On the 27th of September, a shell sent by the Russians burst close to the barracks, and a merchant sailor ran to look at the crater which it formed in the ground. He then entered the building itself, and sauntered about, smoking his pipe till he came to some loose gunpowder, on which, being of a scientific and experimentalizing turn of mind, he tried the effects of dropping several sparks from the burning tobacco. The powder, as is not unusual in such cases, exploded with violence, and blew up the sailor and a sentry outside. They were both dreadfully burnt. As the floor was covered with cartridges and loose powder, the fire spread to a large quantity of combustible matter, reached the magazine, and blew out the walls and ceilings of the central barrack. The flames set fire to the dry woodwork, and in a short time the whole pile of buildings, which were of admirable construction, was in a blaze. All that remained of the Imperial Barracks of Sebastopol in an hour more was a mass of charred and blackened stones. The Russians, thinking that the accident had been caused by their own fire, plied their guns with increased vigour, and threw shot and shell around the place, but did no damage. The act destroyed not less than 30,000 cartloads of wood, which might have been made available for hutting and fuel. It was, on the whole, a miracle that more accidents of the kind did not occur, owing to the neglect of the authorities and the carelessness of the men. No one seemed to think it necessary to destroy the great quantities of powder, loose and in cartridges, in all the Russian batteries, and in every nook and corner of the place. It was only a day or two before the accident that a naval officer pointed out to me the danger arising from the number of live shell lying inside the Redan. The fuses were simply open tubes of wood, and had no caps, so that a spark setting fire to one fuse would cause all the shells to explode. These live shells were to be seen in all directions, generally nicely imbedded near small magazines or piles of cartridges.
CHAPTER II.
The Mixed Commission: its Composition and Proceedings—Spoils of War—Doctors in dudgeon—Strength of the Army in October, 1855—State of the Russian Army—The Deserter's Tale—Newspaper Paragraph—Honours to the Commanders—Preparations for an Expedition—Russian Account of the Capture of Sebastopol—General Simpson's Despatch—Wellington's Circular to all Commanding Officers of Divisions and Brigades, dated Frenada, November 28th, 1812.
THE MIXED COMMISSION.
On the 10th of July, 1855, a treaty was entered into between France and England with respect to the distribution of booty and trophies, which authorized the French and English Governments to form a mixed commission for the purpose of classifying and arranging such articles. In compliance with this provision, immediately after the capture of Sebastopol, Marshal Pelissier named the following officers on behalf of the French army:—General of Division Niel, Aide-de-Camp de l'Empéreur, President, and commanding the Engineers; General of Division Thiry, commanding Artillery; Admiral Regault de Genouilly, commanding Marine Artillery; M. Paris, Intendant (Commissary-General); M. Budin, Payeur-Général. General Simpson named the following officers for the English army:—Sir G. Dacres, commanding Royal Artillery; Captain Drummond, R.N.; Colonel Chapman, commanding Royal Engineers; Mr. Drake, Assistant-Commissary-General. It will be observed that the English officers were not equal in rank or numbers to the French members of the Commission.
The Commission met on the 15th of September at the quarters of General Niel. Its first act was to order an inventory in detail to be made of everything found in Sebastopol. To effect this the city and forts were divided, and the care of exploring each part devolved upon sub-commissions.
The following is a list of the members of the sub-Commissions:—
| French. |
| Mazure, Général d'Artillerie. Feldtrappe, Capitaine du Génie. Laurent, Lieutenant de Vaisseau. Cicoza, Capitaine d'Artillerie. Goutier, Adjoint à l'Intendance. De Calac, Capitaine d'Artillerie. Cadurst, Chef de Bataillon du Génie. Genoux de la Coche, Capitaine de Frégate. La Cabrinière, Sous-intendant. |
| English. |
| Captain Drummond, R.N. Brigadier-General Dupuis, R.A. Major Staunton, R.E. Commander F. Martin, R.N. Assistant-Commissary-General Crookshank. Captain Shaw, R.A. A. Rumble, R.M.A. Lieutenant Buller, R.N. Captain Montagu, R.E. Assistant-Commissary-General Lundy. Captain Dickson, R.A. A. W. Johnson, Secretary to the Commission. |
On the 25th of September the Commission held its second sitting, and all the members were present except General Thiry, who was represented by General Mazare. That officer and Brigadier-General Dupuis, as presidents of the sub-commission, then laid on the table a detailed statement of everything found in Sebastopol. The number of cannon in bronze (brass) was 128; that of iron guns, 3,711; total, 3,839. The President read the convention of the 10th of July, and it was then unanimously agreed that the guns should be divided into two equal parts, paying due regard to the different calibres, and that one-half should be sent to France, the other half to Great Britain, with the exception of two brass field-pieces, which should be offered to General della Marmora, with the approbation of the Commanders-in-chief. It was also resolved that these cannon and guns should remain in Sebastopol, and in the redoubts and fortifications of Kamiesch and Balaklava, till such time as they were not required for the defence of the place, when each Government might do what it liked with its own share. These decisions, taken conformably to the first act of the Convention, left the valuation of the pieces out of the question; but by the 4th article of the same Convention it is agreed that the value of the booty, &c., shall be divided between the two Powers proportionally to the number of men employed by each in the siege. The effective strength of the Anglo-Sardinian army on the 8th of September was 63,715 men, and that of the French army on the same day was 126,705 men. The Commission, therefore, decided that France should have two-thirds, and Great Britain one-third of the value of the booty and trophies.