Extracts.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 476, 27 May 1857, Page 5

Extracts.

LETTERS FROM: ,HEAD QUARTERS.— iBY ANOFFICfift ONTHE-STAFF." (From iWe * Time*.') 'r ' It must be encouraging to publishers to. cob* «rd<ir hdwMrtafty thmgs'tnake'a book Wth lookina into. , Were it not from thejiope that Z & .OJficer'.ou fclie Sta£</would delude the^ unsuspecting . into the behet that strategical plans would T>e soundly'«nhcifced or soirie'li'd'den mysteries utiveiled, this authors letters WW, abuhtlesa, have-stilll remained m the desks'of fcis<friends, 'Who has not had e^ou^h'of'CrimeaTi'book*? Who dae<* ritit Shrink ifnnnthe unu^erabje dreariness of flic tourist or oncer's adventures, hw jocose Ji at chapter, be«mring,"'Here we go—off at last, Kis Wei description^ 'of Gibraltar, _ Malta, and the Dardanelles/ his Version of tlic Alma and lukermana, M. thftfcribute which he tells us h«^annot'avoid paying-to the gallantry oi all who fought round tW" beleaguered' crty. Here is atppkjngre V?> mo^ empty, more un«vammatical than, the wont that has.baen pubfished since the war began, and which furthermore, 'comes 'out at 'a,time 'when' immediate mterest'V tW Cvunpan campaign has ceased. And yet it will find' ireadera ;-i»de^dv we would -advtee any one to1 read' it Who may find it throvvtl in his^ way. For it is by "an Officer on the Staff," *in -officer ,who Was chos,eu tor some qualities deenfted mecitoi-ious tot, be near the person of the Commander-in-chief, and who Rad rt many, ppportunities ot hearing aad jhflgiii'g the. opiTiioi\» given an^.the dit& -(UltLes fy> be overcome by. the generals .df- the allied armies." Now, it is worth while to learn what was^ ihe calibre of an officer, qn the- head-quarter staff feng .the'most lleHible oiih^aig'p of jot oyn tim*»." We Know* wh'al worlra Staff Offisers of continental armies have from time to time written, avid thai there is hardly a series pf'operations front ihe days' of 'Louk'XXV 1. to the '^Beat wh'ichJ ha* not! been accurately, a*i yet» pitttttresdu4y, -recorded. We know *hT* at the closi'u^female, -a few nttontUs s,tnce. PelUsK-r andNiel sentfhgifte,mAr,ratives which wera-fuli ami gfAphio, an 4 in]bei-esti»g t^ every one. We tl i*Uo kuow, i^nhappily r the, style of oift own. petals. I,fc^ int^resting.to.find that the sartue relative intellectual position is pve-terved by our Staff PHic ars as by our eomfnand'prs.' If1 fee auttdr Vf tMfe' beok should miliiary greatness ttwusl);Slpon him, he will, we may'prddicb/'astonish the world with ]dht the same ki»d <rf despatehea ai defocidbeithe repuKe atthe-B«dan or.the blowjng up of Port Stt Nicholas. „, M.The Oifiqer on the &tafT.' y is., the indignant Apologist of Lprd Raglaii. Jle cannot however feebly, fro.n giving his version ot some of the illustrious commander's 'actions 'and dreK" J'He is "a violent opponent o? newspapers, and sometimes breaks forth into Jrbnica! ciaiul ttiohs, such as " Oh, the benefits of free presJ!" He is a severe censor of officer who write >home descriptions of th» state,of the army, flroriticisms on the capacity of .its chief, though he himself v* plain-spoken enoug;h on some in authority, and prints passages about Admiral Dundas which might as well be omitted. But ii is impossible to give a notion, of this 'work by mere description. Jt is chipfly Valuable a^ a portrait <?f aSt iff Officer's "mind in the year 1855, as representing a race wh^cli is Ukelr soon to become extinct under the now regulation-?, and any reljcs of which will in a few Tears have an interest to the military antiquary. iMcer descriptions of the Sweet Waters, of Varna, of the sailing from iJaltshik, which are l)elow the average ot what the public has lead to sitiKy, the author «omes to the battle 6f the Alma. We have no lhtention of inflictingi his Narrative on the reader, but' we may jflsti relate tm'eof Vs anecdote, sil to show? the feeling with whlfch two important departments of thq army were regarded by the gentlemen who suiTound*d lord' Raglan. The general had pliieed,himeel^in. front"of the troops with his, staff, whi^cU had been joined by some medical anc^coinmisis^ria,t officevs. Some ona —perhaps the afttndr, who thinks the crowdihg " highly impeVtirient 11 suggested that they should be oi tiered 4o 'itioVe^off. Lord Raglan>, \ve are told- on the HmthoVity of h» panegyrist} said, " Let .them *tay } ". and- added-that when they got under fire ihey 'would depart^ he m.ight rely upon.it. In -two :irfmntes the.^f \yas ficed,.aud " you should have seen the hangers-ou scattered in all

dineotioAs., There wa» no more crowding about Lord Raglair.V Thus, we learn ' incidentally that in the opiniion of <hotd Raglan and hi* etaff medical officers would run away at the K»t shot; and Haw, more than two years after the'events and after somuchisuff'ering and sacrifice on the part/x»f'tt\e profeamoit, a Stiff Officer thinks fit to bip the historian of such ah anecdote, Does any one''believe'that those officers who have since braved' death, not only in' the field, but' in the* transport ships. , and . .thei hospital, for -so many months, ceased to follbw Lord Raglan from lear of a.round shot'? ' Does the author himself believe it P And if in the new fledged vanity of 1854 he wrote this slander, why dwes he now, afte* the bitter experience of two year*, deliberately publish it to the world ? ' 'It wouldi be tedious to follow- the common, plfiae record of welUknown or trivial events, \fc'hi<ih make up the substance of this book. It is chiefly worthy of 'notice for what it ortnts, and not for what it contains, Entitled Jbealitiet of the. War in the GHmea, it'rouses expectation^ which is most miserably disappointed. The< writer-is at head-quarters but sees nothing. The lefcters'And journal might have Ifeete 'written by ahy private in the camp or any 'sutler at Ealaklava. The remarks' on the weather are as constant as those of the Commatlder-in-Cliief used t*> be.' We are told'thftt it wfifc a beautiful day or-thai the thermometer was lower, or that last nightiifc began to ram. The arrival «fl r a steamer, or the depattuve of> & batch of sick je chronicled with minuteness. But the military details are evidently the merest gossip. - What* e.ver his opportunities of hearing factis and opinions of importance may have been he *made no use of them. As a strategical! work tl*fe book is utterly worthless. One would* think that a man of moderate abilities would be able1, ■from a residence at head-quarters', to gain a kind 'of ibird's-eye view of-the-' campaign,' add that his' Realities would have a little brfafltH -ttriA. a little novelty, and not be inferior in interest'to accounts writtea at the time by unfettered privates. What do we want 'with * stories of some trifling joke, which he";thinks'""tfather futf-'P" What do we care fo* the facfc'that he, 6n such a day'had " just heard "something that happened two yeavs ago, and i« now forgotten.? How $uch' a book should he written by any one is difficult to cerifeeiVe, and •■ the first feeling oft'reading it is/what must the sys»f;em be wliich places a man of such a'ealibr^ 09 the head-quarter staff of a* great army. %<W,e have said thai the write* is bitter against the press. His correspondents haye1 enough of his1 denunciations 'of ' rrhe Times,' %Kic!r"arfe printed' with a profusion of italics, to indicate the-point of his argument:' Ther* is an jsrt% which 'is' always most indignant at the'calumnies of this journal. It is " We- all." 'Now jt is as Well tb fix what "we all" signifies. "We all" are angry with ' The Times,' -with the officer^ who write letters home, with everyone who says there is mismanagement; with everyone who believes it. "We all" may write home ourselves sneeTS At" medicoes " andcomrftissariat officers; we may impute to Admiral Dttftdasstich a dereliction of duty as that " he has predicted all soith of dibasteis,, and now thafc'jU sees every thing is liVely to go well he does all in his 'pdwer to thwart and atinoy'Sir EdmundTjyOras and "Lord Raglan," and therefore will not help to land the men; "we all " may attack Sir De Lacy Evans J toe nlay so far coincide with'public opinion as to proiiouhce unfavourably on LorS Lucan fand Lord Cardigan'; we may be indignant at Bosquet, and sarcastic on $ie French generally. But we will not hear tine word that reflects on'head quarters and the .head-quarter staff. From these characteristics of the bodies estfresseft by the wiitpi's " We" it is impossible not to concla'de that he merely gives the sentiments of the small knot bf cousins who unhappily surrounded the late Lord itaglart. The letters are revised ov re-written as a piece of pleading in his favour; and the Commander's memory, which the nation suffir ciently respects, is again dragged into debate by a flimsy, ill-written and narrow-minded book. ,It is easy to put at the..-beginning;of a chapter; such-a .heading w "False stateme,nt ; of' The -femes,' " but if the' author rea|ly fishes .to •defend the' administration-of. t}ie war, which every one else has given up, he niust learn to do something mpre than repiibjish dM letters which were uninteresting when new, and qi*e.perfectly out of date now. The author, like the Chelsea ■ Commissions acquits ■ everybody* or at least^ leveryboa*y^ at' head-qtt^i-tevs. ■ r No'*1, unfortul

nately, for him, fciie unoHt Htrikmjf facts and the heaviest ctuirgerf cam»» from offieeirf of the army. ¥ov three weeka'oar "Special'€orrej»i»ynder»t/'' who i» made responsible for all 1" calumnies "on militarvj.men^was.(k)mp(»Hecl by sick-nens to b«# absent' irorn his post' It-w<W precisely duri«# tbis' time tbhat tite-ttonm'ot disjwter bursfupoii the aririy, and hmtdreds tf'VKLetnf- letters were adoiwued to iinglartd,' edftt^Efling* the" teTfible intelligence, and duly fbrtraVdetf- te fM. Therefifti 1 he'-han to settle*matteri»'wi*b Ins brother OfficeTb/ AH he* can d<^ \ts to (SbmpJain^of^officets Writing letter* reflec^ng eta th<fceih 06m-itfand,-^a fine1 sentimerit, U'ttly, tot a matt -who not only hriitg* the heaviest' ehargw.htnl&eif in his own letters,^ but prints tbertf two^ears after,' Whe'tt the whole importance of tlie question b<Mf passed away though the-men Hvri whose reputation ia fchus stained. As fot the 'details of the author'^-'apqlogy.'w* must ask our reader* to spare" out ehteftt'ig into them. All the qdestiomi relating k» Lord' ISAglan's activity, the judgment he displayed-in rtegle^cting fortificHtion«fatlnkermann,' tbe"stipply of botots aud gifeatcoate.'andi the number'of sick kt tariouS tfin.es, have'beeA eihausted, and tte"wbrid is tired' of the whole miserable history. Suffice it to" say'flfftt the "Officer ou -Mie Staff*" explanations a^e-t^" weakest and' most tediiMs cavillidg.' "Such A thing isVat^d in " The' Times ; 'now, that it is quite untrue you -will have seen from my ls«t letter." Su('h is the kind of reasoningl with whkh it is expected to refute the testimony of scores of officers, & number of impartial traveller^ 'the' report tof a commission,' the acquiescence of Government, and, mo^e than all, the great-Tesultof events We had anticipated a close-of these long dis*eussions, which can serve no useful purpose now. The details of the Crimean campaign have bein studied so far as to admit of proper conclusions from the"m,and any further examination is nperl--less. The fact, however, that a writer, fclaimihg exclusive opp6rtunities of judging, shoiild dorai forward to contest the unanim6us reitlict of the nation, is a sufficient"excuse for recurring fco the subject. But the trouble in the present crfae has been thrown • away.1 The matter remain* where 'ft was.' The author prdves nothihg" but his dwn incapacity to form opinions and THs own negligence in collecting' fabts.- Therefore, as it is'always our endeavour to turri a' sahject'to a practical use, ami not to indulge in merely re* trospective 'controversies; we~would recommend fixe book as a proof of how' rrfuch the servite needs-improviiaient. Tlie 'perusarof it will go far tb cotrfirih a sensfble^an in his anxiety fof that military education which has rbeen promised to the jcbuutry.