John Black Atkins

“ The question whether he was unjust to Lord Raglan, the commander-in-chief in the Crimea, may remain a matter of opinion. The blame for the sufferings of the troops of course belonged much more to the government which had made war without preparing for it than to Lord Raglan. Russell always denied, however, that he had attacked Lord Raglan, who was the first general to conduct a war under the eyes of newspaper correspondents. As to Russell's service to the army on the whole there are not now two opinions. ”

“ In 1860 Russell founded the 'Army and Navy Gazette,' which he edited, and in which he owned the chief interest, to the end of his life. In spite of this occupation he was still able to work on important occasions for 'The Times.' In March 1861 he sailed for the United States to inquire into the dispute between North and South which culminated in the civil war. 'The Times' supported the Southern cause, but Russell had not been long in the country before he discovered that his sympathies were strongly with the North. ”

“ John Russell was a protestant, and Mary Kelly a Roman catholic. In the early years of Russell's life misfortune broke up the business of his father, who migrated to Liverpool, where he tried more than one occupation. Young William Russell was brought up first by his grandfather Kelly, and then in Dublin by his grandfather William Russell. John Russell's wife and younger son, John Howard Russell, both died in Liverpool. William Howard Russell, after starting life as a Roman catholic, was converted to the protestant faith by his grandfather in Dublin. ”