planned with more special reference to the wants of the army in the Crimea, as made manifest during the winter of 1854-5. Among the novelties of this latter class was the formation of two new corps-one for army-works, and the other for land-transport. The ill-requited troops who sank during that fearful winter were stricken down, not so much by fighting, as by working and carrying: they laboured as workmen, and carried burdens as porters, at a time when human strength could scarcely bear the ordinary duties of regimental service; they were required to mend roads and build hovels because the quartermaster-general had insufficient resources, and to carry provisions and stores because equal insufficiency marked the resources at the command of the commissary-general.

Apart from this, however, the English soldier, even under less unfavourable circumstances, is not clever as a workman or labourer; and, notwithstanding the services rendered in one special department by the admirable corps of sappers and miners, it has often been felt that the English army needed the aid of some additional corps distinct from fighting-men. Mr Sidney Herbert, when Secretary at War, pointed out the causes of the awkwardness of English soldiers in everything except their warrior-duties. In England,' said he, ‘you have the highest degree of civilisation to be found in the world. As a matter of course, you have the minutest subdivision of labour; and, from the smallness of the country and the close proximity of different places, you have the most rapid communication between your cities and towns. What is the result? Why, that the English peasant never does anything for himself, as is the case in less advanced states of society. His house is provided for him, and so is his dress and everything else he requires, except in the case of the most remote districts of the empire, where a few of the peasantry may be found who build their own cabins and make their own clothes, shoes, and other articles in a primitive manner. The great subdivision of labour consequent on high civilisation offers such facilities for every man getting everything done for him, that he does not know how to turn if he is thrown upon his own resources and left to shift for himself. I recollect an honourable friend of mine opposite handing me last autumn a letter, with suggestions relating to the clothing of the army to be sent to the Crimea, which I adopted without loss of time; and that letter concluded with a remarkable sentence of warning, to the effect that when I had done all the things that he recommended they would be almost valueless, for the men must suffer through not knowing how to help themselves.'*

Early in the Crimean campaign, when the sufferings of the troops had only just commenced, an eminent civil engineer urgently suggested the

*Speech in House of Commons, January 26, 1855.

employment of ordinary labourers and workmen as aids to the soldiers; seeing that the immense amount of fatigue-duty,' as it is termed, would inevitably prostrate the troops. If, he argued, in the first investment of Sebastopol, we had sent out a strong and efficient band composed of railway navigators and Cornish and Lancashire miners, with a complete establishment of barrows, planks, and tools, as well as an experienced gang of well-sinkers and borers, our brave soldiers would have been relieved of a great portion of their harassing duties, and would have been spared the sufferings of thirst.' He proceeded to express an opinion, that 'such a band, to be effective, must be entirely independent of military-discipline, excepting so far as may regard perfect co-operation, but should be conducted by a civil engineer-in-chief, who would receive his instructions from the chief in command of the military-the engineer-in-chief being provided, of course, with proper assistants, as well as a sufficient number of subordinates. The men should be under the immediate control of their own chiefs and heads of gangs, and their own contractor's engineers, as they are called. They should be accompanied by travelling workshops and artisans for making and repairing tools, boring and blasting apparatus, and one or more compact portable high-pressure engines for general purposes, but more particularly for raising water. In proportioning the numbers of such a band to attend upon the regular army, especial regard may be had to the fact, that each of those men would do with ease the usual work of three soldiers on fatigue-duty.'

Whether or not the plans were adopted in consequence of such suggestions as the above, the government obtained the aid of civil engineers in the construction of a Crimean railway; and when the usefulness of that measure became apparent, an Army-works Corps was established as an extension of the same principle, calculated to assist the Crimean army in its labours, and to be at the same time a constituent part of the army, which the railway corps was not. The sappers and miners were too few in number to dig the trenches for the siege, and perform the other handicraft services required by the army; and thus the army-works corps was organised, to work under the engineers. As railway labourers can command good pay in England, their services could not be obtained for anything like military pay; they would require far higher remuneration than is customarily given to soldiers. This was a difficulty which had to be contended against; for while on the one hand civilians would not serve unless for high pay, the military, on the other hand, found that those who fought received less emolument than those who worked. The men selected were not merely labourers; they included artisans of various kinds, skilled in executing the various works in brick, stone, earth, wood, and iron. The number sent out to Sebastopol, in successive

consignments, amounted in the autumn of 1855 to no less than 3000, afterwards still further increased, all amply officered and provided for the service.

This new corps, however, excited some jealousy in the army. The salaries paid were so high that military officers looked with dissatisfaction at the comparison inevitably suggested; the workmen received such high wages that it became doubtful how far the common soldiers would remain content with their own wretched pay; while the Sappers and Miners, one of the most efficient corps in the whole British army, complained— and not without some show of justice-that that corps had been especially intended to render the very services now to be rendered by the new army-works corps. It was contended that, had those working-troops been better supported and maintained by the government, the esprit de corps would have been cherished, the chances of promotion increased, and the expenditure of public money lessened. Considered, however, as a temporary arrangement, the plan was not affected by these arguments. When the war began, the English army contained only 3000 sappers and miners, of whom no more than 1000 could be spared for Crimean service; and it was to strengthen, not to supersede this small body, that the army-works corps was sent out. The first contingent of 1000 was so highly prized by Lord Raglan, that an increase of numbers was applied for; and the corps became gradually augmented to 3500 men. The raising and organisation of this force had been intrusted by the government to Sir Joseph Paxton, whose observations concerning it, made at a later date, may advantageously be adverted to. When the corps was first contemplated,' he said, 'the question was, not whether the government could induce the particular men who now composed it to proceed to the Crimea, but whether they could get any men at all to go. There not being sufficient sappers and miners to build hospitals, construct roads and bridges, and do the general mechanical work of the camp, what he, acting for the government, had to set about in the first instance, was to raise a body of men competent for such duties, to officer it, and to despatch it expeditiously to the seat of war. The first thousand men sent out were not as scrupulously selected, nor as well trained as could have been wished, and a little confusion occurred when they landed; but the second, third, and fourth contingents, were carefully chosen and excellently disciplined; and the whole corps was now conducting itself with exemplary propriety.' After shewing that the salaries paid were not so high as those received by civil engineers in their ordinary duties, he added: "I had no little difficulty in inducing a gentleman of first-class acquirements to go out for merely as much money as he would have been sure to earn if he had remained at home.' Comparing the two corps, he said: 'Sappers and miners might have been in

some respects preferable; but it would have taken a year to organise such a force, and the new corps was required in four weeks. The officers and men were the best of the kind that could be procured, and the "navvies" were the most powerful of their athletic class. With regard to expense, taking all circumstances fairly into consideration, this was the cheapest corps ever raised. The men were one and all in condition at the time they were embodied; they did not require to be drilled and instructed for years; they were all thoroughly conversant with their respective trades, and within three months of their return to this country they might be disbanded and completely got rid of.' The best test of efficiency was perhaps the following:- The commissary-general, seeing how admirably the army-works corps did its business, applied to the war-minister for a body of men to be organised on similar principles for the service of the commissariat department.' *

The second of the above-named auxiliary forces, the Land-transport Corps, was a revival, with improvements, of the wagon-train belonging to the British army in earlier wars. The sufferings of the troops in the Crimea through the deficiency in transport-power were such, that a remodelling of this arm of the service became imperative. In the continental armies, wagon-trains form recognised portions of the military establishments; whereas the British army in the Crimea had no such aid-the commissaries being forced to rely on the resources procurable in the East, and to apply to the service of the different departments such horses, mules, and vehicles as they could procure. The railway from Balaklava to the camp, already described, rendered immense service: shortly after its completion it carried up to the front' daily as much as 300 bags of biscuit, 100 large casks of salt-meat, 500 bags of corn, 120 bales of hay, 30,000 pounds of groceries, and 50,000 pounds of fuel, besides stores and ammunition of other kinds. Nevertheless, such service was limited to the actual places lying along the line of railway, and was inapplicable to any spots right or left of it without the aid of ordinary means of transport; and, moreover, service in any other part of the Crimea would obviously receive no aid from this railway. Colonel M'Murdo was commissioned by the government to organise a land-transport corps, and to provide such porters, animals of burden or draught, and vehicles, as would render that service the overworked commissariat was ill able to supply. Under this new arrangement, each department of the army, requiring transport-power for a particular purpose, applied to the officers of the land-transport corps, whose duty it was to furnish such power. The transport of water to the camps and hospitals was one of the most beneficial services rendered by this corps.

*Speech in the House of Commons, March 3, 1856,

The raising of a Turkish force in British pay was mooted very early in the war, as one among many schemes for employing Asiatic troops. That a body of cavalry irregulars affords valuable service in the Anglo-Indian armies has been often proved. When Lord Lake, for example, pursued Holkar in a flight after a celebrated battle in Hindostan, a body of troopers called Skinner's Horse' joined in the pursuit for seven days at the rate of fifty miles a day, without commissariat or tents of any kind: foraging for each day's supplies, and never unsaddling the horses during the whole time. The horses and mules, over nearly the whole of Asia, are inured to hard service, whereby they are rendered of great value in many of the exigencies to which cavalry are liable. The English cavalry horses are prized for speed and beauty; but the events of the Crimean campaign led many authorities to the opinion that a portion of these excellences might advantageously have been exchanged for greater hardihood and powers of endurance. A Turcoman leader, in some of the less known regions of Central Asia, will sometimes gallop off with fifty or a hundred followers, and ride eighty or a hundred miles a day for more than a week together, on a marauding expedition-the men taking nothing with them but a few hard cakes, and a small bag of barley each for his horse. The horses for such work are low, stout, compact animals: the fine Arabians' being kept rather for show and special occasions. A Turcoman courier, at the time when Sir John Malcolm was in Persia, carried an express dispatch from Shiraz to Teheran, a distance of 500 miles, in six days, using only one horse: this wonderful achievement was rendered possible, not by the adoption of a high speed, but by a power both in man and horse of maintaining a moderate speed during a great length of time.

At an early period of the war many projects were considered relative to the organising of a body of Turkish irregular cavalry, either as a distinct force, or as part of the regular army. Lord Raglan and Lord Stratford de Redcliffe were both consulted on the subject by the government; and at length a convention was agreed to with the Ottoman Porte for the formation of a Turkish legion or contingent, to be officered and paid by the British. A body of light cavalry was the first to which attention was specially directed, but

Lord Raglan reported on the numerous difficulties presented by the collection of such a body. Indeed, the whole enterprise was fettered by embarrassments, principally due to the very irregular habits of the 'irregulars' sought to be enlisted, and the difficulty experienced by the English officers in dealing with the Turkish officials. General Beatson, of the Indian army, succeeded, however, after an immense amount of trouble, in collecting a brigade of irregular horse, from almost every part of European and Asiatic Turkey-the troopers being wild, reckless, unscrupulous fellows of the Bashi-Bazouk class, willing to serve any one for pay, and not overconscientious concerning the laws of property. To drill these men into order was an onerous task, calling for much both of energy and of patience. Indian officers and Queen's officers were appointed to commands in the Turkish contingent; and the favouritism displayed by the home authorities towards the latter gave rise to much unpleasant discussion, and to the suggestion that all inequalities between the two services ought to be removed. Notwithstanding the utmost exertions, the formation of the contingent proceeded slowly during the early months of 1855; and it seemed long doubtful whether the prescribed number, 20,000, could be collected. There appears to have been a disinclination on the part of the Ottoman Porte to further the scheme; as a consequence, officers were sent out to Turkey long before the men whom they were to command could be collected. From time to time, reports reached England, bearing on the turbulent proceedings of the Bashi-Bazouks ; and it remained long doubtful whether General Beatson would be able to construct a body of efficient irregular horse out of such rough materials. The regular contingent, under General Vivian, made greater progress against difficulty; insomuch that about 2000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry were collected by the month of July. The progress, however, was little satisfactory to the Indian offcers, most of whom had seen hard fighting in the Company's service, and, reading of the glories of Alma, and Inkermann, and Balaklava, had longed to share in the busy work: they saw with regret the months of spring, summer, and autumn pass away, without any defined or intelligible path to honour marked out for them. They learned that Queen's officers, Company's officers, and Sultan's officers, viewed the same subject from different points of sight; and, moreover, they experienced some of the perplexity springing out of the ministerial, ambassadorial, and military confusion of authority at Constantinople and in the Crimea. In spite of all these difficulties, however, the Turkish contingent became efficient as a body of troops.

Far more favourably circumstanced was the other contingent named at the head of this section -the Sardinian. A small but brave nation supplied a small but efficient force with great expedition.

The organisation of the Sardinian army had

been remodelled shortly before the war, as the basis of rendering a small permanent force susceptible of great expansion in time of emergency. A simple captain of artillery, about the year 1848, displayed such energy and skill in working out reforms, that he gradually rose to be Minister of War; he studied the military systems of all the great powers of Europe, and, proceeding on an eclectic method, culled from each whatever appeared most likely to be practically available for his own country. In the wild over-zealous contest maintained by Charles Albert against

Austria in 1848-9, his army was inferior in organisation and in officers to that of his foe; commissions had been regarded as a mere appanage of the nobility, a means of provision for the sons of the aristocracy, rather than as rewards for skill and bravery in the field. As a consequence, the army had become over-officered in regard of numbers, but the reverse of this in relation to the ability and experience of those who held the commissions. The Sardinian government, up to that time, had been little less absolute than those of other Italian countries; the claims of the

people to a share either in army promotion or in political power had not been acknowledged; and the aristocratic trappings of the army were consistent with the general state of things at the time. When war with Austria supervened, however, Charles Albert discovered too late the hollowness of his military system; his troops fought well, but were neither well commanded nor well organised. When defeat, abdication, and death occasioned the transfer of regal power from that monarch to Victor Emmanuel, army reforms commenced, and were steadily continued until the period, six years later, when Sardinia engaged in the RussoTurkish war. General Alfonso Della Marmora, who filled the post of Minister of War at the period when Sardinia took part with the Western Powers, was the officer who had wrought the

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reforms in the army. The peace-establishment numbered about 45,000 men, comprising line-infantry, rifles, cavalry, artillery, sappers and miners, wagon-train corps, chasseurs francs, and gendarmes or carabiniers-the last named being a kind of police during peace, but a royal body-guard in war. The war-establishment was 85,000, capable of being raised to 100,000 by extraordinary levy. The infantry, two regiments of four battalions each in each brigade, consisted of short but stout and healthy men; the rifles (Bersaglieri), organised by General Alessandro Della Marmora, brother to the Minister of War, maintained a high reputation for quickness, precision, and powers of endurance; but the artillery was regarded as the most efficient arm of the service, it having received especial attention from the Minister of

War and from the Duke of Genoa, Victor Emmanuel's brother.

Such was the army out of which a contingent of 15,000 mcn, by convention with England, France, and Turkey, was provided early in 1855. In order to render it a complete little army in itself, the different elements of force were combined in due proportions-four brigades of infantry of the line, two battalions of rifles, two regiments of cavalry, four batteries of artillery, and a company of carabiniers. The infantry brigades were those of the Guards, Aosta, Pignerol, and Piedmont.

Many of the officers embarked at Genoa for Constantinople before the end of March, to make preparations for the reception of the troops; but the main body did not move until a later date. By a special convention, England agreed to provide means of transport, the Sardinian government not possessing the requisite resources. Nine large steamers, the Cleopatra, Emu, Batriana, Thames, Europa, Charity, Imperatrix, Tamar, and Niagara, besides sailing-vessels, arrived at Genoa from England early in April, and prepared to receive the Sardinian troops; the space afforded was adequate to the accommodation of about half the contingent at one time; but, as the king wished the whole force to be collected before any embarked, the flotilla was gradually increased by the arrival of the Imperador, Andes, Jason, Crœsus, and Queen of the South steamers-a naval force now so large that the harbour of Genoa could not afford requisite accommodation, and Spezzia had to be resorted to.

It was an impressive sight when, on the 14th of April, Victor Emmanuel met the whole contingent, assembled on the celebrated plains of Marengo, on the road between Turin and Genoa. Regiment after regiment arrived, and took up its place in a crescent-formed line; altars were decked with tapers and crucifixes, and attended by sumptuously arrayed priests, who were to bless the enterprise, and the banners as its symbols; an amphitheatre of seats and stands for spectators, adorned with flags and military trophies, became speedily filled; and all was prepared for the reception of him who was about to give a parting greeting to the army, ere it proceeded south to Genoa for embarkation. On came the king, surrounded by a brilliant cortège of military officers and dignitaries of state-inspecting each regiment as he passed, and being received by the band of each regiment with the Sardinian national air. Near him were the two brothers Della Marmora-Alfonso, who had left his post as Minister of War to take the command of the contingent in the Crimea; and Alessandro, a stern-looking warrior whose jaw had been shattered during the war of 1849. It was the first time the king had been seen in public since a series of bereavements wellnigh sufficient to crush one of warm and generous sentiments; and his soldiers and subjects looked anxiously to see how

he bore his sorrows. They knew that, three months before, he had lost his mother, the widowed queen of Charles Albert; that he was next bereaved of his young and lovely wife, who had endeared herself to his subjects; and that death had then robbed him of his only brother, the Duke of Genoa, who, a favourite with the army, had assisted him in all his reforms and ameliorations-they knew these things; and they saw, in the stern and saddened expression of a once open and frankly cheerful countenance, that grief had done its usual work in its usual way. Nevertheless, the ceremonies of the day proceeded, with that imposing splendour which the church throws around military matters in Roman Catholic countries. The Archbishop of Tortona, attended by numerous priests, performed mass-the troops presenting arms, the spectators baring their heads, and all maintaining silence; then, mass being ended, military clangour and excitement supervened bands played, cannons roared, king and officers galloped up to the sacred precincts, choirs sang, and the archbishop blessed the standards, unfurled one by one before him. Victor Emmanuel, with his own hand, presented each flag to the regiment to which it was to belong; a brief address was then read to the assembled officers, containing an assurance that nothing less than motives of state-policy prevented the king from heading the army himself; and a ringing acclamation from all, soldiers and spectators, ended the proceedings of a day honourable alike to the Sardinian nation and to the sovereign who governed it.

The 23d of April was the day fixed for the commencement of the embarkation of the first division, comprising about 7000 men, and a due proportion of officers, horses, guns, vehicles, and stores. The Sardinian government was to provision the army; but, as a matter of convenience, it was agreed that the arrangements should be thus planned: the army would take over one month's rations; and, afterwards, as a means of avoiding unprofitable competition for food in the market at Balaklava or Constantinople, the British commissariat would furnish supplies, to be paid for by the Sardinian government. The commissary, however, felt the weight of his responsibilities to be more than he could well bear; and, as a precautionary measure, much larger stores of provisions were taken out from Genoa than had been originally intended: this delayed the embarkation. A sad mischance threw a gloom over the enterprise. The splendid screw-steamer Crœsus, chartered from the General Screw Steam-shipping Company, started from Genoa on the 24th of April, laden with about 400 men, and three months' provisions for the whole force; besides having in tow a sailingvessel laden with cannon and ammunition. A fire broke out two hours after the vessel started; and it was with the utmost difficulty the steamer could be run gently ashore. All on board were