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

612 employ every means given into their power to obtain a surer and less bloody, although pethaps a little deferred success. And, indeed, through the positions gained last week the position of the besieging armies is considerab y improved. Leaving aside the moral influence which the capture of the Mamelon and the Quarries right in the teeth of the enemy must naturally exercise, the capture of them, as well as of the White Batteries, greatly facilitates further operations. The construction of French works on the Mamelon brings us to about 500 yards from the Malakoff works; it gives us a footing on the plateau on which these works lie; it furnishes us with the means of approaching the rear of them, and at the same time of operating successfully on the annoying batteries in the rear of the Mamelon, which, taken thus in a cross fire, cannot long resist. The Quarry is scarcely more than 200 yards from the Redan. The battery which it contains already will work successfully on the six-gun battery in the rear between the Redan and the Malakoff Tower works; and from the advanced posts our riflemen will be able to prevent a good number of the guns in the Redan from working. Several of them seem already abandoned; at least, no shot is fired from them. Besides, in other em brasures the guns cannot be sufficiently depressed to do much harm in the Quarry. Our position on the Tachernaya is still the same, except that two regiments of French cavalry and some infantry have pushed forward in the direction of Baidar, which is occupied. Only a part of the Turkish troops is on the Tsohernaya, the other part still remains in front on the extreme right, where they have been helping the French to construct their new works on Mount Sapoune. They were, however, chiefly employed as covering parties. dela 13.—T0-day a boat with a flag of truce came out of the harbour; its object, I hear, was to request the allied commanders not to fire on some of the vessels in the harbour, as they had been converted into hospitals. The impression is, that the Russians would not scruple at all to employ a little ruse to save their ships. Imme diately after the affair of the 7th a great activity seized all the ships in the harbour. The steamers approached by night the Careening-creek, and fired on the k reach work ing parties in the White Batteries. The line-of-battle ships have all moved and are now distributed about the harbour with their broadsides looking towards us, so that it strikes one rather as if they weria te r n paring to take an active part in the defences of the and the Malakoff works, and to try to make them untenable in case we should take them, than as if they were inoffensive hospital ships, removed from a feeling of humanity out of reach of our guns. Anna 14.—There is nothing new in front ; the fire is as slack as yesterday, and the activity in the works greater than ever. The Russians are by no means behind us in strengthening their position. Our late successes seem not to have discouraged them, and everything shows a de termination not to give way except step by step, and to sell every advantage as dearly as possible. They are very busy just now in strengthening the rear of the Malakoff works, which as long as the Mamelon was in their power was safe enough, but for which they must naturally entertain appre hensions now that this outwork is taken. Besides these new works, they have entirely repaired all the old ones, which look as if they had been constructed yesterday. Most of the English and French troops have returned from lierich. The Highland Brigade has taken up its old place on the heights, and the other regiments have gone up to the front. The Turks and some few English and French troops have alone remained there, besides a part of the steamers. JUNE 15.—N0 change has taken place ; the same still ness prevailed during the whole day. Cathcart's-hill has lost again for the moment the attractions which it pos sessed, while the bombardment was going on, as one of the best points for observation. The order for the reopen ing of the fire is every moment expected. A council of war was held to-day at Lord Raglan's quar ters, in which Omer Pacha took part. In consequence, the Turkish army received the order to be ready to march at a moment's notice. This looks like a movement in ad vance on the Tschernaya line. Juxe 16, MORNING.—The night passed silently, and the morning too, at least np to 10 o'clock. LOSSES ON THE 18Tn. Despatches quoted in Parliament from Lord Rag lan have considerably relieved the apprehensions that had been entertained respecting the losses sus tained by the British in the unsuccessful affair of the 18th inst. The total is stated at 1,295 of killed, wounded, and missing. Of these 03 are officers and 1,202 non-commissioned officers and privates. Of the latter, 144 were killed, and the remainder wounded or missing. The names of the superior officers who have fallen are as follow : Major-Genersi Sir John Campbell ; Colonel Yea, 7th Regiment; Lient.•Colonel Shadforth, 57th; tientenant Meurant, 18th; Lieutenant Davies, 38th; Lieutenant Ashwin, 57th ; Lieutenant Bellew, 33rd ; Captain Shiffner, 34th ; Captain Robinson, 34th ; Lieutenant Hurt, 84th ! Lieutenant Alt, 34th ; Captain Forman, Rifle Brigade ; Captain Tease, Royal Engineers; Lieutenant Murray, Royal Engineers; Lieutenant Graves, Royal Engineers; Captain Fenwick, 44th ; Captain Hon. C. Agar, 44th, Captain Caulfield, 44th ; Lieutenant-Adjutant Hobson, 7th.' THE DIAMELON. After the capture of the Mainelon and Quarries on the 7th inst. an armistice was agreed upon for the purpose of burying the dead. This truce enabled the British officers to range freely over the ground which bad been so hotly contested. Among other subjects of curiosity the just-taken Mamelon formed one of the first, and the place is thus described by an eyewitness on that occasion THE PRESS. At first all officers were admitted into the Mamelon Redoubt, but long before the armistice had ceased our allies found it necessary to check the number of visitors. It was, indeed, a most remarkable work. The Russian engineers had not followed any set rules, but adapted it to the peculiar exigencies of its position. Every possible contrivance had been laid hold of to protect the artillery men from the cross fire from the French and English batteries. Traverses of immense thickness had been made between every gun. There was a depth of four feet from the level of the platforms to the ground within the work, so that no one was exposed to fire through the embrasures but the men actually working the gun. Near the muzzle of each gun several coils of rope were wound round one above the other, until a close dense ring of considerable thickness was formed; this was deep enough to protect the gunner from a rifle ball while pointing the gun, and perhaps might be useful in deadening the concussion when the gun was itself struck by a shell or other missile. In rear of each gun, a passage being left to walk along, was also a splinter-proof traverse, and along the opposite sides of this passage—that is, in the sides of the earth on which the platforms rested—were a series of cave-like holes, into which two or three men could retreat. There was a middle passage along the centre of the redoubt, between the traverses placed in rear of the several embrasures. On entering the work a stranger found himself in a sort of maze ; there were little lanes and turnings in every. direc tion. A shell falling into any part of the work could scarcely hurt more than the troops in the particular in closure into which it fell, and they, if there were time, would have the opportunity of running behind a traverse, or getting into some of the holes in the earth. A spacious natural cave had been taken advantage of for the forma tion of the principal magazine ; the egpsnee to this depository was by descent of a small flight of steps out side, and on the Malakoff aspect of the redoubt. A deep ditch flanked the work on each side, except that in which was the entrance, and this ditch, and the compartments of the work between the traverses, were covered with the bodies of those who had fallen in the contest for its possession. Russians, Zouaves, Algerines, and French soldiers of the line were all lying together. The traverses and parapets were battered about in all directions, and some of the guns had been overturned, and were half buried in the displaced earth. It was a scene, indeed, of ruin and devastation. THE SEA OF AZOFF. The termination for the moment of operations in the Sea of Azoff, together with the general results of the expedition, are described by a correspondent of the Times who writes from Kertch on the 13th inst. subjoin some extracts from his letter : 'f he mission of the fleet and army having been accom plished, the force is on its way homewards. Sir George Brown and his staff are embarked. The admirals are at Ambalaki. The troops are on board, with the exception of those who are ordered to remain in garrison at Yenikale and Pavlovskaia, and we leave the roadsteads this after noon for Balaklava and Kamiesch. It has been decided to occupy Pavlovskaia, because it is in a fine position to com mand the entrance to Kertch and Yenikale, at a place where the channel is narrowed by one of the sandbanks from Taman to the breadth of a mile and a half. The lines which have been thrown up around Yenikale are ex tremely strong; they are of the moat massive and durable character, and reflect great credit on the engineers who de signed and superintended their construction. They inclose the ramparts of the old town, and present on every side towards the land a broad ditch, a steep parapet, defended by redoubts, and broken into batteries, which are aided by the fire of the pieces on the walls. In fact, the place is lost to Russia so long as we like to keep it. The spits or banks which formed such important natural defences of the position are now in our hands, or are, at least, rendered useless to the enemy, and are converted into an ingredient of our strength. As long as we have a gun-boat no Russian will dare to march on these open arid roads. The Crimea is morally lost to Russia if the allies deter mine to carry out their successes to a legitimate result. Already the Tartars have, as far as they dared, evinced their hatred of the oppressors whose final conquest of the Crimea does not outrun the memory of men still living. They have seized on Russians and brought them in as prisoners. The other night a party of Tartan carried a Russian captain and an officer of the commissariat., or a paymaster of a regiment, bound fast, into the allied lines at Yenikale. They reported that the Cossacks, in parties thirty and forty strong, were ranging through the villages and driving away all the cattle at the distance of thirty verats from Yenikale. The strength of these parties shows that they are afraid of the native population, but I do not believe the least reliance is to be placed on the Tartars for any movement of importance, so demoralised and down trodden are they, and so destitute of arms and military or ganisation, and of the ability to use them. They are at tached to their religion and fond of the traditions of their race. They relate with a sort of lazy delight apocryphal stories of the bravery and courage of their ancestors, but they show no desire to emulate them. The actual popula tion of the Crimea has decreased rapidly under the influence of the harsh administration of Russia, and its sudden accessions under Prince Woronzoff have been more than compensated by the losses which it underwent during the rule of Prince Idenscbikoff. The Tartars have no element of strength or power in them now, and it would be as useless to establish them as an independent Power, or even as lieges of the Porte, as it would be to reconstruct the duchy of Loraine or the kingdom of Lietrim. But what is to become of them ? What is to be done for the poor creatures who have compromised themselves beyond all redemption with the authorities by their co-operation with the allies ? Those who have done so are to be num bered by tens of thousands. In justice and in pity we are bound, whatever comes, to Covez these poor people with SATURDAY ? , the cloak at least of an amnesty. We must trust to the honour of Russia to carry it out, and we had better not lift up the hem of the,eloak, perhaps, to see what is going on underneath. But, whatever happens, let the dream of a Crimean independence be dismissed from every European brain av soon as eyes can be rubbed and opened. The Crime have been twice subdued in a few years, and they are about as fit to form a State, whether independent oroubject to a sovereign power, as the descendants of the ancient Salons would be to restore the Heptarchy. The very disquisition on such a subject is, however, hopeful. Six months ago few people indeed would have thought of the terms on which the Crimea would be ceded to Russia, or have bestowed a thought on the fate of the Crim Tortoni. CRIMEAN COOKERY. M. Boyer thus reports progress concerning the culinary reforms which he has been so successfully accomplishing at Scutari and in the Crimea:— Having with Mr. Bracebridge and several " Sisters of Charity" accompanied Miss Nightingale to the Crimes, feu• the purpose of organising and improving if required the hospital there, in accordance with those on the banks of the Bosphorus, and I to introduce my new diet, already in practice at Constantinople, likewise to teach our brave brothers at arms to cook, if possible, as well as they can fight—the latter they know how to do, while the former they had to learn—l can assure you that though my new pupils are rather numerous, numbering between 80,000 and 40,000, I do not despair of being able to considerably ameliorate their present system of cooking, with the ready assistance I received from head-quarters and the superior officers throughout the camp. I have now returned for a short time to Constantinople, to see if the new diet is carefully carried out, and to station a civilian cook who well understands his business in all the hospitals of Kulalee, and take away with me the soldiers who formerly officiated in those establishments as cooks. At Scutari, I am now engaged in teaching them the rough art of bivouac cookery, by making experiments out of twenty-four rations, the daily provisions allowed to the troops, which were delivered to me by the commissariat in the Crimea, upon my request at headquarters; and part of the result of *hioh I beg to forward you, in the shape of a series of receipts, several of them being for some time adopted in the camp, where I personally put them into practice, and they have been printed for distribution. In a week or so my new staff of warrior 000 ks and I shall start for the Crimea the second time, to terminate my culinary campaign. THE BALTIC AND WHITE SEA. A despatch sent yesterday (Friday) from Dantzio, states that the Vulture has mails. The Baltic fleet lies off Cronstadt. Forty-six infernal machines had been discovered and destroyed. One of them ex ploded on the poop of the Ezwrouth. Admiral Seymour and Captain Louis, who were examining it at the time, were severely injured. Lieutenant Pierce was slightly injured. The Post Tidningen has accounts from Helsing fors, stating that the English have bombarded Hango, and destroye d thetelegraph station. The Russians admit that the' Cossack'. boat dis played a flag of truce, but allege that they suspected a stratagem to surprise them. The blockade of all ports, roads, havens, and creeks in the White Sea was notified on the 30th May (11th June), 1855, by the commander of her Majesty's forces in that sea. AN officer of the Coldstream corps, who rendered dis tinguished service at Alma and Inkermann, recently ap plied for leave of absence. Having been refused, he at once threw up his cotnmission, value about 6,000/., and is now en futile for England. THREE ENGLISHMEN who were arrested at Coblents on suspicion of being engaged in obtaining recruits, proved to be innocent tourists, who were amusing themselves with giving away spare cash to the people. They easily satis fied the Commissary of Police of their pacific tendencies, and were allowed to proceed. THE FORMER MINISTERS OF RUSSIA AT LONDON AND Pants, Baron Brunow and M. de Kisseleff, are about to receive a new mission. The former, it is said, will be the accredited representative of Russia at Hesse Darmstadt and to the Frankfort Diet ; M. Kisseleff will go to Rome and Florence, replacing M. de Boutenieff, who returns to Russia as a member of the Council of the Empire. THE Journal de Sl. Pelerebourg publishes the names of a number of Prussian ladies who have sent lint from Berlin for the use of the Russian medical staff in the Crimea. Most of these ladies are the wives of military or civil officers in the service of the King of Prussia. A CERTAIN NUMBER OF RUSSIAN PRISONERS are employed on the public works in the department of Dordogn (France). PLANS OF " SEBASTOPOL AND ITS ENvinoxs, indicating very clearly the works of the besiegers, their camps, and lines of ctrcumvallation," are advertised in the St Peters burg journals. ABD.E.L.KADER has received the permission of the French Government to reside at Constantinople, in consequence of the partial destruction of Bronssa by earthquakes. On the 10th instant he went to Therapia, the summer palace of the French ambassador, and had an interview of two hours' duration with M. Benedetti. He afterwards paid visits to several high Turkish dignitaries. Tna MISSION OF COUNT AZEOLIO to the Courts of Lon don and Paris is connected with the demand of Sardini a to be allowed a voice in any future negotiations for peace. TELEGRAPHIC communication between Switzerland and Bulimia will be opened tomorrow, the let Of July.