The Press. — London, England, 1854-07-01 00:00:00

THE WAR. THE ARMIES. THE concentration of the allied forces upon Varna has progressed rapidly, and at the date when the last advices left Constantinople (June 22) was expected to be completed iu a few days. Detachments from that place were, moreover, being pushed forward towards the seat of war. A vanguard of the auxiliary troops reached Fravadi on the 12th ult., whither Omer Pacha intended to proceed to bid them welcome in person. The English forces in that region are estimated at 20,000, the French at 40,000 men. The arrival of the Duke of Cambridge at a point on the Balkans, between Varna and Schumla, is announced by a despatch of June 19. Lord Raglan had not been able to come up in consequence of in disposition, which detained him at Scutari. The Himalaya, with the sth Dragoon Guards on board, arrived in Varna bay on the 12th from Cork direct, which she left on the 28th of May. She carried 320 horses and 323 men of the regiment, and made the quickest passage ever known. From point to point she was only eleven days and nineteen hours wider steam between Cork and Varna. Notwithstanding the alleged advance of the forces towards Sebum's, reports have been extensively cir culated in Paris, with much claim to authenticity, to the effect that the whole of the allied troops are to be sent forthwith upon an expedition against the Crimea. It is added that the fleets will be sent to co-operate with this movement, that Marshal St. Arnaud is to take the command, and that two hun dred transports are already in preparation at Varna and Baltschik for the conveyance of the troops. According to the Vienna Lloyd the Russians have rendered the Strait of Kertch, leading into the Sea of Azoff, inaccessible to ships-of-war, by sinking thirty-two large barges laden with stones. The following are the positions of most of the British corps, as known at Constantinople on the 15th ult.:— " At Alodyn, near Varna, the light division, under Sir G. Brown, consisting of two brigades, the first commanded by Brigadier• General Arey, including the 7th, 22nd, and 33rd Regiments ; the second brigade, commanded by Colo nel U. Buller, including the 19th, 77th, and 88th Regi ments. At Varna, the Duke of Cambridge's division, consisting of a brigade of Guards, commanded by Briga dier-General Bentinck, and a brigade of Highlanders, con misting of the 42nd, 79th, and 93rd Regiments, commanded by Sir Colin Campbell K.C.B. Also, at Varna, the 17th Lancers, Bth Hussars, and sth Dragoon Guards. At Gal lipoli, the third division, commanded by Sir Richard Eng land, consisting of the Ist brigade, commanded by Sir John Campbell, the 38th Regiment, Ist Royals, and 4th Regiment; 2nd brigade, commanded by Brigadier Eyre, consisting of the 29th, 44th, and 50th Regiments. At Scutari, the division under the command of Sir De Lacy Evans. " General Rosquet, with the advanced guard of the French division, 4,000 strong, entered Adrianople on the 9th of June." VARNA AND THE CAMP. The British camp is pitched at Alodyn," about seven miles from Varna. The site is described as being exceedingly picturesque, and lying between two fresh-water lakes. The cavalry, under Lord Cardi gan, are encamped at a village called Devna, a few miles further on towards Schumla. Of Varna itself, under the influence of its new occupants, a curious account is given by the correspondent of the Times. He says : " I rode into Varna from the camp, but so changed was the appearance of the principal streets by the restless acti vity and energy of the French that I could not recognise them. Old blind side walls had been broken down, and shops opened, in which not only necessaries but even luxuries could ne purchased ; the streets, once so dull and silent, re-echoed the laughter and rattle of dominoes in the newly-established cafes. Wine-merchants and sutlers frorn Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Marseilles, Toulon, had set up booths and shops, at which liqueurs, spirits, and French and country wines could be purchased at prices not intolerably high. The natives had tollowed the example. Strings of German sausages, of dried tongues, of wiry hams, of bottles of pickles, hung from the rafters of an old Turk ish khan, which but a few days before was the abode of nothing but unseemly insects : and an empty storehouse was turned into a nicely-whitewashed and gaily-painted ' Restaurant de l'Armee d'Orient pour Messieurs les Officiers et Sous-olliciers."Fhe ussues of the streets, ac• cording to a Gallic nomenclature, printed in black on neat deal slips, were fixed to the walls, so that one could find his way from place to place without going through the erratic wanderings which generally mark the stranger's progress through a Turkish town. One lane is named the Hue Ibrahim, another Rue de l'HOpital, a third Rue l'usuf; the principal lane is termed the Corso, the next is Rue des Poatos Francaises ; and, as all these names are very conve nient and have a meaning attached to them, no sneering ought to deter one from confessing that the French manage these things better than we do. Where is the English post-office? No one knows. Where does the English general live? No one knows ? Where is the hospital to carry a sick soldier to? No one knows. Does any one want to find General Canrobert? Ask the first Frenchman you meet, and he will tell you to go up the Corso, turn to the right, THE PRESS. by the end of the Rue de l'Hopital, and then you will see the name of the general painted in large letters over the door of his quarters. The French post-office and the French hospital are indicated sufficiently by the names of the streets. Our sappers and miners have done useful works by the seaside, have built piers, trenched up the shore, and deepened the little harbour. The French have done the same; they have built piers and banked up the shore, and erected a sea-wall to land at. Lord George Paulet has been inexhaustible in his hospitalities on board the Bel:en - Thos., and has done much to ' amalgamate ' the higher officers of both armies by his friendly reunions, so that they become better friends every day. There is no jealousy between the men, or any rivalry, except in the path of honour." THE REINFORCEMENTS . The Tonning sailed on Sunday from Portsmouth with 23 dragoons of the 6th Inniskillings and 56 horses, and will take up at Malta the 38 men saved from the Europa. She also had 150 men on board to reinforce the Rifle Battalion. _ _ 450 men of the Grenadier, Coldstream, and Scots Fusilier Guards embarked at Portsmouth on Tues day last on board the Vulcan screw steam ship for conveyance to the East. Drafts from the depots of the 42nd, 79th, 93rd, and 95th Regiments also em barked for the same destination. The Vulcan was ordered to take on board as large a quantity of Mink rifle ammunition as she could stow away. It is intended to complete to 1,000 rank and file the six regiments forming the Ist division, under the command of the Duke of Cambridge. The regiments of General Sir De Lacy Evans's division will also be made up to the same strength. The entire army will then consist of 30,000 effectives. Orders were received on Wednesday at the infantry barracks, Windsor, for the 40th Regiment, now quar tered there, under the command of Colonel Garrett, to be prepared for embarkation to the seat of war in the East, early in the present month. The regiment, including the guard supplied to Kensington Palace, is more than 1,000 strong. It is understood that the 46th will be relieved by the Royal Bucks (King's Own) Regiment of Militia, now quartered at Weedon, under the command of Colonel Lord Carington. THE FLEETS. In the Black Sea the combined squadrons were thus distributed at the latest dates :—The large ships of both fleets were at Baltchik. A flying squadron of steamers was off Sebastopol, a steamer off the Sulina mouth of the Danube, to prevent supplies passing up, and two ships at Varna, assisting to disembark the troops as they arrive. Admiral Bruat's squadron, it is announced, will shi rtly enter the Black Sea, in order to operate with the combined fleets. Mrs. Giffard, the wife of the late Captain Giffard, of the Tiger, arrived at Constantinople, and went up in the Vesuvius to Odessa, but arrived too late to see her husband ; he had been dead some days, and was Untied a short way outside the town. She expressed a wish to visit her husband's tomb, which was granted. A carriage was brought down to the landing-place for her, and drove her to the spot where her husband was interred. She then returned to the Vesuvius, and came back to Constantinople. The Austrian consul at Odessa has sent the following report to the Admiralty, dated June 16 " His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, not being aware of the death of Captain Giffard, had meantime ordered his sword to be restored, that he should be set free, and, with reference to the share he had taken in the battle of Navarino, to express his Majesty's regret at his being so severely wounded. At the same time his Majesty granted the exchange of eight English officers and 154 sailors for ltusaian prisoners of war who had been taken by the united fleets on the Circassian coasts. As the officers of the stranded steamer 7'iger consisted of 25 individuals, the selection of those who are to be set free will be made by lot. The midshipmen were all carried some days ago into the interior." Letters from St. Petersburg also speak con. fldently of an exchange of prisoners, the Government having assented to such an arrangement. Our last intelligence of the Baltic fleet is con veyed by the following telegraphic despatch from Dantzig, dated Thursday evening:— Her Majesty's paddle-steamers Hecht, 6, Captain W. H. Hall; Valorous, 16, Captain Buckle; Odin, 16, Captain Scott, attacked Boomersunu, inflicted great damage, and burned buildings in principal fort. Seven wounded only. Sir Charles Napier's fleet is at anchor twenty-five miles from Cronstadt. Detached ships continue t; execute or attempt various enterprises. In the Gulf of Bothnia a squadron of steam frigates, Leopard, Odin, Valorous, and Vulture, under Admiral Plumridge, have sunk, burned, or otherwise destroyed fifty ships, from the Aland group of islands on the south to Tomes., at the extreme north of the Gulf. The public stores and magazines of Uleaborg, Brahestad, and Tomes have been tired. Sixteen ships in the first-mentioned port, loaded with stores, tar, and wood, and others on the stocks, became the prey of one grand conflagra tion. The inhabitants hoped by offering supplies that ' they might succeed in ransoming those places. They were polite and civil. The supplies which were SATURDAY, taken were paid for immediately. The inhabitants of Tomes baked bread for three days for the ships, and piled up the barracks, which they offered to burn. The bread was paid tor, but the orders against the enemy were fully carried out, and the work of destruction went on. By those operations it is estimated that a loss of about 400,0001. has been inflicted. . . A summary of these performances is given in a despatch from Sir C. Napier to the Admiralty, pub lished in last night's Gazette, as follows : "Duke of Wellington, Baru Sound, June IN 18134. " beg leave to enclose Admiral Plumridge's report of hie proceedings in the Gulf of Bothnia, from the sth May to the 10th June, by which their lordships will observe that he has destroyed forty-six vessels, afloat and on the stocks, amounting to 11,000 tons; from 40,000 to 60,000 barrels of pitch and tar ' • 110,000 square yards of rough pitch ; a great number of stacks of timbeir, spars, plank, and deals, sails, rope, and various kinds of naval stores, to the amount of from 300,0001. to 400,0001., with out the loss of a man. Admiral Plumridge has had to contend with innumerable rocks and shoals, incorrectly laid down in the charts, and met the ice up to the 80th May ; nevertheless, though several of his squadron have touched the ground, I am happy to say they have received no damage that he is not able to repair with his own means. " CHAR. RAPIER." _ . The Porcupine steamer, Lieutenant-Commander Jackson, has proceeded up the Gulf of Finland as far as the island of Storamiolo, whence the position of the enemy's ships in Helsingfors has been ascertained with tolerable accuracy. One of the principal en trances to the harbour of Helsingfors is through Gustaf Sound. Across this narrow passage, which is protected on its western side by the powerful fort of Gustafsvard, a Russian three-decker is moored head and stern. Inside the islands of Bak Holmen and Kungs Holmen, which form a breakwater to the harbour, several of the enemy's line-of battle ships are at anchor, under shelter of the various batteries of which Fort Sveaborg is composed. At M iolo road, m a south-easterly direction from Sveaborg, and about two miles distant from it, there is a good anchorage. Here, it is said, a position may be taken whence the English fleet may throw shell over the islands of Bak Holmen and Kungs Holmen into the ships of the enemy, without being materially damaged either by the shot from the batteries afloat or ashore. Further accounts have been received of the disas ter at Gamla (old) Karleby, which appears to have been owing to a surprise. Gerais. Karleby is a considerable distance inland, and the boats of the Vulture and Odin were sent up the river. No opposition was made to their advance, and they proceeded with a flag of truce flying, until they were hailed from a small island placed in about the middle of the stream. Here they were given to understand by the Russians that their further pro gress would be opposed. Not heeding the threat, which they did not believe that the Russians had any power to enforce, they hauled down the flag of truce, and commenced sounding, advancing at the same time higher up the stream. While thus occupied, and in mistaken security, they were suddenly assailed by a storm of balls and bullets and shells, which, at one murderous discharge, killed Lieut. Carrington and Mr. Montague, and wounded at the same time eleven sea men. Lieutenant West, of the Vulture, who com manded the party, was compelled to commence a re treat, which for nearly an hour exposed the survivors to a pelting fire from the Russian horse artillery and riflemen. The Vulture's paddle-boat, in charge of Mr. Murphy, mate, got aground, was struck by a shell and capsized, and Mr. Murphy and 27 men were left with her. The ships were five miles distance from the scene, and could not send reinforcements until much too late to retrieve the disaster. The Dauntless steam ship, which had been en gaged for ten weeks upon a most trying service in advance of the squadron, in reconnoitring the Rus sian fleet, taking soundings, &c., has returned to England to repair considerable damages sustained by her machinery. Cruising frequently within from a mile and a half to two miles of the batteries of Sveaborg, the Russian officers and soldiers could be clearly seen at their guns when the officers of the Dauntless were quietly taking the soundings and sketches of the batteries, ships, dockyard, town, &c., some of which make a perfect panorama of the entire forts, town, and coast, along which she has sailed. The Moniteur announces that orders have been sent to the commanders of the allied squadron in the White Sea to establish, from the Ist of August next, an effective blockade of the Russian ports in those waters. This blockade has been deferred till that period in order to give time to the commercial in terest to finish the operations which it might have commenced in good faith before the declaration of war. Rear-Admiral Sir James Stirling, commanding the squadron on the East Indian station, left Singapore for China in his flag ship the Barracouta, imme diately on the arrival of the English mail of March