gather from the pages of the work itself, | Colonel (then Captain) Wrottesley, and while we hurry to more stirring matters Accompanied by Colonel Ardant, of the French Engineers, and attended by Captain Wellesley, Lord Cowley's son, as aides-de-camp, Sir John quitted Paris on the 31st of January, and, touching at Malta, where the French officer was treated with the greatest respect and kindness, arrived on the 12th of Febru ary at Gallipoli. Mrs. Wrottesley, then Miss Burgoyne, made one of the partywhich, after settling where the lines should be drawn, passed on to Varna; and from thence to Omar Pasha's headquarters at Shumla. All that Sir John saw and heard only confirmed him in the opinion which he had already expressed as to the plan of campaign to be acted upon, though Omar Pasha advocated a descent on the Crimea, which he described as occupied only by about 20,000 Russian troops, and to be exceedingly defensible if once reduced. Returning to London, Sir John made his report, which, with a paper subsequently written, in order to guard against misapprehension, is published, and will be read with great interest. And now, as it seemed, there were two courses, and only two, for the Government to follow. They had deprived the Ordnance Office of its Master-General, by appointing Lord Raglan to command the Army in the East. The post of Lieut.-General of the Ordnance Office had, in a fit of false economy, been abolished. It was competent to those in power either to confer that dignity, which circumstances constrained them to recreate, on Sir John, or they might attach him to the field force as a lieut.-general of the Staff. They did neither. They appointed to be temporary head of the Ordnance Office Sir Hugh Rose, a very gallant veteran, who was, however, Burgoyne's junior in army-rank. Sir Hugh had had, moreover, no experience whatever of the working of the department; yet they left Burgoyne Inspector-General of Fortifications, and therefore the subordinate of the new Lieut.-General, whom, as a soldier, he ought to have commanded. No wonder that Burgoyne, patient as he was of slight, should have felt this deeply. Nor did the mode adopted to soothe bis outraged feelings redound, more than the act itself, to the credit of the Government. When a despatch arrived from Varna, containing a plan of the proposed invasion of the Crimea, Sir James Graham sent to Sir John, requesting him to make his remarks upon it. This Sir John did. He disapproved of the proposed landing at the mouth of the Belbec - within sight, so to speak, of Sebastopol. He was preliminary battle, pronounces in favour equally opposed to an attempt of the kind of the establishment of a base for siege on the Katcha that point being also, in operations at Balaclava and the bays on his opinion, too near the enemy. What each side of the Chersonese. He selects was to be done? The Duke of New- Eupatoria as the place of debarkation, castle sent for Sir John, and put the and the point on which, in case of a requestion to him whether he would be verse in the field, the Allies should rewilling to join the army and give to Lord treat. Both suggestions were acted upon, Raglan the benefit of his experience? and both are now said to have been wise. Without a moment's hesitation the noble But on his arrival at Varna he found the veteran assented to the proposition. But army decimated by sickness, many both see what followed. No public recogni- of officers and men having died, and a tion was made of the position which he much larger number being still down or was to hold in the field force. He was slowly recovering. There was great not gazetted to the Staff of the army.* gloom in consequence everywhere, which He went out without any military position the reports that came in from day to day at all, and whether any such position was of the enemy's strength and preparations subsequently assigned to him is to this did not tend to remove. "Captain Drum-. hour uncertain. Why was this done? mond of the Retribution," writes AdmiBecause, had he been placed on the Staff ral Dacres on the 28th of August, "has of the army, he must have taken rank as just arrived from Odessa; reports that second in command; and in event of 140,000 men are in the Crimea; 40,000 anything befalling Lord Raglan, the com- marched from Odessa to the Crimea latemand would have devolved upon him!! ly." These incidents had their natural Such, in those days, was the pitiful jeal- effect upon a man so experienced in war ousy of officers of what were called the as Sir John; and one of his memoranda scientific corps. They might be very the first which he seems to have writable men, excellent advisers, extremely ten after reaching head-quarters — gives useful in their way, but they must never reasons why, under the circumstances, take the lead of their brother officers an attack on Sebastopol at that time reared in the infantry and cavalry, in could be considered only as "a most deswhom all the genius for war on a great perate undertaking." But the die was scale was assumed to have centred. We cast; the enterprise must be entered have, it is to be hoped, broken the neck upon; and he applied his best energies of this most mistaken prejudice. One to the arrangement of a plan for meeting general officer trained in the Engineers every possible difficulty and surmounting conducted the expedition to Abyssinia, it. Not the least formidable of these was and now commands in chief in India; and other officers there are, both of the Engineers and Artillery, whom no Government, in the event of war, will venture to keep back. Sir John's letters, journal, and memoranda, during the progress of the operations that followed, are a study for officers of all ranks. While passing from Marseilles to the Piræus, he amused himself with drawing up a plan of campaign in the Crimea, towards which, through the sheer force of popular clamour and newspaper articles, the tide of war was already directed to be turned. It is curious to notice how very slightly the principles there laid down by anticipation were, in the conduct of the enterprise, departed from. The writer, as suming the Allies to be victorious in a It is not made quite clear whether, at a later stage in the war, Sir John was or was not placed upon the Staff of the army. A letter from Lord Hardinge seems to imply that he was about to be so placed; but we do not find any confirmation of the fact itself. the disinclination of the French to the whole service, and their eagerness when the matter was decided, to force a landing at the wrong place. These were surmounted as much by tact as the force of argument; and the allied armies embarked. The story of the reconnaissance by the Caradoc frigate of the whole coast, from Sebastopol to Eupatoria, is simply and modestly told; so is the account of the landing, the movement upon the Alma, and the battle. In justice to the gallant fellows who fought it, we transcribe the terms in which Sir John- no mean nor prejudiced authority in such casesspeaks of them and their doings: superior numbers, and our superior position in The enemy certainly fought gallantly against attack; but I must say, that our attack was of a very superior order in tactics, in steadiness, regularity, precision, and spirit. The contest was at times becoming very close and resolute, but nearly in all-certainly in all of importance the enemy were forced to turn; every thing was under view; the sight was magnifi- | pillar of ice, than I would ask to leave him; cent. I am told the few Frenchmen who witnessed our attack were in raptures. The following gives a most attractive picture of this brave old man, and his state both of body and mind: and if I had a chance to leave to-morrow, I would not go until the Bear was musseled. The limits which are at our command will not admit of our giving any details, however brief, of the siege of Sebastopol; The volumes now Stafford (one of his aides-de-camp) is a very nor is this necessary. fine fellow, but too anxious to take care of me before us must, we venture to predict, - always on the look-out to prevent my re- pass into many hands; and no one after maining at any point that happened to be a reading them will entertain the shadow of peculiar focus of fire. My grey horse (lent me a doubt on points heretofore but partially by General Tyldon on account of extreme understood. It is clear that the flank quietness, almost unpleasantly sleepy and lazy) march, though censured by Russian writall on a sudden, just as we passed a place on which was a very smart fire, commenced pranc- Doubtless the pursuit after the victory of ers as a blunder, was the right thing. ing and pulling, and became so fidgety that, after a time, I changed with Stafford. It was the Alma was languid. But we must not after dark when we got to camp, having been forget, first, that the British army landed twelve hours on our horses; and this morning without any means of transport whatever; we find a musket-shot had grazed the skin off and next, that only the British, not the one of his hind legs, and it is somewhat French contingent, was under Lord Ragswelled, but, I hope, will not lame him. lan's orders. As to carrying the place by We are all in high spirits at present appear-coup-de-main immediately on arriving at ances, and certainly the result, if it turns out the south side of the town, of that we as we expect, will show that we have highly shall probably hear no more. Looking to over-estimated the Russian military power, the state of preparation at which the Rusotherwise the Emperor would never have left this primary substance of his power, Sebastopol, and the fleet, so meanly protected, after so long a warning of our proposed formidable attack. If we succeed in this final object, our Government, and that of the French, may fairly dictate their terms as to a very inferior state. But it was a lottery whether they would be strong or weak it was a matter of chance and, as I think, the chances were greatly against us. The greater ought our rejoicing to be in finding it otherwise. Maguire [his servant, a pensioner from the cavalry] has throughout our marches accompanied me on horseback, which is useful, as it gives me a spare horse. He carries something to eat and drink, holds my horse when I dismount, and being an old soldier, does not quit one under fire, as a civil servant probably would. Yesterday, at the very awkward place where my horse was hit, as well as three or four of the Staff and their horses, Maguire dropped his hat, and was obliged to ride back, dismount, and pick it up. Poor Maguire, it seems, lost his way when returning from Balaclava during one of the most inclement nights of the winter, after the siege had been formed, got frost-bitten, and died. Writing a few days before this sad accident to his wife, he says: You want me to wright every mail; but having to lay on the wet ground with only Robert's greatcoat and a blankett, in frost, sleet, and snow, and rain, you cannot expect me to wright every mail. Should aney thing hapen to me, you may depend Sir John would let you know. I would rather stand on the heights of Sebastopol till I was frozen into a sians had arrived, and the strength of the garrison, an attempt of the sort would have been madness. But this much we do know, that never did a British army enter upon a great enterprise so ill-supplied; and that the hardships which the troops underwent, and the unlooked-for prolongation of the siege, are almost entirely attributable to the absence of system and order among the home author ities. No doubt the leaders of the army of the Crimea were without experience. If we except Lord Raglan himself, Sir George Brown, Sir De Lacy Evans, Sir Colin Campbell, and Sir George Cathcart, not a general or regimental officer of all that landed at Eupatoria had ever, besides Sir John Burgoyne, seen war. But what they might lack in knowledge they made up in gallantry and endurance; and of the noncommissioned officers and men it is impossible to speak too highly. They could not, however, work impossibilities; and a blundering Government, to save itself, threw the blame on men, than whom none ever more faithfully served their country, or suffered more in so doing. Another matter Sir John's correspondence puts in a new light. Of all the misfortunes that can fall upon an army in the field, scarcely any is more to be deprecated than the presence within its lines of newspaper correspondents — Some of the newspaper correspondents, [he writes on the 4th of January 1855], are likely to do us an immensity of mischief; pub-| be told of this deeply interesting narralicly by the information afforded to the enemy, tive. Sir John had from the first urged and privately by damaging all our reputations, the allied generals to make the main atand, as I think, unfairly and unnecessarily. In tack on the Malakoff tower. The French Mr. -'s letter, published in the of the 18th of December, will be found a quantity of objected; and the approaches to the details that will afford most valuable informa- Redan and the Flagstaff were pushed fortion to the enemy at the present moment, when ward. Sir John was continually in favour it could have been easily communicated to of aggressive operations of driving the him from St. Petersburg-the weakness of Russians from the posts when they took our forces, the fatigues to which they are sub- up in front of the trenches, and teaching ject, the sickness, the imperfect supply of ra- them to stand in awe of the Allies. His tions, want of transport, impossibility of get-views were not appreciated either by ting up guns, ammunition, &c., &c. He will French or English generals, and the attigain a confidence that will be most injurious tude of the men was therefore entirely to us, and can prepare himself for greater defensive. This came to be particularly efforts to resist us. Is that of less consequence than that the curiosity of the public should be the case after the battle of Inkerman'; satisfied on those points? For to argue that and in his letters home Sir John greatly it is necessary to stimulate the Government to laments it. But worse things were in adopt proper measures is most erroneous, store for him. The country became imsince nobody can be more aware of what we patient. In Parliament, the Ministers really do require, or what can be effected, were assailed. It was necessary to choose than we are ourselves, or more constant in a victim from among the chiefs of the making our demands. . . . I consider this a most serious evil in the way of our operations; the 13th of October 1854, Sir James army, and the lot fell upon Sir John. On and I have pointed out to Lord Raglan that he ought to put it forward as one great in- Graham had written to him in these crease to the difficulties of his position, and terms: — he will do so." You may imagine, but you cannot exagger He did so- but what then? The Gov-ate the anxiety with which I have watched ernment of 1855 did not dare to interfere. What Government will hereafter put itself in antagonism with the press? Again, 28th December 1854: Don't you feel a little small in your own conceits about me, after reading some recent articles in the "Times," in which my name has been mixed up with "That he's as bad as bad can be, your movements and splendid successes in the Crimea. I am more and more rejoiced that you gallantly determined to go out at a short notice and take a post under the standard of our friend, Lord Raglan. We have not yet heard of the fall of Sebastopol; but I venture with confidence to anticipate that proud result, which has been the grand object of my constant hopes since the first commencement of the war. Sebastopol did not fall in 1854. It continued to hold out in 1855; and Ministers being asked, in a taunting tone, what they had done to hurry forward the consummation, Sir James Graham, speaking for himself and his colleagues, replied: have we done? We have recalled Sir John Burgoyne." "What And I am quite as bad as he "? Among some insinuations, one direct attack is: "We do not desire to have generals in command above 70 years of age." They are right in desiring to have qualified generals before they have descended much from the prime of life; but I think that Lord Raglan, the hero of the day, is very close upon that age, as well as Sir George Brown, to whom, I presume, Comment on this proceeding would be they would not object; and though I ought out of place. The very men who comnot, perhaps, to be one to say it, after a peace mitted the gross injustice soon became of nearly forty years, a little of the experience ashamed of it. Sir John, without one of the former wars is very necessary at starting on a new one. The old gentlemen here, word of remonstrance, without uttering for instance, can set the young ones right in a single complaint even privately to those many essential matters, which the latter can- who had wronged him, far less appealing, not know by inspiration, and which our army as others probably would have done, to have little means of learning during peace. A the tribunal of the public in vindication little experience with young blood is decidedly of his own honour, quitted the camp amid what would be best; and as the war becomes prolonged, the younger ought to supersede the older in commanding in the field: but for the present you ought to bear a little with the old the deep regret of his brother officers. But the tide had already turned in his fayour before he reached London. He was sent for immediately to attend and advise at councils of war, which were held at We must hurry over what remains to Windsor, and in which the Emperor Na ones. poleon took part. On the 15th of August, | it, because of its praise, but of its after the failure on the 18th of June, he truth : sent in to Lord Panmure, then Secretary of State for War, a memorandum, in reply his religion was without ostentation or parade. Sir John Burgoyne was a religio s man, but to communications from the seat of war, He found no vent for it in platform oratory, it pointing, as it would seem, to the aban- carried him into no arena where party quesdonment of the enterprise. Whether that tions were discussed. The influence of reli paper had any effect in deciding the ques-gion upon him made itself mainly known in a tion there is nothing to show. This, life blameless and pure- -a life so pure, so however, is certain, the siege was not raised, the final assault was delivered, and Sebastopol fell through the very point on which Sir John had all along contended that it was most vulnerable. blameless, that, looking to the particular channel through which its course lay, I find myself unable to point to any other with which it may fitly be compared. Bear with me, if, in so expressing myself, I seem to go beyond the limits of pulpit oratory. I am no chance If the brave old man passed for a brief preacher, no hired advocate called in to paint, space under a cloud, his sun broke in exaggerated terms, the character of one through it again, and shone over him with who was to him, while living, a comparative increased lustre. Little by little his mer- stranger. I saw Sir John Burgoyne for the its came to light, and honours and re- first time when, with his glass, he swept the wards were showered on him. He was breaches of St. Sebastian, in order that they promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. who filled the trenches might be instructed He was created a Baronet. On the death how best to move to the assault; and from of Lord Combermere, her Majesty con- sonal knowledge of each other, though less that day to the hour of his death, our per ferred on him the post of Constable of than either could have wished, bringing us the Tower. He resigned his office of In- into daily contact, has suffered no interrup spector-General of Fortifications, but re- tion. Therefore am I justified in speaking of tained the full pay of the dignity for life. him as of a man rarely to be found in any As we have elsewhere stated, all soldiers rank or station-brave, able, intelligent, upof eminence, whether English or foreign, right, a humble Christian, a modest citizen, courted his correspondence and sought one who could bear no malice were he ever his advice. He took a deep interest in so deeply wronged, who would not bring reeverything that passed around him-dab-proach upon another, no, not if even by so bling in literature, contributing to scien- himself. There was one public occasion, I doing he might avert unmerited obloquy from tific journals, forwarding benevolent pro-need not stay specially to point it out, when jects, especially when they connected this rare exercise of Christian forbearance was themselves with the army. No man ever commanded more universal respect and esteem, and no man ever more deserved to command them. His health likewise continued excellent, and his spirits were those of a boy. Just then there fell upon him a blow, against which he could not contend. His only son-an officer of rare excellence - went down in the Captain, of which he was in command, and Sir John never held up his head again. exacted from him. It was a heavy burden to bear, but he bore it without so much as a remonstrance; and he lived long enough, God be praised, to reap his reward. From Blackwood's Magazine. CHAPTER III. NOTHING could be simpler than the apartment of the Vicomte de Mauléon, in the second story of a quiet old-fashioned street. It had been furnished at small cost out of his savings. Yet, on the whole, it evinced the good taste of a man who had once been among the exquisites of the polite world. He was buried in the chapel of the Tower with military honours. Two funeral sermons were subsequently preached one in the Tower itself, the other in St. James's Church, Piccadilly. Colonel Wrottesley has appended to his narrative a portion of the latter, for which the writer of this article is responsible. It was the outpouring of the feelings of a friend, who thought only of his friend while he was speaking, and was listened to by al- You felt that you were in the apartment most every English officer then in London. of a gentleman, and a gentleman of somePerhaps we cannot better close our notice what severe tastes, and of sober matured of the man, than by quoting a few sen- years. He was sitting the next morning tences from this tribute to his memory in the room which he used as a private not, as Colonel Wrottesley expresses study. Along the walls were arranged |