CHAPTEE XXV. PEEPAEATIONS FOR AN EXPEDITION. Bad tools — The borrowing system — The Army AVorks Corps, and their model tents — Spoil from the town — Trophies — Forts Alexander and Nicliolas not indestructible — Inferior nature of the material of which they are constructed — The Catherine Boulevard of Sebastopol — Communications with the Russians — Their account of the ciipture of the Malakhofi' — Necessity of teaching our soldiers to work — Inferiority of our troops to those of France and Russia in this respect — Truth of the saying, " More battles are won by the spade than by the musket" — Dissatisfaction of the French at not receiving the clasp for their share in the battle of Inkermann — An Interchange of honours between the two nations desirable — General Simpson's despatch respecting the operations of the 8th of September — Affability of the French authorities— The contrast afforded by the conduct of our own — The AdjutantGeneral — Extract from a circular addressed by the Duke of Wellington to all commanding officers of divisions and brigades, dated Freuada, November 28, 1812 — Excellent cooking-houses and kitchens of the 19th and 48th Regiments — Preparations for the expedition.
Before Sebastopol, October 6. There is not much to be said respecting the actual proceedings of the army, which at present mainly consist in preparations for the winter on the plateau before Sebastopol, in dismantling the ruined houses of the city for wood, and in destroying the trenches for the sake of the gabions, which burn very well and save fuel. The attention of all is directed to the secret expedition, the destination of which every one knows by this time, and I trust that my next letter may prove more rateresting than the present is likely to be. The road makes great progress. Upwards of 6000 men are engaged upon it daily, and if Mr. Doyne could procure more tools from the Quartermaster-General the work would go on still faster; but the fact is, that he experiences considerable difficulty in getting the authorities to comply with his requisitions, although he handed over the materiel of the corps to them when he arrived in the Crimea.
Labour is, however, ample, and is not denied; the tools which have been issued to Mr. Doyne are worn out and worthless, and we are guilty of the very bad economy, in a country like this, where skilled labour costs so much, of repairing implements which have been damaged or used up, instead of issuing new ones. Many of these tools belong to the Engineers' department, and have been completely worked up by the Sappers and Miners during the siege. It can scarcely bo credited, but I am assured it is a fact, that the butchers belonging to the Commissariat who have just gone on board the " Indian" to accompany the expedition, have not, and cannot for love or money procure, high or low, the weapons of their trade.
No, we are not perfect even yet. Though Sebastopol is ours, there are little blui's and blotches which might be removed from our administrative escutcheon by very small labours. We borrow flour from the French, and we borrow flour from the Sardinians, and, indeed, as we are liberal lenders, they cannot complain of our making such small requisitions upon them now and then. Our stock of rum runs so short that the regiments in front are di'awing upon the depot of the Fourth Division for their supplies. AVliat would a run of bad weather do? One eighth of our troops are still without huts; and the very latest and most improved corps sent out, with all the modern improvements — the Army Works Coqjs — were provided with model tents, which in a few weeks were so thoroughly annihilated, that there is scarcely one left among the corps.
To get requisite tools for our Croats and labourers, Captain Foster is obliged to leave his duties for the time, and go to Constantinople for implements of Tm'kish manufacture, which I can from personal experience declare to be bad, though nearly as good as om* own. Sebastopol is gradually coming up piecemeal to the camp. Doors, windows, locks, hinges, fire-places, stoves, pictures, chairs, tables, beams of wood, roofing, ceiling, flooring, sheet-lead, rolled copper, cut stone, crockery, and innumerable articles of every description, are brought up by carts, horses, ponies, and by men, every day in great quantities, and are found most useful in the construction and ornamentation of our huts. Many articles of English workmanship abounded, and canary birds sang and flowers bloomed amid all the murky horrors of these bloodstained casemates.