The Press. — London, England, 1855-06-30 00:00:00

JUNE 30, 1855. The following official despatches have been re ceived from the military and naval commanders in the Crimea and Black Sea : From Lord Raglan: Before Sebastopol, June 12. In my despatch of the sth instant I informed your lord ship that the Russians had evacuated Sonjak Kale on the `2.Bth May. I have now the satisfaction to acquaint you that they withdrew from Anapa on the sth instant, and thus they have abandoned their last stronghold on the coast of Circassia. Intelligence of this event was brought to Sir E. Lyons by Captain Hughes, who, in his zealous endeavour to give the admiral the earliest intimation of it, went from Soujak to Kertch in an open boat, and on passing Anapa observed it was burning, it having been set on fire by the Circaa sians. Captain Hughes, who arrived here yesterday, en tertains no doubt that the enemy have retired across the Kouban. The abandonment of /mapa is one of the fruits of the attack and capture of Kertch, and of the brilliant operations of the allied naval forces in the Sea of Azoff, where no flag now flies but that of England and France. Nothing material has occurred here since I had the honour of addressing your lordship on the 9th inst. Both our allies and ourselves are taking advantage of our success to push forward our advances, and erect new batteries on the ground which was gained upon that glorious occasion, and I hope I shall soon be able to report further progress. June 14. Your lordship will be concerned to learn that the army still suffers from cholera, and that it has increased since the last report. The men in general, however, look healthy, and I hope that the duration of this sad malady will not be long. The reports of the state of the Sardinian army are to-day a little more satisfactory. June 16. I have the honour to acquaint your lordship that Lieut.- General Sir George Brown and Admiral Sir E. Lyons re turned/Min Kertch yesterday, having fully and successfully accomplished the objects of the expedition to that part of ale Crimea. I. have the highest satisfaction in drawing your lordship's attention to the manner in which the lieutenant-general *lnducted the duties I intrusted to his charge, and I enter. tain no doubt that if he had encountered the resistance which I was led to expect he would have met with, the re sult would have been equally advantageous, and would have reflected the same credit upon his arrangements, while the efficiency and gallantry of the troops would have been brought into stronger light. But it is a matter of great joy that so much should have been done without the loss of a life. He feels greatly indebted to General D'Autemarre and Redschid Puha, who commanded the French and Turkish troops respectively, for their ready co-operation and assistance. It has afforded me the moat sincere pleasure to have the opportunity of personally congratulating Sir E. Lyons on the success of the expedition, for which he was from the first so warm an advocate, and to which he always attached the highest importance, and on the result of the attacks upon the enemy's possessions in the Sea of Azoff. The excellence of the arrangements for the bombardment of Taganrog does infinite honour to Captain Lyons, of her Majesty's ship Miranda, and at once testifies his ability, determination, and gallantry. The progress of the works against Sebastopol, since I reported to your lordship on the I•2th, has been perfectly satisfactory, and new batteries are completed, which will enable both the English and the French armies to resume the offensive with the utmost vigour. RAGLAN. PS. I have just received a letter from Colonel Shirley, in whi3h he expresses his regret at having omitted the name of Captain Peel, 34th Regiment, who was severely wounded in the successful attack of the Quarries on the 7th instant, where he highly distinguished himself. From Sir E. Lyons : Royal Albert, Straits of Kcrtch, June O. Captain Lyons, of the Miranda, having informed me that the squadrons under his orders would be ready about the 2nd or 3rd instant to commence operations in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Azoff, Vice-Admiral Bruat and I considered that the moment bad arrived for rein forcing them with gun-boats, which would only have em barrassed them in their previous rapid movements in deeper waters; we therefore despatched twenty launches of the line-of-battle ships, armed with twenty-four ponnder howitzers and rockets, and their lordships will perceive by Captain Lyons's letter, of which I have the honour to in close a copy, that their arrival on the spot was most opportune, and attended with the happiest result ; for, tinder the able management of the officers who commanded them, they mainly contributed towards the repulse of 8,500 of the enemy, and the destruction of the public buildings and Government magazines of provisions at Taganrog. Captain Lyons's account of the operations is so clear, and his appreciation of the merits of those acting under his oers on this important service so just, that I feel that it would only be weakened by any observations or recom mendations of mine. E. LYONS. (Inclosure.) REPORTS OF PROCEEDINGS AT TAGANROG. Her Majesty's Ship Miranda, Taganrog Roads, June 3. 1111 have the honour to inform you that I anchored in eighteen feet water with the squadron under my orders in Taganrog inner roads, at about eight and a half miles from the town, on the evening of the Ist instant, without any accident, although the enemy had removed the light-vessels aad Unions, Daring this night in newly wind sprsng THE PRESS. up, and the water fell three feet, with every appearance of still fa lli ng; we were therefore obliged to remove a mile and a half further from the town. The 2nd was employed in reconnoitring the town, which I was enabled to do satisfactorily in the Recruit, Lieut. Day, commanding that vessel, having found a passage .. . during the night. — _ I had arranged to proceed at three a.m. the following morning to summon the town, and, in the event of a refusal to surrender, to endeavour to destroy the immense stores of grain and other Government property in that place. Matters were in this state when at sunset, to my great satisfaction, the Salina, Danube, and Medina, with the twelve armed launches of the line•of.battle ships, hove in sight ; this most welcome and opportune reinforcement of exactly the description of force required for the purpose in view rendered success certain, and not long after the French steamers, with launches in tow, arrived: Having concerted measures with M. de Sedaiges, com manding the French steamers, I proceeded at three a.m. in the Recruit with the vessels and boats, and accompanied by the lightest French steamers (M. de Sedaiges being on board one of them), towing their launches. Having an chored the Recruit at 1,400 yards from the Mole-head, and col lected all the boats astern, I sent Lieut. Commander Horton with a flag of truce, accompanied by a French officer with similar orders from M. de Sedaiges, to demand the surrender of all Government property of every description whatsoever, and of all grain, flour, and provisions (which I considered as contraband of war, knowing that, even in the event of its ,not being Government property, it could only be in tended for the supply of the Russian army in the Crimea), the whole to be delivered over to us to destroy; the troops to remove during this necessary destruction to a place five miles from the town, and within sight of the ships; the inhabiLants to withdraw, except those appointed by the authorities to open the stores and assist us ; any approach of troops, or any infraction of these terms, if accepted, to be considered as cancelling them, and to be punished with instant bombardment ; one hour to be allowed for a de cision, and no modification of the terms to be entertained. At the expiration of the hour Lieutenant Horton and the French officer were informed that the Governor refused the terms, and that, having troops at his disposal, he intended to defend the place. On this these officers came off, and the flag of truce was hauled down from the Recruit. Shortly afterwards the Recruit commenced firing, and the boats proceeded under the command of Commander Cowper P. Coles, of the Stromboli, in tow of one another , and accompanied by the French b oats, until, having arrived in the required position, the tow was cast off, the boats' heads pulled round to the beach, and so heavy a fire opened that, although the enemy made repeated attempts to get down to the houses lining the beach, so as to save the long range of storehouses from destruction, they never succeeded in doing so in sufficient numbers. Lieutenant Mackenzie (the senior lieutenant of this ship)had charge of a separate division of light boats, with rockets and one gun, to cover the approach of Lieutenant Cecil Buckley, of the Miranda, who, in a four•oared gig, accompanied by Mr. Henry Cooper, boatswain 3rd class, and manned by volunteers, repeatedly landed and fired the different stores and Govern ment buildings ; this dangerous, not to say desperate service, when carried out in a town containing upwards of 3,000 troops constantly endeavouring to prevent it, and only checked by the fire of the boats' guns, was most effectually performed. The Recruit, from her light draught of water, was enabled to take an effective position at 1,400 yards, and so was the Mouette, French steamer; and the Danube, with 21-pounder howitzer and rockets, was very useful. By three p.m. all the long ranges of stores of grain, plank, and tar, and the vessels on the stocks, were in a blaze, as well as the Custom-house and other Government buildings, and unfortunately, but unavoidably, the town in many places ; and, our purpose being amply effected, the boats returned to the Recruit. The loss of the enemy in men must have been severe, as many were seen to fall. They deserve credit for the obstinacy with which they en deavoured to gain positions to prevent our effecting the object we had in view, but it was impossible to face the continuous and well-directed fire kept up. Their loss in grain of different descriptions I cannot estimate, but, as it comprises all, or very nearly all, in store at Taganrog, it must be enormous. The only casualty in carrying out this service was one private of the Royal Marine Artillery severely wounded in the face by a musket ball. A Russian sergeant, who deserted and gave himself up to a French boat, states the number of troops in the town to have been 3,200, of which 800 arrived last night. A Russian war-schooner, which had been run on shore near the town and abandoned, was set fire to and burnt, and so was a large raft of timber. The wreck of a large vessel (a sort of guardship) which we observed to be fired by the enemy, and blown up on our first appearance in Taganrog Roads, was visited, but was found to be already effectually destroyed. Many large buildings had the black flag hoisted, as a sign, I presume, of their being hospitals ; these were most carefully respected by us, as were the churches, and, as far as possible, private houses. E. M. Lvoss, Captain. Hannibal, at Anapa, June 11. In pursuance of your orders of yesterday ' s date I have the honour to inform you that I arrived at this anchorage at 10 a.m. to-day ; Rear-Admiral Charner did not arrive till about 1 p.m., Admiral Bruat having last night informed me that he would be detained, and requested me not to wait for the Napoleon. I inclose a return of the guns, by far the greater part of which have been rendered quite useless by the Russians themselves ; the remainder are being made unserviceable or thrown over the cliffs, under the direction of Lieutenant Arthur, the gunnery officer of this ship. The Russians have exploded nearly all the powder maga• nines in the place, and those which remain are empty, 611 The barracks were burnt by the Russians, as also a good number of buildings, and all the coal and grain, which apreu to have been in considerable quantities. rhe garrison is estimated by the Circassians at between 7,000 and 8,000, and they are retired on the Kouban River, which they crossed by a bridge, destroying the latter behind them. HOUSTON STEWART, Rear-Admiral. SIEGE CHRONICLE. Letters from the camp to the 16th instant have arrived communicating the details of proceedings during the interval of comparative calm between the capture of the Mamelon and Quarries, up to the eve of the assault on the 18th. The following extracts, containing the particulars of chief interest, are from the Times correspondence:— JUNE 9.—My letter was scarcely despatched this morning when a white flag on the Round Tower and another on the left announced that the Russians had a petition to make. It was a grave one to make in the middle of a fierce bom bardment, with events hanging in the balance, and success , perhaps, depeuding upon the passing moments ; but made it was, and granted. From one o'clock until six in the evening no shot was fired on either side, while the dead bodies which strewed the hill between the Mamelon and the Round Tower, or remained in front of the Quarries, were removed from the field of slaughter. Both of the French and of the Russians there were large numbers scattered over the ground of the chief conflict; among the former a large proportion were swarthy indigenes of Arab blood, or as they are popularly termed by the French sol diers, Turcos ; and to their contingent of the killed some were added from the very inside of the Malakoff, showing how near the impromptu attack was delivering the place into our hands. Of the Russians, there still lay upon the spot some two hundred corpses—a sufficient testimony to the severity of their losses in the struggle. In the early part of the day there had been a popular impulse to believe that an end of the affair would be made to-night by a combined assault on the Malakoff and the Redan. That both were within scope of capture was coma', dered in camp as proved to demonstration. But the news of the suspension of arms dissipated the hope, and when the divisions got their orders for the night it was no longer thought that aggression was likely, though defence might be. The enemy, with their wonted perseverance, had been making very comfortable use of their time, and when the firing recommenced, which it did instantly on the flags being lowered, a few minutes before six o'clock, it was plain that the Malakoff and Redan had both received a re infozcement of guns. A trifling musketry diversion took place about three in the morning, to relieve the monotony of the great artillery, which kept up its savagery throughout the night—ten guns for one of the enemy's—hut slackened a little towards morning. We had a great number of casu alties during the night in our new position on the left, into which the Russians kept firing grape and canister from the batteries which protect the rear of the Redan. They also occupied the dismantled houses above the ravine, and leisurely took shots at our people from the windows. Nut unnaturally, it is a subject of the bitterest anger and com - plaint among the soldiers that they have to stand still and be riddled, losing day by day a number which is swollen in a week to the dimensions of a battle-roll of killed and wounded. Their spirits have been lately at the highest conceivable pitch ; they believe reasonably, after what they have seen, that the whole place is at their mercy, and must be forgiven if in the error of their eagerness the subtleties of strategy, the etiquette of regular approaches, the ready courtesy forthcoming on demand fail to compensate in their minds for the now enormous labour of the trenches and the harassing dangers of a petty peddling warfare. JUNE 10.—A breezy day, but with signs of returning heat, and an occasional drift of shower. The French, in immense numbers, are at work on the approaches to the Mamelon in the hope of speedily getting up some heavy metal. The Round Tower and the Roden are just giving now and then sullen assertion of unexhausted purpose, but with so little vigour that the shells which drop and bluster about their ears, throwing up the dry dust in columns, look almost like a useless persecution. Five Russian vessels-of-war are in full sight out in harbour, having betaken themselves out of the way of inconvenient missiles from the Mamelon. The Himalaya came in to day with a cargo of horses and 340 men for the Land Transport Corps from England. The said corps has its strength now increased to 0,000 beasts of draught. Jura 11.—To-day things are very quiet before the town, for the sufficient reason that our ammunition is not up in sufficient quantity. Most of our artillery transport is gone down to Kamiesch to fetch up shells for our allies. The losses sustained in the Mamelon are heavy, and yesterday reached 200. Our official returns will also make the 10th of June look a black day when they are published. The cholera has been prevalent, especially in and near Balaklava, and there is a good deal of the moderate form of it in camp, though the last few days has seen some abate ment, both from the cool winds which have refreshed us, and the excitement of late operations. Colonel de la Mar more, the brother of the Sardinian general, has Wien a victim, and the Piedmontese army boa suffered very generally. Jura 12.—We have again for the moment relapsed into a state of comparative silence and repose, but it is not that kind of pause which proceeds from exhaustion, and which leaves it uncertain when operations can be again renewed ; it is only the time necessary to turn to the best advantage the ground obtained by the successes of last week. The advantages which may be gained from the new positions occupied by the besieging armies seemed to be great enough to justify this short interval, in the opinion of the commanders, and induced them rather to allow the mew time to repair and Memos his works than not to