THE TROOPS AT GALLIPOLI—QUESTION. (Hansard, 28 April 1854)

§ MR. SIDNEY HERBERT

Sir, in answering the questions which the hon. Gentleman has put to me, I hope the House will allow me to enter into some details, in order to explain the exact facts of the case. The statement referred to by the hon. Member has been made upon the authority of a correspondent of a daily newspaper. That statement amounts to this—that no sufficient staff of Commissariat officers had been sent to Turkey, to prepare for the arrival of the troops; that no medical stores or medical staff were sent out, in order to meet the case of any sickness arising amongst them; that no proper quarters were selected for them, and that the result is that they have not obtained proper quarters; that the position in which they are placed is one which, on military grounds, was improper to be so taken; and lastly, that it was lightly taken up, no more consideration being given to the ground than a visit of ten minutes, on the part of Sir John Burgoyne, could enable him to give. With regard to the first part of the question, I will state to the House what course the Government took previous to the commencement of hostilities. So far back as the 17th of February last, orders were sent to Assistant Commissary-General Smith, then in the Ionian Islands, who was selected for the service on account of his intelligence and capacity, to proceed to Constantinople in the first packet, taking with him as many subordinates and as many persons versed in the language of the country to which he was going as he might deem proper. The Assistant Commissary-General left the Ionian Islands and proceeded to Turkey, and during the whole of the month of March 1000 we received constant reports of the measures he was taking from the time of his arrival in Constantinople. What the exact number of persons with him was I am not able now to state; but I have been looking over his letters, and I find the names of several persons mentioned by him as at one time having been sent to the Dardanelles, at another time having been sent to Gallipoli, at another time having been sent to Scutari, at another having been kept at Constantinople, when he proceeded to those other places himself. He also mentioned the great assistance he had derived from the knowledge of the Greek, and Turkish, and Lingua Franca languages, on the part of those who accompanied him, and he mentioned the kindness and readiness of Lord Stratford, who put at his disposal a dragoman of the embassy. Therefore the charges that no sufficient staff of Commissariat officers was sent out, that none of the persons employed were capable of speaking a language intelligible to such of the residents in the country as they had transactions with, and that no interpreter was engaged, were founded on very inaccurate information. With respect to the medical stores, there was sent out with every regiment an ample supply capable of lasting some time, in addition to the general stock sent out for the different regiments; and there was a sufficient supply at least for a long period. I am unable to state what are the facts of the case with regard to the landing of these medical stores, for I have not yet received information; but I apprehend it will be found that their wants have been fully and carefully attended to in this respect. It may be thought that it was a very easy matter to make the arrangements that have been made for the reception of the troops; but I find in a letter of Assistant Commissary-General Smith the following passage, which I shall, with the permission of the House, read, as it will throw some light on this subject. He says, writing upon the 19th of March:— The difficulties of such an undertaking need not be enlarged upon. An estimate of them may be formed, to a certain extent, from historical accounts; but its realisation can only be felt after practical observation, such as I have had. The intricacies and delays of intercourse with the numerous persons who must be consulted, the diversity of language, the peculiar customs and prejudices of the people, and the unprecedented fluctuations of the markets, are a few of the causes which render operations in this country more difficult than, perhaps, in any other in the world. 1001 And I find in a letter from Commissary-General Filder, dated Malta, April 13th, the following statement:— The Admiral Superintendent at the same time ordered that all the steam transports conveying troops from Malta to Gallipoli should be filled up with provisions, with directions that the residue unconsumed, on the termination of the voyage, should be delivered into the commissariat stores. These measures, together with the satisfactory nature of the reports which I have received from Assistant Commissary- General Smith, at Constantinople, relieve me from any present anxiety as to the supply of the Army, on its arrival in Turkey. This statement, with the accounts received from Assistant Commissary-General Smith, relieve me from any anxiety as to the supply of the Army on its arrival in Turkey. I find that, thanks to the energy of Assistant Commissary-General Smith, the most willing and zealous assistance has been rendered by the Turkish Government. On his arrival he applied to the Turkish Government to appoint some officer to communicate with him, and assist him in the necessary preparations, and when he found for some reason, the service did not progress, he suggested, and his suggestion was adopted, that a commission of Turkish officers should be appointed to aid him in making the necessary preparations; and, making allowance, as every one must, for that slowness with which native officials in that country move, nothing could exceed the willingness, the zeal, and the good feeling with which he was assisted by these Turkish officers. As to the question of the badness of the quarters, is that so clearly decided by the evidence of this correspondent? It is stated by him that the quarters are situated in what is called the Greek quarter—that the population hate the troops, and regard them as foes quartered on them by force of arms; but it has been shown, by the statements of officers, that they prefer that quarter, and find nothing but the greatest civility on the part of the inhabitants. Further than that, it is admitted, in the statement of the correspondent, that it is the healthiest quarter, and I apprehend that in the selection of quarters, no consideration should weigh so much as their sanitary situation, and what is best for the troops in that respect. It is impossible, however, for me to answer in detail all those accusations in newspapers in reference to this question. We must recollect what is the nature of the duties of the correspondent for a newspaper here in London. I apprehend that 1002 the business of a correspondent of a newspaper is to do that which, I must say, they do with singular skill and success, to give graphic pictures of everything that is done, thought, and said, and to convey to the people of England a general impression of the scene of operations; but it is not his business to sift reports, to ascertain whether every rumour is well founded, when he is engaged in presenting amusing pictures to the readers of a newspaper. No doubt, he made the statement with the conviction that what he stated was true; but in giving a description of the military state of Gallipoli he differs not only from Sir John Burgoyne, but from the French engineers. But he adds:— It is no wonder that the ground was not well selected, if it be true, as generally said, that Sir John Burgoyne spent ten minutes in making an examination of it. Perhaps the House would permit me to read a passage from a note from Sir John Burgoyne on the subject, in which he says, after speaking of the absurd report of the correspondent at Gallipoli:— I can excuse his criticisms on the position there recommended by me, but it is somewhat unreasonable to state that 'it is understood that Sir John Burgoyne was only occupied ten minutes in examining it,' whereas I had four hard days' work, of six or seven hours each day, examining the Isthmus, of which three of the days were in the neighbourhood of this position: besides which I had the reports of four officers of my own and two French, who had been a week in the village on the spot working at it. If there was any error (which I deny), it was at least not for want of a thorough investigation. I read that passage from the letter of Sir Joins Burgoyne, not for the purpose of defending him from accusation—for I am convinced that any person acquainted with Sir John Burgoyne must know that the statement that he had decided on a great military question of the first importance, on which depends the safety of a large force of men, in a cursory examination of ten minutes, is one that carries with it its own refutation; but I have read the passage to the House to enable it to test other statements by the accuracy of this statement. It is quite impossible for the Government to be prepared to contradict every statement of this description. It is the accident of Sir John Burgoyne being in England that enables me to answer so fully that particular statement. I trust Gentlemen will recollect that when reading accounts of this kind they are not to be received as 1003 accurate despatches, or reports founded upon examination, and professing only to give accurate statements. Those officers of the Commissariat have been engaged for some time in an arduous and difficult duty. They are officers on whom the safety and existence of an army mainly depend; at the same time, their duties are not of a nature that leads to great distinction and renown; but on that very ground we ought to be more careful in passing censure upon them. I have answered to the best of my ability the questions which the hon. Gentleman has put to me, and I trust the House will feel that, so far as we have evidence in our hands, there is no reason to think that the officers of the Commissariat, or any other officers in Her Majesty's service, have neglected their important duties.