Chapter VII (2)

We talked over Lord Raglan and his capacity for command, and we both agreed that he had given no proofs of his fitness for so mighty a task. Clarendon said he was struck with the badness of his private letters, as he had been from the beginning by those from Varna, showing that he had evidently not a spark of imagination and no originality. We both agreed that it would never do to hint a doubt about his merits or capacity, and at all events that he is probably equal to anybody likely to be opposed to him. His personal bravery is conspicuous, and he exposes himself more than he ought. It is said that one of his aides-de-camp remonstrated with him and received a severe rebuff, Raglan telling him to mind his own business, and if he did not like the fire to go to the rear. Clarendon says there is no chance of taking Sebastopol this year, nor of taking it at all till we have an army strong enough to drive the Russians out of the Crimea. For this, 150,000 men would be required to make it a certainty; but with this force, no Russian army, however numerous, could resist the allies, and then the place would fall. This is a distant prospect. I expressed my wonder at the Russians being able to obtain supplies, and he said they got them from the Don and from Kertch.

SUFFERINGS OF THE ARMY.

_December 5th._--I was at Middleton on Saturday and returned yesterday. There I saw a letter from Stafford, who is at Constantinople tending the sick and wounded, writing for and reading to them, and doing all the good he can--a very wise and benevolent way of re-establishing his reputation and making his misdeeds at the Admiralty forgotten.[1] He says he had heard so much of the sufferings and privations of the soldiers, and of the bad state of the hospitals, that he resolved to go there and judge for himself of the truth of all that had been written and asserted on the subject; that he did so, and found the very worst accounts exceeded by the reality, and that nothing could be more frightful and appalling than it all was. It had greatly improved, but still was bad enough. The accounts published in the 'Times,' therefore, turn out to be true, and all the aid that private charity could supply was no more than was needed. I believe there has been no lack of zeal and humanity here, but a great deal of ignorance and inexperience, and, above all, culpable negligence on the part of Lord Stratford, who had _carte blanche_ from the Government as to expense, and who, after having done his best to plunge us into this war, might at least have given his time and attention to provide relief for the victims of it; but it seems that from some fit of ill-temper he has chosen to do nothing, and evinced nothing but indifference to the war itself and all its incidents ever since it broke out. This I am assured is the case. His wife has been very active and humane, and done all she could to assist Miss Nightingale in her mission of benevolence and charity. But to return to Stafford's letter. He says that while nothing could exceed the heroism of our soldiers, the incapacity of their chiefs was equally conspicuous, and that the troops had no confidence in their leaders; he adds, it is essential to give them a good general if the war goes on. This, and much more that I have heard, confirms the previous impression on my mind that Raglan is destitute of military genius or skill, and quite unequal to the command of a great army. It does not appear, however, that the enemy are better off than we are in this respect, and we do not know that in England a better general would now be found. The man, Stafford says, in whom the army seem to have the greatest confidence is Sir Colin Campbell. All this is very serious, and does not tend to inspire a great expectation of glorious results. From what Clarendon said to me it is evident that _he_ does not think much of Raglan, but it would never do to express any doubt of his ability or of his measures in public. Delane told me yesterday that he had received letters without end in this sense, and that he entertained the same doubts that I did, but should take care not to give utterance to them in the 'Times.' This reserve is the more necessary and even just because, after all, the opinions may not be well founded; and, as it is impossible to change the command, it is very desirable not to weaken the authority and self-confidence of the General by casting doubts upon his conduct of the war.

[Footnote 1: Mr. Augustus Stafford had been Secretary to the Admiralty under Lord Derby's first Administration, where he was supposed not to have done well; but when the accounts arrived of the sufferings and privations of the army in the dreadful winter of 1854-5, Mr. Stafford was one of the first persons to go out and endeavour to relieve the deplorable condition of the troops.]

_December 11th._--For the last week the Austrian Treaty has occupied everybody's thoughts, though, as the exact terms of it are not yet known, people do not very well know what to expect from it. The great question that lies behind it is, whether Prussia will follow in the wake of Austria, and the rest of Germany with her. If all Germany joins the Allies it seems absolutely impossible that Russia should offer any effectual resistance to such a combination of forces; and it will then be to be seen what impression can be made on an Empire which, with many political deficiencies, nature has made so strong for defensive purposes, and, if the contest continues, whether the opinions and object of the Allies will not diverge and ultimately break up the alliance.

MR. BRIGHT ON THE WAR.

Bright has published his letter in a penny form (or somebody has done it for him) with _pièces justificatives_ extracted from the Blue Books and from other sources, and in my opinion he makes out a capital and unanswerable case. He does not, indeed, prove, nor attempt to prove, that the Emperor of Russia is in the right absolutely, but he makes out that he is in the right as against England and France, and he shows up the conduct of the Western Powers very successfully. But in the present temper of the country, and while the war fever is still raging with undiminished violence, all appeals to truth and reason will be totally unavailing. Those who entertain such opinions either wholly or in part do not dare to avow them, and all are hurried along in the vortex. I do not dare to avow them myself; and even for holding my tongue, and because I do not join in the senseless clamour which everywhere resounds, I am called 'a Russian.' The progress of the contest has changed the nature of public opinion, for now its principal motive is the deep interest taken in the success of our arms and the safety of the band of heroes who have been fighting in the Crimea. This is, of course, right and patriotic, and a feeling which must be common to those who have been against, and those who have been for the war.

_Panshanger, December 14th._--The debates on Tuesday night were on the whole satisfactory, and not bad for the Government. Derby made a slashing, effective philippic on the text of 'Too late,' asserting that the fault of the Government had been that they had done everything too late. Newcastle answered him, but was dull and feeble, totally unequal to meet Derby in debate. His case was not bad, but he could not handle it with effect. Government did better in the Commons, where Sidney Herbert made a capital speech, and produced a very good case in a very complete and satisfactory manner. He proved that reinforcements had been sent out month after month, and that they had never folded their hands and stood still as Derby charged them with having done. All the rage for the war which is apparent in the country was manifested in both Houses. According to present appearances, there will be very little done on the part of the Opposition against the Government during this short session.

_December 17th._--These smooth appearances were deceitful, for the Government met with an unexpected and violent opposition to their Foreign Enlistment Bill, and only carried the second reading by a majority of 12. Ellenborough, puffed up with conceit and soured by disappointment and the nullity of his position, commenced a furious attack on this bill in an able speech replete with bitterness and sarcasm. Derby, too happy to join in any mischief, brought the support of his party, and a debate ensued, in which, as usual, the speaking of Ellenborough and Derby gave them the advantage, but the Government got a majority enough for their purpose. The bill itself is very unpopular, nobody can tell why, except that all sorts of misrepresentations were made about it the first night, and people have not yet been undeceived. I doubt if it was worth while to bring in such a bill, but it is certain if they had not done so, and immediately, they would have been furiously reproached by those who oppose them now, and above all accused of being 'too late.' The imprudent speech which John Russell made about Austria the first night elicited a violent attack on him in the 'Times,' which is sure to have put him in very bad humour. The speech and the attack were equally unjustifiable and mischievous. I have no idea why he said what he did, unless it was for the sake of appearing to fall in with the vulgar prejudice against Austria.

THE FOREIGN ENLISTMENT BILL.

_December 18th._--The dislike of the Foreign Enlistment Bill is very general, but nobody can give any reason for their opposition to it.[1] It is, however, so great that it is not certain that it can be carried through the House of Commons, and so little is the Government cared for that I doubt many being found who will incur the resentment of their constituents or give an unpopular vote to save them. If they should be beaten, I think they must go out. John Russell is in a bad disposition of mind, as may be gathered from his _entourage_, who are in rabid opposition. Lord John, however, will probably do what he can to make this measure go down, as I find he is himself the author of it; but I much doubt if he would care for the Government being broken up, and he is not unlikely to regard such a catastrophe as the event best calculated to restore him to the post he so much covets. It is certainly possible that Derby, conscious he could not make a Government himself, would offer to support the Whig section of this Cabinet with all the Peelites eliminated from it, and that an attempt might be made to form a Government with Lord John, Palmerston, and perhaps Ellenborough. However, all this is vague speculation, and not worth following out.

[Footnote 1: The object of the Foreign Enlistment Bill was to enable the Government to enlist 15,000 foreigners in the British army to be drilled in this country. It was denounced and opposed especially in the House of Lords as a dangerous and unconstitutional measure, but it eventually passed, and a considerable number of Germans were enlisted under it.]

_December 20th._--Government got a majority of 39, better than was expected. Lord John threatened to resign if he was beaten. The debate will not do them much good when it is read, nor serve to render their measure more popular. Everybody thinks the whole affair has been grossly mismanaged, and that, instead of making a mystery of their intentions, they ought to have thrown out such intimations of them as would have elicited public opinion; but the truth is, not one of them had the least suspicion that the measure would meet with any resistance or even objection, nor would there have been any if Ellenborough had not started the hare, and then Derby and his party joyfully availed themselves of the opportunity to do mischief, and joined in the cry. When the bill was announced, Derby never dreamt of opposing it. The arguments against the measure seem to me very plausible, except the constitutional one, which is all stuff, and in which none of those who urge it are sincere; on the other hand, the former precedents do not apply in this case. The best argument for it is, that Raglan wants trained men as soon as possible, and complains that they send nothing but boys, who are of little use at first, and who die in great numbers under the hardships and privations the climate and the operations inflict on them. Not only were the Government totally unconscious of the opposition they should encounter, but, when they found the steam was getting up, they neglected to enter into such explanations and make out such a case as might, if well done, have extinguished dissension in the beginning. All this displays a want of prudence and foresight, for in a matter of such importance it is not enough to say that they did not expect any fault to be found with their proposal, and they ought to have employed some means to see what was likely to be thought of it before they committed themselves to it. They ought to have ascertained how it was to be carried into effect, and if they could count upon its success, and to be able to give Parliament some assurance of it, instead of saying they had taken no initiative steps out of affected deference to constitutional scruples, and knew not how they were to get the men they are asking for. It seems the general opinion of their own friends that they have mismanaged their case, and plunged into a difficulty they might have avoided.

LORD RAGLAN'S DEFICIENCIES.

The best way of avoiding it would have been to raise a regiment or two without applying to Parliament at all, mustered and arrayed them at Malta or at Heligoland, or wherever they pleased out of England, and sent them off as an experiment to the Crimea. Then, if they had done good service, and Raglan had expressed his satisfaction and asked for more, they might have raised any number and landed them here without cavil or objection; but to have adopted this course they must have seen the necessity of feeling their way, which not one of them did. The great complaint now is the want of organisation and good arrangement in the Crimea and generally at and about the seat of war, the confusion that has taken place in forwarding and distributing supplies, and the want of all expedients for facilitating the service in its various branches. There is much truth in all this, but the responsibility for it rests upon Raglan, who, if he had been of a prompt and energetic character, would have looked to these things, seen what was wanting, and have taken care to provide everything and set the necessary machinery in motion. He had _carte blanche_ from the Government as to money and everything else, and, if he had concerted what was necessary with Stratford, and insisted on his exerting himself, I believe none of the complaints would have been made, and none of the deficiencies have been found. This is what the Duke of Wellington would have done, and his despatches are full of proofs that it is what he was always doing.

_December 24th._--The third reading of the Enlistment Bill carried by 38, after a very fine speech from Bright, consisting of a part of his letter with its illustrations. In my opinion this speech was unanswerable, and no attempt was made to answer it. He was very severe on both Lord John and Palmerston. It is impossible that such reasoning as Bright's should not make _some_ impression in the country; but I do not think any reasoning however powerful, or any display of facts however striking, can stem the torrent of public opinion, which still clamours for war and is so burning with hatred against Russia that no peace could be deemed satisfactory, or, even tolerable, that did not humble Russia to the dust and strip her of some considerable territory. Yesterday the 'Times' ventured on an article against Raglan as the cause of the disorder and confusion and consequent privations which prevail in the army. Delane wrote to me about it, and said he was aware he should be bitterly reviled for speaking these truths. I agree entirely with what he said, and see no reason why the saddle should not be put upon the right horse.

_The Grove, December 31st_, 1854.--The last day of one of the most melancholy and disastrous years I ever recollect. Almost everybody is in mourning, and grief and despair overspread the land. At the beginning of the year we sent forth an army amidst a tumult of joyous and triumphant anticipation, and everybody full of confidence and boasting and expecting to force the Emperor Nicholas in the shortest possible time humbly to sue for peace, and the only question was, what terms we should vouchsafe to grant him, and how much of his dominions we should leave him in possession of. Such presumptuous boasting and confidence have been signally humbled, and the end of this year sees us deploring the deaths of friends and relations without number, and our army perishing before the walls of Sebastopol, which we are unable to take, and, after bloody victories and prodigies of valour, the Russian power hardly as yet diminished or impaired. All last week I was at Hatchford with Lord Grey, when we did nothing but talk over the war, its management and mismanagement, Raglan, etc. Grey's criticisms are clever and not unfair, far from favourable to the Government, but detesting Derby, of whom he has the worst opinion, formed from a very ancient date and upon long experience of his character and conduct. Grey's idea is that there has been much mismanagement here and still greater on the spot, and that Raglan is quite incompetent and, as far as we can see, nobody else any better. The opinion about Raglan appears to be rapidly gaining ground, and the Ministers have arrived at the same conclusion.

THE FRENCH ALLIANCE.

I came here yesterday to meet Cowley, come over for a few days from Paris, and to have a talk with him and Clarendon. Cowley says that the alliance between the two countries is very hollow, and in fact there is nobody in France really friendly to us except the Emperor, Persigny, and perhaps Drouyn de Lhuys. The Emperor is bent on pursuing the war with vigour, and is sensible of the importance to himself of the French flag being triumphant. I asked him what they thought of our armies and our generals; he said from the Emperor downwards they had the highest admiration for the wonderful bravery of the troops, but the greatest contempt for the military skill of the commanders, and for all our arrangements and _savoir faire_. He told us the following anecdote as a proof of the blundering way in which our affairs are conducted. Newcastle wrote to him lately to beg he would ask the French Government to give us a model of certain carts their army used in the Crimea, the like of which our people there had applied to him for. The French Minister replied that he could give drawings, but had no model; but at the same time he advised us not to think of having similar ones, as these carts are so ill adapted for the purpose that they had discarded them, and had ordered others and better ones to be made, which were now in course of construction _at Malta_. So that we propose to get these machines without finding out whether they are suitable or not, while the French supply themselves with the proper article _in our own territory_.

I find from Clarendon that he is not only fully alive to Raglan's inefficiency, but has all along suspected it, and now the Government seem to have the same conviction; still they can take no step in the matter, for he has done nothing and omitted nothing so flagrantly as to call for or justify his recall, and if they were to recall him they do not know where to look for a better man to replace him. The war has hitherto failed to elicit any remarkable abilities or special aptitude for war, except in one instance, that of Captain Butler, the defender of Silistria, a young man of remarkable promise who, if he had lived, would probably have done great things and have risen to distinction.

Canrobert writes to his Government that he hopes soon to attempt the assault, but the Emperor and M. Vaillant by no means approve of it, and have sent him orders not actually prohibiting it, but enjoining caution in such a manner as will most probably effectually deter him from doing anything. They all think that the capture of the place could only be achieved (if at all) at a great cost of life, and that the captors could not hold it for many hours, as they would be pounded from the Northern forts which entirely command the place.

We discussed Austria and what she will do when the Russian answer comes to the last communication of the Conference at Vienna, and what she can do. Even if she recalls her ambassador from St. Petersburg and declares war, Cowley thinks she will never cross bayonets with the Russians or fire a shot unless attacked; and he believes, on what appear good grounds, that if any fighting takes place between the Austrians and the Russians, the former will get beaten, and that the Russian army is much the best of the two. This is the reverse of the general notion, but it seems that the Austrian officers themselves are of that opinion. It is no wonder, therefore, that they have no mind to go to war and to encounter this danger to accommodate us, whom they still cordially hate on many accounts, but especially for the Haynau affair, which still rankles in their hearts and in which they think their uniform was insulted. _À propos_ of this, Clarendon told me that the Queen was talking to him very lately about this affair, and told him that she had entreated Palmerston at the time to write some expression of regret to the Austrian Government, but that nothing would induce him to do it, and he never did.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE.

I asked Clarendon what was Palmerston's present tone about the war. He said he was very uneasy about the army and its condition, but just as confident as ever as to the final result of the war, and as lofty in his ideas of the terms of peace we should exact from Russia. He is all for restoring the Crimea to Turkey, and, what is more, he has persuaded the Emperor Napoleon to embrace that opinion. As usual, he never sees any difficulty in anything he wishes to do. I told Cowley and Clarendon what Grey said--viz. that he agreed entirely with Bright's letter, and that the war might have been avoided by either of the two courses--to have told the Emperor of Russia in the beginning we would make war on him if he persisted, and compelled to understand that we really meant it, or to have forced the Turks to accept the Vienna Note; and, in either case, war would have been avoided, but that, the Cabinet itself being divided, everything was done in a spirit of compromise, and a middle course adopted which led to all the mischief. Cowley answered the first alternative and Clarendon the second. Cowley said that one of the great difficulties of the British Government was to secure concert with the French, and to explain their own conduct without hurting the susceptibility of their allies or divulging what passed between the two Governments. The French were perpetually blowing hot and cold, with a false air of vigour superior to our's at one moment, and at another wanting to do what our Ministers would have been torn to pieces for consenting to. For instance, in spite of us they would send their fleet to the Dardanelles to support the Turks, and afterwards they proposed to send the two fleets to Constantinople to compel the Sultan to sign the Vienna Note. Cowley told me this war in its present shape and with these vast armaments had gone on insensibly and from small beginnings, nobody could well tell how. In the first instance, the Emperor told Cowley he had no intention of sending any land forces to the East, and when we proposed to him to despatch there a small corps of 5,000 English and 10,000 French he positively declined. Soon after Sir John Burgoyne was sent to examine and report on the state of the country, and he gave an opinion that it would be desirable to send such a force to occupy a fortified position at Gallipoli in case of the Russians making a sudden attack with their fleet on Constantinople, in which case our fleets might be in some danger. Cowley took him to the Emperor, to whom he told his story. The Emperor said he thought his reasons good, and this was a definite and tangible object, and he would send the troops. When Raglan was offered the command of the forces we were to send out, he said he would not go with less than 20,000 men; and when we agreed to send this force, the French said if we sent 20,000 they must send 40,000, and so the expedition began, and it has since swelled to its present magnitude--our's in consequence of the clamour here and pressure from without, and their's to keep pace with our's in relative proportions. With regard to the Vienna Note, Clarendon said Stratford never would have let the Turks sign it, and if they had recalled him the Cabinet here would have been broken up, Palmerston would have gone out, Stratford would have come home frantic and have proclaimed to the whole country that the Turks had been sacrificed and betrayed, and the uproar would have been so great that it would have been impossible to carry out the intention. I think the first answer is more weighty than the last, and that the popular clamour and Palmerston's secession ought to have been encountered at whatever hazard rather than persist in the fatal course which could hardly fail to lead, and did eventually lead, us into this deplorable war.