The Press. — London, England, 1855-06-02 00:00:00

514 cnrred in the different hospitals. The weather is still nn broken, and we have it very warm now. Nothing of great moment has occurred during the night. The Sardinians continue to a►rive. The Tiny, correspondent writes on the evening of May 15: The active operations of the siege are suspended for a time; our batteries are complete, our works finished, but the armament of them is not yet accomplished. Even the French are tired of a useless cannonade, and there has not been much firing for the last two nights. When the third bombardment may begin it is impossible for me to say, but at present no one pretends to indicate the period of its occurrence. It is rumoured that another expedition may be expected shortly, inasmuch as the Sardinians are im patient to do something, and orders have been issued to our officers to provide themselves with the regulation number of bit animals, which will be furnished to them by the land transport corps. The Sardinians are accumu lating at Balaklava daily. Two or three steamers arrive every, four•aud•twenty hours laden with those excellent and soldierlike troops. They land all ready for the field, with horses, carts, &c. Their transport cars are simple, strongly made, covered vehicles, not unlike a London bread cart, painted blue, with the words " Armata Sarda" in black letters, and the name of the regiment to the service of which it belongs. The officers are well mounted, and every one admires the air and carriage of the troops, more especially of the " Itersaglieri" (Chasseurs), and the eye is attracted by their melodramatic head dress—a bandit looking hat, with a large plume of black cock's feathers in the side. The officers of the corps wear a plume of green ostrich feathers. lieneral de la Marmora and his staff have arrived, and Lord Raglan has received him with marked consideration. There are two fine Sardinian steam frigates in Balaklava harbour, which came full of troops ; and the Europa, Ckopatra, Ottawa, Pedestrian, Tamar, Jec., have also arrived, so that there must be at least t m thousand Sardinians in the Crimea at present. Those nocturnal frights which went on so briskly last week have ceased for the present. Although our losses were not very heavy we were generally deprived of the ser vices of the best men. The old soldiers would go to the front and were knocked over, and in that respect our losses were serious. The enemy are repairing and strengthening their batteries, and are busy throwing up new works inside the town itself. It is not correct to say that there are any earthworks about Sebastopol with tiers of guns in them; indeed it would not be possible to construct earthworks with guns placed one above the other in them. The ex pression applies rather to the fact that there are some batteries formed on the slopes of hills, and that the in trenchmenta rise uplone inside the other, so that the inner one is higher up on the hillside than that in front. of it. The camp of the enemy at the north side is now double the size it was a short time back, but there do not appear to be many troops in the tents, and some people think that the tents have been pitched as another ruse in order to deceive us as to their strength. On the 18th the writer adds : It is currently reported to-day that an extensive change in the disposition of our troops will be made very shortly, and that a strong expeditionary corps d'armie will be des patehed against the enemy on the north side of the Tscher naya. The report is, that the light division, under Sir George Brown, and the regiments under Sir Colin Camp bell, will take the field in conjunction with a French and Sardinian corps ; that the fourth division, under Sir John Campbell, will be moved down to defend Balaklava and the works outside it, aided by the few Turks who re main and Vinois' Brigade, and that a French carps will march up and occupy the camp of the fourth division be fore Sebastopol. The French are landing large masses of men at Kamiesch every day. The greater part by far of the Sardinian troops have already reached the Crimea ; and, although our force has been diminished by the withdrawal of the Turks to Eupatoria, there is no doubt expressed by those competent to judge of such operations, that we have an army sufficiently strong to maintain our lines be fore the town, and at the same time to meet any force the Russians can bring against them in the field, if properly handled, and led with the requisite boldness and prudence. The weather has been so hot for the last few days that fears may be reasonably entertained of the results of lengthened marches or extreme exertion in the sun ; in the trenches the temperature is stifling and the atmo. sphere unwholesome. Su far as lam aware, the men still wear the same coats and trousers which they had in the winter, nor has there been, to the best of my belief, any issue of summer clothing. The excitement of a march would, however, be very beneficial to the troops, provided they were not overworked, and that they were saved from the outbreak of the terrible maladies which devastated our armies last summer. The possession of the Tachernaya will soon become of consequence to us, were it only for the want of water. I am credibly informed that the rain which fell within the last week is of most unusual occur rence at this time of year, and that such a supply of water is an exceptional circumstance which makes the heart of all the Southern Crimes glad in time of peace, and fills the farmers with joyful gratitude to Heaven. Henceforth, till the month of July, we can expect no rain. There will not be a drop of water from the sky to fill our wells and watercourses for months to come, and the fears I expressed several weeks ago with respect to a scarcity more terrible in its effects to Mall and beast than famine itself are becoming more and more reasonable as the fierce hot sun day by day bakes the steppes and ravines of the plateau on which we are encamped. The consumption of water by an army of 180,000 men, and by tens of thousands of camp followers, by myriads of cattle, and by beasts of burden, may be readily conceived to be very great, and to increase as the heat does, just in pro portion as the means of meeting it are diminished by the same cause. Some feeble attempts have been made to THE PRESS. construct dams and form reservoirs at the camps, and some efforts have also been made to bore artesian wells, but I am not aware that any great success has attended the latter enterprise, and I am certain that the former has been very imperfectly carried out. Major Brandling, of the I troop, constructed some good troughs near Karanye. Colonel Harding, with ampler means, has made a very creditable reservoir at the entrance to Balaklava, and there have been isolated instances here and there of similar foresight, but to the best of my knowledge nothing has been done to provide water for "the army "—that thirsty monster, with 200,000 or 240,000 mouths and stomachs, who will soon lie sweltering and gasping beneath a broiling sun, worn out by exertion, and maddened by want of this vital necessary. The efforts to bore artesian wells have not been successful, and Mr. Upton penetrated several hundred feet through the solid rock beneath the soil of his farm, and failed to find any trace of water. The number of wells on the plateau itself indicates sufficiently the extremity to which the very few inhabitants must be reduced now and then in hot dry seasons. Around the farmhouse in which Lord Raglan dwells there are no less than six deep wells, and it is only wonderful that they have stood so long, although resupplied recently by the drainage consequent upon the saturation of the whole plateau by heavy rains. There has: been some weak, bald chat about " the fleet supplying the army with water." The bulk of our army is ten or twelve miles from the anchorage of the fleet, and water is one of the most difficult articles to carry known to us. Where are our tanks, our water-bags, our transport to supply us from Kamiesch ? Above all, where is our transport? Difficulties have already arisen respect. ing the carriage of rum from Balaklava to the front, be cause it is in puncheons, and not in smaller vessels. And, then, suppose some accident occurs to the fleet or to the distilling apparatus ! Is the fleet to remain here to manu facture water for the army? Are we, in sober truth, to be left to take our chance of dying of thirst in summer, just as we were drowned by wet in winter? Even supposing we had possession of the Tschernaya, it would be far to carry the water up steep hills 21)0 or 300 feet above its bed to the plateau at the east of which it flows, and the source would remain in possession of the enemy. This is a vital question, if the army is to remain here. The writer of a private letter states, on the 14th ult..— We have had terrible work here. Last night the 18th Regiment fired on the 08th by mistake. The Russians made an attack on the advance batteries and were repelled by the 68th and Rifles; the Russians returned in a short time with a reinforcement, again attacked the batteries, and a fearful struggle took place. The reserves were then sent up—the 9th, 18th, and 44th—and when they got into the advanced trench both sides were so covered with mud that we could not tell Russians from English; so the re serve opened fire, but it was unfortunately on the poor 68th ; they then charged on them, when they found out their mistake, but not till a good many of the 68th had fallen; however, the Russians had it hot and warm after wards. The poor fellows who are wounded in advance of the trench are obliged to lie there all day till dark, as the Russians tire on any of our people who go to bring them in. Many of the wounded might recover if brought in, but they lie and bleed to death. The Russians make sor ties daily and nightly, as since General Jones came up we are pushing the works close up to the town ; so the work is very hard upon our poor fellows, often being three or four nights without rest. THE CHOLERA. The reappearance of cholera in the camp is offi cially ratified by a despatch from Lord Raglan, con taining a report from Dr. Hall, the Inspector-Gene ral of the Hospitals, and published in the Gazette. It must, however, be remembered that later advices received by telegraph announce the diminution of the epidemic. Lord Raglan writes : Before Sebastopol, May 15. have the honour to inclose a letter from the Inspector- General of Hospitals, forwarding the weekly report on the sick of the army under my command. I deeply regret to have to draw your lordship's attention to the fact that cho lera has reappeared here, that twenty men have died, and that fifty-two men were yesterday labouring under the fatal disease. The troops have been free from it for several months, and I was in hopes that we should have had no return of it. General Canrobert informs me that it had never ceased to prevail in the French army in a greater or lesser degree. RAGLAN. ( Inclosure.) Head-quarters, Camp before Sebastopol, May 14.-1 have the honour to report on the weekly state of sick of the army serving in the Crimea, from the 13th to the 12th inst., and to observe that the following are the proportions, which are extremely moderate, viz.:—Ratio of admissions to strength during the week, 3 . 92 per cent.; ratio of deaths to strength during the week, o'2o per cent.; but I regret to have to add that since the 12th instant spasmodic cho lera has considerably increased, and as many as eighteen deaths and fifty-two cases under treatment have been re ported within the last twenty-four hours. The fourth division, including the Buffs and 71st, the second and the light divisions, with B G and P batteries of artillery, have suffered most; but as yet the disease can hardly be said to exist in the cavalry, first and third divi sions, or in the siege train. This exemption, however, there is reason to apprehend, will not, be of any very long duration. Hitherto the disease has chiefly attacked new comers, and many of the cases have occurred when the men were either actually in the trenches or immediately after their return from duty in them. This may have been owing to the combined causes of fatigue and local miasma, but to neither in particular ; for we find the men of the B G and P batteries, who never go into the trenches at all, and who SAttitiiity, are not overworked, have suffered neatly as much as any others. All the men attacked in theta, with I believe one exception, had recently arrivetitin the Crimea. In the P battery, two of the men attacked had only just landed; one, I think, had been about twenty-four and the other thirty. six hours on shorn when they were attacked, and in both the disease followed intemperance. KERTCLI AND YENIKALE. What is called the Sea of Azoff is in reality nothing more than a vast pond or gulf, noted for its shallowness, and united to the Black Sea by the Strait of Yenikale. The Sea of Azoff is inaccessible to what would be properly called vessels of war ; it is defended on the south by Kertch and Yenikale, and on the north by Taganrog and Azoff. It will be now no longer traversed, as it has hitherto been, by a multitude of small vessels, conveying troops and provisions for Sebastopol, for it is without doubt part of the plan of the allied commanders to send in a number of their own vessels and maintain the command of the whole sea. Kertch is a small town, the chief place of the peninsula of that name. It is remarkable for its com manding position on the Strait of Yenikale. Its roadstead is fine, and it is celebrated for its fine museum of antiquities, medals, sculpture, ihc., found in the neighbourhood. There are several constructions of enormous size near it, which are known by the name of the Houses of the Cyclops. Yeni kale is a small town, but important on account of its citadel, which commands the strait, and which has always been highly considered by the Russians as a fortress. The dis tance from Yenikale to Kertch is about nine miles, across a verdant plain. Kertch is completely built of stone, and the houses are handsome. It contains a population of about 10,000 souls. It was a place of only slight importance when it was ceded by the Porte to Russia, in 1774, but it soon after partly recovered its original splendour, to the detri ment of Theodosia, the ancient Kaffa. All the commerce carried on at Theodosia was removed by the Russian Go vernment to Kertch, where all vessels bound to the Sea of Azoff were compelled to undergo a quarantine of four days.. The larger vessels had their cargoes brought to them in lighters from Taganrog, or from Rostof, but those of lighter draught of water crossed the bar and loaded at Taganrog. On their return, they were obliged to transfer half their cargoes at Yenikale into lighters, and to reship it at tertch, after having passed over the shallows. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the commerce of Kertch and of the Sea of Azoff rapidly increased, and in 1801 not fewer than 1,0011 vessels entered the Sea of Azoff. KAIIIESCH. Preparations seem to be making by the French for a permanent occupation of Kamiesch, quite irrespec tive of the result of the siege of Sebastopol, or the future fate of that fortress. The Moniteur says. : The last despatches from the Crimea announce that the fortifications intended to protect Kamiesch advance rapidly towards completion. This curious particulanty of a forti fied place, created in the immediate vicinity of a besieged town, and during the siege itself, is not without precedent, and one of the most remarkable is without doubt the con struction of Santa Fe by Ferdinand and Isabella, while they were besieging Granada in 1491. The propriety of fortify ing the Bay of Kamiesch was long since decided on, and at the commencement of the present year the Emperor called the attention of the general-in-chief to this impor tant object ; the severity of the weather, however, and the more pressing exigencies of the siege operations did not allow the works b€ing commenced as soon as was wished. Thanks to the arrival of the numerous reinforcements. lately received by the allied army, it is now carried on with great activity, and will he soon completed. Eamiescir is at the present time a French port, the importance of which will increase with the extension given to the opera tions in the Crimea. It was, therefore, essential that we should secure the possession of it by defensive works,. which henceforth leave the enemy no possibility of disput ing it with us. LORD RAGLAN is nicknamed in the Crimea, Jack Rag ; Canrobert, Robert Cant, because he can't take Sebastopol ; Lord Cardigan, Old Charge-again ; Lord Lucan, Old Look on ; General Scarlett, Blood and Ouns, because of his name and from his being always in the thick of the fight. The Russians are usually called Johnny Ruskies ; but, when they fight with unusual obstinacy, they are called Johnny Rustles. Ir is stated that Mr. J. W. Carmichael, the dis tinguished marine-painter, formerly of Newcastle- on- Tyne, has been commissions' by the Lords of the , Admiralty to proceed to the Baltic and join the fleet there, for the purpose of taking views of that sea,. and of such operations as may occur in connection with the present war. A LETTER from Berne of the 24th, in the Post Ampt Gazette, says :—" The recruiting for the Anglo-Swiss legion is going on with great activity. A number of recruits are found, particularly in this city and neighbourhood, where there are many young men out of employment, and who desire nothing better than to enter a foreign service. Seven workmen from one establishment have left together for Sele stadt, the place of rendezvous. Eleven hundred recruits have already left for that place, and it is. probable that the 3,000 Swiss calculated on will soon be enrolled." THE EMPRESS OF RUSSIA has directed a bureau to be opened at the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, where will be received, in her name, gifts of money, provisions, lint, &c., intended for the succour of the combatants at Sebastopol. THE last letters from Bombay announce that the 4thpragoons was about to start for the Crimea.