The Press. — London, England, 1855-09-01 00:00:00

SEPT. 1, 1855. Soldiers,—This affair, in which the Russians lost more than six thousand men, with several generals, and left in our hands more than 2,200 wounded or prisoners, with the materiel so long prepared for the passage of the river, does the greatest honour to General Erbillon, who commanded the lines on the Tschernaya, and to his division. The Camoux and Faucheux divisions maintained to the full their high reputation. Generals of Brigade de Failly, especially, Cler, and Wimpifen, and Colonels Loney, Dannes, and Castagny, have a claim to the grati tude of the army. I cannot now name all the rivals of their valour, but I must particularly signalise the able direction which Colonel Forgeot gave to the exertions of our energetic cannoneers, and the brilliant conduct of the artillery of the Imperial Guard and the divisions. An Engish battery of position, from the hill looking down on Tchorgoun, powerfully aided in deciding the enemy's movement of retreat without engaging our re serves. The Turks, disembarrassed of a false attack, brought us the support of six battalions and a battery. The English cavalry was ready, with the Sardinian squadrons, to second the brave African Chasseurs of General Morris, if the pursuit of the enemy could have usefully extended our success. But I did not lose sight of our great enterprise, and I wished to spare our blood after having obtained a result which once more establishes your superiority over the so much vaunted Russian infantry, presages fresh victories, and augments your claims to the gratitude of the country. A. PELISSIER, General-in-Chief. The general-in-chief thinks it his duty to make the army acquainted with the very cordial order which General Simpson, the worthy chief of the English army, has just addressed to his troops, and which that of has hastened to communicate to him : The Commander of the Forces congratulates the army on the brilliant success which attended the arms of the French and the bardinian troops engaged yesterday with the enemy. Their attempt to pass the Techernaya, though made with over whelming numbers, met with a mur-t decisive repulse. Our gallant allies have added fresh lustre to their arms by their intrepidity and daring, and on this the that occasion of the bardinian troops meeting the enemy, they have proved them selves in every way worthy of fighting side by side with the greatest military nation of Europe. Atter reading this order, the army will find another motive for fraternally uniting its efforts to those of our noble allies in the great enterprise the accomplishment of which we are pursuing. A PELISSIEIt, General-in-Chief. Head-quarters before Sebastopol, Aug. 17. LETTER OF THE EMPEROR. The II f oniteur publishes the subjoined letter from the Emperor Napoleon to General Pelissier:— General,—The fresh victory gained at the Tschernaya proves, for the third time since the commencement of the war, the superiority of the allied armies over the enemy in the open field; but if it does honour to the courage of the troops, it evidences no less the good arrangements you had made. Address my congratulations to the army, and receive them also yourself. Tell your brave soldiers, who for more than a year have endured unheard-of fatigues that the term of their trials are not far distant. Sebastopol, I hope, will soon fall beneath their blows, and were the event delayed, still the Russian army, I know it through information that appears positive, would no longer be able, during the winter, to maintain the contest in the Crimes. This glory acquired in the East has moved your com panions in arm. here in France ; they all burn to have a part in your dangers. Accordingly, with the two-told object of responding to their noble desire, and of procuring some repose for those who have achieved so much, I have -n such orders to the Minister of War, that all the regi me its remaining in France may proceed in due succession to eelieve in the East others which will return. You know, ge eral, how afflicted I have been at being detained away fro n that army which has again added to the fame of our ea4les ; but at this moment my regrets diminish, since you enable me to perceive the spec dy and decisive success destined to crown as many heroic efforts. Whereupon, General, I pray God to have you in his holy keying. Written at the Palace of St. Cloud, August 20, 1855. NAPOLEON. SHELLS have lately been cast in thousands, weekly, at the Vauxhall Foundry, in Liverpool, and shipped for Woolwich, where they are tested. At Fawcett's foundry mortars of large size are being cast, and the shells and the mortars are superior to those supplied from other places. The mortars are all proved by hydraulic pressure before they leave the foundry. One of the engineers at Fawcett's has made an important discovery in the construction of a shell, and the Admiralty and War-office are stated by the local journals to be delighted with the im provement. The shell is cast very thin, and lined inside in a way, which is a secret, to resist the influ ence of molten iron. With molten iron the shell is to be filled, and, while in a fluid state, fired. Each shell will contain 50lbs. of iron in a state of fusion, and where the shell falls destruction extends around ; if on damp ground, no man can lie within fi,ty yards of it. The filling of each shell will take twenty-five minutes, and there will be no difficulty either in ship or trenches of preparing the molten metal. A PENSION has been granted' by the Government to the mother of Dr. James Thomson, of the 44th, who distinguished himself so !signally in waiting upon the Russian wounded after the battle of the Atm% 1 Ms THE PRESS. THE BALTIC FLEET. (From our Own Correspondent.) I%ARGEN, August 20. THE calm has succeeded the storm, and we are principally anxious now to hear how the news of the destruction of everything in Sweaborg except the bat teries will be received in England. The day after we left, the rain came down in a perfect deluge ; so I presume that the fire which was burning briskly when we left it must have been extinguished. The weather, indeed, has been bad and unsettled. No two days have been so well adapted as those which we fortunately pitched upon for our work of revenge and destruction ; in fact, I doubt if anything could have been done on any other days. Various and diverse are the rumours of Russian statements having arrived at Revel (from which place we are constantly supplied with vegetables, milk, &c.) as to the number of killed, damage done, &c., at Sweaborg, one of which is to the effect that all Government stores, dockyards, vessels building, &c., are utterly destroyed, and that three hundred men were killed by the grand explosion ; but I am not inclined to believe anything from such a source. We ourselves saw the arsenal, barracks, and several large storehouses in flames— and such flames ! flames that must affect and set fire to any house within a quarter of a mile. At full fifty miles distant our cruisers in these waters clearly saw the conflagration. The mortar•vessels, having nobly done their work, are ordered home. Four 01 them have started, under charge of the Basilisk. Three other divisions of four each start this evening, under the care of Euryalus, Magicienne, Lightning, and Princess Alice, to Elsinore, whence they will find their own way. The vessels which have the care of them will, with the exception of .Basilisk and Prinesss Alice, which proceed to England, return here. Admiral Seymour started yesterday in Exmouth to take com mand of the fleet off Cronstadt ; and I hear that Admiral Baynes will rejoin the commander-in-chief. At this place or at Barosund all active operations I should conceive are at an end this season. The weather is already getting cold and windy. Arrogant, Cossack, and two gun-boats, Magpie and Weazel, are gone to their old ground off VV iborg, and I do not doubt, if there is a chance, will harass the enemy in that neighbourhood. I regret to have to tell you that the Cottenham transport, which started from here two weeks ago with invalids, has become a perfect wreck on the Island of Gotland. Her invalids are all landed in safety, and the Geyser has been sent to look after them. This is the only casualty we have had since we came up here, and it yet remains to be ac counted for. The Calcutta sails in a day or two for England, considerably lightened of her cargo, which princi• pally consisted of shell for the mortars. The Aolus is also under orders for home. I expect daily to hear that the gun boats are ordered off also. Lucky tellows ! They will go home with laurels in their caps, and I hope will be rewarded as they deserve by their country. It is to he expected that all the energies of the country will now be directed to build ing mortar and guu boats, for goodness knows how long our huge liners might have enviously gazed on the frowning batteries of Sweaborg before they would have attempted to astonish the enemy's mind as they have done. What is the use of puffs about the Marlborough, or any other monster of her class? We have more than sufficient line of-battle ships wherewith to blockade the ports in the Baltic and to keep the enemy in check ; and one hundred mortars, with a similar number of gun-boats, could do wonders up here next year (provided they came up early enough). Let us hope the hint will be taken in time. From the Gulf of Bothnia we hear that the Har rier and Tartar have been carrying destruction before them in every direction. The news of the burn • ing of Sweaborg has spread like wildfire, and appears to have entirely changed the tactics of the troops at the outposts, for now, instead of tiring on our boats as they advance to demand vessels, &c., in any small port in which they may be, they retire out of reach of the guns of our ships, and allow us quietly to help ourselves. In one instance, the governor of a small place. on being threatened that his town would be burnt did he not acquiesce, absolutely sent thirty miles up a river to bring down and deliver up a small passage-steamer that was demanded by Captain Storey, when it was well known that 2,000 or 3,000 troops were in the immediate neighbour hood. A shell was thrown on the deck of the Con flict from the ports at Riga a few days since, but fortunately did no harm, only acting as a caution to her to keep at a respectful distance, unless backed by a sufficient force. Admiral Baynes has arrived here, and I believe starts in a day or two for the Gulf of Bothnia. The ships here are all on the move, but as 7.1 their destinstion 4 not halm Nothing new 827 from Cronstadt, with the exception of an occasional chase by our steamers of gun-boats who now and then show their noses off the port.. The fleet have a very monotonous life. I should think that in • month's time they must make a move to the west ward. All hands are well iu the Baltic fleet, and thank Heaven the cholera time has passed over. The Invalide Ruase publishes a long report from General de Berg of the bombardment of Sweaborg. General de Berg states the loss of the Russians during the bombardment to have been forty-four men killed, two superior officers, three subaltern officers, and 110 men, wounded. In addition to this, 111 men were killed on board the man-of-war Russie, and one subaltern and eighty eight men wounded ; and one sailor wounded on board the Ezechiel. This report acknowledges the explosion of several magazines of bombs. It says : Shortly after the opening of the bombardment a large fire broke out in the fortress, and continued without inter• ruption, notwithstanding all the efforts of our firemen to extinguish it. The depots of provisions were, however, saved. The powder-magazines resisted up to the very last, but four depots of cha►ged bombshells were blown up, causing a loss of one man killed and three wounded. Admiral Berg announces that several English ships disabled were towed away from the combat. He evidently mistakes the changing of the positions, and the relief of t .e mortar-vessels, for the retire ment of disabled ships. . . From ti►e allied fleets it is announced that authen tic information has been obtained that the Russians lost upwards of 2,000 men at Sweaborg. A letter received in Glasgow from one of the crew of the gunboat Stork, which took part in the bom bardment of Sweaborg, states that the officers of that vassel, by means of their telescopes, saw the Russians removing the dead in cartloads. From Berlin on the 29th ult. it is announced that : The allied fleet which were before Cronstadt havehauled further off at sea, and, to the number of fifteen vessels, have taken up a position to the westward of the lighthouse of Bobbockhine. The average number of shells thrown by the mor tars during the late bombardment of Sweaborg was about 220 each ; one was disabled by the breaking of the pin on which it revolved at the 05th round ; another burst at the 114th ; another at the 143 th ; one became useless at the 213th ; and the Growler's held out well until 355 rounds had been tired from it, when it burst. The remaiuder of the sixieen were all more or less injured. The Swedish newspapers report an engagement which took place off Riga on the 10th. Seventeen Russian guu•boats, it is said, came out of Riga, and fought for two hours with her Majesty's screw block•ship, Hawke, 00, and the screw corvette Desperate, N. The result it said to have been in decisive. Her Majesty's cruisers have visited Uleaborg, Simo, and Windau, and destroyed Russian Go vernment ships and stores. Advices from St. Petersburg bring reports from Revel that on the 10th two frigates, which had left Nargen for that purpose, bombarded Port Baltic for several hours, and then retired. THE GOVERNMENT have authorised Sir Joseph Paxton to organise another body of 1,000 men to augment the Army Works Corps now in the Crimea. The additional 1,000 will be composed of mechanics and artisans, and a certain number of navvies, with superintendents and foremen ; and will be accom panied by their own surgeons, and by a chaplain and scripture reader . The principal duties of the corps will consist in erecting huts, constructing and repair ing roads, and providing in other ways for the health of the troops at the seat of war. A FURTHER TRIAL was given in Woolwich Marshes on Tuesday to Phillips's tire annihilators. A wooden shed had been previously erected, and filled with shavings and other combustible articles, for the pur poses of the experiment. Colonel Eardley Wilmot and Captain Vaudeleur, of the proof department, with Mr. Abel, of the chemical laboratory in the Royal Arsenal, were present to witness the experi ment. The match was applied, and the fire allowed to gain some force, when one of the engines was brought forward to test its efficiency ; it failed, how ever, of the desired result. Twelve of the machines were subsequently brought into action, yet the fire was only partially subdued, to break forth anew, and the experiment proved the invention thus far a failure. A YOUNG OFFICER, who has lately returned to Lancashire, badly wounded when on duty in the trenches before Sebastopol, declares (says the Preston Chronicle) that he has travelled across England free of expense, for neither hotel-keepers nor railway clerks would take a penny from him when they found he was "a poor and wounded 'elder,"