War in the East - 12 Feb 1855

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Below is another excerpt from "The War" by William Howard Russell - War Correspondent to The Times Newspaper, its a daily account from the battlelines during the Crimean War (157 years ago).

The Arrival of Sir George Brown

Excerpt from The War 1855 by W H Russell - Correspondent to The Times.

Monday 12th February 1855

Sir George Brown arrived to-day, and Lord Raglan went down to meet him, and returned with him to head-quarters. The weather has changed again. The sun is out, the rain is over, and a cold, drying wind is blowing over the plain. The French are arming our right attack. The left attack is completely armed. There is no appearance of any considerable force of Russians either to the north of Sebastopol or over the heights of Balaklava. All danger of attack from Baidar seems very trifling. It would be almost impossible for the enemy to deploy on the hills and in the ravines over our position, and the plain is impassable for artillery. The Tchernaya is now our great line of defence, and it is a line which defends itself. There is only one bridge over it, descending from Mackenzie's farm, and that is not fit for the transport of either artillery or cavalry; and the banks of the river are so steep, that bridges must be thrown over whenever it may be desirable to send either arm across it. Towards Inkermann, the whole valley is flooded, and turned into marsh and bog.

The preparations to remedy our great error in the plan of our first attack proceed rapidly. Our troops are in better condition, and huts are being erected on every side.

Tuesday 13th February 1855

It blew half a gale of wind all night, and the rain fell till two o'clock p.m. in the day, but the wind was warm, and the temperature agreeable. The roads are very heavy, and the country is not easily traversed. The soil is not so tenacious, however, as it is when drying up in fine weather after heavy rains. It is then so sticky, that the wheels of artillery wagons actually "drag" in it, and the earth accumulates solidly between the spokes. It need not be said with what difficulty men get over the ground on foot.

As to the condition of the horses, it is really pitiable. It is now four or five days that our cavalry and artillery horses have been without hay, and that all they have had to eat has been the ration of barley, and, now and then, a little chopped straw. The reason of this is simple. No hay has been received by the commissariat in harbour; and yet it is stated that Mr. Filder wrote last September to the authorities at home, to state that it would be absolutely necessary for them to take steps to send out forage for the horses from England. What is the result of our mode of doing business? At a recent board, the veterinary surgeons condemned no less than 140 horses out of the Royal Artillery alone! The diseases of most of these animals - once fine English horses, the glory and pride of Woolwich holidays - were simple; they were the produce of hard work in carrying up shot and shell, and of insufficient food.

The mounted staff corps is now reduced to about twenty-eight effectives.

The French workmen have made considerable progress with the new batteries on our right. On the left they were exposed to a heavy fire from four till half-past four o'clock, and the Russians blew up another French magazine inside the batteries. They at once opened fire along their lines with six tremendous salvoes of artillery, and rushed up on their parapets and gave three loud ringing cheers. The damage done by the explosion was, I am happy to say, very insignificant, and before the Russians had ceased cheering, the French took their revenge by discharging a tremendous volley of heavy shells, which burst on the walls of the Admiral's house, and silenced for a time the guns in No. 3 Battery at the Flagstaff Fort.

The railway progresses very rapidly, and has now reached a point 300 yards from the town. The enemy appears to have abandoned any attempt to annoy the workmen, and nave not put guns on Canrobert's-hill.

The French mortar batteries are within 1300 metres of the inner batteries of the Russians. A sortie of insignificant strength was made by the garrison last night, and was repulsed as usual. The French lost five men only. The Cossacks on the hills to the northeast of Balaklava have nearly disappeared, and there are no indications that they intend to reoccupy the hills on which it was supposed the enemy were about to reconstruct redoubts.

The utmost secrecy is observed respecting our future operations. Strict orders have been issued that artillery and engineer officers are not to give information respecting our works to any one but officers entitled to demand it; and infantry officers are not allowed to get any details concerning the works and armaments.

Excerpt from The War 1855 by W H Russell - Correspondent to The Times.

This volume contains the letters of The Times Correspondent from the seat of war in the East - The Crimean War - the first war with war correspondents.

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Further Reading and External Links

Maps, Plans and Pictures of the Crimean War

William Howard Russell on Wikipedia

William Howard Russell on BikWil

James 'Rajah' Brooke - 1840 - Makota

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James Brooke was the first White Rajah of Sarawak. After inheriting £30,000 in 1833 he invested it in the schooner 'The Royalist' and sailed for Borneo.  In 1841 he became the Rajah of Sarawak. Below is an excerpt from one of the books in our library called Rajah Brooke by Sir Spencer St John published in 1899. Catch-up with earlier posts in this series here or search our library here.

Makota Intrigues Against Brooke

Pangeran Makota, who had been Brooke's enemy throughout all these proceedings, was now ready to act. He knew that the Land Dyaks in the interior, as well as the Malays of Siniawan whom the Englishman had aided to subdue, now looked to him as their protector; he therefore determined to destroy his prestige. He invited the Seribas Sea Dyaks and Malays to come to Sarawak; they came in a hundred bangkongs, or long war boats, with at least three thousand men, with the ostensible object of attacking a tribe living near the Sambas frontier, who had not been submissive enough to Bornean exactions; but every violent act they committed would have been overlooked if they only gave a sufficient percentage of their captives to the nobles. Already these wild devils had received the rajah's permission to proceed up the river; the Land Dyaks, the Malays, the Chinese were full of fear, as all are treated as enemies by the Seribas when out on the warpath. As soon as Brooke received notice of what Muda Hassim, instigated by Makota, had done, he retired to the "Royalist" and prepared both his vessels for action. The Malay rulers, hearing how angry he was, and uncertain what steps he might take, recalled the expedition, which returned, furious at being baulked of their prey, and would have liked to have tried conclusions with the English ships, but found them too well on their guard.

This very act which Makota expected would lower the Englishman's prestige, naturally greatly enhanced it, as it was soon known, even into the far interior, that the white stranger had but to say the word and this fearful scourge had been stayed.

Another event soon followed which greatly raised Brooke's influence among the natives. He received notice that an English vessel had been wrecked on the north coast of Borneo, and that the crew were detained as hostages by the Sultan of Borneo for the payment of a ransom. He now sent the "Royalist" to try and release them, whilst he despatched the "Swift" to Singapore for provisions, and remained with three companions in his new house in Sarawak. Could anything better prove his cool courage? The "Royalist" failed in its mission, but almost immediately after its return, an East India Company's steamer came up the river to inquire as to its success, and finding the captive crew still at Brunei, proceeded there and quickly effected their release. The appearance of the "Diana" twice in the river had its effect on the population, as it was probably the first steamer they had ever seen.

Makota had been greatly disappointed that his intrigues had failed to force the white strangers to quit the country, but his fertile invention now thought of more sure and criminal means. 'Why not poison them ?' He tried, but failed; his confederates confessed, and then Brooke resolved to act. Either Makota or himself must fall. By a judicious display of force, quite justified under the circumstances, he freed the rajah from the baneful influence of Makota, who from that time forward ceased to act as chief adviser, and regained his former ascendency.

Excerpt from Rajah Brooke, published in 1899 by Sir Spencer St John

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Further Reading and External Links

James Rajah Brooke on Wikipedia

The Royalist Schooner

Memoirs of Sir Henry Keppel - 1872

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Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Keppel, GCB, OM (14 June 1809 – 17 January 1904) was a British admiral and son of the 4th Earl of Albemarle. Below is an excerpt from his memoirs as published in one of the books in our library 'Sir Henry Keppel - Admiral of the Fleet - by Sir Algernon Edward West' -1905.  Catch-up with earlier posts in this series here or search our library here.

Memoirs of Sir Henry Keppel - 1872

The Terrible Breach of Red-Tape Rules

CHAPTER XI

Sir Henry KeppelHarrys life afloat was now at an end; but in August [1872] he was appointed to the command at Plymouth, with Algernon Heneage as his flag-captain and Lord Charles Beresford as his flag-lieutenant. Coming from church one Sunday morning, soon after the hoisting of his flag, he met the Duke of Grafton in sad distress. He had arrived the previous evening, with his invalid wife, at Lord Mount-Edgcumbe's winter villa, situated by the sea, and snugly sheltered from everything but the sun. The invalid Duchess, who had suffered from terrible insomnia for months, had gone to bed, and was enjoying a real sleep, when she was thrown into violent hysterics by the discharge of cannon in rapid succession. The Duke implored Harry, if it were possible, to stop the daylight gun the next morning, as he was alarmed at the probable consequences. Harry at once undertook to comply with his request, and promised to get Sir Charles Staveley, Commander-in-Chief at Devonport, to do likewise.

Now there was within sound of the guns a factory, whose workmen regulated their morning attendance by the firing of the Admiral's gun. The manufacturer at once complained to the Admiralty of the cessation of the gunfire at daylight, and the Admiralty, alarmed at this terrible breach of red-tape rules, at once forbade the omission of the daylight gun. Daylight, however, is not made until the event is first communicated to the Admiral; so Harry arranged with his flag-captain that the daylight should be made at hours convenient to the invalid, and nothing more was heard from the aggrieved manufacturer.

Excerpt from Sir Henry Keppel - Admiral of the Fleet - by Sir Algernon Edward West - 1905

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Further Reading and External Links

Henry Keppel on Wikipedia

Thomas Cook - 1841 - The First Rail Excursion

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Here is an excerpt from Glimpses of Ancient Leicester by Agnes Johnson - 1906, it covers the dawn of the first rail excusion as a means of leisure travel in 1841.

Thomas Cook - 1841 - The First Rail Excursion

The project of running excursion trains at cheap fares was even in these early days dawning in the mind of our celebrated fellow-townsman Mr. Thomas Cook; for he arranged and personally conducted his first excursion (to Loughborough) on the 5th July [1841]. 

It was not until many years later that his system was developed to any great extent; but he gradually became known to all the world as the successful organiser of popular home and foreign travel; an undertaking which has conferred health and pleasure upon multitudes of his countrymen and women, and which has probably made his name and that of his son the late Mr. John M. Cook more familiar both on the Continent and in remote corners of the earth than that of any other Englishmen below the rank of royalty. 

Mr. Thomas Cook died in [1892], deservedly respected both for his enterprise in travel and for his untiring labours in the cause of Temperance.  

Excerpt from Glimpses of Ancient Leicester by Agnes Johnson - 1906

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Further Reading and External Links

Thomas Cook and the First Rail Excursion

Thomas Cook on Wikipedia

Thomas Cook Timeline

The Opening of Bolton Town Hall - 1873

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Bolton began as a small village becoming more important in the middle ages and allowed to have a fair.  By the mid 17th century it had a population of approx 2,000 growing to almost 20,000 by the early 1800s, and large enough to have its own Town Hall by 1873.  Below we cover the momentus Royal visit and opening of the Town Hall.

The Opening of Bolton Town Hall - 1873

Bolton Town Hall Opened, Thursday, June 5, by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales and a number of distinguished guests from Haigh Hall, the residence of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, where the Royal party had been staying on their visit to open the new Infirmary in Wigan.

The Royal visit to Bolton was made the occasion of an enthusiastically loyal and magnificent demonstration. The streets were profusely decorated with hundreds of Venetian masts and trophies of flags; triumphal arches and street balconies were erected; there was a grand procession of the Mayor and Corporation and leading gentry, with trade and friendly societies, escorted by detachments of Dragoons, Yeomanry Cavalry, and the local Rifle Volunteers, the Prince and Princess being met at the Chorley New Road boundary of the borough and thence escorted through the principal thoroughfares of the town for a distance of about three miles in the presence of immense crowds of spectators.

An address was presented to the Prince by the Corporation and His Royal Highness was presented with a magnificent silver key with which he formally opened the new civic edifice. A grand banquet was given in the afternoon in the Albert Hall at which the Prince and Princess were present, and the Prince on terminating his brief visit expressed his great gratification with the whole of the inaugural proceedings.

In the evening the town was brilliantly illuminated, while there was also a display of fireworks from the Public Park; medals were struck to commemorate the occasion; and Mr. Coxwells balloon "The Alexandra" made an ascent from the Park Recreation Ground, Mr. Coxwells assistant and Mr. Joseph Holliday, a local innkeeper, alone going up in the car, this being the third time Mr. Holliday had ascended in Mr. Coxwells balloons in Bolton.

Towards the decoration and illumination of the town the Corporation voted £1500, but only £1130 of this was spent. On the following evening (Friday) there was a brilliant ball in the Albert Hall; and on Saturday evening the festivities terminated with the performance of "The Creation" in the same Hall.

The Town Hall which was thus opened amid so much rejoicing cost altogether, including the site, about £170,000. The architects were Messrs. William Hill, of Leeds, and George Woodhouse, of Bolton, and, the structure has been pronounced by competent critics as one of the handsomest in design and best arranged internally of any civic edifice in the country. It stands on the site of the Old Pot Market on the west side of the then Market Square, since formally designated the Town Hall Square. The style of architecture is Classic, of the Corinthian order, based on Grecian models, the Town Council having resolutely set its face against Gothic. The building, which is of stone, is parallelogram in form, and covers an area of 3863 square yards, including the space occupied by the steps of the portico. The total length of the front is 204 feet, of the side 177 feet; the height to the top of the parapet is 63 feet, and the height of the tower is 200 feet. The portico is approached by a bold flight of 29 steps, having at each side near the top a pedestal on which reposes a sculptured lion, 12 feet in length by 6 feet in height. The portico, with its fine cluster of gracefully carved columns, is surmounted by a pediment filled with sculpture executed by Mr. Calder Marshall, R.A. These figures are full relief statues, 8 feet high, the central one representing "Bolton," with a mural crown holding a shield that bears the borough arms; on her right is "Manufacture," with a distaff, and leaning on a bale of goods; near her is a cylinder and wheel, and in the angle is the "Earth" pouring out her gifts from a cornucopia, and a negro boy bearing a basket of cotton; while on the left hand of the central figure is "Commerce" with the caduceus and a helm, and in the angle is the "Ocean" and a boy holding a boat by the bows. The fine domed tower which is placed over the principal entrance vestibule, and which contains one of the largest clocks in the country, having four dials each 12 feet in diameter, gives the building an additionally stately appearance. The clock has five large bells. The principal entrance to the Hall is by the portico in the east front, and this gives access to a vestibule 21 feet square, communicating directly with corridors 10 feet wide on each side and end of the Albert Hall, giving continuous communication round the latter and ready access to the Town Clerk' s apartments, the Council Chamber, Borough Court, Mayor's Reception and Banqueting Room, and other offices.

In the Albert Hall is a magnificent organ by Messrs. Gray and Davison, of London. The decorations throughout the Hall are of the most rich and elaborate character, and were executed by Messrs. Simpson and Son, of London. In the Council Chamber are tablets bearing the names of the Mayors of the borough, with the year of their mayoralty, from the Charter of Incorporation. The Albert Hall is 112 feet in length, 56 feet wide and 56 feet in height, and has a handsome gallery running round three sides. This room will seat on the ground floor 1466 persons, and in the gallery 334, making a total of 1800; whilst if standing instead of sitting there is room for 3000.

Seventy-seven years had elapsed from the first recorded project for the erection of a Town Hall for Bolton; and it is not unworthy of remark that the site selected originally by the old Trustees was the one on which the Town Hall of to-day at length stands.

Excerpt from Annals of Bolton by James Clegg published in 1888 at the Chronicle Office, Knowsley Street, Bolton.

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