fficers; the men are
the sufferers, and that is partly their own fault, as they are like
children, thinking everything is to be done for them. The French
soldier looks out for himself, and consequently fares much better."
Something of the same conclusion had been forced on him when on board
the French transport between Marseilles and Athens when he wrote: "The
poor French soldiers, of whom there were 320 on board without any
shelter, must have suffered considerably from cold; they had no
covering, and in spite of the wet, cold, and bad weather, they kept up
their health however, and their high spirits also, when our men would
have mutinied." And again, later on: "We have capital rations, and all
the men have warm clothing, and more than enough of that. They of
course grumble and growl a good deal. The contrast with the French in
this respect is not to our advantage." It must in fairness be
remembered that the worst of the maladministration was over before he
reached the scene, and that he came with those reinforcements, not
merely of men, but still more especially of supplies, which ended "the
winter troubles," and converted them into the sanguine hopes and views
of the spring.

Gordon was not long in the trenches before he came under fire, and the
account of his first experience of real warfare may be given in his
own words:--

"The night of February 14th I was on duty in the trenches, and if
you look at the plan I sent you and the small sketch enclosed I
will explain what I had to do. The French that night determined
to join their sentries on their right and our sentries on our
left, in advance of their and our trenches, so as to prevent the
Russians coming up the ravine, and then turning against our
flank. They determined to make a lodgment in the ruined house
marked _B_ on the sketch, and to run a trench up the hill to the
left of this, while I was told to make a communication by
rifle-pits from the caves _C_ to the ruined house _B_. I got,
after some trouble, eight men with picks and shovels, and asked
the captain of the advance trench to give me five double sentries
to throw out in advance. It was the first time he had been on
duty here; and as for myself, I never had, although I kept that
to myself. I led forward the sentries, going at the head of the
party, and found the sentries of the advance had not held the
caves, which t