The Press. — London, England, 1855-08-25 00:00:00

AUG. 25, 1855. By the judicious management of the officers of artillery, a steady fire was kept up during the whole of the following night. - The rocket-boats in the evening were again assembled, when the gun-boats were recalled, and proceeded succes sively in separate divisions. The first, under the direction of Captain Seymour, of the Pembroke, made excellent practice, at a distance of about two thousand yards from the fortress; the second, under the direction of Capt. Cald well, at a later period of the night, also succeeded in adding to the fires already burning ; but the glare of the flames exposing the boats to the view of the enemy, they main tained their ground, under a smart fire of bursting shells, with steady gallantry. Considering the extent of injury which had now been inflicted upon the enemy, and reflecting that few buildings of importance remained to be destroyed on the Island of Vargoe, and that those still standing upon Svartoe were at the extreme extent of our range, and in positions where no shells had yet reached them, 1 was of opinion that no pro portionate advantage was to be gained by continuing the fire during another day. l accordingly despatched Captain Seymour, of her Ma jesty's ship Pembroke, to communicate with Rear-Admiral Penaud, and, with the cordiality and ready concord which I have invariably experienced from that officer, arrange ments were immediately concerted, and orders given to cease firing after daylight. Little fire, except at the rocket. boats, had been returned by the enemy during the night, and it ceased almost entirely on his side before daylight, although the sea defences in general were little injured. It remains for me to transmit now for their lordships' information the inclosed reports of the proceedings of Captain Wellesley, of her Majesty's ship Cornwallis, with tut detached squadron to the eastward, on the gth instant ; and I beg you will inform their lordships that the troop on Druinsio having offered no resistance to the ships under the orders of Captain Yelverton, he returned to his former anchorage the same evening. Inclosed are the lists of casualties which have occurred in execution of the service which I have had the honour to detail, and 1 am thankful to say that they have been fewer than could possibly have been expected under the fire to which those who were engaged were repeatedly exposed. Some of the most severe injuries are those which unfor tunately occurred from explosions of the rockets in the boats of the Hea ti ng , and Vulture. _ . . . Their lordships ;ill observe that I abstain entirely from reports on the proceedings of the squadron under the com mand of Rear• Admiral Penaud, which will, no doubt, be fully and ably explained to his own Government; but I may be permitted to acknowledge my deep sense of the valuable co-operation they have afforded, and to express my admiration of the gallant conduct of those under his orders, and my warmest thanks for the curdial support which I have received. I have much satisfaction in reporting in the most fa vorable manner on the conduct of the officers, seamen, and marines under my command ; and I transmit for their lordships' information the list of the officers and others who were employed on the various detached services which occurred during the operations. My best thanks are due to Rear• Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, who has at all times afforded me the most ready From Commodore the Hon Frederick Pelham, Captain of the Fleet, l have received the most valuable support, and the energy and ability with which he has performed the important duties of his station have tended greatly to further the execution of the service, and demand my warmest. thanks. I am much indebted to Captain Ramsay, of her Majesty's ship Eurgalua. for his active and useful exertions, as well as to Captain Glasse, of the Vulture, arid Captain Vansittart, of the Magicienne, and to none more than to Captain Stewart, of her Majesty's ship Dragon, whose zeal and ready resource attracted my particular attention. The services allotted to Captain Wellesley, as well as those assigned to Captains Seymour, Hewlett, and Caldwell, were executed to my entire satisfaction ; and my best thanks are due for the assistance rendered by Captain Hall, of her Majesty's ship Exmouth, on several Late on the evening of the 10th instant, her Majesty's ship Merlin, under the command of Captain Suliven, struck upon an unknown rock on ground, which he had himself repeatedly examined while conducting me along the line of the mortar-vessels. No blame whatever can attach to this officer on the occa• sion, and I gladly avail myself of the opportunity which is thus afforded me of calling the especial attention of their lordships to the unwearied activity of this valuable officer. It is to the singular ability and zeal with which his arduous duties have been performed that much of the success of the operations of the fleet may be attributed ; and I trust that I may be permitted on this occasion to recommend to the especial notice of their lordships the services of Lieut. R. 11. Creyke, of that ship, whose conduct has been most favorably reported. My especial thanks are due to the officers and men of the Royal Marine Artillery for the mannsr in which their important duties have been performed. The cool and steady courage with which they continued to conduct the duties of their stations deserves the highest praise ; and I have much pleasure in calling their lordships' attention to the services of Captain Wemyss, as well as to those of Captains Lawrence and Schomberg, of that distinguished corps. Great praise is also due to the officers and erswc of the mortar vessels on the occasion. The admirable manner in which the officers in charge of gun-boats maintained their stations under fire, and the general activity of the crews of those vessels upon all occa sions, is deserving of the favorable notice of their lord ships; but in referring to the inclosed list of the officers employed, I am unwilling to particularise any, when all THE PRESS. have been highly deserving of their lordships' favour, and the gallant conduct of the crews has been conspicuous. R. S. Donnas. Admiral Penaud thus relates the share taken by the French squadron in the attack : On board the Tourvilk, off Sweaborg, August 11. Monsieur le Ministre,—As I had the honour ot Inform ing your excellency in my letter of the 7th of this mouth, Rear• Admiral Dundee and myself on Monday last presented ourselves before Sweaborg, with the combined squadron, intending to bombard that place. On the dth, at halt-past seven in the morning, six English bomb-ketches, each carrying one mortar, five French bomb•ketches, carrying two mortars, and a siege battery of four mortars of twenty seven centimetres, which during the six hours of darkness in the preceding nights 1 had placed on the islet of Abraham at 2,000 metres from the place, opened their fire against Sweaborg. am happy to report that this operation has been per fectly successful; it is not a mere cannonade that the squadrons have directed upon Sweaborg—it has been a real bombardment, the serious results of which have sur passed all my expectations. In less than three hours after we began firing bombs we could perceive how considerable were the ravages they were creating in the fortress. Numerous conflagrations broke out rapidly on several points at once, and we soon saw the flames rise above the dome of the church situated in the northern part of the isle East Svartoe. This church was, so to speak, the sole monument which seems to have been entirely respected on the isles of Vargoe and Svartoe by our projectiles. Four terrible explosions were speedily heard; the fire had reached magazines filled with gun powder and munitions of war. The two last explosions especially were formidable; they must have caused the enemy enormous losses both in men and materiel. For several minutes we heard the detonations of the bombs and shells, which covered the sea-board with fragments of every description. The bombardment ceased this morning at half-past four; it consequently lasted two days and two nights, during which period Sweaborg presented one vast expanse of flame. The fire, which still continues to rage, has nearly devoured the whole place and consumed workshops, magazines, barracks, various establishments belonging to the Government, and a great quantity of the materials of the arsenal. The firing of our mortars and howitzers was so true that the enemy, fearful of seeing the three•decker which had been anchored across the pass between Sweaborg and the island of Bak Holmen entirely burned, withdrew that vessel into the harbour during the night. The Russians have sustained a considerable check and losses, the more sensible in that they have inflicted on us only the loss of one single English seaman killed and a few slightly wounded. The enemy's forts, nevertheless, replied vigorously to our attack ; their fire slackened only at the instant of the explosions 1 have mentioned ; but the precision of our pieces of long range gave us an incontest able superiority over that of the Russians. Every man in the division has done his duty with devo tion, ardour, and courage. The spirit of the crews has been admirable; they have deserved well of the Emperor and France. I am extremely satisfied with the means of action placed at my disposal. The bomb-ketches and gunboats rendered immense service ; they perfectly come up to all that was expected of these vessels. The siege battery has produced most excellent results, and we may say that our best shots were fired from one of the enemy's islets, on which we had planted the French flag. In this affair, as on all occasions, since our flags have been united, Rear• Admiral Dundas and myself have acted with unanimity. The example of the perfect understand ing that subsists between the chiefs has had the best effect on the crews in both squadrons, who in truth formed only one crew during the action. Everyone had but a single object, that of vieing who should do the utmost possible injury to the enemy, and the success obtained by a ship of either nation was applauded by the other with the same cries of enthusiasm as if they had been obtained by his own flag. There can be no doubt, Monsieur le Ministre, that the bombardment of Sweaborg will exercise great influence on the Russian populations, who are now aware that their strongholds and arsenals are not completely sheltered from the attacks of the allied navies, which can, and henceforth may, well trust to their being able to visit with destruction the enemy's shores, without receiving them selves any sensible injury. lu sending to you a circumstantial report of this affair, Monsieur le Ministre, I shall have the honour of addressing to you a demand for rewards to those officers, seamen, and mariuts that most distinguished themselves in the combat. PENAUD. Letters received in Hamburg from Riga state that about four o'clock on the morning of the 10th inst. two English steamers—a line-of battle ship and a frigate—appeared off that port, and about an hour later, when at a distance of 1,500 yards, they opened a heavy fire on the coast batteries and the division of gun-boats anchored before them. The cannonade lasted for more than an hour, and about nine they stood out to sea, apparently in chase of a vessel that was sailing down the coast of Liefland. About three in the afternoon they came in again, and renewed their bombardment at five o'clock, which lasted till dark, when they again proceeded to sea, and, up to the date of the letters, had not appeared again. A few of the guns were dismounted in the batteries ; otherwise the cannonade does not appear to have done much damage. The Finland papers report that the Ru,sian loss at Sweaborg was 40 killed and 160 wounded. 803 THE BALTIC FLEET. (From our Own Correspondent.) Div last hasty note was written to l y A o l ll GEwNh'enAug. 15. we were ou the eve of a bombardment, of the far-famed Sweaborg ; and various were the opinions expressed as to the result. It is most gratifying to me to be able to tell you that the most sanguine amongst us could not have anticipated the great success we have had, with comparatively tew casualties. A few hours after the mail had started, the French squadron made their appearance, and we were soon made to understand the cause of their delay, by finding that they had brought over from Nargeu five thousand bags of sand ; and the moment night set in away they went, and worked so vigorously that in the morning friends and enemies must have both been astonished to see a sand battery thrown up consider ably inshore of us, mounting four mortars. This was the morning of the Nth. During the whole of that day we were employed placing our vessels so as to be prepared for our grand attack on the Uth at daylight. The plan of proceeding was as follows The mortar-boats (English and French), twenty-one in number, were moored with two anchors, the in shore of which was laid down during the night at about 3,100 yards from the fortress, the outer at 4,000 yards, so as to admit of their approaching or retreating, by hauling on either cable, as circum stances might require. The gun-boats, in divisions of three and four each, were placed in their rear, ready to rush through and draw the fire from the mortar-vessels, as it was properly considered most essential to protect as much as possible these floating magazines, each having on board ten thousand pounds of powder and between three and four hundred shells. On the extreme right ( supposing oneself to be facing Sweaborg), at. a distance of four or five miles, were placed the Cornwallis, Hastings, and Amphion, who were ordered to draw off the fire of the enemy from that quarter; on the extreme left, two miles distant, Arrogant, Cossack, and Cruiser had similar orders. In the rear of mortar and gun boats lay Magicienne, Vulture, Euryalus, Dragon, and Geyser, who had to give general assistance to the smaller vessels, to supply boats and medical aid to the wounded, &c. During the middle of the night preceding the 9th the mortar.boats were silently hauled into a range of 3,300 yards of the fortress and town of Sweaborg, and everything was ready. When the day was suffi ciently dawned the enemy either did not or would not remark the change of our position, but remained perfectly passive, with the immense royal standard of Russia flying disdainfully on the higl est point of the fortifications. At twenty five minutes past seven o'clock the signal was made, "Engage the enemy," and away went a thirteen-inch shell from the left of our line. The judgment of the distance was admir able, for it landed almost at the foot of the flagstaff on which the royal standard was flying. This good example was immediately followed by the whole line of mortar-boats and the French batteries. The gun boats darted to the front, and opened a fire of shell, which, if not as effective as the mortars, must rather have astonished the garrison. However, they at once opened a brisk fire, and shot and shell fell thick and fast round us. Everybody predicted hot work; but, from some unaccountable reason, the Russian fire became, after two hours, slacker and worse directed. This of course encout aged the allies; and the fire was maintained on our side, with the greatest vigour and accuracy, until half-past eleven, when we were for the moment paralysed by witnessing one of the most awful and terrible explo sions perhaps ever seen by any man amongst us. It seemed as if the whole island—or at least one end of it—was thrown violently into the air. Volume after volume of smoke, intermingled with shell, shot, and rafters, and some say guns were thrown violently an immense height—the sea all round bubbled and hissed like a cauldron—guns rolled from their posi tions into the water. For full five minutes the frightful eruption went on ; and one could not help shuddering to think of the awful loss of life that every moment must have been caused. The standard of Russia disappeared, and, as far as we could see, the greatest confusion prevailed. As soon as we had recovered from the first burst of astonishment, three hearty cheers were given by the allies, and shot and shell were poured in to keep the steam up. For two hours the Russians never fired a shot.. The fire spread rapidly, and it was evident that unless some stop could be put to its ravages by the garrison, the whole place would be in flames. At three o'clock the Russians began to fire again pretty warmly. It was a beautiful sight to see our gun-boats wheeling and turning, like swallows, firing as they turned, and apparently dodging the shot. They appeared to bear a charmed life, for, though shell burst all round them, and some on their decks, hardly anyone was hurt. They did their duty nobly; and it is to be hoped that the small Mum of casual ti es will no