The Press. — London, England, 1855-08-18 00:00:00

Original Setters (rent tilt grime. Balaklava, August 3, 1855. Again I am able to address a few words to you, but my information must be limited. Although we are daily told that the bombardment will shortly open, and this tale has been repeated for five weeks past, yet everything is quiet, excepting at times • when a little practice is made with our 13 inch mortars. At one time we are told that we are all ready, and only waiting for the French. However, be that as it may, we all believe that as much speed is made as circumstances will permit ; and the cause of the delay, in my opinion, is the wish of the generals to complete all arrangements before they recommence the struggle by a fifth bombardment and a second assault. Every one is impatient for the day. I hear many expressions of doubt as to the result, but happily they do not come from soldiers. I think we were taught by the repulse of the 18th of June that too much confidence might be very injurious to us. Previous to that date our troops had never received a check. The prolonged struggle before Sebastopol was put down in the minds of men to the strength of the Russian works, which it was thought we had sufficiently reduced. Every one was sanguine, from the general to the private, and this feeling caused the despondency after the repulse to be more severely felt. Our men were severely cut up about it—some blamed the French—some blamed Lord Raglan, for not support ing the storming parties. But, be it as it may, the spirits of the men soon returned ; they set to work with renewed zeal, from the returning con viction that they were not to be beaten ultimately ; and since that time they have worked hard to com plete the preparations necessary for the next attack under difficulties and dangers before unknown in the siege. Their hopes have now risen high, and they feel certain of success on the next occasion. With out being led away by their ardour, I think, with the men, that the great command the new batteries will have, both in distance and in weight of metal, will tnumph over all difficulties on the next occasion. The failures of the 18th will have taught a lesson to our generals to remedy past defects on the next occtsion. The protection afforded by our works is now very little. To be seen by day is to be shot, and at night such showers of grape and cannister are sent amongst the troops as to render it very dangerous to remain in the works. Shells are not so often pitched in the advanced works, on account of the difficulty in throwing them so short a distance, but hand grenades are not unknown. Last night the enemy came out with picks and shovels to till in our rifle pits in front of our works, but were speedily driven back with loss of life and tools. The duties of Guards over trenches are now performed daily by entire divisions, not, as formerly, by so many men from each. A certain number is given out from the Adjutant-General's office to divisions, which is allotted between regiments in proportion. The health of the army is very good, and has been so since the beginning of June. Cholera had nearly disappeared, but unhappily it appeared rather sharp about two days ago in the Guards : the Scots Fusilier Guards lost one sergeant and two men in one day, and four others were under medical treatment. The loss in that regiment from death was only six for the last month—that is, exclusive of killed in the trenches. The heat is increased to an awful degree, but we have now frequent showers ; it is very hot now. About every fourth day we receive a slight shower, sometimes heavy, from the Black Sea, but always accompanied with thunder and lightning. Early in the morning and late at night heavy rolls of mist from the sea envelopes the hills and valleys in the vicinity of the Tschernaya and towards Mac kenzie's farm. The 13th Regiment have suffered greatly, and have buried upwards of sixty, with nearly 200 sick. They are hutted on the ground recently vacated by the Scots Fusilier Guards, which have gone to the front. All new corners seem to suffer as they have done. The Guards no longer send their serious cases to the general hospitals, but have been allotted a portion of huts on the hills near Bala klava, in which they receive all their sick from the front. I think the improvement in the health of the men is mainly owing to the good supply of hospital comforts issued now without reserve ; every neces sary for the comfort and wants of the patient is pro• vided by Mr. Fitzgerald, Purveyor to the Forces, upon requisition signed by a surgeon on the staff, or in his absence by a regimental surgeon. General Routine is here dispensed with. A requisition made and presented is immediately attended to. My experience, however, only holds good as far as the division to which I belong. But I think no great difference exists in the army in this respect. I will enumerate a few articles suppled to the sick—wine, ale, and porter, preserved meats and vegetables, arrowroot, sago, and brandy, white bread, and fowls' eggs, and preserved milk, are amongst the articles administered freely at the expense of the country. The preserved potatoes, by Messrs. Edwards and Co., are really excellent—better than those imported here, not preserved, after being knocked about. My classification of the above articles is very irregular, but I write as they enter my memory. These may seem expensive articles for John Bull to pay for, but who in the end is the gainer? Why, the very gentleman himself. He had better pay for those necessaries, expensive as they are, than for human flesh at a greater cost; for precious is the latter material to him after transporting it to the Crimea. I have frequently seen stated the amount each man costs from the timo he embarks till ho arrives here. How much better is it, then, to preserve that life with a few bottles of port wine, &c., than to let it rot in the Crimea? Had the many thousands I have seen with my own eyes during last winter been treated as at present, how many of the number now sleeping in their long homes would have been saved to the joy of their friends and the welfare of the country? They have perished through the defective system of our military departments at home, and the lack of foresight on the part of thoso who ought to have foreseen our wants. All hospitals are now provided with camp bedsteads, clean blankets, and white sheets. In fact, everything seems very comfortable, which is a great help to the men's recovery. _ The supply of water, which at one time threatened to become a serious matter, has been by judicious means regularly obtained. The charge of reser voirs, springs, and ponds, was in the care of Lieu tenant Elphinstone, R.E., who discovered a daily decrease in the water•vats in the ravines, from the greater number of troops brought to the front pre vious to the 18th of June ; he immediately reported, and at the same time offered suggestions for relief of the springs. Amongst several others was one for the digging of wells by the regiments whose position of incampment led to the supposition that water might be found in the vicinity. This was attempted, and I believe succeeded well. The copious supply of water by showers has also helped to promote the object, and I think now that we shall succeed in weathering the season. The Land Transport Corps are about to shift, I hear, rom Kadikoi nearer to the front. EVERY LETTER FROM ODESSA tends to exhibit more and more the extreme folly that sanctioned the sparing of a town, which has now become the thief source of supplies of men and provisions for the army in the Crimea. Intelligence from that place, extending up to the gist ult., states that the roads between it and the Crimea are so completely choked up with troops and waggons conveying ammunition and provisions that private travelling has become almost impossible, while the demands which are made by the Government upon the neighbouring villages are such, that a stranger cannot obtain food of any description, whatever price he may be willing to offer. The Grenadier detachments, which are on their march to the Crimea, had already arrived at Nicolaieff. THE PONALBA DISTRICT OF PIEDMONT has been suddenly invaded by locusts, which, besides com mitting their usual ravages, have poisoned the water of the springs and cisterns, where millions of them have been drowned. The water has become so dele terious that sixty-three persons have already died from the effects of it. The people, struck with terror at this calamitous invasion, are leaving the district by hundreds. THE PIEDMONTESE GOVERNMENT hag sent an officer of engineers, Captain Martin, to Marseilles, to ascertain the best method of constructing the huts which will be required in the winter by its army in the East. COUNT HOYOS, the Austrian Commandant of An cona, has issued a notice prohibiting the assembling in the streets in groups, as well as singing and other noises during the night, on pain of military punish ment. Coffee-house and tavern keepers are enjoined under the severest penalties to close their establish ments at the hour fixed by law. THE RUSSIAN JOURNALS contain long lists of hono rary rewards granted to officers of marine who have defended Sebastopol. Vice-Admiral Novassilsky and Rear-Admiral Panfiloff have received swords orna mented with diamonds, and bearing the inscription, " For bravery." The widow of Admiral Nachimoff will receive an annuity of 12,000 francs for twelve years. THE ORLEANS PRISON has just received as an in mate a young female, who pretends to be charged with a divine mission. She demands to be sent to the Crimea, and, like a new Joan of Arc, she says that she will take Sebastopol in a short space of time, and gives explanations of her plans with the most perfect confidence. She asks for an escort of ten men, including a sergeant and corporal, and enter tains no doubt of the success of her enterprise. How ever this may be, the days of faith are past, and be fore accomplishing her glorious projects, she is first to answer to a charge of vagabondage. THE WAR. Important news, both from the Crimea and the Baltic, have arrived by telegraphic despatches during the week. From the former, the following tidings were received yesterday afternoon at the War-office : Varna, August 18, 1.30 p.m. The Russians attacked the position on the Tschernays this morning at daylight in great force. The action limited about three hours, but they were completely repulsed by the French and Sardinians. Further particulars will be sent. 7.0 p.m.—The Russian attack of the morning was under the command of General Liprandi, with from 50,000 to 60,000 men. Their loss is estimated between 4,000 and 5,000 men ' • about 400 prisoners taken. The loss on the side of the allies is very small. The Baltic despatches announce the accomplish ment and success of the bombardment of Sweaborg. The account of the affair, as transmitted by Admiral Dundas to the Admiralty, runs as follows: Off Sweaborg, August 11. Sweaborg was attacked by the mortars and gun•boata of the allied squadrons on the morning of the 9th instant. The firing ceased early this morning. Heavy explosions and very destructive fires were pro duced in a few hours. Nearly all the principal buildings on Vargon, and many more on Svarto, including those of the arsenal and dockyards, are burnt. Few casualties have occurred, and no lives lost in the allied fleets. A substantially similar despatch was received from Admiral Penaud by the French Government. It was dated also on the 11th, and announced that the bombardment of Sweaborg had been very successful. A terrific fire, which was kept up for forty-five hours, had destroyed nearly all the stores of the enemy. The magazines of the arsenal were a heap of ruins. The magazines of powder and shells had exploded. The enemy had received a terrible blow, and suffered enormous losses. The loss of the allies was trifling. Many ships had not received the slightest injury. There was the greatest enthusiasm among the sea men of the fleets. A private message transmitted by telegraph from. Dantsie, and published in the Times, states : The bombardment of Sweaborg commenced at six o'clock last Thursday morning, and continued until day light on Saturday. The town itself is burnt to the ground, not one house left. The dockyards are completely de stroyed. All the earthworks and batteries are knocked to pieces. Six magazines blew up. In fact, Sweaborg exists no more. On our side there are very few casualties. The full details of this affair are still en route, and the precise nature and extent of the destruction inflicted upon the batteries and fortifications of Sweaborg remains uncertain. Nothing further seems to have been even attempted either against that for tress or the neighbouring fort of Helsingfors, since a later despatch from Dantsic, dated Thursday evening, acquaints us that the fleets had returned to , Nargen. These advices add that no ships have been seriously injured. The casualties on the English side are—killed, none ; two officers and about 30 men wounded. The French loss is equally trifling. The written despatches from the Crimea convey only some details of the continued preparations making by the allies for a renewed assault, which was expected to come off on the 15th, the Napoleon fête-day From the telegraphic announcement given above it would, however, appear that the attack waa delayed, as the Russians seem once more to have taken the initiative. Advices to the 4th instant have arrived by the usual mails from the seat of war. They announce that the Russians had heightened and increased the fortifications of the Malakoff Tower. The Preese d'Orient states that fifty six batteries have been prepared for the general attack on the left, at a distance of from 50 to 120 metres from the enemy. Immense quantities of projectiles have been conveyed to the trenches. Some works still remain to be executed. Experiments were being made at Kamiesch with the mortar-vessels and gun-boats recently arrived in the Black Sea. Prince Gortschakoff reported to St. Petersburg on the Bth : " Nothing has changed in the situation before Sebastopol. The enemy's fire continues to be feeble." Another despatch, dated the evening of the 11th, says: "Nothing new. The enemy's cannonade is feeble." Writing on the 10th, at night, the Prince reports that there was nothing new before Sebastopol, and that the fire of the allies was feeble. The French Moniteur de t'Arm4e, publishing Ad miral Penaud's despatch, says : " The striking and swift success of the allied fleets in the Baltic will soon, we are confident., be followed by the no less complete, though dearer bought, triumph of the brave besiegers of Sebastopol." The Russian Nord says . "We may now look out for great events and horrifying recitals." In yesterday's Poet we find another mysteriousin. .imation "We have reason to believe that stirring 778 THE PRESS. SATURDAY, T