Lord Raglan—His Life—Battle of Inkerman—Morning of Battle—Sons of Emperor Nicholas—The Attack—Troops Engaged—Fierce Encounters—Sir George Cathcart—His Death—Russian Cruelty—French Infantry—The Zouaves—Chasseurs—Russians Retire—Renewed Attack—Repulsed by the French—Defeat—Sorties—Night after Battle—Treaty with Austria of 2d Dec.—Negotiations for Peace—The Four Points—Landing of Omer Pacha at Eupatoria—Death of the Emperor Nicholas—Alexander II.—Fall of Sebastopol.
Lord Raglan—His Life—Battle of Inkerman—Morning of Battle—Sons of Emperor Nicholas—The Attack—Troops Engaged—Fierce Encounters—Sir George Cathcart—His Death—Russian Cruelty—French Infantry—The Zouaves—Chasseurs—Russians Retire—Renewed Attack—Repulsed by the French—Defeat—Sorties—Night after Battle—Treaty with Austria of 2d Dec.—Negotiations for Peace—The Four Points—Landing of Omer Pacha at Eupatoria—Death of the Emperor Nicholas—Alexander II.—Fall of Sebastopol.
Lord Raglan, Commander-in-Chief of the English army, is a descendent of the Somersets, the youngest son of the fifth Duke of Beaufort. He was born in Sept. 1788, and christened Fitzroy James Henry Somerset. He was a cornet in the 4th light dragoons at sixteen, and rose in military rank, as the boyish sons of Dukes do rise, over the heads of their seniors. He was a captain at twenty. He went with the troops to Portugal, and fought in the first great battle—that of Talavera, in which the French and English armies fairly and singly tried their strength against each other.
Lord Fitzroy Somerset was then under one-and-twenty, and it was not the first battle he had seen since he landed in the Peninsula. He learned much of his military science within the lines of Torres Vedras, and was severely wounded at the battle of Busaco.
LORD RAGLAN
LORD RAGLAN
By this time, the young soldier had won the notice and strong regard of Wellington, who had made him, first, his aide-de-camp, and then his military secretary, a singular honor for a man under two-and-twenty. The dutiesof his various functions kept him diligently occupied during the whole of the Peninsular War. He was present and active in every one of the great Peninsular battles, and was, in the intervals, the medium of the Duke’s commands and arrangements. The Duke’s avowed opinion was, that the successes of that seven years’ war were due, next to himself, to his military secretary. He became Major in 1811, and Lieutenant-Colonel the year after. He returned to England after Bonaparte’s abdication, in 1814.
Lord Fitzroy Somerset married in the August of that year the second daughter of Lord Mornington, and thus became the nephew, by marriage, of the Duke of Wellington. None then dreamed what misfortune awaited the young bridegroom within the first year of his marriage. On Napoleon’s return from Elba, the Secretary went out with the Commander-in-Chief, and as his aide, he was on the field during the three days of June, which ended the war.
The Duke was wont to offer to bear the responsibility of an omission in the Battle of Waterloo—the neglecting to break an entrance in the back wall of the farmstead of La Haye Sainte, whereby the British occupants might have been reinforced and supplied with ammunition. It was the want of ammunition which gave the French temporary possession of the place, and that temporary possession cost many lives, and Lord Fitzroy Somerset his right arm.
He came home to his bridethus maimedbefore he was twenty-seven, but with whatever compensation an abundance of honor could afford. For nearly forty yearsafterwards it was supposed by himself and the world, that his wars were ended, and he devoted himself to official service at home.
He entered Parliament in 1818. He was always in request for secretaryships at the Ordnance and to the Commander-in-Chief. He rose in military rank at intervals, and became a Lieutenant-General in the year 1838.
When the Duke of Wellington died, and Lord Hardinge was made Commander-in-Chief, Lord Fitzroy Somerset became Master-General of the Ordnance, and was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Raglan.
It presently appeared that his wars were not over. During the long interval he had sent out his eldest son in the service of his country, and lost him in the field at Ferozeshah in 1845. Nine years after this bereavement, the father went out himself once more, and this time in full command.
When war with Russia was determined on, with Lord Raglan dwelt the traditions of the Iron Duke, and no one was so thoroughly versed in the wisdom which had for seven long and hard years won the successes of the Peninsular war. No one seemed so well to know the army and its administration, and no one else so effectually combined the military and practical official characters, a combination which, if always necessary to make a good general, is most emphatically so in the country which is the scene of the present war. To Turkey, therefore, he went, and after the battles of Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman, was raised to the rank of Field-Marshal.
Public opinion is divided in this country as to his merits as a general; but the sequel will show, should thewar be continued, whether he is capable of occupying the place inherited from Wellington.
On Sunday, the 5th of November, 1854, one of the most sanguinary battles ever fought within the memory of man, took place on the heights of Inkerman, under the walls of Sebastopol.
It is a difficult task, in a few lines of prose, to render justice to a bravery which excels that sung by the blind and immortal bard of Greece. We might devote page after page to individual feats of heroic daring in this fearful struggle, when 8,000 British troops and 6,000 Frenchmen defeated an army of 60,000 Russians, who left more killed and wounded upon the battle-field than the whole force the Allies brought against them.
From the preceding pages, the position of the besieging forces is already familiar to our readers. On referring to the map of the Crimea, may be seen a road connecting Balaklava and Sebastopol. From this road to the heights which crown the valley of the Tchernaya, extended the British lines. These heights form a right angle nearly opposite the ruins of Inkerman, and there run parallel with the river from which the valley has derived its name. On the other side of the Tchernaya rise a succession of hills above the ruins of Inkerman, where the Russians had established themselves.
The night between the 4th and 5th November was passed without apprehension by the allied troops. It had rained almost incessantly, and the early morning gave no promise of any cessation of the heavy showers which had fallen for the previous four-and-twenty hours. Towards dawn a heavy fog settled down on the heights, and on the valley of the Inkerman. The fog, and vapors of drifting rain were so thick as morning broke, that one could scarcely see ten yards before him.
At four o’clock the bells of the churches in Sebastopol were heard ringing drearily through the cold night air; but the occurrence had been so usual that it excited no particular attention.
No one suspected for a moment that enormous masses of Russians were creeping up the rugged sides of the heights over the valley of Inkerman, on the undefended flank of the Second Division. There all was security and repose. Little did the slumbering troops in camp imagine that a subtle and indefatigable enemy were bringing into position an overwhelming artillery, ready to play upon their tents at the first glimpse of daylight.
Yet such was the case. The arrival of the Grand Dukes Michael and Nicholas, sons of the Emperor, with large reinforcements, determined Prince Menschikoff to make the attempt to annihilate the besieging forces, and raise the siege.
At daybreak (that is, at six o’clock), the alarm was given in the British camp that the Russians had surprised the advanced picquets, and were already in possession of all the heights commanding their position. The whole army stood to arms without delay. Presently a Russianbattery appeared upon the crest of the height known as Shell-hill, near Careening Bay, whilst columns of infantry were descried already descending the hills, or marching up the ravines, which faced the front of the British position. The most serious attack of the Russians was, however, directed against the flank of the British army, along the heights running parallel to the valley of the Tchernaya.
The entire force which the British mustered to defend their vast front and flank lines, was confined to the following. The remainder of the army were in the trenches, prepared to oppose any attack upon the siege batteries:
Guards, about1,000Second Division2,500Light Division1,000Fourth Division2,200Third Division1,000——–7,700
The odds were therefore, frightful, and it was only three hours later that General Bosquet opportunely arrived with his splendid division, six thousand strong, the same which had fought at the Alma.
The Russians in the front had now advanced to within five hundred yards of the encampment, and the action commenced. The musketry fire was awful, and the enemy, who had now guns upon every favorable position, hurled shell and round shot at the advancing lines.
The enemy’s columns continued to push forward, trying to overwhelm the British regiments with their superior numbers. “And now (to quote the words of an eye-witness of the battle) commenced the bloodiest struggle ever witnessed since war cursed the earth. It has been doubted by military historians if any enemy have ever stood a charge with the bayonet, but here the bayonet was often the only weapon employed in conflicts of the most obstinate and deadly character. Not only did the English charge in vain, not only were desperate encounters between masses of men maintained with the bayonet alone, but they were obliged to resist bayonet to bayonet, with the Russian infantry again and again, as they charged the British with incredible fury and determination.”
The battle of Inkerman admits of no description. It was a series of dreadful deeds of daring, of sanguinary hand-to-hand fights, of despairing rallies, of desperate assaults, in glens and valleys, in brushwood glades and remote dells, hidden from all human eyes, and from which the conquerors, Russian or British, issued, only to engage fresh foes.
It was essentially a struggle between pluck and confidence, against fearful odds and obstinate courage.
No one, however placed, could have witnessed even a small portion of the doings of this eventful day, for the vapors, fog, and drizzling mist, obscured the ground where the struggle took place to such an extent, as to render it impossible to see what was going on at the distance of fifty yards. Besides this, the irregular nature of the ground, the rapid fall of the hill towards Inkerman, wherethe deadliest fight took place, would have prevented one, under the most favorable circumstances, seeing more than a very insignificant and detailed piece of the terrible work below.
It was six o’clock when all the Head-quarter camp was roused by roll after roll of musketry on the right, and by the sharp report of field-guns.
Lord Raglan was informed that the enemy were advancing in force, and soon after seven o’clock he rode towards the scene of action, followed by his staff, and accompanied by Sir John Burgoyne, Brigadier General Strangways, and several aides-de-camp.
As they approached the volume of sound, the steady unceasing thunder of gun, and rifle, and musket, told that the engagement was at its height. The shell of the Russians, thrown with great precision, burst so thickly among the troops that the noise resembled continuous discharges of cannon, and the massive fragments inflicted death on every side.
Colonel Gambier was at once ordered to get up two heavy guns (eighteen pounders) on the rising ground, and to reply to a fire which the light guns were utterly inadequate to meet. As he was engaged in this duty he was severely wounded, and obliged to retire. His place was taken by Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson, who, in directing the fire of these two pieces, which had the most marked effect in deciding the fate of the day, elicited the admiration of the army.
But long ere these guns had been brought up, there had been a great slaughter of the enemy, and a heavyloss of the British. The generals could not see where to go. They could not tell where the enemy were—from what side they were coming, or where going. In darkness, gloom, and rain, they led the lines through thick scrubby bushes and thorny brakes, which broke the ranks, and irritated the men, while every place was marked by a corpse or man wounded from an enemy whose position was only indicated by the rattle of musketry, and the rush of ball and shell.
Sir George Cathcart, seeing his men disordered by the fire of a large column of Russian infantry, which was outflanking them, while portions of the various regiments composing his division were maintaining an unequal struggle with an overwhelming force, went down into a ravine in which they were engaged to rally them. He rode at their head encouraging them, and when a cry arose that the ammunition was failing, he said coolly, “Have you not got your bayonets?” As he led on his men, it was observed that another body of men had gained the top of the hill behind them on the right, but it was impossible to tell whether they were friends or foes. A deadly volley was poured into the scattered British regiments. Sir George cheered them, and led them back up the hill, but a flight of bullets passed where he rode, and he fell from his horse close to the Russian columns. His body was recovered mutilated with bayonet wounds.
When he fell, Colonel Seymour, who was with him, instantly dismounted, and was endeavoring to raise the body, when he himself received a ball which fractured his leg. He fell to the ground beside his general, and a Russian officer and five or six men running in, bayonetedhim, and cut him to pieces as he lay helpless. The Russians bayoneted the wounded in every part of the field, giving no quarter, and apparently determined to exterminate the Allies, or drive them into the sea.
The conflict on the right was equally uncertain and equally bloody. To the extreme right a contest, the like of which, perhaps, never took place before, was going on between the Guards and dense columns of Russian infantry of five times their number. The Guards had charged them and driven them back, when they perceived that the Russians had outflanked them. They were out of ammunition, too, and were uncertain whether there were friends or foes in the rear. They had no support, no reserve, were fighting with the bayonet against an enemy who stoutly contested every inch of ground, when the corps of another Russian column appeared on their right far to their rear. Then a fearfulmitraillewas poured into them, and volleys of rifle and musketry.
The Guards were broken; they had lost twelve officers dead on the field; they had left one-half of their number dead on the ground; and they retired along the lower road of the valley; but they were soon reinforced, and speedily avenged their loss.
The French advance, about ten o’clock, turned the flank of the enemy.
ZOUAVE CHIEF.
ZOUAVE CHIEF.
When the body of French infantry appeared on the right of the British position, it was a joyful sight to the struggling regiments. The 3d regiment of Zouaves, under the chiefs of battalion, supported in the most striking manner the ancient reputation of that force. The French artillery had already begun to play withdeadly effect on the right wing of the Russians, when three battalions of chasseurs d’Orleans rushed by, the light of battle on their faces. They were accompanied by a battalion ofchasseurs Indigènes—the Arab Sepoys of Algiers. Their trumpets sounded above the din of battle. Assailed in front, broken in several places by the impetuosity of the charge, renewed again and again, attacked by the French infantry on the right, and by artillery all along the line, the Russians began to retire, and at twelve o’clock they were driven pell-mell down the hill towards the valley, where pursuit would have been madness, as the roads were covered by their artillery. They left mounds of dead behind them. At twelve o’clock the battle of Inkerman seemed to have been won; but the day, which had cleared up for an hour previously, again became obscured. Rain and fog set in; and as the Allies could not pursue the Russians, who were retiring under the shelter of their artillery, they had formed in front of the lines, and were holding the battle-field so stoutly contested, when the enemy, taking advantage of the Allies’ quietude, again advanced, while their guns pushed forward and opened a tremendous fire.
General Canrobert, who never quitted Lord Raglan for much of the early part of the day, at once directed the French to advance and outflank the enemy. In his efforts he was most nobly seconded by General Bosquet. General Canrobert was slightly wounded, and his immediate attendants suffered severely.
The renewed assault was so admirably managed that the Russians sullenly retired, still protected by their crushing artillery.
The loss sustained by the English army was 2,400 killed or wounded: of the French, 1,726. The Russians, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 15,000.
An eye-witness thus describes the night after the battle:
“On the evening of the battle I went over the field. All the wounded had been removed. There is nothing so awful as the spectacle of the bodies of those who have been struck down by round shot or shell. Some had their heads taken off by the neck, as with an axe; others, their legs gone from their hips; others their arms; and others again, who were hit in the chest or stomach, were literally as mashed as if they had been crushed in a machine. Passing up to Sebastopol, over heaps of Russian dead, I came to the spot where the Guards had been compelled to retire from the defence of the wall above Inkerman valley. Here the dead of the Allies were nearly as numerous as the enemy’s. Beyond this the Russian Guardsmen and line regiments lay as thick as leaves; intermixed with dead and wounded horses. The path lay through thick brushwood, but it was slippery with blood, and the brushwood was broken down and encumbered with the dead. The scene from the battery was awful beyond description. I stood upon its parapet at about nine at night, and felt my heart sink as I gazed upon the scene of carnage around.
“The moon was at its full, and showed every object as if by the light of day. Facing me was the valley of Inkerman, with the Tchernaya, like a band of silver, flowing gracefully between the hills, which, for varied and picturesque beauty, might vie with any part of the world.
“Yet I shall never recall the memory of Inkerman valley with any but feelings of horror; for round the spot from which I surveyed the scene lay upwards of five thousand bodies.
“Some lay as if prepared for burial, and as though the hands of relatives had arranged their mangled limbs; while others again were in almost startling positions, half standing or kneeling, clutching their weapons or drawing a cartridge.
“Many lay with both their hands extended towards the sky, as if to avert a blow or utter a prayer; while others had a malignant scowl of fear and hatred. The moonlight imparted an aspect of unnatural paleness to their forms, and as the cold, damp wind swept round the hills and waved the boughs above their upturned faces, the shadows gave a horrible appearance of vitality; and it seemed as if the dead were laughing, and about to rise. This was not the case on one spot, but all over the bloody field.”
The whole of the 6th (the day after the battle) was devoted to the sorry task of burying the dead. A council of war was held, presided over by Lord Raglan, at which it was determined to winter in the Crimea, and orders were issued accordingly.
Large reinforcements were demanded both by LordRaglan and General Canrobert, which, with considerable promptitude, have been despatched by their respective governments, and many of them are already on the spot.
In the period which has elapsed since the battle of Inkerman no battle has been fought. The usual routine of siege operations has gone on; sorties have taken place from the besieged city, both upon the French and English lines, which have, in every instance, been victoriously repulsed. But a more formidable enemy than the Czar of all the Russias has taken the field against the Allies. Winter, with his chilling aspect and freezing breath, accompanied by his suite of sleet and storm, and hurricane and snow, has made his appearance more terrible than for many a year past. At times all operations have been suspended; the trenches filled with water, and many a shivering form has laid itself down without even the comfort of a plank between it and the dripping earth to dream of home and to die. The sufferings of such are known only to Him who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.
On the 14th November, one of the fiercest storms known within the memory of man burst over the Black Sea. Off Balaklava, where the cliffs are steep and abrupt, eight transports became total wrecks, and every soul on board but 30 perished.
A magnificent new steamer, the “Prince,” of 3,000 tons burden, having arrived but a few days previously from England, and landed in safety the 46th regiment, was obliged to anchor outside in consequence of the crowded state of the harbor. The hurricane took herunawares, and was so severe that her cables parted; the roaring surf tossed her like an egg-shell upon the rocks, and the next instant nothing but a wreathing mist could be seen hanging over the spot where her noble timbers lay buried. Out of 150 souls on board, but six were saved. Her cargo was invaluable at that particular time, and consisted of a great portion of the winter clothing for the troops, including 40,000 suits of clothes, and large quantities of shot, shell, and medical stores. Altogether, 18 British and 12 French ships were lost at Balaklava.
Off the Katcha,five English and eight French ships were cast ashore.
At Eupatoria, the Henri IV., a French ship of the line, the French war-steamer, Pluton, seven French and five English transports, and a Turkish line-of-battle ship, were driven on shore.
During the confusion of the storm, an attack was made on the town of Eupatoria by 4,000 Russian cavalry, with 14 pieces of artillery, but was gallantly repulsed by the cannon and rockets of the garrison.
The continuance of unfavorable weather has rendered the camps almost untenable, and the roads impassable. The British government, to obviate the difficulty, have sent out all the materials necessary for the construction of a railroad from Balaklava to Sebastopol heights, with a sufficient number of navvies (or laborers) to complete the same at an early day.
On the 2nd of December, a change took place in the views of the Austrian cabinet, which was interpreted as favorable to the Western Powers.
A treaty was signed at Vienna by the Earl of Westmoreland,the Baron de Bourgueney, and Count Buol, as representatives of their respective governments, of which the following are the principal conditions:—The high contracting parties engage not to enter into any engagement with Russia without deliberating in common. The Emperor of Austria engages to defend the Principalities against any attack by the Russians, and that nothing shall be done by his troops to interfere with the free action of the Allies against the Russian frontier. A commission, to consist of a plenipotentiary from each government, with the addition of a Turkish commissioner, is to sit at Vienna, to decide all questions arising out of the occupation. In case of hostilities arising between Austria and Russia, an offensive and defensive alliance is to bede factoestablished between the former and the Western Powers, and no suspension of hostilities will be concluded without the agreement of all the three Powers.
The ratifications of this treaty were exchanged on the 14th.
The King of Prussia had played so vacillating a part that the influence of that cabinet had ceased to be felt, and she was neither consulted nor regarded.
Negotiations for peace have been set on foot, with some hope of success, but as a basis for negotiation, Great Britain, France, and Austria, unanimously determined to insist upon, and abide by, the following four points:
1st. The abolition of the Protectorate over the Danubian Principalities, and the privileges of those provinces placed under the collective guarantee of the contracting powers.
2d. The free navigation of the mouths of the Danube secured according to the principles established by the Congress of Vienna.
3d. The revision of the Treaty of 13th July, 1841, in the interest of the balance of power in Europe.
4th. The abandonment, by Russia, of her claim to exercise an official protectorate over the Christian subjects of the Porte (to whatever rite they might belong) in consideration of the Powers giving their mutual assistance to obtain from the Sultan a confirmation and observance of the religious privileges of all Christian communities.
A period of fourteen days was given Prince Gortschakoff in which to communicate with his Imperial master.
In less than eight days, instead of the fourteen allowed him, the Plenipotentiary of the Czar was instructed to negotiate a peace on the minimum proposed.
No cessation of hostilities has taken place; no armistice will be listened to, and the siege goes on. Enormous preparations have been made both by the French and English, for continuing their operations with increased vigor as soon as the weather will permit. Omer Pacha has been ordered, with his army of forty thousand men, to proceed to Eupatoria, where he has landed, and will be able to operate on the rear of the Russians, while the British and French attack in front, and if kept well supplied both with men and means, we may expect something brilliant from his well-earned prowess and reputation.
Whether we are approaching the close of the war, or the beginning of it, is a question which no human foresight can, at the present moment, determine.
The question is one of deep importance to the world generally, for war brings so many evils in its train, is so exhausting in blood and treasure, interrupts the commercial transactions of nations so painfully, and retards civilization so seriously, that we cannot but hope that the year which thus commences with slaughter may close in peace.
A winter campaign under the most favorable circumstances is rife with suffering and death; but much can be done to mitigate these evils by a system of thorough discipline on the part of those in command.
Every arrival, however, from the Crimea, brings tales of woe and misery coupled with additional confirmation of the gross mismanagement which has characterized the conduct of the British army since its first arrival in the East. In battle, British officers and soldiers have proved themselves heroes, yet in the organization of the different departments, in everything which contributes to the comfort and health both of officers and men, as well as in the commissariat, they have proved themselves lamentably deficient.
In contrast with the admirable organization of the French army under similar circumstances, it would seem difficult to account for the comparative comfort in the one case, and the miserable lack of it in the other; but upon a careful analysis of the two systems, the cause becomes at once apparent. The French army is essentially a democratic institution, in which promotion depends entirely upon individual merit. Vigilance, activity, and energy is the price of position, and with a possibility of attaininga higher rank, the common soldier as well as the officer, has an incentive for extra exertion, and something to hope for in the future.
But with the British it is quite the reverse. Once in the ranks the soldier hopes for no higher position, because it is unattainable. Their officers are selected, not on the ground of merit, but because by chance born a “Somerset” or in the shadow of a title. By education well fitted to shine at court, or amid the butterflies of fashion, practical knowledge and business capacity are things of which they have never dreamed, and which so savors of the plebeian that they are led to believe themselves degraded by giving attention to details, or in the exhibition of that energy which is the secret of success in every calling.
While the execution of these minor details renders the French comparatively comfortable on the heights of Sebastopol, the British, for lack of them, are undergoing the horrors of the campaign of Moscow.
With a superabundance of everything on board ship; with cargoes of furs and warm clothing at Balaklava, the soldiers on half rations are suffering famine, and in summer garments are shivering and dying in the cold blasts of a Crimean winter. By the humanity of their allies, some have been protected from freezing by donations of the well known Algerine caban (heavy cloaks with hoods), from the French; and the British army presents the strange and humiliating spectacle of appearing in French habiliments and sacrificing its identity. If the present disasters in the Crimea shall have the effect to cause a breaking down of that Feudal system in England, which recognisesone man as entitled to all privileges, and his neighbor to none; which, regardless of capacity, placesnamesrather than men in command of armies, and in cabinets: if this change shall be effected, then will more good have been accomplished than would result from the subjugation of Russia and downfall of Sebastopol.
NICHOLAS, LATE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.
NICHOLAS, LATE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.