The Press. — London, England, 1854-08-26 00:00:00

AUGUST 26, 1854. THE WAR. SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF BOMARSUND. - - ON the 21st ult. Sir Charles Napier and Admiral Parseval cast anchor in Ledsund, having left Rear Admiral Martin with a squadron in the Gulf of Finland, to watch the move ments of the enemy at Helsingfors and Cronstadt. In that secure and convenient basin—formed by the considerable island of Lemland on the north, and a multitude of smaller ones on the south and west—our largest ships remained throughout the siege. A winding channel, eighteen miles long, and sometimes not exceeding a hundred yards in width, leads from Ledsund to Lumpar Bay, and to the fortress of Bomarsund; and into that bay the Edinburgh, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Chads, the three screw block-ships, four French two-deckers, and smaller vessels, were piloted without any serious injury from grounding. The Duke of Wellington might possibly have entered, but the experiment was deemed too uncertain to be hazarded. The Edinburgh and the other ships anchored just out of range of the Russian guns ; and there they remain( d with out attempting to assail the formidable batteries which, as some very sanguine persons supposed, were to be imme diately destroyed. The impatience of the fleet while waiting day after day fur the arrival of troops to invest the place may be easily imagined. At the end of July the first detachment of French soldiers reached Ledsund, in English ships, and shortly afterwards General Baraguay &liners arrived from Stockholm to command them. Still, however, nothing can't), be done without the siege artillery, which did not reach the scene of action until the bth inst.; and it was not before the tith that a body of troops, and another of marines, were landed at different points, when operations commenced in form. The fortifications which were the object of attack con. slated, first, of a principal battery built of stone, in a curved shape, along the shore—a fabric of great solidity and strength, and mounting nearly 100 guns. On the rising ground ad jacent were two round towers, and at the extreme east ano ther, each of which mounted sixteen guns. In addition to these defences, some mud batteries had been thrown up since the previous visit of our cruisers in the month of June. As the entire group of the Aland Isles is one mass of rock it would be very difficult to prosecute ordinary siege works, whilst a regulgar bombardment of he walls would be an exceedingly laborious undertaking; consequently, it was decided to take the place by military assault and escalade. On the 11th, therefore, about 12,000 French and English soldiers and marines commenced erecting batteries before the fortress to cover the assailants. For this purpose, besides the siege artillery brought from France, a number of heavy guns were sent up from the Duke of Irellington and other ships, and dragged a distance of three miles from the landing place. On the 12th the besieged attempted a sortie, in the hope of interrupting the works, but were re pulsed and driven back into the forts. On the 14th the most considerable of the two flanking towers above alluded to was taken after a resistance of four hours ; and the scaling-ladders were prepared for a general assault on the ensuing day. On the 15th the third tower was taken, and the garrison had no longer any prospect of relief or re mit orcement—all the approaches to the island being vigilantly guarded by steam-ships and armed boats. During that day the English batteries opened fire on another fort, called Nottick Fort, which was breached by four p.m., and surrendered in the evening. During the attack Lieutenant Wrottesley, R.E., was killed. He was stooping down, in obe dience to signal, when a shot, after striking against the trunnion of one of the guns, bounded against him, inflicting a dreadful wound. His side was crushed, and his hands, which were folded together at the time, were torn to pieces : he died very soon after wards. In this fort there were five killed and six or seven wounded, and 125 prisoners. Captain Ramsay was slightly wounded. The English ships Edinburgh, Ajax, Amphion, Bulldog, Valorous, Hecla, and Driver; and the French ships Duperre, Trident, Darien„-isnioWe, and Phle gethon, continued firing at the sea face of the princi pal fort of Bomarsund, while at the same time the French field and mortar batteries poured an inces sant fire on the rear, and an English eight-inch gun on the captured six-gun battery maintained an excel lent flanking fire. The captured fort of Tzee blew up about one p.m. Some doubt appears to exist whether the explosion was caused by the French or the Russians. On Wednesday, the 16th, the French batteries advanced considerably nearer to the land face of the fort, and kept up an incessant fire; the heavy guns in the six-gun battery, served by the English under Captain Pelham, did great execution ; the large blocks of granite that formed the face of the fort, and which in appearance offered an immense resistance, fell out in masses, and the rubble with which the wall was filled in tumbled out. in heaps. The Edin burgh, the Ajax, and the steamers fired at long range on the Bomarsund fortress, while at the same time the Leopard attacked the foit of Freest°, on the other side the narrow channel. At 1.2.30 a flag of truce was held out at an embrasure of Bomarsund towards the fleet : a boat, with an officer, was sent on shore, and at about half-past twelve the governor surren dered. General Bodisco is an old man, apparently iighty years of age. He was very anxious that the THE PRESS. French general-in-chief should certify that he bad done his duty. General Baraguay d'Hilliers returned him his sword, and at the same time extolled the valour with which he had defended his trust, and the prudence which had surrendered it when further resistance could have done no more than cause an useless loss of life. The Russian general then sent a priest to the officer in command of Praesto fort, with orders to surrender. The order was obeyed. Thus the four forts of Bomarsundfell into the posses sion of the allies. The French soldiery afterwards moved in and took possession. A line was formed from the fort to the embarkation place, by means of the Royal Marines and French troops, through which theßussi an prisoners, 2,000 in number,jm arched with their baggage. The loss on the part of the allies was inconsider able. On the side of the French, Lieut. Noulfe and two chasseurs were killed. Captain Ramsay, of her Majesty's ship Hogue, was slightly wounded. One of the English marines was also killed. Several French soldiers were killed, by mistake, in an acci dental encounter during the night. A few casualties also happened. Lieut. Bond, of the Royal George, was accidentally shot while examining a revolver. Captain Anderson, of the Cressy, is also dead. Many Russians were suffocated in the Bomarsund casemates by the smoke of their own fire. After the surrender there were great rejoicings in Aland, and prayers were offered in the churches for Queen Vic toria and the Emperor Louis Napoleon. The fortress was found to contain ammunition and provisions for one year. A gallant exploit is told of Lieut. Bythesea, of her Majesty's ship Arrogant. This officer, having been informed that the Russian mail, with despatches from St. Petersburg to the commander at Bomar send, would pass in a particular direction, deter mined to intercept it. He disguised himself, and, with an interpreter, concealed himself in a house by the roadside. After their night's watch they per ceived four men with the letter-bags. He and his companion, armed each with a revolver, sallied out upon the four Russians and summoned them to surrender. The Russians gave themselves up. No public despatch, however, was found. Only private letters were in the bags. The Paris Diletts cites letters from the Aland Isles under date of the 18th. Two days bad then elapsed since the surrender of Bomarsund, which its correspondents, says the Debate, already considered an event belonging to ancient history, their interest being occupied with the present condition of the for tress, and the evidences of the destructive effects of the bombardment which it displayed. The work of destruction, they report, was accomplished with a rapidity and to an extent of which the besiegers themselves had no idea. The result of the experi ment does not bear so much upon the precision of the artillery practice, or the weight of metal dis charged, as upon the resisting power shown by granite fortifications to a well-directed cannonade. This was an element hitherto unascertained. Hereto fore opinions had been much divided on the point. Some authorites declared that granite blocks, piled together in such masses and at so vast an expendi diture of labour and money, were practically invul nerable. Others asserted that the system was radically vicious, that the stone would not resist shot, and by splintering into fragments under the stroke of the projectiles would add terribly to the loss suffered by the defenders, and very speedily render the fortresses so built untenable. The result of the attack on Bomarsund hag shown that the latter conclusion is well founded. The ruin caused in so brief a space among its fortifications, the severe losses of the besieged, and the early necessity in which they found themselves of surren dering the place, furnish arguments which cannot be refuted. The inventory of damage and destruction which is now being drawn up at Bomarsund supplies useful indications of the possibilities of resistance offered by the similarly-constructed fortresses at Cronstadt and Sveaborg. So complete has, indeed, been the destruction of the works at Bomarsund that it is doubtful whether they can be sufficiently repaired before the frosts set in. The commanders by sea and land have accord ingly forwarded simultaneous requests to the home authorities asking permission to blow up the relics of the fortifications. But, whatever may be the deter mination of the Governments, it is certain that the Russians will never reoccupy them. A few light gun. boats will suffice to annihilate any works that the enemy might raise, even if allowed free access to the island. The 2,000 prisoners are to be equally divided be tween England and France for cult•-dy. General Bodisco, with his wife, two children, and staff officers, have, however, been taken on board the Tilsit, and will be conveyed directly to France. While waiting further instructions from home, the English and French admirals will proceed to recon noitre Hango, Revel, and Sveaborg. A Dantzic letter of Thu sdsy announces the arrival 799 of the Vulture, which left Ledsund on the 22nd. The troops in the occupation of Bomarsund were likely to be embarked again, it was supposed for ser vice elsewhere. Beyond this there was no news. The Penelope, in attempting to cut between the islands from the south to the north side, got on shore on the 10th inst. oil the Island of I'rasto, within range of the long forts, whereupon they opened fire, and continued it for two hours and a half. The admiral at once ordered all boats to her assistance, and. the Ilecla and Pignsy came through the passage as well to attempt to tow her off. A little after twelve the Penelope fortunately was iemoved front her cri tical position, the admiral having ordered all her guns to be thrown overboard, when the Reda at once towed her away. The battery fired some red hot shot, by which two men were killed and three wounded. One shot passed completely through the ship, killing a man, and then falling into a French boat, killing another. The large fort discharged at the Penelope 123 shot, 21 of which struck either her hull or rigging. The Aland Islands form an archbishop's see of about eighty inhabited islands, and a mot number of rocks and islets, in the province of Abo, in the Unlf of Bothnia, at the rut...ranee, between lat. 59 deg. 55 min., and 00 deg. 39 min. N., and long. 19 deg. and 21 min. E. The popula tion is 15,000, and they are all of Swedish descent. Rye, barley, potatoes, and ILIA are raised sufficient for the popu lation. The manufactures are wool and sailcloth for home use. The exports are salt beef, butter, cheese, hides, cured fish, and firewood. The imports are salt, colonial produce, and manufactured goods. These islands, taken from Sweden in 1t409, are of great political and military im portance to Russia, and contain several fortified ports, generally the station of a part of the Baltic fleet. Near them Peter the Great gained his first naval battle over the Swedes in 1714. The chief island, Aland, has an area of twenty eight square miles, a population of 9,000, and a good harbour (Boularsund ) on its west side. The Moniteur de la Flotte says,—" We stated that our soldiers, on taking possession of the Aland Isles, would be received by the inhabitants with the most friendly feelings. The event proved we were right. Both the English and French have met with the warmest reception from the inhabitants. They did not even wait for the landing of our troops to place at their disposal everything in their possession. They carried on board all kinds of provisions, such as fish, vegetables, and excellent fru►t. They also brought a supply of forage for the sheep and oxen on board. In this remote country, and among its honest but ignorant inhabitants, the Eastern question is never mentioned ; they have not the slightest idea of the cause of the war between Russia and the Western powers, anti are scarcely aware of the ex istence of the Turkish empire. They only know that two parties are contending—the Anglo French and Russian, and the first act of an Alander on I,oing on board is to declare himself in bad English an Anglo- Frenchman." OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTH. Preparations for the long-announced expedition against Sebastopol or elsewhere were almost com pleted at the latest dates from Varna. The expedi tion itself had, however, to be postponed, some say to the 15th inst., others to the 28th, on account of heat and cholera. About 500 sail were at Varna or the neighbourhood, including some large !fat-bottomed bouts for landing artillery. The last ships destined for the expedition left Constantinople for Varna on the 15th, with 12,000 Turks, 2,0(R) French, hi rses, cannon, munitions, and numerous flat-bottomed boats. The quantity of provisions collected at Varna is so large that 80,000 men can now undertake an expedi tion to the Crimea. A most important mission would, it was rumoured, be entrusted to Generals Canrobert and Brown, and Admiral Boxer. Marshal de St. Arnaud and Lord Raglan will only follow with the main army when a certain position has been secured in the Crimea. The Emperor Napoleon has addressed the following proclamation to the French army in the East : " Soldiers and Sailors of the Army of the East !—You have not fought, but already you have obtained a signal succeaii. Your presence and that of the English troops have sufficed to compel the enemy to teems, the Danube, and the Russian vessels remain ingloriously in their ports. You have not yet fought, and already you have struggled courageously against death. A scourge, fatal though tran sitory, has not arrested your ardour. France and the Sovereign whom she has chosen cannot witness without deep emotion, or without making every effort to give assist ance to, such energy and such sacrifices. " The First Consul said, in 1797, in a proclamation to his army --' The first quality required in a soldier is the power of supporting fatigues and privations. Courage is only a secondary one.' The first you are now displaying. Who can deny you the possession of the second? There - ore it is that your enemies, disseminated from Finland o the Caucasus, are anxiously seeking to discover the point upon which France and England will direct their attacks, which they foresee will be decisive, for right, justice, and warlike inspiration are on our side. " Already Romarsund and 2,000 prisoners have just fallen into our power. Soldiers ! you will follow the example of the army of Egypt. The conquerors of the Pyramids and Mount Thabor had, like you, to contend I against warlike soldiers and against disease, but, in spite of