Letters written from The Crimea to several members of his family
by the late Major Fiennes Cornwallis [Fiennes Wykeham Martin aka Fiennes Cornwallis]
collected and edited by Mrs. Wykeham Martin of Leeds Castle.

Privately printed, 1868.

Introduction:
Finding from the badness of the ink these letters were nearly becoming obliterated, and being doubly valuable now under circumstances so melancholy to the family, I have been induced to have the greater part of them printed for private circulation, thinking some portions may be interesting to the surviving relatives and a few friends. I may with truth add, no one was more sincerely lamented by his family and friends than Fiennes Cornwallis (formerly Fiennes Wykeham Martin). He died respected and beloved by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. I may without impropriety quote the words in a letter of condolence sent to us from a brother officer: "I loved him as a brother;" also Mr. Thackeray (the author), after meeting him at dinner and entering into conversation with him on the subject of the Crimean war, remarked to his host, "that is a good specimen of a brave modest soldier."
Matilda Wykeham Martin
Leeds Castle, April, 1868.

The Late Major Cornwallis
The late Major Cornwallis, second son of Charles Wykeham Martin, Esq., M.P,. and Lady Jemima Wykeham Martin, daughter of the fifth Earl Cornwallis, whose death it is our melancholy duty to chronicle this week, was born Nov. 1st, 1831, and educated at Eton. He joined the 4th Light Dragoons, now 4th or Queen's Own Hussars, on the 12th April, 1850; became Lieutenant on the 26th October, 1854; Captain, 31st August, 1855; and Major, 17th July, 1860. He served through the whole of the Crimean War, having landed with the army, and being present in the battle of the Alma. He was acting adjutant, though only senior cornet, at Balaklava, and was for a short time under very heavy fire at Inkerman. He became aide-de-camp to Lord George Paget, and remained after the departure of his regiment to see the last of the Light Cavalry Brigade embarked. He married the daughter of John Mott, Esq., of Barningham Hall, Norfolk, and has left two sons and a daughter. [A second daughter was born after his death.] He was always distinguished for popular qualities, and skill in feats of activity and manly sports. He won the two-oared race for silver sculls, at Eton, with G. Robertson, the Hon. Ralph Nevill steering; and he came in second in the grand military steeple-chase at Northampton (when Captain Anderson won by a head), although he was not intended to ride the race, and was asked to do so on the ground, the intended rider not appearing. He had only seen a part of the course, and was hastily dressed in borrowed jockey clothes. He was very much respected and beloved by his brother officers and by numerous personal friends. A story is told, illustrative of his popularity in the 4th. When he sold out, the feeling towards him was so strong that all the regiment turned out to see him off, and the officers who were sitting on a court-martial turned out, prisoner and all, and returned to finish the affair when he was gone. With all these social qualities, he had a deep and earnest sense of his religious duties, and on the occasion of his first seizure, as also of that which terminated his life, he was found with the religious works which he read every morning open by his side. His early death was occasioned by the result of a fall whilst hunting, the horse having fallen with him, and having either kicked or trodden on his head. He was thought to be dead at the time, but rallied, and seemed to enjoy his usual health for some considerable time. The injury, however, caused inflammation and congestion, which produced ultimately an abscess on the brain.

Ashburton, Sunday, July 27th, 1854
Dear Mama,
I have just time to write a line to say my 1st charger will probably arrive on Wednesday, also some boxes; I shall send one portmanteau back by the Simla, it will arrive about October. Our men marched off in beautiful order this morning, not a man absent or drunk, which is more than other regiments can say. I will write again if I have time.
In great haste,
I remain your affectionate son,
F.W. Martin

Devonport, July 23rd, 1854
Dear Mama,
I write you one more hurried note to say that I have arrived at Devonport, and embark to-morrow morning, and shall sail to-morrow afternoon most probably. I have got everything all right, helper, horse, and everything. I like my new animal very well, only he will not leave the ranks, which looks as if he had been a charger or trooper before, also he does not like the sword, but I will teach him that...
I must say, although I like going out very much, I shall not be sorry to be back again; if we only stay two years it will be just what I wanted, to see other countries before I settle down; I can see Europe in a wedding tour. I will now wish you all good-bye, I hope to find Papa, Maria, Fairfax and yourself as well and strong as you are now; tell the two latter and Papa that I am sorry I have not had time to write to them all, but I know you read out the letters when there is any thing in them, with my love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F.W. Martin

Malta, July 24th, 1854
Dear Philip,
We had an awful night the day we left England, the ship being very narrow rolled tremendously; the horses were down on every side, the men awfully sick were obliged to stand to their heads and get them up to prevent them falling. We were obliged to kill two, and if it had gone on we should have lost every horse in the ship; I hope never to witness such a scene again, the men behaved beautifully, and won great praise from the sailors, standing at their horses' heads when they were so ill, they could hardly stand themselves. We are getting on better now, and are off the coast of Portugal, we shall be at Gibraltar in about three days and a half, which is very quick from Plymouth. The horse arrangements are excessively bad. The part I dislike most is the watches, walking about the deck for four hours day and night among horses, the stench awful, biting at you as you pass and making a tremendous noise, we are going a great pace, 15 miles an hour, it is fearfully hot, especially down in the hold where the men and horses are, I will not write any more to-day, but will send this from Malta as soon as we get there.
Monday. - We have passed Gibraltar and are now well in the Mediterranean, it is very hot, and they have crammed the ship so full that there is not an inch to spare anywhere, and there are about 20 horses on each side of the boiler, their noses about a foot from it; one is dead already from the heat, no air can get to them, perfectly foaming with sweat. In fact the black hole of Calcutta must have been an ice-house to it. It is a regular case of "penny wise and pound foolish," as in trying to get the extra number of horses in, there will be many lost. I shall try to land at Malta to have a look at the town. I send this letter to you and you can pass it on to Leeds Castle. We made the quickest passage to Gibraltar that has ever been made, and hope to do the same to Malta and Varna. Let me know when they take Cronstadt as it is very doubtful whether I shall see a paper or not. I have just opened my kit and tried to put the bullock trunks on the pack saddle, but find it is impossible, as the saddle came from Peats and the trunks from Gardener, and the former is not constructed to carry bullock trunks. The consequence is that I shall be obliged to leave my trunks behind, and as they form my bed I shall not have that important article, and shall have to lie on the ground, the worst thing I can do. I will write to let you know how I get on and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
Fiennes Wykeham Martin
Ship Simla, Tuesday 27th
July 28th
It is fearfully hot, two horses gone mad from heat and being crammed up in the hold; we have just sighted Malta.

Constantinople, August 2nd, 1854
Dear Papa,
We arrived here yesterday having been delayed by trying to tow a Transport up the Dardanelles, everything here is in the greatest state of confusion. We were not expected, and they don't know what to do with us; the Admiral at first said we were to wait till he sent to Lord Raglan at Varna, and then that we were to sail last night, now I believe we are to go at 3 o'clock, but it will be probably altered again when we get to Varna. I do not know what they can do with us, as they are going to make a movement in the Crimea to take Sevastapol on the 15th; so if they disembark us we shall have to embark again directly. It will do the horses good to be out of the ship a little while, but on the other hand we shall lose a good many in the operation. It is a pity they did not allow us to bring out Bât horses, as in the hurry and confusion of getting the troops away from Varna it is ten to one that we shall be able to get away these, and so we shall lose a good deal of our baggage. A Russian soldier has shot one of the Captains of the fleet, by name Parker, also a Russian steamer contrived to get out of Sevastapol and take two Turkish ships, one laden with coal, the Russian filled herself up with coal and then burnt the ships.
I am sorry to say dysentery and cholera are making great ravages among the troops, at least so I hear. Lord Duplin and some officers of the Rifles have gone home almost dead, I believe it is more healthy in winter, although intensely cold. Constantinople is a magnificent city to look at from the harbour, but when you get on shore it is the filthiest hole, with infamously paved narrow streets, that you can imagine. There is a rumour here that Prussia has declared war with Austria, but we do not know if it is true. I went on shore at Malta and saw Charles Trollope and his wife, he was very well and in good spirits, but Mrs. Trollope has had a bad Maltese fever and was not looking well.
Since writing the above we have started for Varna and shall land to-morrow; we have just met an officer of the Guards who gives a very bad account of the Camp, the men are completely done up with dysentery and cholera, and are dying like rotten sheep; 45 of the Rifles died in one week, Therapia and Scutari are full of sick officers. The Commissariat is very bad indeed, and altogether the army is so paralysed that the light division could not move five miles the other day; so there is not much chance of a move in the Crimea.
The Greeks and Turks about Varna hate us, and officers riding out have been repeatedly shot at, and the other day they fired into the Artillery Camp; the gunners however went out and took them prisoners: so you see you must not believe all you read in the Times of the happy and contented state of the army in the East. I hear all the men who went determined to rough it have come round to making themselves as comfortable as they can. There is also a rumour that Sir George Brown and Lord Raglan are going to give it up in the winter, and that Gen. Cathcart is coming out to take command; however, I cannot vouch for this. Send me a letter please as soon as you can, and let me know how they get on in the Baltic. I am going to send Maria a pair of Turkish slippers if I can, they look very grand, I will get you plenty of things when I come home. Have you received my little horse yet? you can sell him if you can get him a good master. You need not be frightened by my accounts of the Camp, but I merely mentioned that state of things to let you know that it is not quite the leather and prunella sort of life that the Times made out.
We came up the Bosphorus this evening, and a more beautiful sight I never saw in my life, the scenery was magnificent, a sort of Richmond the whole way up. I think the Turks a most disgusting race of people and not worth fighting for, they take no more notice of you than they do of a dog; the only notice they take of you is to do you as much as possible; I would almost sooner fight for a Russian if it was not treason to say so. We have got two of Omar Pasha's Aide-de-Camps on board, they cannot speak a word of anything but their own language, and so we are not particularly happy. If I have time I will give you a description of our landing to-morrow morning, but in case I have not, I will wish you good bye, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
3rd Part
We have arrived at Varna and begun to disembark, you never saw such a scene of utter neglect, no one came off to give us orders for three hours, and at last told us to begin with one boat, and gave us no men to tow it, so we have only landed 31 to-day, with no tents or any thing to eat. We go to the Crimea on the 15th. The cholera is very bad here. They have lost over 200 men, and two officers died last night; the sooner we get away the better. The names of the officers are Col. March and Cromarty of the Guards, they tell me the men of the latter walk about bent double with dysentery. If there is as much confusion and time lost landing in the Crimea we shall lose every man in the army. Sir George Brown was nearly killed by a cannon ball going through the cabin of a steamer, he was reconnoitering near Sevastopol.
The present intention is to make a feint at the North of the Crimea and land at the South. I hope we shall lick them and then go to Constantinople for the winter; though this is a beautiful place, it is very unhealthy. Ponies are very cheap here, the price being about £5, everything else is fearfully dear; they have reduced the rations of beef to 1lb. and no rum!! I will write again soon, we get letters every five days, and can send them oftener.

Camp, Galata, August 26th, 27th and 28th
Dear Father,
We have not received the mail due on the 21st, so that I suppose we shall get that and the one due on the 28th together, consequently we do not know any English news. We have not sailed for Sevastopol, but I believe we do on the 2nd of September. Both the French and English engineers say it is nearly impracticable; and the fleet say that it is much too late in the year, as it is doubtful whether they could even land us, and if they did accomplish that, they declare it would be utterly impossible to take us off again on account of the westerly gales, consequently we should have to land on a rocky soil where we could not entrench ourselves, five miles from an entrenched camp of 45,000 Russians and ten from one of the strongest forts in the world, and in face of all this they are going to attempt it.
August 28th. - The mail has just come in and I see by the papers the English at home expect we have taken Sevastopol, whereas we do not start till Tuesday at the earliest, and shall have as I told you great difficulty in taking it when we get there. The light division of cavalry embark to-morrow morning, the artillery are all on board, the infantry on the 1st and 2nd, I believe; so now we are in for it. I hope when we have smashed the place they will let us come home, as this is a nasty country to live in, all the disadvantages of India with none of the comforts. Always direct your letters Army in the East, as then I receive them. I forgot to say send me out an Indian rubber tub. I see by the Illustrated we are to have a change of uniform.
For three days after we land in the Crimea we are to have no tents or grub but what we carry ourselves, which will be very little, as they are going to make us leave our Bât horses behind, which will be a loss of £15 out of my pocket. I wish they had not made us get them. You must excuse this bad writing, as I have no table or anything to write on. I hope you are not bored with my long yarns, if you are you must make Maria read them to you or tell you the pith of them. By the bye I want a compact writing case; you can get them very cheap and hold a great deal, and a lock, so that I can put money in it; and now with my best love to all and hoping you are all well, and likewise that I shall come off all right in the fight, good bye.
And believe me,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Kalamita Bay, Crimea, Set. 15th 1854
Dear Mama,
I have just time to scribble a few lines to tell you my adventures since I left Varna. In the first place we all started from Ballspit [Baltjick] on the 7th of September, the most magnificent sight you ever saw, 32 sail of the line English, besides French and Turkish, convoying about 300 transports; the only drawback from it being that the cholera broke out on board the vessels. We lost three men before we left the bay, among others poor Hunt was taken very bad, but he has recovered a little, however I shall not be able to take him on shore with me, bad luck as usual. Sparke has also been very bad, but I think he will recover enough to land to-morrow, although I think it will kill him. The Infantry effected a landing without opposition, having dodged the Russian camp that was waiting for us; however, I suppose we shall have them down upon us to-morrow. The inhabitants are very peacefully inclined towards us, giving us everything we want, but I am afraid it will not continue. The French broke into the village (where Lord Raglan had made his head-quarters) and broke up the homes, ill treated the women and stole their poultry, which is a great bore for us after we had established a good understanding. The unfortunate Infantry were out all last night in a pouring rain, and as we do not take our tents with us they must have got awfully wet, killing more of them than the bullets of the Russians. The French manage this better, as they all had their tents. This is the last letter I shall be able to write to you till we have taken Sevastopol or failed. The light cavalry will have fearfully hard work, there are so few of them (owing to Cobden) that we shall be out every night on picket duty, and as there are swarms of Cossacks here whose tactics are never to charge but to harass the army by continually trying to cut off their pickets, we stand a poor chance. The climate as far as I can see is very unhealthy, especially for sleeping on the ground, as we shall have to do, as we land with nothing but what we stand up in, and shall remain so till we take the place. However pluck has it, and I hope to get through. A place we anchored in at first, called Eupatoria, yielded without a shot; it seemed a nice town inhabited by Jews and Germans, I believe. I received your letter of the 25th, at 10 o'clock this evening, and the lights are put out at half-past, so you may imagine I have not much time.
You can sell my horse if you can get £100 for him, as I may not get back for some time, and he is getting old. I have not written to Ralph Nevill yet, but will as soon as I can. I have left a memorandum in my kit to say that my kit is to be sold if I am potted, and the proceeds to go to Papa. With love to all and hoping you are all well as I am at present, and also that I may see you all again some day,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
I land to­morrow morning and shall be sent forward in out-post, nasty work after having had regular meals and a good bed, to be six weeks on shore with no bed and only salt pork, biscuit and water.

Camp near Sevastopol, October 8th, 1854
Dear Mama,
I have put off writing to you from day to day hoping that we should take Sevastopol, and then I could have written you an account of the whole Campaign, but we have now been here a week and have done nothing except being shot at by the Russians. My last letter was from Eupatoria just before we landed. Since then we have gone through great hardships, I hope I never shall have to do again; we landed without tents, and I can assure you sleeping in the open air with nothing to eat is very bad for us, luckily we have had very little rain, otherwise it would have killed the whole of us, as it is, what with the battle of Alma and sickness, we have lost a great deal of the army. We have now been nearly three weeks on shore, during which time I have slept in my clothes, boots, spurs and everything, having no clothes but what I stand up in with me, every one is the same, and I can assure you we look a pretty ragged dirty lot. We had the ill luck to be in the rear division the whole way on the march, the consequence was we had the hardest work of anybody, and being away from our commissariat got nothing to eat for three days and nights, neither men or horses had anything but some biscuits they had saved from the previous day's rations.
You would laugh to see us when we arrive at our camping ground running to the nearest water, while others pick up bits of wood to make a fire, to boil either a piece of pork or excessively tough cow. The Rifles were so hard up one day they killed the bullock that drew their hospital cart and eat him immediately. On our third day without food we came across a herd of bullocks; but they would not let us take them, at which we were indignant. The battle of Alma fought on the 20th, you will see described better than I can in the Times; I can only say that we had nothing to do with it except looking on, for although we were within range the shot never came our way. We had a beautiful view of it the whole time, it was splendid to see the Guards and Highlanders walk up to the fort under the hottest fire Lord Raglan ever saw; they behaved beautifully, led by the Duke of Cambridge in the most plucky manner, also the light and 2nd divisions the only ones much engaged, the 33rd (Thorold's regiment) suffered very severely, nearly all the officers being killed or wounded; also the 23rd. Luckily for Thorold he was sick on board ship. It was a wonderful victory, as a letter from Menschikoff to the Emperor will prove: he says, speaking of Alma, "I would sooner hold it with 40,000 for three weeks against any number of English, than Sevastopol with 100,000 against 40,000 English."
However, the French say we ought to have taken it with much less loss if we had followed their plan and turned their flank, instead of going at it like a bull as we did; and I, from the little I know, think they are right. We are now in rather a ticklish position, having Sevastopol before us, and a large army behind. They made a small attack this morning, but the French drove them back. I am sorry to say the heavy Brigade of Cavalry, in crossing from Varna, have lost 280 horses, 200 from Robertson's regiment, consequently our cavalry here is useless; it is a good thing for me perhaps, as I shall have no chance of being killed, unless I am cut off on picket or patrol duty. I always keep a sharp look out, so I dont [sic] think it is likely. The Russians amuse themselves with throwing shell at our pickets, but they have only hit two men as yet. One burst close to my picket the other day, but did no damage. We are going to winter in Sevastopol I hear, which I am very sorry for, as it is an awful hole. We are still dying here by shoals of cholera. Poor Joliffe, the brother of our Joliffe, was taken ill at 10 one evening, and was dead by 10 next morning, - hard lines after getting through Alma. You must excuse the dirt and bad writing of this epistle, as the wind is blowing the dust over this dirty piece of paper as I lie at full length on the ground, with a bad steel pen that wont [sic] mark. I received your likeness of the Governor and Maria, and think them very good. Will you send my things to the care of Messrs. Ede and Co., Constantinople, and besides what I have already asked for, some more lamb's wool socks, flannel waistcoats, and quantities of cocoa paste, preserved soup, tea, sugar, soap, and in fact any articles you think good in the eating line that do not take much room, as grub out here is dear and very bad. There is a cocoa paste made up with milk, and which we have found very useful on the campaign, as it goes in a very small compass. I should like Miller's lamp out of my kit, and my servant's clothes, although I think very likely the poor fellow is dead. I went over the battle-field the next day at Alma; it was the most awful sight, thousands lying dead, and wounded, groaning and crying for water; our men behaved very well to the Russians, taking care of them and giving them water as if they were Englishmen, but the French behaved in a brutal manner, even burying some of the poor creatures before they were dead, at least so they say. We have got over 130 guns, independent of the French and the Fleet. They are none of them to be fired till they are all ready, and then the whole with the Fleet are to begin at the same minute by signal; wont [sic] it made a row and astonish the natives. I have just received your letter, No. 6, saying you have received the news of our safe landing, you also say you have sent the boots. I have not received them, but I dare say they are somewhere and I shall get them in time. I am sorry to hear of Billy's father; it was only yesterday I heard from Billy, saying they had the cholera there, but were not afraid of it. My private servant, Friend, wishes £5 of his wages to be sent to his father and mother. Now the only way I can get this done is to send a cheque to Philip, asking him to pay it, but I do not like doing it in that way as he never will use the cheque, will you see about it?
The attack is to begin in three days, but I hear firing close by, so I must conclude, as we shall most likely be turned out. All the Heavy Cavalry were out this morning to repel an attack in the rear. Best love to all.
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.

Camp, near Balaklava, October 27, 1854
Dear Mama,
I write you a line to allay any fears you may have about me, as you will see by the Times that the Light Cavalry Brigade were let into a sort of Chillianwallah trap and cut to pieces. It is unfortunately too true; but I am one of the lucky ones that escaped, although our regiment and the 11th Hussars went further than any into the gorge. The facts of the case are these. Lately the Cavalry have had nothing to do but guard Balaklava, and keep the communication open between it and Sevastopol, and have not been disturbed by the enemy except in occasional skirmishes with the pickets and videttes, when suddenly the other morning at day-break they made an attack on a line of small forts kept by the Turks in front of our position. The Cavalry, who were all out and mounted for the usual morning parade, that we always have an hour or two before daybreak, so as to be ready for any attack, went immediately to their support, with a troop of Horse Artillery; but could you believe it, the Turks left all the forts, some even before they were fired; the consequence was a swarm of Cavalry made a dash into Balaklava itself, but they were met on the left by the 93rd Highlanders, who are not in the habit of running away like the Turks, and sent back minus a few men, and on the right by the Heavy Cavalry, who likewise sent them to the right about, the Light Brigade being too far to the left to be able to pursue. This was a mistake, and now comes the melancholy part of my story. The Light Brigade were ordered to the front, and Nolan, "my friend," brought an order for us to attack them down a long valley they had retreated into; now to understand why we did this rash and stupid act, you must know that lately there has been some stupid chaff about the Cavalry being afraid of the Cossacks, and Nolan had made some remarks about it to Lord Lucan, he is rather suspected, as he was the man sent to make the reconnaissance before we attacked, of having misrepresented to Lord Raglan the nature of the ground and the position of the enemy. Well, the Light Brigade advanced at a trot, and had not gone a hundred yards before we got into a shower of grape shot bullets, round shot, and in fact every kind of missile from both sides of the valley, the enemy having got a battery on each side, and two or three regiments of sharp-shooters in bushes. The consequence was we were enfiladed for half a mile by the hottest possible fire at about 30 or 40 yards distance, nevertheless we passed on, got beyond their fire, and captured some guns and drove back their Cavalry. But by this time we found ourselves completely cut off from our own army, about 90 of the Brigade left with a swarm of Cavalry in our front, a regiment of Russian Lancers in our rear, and all the fire to undergo again. Well the only thing to do was to get the debris together, and go at them with all our might and cut our way back, which some of us succeeded in doing, but when we got back and came to count heads, we found there were only 190 left out of 700 that went into action. Poor Halkett and Sparke are among the missing; Hutton was shot through both legs and in the back, but will recover I think. We are now a perfect skeleton of a regiment, only having 50 left, and are therefore useless. We live in the hope of being sent home to recruit up again, and being sent out again in the spring, but I am afraid they will hardly do that. Poor Nolan was shot the first ball.
It is quite melancholy to see the Brigade turn out, the whole being no larger than a regiment was before. The 13th Hussars suffered most, having only 28 men left. Khyber Pass and Lord Gough was a fool to it, as it was useless waste of life. The Russian troops when met by ours in the field invariably run away. In fact, even in the shattered state we were in, a Pole who deserted, said it was all the officers could do to keep the Infantry in the bushes from running away, for fear we should charge them. If we had waited ten minutes more for our own Infantry and the French Cavalry, we should have retaken all the forts and annihilated their army. The Russians attacked our Infantry about a mile off yesterday, and got a tremendous beating. We do not know when we shall storm the town, but I hope soon, as I am getting tired of lying on the ground with only one shirt, and am getting very rheumatic in my joints, turning out at 4 o'clock in the dark; reconnoitering and standing about for hours in the damp night dew without any cloak is killing work. One night when we expected an attack, we stood the whole night with our bridles in our hands, ready to mount at a moment's notice; some of the men not having laid down for two nights previously.
I am much obliged for your thinking of the writing case, and will you send me a saddle I left at home, as Hunt lost mine when we had to retreat from our position, taking care however to save the brandy bottle with which he got drunk.
I hope that poor little Maria ia all right again now, and that you are all well. I am afraid you will think my letters are rather egotistical, all about my own doings out here. It is quite true about poor Hare being dead. Tom Tryon was not at Alma, and the other was not engaged. Tell Philip I have not time to write to him, as, owing to Ellis being sick, I have to act as Adjutant for him, and have had lots to do all day, and we have no candles to see with at night. In fact we are glad to go to bed as soon as dark, as we turn out every moring at half-past three. You may as well add my hair and brushes and another looking glass, as I have broken mine and not seen my face for weeks; we have all given up shaving, and are awfully bronzed, so that you will not know me when I get back if I do not shave. Remember me to all my friends, especially Erskine, and with love to all, and hoping soon to get away from this hole,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
P.S. - Please send me out a Church Service; by some mistake Philip only sent me a Bible, and no Prayer Book. There is one my tutor gave me among my books.

Sevastopol, November 2, 1854
Dear Philip,
I have no doubt you have seen my letter about the battle of Balaklava, in which I was engaged. The Light Brigade making the most gallant but at the same time most disastrous charge in the annals of warfare. The weather here has changed now, and is fearfully cold, and has caused immense sickness in the camp, in fact we have only 16,000 men out of 30,000 left. One regiment, in fact the whole Light Brigade are mere skeletons of regiments, turning out thirty or forty men for a regiment. Will you write a line to Corney, and say I am not dead or buried as he may suppose. We are all very dirty now. I have been touched up with rheumatism already from the cold and damp, and I cannot pretend to say what the consequences would be if they attempt to keep us through the winter in tents. As to Sevastopol, I dont [sic] think it will ever be taken, as we are just as far off as ever, to my humble comprehension. I am quite tired of hearing cannon, and certainly never wish to be under such fearful fire as we were the other day again; the old soldiers say Cavalry never were exposed to such a fire before, and Lord Raglan said when he saw us start, "those men are going to utter destruction;" and Canrobert said, "not a man will return," and they certainly would not if the Russian cavalry had been worth anything. We do nothing but perpetually move our camp. We moved four times last week; no other brigade have moved since they have been here. The property of deceased officers sells at enormous prices, a pair of common boots fetching 35s., a great coat £10., every thing else in proportion. I have no time for more, as I have the unpleasant task of informing Mr. Sparke of his son's death in my place as Adjutant. Hoping you are all well, and with my love,
Your affectionate brother,
F. Wykeham Martin

Sevastopol, November 2, 1854
Dear Mama,
I have just received your parcels by the railway vessels, and hear there is another in the parcel office for me, which, from its weight I conclude is the stove, which I shall not attempt to bring up here as it is too heavy, and I can do without it till I am moved, which I think will be very soon. I have one parcel missing now, the one with the axe and saw in it and Marsh's boots. I have sent one large parcel to England, but still have three times as much as I can carry here, what to do with them I do not know. Tell Erskine his cigars are very good, and that I will write to him by this mail if I can. I wish I could get Marsh's boots, then I would write to him.
Charles Trollope has got charge of a brigade, and has offered me to be his Aide, but as it is not certain whether it is permanent or not I have not yet finally settled whether I take it. Will you tell Philip to use my cheque, as if I want money when I come home I will apply to him for some, and at this moment I do not write, as I wrote to him by the last mail, but had not then received his letter. I will deliver the mittens the first opportunity to Col. Reynardson. All the Tryons are gone, so I can give him two pair. I have appropriated Miss Osborne's purple comforter to myself and given the other away. The Ladies Nevill ought to have put their names to theirs. Hunt has taken the pair done by James, and says that he hopes he shall be able to show them to him again some day. The army is much better in health than it was, the chief thing now being scorbutic dysentery. We have got everything in a forward state, and it is expected something will be done shortly. You need not believe half what that paper the Times says, for instance, he says that the French horses are all well: now to prove that is not true, Gen. D'Allonville (who speaks English), came to our camp the other day and told us the French European horses were suffering as much as ours. This was a great deal for a Frenchman to admit, as they never talk about their losses in the French army in public: another thing, the Times says that the 2nd Division were on short rations, now I know from the General and other officers that they have never missed their rations once since they have been before Sevastopol, with the exception of one day, when I believe they had half allowance...
They have refused me leave to be Aide to Col. Trollope as there are not subalterns enough here; perhaps it is as well as it is. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
I saw Capt. Reynardson to-day, and thanked him for bringing my parcel.

Camp Sevastopol, November 12
My dear Mama,
The siege has failed in consequence of the great loss sustained at the Battle of Inkerman on Sunday last; We had on our side 136 officers killed and wounded, among them Messrs. Thorold, Malcolm and Eliot of the Guards. We are now to remain here all the winter in tents, on the top of this high hill with little or no water, frozen to death one night, and washed out of one's tent the next. At this moment the mud outside my tent is two inches deep, worse than Chobham; pleasant, when one has to sleep in ones boots; to add to all, these perpetual attacks from the Russians, you will have some slight idea how happy we are. I hope you have not sent my things, as we must alter a good many. Patent leather boots and gold belts will be useless out here, but a pair of thick uniform overalls, leathered at the bottoms, and a pair of long jack calf skin boots with hunting spurs, and my dress jacket, as owing to the alteration of uniform it is of no further use, but they will allow us to wear it here. A thick set of shooting clothes and the india-rubber tub, although I am afraid I shall not be able to use it, as I have not washed for three days. The provisions you can send. I have never received the boots you sent first, so I suppose they are lost in the boat. Mittens and those sort of things, tell Maria, are very useful, also a quantity of 1s. books, and a complete set of waterproof things. I have put all these things down in rather queer order, but it is just as they happen to come into my head. Why on earth they keep the Light Brigade here I don't know, as we have only about 200 horses instead of 1500. How are we to reorganise the Regiments here on the top of this hill? We never ought to have started from Varna, as it was too late in the year; we expect all the horses to die and most of the men; we have lost already 9000 animals since we landed in the Crimea. I forgot to put down Guernseys, flannel shirts, worsted socks, an air pillow, and an emigrant's stove, if not too expensive; not that I think we shall have any thing to burn in it, as there is no fuel to be got here. I will now describe our present life. We get up before daylight, shiver about without cloaks on our horses till it is light, then turn into your lines, get your breakfast, if the wind and rain will let you, then idle about till dinner time, when dinner is over it is dark, we then stick a bayonet in the ground and a candle in the part that fixes on to the musket, and three or four of us sit and talk on the ground round till about half past seven or eight; then we lie down, I cannot call it going to bed, till the next morning. This is only varied by alarms from the Russians. Tell Maria I would answer her letter, only one has very little time to oneself during daylight, and one cannot see by candlelight. I am glad she enjoyed her visit to my lively and amusing friends, the Miss Derbys. Tell Fairfax I wish I had his bonfire out here, as we can hardly get any thing to burn and it is awfully cold. Fairfax says he was seen walking about with a rabbit on Sunday; [This alludes to Fairfax taking Fiennes's dog out on a Sunday, and its killing a rabbit before he could stop it, which shocked him much] tell him his brother last Sunday was assisting to kill 15,000 Russians, and to-day, Sunday, I hear there has been another attack at Balaklava. Philip has not written to me for some time. Ask him to do so, and to tell me how his hunting goes on. I forgot to tell you Col. Trollope's Regiment is ordered here but has not arrived yet. We want re-inforcements to arrive quick, to prevent them driving us out of our position, and the Infantry regiments here are much reduced. We hope by the spring to have got a large enough army here to starve them out. You will see by the Gazette that I am now Lieut., and I think I shall soon get my Troop. By the time you get this you will be thinking of your Christmas festivities. I am afraid I shall not be at your Rent dinner this time; however, I hope you will do for me as you did for Cornwallis, that is to say do for me as you did for Cornwallis, that is to say, "I wish I was with them," or even allowed to wait at table, as that would be better than being here. I must now conclude my long grumbling letter, but upon my word it is enough to make a saint swear, to be told he is to remain perched on the top of this rock a whole winter: and with love to all,
I remain, your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Camp, Sevastopol, November 17, 1854
Dear Mama,
I wrote to you by the last mail telling you that the siege had failed, but I am afraid you will not get the letter, as since then we have had a terrific storm, which has sunk or wrecked ten ships, among them the mail that went from here, and the one that ought to have come in, also the ship that had the winter clothing on board for the troops; the consequence is, we are in an awful mess, having no clothes to keep off the very cold weather that has now set in here. I told you in my last, but must tell you again, (for fear you did not receive it), that we had an awful battle on the 5th of November, in which we lost 2500 men and 143 officers killed and wounded; the consequence was we were obliged to stop the siege and wait for reinforcements, and make up our mind to winter here. Rather pleasant in tents, when you are visited by a storm that blew down every tent and took away half your kit with it, leaving you in the rain and cold; five men and ten horses in our brigade died of the cold. Colonel Trollope has arrived with his regiment as a reinforcement. There is nothing but cold and wet, sleeping in your clothes wet through, your feet like a snow ball, with perpetual turns out in the middle of the night from perpetual alarms from the Russians, half the army gone from sickness and nothing done. We do not expect to be in the place till Christmas and perhaps not then. By the time you get this you will be in the middle of your Christmas festivities, you must do the needful for me at the rent dinner if they propose my health, and tell them I should like to be there even to scape up the leavings. Also tell Stedman that his sleeping out after poachers is a joke to sleeping in your clothes for six weeks; some of the men have neither boots or socks, and are up to their knees in mud. Our unfortunate regiments turns out 20 file instead of 420. The day of the storm we had nothing for 24 hours, men or horses, and it was snowing and raining all the time, and the wind blew so hard it was impossible to keep a tent up. You will think I am a great grumbler, but it is a fact that I am laughed at out here for taking it all so quietly and never grumbling; the fact is, I am afraid I keep it all for you. They talk of hutting us here, but there is no wood; if it is not done soon there will be no horses left to hut. I will now wish you all good-bye, and wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy new year, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Sevastopol, Nov. 22, 1854
Dear Philip,
As yet I have only drawn £35 besides what I drew in England, and that I should not have done if I had had my bullock trunks in which I left £50, or if Government would give us any pay; but in the want of the two latter I was obliged to draw on England. As to my cheques I shall be obliged to get Ridgway to pay for my things if you do not, at all events a part of them, as I see no reason because I am in the Crimea, I should sponge upon you for money, as long as I have any of my own, especially as I may get shot any day, and then you could not get back the money, as you would have nothing to show; so I think old fellow you had better spend my money as far as it will go, and then you can help me when I get back, if I ever do. -
The horse you gave me carried me splendidly through the severest cavalry action ever fought and was much fresher than most of the horses at the end. I certainly must have had immense luck, as the only thing I had touched was the curb hook, the top of which was shot away; every one else, men and officers, had much narrower escapes; although the fire at Balaklava was perfectly fearful, destroying the whole of the Brigade I belong to, we were none of us so nearly picked off by Russian shots as we were at Inkerman, where they again brought us uselessly under fire, the only thing we could charge being a ship nearly a mile off. Lord Raglan's orders in both cases were misunderstood.
I saw Gerald Goodlake after Inkerman, luckily he was on picket, otherwise he would most likely have been potted, as the Coldstreams only brought out three officers out of sixteen that went into action, and fourteen rank and file; rather a gap in the poor old Guards. I hope you are having good sport with the hounds this year, what ripping good sport I should have had at Troubridge with the Duke of Beaufort, and on leave with you. Tell Lizzie that the Bible was a very acceptable gift from her; but now that I am getting religious I should like a Prayer-book also, as I do not possess that needful article. Owing to my thinking you were going to send me a Church Service, I sent my own Prayer-book back again. I cannot prepay these mighty edifying epistles, as I cannot get stamps, and the Post Office will not take money. I have written a letter to Mamma by this mail, which you had better get passed on, as there are some things in it I have not put in this, and vice versà. Remember me to the vicar of Chacombe, and all the aunts, tell them I have in prospect some day to give them a line, and with love,
Your affectionate brother,
Fiennes Wykeham Martin
The sword you got at Wilkinson's had a very bad edge, as it turned quite blunt with one cut I gave a Russian at Balaklava.

Sevastopol, November 24, 1854
Dear Maria,
As I have not written to you for some time, and you have been kind enough to write me a letter or two, I will now do you the honor to answer them by the light of a candle stuck in a porter bottle. I will endeavour to give you the news. In the first place, I have received Mamma's two letters, yours, and Philip's, the former telling me all my kit has started, and as I perceive by the list, that all the principal things are in it that I wanted, you can send the others any opportunity. I am sorry to have to communicate to Mamma that poor Henry Tryon in the Rifle Brigade, was shot last night in a skirmish the Rifles had with the enemy's sharp-shooters. He was much liked in the Regiment, and was considered one of the best and most gallant officers that that noble corps possessed. One of the Rifles told me that Tryon shot fifty men with his own rifle at the battle of Inkerman, although he was on the sick list at the time; whether that is true or only exaggerated I do not know, but at all events he was a very good officer: he is to be buried to-morrow. We have not yet received our kits and are still on the one shirt system. How long they will keep is in this state of dirt I do not know, but we are beginning to think it time to make a change: unfortunately the ship with all the government clothing on board for the troops was lost in the awful hurricane we had here on the 14th. Charles Trollope is here as cheery as possible, but his Regiment has not yet been engaged. I hope the Government will soon send out some more Cavalry. When we first started from England and were complete in numbers, the force was utterly unworthy of such a country as England, but now it is utterly ridiculous and is only a mere farce, the weather kills the horses daily. We are now detached from the heavy Cavalry, and are watching a Russian army down in a valley, our business being to charge them if they come up the precipice, a thing we are about as likely to do as you are to take a stroll up the side of the bastion wall; however we get off night duty, which is a great pull, and only turn out with the rest of the army in the morning. Tell Cornwallis in your next letter to him that I will give him another epistle soon. It is getting very cold, and we have got orders to hut ourselves, but how we are to do it without spades, shovels, pickaces, hammers, or wood, we have not yet discovered; I suppose it will be done by next April when it will not be wanted. The English army get on very well with the French; but since the battle of Balaklava we have done nothing but kick the Turks out of our camp whenever they come into it; they take it as quietly as possible. An officer in the Inniskillings saw a Turk passing by his tent, he rushed out and applied his toe vigorously to a nameless part, and after all it turned out to be a Turkish Infantry Officer, who took it quite quietly, never saying a word. At Inkerman, General Canrobert would not bring the Turks up to fight, but we now make them dig the trenches, and in that way we save our men. We have heard from deserters that the Russian loss at Inkerman was 24,000, out of which there were 300 officers and 2 generals, a pretty considerable beating, considering they surprised us in the early part of the morning when we were all asleep, and added to that, the reserve ammunition was not up; consequently our men were without anything to fire with for a long time. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
F. Wykeham Martin
Since writing the above I have attended the funeral of poor Tryon. I am sorry to say Tom Tryon is far from well, but Lord Burghersh has done his best to get him sent on board ship; I believe he will go to-morrow. Tell Cornwallis not to bear hard on my horse's mouth when he rides him, or he will fidget the whole time and it will spoil him as a charger. I see in Mama's list she has not included a lamp, a thing I want very much. It does not signify sending too many things, as I can sell them here at fabulous profit. I forgot to say I met Lord Burghersh at Tryon's funeral, he was very civil and said he recollected me at Leeds Castle. Tell Mama I will send home a blank cheque for £5 for my servant's friends, also for articles bought for me, as I find I can easily within one's income here, buying every thing you can in the way of luxuries, in which I do not stint myself, as here I consider every one has a right to make oneself as comfortable as possible at any price within one's means, though that is little enough God knows. Remember me to any people about the place that you think would care about it, and wish them a merry Christmas. I am afraid I shall come short of pudding this year. I must now end my twaddle.

Camp, Sevastopol, November 27th, 1854
Dear Mama,
I write you a line, as I think in these times you will not mind a 3d. to know that I have not been potted up to the date of my letter. I wrote letters to Philip and Maria by the last mail, and to Cornwallis and Uncle Frank by this. I see up to the 4th November, by the papers, you had not a true account of Balaklava, but I dare say you have by this time; we are still as uncomfortable as ever, although I hear there is some talk of our getting kits. The weather is very cold and we have been literally washed out of our tents; some of us being obliged to stand all night, as the ground was too wet to lie down on. Hunt wants £2. 10s. sent to his wife. Will you let me know what you have paid altogether, including the £5 for my other servant; he has received no letters, owing to being left behind at Varna ill. I will send you a cheque for the whole; I have given Philip up as he will not use my cheques. I told you all about poor Tryon in my letter to Maria, as also that Lord Burghersh had introduced himself to me. I have never got your parcel, by the Faith, but I believe it is with Ridgway's agent at Constantinople, who is a slack man in business, as he does not answer one's letters. I conclude by the next mail I shall get a full description of your visit to Eridge, also your condolences on the loss of the Brigade. They are endeavouring to keep us here all the winter, but nearly all the horses are dead of cold, and some of the men, and those that are left have not a go left in them I am afraid, as they tumble down even going to water. As to the siege, I think it seems to retrograde instead of progressing, as the Russians opened two batteries this morning we silenced a month ago. I have no more news, having written so lately, and with my best love to all, and merry Christmas and happy New Year, in case I do not write again before that time. Do not forget to send me jack boots, hunting spurs and India-rubber suit in your next parcel, good bye, and
Believe me
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
Tell Cornwallis if he is at home, to lick Fairfax for me, and put him out on the lawn every night for an hour, and fire a gun at him, that he may have an idea what sort of life I am passing; also give him my love and thank him for his letter.

Camp, Sevastopol, November 30th, 1854
Dear Papa,
I see by the papers I am gazetted to a Lieutenancy by purchase, vice Hartman, I had no idea, till I received your letter, that Hartman was going to leave us, and who has paid the money I do not known; however, I think I shall get it back again; as it has happened subsequently to the action of Balaklava, I am therefore entitled to Halket's death vacancy and get it for nothing; will you represent it to the Horse Guards for me, if you do not see my promotion by purchase cancelled before you receive this letter. This is always done, and then I should be gazetted vice Halket killed in action; they always cancel by purchase when the death has happened previous, and ante-date back to the time of the death. We have got a fine day at last, but our horses have had nothing to eat for three days, owing to the bad state of the roads, consequently they die by three or four at a time. I believe we go to Balaklava to-morrow, our old place, to be near the forage; we are now before Sevastopol. The new men that come out here are taken sick much easier than the men that are left of the old set; out of 100 men that came in a draft for the Grenadier Guards, only three were fit for duty two days after; the laying on the wet ground shuts them up. I forgot to say that in a short time I shall be first for my Troop and to prevent mistakes I shall authorize Hoare to honour your drafts. The rain has come on again as hard as ever, and we have not been able to march to Balaklava this morning; four days now the horses have had nothing to eat, ten have died in forty-eight hours, and the rest I do not think could walk to Balaklava without falling down. Rather useful Cavalry we are at present, not 200 effective horses in the Brigade, and the whole unable to walk. It really ought to be known in England, as it would be throwing away lives to charge immense bodies of Cavalry now, as the horses would fall down and we should be cut to pieces; besides, the wet has destroyed the whole of the saddlery, and Sevastopol is rather further from being taken now than it was the first night we got here, and the weather is so much against us that we cannot do anything. I will wind up by reminding you to give Regulation but not any more. I am still in the best of health and spirits, although I should like to be in more comfortable quarters and to belong to a Regiment or Brigade that was of some use, and not a dismounted Dragoon, as I shall be in a short time. We are still without kits and are with the one shirt we landed with; ragged is no name for the men, walking about in buff is nearer the mark. A charge is certainly an exciting thing, but this living for months in a tent without your kit, in a wet pond and with nothing to do, is anything but exciting; in fact it is now the most tedious work imaginable and requires more pluck than fifty charges. Hoping you are all well as I am at present,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin,
Lieutenant 4th Light Dragoons

2nd Division Camp, Sevastopol, no date. Received in England, December 18th
Dear Mama,
Since writing you my last letter, I have got myself into a hole; that is to say, I am detached five miles from my Regiment by myself, with twenty men; my duties are simply to find orderlies to go mounted to the advanced pickets, and in case of an attack, to send others to the other Divisions to say how and in what force we are attacked. I have been here only two days, but I can assure you from spending one night in a bell tent alone, with no books, and being dark at five o'clock, is very dreadful. The only thing that makes it bearable is that Charles Trollope's Regiment is in this division, so that I spend the greater part of my time there, but it is an awkward walk at night, being up to your knees in mud and slush. I dined with him last night and rode with him to the advanced picket to-day. The Royal Albert has arrived, but she came into Cherson instead of Balaklava, so I have not even got that parcel yet. The only things I have received (which I got half-an-hour ago), are some muffetees from Aunt Fanny. You do not appear to have got my letters describing the storm of the 14th of November. The old siege goes on as usual, and we have got in much nearer on our side, and have also fortified Inkerman, which we ought to have done long ago. The Infantry are enduring great hardships, short of food, and out three or four nights a week, and two or three shot out of a picket of a night. Last night the Russians took a whole picket, officers and all, they were all asleep and the Russians were on them before they knew where they were and bayoneted some. It was one of the most advanced pickets, they ought not to have been caught napping; if they ever come back they may think themselves lucky, the only excuse for them is being so frightfully hard worked. Will you send me the Times newspaper from the date of this letter, as I am quite out of the world here, trusting to other people's kindness for any news. I am glad you saw Cornwallis, although it was only for a few days. I hope he will not come out here, as the only good he could do would be working in the trenches, the hardest work of all. I hear I am in the Gazette without purchase, but I have not seen it yet. I live in hopes that if I live through the campaign, I may return a Major. The only sticker I see in my way is Adlington, and nothing would induce him to leave; my best chance would be a good exchange when I get my troop. I hear Joliffe has got a company in the Coldstreams, I suppose because his brother who died was in that Regiment. I left the Light Brigade the morning I got your letter, so had no opportunity of asking about the man Harris in the 8th Hussars, but I will as soon as possible. Will you send me a pair of braces by the post and then I shall probably get them. It is certainly hard lines one should be stuck on the top of a hill working for one's country and not able to get a parcel from England. Did you ever get my letter asking for jack boots, hunting spurs, emigrant's stove, and complete suit of waterproof; if not, please send them by Hayter, as he seems the only authorized Government agent. Tell Papa he is much wanted here as we are all doing engineering for ourselves, either hollowing out our tents or building huts; the latter is out of my power, as it is an impossibility to obtain wood, so I shall try the first. I am afraid now I have got up to this cold place again it will kill my horses. They tell me my command here is of great importance. I do not quite see it, as the chief use is that the orderly from the picket should bring quick intelligence to the Camp in case of an alarm. Now, as none of the horses can boil up a trot from weakness, I think a good swift runner would be more useful; in fact, I think I rather endanger the Camp than otherwise. I have nothing more to tell you, and with love to all, and kind remembrances to Gibbons, Erskine, and all others that care for my existence,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Camp, Balaklava, December 6th, 1854
Dear Papa,
Since writing you my last letter, which you will receive at the same time with this, owing to private letters being stopped by the last two mails, I have become first for purchase, consequently, if you get a letter from the Horse Guards for me, requesting the payment of £2500, will you do so by the means I pointed out in my last letter. I would not let a Troop slip on any account if I can help it; great luck for me getting a Troop so soon, if I do so. I received your letters to-day, of the 15th November, congratulating me on my escape at Balaklava. There is no news to tell you as I wrote so lately, except that the Russian Army has evacuated the forts taken on the Balaklava day, and gone we don't know where. I must now conclude, as I dare not risk losing the post, which is just going, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
P.S. Our kits are landed at last, but I have not got any of your parcels.

Balaklava, December 17th, 1854
Dear Father,
The siege still goes on feebly, and I do not see that we are any nearer accomplishing our object than we were the first day; we want more men and finer weather. The Infantry up at the Fort are actually in want of food; so much so, that the Cavalry are now employed in carrying up biscuit and pork to them, which with pickets gives us a great deal to do; the weather is dreadful, snow, rain and cold day after day, and still we are under canvas with anything but proper clothing to stand it; the number of men sick is something awful, and when I say sick I do not men slightly ill, but almost dead. Our horses are not yet hutted, although we have got the order to do so, but as we are on duty every day and all day, so much so that the men have not time to wash their faces; how we are to hut I do not know. Neither myself or any other officer that I can hear of have received any of the numerous parcels sent from England to us. It ought to be represented in England that we have no store in Balaklava for parcels from England. The steamers and vessels come in and go, very likely, before we receive letters to say what ship they are in; as in my case, the Faith was in the harbour for some time, but I did not know that she had any thing for me till she had gone again. I suppose we shall get them at the same time with the reinforcements, wooden huts, and other comfortable things we hear of, coming. I feel highly flattered at your thinking my letter describing the Balaklava affair as worthy a place in the Times, but I am afraid the English would hardly have passed muster in public print. I have received very kind letters from the Chacombites. I must also thank you for your kind present as it is just the thing I wanted, (A thick uniform made of Pilot cloth, with lace, etc on it) as I find the thieves on board ship have stolen my great coat, among other things, out of my kit; it will also be the saving of my life on picket duty most likely, an amusement I have dropped into again. I can assure you it is very jolly out on a large plain, very cold, and raining or snowing the whole time. We have heard that Austria has joined the Western Powers; I hope it is true; I still continue to hope that we may take this place before long. You say in your last letter that you did not enter into any gaieties on my account. I hope that you will alter this as soon as possible, as life is too short not to enjoy it as much as possible, and if you are under any fears, for me they are groundless, as until reinforcements arrive we cannot possibly go into action, our present strength being 50 horses, therefore my only chance of hopping the twig is by disease, which might equally happen in England; so, for goodness sake, do not stop any festivities or going to balls on my account. Tell Cornwallis, if by any chance he comes out here, by no means apply for the Trenches, as the night work there knocks every body up and he would probably only make one more; they are frequently four nights out of seven there on duty, which in this weather would kill a horse; and moreover he would never get a chance of seeing me as I am five miles off; people in England have no idea what the Trenches mean, but I can tell them it kills more men than the Russian bullets; and with best love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Camp, Sevastopol, Jan. 1st, 1855
Dear Maria,
I must, I think, dedicate this epistle to you, as you have written me so many and I have not answered them. In the first place, will you tell Papa I have received his packet at last, by Royal Albert, and am much obliged. The only improvement that could be made would be, if they were larger, as owing to my having grown bigger, and Rich having made them tighter than usual, I can hardly get into them. You cannot have things made too large; there is the same fault in the boots, they are very well made and would look very well in Regent Street, but if there was a sudden alarm I could not get into them. Tell Marsh in future to make them three times as large and twice as thick. I have discovered two parcels for me on board the Cosmopolitan, but I cannot get them out till the huts are landed. The big boots, water proofs, books and tools are what I want most; I have likewise received letters dated the 12th of December from Philip, Aunt Fanny, Papa and Mama.
They are getting on with the siege slowly but I hope surely; the great drawback being the immense amount of sick, 13,000 at the present time being non-effective, and the men are a most miserable looking lot. The new Regiments suffer a great deal more than the old ones. The officers, now they have got their huts and are off the ground, do not suffer much, and live very well, only provisions are dear and a long way off, but when we come to drinking liquors, I do not think we are much to be pitied, except for the dirt and discomfort of living in a tent. When I get my stove I shall dig mine down, and then I shall be pretty snug. I went with Col. Trollope to-day to see the Naval Brigade, and found George Tryon, with his messmates, had made themselves a very snug little house. Col. Trollope is building quite a mansion for these parts, with two rooms, the only difficulty being the roofing and flooring without boards or tiles. The French beat us in taking care of their troops; their men, officers, and horses, all being covered in long ago, consequently they have few sick. Send me out a strong pair of braces by post, as I am deficient of those articles and cannot get any here, almost the only thing you cannot get now. The warmest thing I find to wear in these parts, is a long coat with a hood, it is called a Greco, used by the Greek sailors and Turks. It is almost proof against any wet and is very warm; you would think me a very odd figure if you saw me in mine. If ever I come home I shall certainly bring one, as they would be invaluable to drive in. We all hear there is to be peace; I hope it is true. I have got so many things now and so many coming, I do not know how I shall move when I am relieved, without leaving half behind. To begin with, four undress jackets. I think it great nonsense the people of England giving up all gaiety for the war, as after all what is a soldier meant for but to be in the field. The French drove the Russians out of the position they took from the Turks at Balaklava yesterday, and burnt their camp. The whole of the Russian Army have now retreated to the heights about Inkerman, where they have established a Battery, and amuse themselves with throwing shell and round shot at parties going for wood. They sent some at a party Col. Trollope took down (in which I accompanied him for something to do) a great deal closer than was pleasant, one coming into the house some of us were in. It is great fun going to our advanced pickets and shooting at the Russian sharpshooters. I watched a man with a picket of the 55th for a long time, and although we shot at him and he at us several times, we did no harm to each other; it would have made you laugh to hear the men say, "Now then, Bill, he's out, pot him," or "Look out, Bob, do him," and a bullet would whistle over your head as you squatted behind a wall of stones. You would think they were rabbit shooting and watching for them to come out of their holes, instead of men shooting; and now having twaddled long enough, I will say good bye, with love to the united happy family,
I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
F. Wykeham Martin

Camp, Sevastopol, January 9th, 1855
Dear Family in general,
for I have received a letter to-day from nearly every individual in it, for which I thank you all most sincerely. I have now received some of your parcels; that is to say, those by the Faith, Royal Albert, and Cosmopolitan, and expect to get the others shortly. The Leopard has not yet arrived, but she has to me the most important parcel of all, namely, the boots, saw and axe, books, and waterproof leggings. I only hope the long boots are large enough. There are plenty of people coming out at last, so I shall be able to get things without sending home I hope, except uniforms and boots. I have now got such a kit I could not move without throwing away heaps, and as I am not at the front it is more than probable the Russians may make me do so, considering the state of the Army. For the last week we have had awful weather, the first three days a drenching cold rain with sleet, the last three days snow with intense frost, so bad that an Officer of the 9th foot was frozen to death walking home from Balaklava, having previously missed his way; and several privates of the Regiments in pickets have lost their toes. I thank my stars I have no pickets to do now, being in a separate command. The huts now they are come are found too heavy to bring up to camp. I suppose we shall get them by the spring when they are not wanted. I am now living in the lap of luxury with Charles Trollope, who is supplied with every thing of the best by the most indefatigable exertions of Mrs. Trollope, from Malta, who appears to me to be the best soldier's wife I have ever heard of. He is in high spirits and says I must do all the writing for him to Leeds. He is in command of a Brigade in the 2nd Division, pro tem. in which I think he is likely to be continued. George Tryon is looking very well, and stands his work like a man. I also saw Mr. Sheffield the other day. It is my belief if we do not do something soon or make peace, the Russians will be down upon us and clear us up in the spring. Papa's present of the pea coat, fur cap, gloves, and thick suit of uniform, are very good, especially if old Rich had made them large enough. The mail now leaves here twice a week, so I cannot undertake to write every mail to everybody, so I have addressed this to the people of England at large, although I have written it ias if to one person, so that all may see it if they like. I wrote to Mr. Strange by his mail, thinking he might like to know how his old pupil was getting on, and did intend writing to Billy Adolphus (This is the Rev. Wm. Adolphus Carter, his tutor at Eton), but was afraid of his marking my letters as he did my themes, thus ... all over, so I have deferred it to another time. You may tell my servant's friends that he is doing very well at present, but heartily wishes himself back in England again. Also tell Harris that his son was made a Corporal when I enquired about him, so I conclude he is doing well. I did not see him at the time. I have not received the Maidstone paper, so have not seen my name in print. If you have the other you might send it as I should like to see what is said. I have no news of any kind, so with my usual good wishes to everybody,
I remain,
Your affectionate relation,
F. Wykeham Martin

Inkerman Heights, Jan. 24th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I have received your letter telling me of Mr. Marsh's present; when I receive it I will write and thank him for it, or if I do not receive it at all I shall certainly thank him for his good intention. I have not got the things by the Lamacca yet, but am going to Balaklava to-morrow to see if I can hear anything of them. I had to find an escort for two Russian deserters (Poles), who told us that the Russian army had got reinforcements to the amount of 30,000 men and 16 batteries of Artillery. Our Artillery are so completely unhorsed by the weather, that no Battery except the one at Balaklava could possible bring more than three guns into action, and some of them not that. The frost has made great havoc with the men's toes and the horses; of the former many have dropped off. It is awful to see the state some of the Hospitals are in; I went to-day to see a man of my detachment whose toes have been frost bitten. I found him crammed in a bell tent with twelve men, one of whom was in the last stage of death, without any one seeming to know or care anything about it. They have at last got up one tent a Regiment for a hospital, which is a great thing; a to the others I do not suppose the laest attempt will be made to get them up till the spring, when they will not be wanted. The great fault of the whole Army is their not having a waggon train the same as other continental nations. I believe Lord Raglan has done as much as was possible with the materials he had. The real truth is we never had sufficient means of transport or an army sufficient for such an undertaking. Will you thank Erskine for his intended present, and tell him I will give him an autograph letter as soon as I can. Adams says in Maria's last that she concludes that she is included in my remembrances to the establishment; tell her I beg to be most particularly remembered to her as well as all the others. I saw a letter from her ladyship the other day, in which she appeared to be in her usual health and spirits. How is Laura? I think I have behaved very badly to her in not having written to her since Varna. However tell her I will make up as soon as I have an opportunity, for lost time. Julia and George I have not heard of for some time, so I conclude they are quite well; remember me to them next time you write, and also to little Edith. I suppose the parcels coming with the Navvies will be here shortly. My servant, Friend, wishes £2. 10s. to be sent to the same address at last time, will you see to it? and mind and send me by the next mail the amount due to you, and I will send you a cheque for it, and one for the Governor for the £100 due to him. We have been recommended to get the new uniform, as the men are to have it in April, but I feel rather stingy about it, as I have spent so much already to so little purpose. I hope the long boots will be big enough when they arrive, but I am afraid from what I have received, they will not; what I have got are a perfect fit when on, but take too long to put on and would make my feet swell if I slept in them. I heard to-day that the Light Brigade of Cavalry were to go to Scutari to be mounted on native horses, but I do not know if it is true or not. I have no news and shall therefore bid you good-bye, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Camp, Sevastopol, Jan. 28th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I have just received your letter of the 11th, and have likewise received my things from Ede's. Unluckily the portmanteau which contained the writing case and eatables was lost in the Bosphorus, so that I only got my gun, shot, and plain clothes, and shirts, which I do not know what to do with. I wrote to Ede asking him to bring up a parcel of things that I mentioned to him, but it appears he will not undertake anything, but the mere taking care of goods, or forwarding goods consigned to him, so I am overloaded with all these things, which I think I shall send back to England at once with some others. I shall have to spend a fortune in clothes when I get back to England, as all my things are worn out or scattered over the globe, and I shall have grown, owing to living in the open air, too big for any of my clothes. I should like the paper sent direct from Byfield, that I may get the latest news, as those sent through you I do not get till they are stale. The first batch was dated 1st January, the same mail brought out to the 14th. We derive the whole of the information as to what we are about from the papers, so you can imagine how anxiously we look for the latest news, even reading papers before letters sometimes, sooner than lose a chance of seeing them. I have not got the Malacca parcels, but have all the others; I dare say I shall get them in time, the ship having been at Cherson nearly a month. I believe she has got my books on board, for which I would give a good deal. I am afraid the knitting of the Ladies Nevill and Maidstone Ladies will hardly be appreciated enough by the soldiers, as they have now got more winter clothing than they can use; however I will distribute them when I get them. I hear Lord George Paget has not yet left England. I had a letter from the Sailor at Malta, in which he says that they kept it up pretty considerably with the soldiers coming out there, singing, drinking, &c. on the forecastle. Charles Trollope is very well, and begs to be remembered to Miss Osborne particularly, and sends his love to the family, I do not know if Miss O. is in the latter. If he does I shall write to his wife. I mess with him now, that is to say, he gives me a dinner every night and does not require any payment. I believe he will take me as his Aide-de-camp if he is confirmed in the command of his Brigade, if so I shall require a Staff suit, and shall acquire the honour of being abused in the Times. We hear rumours of peace here, but every time the rumour is talked of more than usual, there is sure to be a salvo of Russian guns, upon which the soldiers say to each other, "Is that pace?" (peace). I see young Tharp has got into the 62nd; he was a very nice young fellow when I knew him at Ipswich, it is a very nice Regiment and a gentlemanly set of officers. I know them all from being quartered there. The mail is closed earlier than usual, so I must say good bye and hoping you are well,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Camp before Sevastopol, Inkerman Heights, January 31st, 1855
Dear Philip,
I think it is now your turn for a letter, but owing to the mail going so often I cannot give you all letters every time, but generally contrive to give one or two of the family; this time it is you and Cornwallis, from whom I have received a letter dated about the 28th, at Malta, where he had arrived safe. I have received my air-pillow and long calf-skin boots, by the Malacca; the only only [sic] things missing now are my portmanteau, which is I believe at the bottom of the Bosphorus, the parcel containing the axe, saw, books, your present of chamois leather under clothing, holster bottle, and the things coming out by the other vessels.
Yesterday we were clever enough to allow a spy to walk through our camp, visit our Engineer's yard and go quietly back again; coupled with this, the two Grand Dukes, Nicholas and Michael have returned to Sevastopol, and we may expect another Inkerman shortly; but this time they will find Zouaves on picket instead of Englishmen; they have not the English habit of going to sleep on picket, so we shall not be caught napping as we were before, and as the place is strongly fortified, we shall probably give the young cubs a greater hiding than we did before, without so much loss ourselves.
February 1st
Since writing the above, I have had a thirty-two pound shot pitched within ten yards of my tent, rather a plesant [sic] visitor; fancy if it had come into my tent whilst I was asleep, how it would have startled me. Tell Papa I have to-day received the braces by the post and am much obliged. There will certainly be something done here very soon, although we do not know what; either we shall attack them or they will attack us, it does not much matter which. I shall to-morrow despatch the useless articles of my kit to England, so you can be on the look out for its arrival; among other things you will find a Greco, a stunning thing to drive to cover in; you can have it if you like, as I shall bring a new one home with me when I come. The weather has been very fine for the last two or three days, but I am afraid we shall have a change, as it never lasts long here.
February 2nd.
The mail is closing, so I must conclude my epistle. Tell Papa I have received the books this afternoon, but have read many of them. We, the 2nd Division, are going to be removed, I believe; if so, I shall rejoin my Regiment most likely. No time for more, so with love to every body,
I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
Fiennes Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, February 24th, 1855
Dear Father,
I have just received No. 28 letter. As you will see by the heading I have got back to my Regiment and am in the Colonel's tent, but I am afraid I shall be turned out, as I hear he is coming back to-morrow. You ask me if I want any lift in the army, it would be a very good thing if they would promote me into either of those Regiments, the 18th or 19th Light Dragoons, which they are going to organize, as I should get my Troop for nothing if they would do it. I have no claims to put forward over many others; only sometimes people do not like going into newly formed Regiments. I have just received a letter from Philip, in which he says that I am likely to become an uncle shortly. The betting here is even, that we shall be in Sevastopol in three weeks, although I myself do not think it likely that we shall even attempt it till the spring. The weather is very cold, but I do not think there is so much sickness as there was. The Cavalry are quite in clover; to show you what I had for dinner to-day, and it is a pretty good example of others. Soup, wild duck roasted and boiled, dough pudding with plums, cheese cake, oranges, sherry and porter. I think I can exist on that. To-morrow I shall try and get up Philip's barrel of wine, so that then we shall be well off. As to summer clothing I do not know that we shall be allowed to wear it, so that I cannot order anything; but at all events here one can always walk about in one's shirt and trowsers, except when on parade. If I am not made a Captain in the 18th or 19th, will you tell Rich to make me whatever uniform he is making for the other officers out here of the new pattern. I hear that my portmanteau is somewhere in the harbour, so that now the only things I have lost are the axe and knife, through the stupidity of my servant leaving them in the street. The Railway has made great progress, although not so fast as it ought, owing to the navvies not working as hard as they do at home; the truth is, the native Englishman never will work unless he is obliged. I believe it is partly owing to laziness that the men have died out here. The English soldier is decidedly the laziest and most careless man in the world, although they will fight better than any one. Charles Trollope is in high force as Brigadier. We hear the Turks at Eupatoria have given the Russians a good thrashing, but I do not know if it is true or not; they are the Danube Turks, and not the lot we have here. Most of the Regiments now have one or two tents up, besides the two for the hospital, and some Regiments are entirely hutted, especially the Cavalry and Artillery, who have more time than the Infantry. The horses also are in stables, and at Balaklava every thing is in much better order; they have established a Bazaar outside the town, which takes away the crowd from the town and leaves the houses as stores for Regiments and Brigades, so we are better than we were; likewise we have had a week of fine dry weather, which has cheered people up a little. The Cavalry and the force at Balaklava made a reconnaissance the other night; when they started it was a fine warm night, so they went out thinly clad, but before morning it was fearfully cold, with a tremendous snow storm, consequently many men and officers had their ears frost-bitten. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.

Balaklava, March 1st, 1855
Dear Mama,
I have received your letters of the 9th, and I am much obliged to you for thinking of my pocket by sending out your papers, but as you do not get the papers of the day, and you have to send them back to London, they must always be three days behind, which just makes one mail behind-hand; now, a paper of the last mail any one would give you out here, so it is only giving you trouble for nothing. I am glad to see the Sailor is promoted, he is quiet a swell and ranks above me for the present, in fact will do so unless I become a Major, before he is Commander. I have written to Philip for the things I want for the summer, as he knows the things I had before, but we all expect peace out here, so that I shall not want them. The Railway is getting on pretty well, but the head people say the navvies do not work as well here as they do in England. Lord G. Paget has rejoined and is pro tem. the Brigadier of the Light Brigade. Philip asked me if the Bab (that is to be) should have my name or not: I told him he had better give the first one his own name, and if there is another it would be time enought to think about it. Philip is going to borrow my charger when his yeomanry comes out. I see Lord Cardigan is getting immense kudos for his conduct in the Crimea. There are so many fellows of different Regiments smoking and making a row, that I cannot write any more. I have written to Peareth to bring me out some Regimental saddlery in the Julia. With love to all, and hoping you are all well,
Believe me,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, March 12th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I was very sorry to hear of poor Julia's death, but I have not yet had an opportunity of seeing Col. Trollope. I must likewise take this opportunity of thanking the Governor for his liberality in presenting me with £100. I hear purchase is done away with altogether, but I do not believe it. The last report here is that the Emperor of Russia is dead from an attack of pleurisy, and Prince Menschikoff is wounded in the knee. The English Army is recovering itself gradually; all the Cavalry are in huts, horses and all, except the officers, who remain in tents, in fact we turn out the few we have as clean as if we were in Dublin. Every one declares (Lord Raglan included) that there must be peace now that the Emperor is dead; if so, we shall be sent home first, having no horses and being of no use here. In case the war goes on, a patrol tent would be a very useful thing to have; a white one, rather larger than the one I had when I came out. My things are on board the Bucephalus and will go home in her whenever she goes, but at present she is a storeship at Kamisch. I am glad the Sailor got his promotion and also got through the scarlet fever. Another parcel of the concentrated soup would be very useful, as it is not to be got here, other things you can get. We have got up some Race meetings here and the French have some also, so with that and dog hunting we contrive to pass our time. We have everything ready for an assault, which will take place very soon, if the report about the Emperor is not true; if it is, his successor is peaceful, so we shall do nothing. If the bread riots become general, Philip will have the change of showing his military prowes, by keeping the mob in order. I have nothing more to say and with love to all
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
P.S. The holster pipe bottle Papa sent out got smashed by the stove coming out. Will you get me a glass one from Gardens; I have just got up the big stove, but I cannot sell it, as we are inundated with stoves and the weather is quite hot again; I likewise want a new sheepskin if they are not done away with.

Balaklava, March 14, 1855
Dear Philip,
From what I can see you are likely soon to be called out to stop bread riots and other turbulent mobs. All you have got to do if you are, is to form your men up so that they take up the whole of the street, pavement and all, and then trot quietly down the street with drawn swords; one squadron in column division would do it easy, with another in reverse in case you get into confusion. Sir Colin Campbell's battery at Balaklava has just shot a Russian in the plain. All the batteries at Sevastopol are ready for use, but we are not going to begin until we know whether the tale is true about the Emperor being dead, as Alexander his eldest son is a peaceful youth. We have made ourselves comfortable here, every soldier is in a tent and the horses likewise; we have also established a "Poultry yard," and get fresh eggs every morning for breakfast. I am still in a tent and shall stay there, as I think for one it is quite as comfortable as a hut. You will be happy to hear that Menschikoff was wounded the other night in the knee, we likewise have taken a swell prisoner, but he will not give his name; some people say he is one of the Princes. Starling, a very clever fellow who was in our Band, and is a Pen and Daguerrotype man, has come out here from the Daguerrotype Society to take views and likenesses of the camp and its inhabitants. I will have one done of our camp and send it home if I can. There is a restaurant established now at Balaklava and a baking establishment, so we are becoming quite a colony here. In fact I do not believe the French will ever leave the country; and with love to yourself and madame,
I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
F. Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, March 22, 1855
Dear Papa,
There is a rumour to-day that the English have taken the works round the tower. The French have tried two or three times, and have been driven back every time; but if we really tried last night I do not think we should have failed. Our camp begins to assume a picturesque appearance, some people having gone as far as gardens round their tents. Menschikoff is reported dead, and also another general. If there is peace you must have some shirts evening and morning ready for me, as I do not expect to see the others again, or not for a very long time. I am glad to hear the Sailor is all right; tell him I do not write to him, because as he is at home he will see this. I am glad he is out of the Calcutta, as I hear his station was or is to be Scotland, a place where there is no honour or glory, and very little amusement to be got. I suppose he will now get into a steamer and go to the Baltic. I will now conclude, and add to-morrow anything I can before the post goes, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
March 23
I hear to-day that the French were driven out of [one of] their batteries, and were obliged to get the 23rd Fusileers to retake it; the latter, according to report, lost three officers. To-day I also hear the Infantry are ordered to sleep all day and be ready for business at night. All this is a sham [shave], as we call it, but I though I would put it in, as the post is just going, and it may be true. The papers are well worth the money. Tell Byfield to send them regularly. At my present rate of living I spend very little more than my pay, barring uniforms and things I get in England. I forget if I mentioned a collar-chain, sheep skin and white cap, in my list of necessaries. The weather is very hot here now. Sheffield is Colonel Trollope's Aide. I have just heard that the sham [shave] is true. We lost four officers, and one Engineer officer. They took our trenches, but Colonel Yea of the 7th Fusileers, not the 23rd, went down and turned them out.

Balaklava, April 2nd, 1855
Dear Papa,
I write you one line to-day. I have just received your letter, with the sketch of the interesting officers of the 4th [A caricature out of Punch of recruits offering themselves to the recruiting sergeant of the 4th]; also to say that this morning about 12 o'clock I received an order to pack up my baggage and go down to Scutari to-night, to join the depôt coming out from England. I suppose I shall be there about three weeks. You had better send letters to Balaklava as usual, as by the time you get back to the Crimea. I have lost the greater part of the kit I meant to send home, but I may find it again some day, especially as I can ask Ede where it is now I am going to Constantinople. The articles missing are the portmanteau and a box I left at Ede's when we went to Varna. If I do not find them I think I shall come down upon Ede, as I never authorized him to send them. The stove too I shall never see again, as I leave it behind me in the Crimea. I will write to the aunts and others when I can find time. Tell Philip, Vann was George Brown's servant, and that he died at Varna.
In great haste,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari Barracks, April 9th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I write you a line to say I am safely landed at Scutari in a moderately comfortable house, and with nothing to do. We remain here till the drafts come out, but as they had not started on the 19th we shall probably be here a long time with nothing to do. I was very sorry to leave the Crimea, as never having been ill I should have liked to have said I saw it all through; and likewise, if they take the town while I am away, I lose the medal. By a strange coincidence, Robertson is one of the subalterns sent by the Royal Dragoons. We certainly did not expect, when we were at Eton, to be quartered together at Scutari in the same room. When did the Vestal sail? as I have not yet received the parcel you sent in her, and the forage cap I want. I shall not have an opportunity of going at Ede about losing my box full of gold belts, &c. The sick down here are rather stronger and better than the men at the front. I had not time to see Charles before I started, but he was very well the last time I saw him. I shall not want the tunic just yet, but you can tell Rich to send it if the others have theirs. I am not in great want of the overhalls; but if he makes me any, tell him to leather them up to the knee, and make them broad at the top of the leg, and small at the foot, as the French overhalls are made, only not quite so exaggerated as they are. I will write again soon, and remain with love to all,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari Barracks, April 19th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I enclose you a cheque for £50, which I think was the amount of the bills, but I have lost the slip of paper, and am therefore not quite certain. I have found out from Ede that he has lost the large packet of things I left here on my way to Varna, including my gold belts and mess waistcoat; rather a bore. He was sending them up to me at Balaklava without an order, and the lighter upset, so they are now at the bottom of the Bosphorus, a nuisance, as it will cost me money when I return to England. After all, the horses are not to be landed here, so we have had our journey for nothing. The sheep-skin you are sending is the full-dress one, and no use here, but you could not know that. I do not know if it is Byfield's fault or my Regiment's, but I never get my papers here; but I have no doubt they keep them with the Regiment to read. Will you look, the first time you are in London, at my account at Hoare's, and see if there is a cheque come in, dated about the 23rd of October. It was one I gave to Halkett for £15, and I am afraid he had it in his pocket when he was killed; if so, the Cossacks have got it, and it will not be of much use to them; if it has not come in, will you find out Mrs. Halkett's address from Ridgway, and I will send her another. I cannot now inquire whether Harris is dead or not, but I saw in the paper that one corporal was dead, and I conclude it was him. The first time I go round the hospital I will try and find out, although I am afraid there is not much chance, as they do not seem to know who they have got in the wards. I will send you an address of a Daguerrotype man from whom you can get any amount of copies of your humble servant, in a group of his brother officers; also pictures of the Camp as soon as I return to the Crimea. I hope old Bumble is getting quite strong again. I must write him a letter as soon as I can find something to say. I always forget he is at home; and with love to Fairfax and the rest,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeman Martin

Scutari Barracks, April 26, 1855
Dear Mama,
I have dispatched one box from here by ship Simla, the one I came out in. Mr. Stebbing, the Purser, has taken charge of it for me, and says he will see it safe home and through the Custom House. There are two or three little things in it for the female part of the family, but I could not find anything to suit the male part except chiboukes. Now, as the Governor and Philip do not smoke, they would not be very useful; almost everything else in the bazaar is made in London or Paris, so would be nothing curious. Of course any expense Mr. Stebbing is put to you will repay; his address as far as I know, is Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam ship Simla, Southampton; at all events that will find him. We hear rather bad accounts from the Crimea, but never getting our papers here we are rather in the dark as to general news. Opinions are divided about the Light Cavalry charge, but we must wait to hear Lord Raglan before it is possible to decide. I am going to give Cornwallis a line, so will put the rest of the news into his letter, and with love to all,
I remain,
I affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari Barracks, May 5th, 1855
Dear Mama,
Not having heard from you for the last two or three mails, I conclude some of your letters have miscarried, owing to my being down at this hole. I do not know if it is the fault of Byfield or the Postmaster here, but I have only received one newspaper last month. I got my canteen and things out of the Argo, but I have not got the forage cap yet. I suppose it is at Balaklava. Did it not come out in the Vestal? I suppose by the time you get this you will be thinking of going to London. It was about this time last year that we were leaving Canterbury never expecting that we should have passed the next six months in this country. They do not seem to me to be making half enough effort to get out a Cavalry force here in time to be of any use for this year's Campaign. Were you in London to see the reception given to the Emperor and Empress of the French? We see by the papers it was something superior. Sir Thomas Whichcote is here with his yacht, but I have not been able to drop across him yet. It is becoming quite the fashion to come out here as a show. I have met a good many men and some ladies; in fact, it will be a perfect Chobham next summer I believe, with the exception that there were no bullets at Chobham. I have nothing to tell you, and so will say good bye. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, May 16th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I have arrived here safe and sound again, and find it very hot. We had a field-day this morning, and eight men went into hospital with slight coup de soleil immediately after. The box I sent you by the Simla contains clothing for the winter, which I shall probably want again next winter if I am here. Will you tell Byfield that he only sends me the latest papers instead of all. It will be better to have them sent by Smith, as his are the only ones that come regularly. The Sardinians have arrived and appear to be very good troops, and are certainly well mounted and equipped for service. I saw Colonel Dundas the other day, but have not see the others. They talk of a Campaign in the interior, but I think they have let the time go by, as the heat is too great; and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, May 25th, 1855
Dear Papa,
There has been a large reconnaisance this morning which started at 3 o'clock a.m. I went with it as an amateur, as it consisted chiefly of French and Sardinians and Turks. We have succeeded in establishing outselves on the Tchernaia, and late this evening we received an order to hold ourselves in readiness to turn out at 6 o;clock, which looks as if they meant to take the heights by Mackenzie's Farm; it will be rather a tough job, I fancy. So as I was up all last night I must take a wink or two, or I shall get none at all, therefore my letter will be short. I received all your letters to-day dated the 11th of May. The cheque for Mrs. Halket appears all right, but if you could find out her address you might write and ask her. I went over the Balaklava plain this morning for the first time since the battle; except for a few skeletons of dead horses you would never know there had been a shot fired there. Will you send out with my tunic and overhalls (leathered up to the knee like the others) my gold belts, likewise get Rich to buy me a second hand silver pouch, as mine went to the bottom of the Bosphorus. If he cannot get an old one he must send a new one; also I want a new regimental bridle according to the new pattern, but I am not in a violent hurry for that. I have no time for more, with love to all, I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.
P.S. Tell the others I will answer their letters when I come back from the fight.

Balaklava, June 8th, 1855
Dear Mama,
There was a partial assault of the town last night. I went up to witness it; the French took the Mamelon, and, not content with that, rushed on at the Malakoff Tower without the proper means of taking it, consequently they suffered enormous loss, and have not taken it (between 3 and 4000); at the same time we attacked the Quarry in front of the Redan, and I am afraid we have lost 1300 men and 34 officers; however, you will know the true state of the case before I do. Charles Trollope was commanding his Brigade in the attack, but up to the time I left he was all right. Will you pay into the hands of John Friend, at Mr. William Eliots, Holyshute House, Exeter, Honiton, £20, the savings of his brother out here. His brother will write and tell him what he wants done with it. I recommend him to put it in some bank. I am going up to the front to hear the truth of everything, and if anything is wrong with Charles I will open my letter and let you know. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, June 28th, 1855
Dear Papa,
I think you are quite right about Mrs. Halket's cheque, as it seems pretty clear that she received it, as I did not draw any other cheque for that amount at that time. By this time you will have heard of Lord Raglan's death, which we are all very sorry for; he will be a great loss to the army, and I do not know where the will find a better man, his death will defer my getting my Troop for a little while, as they will not have time to attend to such small things till they have got things a little straight. The army has had a great blow - Six Generals hors de combat in one week, three of which are dead. It is awfully dull work here now, and the army are rather down in their luck, what with the loss of Generals, their failure in the attack and the cholera also. We know we are in for another winter here, which is not a lively prospect; you might send me out another parcel of books, only tell Bain to let them be good ones, new novels, or something of that sort are the only things read here, as we are not in a humour for serious things. Charles Trollope was very well the last time I saw him, he had behaved very well in the Trenches, I hear, during the first attack. I have nothing more to say, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, July 2nd, 1855
Dear Maria,
I have not written to you to condole with you on your illness. I would have written sooner, only the last two mails I have been busy with money transactions and making arrangements for my Troop. Will you tell Papa to keep copies of the letters I sent him in case they are wanted. They talk of sending us out to the Baidar Valley; but I hope they will not, as the 10th are there now and are losing men and officers daily by cholera, although we have got it here also, it is not quite so bad, and we escape pickets and skirmishes with the Cossacks. I hear Lady Augusta is going to be married this month to Mostyn, who was at my tutor's. The army here is all at sixes and sevens, and nothing done now that we are without a head. Tell Cornwallis I will give him an epistle next mail, but now they go so quick I cannot find news for all by every one. When does he go to the Baltic? Hoping you will be quite well and strong by the time you get this, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
F Wykeham Martin

Baidar Valley, July 25th, 1855
Dear Papa,
I conclude my Troop business has gone all right, as I have not received any letter from Hoare or Hopkinson. As you see by the heading of my letter, I am not out beyond Baidar. I was sent here at a minute's notice, owing to Marshall's being taken sick. We went out for a reconnaissance fourteen miles beyond here yesterday, the country was most beautiful , but we saw no Russians; we got some coffee at a Count's house, he had only left two hours before for Simferopol. We saw him afterwards about two miles ahead, but as we did not want him we let him go on. I have received Maria's letters and many thanks. I should have written to some of you before, only owing to this march I have not had time; will you tell this to Philip. I am sorry to say the last time I was on picket, I lost my sabretasche, with the silver fork and spoon I took from England in it; it was buckled with two straps to the saddle, so that I am afraid that some man of the picket must have taken a fancy to it and taken it off. I know I had two convicted thieves on picket with me at the time, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
P.S. I am afraid with these new appointments Charles Trollope will lose his Brigade; in fact he has, only he may get another.

Baidar Valley, August 2nd, 1855
Dear Mama,
We are still here, but expect to go in daily. I am sorry to say that since I last wrote to you I have been bad with Crimean fever, and am still not well, although considerably better. It is unlucky having it out here as we are so far from any luxuries; also I miss all the excursions that our fellows are making almost daily: to-morrow they are going to seize a quantity of champagne, we have already taken one batch, but I have not been able to taste it. I expect if the whole of us are not sent in soon I shall be sent in by myself. The report here is that the whole of the Cavalry go to Egypt for the winter, and that they are going to give short leaves to Officers who have been out all the time. There is some hitch I hear about my promotion; the Horse Guards will not give Molyneux all the money, as he has not served long enough, and having got one step without purchase, consequently he will probably want more of me, but I have not heard from him yet. Will you well Philip I will write to him as soon as I get better. By the bye, was my money ever sold out of the funds? as Hoare's people have never written to me, so I do not know if they ever got the letter; if they have not, I shall be in a mess. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.
P.S. - I have just received your letter of the 20th. I wanted you to pay the whole £20 to keep for his brother, the parents as far as I know were not to have any. Friend says he can trust Elliot, so that we have no more to do with it except getting a receipt from him, and tell him to write to Friend and say he has got it.

Baidar, Thursday Evening, August 6th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I am sorry to say I cannot issue a very favourable bulletin this time, as I am not much better than when I last wrote to you. I cannot get any appetite, and eat nothing, otherwise I think I should do very well. We, that is the party I am with, not myself, have been out several times on plundering expeditions, chiefly to bring in a quantity of Russian champagne from a chateau about ten miles off. I am sorry to say that the privates were not content with this, but stripped the church of all the French had left, and you may see a gallant Hussar swelling it in the Priest's robes about the camp; some of the things taken were very good, but I was not lucky enough to get any not being on the spot, the remainder was quite rubbish, tables, odd volumes of books, etc. The last time they went down some Greek Infantry fired into them, and wounded two of the Land Transport, and killed two mules. I have no more to say, and hoping that you are all well as I hope to be soon,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Transport Belgravia, August 18th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I write you one line for fear you should think I was dead, to tell you that I am alive, and owing to sea air quite recovered. However I stay here for ten days more. The French and Sardinians have had a fight on the Tchernaia, but I have not heard the particulars yet, except that the Russians were licked. Our Cavalry were there but were not engaged, which I am very glad of as I was not there; they expect they will come on in a day or two, but if they do they will get licked again. I hope to be off the ship before that takes place. I do not see my name in the Gazette, I cannot think what Charley Molyneux is about; I see his uncle, Lord Sefton, is dead, it will be a great loss to him, and will not I am afraid induce him to lose any more money selling out. I must now conclude as I am afraid I am late already. Tell Aunt Fanny I will answer her letter by the earliest opportunity.
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, August 31st, 1855
Dear Mama,
I have again rejoined my Regiment in a perfect state of preservation, and hope I shall continue so. I have just had my servant in and received his wishes touching the £20. He wants it all paid to his brother at Mr. Elliot's, as he has given him directions to allow his father and mother at the rate of 6s. a week; the two brothers keep the old couple between them, so it will not do to give them £5 at a time or they will spend it too quick, but by giving it to the brother he will arrange it. Now for my own affairs, I want two new India-rubber tubs, one small for a wash-hand basin, and one large for a tub; but get them both at some India-rubber shop like Macintosh's; also, when you send Friend's things, you can send the thick regimental jacket I sent home from Scutari with them. My epistle is exceedingly egotistical, but you must excuse it on the plea of its being a business letter. I have received Cornwallis's letter and the papers describing the capture of Sweaborg. It is expected here that war will be over in six months time from now, as they have got news from Russia by spies in the highest circles, that she is nearly done up, the enormous thrashing they got at the Tchernaia will keep them quiet for some time. I hear Ralph Nevill is going to follow his sister's example and take a wife, is it true? I forgot to add a pair of regimental spurs to my other boots. Will you tell me how much I owe you, including the £20, as it and Rich's bill will make a difference in my balance. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.

Balaklava, August 31st, 1855
Dear Philip,
My excuse for not writing before must be that I have had fever, and for a fortnight eat nothing, living in a bell tent in the middle of a plain, with the thermometer at 97 in the shade. I was nearly grilled to death; however, I am all right now. I am sorry to say that the other day the French had a frightful accident, they were passing powder into a magazine, when a shell came from the Malakoff and blew them all up, killing 400, at least that is the report. Many people out here believe that the war will be over in six months. I for one do not think the Russians can hold out much longer. I am sorry to hear you have grown so fat, it is bad to have too much flesh when young; you had better come here, as this country is warranted to make even a Billy Williams a skeleton in a month. Remember me to Madame, and box the youngster's ears, as I shall have to do it some day, and as it is well to begin young, and with love to all,
Your affectionate brother,
Fiennes Wykeham Martin

Balaklava, Sept. 6th, 1855
Dear Mama,
In your preparations for my winter kit, whatever you do do not leather my overhalls that are at home, as I have plenty here leathered, and they will not be received soon, and are my ball overhalls, and much too thin for winter. There is still some talk of our going to Egypt, I wish they would let us know, as one does not know what to order, as at Alexandria you would require civilised things, it being rather a swell town. You will be sorry to hear that Ross, Mrs. Whatman's brother, has been killed or taken prisoner. They say he turned out a very good officer, and the men had more confidence in him than almost any other officer in the regiment. Tell Maria I do not write to her as I consider this letter does for all, as I cannot make news enough for two. After all it makes very little difference who it is addressed to. I am glad Cornwallis was in time for Sweaborg. Last night they burnt one of the Russian ships. General Bosquet gave the gunners who fired the gun 100 francs; I hope they will repeat the operation to-night. We are awfully worked now; they turn us out every night at three o'clock, which entails the men getting up at two, and keep us standing to our horses till it gets quite light. We hardly get any sleep at all. We only have two subs for duty, myself and Weatherley. I must now conclude, with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
I should like some preserved soup if we stay here, a large quantity, and some knives, spoons, and forks, (common ones); also some cartridges all ready for use; Denby and Adams' large size pistol; they are made up in copper cans.

Balaklava, Sept. 16th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I have not written to you since we have had the luck to take this place (by a fluke be it said.) I went over it to-day, and you never saw such a wreck as it is. There is literally not one stone on another, not one single entire house in the whole place. The officers of the Infantry behaved nobly. They say we all take the field in two or three days. I think it utter madness, as they say it will take 10,000 men to take the Mackenzie heights, which is a greater proportion than were killed at Sevastopol. They say we are to go to Scutari the first week in November. The telegraph order has come, but everything is so uncertain here, that I think you had better send the things I mentioned in my last letter, and my servant's things, at once, and I will manage with them. I have no time for more, and hoping this will reach you before you start for Paris, and that you will all enjoy the trip very much; also tell Maria to be sure and remember me to Miss Boger when she sees her next, and say that I asked after her.
I remain, your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.

Balaklava, Sept. 30, 1855
Dear Mama,
I hope you have enjoyed your trip to Paris, and liked the Exhibition. I conclude I shall have a full account of it in your next year. You will see by the papers that poor Marshall of my regiment has died of fever and dysentery. Rather bad luck for me that my promotion was not delayed another fortnight; however, I do not much care, as I should not have liked getting his troop, as he was a great friend of mine; and also, if I sell out any time soon, they would not have given more than £300 or £400 for it. I am sorry to say I do not see the slightest chance of getting home this winter now; as senior Lieutenant I should have been sure of it, but as junior Captain I am certain to lose it. We go away from here about the middle of next month. I asked you in my last to send me out my warm jacket and servant's clothes. I do not know anything else that I want. Cuff, or whoever you ordered the regimental bridle of, has sent it, and a good deal more saddlery than I ordered to the value of £8; also, now that the head collar has come, it is the wrong pattern, therefore I should not be allowed to wear it. I am going to send it back. If you ordered it, of course I must pay for it. Hoping you are quite well after your arduous campaign at Paris, and with my love,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.
Philip tells me Papa is standing for Maidstone, and himself for Rochester. His letter was very amusing, telling me of the squibs placarded about the Governor and himself. I forgot to say, tell me what I owe you.

Balaklava, October 6th, 1855
Dear Mama,
We are off again for a Campaign somewhere, but we do not know where, we suppose Eupatoria. It is rather a bore, as this is not exactly the weather for it, and also we had all made up our minds to winter at Scutari, where I have no doubt we shall go when this is over; one expedition has already sailed for Kilburn. We may perhaps be going to join them, but it is more probable that there is going to be one combined movement to hem the Russians in. Another great bore is, that one will most likely lose all one's kit, as we did when we embarked from Varna, and then we shall be uncomfortable all the winter as we were last year. I am glad you all enjoyed yourselves so well in Paris. I wish I could have been with you, although you did not get beds at Folkestone, I dare say for once I could have tried to sleep on the floor. You must not expect any letters from me just yet, as for the next month we shall be birds of passage, but I will write if I can, and do not get bowled over by a Cossack. I must write to Ralph Nevill the first opportunity as I have never written to him since his sister's marriage, and hoping you are all well and that the governor, Philip and Fairfax, will all get through their trials,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari Barracks, December 9th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I write by this post to ask you to invest my surplus revenue, with the exception of £300 which I may want here at Scutari, and to pay you and to buy a horse. Will you pay up every thing I owe in England (telling Philip to let me know what I owe him) including Hamburger's bill, Cuff's, Smith's, Byfield's, Baines' and everything you may know of that I do not. In the former letter you received last mail, you will know there are some articles which I sent back, and you can tell him to scratch them out of the bill. Among my wants are two new girths for a plain saddle, one for a regimental ditto, which if you are quick, can come out with a head collar I have ordered at Cuff's, also, I think a new plain double reined bridle and a snaffle will quite set up my stable again. The portable soups you sent in the last package were very good and just came in the nick of time, but they are not what I wanted, as they would be no use in a campaign, the next time you send them let them be the same as the first, in bladders; I have got the tubs all safe. Have you ever received the box by the Bucephalus? it has gone past here some time. Another dozen 1s. novels would help me to get through the time at this stupid place. I consider this quite a business letter. I am glad to hear Fairfax is likely to prove a light to lighten the Gentiles, [this alludes to Fairfax having taken a high place on entering Eton, having got into the Remove, the highest place he could take] and also that Cornwallis has come safe home. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari, December 16th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I have not written to you since I left Balaklava, as there was no regular mail, and the letters that were sent from there never reached, also we have lost several mails. I send the saddlery back to Cuff's, but have since heard from him to say that he was not the man who made it. I see by your letter that Hamburger was, so will you get it from Cuff when it arrives, as also the letter I sent with it, as I have no idea of paying £8 for things I do not want and are not regimental. I have also heard from Hamburger that the gold belts he sent me were by Papa's order second hand, and that Papa told him if they were nearly the same they would do; if he did so it was a great mistake, as our present Colonel is more particular than Lord George and will not let you wear a thing that is not strictly regimental, consequently they are no use. Eupatoria was a most disagreeable place, they kept us there for six weeks with scarcely any clothes, and the Thermometer at 14, in fact we were worse off than we were last year at Balaklava, as we had no money, and if we had there was nothing to be bought; when we first went there it was on the contrary very hot; we were sent a three days patrol into the country and were forty-one hours without any water, and when we did get a little it was so brackish and filthy that it was all we could do to drink it. General d'Allonville, the French General we were under, is a first rate man and would never get you into a scrape. I hope we shall be under him next year again; he has asked for us. Will you pay all my bills and sell my charger, as it is waste of money keeping him, especially as I shall have to buy another (which he will help to pay for) now that we have a Colonel with different ideas from Lord George. Direct my letters to Scutari, and papers, as I shall get them quicker. I have got the things, but unfortunately, through the carelessness of the people who brought them from Balaklava, the box was broken and the mice eat my servant's coat. Our people are all going home on leave, but being the junior Captain I shall not be able to come. I hate this place worse than Balaklava, as they seem determined to make us as uncomfortable as possible. I shall write again soon, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari, December 30th, 1855
Dear Mama,
I am just going to add a few supplementary articles that I am in want of to those I have already sent. Six pillow cases, one pair hunting spurs, six flannel shirts, of a dark color, (black and white check is very good); these things I hope to have out with the others I wrote for last mail, also two plain saddle pads, to be got at Gardner's, if I did not order them in my last. They have never sent my head collars for my regimental bit, you can send it with the other things; also I hope you have heard from Hamburger about the returned saddlery. I also want Marsh to make me a pair of butcher boots, that is to say top boots without the tops. I am ashamed to say I have not yet got your table cover, but will do so soon, also the article you wish for to hold work, its proper use is to carry tobacco in. There are beautiful dresses to be bought here if you like, but I do not know that I could get them any cheaper than you do in England. I suppose by this time you have got the Sailor home; I see he gets a medal and one clasp for Sweaborg. There is a report out here that Omar Pasha and his army are cut to pieces, but I don't believe it. And now wishing you a happy new year and many of them, and with love to all,
I remain, your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari Barracks, Jan. 9th, 1856
Dear Mama,
I was truly sorry to hear of poor Lady Trollope's death, and can imagine how much you must feel on the melancholy occasion. I can only say that I have lost one of the best and kindest friends I ever had or am likely to have in this world; I always looked on Cumberland Place as one of my homes, she always treated me more as a son than anything else, I have often thought since I have been out here of the many days I have spent at her house, and I sincerely regret that it has not been my lot to return once more to thank her for her many kindnesses to myself and the rest of us. All her children must I am sure be very much affected by her death, but I do not think they can feel more than I do; as with the exception of my more immediate relations I loved her more than any one else on earth. However at her age it was only what we must all come to, and I only hope I may play as good a part on this earth as she has done. Poor Laura, I am sure she must feel it, if anything, more than you do, as she has been her constant companion more, lately, than you have. I hope you are quite well after this shock? I suppose by this time you have had a visit from Cornwallis, tell him I have received his letter, and am very glad to see he is appointed to a Gun-boat, as it was his wish, although I hear from sailors here they ae very uncomfortable things. Hoping that the rest are all well, and with love to all,
I remain, you affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin
P.S. I have got your table cover and will send it the first opportunity.

Scutari, Jan. 22, 1856
Dear Mama,
I hope you are over all your troubles by this time, and have, I suppose, returned to Leeds. We have just received the telegraphic despatch to say that peace is proclaimed, but we hardly believe it to be true; if it is, I suppose I shall soon be coming home. I forget if I mentioned in my last letter that I wanted a new sheepskin instead of the one you sent me out before, which belongs to my Shabraque. There is a ball at the Embassy on the 30th, to which I intend going. I went to a Soirée there the other day, but there is an awful scarcity of ladies. At present I cannot do any thing in the amusement line, as George Brown is sick, and Monckton has gone on leave, so I am left to look after Her Majesty's 4th Light: however, I think the former will be all right in a day or two. I have sent you two table covers and four bags by Bryne, our V.S., the latter are not what you wanted, but I will get you what you want the first time I go into the Bazaar. These were got for me by a friend living at Pera, those you do not want you can give to any one you like. With love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari Barracks, Jan. 30th, 1856
Dear Papa,
The items in Hamburger's bill that I object to pay for are the crupper head collar, head stall straps, shoe cases, and pockets for nails, all of which I returned. He has charged £7 3s 6d for the lot, which includes a regimental bridle, which I have kept, therefore he must deduct the price of the articles I have returned, also he must take off a heavy per centage on the whole, according to a previous engagement with Rich, who, to save himself the trouble of making out half-yearly bills, agreed to do so. I see also he has considerably raised his price in gold lace overhalls, of which you can remind him. I see by the papers it is going to be peace, and that we are to return home; if so, you need not send out the articles I have ordered unless you have already done so. Have you sent any parcels by the Harbinger? as if you have all the directions are rubbed off, and they do not know who to deliver them to, so that unless you let me know I shall not be able to claim them. In regard to the charger, I think if it is decidedly peace you may as well keep it; if not, get it into condition, and when you go to London either sell it to a dealer for as much as you can get, or put it up at Tattersall's as the charger of an officer gone to the Crimea, who has no further use for it. Hoping that Mama and Fairfax have got all right again by this time, and that the latter will enjoy his little extra holiday, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari Barracks, March 8th, 1856
Dear Mama,
I am sorry to say I did not see the box containing my things sent home in the Bucephalus myself. The only things that I know ought to be there and are not in your list are a new pouch belt (gold) and a quantity of shirts; there was also, I think, a suit of plain clothes, but I am not sure that they were not in the portmanteau, which has never turned up; it was on board the Pelican, but unfortunately I twice missed her at Balaklava harbour, and since then she has been home, so what she did with the portmanteau I do not know. She is a new steamer belonging, I think, to the South American line; it was put on board this time or a little earlier last year. As I have lost all my shirts, it would be as well to have some made in case I come home, only take care to have them made with the wristbands doubled back to fasten with studs. Nichols and Housely would know the latest fashion, although they are rather dear. I have no news, and so must conclude, with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.
I have made inquiries about Harris, but his Regiment is not here, so that I may not succeed in case they do not answer; the easiest way is to write to the Adjutant explaining the case, and he will send back the man's number or get the medal for you as he ought to have done before.

Scutari Barracks, March 17th, 1856
Dear Mama,
I have succeeded in getting Corporal Harris's number from a Serjeant of the 8th Hussars, who is employed on the Staff; it is No. 1259; he died on the 23rd of February, 1855; but at the same time I do not think the father will be able to get the medal yet, as they have not nearly distributed them to the living claimants. You have never told me what ship you sent the plain saddle in; it has never turned up here, so I think it is just possible you may have been in time to stop it. I sent your bags by post, and hope they will arrive safe. We are all on the look out for peace here. We expect the telegraph every day; but they seem very slow about these conferences. I hope Hutton is ordered out. I must now say good bye, as I have no news or time for more.
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari, April 3rd, 1856
Dear Mama,
Peace is at last declared, so that we shall be coming home very soon. Do not forget to order my shirts, so that I may be able to make an appearance when I get there. I think you did not send my evening ones. I shall have a great outlay to make, the great item being two new chargers. Robertson has just come back here, and so I have of course heard a good deal of English news from him. The Turks and French made a tremendous noise here the day peace was proclaimed; they fired away powder enough to last a bombardment. Is there anything else I can do for you here, as by the time I get an answer we shall be on the move? I have got an answer to a letter I wrote to Hoare's, so Papa can pay up all the bills. I will write again soon, when I know what is going to happen, and with love to all, and hoping soon to see you,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari, April 21st, 1856
Dear Mama,
I hope you have got my shirts under weigh, as in all probability I shall be starting in a few days. I do not think there were any Regimentals in the box, except a pouch and sword belt. I do not know what plain clothes you put in, but I hope not my best evening coat or the frock. Lord George Paget has asked me to come home with him and Lady George by Athens; but I do not know if I shall or not. You may as well get my charger into condition, as then I shall be able to sell him, if Colonel Lowe will not pass him, which is likely, as he wants every body to get new ones. Philip is going to have Toby back again, and my mare I shall turn out in the Park, or let you have the use of her for quiet work, in place of the old grey, who I do not think will do much more. I am bringing home, if possible, a little Arab pony for Fairfax; if he has grown too big for it we can sell it. I do not know yet where we go to, but will write again if I can find out. We only bring home about fifty horses, the rest we sell to the Turkish Government. Hoping you are all well,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari, May 4th, 1856
Dear Mama,
I write you a line to caution you not to send my things to whatever station the Regiment may go to when it reaches England, till you hear from me, as I do not go with it, owing to my being Aide-de-Camp. I have to remain here with Paget, till the rest of the Brigade come home; it may be to-morrow, or not for three months. The Regiment sailed to-day. When I do come home I shall probably come to London first, and then have to join my Regiment, till I can get leave, which will take at least a week or a fortnight; and then I hope to join you for some time. Tell Philip to hold his hands about buying horses for me, as our present Colonel is very particular. What is Charles Trollope going to do now that his Regiment is ordered to Canada? Will he sell out, or take his chance of being made a Major-General? I have never heard from him since I left the Crimea. I will attend to your order as shopman about the bags, if I have time only, and I will vary the patterns, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin

Scutari, May 12th, 1856
Dear Mama,
I find I shall be home sooner than I said in my last letter, although I do not know exactly the day. Will you tell Marsh to have a pair of regimental boots (Wellingtons) not too thick, and also a pair of button boots for plain clothes also made thin for summer, ready for me at Cumberland Place. As this will probably be one of my last letters I shall write, I may as well tell you that I shall certainly come up to London first on landing, and go down to my Regiment next day and try and get leave; if they do not give it me at once, I shall be sure to get it soon. I find Lady George an exceedingly nice person, and she has made me excessively comfortable since I have come to live in her house. I find even out here the difference between bachelors and a married establishment so great that it is quite an inducement to get married. Hoping to see you all soon, and with love to all,
I remain,
Your affectionate son,
F. Wykeham Martin.

Fiennes Wykeham Martin

The Stuff of Fiennes Wykeham Martin 4LD, Crimean War

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