Chapter Twenty Seven.
Follow, follow!
Grapple your minds to steerage of this navy,
And leave your England as dead midnight still,
Guarded with grandsires, babes, and old women,
Either past or not arrived at pith and puissance;
For who is he whose chin is but encircled,
With one appearing hair, that will not follow
These cull’d and choice drum cavaliers?
Shakespeare.
While the detachment in which I had honour to serve was in camp at Aladyn, the 5th Dragoon Guards, familiarly called the “Green Horse,” from the colour of their facings (cuffs and collars) being of green cloth, arrived at Varna, having come direct from Ireland in the Himalaya. The heavy brass helmets worn by all the Heavy Dragoon regiments were so distressing to the men, that white calico covers were issued in order to counteract the effects of the blazing sun, for which the men were deeply thankful. Some companies of the Grenadiers arrived about the same time, and so much dissatisfaction prevailed among the men in reference to the choking stock, that an order was issued for them to march without wearing them. As regards my own regiment no such order was given, as we only wear stocks when on duty even in barracks, and not having to walk and carry our own kit, like even the most crack regiments of infantry, we were content and happy enough to ride through a beautiful tract of country from our encampment at Aladyn to Devna, a little village chiefly inhabited by small farmers, who, failing to keep their pigs and turkeys without the boundary of the camp, as a natural consequence they lost many of them, and, as another natural consequence, they were constantly complaining that the soldiers stole them. The turkeys being small, and the pigs queer little creatures, all at large, and far away from the village, feeding upon grass and acorns in such places, and under such circumstances, as naturally led our men to suppose they were running wild, and that they had as much right to them as any one else, they hunted them as much for the fun of catching as for that of eating them.
A pig is a difficult animal to catch in an open place, and these pigs being in all but a wild state, run very fast—much faster than any I ever saw in my life. The turkeys were brought to grass with short sticks, but they were scarcely worth the trouble, as there was very little meat on their bones worth the trouble of picking off, when killed in this state before having been taken up to fatten. We had a man from the neighbourhood of Chowbent, in Lancashire, who, it was said, once, when coming off picket duty, ate one of these Bulgarian turkeys, bones, feathers, and all; but of course I cannot vouch for its truth. Of one thing I am, however, quite certain—that soldiers, when campaigning, can eat nearly twice as much victuals as is allowed them in barracks, and therefore it need not be wondered that a turkey, a goose, fowl, or pretty little grunter should mysteriously disappear at times when a regiment is stationed so near to farm villages.
The weather during the middle of the day was intensely hot while we lay at Devna; but the nights being cold, we made fires of wood, which was easily obtainable, as many of the inhabitants of cabins isolated from the village, being frightened at our approach, went away with their families, and left their stores behind them, and it was better for us to burn them than leave them for the benefit of the enemy.
Many men were punished for appropriating this deserted property, especially in the victualling line; but when it is considered that we were frequently short of food, the meat being wretchedly fed, no beer or porter could be got, and not a sight of a potato or a bit of vegetable was seen in camp for weeks, the men could not be blamed for helping themselves to those necessaries which the imbecility of our Government had failed to supply them with. We could get tobacco and tea, but our meat was frequently eaten without the essential flavour of salt.
About the middle of June a detachment of the 6th “Green Horse” and a troop of the 13th Light Dragoons joined us at Devna. They had suffered much from the sun during their march, and scarcely one of them had a bit of skin left on his lips. The hot weather was, however, frequently tempered by heavy showers of rain, and the thunder-storms were awfully grand, and sufficient to terrify our outlying pickets on the hills, in the dead of the night; but the men braved it out, returning to camp drenched to the skin, and almost hungry enough to eat an iron bedstead.
In the early part of July we were joined by the Light Division (infantry), and the remainder of the cavalry regiments, consisting of detachments of the 8th and 11th Hussars, the 13th Light Dragoons, and the 1st and remainder of the 5th Dragoon Guards. They gave us an awful account of the march, the roads, or rather track, being sandy; every vestige of the vegetation with which it was covered at the time we marched over it from Varna was destroyed by the immense traffic of infantry, cavalry, guns, ammunition waggons, and arabas containing stores and baggage. It was, therefore, as cheerless and uncomfortable as a cavalry march would be across the deserts of Arabia, and the men suffered much inconvenience and pain from the particles of fine sand getting into their eyes, which was so intense that they instinctively rubbed them with their hands, which augmented their agony, and the scorching rays of the sun completed their misery. There was, however, plenty of pure water in the lake not far distant from the camp, and a thorough washing alleviated their sufferings, and kept them to their duty.
A few days after the arrival of these additional troops at Devna, Omar Pasha, the Turkish Commander-in-Chief, arrived on his way from Silistria, the Russians having evacuated their position in front of that fortress, and set the garrison at liberty. He was on his way to Varna, attended by a brilliant escort of English and Turkish officers. The troops were turned out to present arms. Only a few squadrons of cavalry, however, took part in the salute; these were from the 8th and 11th Hussars and the 17th Lancers, the Heavy and Light Dragoons, with the artillery, having gone down to the lake in watering order.
I was left in camp with my regiment, and, of course, had a good opportunity of seeing this Turkish general for the first time. He rode a grey entire Arab, and several remarkably handsome horses of the same class, but different colours, were led by servants in rear of the escort. He was a little weather-beaten man, with grey hair and whiskers, and wore a common fez cap, and a plain blue coat with but little lace trimming upon it. He rode with such a remarkably straight leg, that he sat his horse in much the same style as a pair of compasses would appear when crossed over a rail. After the Light Division had been inspected, and our troops had dashed through a few difficult manoeuvres at a brisk trot, canter, and gallop, he opened his eyes, threw up his right arm, appearing highly delighted and astonished. He afterwards reviewed the Turkish troops, and then cantered off in the direction of Varna.
In the course of a few days he returned from Varna on his way to Shumla, and again the troops were paraded, and went through some movements for his inspection; after which he vanished with Lord Raglan, Sir George Brown, the Duke of Cambridge, General Yorke Scarlett, etc, in the direction of the General’s quarters.
Thousands of the Pasha’s troops—the Bashi-Bazouks—encamped themselves in the neighbourhood of our quarters, on their way to Varna, and many a good hiding they got from our men, who frequently caught them stealing our rations; and the Bulgarian villagers had a harassing time of it during the few days they remained around the camp at Devna and Aladyn.
One evening, while returning from the lake, where my troop had been to water, we met about a score of these ruffians, who had been prowling about our tents while engaged with our horses. The instant they saw us they turned to the left and scampered off; but they were immediately surrounded by our horses; a few men dismounted and searched them. They had previously thrown away a valise belonging to our regiment; boots, socks, flannels, shirts, and many other things were found upon them. A man of the 17th Lancers, to whom a pair of excellent boots belonged, picked up one of the scamps upon whom they were found, and threw him into the lake, from whence he crawled after a rare ducking; the remainder were rather roughly handled, and sent about their business. These ruffians were soon afterwards sent away to be drilled into something like soldiers under General Beatson at Shumla.
During our stay at Devna several murders were committed either by the natives of the district or the Bashi-Bazouks, of whom many were left behind by General Beatson; and these found refuge on the hills, from whence they prowled forth at night like wild beasts, seeking what they might devour, and steal or destroy. Many a black crime, which our officers fathered upon the natives, was without a doubt the work of the Bashi-Bazouks.
About this period Lord Cardigan marched with detachments from the 8th and 11th Hussars on a reconnoitring expedition along the desolate track of country by the banks of the Danube towards Silistria; they took no tents, and only a few days’ provisions with them, and therefore had to sleep in the open air, with their horses picketed at their feet, to feed upon such scanty herbage as the ground allowed. After being away about ten days, they came in sight of the Russian field column, said to be under General Luders, who afterwards commanded the army in the field after we landed in the Crimea.
Having attained the object of this expedition, during which both his lordship and his detachments might have been surrounded and cut to pieces at any time, so ignorant were our leaders at this period of the position and whereabouts of the Russian army, Lord Cardigan retired by forced marches to Devna, and nearly every one of the horses had to be long afterwards rested from illness and sore backs. But the men were for the most part well and hearty, and Lord Cardigan experienced but little inconvenience, although it was said he suffered much from the effects of the damp ground some months afterwards in the Crimea.
We had some capital fun while lying at Devna: the officers, on horseback, would hunt the great, lurching, hungry-looking dogs, that many of the men would insist were hyenas and jackals, so wild and savage did they look. When disturbed and started at a dusting pace, the young officers would ride after—them as if for dear life, cracking their whips or flourishing a sword close to their very tails, and then would come, in motley crowd, soldiers in undress, looking as excited as if in front of the enemy, and bringing up the rear would be all the rag, tag, and bob-tail of the camp. The brute invariably ran towards the hills, and if he gained them unscathed he was safe, for both horses and men would be blown ere they could follow up the slopes. Some of these dogs are very savage, and if brought to bay in a corner would dash at your throat in an instant; but as few of us ever had sword beyond our reach, we generally made short work of them if caught red-handed with probably a piece of meat in their mouths, when carelessly left unguarded, prior to its being cooked for the dinners of a dozen men.
Towards the latter end of July the cholera made its unwelcome appearance in our camp, and many men, both cavalry, infantry, and artillery, died after a few hours’ illness in extreme agony. Every regiment encamped on the track of country extending for about twenty miles from Devna to Varna lost more or less men from this dreadful scourge; but the troops in and around the latter place suffered most, as many of our men were removed to Monastir, a healthier place farther up on the hills than Devna. The disease was said to be engendered at Varna among the Turks and Bashi-Bazouks, who are horribly filthy, and of not much real service as fighting-men on a battle-field.
About this time we were pleased to hear the news that the 4th Light Dragoons had arrived to join our brigade, henceforth being our brethren in arms; they were encamped with the 6th by the sea-shore, but both regiments lost several men from cholera, and each (especially the gallant 4th) were destined to lose the greater part of their men by the sword, as will afterwards be related. Many of the best, the bravest, and the most light-hearted of my own regiment died of the fearful pestilence at Devna.
At the latter end of August we got the welcome order to march from Devna and Monastir to Varna, with an assurance that we should soon be embarked for the Crimea, and at least be allowed to fight for our lives with a more chivalrous, if not a less relentless, enemy than the cholera. The 5th “Green Horse” lost so many men, that the remainder were for a time (until augmented by drafts from home) attached to the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards.