Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/470

 426 APPENDIX. duly obtained. As regards ' hands,' Lord Raglan, as we have seen, had not it in his power to employ the troops in constructing a road ; but the allotment of such other ' hands ' as could be ob- tained was duly made by the Adjutant-General, Estcourt (the officer to whom the task of allotting men for service belonged), and he it was who allotted the 400 Turks mentioned in the text. General Estcourt, however,— the matter being one of general, nay, vital, importance — acted no doubt under the guidance ot Lord Raglau himself, who, after consulting with the engineers, must have sanctioned the decision. In trutli Lord Raglan, in concert with the engineers, and in constant hourly communication with General Aiiey, was eveiy day judging as best he could how the cruelly inoufticient supply of labour at his disposal could best be applied. The Commissioners, Sir John M'Neill and Colonel Tulloch were not indisposed to criticise General Airey's adminis- tration of his department in other respects, but they fairly ab- solved him from all responsibility for not ' metalling ' the road, saying truly that fatigue parties for the purpose could not be spared, and that ' hii-ed labour could not be obtained ' (Rep., p. 33). The Report of the Chelsea Commissioners gave a new sanction to that decision. See their Report, p. xiv. Note 23. — Sir John Burgoyne, speaking roughly, computed that the construction of the road would be more than 1000 men could compass in two or three months. — Sebastopol Conunittee, Question 17,225. Note 24. — See ante, note 21. Note 25. — That our siege- works effectually deterred the enemy from attacking the ridges they occupied, is proved by the tenor of the Russian counsels when preparing for Inkerman. See ante, vol. vi. of Cabinet Edition, chap. ii. sect. 3 ; and see ante, Note 20, p. 424. Note 26. — Bosquet's troops on the Chersonese were of great value to the Allies because (as Inkerman showed) they constituted a re- serve force which might be moved with powerful effect to other parts of the iield ; but the primary duties assigned to them were not by our people regarded as having much importance. They seemed to waste their power in fortifying and guarding the vei-y ground which least required such an expenditure of military energy. Note 27. — This was doubted by the Treasury; but Lord Rag- lan's private correspondence with the Duke of Newcastle seems to dispel all uncertainty. On the 18tli November Lord Raglan writes : ' Mr Filder's great fear is the want of forage for the