CHAPTER XIV.

pl-142BANKS OF THE DARDANELLES.

BANKS OF THE DARDANELLES.

Next morning, after breakfast we came in sight of Constantinople; at ten a.m. we passed the Seven Towers on our left, with Seraglio Point just before us; at 10.30 we cast anchor with hundreds of other vessels at the mouth of the Golden Horn. Steam ferry-boats of the English kind were passing to and fro, and caiques flitted in and out with the dexterity and swiftness of a sea-gull. As we cast anchor, a small brig coming down stream ran foul of us on the starboard bow, snap and crash went her bowsprit and yard, causing considerable damage to our bulwarks and stays; this accident detained us two hours. The stream runs so swiftly down the channel that vessels frequently ran foul, sometimes causing serious damage. We notice passing back and forward from Stamboul to Pera, caiques with Turkish women wearing white clothes, and staring at us out of two black holes in their yashmak. At twelve o'clock we weighed anchor and continued our course through the Bosphorus. The scenery is of almost unrivalled beauty and the panorama of which Constantinople forms the principal part, is such as is perhaps nowhere else to be seen in the world.

pl-144A TURKISH LADY.

A TURKISH LADY.

As we proceeded up the stream and looked back, the view of the Marmora, as we leave it behind, is very fine. On the opposite Asiatic shore Mount Olympus, 8,800 feet high, with its snow-crowned summit fades away into the blue of the heavens, while the Imperial Palace of the Seraglio,St. Sophia's Mosque, and others of less proportions, stud the banks in unbroken lines from the very foot of the forts which command the entrance up to the crowning glory of the scene, where the Imperial City of Constantine, rising in many coloured terraces from the verge of the Golden Horn, confuses the eye with its numerous gardens, cypresses, mosques and palaces, its masses of foliage and red roofs surmounted by snow-white minarets with golden tops. The residences of the Pashas, the Imperial palaces of the Sultan, and the retreats of opulence,line these favoured shores. As the ship ran along we could see the Turks sitting cross-legged like tailors on their verandahs smoking away and looking as like each other as if they were twins. The windows of these houses are closely latticed and fastened, but here and there can be seen a white-faced lady, with gay coloured robe, peeping through the jalousies, showing that the harem is occupied by the fair sex. These dwellings succeed each other the whole length of the Bosphorus, and at places such as Buyukdere they are numerous enough to form large villages, provided with hotels, shops, and lodging houses.

pl-145THE SULTAN'S PALACE, SERAGLIO POINT.

THE SULTAN'S PALACE, SERAGLIO POINT.

The Turks delight in sitting out on the platform over the water while they smoke their chibouque, and the greatest object of Turkish ambition is to enjoy the pleasure of a residence on the banks of the Bosphorus. These waters abound in fish, and shoals of porpoises and dolphins disport on its surface, splashing and playing about with ease as they swim against its rapid stream.

I noticed the Turks never took the least notice of us as we arrived; so we departed in silence, and, as far as the Turks were concerned, in solitude. The boatmen scarcely turned their heads to look at the majestic steamer with her deck covered with British troops, crossing the broad, rough, and stormy seas to fight for these lazy, indifferent orientals, who would scarcely turn their heads to look at us, much less give us a cheer as we departed from the Sultan's Sublime Porte.

pl-147THE SULTAN.

THE SULTAN.

As we pass the batteries which mark the opening ofthe Bosphorus into the Euxine, we cheer the Turkish sentries as we shoot past them into the Black Sea, and soon the land is shut out. A fog, a drifting, clammy, mist, cold and rain, fall down on us like a shroud, and as the night closes in, it damps out the stars and all the light of heaven, and steals down yard, mast and stays; this is genuine Black Sea weather.

In the morning the same haze continued with drifting cold wind; after breakfast we commenced to sharpen our swords and bayonets in order to have them ready toserve out to the Russians in a professional manner, and with as little pain and torture as we possibly could; the grinding-stones were furnished by the sailors;—this occupied the whole day. The morning dawned; the sun, red and stormy, glared from an angry sky, over a rugged outline of coast not more than twenty-five miles distant, and lighted up by white capped waves which plunged athwart the ship's course. As we neared the land the captain and officers stood forward with their telescopes in hand. Where was the desired haven? was now the subject of conversation, not a sign of an opening was distinguished in that formidable rock, which the telescope scanned from end to end; but at last the captain sighted a ruined tower upon a cliff somewhat lower than the rest with a union-jack flying.

It was not long before the masts of a man-of-war just visible above the high rocks which marked the narrow entrance into Balaklava harbour, was seen; up went our number, but in vain we looked for an answer. We entered the small, deep harbour through a very narrow passage which was crowded with shipping. We ran up close alongside the ledge of a steep rock on the left side of the harbour, in twenty fathoms of water, and made fast to iron hooks fixed in the rock for that purpose.

barCHAPTER XIV.DISEMBARKATION—FIRST BIVOUAC—THE MARCH—ARRIVAL—SEBASTOPOL—THE TRENCHES—FIRST MAN WOUNDED—RETURN TO CAMP—AN ALARM—LORD RAGLAN—SORTIE—FORAGING—THE OLD BRIDGE—COLONEL COLE—THE SIEGE.

bar

DISEMBARKATION—FIRST BIVOUAC—THE MARCH—ARRIVAL—SEBASTOPOL—THE TRENCHES—FIRST MAN WOUNDED—RETURN TO CAMP—AN ALARM—LORD RAGLAN—SORTIE—FORAGING—THE OLD BRIDGE—COLONEL COLE—THE SIEGE.

December15th, 1854, at 2 o'clock p.m., the regiment disembarked, in heavy marching order, at Balaklava, having been served out with the following articles of camp equipage previously, which we carried to the front, consisting of one circular tent complete to every sixteen men, one camp-kettle, frying-pan, axe, hand-saw, spade, shovel, and two billocks to each mess, one blanket to each man, with three days' ship rations.

The command being given, we marched, distributing the camp equipage amongst the men of the company. The rain poured on us as we waded knee deep through the mud, making the best of our way among the heaps of forage and stores, which lay under the rain and exposed to the weather, without cover of any kind, all around Balaklava. We were obliged to halt outside the town, on account of the heavy rain, and pitch our camp on the side of Kadikoi Hill for the night. Before we got our tents pitched we got saturated with rain to our very skins. We had cold comfort that night, in wet clothes and blanketslying on the damp ground; everything wet except our ammunition which we always managed to keep dry;—we had not even a light in our tents. At 9 o'clock, after posting the piquet sentries around our camp, we lay down;—this was a good receipt for rheumatism, and it required a strong constitution to bear up. At reveillé next morning we were on the alert, eat some biscuits without water, alas, there was no water near our camp, and marched off. After marching four miles through a slough of Balaklava mud, which it is impossible to describe, we pitched our camp on the most favourable spot we could find, and close to a stream of water; having indulged in the latter beverage very copiously, with some hard biscuits, we turned into our tent, always placing sentries around our camp. The flashes from the guns of Sebastopol lighting up our camp, we lay down as we did the night before, in our wet clothes, overcoat and blanket. Our slumbers were frequently disturbed during the night by the thundering of the guns of Sebastopol. At 6 a.m. we tried to make a camp-fire, and get some hot coffee previous to our departure, but we failed in the attempt; several foraging parties scoured the neighbourhood searching for some wood or brambles to make a fire with, but could not find any; so we drank plenty of water from the stream, and filled our kegs with the blessed fluid. After eating some hard biscuit, we struck our tents and resumed our march to the front. As we proceeded through the "slough of despond," we marched through the French camp, when the French soldiers turned out and cheered us, their bands playing "God save theQueen" as we passed their camp, which we responded to in a most friendly manner. We arrived at the 4th Division, to which we were posted, at two p.m., after wading through slush and mud the whole way, sinking knee-deep at every step, and were shown our camp grounds on Cathcart's Hill, with the honour of being the front regiment of the 4th Division.

Before we had our tents pitched, two-thirds of the regiment were detailed for the trenches that night; several men reported themselves sick, having caught severe colds from sleeping in their wet clothes on the damp ground the two previous nights, together with the heavy fatiguing march from Balaklava, on, I might say, an empty stomach, for we had nothing to eat or drink from the time we disembarked, except hard biscuit and cold water. We could not eat raw pork just then, this told on the men's constitutions; although their pluck was good they had to give in; they were sent to the hospital tent. After we had finished tent-pitching, I was anxious to see Sebastopol and its surroundings. I went to the top of Cathcart's Hill, where I had a splendid view along the whole line of trenches from Kamiesch Bay to the Tchernaya River enclosing Sebastopol, which shone white and clear in the sun. I could see a large Russian camp defended by earth-works on the north side of the harbour, and large masses of Russians on parade outside the camp. At sun down the covering party were paraded on the brigade grounds, and, after dark, marched for the first time to face the Muscovite, a field officer in charge, each party with their officers. Marching down, the Russiansopened a heavy fire; at every flash we all lay down until the round shot passed over, in this way we dodged them until we relieved the party in the trenches; during the time of relieving, the enemy always opened a heavy fire—they knew the time our relief took place after taking charge of the trenches. One hundred men were told off to build batteries in the second parallel, and cutting advancing trenches. We were formed into gangs of twelve men, each in charge of a non-commissioned officer, with officers superintending the whole, the work having been laid out by the Royal Engineers. We worked hard under shot, shell, grape and canister, until twelve, when the grog was served, each man getting a half gill of rum, which gladdened our hearts and gave fresh strength to proceed with our work. While we were working, a man was placed on the look-out for the flashes of the guns, and when he saw one gave the word "down," when we lay down in the trench; if it was a shell, got behind the traverse.

The flashes from our guns and mortars gave us light to carry on our work when the night was dark. In the morning we felt hungry, but had nothing to eat or drink except biscuit and cold water, unless we eat raw pork, which some could not do then; a man does not know what he can eat until he is driven to it, which was shown afterwards. The Russians kept up a steady fire during the night from the Garden and Crows' Nest batteries, which our batteries responded to with a powerful fire. During the day we tried several shots with the "OldBrown Bess" at some working parties who were throwing up earth-works about 800 yards distance, but could not reach them. Oh, how I wished to have a good Enfield rifle then instead of the smooth bore which we were armed with. A Russian shell burst close to us, a splinter of which struck one of our grenadiers named Chas. O'Maley, causing a deep wound in his head; this was the first blood shed in the regiment; his wound was dressed by the doctor who was in attendance at the Green Hill trench. Being relieved by a fresh party at sun-down we marched to camp under the darkness of the evening. There we indulged in our usual meal of raw pork, biscuits, and cold water. Several parties had been foraging for wood, or roots, or anything to make a fire, but could get nothing; therefore we had to lie down in our tent, our feet to the pole, knapsack under our head, and fully accoutred, with our blankets round us on the wet ground, without a fire or any warm food. We were never allowed to take off our accoutrements at night. During the night an alarm was given that the enemy had advanced on our trenches in large force, when we turned out and marched down. As we advanced on the trenches the cracking of musketry and roaring of cannon was deafening, the flashes lighting up the way as we doubled to the trenches. When we reached the Green Hill trench, the enemy had been repulsed with great loss; several Russians lay dead and wounded on the field, and in the trenches our loss was comparatively light, four men killed and nine wounded. We then returned to camp and lay down in peace till morning,wet and tired. At eight a.m., next morning, Lord Raglan and his staff visited our camp, when the men turned out; he inspected the camp and was well pleased with the appearance of the men. After the usual breakfast of salt pork and biscuit, all available men, after furnishing the trenches, were employed in carrying round shot and shell from the divisional depôt to the trenches.

This was very hard work; each man carried a round shot in a biscuit-bag on his back, sinking deep in the usual mud at every step: this and dragging big guns into position occupied the whole day. The sortie last night was not on our trenches alone, on the left the enemy did more damage; in front of the left attack there are some trenches which run down the edge of the ravine from the harbour which divides the town from the military barracks; the continuation of this ravine divides the third division from the French lines. In order to guard this ravine the sentries of the French and English ought to be in communication. The Russians followed this ravine and got past our sentries, who took them to be French, as their officers commanded their men in French, to throw our men off their guard; in this way they succeeded in getting past our sentries on the extreme left, bayoneted them and got into the trenches before they were recognised as Russians, killing and wounding a number, a major of the 50th among the latter, and taking two officers and sixteen men prisoners. When their treachery was detected, they were soon driven back with considerable loss; several Russians were found dead and wounded in the ravine. Next morning asmall party of six started off on a foragingreconnaissanceto the valley of the Tchernaya River in search of wood, taking our water-keg straps with us; as we passed down a deep ravine beyond Inkermann heights we saw lying in the bottom of the ravine over twenty dead Russians who were buried there, the little earth which they had been covered with was washed away by the heavy rains; they were lying in their clothes as they were shot, presenting a most ghastly spectacle. We proceeded to an old bridge, climbing up the side of a steep hill, on the top of which was a Russian battery. We commenced cutting the trees and bushes which grew on the hill side and throwing them down to the bottom. We were not long cutting as much as our straps would hold. We tied up our bundles and quietly escaped along the edge of the ravine lest the Russians might detect us; if they did, it was the last of us, we were close under their batteries but we got away safely. When we got to our camp there were glad faces when they saw the loads of wood; it was soon chopped up by the men, while others lit the fire and filled the camp-kettles with pork and put them on the fire. The smoke from the fires caused many of the officers to come and see what was up, they were agreeably surprised to see the fires and the camp-kettles boiling. After we had cooked a sufficient quantity of salt beef and pork and prepared coffee, we invited the officers to use the fires, which invitation they most thankfully accepted. We had plenty of hot coffee, salt beef and pork that day, skimming the fat and stowing it away for future use, When the cooking wasover we put out the fires, collecting the embers together with the wood we had left to cook our breakfast; this was the first hot food we tasted since our disembarkation at Balaklava. We had hard frost last night and were employed getting up guns and mortars to the front; if this frost continues we will soon have all the guns and mortars in position.

pl-156A WONDERFUL ESCAPE.

A WONDERFUL ESCAPE.

The Russian batteries were nearly silent last night on our attack, but a brisk fire was kept up on the right, Colonel Macpherson, C.B., has been promoted to Brigadier in the 4th Division, and Colonel Cole takes command of the 17th Regiment; Sir Edmund Lyons has taken command of the fleet, vice Admiral Dundas who proceeds to Constantinople. Our regiment is hard worked; we find two-thirds of the regiment for the trenches every night, the others of the division being reduced by sickness and death, and ere long we will have many sick too, if things go on as they are at present. Parading for the trenches yesterday evening, ten men reported sick with dysentery, brought on by exposure and lying on the wet ground in damp clothing, and want of warm food; they were admitted into the hospital tent.

All the Russians seem to think of, is getting up guns in position in every possible direction along our approaches. Last night in carrying earth to a battery on the left of second parallel, I picked from among the rocks something from a hole and thought it was a stone; in attempting to lift it, I stuck my fingers into a dead man's eyes: my sense of smell detected the mistake, I stepped back towheeling distance, the smell was abominable; ever since, when I think of it I fancy I smell it. I was orderly next day. An orderly from each tent collects the water kegs of their tent, and takes them down to a ravine near the Woronzoff road where a small stream of water, the thickness of a ramrod, springs from a fissure in the rock; this spring supplies the 2nd, 4th and Light Divisions, as well as a division of the French and Turks, with water; and as the orderly men arrive, they fall in rear of each other, forming a line waiting for their turn, and not unfrequently the French and English fight for the first turn, the Turks sitting on a stone at a distance, looking on, and waiting till the last. I saw one of our men and a big French Dragoon fighting with their fists, when the soldier beat the Frenchman, of course, knocking him down several times; afterwards the French kept away until our men got served.

Little was done in camp to-day, the state of the roads presented the greatest obstacles to the transport of shot and shell, and all that could be effected was to get up scanty supplies of pork, beef, biscuit, and rum, to our camp; the rain, sleet, and snow, fell heavily. The cold, wet, and slush in and round camp is truly fearful.

A captain of the Royal Artillery was found dead in his tent, suffocated by the fumes of a charcoal fire he had lighted.

Christmas and New Year's day are passed, and we have had a cold, dreary, sloppy, wet and hungry Christmas and New Year; many of our men going to hospital and dyingthere. Their illness had been caused by hard work in bad weather, and by exposure to wet without any protection. Just think what a tent is, pitched on wet, muddy ground, with the rain beating through the canvas, into which sixteen hungry men, drenched to the skin, have to creep for shelter, after twenty-four hours in the trenches up to their knees in slush, and then reflect what state we must be in, after a night spent in such shelter, lying down without any change of clothing, and as close as we can stow, in wet blankets covered with mud. It rained in torrents all last night and to-day, and floods of mud are flowing through the floors of our tents, making their way down the hill-side; the roads are so bad as to cut off supplies to the camp, and we are accordingly placed on half rations; the horses and mules get stuck in the mud bringing up provisions from Balaklava, and there they lie and die, and the men are dying off faster than the horses, and the Turks dying by the dozen.

Hostilities are almost at a standstill in the trenches; the men are too feeble to work the guns. It is reported the Russians are suffering still more than we are, but they are more numerous, and can afford to lose twenty to our one.

THE CRIMEAN WAR.

When from Balaklava to the front we go,The Chersonese are covered with mud and snow,Where the horse, the mule, and the Turk have stuck,Transporting provisions for our British pluck.Where the tents are blown down with the furious blast,And the rain pours down immensely fast,And the shivering soldier in the trenches stood,With his dripping clothes to chill his blood.And the noble officer brought up with care,In his wet and dismal tent, without dread or fear;Or a covering party with their rifles in hand,Marching to the trenches a melancholy band.Or, when in camp without fire or mill,To roast their coffee or to grind it, stillThe commissariat to economise expense,Issued the troops green coffee! to show their sense.To roast and grind as best they could,Issuing neither mill nor wood;Our lines of soldiers marching rank entire,Bearing shot and shell, too, at the Russians' fire.Or the distant Cossack over the hills doth glow,As winter wraps the Tchernaya Valley with snow,And Prince Menschikoff in the Great Redan he stood,Giving the Muscovites orders for to shed our blood.And Sir Wm. Codrington on Cathcart's Hill,Giving forth his orders to his gallant men,Yonder the British Navy riding in the gale,Idly waiting orders to spread sail.

When from Balaklava to the front we go,The Chersonese are covered with mud and snow,Where the horse, the mule, and the Turk have stuck,Transporting provisions for our British pluck.

When from Balaklava to the front we go,

The Chersonese are covered with mud and snow,

Where the horse, the mule, and the Turk have stuck,

Transporting provisions for our British pluck.

Where the tents are blown down with the furious blast,And the rain pours down immensely fast,And the shivering soldier in the trenches stood,With his dripping clothes to chill his blood.

Where the tents are blown down with the furious blast,

And the rain pours down immensely fast,

And the shivering soldier in the trenches stood,

With his dripping clothes to chill his blood.

And the noble officer brought up with care,In his wet and dismal tent, without dread or fear;Or a covering party with their rifles in hand,Marching to the trenches a melancholy band.

And the noble officer brought up with care,

In his wet and dismal tent, without dread or fear;

Or a covering party with their rifles in hand,

Marching to the trenches a melancholy band.

Or, when in camp without fire or mill,To roast their coffee or to grind it, stillThe commissariat to economise expense,Issued the troops green coffee! to show their sense.

Or, when in camp without fire or mill,

To roast their coffee or to grind it, still

The commissariat to economise expense,

Issued the troops green coffee! to show their sense.

To roast and grind as best they could,Issuing neither mill nor wood;Our lines of soldiers marching rank entire,Bearing shot and shell, too, at the Russians' fire.

To roast and grind as best they could,

Issuing neither mill nor wood;

Our lines of soldiers marching rank entire,

Bearing shot and shell, too, at the Russians' fire.

Or the distant Cossack over the hills doth glow,As winter wraps the Tchernaya Valley with snow,And Prince Menschikoff in the Great Redan he stood,Giving the Muscovites orders for to shed our blood.

Or the distant Cossack over the hills doth glow,

As winter wraps the Tchernaya Valley with snow,

And Prince Menschikoff in the Great Redan he stood,

Giving the Muscovites orders for to shed our blood.

And Sir Wm. Codrington on Cathcart's Hill,Giving forth his orders to his gallant men,Yonder the British Navy riding in the gale,Idly waiting orders to spread sail.

And Sir Wm. Codrington on Cathcart's Hill,

Giving forth his orders to his gallant men,

Yonder the British Navy riding in the gale,

Idly waiting orders to spread sail.

T. Faughnan.

dec

barCHAPTER XV.MARCH TO BALAKLAVA—RETURN—MEN GO BARE-FOOTED—SNOW FIVE FEET DEEP—LONG BOOTS—HARD FROST—CAVALRY DIVISION—BURIAL GROUND—SOLITARY PROCESSION—MEN FROZEN—I BUILT A HUT—GREEN COFFEE—WINTRY APPEARANCE—DEAD HORSES—63RD REGIMENT—CARRYING PROVISIONS—FRENCH SICK.

bar

MARCH TO BALAKLAVA—RETURN—MEN GO BARE-FOOTED—SNOW FIVE FEET DEEP—LONG BOOTS—HARD FROST—CAVALRY DIVISION—BURIAL GROUND—SOLITARY PROCESSION—MEN FROZEN—I BUILT A HUT—GREEN COFFEE—WINTRY APPEARANCE—DEAD HORSES—63RD REGIMENT—CARRYING PROVISIONS—FRENCH SICK.

January6th, Captain John Croker, with six men of his company, went down to Balaklava for some cooked pork, which had been kindly sent out from England to us. The captain took a mule to carry back a bag of charcoal. After we got the pork from the steamer, and the captain his charcoal on the mule's back, we started for camp. We had proceeded about three miles when we got faint with hunger, weary and wet, the mud being knee deep, and the load sinking us into the mire at every step. We requested the captain to let us have some of the pork to eat, this he willingly complied with, as he was hungry himself. We opened the bags and divided a four pound piece between every two men, the captain taking his share also; this gave us new strength to accomplish our task, and also to help the mule out of the slough. Sleet, snow and rain beat in our faces all the way; we did not reach camp till twelve o'clock that night. This was the hardest fatigue—up to our knees in mud with a heavy loadon our backs—I ever performed. After we got to camp the captain gave us each a glass of Hennessey's brandy from a case which he got out from Ireland as a Christmas-box. I believe that brandy saved us from a severe illness, as we had to lie down in our wet clothes. As we were coming up from Balaklava, we saw the 39th Regiment which had just landed, preparing to join the camp before Sebastopol. They were well provided against the severity of the weather; they had all received warm clothing, and looked comfortable in their fur caps and long boots; but the 17th Regiment had not received a single article of warm clothing yet. Our old clothes are in rags and tatters, even our boots are scarcely any protection, the leather having shrunk with the continual wet, and the men's feet having swelled with the cold, so that some men could not get their boots on and had to go in the trenches and about the camp bare-footed; this is hard to believe, but nevertheless it is true. January 9th. It had been snowing for the last three days, and this morning the whole of the mountains over Balaklava and along the valley of the Tchernaya River are clothed in a sheet of white, the snow being on the ground to the depth of three feet and in some places over five feet; the cold was increased by a piercing high wind which blew into our very marrow bones. If we were only well clad this weather would, however, be far more healthy than the wet and storm we have had recently, but, alas, we are not properly provided with outer garments to resist the severity of the Crimean winter. I cannot conceive greater hardship than to standin the trenches twenty-four hours, then return cramped and nearly frozen, to our damp, cheerless tents to find that there is no fire nor wood to cook any victuals, nor even a drink of warm coffee. What we require most of all are long boots to protect our feet and legs; most of the officers have got long boots, and find them invaluable. Our mitts are worn out and unserviceable; I made a pair out of a piece of my blanket, which I find answers the purpose admirably, of course it was robbing Peter to pay Paul; it shortened my blanket somewhat. Several men, however, have followed my example.

It has been freezing extremely hard these two last nights, and this morning a man was found frozen in my tent. His name was George Murphin, he was a good soldier; he lay down, as we all did, and went to sleep—and never woke. When the orderly was rousing the men, this man was found frozen stiff in death. There has been over one hundred men admitted into hospital from the trenches these last twenty-four hours, seized with cramps and nearly frozen—all from the want of clothing. The cavalry division lost about fifty horses within the last three days, and I dread to think of the number of men who will die if this weather continues long. The commissariat mules and horses are dying off very fast, and the men seem likely to follow, if there is not something done soon to protect the army from the inclemency of the weather, of which we are more afraid than of the Russians. It is the wish of every officer and man in the camp that Lord Raglan would march the whole armyagainst Sebastopol, and let us take it or die in the attempt—we had better die in battle than die with cold, starvation and sickness. We are of opinion that we would not lose so many men in taking it as we are now losing daily by sickness and the want of food and clothes. A new burial ground having been opened about two hundred yards to the right front of our regiment, on the side of the hill, frequently may be seen passing our tents, every day, four soldiers slowly winding their way towards this grave-yard, with a corpse sewed up in a blanket, carried on a stretcher on the men's shoulders—no person accompanying the solitary funeral—and buried without the ordinary military honours of three rounds of blank fired over him. The burials are too numerous to pay the usual honours, besides, we have not the men to spare; all available for duty are either in the trenches or carrying shot, shell or provisions. The men's spirits are broken down, and they march along with a load on their back, in solemn silence, regardless of anything, not even looking to the right or left, resigning themselves to death which they daily expect, who is following quickly in their footsteps, not by shot from the Russians, but by a slower and surer torture—starvation and cold. When I saw so many men freezing to death, I began to talk to myself thus, "Tom Faughnan, are you going to make no exertion to save yourself from being frozen to death, as some of your comrades have been, and are now buried yonder, on the hill-side? If you get shot by the enemy it is what you expected when you came out here, and is a soldier'sdeath, fighting the battles for the honour and glory of your Queen and country." As I was walking round the tent-pole to keep my blood in circulation, the temperature being many degrees below zero, I held the above soliloquy. A happy thought struck me, and I carried it out, which I believe saved my life. I took a pick-axe and shovel and commenced to build a hut in rear of the company's tents. I worked at it every spare moment until I had a hole dug nine feet long by six wide, and four feet deep, cutting the inside walls straight down, and facing them with stones to a height of two feet above the ground, which left the inside of the hut six feet high, building a fireplace and chimney in the end. I then got my comrade, Dandy Russell, to accompany me to the old bridge at the Tchernaya River, where I climbed up a steep hill, close to a Russian battery, where we got wood on a former occasion, and there I got enough of wood to roof my hut. Having filled our straps with the best we could find, we started for our camp, escaping the Russians who were just above us on the hill. When we got to camp I commenced to roof the hut, cutting the rafters and tying them at the top with some gads made out of willows cut for that purpose. Having the rafters secured along the top, I stretched some small sticks along the sides of the roof, securing them also, and then laying branches over all. I then cut sods in a ravine, carried them to the hut, laid them on the top of the branches, and covered the whole with earth, smoothing it over with the back of the spade, as I would a potato pit in Ireland, to throw off the rain,cutting a trench round it to carry off the water. I made steps going down, and I got a flag to fit the door, so my Irish experience stood to me here. We frequently went to the old bridge for wood, but ran the risk of being shot by the Russians every time. By this means we managed to get wood enough to keep a fire in our hut, and were comfortable while the men were freezing to death in their tents. Dandy and I managed to get on trench duty alternately, so as to leave one of us to look after the hut, and prepare the meals for the other after coming off trench duty.

Having been served with green coffee by the commissariat, and having no means of roasting or grinding it, we had accumulated a large bagful. Now we procured the half of a large exploded shell, and with a nine pound shot we ground the coffee in the shell, after roasting it on a frying pan; most of the men threw their green coffee away, having no means of roasting or grinding. There has been a good deal of firing going on between the French and Russians on the right attack, and the Grenadier Guards had it very hot last night, from a new masked battery the Russians opened on the right near Canrobert's Redoubt. There are three large columns of Russians visible opposite Inkerman on the north side of the Tchernaya, and their movements are very mysterious. They have sent a large body of cavalry to the east of the valley of Balaklava, and at the same time a body of infantry moved off towards the north. The scenery of our camp-ground and the country has now assumed a truly wintry aspect. Thelofty peaks and ridges which close up the valley of Balaklava are covered with snow, which gives them the appearance of great height; in the valley and plateau the snow is over three feet deep, and streaked by lines of men and horses carrying up provisions to the camp. The number of dead horses on the wayside increases daily, every slough across the path is marked by a dead horse or mule. At the present rate of mortality the whole division, which can only muster about 600 horses, will be almost extinct in one month more. I went over the camp of the 63rd Regiment, to see a first cousin of mine, named Philip McGurn. I was sorry to learn that he had been severely wounded in the thigh by a piece of a shell, and was sent down to Scutari hospital. The regiment could only muster twelve men for duty, the remainder were either killed or died from sickness in hospital. The 46th Regiment have only about fifty men fit for duty; the Scots Fusilier Guards have lost, since they came out, upwards of 1000 men, and can now only muster about three hundred on parade; and many other regiments in a like proportion.

The duty of carrying provisions and rum from Balaklava to the front is very trying on the men; every two men carry a beaker of rum, biscuit or pork, slung from a pole between them; they march about six miles in this manner, from Balaklava to Head Quarters; horses cannot do this trying work, for they cannot keep their legs, and almost every hundred yards along the way is marked by the carcase of one of these animals. I passed through the French Camp, on my way foraging for wood, andwent into several of the men's tents, and was surprised to see the misery they were in. It must not be inferred that the French soldiers are healthy, whilst we are all sickly. I was astonished to see so many lying sick in their tents, and dying with dysentery, diarrhœa, scurvy, and pulmonary complaints. Their men were allowed to lie sick in their tents, which differ from us very much; when our men get sick, they are sent to hospital at once, and there attended by a doctor.

January 14th.—It is thawing fast to-day, and the roads are resuming their former sloppy state, which has increased the difficulties of supplying the men considerably.

The cavalry are getting up sheds for their horses, and sheep-skin coats have been distributed to some of the men. I wonder when the 17th Regiment are going to get any warm clothing, or sheep-skin coats? Some officers it is true, have got some warm jackets, and not before they wanted them. This week large quantities of clothing were served to some of the regiments. It must not, however, be imagined that the supplies sent up are equal to the demand; several regiments have not received a stitch yet, although large quantities have been sent out from England. Whose fault is it? The sick in the hospitals, on the hill tops, suffer severely from cold, and the snow blows into their very blankets. However, such supplies as the men have had prove of the greatest service, and have saved many lives. Consider what men suffer with snow three feet deep about the tents. The men scarcely know what fuel is in many regiments; they break upempty pork barrels and anything that will burn to cook their meals, or grub into the earth for roots and stumps to make a fire. This is enough to make the poor, worn-out, exhausted soldier despair before he sinks to rest; sigh that he cannot share the sure triumph and certain honour and glories of the day when our flag shall wave from the citadel of Sebastopol! Although our patience is sorely tried, yet there is no deep despair here among the troops; no one for an instant feels the slightest doubt of ultimate success.

If British courage, daring, bravery and a strong arm in the fight, contempt of death and love for our Most Gracious Sovereign Lady the Queen and our country; if honour and glory could have won Sebastopol, it had been ours long ago, and may be ours at any time. We are prepared for a dreadful sacrifice, and not one of us for an instant has the least misgiving as to the result. But let our country at least feel that the soldiers now lying on the wet ground before Sebastopol, starving and in rags, deserve at her hands the greenest and the brightest laurels and rewards, and we trust that she may be prepared to reward those gallant, noble officers and soldiers, who in such a position deserve the highest honour she can confer upon them. Let England know them, as the descendants of that glorious army (led by their illustrious chief His Grace the Duke of Wellington) who thwarted the great Buonaparte in Spain and Portugal, who fought at Quatre-Bras, Ligny, and Waterloo; and let England recollect that in fighting her battles against a powerfulenemy at that time, we have now to maintain a struggle with foes still more stubborn and barbarous, with a terrible climate, and if they triumphed over the one she may rest assured, as we are, that she will triumph over the other.

With regard to the prospects of the Russians, there can be no doubt that means of communication exist between Inkerman and Sebastopol along the south banks of the estuary of the Tchernaya. It is necessary that more decisive steps be taken to intercept supplies for their garrison, or to harass them more in their attempts to bring provisions to the city. After we seized the Woronzoff road, it was thought that no other means of approach, except by a mountain path, existed between Simpheropol and Sebastopol, on the south side. There can be no doubt that another road has been found out, which enables them to go from Inkerman along the base of the heights on the southern side, and traverse the ravines which lead along the banks of the river into the city.

Waggons can be seen every day coming down from the heights over the Tchernaya river toward Sebastopol, and large bodies of the enemy are visible, passing frequently and disappearing mysteriously into a subterranean passage leading to the citadel.

barCHAPTER XVI.TRENCHES—CANAL OF MUD—RUSSIAN NEW YEAR—HEAVY FIRE—ON SENTRY—THE SORTIE—OLD BROWN BESS—SORTIE—ARRIVAL IN CAMP—NEW STYLE OF CANDLE—FLINT AND STEEL—MAKING COFFEE—HEAVY SNOW—NO FIRE—WARM CLOTHING—SHOT AND SHELL.

bar

TRENCHES—CANAL OF MUD—RUSSIAN NEW YEAR—HEAVY FIRE—ON SENTRY—THE SORTIE—OLD BROWN BESS—SORTIE—ARRIVAL IN CAMP—NEW STYLE OF CANDLE—FLINT AND STEEL—MAKING COFFEE—HEAVY SNOW—NO FIRE—WARM CLOTHING—SHOT AND SHELL.

January16th.—A strong party of the 17th Regiment marched to the trenches yesterday evening, and in going down got wet to the skin. A heavy thaw set in, and the trenches became a canal of mud; when we arrived, we remarked that the Russians were very active inside the town, and had lighted watchfires on the north side, and illuminated the heights over the Tchernaya with rows of lights, in the form of a cross, which shone brilliantly through the darkness of the cold, wet, and damp winter's night. They were evidently celebrating their new year; light shone from the windows of most of the houses and public buildings. Our lonely sentries lying on the ground in front of our advanced trench, our muskets loaded and capped, with a watchful eye on every embrasure in front of us; we fancied that the Russians in Sebastopol tried to annoy us with their lights and gaiety. At midnight all the church bells in the city began ringing; it was evident that a solemn religious ceremony was about to take place. We were all warned to be on thealert, and all our advanced posts were strengthened accordingly. After the people came out of the churches, about one o'clock in the morning, they gave a loud cheer; our sailors and artillery who manned the guns in our batteries, responded by opening a heavy fire on them, as did also the French on our right and left, when the Russians in return began one of the fiercest cannonades along their position that we have yet heard; their batteries vomited forth floods of flame, which broke through the smoke as lightning through the thunder-cloud, and we could see distinctly the houses and buildings in the city, and their batteries crowded with soldiers. The roaring of round shot, whistling and bursting of shells, filled the intervals between the deafening roll of big guns. The round shot passed over our trenches rapidly, ploughing up the ground into furrows as they passed us by, or striking into our parapet with a thud. Our "Blue Jackets" and artillery had to shelter themselves closely under their batteries, and could barely reply to the volleys which ploughed up our parapets, knocking sandbags, gabions, and fascines all about the men's heads, and not unfrequently knocking some of them off; nevertheless they always laid their guns correctly, sending the destructive missile into the embrasure with a vengeance. While the firing was going on a strong body of the enemy had been pushed up the hill towards our works in front, on the flank of the left attack. I was one of a chain of sentries, at twelve paces apart, lying down fifty yards in front of our advanced trench. When we saw a strongcolumn of Russians coming out of their batteries and advancing up the hill, we passed the word to each other, when the line of sentries fired on them and retreated into the trench, giving the alarm to our men, the field officer in charge sending back to the other parallels for reinforcements, which arrived in good time to assist us in driving the Russians from our works. In the meantime, the enemy had advanced into our trenches, notwithstanding we kept blazing at them during their advance, and standing against them, on the escarpment of our trench, with our bayonets at the charge. They forced into our trench in large numbers, when we had a desperate hand-to-hand fight; we were completely jammed together, so that as we pulled the bayonet out of one we knocked another over with the butt end of our musket.

The officers fought bravely, cutting the Russians down with every stroke. One officer in cutting a Russian broke his sword, which nearly cost him his life, only for one of our men guarding off a stab from a Russian bayonet, he would have beenhors-de-combat. He soon picked up a musket, however, and fought bravely with it. I was close to him as he floored the Russians all around him. I can assure you, gentle reader, that we all fought as becometh British soldiers, though the odds against us were ten to one. When the enemy saw the reinforcements coming, they began to retreat by odd ones, until at last the whole of them retired toward their outworks in double time. We fired rapidly after them, giving them chase up to their very batteries, and engaging with them again inthe grave-yard close to the careening battery, where we had a very hard fight amongst the tombstones. Oh! if we had the Enfield rifle, instead of the "Old Brown Bess." However, we closed round them in the grave-yard, dislodging them from behind the tomb-stones, where they took refuge, cutting off three of their party whom we took prisoners, besides wounded men we picked up on the field and in the trenches, sending the latter to the hospital, and the former on board the fleet. In this affair, two officers and eighteen men were wounded, and six men killed.

The French had also to resist a strong sortie at the same time, and drove them back with great loss, and in pursuit got inside the Russian advanced batteries, where they had a hand-to-hand fight, and by great valour succeeded in fighting their way clear of the enemy, and returned to their own trenches. At daylight all was quiet, except an odd shot now and then as a reminder. Having been relieved that evening by the 21st Fusiliers, we arrived in camp completely exhausted with hunger, wet and hard fighting, our clothes being saturated, it having thawed in the night, and now turned round to freeze, stiffening our clothes with icicles, the noise of which, as we marched along, reminded us of the ancient warriors in coats of mail. When I reached my hut, Dandy was there, but no fire,—our wood had been used up; he had been roused up in the night to reinforce the trenches, and carrying shot during the day, he was as weary as I was. How to get a drink of hot coffee was the next thoughtwhich troubled me, I wanted it badly indeed. What did I do? I tore a strip off the nether end of my shirt, set it on an empty blacking-tin with some pork fat, and lit it with a flint and steel which I always carried in my pack (our matches being too damp to light, and besides they were very scarce), set my canteen over the blaze with a little water in it at first, making the coffee after the water boiled, then adding more water; we then fried some biscuits in pork fat over the blaze. This new invention proved very useful afterwards, not only to Dandy and myself, but to the officers and men of the regiment; you can scarcely imagine how quick water will boil over a blaze of this kind.

January 19th. Frost continues with frequent showers of snow, which enables us to get up provisions. The artillery were employed to-day with their waggons carrying up shot, shell, and powder to the depôt.

January 20th. We had a heavy fall of snow during the night; it is now four feet deep over the plain. The preparations for a general bombardment are progressing rapidly; upwards of seventy big guns and mortars, with sea service siege guns, are all up at the depôt, and if this frost lasts, will be in the batteries very shortly, if the frost and snow enable us to get up heavy guns and mortars. Several men have been frozen in their tents, and several men have been sent to hospital from the trenches with severe frost bites and suffering from bitter cold wind and frost. When a path has been once broken through the snow, men and horses can get along much more easily than towade through the deep mud as heretofore, but the temperature is very trying in the tents, particularly when we have no wood to make a fire. Many regiments have been served out with fur coats, long boots, mitts, guernseys, and flannel waistbands and socks. But alas, none of these needful articles have reached the 17th Regiment yet, except the men in hospital, who have received a few articles of warm clothing. It is a most melancholy subject for reflection to see our present army. There is scarcely a regiment to be recognised now, save by its well known camp-ground. The officers cannot be distinguished from the privates, unless when they wear their swords. What a harvest death has reaped, and many more are ripe for the sickle. It is sad to see the noble officers who have been brought up in luxury sharing the same fate as the private soldiers. I went into an officer's tent the other day, and I was sorry to see him (Lieutenant Brinkman) sitting in his tent shivering with cold and trying to cut out a pair of leggings off the end of his blanket. As I helped him to cut them out, he says: "Faughnan, they may talk at home about us noble officers of the British army, and imagine us sitting in a snug tent with warm clothing and gorgeous uniforms, partaking of the fare that England has generously sent out here to her gallant officers and soldiers, but which none of us have yet received, and I am afraid never will, if this weather lasts long. It would be more comfortable to be a sweep in London than an officer out here."

We had 400 men employed to-day January 29th, carryingshot and shell from the depôt to the trenches. The snow fell during the night and covered the ground four feet deep, but the cold wind drifted it to the depth of six feet in some places. The wind blew so bitterly cold that the mules and horses refused to face it; but the men came trudging along in a dreary string, and there was something mournful in the aspect of the long lines moving across the expanse of glittering snow. When these men came back to camp they had very blue noses and pale faces; and as to their clothes, what would the people of England have thought if they beheld their gallant army! most of the officers as ragged as the men; and many officers have been crippled by frost and obliged to go on leave with their feet badly frostbitten. Several men go about barefooted, up to their knees in snow; they could not get their frozen boots on their swelled feet. There was very severe frost last night, January 23rd.

The activity of the heads of departments which has been recently observable, is becoming more developed every day. Our quartermaster has received to-day, among other useful things for the regiment, a supply of Enfield rifles, to replace the "Old Brown Bess;" they will be served out to the men to-morrow; also a quantity of sheepskin jackets, long boots, guernseys, flannel waist bands, mitts, and fur caps. We are hard worked bringing these articles up to camp; we are doing the work of commissariat mules. As we were coming up we passed a large number of sick and dying men who were sent down to Balaklava on mules and bat horses; they formed oneof the most ghastly processions that could be imagined; many of these men were all but dead, with closed eyes, open mouths, and pale haggard faces; they were borne along two on each mule, one on each side, back to back. One of them died on the way down, his corpse looked most ghastly. Strapped upright to the seat, the legs hanging down stiff, the eyes staring wide open, the head and body nodding with frightful mockery of life at each stride of the mule over the broken ground. As the dead man passed, the only remarks our men made were, "there is one more poor fellow out of pain at any rate." There were several cases of frost-bite among them, but they all seemed alike on the verge of death. We arrived at the front by six p.m.; the road being hard, we made rapid progress to get to camp by daylight. Next morning January 24th, we handed over to the quartermaster the old Brown Bess, and received a splendid Enfield rifle in its stead; we also received one pair of long boots, one fur cap each, and several received sheepskin coats, mitts, guernseys, flannel bands, and socks, with a few large overcoats for the sentries. It would astonish a stranger to go from Balaklava to the front to see the number of dead horses and mules along the wayside; in every hole are the remains of these animals torn by dogs and vultures. The attitudes of some of the skeletons were curious; some have dropped dead and are frozen stiff as they fell; others seem struggling to rise from their miry grave; most of these carcasses have been skinned by the Turks and French, who use the hides to cover their huts. Aboutfive miles of the country are dotted all over with these carcasses, in every stage of decay. Were it summer time, around Balaklava would be a great pest-house, full of festering carcasses of dead mules and horses. The evening after we were served out with new rifles, long boots and fur caps, the 17th Regiment furnished 400 men for the trenches. The weather was clear, dry and cold, but we do not care now for the cold, since we got our long boots, fur caps, and warm clothing to protect us from the sharp biting frost. We are in splendid spirits, and felt comfortable during the night in our new boots and fur caps. After we arrived in the trenches, the Russians opened a storm of musketry on us, as if they knew we were armed with the Enfield rifle, and were anxious for us to try it, which we soon did, to their astonishment. The Russian fire was particularly directed against our works the whole night; after daylight the firing recommenced with great vigour, all along our lines. There could be no less than 3000 men engaged on each side, firing as hard as they could pull a trigger; the lines were marked by thick, curling smoke. The fire slackened on both sides about ten o'clock. Not a night now passes without severe rifle-shooting from behind the parapets, and between the lines. Our works are pushed almost within one hundred and fifty yards of the Russian batteries, and on the left almost into the town, and its suburbs, but the ruined houses of these suburbs are turned into defences for their sharpshooters, and the town itself is almost one formidable battery, from the glacis to the ridge over the sea, onwhich the south side of the town is situated. Our batteries are in good order, and ready for the heavy siege-guns, which can be put into them in a few days; as the ground is hard we can easily get them into position. In the skirmish last night, one Russian officer was taken prisoner on the right attack by the 47th Regiment, who manned the trenches. We have received several deserters from the Russians within the last week, who gave a fearful account of how the Russians are suffering from cold and hunger; they showed us some hard black bread they brought with them in their haversacks. It is evident that the struggle between us and the Russians will soon be renewed with greater vigour than before; the clear frosty days and nights have given hearts and spirits to our men, but the Russians have also derived advantage from the improved condition of the roads and country. We hear they have thrown large quantities of stores into the garrison recently.

When I returned from the trenches Dandy had plenty of hot coffee and fried biscuits ready for me, as well as an extra gill of hot rum. We find our hut very comfortable these cold frosty nights, and we now get two nights off trench duty. Notwithstanding the clear frosty weather, the transport of clothes, fuel and provisions entails considerable hardships on our men; the sick make little progress towards recovery, and the number of them sent down to Balaklava every day is a proof of the unsatisfactory condition of the health of our army. Mules and horses have been sent down to Balaklava for warm clothingfor those regiments whose men are nearly all sick. The coffee, for the first time, has been issued to us roasted, which we find a great luxury compared to how we have been getting it; vegetables, however, are greatly needed, picks, spades, shovels and billhooks are in much request, and are greatly needed to clear the camp, dig graves and chop wood, when we get any, but we have got none as yet.

Back to Index Next