Chapter XVIII: Part 18

At dawn on October 25, the Russians crossed the Tchernaya and stole rapidly on until their vanguard had reached a position from which they could cannonade Canrobert's Hill, the post most distant from the forces of the allies and nearest the village of Kamara. The main Russian army under Liprandi soon came up and began to fire upon Canrobert's Hill and the adjacent works. The English replied with the assistance of a troop of horse artillery and of a field battery. Two English divisions and two French brigades were sent to the aid of the garrison on the hills. The Russians succeeded in storming Canrobert's Hill and in capturing the next and smaller fortification. Threatened by overwhelming numbers, the troops on the remaining hills withdrew.

[Sidenote: Balaklava]

Two English cavalry brigades--the Light and the Heavy--commanded by Lord Lucan, had been manoeuvring to protect Balaklava. The Light Brigade, under Lord Cardigan, faced the Tchernaya; the Heavy Brigade, under Scarlett, was on the Balaklava side of the ridge. A great body of Russian cavalry swept down the slope upon the Heavy Brigade, and for a moment threw it into disorder. But Scarlett's men charged the Russians. The two opposing bodies of cavalry clashed and seemed to melt one within the other. Then the Russian horsemen yielded, and fled over the ridge whence they had first appeared five minutes before.

[Sidenote: The charge of the Light Brigade]

A disposition on the Russian side to carry off the captured guns induced Lord Raglan to send Lord Lucan an order "to advance rapidly to the front and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns." The order was carried by Captain Nolan, who found Lucan between his two brigades, with the Light Brigade beyond Woronzov road. Whose "front" was meant Lucan did not know. Nolan conjectured that "the guns" in question were those which had retired with the retreating Russian cavalry. Already the Russian cavalry had taken protection behind its works toward the Tchernaya, and was supported by Liprandi's troops posted along the Woronzov road, and by Russian guns bearing on the valley from the ridge and from Fedioukin heights. Nolan, Lord Lucan reported later, insisted that these very guns must be regained. Although Lord Cardigan of the Light Brigade shared Lucan's misgivings he obeyed the command. With the order, "The Brigade will advance!" the famous charge of the Six Hundred began. Nolan galloped obliquely across the Brigade as it started. He was killed by the first shell fired from a Russian gun. Into the thick of the Russians Cardigan rode with his men. The forlorn exploit has been immortalized by Alfred Tennyson:

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

[Sidenote: Liprandi's victory]

The whole Brigade would have been wiped out after the repulse, when the Russian cavalry rode in pursuit, had not several squadrons of French cuirassiers ridden to the rescue. The fact that the Russians retained the hills which they had captured justified Liprandi in claiming the victory.

[Sidenote: Preparing for battle]

In November, the French infantry in the Crimea numbered 81,000, the British 16,000, and the Turkish 11,000. Brave as the Moslems undoubtedly were, they were not permitted to demonstrate their value in subsequent encounters. While the allies strengthened their batteries and replenished their magazines, the Russians likewise fortified their position and gathered reinforcements. It was a race on both sides for the first delivery of the attack. On November 4, the allied commanders definitely arranged for a cannonade and an assault which was to place Sebastopol at their mercy. The Russians, recognizing their peril, completed the assembly of their forces to attack the allies and forestall them. In all, Menzikov could oppose 115,000 soldiers to the 65,000 available men of the allies. The Russian commander assigned the main attack to General Soimonov with 19,000 infantry and 38 guns and to General Paulov with 16,000 infantry and 96 guns. The regiments in the valley of the Tchernaya, formerly commanded by Liprandi, but now led by Gortschakov, were "to support the general attack by drawing the enemy's forces toward them." The garrison of Sebastopol was to cover with its artillery fire the right flank of the attacking force. After effecting their junction, the two divisions were to place themselves under General Danneberg's command.

[Sidenote: Inkermann]

Soimonov issued under cover of a thick fog from the fortress before dawn on November 5, and to the surprise of the allies began the attack on the English left. The timely arrival of reinforcements under Buller enabled the British to repel the Russians. Soimonov was left dead on the field. The attack of Paulov on the right was no more successful. The Russians were here repulsed with frightful loss. When Danneberg arrived on the scene he found that, with Paulov's battalions on Mount Inkermann and with those of Soimonov, he could recommence the battle with 19,000 men and 90 guns. Ten thousand of these men were hurled against the English centre and right by Danneberg. The carnage was frightful. Between the hostile lines rose a rampart of fallen men. The Russians would probably have swept away the British by the sheer force of greater numbers, had they not been taken in the flank and repulsed by a French regiment which arrived just in time to save their English comrades.

[Sidenote: A dear victory]

Although the Russian attacking force had been diminished to 6,000 men, it was once more resolutely launched against the enemy, this time against the centre and left of the allied armies. So impetuous was the assault, that for a time the Russians carried all before them. But a simultaneous, irresistible advance of the French and English not only repulsed the attacking force, but drove it off the field. Shortly before noon the battle was decided. The heavy losses suffered by the Russians enabled the allies to oppose greater numbers of men against Danneberg's broken battalions and his still unused reserve, and to make use of their guns, now for the first time superior in number to the Russian ordnance. The battle of Inkermann closed with no grand charge on the one side, nor wild flight on the other. When the Russians saw that success was hopeless, they withdrew gradually, with no attempt on the part of the wearied allies to convert the repulse into a rout. On both sides, men had been ruthlessly sacrificed.

[Sidenote: Crimean horrors]

Inkermann was followed by a gloomy winter. The Black Sea was swept by terrible storms which destroyed transport ships laden with stores for the army. The horses that charged at Balaklava became unfit for service; the men who had fought at Inkermann languished in field hospitals. In the wretchedly organized lazarets at Scutari the sick and wounded died by scores for lack of proper medical attendance. Shameful frauds were perpetrated in filling the contracts for preserved meats. With grim humor "Punch" exclaimed: "One man's preserved meat is another man's poison." After the harrowing misery that prevailed in camp had been pictured in the London newspapers, something like system was finally established in the hospitals by the energy of Miss Florence Nightingale.

[Sidenote: Sardinia's offered help]

Balaklava and Inkermann had a profound effect upon the diplomatic negotiation of the Powers. England and France attempted to induce Austria and Prussia to take arms against the Czar. But Prussia would do nothing without the Confederation; and Austria would do nothing without Prussia. Buol-Schauenstein, the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, would gladly have mediated; but the prospects of success were not rosy. To the annoyance of Austria, Piedmont, which had maintained its position in Italy despite Austria, offered to take part in the war. Austria saw that she must now act quickly if she wished to preserve her European prestige. On December 2, she signed a treaty with England and France binding herself not to negotiate separately with the Czar; to defend the principalities which she had occupied in accordance with her compact with Turkey, after their evacuation by the Russians; and to deliberate with the Powers as to the best course to be pursued if the war were not ended by January 1, 1855. The treaty was intended merely to thwart Piedmont.

1855

[Sidenote: Crimean war scandals]

[Sidenote: Parliamentary inquiry]

Complaints of neglect and maladministration in the Crimea waxed ever louder. The reports of the war correspondents at the front aroused indignation in London and Paris. Now the London "Times" came out with a leading article which produced a profound sensation throughout England. The burden of it was a bitter complaint that "the noblest army ever sent from our shores has been sacrificed to the grossest mismanagement. Incompetency, lethargy, aristocratic hauteur, official indifference, favor, routine, perverseness and stupidity reign, revel, and riot in the camp before Sebastopol, in the harbor of Balaklava, in the hospitals of Scutari, and how much nearer home we do not venture to say. We say it with extremest reluctance, no one sees or hears anything of the Commander-in-Chief. Officers who landed on the 14th of September, and have incessantly been engaged in all the operations of the siege, are not even acquainted with the face of their commander." The exposures of the "Times" were taken up in Parliament. Already Lord John Russell had urged upon the Earl of Aberdeen the necessity of having the War Minister in the House of Commons, and recommended that Lord Palmerston should be intrusted with the portfolio of war. The Prime Minister refused to recommend the proposed change to the Queen, on the ground that it would be unfair to the Duke of Newcastle, against whom, he said, no positive defect had been proved. As soon as Parliament assembled on January 25, the opposition moved for a commission of inquiry "into the condition of our army before Sebastopol, and into the conduct of those departments whose duty it has been to minister to the wants of that army." Lord John Russell at once wrote to Lord Aberdeen that since this motion could not be resisted, and was sure to involve a censure of the War Department, he preferred to tender his resignation. The retirement of the leaders of the House of Commons served to paralyze the government's resistance. After a debate of two nights the motion for an inquiry was accepted by 305 against 148 votes. As Mr. Molesworth, who was present, wrote:

[Sidenote: Aberdeen's Ministry defeated]

"Never, perhaps, had a government been more decisively defeated. When the numbers were announced, the House seemed to be surprised, and almost stunned by its own act. There was no cheering; but for a few moments a dead silence, followed by a burst of derisive laughter. The Ministers of course resigned."

[Sidenote: Palmerston, Premier]

Lord John Russell and Lord Derby, each in turn, tried to form a Ministry, but both failed. Lord Palmerston was then called in, and succeeded in rallying a Cabinet composed largely of the members of the old Administration. Thus Lord Granville, Earl Grey, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Clarendon and William E. Gladstone were retained. The chief change was the appointment of Lord Panmure to take the place of the Duke of Newcastle as Secretary of War. Lord Panmure, better known as Fox Maule, had already served as Minister of War during the six years of Lord Russell's administration, and had shown himself thoroughly capable in that post. Commissions of inquiry were now sent to the Crimea. At the same time diplomatic conferences were reopened at Vienna.

[Sidenote: Cavour's master-stroke]

The evident insincerity of Count Buol stirred up a hornet's nest of indignation. The people of England and France became incensed as they saw that Austria showed no inclination to fight. Prussia flatly refused to assist Austria in any warlike undertaking. Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia took advantage of the situation to join the allies. On April 21 he sent 15,000 men to the Crimea.

During the diplomatic parleys of the Powers, the siege of Sebastopol wearily dragged along. The commissariat and land-transport systems broke down. The armies were weakened by cholera, cold, and starvation. Negotiations for peace were set on foot by Austria. A conference was opened at Vienna under promising auspices.

[Sidenote: Death of Emperor Nicholas]

[Sidenote: The Four Points]

Czar Nicholas, with whom the war was a personal grievance, died on March 2--of pulmonary apoplexy, reported the physicians--of bitter disappointment and despair, claimed his people. His son, Alexander II., peace-loving as he was known to be, did not venture to show himself less of a true Russian than his father. The Conference proved a failure. Lord John Russell, England's representative, was instructed to insist upon the admission of Turkey into the Concert of Powers. To secure this end, four principal points were to be considered, now famous under the name of the Four Points--the fate of the Danube principalities, the free navigation of the Danube, the limitation of Russian supremacy in the Black Sea, and the preservation of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. The attempt to limit Russia's supremacy in the Black Sea was the chief point upon which the Powers could not agree.

[Sidenote: Changes at the front]

The operations in the Crimea were vigorously renewed. Lord Raglan died and was succeeded by General Simpson. Long before him, old Marshal St. Arnaud was carried away by disease. His post was taken by Canrobert, who afterward resigned in favor of Pelissier. On August 16, the Russians under Liprandi made a desperate effort to raise the siege by an attack on the allies. The assault was made on the French divisions and on the Sardinian contingent. Liprandi was foiled. Northern Italy was in a delirium of joy when the news came that the banner of Piedmont had been carried to victory over a great Power, side by side with the flag of France. The far-sightedness of Cavour's audacious policy was now fully appreciated.

[Sidenote: Russian works assaulted]

[Sidenote: Zouaves storm the Malakov]

[Sidenote: British beaten off]

[Sidenote: Sebastopol yielded to allies]

[Sidenote: Cost of the great siege]

The repulse proved fatal to the Russians. Nearer and nearer the French drew to the city. But the ingenious Todleben threw up works which also brought the Russians closer to the enemy. Sometimes it seemed as if the allies were the besieged and not the besiegers. Malakov Tower and the Mamelon battery in front of it were the scenes of bloody conflicts. Night sorties were made and repelled. On June 7, the English assaulted the quarries in front of the Redan, and the French assailed the Mamelon. Both attempts were successful. On the 18th, a fierce attack was made on the Redan and the Malakov batteries, which resulted in failure, because the French did not act with sufficient precision. A simultaneous assault was made on the Malakov and the Redan on September 5. The French upon capturing the Malakov were to hoist their flag, and thereby signal to the English when to move against the Redan. A brilliant success was won by the Zouaves. Their tricolor waved over the ramparts fifteen minutes after they had started to scale the steep heights. The task of the English troops proved more difficult. They were compelled to advance under a galling fire, but stormed the parapets despite the resistance which they encountered. The attacking force, however, was too small; reinforcements did not come in time, and the remnant of the party was compelled to withdraw. It was the story of Balaklava told over again with bloody emphasis--the story of splendid courage on the part of the men, of wretched generalship on the part of their commanders. After the attack, the Russians withdrew from the south side of Sebastopol. That portion of the city had been so thoroughly bombarded that Gortschakov could no longer hold out. "It is not Sebastopol that we have left to them, but the burning ruins of the town, to which we ourselves set fire," wrote the Russian commander after his brave defence. He could indeed boast that later generations would "recall with pride" the great siege and its stirring events. The investment had lasted eleven months. It involved the construction of seventy miles of trenches and the employment of 60,000 fascines, 80,000 gabions, and 1,000,000 sandbags. One and one-half million shells and shot were fired into the town from the cannon of the besiegers. The Russian forces in and about Sebastopol numbered 150,000; their losses sustained in its defence amounted, in killed, wounded and missing, to 90,142. The allied armies numbered 80,650 French, 43,000 English, and 20,000 Turks in January, 1855. The British troops suffered terribly from disease. The forty-one English infantry battalions, which embarked originally, mustered 36,923, and were reinforced by 27,884. Their strength at the conclusion of hostilities was 653 less than it was at the beginning. The Sardinians suffered proportionately. The wastage, due principally to disease, thus amounted to 28,537 men.

[Sidenote: The defense of Kars]

With the fall of Sebastopol the war may be said to have ended. A brilliant chapter which had little effect on the Crimean campaign, partly because it occurred after the fall of Sebastopol, partly because it concerned chiefly the Armenians, was the long defence of Kars by Colonel Williams and Wassif Pasha against an overwhelming Russian army under General Muraviev. Williams sturdily held his ground, bravely repulsed a violent attack in which the Russians lost over 5,000 men, and surrendered on November 27, with all the honors of war, only when starvation stared his little garrison in the face.

[Sidenote: First ironclads before Kinburn]

[Sidenote: Success of first trial]

Hostilities still continued for a time in the Crimea. The allied fleet was sent to bombard various sea forts. The most important of these naval operations from a historical standpoint was the expedition against Kinburn, for here it was that the modern ironclad was first tried. On September 5, 1854, Napoleon had ordered the construction of five armored floating batteries, which embodied the results obtained in the tests of plating made before the War Ministry's representatives at Vincennes. The ships were of 1,400 tons displacement, were armed with eighteen 50-pounder smoothbores, and protected by four inches of iron armor. They were the prototypes of the later ironclads. Not without some misgivings three of these batteries were sent to the Crimea to join the allied fleet under Admirals Lyons and Bruat. The English squadron consisted of six line-of-battle ships, seventeen frigates and sloops, ten gunboats, six mortar-boats and ten transports. The French fleet, besides the three armored batteries mentioned, included four line-of-battle ships, three corvettes, four despatch boats, twelve gun boats and five mortar-boats. The combined fleets prepared to attack the Russian works at Kinburn. On October 18, the bombardment began. The ironclads steamed up to within 800 yards of the main fort; the other ships took up positions at distances varying from 1,200 to 2,800 yards. Without appreciable effect the Russian 32-pound and 18-pound shot and shell dropped into the sea from the iron plating of the French ships. Whatever injury was sustained was caused by the entrance of shot and splinters through the portholes. Unable to withstand the well-directed fire of their invulnerable enemy, the Russians hoisted the white flag, after having lost 45 killed and 130 wounded. The allies lost but two killed and had but forty-five wounded--all on board the armored ships. "Everything may be expected of these formidable engines of war," wrote Admiral Bruat in his report. The Black Sea was the cradle of the modern ironclad.

[Sidenote: Achievements in Science and Letter]

Another achievement of far-reaching consequences was Captain Henry Bessemer's process for manufacturing steel. He took out a patent for his invention of forcing air through liquid molten iron. Other inventions of interest were Brewster's prismatic stereoscope, Garcia's laryngoscope (a mirror for examining the throat), and Drummond's light, patented by Captain Thomas Drummond. Captain Robert Le Mesurier M'Clure of the "Investigator" received the L5,000 prize for the discovery of the Northwest Passage and was knighted. Famous English books of the year were Robert Browning's "Men and Women," Charles Kingsley's "Westward Ho!" and George Henry Lewes' "Life of Goethe."

[Sidenote: Death of Charlotte Bronte]

Charlotte Bronte, the novelist, died on the last day of March. She was born in 1824, the daughter of the Rev. Patrick Bronte of Haworth in Yorkshire. In June, 1854, she married her father's curate, the Rev. Archer Bell Nicholls. Under the pseudonym of Currer Bell she published several novels, in which she displayed great power in the delineation of character. The most important of these were "Shirley," "Villette" and the celebrated "Jane Eyre." At the same time her sister, Emily Jane, who published under the name of Ellis Bell, won fame by her novel "Wuthering Heights." She died six years earlier.

[Sidenote: Corot]

This year Jean-Baptiste Corot, the famous French painter of "Paysage Intime," and follower and modifier of the new realistic schools under the lead of Courbet, exhibited his "Souvenir de Marcoussy," which was purchased later by Napoleon III.

[Sidenote: Death of Rogers]

Samuel Rogers, the English poet, wit and patron of art, died, on December 18, in his ninety-second year. The son of a banker, he travelled extensively while a young man, and applied himself to the study of art and letters. His first published essays and poetry were an "Ode to Superstition" and "The Pleasures of Memory." The death of his father in 1793 left him in the possession of an ample fortune, and he lost no time in retiring from active business. In 1798 he published "The Epistle to a Friend" and other poems. During the early part of the Nineteenth Century, Rogers figured in the foremost rank of the literary and artistic society in London, where he went by the name of "The Banker Bard of St. James's Place." In 1812 he brought out an epic on "The Voyage of Columbus," which met with indifferent success. This was followed by "Jacqueline" and "Human Life." His last and largest publication was his descriptive poem "Italy," brought out in 1822. Rogers devoted the rest of his literary life to the publication of exquisitely illustrated editions of his "Italy" and his "Poems." Shortly after Rogers' death a collection of his witty sayings was published under the title of "Table Talk."

[Sidenote: Horace Vernet]

[Sidenote: His early works]

[Sidenote: Vernet's earnings]

[Sidenote: Highest artistic honors]

At the Parisian Art Exposition of this year, Horace Vernet, the celebrated French battle painter, had a Salon devoted entirely to his works. The walls were covered by his immense canvases. At this time Vernet was the most successful of French artists. Born at the Louvre at the outbreak of the French Revolution, Vernet in his early career was identified with the events of that epoch. For the Duke of Orleans he painted his celebrated series of the four revolutionary battles, "Jemmapes, Hanau, Montmirail, and Valmy." In 1812 he received his first important commission from King Jerome of Westphalia, and in 1813 another from Empress Marie Louise. In 1814, Horace Vernet, with his father and Gericault, fought on the Barriere de Clichy, and for his gallant conduct there received the decoration of the Legion of Honor from the hands of Napoleon. After the Restoration, Vernet achieved a great success by his "Battle of Torlosa," which was purchased for 6,000 francs for the Maison du Roi. At the Salon of 1819 Vernet contested the field with Gericault and Ingres, whose "Medusa" and "Odalisque" were the success of the season. By his popular lithographs of Napoleonic scenes, Vernet so jeopardized his interests at Court that it was thought best for him to transfer his studio from Paris to Rome. On his return from there in 1822 he painted his masterpiece, "The Defence of the Barrier of Clichy," for which Odiot paid 4,000 francs. It was presented to the Chamber of Peers, from which it was transferred subsequently to the Gallery of the Louvre. Thenceforward Vernet's pictures, the first of which had sold for a few hundred francs, commanded ever higher prices. For Avignon, his ancestral home, Horace Vernet painted "Mazeppa Pursued by Wolves," a picture which was injured by a sabre stroke in the artist's studio. After his election to the Institute, Vernet changed the style of his subjects, charging staggering prices. For a ceiling fresco in the Museum of Charles X. he received 17,910 francs; for "Phillip Augustus Before Bovines," now at Versailles, 24,775 francs; for "The Battle of Fontenoy," 30,000 francs. Still these pictures were scarcely up to the standard of the "Barrier of Clichy," and on Vernet's second removal to Rome his art seemed to decline. After many years spent in Rome and with French armies in Algiers and in the Orient, Vernet went to Russia, where he was received with great favor at the Court of the Czar. The highest financial point in his career was marked by a 50,000-franc commission for a portrait of the Russian Empress. He returned to France in good time to receive, in 1855, the greatest honors yet showered upon a French painter.

[Sidenote: "Leaves of Grass"]

[Sidenote: American "Know Nothings"]

In America, Longfellow brought out his "Hiawatha" and Walt Whitman published "Leaves of Grass." At this period the "Know Nothing" Party had come to be a power in politics. The party had started from a New York society formed to check the influence of the Pope, for purifying the ballot and maintaining the Bible in the public schools. It was called the American Party. Wherever the difference of opinion on the Missouri Compromise in 1854 dissolved party ties in the North, multitudes flocked to the new party. Before 1855 it had a million and a half of voters. In 1854 it all but wrecked the old organizations. In Virginia, Henry A. Wise, an old Whig, led the Democratic Party, and overthrew the new organization. At the National Convention of the new party, Southern resolutions were adopted by a vote of 80 to 59. The Northern delegates met and repudiated the anti-slavery alliance. In 1855 the party carried New York, California and Massachusetts, and the Democrats carried New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois.

[Sidenote: Stirring party contest]

[Sidenote: Buchanan elected]

The American Convention met in Philadelphia, February 22, and nominated Fillmore and Donelson. On the same day a convention met at Pittsburg to effect a national organization of the Republican Party, which appointed a National Convention for the 17th of June, the anniversary of Bunker Hill. The Democratic Convention met at Cincinnati. Pierce, Douglas and Buchanan were candidates. On the seventeenth ballot Buchanan was chosen by unanimous vote with Breckenridge for Vice-President. The Republican Convention met, and in it were King, Clay, Wilson and Wilmot. Fremont was made a candidate by 359 votes against 196 for McLean. For Vice-President, Abraham Lincoln had 110 votes, but Dayton received the majority. The nominees of the American Convention were afterward withdrawn. The various nominees each represented real issues. Buchanan stood for the South, Fremont for non-extension, and Fillmore for the Union. The election resulted in the choice of Buchanan, who received 1,838,169 votes, to Fremont's 1,341,000, and Fillmore's 875,000. Of the electoral votes, Buchanan received 174, Fremont 114, and Fillmore 8.

[Sidenote: Struggle in Kansas]

[Sidenote: "Bleeding Kansas"]

At another election in Kansas to choose members of the Territorial Legislature, armed bodies from Missouri took possession of the polls and elected a pro-slavery Legislature. Of 6,218 votes cast but 1,310 were legal. Governor Reeder set the election aside and ordered another. May 22, supplementary elections were held and the Free State men won. June 11, Governor Reeder was charged with fraud in the purchase of the Indian lands, and, on July 26, was removed. Dawson was appointed in his place, with Woodson as acting-governor. On July 2, the pro-slavery Legislature met at Pawnee, organized, expelled nine Free State members, and adjourned to the Shawnee Mission, near the Missouri State line. Thereupon the Free State men met at Lawrence, repudiated the Shawnee Mission Legislature as spurious, and summoned a new convention at Topeka. The Convention adopted a Free State Constitution, and nominated Reeder for Congress. On October 1, the pro-slavery party elected Whitfield for Congress by more votes than the census list contained. The Free Staters declared the pro-slavery Legislature to have been elected by fraud. A rival government was organized. Discord, violence, and crime prevailed for a year. "Bleeding Kansas" became an issue in American national politics.

[Sidenote: Congress takes action]

The House resolved by 101 to 93 votes to send a special committee to Kansas to inquire into the anarchy prevailing there. The committee consisted of Howard, Sherman, and Oliver. After several weeks' investigation they returned and reported that every election in Kansas had been carried by Missourians, and the people had been prevented from exercising their rights; that the Legislature was illegal and its acts null and void; that Whitfield held his seat under no valid law, and Reeder had received more votes than he; that a well-devised election law was necessary, and impartial judges should be guarded by United States troops, and that the Topeka Free Soil Convention embodied the will of the majority. A bill admitting Kansas under her free constitution was defeated by 107 to 106, but was subsequently passed by 99 to 97. In the Senate the bill was defeated. Meanwhile turmoil and disorder continued in Kansas. Finally negotiations between Shannon, and the Free State leaders suspended the feud for a time.

[Sidenote: Mexican filibusters]

[Sidenote: Count Bouldon shot]

[Sidenote: Alvarez revolution]

[Sidenote: Santa Anna withdraws]

[Sidenote: Anarchy in Mexico]

[Sidenote: General Comonfort]

The latest attempts to overthrow the government in Mexico, while they brought General Santa Anna once more to the head of affairs seriously imperilled his position. After the release of the United States Government from guarding the frontiers of Mexico, the Indians once more became troublesome. Predatory bands of Apaches and Comanches so ravaged the province of Cohauila that the government had to distribute arms among the inhabitants. A filibustering expedition under Major Walker of Kentucky established itself in Lower California. They proclaimed the independence of that province, so as to bring about annexation by the United States. A strong display of Mexican forces had the effect of driving them into Texas. Another filibustering expedition led by a French adventurer who called himself Count Raousset de Bouldon terrorized the north. From Guyamas this expedition marched inland, but was defeated in the first encounter with a strong Mexican force. Raousset de Bouldon was taken captive and was shot. More serious was a military revolution in the south led by General Alvarez. In his proclamation of Ayutla, Alvarez called for a new Constitution and a new Congress, and promised such reforms as the abolition of personal taxation, of military conscription, and of the feudal system of passports. Other popular leaders like Bravo and Moreno joined the movement. In vain did Santa Anna put forth all the powers of a military dictator. The revolutionists took Monterey, and the insurrection spread throughout the country until it reached the capital. Santa Anna gathered fourteen hundred of his best troops and left the City of Mexico to march upon his enemies. Soon the hopelessness of his enterprise became apparent. On the way to Vera Cruz he suddenly abdicated, and embarked on August 19 for Havana. Scarcely had Santa Anna left Mexico when the country was plunged into new disorders. General Carrera, on August 15, declared for the plan of Ayutla and proclaimed himself Vice-President. Funds were raised by a forced loan from the clerical orders. Several provinces of Mexico refused to recognize Carrera. Within a month he had to abdicate. He was succeeded at first by General Diaz de la Vavaga, and then by Juan Alvarez, the leader of the Puros. While he tried to establish his rule, General Vidini in the north strove to wrest the States of Cohauila, Tamaulipas and Nuego Leon from Mexico, to form an independent republic under the name of Sierra Madre. Before the close of the year Alvarez likewise found his position untenable and resigned. General Comonfort seized the reins of power as substitute president--the thirty-sixth President within forty years, the fifth within four months. He fell heir to the serious international complication with Spain resulting from the unpaid dividends of Mexico's original debt of indemnity to that country.

[Sidenote: Growth of Taiping movement]

In China, the Taiping rebels still holding Lintsing were beset by the imperial troops. They were expelled from the province of Shantung during the spring, but on the other hand carried their arms up the Yangtse-Kiang as far as Ichang, and eastward from Nanking to the sea. The establishment of the Taiping power at Nanking attracted the attention of Europeans. At length a ruthless system of capital executions, by which nearly one hundred thousand victims are believed to have perished, terrorized China.

1856

In America, the increasing virulence of the long controversy over slavery was brought home to the people by a cowardly assault committed by one Albert Rust upon Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York "Tribune," and one of the leaders of the agitation against slavery.

[Sidenote: Buford in Kansas]

[Sidenote: The "Kansas War"]

At a Territorial election in Kansas on January 15 a Legislature was chosen, and Robinson was elected Governor under the Free State Constitution. January 26, President Pierce recognized the pro-slavery Legislature in Kansas, and, on February 11, by proclamation ordered the dispersion of armed invaders of Kansas. The Legislature met at Topeka, March 4, and inaugurated Robinson. Congress appointed a committee to investigate the Kansas troubles. On May 5, the Grand Jury of Douglas County found indictments against Reeder, Robinson and Lane, the Free State leaders. In the spring of 1856, Colonel Buford of Alabama, with a thousand young men from South Carolina and Georgia, came to Kansas in military array. In May, Lawrence was surrounded by these men bearing Federal arms taken from the United States armory. Nearly all the pro-slavery leaders were with them. They demanded the surrender of the people's arms. The inhabitants were unprepared to resist. The armed pro-slavery force marched through the town, destroying the hotels and printing-offices and the residence of Governor Robinson, doing a damage of $150,000. Such was the beginning of the "Kansas War" which continued throughout the year.

[Sidenote: "Osawatomie Brown"]

Acting-Governor Woodson proclaimed the Territory to be in a state of rebellion. A large pro-slavery force was gathering at Lecompton and another at Santa Fe. Osawatomie was captured, seven men were killed and thirty buildings burned. Among the killed was a son of John Brown. Atchison's pro-slavery force withdrew into Missouri. On September 1, in a municipal election at Leavenworth, an armed band of Missourians killed and wounded a number of Free State men, burned their houses, and compelled one hundred and fifty of them to embark for St. Louis.

[Sidenote: Fight at Lawrence]

The attack on Lawrence was renewed under the direct authority of the government. Many lives were lost. The United States troops at Leavenworth were used by Shannon. The Free State Legislature was dispersed by the United States forces. Other Missouri forces invaded the Territory and destroyed Brown's village of Osawatomie, but the Free State men compelled them to retreat across the Missouri. In September, President Pierce appointed Gray Governor of Kansas. Arriving at Lecompton, he released Robinson and other Free State prisoners on bail, and ordered all hostile forces to disband. On September 15, three regiments of Missourians with cannon attacked Lawrence. Governor Gray with United States troops compelled them to retire. December 15, Lecompton, a partisan judge, was removed on demand of the Governor, and Harrison of Kentucky was appointed. The Free State preponderance among settlers constantly increased. Nearly all the clearing, plowing, and planting was done by Free State men. All manner of irregularities constantly thinned the ranks of volunteers from the South. Kansas, according to Greeley's expressive phrase, "was steadily hardening into the bone and sinew of a Free State."

[Sidenote: Senator Sumner assaulted]

The National Convention of the American Party virtually approved the Fugitive Slave law and the Kansas-Nebraska act. In Congress, Sumner delivered a philippic on "The Crime against Kansas," in which he commented severely on Senator Butler of South Carolina. Thereupon Preston Brooks brutally assaulted Sumner in his seat in the Senate. As a result of his injuries Sumner was an invalid for four years.

[Sidenote: Puebla revolts]

In Mexico, President Comonfort had barely reached a temporary adjustment of difficulties with Spain when his government was embarrassed by a serious insurrection in Puebla. Government troops in overwhelming numbers put a bloody end to the revolt. Orihuela, the rebel chief, was shot.

[Sidenote: Friction with Spain]

[Sidenote: Civil war in Mexico]

A new liberal Constitution in Mexico, proclaimed by President Comonfort, did not mend matters much in that distracted republic. New troubles with Spain arose over unpunished robberies and murders of Spanish subjects. In March, diplomatic intercourse between the two countries was severed. Spanish warships were ordered to the Gulf of Mexico. At the last moment, diplomatic mediation on the part of England and France succeeded in averting war. General Comonfort, finding himself unable to make much headway by constitutional means, invoked the help of General Zuloaga, and established himself once more as military dictator. When it came to dividing the spoils, Comonfort and Zuloaga fell out, and a seven days' conflict resulted. Comonfort's followers were routed. The defeated President had to flee the country.

[Sidenote: Death of Heine]

[Sidenote: Heine's Muse]

Heinrich Heine, the foremost German lyric poet, died at Paris, February 18. The last ten years of his life were clouded by ill health. Heine derived his first poetic inspiration from A.W. Schlegel, while a student at the University of Bonn. In the literary and artistic circle of Rachel Varnhagel in Berlin he found further encouragement in his early literary labors. He was a Jew, but, for the purpose of taking up the study of law, he had himself baptized a Christian, and became a doctor of law at the University of Goettingen. After a journey to England, he gave up law to devote himself exclusively to the pursuit of letters. In 1827, he brought out his "Buch der Lieder," and followed this up with the first part of his famous "Reisebilder." Heine's lyrics, by their unwonted grace and sprightliness, captivated German readers. Some of his songs, like that of the "Lorelei" or "Thou Art Like a Flower," soon became German folksongs. More characteristic, perhaps, of Heine's light muse are lines like these:

A youth once loved a maiden,
But for another she sighed;
This other loved still another
And took her for his bride.

The maid for spite then married
The first that came along;
Alas for the youth who loved her,
He suffered grievous wrong!

It is an old, old story,
But yet it is ever new,
And the one to whom it happens
His heart is broken in two.

[Sidenote: The poet in Paris]

[Sidenote: "La Mouche"]

Shortly after the July Revolution, Heine went to Paris, where he became a contributor to several of the foremost literary journals of the day as a writer of French feuilletons. His French prose style was almost equal to his brilliant command of German. Not until 1844 did Heine bring out any new German poems. Then he published the epic satires "Germany, a Winter's Tale," and "Atta Troll, a Summer Night's Dream," two works which aroused intense indignation in Germany. Much was made of the fact that Heine accepted an annual pension of 4,800 francs from the government of Louis Philippe. On the other hand, Heine made the terse observation that whenever he was treated with rude discourtesy he could be sure that he had met a German. In Paris, the poet was captivated by the charm of young Matilde Mirat, his "lotos flower," as he called her, or also "la mouche." The uneducated yet infinitely charming and loyal grisette was the good angel of Heine's later years. On the eve of the famous duel with his rival poet Boerne, in 1841, Heine married Matilde at the Church of St. Sulpice.

[Sidenote: Deathbed wit]

To his sorrow the poet lived many more years suffering great agony from a spinal complaint which confined him to his bed, or "mattress grave" as he called it. His powers of wit and raillery never failed him, even to the last. On the night before he died an anxious friend called to bid farewell. He asked if the dying man had made his "peace with God." Heine replied with a wan smile: "Do not trouble yourself. God will pardon me. That's his trade." These were the last recorded words spoken by Heine. Another story has it that when the physician put a handglass to the lips of the dying man and said, "Can you hiss (siffler)?" Heine murmured, "No, not even a play of Scribe."

[Sidenote: German romantic poets]

Among German writers of this period, Friedrich Rueckert, the lyric poet, and Fritz Reuter, who wrote in Low German dialect, were at the height of their activity. Emanuel Geibel presented himself as heir presumptive to the mantle of Heine. Unlike Heine, this poet devoted his muse to the glorification of German patriotism. He achieved such a success that he was soon called to Munich, where he brought out the first "Golden Book of Poets." Other German poets, such as Gottfried Kinkel, the revolutionist, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, and Ferdinand Freiligrath, famous outside of Germany for his happy translations of English and American verse, had to write their poems in exile.

[Sidenote: Biela's comet]

On February 18, Wilhelm von Biela, the great German astronomer, died at Venice. Born in 1782 at Rossla in the Hartz Mountains, he entered the Austrian military service in 1805, and was made colonel in 1826, and commandant of Rovigo in 1832. On February 27, 1826, he discovered the famous comet named after him. According to Biela's prediction, the comet returned every six years and thirty-eight weeks until 1852. Thereafter it was not seen as a comet during the century. Biela also discovered two other comets.

[Sidenote: Crimean peace conference]

[Sidenote: Black Sea and Danube opened]

[Sidenote: Status Quo in Balkans]

After the fall of Sebastopol, Austria made another attempt to secure peace. Two of the Powers, France and Russia, were heartily weary of the war. Louis Napoleon had entered the struggle merely to gain military glory and political prestige. He had succeeded in attaining his ends. Alexander II., who had continued the war largely as a matter of filial piety, was ready to seize the first opportunity to conclude peace with honor. A Congress was therefore assembled in Paris to draw up terms satisfactory to all concerned. On March 30, a treaty was signed which gave Kars back to the Sultan and restored Sebastopol to the Czar. The Porte was admitted to the Concert of Powers. Most important was the regulation of the navigation of the Black Sea. It was decreed in the treaty that "the Black Sea is neutralized; its waters and its ports, thrown open to the mercantile marine of every nation, are formally and in perpetuity interdicted to the flag of war of the Powers possessing its coasts or of any other Power." Patrolling of the sea by small armed vessels was permitted. The Danube was thrown open to the commerce of the world. In order more fully to secure free navigation of the river, the Czar's frontier in Bessarabia was somewhat changed by the cession of certain territory to Moldavia under the suzerainty of the Porte. Both Wallachia and Moldavia continued under the protection of Turkey, and were permitted to enjoy their former privileges. The _status quo_ of Servia was assured. It was further stipulated that, following the ancient rule of the Sultans, no foreign war vessels were to pass through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus while Turkey was at peace. To insure the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, England, France and Austria signed a treaty, on April 15, guaranteeing the independence of the Sultan's dominions and declaring that any violation of this would call for war.

[Sidenote: The Paris convention]

Besides drawing up the treaty of peace, the Congress of Paris settled various moot points in international law. The plenipotentiaries all agreed to the doctrines: "First, privateering is and remains abolished. Second, the neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of war. Third, neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under an enemy's flag. Fourth, blockades in order to be binding must be effective; that is to say, maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the enemy's coast." The United States of America did not subscribe to this convention.

[Sidenote: Results of Crimean war]

Russia came out of the conflict defeated but respected. She had received a check in the Black Sea and her frontier line had been readjusted. Still her political losses were trivial. The war most deeply affected Austria. She had played a false game and had lost. The sceptre of European leadership slipped from her. The situation afforded to Bismarck and Cavour the opportunity each was anxiously awaiting.

[Sidenote: Italy benefited]

Cavour had won his first point. At the Conference of Paris he took his place as a representative of Sardinia by right of an alliance with the other great Powers. Then it was seen that every Italian soldier who had fallen on the Tchernaya, or who had wasted away in the fever-stricken camps, had died indeed for the honor of Italy among the nations of the world. At the close of the Conference Cavour made a plain statement concerning the misgovernment of southern and central Italy and the evils of the Austrian occupation. When Count Buol von Schauenstein protested, the French and English representatives supported Cavour. The effect of these representations was such that there was a sudden change in Austria's restrictive measures hitherto inflicted upon her Italian dominions. Old Marshal Radetzky, the man of the sword, was retired. The sequestrated Italian estates were returned to their owners. Emperor Francis Joseph came in person to Milan to proclaim a general amnesty. His brother Maximilian, a prince of liberal tendencies, came with his young bride Charlotte to undo the harsh measures of the military government. Maximilian's liberal policy proved too much for the narrow spirit of the Ministry at home.

[Sidenote: After effects in England]

[Sidenote: Friction with America]

[Sidenote: Australian Home Rule]

One of the first results of the Crimean war was the threatened suspension of the Bank of England. In November, it was found that the reserve funds of the Bank had shrunk to L1,462,153, while the deposits that might at any moment be drawn out aggregated L18,248,003. In these circumstances, a special bill of Parliament authorized a new issue of paper notes for L180,000 more than the law permitted. Furthermore, the war with Russia left behind it a dispute between the governments of Great Britain and of the United States. Under the provisions of a recent foreign enlistment bill in England, American citizens had been induced to enter the British military service. The American Government complained that the practice was in violation of international law. The point was practically conceded by the English Government, which at once put a stop to the enlistment of American citizens and tendered an apology to the government of the United States. The situation was aggravated by the fact that one of the attaches of the American Legation in London at this very time was refused admission to a diplomatic levee at the Court of St. James because he did not appear in court dress. The British Minister at Washington received his passports. In Australia, the first Home Rule Parliament had been opened at Sydney by Sir William Denison. The popular elections were conducted under the famous ballot system which was afterward adopted in other parts of the world.

[Sidenote: Singular suicidal mania]

In South Africa, the province of Natal was separated from Cape Colony, and became an independent Crown Colony with a constitution of its own. The land of the Basutos, no longer under British protectorate, suffered greatly from hostile incursions and cattle raids from the Boers. During the summer the Kaffirs fell victims to a fatal delusion. Their prophet Amaxosa foretold the resurrection of all their dead heroes and warriors, on condition that they themselves should put an end to their lives. In all, some 50,000 Kaffirs committed suicide. Emigrants from Cape Colony occupied the Kaffir lands, which had become depopulated.

[Sidenote: Affair of "The Arrow"]

[Sidenote: British reprisals on China]

[Sidenote: Canton bombarded]

[Sidenote: Insufficient British forces]

In October, the Chinese Emperor, beset as he was by the victorious Taiping rebels, was made to feel the heavy hand of Great Britain. A Portuguese lorcha, "The Arrow," flying the British flag though without British register, was overhauled by the Chinese authorities while at anchor near Dutch Folly. One of her crew had been recognized as one of a band of pirates who had committed some recent outrages. The Taotai of Canton had the offender arrested. Sir John Bowring at Hong Kong at once protested. The Chinese Imperial Commissioner Yeh replied that "The Arrow" was not a foreign vessel, and therefore declined to enter into any discussion about her. As a first step toward obtaining reparation the British seized a Chinese imperial junk and held her in reprisal. As this failed to bring the Chinese to terms, Sir Michael Seymour with a British squadron bombarded and seized the barrier forts of Canton. The fleet proceeded up the river, and, after capturing the Chinese fort of Macao Passage, came to anchor before Canton. An ultimatum was addressed to Yeh, stating that unless he at once complied with all English demands they would "proceed with the destruction of all the defences and public buildings of the city and of the government vessels in the harbor." No reply was vouchsafed. The Canton forts were seized by the British and their men-of-war trained guns on the city. All able-bodied Chinamen were called upon by the Viceroy of Canton to rally for the defence of their city. The British bombarded Canton and sunk a large fleet of Chinese war junks up the river. A fort at French Folly was reduced, and the Bogue forts on both sides of the river were captured. The Chinese retaliated by burning the whole foreign settlement, and by chopping off the heads of all the Englishmen who came into their power. Sir Michael Seymour found his force inadequate to capture Canton, and had to withdraw from his positions while he sent home a request for reinforcements. The urgency of the request opened the eyes of the British Foreign Secretary to the gravity of the situation. A force of 1,500 men was at once sent from England, another regiment from Mauritius, and a division from the Madras army. The situation in India shortly became such that this force never reached China.

[Sidenote: British war with Persia]

New difficulties had arisen with Persia respecting Herat. The death of Yar Muhammad Khan in 1852 was followed by intrigues in Herat. The province became a bone of contention between the Shah of Persia and the aged Dost Muhammad Khan. This ruler's hostility to England during the second Sikh war had been condoned, and a treaty of friendship concluded between him and Lord Dalhousie. In virtue of this treaty the British sided with Dost Muhammad. When the Shah moved an army into Herat and captured the capital, England declared war on Persia. Arms and munitions in great quantity were presented to Dost Muhammad, together with a subsidy of ten thousand pounds a month so long as the Persian war should last. An expedition under Sir James Outram was sent from Bombay to the Gulf of Persia. The capture of Bushire by the English and their victory at Mohamrah brought the Shah of Persia to withdraw his troops from Afghanistan. Herat was relinquished. While the war lasted a new danger to the British Indian Empire arose at Delhi. In July, the heir-apparent of old Bahadur Shah, the reigning King of Delhi, suddenly died. A younger queen was believed to have poisoned him. She persuaded Bahadur Shah to proclaim her son heir to the throne. Lord Canning withheld Great Britain's recognition. An elder brother was recognized as successor by Lord Canning, on condition that he should leave Delhi upon his succession to the throne and take up his abode at Kutut. The young Queen was moved to wild wrath. She was a daughter of the House of Nadir Shah, burning with the traditional ambitions of her family. Forthwith she took a part in all manner of intrigues against the English on the side of Persia as well as of the Afghans. The remarkable outbursts of anti-British feeling that followed have been credited to her.

1857

[Sidenote: Chinese war ships sank]

[Sidenote: Assault on Fatshan]