There are detailed accounts by Captain Geraghty, Sergeant Campbell, Colonel Radcliffe, and Colonel Horn, notes made by Kinglake of his interviews with Horn and with Sergeant-Major Rule, a number of letters from Captain H B Vaughan, letters from Radcliffe and Horn, letters from Colonel Crofton's widow, and, curiously, a letter from Kinglake to Smyth acknowledging the return of the "Inkerman Papers."
This consists of a single document, being the orders for the troops in the trenches before Sebastopol issued on 5th July 1855. It well illustrates the problems of communication for armies in the field in the days preceding not only radio and photocopying, but even typewriting. A single copy of the detailed orders was hand-written at Headquarters, and circulated around the Divisions, who each had to make, by hand, their own copy. This in turn would, if necessary, be circulated around the relevant Regiments, to be copied by them. Not surprisingly, slight differences crept into the various copies. The difference that even an omitted comma might make is illustrated by this document. It includes an instruction to troops to "observe well before dusk." Whether this instruction means to "observe well," or to do it "well before dusk" is not clear.
In a letter to Kinglake, Horn said, "I certainly rendered myself liable to a snubbing for volunteering my interference in favor of poor fellows." This was no vain boast. The documents here show that Horn was persistent in his pursuit of justice for his men, and was prepared to annoy Staff Generals if need be.
There are two main themes here. The first concerns the general living conditions and medical care of the men. Successive Commissions were sent to the Crimea by the Government in response to growing concern at home. We see here Horn's representations to the Hospital Commission (Cumming, Maxwell, Laing), and to the McNeill/Tulloch Commission. In one exchange Horn flatly refuses an order from Sir John Hall, the Inspector General of Hospitals, to send 150 men to Balaklava to carry up hutting materials, on the grounds that it was just such overworking that caused much of the sickness among the troops.
The second theme is Horn's fight to get medals for two non-commissioned officers. Adjutant General Estcourt attempts to fob him off with the excuse that medals are rationed, and an offer of a gratuity of £5 for each of them. Horn replies that his regiment has not received its ration of awards, and argues for a medal plus £10 gratuity each. The effort he was willing to put into the cause is evidenced by the fact that we see here successive drafts of his reply to Estcourt. He has researched and quotes the appropriate Royal Warrants. The two NCOs got their medals and gratuities.
There are some papers unrelated to the Crimea which clearly did not come from Kinglake, but were stored with those that did. They include appreciative letters to the XXth Regiment from the communities of Kingston and Montreal, and the grant of the battle honour "Dettingen." The final few documents relate to the collection of a testimonial fund for Major Ben Smyth in 1904.
Some of the documents are now in the collection of the Cambridge University Library. The references are shown thus:- CUL Add.9554/5/xx
These papers fall into four groups:
1. Accounts of engagements by the 20th at Inkerman.
There are detailed accounts by Captain Geraghty, Sergeant Campbell, Colonel Radcliffe, and Colonel Horn, notes made by Kinglake of his interviews with Horn and with Sergeant-Major Rule, a number of letters from Captain H B Vaughan, letters from Radcliffe and Horn, letters from Colonel Crofton's widow, and, curiously, a letter from Kinglake to Smyth acknowledging the return of the "Inkerman Papers."
2. Orders before Sebastopol.
This consists of a single document, being the orders for the troops in the trenches before Sebastopol issued on 5th July 1855. It well illustrates the problems of communication for armies in the field in the days preceding not only radio and photocopying, but even typewriting. A single copy of the detailed orders was hand-written at Headquarters, and circulated around the Divisions, who each had to make, by hand, their own copy. This in turn would, if necessary, be circulated around the relevant Regiments, to be copied by them. Not surprisingly, slight differences crept into the various copies. The difference that even an omitted comma might make is illustrated by this document. It includes an instruction to troops to "observe well before dusk." Whether this instruction means to "observe well," or to do it "well before dusk" is not clear.
3. Col. Horn's efforts on behalf of his men in the Crimea.
In a letter to Kinglake, Horn said, "I certainly rendered myself liable to a snubbing for volunteering my interference in favor of poor fellows." This was no vain boast. The documents here show that Horn was persistent in his pursuit of justice for his men, and was prepared to annoy Staff Generals if need be.
There are two main themes here. The first concerns the general living conditions and medical care of the men. Successive Commissions were sent to the Crimea by the Government in response to growing concern at home. We see here Horn's representations to the Hospital Commission (Cumming, Maxwell, Laing), and to the McNeill/Tulloch Commission. In one exchange Horn flatly refuses an order from Sir John Hall, the Inspector General of Hospitals, to send 150 men to Balaklava to carry up hutting materials, on the grounds that it was just such overworking that caused much of the sickness among the troops.
The second theme is Horn's fight to get medals for two non-commissioned officers. Adjutant General Estcourt attempts to fob him off with the excuse that medals are rationed, and an offer of a gratuity of £5 for each of them. Horn replies that his regiment has not received its ration of awards, and argues for a medal plus £10 gratuity each. The effort he was willing to put into the cause is evidenced by the fact that we see here successive drafts of his reply to Estcourt. He has researched and quotes the appropriate Royal Warrants. The two NCOs got their medals and gratuities.
4. Regimental papers unrelated to the Crimea.
There are some papers unrelated to the Crimea which clearly did not come from Kinglake, but were stored with those that did. They include appreciative letters to the XXth Regiment from the communities of Kingston and Montreal, and the grant of the battle honour "Dettingen." The final few documents relate to the collection of a testimonial fund for Major Ben Smyth in 1904.
Some of the documents are now in the collection of the Cambridge University Library. The references are shown thus:- CUL Add.9554/5/xx