Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/252

 work of Florence Nightingale [q. v. Suppl. II] and others, and which caused a stream of 'comforts' to be despatched from home to the stricken troops. Russell's letters to 'The Times' were no doubt also the chief cause of the fall of the Aberdeen ministry (29 Jan. 1855). The question whether he was unjust to Lord Raglan, the commander-in-chief in the Crimea, may remain a matter of opinion. The blame for the sufferings of the troops of course belonged much more to the government which had made war without preparing for it than to Lord Raglan. Russell always denied, however, that he had attacked Lord Raglan, who was the first general to conduct a war under the eyes of newspaper correspondents. As to Russell's service to the army on the whole there are not now two opinions. Lord Raglan complained that his published letters, especially during the siege of Sevastopol, revealed much that was of advantage to the enemy. But in Sir Evelyn Wood's words Russell 'saved the remnant' of the army ( Crimea, 6th edit. 208-11, 226-7). On his return home he was created an honorary LL.D. of Trinity College, Dublin.

Russell's next experience of fighting was in India, where he accompanied Sir Colin Campbell (Lord Clyde) in the compaign of 1858 against the mutineers. Colin Campbell put all the information of headquarters at his disposal. Delane attributed the cessation of indiscriminate executions to Russell's first letter from Cawnpore.

In 1860 Russell founded the 'Army and Navy Gazette,' which he edited, and in which he owned the chief interest, to the end of his life. In spite of this occupation he was still able to work on important occasions for 'The Times.' In March 1861 he sailed for the United States to inquire into the dispute between North and South which culminated in the civil war. 'The Times' supported the Southern cause, but Russell had not been long in the country before he discovered that his sympathies were strongly with the North. A visit to the South made him dislike the 'peculiar institution' of slavery so intensely that he was unable to tolerate even the most indirect excuses for it. After his return to the North he watched the disorderly recoil of the federal troops at the first battle of Bull Run (21 July 1861). He wrote a faithful description of what he saw, and when his narrative was published in the United States such a storm of anger broke about his head that he doubted whether his life was safe. He was now as unpopular in the north as in the south, and it was no doubt difficult for him to pursue his work usefully. He returned to England without warning in April 1862, much to the displeasure of Delane. He received a pension of 300l. a year from ’The Times' in 1863, but he remained an occasional contributor to the paper till his death.

In 1866 he was present at the last phase of 'the seven weeks' war' between Austria and Prussia. He saw the battle of Königgtätz (3 July), and was impressed by the deadly effectiveness of the 'needle-gun,' the adoption of which he recommended with much earnestness. He took the field again in 1870, when he accompanied the army of the Crown Prince of Prussia (afterwards the Emperor Frederick III) in the Franco-German war. He was treated with such consideration that Matthew Arnold satirically imagined him in 'Friendship's Garland' as being hoisted into the saddle by the old King of Prussia, while Bismarck was at the horse's head and the Crown Prince held the stirrup. In this war Russell became conscious that all the conditions of his work had been changed by the telegraph since Crimean days. Speed in transmission now earned more praise than skilful writing or acute judgments. He was frequently beaten in the competition by Archibald Forbes [q. v. Suppl. I] and other correspondents. Russell's last campaign was with Sir Garnet (afterwards Lord) Wolseley, for the 'Daily Telegraph,' during the Zulu war in South Africa in 1879.

Meanwhile Russell unsuccessfully contested Chelsea in the conservative interest in 1869. He was one of the companions of King Edward VII when Prince of Wales in journeys through the Near East in 1869 and through India in 1875-6. Of both tours Russell published full narratives. With King Edward he remained on terms of intimacy till his death. He revisited Canada and the United States in 1881, was in Egypt through the rebellion of Arabi Pasha and the beginnings of the British occupation in 1882, and in 1889 travelled in South America.

Russell may be said to have invented the office of the modern special correspondent. He was distinguished throughout his career by great moral courage, but he was often reckless in his statements. He wrote at white heat, when his indignation or pity was moved. When he felt it his duty to speak out no thoughts of his own comfort or of friendship restrained him. His personal qualities carried him through many difficulties of his own making. He was