§ MR. LAYARDsaid, he begged to ask the hon. Under Secretary for War, why the list of officers recommended by General Simpson for promotion for distinguished services in the attack on the Redan, on the 8th of September, alluded to in the Gazette of the 5th of October last, had not yet been published, and whether it was the intention of the Secretary of State for War to publish that document?
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELsaid, he had been unable to answer the question the other night because no previous notice was given of it; but he had since ascertained that when it became known in this country that the siege had terminated, and that Sebastopol was taken, Lord Hardinge wrote to General Simpson, requesting him to send home a list of officers whom he would recommend for brevet rank, as well of those who had distinguished themselves in the attack on the Redan, as of those who had, from the beginning of the siege to its close, been conspicuous for zeal and gallantry. It was in the expectation of receiving such a list that the note was appended to the dispatch to which the hon. Gentleman adverted the other night, but no such list had been received; for General Simpson had taken a different course, and had sent home the whole return which he received from the staff, from the heads of departments, from general officers commanding divisions, and from the commanding officers of regiments, of those persons under their respective commands the officers first named thought deserving of mention. General Simpson said that, in preference to making a selection 915 from the lists himself, he sent them home for the guidance of Lord Hardinge, and preferred that Lord Hardinge should make out the list of officers most worthy of being rewarded. The result was the brevet of the 2nd of November. The Returns were not such as were usually published in the Gazette, not being Returns of officers named for brevet rank, but they were in the Office of Lord Hardinge, and could be referred to in case it should be to the advantage of any officer concerned to do so.
§ MR. LAYARDsaid, he must again inquire whether it was not intended to publish the list of those officers who had distinguished themselves in the attack on the Redan?
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELreplied that General Simpson had sent over no other list than that he had just described.