On Board Steamer
Quaker City, Aug
14.
Click to add citation to My Citations.
{
Capt C C Duncan
Sir—Whereas—
First—There is nothing to see at Sebastopol but a bare & uninteresting battle-field where military fortifications have been but no longer exist1—and
Secondly—Several among us [ have ‸having‸ ]stood am in the midst of such scenes of this character of infinitely greater importance in our own Country in the smoke & carnage of battle—and—
Thirdly—The remainder of our company [ have ‸having‸ ]seen a sufficiency of such things after the battles were over—and
Fourthly—Since, by leaving Sebastopol out of the excursion we can gain a precious addition of time for travel in Palestine,—
Therefore, Satisfied that the minority if a short trip be taken through the Bosphorus & into the Black Sea, all parties will be willing to forego the extension of it to desolate Sebastopol with its notable pyr pile of porter bottles, we respectfully request that you will [altar ]your programme in accordance with the suggestion contained in this last paragraph.
Respectfully2
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
Click to add citation to My Citations. 1
Before the Crimean War (1853–56), the fortified port of
Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula, had a population of 43,000 and was
Russia’s chief Black Sea naval installation. Beginning in
late September 1854, the combined armies of France, Britain, Turkey, and
Sardinia laid siege to the city, subjecting it to fearsome bombardments.
An estimated 173,000 men on both sides were killed in the year-long
battle, and thousands more succumbed to disease. When the Russians
evacuated in September 1855, only fourteen buildings in the entire city
were relatively undamaged. The occupying allies immediately razed the
remaining dockyards and fortifications, and the Paris treaty of 1856
forbade their reconstruction. In the early 1860s, only about 6,000
people lived in Sevastopol’s ruins.
Some of our party were greatly interested and pleased with the
sight-seeing of the day, but as for myself, I don’t like
battle fields and camping grounds with all the sickening traces of
hardships, conflict and bloodshed, nor yet the sad sight of battered
walls and beautiful mansions shattered and in ruins. (Newell 1867)
Click to add citation to My Citations. 2
It is not known who or what prompted Clemens to draft this petition in
his notebook, nor whether any version of it was ever presented to
Captain Duncan. The captain did, however, record in his log on 18
August, while in Constantinople, that “most of them [the
passengers] had intended remaining here while the ship went to
Russia but now all but six decide to remain by the ship” (in
fact, eight stayed behind: Slote, the Beaches, Bullard, Foster,
Severance, Van Nostrand, and the Honorable Jacob Samils Haldeman). The
trip prospectus, which stated that any change in itinerary required a
“unanimous vote of the
passengers,” stipulated a two-day stay at Sevastopol and
nearby Balaklava, but the ship actually spent only one day, 21
August—an apparent compromise (Charles C. Duncan 1867 [bib10640]; Charles C. Duncan 1867 [bib10641], entries for 18 Aug and 30
Aug; N&J1, 402 n. 41). Julia Newell, who was corresponding for her
hometown newspaper in Janesville, Wisconsin, probably expressed the
feelings of many others when she wrote about Sevastopol:
Source text(s):MS, damage emended, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library (CU-MARK).
Previous publication:
L2, 79–80; N&J1, 386–87.
Provenance:see Mark Twain Papers, pp. 514–15.
Emendations and textual notes:
have ‸having‸ • have ‸ing‸
have ‸having‸ • have ‸ing‸ [‘e’ partly formed]
altar • [sic]
