HC Deb 17 June 1856 vol 142 cc1579-80
SIR HENRY DAVIE

said, there appeared to be some misapprehension as to the real state of affairs with regard to the army in the East, and it would be desirable that a Member of the Government should give some explanation upon the subject.

SIR CHARLES WOOD

said, he had not the least difficulty in re-stating that which he stated on Friday, which seemed, in a most extraordinary manner, to have been misunderstood by the right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Disraeli). He could not understand under what hallucination the right hon. Gentleman must have laboured when he put words into his (Sir C. Wood's) mouth which he never used, because, upon referring to the ordinary sources of information, he found that which he stated correctly reported. Being a question of figures, he brought down a written statement as to the number of the army which he then believed to be in the Crimea. He would repeat the statement from the same paper:—On Friday last, as far as he could make out, there were in round numbers in the Crimea, 33,000 men. He also stated that there were in the Crimea sufficient steam-transports to bring away the whole of these troops. He found he was reported to have said:— There are now, as we believe, in the Crimea, 32,000 or 33,000 men, and there are in the Mediterranean steam-transports, including ships-of-war ordered to bring home men, for 33,000 troops. No doubt the whole of the Crimea will be cleared before the end of the month. Sailing transports are gone out for 9,000 men, and I hope will arrive there in June. The whole number remaining to be brought home from the East, calculated up to to-day, is under 40,000 men. There is in the Mediterranean tonnage calculated to bring home more than 42,000. Steam-transports for 5,000 more are under orders to return, and I think it wise to send steam-transports beyond that, probably for 4,000 more, so as to leave the sailing vessels to bring home stores. He thought that nothing could well be clearer than that statement as he made it, and as he was reported to have made it; he was at a loss to understand how words could have been put in his mouth by which he was represented to have said that no portion of the troops were now remaining in the Crimea. There was some misapprehension as to the expectation attributed to him that these troops would be removed from the Crimea by the end of July. He should be exceedingly disappointed if there were a man left in the Crimea on the 30th of June.