Show the hango affair the russian kussian general to admiral dundas Du adas june 5 1855 1655 before replying to the letter af f your excellency of the ad of june I 1 must observe with regret that the vessels of the english fleet hoist russian colors the more easily to capture any russian vessel they come across the journals have sufficiently made known how from the commencement of the war the flag of truce ruce has been abused in every sea to take sou sout i dings and to make military observation observations actions 9 the hostility displayed against inoffensive towns and villages Til vil lages inhabited by peaceful pop populations nations has been but too well proved by all that has taken place in the baltic oil the of may a cutter I 1 do not know fr an fn m which ship landed with a little white flag near dear the village not finding any troops stationed near the village the crew of the cutter wantonly set gire firo to some huts huta and boats despite the white fl flaa flag a g on the may oth june another cutter belo beio belonging ging to the corvette cossack made for the panno yanno hango coast the boat had the british flag flying the tile officer in command of her pretends to have hoisted a little white flag in fit her prow on a stick neither the men on duty at the telegraph on the neighboring heights nor the military post on the coast perceived this pretended white while flag it was consequent consequently lv quite natural that they should attack the cutter and its crew crey as soon as the latter landed lieutenant louis lon is geneste pretends that a servant carried by ills his side a stick with a white flag oil on it the soldiers and officers of or our advanced posts questioned as to the existence of this flag affirm that they never saw it at all AT geneste genesis pretends that he be was wag sent with a flag of truce to give up some of the crews ws of merchantmen merchantman merchant men captured during that fortnight if it such had been his intention it would have been a much simpler plan as the cossack came from the neighborhood of cronstedt Cron stadt to have sent the them m to Swea borg or to have landed them on some island from froia which they could easily have reached the coast coash i the captain of the cosack ought to know ow that the bearer of a flag of truce cannot and not to be b received upon the tha first landing pirce piece ce rock or promontory it may suit him to select my outposts see and will continue continuo conti duo nuo to see in tia mission only military which use kamilar pretexts to make explorations and secure p provisions po ovi visions the hostile and by no means truce like character of this mission I 1 h moreover proved 1 by bv the loaded load d arms seized three muskets show by cy their exploded caps that the crew of the boat made use of them iu in the struggle 2 by the care shown in providing the cutter with cartridges and a chest full of incendiary articles which is actually in our possession oil on the th e following day the coss ck kept up a heavy hire fire e against the village of hango and its peaceful inhabitants and aa a few days later the of june the attack was repeated to set fire to the telegraph and destroy some houses llo lio uses instead of going to Swea borg to demand ex plana piana lions despite the superiority which steam and screws give to your vessels they do not cease to hoist the russian flag to seize our coasting vessels in the same manner some yards of white canvas have evidently been turned to account to take sonn soundings dings and mike make explorations I 1 am willing to believe ah M admiral that this is done without your knowledge all ali allow W me to express the hope that you will in future prohibit we lie missions of such pretended flags of truce the crew of benestes Gen Geu estes boat were caught in n their own trap seven men meb were ere killed four wounded and the remainder made mado prisoners as the list I 1 enclose will inform you the ile affair only lasted a moment it was impossible to distinguish the english from the prisoner sailors they brought with them one of them lundstrom who spoke english was wag the first man killed and two others were wounded the responsibility of the whole affair rests with the irregularity with which missions of this sort are made it appears to me that it would be more suitable sui sul tahia tabla to make communications to Swea borg and them to some vessel sent there in the anio sanie manner as you sent your letter of the ad the he cossack should not have deviated from the rule vessels wishing to enter fr into t 0 parley should hoist a white flag of large dimensions dimen and anchor beyond long range and await a boat to receive their message message in writing we will never receive an any otier other the cossack did nothing of the sort it seems to me that the honor of your flag ought to exact the most strict and scrupulous observance of the rules established on oil such euch occasions the honor of my my flag will never permit me to depart from them I 1 can assure you that the wounded are well taken care of and the prisoners well treated I 1 hive the honor to be monsieur admirald Admi rals ralf your very obedient servant DEBERG B RG aide de camp general of his majesty the tha emperor of all the russas |