Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/323

THE DEATH OF LORD RAGLAN. 293 mind that the Koyal Consort was versed in mili- c h a p. XIII tary business, had applied great care and thought !_ to the subject of the then pending war, and had adopted the wise, wholesome practice of putting himself in personal communication with officers newly come from the East. But apart from sheer grief was the void. Re- The void lations between the Home Government and Head- Lord Ra g - . lan's death. quarters going on without any Lord Eaglan ? The army without Lord Eaglan ? The Alliance with- out Lord Eaglan ? A letter, a note, or a message to the oftentimes raging Pelissier without a Lord Eaglan to frame it ? Jt is believed that, whilst Lord Eaglan lived, and daily appeared in his saddle, no such painful casts of thought had been made — not made at least in grave earnest by any of our Generals, still less by the army at large, which had toiled and suffered and fought with unswerving devotion to its Chief, and had never so far looked beyond — not even for argument's sake — as to dwell on what might follow ' if ever ' the king were to die.' None perhaps felt the void more acutely than Tins acutely r r J felt by the did the brave, honest, unselfish officer on whom officer who succeeded the command had devolved. The words he ad- to the com- mand. dressed to our Government are touching: After speaking of the troops and 'their beloved com- ' mander,' he added : ' His loss to us here is in- ' expressible. The sympathy of our Allies is uni- ' versal and sincere. His [Lord Raglan's] name ' and memory are all that remain to animate us