Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/313

 THE DEMEANOUR OF ENGLAND. 269 in camp, but also, in many an instance, proceeded chap. to judgment, saying confidently that the par- ' ticular mischief which he or she described was the fault of the Adjutant or the Quartermaster General. In the opinions thus loosely given and loosely received, the Duke confirmed himself by making two curious mistakes. Forgetting once more the dispersed state of our manifold London war offices, he imagined — an error quite enormous — that, because he knew of no requi- sitions sent home from the Crimea by the Ad- jutant and Quartermaster Generals, none such could have really come in ; (^'^) and it occurred to him that this supposed absence of demands by two members of the Headquarter Staff might be used as a proof of their inattention to the wants of the army. His next mistake was that of attributing to the same two officers the defi- ciency of land-transport.('^^) Upon grounds thus weak, or, to speak more exactly, tlius null, he founded his charges against the Adjutant and Quartermaster Generals. By sending an en- quiry to the right office, the Duke might have soon learnt his error on the subject of re- quisitions ; and indeed, would have not only found that abundant demands from the Crimea had come in long ago, but that the requisi- tions of the Quartermaster - General alone (al- though made for things perfectly simple) had proved greater than London could meet within any fair compass of time ; (■*^) whilst a mes- sage sent to the Treasury, or a glance at the Commissariat handbook, would have averted the