Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/154

 110 THE WINTER TROUBLES. CHAP. SO bulky in proportion to its weight and nutri- ^ tive power, so difficult to embark and to stow on board, so difficult to land and to carry, that ex- perience soon proved it ill fitted for the supply of an army dependent upon transport by sea ; {^^) and, the Levantine contracts for forage resulting too often in failure, Mr Filder not only saw, but saw before the landing began, that to assure the sustenance of our cavalry aud artillery horses and beasts of transport in the Crimea, his safest and best course would be to form a reserve by drawing pressed hay from England. (^^) Recourse to Accordingly, on the 13th of September, the aigiandfor ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ landing began, he addressed to his chiefs in Whitehall his official application for hay ; {^°) and from time to time afterwards, he enforced and extended his request for this kind of forage by despatches and letters sent home on the 22d of September, the 8th and 23d of October, the 8th, 13th, 18th, and 27th of November, and, finally, on the 8th of December. These despatches and letters reached England ; but then England, as we have seen, was the one excepted country in which Mr Filder's power of drawing supplies might encounter official re- sistance ; because, when there seeking to operate, he addressed himself (through its Secretary) to the Treasury Board — that is, to his official chiefs — chiefs entitled to question his acts, and to expect from him the language of deference. The Commissary -General suggested that 2000 tons of hay should be forwarded to Constanti- nople in the course of the autumn : and the tions there encoun- tered.