private walks of life. Michael, the chief of ar- vessel did contain such goodly company, it must be deeply regretted that the fact was not known to the captain of the English one. No doubt he would have risked his life to have made a prisoner of the disturber of the peace of Europe, or have done his best to send the vessel containing the autocrat to the bottom. Had he succeeded in either alternative, he would have won a name, remembered with honour until the time comes when Mr. Macaulay's traveller of the future shall stand on the remains of London-bridge and contemplate the ruins of the English capital. But the fact was unknown: the emperor, with his family and admiral (if indeed they were there) escaped; and the captain of the English vessel had to wait another opportunity for distinction. "On the political consequences of such an event" (i.e., the capture of the emperor), said a leading journal, "we must scarcely In closing this chapter, we must allude to a curious and seemingly improbable circum-venture to speculate. The imagination of stance, which is said to have occurred while the allied fleets were lying before Cronstadt. An English yacht, belonging to Lords Lichfield and Euston, ventured considerably in advance of the ships, when suddenly a small Russian steamer put out with the intention of making a prize of her. This she would probably have done, but that an English war-steamer advanced to the rescue of the yacht. The Russian vessel declining a combat, retired within the batteries, and the affair ended. Respecting these events there is no doubt; and they were even confirmed by a letter from Lord Lichfield to one of the public journals, correcting some of the details of its narration. But now comes the wonderful part of the story. It is asserted that on board the Russian steamer which put forth to effect the capture of the yacht, were the Emperor Nicholas, the Archduke Constantine, the archduchess, and the Russian admiral in command at Cronstadt! All these distinguished persons had steamed in the warship to enjoy the pleasure of taking a little unarmed yacht; and, by so doing, had exposed themselves to the risk of being made prisoners by the English steamer which approached to protect it. If the Russian the historian who is called upon to write the history of the events which did not occur, may fairly recoil from the magnitude of the subject. Little petty questions, such as those connected with the Sulina mouths of the Danube, the navigation of the Black Sea, the freedom of the Circassian mountaineers, the restoration of Finland to Sweden, &c., sink into comparative insignificance by the side of the chapter which might have been written on the result of the czar's yachting expedition off Cronstadt. The wonder of it is, that all this time we are not dealing with a fable, nor with the result of a drunkard's inspiration, but with sober and serious fact. The czar of Russia, the Archduke Constantine, and the archduchess were as near to capture and transmission to England as it is possible to be without having actually incurred such a catastrophe. Such is life and historysuch a strange mixture of chances and improbabilities! What an end to the Russian war; and to think, in all soberness of thought, that it might really l:ave come to pass, had the captain of a little English steamer known who were on board the little Russian steamer the other day off Cronstadt." CHAPTER XIL CRUISE OF THE RUSSIAN SHIP VLADIMIR; THE CHOLERA IN THE ALLIED FLEETS AND ARMIES; PROROGATION OF THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT; PREPARATIONS TO ATTACK BOMARSUND; FORT TZEE TAKEN BY THE FRENCH, AND FORT NOTTICH BY THE ENGLISH, BOMBARDMENT OF THE GREAT TOWER, AND SURRENDER OF THE RUSSIAN GARRISON; THE RUSSIAN PRISONERS; BLOWING UP THE FORTS. took in tow two vessels laden with coal, and steamed away with them to Sebastopol. Four English war-steamers went in pursuit of her, but spent their efforts in vain. Such negligence on the part of the blockading fleets was extremely culpable, and calculated to lead to dangerous results. It was well remarked, that that was not the way in which matters were conducted when stout MANY were the conjectures hazarded as to when the allied fleets in the Black Sea would attack Sebastopol. Expectation was frequently excited upon this subject, and as frequently disappointed. At length a portion of the allied fleets, composed of fourteen ships-of-the-line and six frigates, departed from Baltschik on the 21st of July, and directed its course towards the Crimea. Generals Brown and Canrobert accom-old Sir John Jervis had a similar duty in panied the expedition; and it was supposed their object was to effect a landing, or to reconnoitre and settle the plan of future attack. The proceedings of the fleets in the Black Sea we shall speak of more fully when returning to the narrative of events of the war in Asia. Here it will be sufficient to say, that a strict blockade of the Euxine was supposed to be kept up by the allied fleets. Notwithstanding this circumstance, a Russian steam-frigate, called the Vladimir, put out from Sebastopol, evaded the blockade, and defeated the vigilance of the cruisers to such an extent, as to penetrate as far as the mouth of the Bosphorus! On steaming away from Sebastopol, the daring Russian ship proceeded to the Asiatic coast, and sunk several Turkish vessels laden with corn. The captain of the Vladimir, himself a Greek, had received information from spies of his own nation, which, united with the negligence of the blockade, might have inflicted a severe disgrace upon the British flag. He had learnt that the English steamer, Cyclops, had landed her guns, and was then lying defenceless in the roads at Heraclia. Thither he bent his course; and the British vessel would have fallen an easy prey to the adventurous Russian, but that she had been accidentally detained at Constantinople for the purpose of undergoing some repairs, after being ordered to Heraclia to inquire into the state of the coal-mines then working on that coast for the use of the combined fleets. Though disappointed of her intended prize, the Vladimir reaped the reward of her audacious bravery. She She hand, and Troubridge was with the in-shore squadron off Toulon. In consequence of this dashing exploit of the Russian captain, seven sail-of-the-line sailed from Baltschik to enforce the blockade more thoroughly. The expedition to Sebastopol turned out to be only for the purpose of a reconnaissance. Sir George Brown, in the Fury, approached quietly during the night to within 2,000 yards of the batteries. While he stood on deck counting the guns of the enemy, an explosion was heard, and a shot tore through the rigging of the vessel. Other shot and shell instantly followed, and the Fury steamed out of the harbour with a cannonball in her hull, but without injury to any of her crew. It is said that Sir George Brown was so satisfied with the result of his observations, that on his return he recommended immediate action. Into the city of Constantinople, amid the troops there; into the vessels in the Bosphorus, and the camp at Varna, crept the dread pest-cholera. It broke out at Varna on the 24th of July, and in the course of one day and night, upwards of twenty meu had fallen victims. So virulent was it, that one man, seized at seven o'clock, was a corpse at twelve. As if cholera was not sufficient to thin those gaudy masses of crowded life, typhus-fever was linked to the modern scourge of Europe. The light division (which was the first attacked) was ordered on to Monastir, a village about eight miles further on. Several of the men were struck upon the march; but the attacks were not so fatal as when the pestilence first broke out. first broke out. At one period the deaths amongst the English rose from sixteen to twenty a-day, while that among the French were even more numerous. The correspondent of a leading journal, while writing from the spot, thus inquires the causes of this terrible visitation : will be found to support the view taken of the comparative healthiness of the sites of the various camps. Another cause of the illness which prevails may be the long morning drills, and lengthened exposure to the rays of a broiling sun at a time when the "The remoter causes of the epidemic men are little able to resist its effects, owing which rages at Varna and in the camps to insufficient meals. Oftentimes they have may be beyond our ken, but assuredly there gone out to a four hours' drill without anyis no difficulty in discovering the immediate thing more substantial to work upon than a physical predisposing conditions of its exis- cup of coffee. Sometimes they have not had tence, if medical authority is of any value. even that. Why should the officers escape In the first place, the men were left too almost with impunity? The fact of the long in the same encampments. It is the men sleeping fifteen in a single tent, while practice of the French, as a general rule, to the officers have tents to themselves, or a change their ground once every ten days, tent between two, has no doubt something even in healthier climates. They seem to to do with this difference; but the better have paid the penalty, on this occasion, of feeding of the officers has, I suspect, a far their breach of a rule recommended by ex- greater influence. The pork ration which is perience and founded on common sense. sometimes issued is decidedly unwholesome. Our men, in spite of all orders to the con- Mr. Warren* was seized with illness after a trary, persisted in throwing offal, heads and meal of pork, and several persons have comentrails of fowls, bones, and skins, into the plained that they are never well after it. bush and brushwood around the camp. In Perhaps Mohammed was a better physiolothe broiling sun all these various animal gist than we think, and found that swine flesh matters speedily become putrescent, and in these climates is essentially unwholesome. myriads of flies hover around them, and It certainly should be washed down with buzz about into the tents, laden with cargoes something stronger than lukewarm riverof corruption. Although soldiers are con-water. Our generals, who were so anxious stantly employed carrying away offal and to get their men into good working order, clearing the ground occupied by horses and to make them hardy, to render them tempemules, nothing can prevent acts of care-rate, to wean them from the luxuries of the lessness and nastiness on the part of the malt-tub, will feel somewhat astonished if men. Now at Aladyn the smell from the they should find-which God forbid !—that thickets in the rear of the camp, when the this splendid army is withered by sickness light division left it, was almost intolerable. and decimated by a plague which might The guards and highlanders are, however, have been prevented, humanly speaking, if marched up to within a comparatively short the precautions which were pointed out and distance of this abandoned camp, and pitch insisted on had been taken. Whatever else their tents at a distance which subjects caused the cholera, neither porter nor spirits them, I should think, to the influence of its had anything to do with it! The wine sold tainted atmosphere. And where do the in the canteens of the regiments was not so light division go to? They march to cheap as to be commonly drunk in quantiDevno, which is said to bear a proverbial ties by the men, nor so bad as to be delename for its unhealthiness; and they re-terious. It was examined again and again main in a spot which (I understand) the principal medical officer of the army, Dr. Hall, authoritatively condemned, after his recent inspection of it. The condition of the atmosphere of the camps outside Varna must be worst of all, from the long-continued encampment of troops there, and from the large masses of troops, Turkish, Egyptian, Bashi-Bazouk, English, and French, congregated there. Sir De L. Evans's division seems to have been placed in the most healthy and favourable spot, and I believe the returns from the various divisions by the doctors, at the command of the authorities, when they found diarrhoea increasing, and the doctors shook their heads, and talked about increase of rations and better supplies of rice, &c., as being more germane to the matter. Apricots, which the people here eat in enormous quantities, long ere they ripen, were sold without let or hindrance to the men in the camps; nor Mr. Warren was a storekeeper at Varna, and a very estimable man. He was on duty on the evening of the 24th of July, and at twelve the following day he was no more, were juicy pumpkins and crisp cucumbers date was effected early in August; and for wanting. The Turks and Greeks eat them several days clouds of smoke and flames abundantly, and yet Varna is not a place rolled up towards heaven, and attested how where cholera is at all common-on the Russia protects her subjects. By Sunday contrary, it is generally very healthy, and is (the 6th) the destruction was complete, and not at all subject to the attacks of this nothing remained of the town and woods terrible pestilence. In compliance with the around the fort, but a few blackened walls request of our authorities, the Turks have and heaps of charred and smouldering ordered all offal to be buried with quicklime." ashes. Deserters from the forts frequently At Constantinople the cholera committed joined the ships of the allies. One finefrightful ravages amongst the troops, and looking fellow, having obtained leave to 200 persons perished shortly after its out- bathe, left his clothes upon the beach, and break. It was said that this alarming swam off two miles to join the Leopard. amount of sickness was, to a large extent, He said that he had served for fourteen the result of the idle and stationary life the years nearly without pay, and living upon soldiers were compelled to lead, and that, very little else than brown bread and water, too, while their presence was so much and that he at length resolved to endure needed at the seat of war. Indian officers, such a state of things no longer. The poor accustomed to deal with armies in hot cli- fellow seems to have been kindly received. mates, had all along asserted that sickness Englishmen do not injure or abuse the would attack the men if they were kept helpless. In evidence of this, we may unoccupied within the lines, and that the observe that Sir Charles Napier gave only way to preserve the soldiers in health strict orders that a cordial and friendly was to give them constant employment and something of the excitement of war. demeanour should be shown towards the inhabitants of the islands. The soldiers and sailors were informed that no injury was to be done to private property, and that the full value must be paid for everything they required. The inhabitants, however, were loath to receive anything for fear they should be punished if subsequently detected. It is actually related, that two boys, on whom some English coin was found, were summarily hanged! Surely the severities and atrocities of war have their limits; and this barbarism was certainly beyond them. In England, the progress of the war, or at least the safety of our fleets and armies, was considered so far satisfactory, that although there had been some little talk of an autumn session, the queen prorogued parliament with the usual formalities on the 12th of August. We mention this circumstance to show that the government entertained no apprehensions for the result of the great struggle in which they were engaged. In addressing the members of both houses her majesty said truly:-" You will join with On the 5th of August, the Tilsit, St. me in admiration of the courage and perse-Louis, Asmodée, Cleopatra, and Syrene, verance manifested by the troops of the sultan in their defence of Silistria, and in the various military operations on the Danube." This praise was bravely and nobly earned; but it is not an inspiriting reflection that the Queen of England could not bestow upon her own willing troops the tribute of admiration that was wrung from her by the Mussulmans. We must now recall our reader's attention to the Baltic. The English vessels bearing the French troops from Calais, most of them, joined the allied fleet on the 30th of July, at the little bay of Led Sund. At this place all was noise, life, and cheerfulness. Bomarsund presented a very different appearance. The Russian commander, learning that the fortress was to be again attacked, ordered all the villages around it to be burned. This cruel man arrived with the siege-guns, horses, and the stores necessary for the latter. The next day the Tilsit, St. Louis, Inflexible, and Asmodée proceeded to Bomarsund; and on the 7th they were followed by the transports and steamers, taking up the troops and English marines. Sir Charles Napier shifted his flag to the Bulldog, and, together with his staff, also steamed up to Bomarsund, from which doomed fortress the passive sentinels and officers beheld the preparations for its destruction. For some days the carpenters of all the ships were employed in constructing platforms to carry 32-pounders. These enormous guns weighed as much as fortyfive hundred-weight each, and were to be conveyed to the scene of action on sledges, each dragged along by 150 men. They were to be used in addition to the ordinary field ordnance. guns through the village to the camp of the royal marines. During this time they were fired upon at intervals by one of the round towers. Sir Charles Napier, together with General Baraguay d'Hilliers, went through the encampment and arranged the disposition of the forces. The same day a Russian spy, in the garb of a female, was arrested in the camp. The fort continued a desultory fire on the troops all day; and a village was on fire and reduced to ashes by the Russian shells. The landing of the expeditionary corps took place at three o'clock in the morning of the 8th of August. It was effected without resistance upon two points of the island of Lumpar, near Bomarsund. A battery of five guns, of large calibre, which opened its fire, was silenced and destroyed by a French and an English steamer, the Phlégéthon and the Amphion. The guns, which had been buried under the ruins of the gun-carriages and the earth, were spiked by the sailors. The French encamped behind some high ground about two miles from the main bat- The bombardment began on the 13th. tery, the French chasseurs spreading them- Behind Bomarsund were two towers, called selves over the intervening ground, to within fort Tzee and fort Nottich, each of which 800 yards of the walls. A Russian officer contained a garrison of 120 men. Fort was daring enough to leave the fort and Tzee was first attacked by the French, and advance about a dozen yards towards them, afterwards fort Nottich by the English when he received a bullet in his breast and forces; the allies, however, not only acting fell. Whether his rashness led to his death in concert, but actually as parts of the same or not we cannot say, as some men instantly army. At four o'clock in the morning, the rushed out from the fort and took him in. French battery of four 16-pounders and One vessel (the Penelope) had, like the Rus- four mortars opened a tremendous fire upon sian officer, nearly fallen a victim to its the western fort. It was kept up for twelve temerity. It got aground within range of hours, accompanied by a terrific roaring and the forts, and was fired upon for three hours rending. The shells burst in the emand-a-half, though happily without sustain- brasures and over the roof, and the shot ing much injury. This was in consequence destroyed the facings of the embrasures at of several small ships going to her assistance, every round. By four o'clock the Russians and thus drawing the attention of the forts hung a flag of truce out of a porthole, and upon themselves. Of these vessels the demanded two hours' respite to bury their Hecla received several shots, and the main-dead. General Baraguay d'Hilliers granted mast of the Pigmy was torn away. The them one hour; and, as might have been Penelope had to throw over her guns, water, expected, they made use of it to obtain and everything of weight, before she could reinforcements and a further supply of ambe floated again, and rescued from her peril-munition from the other fort. ous position. She had two men killed and one wounded by the fire from the Russian fort, a result which may be regarded as favourable, when it is understood that 123 shots were fired at the vessel, and that twenty-one of them struck either her hull or rigging. The cholera, which in this fatal summer seems to have been almost universal, made its appearance amongst the French troops, but the infliction was not very severe. The landing of the troops, to the number of 11,000, was effected with the greatest dispatch and without any casualty. As each regiment stept on shore the men formed into order, and marched through the thick pine forests and over the heights, with their bright bayonets and red caps illuminated by the morning sun. The centre wing of the army encamped for the night in and around the village, about two miles from the fortress it was soon to attack. On the 11th, the sailors transported the great The hour expired, and the firing recommenced with a more certain and deadly fury. The riflemen on the rocks also poured into the embrasures a fatal storm of bullets. Indeed, the chasseurs employed their Minié rifles with such success, that the Russians had great difficulty in loading their guns. The eastern tower, therefore, came to the assistance of the garrison in the western, and hurled their shells over the besieged fort into the camp of the allies. At eight in the evening, the Russians attempted to gain a fresh respite by hanging out another flag of truce. Accordingly, the commandant of the artillery went to General Baraguay d'Hilliers, and inquired if the battery should cease firing. "Cease firing!" was the reply, "certainly not, sir. These men have not respected the object of their truce, and they shall not receive the slightest consideration. Continue your bombardment the whole night long." 161 |