Recollections of a Zouave Before Sebastopol

8/13/2019 Recollections of a Zouave Before Sebastopol.

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RECOLLECTIONSOP

mninBEFORE SEBASTOPOL

EDITED BT

Dr. FELIX ^MAYNARD,Ex-Sanitary Physician.

TBAN8L4.TED PROM THE FKENCH,

BY MRS. M. HARRISON ROBINSON.

^ PHILADELPHIA:PUBLISHED BY HAYES Sc ZELL,

No. 193 MARKET STREET.18 5 G.


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TO

mmx ^h%M)iXt ^nmu.ACCEPT, HONORED MASTER,

THE DEDICATION OF THIS BOOK, WHICH OWES ITS EXISTENCESOLELY TO TOUR BENEVOLENT PATRONAGE.

I HATE, AT PRESENT,NO OTHER MEANS OF TESTIFYING TO YOU MY

INFINITE GRATITUDE.

^r.


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CONTENTS.--

CHAPTER I.Departure from ConstantinoplePassengersShip-board

PoliticsTrumpeter of the Zouaves 9CHAPTER II.

Prodigy of ResectionThe AmbuscadeThe ChargeBall in the ShoulderAmbulanceKamiesh 39

CHAPTER III.Lady JocelynThe PassageMy ComradeOur Bed-chamberParisian RusseRussian BootsThe Bos-phorus 60

CHAPTER IT.ConstantinopleHospitalSaint Martha WardSisterPrudence Ball leaves me Copper gooseberries

OperationObedienceIllness of Sister PrudenceDelirium 82

CHAPTER T.Sisters of CharitySailorGossipSchtschegoleffs . 98


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CONTENTS. 7CHAPTER XIII.

Fire Combat of March 23rdCommander Dumas-Armistice-YulturesCommon Crave 258

CHAPTER XIY.ReposeSewingReadingEnnui 276

CHAPTER XIY.Post-prefaceReturn to FranceThe JolietteFall of

Sebastopol Encounter of One-armed TrumpeterSoldier's SacrificeHis Promise 288


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EECOLLECTION S

ZOUAYE BEFORE SEBASTOPOL

CHAPTEE I.DEPARTURE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE.PASSENGERS.SHIP-BOARD POLITICS.ZOUAVE TRUMPETER.The Imperial Mail Steam Packet, Nil^ is in

readiness to put to sea from the Bosphorus,laden with three hundred and fifty soldiers ofthe Army in the East ; some discharged asinvalided, others to be transferred to the regi-mental depot in France, or sent to their familieson sick leave.The Nil not being installed as a regular ship-

hospital, our human cargo must needs pass tendays and nights in the open air, with the deckas their only camp-bed.

I am mistaken ; such of these men (evacuantsof the ambulances and hospitals) as feel strengthenough in their wrists to hang by the end of arope, let themselves down into the hold on the


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 11pushes ashore, and demands fonr hundred fromthe military stores. It was no more than justiceand humanity.

Then, as soon as each one had received hisdingy Cashmere blanket, to protect him fromthe humid nights of an open sky, the Nillaunches forth, all steam on, coasting the sea ofMarmora.

Since travelling Eastward, I always attachrecollections of past peregrinations to the occur-rences of the present one, and institute, in mymemory, a gallery of portraits and pictures,adding to these a legend borrowed from conver-sations on board; for men become talkativeaboard ship. I have, sometimes, heard diplo-mats, generals and personages of rank, carriedawayby an irresistible need of expansion, recountwhat they would not have dared to repeat onshore, unveil the mystery of certain politicalcombinations, and reveal secrets that might bejustly entitled those of state.A day will come perhaps, when, without cul-pable indiscretion, it will be permitted me, notto betray these communications, for a confidenceis a sacred thing in my eyes, but to recount inmy turn, what I have had so much pleasure inhearing related.

In the meanwhile, I institute myself the echoof the forecastle chronicles.


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12 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.A word, however, as to the aft passengers,

aristocrats of the first class, as thej are terraed :Officers (as you know) under the grade of Chiefof battalion, have no right to the principal saloon

Ensigns, Lieutenants and Captains inhabit theinferior saloon, but I have occasionally seensome exceptions to this rule tolerated. Lastyear, for instance. Captain Kleinenberg, Aid deCamp to General d'Elchingen, and Michel d'El-chingen, his son, then a non-commissionedofficer of the 7th dragoons, were admitted tothe principal saloon. They were bearing toFrance the heart of General d'Elchingen, whohad died of cholera at Gallipoli.

English officers of every grade, with theirguineas, were exempt from this proscription,and are always numeron.s on our packets, whichthey find more comfortable than those of theirown nation.Our subaltern officers ought to enjoy the same

prerogative, paying for it, of course ; the com-pany of mail contractors do not oppose itthe interdict emanates not from them, it is aministerial decree.Twenty-four guests are seated at the table of

the Staff, all passengers, except the Commanderof the vessel, the mail agent and myself, theSanitary Physician. The Commander occupiesthe upper end of the table, the Agent the centre,


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 13I the otlier extremity, opposite the Commander;on whose right, sits an English Colonel, on hisleft, two French Chiefs of Battalion ; then comea general pay-master, a senior Surgeon of thearmy, the Captain of a frigate, an AmericanOfficer a tourist returning from the seige, aCourier of the Queen of England, a speculator orrather a blood-sucker from Kamiesh, who leftAlgeria last year with a stock of sardines incasks, and rancid sausages, on his way back toMarseilles with 100,000 francs. The other placesare occupied by English, officers of every grade,and perfect gentlemen.The Heads of Battalion, the Surgeon, frigate

Captain, Intendant and Paymaster were on theway to France, to fill posts already designated.It is the same with the English. No person,except the Priest, is quitting the East on sickfurlough.

Accordingly, the frankest, most lively gaietyreigns during the repast, and our cook's talentis duly appreciated, especially as the sea is calm,and the ship runs at ten knots without pitchingand rolling.

I have made many voyages where mourningand distress predominated. This passage, there-fore, would have seemed like a party of pleasure,if forward as well as aft, on deck as in thecabins, prevailed health and comfort.


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14 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.But not so above, are more than three hun-

dred and fifty suffering in every way, lying on ahard couch, under the open sky, and nourishedby a paltry speculator of a cook, who, despitethe Commander's vigilance and severity, findsopportunity of realizing large profits out ofseventy-five centimes or a little more, which theGovernment allows as daily maintenance of atravelling soldier. I hasten to observe that theMail Company are not accomplices in theseodious speculations. On the contrary, should apassenger, rich or poor, wish to complain of hisfare, there is a register on board, where eachmay indicate his wrongs, and immediately theguilty person is expelled by the Company fromtheir ship.Our soldiers, divided into messes, domiciliate

themselves on deck as industriously as possible,each group preserving during the voyage theplace selected at setting out.

Those, thinking themselves more cunning thanthe rest, taking a position to windward, but to-morrow the wind may change, and they will reapall the disadvantages of the leeward. The pro-blem to solve is, that when seated, every onemay have also a support to the back. Thus,there remained not the least space vacant alongthe bulwarks, the windlass and base of the state


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EECOLLECTIOXS OF A ZOUAVE. 15room appropriated to the third class, and thekitchen.

During the day it is not permitted this flockof soldiers to pass beyond the foot of the main-mast aftward, but at evening, the whole deckbelongs to them, nor is it too spacious an arenafor three hundred and fifty sleepers, exceedinglylike corpses packed in a sarplier, whenever thejets of flame, rising every instant to the top ofthe engine chimney, illumined the darkness witha transient light.The Zouaves and sailors have found means, or

tried a method as they say, of creating comfort,where Johnny of the line would never havesuspected the possibility of discovering thesimplest elements.

Behold a one-armed Zouave associated with aChasseur of Infantry, a feverish convalescent,but with sound limbs. This Zouave, instead ofwandering moodily about like the discontentedfoot-soldier, not knowing what to do with himself,and roving out of his latitude in search of aposition on the gangway, has cajoled a Mathurinof the crew, who, in his character of compatriot,will teach him the art of stowing himself away,in the open air, rather more comfortably thanthe generality of the martyrs.

Countryman, says the Zouave, we shouldhave a billet of quarters


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16 EECOLLECTIOKS OF A ZOUAVE. The fact is, it is a little hard, to have to keepwatch aloft for ten days and nights, replied the

sailor, in apparent reflection, scratching his cheek,which the enormous quid of tobacco he waschewing deliciously, had converted into a sortof dome, It really is very hard.

But while on duty, countryman, is not yourberth vacant ? insinuated the soldier.

Oh no there is no danger of cobwebsforming there. Have I not my comrade of thelarboard, who watches while I sleep, and sleepswhile I watch?Had I the use of my two hands, answeredthe Zouave, I would descend into the hold andthe Chasseur after me, for we cannot separate.

The infected atmosphere below would scarcelyagree with the young man, rejoined the sailorsententiously.

Then, compatriot, if this mule-box were forhire, we might instal ourselves there.And the Zouave pointed out to the sailor oneof those boxes designed for transporting horsesand mules, hitched to the gunwale, and oppositeto the engine chimney, filled with sails andropes.

Our Zouave, as we shall hereafter shew, hadalready transformed one of these boxes into a bed-chamber, during a passage from Kameish toConstantinople. His present embarrassment


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EECOLLECTIOXS OF A ZOUAVE. 17arises from the fact that this one being packedwith cordage and tarpauling, permission fromthe Boatswain must be obtained to clear thelocality ; this he hoped to procure, through themediation of his pretended fellow countryman,the sailor.

Compatriot, if you would only whisper aword or two into the mate's trumpet The compatriot at first turned a deaf ear. The

sailor is by nature, little complaisant, especiallyat sea, or when required to go out of his way anoar's length to perform a service. He chacklesinwardly over the petty annoyances of the landlubber, and is not sparing of his scoffs at thepiteous countenance of the warrior, floored bysea-sickness. One of his greatest delights is tosprinkle with foul water, in the morning, thelate sleeper, not risen when the deck-washingcommences. Nor does he ever fail of an infal-lible remedy, as he says, against the nausea ofsea-sicknessEat a brick and drink a glassof salt water. And how he laughs at theluckless piou-piouj (soldier) that misses thestep when the waves begin to roll.

Attention he cries out, just as there comesa very heavy lurch, attention and left footforemost.And the piou-jpiou, forgetting the rule, sets outwith both feet forward.


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18 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. Attention little finger on the seam of the

trowsers, and headfixed fifteen paces in a directline And the troubadour, extending his arm. togrope for support in space, clasps vacancy, loseshis balance, falls and knocks his head against thehatchway.

Then, the sailor, shouting with laughter,raises, with feigned commiseration, the unfor-tunate warrior, who, with wavering gait, steersanew, alongside the waistcloth. Kone wouldnow recognize, under the blanket that envelopshim like a calabash, the same hero who stormedthe enemy's ambuscade.But at the present time, the weather is fine,

the sea unrippled, the breeze quiet, and thepacket runs smoothly as a rail-road car. Asailor could not now have enjoyed fine sportyin shaving sl jackal from the Crimea.

Come, countryman, resumed the Zouave,will you suffer us to sleep out of doors?At this moment, the mate passed by, and the

sailor seizing the opportunity, exclaimed, Father Mery, here are two soldiers, who saw

your son at Sebastapol.With these words, he winked and gave his

tobacco a twist in the cheek, as a hint to theZouave not to contradict him, and to attackMery on his weak sidepaternal love.


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RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 19All, yes, I have seen him, answered the

Zouave, and your son, Monsieur, has been, andcontinues to be a brave soldier. He and I haveeaten several Kussians together, and he had afamous appetite. On my leaving camp, he saidto me, 'Trumpeter, if you ever encounter PereMery, my father, tell him his son is brave.' Hewould have made me the bearer of a letter toyou, but just as he had taken pen in hand,General Canrobert sent him in search of some-thiug for dinner. Obedience to commanderssupersedes filial duty.While the Zouave was speaking, the honest

man's face shone with gratified pride ; he choked,turned all colors with emotion, and murmuredsome unintelligible words.

'And, now, if he should ask me the number ofhis son's regiment thought the Zouave. Butnot so fastidious was Father Mery; the momenthe heard him speak of knowing his son, hebecame a friend.

Is he not a handsome boy? he inquiredproudly.

Ah, you may well say that; so handsome,that the Princess Grortschakoff, wife of theEussian Commander in Chief, being, one day onthe Malakoff Tower, descrying him mountingguard at the trenches, exclaimed, 'Parbleuwhat a splendid man ' and offered, one hundred


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20 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.roubles sterling reward, to any one tliat wouldcapture him alive.

Father Merj at this hyperbolical tirade, whichwent beyond the mark, shut one eye, as if toanswer the Zouave, You are a humbug, andwas about to turn on his heel, when the sailortook up the discourse.

The fact is, said he, there is not in thewhole of the Second Zouaves' regiment generally,and particularly in the third section, a person offiner proportions and more elegant form thanyoung Mery.The Zouave was saved; he knew now to

which army the mate's son belonged, accord-ingly, resuming a serious tone, he added:

Pardon me, mate; it was a mere joke, whatI related of Princess Gortschakoff; but sinceyour son is a Zouave as well as myself, give me,for his sake, permission to occupy this lodgmentduring the voyage ; and he pointed to the box,encumbered with sails and rigging.

Pere Mery rubbed his chin, hesitated a longtime, having still a grudge about the princessand the Malakoff. But, after a while, he re-laxed, reflecting that perhaps his son might havebeen already killed, or wounded, like theZouave that asked him for a shelter, and criedout, turning away, and in the tone of a benevo-lent executioner


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RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 21Well, lodge in it, then, as it was constructed

for beasts.A quarter of an hour after, thanks to a mea-sure of grog furnished by the steward for thecomfort of the chasseur, the sailor aided the one-armed and the invalid to transform the aforesaidbox into an apartment.But I have not yet narrated how that box

came into our possession, nor described its con-struction.When our packets leave Marseilles for Ka-miesh, they seldom fail to bring horses andmules belonging to officers who are passengers.The animals are not lodged in the mid-deck, ason ships specially adapted to transporting cav-alry ; they remain on the quarter-deck, enclosedseparately, in a moveable stall, in a hox. Thisbox is neither wide enough for the animal to liedown, nor long enough to permit him to use hishoofs ; the partitions are higher than he, exceptthe one in front, which slopes, so as to enablehim to project his neck and head towards themanger.The animal thus enclosed, is exempted from

tbe punishment of the surcingle, which keepshim suspended, as it were, fastened by two ironrings, to the ceiling of the middle deck. Thismethod on ships, a part of whose middle deck isconverted into a stable, is necessary to prevent


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22 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.falls of tlie animals being transported for thetroops, to whicli the pitching and rolling rendersthem liable. Boxes there would occupy toomuch room.

Well, we were conveying these boxes to Mar-seilles, but empty ; and merely retained on decksuch as could not be taken to pieces and piledaway in a corner of the hold.But had there been three or four, the foot-

soldier that first arrived would pass them un-heeded ; but, let a sailor descry any tenantless,and he soon gets possession of the best as hisdomicile. Thus did the Zouave, and the apart-ment is furnished. They occupy it jointly ; twocoverlets, folded in four, form the mattress, onwhich, side by side, or back to back, sleep thetwo associates. The box is wide enough, andeven were it larger, it would not insure increaseof comfort, from the chance of being disturbedby the lurchesfor mutual support is gained bycircumscribed limits; or, in maritime parlance,one serves as wedge to the other, and_this fra-ternal stowing is propitious to sleep.

Azor, old Azor acts as pillow to the Zouave 5a mariner has his sail-duck bag, resembling inshape a cavalry bugle.

It is very rarely that a double amount ofblankets, over and above the allotment, can befilched ; but the sailor stole two additional ones,


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KECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 23to be stretched around the comers of the box,to guard the sleepers from the night air ; theZouave contenting himself with only one extra,unrolling his turban and converting it into analcove curtain. Such were the night arrange-ments.By day, the whole stock was packed neatly

into two parts, forming a divan at each ex-tremity of the saloon. There they talked, andsmoked, tdte-^-tdte, while visitors leaned outsideto listen.

I myself, too, notwithstanding the decorumimposed on me by the hierarchy on board, wasone of the most zealous auditors of these re-unions, wherein our Zouave was generally chiefspeaker.

This Zouave, as before observed, wounded atthe Crimea, was just from the hospital of Pera.He interested me extremely ; his face was fa-miliar. I had already seen him somewhere, notas citizen or lounger, but as a soldier in activeservice. Was it in Africa, at Philippeville, Stora,at Algiers or Oran ? Was it in the East, at Gal-lipoli, Yarna, or Kamiesh ? This I could not atfirst recall; but on interrogating him about' hiscampaigns and wounds, my memory returned.At Yarna, July, 1854, a battalion of Zouaves,

composing part of a division sent to Dobrustcha,passed rapidly by me, as I was strolling along


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24 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.the rural lanes of this capital of Bulgaria, andvanished amid the dust of the road of Kustendji.I ensconsed myself beside a wall, to let thishuman torrent roll by, and already, as my eyestill sought them, they were out of sight, whilethe ringing of their clarions reverberated, livelyand spirit-stirring.

In witnessing a military defile, attention is or-dinarily directed to the captain and officers incommand ; to the tallest, shortest, or to the onehaving the most stripes in the troop ; to the strag-glers, sutler, surgeon, major ; to all, in fine, thatby their rank, seat in the saddle, pace, etc.,stand out in relief from the common mass.

This battalion of seven or eight hundredZouaves, formed so complete and perfect awhole, as to enforce my admiration of them as acorps, but yet remarking, more particularly, oneof the trumpeters.And wherefore did I distinguish him from his

associates ? I cannot tell ; it was simply obey-ing a mysterious impulsion. It frequently hap-pens that we photograph in our memory, with-out any special desire, the physiognomy of astranger whom we are destined to behold inafter times.And so, in efiect, was I to see again the

Zouave Trumpeter,- for it is he whom I recall on


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EEC0LLECTI0X3 OF A ZOUAYE. 25board the Nil^ talking about bombardments, am-buscades, and trenches.He is worthy of being listened to. When in

the vein, he can draw around him a circle ofattentive auditors. Sailors, soldiers, and civil-ians, hang upon his words, ij too, hang breathlessand am endeavouring to remember certain epi-sodes of that great epopee, as he himself recountsthem.The trooper, who is actor in a battle or com-

bat, cannot see the whole of it; but certain de-tails are in his sphere, which he loves to revive,and with howsoever little natural gift as a nar-rator, constructs a petty drama out of each,wherein he plays the principal part.

Events of war, like all others in life, havenever had, and never will have two historiansidentically veracious. The same fact becomesmodified, recounted by different tongues, andthe colouring may vary infinitely. So also withhistory and chronicle. The one, strictly official,without being always true, the other, independ-ent, capricious, sometimes improbable, and yetfrequently ser^-ing as an envelope to truth.

I love well the free play of the last. Sup-pose it propagate errorpopular opinion willpromptly correct it; or, is it consecrated totruththat truth runs quickly through theworld, and infiltrates the masses.


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26 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.The war-tales, or rather tlie camp adventures^

recounted to us by tlie Zouave Trumpeter, appearso personal, at first glance, that we migtit betempted to revoke them, in doubt of their ve-racity; and yet they have the air of truth,although to certain incredulous listeners, want-ing the stamp.

I have scrutinized them, by seeking informa-tion from the numerous passengers, officers, andsoldiers whom I have, at various times, attendedon their return from the East, and by readingofficial documents published in the Moniteur;and I declare that there is not a fact or detail,in contradiction with these.

Thus, then, until after having deposited at theDardanelles, the firman, the leaf, three metres inextent, on which is traced in two lines of capitalletters, the Sultan's permission to quit his empire,the Nil descends the Hellespont, to provision atSmyrna ;while consuming the distance fromSmyrna to Syra, from Syra to Malta, and fromMalta to Marseilles, taking in at each port coalfor the furnaces and food for our bodies, let us,prisoners on shipboard, banish, if we can, theennui of long days at sea, by listening to thegossip of the brave soldiers, returning from theheights of Chersonesus.The saloon of my trumpeter and foot-soldier,

for which I shall provoke your curiosity, was


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 27opposite the engine chimney ; so that, seated onthe mainhatch, I could listen to the conversa-tions, without mingling too closely with thecurious groups gathered around the box.

This^ apartment resembled a historic pulpit,having the Zouave as titular incumbent.

There arose, very often, lively discussionsupon certain obscure points of high militarytactics; and if the solutions given were notalways conformed to the principles of the mostcelebrated tacticians and warriors, they were, atleast, not deficient in picturesque expression andrude good sense. There, too, I became acquaintedwith certain minute details of the Eastern wardetails forgotten, perhaps, in the of&cial ac-counts.

This morning, our tasseled politicians discussedthe chances of the siege of Sebastopol ; it was atbreakfast, and the champions of one idea, orplan, perfectly feasible according to their opinion,brought out a rich flow of argument, which theadversaries immediately refuted, by objectionsnot less rich ; then, the repast ended, each onecould decide for himself in the calmness of di-gestion.

This evening, our saloon politicians alsobroached a polemic on the great question atissue ; but as they prefer material, brutal fact, tothe most sublime theoretical conclusions, the


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28 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.voice is for him who supports his argument byactual precedent.

Thus, our Zouave pretended that the firstcannon-shot fired on the soil of Crimea, wasafter the debarkation of the Allied armies atOld Fort.

The fleet, exclaimed he, gave Menchikoff abroadside as we advanced en losange along theshore. I was there among the foremost, andwith my comrade, Frichter, sounded the charge,and with no elaborate quick-step of the instant.It was as if the cannons of the Bayard^ Yille deParis^ Valmy, &c., kept time to the tune of ourclarions. Ah I by my faith, it was a noble de-barkation And how they have burned powdersince the first cartouche met the touch-hole

Stop a minute, eagerly interposed a quarter-master of the steam-frigate Descartes^ a tall, mus-cular, jovial fellow, with an extra cross on hismedal, and minus an arm to the sum total of hislimbs. Stop a minute By your leave, com-rade, you make a blunder

Eh and how so, I pray you ? Did we notattack the Czar the 14th of September ?Ay, ay, you soldiers of cavalry and infantry,whom the fleet-barges landed on that day ; but,

we of the marines had tried the pulse of Sebas-topol, on the eleventh of the preceding June.


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EECOLLECTIOXS OF A ZOUAVE. 29This is a history of wliicli I was wholly

ignorant.It is literally true, as truth itself.Doubtless, you report for the Moniteur, mate.And if so, the Moniteur would lose nothing by

sometimes deigning to consult us.I had always believed that the first cannon-

shot dated from the 14th of September, rejoinedthe Zouave.

You mistake. The first cannon-ball in theselatitudes was fired June 11th, 1854. I repeatand maintain it; for it was I, then master ofordnance on the Descartes, who pointed the firstshot.And since then, he has been firing smallshot, exclaimed a Zejohyr, a soldier of the Afri-can battalions.

And will despatch many more yet, added acorporal belonging to a foreign legion.

Chut this is not a club, says the ZouavepresidentChasseur, as you have both handsuncrippled, indite these words on the walls ofour kiosk

' It isforUdden TO TALK POLITICS HERE.'But though we say nothing^ we need not thinh

the less,''^ answered a sagacious bayonet.Agreed; nor does it forbid you, master, to

relate how you fired this first cannon-shot.It was thus, resumed the quarter-master.


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80 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.Two montlis after the bombardment ofOdessaAh the bombardment of Odessa ex-claimed a sailor, listening. What a pity notto have continued that grand orchestra I

What a wedding-feast was lost there saidanother; we should have been in the city thenext morning.

Well said rejoined the quarter-master and the St. Petersburg of the Black Sea wouldhave been in flames. But, for the sake of hu-manity, we were ordered to close our port-holes.Ah, the cause suffers, when, the work being allcut and dried, humanity becomes Captain ofordnance IA pause now ensued in the caucus, as ifeach reflected a little on the consequencesof taking Odessa at that juncture. In a fewminutes, the quarter-master resumes :

Imagine us now at Odessa, we of the ma-rines saying to the foot regiments : ' Take alittle refreshment, comrades; eat a biscuit, andfollow, Messieurs, your sappers on the grandroute to Perekop ; and if, by chance, the Kus-sians demand your papers, tell them the Frenchdo not travel with a passport but with a pass-

Meanwhile, the fleet coasts the shore, to castanchor in the Gulf of Chersonesus, and strike a


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KECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 31blow for you at forcing that door of tlie Crimea,instead of leaving you to invest it.

You are right, master, you are right.True, but we will not question that now. It

was the plan thenat this time it would availnothing, and I pass from it to my first cannon-shot.

June 11th, on Sunday evening, at five o'clock,the Fury^ the Terrible^ and the Descartes^ ap-proached the mouth of the Bay of Sebastopol,and there counted twelve ships of the line, foursailing, 'and four steam-frigates. In a previousreconnoissance, there were five steamboatswhere were the three missing steamers? Hadnot the Anglo-French cruiser of the Gulf ofPerekop, and of the Circassian and Asiaticshores, obstructed their departure ?

It appears not, said a sailor. The cruisers of that day did not keep their

eyes open as they do now. At that epoch, youmight have made a passage in broad daylight,from the Bosphorus to Yarna, without perceiv-ing a single pennon of a ship of war, Englishor French.

Nothing more incontrovertible, thought I, whorelate these conversations. In the months ofJuly and August, I made frequent voyages fromConstantinople to Yarna and back, and never did Iencounter in that sea, a solitary flag of the allied


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 33to fliglit and we gave tliem a vain cbase, tillunder the very guns of Sebastopol. The pur-suit ceased with day-light, after the Eussians hadvanished behind the fortifications of the harbor.Such, comrades, was the commencement of thecannonades that, since then, have re-echoed onthe heights of Chersonesus. It is not, therefore,at Old Fort that they first soundedyou shouldfurthermore be told, that the Eussians, on thatday, intended to board our ships, for their deckswere covered with soldiers.Ah, had they dared, cried many auditorssimultaneously, we should not now possibly bebefore Sebastopol.Did the quarter-master, who had recounted

this prologue of the Crimean campaign speaktruth ? There was no one present this evening,to contradict him, and since then, in reviewingthe official accounts, I have found nothing toinvalidate his assertions.

I have had in my hands, the letter of an Eng-lish officer, relating a visit of the Allied Ad-mirals to the landing of SebastopolI will citesome portions :

Baltchich^ July 20.We were returning from a reconnoitering

expedition to Sebastopol with thirteen ships,commanded by Admirals Bruat and Dundas.


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34: KECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.THe Fury^ Terrible and Descartes were sent inadvance. Suddenly was seen in port prepara-tion for a sortie; sails spread, and columns ofsmoke ; but the sentry, just as the Eussians wereabout to issue forth, gave signals of the size ofthe fleet, and instantly, fires were extinguishedand sails furled. Our three steamers, sent to re-connoitre the north side, approached so near,that Fort Constantine fired upon them. Therigging of the Terrible was damaged, and a balltraversed the hull of the Fury^ partially ravagingthe sailors' store-room, but without woundingany one. The ships then retreated. The forti-fications of Sebastopol, even augmented since Ilast saw them, are formidable.

We passed the night in the broad sea, and inthe morning, the Fury awoke the Eussians witha cannon-shot. As it was not yet day-light, wecould enjoy a magnificent spectacle. In aninstant, every battery was blazing forth,itmight have been supposed the illuminations of anational fete.During another voyage of the Nil^ I heard a

sailor, belonging to the Eoland, relate the fol-lowing :

On the 22d of September the Roland^ passingbefore Sebastopol, saw in port, one close in rearof the other, five ships and two frigates, lying atanchor. The next morninor our allied fleet


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BECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 35cleared from Cape Lou Koul, and approacTiedSebastopol, when a cannon shot resounded fromtlie harbor ; then, we discerned from our ship,the Eussian vessels successively disappear inthe water.Whether the official reports have mentioned

this courtesy of the Eussians, awaiting the pas-sage of our fleet to sacrifice their vessels in fullview of us, I know not.

I have also heard it said, that but for theobstruction formed by these sunken vessels, theAnglo-French fleet would have forced the passafter the first regular bombardment in the actionof the 17th and 18th of October ; the vesselsmust then have stranded in port, and the crewsbeen landed in complete disorder, and put inthis disarray face to face with the besieged.

Probably, however, they would not have lostmore men than they have since.

This evening, at dinner, a very ardent discus-sion arose between a Chief of Battalion and afrigate-Captain, on the possibility of uniting thenaval and land forces after the mouth of theharbor had been forced ; the Captain was in theaffirmative, the other espoused the negativeside.The events nov;- passing, tend to support the

argument of the marine ofiicer ; the remainingvessels of the Eussians harass our wharf-laborers


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36 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.exceedingly, and impair tlie new works erectedbefore Malakofffor a mucli stronger reason,tlieir fire would cause incalculable ravages, ifdirected to tbe defences of the towna thingwhich we might do to advantage could we manthese ships and bring their broadsides to bear intheir place. Sebastopol would not hold out aquarter of an hour.

It was during this same assault of October18th, that our flag-ship, the three-decker, Yillede Paris, boldly cast anchor at eight cable-lengths from the guns of Sebastopol. It receivedfifty bullets in the side, three below the water-line and one hundred others in the rigging,main-mast, mizen-mast and foresail, which wasshivered to atoms ; three red-hot balls set theship on fire, and a shower of bombs destroyedthe poop ; at twenty-five minutes to two, a bomb-shell falls on the poop, burst in the frigate-Cap-tain's cabin, and obliges him to leap the deck,kills Lieutenant Sommeleir and wounds severalother of&cers. Admiral 'Hamelin miraculouslyescapes death. A naval attack in concert withone by land at this juncture, would havedelivered us Sebastopol, if the channel to theport had not been obstructed by the vesselssunk across it.The allied Admirals were resolved to sacrificeas many sailing vessels as necessary to occupy


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 87batteries instead. WMle these vessels, fore-stalling the enemies' balls, should be heroicallysinking, the wheels and paddles would force thepassage under full press of steam. This projectof passing between Fort Alexander and Con-stantine , had been conceived in the commence-ment of, and even before the seige ; and I find itrecorded as having been actually accomplished,in numberless documents, published in connectionwith the pretended capture of Sebastopol afterthe battle of Alma.Lord Westmoreland, says the Vienna Journal,received a letter, in which his son, an ofiicer in

the Crimea, announces to him that Sebastopolwas taken, and that Admiral Hamelin was thefirst to penetrate with his vessel, the Ville deParis, into the port, by breaking the dyke formedby the hulks of the Kussian vessels.We should be no longer astonished at the suc-cess of that grand European mystification occur-ring at this time ; the most incredulous couldnot refuse belief in a fact so clearly specified.Every one knows that a Tartar, dispatched fromYarna to Omer Pacha, then holding his head-quarters at Schoumla, spread over the continentthat chimerical news of the capture of Sebas-topol ; but every one does not know that it wasa mistake, and an honest onethe fault of ahoarse speaking-trumpet, an erreur d'acoustique^which originated that immortal hoax.


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88 KECOLLECTION-S OF A ZOUAVE.The Pharamond^ an Imperial steam mail-packet, was in the postal service at this epoch,

between Constantinople and Yarna; one after-noon, in crossing the Bay of Yarna and on thepoint of getting into port, the boat is hailed byanother steamer, direct from Enpatoria, goingwith all speed to Constantinople to announce thevictory of Alma. The Commander of this boat,giving precedence to the tafiarel of the Phara-mond^ cries out through the hraillard (speakingtrumpet) that the Eussians have been beaten atAlma, and that the Allies are about to enter Sebas-topol. The Commander of the Pharamond under-stood, have entered Sehastopolannounces thetriumph to the Governor of Yarna, who dis-patches his Tartar.The next morning the Pharamond, again inthe Bosphorus, and passing just as the artillery

of Thopana is thundering in honor of the victorsof Alma, naturally supposes they are celebratingthe news of the fall of Sebastopol borne thereby the steamer encountered in the Black Sea,and in turn, publishes the tidings, which isenthusiastically received, without questioninghow, or by whom it was transmitted. ForeignAmbassadors instantly dispatched couriers totheir governments, and the rumor of the fall ofthe Eussian fortress, reaching Europe at twodifferent points, could not be regarded other thanperfectly authentic.


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BECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 39

CHAPTER 11.PRODIGY OF RESECTIONAMBUSCADECHARGEBALL IN THE

SHOULDERHOSPITALKAMIESH.How were you deprived of your arm? I

inquired of our Zouave trumpeter, one eveningthat lie appeared more than usually, even, in thevein.A cylindro-conical ball demolished my left

pinion, replied he.And the wound is doubtless healed, sinceyou have not applied to me to dress it?

Yes, major, the wound, thank God, is closedmy associate and comrade, the chasseur, whomyou see there pallid as a defunct, binds thestump of my shoulder every morning withseveral folds of bandages, and that is sufficient.You have already so much work aboard, that Idid not dare augment the number of yourpatients.

In replying thus to me, the purely Frenchphysiognomy of this tall, muscular young manwas illumined with a frank smile. He washandsome, with his bare, robust neck, blondehair, cut close, according to the ordinance, andtriturated from contact with the woolen cechia.


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40 EECOLLECTIOKS OF A ZOUAYE.The sun wliicli only burns and tans pale com-plexions, and clothes with a uniform, ruddy huethose that are fair and rosy, had coloured hisface to the middle of the foreheadeverythingabout him indicated strength and energy.A wound in the shoulder is always verydangerous, he added, especially if it proceedfrom a rifle. It is great luck to escape the dis-jointing of the arm. The surgeon-major of Perawas satisfied with clipping mine a little. BeholditAnd he rolled up the sleeve, and stripped offthe bandages, to show us the stump of his shoul-

der, which was shrunk,- and somewhat mangled,and wrinkled by a long cicatrice on the outside,descending half-way the arm, which though stillmoveable, yet could no longer perform thenervous actions of past times. The lower partof the arm and the hand were free ; he was onlypartially deprived of the use of this limb.A ball penetrating the shoulder, crushing thehead-bone of the arm, and tearing away the en-velopes of articulation, provokes fatal accidents,and death is often inevitable, either if leavingthe wound alone, or executing one of the mostdreadful operations in surgerythe disarticula.tion of the limb.

Here, then, before my eyes, was a living proof,irrefragable evidence of the possibilit3^ of sue-


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KEC0LLECTI0N3 OF A ZOUAVE. 41cessfully avoiding these two extremes; and inmy opinion, tlie surgeon of Pera had evincedmore than skillhe had evinced genius, inremoving only the injured part of the bone wecall the humerus (the head of it crushed by aball) so as to preserve the limb.While I was admiring, en amateur^ this chef-

d'oeuvre of resection, the Zouave recounted how,in attacking a Eussian ambuscade, he had fallenin sounding the charge.The of July, at half-past nine in the

evening, said he, one hundred and fiftyZouaves, of the Sixth and Seventh companiesof Eegiment, received orders to beat up aEussian ambuscade, situated four hundred metresin front of the first French parallel. A captainand lieutenant commanded, and two trumpeterswere to sound the onset ; I was one, and my com-rade Fritcher, the other. AYe set off, as usual,joyous and eager, and leaving the menage incamp ; that is, sack and turban, which are onlyfit for travel, going to mass, or a review; weeach took under our arm, m^adame our spouse^our good rifle.

General Bosquet, who was to support withseveral brigades the assaults of that night, had,passing along our ranks, recommended us tomarch upon the Eussians, in profound silence atfirst, then, on arriving near them, to rush upon

4


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42 EECOLLECTIOXS OF A ZOUAVE.the ambiish witli yells and cries, making a dinequal to a hundred thousand men. Xext, address-ing himself to me and my comrade Fritcher, hesaid

* Trumpeters, sound the polka, a gavot, pas-torrelle, a waltz, a quaverwhatever you likebutbut, sound not the retreat '

' Enoug^h, sreneraL'

And he departed, satisfied ; for he knew uswell, my comrade, Fritcher, and me ; more thanonce, in Africa, we had already sounded hisbattle-charsre.

At the appointed hour, a Jiirondelle de feu^(swallow-fire) as the Turks call our rockets, gavethe signal of march, and we emerged from theline; it was night, dark as the bottom of acavern, and, as ordered, we kept profoundsilence. If the Eussians did not hear us coming,they could still less count us. A handful ofmen, in darkness, is large as a battalion, a battal-ion as a resdment, and a resriment as a brio^ade.

When we had traversed, with step of a wolf,two-thirds of the distance from the ambuscade,our captain commanded a halt, and we dividedinto two sections ; one, conducted by him, was toattack the left, the other, under the heutenant,the right.

Nothing was yet visible or moving on theRussian side; and we could not have believed


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EECOLLECnOXS OF A ZOUATE. 43ourselves in the vicinity of an enemy's post, hadnot the scouts of the preceding night scentedthem out, and discovered their position duringthe day.

The jacJcah were now about to rush upon theambuscade, yelling like demons, and I alreadyhad my lips to the mouth of my clarion, readyto bring out a quick-step composed by me andmv comrade, Fritcher, when suddenly, an infer-nal volley broke from the Kussian side on theri


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44 KECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. But the conflict began, lively and murderous,

as soon as I had sounded the second time. ' To the assault fire I' Then, for a quarter of an hour, we rendered

the Muscovites ball for ball ; ours, unlike theirs,were not lost in darkness ; on the contrary, Icould distinguish in the fusillade, men in largewhite capotes falling every instant, as if by athunderbolt, having received a shot in theshoulder.

It was because our marksmen, cunning andskilful, saw the foe as plainly as in daylight;they were not embarrassed by the darkness, norfired a cartridge at random, but with their handon the trigger, and eye taking aim, they firedinstantaneously on the Caucasian, the flash ofwhose rifle betrayed his position. Thus itwas that I saw these white phantoms fallingcheek by jowl. All went then, thus far, well,and we were gaining, by inches, the ground lostby the Eussians in leaving their ambush, when asergeant of the lieutenant's company, at a shortdistance on the right, arrived at full speed andsaid a few words to our captain.

' To the right about, to the aid of the

Seventh 1' he exclaimed, ' and sound the gym-nastique ' And I rang out the gymnastique,and our division, forming into a column, ralliedthe Seventh, which was giving way. Soon


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46 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.without taking fliglit or losing ground, step bystep, and generally by recoiling and firing, as attarget, upon that living wall, steadily advancing.We had taken care not to sound the retreat.Did not General Bosquet say to me and my com-rade, Eritcher, ' Sound a quaver, anything thatyou chooseexcept the retreat '

The battalion left in the trenches during ourattack of the ambuscade, discerning the cause ofthis movement on our side, received us bypromptly setting off, and crossed the parallel,followed by another infantry battalion, then,another still, then a French, and lastly, an Englishbrigade.

A warm conflict was now in prospect. In two or three bounds we were in a few

metres of the Eussians, who still continued toadvance. The shock of the encounter is perilous,and the companies Sixth and Seventh, who keeptheir stand at the head of the column, were to fallupon them with the bayonet, as soon as I shouldsound the charge with my comrade, Fritcher.Arm to arm, and lips on the mouth-piece, we waitthe order to sound, drawing a long breath pre-paratory.- At length the order is given, I sound, mycomrade Fritcher continues, and I am about toreverberate, when suddenly I receive a violentstroke in the left shoulder, which makes me


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 47piroutte and levels me to tlie earth.It must bea ball, from tbe sharp, deep pain it produces IThe companies pass on, the battalions, the

brigade ; I lie there on the ground for a moment,as if stunned and senseless, but quickly arise,furious and no longer feeling any pain from mywound ; I listen :amid the din of the fusillade,through the yells and clamor of the combat, Irecognize the trumpet-ring of my comrade,Fritcher, and my first impulse is to answer him,by sounding a new charge to the rear. But nocharge could I sound. In my fall, the mouth ofthe clarion is filled with sand, which I try toremove with my primer. No primer I hadforgotten it in my menage in camp. I then seekmy knife. No knife I had lost it. Oh, com-rades, comrades, I exclaimed to the brigades, stilldefiling near me, a knife or primer to clean outmy trumpetBut they all pass swiftly by, and without

hearkening, impatient to be in the thick of thefight. The idea of sounding a charge continuesto torment me, and like a fool, I suck the dirtthat obstructs the mouth of my clarion. But,on seeing myself alone, perfectly deserted, atmidnight, reflection arises, and I calculate thatit would be very foolish to sound in this situa-tion, when all our people are engaged in theaffray ; it would bring upon me the rifles of the


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48 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.Eussian scouts, straggling in the neigliborliood,and gain me only an inglorious death.

The next instant, I feel something, first warm,then cold, running down my breastI slippedmy hand under my vest and drew it forth drip-ping ; the obscurity prevented my seeing what itwas, but from the odor, I recognized blood ; thesmell produced faintness, and my strength failingI fell to the earth.

' Here, comrades ' I cried with voice scarcelyaudible, ' this way, Zouaves '

But there was now no one near to hear mycry ; the brigades are more and more distant, re-pulsing the Eussian sortie, and I can no longerhope for succor till the end of the combat, andprobably till morning.

My blood soon ceased to flow, without doubt,for I felt my strength revive. You think perhaps. Messieurs, that I lay there

bewailing my unfortunate lot, thus finding myselfalone, in the night, wounded and deprived of allassistance. Ma foi 1 no on the contrary, I re-peated, ten times, the hono hesef^ the ca va hien(all for the best) of the African, and retaking theroad our companions had followed in issuingfrom the parallel, I strove to reach, as expedi-tiously as the case would permit, the field hospi-tal at the depot of the trenches.

Bono hesef^ all for the best, in African lingo 1


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RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAYE. 49hono heseflyes such are the first words frommy lips wlieii the trumpet fell from my hands.Thanks, Messieurs les Busses, you send me on sickfurlough thanks to you by favor of your cylin-drical ball, I shall again see my country, myold mother, and friends hono hesef. No one had perceived, or, at least, appearedto pay attention to me, when I fell, except theLieutenant, who feeling my bayonet-point grazehis thigh, feared I had ripped his pantaloons.But, assured of the contrary the of&cer burstinto a loud laugh on hearing me cry, bono hesef/and disappeared in the whirlwind of combatants.

I saw him the next morning, borne upon alitter into the operation-tent of the third divisionhospital. He was not laughing then, and as forme, I was smoking my pipe. But we will not anticipate events, since youappear to listen to me with interest. I was quitefamiliar with the road to the depot, having fre-quently observed it in day-light, but this evening,weakened by loss of blood, I advanced butslowly, the left hand in my belt to support myarm, wounded near the joint, and carrying in theright, my rifle and trumpet.

Our parallel, where I first thought of takingshelter, was still a hundred metres distant, whenI perceived, that bullets from that side, which,till then, had passed over my head, began to


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50 RECOLLECTIONS OP A ZOUAVE.rebound beside me, and strew tlie earth tbickly,while balls buzzed in my ears like veritablebees.

' Hold ' said I, whirling in another direction,' one ball is enough for convalescence, and I donot need a bullet for final leaveAnd love of life restored the use of mylegs, so that, I executed a gymnastic chace andplunged into the nearest part of the parallel. Itwas dark as Erebus, darker than without even,but still not enough so to prevent my discerningthe outlines of a sentinel, who, without crying,Qui vive would have shot me like a dog, had Inot been beforehand and yelled out, 'Francewhat regiment ?'

A sentinel, two paces from the enemy, cannot enact the politeness of a Qui vive tostrangers advancing towards him. One night,the Eussians surprised one of our posts andmassacred the soldiers after having replied to theQui vive 'I Friends English Since then, a stand-ing order from General Forey interdicts theQui vive in such circumstances.

I advanced toward the shadow of this sup-posed sentinel, crying,

' France what regiment ?' To my joy, the reply was,'Zouaves.'And I went forward and found there, not a


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62 EECOLLECTIOXS OF A ZOUAVE. ' Here.' ' And my jonjou ?'^

' Here, also.' And lie stowed me my clarion under his

arm-pit on one side, and my rifle, which, hecarried beneath the bandoleer with his own.We walked thus together for nearly twohours, and I now feel astonished that I hadstrength enough to sustain myself an instant.We were obliged to make a wide circuit toelude the grape-shot, ascend the English ravine,and pass the Engineer's depot.

Berthier, with amiable solicitude, endeavoredto calm my sufferings, and render the route lesstedious and painful by talking of the corporalwho had permitted him to conduct me to theambulance.

I forgot to mention that he was not alone inthe trench when I took him for a sentinel ; themen of his platoon were smoking a few pacesfrom him.' What then was this platoon doing in thetrench ? I inquired.' Ah,' he replied, 'that concerns the corporal.

The platoon had been sent at twilight on extraduty outside the camp, and was returning torejoin the battalion, when, arriving where you

Toy.


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAYE. 63encountered ns, we heard shooting from below.Boys, said the corporal, the battalion wasthere when we left ; it is no longer there whenwe return. In my opinion, we should go nofarther in search of it. For the interest of theFrench army, I transform you into a corps ofreserve. Halt, then, and let us smoke a pipe.And our platoon accordingly bivouacked in themiddle of the trench.'

' He is a good soldierthe corporal. I have

now seen him many times at work, and neverwithout fire in his eye.'

' Ko, certainly, he is not a coward, but heis become a conservator^ like many others.'

' A conservator ?' ' Yes ; conservator of his skin.' ' How so ? is his skin more valuable nowthan formerly ?'' No, but that which he possesses at this time

may not appertain to him six months hence.' ' I do not comprehend.'

' He is exempted from service since the firstof January, and should have already returnedhome. But, according to the ordinance, he

, cannot quit the army till his place is suppliedby a new soldier, and this conscript is not eagerto arrive. Do you understand now ?'

' Partially. The corporal fought hke a lionup to the 31st of December last, at midnight.'


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54 KECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. ' That was for government paj, and lie worked

conscientiously.'' And now lie does not see tlie necessity of

being shot, when free from service. 'Ah, ma foi, he is not the only one who

reasons thus in the army of the East.' ' That is truebut even they do not marchless boldly against the enemy, when ordered.Passive obedience has replaced zeal, that is alland extra duty is accomplished without enthu-siasm.'

We chatted thus along, and Berthier usedevery effort to prevent the conversation fromflagging; for as soon as he paused, I becamesilent too, and appeared to suffer cruelly.

A new torture, that of thirst, began to aug-ment my agonies.

'Oh, how I thirst, old comrade; how Ithirst ' murmured I, panting.

' It is always the case after great loss of

blood,' replied Berthier, gently. ' My tongue is dry as a fileit scorches thepalate.'

' Try to create some saliva, and swallow it.' ' I have none, and I can only swallow the hot

air in my mouth, and burning my throat.' ' Have patience ; probably we will encountersome comrades with their canteens.'' Patience that is easily said.'


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. OO Had rain fallen the preceding week, I would

have sought with my foot a puddle in the ravine,and lying flat on the ground, have lapped itlike a dog ; but the weather had been perfectlyclear for many days, and the sun had dried upthe furrows and troughs dug by the bombs,without leaving a particle of mud, for I wouldhave been glad even to have respired themoisture of that.

Oh, how terrible this feverish thirst I wasnot only parched in mouth and throat, but in mywhole body ; and no longer suffering from thewound, should, I believe, have become wild, hadnot Berthier cried out

' Halt here is liquid 1' It was really so. We had arrived before a

breast-work of the English encampment; andBerthier, after three rapid words of warning'French, friends, and wounded'dragged metowards a tent, in which a lantern was burning.We entered, without noticing the grade of itsoccupants. I was thirsty, and wanted drinkthe English must give it me, whether soldiers,ensigns, officers, or generals.

But see the chance This is a canteen, andat the first gesture of my right hand the panto-mime is understood, and they offer me rum, mas-tic, raki, whiskey, brandy, hot wine, coffee, beer,etc.


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56 KECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.

' Thank yon, thank you, Englishmen ; Iwish water, nothing but pure water.'

And to the great wonder of the fusileerswhether the Coldstreams, Highlanders, or Scotch,I know notI emptied one, two, three goblets,successively, and should have swallowed manymore, had not Berthier and my new friends beenthere to interpose.

While I was quenching my thirst, Berthierresponded bravely to a dozen toasts in honorof the allied armies.

Eevived by the water, I seated myself on abench, to encourage the circulation in my veins.But as strength and reason returned, so did thepain of my shoulderunremitting and severe.

' Does it recommence to gnaw?' said Ber-thier, between two toasts.

' Yes ; and still hard I' ' In effect, you take a sun-stroke in the wrong

place.'

' This goes to my heart.' ' You turn pale and green, with a face paintedby moonlight ; and weeping, I do believe.' ' I weeping oh, no ' I answered, gulping

two huge tears, ready to drop, and strangling asob of grief; ' no, I do not weep '

' It would soothe jou, perhaps.'


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KECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 57 ' Pshaw STiall a soldier of France everweep in tlie presence of tliose of England ?

Were we alone, it would scarcely be excusablealthough, pain relieved by tears is less hard tobear. But here fear not, old comrade, I shallnot weep.'And Berthier pressed my hand silently, as ifto thank me.

' Here is a drop of gin,' said he, the next in-stant, 'which will give you strength, if youmoisten the end of your tongue with it.'

' I prefer a pipelight one for me.' 'One need not hinder the other.'' Ko no gin, only a pipe. Let these John

Bulls see what a Zouave can do with a cylindro-conical ball in him.'

And I began to smoke, like a Swiss takinghis ease. Suddenly I issued an oathone ofsatisfaction, a mille tonnerres of welcome. As Ihave already told you, I had the fingers of theleft hand in my belt to support the arm, whenafter a long respiration of smoke, and an effortto puff it towards a fat Scotchman, who seemedto be ridiculing me, doubtless because I haddrunk only water, I felt something cold, round,and heavy, roll from my belt, and slip into thepalm of my hand. I lookedit is a ball ^

' Behold it ' I exclaimed ' see, here is thebee that stuns: me 'o6


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58 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.And the cylindrical ball circulated from

hand to hand, and the English felicitated methat the surgeon would not be obliged to probemy shoulder in search of it.

I must confess, it was not without tremblingin advance, that I had thought of this futureoperation ; accordingly, believing myself de-livered from the apprehension, I gaily retook theroad to the ambulance. We finally reachedthis hospital after a walk of two hours and ahalf, at midnight, over a route macadamizedwith musket-barrels, bullets, fragments of brokenutensils, and lighted by bomb-matches insteadof gas-burners. The hospital, at the depot ofthe trenches, first received those whose woundswould require longer time than the regi-mental surgeons could devote ; so that as soonas the wounded arrived there, they endeavoredto put them in a state to bear being transportedin a litter, cacolet, or a wagon, from the depot tothe barracks at Inkermann-mill, where they re-mained two or three days, till there were vacantbeds in the large hospital at head-quarters.These vacancies occurred whenever a packet ortransport-ship conveyed to Yarna, Constanti-nople, or to France, those henceforth disabledfrom service, and others whose healing must beso tedious and difficult as to require change ofair and quietude. Our provisionary hospital


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 59consists of tliree tents; one for the inspectionof fractured limbs, the subjects of which takerefuge in the other two, to await the departureof the litters, wagons, &c., for the' divisionaryhospital.

When the engagement has been a warm one,the victims form a line in front of the first tent.This evening, the Surgeon-major would not wantpractice ; but I was one of the first to arriveabout the fifth or sixth. I did not therefore waitlong ere presenting myself for dressing. Show-ing the surgeon the ball that I supposed to haveissued from my shoulder,

' Hold ' said he, ' do you pretend that thispiece of lead has entered your shoulder ?

' Yes, Major, as it came out of it.' ' You pretend that this ball levelled you to the

earth when it struck ?' 'Yes, Major, as I am relieved of it.' ' Well argued, for a trumpeter. Have you

any bones in your shoulder ?' ' Yes, Major, for I feel that there is one bro-ken.' ' Well, as you pretend, this ball has entered

your shoulder. If it struck you with sufficientviolence to break a bone, and cast you to theearth, this piece of lead should exhibit traces ofhaving been flattened. But it is smooth as ifjust from the mould, and therefore not the one


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60 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.wliich gave the stroke. Come, come, I under-stand your game. You are afraid of mj search-ing for the real ball buried in the wound, andhave picked up this one as a pill for me to swal-low. Approach.'

And I went forward, for he must be obeyed,and the executioner, dilating the orifice of mywound with his great finger, searched a longtime, scratching my flesh with his nail, andmakino; the fractured bones crack.

The ball was still there, for I felt it move. Ithad entered the top of my shoulder on the forepart of the stump, and slipped half way downthe arch of the arm-pit.

' That will do for the present,' said the Major,withdrawing his bloody finger. Then he inquiredconcerning the firing we still heard in the dis-tance, put a little lint on the gash, wrapped myshoulder in a linen bandage, and dismissed me,exclaiming,

' Another ' I went to lie down in an adjoining tent, on

a mat covered over with a fragment of graywoolen. It was not so comfortable as a sorry mat-trass, but it was better than nothing. I shivered.The upper part of my body was almost naked,for my net had been cut to dress the wound,and I had cast off my shirt, soaked in blood.The nurse gave me a blanket, and a glass of hot


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EECOLLECTIO^TS OF A ZOUAVE. 61wine. This warmed me within and without, andI then began to reflect on my distressing situa-tion.

I no longer said bono hese/,foT I was sufferinghorribly, and depressed at the thought of the balllodged in my flesh. But whence, then, came the one which hadslipped into my hand, while smoking the pipe atthe English quarters? I mechanically detachedray belt, unrolled it, observed by the lantern howstiff it had become from the blood, and perceivedthat it was perforated in five or six places, all ofwhich formed but one when folded. Ah Iunderstood then, on seeing my belt thus pierced,from whence came the fresh ball that had falleninto the palm of my hand. This ball, aimed atmy breast, had glanced aside in the folds of thebelt, and, but for this belt, I had exchanged mysick furlough for a passport into the other world.Careless as I was, I nevertheless did thank the

good God by a deep sigh of gratitude.I shall carry this belt to my old mother. Shewill preserve it as a relic that saved the life of

her beloved son, and will not cease to thank Goddaily for me.

I would gladly have rested in this tent tillmorning, but the wounded arrived in crowds,and the first-comers must give place to others,


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62 KECOLLECTIOISrS OF A ZOUAVE.and repair, eitlier on foot or in a litter, to tliedivisionary hospital at the mill of Inkermann.

I preferred ascending on foot the steep sidesof the hill, rather than be hoisted, like a basketof provisions, on the back of a mule. Four orfive comrades, slightly wounded, accompaniedme, and I appeared before a new surgeon with aresolution to forestal the investigation of hisfingerI had too dolorous a recollection of hisconfrere's. I accordingly presented him the ballthat had glanced beneath my belt, as havingfallen there, after grazing my shoulder below theepidermis, passing downward in a superficial lineof only some centimetres.He was so busy, as well as his assistants, this

good surgeon, that my story was not scrutinized,and after a fresh dressing, they classed me in thenumber of those to be evacuated as soon as pos-sible into the hospital at head-quarters.

I thus escaped a new torture. The probing ofmy wound was useless, for the presence of thisstrange intruder in the wound being alreadyestablished, the operation of extraction could notbe undertaken immediately. At the divisionaryhospitals they only perform operations strictlyindispensable, and the extraction of this ballcould, without inconvenience, be retarded severaldays.I took my place for the rest of the night on a


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RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 63plank bed, ia a large barrack, containing aboutfifty other wonnded, some leaning against tlieenclosure, others stretched at full length, and allin a line, on either side of the room, so as toleave in the middle a narrow pathway for thenurses and physicians, bordered by the shoes ofsuch as, like myself, had preserved their legs.

The dim reflections of a lantern flitted overthat scene. The regulations interdicted conversa-tion, and if an involuntary exclamation, wrestedby pain, echoed in the midst of this companyfresh from the ranks, vigorous blasts of thewhistle imposed silence. The next morning, thehead surgeon of our corps made a visit of inspec-tion. My wound was now probed, the presenceof the ball ascertained, and I was placed in awagon to be conveyed to head quarters, whereI at length obtained a bed.

I remained there for five days, subject to thehospital regimen, which reduced me perceptibly.Every morning and evening the surgeon plungedinto my shoulder a long silver stylet, announcedincreased inflammation in the region of it, andpassed on to another subject, shaking his headand murmuring dreadful words aside to hisassistants.

The little that I understood of these seemednot very consoling; he spoke of disjointing myarm, the executioner Bono vesef Disjoint my


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64 EECOLLECTION'S OF A ZOUAVE.arm Ah, death, rather death a hundredtimesAnd those rascally nurses of whom I de-manded the meaning of disjointing, though toowell aware myself of the state of the case ; thoseruffians, for encouragement, replied to me,laughing, that I could only fight^ henceforth^ withone wing I

My recovery being necessarily protracted, itwas decided that the operation should beattempted at a hospital of the Bosphorus, and thesixth day from my arrival at head-quarters, Ireceived orders to mount a cacolet for Kameish,from whence a steamboat would transport me toConstantinople.

I am asked continually what kind of a placeKamiesh is, and also Balaklava, and because Isojourned seven or eight months in the Crimea,they deem me familiar with all the by-ways andmysteries of these two cities, here represented asgarrisons of nursery maids. But I only enteredKamiesh, our Paris of these latitudes, once, andthen to embark in the capacity of an invalid,and have never, even at a distance, seen theLondon of the English, Balaklava.

The Crimean Zouave lives more unshelteredthan the Zouave of Algeria. In Algeria wefind, on returning from a campaign of severalweeks, good lodgings and civil hosts. Here, the


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6Q EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.

CHAPTER III.THE LADY JOCELYN.THE PASSAGE,MY COMRADE. THE

PARISIAN RUSSE. RUSSIAN BOOTS.THE BOSPHORUS. The Lady Jocelyn was one of these immense

English screw-steamers, chartered by the govern-ment to carry troops, horses and ammunition tothe Crimea. They were availing themselves ofher return by lading her with a cargo of threehundred disabled, sick and wounded, consignedto the hospital of Constantinople.

Here it may be said, en ^assant^ that theGrand Turk has done a great deal ; we askedhim for hospitals, and he gave us his own, andif they did not suffice, he would still give hisbarracks, monuments, palaces, even to the gardenof the seraglio. (The old one, understand, thatwherein all the ladies have been emancipated.)

If I had borne, without much swearing, thetorture of the cacolet of the regulation, from thehead-quarters to Kamiesh, it was that I hoped tofind a little ease and comfort aboard the LadyJocelyn, doubtless arranged as a ship-hospital.I could not imagine that they would pack threehundred invalids, as they had our battalions, insound condition, for one year, from Stora to Gal-


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 67

lipoli, on a sliip of tlie line; the last voyageendured seventeen days; and during tliese seven-teen days and seventeen nights the floor of theupper and middle decks served as a camp bed.

My calculation was false, my hope vain.Arrived onboard the Lady Jocelyn^ we enquiredfor our quarters. ' There,' replied the mate,striking the deck with his foot, ' there,' and withhis hand indicating our limits, from the footof the main-mast to the beak-head.

' It will answer for the day ; and our birthsfor the night, where are they ?' ' Here also,' again stamping his foot.

' What, neither blanket nor mattrass ?' ' Yonder are mattrasses,' and he pointed to a

mule-box, such as this, filled with piles ofwoolen coverlets, damp, filthy, and stained withblood.

' And if rain should fall ?' To this question he made no reply, but burst

into a silly, jeering horse-laugh, as if to say,' It is all one to me.'

' And the night air ; how shall we be pro-tected against that ?'

Another laugh. ' What all these wounded, with limbs just

fractured or fresh from the amputating knife, tobe so exposed and tossed hither and thither ondeck, by the rolling and pitching of the ship, ^or


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68 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.the lengtli of a voyage to Thopana, wMther theyare bound?'

A shrug of the shoulders answers ' Oui.^ Ah it is horrible, this English fashion of

transporting the wounded. ' Be comforted, friends,' said an Englishman,

murdering our beautiful language, ' be com-forted, the fore part of the hold is freeyou canhave there a litter of straw ten metres thick,with air from above ; and besides, the voyagewill only endure thirty-six hourshave patiencethen.'And patient we were obliged to be. We

were more uncomfortable than upon the iV^7,for only those with sound wrists could exercisethe faculty of descending into the El Dorado ofthe hold.

You will agree with me that this way of tra-versing sea is not the most delightful in theworld, especially for men in our condition ; thegreater number of whom, deprived of a limb orpart of one, suffering from fresh, open wounds,and enriched with a plumb stone or fragment ofprojectile lodged in his flesh.

Oh, the infernal torments of that passage offorty-eight hours, from the Chersonese to theBosphorus I Fortunately the weather continuedcalm The mildest storm would have carriedoff platoons with fever and dysentery.


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RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 69Like a true African Zouave, wont to make

myself comfortable everywhere, I liad soon takenin at a glance the whole position of affairs,and calculated how to make the best of it. Iselected my bed-chamber as I did this, out ofsight and contact with the crowd, and to beassured of privileged rations, contracted a friend-ship with the head cook by recalling to hismemory a previous acquaintance in Americahe did not understand a word that I said, thebonest Englishman, but he did not the less pro-test by signs that he was familiar with French,and that henceforth, we were friends for life anddeath.

My plans laid, an assistant was necessary toput them in execution, accordingly, I enteredinto a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive,with a comrade of the First Division of Zouaves,who had but one leg ; his two hands wouldserve to dress my wound and prepare our meals,while my two legs would have the out-doordepartment ; it was a representation of the apo-logue of the clairvoyant cripple and the nimbleblind man, forming one by uniting.

Here, I am associated with a chasseur of theinfantry, whose health the major has so muchrepaired.

' Attention ' said I, to my comrade, ' and let usstand sentry on each side of this mule-box, from


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72 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.witli pins ? If they decorated all tlie wounded,especially those with gun shots, there would bemore cowards he-ribbanded than brave men.As to giving us a berth in the Hotel des Inva-lides, that is differentit is a right due to thehomeless. Suppose me a dancing-master byprofessionI lose both legs in the service of mycountry ; it is no more than just that she aid mehence forth to journey along the path of life.

Nevertheless, the circumstances attending ourwounds were rather out of the common order.You remember, that on rising from the earthwith my fractured shoulder, I still wished tosound the charge, and was prevented by the sandthat obstructed the mouth of my trumpet. Cer-tainly, the general who should have observed methen, manifesting such resolution, would not havefailed to signalize my conduct in the order of theday to the army ; but if I recount it, will it becredited without witness ?My comrade of the First was left for dead,during a night and morning, on the battle-field.They raised him at the moment of truce, and,by singular coincidence, it happened this daythat I fulfilled the functions of truce-trumpeter.I am not drawing a long bow, comrade, for thecircumstances of that suspension of arms areperfectly remembered by me.


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 73It took place at ten in tlie morning, to the left

of our trenches, and near the great cemetery. Acannoneer lifted over the parapet a ramrod, at theend of which floated a large piece of white linen,and the officer ordered me to sound cessez le feu^(cease fire). I sounded right and leftthe samepeal reverberated to the farthest end of theentire line.

The officer then rejoined, on the parapet, thecannoneer, who still held his flag alofto ThereI gave four blasts, and instantly a white flagappeared on the Quarantine bastion, and thefiring having ceased on both sides, we advancedalong the cemetery to meet a Kussian officercoming towards us, accompanied by a soldier alsocarrying a white banner. These Messieurs, stop-ping at a few paces of each other, saluted,exchanged despatches, then separated after apressure of the hand. During this time I hadgiven a quid to the soldier of Kicholas, whokept repeating, ^ Bono^ bono, bono.'' We retarnedalong the lines, and while the white flagcontinued hoisted on the Quarantine ( flag-staff) on the Russian side, it waved from theClocheton on that of the French, and the work-ing squad commenced burying the dead of theprevious night.

''This truce lasted three hours, and I heard,during the time, a report of a Zouave's having


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74 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.been conveyed to tlie hospital, found alive,buried beneath a pile of Russians. His one leghad been carried off by a ball. The cold alonesaved him from death, by staying the effusion ofblood. Well, this poor devil, found interredunder the Cossacks, was my box-companion onthe Lady Jocelyn. Loungers and others, at-tracted by curiosity, came frequently to visit us.We received no one in our saloon, but permittedall to lean outside and gossip with us, until therechanced to arise any topic of mutual irritation. One day, I was astonished to see a Russianprisoner (thirty were being transported to thepontoons of the borne d'or) approach and saluteus. I at first supposed a deserter was before us ;but he hastened to say, that he was the servantof a Russian officer, a prisoner, and woundedlike himself, and that he had, previous to thewar, resided at Paris.

This Russian was not slovenly, repulsive,hideous, gloomy, and taciturn, as his country-men generally are. On the contrary, of pleasingappearance, animated, joyous, and talkative, heseemed to regard his fate, as prisoner of war,a subject for gratulation, in prospect of a returnto France.Commensurate with his friendly disposition

towards us of the French troops, was his hatred


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 75to the wounded Englisli that belonged to theconvoy.

If questioned concerning the garrison and for-tifications of Sebastopol, he would instantly as-sume a serious reserve ; and if I persisted, addingthe assurance that we should ere long be in pos-session of the place, he would reply, with anironical smile

' If Totleben give you leave.' This, you know, is the engineer in superin-

tendence of the fortifications of Sebastopol, andsaid to be a very young man.

This Eussian, demi-Parisian domestic amusedus exceedingly, when in the vein of ridiculingthe superstitions of his compatriots ; he, more-over, elucidated the true, exciting causes of thewar, according to the received version amongthe Eussian people.

' You English and French fight for policywe Eussians, for a divine purpose. Listen, whywe have taken up arms. The Turks had mas-sacred the bishops and priests of Jerusalem.Almighty God, indignant, sent a zotnhms ofangels, to remove thence the tomb of our LordJesus Christ, and suspend it on high, far fromthat polluted soil; and commanded the Czarto avenge the Pagan sacrilege. The emperorobeyed Grod, and declared war against theInfidels. He is dead ; but the Emperor Alex-


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76 RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.ander will continue the conflict, and must, neces-sarily, be conqueror of tlie heathen Turks, andinfidel Christians who defend them. Yes, hewill be victor, aided by Heaven, and enter Jeru-salem at the head of his vast armies. The tombof our Lord Jesus Christ will then re-descendinto its place ; the phalanxes, whole pullcs ofangels will range themselves along the passageof the Eussian troops, and present them arms;and then the Czar will be master of the entireworld, which, delivered from its errors, will beconverted to the orthodox faith.' This Eussian prisoner had acquired the French

language at Paris itself, where his master hadresided for more than four years ; he was wellacquainted with theatrical people, and recountedto us various rather ticklish adventures of the mostcelebrated ladies of the epoch, (1848); but theseadventures were void of interest and relish to me,but a youth when those fair ones occupied thescandalous chronicle of the day, and since then,my life has been spent in camp. Accordingly,carino; little for the revelations of this domesticof a debauchee-prince, I always turned our con-versations on the war of the Crimea. But myfirst questions transformed him immediately;and the gossiping valet became a circumspectsoldier. Scarcely could we wrest from him anyinformation as to the customs of his nation ; he


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RECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 77denied the knout as a disciplinary punisTimentlie denied also that, previous to combat, extra-ordinary rations of whiskey, strong enough tointoxicate whole battalions, were distributed tothe soldiers; and yet, I have, very certainly,seen Russians so inebriated as to suffer them-selves to be taken prisoners, without resistance,during attacks of ambuscades.

' Is it true,' I asked him, ' that even in the

depth of winter, the Russians advanced bare-footed in the direction of our parallels, to sur-prise our night workmen ?'

'Never,' replied he ; ' never.'

' But, I have remarked, when an armisticewas proclaimed for interment of the dead, mostof the Russian corpses without boots '

' That was because your marauders had car-ried them off before dawn.''Oh, no ' I replied, indignantly; 'never

have Zouaves com^mitted such sacrilege.' ' ISTot Zouaves, possibly ; but there are other

soldiers than Zouaves in the Anglo-Frencharmies.'

' He is right, the Muscovite,' said an old

moustache of the foreign legion, a manchot (one-armed) like myself, who had tarried beside ourbox to listen to the discourse. ' He is right.See, I wear a pair of boots procured from theregiment of Okhotsh chasseurs ; I picked them


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78 EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE.up after tlie eight hours' combat of the 13th ofMarch. These boots are better than our shoes,and nearly all the men of the legion are thusshod. Famous merchandize, these boots leathersoft, and well sewed. Worth ten pairs of theordinance shoes.'

A blush of shame covered my face. He un-derstood it, and added

' Do our boots make you blush ? Give me,then, the address of your shoemaker. Ahyoung man that shame honors you, but it in-volves a trap for colds. How 1 did you thinkin your encampments, that the gentlemen of Se-bastopol would enter within the parallels asMussulmen enter mosques, first depositing theirslippers at the door ? I beg your pardonYou do not understand, then, that the buffoonsof the legion spread this scandal, to concealtheir boot-maraudings ?'

' But how did you unboot the Eussians ?' ' Thus : as soon asyou trumpeters had sounded

the breloque^ after victory, and returned into tent,the divisions of the siege to sleep till daylight,except the main guard, sentinels, workmen, andsquadrons on duty and of the reserve, four orve volunteers from among us would leave theparallel together, and, crawling on all fours, slipstealthily to the place of the last combat. Oursentinels, taking them for scouts, let them pass


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EECOLLECTIONS OF A ZOUAVE. 79a quarter of an. hour after, more or less, accord-ing to the distance, the savatiers, cobblers as wecall them, return with a load of boots, which areat an expedient time collected in one barrack,and each comrade selects a pair to fit, paying atax of a few centimes, deposited in a money-box, to constitute a private treasure of thelegion, the employment of which is to be decidedafter the campaign.

'At first, our chiefs knew not what to thinkon seeing us so well shod, for, in truth, thewhole garrison of Sebastopol seems to havebeen newly dressed and shod lately.

' Our of&cers supposed that a speculator from

Kamiesh had credited the legion ; but the plotsoon got wind, and for the interest of our healththey shut their eyes.

'We, at the same time, opened a shop of theinferior boots, for the other corps ; and, by theway, high personages have honored us withtheir patronage. For, only see, young man, howsoft this Russian leather is, and how stronglystitched 'And the old legionary turned off, to talk withanother one of his regiment, a sort of giant,wrapped in a huge frock-coat of white goat-skin.

This frock-coat was so unlike our winter vest-ments, as to impel me to award it a foreign


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80 EECOLLECTIOKS OF A ZOUAVE.origin, the same, probably, as the Okbotsliboots ; hereafter, you will see that my inferencewas not far wrong.The Lady Jocelyn pursued her course, while

we gossiped on ; and, thanks to what our sailorscall temps de demoiselles^^ she crossed the BlackSea, and sailed down the Bosphorus, as tranquillyas the steamboat of the Quai d'Orsay descendsthe Seine to St. Cloud.

I even found that the descent was too rapid,scarcely leaving me time to admire the prettypalaces, whose stone-colored facades of yellow,green, and red, were reflected in the blue watersof the canal.

' What splendid barracks They should have

princesses for sutlers,' said our comrades, twirl-ing their moustaches, believing that the odalisks,peeping stealthily from behind the close Vene-tians, gazed at them in passing.The fact is, that there was

Documents

Recollections of a Zouave Before Sebastopol