The Press. — London, England, 1854-09-23 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 23, 1854. part of the allied forces. If this be so, the Kars army may probably be turned to some account, for even under its present management it will at any time be able to give oniplo3raent to top or twelve thousand Russians. ARRANGEMENTR OF THE EXPEDITION AGAINST THE CRIMEA. LATX ad vices have eoptitiped most important intelli gence on the arrangerpetits under which the British part of the allied forces would carryout their great apd terrible undertaking. Some points remained to be decided, but the general plan of attack would be as follows :- First wdl come the little steam -tugs Sharki, Varna, Cir cassian, Danube, Brenda, Fig my, and another', in a line parallel with the beach, and in the order indicated : they are to tow the transports and the large boats full of troops. Next will advance the line of the first division parallels to that of the tugs, in thefollowing order, from left to right :- Transport No. 50. the Courier, with the 19th Regiment on board; transpert No. 78, the Orieql, with the 83th Regi ment on board (horses and men) ; steamer Victoria, with the 7th and 23rd Fusilier Regiments ou board. Next, No. 21 transport, Pride of the Ocean, with the reserve ammuni tion; No. 44, the df egera, with 77th Regiment; No. 43, No. 42, the .lodge, with 33rd Regiment; No. 89, with Royal Horse artillery ; No. 98, with the same ferce; her Majesty's steamer Fury ; No. 30 ; No. 60 ; the Emperor steamer, with BrigadierCodrington and sta ff , Captain Mac donell, aide-de-camp to Sir George Brown, &c. Sir George Brown, attended by Captain Whitmore and Captain Pearson, will proceed to the scene of operations on board her Majesty's ship Agamemnon, Sir E. Lyons Admiral in command. On looking at the above arrangement for the light divi sion, it will be observed that the line of the light division consists of fifteen vessels. Of these five are steamers, the remaining ten are sailing-vessels. In proceeding towards their destination the line will, of course, be at right angles to the beach, each steamer taking two transports in tow. Thus, for example, on leaving Baltachik the Victoria steamer will tow transports 50 and 78, and thus will lead the line ; the lilegera, following No. 78, will tow the trans ports 21 and 44 ; following N 0.44, the Andes will drag after her Nos. 43 and 42. After No. 42, the Fury will come towing No. 89 and 98 ; and the Emperor will bring up the rear with No. 30 and No. 60 transports after her. On approaching the shore sufficiently near to land, the steamer on the left flank will stop, and the whole line will gradually sweep round to the right, till it is parallel to the shore, instead of being at right angles to it. After the light division comes the line of the first division, under his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, as follows:- Transports No. 47 ; No. 23, with 79th Highlanders ; the Emes, with 42nd Highlanders on board; No. 19 ; No. 14, the Kangaroo, with Scotch Fusilier Guards ; No. 10; No. 7, the Souvenir, with Coldstream Guards ; No. 4 ; No. 3 ; No. 65 ; No. 67, the rosining, with the duke's staff. Next come the second division, commanded by Lieut tenant-General Sir D. L. h:vaus.-No. 84, with reserve ammunition; No. 51, the Yukon, with Brigadier-General Pennerather and staff and the 30th Regiment on board ; Nu. 88, No. 32, the H ydaspes, with Brigadier Adams and staff and 49th Regiment; No. 31, No. 91, the Ifelbourne ' with part of 41st Regiment and 47th Regiment on board, and medical o ffi cers ; No. 00, No. 8, and the City of London steamer, with Lieutenant:General Evans, Colbnel Wilbraham, Deputy-Adjutant-General, Captain Lane Fox, Deputy-Quartermaater-General, and the rest of the 41st Regiment, &c., on board. Next come the third division, commanded by Sir R. England.-Troop-ship Apollo, with 38th Regiment on board ; her Majesty's ship . Higitilyer, No. 6, and No. 8, with grand reserve of ammunition ; the siege train on board the Medway, No. 97 ; No. 90, the Cumbria, 50th Regiment ; No. 93 ; N0..28, with staff and lat Royals ' • the C_Pttini/hem, the Tynemoufh, 44th Regiment ; No. 53, 28th Regiment ; her Majesty 'a steamer Cyclops. The line pf the foprth division, under Sir George Cath. cart, will be disposed as follows :-Medical stores on board a transport. The Illoaritius, transport, will staff horses, No. 81 ; the Golden Fleece, with 21st Regiment on board ; No. 83 and Np. 57, with reserve ammunition on board ; the Aron, with the 63rd Regiment; No. 56 and No. 48, with reserve ammunition: the Colombo, with 20th Regiment on hoard ; No. 58, No. 37; the Orinoco, with the Ist battalion of Rifle Brigade. The fifth, pf Cavalry piyipion, commanded by the Earl of Lucia), will be thus dispOsed :-No 59 and No. 36, with engineer atores; the Jason, with 14th Light Dragoons ; NR. 2, with engineer stores; No. 85 , with Royal Horse Artillery; the Treat, with Heavy Cavalry, 4th Dragoons, &T.; with loyal Horse Artillery! No. 41), with Royal Horal/ ArtillPry ; the film/lama, with the greater portion of 14 lith Lancers and pf the Bth llusbars, I.ur4 Cafolo-1 4, Major-General Commanding Brigade of Li ht Cavalry ; 9P4 Oa; ott bPoril ; Np. bat 4004 board. BJ 4 o'o4, wo 40 1444 wen; on Last of all comes the siege train, as follows :—No. 49 and No. 54, the ,sielney, with battering-guns, ; No. 5 and No. 45, with the g ran d reserve magaz i nes ; and t h e Ausiraliats, with the siege train. A vast number of commissariat vessels and store ships will follow. From all we can hear, it is most probable that the Turks will be placed in the centre, that the English will take the left, and that the French will take the right of the line of operations. However, even the above programme is not to he received us final and unalterable. The arrangements for the conveyance of the troops to THE PRESS. their destination are of the largest midmost perfect eharae. ter, and when all the transports have united they will dis play to the gaze of the enemy an armada of no less than 64k1 vessels, covered and protected on every side by a fleet with a battery of 3,000 pieces of artillery, and manned by the bravest seamen in the world. What preparations our French allies are making we are not in a position to state, but believe they will not be able, notwithstanding every effort they may put forth, to move more than 21,000 men at present 'they make the most of their limited resources, certainly. They have a complete shore adutinistratiou for the fleet of transports, and their Direction di Port, with its officers and men inspecting every pier and regulating the moorings and movements of every little boat, is admirable in its way, but unfortunately there is a want of material to work upon. Their vessels are the sweepings of French anti Italian ports, schooners and brigs from Agde, Non. veils, Cette, Leghorn, Genoa, Basalt, &c. ; and, although they cram them as much as human nature and French soldiers can bear the process, they cannot carry the army, They must return, therefore, after they have landed one cargo to get the other; of the other hand, we have of fleet of transports of unparalleled magnitude, and the arrangements for their management are of corresponding excellence. So much for the order of sailing of the troop?. Next comes the naval disposition The arrangement and distinguishing marks of each division of these transports are as follows : First there is the fleet of the Light Division; distin guishing flag, checkered or remiervous flag at the fore ; commanding, W. Roy*, lt,N.; in his absence Lieutenant Oke, R.N., on board No. 89 transport. Steam-vessels, the Emperor, the Victoria, the Andes. Transports, Nos. 21, 39, 42, 43, 44, bO, 60, 78, 89, 98. First Diyision, bine triangular flag at the fore, Comman der Rawstorne, RS'.—Steam-vessels, the Twining, the Kangaroo, the Emu; transports, Nos. 3,4, 7, 10, 19, 23, and 47. Second Division, white triangular flag at the fore, Com mander Franklin, R.N., or in his absence Lieutenant Boyce, R.N., in No. 91 transport.—Steam-vessels, the City of London, the Melbourne, the Hyduspes ; transports, Nos. 31, 32, 51, 71, 82, 88, 90, and 91. Third Division, red triangular flag at the fore, Com mander W. Hoseason, R.N.—Steam-vessels, Apollo, High. flyer, Afethray, Cambria, Cotgingham, Tynemouth, and Cyclops. Transports, Nos. 6, 20, 97, 06, 9;1, 55. Fourth Division, red flag with white flag at the fore — Steamers Orinoco ' Colombo, Avon, Golden Fleece, Trans ports Nos. 0, 20, 37, 48, 50, 58, 59, 81, and 83. Fifth Division, blue, with red triangular flag at the fore, Lieutenant Dicken, gcommanding—Steam-vessels, Himalaya, Sit*, Jesus, Trent. Transports Nos. 1, 34, 40, 61, 85, 2, 36, and 59. Each of these divisions will have a detachment of the fleet to protect it ; but there is but little chance of any attempt being made against it. The Bombay, a fine Indianian of upwards of 1,300 tons burden, will be uses: as a hospitalship. There are at pre sent upwards of 40 I patients pn board. It would appear that the place of disembarkation has not yet been fixed on, for the very good reason that they will be landed where there is the least appearance of suc cessful opposition. Lord Raglan is close to a degree. He consults none of his generals, save, perhaps, that he takes into his confidence Sir George Brown, who knows how to keep a secret as well as his chief. When people at home read of councils of war being held at Varna they must not imagine that all the generals of division attend them. In fact, these conferences, at which no doubt large political and strategical considerations are held in view rather than the details of military operations, are usually confined to Lord Raglan, Admiral Sir E. Lyons, sometimes Admiral Dundas, if he happens to be at Varna, Sir George firown now and then, by invitation, Marshal St. Arnaud, Admiral Hamelin or Rear-Admiral Bruat, and General Caniobert. • If the couusels of the generals are not required, and if they are to he regarded merely as executive officers, per haps this is the only plan to be observed in conducting these deliberations; but it is very questionable whether it is a plan which conduces to promote an unison of feeling between the chief and his immediate subordinates, or whether it enables them to enter with alacrity into a campaign as to the object of which they are kept quite in the dark. However, nearly every one looks with confi. dence to the result, and places full reliance on Lord Raglan's soundness of head and clearness of judgment. It is probable that the landing will take place at a considers. ble distance from Sebastopol, and the patience of people at home who are hungering anti thirsting for "the fall of Sebastopol," will be severely tried, and the chances are a little against the incidents of its capture being ready by Christmas for repetition at Astley's. It is certain the Russians are in force at or near all our pet places of huid, lug ; 4nd, *loo4gh fiis is:. 1 , 7540# ipttrltfo4ll OA Ru h 3' SilliPS fen F flPte Dr th e heseti, it is scarcely to be expecle that, wit # else; H4eoor garrison of the town, we can be in a fit state to invest at once such a fortress as behiSOPPQL rumour, extensively circylated at Varna, but far from credible, is that the garrison of tnlessalias contrived to send a very strong reinforcement to the garrison of Sebastopol. The naval officers assert it is absurd kr say so, end that if any reinforcement was sent, it must have been despatched by land round to the neck of the isthmus; but there are many persons who nutlet on the truth of the story that these men were sent by sea while our fleet was at Ilaltsellik—that they gave the blockading squadron the slip by night, and that they were conveyed in the large shallow vessels and floats used for loading ships with corn at the Danubian ports, which, keepipi 44,444 awe, managed to evade our cruisers. 89a RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY. THE following interesting article, containing one or two important facts, is trout the Jour:6(a des Debuts:— " Baron Meyendorff, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Emperor of Russia to the Emperor of Austria, has just been replaced by Prince Gortachakoff, who previously discharged similar functions at the court of the King of Wurtemberg. The Vienna journals have informed us that M. du Meyendorff was received on the 4th of September in a private audience by the Emperor Francis Joseph, that be presented to him his letters of recal, and that he is pre paring to return in a very short time to tit. Petersburg. This news surprised no one. The recal of M. de DI eyendorff was announced several weeks ago, and it was not doubted but that the mission extraordinary, and apparently temporary, of Prince Gortachakutf was the prelude of his definitive nomination to the important post which the retreat of M. de Meyendorff rendered vacant. M. de Meyendorff enjoys among the Russian diplomatic corps an excellent reputation, founded on long and useful services: he is praised for his profound acquirements, his intelli gence, his skill, his devotedness to the interests and glory of his country, and for his deference to the will of his sovereign. M. de Meyendorff was assuredly one of the most dittiuguished agents possessed by the imperial Cour of St. Petersburg. lie has represented his Government at Vienna for nearly four years, having been accredited on the 20th of October, 1840. M. de Meyendorff witnessed the birth and growth of the Eastern question ; it was in some sort under his hand that the very numerous incidents were developed that have often changed the character of this question. It was he who specially directed the negotia tions the centre of which was in Vienna. The Emperor Nicholas treated him with peculiar favour. It is, never theless, to one of the recent gyrations of this great affair that M. de Meyendorff owes his disgrace through one of those reverses of fortune so common in Russia. " M. de Meyeudorff belongs to ono of those German families that have only become Russian since the conquest, of Peter the Great and the great Catherine, and which families the Emperor Nicholas, imitating in this respect the example of the Emperor Alexander, his predecessor and brotber,likes to employ ou missions to foreign Govern ments. To them he also willingly incrusts the carrying out of his policy—of course under his personal superinten dence. Thus M. de Medem is * Russian, of German ex traction, and so likewise the Chancellor of the Empire, M. de Nesselrode. who has been for forty years the Minister of Foreign Affairs. When Baron Meyendorff arrived at Vienna towards the end of the year IS6O, the remembrance, of the services rendered by Russia to Austria was still vivid, and although Prince Schwartzenberg, the Prime Minirt r, had partially revealed more than once a desire of embracing the first favourable opportunity in order to withdraw Aus tria from the influence of the St. Petersburg Cabinet, although he had pronounced that expression so often re peated since : ' The moment is not remote when Austria will astonish the world by the greatness of its ingratitude,' the relations between the two courts were facile and friendly, because the minister of the Emperor Nicholas knew that he could dend on the good wishes of the Emperor Francis Jose ph, and on the co-operation of Prince Metter nich, whose feelings were in general not very well disposed towards Prince Schwartzenberg. The death of this minister strengthened the credit of M. de Meyendortf, not only because he bad no longer to defend himself against a feeling of dislike that was incessant and always dangerous, but still more because he was connected with the new Minister of Foreign Affairs by a clues 'family tie, having married Miss Buol Seheuenstein, the new minister's sister. At tb*t time be conflict that was shortly to buret out el, Constantinople and drag Europe into the entenglemeete of war was pot foreseer). As soon as Russia raised these formidable questions by which all Europe has been moved, M. de Meyendorff bent his efforts to rendering more inti mate the alliance of the three Courts, and to securing at all events the neutrality of Austria and Prussia in every possible eventuality. He fancied he had succeeded, and he did not hesitate to give his sovereign the assurance of suc cess on his personal guarantee. The Emperor Nicholes asked for nothing more, and in fact this neutrality suilice4 him, because written cummunicalions from popdop Its reached him at the same time, declaring ' that there wee no reason to be uneasy about an alliance between France and England, one that was impossible, and which nobody wished to have mooted.' Abont this same period It de Meyendorff was itunnioned to St. Petersburg. The Em peror wished to discuss matters directly with him. That was the moment when he was most in favour. The Em: peror showed him such great satisfaction and such bound 7 less confidence, that alarm was felt for M. de Neste:ll-ode. The old Russian nobility took umbrage at it and siilea with the 014 Chaecellor. What were lq 184 tip reel design* of the Emperor 0 Rvsie?' Th 4; is a point. it , vvould be of great buiportauct liaje Wore light t4oyn npop. M. de Weyendorf wee pertemby pequablerl firth em ? ani 'doubtle i s he wag thinking of them when' ie wrote to his friends at ?uric lanidore and Berlin I have no pretension to prophesy, but quite simply I think I may say that th e geuerel plait e/ Europe will not last a year, and gist I,festorr # ifia; No shall see great events.: " N. de liclendmif had returned to Viapni, wherH found grco changes. lie camp to an esplanitttop wi Prince 'Metternich Take care,' said to him the o Chancellor ; ' from what T have just heard, I compreheed well that your Emperor wishes to go very far against Turkey ; let him reflect on it, and let him consider that the moment is not seasonable to make a breach by violence is this Government. Be persuaded that if lie does not let the East alone, the face of things will change over all Europe, and I should not like to be answerable for anything.' I regret to tell you; replied Y. Meyendorff, ' that the Evapprof 144111 thin. in a sag