HC Deb 23 July 1855 vol 139 cc1313-6

On question "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair," in order that the House might go into Committee of Supply,

MR. PALK

rose, pursuant to notice, to call upon the Government to give some explanation of the measures which they had taken to reinforce our army serving in the Crimea. The hon. Member said that in entering on the subject he had no wish to ascertain from the Government the exact number of men or the amount of ammunition, shell, and shot which had been sent, or which were intended to be sent out to the seat of war. He desired, however, to obtain some information as to what were the intentions of Her Majesty's Ministers with reference to the energetic prosecution of the war, and whether they intended to carry it on as befitted a great nation, powerful in all the means and appliances of war; or whether reinforcements were to be dribbled into the Crimea, consisting of young men unfitted for the duties they had to perform? He found that the forces of this country, when engaged in war in the year 1813, had amounted to a total of 228,000 regular troops, besides 28,000 British soldiers in India and those who served in the militia, &c., making a total of 949,000 men under arms. Of that large force 749,000 men were drawn from the British islands. Now he was not aware that since the year 1813 there had been any falling off whatever in the resources of this great empire; on the contrary, he should contend that from the period to which he referred up to the present moment England had progressed largely in population and in wealth, while she enjoyed the advantage, if advantage indeed it could be called, of a reformed Parliament. That being the case he could see no good reason for the difficulty said to be experienced in reinforcing our army. He found by certain returns which he held in his hand that the number of our troops was still 40,000 men under the number for which a Vote this year had been taken in the Estimates; while the number of the militia force was only 52,835 men, notwithstanding that provision had been made in the Estimates for 135,323. Now he could not perceive that any measures had been adopted by the Government for the purpose of remedying that state of things; and he believed that the services of those militia regiments which were willing to serve, not only in the Colonies and the Mediterranean, but also upon the shores of the Crimea, had only in a few instances been accepted. Ho was not, indeed, aware that we possessed anywhere a reserve by which we might obviate the consequences of any disaster which might fall upon our gallant army at the seat of war. The whole force of the Emperor of Russia was now being concentrated in the Crimea, to cope with that body of heroes; and yet, as far as he could see, nothing had been done with the view of recruiting their number or maintaining them in their present state of efficiency. The question was one which was well worthy of the serious consideration of the Government—one with respect to which the country felt a deep interest; and he trusted, therefore, that they should have some satisfactory explanations in connection with it from Her Majesty's Ministers. Parliament had last year been summoned together upon a sudden to provide for the enrolment of a foreign legion, but he had yet to learn with what amount of success the measure which had been passed for that purpose had been attended. Some months had elapsed since that measure had received the sanction of the Legislature, yet no foreign legion had been sent to the assistance of our gallant soldiers in the Crimea. He perceived by a statement which appeared in a newspaper, supposed to be in the interest of the Government, that a battalion of foreign troops was to be removed from Heligoland to this country, and that 3,000 or 4,000 foreign soldiers were assembled at Dovor. But if that number constituted the only reserve which we had at our disposal, he must say that he could not help thinking the measures which had been adopted by Her Majesty's Ministers were most inadequate to meet the dangers which we had to encounter, and were calculated to create great distrust and anxiety throughout the country. Under these circumstances, he hoped to hare some explanation from the Government as to the steps which they had taken to reinforce the army serving in the Crimea.

MR. FREDERICK PEEL

said, the question of which the hon. Gentleman had given notice would require from the Government a statement of what were the reinforcements they had to send to the Crimea; and, although the hon. Member had, in the course of his remarks, considerably reduced the proportions assumed by his notice, still he thought that, even under this modified form, he must ask the House to support him in declining to give the explanation asked for. The facts of which the hon. Gentleman wished to he put in possession could not be given without affording to the enemy very valuable information. As regarded Russia, there was no information which was more acceptable to the English Government—none which was more promptly forwarded to our generals, than information relative to the strength of the Russian army in the Crimea, the reinforcements which were going there, and the period at which they were likely to arrive; and if he were to give the hon. Gentleman similar information with regard to our own movements, undoubtedly he would be imparting that which the enemy would turn to his own account. With respect to reinforcements, he might state, that our army in the Crimea had received very considerable additions to its number, and at no time had the English forces been so large as at the present moment. The hon. Member had complained of there being no reserve. Now, he was happy to state that a reserve was being formed, and that a very considerable force was now assembled at Malta. There were several thousand troops at that station, and already the commander of the English army before Sebastopol had drawn largely upon that force for reinforcements. The hon. Member had also stated that this House had voted money for the support of a militia force of upwards of 130,000 men, while, at present, not one-half of that number was in existence. In stating that the militia force was nearly 100,000 men below the number voted by Parliament, the hon. Member made a mistake by confusing the embodied and the disembodied militia. The force for which Parliament voted supplies was one including as well the disembodied as the embodied militia. The number of embodied militiamen might perhaps be small, but in addition to that force of embodied militia there was a considerable number of regiments which had not been embodied at all, but remained in a disembodied state, and were only called out for training and exercising for a certain number of days in a portion of each year. If, however, to the embodied regiments were added those disembodied, the militia force of this country would be found to be by no means so far below the number voted by Parliament as the hon. Gentleman seemed to suppose. With regard to the foreign legion, undoubtedly very great delays had arisen in the formation of that corps. It was not necessary for him to refer to the circumstances which at the beginning of the year impeded the steps taken to recruit that force; but these difficulties were now being rapidly removed. The number of men composing the foreign legion were at the present moment between 3,000 and 4,000, and their numbers were rapidly increasing. He did not think he should be justified in entering into more particulars, but he could assure the House that every measure was being taken to maintain the efficiency of the English army before Sebastopol.