CHAPTER XII.

THE END OF THE RUSSIAN WAR.

Home events during the war—Sympathy of Her Majesty with her Crimean soldiers—Badges of distinction added to the Colours—Inactivity of the Allies after the fall of Sevastopol—Expeditions against the Russian coast—Sir W. Codrington succeeds Sir J. Simpson as Commander of the Forces—The winter 1855-56—Negotiations for a peace, which is concluded, March 30th—Events after the cessation of hostilities—A British cemetery in the Crimea—Embarkation and return home—The Crimean Guards Brigade at Aldershot; visit of Her Majesty the Queen—Move to London, and cordial reception there—Distribution of the Victoria Cross—Summary of events connected with the war—Losses—Appointment of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge as Commander-in-Chief, and of Major-General Lord Rokeby to command the Brigade of Guards.

The details of the great struggle in the Crimea have necessarily occupied so much of the space of the last few chapters, that there has been little opportunity to allude to the occurrences connected with the Regiment which took place at home during this eventful period. It will therefore be well to pause in the narrative of the war, and to devote a few lines to that subject.

As soon as the Guards Brigade started for Malta in February, 1854, the public duties in London were reduced; and later in the year, when the requirements of active service necessitated a still further reduction, they were fixed at 1 Captain, 4 Subalterns, 9 sergeants, 10 corporals, 6 drummers, and 144 men, to furnish the Queen’s Guard, Buckingham Palace, the Tylt, the British Museum, and the Magazine Guards; and at 1 Subaltern, 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, and 20 men, to furnish the Bank piquet.[344]

Footnote 344:

_Brigade Order_ , Nov. 23, 1854.

The principal duty of the home Battalion was naturally at this moment to train and supply men to the 1st Battalion in the Crimea, and we have already seen something of the quality of the drafts that were sent out to the East.[345] But as the ordinary recruiting was not sufficient to maintain the forces at the seat of war in a proper state of efficiency, the militia—the true reserve of the British army at that time—was called upon to perform its functions in the emergency. Not only was a portion of the militia embodied and employed as garrisons in those places where regular troops were not available, but volunteers were obtained from its ranks to fill up the gaps which the war created in the active army fighting before Sevastopol. In this manner men of good physique and trained to military service were obtained, and were drafted into the regular army. In April, 1854, the Non-commissioned officers and men of the Brigade told off to assist in training militia regiments, were ordered to use their best exertions to induce men to volunteer for their Regiments.[346] In December, 1854, Officers of the Brigade were employed to superintend recruiting from the militia. Men were also obtained from the Irish Constabulary, and it was settled, December 18, 1855, that volunteers to the Guards from that corps might reckon their previous police service as military service.

Footnote 345:

See Appendix, No. XI.

Footnote 346:

_Brigade Order_ , April 1, 1854.

It appears that there was an intention to form a Brigade depôt at Malta, in March, 1855, the companies to form which, were to be borne on the strength of the Battalions in the East, from the date of embarkation. But this plan was not carried out, and the home Battalions remained all through the war with twelve companies, as against eight companies belonging to the service Battalions; the drafts to the latter were always furnished direct from London.

As soon as the three Guards Battalions had left England, the other four were stationed in the West-end (St. George’s, Portman Street, and Wellington barracks), and there they remained (subject to the ordinary half-yearly change of quarters) until January, 1855, when the Tower was again garrisoned by the Brigade. In May, room had to be found for 500 men of the Line passing through London, and a portion of the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards then in Wellington barracks, were put into billets in Westminster, for four days. This probably is the last time that any men of the Brigade have been billeted in London. On the 13th of June, the 2nd Battalions of the Coldstream and Scots Fusilier Guards proceeded to Aldershot Camp, then newly established, until the 27th of August, when they were relieved by the two Grenadier Battalions, left in England.[347] The latter remained there until the middle of December, when Windsor was again occupied by a Battalion of Guards, and there were then less than three Battalions of the Brigade stationed in the West-end, the head-quarters of one being in the Tower, with a detachment only, in Portman Street.[348] During the absence of a portion of the Brigade in Aldershot, the Depôt of the 66th Regiment furnished a part of the public duties in London; but at the end of August, most of these men having been moved out of town, temporary reductions in the duties were made (September 16th, and October 9th) until the return of the Grenadiers.

Footnote 347:

The following order was published upon this occasion, Aug. 27th: “The Major-General Commanding, [at Aldershot] desires to express to the Commanding Officer his sense of the general good conduct of the Battalion and the attention they have paid to their drill during the time they have been under his command, and to request them to accept his thanks accordingly.”

Footnote 348:

For stations occupied by the Coldstream, see Appendix No. XV.

It has been already stated that the Emperor Napoleon visited England in April, 1855, where a cordial welcome awaited him and the Empress, who accompanied him. A detachment of a Subaltern and 25 men from each Battalion, under a Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd Grenadier Guards (with the Queen’s Colour belonging to that Battalion), proceeded to Windsor on the 14th, and were stationed there until the 19th, during the period of the French Sovereign’s visit to the Queen. Numerous Guards of Honour attended upon His Majesty, two of which were found by the 2nd Battalion, both at Bricklayers' Arms Station, on the 16th and 21st, on the arrival at, and departure from London, of the Imperial guest. On the 19th, the Emperor went to Guildhall, and the streets were lined by the two Grenadier Battalions as he went to the City and returned back to the West-end. Another Royal visit of one of Her Majesty’s Allies took place on the 1st of December, when the King of Sardinia, Victor Emanuel, arrived in London, and went to Windsor. Of the Guards of Honour furnished upon that occasion, the Coldstream found four—two on the arrival of the King at Bricklayers' Arms Station and at Paddington Station on the 1st, one at Lord Palmerston’s house in Piccadilly on the 4th, and one at Bricklayers' Arms Station on the 6th, in the early morning.

The dress of the Brigade occupied the attention of the military authorities at this time. The white summer trousers were exchanged for another pattern made of a light grey stuff; the coatee was done away with, and the tunic was introduced (April, 1855). Epaulettes ceased to be worn, and thereby the badge of the Rose, still worn by the men, disappeared from the uniform of the Officers of the Coldstream. The tunic at first was a double-breasted garment, but a year later (March, 1856), when Officers required new red coats, they were ordered to supply themselves with single-breasted tunics, such as are still worn in the Brigade. The bearskin caps had been cut down early in 1854, to nine inches in height, and the plume was not to exceed six inches. Also, by an order dated October 7, 1854, peaks to caps were to be discontinued by sergeants, and were only to be worn by the Sergeant-Major, the Quartermaster-Sergeant, the Armourer Sergeant, the Regimental Clerk, the Drill Sergeants, and the Drum Major—a custom which still prevails in the Brigade.

A curious means taken to test beer may be gathered from the following Brigade Order, dated April 18, 1854, and shows the practical, though perhaps unscientific, manner in which our predecessors went to work when they wished to ascertain a matter of sanitary importance to the men:—

Each Battalion will send to Wellington barracks on Thursday morning, to receive from the Quartermaster of the Scots Fusilier Guards some beer, which is to be delivered to six sergeants, who must undertake not to taste any other malt liquor during the time (10 days) they will be supplied with it, the object being to test its wholesome qualities. The Field Officer requests to be furnished with a report from each Battalion at the expiration of the period specified above.

We find that a few days previous to this order (April 13th), a committee of Officers was appointed to consider the question of the general introduction of gas into barracks.

Later (July 17, 1855), a Field Officer of the Brigade (Lieut.-Colonel Wood, Grenadier Guards) was sent to the “end of Commercial Road, Pimlico, near to the projected Chelsea Bridge, there to view, in conjunction with a Medical Officer, a site for a barrack.” It will be seen that this was the first step taken to construct Chelsea barracks, which, when completed, removed the Foot Guards from the cramped quarters in Portman Street and St. George’s barracks, which they occupied at this time.

The Enfield rifle (pattern 1853), issued, as we have seen, to the Brigade in the Crimea at the end of August, 1855, was served out to the Guards Battalions on home service on the 26th of October of the same year. Nine hundred and one stand constituted the armament of the 2nd Battalion, and “on their receipt the smooth bore now in possession, including the sergeants' fusils, are to be returned into the Ordnance stores.”

It is well known to all her subjects that Her Majesty the Queen followed the varying fortunes of the Russian war with the utmost attention, interest, and concern; and that to none was her warm sympathy more heartily and graciously expressed than to her gallant army, who, amid unparalleled privations and difficulties, maintained intact the glory of the British Crown and of the country. Frequently did Her Majesty, surrounded by the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, personally see such of her wounded soldiers as were able to be brought into the presence of their Sovereign, and there praise them for their merit, and condole with them on their sufferings. This honour was freely bestowed on the men of the Brigade, and on many occasions the Commanding Officers of Regiments were ordered to furnish lists of Guardsmen who were well enough to participate in it. In 1855, the Queen’s birthday was celebrated on the 18th of May, and on the Horse Guards parade, Her Majesty presented medals for service in the Crimea to all Officers and to three Non-commissioned officers and twenty privates per Regiment of the Brigade, entitled to receive them. Next day the following Order was published:—

“The Field Officer in Brigade Waiting is commanded to express to the Officers and soldiers of the Brigade of Guards who were present yesterday at the ceremony of the presentation of medals, Her Majesty’s solicitude as to whether they have suffered from the effort which evidently many of them made, at the cost of much suffering and inconvenience, and requests that Officers Commanding Battalions will make the necessary inquiries, and forward the result of them to him with as little delay as possible.”

When the fall of Sevastopol was known in England, there was much rejoicing that the Allied arms had captured the enemy’s stronghold and great naval arsenal in the Black Sea. But hostilities were not at an end, nor was an immediate peace in prospect. Nevertheless, certain distinct stages in the war were concluded, and victory had more than once smiled upon our standards. A General Order, therefore, was issued on the 16th of October, 1855, giving authority to inscribe the words “Alma,” “Inkerman,” “Balaklava,” and “Sevastopol” upon the Colours of the regiments taking part in these actions and in the siege. On the following December 28th the three badges of distinction, “Alma,” “Inkerman,” and “Sevastopol,” were inscribed upon the Colours of the Regiments of Foot Guards.

The Allied armies, having captured the fortress that so long resisted their skill and courage, found themselves placed in considerable embarrassment. The question naturally arose as to what should now be done. But that question was not readily answered, because no steps had been taken beforehand to decide it. The northern side was still held by the Russians, and their forces there were closely united to their field army, which occupied defensive positions on the Mackenzie heights. The undertaking to clear the two banks of the Sevastopol roadstead of the enemy, and to drive him out of the peninsula had the outward appearance of a difficult operation, and no measures had been concerted to proceed with it.[349] The Anglo-French armies made no attempt to follow up the victory of the 8th of September, but hung listlessly on the ground they had won, deliberating as to their future movements, and doing nothing to secure success. In short, though the capture effected brought prestige to the besiegers, and placed in their power the fleet, the docks, and most of the forts at Sevastopol, no further advantage seemed likely to accrue, and we found ourselves almost as far as ever from exercising a coercive control over the councils of the Tsar.

Footnote 349:

It will be remembered that the north side of Sevastopol commands the south side. The capture of the former would have jeopardized the latter; but the fall of the south side left the other intact.

As a matter of fact, General Gortchakoff was by no means as strong as he was supposed to be, and could scarcely have maintained himself in the Crimea had he been vigorously attacked by the brave forces that had invariably beaten his troops whenever they met them in the field. His position, indeed, was very precarious—so precarious was it, in the opinion of his own Government, that he had the fullest liberty given him to evacuate the peninsula if he found it necessary to do so. But he was not obliged to resort to this painful and humiliating measure; for the Allies never pressed him. Far from making any effort to dislodge him, or from even manœuvring against him to ascertain how he was circumstanced, they kept almost entirely aloof, and they left him alone in peace.

The British Government, sincerely desirous to achieve a more important success than had been gained, urged that the war should be vigorously prosecuted. They poured troops into the Crimea, so that our army there in November numbered as much as 51,000 men, of whom 4000 were cavalry, and 96 guns, besides a Turkish legion, raised by England, of 20,000, and a German legion of 10,000. The transport was now completely re-organized, and the medical service in good working order; and, added to this, the fleet, always overwhelmingly strong, was more powerful than it had been before.[350] A campaign was now at last possible against an enfeebled enemy under far better conditions than had been the case in the same season of the previous year, when we invaded Russia, whose resources then were practically unimpaired. The English people, also, were at one with their Government, and were anxious for a vigorous prosecution of hostilities, if the enemy could not be otherwise subjugated. But they and their rulers could effect nothing, for our allies would not move, and above all things was it necessary that the alliance should be cordially maintained. Hence, our political relations with the French interfered with our national interests, and controlled our military operations against the enemy: and, as has happened in the past, and will again happen, in wars conducted by several nations, the common foe reaped no inconsiderable benefit by having a confederation of Powers ranged against him.

Footnote 350:

Hamley, _War in the Crimea_ , p. 296. These forces continued to increase, and by Christmas, 1855, the British army in the Crimea was still more numerous than is stated in the text, and there were 120 guns; besides, a reserve force was collected at Aldershot, and amounted to over 18,000 men in April, 1856; at which time it appears we had in the East about 60,000 men (excluding transport, etc.).

In short, the fall of Sevastopol practically brought the drama to a close. The efforts of the besiegers to take the town, after they had allowed it to grow into military importance, seemed to exhaust the further zeal and ardour of the Emperor Napoleon: it was impossible for us to re-kindle them into activity. Nor could Marshal Pélissier be roused to action; his enthusiasm for the success of the struggle had now grown cold, and his former energy had evaporated. His troops had taken the Malakoff, the key of the fortress, and, proud of their victory over the enemy, the French were content with the glory their army had achieved. So, also, had the Emperor gained all he wanted to secure; and, the war having established him firmly on the throne, he was anxious for peace with Russia, and for some new and more profitable adventure.

And yet something had to be done to preserve the semblance of war. The Turks, already at Eupatoria, were therefore reinforced, and some successful reconnaissances were effected in that important quarter: operations were, moreover, continued on the shores of the Sea of Azof, with advantage to the Allies; and lastly, after threatening Odessa, a descent was made upon Kinburn and its neighbourhood. These desultory expeditions served to keep up the illusion that the fight was still earnestly maintained. But they led to no permanent results, and they need not be further described; because, under the circumstances and conditions in which they were undertaken, they only exercised, and could only exercise, a very minor influence on the war. Omar Pasha had at last (end of September) been allowed to take a portion of his hitherto inactive army—chained for no useful purpose in the Crimea—to attempt the relief of Kars, a Turkish stronghold in Armenia, then besieged by the Russians. He was only barely supported by the Allies, if indeed he was not hampered by them, and he failed to accomplish his object. Kars fell on the 28th of November, and the victory gained there by the enemy compensated him not a little for the reverse he sustained at Sevastopol. The French might view the incident with unconcern; but to England, having vital interests in Asia, the loss of this place was of far greater moment.[351]

Footnote 351:

While this important event was taking place, the bulk of the British army was engaged in improving the communications of the Chersonese—a work which cost us much labour and was of little use to us, though shortly afterwards, when the peace was signed, it was of great value to the Russians.

Officers of the 1st Battalion were posted to companies as follows on December 17, 1855:—

No. 1 Company: Lieut.-Colonel Hon. P. Feilding; Captain H. Jervoise; Lieutenant G. Rose.

No. 2 Company: Lieut.-Colonel C. Burdett; Captain Whitshed; Lieutenant Hall.

No. 3 Company: Major Thellusson; Captain Blackett; Lieutenant Adair.

No. 4 Company: Captain Reeve; Captain Heneage.

No. 5 Company: Captain Hon. H. Byng; Lieutenant A. Lambton.

No. 6 Company: Lieut.-Colonel F. Newdigate; Captain Lord E. Cecil; Lieutenant Lane.

No. 7 Company: Major Le Couteur; Lieutenant Hon. W. Edwardes.

No. 8 Company: Lieut.-Colonel Lord Dunkellin; Captain Hon. W. Feilding; Lieutenant Wigram.

Colonel Gordon Drummond still commanded the Battalion, while Major Lord Bingham was appointed Adjutant about that time (21st December).

The Brigade remained on the upland of the Chersonese, with the bulk of the British army, guarding the Karabelnaya, constructing roads, drilling, practising musketry, and performing the ordinary duties of camp life.[352] A tent had been converted into a Crimean Guards Club, “where we used all to meet, read the newspapers, talk, and smoke,” and there the first anniversary of the battle of the Alma was duly celebrated by a dinner. There were races at Kamara on the 17th of October, shooting expeditions, and other expedients to pass away the time. Occasionally an interchange of shots took place across the roadstead that divided the hostile armies; but they were rather signals to show that the war had not yet officially come to an end than anything else, and they never produced any important results.

Footnote 352:

The duties in the Karabelnaya district were composed of seven guards, amounting all told to 2 Captains, 4 Subalterns, 12 sergeants, 2 drummers, 12 corporals, and 249 privates.

At first the Brigade supplied 500 men daily for road-making; but later in the year these parties were frequently double that strength. It also furnished large fatigue-parties of several hundred men to bring up huts from Balaklava, wherein to lodge the troops.

Musketry was carried out with considerable energy during the winter months, and special orders on the subject were issued by the Commander of the Forces.

The monotony of these proceedings during an inactive campaign, and in the presence of an unsubdued enemy, was one day electrified into new life by a terrible explosion that occurred in the lines of our allies. On the 15th of November, 100,000 lbs. of powder blew up in the French artillery park, and kindled a fire that placed one of the principal English magazines in imminent danger. Looking from the British camp, a huge column of smoke was seen to ascend high in the air; it then spread out like a tree,[353] broke, and sent down a shower of iron, stones, rubbish, broken side arms, guns, gun carriages, and every conceivable appurtenance of war; shells burst in all directions, and other combustibles added their flames to the conflagration. Happily the fire was got under without further mishap, but many Officers and men, mostly French, were killed and wounded.[354]

Footnote 353:

Pliny describes the great eruption of Vesuvius which overwhelmed Pompeii, as having at first the appearance of a gigantic pine tree emerging from the volcano.

Footnote 354:

Nolan, ii. 638. Assistant-Surgeons Wyatt and Trotter of the Coldstream gained the special thanks of the French authorities for the assistance they afforded to the wounded upon that occasion.

It appears that our troops had cause to be somewhat accustomed to this class of misadventure. Under date Nov. 14th, Colonel Tower writes, “On guard in the Redan; as I was walking about inside the works, I met two of my men who were off duty, with pipes in their mouths, wandering about. I cautioned them, and told them there had been many accidents. A short time afterwards my sergeant came rushing up to me with all his eyebrows singed off, to tell me Goodram and Bates (the two men) were buried alive in a Russian magazine. I got Engineers, and we dug for a long time in smoking ruins; at last we came upon them, burnt to cinders, and hardly a bone in either of their bodies that was not broken.... They died soon after we got them out. Goodram was a most gallant fellow, and would have got the V.C. for going into the Redan with the assaulting party on the 8th of September. They had trodden on a fougasse left, probably on purpose, by the enemy when he evacuated.”

Private Goodram, it appears, slipped out of camp at night, September 7th-8th, crept close to the Redan in the dark, and joined the leading files of the storming party. He greatly distinguished himself during the assault, and is said to have been the first man to reach the parapet of the work.

On the 11th of November, a few days before the accident just mentioned, General Sir James Simpson having resigned, Lieut.-General Sir William Codrington was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen to the chief command of the British army in the Crimea. This Officer, a Coldstreamer, served in the Regiment from 1823 until July, 1854, when, as junior Acting-Major of the 1st Battalion, and present with it in Bulgaria, he was promoted Major-General. Remaining at the seat of war, he very soon obtained the command of a brigade in the Light Division, as has been previously recorded. At the head of this gallant brigade he greatly distinguished himself at the battle of the Alma by his cool and intrepid bearing; the part he played at Inkerman has already been mentioned. He was with the army from start to finish of the war against Russia, being present on the upland before Sevastopol throughout the whole of the first severe winter (except once for the space of a very few days, when on the sick list), and engaged in all the fights (usually in executive command) that took place round and in the Redan. Few Officers in the British army were more exposed to the dangers and the privations of this war than Sir W. Codrington, and he survived both without a scratch and without even a temporary illness of a serious nature.

The second winter was now approaching, and hostilities, while they showed no sign of coming to an end, still languished. But it was passed under very different conditions to those which prevailed during the terrible season that overtook us in 1854-55. The autumn was fine and enjoyable, and the real cold weather was not felt until the end of November. We were then quite prepared for it, so that the army did not suffer. The health of the troops was excellent, and for some time prior to the end of 1855 there was such an abundance of every kind of supply, that scarcely any requirement remained for the Medical Officer in charge to suggest.

“During the six months which ensued from the commencement of January, 1856, until the period of embarkation from the Crimea to England, the condition of the men, in every respect, both as regards amount of sickness and duties performed, was so much allied to a similar period passed in any garrison, that a detailed notice would be useless, except so far as it would display an almost unprecedented amount of good health, compared with a period passed at any of the out-quarters at which the Guards are stationed in England, and far better than obtains in the close and confined barracks of the Metropolis.”[355]

Footnote 355:

Wyatt, 91. Written in 1858, before the small barracks in Portman Street and St. George’s ceased each to contain the head-quarters and the main portion of a Guards Battalion.

Both in respect to the comfort and the good administration which our men now enjoyed, we contrasted very favourably with the French, who, though they were better off than we had been in the winter 1854-55, did not improve their services as we had done; they consequently fared worse than the British army in the cold season of 1855-56, and suffered considerably in the spring of 1856.

When Sevastopol was in the power of the Allies, they destroyed its value, as much as they could, as a naval arsenal, and thus the docks, all the forts in their possession, the barracks, and the aqueducts that led into the town were demolished. These tasks were accomplished in the mid-winter.

On the 1st of March the sixth and last draft reached the 1st Battalion, consisting of 8 Officers and 263 men, whose average age and service amounted to 23½ years and 18 months respectively. The men were stout and robust, and, like the preceding draft, well adapted for all the possible requirements of active service.[356]

Footnote 356:

_Ibid._ , p. 91.

Next day Officers were posted to companies as follows:—

No. 1 Company: Lieut.-Colonel Hon. P. Feilding; Captains Tower; Jervoise; Lieutenant Rose.

No. 2 Company: Lieut.-Colonel Burdett; Major Crawley; Captain Hall.

No. 3 Company: Lieut.-Colonel Newdigate; Captain Hon. H. Byng; Lieutenant A. Adair.

No. 4 Company: Lieut.-Colonel Reeve; Captain Lord E. Cecil; Lieutenant Sir W. Forbes, Bart.

No. 5 Company: Lieut.-Colonel Dawkins; Captain G. FitzRoy; Lieutenant S. Mainwaring.

No. 6 Company: Captain J. Caulfeild; Lieutenants W. Seymour; Hon. E. Legge.

No. 7 Company: Majors Armytage; Thellusson; Lieutenant Hon. W. Edwardes.

No. 8 Company: Lieut.-Colonel Lord Dunkelin; Captain Hon. W. Feilding; Lieutenant Lane.

Ever since the capture of Sevastopol, the work of diplomacy had again been active at Vienna; and with some additional advantage this time to the Russians, for it succeeded in partially alienating the Emperor Napoleon from the alliance. In form that Sovereign remained true to Great Britain; but it was clear that, as far as he was concerned, the war was at an end, and that the Tsar had no more to fear from his animosity. This facilitated the action of Austria, and under her mediation a project of peace was accepted by the Russians on the 16th of January, 1856. A month later a Conference sat in Paris to settle an immediate armistice and to conclude a general peace. The Treaty of Paris was accordingly signed on the 30th of March, and it put an end finally to the war that had lasted two years. By the terms of this agreement, which yielded back to their original Sovereigns all territories in possession of either of the combatants, an important article was included, viz. the Black Sea was neutralized, its waters and ports were “formally and in perpetuity interdicted to the flag of war,” naval arsenals on its shores were not to be maintained, and ships of war were forbidden to enter or pass through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. It is of interest to record the fact that this article, to gain which England had expended so much blood and treasure, was infringed by Russia in 1859, who, with no one to interfere in the neutralized sea, blockaded the Circassian coast, and at last overcame the stubborn resistance of the liberty-loving tribes of the Caucasus that for so long checked her progress in Central Asia. Having accomplished this work, she then boldly repudiated the article, with scarcely a protest on our part, in the beginning of 1871, when we were at peace with her, just fifteen years after the conclusion of the Crimean war; and again she prepared her forces to effect another development of the Eastern Question.

On the 2nd of April official tidings of peace were communicated to the several armies engaged in the struggle, by a salute fired upon the upland. Thenceforward the contending forces, drawn together by that mutual respect and esteem with which brave men regard one another, looked upon each other as friends, and all traces of hostility vanished as if by magic. British and Russian soldiers were to be seen in scores on their respective sides of the Tchernaya, conversing as best as they could, and exchanging presents. The thoughts of our men, however, were now naturally turned towards home; but two months were still to elapse before the Coldstream quitted the soil on which they had for so long lived and suffered, and where their military virtues had been so conspicuously displayed.

About this time the French appointed a special mission to inquire into the relative sanitary conditions of the English and French field hospitals in the East, and Assistant-Surgeon Wyatt was sent to aid in the investigation made.

“The whole of the Field hospitals,” says Dr. Wyatt, “were inspected, and the most satisfactory conclusions drawn by the Inspector in favour of the detached system of Regimental hospitals in the English army, compared with the congregated ambulance arrangements of the French; he was very favourably impressed with the Field hospitals of the Guards, which he examined most minutely in all their details.”

Added to this, British Sanitary Commissioners made an inspection of the hospitals in the Crimea, and it is with satisfaction that portions of two paragraphs of the report are recorded here.

“The best example of a marquee hospital was that belonging to the Guards, after they went to the front in June 1855.... Among the best examples of a winter camp which came under the notice of the Commission during the winter of 1855, was that of the Brigade of Guards on the plateau, in laying out of which great care and intelligence had evidently been bestowed. There was plenty of space for allowing the air to circulate; the arrangement of the huts was good, the ground was well trenched and drained, and many of the huts were raised on stone foundations.”[357]

Footnote 357:

Wyatt, 92, 93.

Shortly before the conclusion of the peace an event of great interest to our allies took place (March 16, 1856)—the birth of a son to the French Emperor, an heir destined, it was confidently hoped, to preserve the Napoleonic dynasty, and to hand down to posterity the glory of the great founder of the Imperial House. Rejoicings were unstinted in Paris and in London; and in the former place, where the peace Conference was sitting, the representatives of all the Powers, not excluding Russia, added their congratulations to the happy Emperor. Nor was the auspicious occasion forgotten in the Crimea, where it was celebrated by a ball on the 1st of April.[358] And yet how fickle is Fortune, and how she decided against this unfortunate prince! He did not ascend the French throne, and was but fourteen years of age when he was condemned to fly from his native land, never to return to it. Napoleon III., overwhelmed by the united might of Germany, was driven from his capital in 1870, and a few years later he ended his days an exile in England. Living in our midst, his son, the Prince Imperial, served in the British army, and lost his life, when only twenty-three years of age, in a small skirmish in South Africa; and thus he died before any new phase among his unstable countrymen could recall him in the character of a pretender to the French Imperial crown. _Sic transit gloria mundi._

Footnote 358:

“A ball will be given to-morrow, in honour of the birth of the Imperial Prince, by the Officers of the 1st Division of the Corps of Reserve French army, in their camp on the Woronzoff road, near the Sardinian army, to which all the English ladies and the Officers of the English army are invited. Officers attending the ball will appear in full dress uniform, but without swords and spurs” (_Head-Quarter Memo._ , March 31, 1856).

The interval between the conclusion of hostilities and the departure from the Crimea was eagerly seized by many to visit their late enemy and the places of interest to be found in the peninsula. A few extracts from the diary of Colonel Tower will perhaps give a fair example of these experiences.

“_April 8th._—Rode to Mackenzie Farm to visit the Russian camp; the Russian Officers were extremely civil, and showed us all round their camp. The men lived in excavations in the ground, like cellars, two or three steps down, with a roof of branches or anything to make it waterproof; fusty little holes, and the usual Russian soldier’s smell. This is very peculiar, the tan of the leather is the chief ingredient, and the sour smell of the black bread is another powerful ingredient. They are decidedly unclean in their persons, and never appear without their long brown coats and high boots.... They seem to be always fetching water in their tins. The Officers seemed as pleased as we were that the war was over, and regaled us with whatever liquor they had, generally champagne.

”_April 13th._—We all went in a body to the Mackenzie heights [_i.e._ with Sir W. Codrington and his Staff], and were received by Luders [the Russian General then in command] and his Staff. A capital luncheon with every sort of delicacy was prepared for us, Pélissier and his Staff also being there. About 10,000 Ruskis passed us in review, as they were being sent away northwards. It was very interesting, as we saw specimens of almost every branch of the Russian service.... A great many Officers of the Guards who had volunteered for service in the Crimea, marched past with the regiments to which they were attached; also cavalry Officers with their sabres and spurs in the infantry. They point their toes as they march past, like the Prussians.

“_April 17th._—Luders returned Codrington’s and Pélissier’s visit, and came down to have an exhibition of the English and French armies. We were in line of contiguous columns, nearly 30,000 strong and 86 guns (no cavalry), all in the most perfect order; I never saw anything so well as our troops looked. The men had their best clothing on; regiments all made up to their full strength; artillery with new harness, horses in first-rate condition. I saw one of the Russian Generals separate himself from the Staff, and ride down between the Grenadiers and our Battalion, to see the size of the men and depth of the column; he kept muttering exclamations of surprise and admiration, and well he might. I think 30,000 puts it under the mark. The French were in line with big intervals between their regiments, which made a line extending almost to Kamiesh, and it must have been very tiring riding all along such a line, but I suppose they thought it would make them appear stronger. It would have looked much better if they had also been in contiguous columns.

”_April 25th._—Rode with General Craufurd [Commanding Guards Brigade] and Percy Feilding to the Alma; we got there easily in the mid-day, and spent all the afternoon stepping the distance from the river to the epaulment, clambering up where the French ascended the steep bank, looking for Horace Cust’s grave. We found the field of battle exactly as we left it, not a spade was put into the ground in the valley, not a vine cultivated or a house rebuilt. It had quite the appearance of a ‘Field of blood.’

“Next day, off at daybreak to Bakshiserai—a good big town, full of soldiers and Officers who were quartered there. We went by appointment to our friend Trubetskoi, who had a very good house and put us up famously; he introduced us to a set of Ruski Officers, who were the most rollicking and debauched set I ever came across. They had a tremendous orgie in our honour, drinking, singing, etc.; they mix every liquor they can get together.... Percy and I rode back to our camp that evening (the 27th), after taking leave of Trubetskoi, who really did all he could to make our expedition pleasant.”

So the days passed on, varied, besides duty, by _fêtes_ of pleasure, excursions, cricket matches, and races, until the embarkation took place, and the Battalion returned to England. But, prior to this event, a solemn duty was performed, and a resting-place for the dead was prepared, where the remains of those who had fallen in the war might be laid. A site selected on Cathcart’s Hill was enclosed, and a portion of it was devoted as a burial place for the Brigade. A number of masons from the Guards were employed, early in April, to build a suitable wall, and fatigue parties were furnished to finish the work. The bodies of most of the Officers and others, killed at Inkerman and elsewhere in the vicinity, were exhumed, and reverently interred in the new cemetery. The masses of the dead, however, could not then be removed there, so, instead, the places where they lay were carefully fenced in. But this arrangement did not last, because the enclosures became dilapidated through time, and the graves were liable to be desecrated. A few years ago this was remedied, and the bones of the departed, together with the monuments erected by the care of their comrades, were taken to Cathcart’s Hill, and are there preserved in perpetuity within the cemetery which had been first laid out in the spring of 1856.

The welcome news that the Battalion was to be sent back home, published on the 3rd of June, was preceded by a Divisional Order of Lieut.-General Lord Rokeby, commanding the First Division, dated the 2nd:—

“As the embarkation of the various regiments will shortly cause the dissolution of the First Division, Lieut.-General Lord Rokeby wishes to permit himself the pleasure of expressing the grateful thanks he entertains of the support he has received from all ranks during the period he has had the honour of being in command. Every one has at all times endeavoured to meet his wishes, and the Lieut.-General confidently believes that the record of the army will afford proof of the good results which have emanated from the cheerful spirit of obedience which has characterized the conduct of the noble regiments and corps of which it was formed. The state of the hospitals and the general health of the regiments, under God’s blessing, speaks for and forms the best reward of the Divisional and Regimental Medical Staff, and the Lieut.-General requests Dr. Williams, and all junior to him in that Department, to accept their full share of the thanks he presumes to offer to all ranks, and the wishes he forms for their prosperity and happiness.”

On the 4th of June, the Battalion embarked at Kamiesh Bay, and sailed from the Crimea in H.M.S. _Agamemnon_, arriving at Spithead on the 28th, whence they were sent by train to Aldershot camp. They had been absent on foreign service for 2 years and 126 days (856 days), which time was passed in the following places: Malta, 48 days; Scutari, 45 days; Bulgaria, 75 days; Crimea, 627 days; and at sea 61 days.

The strength on embarkation from England (February, 1854) had been 35 Officers and 919 Non-commissioned officers and men, and during the period of duty in the East, reinforcements amounting to 1141 men were sent out in six drafts, making a total of 2060 men who served in the war. The number of primary admissions from all causes into the Regimental and general hospitals was 3101, of which 2785 were from disease, 243 from wounds, and 73 from accidental injuries. Death reduced the Battalion by 699 men, of whom 81 were killed in action, 54 died from wounds, and 564 from disease: 65 men were invalided home by wounds, and 187 by disease; and 111 men were finally discharged the army on account of disabilities contracted during active service—59 from the effects of wounds, and 52 from those of disease.[359] Total loss of Non-commissioned officers and men, 810. Ninety-one Coldstream Officers were employed in the Russian war.[360] Of these, nine were killed in action, viz. Lieut.-Colonels Hon. T. Vesey Dawson and J. C. Cowell, Captains L. D. Mac-Kinnon, H. M. Bouverie, Hon. G. Eliot, Horace Cust, and F. Ramsden, and Lieutenants E. A. Disbrowe and C. H. Greville; one died of wounds, viz. Captain Hon. R. Drummond; three died of disease, viz. Lieut.-Colonel Hon. R. Boyle, Colonel Trevelyan, and Captain Hylton Jolliffe: total loss of Officers, thirteen. Seven were wounded, viz. Major-General Sir H. Bentinck, Colonel Hon. G. Upton, Lieut.-Colonels J. Halkett, Lord C. FitzRoy, Hon. P. Feilding, and C. Baring, and Captain Hon. W. Amherst. Seventeen were invalided on account of illness, of whom seven were unable to return to the Crimea. Several were obliged to leave the seat of war on promotion, and altogether twenty-two seem to have done duty at least twice before Sevastopol.

Footnote 359:

Wyatt, 97; see Appendix No. XII. 3.

Footnote 360:

Five more were transferred to the Regiment (during the war); after they had left the Crimea, viz. Majors Hon. W. Boyle, Conolly, V.C., and Maxse (the two last wounded), Captain Hedworth Jolliffe, and Lieutenant W. Stirling. The latter fought against the Russians in the Navy, as did also Lieutenant W. F. Seymour (who, however, joined the Coldstream in the Crimea). Naval-Cadet J. B. Sterling, moreover, served in the war, but he was not gazetted to the Regiment till 1861.

The Crimean Guards Brigade, concentrated at Aldershot, remained there a few days, and during that time the Battalion was inspected by the Colonel of the Regiment, Field-Marshal Earl of Strafford, whose presence, as a Coldstream Officer, formed a connecting link between the glories of Waterloo and those achieved in the Russian war.

On the 8th July, Her Majesty the Queen appeared at the camp, and was received by the troops quartered there who had lately come back from the East. After the march past, a representative body of Officers and men, who had been under fire, from each regiment, was formed up in a hollow square round Her Majesty’s carriage, to listen to the gracious address of welcome pronounced by the Queen herself to her brave men just returned from an arduous and protracted war. The address was thus published in Orders:—

Officers, Non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, I wish personally to convey through you, to the regiments assembled here this day, my hearty welcome on their return to England in health and full efficiency. Say to them, that I have watched anxiously over the difficulties and hardships which they have so nobly borne, that I have mourned with deep sorrow for the brave men who have fallen for their country, and that I have felt proud of that valour which with their gallant allies they have displayed on every field. I thank God that your dangers are over, whilst the glory of your deeds remains. But I know that, should your services be again required, you will be animated by the same devotion which in the Crimea has rendered you invincible.

Colonel Tower, who was present upon this interesting occasion, throws light upon it by recording in his diary that Her Majesty “made us a capital speech, full of gratitude and good feeling, and got quite eloquent; at last she quite broke down, and burst into tears when she talked of the poor fellows that were not there to receive her thanks.” He adds, “If she had seen us in the trenches in July, 1855, or in Bulgaria in July, 1854, she would not have recognized her Brigade; we were now [July, 1856] all so nice and smart.”

Next day the Crimean Battalions of the Brigade, 3200 strong, left Aldershot to make their public entry into London. Parading at 5.30 in the morning, they were conveyed to Nine Elms Station by train, where the three bands met them. The day was observed as a general holiday; the route taken was densely thronged by an enthusiastic crowd; the houses were decorated with flags; and the church bells rang out a joyous peal of welcome. On passing the Horse Guards, H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge met the column, and as soon as the men perceived their former Commander, who had been with them at the hard-fought battle of Inkerman, “their stern gravity gave way, and they honoured him with the heartiest cheers.” As they defiled through Buckingham Palace, the Queen, accompanied by the Royal children, by her mother the Duchess of Kent, her uncle the King of the Belgians, and by other illustrious persons, came to the balcony to greet her gallant troops with her gracious presence. Arrived in Hyde Park, they found the other four Guards Battalions, with the Colonels at the head of their respective Regiments, formed up in a line of quarter columns, facing Park Lane, with sufficient interval between them to receive the Crimean Battalions in their proper places on parade; and while the latter marched into their positions under the orders of Generals Lord Rokeby and Craufurd, their comrades presented arms. The three Regiments, now complete, were then handed over to their respective Colonels, to H.R.H. the Prince Consort, Field-Marshal Earl of Strafford (seated in a carriage, because he was too infirm to head his Regiment on horseback), and H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge. The Prince Consort having proceeded to join Her Majesty, the Duke of Cambridge assumed command of the whole. On the arrival of the Queen the bands played the national anthem, and the seven Battalions marched past Her Majesty, to the air, “See, the Conquering Hero comes.” The Brigade then advanced in Review order to the flagstaff; another Royal salute was given; and the pageant came to an end.

On the same day the following Brigade Order was issued:—

“H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge has received Her Majesty’s Command, through the Adjutant-General, to express to the Brigade of Guards Her Majesty’s entire satisfaction and approval of the appearance of the Brigade this day in the Park, which he requests the Commanding Officers of Regiments to make known to the several Battalions under their command.”

After the review, a complete change of quarters took place in the Brigade: The 1st Grenadiers proceeded to Aldershot, 2nd Grenadiers to Dublin (which was again occupied by the Household troops), 3rd Grenadiers to Wellington barracks, Buckingham Palace, the Magazine, and Kensington; 1st Coldstream to the Tower and St. John’s Wood, 2nd Coldstream to Windsor; 1st Scots Fusilier Guards to Portman Street and St. George’s barracks, 2nd Scots Fusilier Guards to Aldershot. A few days later the Battalions of the Regiment were equalized, in that each was formed of ten companies, instead of twelve and eight, as had been the case during the war; two companies belonging to the 2nd Battalion were therefore transferred to the 1st, and the Officers were posted as follows:—

_Colonel._—Field-Marshal the Earl of Strafford, G.C.B., G.C.H. _Lieut.-Colonel._—Colonel Hon. G. Upton, C.B. 1st Battalion. 2nd Battalion.

_Majors._—Colonel Gordon Drummond. Colonel Lord F. Paulet.

_Captains._—Colonels W. S. Newton; Colonels S. Perceval; W. Mark Wood T. M. Steele, C.B. (_Mounted_). (_Mounted_).

Lieut.-Colonels C. L. Cocks; Lieut.-Colonels J. Halkett; C. D. Carleton; A. St. G. W. Strong; Lord Burghersh, C.B.; Herbert-Stepney, C.B.; J. Airey, Hon. A. Hardinge; Hon. P. C.B.; C. S. Burdett; F. W. Feilding; W. Reeve; C. Baring; Newdigate; Lord Dunkellin; W. G. Hon. H. Byng. Dawkins.

_Lieutenants._—Majors J. H. Le Captains A. Fremantle (Adjutant); J. Couteur; H. Armytage; A. Caulfeild; Majors Hon. W. Boyle; Thellusson; P. S. Crawley; Sir J. J. Conolly; H. Maxse; Captains Dunlop; G. L. Goodlake; Lord Hon. W. Amherst; C. Greenhill; H. Bingham; Captains H. Tower; Hon. C. Jervoise; St. V. Whitshed; Hon. W. Wellesley; Hon. W. Feilding; H. Campbell; Julian Hall; G. Major M. Heneage; Captains Lord E. Wigram; A. Lambton; G. Rose. Cecil; C. Blackett; G. FitzRoy; Hon. R. Monck (Adjt.).

_Ensigns._—Lieutenants Sir W. Lieutenants E. S. Burnell; W. Forbes, Bart.; Hon. W. Edwardes; Stirling; F. Seymour; R. Thursby; H. J. Lane; A. Adair; W. F. N. Burnand; F. Buller; W. Wynne; Seymour; S. T. Mainwaring; Hon. E. Reeve; H. Bonham-Carter; H. E. Legge; Hon. W. Ogilvy; G. Fortescue. Cameron.

_Quartermaster._—A. Falconer. A. Hurle.

_Surgeon-Major._—J. Munro, M.D.

_Battalion-Surgeon._—J. Skelton, M.D.

_Assistant-Surgeons._—J. Wyatt; T. C. V. Cay; J. W. Trotter. Rogers; F. Bowen, M.D.

_Solicitor._—W. G. Carter, Esq.[361]

Footnote 361:

The difference made in the Regiment by the war will be seen by comparing the above with the following, giving the list in February, 1854:—

_Lieut.-Colonel._—Colonel H. Bentinck.

_Majors._—Colonels C. Hay; Hon. A. Upton.

_Captains._—Colonels W. Codrington; Hon. G. Upton; J. Clitherow; G. Drummond; (_Mounted_). Lieut.-Colonels Lord F. Paulet; H. Daniell; Hon. R. Boyle; W. Newton: Colonel W. Trevelyan: Lieut.-Colonels S. Perceval; M. Tierney; T. Crombie; Hon. T. V. Dawson; T. Steele; H. Cumming; W. M. Wood.

_Lieutenants._—Captains C. Cocks; P. Somerset; J. C. Cowell; J. Halkett; D. Carleton; Lord A. C. FitzRoy; C. Burdett; F. Newdigate (Adjutant); L. MacKinnon; Sir G. Walker, Bart.; W. Dawkins; H. Jolliffe; C. Strong; Lord Dunkellin; C. Wilson; Hon. A. Hardinge; F. Burton; Hon. P. Feilding (Adjutant); W. Reeve; Hon. G. Eliot; C. Baring; J. H. Le Couteur; H. Bouverie; H. Armytage.

_Ensigns._—Lieutenants Hon. H. Byng; A. Thellusson; H. Cust; P. Crawley; Sir J. Dunlop, Bart.; G. Goodlake; F. Ramsden; Lord Bingham; H. Tower; Hon. W. Wellesley; Hon. R. Drummond; P. Wyndham; E. Disbrowe; A. Fremantle; C. Greville; M. Heneage.

_Quartermasters._—A. Hurle; A. Falconer.

_Surgeon-Major._—J. Munro, M.D. _Battalion Surgeon._—J. Skelton, M.D. _Assistant-Surgeons._—F. Wildbore; J. Wyatt.

Where four allies were conducting a war in common, it was only natural that there should be an interchange of medals and of decorations, and this was done with no ungenerous hand. A new medal, more coveted than any other by soldiers and sailors, was established early in 1856, both for Officers and men in the Naval and Military services, who had distinguished themselves before the enemy “for valour.” The distribution of the Victoria Cross did not, however, take place until the 26th of June, 1857, when all the claims for that most conspicuous honour had been fully investigated. The day appointed for the ceremony was observed as a general holiday, and a review was held in Hyde Park before Her Majesty the Queen, who affixed to the breast of each man entitled to it, the bronze cross he had won in the field by his personal bravery. In the Coldstream the recipients of this proud distinction were Majors Goodlake and Conolly, and Privates Strong and Stanlock.[362] This event, though it took place more than a year after the conclusion of peace, is connected with the Crimean struggle, and may be said to terminate the history of the protracted hostilities that troubled our relations with Russia. Thenceforward the war became a thing of the past, and its memories were merged into or overshadowed by other events which occurred elsewhere.

Footnote 362:

See Appendix, No. XIII.

We have seen how the struggle shaped itself; how disastrously it was directed; and how devotedly our army maintained it, under very adverse and wholly exceptional circumstances. We allied ourselves to a Potentate whose tenure of power was precarious, whose interests were not our interests, and who only wished to adopt a foreign policy of adventure to reconcile his new subjects to his rule. His armies loyally supported ours in the field, and there we happily formed a sincere respect for the brave French troops who fought by our side. But the Government of Paris,—objecting always to transfer the theatre of war to Asia, where the enemy was really vulnerable,—restricted our field of operations to Europe; and as Austria protected the Russians on the Bessarabian frontier, we were forced at a late period of the year to make a descent upon the Crimea. Unhappily we had made no preparations for such an expedition, and had formed no plan for carrying it out; in fact, such an invasion had not seriously entered into our calculations when we declared war against the Tsar.

Thus, we landed fortuitously at a point where the road led to the north side of Sevastopol, but where no harbours near that town, were at hand to form a base of operations. Hence, without a base, we advanced to our objective, and, in due course, and after a successful battle, we arrived before it. But, on reaching this point, the Commander of our allies was indisposed to carry out the plan to which we had committed ourselves. We therefore shifted our forces by a strange flank march to the south side, in the hope that we might there at least be enabled to bring the campaign to a speedy conclusion. Sevastopol was at that time guarded by a small garrison, composed of a medley of indifferent and badly armed troops; it was imperfectly defended towards the land, and in this direction it was an insignificant stronghold. Still, as long as it remained in that state, we hesitated to make any or even the least move against it; we preferred to wait to bring up our siege-train, and to open regular approaches, with the expectation that the town would fall before the cold weather should set in, and put an end to all field operations.

But we had miscalculated. We did not take into account what a patriotic and energetic garrison might achieve during the unexpected respite granted them, nor did we perceive that we were altering, just as winter was approaching, the whole plan of invasion from an expedition of surprise to the more lengthened process of a regular siege. Thus, under the direction of an Engineer Officer of genius, did Sevastopol assume the proportions of a fortress, while the English and the French were looking idly on; and before they could batter down simultaneously the new works in front of each—which they allowed the enemy to construct,—the Russian forces, drawn from the Danubian Principalities, were hurried by forced marches into the Crimea, to the support of the scanty troops that were then to be found there. The very moment we had meant to deliver our final blow, the enemy’s arrangements were complete, and we had to fight the unequal battle of Inkerman. Although we were victorious there against tremendous odds, the result obliged us to spend the winter on the barren and snow-swept plain of the Chersonese.

For this emergency we were entirely unprepared, and an intensely cold season having begun early, our troops, as we have seen, suffered in consequence. We then hung on to our positions before Sevastopol with strong tenacity of purpose, and with a resolution which is above all praise. But we could not resume the siege till the spring of 1855, and it was early in September before the south side fell. Taught by disaster, we then made every arrangement to continue the struggle with the best prospects of success; but the French, having gained the objects they had in view, became inactive; they clamoured for a cessation of hostilities; and thus, to preserve an alliance into which we had permitted ourselves to be drawn, we signed a peace of little value, and so put an end to the war.

The successes gained were not due to the skill of the Government that directed the struggle; they were solely due to that indomitable bravery, discipline, and power of endurance which have ever characterized our soldiers, as well as to the admirable system which made the British regimental Officers and men second to none that existed at that time in the other European armies.

The results of the war were dearly purchased. According to a return presented to Parliament, 390 Officers and 20,425 Noncommissioned officers and men were killed or died of wounds or of disease in the Crimea, and 14,718 men were invalided at the conclusion of the war, bringing the total casualties up to 35,533 of all ranks. But this return omits to include casualties in the Naval brigade and in the Marines (doing duty on land), and in the Commissariat, Transport, and Hospital departments; nor does it seem to give our losses incurred during the disastrous stay in Bulgaria, etc.: so that the figures do not represent the entire losses to which even our Land forces were subjected.[363] On the other hand, it was computed that the Russians lost as many as half a million men. But this is a surmise, and the facts have never been known. The estimate is probably exaggerated, though it is certain that the enemy’s casualties were exceedingly great; but loss of men is not the greatest calamity that could befall an Empire like Russia.

Footnote 363:

Appendix XII. It will be observed that the losses mentioned in the text do not take into account those of the Navy incurred on board ship. On the 8th of May, 1856, Lord Panmure made a statement in the House of Lords, to the effect that from the 19th of September, 1854 (that is, the day before the battle of the Alma), 270 Officers and 19,314 men were killed, or died of wounds or of disease, and that 2873 men were discharged the service as incapacitated for further service by war; total, 22,457 casualties,—excluding, apparently, soldiers who died on board ship, sailors and marines serving on shore, and departmental troops. It seems strange that this imperfect statement should be sometimes quoted, instead of the return above mentioned, even though the latter is far from being satisfactory, and does not complete the tale of the losses to the Naval and Military Forces of the Crown during the war with Russia.

Two events must be noted here which took place about this time, one of which affected the whole army, and the other the Brigade only. On the death of Lord Hardinge, who had succeeded the Duke of Wellington as Commander-in-Chief in 1852, H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge was appointed to that high office, and assumed his new functions July 15, 1856—an office which he held without interruption until the 31st of October, 1895, for a space of nearly forty years.

The day before, the following Brigade Order appeared:—

July 14, 1856. Her Majesty has been pleased to appoint Major-General Lord Rokeby, K.C.B., to serve on the Staff of the army, with a view to his exercising a general supervision over the Battalions [of Guards] in England, including those at Aldershot; all communications having reference to the Brigade of Guards will be addressed to him in future, instead of the Field-Officer in Brigade Waiting as heretofore.

It may be well to explain that, previous to this appointment, orders to the Brigade had been issued by the Field-Officer in Brigade Waiting—a Commanding Officer of a Guards Regiment or Battalion, taken by roster—who is always an Officer of the Sovereign’s Household. The effect of the order just quoted, was to place a General Officer in actual command of the Brigade, while the Field Officer in Brigade Waiting was still retained to fulfil the Court duties, he being, as formerly, the direct medium of communication between the Court and the Household Infantry.[364]

Footnote 364:

For some years, after 1856, it appears that the Field-Officer in Brigade Waiting continued to exercise considerable control over the military affairs of the Guards. The Major-General Commanding issued general orders, the details of which were carried out by the Field-Officer. Between 1856 and 1868 the Foot Guards were called a Division; but April 27th of the latter year, the old term Brigade was again restored, and it was directed that the General’s orders should be called “Brigade Orders,” while those emanating from the Field-Officer should be termed “Sub-brigade Orders.” The “Sub-brigade Office” was abolished February 28, 1873. The Home District, created in 1870, was placed under the command of the Major-General Commanding the Brigade of Guards, and this arrangement still prevails.