The British Expedition to the CrimeaRussell, William Howard, Sir
History
The British Expedition to the Crimea
Russell, William Howard, Sir
Crimean War, 1853-1856
The Russians continued to work all the week at the White Fort, and cast
up strong earthworks in front of it, and also on the extreme left,
facing the French. They fired shell and shot, at intervals of ten
minutes, into the camps of the Second and Light Divisions. Sir George
Brown had to move his quarters more to the rear.
[Sidenote: EFFECTS OF MARTIAL MUSIC.]
The silence and gloom of our camp, as compared with the activity and
bustle of that of the French, were very striking. No drum, no
bugle-call, no music of any kind, was ever heard within our precincts,
while our neighbours close by kept up incessant rolls, fanfaronnades,
and flourishes, relieved every evening by the fine performances of their
military bands. The fact was, many of our instruments had been placed in
store, and the regimental bands were broken up and disorganized, the
men being devoted to the performance of the duties for which the
ambulance corps was formed. I think, judging from one's own feelings,
and from the expressions of those around, that the want of music in camp
was productive of graver consequences than appeared likely to occur at
first blush from such a cause. Every military man knows how regiments,
when fatigued on the march, cheer up at the strains of their band, and
dress up, keep step, and walk on with animation and vigour when it is
playing. At camp, I always observed with pleasure the attentive auditory
who gathered every evening at the first taps of the drum to listen to
the music. At Aladyn and Devno the men used to wander off to the lines
of the 77th, because it had the best band in the division; and when the
bands were silenced because of the prevalence of cholera, out of a
humane regard for the feelings of the sick, the soldiers were wont to
get up singing parties in their tents in lieu of their ordinary
entertainment. It seemed to be an error to deprive them of a cheering
and wholesome influence at the very time they needed it most. The
military band was not meant alone for the delectation of garrison towns,
or for the pleasure of the officers in quarters, and the men were fairly
entitled to its inspiration during the long and weary march in the
enemy's country, and in the monotony of a standing camp ere the
beginning of a siege.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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