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Page 2
James Beatty arrived on 19th January, from Constantinople where he had met a sympathetic but apologetic Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. He had arranged a temporary work force of 800 Croatians for the railway, but at the last moment they had refused to go to the Crimea. Since Beatty hadn't been expecting anything, this was not too much of a disappointment, but now that he had met with Campbell and approved his survey, he was anxious to make a start, and desperate to obtain manpower - the first shipload of navvies might not arrive for three weeks.
If James held any illusions that the enthusiasm of the government and the Prime Minister for his project would carry any ripples to the Crimea, he was quickly disillusioned the following morning. Far from dominating proceedings, he found that they were third on the agenda. The senior officer on the Board was Lt Col Anthony Sterling, as we know a hardened cynic at the best of times, and severely sceptical about the value of a railway. Why was Beatty's first demand for 500 men plus pack animals? he demanded. And to build a flat surface on which to lay rails. If he Sterling had such manpowere available he would already have built a mettalled road up to the Col. It seemed to him that Beatty was only going to provide wagons pulled by horses - no locomotives were scheduled, and he doubted the strength of a traction engine to pull wagons up Frenchman's Hill. Nonetheless the Board gave the project and the proposed route their blessing in principle, so long as the railway people would vacate Ordnance Quay as soon as they had their own adjoining quay up and running. The next day January 21st, Beatty visited Commissary General Filder, who made no bones of the fact that he saw the whole project, especially the navvies, as potential trouble for him. All he asked of them was that they got their ration returns in accurately and on time, and that they kept out of his way -they could deal with his department through his Chief Writer. There was no realisation of any potential benefit in getting his stores up to the Divisions without problems. James next went to meet Sir Colin Campbell, to beg for men; the Scotsman was enthusiastic about the whole project and asked when the railhead would reach Kadikoi; three weeks after we start work, was the confident reply. However he was faced by an increase in Cossack patrol activity and could spare no one. Finally the 39th Regiment came to Beatty's rescue. Recently arrived from Gibraltar, they were currently in Balaklava waiting to move up to the line. Captain Park from the regiment had been on the Board of Officers. Impressed by the project and its scope, he had managed to secure the services of at least 100 men plus two lieutenants from his CO.
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