The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-13 00:00:00

JANUARY 13, 1855. THE WAR. RENEWED NEGOTIATIONS. Os Saturday last Prince Gortschakoff, at Vienna, informed the envoys of the three powers who had been parties to the protocol of the 28th ult. that he had received instructions from the Emperor Nicholas to continue or renew the negotiations, " notwithstand ing the identical interpretation of the four points" set forth by the representatives of England, France, and Austria. This intimation resulted in a con ference, which was held on Sunday between the four envoys, and reports were even transmitted to London to the effect that Russia had actually ac cepted the propositions without reserve. M. de Bourqueney and Lord Westmoreland on Tuesday sent off couriers to Paris and London, in order to obtain the powers necessary for opening the conferences for peace. The Turkish Ambassador on a subsequent day received an intimation that he may be called upon to assist at the conferences, in consequence of the point at which affairs have arrived. Prussia has also, it is said, requested to be allowed to take part in the conference. Letters from Berlin of the 7th state that, accord ing to a despatch from Count Buol to M. Man teuffel, the conference has not laid down permanent conditions of peace applicable to any circumstances that may arise, but has only offered a precise sketch of the preliminaries which Russia must accept in order to the opening of negotiations. It was stipulated on the part of the allies that no cessation of hostilities should in the meantime take place. THE SIEGE. From the Crimea the latest direct intelligence is of the 30th ult., and shows signs of an intended renewal of operations. The convalescents at Con stantinople had been ordered to rejoin their regi ments without delay. The Balaklava railway was to be commenced immediately. The French are making a wide road from Ka miesch to their camp. Omer Pacha had gone to Balaklava to concert movements with the allies. He will have an army of 50,000 men, and 60 guns. The Russians were making a bridge, connecting the town of Sebastopol with the northern forts. The following despatch was received at St. Peters burg on the 10th from Prince Menschikoff : SEBASTOPOL, JAN. 2.—Nothing new has occurred. We continue to annoy the enemy by night sorties. In one of these we made ten Zouaves prisoners. I The Soldaten Freund gives the following as the latest news from the Russian army in the Crimea: — General Mensehikoff, menaced at once by the bulk of the allied army and by the force disembarked at Eupa toria, had called in all his detached corps. A council of war was held immediately after the arrival of Baron Osten- Sacken, when it was resolved to await the arrival of the third corps, and the reserve of the fourth, and then to take offensive measures. There has been another tempest in the Black Sea, causing some disasters. Two English vessels suf fered damage. Sir George Brown will return to England for a time to re•establish his health. Ten thousand Turks landed at Eupato►ia on the 20th uk. The entire corps with which Omer Pacha is to operate would have landed, it was expected, before the end of another week. It was reported that General Osten-Sacken was hastening with a powerful corps to attack the town before die Turks should be in force, and so prevent au embarkation there. The success of the Turks near Eupatoria is con firmed. They captured ($OO horses conveying pro visions for the Russian army. Despatches received from the Duke of Newcastle bad been published in general orders, announcing the Queen's gracious approbation of the conduct of the army, and the royal navy and marines in co- . operation with the troops, and expressing her Majesty's sym pathy in the suffering of the wounded of both ser vices, and her deep regret for the loss of the soldiers and sailors who have fallen in the late operations. Advises from Malta, to the 6th, announce the ar rival of Admiral Duudas, with the Britannia and Trafalgar. He will go to France in the Vectis. The Duke of Cambridge had arrived on board the Thames. It was said he would remain at Malta till in better health. The following is a list of the officers exercising command above that of a regiment who have become non-effective, and who have not been replaced: — Lieutenant-General Sir George Brown, at Scutari or Malta; Lieutenant-General Sir De Lacy Evans, home; Lieutenant-General Duke of Cambridge, coming home; Lieutenant-General Sir U. Cathcart, dead. Thus, of the lieutenant-generals commanding divisions originally, there is but one left—viz., Sir Richard England. Of the brigadier or major generals :—Major General Bentinck is came home; THE PRESS. Major-General Torrens, home; Major-General Lord de Hos, home : Major• General Earl of Cardigan, home; Major-General Pennefather, reported to be coming home ; Major-General Adams, dead ; Major General Goldie, dead ; Major-General Tylden, dead; Major-General Straugways, ILA., dead. There • fore, of the sixteen officers of the second, or major general, rank, nine have become non-effective—seven only being now left at their duty. Consequently thirteen officers must have been taken from the com mand of regiments to take the places of the non effective divisional and brigade commanders. The following letters from Lord Raglan were pub lished in the Gazette of Tuesday and yesterday : Before Sebastopol, Dec. 18, 1855. Nothing has occurred since I had the honour to address your grace on the 13th instant. The weather, which was then fine, changed on the following afternoon, and from that time to the evening of the 16th it hardly ceased either to rain, hail, or snow. The night of the 16th was particularly severe; but it cleared up yesterday, and to-day it is again drY- The bad days above mentioned have, however, rendered the communications more difficult, and materially retarded the movement of supplies and stores. The 89th and 17th Regiments have arrived from Gibraltar, and will take their place in the 3rd and 4th divisions this day. A considerable portion of the warm clothing has been received, and is in course of issue ; and the men are most grateful to her Majesty's Government for having provided for them what conduces so essentially to their comfort. I have the honour to transmit returns of the casualties between the 11th and 16th. December 23. A great deal of rain has fallen in the last forty eight hours, and the weather has again become very inclement. The only occurrence in the siege operations has been a sortie made by the enemy on both our right and left attack, during the night of the 20th, the one being conducted silently, the other with drums beating and shouting ; the first being probably the real object of the advance, as nearer to the Inkermann heights. Owing to the extreme darkness of the night, the enemy were enabled to come very near the right attack without being perceived, and, having made a sudden rush upon the most forward parallel, they compelled the men occupying it to withdraw, until reinforced by a party under Major Welsford, of the 97th Regiment, when it was regained possession of, and the Russians retired, not, however, without oc casioning some logs in both killed, wounded, and missing, Lieutenant Byron, of the 34th Regiment, being amongst the latter. On the left attack, the enemy were met with great gallantry by Lieutenant Gordon, of the 38th Regiment, who, when supported by the covering party of the trenches, under Lieutenant-Colonel Waddy, of the 50th, succeeded in at once driving them back. But here too, I regret to say, the loss was still more severe. Major Muller, of the 50th, fell mortally wounded, and 1 am concerned to add is since dead, and Captain Frampton and Lieu tenant Clarke, both of the 50th Regiment, are missing. Sir Richard England speaks in high terms of the gallantry and vigilance of these troops, and of the distinguished conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Waddy. I inclose the return of casualties to the 20th in clusive. Two regiments of French cavalry, under General D'Allonville, made a reconnaisance on the 20th, towards the ground recently occupied by the enemy in front of Balaklava ; while the 42nd Regiment, a detachment of the Rifle Brigade, under Colonel Cameron, 42nd Regiment, and a battalion of Zouaves, made a corresponding movement on the extreme right. The latter saw only a picket of Cossacks, which retired upon their approach ; the former exchanged shots with the enemy, and ascer tained that they had scarcely any troops on the left bank of' the Tschernaya. December 26. I have nothing to report to your grace to day. The rain which prevailed on Saturday was suc ceeded by snow on Sunday, and it was almost the worst day I ever saw. At night it froze, and the frost has continued ever since, without being severe; but it has not as yet tended to dry the ground, still in a lamentable state. Every effort is making that the state of the roads will permit to bring up ammunition and the materials of siege, and General Canrobert is, in this respect, affording UR every possible assistance. The garrison keeps up a heavy fire upon our trenches, particularly at, night, and your gra. , !.o will regret to gee, by the returns which 1 inclose, that we daily sustain some casualties. December 30. Since 1 wrote to your grace on the 26th the wea ther has been somewhat more propitious, but the state of the ground is hardly more satisfactory. The 18th Regiment has arrived ; and I have like wise the honour to inform you that we are daily receiving vest supplies of ammunition, warm clothing, and huts for the army. The utmost efforts will be made to disembark all those stores ; but the difficulty of effecting this desirable object is very great, owing to the very limited extent of the harbour, its crowded state, and the narrow entrance to the town, and want of space on the beach, the rocks on the north side rising directly out of the water, and there being, consequently, no accommodation but on one side. The Russians continue to withdraw from the valley of the Tschernaya. whilst they have constructed defensive works on the heights above, which would imply a difficulty of maintaining their troops in the field. A reconnaissance wa.s sent out this morning by General Canrobert towards the river, in co-operation with a portion of Major-General Sir Colin Campbell's force on the extreme right of Balaklava, the result of which is not yet known. I inclose a list of casualties from the 25th to the 2Sth. RAGLAN• THE ENGLISH CAMP. The Times publishes the subjoined letter, dsted " Heights of Balaklava, Dec. 24th " I assure you the social kindnesses shown by the people in England for us who are blown and rained upon in the course of duty in the Crimea are appreciated most thoroughly by all of us. We are now more oornfortsble— hutted in various ingenious ways, chiefly by burrowing under ground, the treacherous tent canvas (treacherous as far as wind is concerned) forming a roof stretched amen( spars from the wrecks. This roof stands rain well, but melting snow searches through it. A general order appeared yesterday, advising us that a sheepeltia jacket and two pairs of woollen drawers and socks would be issued immediately to each officer and man, and I have sent in a demand for them. And now 1 will give yon some idea of what has lately been going on among us. Since I last wrote (at which time we had two days of almost summer weather) we have had all sorts of eceeu tric atmospheric changes—bitter cold, followed by com parative heat—sunshine and hail----snow and rain; the whole interspersed with various modifications and wind, from a gentle breeze to a severe gale. These sudden changes are most remarkable: morning will gradually reveal to us a glorious sunrise, when the evening of the same day will find us enveloped in thick murky mist, out of which will spring hurricane and Mill. While I am writing the aspect of the heights is as chill and miserable as any Russian can possibly desire. fogs blow up in quick secession from the castellated crags below. It is difficult to walk upon the soft, yielding mud around ns, and heavy falls of rain and tremendous gusts of wind have it all their own way. Such heavy [anises of felling rain as came dowu upon us last night 1 never saw ex, ceeded, even in the tropics. Last Monday was St. Nicholas-day, the name-day of the Emperor, and a great fête day for all the Russians. Upon this day we thoroughly expected to be attacked, and particular instructions were issued on the occasion. Every preparation was made on the previous night, and Captain limndling's troop of horse artillery was ordered to the front. before five o'clock in the morning we were all at our posts, devoutly wishing that our Mends iu the valley before us was on their way to us, and about to take that licking which sooner or later they must receive—but uo, the grey of the morning came gradually upon us as usual, and daylight reveal to us the Russians quiet in their camp. No work did they do upon that day ; the breastworks, at which they had worked for days as busy as bees, remained in stain quo for 24 hours, and it appeared pretty evident that the Ivloakoos had given themselves up to a general holiday and carouse, at which, no doubt, the accustomed " gin and prayers" was the distinguishing feature of the Russian relaxation. During the day we remarked a high erection of wood, round which the troops were formed, but whether the thing was a crow" or a gal lows, a religious ceremonial or the final punishment of some unfortunate Pole who had perhaps attempted to run away, we could not exactly determine, and the ()pillions on the subject were divided. Inflamed by their dole of spirits, it was thought that the next morning might be chosen by the Russians for their attack, but this again passed quietly by, like its predecessor. The main body of the Russians in our front is upon the opposite aide of the Tschernays, this side being principally occupied by Cossacks and a battalion or two of infantry in the right rear of the village of Namara. Our spies tell us that all the villages to the eastward are also occupied by troops, who have ill-tnated and turned out the original inhabitants—principally Tartars. The rain is at this moment descending in torrents. Some of our new dwellings have been rather insecurely built, too much earth being heaped upon the roof. Dour unfortunate " Bono Johnntes " were smothered the other day by the fall of such an one. Two Riflemen had a narrow escape from a similar fate a short time ago ; and the other day, as a marine officer was listening with glee to the wind blowing over and the rain pattering upon the top of his hut, with his feet ranged on either side of his fire place, owing to a landslip down came the side of the hut; rafters and beams quickly followed, the comfortable bur rowing plane became a mass of ruin, and its ocaupsat s half smothered, had a very narrow esc.ape.