Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/171

 STATE BEFORE THE HURRICANE. 127 session of a real War Department, our people CHAF. either omitted to harbour troublesome thoughts L. about war administration, or else vaguely hoped that the general commanding their army in the field would somehow make his headquarters a second Whitehall, and there plant that official machin- ery for sustaining a modern campaign which — be- cause of the strife then still smouldering between Crown and Parliament — could find no existence at home. Our people had fondly accustomed themselves to lean on the great Shade of Wel- lington, and their habit — never a safe one — was more than commonly dangerous when tending to make them improvident with respect to the care of their sick ; for with our army in the Penin- sula, the number of men on its sick-lists was so grievously, so constantly large, and in general its death-rate so high, as to prevent the system there followed from becoming at all a good sample of care for the health of our soldiers ; and besides, the accustomed expedient of leaving the establishments for invalided troops to the general commanding in the field was inapplicable to conditions demanding his ceaseless presence at the theatre of war, yet requiring that all the main hospitals which had to be founded should be hundreds of miles in his rear. The administrative arrangements provided for the care of our stricken soldiery were slight, rude, and indeed almost jii'iuiitive. Several stages of action were necessary. There insufficiency _ 1 -Till of their pre- was first, a stretcher carried by bandsmen or parations 1 ^ f c ■ f p for the care other soldiers for movimj the sunerer from the of the .sick