Lords Sitting of 23 February 1855

MINUTE.
PUBLIC BILL.—1a Common Law Procedure.

THE RECALL OF SIR JOHN BURGOYNE —EXPLANATION.
LORD PANMUREsaid, that before the House adjourned, he wished to correct an impression which appeared to have gone abroad, either from what fell from him in that House, or from the statements of his noble Friend (Lord Palmerston) in the House of Commons, with reference to the recall of Sir John Burgoyne. The impression to which he referred was to the effect, that Sir John Burgoyne bad been recalled in consequence of some fault which had been found with him by the Government. His wish was to make it clear that the recall of Sir John Burgoyne from service in the Crimea arose from the fact of a younger officer—General Jones—having been sent out to take the command of the engineers there, and to assist Lord Raglan with scientific advice. The Government had, therefore, thought it advisable to recall Sir John Burgoyne, a man who was now far advanced in years, from the severities of a Crimean winter, and to request him to resume in this country the discharge of those duties which he devolved into other hands when he went out to the army in the East—namely, the Inspector Generalship of Fortifications not only at home but abroad. Therefore, if any impression existed that Sir John Burgoyne had been recalled under any stigma whatever, he trusted that that impression would now be entirely removed from the minds of the public.
THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEwas extremely glad that his noble Friend had had an opportunity of making so desirable an explanation; because nothing could be more unfortunate than that any impression should go forth that there had been on the part of the Government, or he would say on the part of any one person connected
1738
with it, an opinion formed unfavourable to the character or services of Sir John Burgoyne. He had occasion to know that Sir John Burgoyne had, at the earnest request of the noble Duke lately at the head of the War Department, quitted without hesitation a situation suited to his time of life and past services. It was highly to his credit, looking to his time of life, and to his past services, that he did not hesitate on an emergency to sacrifice and comfort and every other consideration to go out to the Crimea for the purpose of performing temporary but very important duties there. In doing so, Sir John Burgoyne only did that which he had done throughout his whole life—sacrificed his private convenience to the public service. He had done that in a variety of services. He did it in Ireland in a service of a different nature from that to which he had been accustomed; and he acquitted himself there in a way which was worthy of the highest commendation, and which showed that he had the greatest capacity for such an office. Upon every occasion, indeed, he had performed the duties which the country bad a right to expect from him in a manner which. entitled him to the thanks of the public. He was returning home solely for the purpose of resuming a very important function in this country, and there could be no doubt that he would continue to perform his public duties with the same ability, the same zeal, and the same energy which he had hitherto displayed.

THE ARMY IN THE CRIMEA—SUMMER CLOTHING—QUESTION.
LORD LYNDHURST: I wish to put a question to the War Minister which arises out of a statement reported to have been made in the other House of Parliament in reference to the summer clothing of our troops now serving in the Crimea. In answer to a question put to him on the subject, the Under Secretary for the War Department is understood to have stated that the patterns for the summer clothing had not yet been settled. Now, my Lords, I believe that early in the month of April, or at the latest, in the middle of that month, the climate of the Crimea is often extremely sultry; and I believe, also, that if all the summer clothing were ready at this moment, it would require at least four weeks to put it on board ship and, transmit it to the Crimea. Now, there are but five weeks from this to the beginning of the month of April, and I wish to know if any steps have been taken for the purpose of preparing summer

1739
clothing for the army in the Crimea; and, if so, whether it will soon be ready to be sent out? It would be extremely hard that our soldiers in the Crimea should perish from the want of proper clothing in the winter, and should be smothered by winter clothing in the summer. I also wish to know to what department it belongs to settle the patterns for the summer clothing?
LORD PANMUREbegged to state, in answer to the noble and learned Lord, that the question of clothing for the summer had not failed to engage his early attention. The usual clothing was supplied to the army in April. He had written to Lord Raglan to make a suggestion to him with respect to the clothing which should be used by the army in the Crimea, but, above all, to dissuade him from permitting the troops suddenly, when the warm weather commenced, to put off the worsted shirts which they had been wearing during the winter. He thought it would be a very great mistake if the army were suddenly to resort, labouring as they did both in the trenches and in the field, to any light species of summer dress, inasmuch as they would be liable to take cold immediately after their work for the day was done. He had written to Lord Raglan upon the whole question; and anything that was required in addition to the usual supply of clothing which was used in the army will be prepared and sent from hence. He had already taken steps to furnish a fatigue dress for the army for summer use, which he thought would promote the health and comfort of the soldiers, and enable them to discharge their duties easily. The question had engaged much of his attention, and he had endeavoured to do all that could be done for the comfort of the army, as well as for the convenience of the soldiers in any operation in which they may be engaged.
LORD VIVIANsaid, these questions with regard to the summer clothing naturally led to one of which he had himself given the noble Lord notice, and which he now begged leave to put to him—namely, what clothing had been supplied to the drafts sent out to marching regiments during the last four months, previously to their leaving this country? He held in his hand a letter from an officer in command of a regiment in the Crimea—a gentleman who had brought great honour upon himself—in which the writer said—
"In the last letter which I wrote to you, I fortto mention one fact, that I had sent out to me
1740
two drafts of men, one of 100 and one of fifty, one sailing the last week in October, the other the second week in November, and yet not one stitch of winter clothing was put on them. The consequence was that they arrived here in the worst weather, and immediately sickened, got disheartened, lay down in their tents, and died in disgust. I don't think thirty of them remain. Not one of them has been put hors de combat by the enemy."
It was added that drafts were sent out to other regiments in the same condition; and that in the case of the 46th and 63rd, the entire regiment were situated alike, and were consequently hors de combat. His reason for putting this question was, that as great censure had fallen on several of the public departments, he thought it behoved Parliament to ascertain, as far as was in their power, where the blame really lay.
LORD PANMUREsaid, the noble Lord had given him notice of his question only half an hour before he came down to the House, and he had made such inquiries as he had it in his power to make in so short a time. He found that previous to the middle of November some difficulties had arisen with regard to the supply of warm clothing to the troops. When it was ascertained beyond a doubt that the army were to pass the winter before Sebastopol, large supplies of warm clothing were contracted for, through Lord Westmoreland, at Vienna, which supplies were sent to the army from thence. The consequence was, that, previous to the middle of November, the regiments which sailed from this country left under the impression that they were to receive their warm clothing upon their arrival at the seat of war. Mistakes, however, occurred which were very much to be lamented, and some of the regiments did fail to some extent in obtaining their warm clothing. But those mistakes there was no possibility of preventing here. Ample provision had been made at home for meeting the necessities of the case, but it was impossible to foresee and control all that had occurred. He was sorry to say that some of the troops bad suffered from the want of warm clothing; but after the 25th of November all the detachments which sailed from this country were supplied with their warm clothing here, sailed with their warm clothing, and, he was informed, arrived with their winter clothing at the seat of war, and had enjoyed the benefit of it ever since they had been in the Crimea.
LORD LYNDHURSTsaid, the noble Baron had not answered the whole of his

1741
question. He wished to know what department settled the pattern of the clothing for the army?
LORD PANMUREreplied, that it was the business of the Board of General Officers to see and approve of every pattern of the clothing for the army.

THE BLOCKADE IN THE BLACK SEA— QUESTION.
LORD LYNDHURSTsaid, he wished to put a question—though he did not know very well to whom he was to put it; but he hoped it would be answered by the noble Earl the President of the Council. It also related to something which was reported to have passed in the other House. It appeared that as early as May last instructions were sent out to blockade the different Russian ports in the Black Sea; but no particular directions were given as to the manner in which the blockade was to be effected. In these circumstances it appeared to the-English and French Admirals that the best mode of blockading the Russian ports in the Black Sea was to place a blockading squadron in the Bosphorus. Such a proceeding was much the same as if, with the view of blockading the ports of Italy, we were to think of placing a blockading squadron in the Straits of Gibraltar; or as if, wishing to blockade the Russian ports in the Baltic, we should place a blockading squadron in the Sound, or the Great Belt. As was to be expected, some doubts arose as to whether such a blockade would be legal, and he supposed that applications were immediately made to the Admiralty on the subject. Of course, when these applications reached the Admiralty, as time was of the utmost consequence in such matters, that department consulted the law officers of the Crown, who could not delay long in declaring the blockade to be altogether illegal and ineffectual. Such being the case, it was, of course, of the utmost consequence that no delay should take place in despatching information to the Admirals in the Black Sea. The whole of these proceedings might have been completed in less than four or five weeks; but he understood that the original blunder was permitted to remain unrectified for the period of three months; and at the expiration of that time it was found impossible to blockade the Russian ports in the Black Sea, because our fleet was then engaged before Sebastopol. Now, the
1742
question he wished to put was this—how it happened that three months were consumed in rectifying so gross a blunder?
EARL GRANVILLEsaid, he would venture to suggest that it would have been much better if notice had been given of this question, as he thought it was for the public convenience to adhere to the rule laid down in such eases, more especially when the department more particularly implicated was not represented in that House; but as he was anxious to give all the information in his power to the noble and learned Lord, he would state what he believed to have been the circumstances of the case. Orders were sent out, as the noble and learned Lord had stated, to the Admiral to blockade all the Russian ports in the Black Sea. After some communication between the French and English Admirals it was resolved to blockade those ports in the manner described by the noble and learned Lord. It was to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to whom the doubt at once suggested itself, whether such a blockade would be consonant with the law of nations. The question was referred to the law officers of the Crown. They gave it as their opinion that it was quite impossible that such blockade could be good in law. It was then necessary that some communications should pass between the noble Earl the Secretary for Foreign Affairs and the French Government, in order to inform them that such a blockade could not be maintained, and also to make arrangements for the establishment of an efficient and valid blockade. The dates were not so clear and precise in his mind as to enable him to give the exact number of weeks or months which those communications occupied; but the fact was, as stated by the noble and learned Lord, that when the second order reached the Admirals in the Black Sea the fleet was engaged before Sebastopol.
LOUD LYNDIIURSTsaid, the explanation of the noble Earl was not satisfactory. He did not understand why so much time had been lost. No proposition could be clearer than that such a blockade as that attempted was altogether ineffectual and illegal.
House adjourned to Monday next.