon apologises for the stupidity of his letters with the
graphic observation: "It is not my fault, as none of the three
nations--French, English, or Russian--will do anything."
At the end of May, however, there was a renewal of activity. General
Pelissier succeeded to the French command, and, unlike his
predecessors, made it his primary object to act in cordial
co-operation with the English commander. He was also in favour of an
energetic prosecution of the siege, with the view to an early
assault. All the batteries were by this time completed, and 588 guns,
with 700 rounds in readiness for each gun, were opposed to the 1174 in
the Russian fortress. It only remained to utilise this terrific force,
and at last orders were given for the commencement of what was known
as the third bombardment. After nearly two days' incessant firing the
French stormed the Mamelon and two advance redoubts. These were
successfully carried and held, at the same time that the English
stormed a position called the Quarries, close under the formidable
Redan. Of this bombardment Gordon gives in one of his letters a very
good description:--
"On the 6th we opened fire from all our batteries. I was on duty
in the trenches. I could distinctly see the Russians in the Redan
and elsewhere running about in great haste, and bringing up their
gunners to the guns. They must have lost immensely, as our shot
and shell continued to pour in upon them for hours without a
lull. Never was our fire so successful. Before seven we had
silenced a great many of their guns, while our loss was very
small--only one man killed and four wounded. I was struck
slightly with a stone from a round shot and stunned for a second,
which old Jones has persisted in returning as wounded. [It was,
notwithstanding, a real wound.] However, I am all right, so do
not think otherwise. Our fire was continued all night, and the
next day until four o'clock, when we opened with new batteries
much nearer, and our fire then became truly terrific. Fancy 1000
guns (which is the number of ourselves, the French, and Russians
combined) firing at once shells in every direction. On our side
alone we have thirty-nine 13" mortars. At half-past five three
rockets gave the signal for the French to attack the Mamelon and
the redoubts of Selingkinsk and Volhynia. They rushed up the
slope in full view of the allied armies. The Russians fired one
or two guns when the French were in the embrasures. We then saw
the Russians cut out on the other side, and the French after
them, towards the Malakoff Tower, which they nearly reached, but
were so punished by the guns of this work that they were obliged
to retire, the Russians in their turn chasing them through the
Mamelon into their own trenches. This was dreadful, as it had to
be assaulted again. The French, however, did so immediately, and
carried it splendidly. The redoubts of Volhynia and Selingkinsk
were taken easily on our side. In front of the right attack a
work called the Quarries had to be taken, which was done at the
same time as the Mamelon. The Russians cut out and ran, while our
men made their lodgment for our fellows. We were attacked four
times in the night, but held the work. If we had liked to
assault, I am sure we should have taken the place with little
loss, some of our men being close to the Redan. The French took
twenty guns and 400 prisoners, and found the Mamelon so traversed
as to have no difficulty in making their lodgment. We were driven
from the Quarries three times in the night, the Russians having
directed all their efforts against them. Our loss is supposed to
be 1000 killed and wounded. Nearly all our working party had to
be taken for fighting purposes. The attacking columns were 200
strong; one went to the right, and the other to the left of the
Quarries. The reserve consisted of 600 men. The Russians fought
desperately."
A further week was occupied with a heavy but desultory bombardment,
but at last on 17th June what is known as "the fourth bombardment"
proper began, and after it had continued for about twenty-four hours,
orders were given for the assault to be made by the French on the
Malakoff and the English on the Redan on the 18th June, a date ever
memorable in military annals. The silence of the Russian guns induced
a belief that the allied fire had overpowered theirs, and in
consequence orders for the attack were given twenty-four hours sooner
than had been intended. Kinglake, in his exhaustive History, has shown
how this acted adversely on the chances of the assault, because the
Russian gunners had really only reserved their fire, and also
especially because the Redan, which we had to attack under the
original arrangement between Lord Raglan and General Pelissier, had
hardly suffered any damage from the bombardment. General Gordon's long
account of this memorable assault will long be referred to as a
striking individual experience:--
"I must now commence my long story of our attempted assault. To
take up my account from 14th June, which was the last letter I
wrote to you, Seeley, my fellow-subaltern at Pembroke, arrived on
the 15th, and joined the right. On the evening of the 16th it was
rumoured we were to commence firing again in the morning. I was
on duty on the morning of the 17th, and I went down at half-past
two A.M. At 3 A.M. all our batteries opened, and throughout the
day kept up a terrific fire. The Russians answered slowly, and
after a time their guns almost ceased. I mentioned in my report
that I thought they were reserving their fire. [If this view had
only been taken by the Generals, especially Pelissier, a dreadful
waste of life would have been averted, and the result might have
proved a brilliant success.] We did not lose many men. I remained
in the trenches until 7 P.M.--rather a long spell--and on coming
up dined, and found an order to be at the night attack at twelve
midnight on June 17 and 18. I was attached to Bent's column, with
Lieutenants Murray and Graham, R.E., and we were to go into the
Redan at the Russians' right flank. Another column, under Captain
de Moleyns and Lieutenants Donnelly and James, R.E., was to go
in at the angle of the salient; and another under Captain Jesse,
Lieutenants Fisher and Graves, was to go in at the Russian left
flank. We passed along in our relative positions up to the
advanced trench, which is 200 yards from the Redan, where we
halted until the signal for the attack should be given from the
eight-gun battery, where Lord Raglan, Sir G. Brown, and General
Jones were.
"About 3 A.M. the French advanced on the Malakoff Tower in three
columns, and ten minutes after this our signal was given. The
Russians then opened with a fire of grape, which was terrific.
They mowed down our men in dozens, and the trenches, being
confined, were crowded with men, who foolishly kept in them
instead of rushing over the parapet of our trenches, and by
coming forward in a mass, trusting to some of them at least being
able to pass through untouched to the Redan, where of course,
once they arrived, the artillery could not reach them, and every
yard nearer would have diminished the effect of the grape by
giving it less space for spreading. We could then have moved up
our supports and carried the place.
"Unfortunately, however, our men dribbled out of the ends of the
trenches, ten and twenty at a time, and as soon as they appeared
they were cleared away. Some hundred men, under Lieutenant
Fisher, got up to the abattis, but were not supported, and
consequently had to retire.
"About this time the French were driven from the Malakoff Tower,
which I do not think they actually entered, and Lord Raglan very
wisely would not renew the assault, as the Redan could not be
held with the Malakoff Tower in the hands of the Russians.
Murray, poor fellow, went out with the skirmishers of our
column--he in red, and they in green. He was not out a minute
when he was carried back with his arm shattered with grape.
Colonel Tylden called for me, and asked me to look after him,
which I did, and as I had a tourniquet in my pocket I put it on.
He bore it bravely, and I got a stretcher and had him taken back.
He died three hours afterwards. I am glad to say that Dr Bent
reports he did not die from loss of blood, but from the shock,
not being very strong.
"A second after Murray had gone to the rear, poor Tylden, struck
by grape in the legs, was carried back, and although very much
depressed in spirits he is doing well. Jesse was killed at the
abattis--shot through the head--and Graves was killed further in
advance than any one. We now sat still waiting for orders, and
the Russians amusing themselves by shelling us from mortars. When
we appeared, the Russians lined their parapets as thick as
possible, and seemed to be expecting us to come on. They flew two
flags on the Malakoff Tower the whole time in defiance of us.
About ten o'clock some of the regiments got orders to retire.
We, the Royal Engineers, however, stayed until twelve o'clock,
when we were told that the assault was not to be renewed, and
that we could go. Thus ended our assault, of the result of which
we felt so sure. The first plan made was that we should fire for
three hours and go in at six o'clock, but the French changed it,
and would not wait until we had silenced the enemy's artillery
fire, and so we attacked at 3 A.M. My father can tell the effect
of grape from twelve 68-pounders and 32-pounders at 200 yards
upon a column; but whatever may be the effect, I am confident
that if we had left the trenches in a mass, some of us would have
survived and reached the Redan, which, once reached, the Highland
Brigade and Guards would have carried all before them, and the
place would have fallen. General Jones was struck by a stone in
the forehead, but not much hurt. I believe it is said that the
trenches were too high to get over. As the scaling-ladders were
carried over them, this can hardly be sustained. So much for
_our_ assault.
"Now for the assault which was made from the left attack. General
Eyre had an order given him to make a feint at the head of the
creek if we were successful at the Redan; however, at five
o'clock, when we had failed at the Redan, we heard a very sharp
attack on the head of the creek. The 44th and other regiments
advanced, drove the Russians out of a rifle-pit they held near
the cemetery, and entered some houses there. The Russians then
opened a tremendous fire on the houses, and the men took shelter
in line, being under no command, their own officers not knowing
where they were to go, or anything about the place, and no
Engineer officer being with them. The men sheltered themselves in
the houses until they were knocked about their ears. They then
remained in different places--in fact, wherever they could get
any shelter, until dusk, as, if they had attempted to retire,
they would have been all destroyed. The men of General Eyre's
column found lots of drink in the houses. Our losses in the four
columns are--1400 killed and wounded, 64 officers wounded, and 16
killed. The French lost 6000 killed and wounded, they say!
Nothing has occurred since the assault, but it is determined to
work forward by sap and mine!"
In a subsequent letter he wrote: "Remember, in spite of all the absurd
reports in the papers, that our troops never once passed the abattis
in front of the Redan, which is sixty yards from it, and that we have
never spiked a gun of the Russians," and before closing his narrative
account of the Redan, the passage in which Mr Kinglake refers to
Gordon's evidence and action on this eventful day may well be quoted.
It appears from his statement that Gordon lost his temper through
excitement at the repulse, and even upbraided and used angry language
to his old friend and comrade, Lieutenant, now General Sir Gerald,
Graham, on his coming back to the trenches. Such language, it may be
pointed out, could not have been used with less justice to any soldier
taking part in the assault than to the man who had carried a ladder
farther than anyone else, and twice endeavoured to place it against
the Redan. It illustrates the perfervid zeal and energy of the young
officer, who explained in his letters home how he thought the Russian
fortress might have been carried at a rush, and appropriately
introduces the passage in which Mr Kinglake records his opinion of
Gordon:
"This impassioned lieutenant of sappers was a soldier marked out
for strange destinies, no other than Gordon--Charles Gordon--then
ripening into a hero, sublimely careless of self, and a warrior
saint of the kind that Moslems rather than Christians are fondly
expecting from God."
I cannot refrain from quoting here a letter I received from Mr
Kinglake when I sent him a copy of my edition of "General Gordon's
Letters from the Crimea," etc., as it records a somewhat more
deliberate opinion on his character and career:--
"28 HYDE PARK PLACE,
"MARBLE ARCH, W., _27th July 1884_.
"DEAR SIR,--I indeed feel greatly obliged to you for your
kindness in sending me a copy of 'General Gordon's Letters from
the Crimea.'
"Already I have read a great part of the volume, and I need
hardly say that, apart from the reasons which link me to the
Crimea, I have been greatly interested by seeing what was
thought, and felt, and expressed in his early days by this really
phenomenal man, whose romantic elevation above all that is base
and common has made him, in even these days, a sort of warlike
and heroic Redeemer.
"Your Preface well and ably expresses an opinion that is widely
entertained as to the conduct of our Government towards Gordon,
and I don't know enough of the question to be able to gainsay
your conclusion, but it would seem at first glance that,
considering the imperative reasons, the vast distances, the
changeful condition of things, and the consequent changes of
mind, the task of doing justice between the Government and this
heroic envoy would be one of some complexity. With my repeated
thanks,--I remain, dear sir, very truly yours,
"A. W. KINGLAKE."
Ten days after the repulse at the Redan, Lord Raglan, the gallant
soldier over whose bier Pelissier wept like a child, died "of wear and
tear and general debility," as Gordon put it, and the siege again
entered upon another dull and uninteresting stage. Nearly three
months were to elapse before the capture of the fortress that had
resisted so long, and the only incident of marked importance during
that period was the battle of the Tchernaya, in which the officers in
the trenches had no part. In that action the last effort of the
Russian commanders to relieve the place and extricate Todleben from
his peril was repulsed by the whole allied forces, for in this
engagement both the Italians and Turks took part, with a loss of seven
or eight thousand men. The only comment Gordon makes on the action is
that "the Sardinians behaved very well." At last, on 8th September, a
second general assault was delivered, the English again attacking the
Redan, and, more fortunate in one sense than on the earlier occasion,
effected a lodgment in the fortress, but were then driven out with
heavy loss. But the French succeeded in storming and holding the
Malakoff, which commanded the Redan, and the Russians retired to the
northern side of the harbour during the night after blowing up their
ships. The fall of Sebastopol, especially after the doubts held and
expressed in July and August as to whether the siege would not have to
be raised, caused the greatest excitement and widespread satisfaction.
General Gordon sent home the following graphic description of this
final and at last successful attack:--
"I must now endeavour to give you my idea of our operations from
the eventful 8th of September to the present 16th. We knew on the
7th that it was intended that the French should assault the
Malakoff Tower at twelve the next day, and that we and another
column of the French should attack the Redan and central bastion.
The next day proved windy and dusty, and at ten o'clock began one
of the most tremendous bombardments ever seen or heard. We had
kept up a tolerable fire for the last four days, quite warm
enough; but for two hours this tremendous fire extending six
miles was maintained. At twelve the French rushed at the
Malakoff, took it with ease, having caught the defenders in their
bomb-proof houses, where they had gone to escape from the shells,
etc. They found it difficult work to get round to the Little
Redan, as the Russians had by that time got out of their holes.
"However, the Malakoff was won, and the tricolour was hoisted as
a signal for our attack. Our men went forward well, losing
apparently few, put the ladders in the ditch, and mounted on the
salient of the Redan, but though they stayed there five minutes
or more, they did not advance, and tremendous reserves coming up
drove them out. They retired well and without disorder, losing in
all 150 officers, 2400 men killed and wounded. We should have
carried everything before us if the men had only advanced. The
French got driven back with great loss at the central bastion,
losing four general officers. They did not enter the work. Thus,
after a day of intense excitement, we had only gained the
Malakoff. It was determined that night that the Highlanders
should storm the Redan the next morning.
"I was detailed for the trenches, but during the night I heard
terrible explosions, and going down to the trenches at 4 A.M. I
saw a splendid sight--the whole town in flames, and every now and
then a terrific explosion. The rising sun shining on the scene of
destruction produced a beautiful effect. The last of the Russians
were leaving the town over the bridge. All the three-deckers,
etc., were sunk, the steamers alone remaining. Tons and tons of
powder must have been blown up.
"About eight o'clock I got an order to commence a plan of the
works, for which purpose I went to the Redan, where a dreadful
sight was presented. The dead were buried in the ditch--the
Russians with the English--Mr Wright reading the Service over
them. About ten o'clock Fort Paul was blown up--a beautiful
sight. The town was not safe to be entered on account of the fire
and the few Russians who still prowled about. The latter cut off
the hands and feet of one Frenchman. They also caught and took
away a sapper who would go _trying_ to plunder--for as to plunder
there was and is literally nothing but rubbish and fleas, the
Russians having carried off everything else. I have got the lock
and sight off a gun (which used to try and deposit its contents
very often in my carcass, in which I am grateful to say it
failed) for my father, and some other rubbish (a Russian cup,
etc.) for you and my sisters. But you would be surprised at the
extraordinary rarity of knick-knacks. They left their pictures in
the churches, which form consequently the only spoil, and which I
do not care about buying. I will do my best to get some better
things if it is possible. On the 10th we got down to the docks,
and a flag of truce came over to ask permission to take away
their wounded from the hospital, which we had only found out that
day contained 3000 wounded men. These unfortunate men had been
for a day and a half without attendance. A fourth of them were
dead, and the rest were in a bad way. I will not dwell any more
on it, but could not imagine a more dreadful sight.
"We have now got into the town, the conflagration being out, and
it seems quite strange to hear no firing. It has been a splendid
city, and the harbour is magnificent. We have taken more than
4000 guns, destroyed their fleet, immense stores of provisions,
ammunition, etc. (for from the explosions they did not appear to
be short of it), and shall destroy the dockyard, forts, quays,
barracks, storehouses, etc. For guns, Woolwich is a joke to it.
The town is strewn with our shell and shot, etc. We have traced
voltaic wires to nearly every powder magazine in the place. What
plucky troops they were! When you hear the details of the siege
you will be astonished. The length of the siege is nothing in
comparison with our gain in having destroyed the place.
"We are not certain what the Russians are doing on the north
side, and as yet do not know whether we shall follow them up or
not. We ought to, I think. It is glorious going over their horrid
batteries which used to bully us so much. Their dodges were
infinite. Most of their artillerymen, being sailors, were
necessarily handy men, and had devised several ingenious modes of
riveting, which they found very necessary. There was a vineyard
under our attack, a sort of neutral ground where no one dared to
venture, either Russian or English. We found lots of ripe grapes
there. The Russians used to fire another description of grape
into it. One night I was working with a party at this very spot,
and out of 200 men we lost 30 killed and wounded. We are engaged
in clearing the roads, burning the rubbish, and deodorizing the
town, taking account of the guns, etc. Nothing is stirring; the
Russians fire a little into the town. We hear they are
retreating, but do not believe it. The French, it seems, took the
Malakoff by surprise. They had learnt from a deserter that the
Russians used to march one relief of men out of the place before
the other came in on account of the heavy fire; whilst this was
being done the French rushed in and found the Malakoff empty. The
Russians made three attempts to retake it, the last led by a
large body of officers alone. Whenever the Russians commenced a
battery they laid down first a line of wires to the magazine with
which they could blow it up at any time."
With this final tribute to the courage of the Russian garrison,
Charles Gordon's account of the siege and fall of Sebastopol closes.
He took part in the expedition to Kimburn, when General Spencer
commanded a joint force of 9000 men intended to dislodge the Russians
from a fort they had built at that place, and also to attack a corps
of 10,000 men supposed to be stationed at the important town of
Kherson. The fort surrendered after four hours' bombardment by the
fleet--the garrison not being "the same style of soldiers as the
Sebastopol men"--but the Kherson force was never encountered, retiring
as the allies advanced, who in their turn retired for fear of being
drawn too far into the country. In one of several letters while on
this expedition Gordon says that the Czar Alexander the Second was
near Kimburn during the attack, and that he sent the Governor a
telegram, "Remember Holy Russia," which the Russian General did by
getting drunk. The expedition was then withdrawn after installing a
French garrison in the fort, and Charles Gordon returned to his old
quarters before Sebastopol. A fortnight after his arrival he was
appointed to take part in the destruction of the docks, which was to
signalise the downfall of Russia's power in the Black Sea. This
closing episode is very well described in several of his letters
written during the month of December 1855:--
"I am now, as you see, stationed in the dockyard preparing the
shafts and galleries for the demolition of the docks. The French
will destroy one half and ourselves the other. The quantity of
powder we shall use is 45,000 lbs., in charges varying from 80
lbs. to 8000 lbs. The French do not sink their shafts so deep as
we do, but use heavier charges. The docks are very well made, and
the gates alone cost L23,000. We are taking one gate to London,
and the French another to Paris. Our shafts are some of them very
deep, and in others there are from eight to ten feet of water.
There is not much prospect of the Russians leaving the north
side. We can see them hutting themselves.... Our works at the
docks approach completion, and we hope to blow up some portion of
them on Saturday. The French blew up one last Saturday. The
explosion presented a splendid appearance and succeeded
admirably, not a stone being left standing. The powder for our
demolition will be upwards of twenty-two tons. The Russians still
(27th December) hold the north forts, and do not appear to be
likely to leave this year as their huts are all built. We can see
them quite distinctly on the other side.... _January 20,
1856._--We have blown up part of our docks, and are very busy
with the remainder, which we hope to get over by the end of the
month. I do not anticipate any movement of the army until March,
when I suppose we shall go to Asia to relieve Kars, and make the
Russians retire from the Turkish territory.... _February 3,
1856._--We all of us have been extremely busy in loading and
firing our mines in the docks, which required all our time, as we
were so very short of officers, having only three, while the
French had twelve. Our force of sappers was only 150 and the
French had 600. We have now finished the demolition, which is
satisfactory as far as the effects produced are concerned; but
having used the voltaic battery instead of the old-fashioned
hose, we have found that electricity will not succeed in large
operations like this, and I do not think that anyone will use it
if there is a possibility of using hose. I am now engaged in
making plans of the docks, and have not much time to myself. The
French have done their work very well, using more powder than we,
and firing all their mines with hose. I will try and get you a
photograph of the docks as they _were_ and as they _are_, which
will tell you more than a dozen letters would. We had an alarm
down here the other night about twelve o'clock. The Russians on
the north side opened a tremendous fire throughout the whole line
on us and on the French. We were all out under arms, expecting an
attack by boats, but after being well shelled for an hour, the
Russians left off, and all was again silent; but for the time it
lasted the fire was terrific. I heard afterwards that it was
caused by a French navy captain, who pulled over to the other
side of the harbour, and tried to burn a steamer which was lying
on its side. He and his companions arrived unperceived, found the
steamer quite new, and were getting into it, when the Russian
sentinel challenged. They answered 'Russe,' but the sentry called
'To arms,' and the Russians fired into the boat, and then
continued the fire from all their guns, I suppose expecting a
grand attack. Only one man, however, was hurt by a splinter on
the arm. The French will blow up Fort Nicholas on Monday. They
only got their order the night before last, and are obliged to
make a hasty demolition of it. They will use 105,000 lbs. of
powder in the demolition. The Russians had ruined this fort, but
had not had time to put in the powder; the excavations were
complete. It certainly is a splendid fort, mounting 128 guns, and
capitally finished for barracks. It would hold 6000 men. The
Russians evidently intended this to be an exceptionally strong
place, and they appear to have been making a quay all the way
round the dockyard creek. We have seen a great deal of the French
engineers; they are older men than ours, and seem well educated.
The non-commissioned officers are much more intelligent than our
men. With us, although our men are not stupid, the officers have
to do a good deal of work which the French sapper
non-commissioned officer does. They all understand line of least
resistance, etc., and what they are about. The Russians do not
molest us much now. We can hear them call out and sing,
especially on Sundays. We can see them drill, which they do every
day. They even have the coolness to go out and fish in the
harbour. We never fire, neither do the French. I do not think
they purpose leaving the north side; in fact, it would not be at
all wise of them to do so. We had some French engineers to dine
with us the other day; they were very agreeable, and we learnt a
great deal from them about their mining. They used to hear the
Russians mining within ten feet of them, and when they did this
they used to put in their powder as quick as possible and blow in
the Russian mines. The Russians had two systems or layers of
mines, one about ten feet below the surface of the ground and the
other about forty feet. The French only knew of the higher one,
and they found out after the place was taken that their advanced
trenches were quite mined and loaded in the lower tier. In the
Bastion du Mat there were no less than thirty-six mines loaded
and tamped. I saw one myself in the upper tier when I was
surveying it. They (the Russians) worked out a strata of clay
between two layers of rock, so that no wood was required to keep
the earth from falling in."
Soon after these letters a truce was concluded with the Russians in
anticipation of the peace which was ultimately signed at Paris in
March 1856. The prospects of peace were not altogether agreeable to
the English army, which had been raised to an effective strength of
more than 40,000 men, and was never in a better condition for war than
at the end of the two years since it first landed in the Chersonese.
Gordon's correspondence contains two or three remarks, giving
characteristic evidence to the strength and extent of this sentiment.
In one passage he says: "We do not, generally speaking, like the
thought of peace until after another campaign. I shall not go to
England, but expect I shall remain abroad for three or four years,
which _individually_ I would sooner spend in war than peace. There is
something indescribably exciting in the former."
Another comment to the same effect is the following: "Suders, the
Russian General, reviewed us and the French army last week. He must
have thought our making peace odd."
Gordon did not obtain any honour or promotion for his Crimean
services. He was included in Sir Harry Jones's list of Engineer
Subalterns who had specially distinguished themselves during the
siege. The French Government, more discerning than his own, awarded
him the Legion of Honour.
The letters from the Crimea are specially interesting for the light
they throw on General Gordon's character. They illustrate better than
anything else he wrote during his career the soldierly side of his
character. The true professional spirit of the man of war peers forth
in every sentence, and his devotion to the details of his work was a
good preparatory course for that great campaign in China where his
engineering skill, not less than his military genius, was so
conspicuously shown. As a subaltern in the Crimea Gordon showed
himself zealous, daring, vigilant, and with that profound national
feeling that an army of Englishmen was the finest fighting force in
the world, combined with an inner conviction that of that army his
kindred Highlanders were the most intrepid and leading cohort. This
was a far more attractive and comprehensible personality than the
other revealed in later days, of the Biblical pedant seeking to
reconcile passing events with ancient Jewish prophecies, and to see in
the most ordinary occurrences the workings of a resistless and
unalterable fate. That was not the true Gordon, but rather the
grafting of a new character on the original stem of Spartan simplicity
and heroism. But to the very end of his career, to the last message
from Khartoum, the old Gordon--the real Gordon, the one who will never
be forgotten--revealed himself just as he was in the trenches before
Sebastopol.
Gordon's connection with the Russian War and the Eastern Question did
not terminate with the Treaty of Paris. On 10th May he received orders
to join Colonel Stanton, for the purpose of assisting in the
delimitation of the new frontier in Bessarabia. He imagined that the
work would take six months; it really took a year. A not unimportant
principle was involved in this question, and an error in a map was
nearly securing for the Russians a material advantage. At the Paris
Congress it was determined to eloin the Russians from the Danube and
its tributary lakes and streams. The Powers therefore stated that the
Russian frontier should pass south of Bolgrad, judging from the small
scale-map supplied by the Russians that Bolgrad was north of Lake
Yalpukh, which opens into the river Danube. When the Boundary
Commission came on the ground, they found that Bolgrad was on Lake
Yalpukh, and that if the frontier passed to the south of it the
Russians would have access to the Danube; and therefore, knowing the
spirit of the Treaty, the English Commissioners referred the question
to the Paris Congress. A sketch was prepared by Gordon and his
colleagues, to show the diplomatists its exact position, and led to
the frontier being laid down north of Bolgrad and Lake Yalpukh.
Austria, as well as France, Turkey, and Russia, was represented on
this Commission, and Gordon's comrade was Lieutenant, afterward
General Sir Henry, James, who had served with him in the trenches, and
who had one day lost his way and walked into the Russian lines, as
Gordon himself had so nearly done.
Gordon's letters give an interesting account of his work, and bring
out with his usual clearness all the points at issue; but it is
unnecessary to follow very closely the events of the year he passed in
the lower Danube region. How excellent his work must have been can be
judged from the fact that the Government sent him back some years
later to act as British Consul at Galatz. The delimitation work
commenced with a personal inspection of the frontier from Katamori on
the Pruth to Boma Sola on the Black Sea, a distance of 200 miles. Then
the frontier was defined on the map, and finally it had to be marked
on the ground with the usual posts and distinctive marks. Thirty-two
separate plans had to be prepared before the frontier could be
adjusted, and the frequent bickerings and quarrels gave rise to many
surmises that the negotiations might be broken off and hostilities
ensue. The main point of dispute as to Bolgrad threatened to form a
_casus belli_ with even a new arrangement of the Powers, as France
gave up the case, and thus encouraged Russia to prove more obdurate.
But England and the other Powers stood firm, and Bolgrad was included
in Moldavia.
The following extracts give a tolerably complete account of what was
done. Writing from Kichenief on 9th January 1857, Gordon said:
"We are now settled as to the frontier question. Russia has given
up Bolgrad and received a portion of territory in exchange equal
to that surrendered, both as to number of inhabitants and also as
to extent of land. This mode of compensation will give us more
than half our work to do over again. I had almost finished my
plans, and one-half of these will have to be redrawn. However, it
is a consolation to know that the thing is settled. We heard all
this by telegraph from Paris, and by the same message learnt that
we are to proceed at once to work on the frontier in order to get
it finished by 30th March, and thus allow of the ceded territory
being handed over to the Moldavians on that day. You may imagine
what a hurry they are in to get this finished. The Russians
pretend to believe that they have got the best of the dispute,
but it will be difficult to persuade the world to be of the same
opinion. Although so cold, there is not much snow, and it is
beautifully clear weather, capital for sledging. The new frontier
leaves Tobak and Bolgrad in Moldavia, and gives a piece of land
near the Pruth in exchange to Russia.... The territory will be
given over in two parts. The southern consists of Ismail, Kilia,
Reni, and Bolgrad, as well as the delta of the Danube. The
northern part consists of the land between the Pruth and
Yalpukh.... We have finished our work, everything has been
signed, and the total number of the plans we have made is upwards
of 100. For my part, I have had enough of them for my whole
life."
This wish was not to be gratified, for before Colonel Stanton's
Commission was dissolved orders came for him to hand over his officers
and men to Colonel--now Field-Marshal Sir Lintorn--Simmons, for the
purpose of settling the boundary in Armenia, where a dispute had
arisen about the course of the river Aras, the ancient Araxes. Gordon,
who had now had two and a half years of foreign service without a
break, did not relish this task, and even went to the expense of
telegraphing for permission to exchange; but this effort was in vain,
for the laconic reply of the Commander-in-Chief was: "Lieutenant
Gordon must go." If Gordon had under-estimated the time required for
the Bessarabian delimitation, he slightly over-estimated that for the
Armenian, as his anticipated two years was diminished in the result to
twenty-one months.
He left Constantinople on 1st May 1857 on board a Turkish steamer,
_Kars_, bound for Trebizonde. The ship was overcrowded with dirty
passengers, and the voyage was disagreeable, and might have been
dangerous if the weather had not proved exceptionally favourable. On
arriving at Trebizonde horses had to be engaged for the ten days'
journey across the 180 miles of difficult country separating that port
from Erzeroum, the Armenian capital. The total caravan of the English
and French Commissioners--the latter being Colonel Pelissier, a
relative of the Marshal--numbered ninety-nine horses; and the Turkish
Commissioner, being unable to obtain any money from his Government,
seized the horses necessary for his journey in a manner that first
opened Gordon's eyes to the ways of Pashas. He stopped on the road
every caravan he met, threw off their goods, put on his own, and
impounded the animals for his journey. After a brief stay at
Erzeroum--which Gordon describes as a very pretty place at a distance,
but horribly dirty when entered, and where there are eight or nine
months of very hard winter--the Commission passed on to Kars, which
became its headquarters. The heroic defence of that fortress was then
recent, and it is still of sufficient interest as a military episode
to justify the quotation of the evidence Gordon, with his
characteristic desire to be well informed, collected on the spot while
the events themselves were fresh. For convenience' sake, his remarks
on Kars and the whole campaign are strung together here, although they
appeared in several letters:--
"Kars is, as you can easily imagine, a ruined city, and may
perhaps never recover its former strength and importance. As far
as the works of defence are concerned, they are excessively badly
traced. A little pamphlet published by Kmety, a Hungarian, gives
a graphic description of the siege. One thing difficult if not
impossible to realise without seeing it, is the large extent of
the position. Kars has been twice in the hands of the Russians
during the last thirty years, Paskievitch having taken it by
assault in 1829. We passed the battlefield at Kuyukdere, where
the Russians in very small force under Bebutoff were attacked by
a very superior force of Turks, under the direction of General
Guyon, the Hungarian. By some mistake the Turkish left lost its
way during the night, and was eight miles distant from the field
when the right came into action. The battle was very hotly
contested, but the Turks had at last to retire with the loss of
several guns. Had the affair gone off as Guyon[1] intended, the
Russians would have been licked. This battle, I should add, was
fought in August 1854, before any English officer had arrived in
this country. The Russian loss was very severe: there were 3,200
wounded alone brought into Gumri for treatment. The first day
from Gumri we passed Baiandoor, where the Turks and Russians had
a small battle in 1853, and where the former lost a splendid
opportunity of taking Gumri, which was nearly denuded of troops.
My Turkish colleague, Osman Bey (I believe this officer to be
identical with Ghazi Osman, the defender of Plevna), was present,
and got into Gumri as a spy, disguised in the character of a
servant. The Russian army avenged the slight check they received
from the Turks by taking all their artillery of the right wing."
[1] Guyon was an Englishman, but one of the National Commanders
in the Hungarian Rebellion of 1848. I have given a brief
account of his adventurous career at pp. 148-49 of "General
Gordon's Letters from the Crimea," etc.
As illustrating his professional zeal and powers of scientific
examination, the following description of the fortress of Alexandropol
or Gumri is a striking production from so young an officer:--
"The fortress of Alexandropol (40 deg. 47' N. lat., 43 deg. long.
45' E., 4500 feet above the sea) is situated on the left bank
of the river Arpatchai, which here forms the boundary between
Russia and Turkey. It is distant thirty-five miles from Kars and
eighty-four miles from Tiflis. The plain on which it is situated
is perfectly level and very peculiar. It has a stratum of alluvial
soil for the depth of one foot six inches on the surface, and then
a substratum of fine uniform lava, ten to fifteen feet thick,
supposed to have issued from Mount Alagos (13,450 feet), an
extinct volcano thirty miles from Alexandropol. The depth of the
earth allows the growth of grain, but entirely prevents that of
trees, which with their roots cannot penetrate into the lava. The
Russians have taken advantage of this bed of lava in the ditch of
the fortress. The fortress is well constructed and in perfect
repair. There are upwards of 200 guns (varying from 36-pounders
to 12-pounders) mounted on the works, and about 100 in reserve,
of which 30 are field-guns with their equipment wagons, etc. The
garrison would be 5000 to 6000, including artillery. There are
large supplies of ammunition and military stores. The ditch,
twelve feet deep, of the two western fronts has not been
excavated near the flanks on account of the expense. The Russians
have constructed in the centres of the two curtains a
_caponniere_ with two guns in each flank to defend the dead
angles caused by the non-excavation of the whole of the ditch. In
the centre of these two fronts is a large _caponniere_, mounting
ten guns in the upper tier and eight in the lower tier. This
_caponniere_ is on a lower level than the enceinte of the place.
The counterscarp at the north-west and south-west angles of these
two fronts is for the distance of twenty yards composed of a
crenellated wall four feet six inches thick. This was caused by
the irregularity of the ground. The bomb-proof barracks of the
northern fronts mount in casemate two tiers of fourteen guns at
the curtains. The flanks have five guns in casemates open to the
rear, in addition to the guns on the parapet above. The lunette
in the ditch is eight feet deep. The eastern front has an escarp
fourteen feet high cut in the lava, and well flanked by the
_caponniere_ defending the entrances, mounting four guns. The
bomb-proof barracks in the northern fronts have one tier of eight
guns in casemate at the curtains, and three guns in each flank in
casemates open to the rear. The two outworks are closed at the
gorge with a loopholed wall, flanked by a small guard-house. They
have no ditches, but an escarp of ten feet in the lava. The tower
marked _A_ in my plan is sixty yards in diameter, with a well in
the centre. It has its gorge closed with a ditch and loopholed
wall. It mounts fifteen guns on the top, and fifteen guns in
casemate. It is proposed to connect it by a crenellated wall with
the main work. The tower marked _B_ has a ditch and small glacis.
It mounts eight guns in casemate, and eight on the top. Its
object is to flank the long ravine which runs southward from it.
All the buildings in the interior of the fortress are bomb-proof.
The great fault of the fortress as it is constructed at present
is that it does not so much as see the town with its population
of 9310. It is now proposed, however, to make a large work on the
site marked _K_ with a view of meeting this want. During the war
in 1853, when the Turks were 35,000 strong at Baiandoor, six
miles from Alexandropol, and the Russians had only two battalions
in the fortress, the latter demolished all the houses which were
on this ground. I think that should it ever be in our power to
besiege this place (which is not likely, from the enormous
difficulty of getting a siege train there), that batteries might
be established on the hillocks between the fortress and the
river, to breach the large _caponniere_ and the tower _A_ which,
from the formation of the ground, would not be opposed by more
fire than the direct fire of the works they were intended to
breach, and which would be limited by their circular form to
about seven guns. The soil is not unfavourable on these hills.
The hill on which the cemetery of the officers killed at Kars and
Kuyukdere is situated is also favourable for batteries. The
principal well, which is sunk to a good depth, is in the
north-eastern bastion."
General Gordon's letters contain two or three interesting descriptions
that, in view of more recent events, deserve quotation. Of the Kurds
he thus speaks, and the description stands good at the present day:--
"We met on our road a great number of Kurds, who live as their
fathers did, by travelling about, robbing, etc., with their
flocks. Their children are short of clothing. In spite of the
Cossacks, etc., they are as lawless as ever, and go from Turkey
to Russia and back again as they like. They are fine-looking
people, armed to the teeth, but are decreasing in numbers. They
never live in houses, but prefer tents and caves. On the
mountains we fell in with the tribes of Kurds, who live at this
height during the summer months, quite isolated from the rest of
mankind. I paid a visit to the chief of a tribe of 2000, and he
passed a great number of compliments on the English. This Bey is
all powerful with his tribe; he settles all disputes, divides the
pasture land among the families, etc. Although living in such a
deserted spot, they read the Turkish papers, and they asked
several questions about the English war with Persia. They are
very fanatical, and are much encouraged in their religious
fervour by the Sultan's agents. Their houses consist of stone
walls covered with camel's-hair tents, which are quite
waterproof, and lined inside with capital carpets made by
themselves. We encamped near them and obtained our milk, etc.,
from them; but, in order to let us know their habits, they stole
the horse of the Russian officer's interpreter during the night.
I should not mind trusting them at all, for the Bey would not
allow them to take our horses; perhaps this was only from his
hatred to the Russians."
He gives some particulars of the Lazes, to one of whose villages he
paid a visit, and as he believed that he was the only Englishman who
had ever done so, his remarks were based on special local knowledge:--
"On one side of it was Lazistan, and this part of Lazistan is
peopled by the fiercest tribe of Lazes, who scarcely acknowledge
even the Sultan. We had an escort of forty infantry, and were not
molested. This tribe and the Kabouletians supply the
Constantinople Turks with slaves, whom they kidnap from the
Gourelians, who are on the Russian side. The Adjars (the tribe
referred to) are most daring, and even proposed to us to bring
any person we might choose out to Batoum for L40 to L120. In
consequence of these kidnappings, etc., a deadly enmity exists
between the two peoples, and whenever they get a chance they kill
one another. During the last eighteen months sixty-two people
have been kidnapped, sixteen killed, and twenty or thirty wounded
on the part of the Gourelians. The Russian guards of the frontier
are helpless against these people, for the latter are armed with
a capital rifle and are also splendid shots, while the Cossacks
have only a trumpery smooth bore. The country of the Adjars is
very mountainous indeed, and quite impracticable except on foot,
being covered with dense forests."
Of Ani, the ancient, once famous, and now deserted capital of Armenia,
he gives the following picture:--
"We passed through Ani, the ancient capital of Armenia. This city
is completely deserted, and has splendid churches still standing
in it. These churches are capitally built and preserved. Some
coloured drawings on their walls are to be seen even now. The
towers and walls are almost intact, but the most extraordinary
thing about so large a place is the singular quietness. There are
many ruined cities in the neighbourhood, and all dating from
about the eleventh century. At that period Ani itself contained
100,000 inhabitants and 500 churches, which shows that more
people went to church among them than with us. Before the end of
that century it passed into the hands of the Greeks and Saracens.
Afterwards the Mongols took it, and at last an earthquake drove
out the remaining inhabitants in 1339, since which time it has
been perfectly deserted. The churches of Ani were built with
lava, and crosses of black lava were let in very curiously into
the red lava. With the exception of the churches and the king's
palace, the city is level with the ground, the foundations of the
houses being alone discernible. These churches were covered with
Armenian inscriptions cut on the walls."
The delimitation work in itself was uninteresting, being carried on in
barren and solitary regions where there was nothing but rock, without
either grass or inhabitants. Gordon said he would not take thirty
square miles for a gift, and yet the Turks and Russians clung to it,
bringing witnesses from among the tribes who would swear whatever they
were paid for. The question at issue was where the old frontier
between the Persian province of Erivan and the Pashalik of Baizeth was
fixed. The Persians ceded the province of Erivan to Russia in 1828,
and both the Turks and Russians had their own, and necessarily
conflicting, views as to where the frontier was. General Gordon's own
belief that there had never been any real frontier at all was no doubt
the right one. The English officers, without any assistance from their
Turkish colleagues, who merely looked on when they were not keeping up
the supply of witnesses, had to effect the best arrangement they could
with the Russians. In the course of his survey of the frontier, which
he said he examined almost foot by foot, Gordon came to Mount Ararat,
which he very nearly ascended, as he tells the reader in the following
graphic narrative:--
"When we arrived at the foot of Mount Ararat we were unable to
proceed along the frontier any further because the ground becomes
extremely broken by the innumerable streams of lava which have
run down from it. The ground is black with cinders. They look as
if quite recently emitted, and no one would imagine from their
appearance that Ararat had been extinct so long. Our road went
along the northern or Russian slope of Ararat, and passed
through a very old city called Kourgai, where there are still the
remains of a church and part of an old castle. Even the Armenians
do not pretend to know its history, but some of them say that
Noah lived there. It is situated half-way up the mountain, and
there is no living person within twelve miles of it. There used
to be a populous village named Aralik, with 5000 inhabitants, a
little above it, but in 1840 an earthquake shook Mount Ararat,
and in four minutes an immense avalanche had buried this place so
completely as to leave scarcely any vestige of its site. Not a
single person escaped, which is not to be wondered at,
considering the mass that fell. Stones of twenty or thirty tons
were carried as far as fifteen to twenty miles into the plain. It
has left a tremendous cleft in Ararat itself. Other villages were
destroyed at the same time, but none so completely as this. The
village immediately below Aralik was also destroyed, but the
graveyard remained untouched, and the tombstones stand up intact
in the midst of the ruins. The common people say that it was
saved on account of a saint who was buried there. All these
places have a very lonely look. Both the Kurds and the Armenians,
if they can possibly help it, never pass near Mount Ararat, while
they think it a great sin to ascend it.
"I must now tell you of my ascent, or rather my near ascent, of
Great Ararat.
"I and my interpreter and three sappers went up to a Kurdish
encampment where an old Kurd lived who assisted five of our
countrymen to ascend about two years ago. The only assistance,
however, that he appeared able to give us was to show us where
these Englishmen had encamped the night before their ascent. We
consequently pitched our tents there, and settled ourselves for
the night. The night proved to be very stormy, with thunder and
rain, which was a bad lookout for us. However, we started at 4
A.M. the next morning, and had some very hard work up to the line
of perpetual snow. My interpreter and two of the sappers gave it
up before this, but I and the other, Corporal Fisher, held on.
"The whole of this time there was a thick fog, which now and then
cleared away, though only for brief moments, and enabled us to
get a splendid view of the country spread out as a map beneath
us, with cumuli clouds floating about. The snow which I mounted
was at a very steep slope, and quite hard, nearly ice, on the
surface. It was so steep that we could not sit down without
holding on tightly to our poles. Corporal Fisher was about half a
mile to my left, and had a better ascent as it was not quite so
steep. About two o'clock I began to get very tired, not able to
get up more than two yards without resting. This was caused by
the rarefication of the air. The mist cleared just at this time
for a minute, and I was enabled to see the summit about 1000 feet
above me, but still a further very steep ascent. Little Ararat
was also visible 3000 feet below me. It began to snow soon after
this, and became intensely cold. The two together settled me, and
I turned round, although very reluctantly, and sitting down, slid
over in a very few minutes the distance which had taken me so
many hours to clamber up. Corporal Fisher managed to get up to
the top, and describes the crater to be very shallow, although
the top is very large. The Kurd told me afterwards that the road
I took was very difficult, and that the other English explorers
went up a road which was comparatively easy. I believe, however,
that if the weather had been more favourable I should have
succeeded."
This was not his only mountaineering experience. Some weeks later he
ascended Mount Alagos--that is, the Motley Mount, from its various
colours. It is 13,480 feet above the sea, or about 3000 feet lower
than Ararat.
"We started with some Kurdish guides to the mountain, and after a
good deal of delay got to the place where the only path to the
summit commences. Here we were obliged to dismount and take to
our legs. After about two hours and a half we got to the summit,
and were extremely glad of it, for although it is not to be
compared to Mount Ararat, it is still rather difficult. Trusting
to my Ararat experience, I thought of descending in the snow, and
started. I was much astonished at finding the slope far steeper
than I expected, and consequently went down like a shot, and
reached the bottom one hour and a half before the others. A
Russian doctor tried it after me, and in trying to change his
direction was turned round, and went to the bottom sometimes head
foremost. He was not a bit hurt. There was no danger, as we had
only to keep ourselves straight. My trousers are the only
sufferers! I was the first up. None of the Russians succeeded!"
With one more quotation, Gordon's description of Etchmiazin, the
celebrated monastery where the Armenian Catholicos resides, the
extracts from these early letters may be concluded:--
"We passed through the oldest of the Armenian churches and
monasteries, a place called Etchmiazin. It professes to be 1500
years old, and certainly has the appearance of great antiquity;
it was existing during the time of the ruined city of Ani, and is
built in a similar style. The relics there are greatly esteemed.
People make pilgrimages to this monastery from all parts. There
is, firstly, an arm of St Gregory, which is enclosed in a gold
case covered with precious stones; next the piece of the ark,
which is necessarily of great antiquity; a piece of the cross and
of the spear, and a finger-nail of St Peter complete the relics.
All these are enveloped in gold cases, and richly ornamented with
every sort of precious stones. The monastery owns ten villages
and a great deal of land. The monks gave us a grand dinner, and
their feeding certainly was not bad. The monks' council chamber
was splendidly got up, all the ceiling being carved and gilded."
The concluding stages of the delimitation work were rapidly concluded,
and before the end of September 1857 Colonel Simmons and his staff had
returned to Constantinople. The illness of all the English officers
except Gordon detained them some weeks in the Turkish capital, and he
wrote home that his surveying duties had been superseded by those of
sick nurse. But before the end of October he was back again in
England, and met his father and the other members of his family after
a still longer interval. While engaged on the frontier commission, his
comrade in the trenches, Lieutenant William Christian Anderson, of his
own Corps, had married one of his sisters, but, after a very short
period of wedded happiness, he died suddenly. After his death a son
was born who bore the same name, is now an officer in the Royal
Artillery, and served on General Graham's staff at Souakim. Charles
Gordon summed up his comrade's character in these words:--
"I am extremely distressed to hear of poor Willie Anderson's
death, and every one who knew him will be so. He was a sterling
good comrade and officer, greatly liked by both officers and men,
and our Corps has sustained a great loss in him. I am so very
sorry for poor dear ----. It is such a sudden blow to her, and I
am sure they must have been so happy together during their short
married life."
Gordon, therefore, found a certain amount of gloom in the family
circle during the Christmas of 1857, and as his desire to join the
staff of the army was not immediately attainable, the orders he
suddenly received in April 1858 to again proceed to the Caucasus, in
consequence of a slight frontier dispute with Russia, were not
altogether disagreeable to him as a return to that active work which
he loved. For some reason, which was probably the wish to save a
little money by economy in travelling, with the view of carrying out
his generous plans towards others, he took his passage to
Constantinople in a slow steamer from the Thames, touching at Havre.
He described his fellow-passengers as not very select, but amusing,
and the voyage as "a yachting excursion, time being apparently no
object." He only remained ten days at Constantinople, and reached
Redout Kaleh in the Caucasus on 3rd June, visiting Sebastopol on the
way. He described it as still an utter ruin; "the grass had so
overgrown the place where the camps stood that it was with difficulty
I found my hut."
On 12th June Gordon joined his Russian colleague, Ogranovitch, at
Ozurgeth; but the Turkish representative did not arrive for a month
later, which interval Gordon employed in recording his impressions of
Russian and Georgian society in the Caucasus:--
"I dined with the Governor-General, Prince Eristaw, who left the
next day for Swaneti to overawe the subjects of the late Prince
(he was shot at Kutais for stabbing Prince Gagarin, the
predecessor of Prince Eristaw), who do not seem to have realised
his death. The Prince takes two battalions of infantry and two
guns nominally as an escort. There are some very pretty ladies at
Kutais who dance their national dances capitally. They dance
alone, and all the gentlemen beat time with their hands. I was
surprised at seeing the ladies wear a sort of bracelet of black
beads, to which they attached great value. I am sure they are
nothing more than bog oak.... I have since discovered they are
_cannel coal, not bog oak_. The ladies are very pretty, but have
not very cleanly habits in general; they prefer their nails
tipped, and do not hesitate at taking a bone and gnawing it. They
live in extremely dirty houses, or rather huts. They are
generally all princesses, and the men all princes, who, however,
do not hesitate to accept small donations. I am always in fear
and trembling lest they should give me anything, as it is
necessary to give in return. I, unfortunately, happened to notice
a certain glass letterweight with the Queen on it, and observed
that it was like Her Majesty. I was given it on the spot, and
with deep regret had to part with my soda-water machine the next
day. I admire nothing now, you may be sure. The servants of
Prince Dimitri Gouriel have made a good thing out of my visit,
for each time they bring anything--butter, fruit, etc.--orders
are given that an equivalent be given them in money. My hands get
quite sticky with shaking hands with so many princes, but I have
hitherto borne up like a martyr under my trials. On being invited
to the house of a prince, you would figure yourself invited to a
palace; but it is not the case here, and you would find it out to
your cost if you did not take something to eat in your pockets."
The work of this Commission proved exceedingly fatiguing--Gordon
breaking in characteristically with the statement: "I do not complain
when there is no occasion"--and consisted chiefly in replacing the
pyramids carefully removed by the population during the twelve months
since they were erected. The successful result of this Commission was
entirely due to Gordon's energy and untiring labour. His Russian and
Turkish colleagues were always quarrelling, and Gordon had to play the
part of peacemaker--for which, he said, "I am naturally not well
adapted"--an admission that may be commended to those who think that
Gordon was a meek and colourless individual, with more affinity to a
Methodist parson than the dauntless and resolute soldier he really
was.
Early in October the whole delimitation was concluded, and without a
hitch, much to Gordon's satisfaction. By 17th November he had reached
Constantinople on his way home, but notwithstanding the special
hardships of his work and his long absence from England, with one
brief interval, he was still anxious for work and action. In the
closing letter of his correspondence he said: "I do not feel at all
inclined to settle in England and be employed in any sedentary way,
and shall try and get employed here (Constantinople) if it is
possible."
While these letters contain a very vivid account of the striking and
remarkable events that occurred during the long military and
diplomatic struggle with Russia, they are not less interesting or
important for the many unconscious glimpses Gordon gives into his own
character. In them may be found references to habits and things which
show that the young officer was a sportsman, and by no means
indifferent to creature comforts; and as the most careful search
through all his later writings of every kind will bring no similar
discovery, these acquire a special importance as showing that the
original Gordon only differed from his comrades in being more earnest,
more active, and more enthusiastic. I take at random such statements
as "Our feeding is pretty good, but the drinking is not," "The
Russians gave a spread [vulgar] on Saturday, noisily and badly got up.
Their wine was simply execrable," and "How I wish I could get some
partridge shooting! My bag up to the present (on the Danube) is
200--not bad! eh?" Then again, on a more delicate subject, there are
numerous references to ladies, and to his appreciation of beauty. In a
chaffing passage in one of his letters, he wrote that one of his
sisters "wants me to bring home a Russian wife, I think; but I am sure
you would not admire the Russian ladies I have seen." Again, the
ladies of the Caucasus are pronounced "very pretty," and "the
Gourelians are beautiful--in fact, I never saw so many handsome women
as the peasants among them." At this time Gordon was certainly not a
misogynist, but I am assured that the rumours as to his having met
with an early disappointment in love are quite baseless of truth. From
a very early period of his life, certainly before the Crimea, Gordon
had made up his mind not to marry, and was in the habit of going even
further, and wishing himself dead. This sentiment led him to
constantly refer to himself as "the dead man"; and some years later he
wrote, "There is a Miss ---- here, the nicest girl I ever met; but
don't be afraid, the dead do not marry." His own secret opinion seems
to have been that marriage spoilt both men and women, and it will be
at least admitted that if he had married he could never have lived the
disinterested, heroic life which remains a marvel for the world.