Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/361

 riELD OF THE ALJIA. 335 The wounded men cari'ied on board slii]) were CfiAP. - II sent to Odes:-;a under a flag of truce ; * and the ' number of those wlio lived to be thus delivered up to their fellow-countrymen was 342 -,7 but so utter a weakness had prostrated this suffering mass of human beings, that the Governor of Odessa declared it impossible, for the time, to make out by question and answer how many of them were non-commissioned officers and how many private soldiers. :J: In his letter to the Governor of Odessa, Duudas had spoken of the surrender of these wounded men as an act dictated by feelings of humanity. § The answer of the Governor was so stern and cold as to make Dundas remark that it ' might ha^■e 'been more gracious ;'1| but remembering what was the aspect of those wounded men on tire morrow of the battle, and inferring the state 1854. + Acknowledgment dated ^| September 1854, signed by General AnnenkoiF, the Governor of Odessa. J The Governor saj^s, he does not distinguish the non- commissioned officers from the privates, 'par I'impossibilit^ ' d'en questionner la plupart dans I'etat d'affaiblissement oh 'ils se trouvent. ' § Dundas to the Governor of Odessa : ' I trust yonr Excel- ' lency -will, in the same feeling of humanity, receive and ' consider them as non-combatants until regularly exchanged.' II Dundas to Lord Raglan, 30th September 18,54. The answer of the Governor to Dundas, H September, refers coldly to the acknowledgment — the one above quoted — which lie, the Governor, had given ; and adds, that he will com- nmnicate to the Emperor the arrival of the wounded, and the condition which Dundas annexed to the surrender cf thcin.
 * Dundas to Lord Raglan, private letter, SOtli September