A NON-COMBATANT'S 2dONTS BEFORE SEBASTOPO]. *
Tim volume of letters owes its immediate interest to its imme- diate subject,—a civilian's account of a month in the camp before Sebastopol between the 3d of October and the 8th or 9th of Novem- ber. The letters, however, have intrinsic merit. The writer is a ju- dicious observer, and presents his observations in an animated and sparkling style—sometimes, perhaps, in a degree too sparkling. He is also of a reasonable "head." That is, he looks closely at one side of the shield, but before he pronounces judgment he looks at the other. He weighs the cons as well as the pros, and gives his opinion freely, but considerately and like a "human" capable of the "errare."
The letters are addressed to a Templar; the writer himself seems one of that "black band." He narrates briefly his steam voyage from England to Constantinople and thence to Balaklava ; and notices the slight but in snob a case all-important advantages his letters of introduction procured him. How he domiciled himself in camp, and what sort of a life he led there—how men and officers appeared during the month of October—how the economy of the French and English armies differ on certain points, and which points seem to have the preference—are, in military parlance, de- tailed off. The first taste of fire, some of the incidents of war, and battle as it appeared to a civilian looking on with the eye of a novice and from an unfavourable position, are also described.
So far as the writer enters upon management, his facts do not greatly differ from what has been reported by the newspaper cor- respondents. The impression he leaves is very different indeed. He looks, for instance, to the general working of an arrangement, not to some particular instance of failure or shortcoming; he looks also to what may be urged on the other side. When he sees what he conceives to be an erroneous proceeding, he points it out, but not in the strain of Ancient Pistol, or as if some enormous crime had been committed, instead of the continuance of an old custom that might advantageously be reformed. Some of the "own corre- spondence" facts would appear incorrect. The French ambu- lance department may be bettor than ours, (though some medical men in certain oases might prefer the stretcher,) and probably bet.. tar regulated. Our author, who saw parts of the battles of Be- -laklava and Inkerman, observed the presence of attendants in their proper place, and the activity of the men. Here is one example. "I had not walked many paces, when one of our regiments was brought forward past me, to fire at the retreating foe. Stretchers were being carried behind them ; and though I had seen these implements often used in carry- ing. the wounded, I confess it gave me a shock to see them borne close be- hind these soldiers—now walking well and erect, their faces full in my view —in anticipation. An anticipation soon realized. Directly they appeared there, the place where I had been lying seemed alive with round shot, throwing up the dust in all directions ; while the stretcher-bearers were running here and there—I knew too well for what reason."
To the want of medicines in the vessels carrying the sick and wounded between Balaklava and Scutari the writer can speak from good authority. He did not observe that want at the camp, but he anticipated a great want of surgeons in case of a severe action; and two actions did take place subsequently to his writing. Sick- ness reduced the medical staff.; and then comes the point discussed by the writer—would the public pay for a medical staff, propor- tioned not to average duties but for great occasional emergencies ? Does any service do it ? What proportion does our medical staff bear to that of other countries ? Does even society maintain suffi- cient medical men, or rather, can they maintain themselves, in sufficient numbers to meet sadden emergencies in civil life such as cholera ?
"I believe that everything, within the scope of ordinary foresight, has been done by the home authorities to render the medical department effect tive. Still there are many facts which show the necessity of further n2ea- sures. You are aware, of course, that a large pfoportion of the Bureau- sent out with the expedition had to return home sick, before the landing in the Crimea. As regards the medical officers who remain in the field, there is unhappily so much cholera, (though it is diminishing,) diarrhcea, dysen- tery, and fever, that they are fully employed from morning to night. What
• A Month in the Camp before Sebastopol. By a Non-Combatant. Published by Longman!' and Co. will they do when some bloody engagement triples and quadruples their work ? On the other hand, there is a palpable difficulty about permanently increasing the medical staff of the army to a numerical strength which is only called for by a temporary emergency ; while if an extra number are to be engaged pro h5.0 ViC0 merely, they must, of course, be paid much higher allowances than are received by their colleagues en permanence, "As a palliative measure—or, perhaps, in any case—it might be advisable to retain the services of a lower-paid grade of men."
The author notes a curious medical fact. From some peculiarity in the climate, the operation of cathartic medicines is stimulated. The usual dose at home becomes extreme, if not riskful or even fatal, in the camp. This peculiarity is increased during a par- ticular wind, and it applies especially to calomel. Possibly the condition of the patients may have something to do with it ; but this could only be ascertained by experiments not always possible to be tried. Notwithstanding the off-hand conclusions of the "best public instructors," there are many things that cannot be ascer- tained but by frequent experiments, and frequent failures too. From our author's observation he evidently prefers the navy, as regards comfort. When the sailor is not serving ashore, he is at home, with a roof over his head and a bed to turn into when he has time to get there. There is indeed the hurricane : had the Templar seen a fleet off the African station, or at many other places in the Tropics, he might have formed a different conclusion. One of the circumstances on which he grounds his opinion was the appearance of the two arms the night before the opening of the trenches, when it was popularly believed that Sebastopol would be assaulted. "Such being the state of affairs, about nine o'clock on the previous night I could not help walking through various portions of the camp, to see what effect was produced by the prospect of so deadly a conflict on the men about to be engaged in it. The soldiers, worn out with toil and disease, were per- fectly silent, and were preparing to go to sleep, precisely as usual. 'The sailors, on the contrary, who had been hard at work ever since their arrival, in hauling huge ship-guns up the heights, had got lights in their tents, and were indulging in every species of fun and lark. There was one tent in par- ticular which I noticed, in which a jolly tar, gifted with a piercing falsetto, was aping a woman, and singing a song in the highest possible treble, and with such comical airs and graces, that the place rang with roars of merri- ment and approving bravos from his comrades. But it was a touching con- trast. Something, no doubt, was due to Jack's having proverbially a more mercurial temperament ; but much also to the fact, that he was compara- tively fresh from his ships, and was in the condition natural to Englishmen. Not so the poor soldiers, who have been running the gauntlet of exposure and disease month after month, until, as an officer lately observed to me, they can haridly be recognized as the same men who landed at Gallipoli.
"In camp, where no fiddle was to be had, they used to time their steps in hauling up the guns by making one of their number sing; and in the trenches, their animal spirits showed themselves in the most exuberant daring. Captain Lushington, I heard the other day, told some of them who had worked for several hours at the Seaman's Battery, that they might now go and have a lark.' They instantly jumped on the parapets to have it there. At that battery, indeed, it is with the greatest difficulty that they are restrained from exposing themselves in this way every moment, as no- thing will content them but watching the course of the balls as they fire them. There is only one martial duty with which they cannot be trusted, and that is to guard the casks of ration-rum—the spirit invariably vanishes under their care. Apropos of this little foible, somebody suggested, in reply to a remark on the difficulties of penetrating into Sebastopol, 'Only put up a grog-shop on the other side, and the sailors will find their way through.' "
The author witnessed a portion of the battle of Balaklava, but could not make it out; and though he saw the " death-ride " of the Light Brigade, "so dense was the pall in which they were at
once wrapped by the musketry and artillery of the enemy—so complete, too, our ignorance of the nature and object of the move- ment—that even now I can hardly believe myself to have wit- nessed that sublime display of military devotion." In his discus- sions on the tent and cookery questions, the writer leans to the French modes. Out of the quieter sketches of the camp and port we select the following bit, not as an example of humble kind- ness, or of the opposite in higher rank, but to mark the result—
and it is very far from a solitary instance—of Western civiliza- tion and Russian despotism in training men.
"They brought in a Russian officer the other day, shot through both jaws with a Minie ball ; it had also out the root of his tongue so deeply as to make the end protrude from his mouth ; and there was the greatest danger of his dying either from suffocation or from the impossibility of swallowing food. He was placed in a little ruin used as a storehouse, and I lately went with —, of Brigadier-General —'s Staff, to ascertain if we could be of use to him. He never looked up as we came in. It was night, and it was piteous to see him by the -glimmering candle-light in that desolate place, sitting in his shirt on an old box, before being put to bed; his face tied up, and his swollen tongue being laved by the soldier who attended him. But my reason for describing to you such misery is to come. By the skill of Dr. Alexander, of the Light Division, this man recovered sufficiently to be sent on board ship ; and he left the poor soldier who had helped to clothe him out of his own scanty wardrobe, and had nursed him like a woman night and day—without a single look, sign, or token of acknowledgment !"
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