The Press. — London, England, 1854-12-02 00:00:00

DECEMBtR 2, 1854. THE WAR. The Russian advices continue to report that " nothing extraordinary " has occurred at Sebas topol. The latest dates thus received extend down to the 20th ult. On the 18th Prince Menschikoff reports that he had reconnoitred the position of the allies, and adds that the " siege works were sus pended, and the bombardment, which had been gra dually slackening, had almost entirely ceased." The allies are reported to be much in want of ammuni tion, and consequently obliged to restrict the fire of their guns. General Liprandi's corps is stated to have retired to Baktchi•Serai. The direct advices from the camp are much in arrear. An hurricane had prevented the arrival of the periodical courier from Balaklava at Constanti• nople when the Egypt us sailed on the 15th. Accord ing to the intelligence brought by that steamer, how ever, the Russians, on the 13th, continued fortifying the houses in the interior of Sebastopol; but were likewise preparing the means of retreating into the fortifications of the north, by establishing two bridges of boats. The Moniteur states The Minister of War has received despatches from Pens, dated November 18, conveying the following news from the General-in•Chicf of the army of the East to the 13th of that month. The enemy, beaten at liikertuann, whose losses were still more considerable than General Canrobert had stated, had not obstructed the operations of the siege, which proceeded. The weather had become bad, but the health of the troops was excellent, and the spirit which animated them admirable. Reinforcements had begun to arrive. The commander-in-chief had already received a great many men from Africa and from France. I,*lo men of General Mayran's advanced guard had landed on the 13th. A Constantinople letter of the 13th says : Nearly 1:1,000 men have been added to the allied army Within ten days. The French receive 400 or 600 men by every mail steamer, and their total addition to their forces during the present month cannot be short of 10.000 men. The British have received the 40th and 02nd Regiments, which, with draughts from various depots, make a total of 2,800 men. A letter from Sebastopol of the 12th in the Prease states that the army had been employed for some days past in making a line of circumvallation, by which it would be completely surrounded and secured against all attacks from the enemy. Skirting the Inkermann valley, and in advance of the right of our position on which the attack of the enemy was principally directed on the sth, a strong entrenchment has now been thrown up, and five-inch mortars have been placed there in position. In addi tion to the battery of five eight•inoh mortars, the French are in the course of constructing a magnifi cent square redoubt, which, when completed, will mount fifteen guns. Two French regiments have encamped near Balaklava, which is constantly me naced with a night attack. These regiments will prove awelcome addition to the Highlanders and marines, to whom tl►e safety of the place has been confided. The French pickets scour the valley of the Tschernaya, and venture even into the ruins of Inkermann. The Russians have withdrawn their camp to a consider able distance from the ground they occupied before the late battle, probably to conceal their future movements. It is stated that Omer Pacha has received orders to suspend his projected operations against Bessa rabia, and to send 20,000 men to Balaklava. The narrative of siege operations is brought down to the evening of the 13th, in letters published by the Chronicle, from its correspondents in the camp. The following are extracts : Nov. 12.—The weather, which for the last four days had been showery and disagreeable, broke out on the evening of the 10th into a frightful gale of wind. The different encampments suffered extremely, most particularly that of the marines stationed on the hills beyond Balaklava, and where many of the tents were scattered to the wind. At seathe scene was fearful. Outside of lialaklava the vessels were dragging their anchors, and in the greatest alarm of being wrecked on the gigantic cliffs against which the sea was lashing with fury. Guns of distress were repeatedly fl'ed, until the 4gan►emnon hoisted the signals "No assist.- an,:e can be granted." The hurricane arose at seven, and d away almost suddenly at midnight. Had the storm continued through the night, the loss of life and shipping would have been awful. As it is, nu calamity has fortu nicely to be recorded. Inside the harbour of Belaklava the wind was raging equally severely, and several small accidents occurred to the ships' rigging. Since that day we have had a succession of showers, which have rendered the r ,ads almost impassable, and have increased beyond measure the difficulties expeiienced by the commissariat in bringing up supplies. To the poor Russian soldiers who are on the heights of Inkermann, and also to the rear of Balaklava, this weather must be extremely dismal, for they are but very scantily provided with tents, and the huts which they hid commenced building have been demolished by the wind and rain. Colonel Daveney, the commandant of Balaklava, has recently ordered all the soldier's wives and widows who had established themselves in that place, to embark on board ship without delay. Their general THE PRESS. misconduct had obliged the commandant to adopt this measure Nov. 13.—The rain and wind continue without inter ruption. The roads are in a fearful state, almost impassa ble for the commissariat arabas. In some places the mud is above the knees. In the camp everybody is, of course, extremely uncomfortable. There is, however, some con solation in knowing that the Russians are in a still more pitiable condition. Being upon higher ground than our they are more exposed to the merciless wind now raging, and are, besides, almost to a man, without tents or a covering of auy kind. If our commissariat experience difficulty in transporting supplies over the short distance which separates the divisional encampments from Bala• klava, in what a position must the Russians be. who are dependent on the regular arrival of large convoys of provi sions collected over the whole of the Crimea? The campaign has been a glorious one. Two brilliant victories have proved the great superiority of the allies. Owing, however, to the lateness of the season, which has rendered any general assault upon the town %inadvisable, it has been decided to winter in the Crimea, and open the campaign next spring with large reinforcements on a grand scale. The whole Crimea will be swept of every armed Russian. A sufficient force will maintain the lines of Perekop, and Sebastopol will be completely invested. The garrison, who will be driven from necessity in the winter to consume any stores of provisions which the place may coutain,will be forced to surrender in the spring from star vation, or the town will be carried by assault. The Russian reinforcements which may arrive in the winter will prove more a source of weakness than of strength. They will only consume provisions, without being able to render any essential assistance. Four days after the battle of Inkermann Lord Raglan issued the following general order : Head•quarters before Sebastopol, Nov. 9. The Commander of the Forces returns his thanks to the officers and troops for their conduct in the battle of Inkermann on the sth inst., in which, aided by their gal lant allies, they succeeded in completely repulsing and de feating the enemy, by whom they were attacked in very superior numbers, with masses of artillery, both of field and position, as well as of ship guns. The army have thus taken advantage of another op portunity of distinguishing themselves, and of showing that, under all circumstances, and in presence of every difficulty, their determination to devote their best energies to the service of their country is still the same. On this occasion the troops had the good fortune to be associated with and supported by a division of the French army, and they will join in the expression of gratitude and admiration for their splendid advance at • most critical moment. The loss sustained both by the French and English armies on this trying day cannot be too strongly deplored; and while he deeply regrets having been deprived of the services of so many valuable officers and men, it is par ticularly painful to Lord Raglan to announce that among those who fell, nobly discharging their duty, were Lieu tenant-General the Hoo. Sir George Cathcart, Brigadier- General Goldie, Brigadier-General Strangways (all officers of distinction), and Sir George Cathcart esvecially, being one whose conduct elsewhere had particularly attracted the gracious notice of her Majesty, and the attention of the country By order, (Signed) J. B. B. ESTCOURT, Adjutant-General. GREAT STORM IN THE BLACK SEA. The Russian despatches have repeatedly asserted the occurrence of terrible storms in the Black Sea, accompanied by severe loss and damage among the allied shipping. These statements are unfortunately confirmed by telegraphic advices from Constantinople, which leave no room to hope that the fleets have escaped serious damage, though it is still oelieved that the accounts of disaster are exaggerated. On the 20th ult. the following despatch was transmitted : Thirty-two English transports were lost on the 14th. The Prince and ,sea Nymph foundered, with all on board. Three small steamers have been stranded. The Sansparril was driven on shore ; machinery on fire. The Britannia has five feet of water in her hold. The Agamemnon was stranded, but got afloat again. The Sampson's machinery is damaged. The Retribution was saved by throwing her guns overboard, the Terrible has also escaped. The Henri Qualre and P luion are both lost. A Turkish ship-of-the line lost her masts near Eupatoria. The following extract from a letter written by an officer in the French steam-frigate Sans, describing the hurricane in the Black Sea appears in a Paris journal: — We were preparing to quit the squadron of Admiral Brag, which was lying at anchor in the Bay of Kamiebeh, but the weather grew so boisterous, and the barometer fell so much, that we deemed it pnident to postpone our departure. At last, at half past eleven o'clock, pm., taking advantage of a change, we weighed anchor. Everything went on well at first ; the frigate was teased about, but she made good her advance, when, at the distance of about two leagues from Cape Chersonese, we were assailed by a gale of wind such as I have never experienced since I passed Cape Horn. You will be enabled to form an idea of the rolling of our ship when I inform you that one of our thirty-pounders at the :orecaitle, although strongly lashed to the deck, broke from its fastenings, and was pitched overboard as if it was a broomstick. We had serious apprehensions for the howitzer of 120 and the gun of lio, but fortunately they held fast. I bring you good news from the great siege. The courage of the troops and the fleet has increased with their difficulties. The Russians fight with desperation ; but in our army, as well as in that of the allies, there is not a man who is not aware of the magnitude of the mis Lion he has to accomplish, and there exista between them a generous ri valry of zeal and sentiments of honour which cannot but terminate in success. 1133 The Henry IV. was s noble French sailing two decker ; the Pluton, a six-gun French paddle-steamer. All their crews were saved. The value of the losses sustained by the British shipping is thus estimated by the Times : The Euxine has vindicated its old ing in one night an amount of damage .. up for the unusually favourable weather hitherto enjoyed on its waters. The fearful, but, if it was to come, it could better time, and in this respect we may favoured by Providence. 11 e are not awe soldier has perished in the storm, that ship-of-war has foundered, or that even munition intended for the army has bee it appear that the siege operations need day longer in consequence. Yet the reads awful indeed Thirty-two English wrecked in that one night., with what loaf yet appear. The Prince and the Sea we grieve to say, with all on board. Mi. steamers were stranded. The vessels escape. The Sanspareil, reported to be sailers and steamers in the fleet, went Dundas had live feet of water in his flag-ship, the Britannia. Admiral Lyons could not keep the famous .4paineinnon off the shore, though she escaped, it appears, without serious injury. The engiues of the Swap:cn were damaged The Retribution saved herself at the expense of her guns. The Terrible escaped altogether. On the French side the damage done was even more serious, but soon told. The Henri Quatre, a ship-of-thedine, was lost, as also the Pluton, probably its attendant steamer. For these details we are indebted to the electric telegraph, and should have had them earlier but for the damage done by the same storm to the wires east of Vienna. It is to be feared that many men have been lost, or fallen into the hands of the enemy. So far it would appear, from the universality date disaster, that no one is to blame, and that on such a coast it would be impossible to keep a sailing vessel afloat, or even a steamer, unless in very good trim. The loss of vessels alone, apart front the crews and their cargoes, is some thing very considerable. Only a few months ago the British Government gave 105,0001. for the Prince, so that her loss may be set down as not far from 150,0001. The thirty-two shipwrecked transports could not be worth less than 5,0001. a-piece. Including all casualties, here is the loss of nearly half a million at a time when, as we were reminded yesterday, we are still flattering ourselves we can keep the expenditure within the national income. The career of the Prince is comprised within the war. She was bought new in the summer, and was sent with French troops to the Baltic. Immediately on her return she was ordered to the Black Sea, with ammunition and stores. She lay for a long time near Gravesend, receiving gunpowder from every quarter, in such quantities as seemed to exhaust all the stores. She also took in an immense quantity of' shot and shell, beds, blankets, warm clothing for the troops, and medical stores for the hospitals. Here was a prize that the Emone might well be proud of, for never was so precious and miscellaneous a cargo committed to its mercies. By that splendid caprice which has regu- lated so many of the preparations for the war, it would appear that the stores were laid at the bottom of the ship, and the shot and shells, with the gunpowder at the top. Accordingly, when the Prince arrived at Constantinople, where medical stores, bedding, clothing, and everything a man wants for comfort and recovery were grievously re quired, the medical authorities were told that there was a vast quantity of these things, but that they lay under a mountain of heavy combustibles. So the sick and wounded had to do without, and the Prince went on. It is hoped, and indeed believed, that she did land the chief part of her cargo at Balaklava, where she was seen by an officer on the 7th in the act of uploading. Unless, however, she also landed there her medical and other stores, they have gone to the bottom, and the hoepitaki of Scutari are as ill off as ever. The Prince took out 1,500 troops and a large quantity of ammunition. These she landed safely on the 7th tilt., a week before the disastrous gale. The commander was Captain Goodall, who formerly commanded the Calcutta. Most of the crew went from Southampton to join her in London, from which port she sailed. THE RUSSIAN PLAN OF BATTLE. The Debate has an interesting article by Colonel St. Ange, descriptive of the battle of Inkermann. The writer states that the plan of the Russians, which was prepared by the Emperor Nicholas him self, was to take the height to the right of the English, then to descend like a torrent on the siege works, to cut off the communications of the besiegers with Balaklava, and to take in reverse the line of circumvallation, whilst General Liprandi, advancing by the road of Balaklava, should make a junction with the assailants. If, it says, this great and able manteuvre had succeeded, the combined army, at tacked in the rear, would have been forced to abandon the siege works, and to light its way through the enemy's army to reach Balaklava and the Bay of Kamisch. The Debats then says that, in execution of this plan, the height to the right of the English be came the key of the position ; and, after briefly de scribing the terrible combats which were sustained for the possession of it, it shows that a great fault was committed in not having that height properly fortified. The article concludes with the ft Bowing remarks, which Scorning from an experienced soldier) are worth attention : Entrenchments in the field have an importance and utility which every one understands ; but, in order to fulfil their object, they must present to the enemy an obstacle no 111.. character by inflict- e which almost makes rather our fleet has e calamity indeed is Ald hardly COW° at a nay fairly say we are , aware that a single that a single Britiah even any of the am- been lost. Nor does Eked be suspended one the list of casualtiell glish transports were loss of life does not ea Nymph foundered, Three smaller British , essels °twar did not be one of the worst ent ashore. Admiral -