| Wojna krymska oczyma kapitana Chodasiewicza.Unfortunately for Russia there are too many men elevated to posts of power and influence that are utterly incapable of governing the machines intrusted to them; for a Russian soldier forms part of a machine, which is composed of enormous masses of men that never have thought and never will think. They are oppressed with blows and illtreatment; their understanding is kept down by their servitude and the severe laws to which they are subjected. Sometimes a man more sprightly than his comrades will try to solve some knotty point, but he soon loses himself in the mystery, and only escapes by concluding that, as he knows nothing about it, it is the business of God and the Emperor, but none of his!
All wonderful human inventions he sets down to the power of enchantment, without trying to find out their causes. It is an axiom in the Russian army " that the powers of reasoning are not expected in the ranks” and when this rule is broken through by an aspiring wight he is frequently rewarded for it by a severe corporal punishment. In consequence of this a Russian soldier is generally dirty in his habits. Frequently you see him bent like an old man, with his head down. He feels his position, but he has not the moral energy to attempt an escape from his tyrants.
A leader could easily be found, but they would be afraid to follow, and the leader would be consigned to Siberia. A Russian soldier is perhaps the most unhappy being in the world. When the Emperor inspected our regiment at St. Petersburg in 1853, he remarked that the men kept their eyes fixed on the ground, and did not appear in good spirits. The captains of companies were blamed for this, though I was burning to explain to the Colonel why the men looked dejected. However I remembered Siberia, and held my peace.
A Voice from Within the Walls of Sebastopol, a Narrative of the Campaign in the Crimea, and the Events of the Siege , London John Murray June 1856
Captain Gorieff flogged one of his men to make him laugh! He happened to be a man who seldom or never laughed-one of those morose-looking fellows that one meets sometimes. It is hardly to be credited, but after receiving one hundred lashes the man managed to get up a laugh, though I must say it bore a great affinity to the sobs that followed this effort. This is Russian justice! The outward appearance is all that is necessary for the chiefs. If a man has eaten nothing for two days he is still expected to laugh!
I quitted the corps of cadets, where I was educated, in the year 1851, and at once joined my regiment. To my misfortune I found the captain, and all the other officers of the company to which I belonged, bombons, i. e. men from the ranks, and their treatment of the men disgusted me from the beginning, while they assured me that I should never be able to do anything with the soldiers unless I swore at them in the most filthy manner, and used my fists as they did. Because I would not and could not agree with them, saying that a Russian soldier was a man and ought to be treated as such, I was honoured with the title of the young lady with white hands.
Römer to rodak, z którym Chodasiewicz później zdezerteruje. While thus buried in reflection on the uncertainty of human life, my comrade Römer approached me. Römer was a good fellow, but had fallen into misfortune for having too freely spoken the truth in 1849; after passing a year and a half in prison he had served as a private soldier four years. He related to me anecdotes of the war in the Caucasus, where he had served five years, before he got into trouble, as a cadet. We exchanged addresses, so that, in case either of us was killed, the other was to write to inform his family of the event.
Dlaczego zabrakło wódki? In our regiment, the men had no vodka, for our worthy Colonel thought it advisable to put the money into his own pocket, remarking that half these fellows will be killed, so it will be only a waste to give them vodka.
To be continued
Ciąg dalszy nastąpi
Link to a previous article
| 
