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1 Sep 55 Peter Camp before Sebastopol Mother ______________________________________________________________________________________________
September 1st 1855
Camp before Sebastopol
My dear Mother
Since I last wrote very little has been going on – I have in the meantime discovered the Alipore, which arrived at Kamiesch* on the 24th of August.
You have no idea what a difficult matter it was, for there is no mode of conveyance & no horses to be got. John could not lend me one because all being now confined to camp he cannot send his servant with or to fetch it – I have therefore had to walk to & fro.
Yesterday when I went over having dined on board I did not leave till 7 & before I had been half an hour on the road (an hour’s journey) it was quite dark. As the country here is most unsafe as those Turks & Croats will do anything, I joined a French man but as he got very excited telling me all about Napoleon, saying they should have 500,000 if they required them to take Sebastopol but that they sent back word they would not have a man more & would show the said Napoleon what they could do.
I got rather tired of him & parted company.
About five minutes after, sure enough I was attacked by a Turkish soldier (our allies) & after a long struggle in which I managed to floor him once or twice (tho’ I of course got the worst of it) I was laid prostrate & gagged – he got my purse out of my pocket but I stuck to it till he bit my fingers & then decamped with it.
It would have been useless to have followed him & so I was obliged to make my way to the 4th sans cap which I lost in the struggle with my nose all raw & a swollen lip, the effects of the struggle & what will perhaps annoy the Governor still more – with the loss of a purse containing a shilling or two less than £4.
I should not have carried as much with me on such a night but I owed it to Julie & was going to pay him in the morning.
He was wounded, if it can be so called, the other day & I have the pieces of shells but it was nothing more than a bruise from the round part of the shell.
About stopping the winter here – I did not come out here with that idea & must protest strongly against it as I have no wish to try a Crimean winter. On the contrary. I have had enough of it, even in summer, to wish myself anywhere but there. The heat is awful.
I have been very lucky in not being laid up – but I attribute it to my moderate habits.
Do you remember my mentioning a very queer character Mr McLean who came out in the Tynemouth. He was rather fond of a glass or two & died two or three days after his arrival here. I thought as much when I saw him land & did not seem to like the look of things at all & talked of going home on sick leave in a week joking – little thinking how near the mark he was.
Julius is alright now & has got a very comfortable quarters but, unfortunately is inclined to be unnecessarily expensive & proud of being so. I should recommend you to send him out some warm clothing & preserved meats etc. the more so because Kadikoi (the market where everything was to be bought) has been ordered to shut up & the shopkeepers there are not allowed to sell anything. It is all rather a hard case for those who are honest, but the reason seems to be doubtful.
Some say it is a punishment because they do not keep the place clean; others because the place is wanted for a position, but the most likely & generally believed reason is because they have discovered a lot of spies there.
I am glad to hear that Massey* is coming out as I should like to see him here. I enquired at his regt. & they said he was not likely to be out for two or three months yet.
It is a great piece of folly sending this mare out here for nobody buys horses. They all use ponies which cost from 6 to 12 pounds now & have been accustomed to hard work & find grub for themselves whereas the mare has always been well treated & accustomed to the best of food etc. & it is very doubtful if she will stand the Crimean climate.
It is looking very dismal now & will rain soon. The winds are I expect going to set in now & the rain too perhaps.
Do not forget to ask my Father when he sees Mr L* to ask about the Alipore as really I did not come out under the idea of stopping the winter here & Mr L himself said I should not be away more than four months. Also ask him to drop all that about my going in Mr L’s ships to India etc. unless he can tell me in what capacity I am going, otherwise I might as well start as sailor at once, having a strong objection to the sea.
Love to all – Father, sisters, brothers
your affect son
Peter Laurie
* Kamiesh – Harbour about 5 miles west of Sevastopol. Mainly used by French forces. British forces principally used the harbour at Balaklava, further south
* Massey – Lt. Hon Hugh Massey, 4th Regt.
* Mr L – Mr William Schaw Lindsay, a Scot who entered the merchant navy in 1831, was a Captain by 1836, and established the shipbroking firm W. S. Lindsay & Co., which became one of the largest ship owning concerns in the world. Liberal MP, Tynemouth and North Shields, 1854–9; MP for Sunderland, 1859–65. Leading figure in the Confederate lobby in Britain. Was no doubt known to John Laurie (who entered the House of Commons the same year)