Major-General Windham was welcomed home to his native county,. on
Saturday last, with a truly British greeting, and one of the most characteristic receptions since the peace. On his arrival at the Norwich railway station, he was met by a body of 600 horsemen, chiefly tenantfarmers, in some cases headed by their landlords. These formed his civil guard of honour ; the military guard being composed of the Artillery. There were present also the Mayor of Norwich, the Earl of Albemarle, Lord Suffield, and many officers and gentlemen. , The streets be.tween. the railway station and the Guildhall, through which this great company made its way, were crowded. At the Guildhall, the Mayor presented the gallant officer with a congratulatory address ; and MajorGeneral Windham replied in that manly fashion which distinguished his speech at Leamington.
Look," he said "at what the troops had to go through. In the middleof the winter—and see many officers here who can confirm what I say— we had not more than 12,000 bayonets to do duty which would properly have required 36,000. Why, gentlemen you might as well try in Norfolk to farm 1000 acres with capital for 300. (Laughter.) Throughout the whole of the winter, however, notwithstanding the hardships to which they were exposed, the men discharged their duties without grumbling, and, with a cheerful readiness which has justly elicited the admiration of the country. With regard to the attack on the Redan, in connexion with which you have
i been pleased to speak so kindly of me, I may say that I believe, n a military point of view, no one doubted that the distance was too great ; but Sir
ames Simpson had no power to alter the arrangements when it was decided that the French should attack the Malakoff and various points of the town., We had then nothing to do but to attack the Redan. It was attacked with good spirit, but from an immense distance. We held it for an hour, but we were ultimately repulsed. Surely, if we lost any prestige by having attacked the Redan and not having carried it, we should have lost infinitely more if we had been cowards enougfOkot to make the attack at all. We cannot blame our Commander-in-chief for having said, Although we are not ready and in proper position to attack the Redan at the distance of 289, yards, it shall never be said that the English army stood by with folded arms and allowed the French to take Sebastopol.' If we have lost prestige. as it is we should have lost infinitely more if we had not made the attack ; and, although I don't pretend to be the hero you would make me, I would rather have been buried in the ditch of the Redan with the Second Division and the Light Division above me than that the British army should not have borne its fair share in the assault on that occasion." (Loud cheers.) In the evening, Lord Albemarle presided over a banquet in StAndrew's Hall. The business of the evening was the presentation of twn. swords to the soldier guest and county worthy. In presenting the swords, Lord Albemarle said— "it is not merely to do honour to my gallant friend that we are met : we are met to celebrate an event that is essentially Norfolk. The attack on the' Redan was one of those brief episodes in the history of the Crimean war that cannot well and properly be celebrated except in the county of Norfolk. NU. one can accuse me„ an officer of forty-two years' standing, of a wish to detract from the merit of any officer in the Queen's service; but this event of the Redan is peculiarly our own. The press told you at the time, who bore a prominent part in that conflict; and the Commander-in-chief selected the
name of Windham as the officer worthy of special notice in his despatches. That notice was res nded to by the sole promotion for the deeds of the Redan. A young o eer, 200 below me on the list, was made a Major General over my head. (Cheers and laughter.) . . . . W e have had the Crimean army return from a country not famous for its provisions—not like the field where I once served, Belgium, where everything came to your hands : and in what state did that army return ? In the finest and best state in every respect. It was the best-equipped army., and indeed the best army in every respect, of which this country has been able to boast. I don't wish to claim for my gallant friend more honour than is due; but will any man tell me that the army could have been in the magnificent state in which it has returned unless the chief of the staff had done its duty." (Loud cheers.) Lord Albemarle stated that they had bought two swords for the General— one a dress sword, the other a service sword in an ordinary steel scabbard. "My gallant friend is not a coxcomb in anything except it be in his weapons ; and I recollect that, previous to the purchase of the sword, on his being consulted, the only condition he made was that the hilt should be well fitted to the hand, so that he could strike a good stroke with it. Here [said Lord Albemarle, exhibiting the weapon for service] is my gallant friend's fighting sword, and here [holding up the dress sword] is his holiday sword." (Loud cheering.) Major-General Windham styled this "the great crowning compliment of his manhood" ; the warmest welcome had been reserved for hirn in his own county.
In this county many that he loved most lie buried, but he saw ninny faces around him that he remembered as familiar to him when a boy. The hearts of heroes are supposed to be of adamant ; but he did not set up to be a great hero, and he might be allowed a little feeling. Norfolk men arc attached to their homesteads. "I well remember the first attack on the Redan on the 18th of June 1855. I was not employed in that attack. I was merely in reserve, and I incurred no more danger than any of my friends whom I see around me. I happened to be sent by Sir Henry Bentinck to find out what was going on, when I saw a man two or three yards ahead ofme walking along the trench. A round shot flew over the parapet, and almost hid him in dust. I thought be was killed ; but when the duet subsided I saw an individual whose countenance presented a curious admixture of fright and joy. Scratching his head, he said to me, Why, dash my buttons, but that was most amazin nigh!' (Laughter.) The moment he opened his mouth I knew from what county he came, and I said, 'Aye, aye, my boy, we'd much better be digging trenches at threepence a rod in Norfolk than fighting here.' (Renewed laughter.) He was astonished that I had hit upon his native county, and his only reply was, 'What, are yew tew from Norfolk ? ' " (Laughter and chem.) Lord Albemarle had praised him for his conduct as chief of the staff. That duty is not so difficult as many persons suppose. "I had at headquarters, as well as in the divisions of the army, a remarkably able set of young officers to carry out any orders that were issued ; and although I ,.ow it is the habit of some individuals—I do not say of the press, but of some persons who arc fond of writing in the newspapers—to represent that every British staff-officer is almost next door to a fool, I beg leave to tell you, that, in my humble opinion, after a few months' practice, which, at the commencement of the war, they undoubtedly required, our staff-officers were quite as efficient as those in the French service. In support of that opinion, I would appeal to the appearance of the two armies at the conclusion of the war. I left the generals of division alone ; for, in my opinion, it is far better to leave men to do their own duty than to be constantly interfering with them. If I deserve any credit at all, it is because I allowed those who had certain duties to discharge to perform them without interference. . . . . It might, perhaps, be too much to say that there was no jealousy at my. promotion. Our noble chairman has told us that he served at Waterloo, and that I have gone over his head, but that he is not jealous; and I believe that many of those over whose heads I passed in the Crimea felt no jealousy towards me. One of the best as well as one of the oldest soldiers in our army there—Major-General Garrett, who served in the Peninsula when I was in my cradle—came up to me when my promotion was announced, threw his arms, not like a Frenchman, round my neck, but like an Englishman, round my shoulders, patted me on the back, and said, good fellow, I am charmed at it. They sent you through a devil of a fire ! you did it well ; and I should not be worthy of my own promotion if I did not congratulate you.' That fine old officer has not yet been promoted; but most sincerely do I hope that he and many others who have performed as efficient services as I have will, at the end of this great war, receive their reward. Lord Albemarle has called me the hero of the Redan,' but I feel some delicacy in allowing that title to be conferred upon me. I received orders from General Markham to attack the Redan about three o'clock on the afternoon of the day previous to that on which the assault took place. I received those orders, I trust, calmly. I looked into them to the best of my ability. I went home. I arranged all my affairs for this world, and, as far as time would allow me, those of the world to come. I said my prayers that night with sincerity ; I slept soundly; .I woke early, and entered the battle. If that constitutes a hero you may gave me the title. There were many others who did their duty just as well as I did. When I look at Welsford, and llandeock, and Gough, and "Inett, who commanded parties of the Light Division—when I look at Tyler, and Cuddy, and others m my own division—when I look again at Lysons of the Twenty-third, and Maude of the Third, who fought with the enemy hand to hand at the Redan—I must say I should be a dirty and a scurvy fellow if I appropriated all your praise to myself. (Loud cheere.) Believe me, that my title as hero of the Redan' is more due to my seniority than to my superiority.. I detest false humility as much as I do vain boasting. I don't pretend that I did not do my duty like a soldier ; but lacy also that there were scores of others, of all ranks, who did their duty quite as well as I did."
In the course of one of his speeches at Norwich, General Windham spoke of our allies. "They behaved," he said, "as well as any men possibly could behave to us.' He would not say there had been no jealousy either on their side or ours ; but "when we were in difficulties they always came to the rescue," and "if they had any difficulties to encounter,
they were very glad to see a battalion of red-coats come up to their support."
"Throughout the whole of the war their conduct was such, that I must say I never served with a body of men with whom I was more delighted. I well remember when it became a question that the Mamelon should be captured—that was upon the 8th [7th] of June 1855; and it was the first real advance that we made towards the town, because previously to the 8th [7th] of June we were in reality the besieged party and not the besiegers. I very well remember it being reported to me, that Marshal Pelissier called a council of war, and told his own officers that he came there to ask their opinions, but not to follow them. When that distinguished officer heard all that they bad got to say—and many of them said a great deal against an attack upon the Mamelon—he asked our General of Engineers, Sir Harry Jones, for his opinion. Sir Harry Jones's reply was simply this—' Lord Raglan orders me to say, that when you are ready to attack the Mamelon he is ready to attack the Quarries.' The answer of General Pelissier to that was—' There, gentlemen, that English officer talks what I call talking.' I cannot give it you in any other way than in the original French—' Toil& cc quo appelle parler.' I think, therefore, that we may fairly assume that he was not inclined to prop up his officers against ours. At the last of all, he certainly decided to attack the town at all places. I believe that I tell you the truth when I say, that one week before the last attack upon the Roden there was no intention on the part of either French or English to attack the Redan. They, however, changed their opinions, and decided to make the attack. Let it be fairly mentioned to you all, gentlemen, that in that attack we met with exactly the same result as the French did against other works of similar construction. I have never heard any officer of their service reproach us; on the contrary, I have always heard them speak in military terms of our assault just as they talked of their as saults, they knowing perfectly well it was a critical operation. . . "As for the Sardinians, they always exhibited the greatest possible friendship. General Della Marmora is a fine soldier. He mamed an English. woman; he frequents English society ; and he is a person who, I believe, would stand up as much for this country as for his own. We never had the shadow of a shade of difference with any officer of the Sardinian army. We did them many acts of kindness, and they showed us universal civility. They fought like soldiers at the Tehernaya, and they left the Crimea with the respect and esteem of every officer."
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