Stirring Incidents In The Life of a British Soldier

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.

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.

    T. Faughnan.

CHAPTER 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.

January 6th, 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 load on 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 stand in 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 army against 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's death, 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. The lofty 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, and went 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 up empty 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 powerful enemy 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.

CHAPTER 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.

January 16th. – 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 the alert, 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 strong column 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 been hors-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 in the 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 thought which 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 to wade 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, carrying shot 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 one of 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. About five 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, on which 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 clothing for 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.

CHAPTER XVII

THE RAILWAY – LORD RAGLAN – COSSACKS – THE NAVVIES – RUSSIAN DESERTERS – THE RAILWAY.

The railway from Balaklava to the front, under Mr. Doyne, C.E., is making rapid progress; about two miles of rails have been laid down. It winds its way from the post-office in Balaklava towards Kadikoi, passing by Mrs. Seacoles' well known door (the half-way house), and is graded as far as the 4th division. The sleepers are on the ground, and will be laid in the course of two weeks. A stationary engine has been placed on the hill above the Kadikoi, which pulls the trucks up from Balaklava; the Turks are astonished by the puffs of steam from its iron lungs, and its shrieks and screams as it is put in motion by the engineers, to their great wonder and astonishment.

Lord Raglan visited Balaklava to-day and inspected the railway, with which he was well pleased; he was accompanied by several staff officers. After inspecting the progress and conditions of various departments in the town, he went on board a man-of-war in the harbour, to visit some sick soldiers who were going down to Scutari. He returned to Head Quarters at six o'clock. I am sorry that sickness does not diminish, dysentery and diarrhœa seem on the increase every day, and, I am afraid that scurvy is beginning to show itself among the troops. It is no wonder that the men get scurvy, living on salt rations and hard biscuits without any vegetables, sleeping in their clothes; without a chance to wash themselves or change their clothes; water being so scarce we cannot wash our linen. I refrain from describing the state of the army for the want of clean linen or water to wash with; suffice it to say that several new flannel waist bands served to the men were thrown away, and can be seen on the camp ground, occupied by a large army in skirmishing order. I took my canteen, water-keg and soap down to the spring one day to wash my linen; I waited two hours for my turn, after which I filled my canteen and water-keg. I then washed my clothes on a flat stone, then waited two hours more for water to rinse them, making four hours in all I had to wait. The reader can understand what difficulty the men have to keep themselves clean.

February 21st. The Russians made a strong sortie on the British lines last night, and were repulsed with considerable loss; the light division had six men killed and ten wounded.

The Cossacks, on the hills beyond Inkerman, have nearly disappeared and there are no indications that they intend to occupy the hills again, or construct batteries there as was supposed. The greatest secrecy is observed respecting our future operations; strict orders have been given that officers and others are not to give information regarding our works and movements but to those entitled to demand it. I was on trench duty last night when it froze hard, with bitter cutting wind, drifting the snow into our eyes and filling the trenches; but the sun shone out in the morning and the wind fell. The day was clear and cold, and the warm clothing and long boots enabled us to bear the severity of the weather, which would have been fatal to many, had we been in the same state as our comrades on whom winter fell with all its rigour, while they had nothing to wear but their old regimental clothing. We are now well secured with long boots, fur caps and warm jackets. As the day was clear, I could see the Russians plainly, in spite of the dazzling effect of the snow and cold. The bridge of boats across the creek, from the government buildings to the other side of the town, was crowded with men, who were busily engaged passing across supplies and rolling barrels to the other side, shewing that there is a centre of supply or depôt in the government buildings behind the Redan and opposite the fire of our batteries. Several lighters under sail and full of men were standing over from one side of the harbour to the other, and boats manned with crews dressed in white were tugging scows laden with stores to the south side of the town. A small steamer was also very active, puffing and splurting about the harbour in all directions, furrowing the surface of the water, which was as smooth as glass, so completely is the harbour land-locked – the men-of-war with their white ensigns and St. Andrew's cross, lying in a line at the north side. The masts of three vessels could be seen plainly above the buildings; further away to the right toward Inkerman the white houses and barracks shone brightly in the sun, and the bells of the churches were ringing out clearly in the frosty air; the tall houses running up the hillside, with its massive, public buildings, gave Sebastopol rather an imposing appearance. There was not a soul to be seen in the streets except soldiers running across the open space from one battery to another, relieving guards or posting sentries. Outside the town the eye rests on walls of earth piled up ten or twelve feet high and twenty feet thick, with embrasures, in which I could see the muzzles of the guns pointing toward our batteries; those works are of tremendous strength, with a very deep and broad ditch in front. Round the suburbs of the town are broken-down, white-washed cottages, the roofs of which are all gone, the doors off and the windows out, the walls are left standing at a certain distance from the batteries with holes made in them so that the guns can cover their object; they are also used for sharpshooters.

The picture of misery presented by these suburbs is very striking, in most instances the destruction has been caused by our shot, and the houses all round the Flagstaff and Garden batteries have been blown into heaps of rubbish and mortar. There have been a great many shells thrown by the Russians to-day from a mortar battery towards the sea, projecting the shells into the air every half minute or so across a hill in front of it, so as to annoy our working party, who were engaged in throwing up a trench towards the Quarantine fort. The white smoke rushing into the air expands into rings; then follows the heavy dull report; then comes the shrill whistle of the shell travelling through the air as it describes its curve, and descends with great velocity, increasing as it reaches the ground, sometimes sinking deep into the earth, tearing it up with the explosion, to the destruction of those around. It is a most unpleasant reflection when we see a whistling Dick coming in the air, and run out of its way behind a traverse. To how many families have they carried deep sorrow and mourning. The smoke clears away, then men gather around one who moves not, they bear him away on a stretcher, and a small mound of fresh earth marks for a little time the resting-place of the soldier, whose wife, mother, children, or sisters are left destitute of all happiness, save the memory and the sympathy of their country. Who will let the inmates of that desolate cottage in England, Ireland, or Scotland, know of their bereavement? However there goes another shell which does nothing but knock up a cloud of earth and stones.

After being relieved, we marched to our gloomy camp under a heavy fire from the enemy; but my hut was not so gloomy as the men's tents, it was warm and comfortable, my comrade had a little fire, keeping my coffee and fried biscuits warm, with a cotton rag dipped in pork fat as a substitute for a candle.

February 25th. The 17th Regiment was roused at two o'clock this morning and marched down to reinforce the covering party in the trenches. The Russians commenced one of the most furious cannonades we have heard since the siege began. The whole of the Russian batteries from our left opened with immense force and noise, the Redan, Garden and Malakoff batteries began firing round shot and shell. Our second parallel and twenty-one gun batteries were exposed to the weight of this most terrible fire, which shook the very earth and lighted up the sky with incessant lightning flashes for two hours, under cover of which a very strong sortie was made, and for an hour the musketry rolled incessantly with vigour enough for a general engagement. As soon as the fire opened, an aide-de-camp rode to our lines and gave the order for the 17th, 57th, and 20th Regiments to march to the trenches, and in less than five minutes these three regiments were moving in double time toward the trenches. On arrival, we found that the covering party had succeeded in driving the enemy from our trenches. We then returned to our camp and lay down for a couple of hours. The Russians had made a sortie on the French lines at the same time, and were also driven back with great loss.

At the request of General Ostensacken, an armistice was granted from twelve till one o'clock to-day, to enable the Russians to bury their dead. There was not much firing this morning; at twelve o'clock white flags were run up on the batteries on both sides, and immediately afterwards a body of Russians issued from the Redan, Flagstaff, and Malakoff batteries, and proceeded to carry off their dead; and our men, with the French, emerged from our batteries on a similar errand. A few Russian officers advanced about half way towards our batteries, when they were met by our officers and the French where extreme courtesy, the interchange of profound salutations and bowings marked the interview. The officers walked up and down, and skakos were raised and caps doffed politely as each came near an enemy; in the meantime the soldiers were carrying the dead and wounded off the field. About one o'clock the Russians retired inside their batteries, and immediately after the white flags were hauled down. The troops had scarcely disappeared over the parapet, when the flash and roar of a gun from the Malakoff announced that the war had begun once more, and our batteries almost simultaneously fired a gun; in a moment afterwards the popping of rifles commenced as usual on both sides.

The Cossacks about Balaklava are particularly busy throwing out their piquets and sentries all along the top of Canrobert's Hill. These sentries can see everything that goes on in the plain, from the entrance to Balaklava to the edge on which our right rests; not a horse, cart, or man can go in or out of the town, without being seen by these sentries, for they are quite visible to any person who gazes from the top of Canrobert's Hill. The works of the railway must cause these Cossacks very serious apprehensions. What can they, or do they, think of them? Gradually they see villages of white huts rise up on the hillside and in the valleys, and from the cavalry camp to the heights of Balaklava they can see line after line of wooden buildings, and can discover the tumult and bustle on Kadikoi. This may be all very puzzling; but it can be nothing to the excitement of looking at the railway trucks rushing round the hill at Kadikoi, and running down the incline to the town at the rate of twenty miles an hour. The Cossacks gallop up to the top of the hill to look at this phenomenon, and they caper about shaking their lances in wonder and excitement when the trucks disappear.

About 300 sick men were sent down to Balaklava to-day, on the ambulance mules.

The preparations for the general bombardment are progressing with great rapidity, and arrangements have been made to send up two thousand pounds of ammunition per day to the front from the harbour; about two hundred mules have been pressed into the service in addition to the railway, and the Highlanders, and Artillery horses are employed in the carriage of heavy shot and shell to the front, a duty which greatly disables and distresses them. The Guards are all down at Balaklava; some of them seem in very delicate health; a few old campaigners have attained that happy state in which no hardships or privations can have any effect on them. The silence and calm of the last few days are but the omens of the struggle which is about to be resumed very speedily for the possession of Sebastopol. The Russians are silent, because we do not impede their work; we are silent, because we are preparing for the contest, and are using every energy to bring up from Balaklava the enormous amount of projectiles and mountains of ammunition which will be required for the service of our batteries, when we open a general bombardment.

The railway has begun to render us some service in saving the hard labour attendant on the transport of shot and shell, and enables us to form a small depôt at the distance of two miles and a half from Balaklava, which is, however, not large enough for the demands made upon it, and it is emptied as soon as it is formed by parties from the regiments in front, who carry ammunition to the camp depôt, four miles further on.

The navvies work at the railway hard and honestly, with a few exceptions, and the dread of the provost marshal has produced a wholesome influence on the dispositions of the refractory. About 200 men of the Naval Brigade have been detailed to assist in the works of the railway, in order that the construction of it may be hastened as much as possible.

March 4th. I was one of a covering party in the advanced trench; it was a bright moonlight night, with sharp, cold frost. The Russians availed themselves of the brightness of the night by keeping up a constant fire of musketry on our trenches. At daybreak the volleys of musketry lasted an hour, mingled with the roar of round shot, whistling and bursting of shells, under cover of which they made a strong sortie on our trenches, and were repulsed with heavy loss; they also made a strong sortie on the French lines at the same time, and met no better success. General Canrobert and staff rode past our camp to-day on his way to visit the British Head-Quarters, where he met Lord Raglan and several generals of our army, with whom he held a council of war, but nothing is known publicly respecting the result of the council.

March 6th. Yesterday our first spring meeting took place and was numerously attended. The races came off on a level piece of ground near the Tchernaya River, and were regarded with much interest by the Cossacks on Canrobert's Hill. They evidently thought at first that the assemblage was connected with some military demonstration, and galloped about in a state of great excitement to and fro. In the midst of the races a party of twelve Russians was seen approaching the sentry on the old redoubt beyond Inkerman; the sentry fired and ten of them fled, and when the piquet came up to the sentry they found two deserters had come in from the Russians. One of them was an officer, and the other had been an officer, but had suffered degradation. They were both Poles, spoke French fluently, and expressed great satisfaction at their escape and said, "Send us wherever you please, provided we never see Russia again." They stated that they had deceived the men who were with them into the belief that the sentry was one of their own outposts, and, as they had lately joined, they believed them, and advanced boldly till the sentry fired at them, when they discovered their mistake and fled. As they were well mounted, they dashed towards our lines; the Cossacks tried to cut them off, but did not succeed. They requested that the horses might be sent back to the Russian lines, as they did not belong to them – they did not wish to be accused of theft. The horses were then taken to the brow of the hill and set free, when they galloped towards the Cossacks. The races proceeded as usual, and subsequently towards six o'clock the crowd dispersed.

CHAPTER XVIII