The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-27 00:00:00

JANUARY 27,1855. lucciations which prevail in some quarter or other reelecting the requirements and mode of life of our troops, I may mention this striking and instructive circumstance, that among the medical stores brought out for the men by her Majesty's ship Leopard were 100 gallons of balsam of eopsiba, and one gallon of castor oil! Very little bread to all that sack! The commissary officers are almost at their wits' end. Their transport is all but extinct. The mules and horses are fast going altogether, and the men seem likely to follow them. It is now (4 p.m.) 23 degrees Fahrenheit, with a bitter fierce wind, and the snow is several feet deep in some places along the valleys. POSITION AND PROSPECTS. An officer writes from the camp on the sth inst.:— - . -- • .• - - • - • Prince Menachikoff says, " I hive three of the best generals now outside the town than I ever had, and these are January, Feb •uary, and March. This is too true. We talk of investing the north with 40,000 Turks. Ask any of the soldiers in camp here whether the Russians are badly off in Sebastopol, and the answer is," I wish to God we were as well off." Stores upon stores are pouring into Sebastopol daily before our eyes. The walls are scarcely to be seen on account of the high earth batteries. They are as strong as ever. If we storm the town we shall be shelled out of it. Every street is commanded with cannon. Our prospects are truly deplorable. All agree that Sebss• topol is too hard a nut for Lord Raglan to crack, with his small force. Our soldiers are filthy, ctc., beyond oonception. Within two months five thousand horses have perished ; their rotting carcases stink. The French are jolly and as comfortable as possible; our camp wretched and dispirited. It is not at home that they are to be blamed for everything; there are plenty of stores, houses, clothes, &c., at Balaklava, but for want of method they may as well be in Woolwich. The wooden huts are flung on to the beach, no one to look after them, and they are now being broken up for fires by whoever likes, and the men in camp are perishing from cold; in fact, the officers here say, "we are the most criminal bunglers, from the highest to the lowest." The French are thorough soldiers; we are only learning, and in four or five years we shall no doubt have learned a great deal. Every one agrees that had Lord Raglan followed up the battle of the Alma the place would have been ours; now it is impregnable. Troops are daily arriving; but, as the Russians truly say, only to swell the list of victims of a Crimean winter. We number 111,0,10, and 15,000 in hospital. Out of 090 of the 48th, 150 are only able to bear arms. INCREASE OF THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION. The Cologne Gazette lately published a statement that the Swiss officer Colonel Ochsenbein was about to enter the French service as general of brigade. The following account of the circumstances under which this step is taken has been given, from au thentic sources, by the Paris correspondent of the Indipendanee Belge The Swedish federal constitution is opposed to any and all military capitulations with foreign Governments, and the federal law forbids enlistments made on the Swiss territory (without, however, assigning any punishment for illegal acts of the kind), but there are ways of overcoming this difficulty. The French Government has decided on increasiug its existing Foreign Legion, which now consists of two regiments. It has been resolved to form two others, composed entirely of Swiss. These legions will form two brigades, each of which will be placed under the command of a Swiss general. Mr. Ochsenbein of Berne will com mand one, and Mr. Ritter of St. Galt is named to command the other: both are federal colonels. It will be remem bered that at the recent re election of the Federal Council, by a coalition of ultra-radicals, Mr. Ochsenbein was set aside, whilst his six colleagues were re-elected. rills re sult, entirely unexpected by Mr. Ochsenbein, wounded him deeply. He, the former leader of free corps, one of the commanders in the war of the Sunderbund, president of the Diet in 1848, might justly consider himself the founder of the new order of things in Switzerland, and he has just been rejected. Mr. Ochsenbein is without private fortune, and he has resolved to enter the military service of France with the rank of a general of brigade. He will be a valuable acquisition. His military and general know ledge is extensive and minute, and his character is exalted and full of dignity. Whether Mr. Ritter will accept the post offered to him is not at present certainly known. The Suisse of Berne says on this subject:— The news is confirmed that Colonel Ochsenbein has been offered the rank of general of brigade in the French army. and it is certain that he has accepted it. It appears that France proposes to considerably increase the number of troops admitted into her service by the law on the Foreign Legion, and to give the command of them to M. Ochsenbein. This will explain his promotion to the rank of general. THE BRITISH AND RUSSIAN LOSSES. An official account of the loss incurred by the British forces engaged in the Crimea up to Dec. 31, 1854, was published on Wednesday last. The details are as follow : CASUALTIES IN THE WAR WITH RUSSIA UP TO DEC. 31, 1854. Officers. Men. Killed In action .. 00 .. 1,243 Died of their wounds .. 26 .. $lO Died of disease, ke. 87 .. 9,224 Total .. 213 4,777 919 `Making a grand total of .. .. 400 THE PRESS. The total number of wounded up to the same period has been:— 296 Officers-4,199 Men. And the number remaining in hospital on the same data was :- 48 011icera-4,u81 Men. Respecting the Russian losses the subjoined state ments have been made public:— According to accounts from Odessa, stated to be derived from official sources and documents, the total number of men put hors de combat, from the 'kith of September (ex clusively, consequently, of the defeat of the Alma) to the 27th of December, does not exceed 26,703, including pri- Boners taken, and deaths from disease or other causes not resulting from wounds. The following are the particulars : Killed, or died of wounds .. 7,301 Wounded .. 13,826 Prisoners .. .. • . 1,1117 Died of disease, accident, &c. .. 4,019 26,763 Two items more must be added to this account, which will considerably swell the total. First comes the loss at the Alma, which in Prince Menschikoffs report was given at 1,762 killed, and 2,720 woundet and contused ; or a total of 4,482. But not a doubt exists that this return, which also omitted prisoners taken, was far beneath the true loss, and that upwards of 0,000 men were absent from roll call on the day following the defeat. Secondly, it is evident that the above details relate to the losses of the troops, and do not include those of the navy and marines, which are given by the Russian Naval Magazine at 3,863, up to the '29th of November. But, as the sailors and marines have been mainly exposed to fire in the fortress batteries, and have taken a prominent and honourable share in sorties since the last•mentianed date, it may be fairly affirmed that their loss, including deaths by disease, down to the 27th of December, has fallen little short of 4,500 men. The detail, then, would stand thus : Losses at the Alma, of all kinds .. 6,000 Ditto, from Sept. 26 to Dec. 27 26,763 Ditto of navy, from Oct 17 to Dec. 27 .. 4,b00 97,263 The strongest possible grounds exist meantime for cal culating the total losses, under the divers heads given in the first detail, at more than 40,000 men, of whom at least three-fourths—that is, 30,000 men—have not rejoined, or cannot rejoin. Indeed, if we look to the official paper re turns of the strength of battalions when marching from Bessarabia, or even when preparing for action in the Crimea, and compare them with the number declared to have been brought into action when defeat has ensued, it is incontestable that there exists a difference in minus of from thirty to forty per cent. Thus the battalions of the 6th corps (18th and 17th divisions), and others at the Alma, 1,000 strong on paper, were officially declared not to have exceeded 700; and the battalions of the 4th and Bth corps, likewise 1,000 on paper, not to have mustered more more than 600 when going into action at lnkermann. If, therefore, the Russians themselves admit their losses in men put hors de combat by sword and sickness to amount to 85,106, it may safely be affirmed that the calculation of 40,000 is rather under than above the actual minimum. Takiug, however, the Russian returns as a basis for cal culation, and dividing the amount by the number of days (from the 24th of September to the 27th of December in clusive), the result will give a diurnal loss of 869. It may be added that the Russians admit a loss of 580 officers, in cluding 140 naval. BLOCKADE IN THE BLACK SEA. The following telegraphic despatch has been re ceived at the Admiralty from Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons : Being informed that considerable consignments of mu nitions and contraband of war have taken place from neutral ports of the Mediterranean to those of Odessa and Kertch, the admirals of the English and French squadrons have determined on establishing an effectual blockade of the principal Russian ports in the Black Sea, and to notify the strict enforcement of this blockade from the Ist of February, 1t355. Steps have been taken to pro vide for an efficient force being, prior to that date, stationed before the principal porta which are to be blockaded, fur nished with due authority for the purpose, in the names of the two Governments. A BOLD RECONNAISSANCE The Moniteur de Vdrinie publishes a letter dated from the French camp before Sebastopol on the 3rd instant, from which we extract the following inter• esting account of a gallant enterprise succesfully accomplished by a party of Zouaves A few nights since, when completely dark, and during a beating rain, the sentinels on duty saw advancing towards the town a score of those intrepid volunteers who are de signated in the Frehch army by the name of enfant; perdva, because they devote their lives to the most dangerous enter prises. Two marched at the head, one behind the other, at five paces distant from each other, and a little in their rear came the remainder of the band, preceded by an officer, named Benner, of the 7th Regiment of the line. But the moment they got beyond the French sentinel their mode of advancing became most curious, as the whole of them threw themselves flat on the ground, and crawled along without a word being spoken. Their chief, an old Zouave, had taught them to advance in this manner ; as soon as they have lain down, they stretch forward in front of them their musket as far as they can reach ; they then drag themselves along the ground to a line with it, and go on repeating this movement unfit they reach their place of destination, keeping themselves always ready to start up and rush on any enemy that may come within their reach. The route they had to follow was a crooked one, for they had to leave on their right a mound of earth behind which s , ,rne Russians were in ambush. It was not their object to have anything to do with this post of the enemy; it was 81 necessary to turn it, and glide between it and the ditch in order to examine the enemy's works, and return without being observed. before entering the narrow apace which separates the ditch from the Russian post, the officer left there more than half his men, and if they were discovered they were to fall on the post. He, with five or six deter mined followers, crossed this dangerous passage, and went along the edge of the ditch. lie round un the edge of it chevaux de frise, made up of palisades of wood ; he tried with his hands the strength of these defences, and found them firm in the ground, and solidly bound together. The ditch was six feet deep, and the rain-water lay deep at the bottom of it. To fill up the ditch appeared impossible, to tear up the palisades would occupy too lung a time, to burn them would be better. The chevaux de Rise were fastened together with chains, and if the former were burnt the latter would remain. It would be better to carry them off. The night was as dark as can be conceived. A. man was seen a few paces from the leader. Astonished at his appearance, the leader crawled gently towards him, and found him to be one of his own men. The officer continued to advance, when suddenly he was stopped by a trench, and he heard the sound of shovels and pi r ksus, workmen talking, and guards walking with their feet in the water. What were they doing? They were preparing a mine. He marked the spot from which it started, and the direction it took. The rain continued falling, and thu exploring party could not do anything further; the flash of a cannon might betray them, and the officer gave the sig nal for retreat. They followed the same route, which they could readily discover by the marks of their bodies on the muddy ground. They again passed near the post of the Russian soldiers. The latter, from the darkness, did not see that death was at a few paces in their rear. All of them might have been killed or taken prisoners, but the French party had other parts of the works to reconnoitre, and the success of the enterprise was worth more than the destruc tion of ten Russian soldiers. After having finished their exploring, the o ffi cer and his party rejoined the men they had left behind them, and who remained lying in the mud. " Nothing new, mes enfans ?" whispers the officer. " No thing," was the reply. "Then let us return," and the twenty brave men repassed our sentinels in the same silence. On the following night, these same men advanced and threw down the guidons which inconvenienced our troops, made one Russian prisoner, and brought away several bags of powder. One of them was hit by a ball in the foot. MISMANAGEMENT AT BALAKLAVA. The following instance of the utter confusion which prevails in the British port of the Crimea is given in a private letter A vessel arrived at Balaklava loaded with boots and shoes. Having no bill oflading, and the cargo beingmerely stated as shoes for the army, the vessel was ordered out of the harbour to wait her turn. A few days after wards an order came from Lord Raglan to obtain a vessel to prooeeed to Constantinople instantly on a most pressing service. This vessel was consequently ordered to proceed to Constantinople, with Lord Raglan's agents, without unloading. When she had nearly reached that place one of the agents imparted in confidence to the captain that ho w. , s going to Constantinople to purchase hoots and oboes, the army being in a great state of destitution fur want of a supply. The captain replies, " Why my vessel is filled with boots and sloes I" Upon which the ship was put im mediately about and returned to Balaklava. THE LAST OF THE BALTIC FLEET. The steam-frigate Magacienne (the last remaining man-of-war in the Baltic) arrived at Elsinore on the 15th from her second cruise to the eastward. She had been within thirty miles of Libau on the Rus sian coast. The weather experienced on her last trip was particularly severe ; the ship was completely covered with ice, the anchors frozen to the bows, and the forecastle gnus to the deck. A large number of her crew (40) were laid up by the intense cold. The presence of an English frigate in the Baltic at so ad vanced a season had given great confidence to our merchant vessels, and was the means of preventing the escape of several Russian ships from Elsinore and Copenhagen, where they have beets all summer, wait ing a chance of leaving for Itiga. It is now too late. The Magicienne arrived at Leath on Sunday evening, having remained a month later than any other of the flying squadron. The correspondent of the Herald writes, under date of the sth inst.:— The siege—if siege it may be called—goes on, or rather stands still, as usual. The day when the French made their reconnaissance in the rear at Balaklava the Russian batteries fired heavily upon the French works, which replied with shell from the newly-mounted mortars. These mis siles appeared to do tremendous execution, both in the town and among the enemy's earthworks, and almost com pletely silenced the fire of the tiartien Battery. All look forward with the greatest confidence to the destructive and final effects of our bombardment whenever we recommence. The weather now is our only enemy. However, if the frost should continue fur two or three weeks, and plenty of tresh horses be sent up, sufficient supplies of ammunition may be forwarded from lialaklava to enable us to opt= fire again much sooner than is generally anticipated With horses to transport the huts, ammunition, and rations, We shon:d do very well ; without them we can do nothing. All kinds of fresh provisions still continue to sell at the most exorbitant prices. Iron sancepans, stoves. and general canteen utensils are in great request, and fetch any stirs when they are to he had, which is r.eldom. Warm clothing Or fresh provisions of any kind sell for about their weight in silver. Jas. o.—The cold is still most severe. and if we tiny judge from the northerly wind and clear, bright airamisre,