MONEY'S TWELVE MONTHS WITH THE BASHI -3AZOUKS. *
ALTHOUGH some of the facts in this volume are possibly. to be re- ceived with caution from the author's having been mixed up in controversy, the narrative is not without interest for its pictures of Oriental life under a rather novel aspect, and its information as to the character and internal economy of the corps, especially under General Beatson. Mr. Money was a retired Indian officer, who started in July' 1855 on a visit to the Crimea. Au accident improved introduced him to the General then in command of the Bashi-Bazouks at the Dardanelles, and Mr. Money was nomi. nated to a captaincy. Not long after he joined, General Beataon, retired from the command ; and his successor General Smith or- dered our author to proceed to Monastic, (a town in European Turkey, lying nearly due West of Constantinople on the borders of Albania,) in order to organize and discipline a body of recruits who had been got together by a native officer. In this occupation Captain Money passed the winter; having by a judicious mixture of firmness with attention to the comforts of the men brought his troop into high condition. He joined the force at Shumla in April ; and was dismissed with the other officers on the final dis- solution of the corps in the middle of June, being given the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Turkish service.
We must take particular facts as we fad them in a book of this kind. If Mr. Moneys descriptions of the state of the force as he saw it under General Beason are correct, there is no wonder that the Bashi-Bazouks were, under the General's management, a greater terror to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood than they were ever likely to be to the enemy. The greatest facility seems to have existed in obtaining commissions ; indeed, Mr. Money himself was an -example of it, though he took a letter of introduc- tion. By a rule which appears sufficiently absurd, an actual officer could only advance- one step in the Turkish service : thus, a Queen's -or a Company's Lieutenant could only :become a Captain, while a man who had never been in the army, and knew nothing whatever of soldiering, could be ,appointed to any rank. As we understand the narrative, 'General Beatson aggravated the evil of this regulation, not only by giving men military rank for other aoquirements,—a very able interpreter, for example, being made a Major and Colonel,—but by appointing men to command who had no special aptitude for anything. Captain Money's first oom? mender would neither work himself nor let the Captain worn and further, he acted upon a principle which General B
* Twelve Months with the Bashi-Basouks. By Edward Money, L
Colonel Imperial Ottoman Army, and late Captain Bashi-Bazouks. Pyfiahed.by Chapman and Hall. seems to have adopted, that discipline and too strict a control must not be exercised over the men, who did pretty much as they pleased. In his next regiment, (Captain Money was under three commanders in less than three months,) the Colenel did little him- self, but he was willing to let the Captain do. The officers exhi- bited none of the good feeling towards new corners and the esprit de corps that distinguish most services, but showed a spirit of ex- clusiveness and jealousy ,—probably from luck or accident, not to say intrigue and confidence, inducing a man's advancement instead of any definite rules. Discipline in the sense of instruction there was little, in the sense of regularity and obedience to orders there seems to have been none. " A regiment, or the best part of a regiment," deserted in marching order—that is, their order—because the issue of bread had been delayed two hours. It was quelled by ordering " the storekeeper who gave out the bread to be confined," and promising "the men,. if they would return, that they should not again be kept waiting." A set of recruits mutinied about some tents, refusing to allow those they were occupying to be removed unless they were supplied with ethers : and every available tent was taken from English officers to supply these men. And so it went on. From all that here- appears, General Beatson had no faculties for organisation, ad- ministration; or command, unless probably with a force already disciplined. He made a pleasant host, and not a bad speech, ac- cording to Mr. Money's report of an address to the native (dicers, but which, though doubtless not so designed, would have the effect of leading them to believe that irregular cavalry like themselves Were not to be amenable to discipline. The General's great forte, however, was costume ; for which Mr. Money appears to have admired him. Here he is in full dress at a sort of evening as- sembly, on the day the Captain joined. " It was a beautiful evening ; and ere long the setting sun threw his mel- lowed rays on a richly-attired advancing cavalcade, as it ascended from the lower road washed by the waters of the Hellespont. First and foremost rode General Beatson ; his fine form set off by the superb uni- farm he wore; most profusely ornamented, it appeared as if gold were the material, cloth the braiding. He dismounted, and walked up to the tent, his patent-leather jack-boots adding to his stature, while the general effect of his appearance was much heightened by a turban, constructed of some richly -coloured fancy material,. bound round his head in graceful folds, a' 'eh again, in its sombre colours, was contrasted by a fillet of cord of gold eb6ering its base and the upper portion of his forehead. Whenhe presented himself before his wild chiefs, the murmur of applause and the respectful Salutations with which he was greeted showed how well and wisely he had calculated on the effect which would be produced on them by the magnifi- cence of his attire, as also how their admiration would partake of affection when they observed that, European as much of his dress was, the Oriental character of the remainder, and the easy contour of the whole, accorded well with their own dresses, and showed that he, their General and chief, was anxious to demonstrate how completely in his interests, nay even in his habits and customs, he identified himself with them. " Certainly there never was a man who in those respects was better fitted to engage the affections of a wild and irregular soldiery ; and as I closely watched the effect he produced, and thought of the judgment and tact that had caused it, I admired him as much as the natives, though from a differ- ent cause ; :and in my admiration and the excitement produced by the whole scene, quite forgot the sorry appearance which my brown leather clothes presented in the midst of all this splendour. I learnt a lesson then with regard to dress and its effects, which I did not forget till I finally quitted. the Bashis."
No doubt, the effect of a first impression is considerable ; but if a chief can make his mind felt through a body of men, whether in civil or military matters, we fancy he may dress as he pleases. From all that appears in these pages, General Beatson's abilities were chiefly coned to 'show and parade. Though somewhat egotistical from the necessity of the ease, Captain Money's sojourn at Monastir is the freshest part of his book. There are some sketches of society in that Turkish town, a few incidents or adventures with the townspeople or the Bashi- Bazouks, and the author's progress in their training. This he judiciously made to some extent indirect and amusing ; taking them out hunting or on riding-excursions.
" The greatest fun of all was our cross-country rides. I had told them, that as light cavalry, they should be able to get over any ordinary obstacle; and 1 used to lead the way on ray black charger Night, jumping the stone walls, banks, hedges, and ditches, around Monastir.
" The Bashis were pleased thereat. There was danger and excitement in it, and that was enough for them. I laughed more, I think, during some of these gallops than ever I did before or since,—to see ten, fifteen, or twenty of them riding at a ditch and bank, all following each other in one long lme—some, though few, jumping it, others in vain attempting to bring their horses near it, many falling into the ditch, and consequently falling off their steeds—neither "biped nor quadruped seeming to care if three or four more riders and their horses tumbled upon them while lying at full length in the trench. " They certainly never essayed jumping on horseback before, and were much astonished at some of the results which followed the attempt; as, for instance, when a light and graceful rider, putting his horse full speed at a atone wall which he had just seen me clear,. was, in consequence of the steed stopping short just when he should have jumped, shot over the quad- ruped's head to the other side ; the pistol, which he not unfrequently held in his hand-to brandish while he made the attempt, being unwittingly dis- charged, while the would-be Meltonian was flying through the air. His failure would not deter others : they would go at it by threes and fours, until the whole field was covered with loose horses, and a corresponding number of human forms were either lying on the ground, bestriding the wall, or chasing the truant steeds. " I used to indulge in this jumping exercise as a relief to the monotony of regular parades ; and I found it answered my purpose in more than one -way : the men were pleased at my joining in their sport ; it caused them to respect my prowess as a horseman ; for, having hunted-with some of „.1-mArst packs in England, and seen many a hard day's pig-sticking' in inc.% I could get across the country and the fences very much better than any`f. them. They were highly gratified, also, when I mounted one of Tam' rIstactory steeds, and forced him, no ens volens, over some opposing obstacle "which a dozen had tried him and failed." Whether enlisting " foreigners " was a judicious or an ill-timed measure, it certainly was a failure as regards the quid pro quo. Of whatever service the German, Italian, or Turkish legions might have been hereafter, they actually rendered none. The money ex- pended was clear loss: but it has done one thing, if that thing be an advantage,—the notion of English wealth and liberality has been widely spread throughout the East. "The monetary arrangements made by the British Government regarding both the English officers and the Native troops were most liberal—perhaps unnecessarily so in the latter case, if one may judge from the astonishment of the men when they received their parting payment : but the day may come when it will prove to have been money well spent. * a "An English officer appeared in a province—he invited men to join his fiag—he promised them a rate of pay which their very wildest ideas of good luck had not equalled, as also food for themselves and horses : they could not believe in the truth of such temptations—the very magnificence of the offer made them doubt its reality, and they hung back. Some adventurous spirits, however, joined, thinking that if they got no pay they could secure plunder. Pa,y-day came ; they were paid to the moment with bright golden guineas, fresh from the English Mint. They rubbed" the sovereigns, and rung them to test their worth—rushed off to the Bazaar, and found: to their amazement, they had received the strange coin if anything under its value. All ranks were paid in the same way. Their astonishment knew no bounds ; nor did it decrease when they found the same thing repeated week after week, month after month, until the disbandment of the force.
" ,‘ Oh, England doesn't care about money—she's got so much !' is an ex- pression I have heard them use a thousand times, and I'm sure they believed it. But when, to crown all, at the final disbandment, they were tendered (what, indeed, they had been told when enlisted they were to have, but which they did not credit) three months' pay as a present or farewell gift, they were simply amazed at the prodigality of the English Government, and wondered why, with such means at her disposal, she did not subsidize troops in every country, and govern the world."
The leniency of our discipline, by which General Beatson's seems to be meant, the author thinks has been an injury to our military reputation in the East. The men themselves, he conceives, were the germ of an excellent cavalry, much beyond the Cossacks ; in fact, the Bashi-Bazouks had reached that point when they were disbanded.
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