BOOK REVIEW. EYEWITNESS IN THE CRIMEA.

 

Another Christmas book this one is subtitled The Crimean War Letters of Lt. Col. George Frederick Dallas and that is exactly what it is, the full text of the 137 letters that "Fred" Dallas wrote to friends and family during his two years service in the Crimea.  Added to this is some material pertaining to the life of "Fred" by the editor of the book,  his great great grandson, for example the distant relative who founded the city of Dallas in America.

Fred went to the Crimea as a fresh unblooded lieutenant and returned two years later as a war hardened  brevet Major and ADC to a general. His letters illustrate clearly the well known harshness of the trenches and the first winter of 1854-55 and give a very detailed insight into the daily life of the British army during the campaign.

Some interesting matters arise in the book. Firstly is "Fred's" assessment of the British army commanders. He thought them all totally incompetent and fully responsible for both the mismanagement of the fighting but also the conditions in which the soldiers lived.  It is clear that most of his brother officers felt the same and also considered the Government  equally to blame for the inadequate support of the army and the selection of incompetent generals to command the army. However although "Fred" clearly understood the horrible conditions in which the men lived, he did not share those awful conditions. 

Like all officers at the time, "Fred" was responsible for providing for himself his uniform , equipment and food. This he found himself well able to do by sending his servants to Balaclava to purchase everything he needed. That which he could not buy locally , he had sent by family in boxes from home. Therefore while his men froze to death or starved during the winter, "Fred" , like all other officers, was well dressed and had plenty to eat. Although it is clear that "Fred" provided his men with some comforts like tobacco, generally he did not consider it his responsibility as an officer to take care of his men, that was the duty of the generals alone.

It would be easy to criticise "Fred" but of course he was of his time. The attitude of officers in the 1850's was identical to that in the early 1800's when Wellington called his men "the scum of the earth". It would be another couple of generations before officers saw their men in a different light. It never ceases to amaze me how educated, intelligent and sophisticated men could be so indifferent to other human beings. However it just shows how people thought in those days. We must never forget that social attitudes were so very different to today. It is fundamentally wrong to judge the attitudes of yesterday by the standards of today.

This is a truly exceptional book and very highly recommended not only for the fascinating details of life during the war but also for what it teaches about human attitudes in those far off days.