The Press. — London, England, 1854-11-25 00:00:00

NOVEMBER 25, 1854. to-hand fights, of despairing rallies, of desperate assaults— m glens and valleys, in brushwood glades and remote dells, hidden from all human eys, and from which the conquerors, Russian or British, issued only to engage fresh foes, till our oldsupremacy, so rudely assailed, was triumphantly asserted, and the battalions of the Czar gave way before our steady courage and the chivalrous fire of France. No one, however placed, could have wituessed even a small portion of the doings of this eventful day—for the vapours, tog, and d luting mist obscured the ground where the struggle took place to such an extent as to render it impossible to see what was going on at the distance of a few yards. It was six o'clock when all the head-quarter camp was roused by roll after roll of musketry on the right and by the sharp report of field guns. Lord Raglan was informed that the enemy were advancing in force, and soon after seven o'clock he rode towards the scene of action, followed by his staff, and accompanied by Sir John Burgoyne, Brigadier-Ueneral Strangwaya, 8.A., and several aides-decamp. As they ap proached the volumn of sound, the steady, unceasing thunder of gun, and rifle, and musket told that the engage ment was at its height. The shell of the Russians, thrown with great precision, burst so thickly among the troops that the noise resembled coniinuous discharges of cannon, and the massive fragments Inflicted death on every side. One of the first things the Russians did, when a break in the kg enabled them to see the camp of the second division, was to open fire on the tents with round shot and large shell, and taut atter tent was blown down, torn to pieces, or sent into the air, while the men engaged in camp duties and the unhappy horses tethered up in the lines were killed or mutilated. Colonel Gambier was at once ordered to get up two heavy guns (Itipounders ) on the rising groundi and to r ply to a the which our light guns were inadequate fo meet. As he was engaged in this duty, and exerting himself with Capt. Daguillar to urge them forward, Col. Gambier was severely but not dangerously wounded, and was obliged to retire. His place was taken by Lieutant-Colonel Dickson, and the conduct of that officer in directing the fire of those two pieces, which had the most marked effect in deciding the fate of theiday, was such as to elicit the admiration of the army, and as to deserve the thanks of every man engaged in that bloody fray. But long ere these guns had been brought up, there had been a great slaughter of the enemy, and a heavy loss of our men. Our generals could not see where to go. They could not tell were the enemy were— from what side they were coming, and where going to. In darkness, gloom, and rain they bad to lead our lines through thick scrubby bushes and thorny brakes, which broke our ranks and irritated the men, while every pace was marked by a corpse or man wounded front an enemy whose position was only indicated by the rattle of musketry and the rush of ball and shell. The attack on the Lancaster battery and final re pulse of the Russians is thus described : The fight about the battery was most sanguinary. It was found that there was no banquette to stand upon, and that the men inside could not fire upon the enemy. The Russians advanced mass after mass of infantry. As fast as one column was broken and repulsed another took its place. For three long hours about 8,300 British infantry contended against at least four times their number. No wonder that at times they were compelled to retire. But they came to the charge again. The admirable devotion of the officers, who knew they were special objects of at tack, can never be too highly praised. Nor can the courage and steadiness of the few men who were left to follow them in this sanguinary assault on the enemy be sufficiently ad mired. At one time the Russians succeeded in getting up close to the guns of Captain Wodehouse's and of Captain Turner's batteries in the gloom of the morning. Uncei tain whether they were friends or foes, our artillerymen hesitated to fire. The Russians charged them suddenly, bore all resistance down before them, drove away or bayonnetted the gunners, and succeeded in spiking some of the guns. Their columns gained the hill, and for a few moments the fate of the day trembled in the balance, but Adams's brigade, Pennefather's brigade, and the light division made another desperate charge, while Dickson's guns swept their columns, and the Guards, with undimi nished valour and steadiness, though with a sadly decreased front, pushed on again to meet their enemies. The rolling of musketry, the crash of steel, the pounding of the guns were deafening, and the Russians as they charged up the heights yelled like demons. They ad vanced, halted. advanced again, received and returned a close and deadly fire; but the Minis is the king of wets pons—lnkermann proved it. The regiments of the fourth division and the marines, armed with the old and much belauded Brown Bess, could do nothing with their thin line of fire against the massive multitudes of the Musco vite infantry, but the volleys of the Minis cleft them like the hand of the Destroying Angel, and they tell like leaves in autumn before them. About 10 o'clock a body of French infantry appeared on our right, a joyful sight to our struggling regiments. The Zouaves came on at the pas de charge. The French artillery had already begun to play with deadly effect on the right wing of the Russians. Three battalions of the Chasseurs d'Orleans rushed by, the light of battle on their faces. They were accompanied by a battalion of Chasseurs Indigenes—the Arab Sepoys of Algiers. Their trumpets sounded above the din of battle, and when we watched their eager advance right on the flank of the enemy we knew the day was won. Assailed in front by our men, broken in several places by the impetuosity of our charge, renewed again and again, attacked by the French infantry on the right, and by artillery all along the line, the Russians began to retire, and at lt2 o'clock they were driven pell-mell down the hill towards the valley, where pursuit would have been madness, as the roads were all covered by their artillery. They left mounds of dead behind them. Long ere they fled the Chasseurs d'Afrique charged them most brilliantly over the ground, difficult and broken as it was, and in flicted great loss on them, while the effect of this rapid attack, aided by the advance of our troops, secured oar THE PRESS. guns, which were only spiked with wood, and were soon rendered fit for service. The close of the battle is thus related by the cor respondent of the Herald:— Our men had fallen back so far that the two•gun Lan caster battery, which was erected to command the harbour and shipping in Sebastopol, fell into the enemy's hands. They spiked and dismounted both the guns, and, pushing forward on our left, tried to cut off the whole body of our men from the advancing French succours. The tight was now quite among the tents of the 21 and light divisions. All the canvas of the tents was cut and blown to pieces by the storm of shot and shelL But at this spot the tide of fottnne turned. The enemy were now completely out of the bush which had screened and shel tered them ou their advance, and upon fair ground they stood no chance with our men. Our regiments halted, extended their line to the left, and commenced sit tre mendous file-fire. The enemy, in disorder, hardly returned a shot, but stood their ground, and fell by hundreds and hundreds. Thrice they moved up stolidly to break our line on the left, and were met each tune by terrible volleys of musketry, until they closed iu, when our fellows charged and massacred them at the point of the bayonet. The for tune of the day still hung doubtful. The enemy were get. Ling up all their strength for a final effort, when Caurobert came up with three regiments of Zouaves, five regiments of French infantry, and a strong force of artillery, and com menced a terrible attack on the enemy's right flank. This occurred at about eleven o'clock, and from that moment the Russian chance was hopeless. Yet., though under the French fire they were literally falling by bat talions, they never showed the least signs of trepidation or disorder. On the contrary, they formed up iu the most beautiful order, altered their front so as to meet the attack of the French, and, extending their line to the left, pre pared to resume their attack upon the English. At that time, however, our men were well prepared, and, without any order or arrangement, flung themselves headlong upon the enemy, charging with the bayonet, which the enemy met for the first time. The Russians now boldly charged with the bayonet also, and for the space of five minutes the 30th, 41st, 40th, Kith, and six or seven Russian regiments were stabbing, beating, and fixing at each other in the most fearful manner. At last the enemy gave way, and began retiring in good order across towards the Inker man heights. Until I saw it, 1 never in my life could have believed that any troops in the world could have roiled under such a murderous fire in such perfect order. The French and English, with a whole mass of artillery, followed close upon the retreating battalions, pouring in volley after volley of grapeshot, shell, and musketry. In fact, it was a perfect carnage. Yet in spite of tins the enemy kept their order, retreating almost at slow time, and every five or ten minutes halting and charging desperately up the hill at our men and the French. In these charges the Russians lost fearfully. We received them with volleys of musketry, and then dashed at them with the bayonet. In one of these charges the 50th French regiment of the line recaptured the two guns which in the commencement of the day we had lost. By half-past two o'clock the great mass of the enemy bad com pletely fallen back, leaving between 7,000 and 8,000 dead upon the field behind. During the whole battle, Lord Raglan and staff were in the front of the troops, and in the very thickest of the fire. So hot was the cannonade and musketry round his lordship that no one can under stand how he escaped uninjured. An 8-inch shell came roaring and hissing along the ground, passed right between the legs of Lord Raglan's horse, and exploded behind him and the staff. They were covered for the moment with dust and smoke, but fortunately escaped unhurt. Major-General Strang ways was killed close behind Lord Raglan. When raised from the ground he was perfectly calm and collected, and appeared not to suffer in the least. His thigh was fractured near the hip joint, and the brave old soldier looked at the mangled limb with perfect composure, saying he knew the wound was mortal. He died in about half an hour after the amputation was performed. Sir G. Cathcart, who was only a few paces in front of Lord Raglan, was shot through the heart, and fell from his horse a dead man. The conduct of the Coldstream Guards should immortalise their name. They fought literally to the death. They went into action with sixteen officers and about 400 men, and out of this small number had eight officers killed, five wounded, and upwards of 200 rank and file killed and wounded. The Grenadiers and Fusiliers also performed pro digies. On the whole, the brigade of Guards lost thirteen officers killed, fifteen wounded, and 530 rank and tile, out of about 1000 men engaged. The Coldstreams charged the enemy at the point of the bayonet eleven times. At each time the Russians crossed bayonets and fought fiercely, but were slaughtered like sheep by our gallant fellows. After the battle, the three battalions of Guards barely mustered 1,000 effective men. After the Guards, the 2nd and 4th divisions have suffered most. The 95th and 30th Regiments are the principal sufferers, having lost most of their officers and men. The unfortunate 23rd Regiment of the light division, which was so terribly cut up at Alma, has again lost heavily. The 20th and 55th Regiments of the 4th division have lost many men and officers, as well as the 41st, 47th, and 49th Regiments of the 2nd division. 1111 The Russian force engaged during the day was variously estimated at from 45,000 to 70,000 men, and their loss in the battle from 9,000 to more than *20,000. It is stated that nearly 8,000 bodies were found and buried around the English lines. If that number is accurate, the aggregate amount of men put hors de combat muNt have exceeded 120,00). According to some accounts, General Dannenberg commanded the enemy, but others state that the Russians were led by Generals Liprandi and Osten- Sacken, while Dannenberg himself, together with a force of 30,009 or 40,000 men, are still on their route to reinforce the Russian army. Neither the Grand Duke Constantine nor Prinoe Alexander were actually present on the field. They remained all day on the slope of the heights on the north side of the harbour, beyond Inkermann. By the order of the Grand Duke, no less than five dis • tinct divisions were sent up to try and maintain the footing which they had got on the heights of our camp above lnkermann. As each division failed to effect their object for more than a few minutes, the Grand Duke assailed the commanders with the most opprobrious terms, reproaching them as cowards and traitors to their country, and com pelling them to return to the attack. The conduct of the Russians was infamous. They behaved with barbarous cruelty to our wounded: every fallen man was bayonetted. One English otticer was wounded slightly, but unable to leave the spot with his men, as they retired for a while overwhelmed. When our troops recovered the ground, they found the poor fellow stabbed all over and stripped! A Russian major was captured at the close of the battle. He had been observed on many occasions stabbing and hacking our unfortunate wounded with his sword, and directions were given to a party of the Guards to take him alive, if possible. This they effected, after a slight resistance on his part, and after his having offered in vain a bribe of some gold pieces to our men to allow him to escape. He VIM to be tried by court-martial, and the depositions and sentence forwarded to the Russian commanders. if they consented to punish him he would be given up to them. If they declined to interfere he would be shot, as the laws of civilised warfare denounce the killing of defenceless wounded as murder. On the 6th a flag of truce was sent into Sebastopol. The bearer of it carried a letter from the allied com manders to the commander-in-chief of the Russian forces. It stated that General Canrobert and Lord Raglan had seen with detestation and disgust the merciless cruelty with which the enemy bayonetted our wounded upon the field, and requested to know if the war was to be carried on in this barbarous and exterminating manner, as then the allies would know how to act? All the wounded were brought 'down from the camp on the oth to Balaklava, and were sent without delay on board the following vessels, bound for Scutari :—Orinoco, Jason, Golden Fleece, Medway, and Colombo. Sir George Brown is recovering. There is no truth in the report that the gallant general has had his arm amputated. He was struck on the breast by a musket-ball, which glanced off and passed through his arm. Fortunately the bone of the arm VIM not touched, and the wound itself is so slight that the brave old general flattered himself that within a fortnight he would be able once more to resume the command of his beloved light division. Whilst the battle was raging along the British lines, a column of Russians issued from Sebastopol and attacked the French batteries, marching up to the very trenches. When arrived et this point, the French force in the redoubts gave them one fearful . volley, and the Russians, wheeling round, fled for the town. _ _ Our allies appear to have been taken by surprise in the sortie upon their trenches. The Russians had got possession of Nos. I and 3 batteries, and spiked the guns before the French were in a con dition to oppose them. They were then attacked, and, after au obstinate defence, driven otf with much slaughter. The French followed up their victory into the centre of the town, but having no reserve, and not knowing the result of the attack on our lines, they retired again. The Turks did not fire a shot throughout the day of the sth. Subsequently they were employed in throwing up works on the ridge where the chief assault took place, and which were to be mounted with heavy cannon. The history of the two following days is briefly recorded by the Times correspondent:— Nov. IL—Two hundred Russian prisoners were brought in last night to head-quarters camp. They were badly wounded many of them, and several died during the night. A council was held to-day at Lord Raglan's, where General Canrobert, General Bosquet, and Sir E. Lyons assisted, which lasted several hours. At four o'clock Lord Raglan attended the funerals of General Sir G. Cathcart, of Brigadier Goldie, and of General Strangways. They were buried, with eleven other officers, on Cathcart's-hill. At the same time fourteen