§ SIR JOHN WALSHsaid, he wished to ask the right hon. Baronet the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, considering that the combined action of infantry, cavalry, and artillery was essential in modern warfare, and that the period required for the transport of the two latter arms was the measure of time of all effective military operations, Her Majesty's Government were prepared to adopt any plan by which steam power might be generally applied to the conveyance by sea of these two branches of the service?
§ SIR JAMES GRAHAMSir, I think my best course in answering the question put to me by the hon. Baronet will be to state to the House what has been accomplished since the 8th of February by the means, such as they are, at the disposal of Her Majesty's Government. We have sent to Turkey since the 8th of February 830 officers, 21,119 men, and 2,259 horses. We have sent in addition to this force 2,300 tons of provisions and commissariat stores, and also 8,300 tons of Ordnance stores. For this purpose we have employed ninety-three transports, twenty-seven steamers, and seventy-six sailing vessels. Seventy of these sailing vessels were used for the transport of horses. Now, considering the distance which this force has been moved, the short time that 994 I have already mentioned within which this work has been performed, and the number both of horses and men conveyed, I am confident that at no former period in the history of this country has such an operation been executed in so short a space.
§ SIR JOHN WALSHsaid, he hoped the right hon. Baronet would pardon him, but if he had correctly understood the purport of his answer, it did not exactly meet the particular nature of the question that he had put. His question was whether there was any intention on the part of the Government to augment the amount of steam power to be employed for the conveyance of cavalry and artillery. In his more general answer he did not understand the right hon. Gentleman to give an answer to that particular point.
§ SIR JAMES GRAHAMThe question has been discussed several times whether steamers are applicable for the conveyance of cavalry; and the Board of Admiralty has come to the conclusion that steam is not generally applicable to such conveyance.