The Sun. — London, England, 1855-09-27 00:00:00

........". Lapel . a UP .......... INTERIOR OF SEBASTOPOL. ( Prom the Times' Special Correspondent.) WEDNESDAY, Sept. 12.—1 t is delightful to abandon the old heading, " The Siege of Sebastopol," whicll for the last 11 months might have been stereotyped, but it is not clear what is to be put in its place, for the enemy, having abandoned the south side, seem prepared to de fend the north side, amid to erect there another monu- rnent of engineering skill, and to leave there memorials of their dogged resolution. The wonder of all visitors to the ruins of Sebastopol is divided—they are astonished at the strength of the works, and that they were ever taken ; they are amazed that men could have defended them so long with such ruin around them. These feel ings are apparently in opposition to each other, but a glance at the place would explain the apparent contra diction. It is clear, in the first place, that the fire of our artillery was searching out every nook and corner in the town, and that it would become utterly impossible for the Russians to keep any body of men to defend their long line of parapet and battery without such murderous loss as would speedily annihilate an army. Their enor mous bomb-proofs, large and numerous as they were, could not hold the requisite force to resist a general con certed attack made all along the line with rapidity and without previous warning. On the other hand, the strength of the works themselves is prodigious. One hears our engineers feebly saying " They are badly traced," and that kind of thing, but it is quite evident that the Russian, who is no match for the allies in the open field, has been enabled to sustain the most tre• tnendous bombardments ever known and an 11 months' liege, that he was rendered capable of repulsing one general assault, and that a subsequent attack upon him at four points was only successful at one, which fortu nately happened to be the key of his position, and the inference is that his engineers were of consummate ability, and furnished him with artificial strength that made him equal to our best efforts. The details of the French attack will no doubt have been made public be fore this letter reaches you. It is sufficient to say that of the three or four points attacked—the Little Redan and the Malakhoff on the right, and the Bastion Cen trale and the re-entering angle of the Flagstaff Work on the left—but one was carried, and that was a closed Work. The Great Redan, the Little Redan, and the line of defence on the left were not taken, although the attack was resolute and the contest obstinate and bloody for both assailants and defenders. Whether we ought to have attacked the Great or Little Redan, or to have touched the left at all, is another question, which is Ventilated by many, but which it is not fur me to de cide. It is certain that the enemy knew his weakness, and was too good a strategist to defend a position of Which we held the key. Sebastopol in flames, his ships sunk, told the story next morning, and some 10,000 Preuch and English soldiers were its commentators. English we have d one so it wou ld h ave b een we ll f or t h e z;nglisla to claim the honour of joining in the assault on the Malakhoff, the tower of which we bad beaten into ruins, and abstain from attacking the Redan, which could offer a desperate and, as events proved, a success ful resistance, till the works around the Ma , akhoff were taken. The surprise throughout the camp on Sunday morn lag was beyond description when the news spread that Sebastopol was on fire and that the enemy were retreat log. The tremendous explosions, which shook the very grouad like so many earthquakes, failed to disturb many of our wearied soldiers. When I rose before daybreak, and got up to Cathcart's-hill, there were not many officers , I tanding on that favourite spot ; and - ,,he sleepers who h ad lain down to rest, doubtful of the complete success ' ) f the French, and certain of our own failure, little dreamt that Sebastopol was ours. All was ready f ° l ' a renewed assault on the Redan, but the Rus liana having kept up a brisk fire from the rifle pits and embrasures to the last moment, and having adopted t he same plan along their lines, so as to blind our eyes a nd engage our attention, abandoned it, as is supposed, about 12 o'clock, and, the silence having attracted the a ttention of our men, some volunteers crept up and looked through an embrasure, and found the place de serted by all save the dead and dying. Soon afterwards, * a.nderiog fires gleamed through the streets and out hltirts of the town—point after point became alight—the f lames shone out of the windows of the houses—rows of t he caught and burned up, and before daybreak, 'he town of Sebastopol—that fine and stately mistress °f the Euxine, on which we had so often turned a long 411$ eye—was on fire from the sea to the Dockyard Creek. Fort Alexander was blown up with a stupen dous crash, that made the very earth reel, early in the DESTRUCTION OF THE FORTS. At sunrise four large explosions on the left followed 24 , quick succession, and announced the dest r u c t ion o f 4 Quarantine Fort and of the magazines of the bat leries of the Central Bastion and Flagstaff Fort. In a 140 0:lent afterwards the proper left of the Redan was the 4 eene of a very heavy explosion, which must have de :truyed a number of wounded men on both sides. For tunately, the soldiers who had entered it early in the fight were withdrawn. The Flagstaff and Garden Bat tries blew up, one after another, at 4.45. At 5.30 th ere were two of the largest and grandest explosions on t he left that ever shook the earth—most probably from b lack Alexander and the Grand Magazine. Tue rush of smoke, grey and white vapour, masses of stone, arcs of timber, and masonry into the air was appal and then followed the roar of a great bombard , %ent ; it was a magazine of shells thrown up into the 4 r, and exploding like some gigantic pyrotechnic dis f tay in the sky—innumerable flashes of fire twittering I gh up in the column of dark smoke over the town, , :rld then changing rapidly into as many balls of white 111 0ke like little clouds. Ali this time the Russians were % arching with sullen tramp across the bri,:ge, and boats were busy carrying off material from the town, or bear 14„g men to the south side, to complete the work of de nction and renew the fires of hidden mines, or light "P untouched houses. Of the fleet all that remained visible were the eight st eamers and the masts of the sunken line-of-battle ships. t k soon as it was dawn the French began to steal from :eir trenches into the burning to am, undismayed by the * q4 rnes, by the terrors of these explosions, by the fire of , :Int - king enemy, or by the fire of their own guns, which ;!pt on slowly discharging cannon, shot, and grape into t O g L e suburbs at regular intervals, possibly with the very eet of deterring stragglers from risking their lives. t lt red breeches and blue breeches, tepi arid Zouave could soon be distinguished amid the flames, moving L tll tli house to house, Before 5 o'clock there were num ,e'(l s of men coming back with plunder, such as it 4 i i , Russian relics were offered for sale in camp before e Russian battalions had marched out of the city. The ms ailors, too, were not behindhand in looking for " loot," and Jack could be seen staggering under chairs, tables, 11(1 lumbering old pictures, through every street, and m aking his way back to the trenches with vast ac rtuulations of worthlessness. Several men lost their I v es by explosions on this and the following day. At , 1 0 several small detonations of shells and powder ma th took place in the town behind the Redan and on e left of the Dockyard Creek. At 7.12 immense clouds (Ir g black smoke rose from Fort Paul, probably from a I, l arcier, which we found burning in the dockyard. The irtUssian columns, r e which had been defiling in a continuous 4 , '4 ,..ana across the bridge, now became broken into 4 4 11 bodies, or went over in intermittent masses, un :4tbed by the shot and shell which plunged into the m arched close beside them. At 7.45 the last dense column past, and soon afterwards the bridge was pulled a° under, and the pieces were all floated across to the ,rth side at 8.7. The boats did not cease pulling back -414 and forward all the time, and the steamers were tt e eedingly busy long after the garrison moved, At 9 T he re were many explosions in the town amid the burn itk ruins, and the battlem e nt s of F or t Ni c h o l as a pp eare d flames. Still there was no explosion there nor in Fort THE MALAKHOFF. rods the rush from camp now became very great, and e , l l one sought to visit the Malakhoff and the Redan, ), 'eh were filled with de a d and dyi ng men , a line of O l glish cavalry was post e d ac r oss th e f ron t f rom our l h t retne left to the French right. They were stationed n'all the ravines and roads to the town and trenches, Ith orders to keep back all persons except the Generals p Il 0 Staff, a n d o ffi cers an d men on duty, and to stop all then , t ki . t, ut returning with plunder from the town, and to rs it from them. As they did not stop the French, or N i qs, or Sardinians, this order gave rise to a good deal khttnmbling, particularly when a man after lugging up o tt e avy chair several miles, or a table, or some such 1 4 'ale, was deprived of it by our sentries. The French li,:ne instance complained that our Dragoons let Eng -44 soldiers pass with Russian muskets and would hot . Ip„ l.4 lit the French to carry off these trophies, but there t i "' not any foundati o n for the complaint. There was iPtredly no jealousy on one side or the other. It so t t) l Pened that as the remnants of the French regiment -1442ed on the left against the Malakhoff and Little t - : 411 marched to their tents this morning our Second 4 7sion was drawn up on the para , le.ground in front l'Cleir camp, and the French had to pass their lines. l s ' instant the 'leading regiment of Zouaves came up k i ,,, t be spot where our first regiment was placed the ,'' with one spontaneous burst rent the air with an tljlish cheer. The French officers drew their swords, 1,, men dressed up and marched past as if at a re tic'', while regiment after regiment of the Second Di kth.,l°4 caught up the cry, and at last our men presented l ) ;' 4 to th e i r b rave comra d es o f F rance , the officers on I V' sides saluted with their swords, and this continued Ql h t lle last man had marched by. Mingled with the , l'i 4 derers from the front were many wounded men. kl t , 4 ambulances never ceased, now moving heavily and Iti lh l* l with their burdens, again rattling at a trot to the tt,,:' for a fresh cargo, and the ground between the 4 1 4 1ehes and the camp was studded with carolets or V litters. Already the funeral parties had com )l,i4oed their labours. The Rus s i an s a ll thi s ti me wer e ~,,'t ' tning on th e nor th s id e , an d t oo k t h e li ve li es t inte ql, in the progress of the explosio ns an d con fl agra ti ons . ;ICY took up ground in their old camps, and swarmel l'l l l4 Yer the face o f th e hill s b e hi n d th e nort h ern f or t.. - 1 ,, 4 ' steamers cast anchor, or were moored close to the kt ll e among the creeks, on the north sid e , near F or t i 'l k 4 eri ne . By degrees th e G ecer a!s, Fren c h an d Eng -4 , Ilt 1 sad the staff officers, edged down upon the town, k,,ort Paul had not yet gone u p, a nd Fort Ni c h o l as 4 unrning, and our engineers declared the place would Nh t Nfe f or 48 h ours . Moving d own , h o wever, on th e S k i lank of our cavalry pickets, a sm all put) , of us p , , - `?"(-i to turn . them cleverly, and to get out among 4 found works between the Mamelon a n d Malakhoff. 4 ''cuiad is here literally paved with shot and shell, THE SUN. LONDON, THURSDAY EVE and the surface is deeply honeycombed by the explosions of the bombs at every square yard. Tile road was crowded with Frenchmen, returning with paltry plunder from Sebastopol, and with files of Russian prisoner', many of them wounded, and all dejected, with the excep tion of a fine little boy, in a Cossack's cap and a tiny uniform greatcoat, who seemed rather pleased with his kind captors. There was also one stout Russian soldier, who had evidently been indulging in the popularly cre dited sources of Dutch courage, and who danced ail the way into the camp with a Zouave and an IndigZie. There were ghastly sights on the way, too,—Russians who had died, or were dying as they lay, brought so far towards the hospitals from the fatal Malakhoff. Passing through a maze of trenches, of gabionnades, and of zigzags arid parallels, by which the French had worked their sure and deadly way close to the heart of the Russian defence, and treading gently anion , the heaps of dead, where the grou n d b ears f u ll tokens of ' the bloody fray, we come at last to the head of the French sap. It is barely ten yards from that to the base of the huge sloping mound of earth which rises full 20 feet in height above the level, and shows in every direction the grinning muzzles of its gulls. The tricolour waves placidly from its highest point, and already the French are busy constructing a semaphore on the top. Step briskly out of the sap—avoid those poor mangled braves who are lying all round, and come on. There is a deep ditch at your feet, some 20 or 22 feet deep, and 10 feet broad. See, here is the place where the. French crossed —here is their bridge of planks, and here they swarmed in upon the unsuspecting defenders of the Malakhoff. They bad not 10 yards to go. We had 200, and were then out of breath. Were not planks better than scaling ladders . ? See how easily the French crossed. You ob serve on your right hand,, as you issue from the bead of the French trench, a line of gabions on the ground running up to this bridge. That is a flying sap, which the French made the instant they got out of the trench into the Malakhoff, so that they were enabled to pour a continuous stream of men into the works, with com parative safety from the flank fire of the enemy. In the same way they at once dug a trench across the work in side, to see if there were any galvanic wires to fire mines. Mount the parapet and descend—of what amazing thickness are these embrezures ? From the level of the ground inside to the top of the parapet cannot be less than 18 feet. There are eight rows of gabiens piled one above the other, And as each row recedes towards the top it leaves in the ledge below an excellent banquette for the defenders. Inside the sight is too terrible to dwell upon. The French are carrying away their own and the Russian wounded, and there are four distinct piles of dead formed to clear the way. The ground is marked by pools of blood, and the smell is already noisome ; swarms of flies settle on dead and dying ; broken muskets, torn clothes, caps, shakos, swords, bayonets, bags of bread, canteens, and havresacks are lying in indescribable wreck all over the place, mingled with heaps of shot, of grape, bits of shell, cartridges, case and canister, loose powder, official papere,.and cooking tins. The traverses are so high and deep that it is impossible almost to get a view of the whole of the Malakhoff from any one spot, and there is a high mound of earth in the middle et the work, either intended as a kind of shell proof, or the remains of the old White Tower. The guns, which to the number of 60 were found in the work, are all ships' guns, and mounted on ships' carriages, and worked in the same way as ships' guns. There are a few old-fashioned, oddly-shaped mortars. Look around the work, and you will see that the strength of the Russian was his weak ness-e-he fell into his own bomb-proofs. In the parapet of the work may be observed several entrances—very narrow outside, but descending and enlarging down wards, and opening into rooms some four or five feet high and eight or ten square. These are only lighted from the outside by day, and must have been pitch dark at night, unless the men were allowed lanterns. Here the garrison retired when exposed to a heavy bombard ment. The odour of these narrow chambers is villanous, and the air reeks with blood and abominations unutter able. There are several of these places, and they might hid defiance to the heaviest mortars in the world ' • over the roof is a layer of ships' m as t s , cu t i n t o j un k s and deposited carefully ; then there is over them a solid layer of earth, and above that a layer of gabions, and above that a pile of earth again. In one of these dungeons, which is excavated in solid rock,and was probably under neath the old White Tower, the officer commanding seems to have lived. It must have been a,dreary residence. The floor and the entrance were littered a foot deep with reports, returns, and perhaps despatches assuring the Czar that the place had sustained no damage. The garrison were in these narrow chambers enjoying their siesta, which they invariably take at 12 o'clock, when the French burst in on them like a torrent, and, as it were, drowned them in their holes. The Malakhoff is a closed work ; it is only open at the rear to the town, and the French having once got in threw open a passage to their own rear, and closed up the front and the lateral communications with the curtains leading to the Great Redan and Little Redan. Thus they were ena,bledto pour in their supports, in order and without loss, in a continued stream, and to resist the efforts of the Russians, which were desperate and repeated, to retake the place. They brought up their field guns at once, and swept the Rus sian reserves and supports, while Strange's battery from the Quarries carried death through their ranks in every quarter of the ICarabelnaia. With the Malakhoff the enemy lost Sebastopol. The ditch outside towards the north was yet full of French and Russians piled over each other in horrid confusion. On the right, towards the Little Redan, the ground was literally strewn with bodies as thick as they could lie, and in the ditch they were piled over each other. Here the French, victorious in the Malakhoff, met with a heavy loss, and a series of severe repulses. The Russians lay inside the work in heaps like carcasses in a butcher's cart, and the wounds, the blood—the sight, ex seeded all I had hitherto wit nessed. Descending from the Malakhoff we come upon a suburb of ruined houses open to the sea ; it is filled with dead, The Russians have crept away into holes and corners in every house, to die like poisoned rats ; artillery horses, with their entrails torn open by shot, are stretched all over the space at the back of the Malakhoff„ marking the place where the Rus-ions moved up their last column to retake it, under the cover of a heavy field battery. Every house, the ceurch, some public build ings, sentry-boxes, all alike are broken and riddled by cannon and mortar. Turning to the left, we proceed by a very tall snow-white wall of great length to the dockyard gateway. This wall is pierced and broken through and through with cannon. Inside are the docks, which, naval men say, are unequalled in the world. The steamer is blazing merrily in ono of them. Gates and store sides are splintered and pierced by shot. There are the stately dockyard buildings on the right, which used to look so clean and white and spruce. Parts of them are knocked to atoms, and hang together in such shreds and patches that it is only wonderful they cohere. The soft white stone of which they and the walls are made is readily knocked to pieces by a cannon-shot. Fort Paul is untouched. There it stands, as if frowning defiance at its impending fate, right before us, and warn ing voices bid all people to retire, and oven the most benevolent retreat from the hospital, which is in one of these buildings, where they are tending the miserable wounded. I visited it next day. THE HOSPITAL OF SEBASTOPOL. Of all the pictures of the horrors of war which have ever been presented to the world, the hospital of Sebas topol presents tine most horrible, heartrending, and re volting. It cannot be described, and the imagination of a Fuseli could not conceive anything at all like unto it. How the poor human body can be mutilated and yet hold its soul within, when every limb is shattered, and every vein and artery is pouring out the life stream, one might study here at every step, and at the same time wonder how little will kill ! The building used as an hospital is one of the noble piles inside the dockyard wall, and is situate in the centre of the row at right angles to the line of the Redan. The whole row was peculiarly exposed to the actio n of shot and shell bound ing over the Redan, and to the missiles directed at the Barrack Battery, and it bears in sides, roof, windows, and doors, frequent and distinctive proofs of the severity of the cannonade. Entering one oft hese doors I beheld such a sight as few men, thank God, have ever witnessed ! In a long low room, supported by square pillars, arched at the top, and dimly lighted through shattered and un glazed window frames, lay the wounded Russians, who had been abandoned to our mercies by their General. The wounded, did I say ? No, but the dead, the rotten and festering corpses of the soldiers, who were left to die in their extreme agony, untended, uncared for, packed as close as they could be stowed, some on the floor, others on wretched tressels and bedsteads, or pal lets of straw, sopped and saturated with blood, which oozed and trickled through upon the floor, mingled with the droppings of corruption. With the roar of explod ing fortresses in their ears, with shells and shot pouring through the roof and sides of the rooms in which they lay, with the crackling and hissing of fire around them, these poor fellows, who had served their loving friend and master the Czar but too well, were consigned to their terrible fate. Many might have been saved by or dinary care. Many lay, yet alive, with maggots crawl ing about in their wounds. Many, ne ar l y ma d b y t h e scene around them, or seeking escape from it in their extremest agony, had rolled away und. , r the beds, al d glared out on the heartstricken spectator, oh ! with snob looks ! Many with legs and arms broken :nd twisted, the jagged splinters sticking through the raw flesh, im plored aid, water, food, or pity, or, deprived of speech by the approach of death, or by dreadful injuries in the head or trunk, pointed to the lethal spot. Many seemed bent alone on making their peace with He aven. The at titudes of some were so hideously fantastic as to appal and root oee to the ground by a sort of dreadful fascina.;ien. Could that bloody mass of clothing and white bo es ever have been a human being, orthat burnt black muss of flesh have ever had a human soul ? It was fearful to think what the answer must be. The bodies of Lumbers of men were swollen and bloated to an incredible degree, and the features distended to a gigantic size, with eyes protruding fronathe sockets, and the blackened tongue lolling out of the mouth, compressed tightly by the teeth, which had sot upon it in the death rattle, made one shudder and reel round. In the midst of one of these "chambers of horrors"—for there were many of them — were found some dead and sonic living English soldiers, and among them poor Captain Vaughan, of the 90th, who has since succumbed to his wounds. I confess it was impossible for me to stand the sight, which horrified our most experienced surgeons ; the deadly, clammy stench, the smell of gangrened wounds, of corrupted blood, of rotting flesh, were intolerable and odious be yond endurance. But what must have the wounded felt who were obliged to endure all this, and who passed away without a hand to give them a cup of water, or a voice to say one kindly word to them ? Most of these men were wounded' on Saturday—many perhaps on the Friday before—inde6d it is impossible to how long they might have been there. In the hurry of their re treat the Muscovites seem t have carried in dead men to get them out of the way, and to have put them upon pallets in horrid mockery. So that their retreat was secured the enemy cared but little for their wounded. On Monday only did they receive these whom we sent out to tht:o during a brief armistice for the purpose, which was, I believe, sought by ourselves, as our over crowded hospitals could not contain and our overworked surgeons could not attend to any more. side. every battery to lay a gun upon them. A number of very capacious dockyard lumps and rowboats were also secured in these erodes or hung on by the steamers. In the course of the afternoon of the 11th (Tuesday) some of the Russian guns in the ruined battery below the Redan were turned on these eteamen, and in a few rounds, not more than 12 I think, succeeded in hulling them eight times. The range was, however, rather great, and it became expedient to move a little nearer, in order to afford them the full advantage of our shot and shell. On Tuesday evening, when Lieutenant Gough, of the London, who commanded in the Naval Batteries on the left attack, came down with his men, he was ordered to take his relief over to the right attack, and to accompany Lieutenant Anderson, R.E., down t i the town, in order to erect a battery for two 95 cwt. guns on the right of St. Paul's Battery. The site of this battery was about 700 yards from Fort Catherine, on the opposite side. The men, although deprived of the quiet night and undisturbed repose they anticipated, set to work with a will, and began throw ing up the parapet, and filling gabions, and, as it was possible that some interruption of the work might take place from the other side, a covering party of 120 men was ordered down from the trenches. There were French sentries in charge of this portion of the place, and the little party found that their allies were on the qui vise, and were keeping a sharp look-out on all sides. The men had been working some time when it was observed that one of the enemy's steamers bad left the north side, and was slowly and noiselessly drooping down on the very spot where the sailors and the covering party were at their labours. The night was dark, but they could clearly make out the steamer edging down upon them, and coming closer and closer. Every moment they ex pecte I her guns to open on them with grape and canis ter. The men therefore lay down on their faces, and kept as near to the ground as they could, and the steamer came over gently till she was within about 100 yards of the very spot where they had been working. They heard her anchor splash into the water, and then the rattle of her cable as it ran through the bawsehoie. Now, certainly, they were " going to catch it ;" but, no, the Russian opened no port and showed no light, but seemed to be making himself comfortable in his new quarters. Captain Villiers, of the 47th, who com manded the covering party, ordered his men to observe the utmost silence, and the same injunction was given to the seamen. About 2.30 in the morning, when she had been an hour or so in her novel berth, a bright light was perceived in her fore hatchway. The leading steamer on the opposite side in a second afterwards ex hibited gleams of equal brightness, and then one ! two ! three ! fair ! five !—as though from signal guns, the re maining steamers, with one exception, emitted jets of fire fr ,in their bows. The jets soon became columns of flame and smoke—the wind blew fresh and strong, and the night was dark, so that the fire spread with rapidity along the vessels, and soon lighted up the whole of the northern heavens. The masts were speedily licked and warmed into a fiery glow, and the rigging burst out into fitful wavering lines of light struggling with the wind for life ; the yards shed lambent showers of sparks and burning splinters upon the water. The northern works could be readily traced by the light of the conflagration, and the faces of the Russian soldiers and sailors who were scattend about on the face of the cliff shone out now and then and justified Rembrandt, The work of de struct on spread rapidly. The vessels were soon nothing but huge arks of blinding light, which hissed and crackled fiercely, and threw up clouds of sparks and embers, and the guns, as they became hot, exploded, and shook the crazy buds to atoms. One after another they went down into the seething waters. The cavalry out on the plains wondered what great conflagration had br.iken out anew in the town. At daybreak only one steamer remained. A boat pushed alongside her from the shore. They boarded her, and, after re maining below about 10 minutes, returned to their boat and regaiJed the shore. Wry speedily the vessel began to be seized with a sort of in ternal convulsion—first she dipped her bows, then her stern, then gave a few uneasy shakes, and at length, after a short shiver, went down bodily, cleverly scuttled. Thus was Sinope avenged. Of the men who planned, the sailors who executed, and the ships which were en gaged on that memorable expedition, scarcely one trace remains. Kornileff, Nachimoff, Istomine, and their crews have disappeared : their vessels now rest at the bottom of the roadstead of Sebastopol. The Russians prefer being agents of their own destruction, and do not give the conqueror a chance of parading the fruits of his victory. We cannot delight the good people of Plymouth or Portsmouth by the sight of Russian liners and steamers. We can only drive the enemy to the op tion of destroying or of doing the work for him, and he invariably prefers the former. The Russians are fortifying themselves cn the north side. The French are gone towards Baidar. Our Naval Brigade, after long, brilliant, and ill-re quited services, is to be broken up at once. FRIDAY, SEPT. 14. It is just one year this day since we landed at Kala mita Bay. In that time we have stormed the heights of the Alma, sustained the glorious disaster of Balaklava, fought the great fight of Inkerman, swept the Sea of Azoff and its seaboard, wasted Kertch., and seized upon Yenikale—have witnessed the battle of the Tchernaya—have opened seven bombardments upon Sebastopol—have held in check every General and every soldier that Russia could spare ; and, now, after the endurance of every ill that an enemy at home and abroad could inflict upon us—after passing through the summer's heat and winter's frost—after being purged in the fire of sickness and death, repulse and disaster, and above all in the fiery glow of victory, the British standard floats over Sebastopol. But our army is not the same. Physiologists tell us that we undergo perpetual change, and that not a bit of the John Smiz,h of 1854 goes into the composition of the same respected individual in 1864, but we have managed to work up tens of hundreds of atoms in our British army between 1854 and 1855 ; and there are wry few indeed to be found in the present body corporate who landed in the Crimea a twelvemonth ago. Some regiments have been thrice renewed, others have been changed twice over. The change is not for the better—the old stuff was bet ter than the new. The silence in camp is almost alarming ; were it not "or a gun now and then between the to vvu and the north side, and across the Tchernaya, it would be appalling. There is an English• French Commission sitting in the town. Colonel Windham is Commandant of the British portion of it. The 3d Buffs have received orders to on- cupy it, and the French garrison is strengthened. The enemy work all day at new batteries. The Guards are to make the roads between Balaklava and the camp. The Army Works Corps, like all bodies of men who come out from England to this climate, have suffered severely from disease and death, and up to the pre sent time not less than 1t per cent. of the navvies and artificers have died from different forms of malady. One ship, which sailed some time ago from home with a con siderable number of them, has not reached Balaklava, though she is considerably beyond her time. The corps at present here does not exceed 540 men, and they are prin cipally employed in trenching and repairing the railway, which is a vital and all-important work. Sir a. J,nea made an application to Mr. Doyne to send a portion of his men into the trenches to assist in the siege approaches, but the latter very prudently urged on the General the necessity of getting the rail wa y i n t o p ro p er or d er , an d the bad economy o placing skilled labourers in a posi tion which would certainly not conduce to the satisfac tory development of their capabilities, as no untrained and undisciplined men without arms or military habits and experience could be expected to pursue their work calmly and energetically with round shot and grape tear ing through them, and shell bursting amid their ranks. At the same time Mr. Doyne and the gentlemen em ployed as officers of the corps expressed their readiness to lead their men into the trenches, if the General of Engi neers required them to do so. The reasons urged against such a mode of employing the corps prevailed, and they are now engaged in the more safe and peaceful works for which they are peculiarly fitted. Locomotives and sta tionary engines have been applied for, and will speedily be sent out to prepare the railway more adequately for its herculean task in the winter, and Mr. Doyne expects an augmentation of 500 men to the corps under his com mand. The sickness which harassed the first corners is now of a milder type, and diminishes daily in virulence. Many of the men have suffered from their own reckless- ness in eating and drinking ; but it is also a fact that some cf the steadiest and most sober men in the corps shared the fate of their imprudent and thoughtless com rades. In the hour of their illness these men, in common with many others, have found a kind and successful physician. Close to the railway, half-way between the Col de Balaklava and Kadikoi, Mrs. Seacole, formerly of Kingrton and of several other parts of the world, such as Panama and Chagres, has pitched her abode—an iron storehouse, with wooden sheds and outlying tributaries, and here she doctors and cures all manner of men with extraordinary success. She is al ways in attendance near the battle-field to aid the wounded, and has earned many a poor fellow's blessings. The Diamond, Wasp, and Leander go home at once. SATURDAY, SEPT. 15, 10 A.M. No news. The Russians are still fortifying the north As any particulars must be interesting, I have no hesitation in trespassing on your space with some additional details of the events of the Bth of September, with which I have been favoured : " The Second Brigade, Light Division, stormed at noon of the Bth. The 97th and 90th, 300 of each, commanded— the former by Major Welsford (whose head was blown off as he was mounting an embrasure—the gun was fired by a Russian officer, who immediately gave himself up as a prisoner to a serjeant of the 97th, who entered the moment after, throwing down his sword and saying I am a prisoner of war'); the latter by Captain Grove, the senior officer of the regiment, present with the ser vice companies. The salient was carried at once, and the men entered the stronghold, which is a work traced on a most obtuse angle, requiring a large mass of men to assault it, not only at the salient, but at the same moment on both flanks, so as to turn them, and to enable the salient storming party to advance down the interior space of the works at once, taking the defenders in front and flank, and indeed in rear, at the same moment. In consequence of attacking the salient only, no front could be formed, on account of the small interior space at that point ; the men were forced to advance by dribblets, and at the same moment fired on from traverses on either flank where they could not see their assailants, an evil at once obviate f ha I the attack on the flanks and salient been simultaneous. The handful of men who assaulted And took the salient most gallantly held it against far superior numbers for a considerable time, until their ammunition being nearly expended and receiving no flank support, which could alone assist them to any purpose, and being rushed on from these flanks by a vastly superior force, they re treated to the extreme side of the parapet, where they remained, and, being reinforced by some fresh men, kept up a heavy and continuous fire on the Russians in the interior of the work ; they held their ground on this fast-sinking parapet of loose earth, stones, and broken gabions, under a most galling: fire from both flanks and in front, and Con ti nu ous showors ef verica I grape, from inside the work, for an hour and a half at least, when a sudden rush, made by the enemy, who had crept up the faces by the traverses, obliged the troops to retire, and step bystei.s, pelting each other with huge stones, they retired, slipping and tumbiing into the ditch, where many poor fellows were buried alive, from the scarps giving way. Then came the fearful run for life and death, with men rolling over like rabbits, then tumbling into the English trench, where the men lay faur deep on each ether. The men once in manned the parapet, and kept up a heavy and continuous fire on the enemy on the parapets of the Redan. The rest you know. The Rifles, as usual, behaved nobly, and where they had tried to creep up the ditch to pick off the Rus sians on the flanks they lay four and five deep, all together. Colonel Lysons, of the 23,1, as usual, was ail energy, and, though severely wounded through the thigh and unable to stand, remained on the ground cheering on the men and giving directions to the last. Col. Handcock, of the 97th, was shot through the head on the crest of the Redan, and died soon after arriving in camp. Captain Preston, and Lieutenants Swift and Wilmer, of the 90th, were all killed inside, where their bodies were found next morning. Captain Vaughan, of the 90th, whose conduct was beyond praise, was shot in both legs severely, and taken prisoner when we left the place, it being impossible to get him over the ditch. He was found in a Russian hospital to day, and brought to camp. Colonel Windham was most energetic in striving to keep down the fire of the flanks after the first retrogression, and stood where the fire was hottest, trying to force a few men to make an attack on them ; but so dense was the fire that the men were mowed down as fast as a handful could be got together. He was backwards and forwards, cheering, directing, &c. ; but a formed body of men alone could be of service, and that could not be got. Lieutenant and Adjutant Dyneley, of the 23d Fusileers, was so severely wounded that he is since dea , l—a most excellent officer, and a great loss to the regiment and the service. Individual deeds of daring were too frequent to particularize. The first dead Rus sian on the extreme salient was a Russian officer shot through the mouth, a singularly handsome man, with hands and feet white and delicate as a woman's. I won't trust myself to returns. The fire of our artillery had been splendid, as the number of broken guns proved." THE ROAN. The Great Redan was next vi , ited. Such a scene of wreck and ruin the houses behind it a mass of broken stones—a clock turret, with a shot right through the clock—a pagoda in ruins—another clock tower with all the clock destroyed save the dial, with the words " Barwise, London," thereon—cook-houses, where human blood was running among the utensils ; in one place had lodged in the boiler and blown it and its contents, and probably its attendants, to pieces. Everywhere wreck and destruction. This evidently was a beau quaptier once. The oldest inhabitant could not recognise it now. Climbing up to the Redan, which was fearfully cumbered with the dead, we witnessed the scene of the desperate attack and defence, which cost both sides so much blood. The ditch outside made one sick—it was piled up with English dead, some of them scorced and blackened by the explosion, and others lace rated beyond recognition. The quantity of broken gabions and gun carriages here was extraordinary ; the ground was covered with them. The bomb-proofs were the same as in the Malakhoff, and in one of them a music book was found, with a woman's name in it, and a canary bird and vase of flowers were outside the en- ' trance. Ex uno disce omits. The Light Division was de prived of its Brigadier and of Colonels Unett and Ly sons, the next senior officers, early in the day, and was left to the command of Col -nel Bunbury. The 41st, who followed the Light Division storming party, whose position in advance was determined, as I have already stated, by Colonel Windham and Colonel Unett "tossing up for choice," got into the Redan nearly as soon as the 90th and 97th, who formed the leading column of attack on the salient, and the parties of each division were soon inextricably mixed. I do not know the name of the first soldiers of the 90th and 97th who got in, but several soldiers of these regiments lay dead and wounded in advance near the Russian breast work on the morning of the 9th. The men of the 41st who rushed into the Redan with Col. Windham are really named Hartnady, Kennedy, and Pat Mahoney; the last, a fine tall Grenadier, fell dead in the embrasure by Cu!. Windham's side,shot through the heartas he was shouting "Come on, boys, come on!" His blood spouted over those near him, but the men rushed on till they became c in fused among the traverses, and then the scene took place which I have tried to describe in my former letter. The salient, however favourable to the assailants in one sense, was extremely disadvantageous to them in another, in somuch as it prevented them getting into auy kind of formation. It was of course the apex of the triangle, and was very narrow, while the enemy firing from the base poured a concentrated fire upon the point, and felled every man who showed boldly from behind the traverses, while they swept with a rapid file fire the top of the parapet on which our soldiers were crowded. At the first rush, had Colonel Windham been able to get a handful of men together to charge at the breastwork, the few Rusians there must have been routed, and by the tune their reinforcements came up our men would have been able to reverse the face of the breastwork, and to close the Redan to their assailants. But seconds of time generate great events in war. Our delay gave the enemy time both to recover from their panic when they were driven from the salient, and to send up strong bodies of men from their bomb-proofs and the cover at the back of the Redan, and by degrees this accumulating mass ad vancing from the angles of the breastwork moved up along the traverses parallel with the parapets of the Re dan, and drove our men into the salient, where, fed by feeble dribblets and incapable of formation, they were shot down in spite of the devotion and courage of their leader and the example of their officers. The salient was held by our men for one hour and 56 minutes ! While Gen. Codrington, who seems to have become confused by the failure of the attack, arid to have lost for a thine the cool- ' ness which has hitherto characterised him, was hesitating about sending up more men, or was unable to send them up in any formation, so as to form a nucleus of resist ance and attack, the Redan was lost, and our men, pressed by the bayonet, by heavy fusillades, and by some field guns, which the enemy had now brought up, were forced over the parapet into the ditch. Colonel Elnan, one of the very best officers in this ariny,—a man of singular calmness and bravery, who was beloved by his regiment, his officers and men, and whose loss is lamented by all who knew him, was shot through the lungs as be was getting his men into order. His sword arm was uplifted over his head at the time, and it was thought his lungs were uninjured. The surgeon, when he was carried back, told him so, but he knew too well such hopes were vain. "I feel lam bleeding inter nally," he said, with a sad smile. He died that night. Two captains of the same regiment fell beside him— Corry and Lockhart. Captain Rowlands, who very much distinguished himself, had the most extraordinary escapes, and was only slightly wounded, though hit in two places. Hamilton, Maude, and Kingscote are se verely wounded. Major Pratt is slightly wounded ; 4 sergeants and 30 privates were killed ; 1 corporal and 12 privates were missing; about CO others are severely wounded, and 49 are sightly wounded—making a total loss of 184. The 49th, who were in reserve, lost 1 offi cer killed, 2 wounded, 2 privates killed, and 23 wounded. For the last 30 minutes of this contest the English, having exhausted their ammunition, threw stones at their opponents, but the Russians retaliated with ter rible effect by " hand-grape " and small cannon-shot, which they hurled at our' men. Captain Rowlands was knocked down and stunned by one of these missilee, which hit him right on the eye. As soon as he reco vered and got up, he was struck by another grape-shut in the very same place, and knocked down again. The 30th Regiment was formed in the fourth parallel, left in front, on the right of the 55t11, and when the storming party m eyed out of the fifth parallel the sup ports OCCUR ed it, and were immediately ordered to ad. vance on the salient angle of the Redaa by three compa nies at a time from the left. The distance from the place in which they were posted up to the salient con siderably exceeded 200 yards, and as the men had to cut across as quickly as they could in order to escape the raking fire of grape, and to support the regiments in front, they were breathless when they arrived at the ditch. When they arrived, all blown by this double, they found only two scaling ladders et the scarp and two more at the other side to climb up to the parapet. They got over, however, and a'cended the face of the Redan. By the time the supports got up the Russians were pushing up their reserves in great force, and had already got some field pieces up to the breastwork, and the regiment falling into the train of all around them, instead of advancing, began to fire from the parapet and upper traverses till all their ammunition was exhausted, when they commenced pelting the Russians with stones. In this condition there were no attempts being made to move the reserves whatever, while the Russians accumu lated mass after mass upon them from the open ground in rear of the Redan, and deployed their columns on the breastwork, whence they delivered a severs fire upon us. The whole garrison of the Mala.khoff and their sup ports also came down on the left flank of the Redan and added to our assailants, and indeed there was rea son to fight, for the possession of the Redan would have destroyed the enemy's chance of escape. In this gallant regiment there were 16 officers, :13 sergeants, and 384 privates ; on marching down to the trenches one officer was killed and 10 were wounded, six ser geants were wounded, 41 privates were killed and 101 privates were wounded, and two officers and six privates have since died of their wounds. The 55th was the support along with the 30th, and was stationed in the fourth parallel till the assaulting columns had cleared out of the fifth parall&, which it then occupied, and left soon afterwards to mingle in the melds at the salient of the Redan. Poor Lieutenant- Col. Cuddy, who assumed the command when Lieut.- Col. Cure was wounded in the right arm, was killed as he led his men up the op en t o t h e f ace o f t h e R e d an ; and of the remaining 10 officers who went out with the regiment Captain Morgan, ac ti ng as Aide-de-Camp to the Brigadier, had his arm broken. Captain Hume was blown up by a shell, but was not severely wounded. Lieutenant J. R. Hume, his brother, was badly but not dangerously wounded. Lieutenant Johnson was wounded, and was also bayoneted by a Russian, who threw his firelock at him. The remaining officers, Capt. \Verge (Brigade-Major), Captain Rocksby, Lieutenants Elton, Harkness, and Burke (Adjutant), were not touched, nor was Acting Assistant-Surgeon Fane, who went down with the regiment to the sth parallel. The regiment went out less than 400 strong, and suffered a loss of 140 officers and men killed and wounded. The gallant 62d went into action 245 of all ranks. They were formed into two companies, with four officers to each, and the Colonel, Major, Adjutant, and Acting Assistant-Surgeon O'Callaghan, and formed part of the storming party. Colonel Tyler was hit in the hand crossing the open space in front of the Redan, and re tired. Lieutenant Bla.kieton was shot in the very act of getting in through an embrasure of the Redan. Lieut. Davenport was shot through the nose. On the parapet two officers were killed or died of their wounds, and four officers were wounded out of a total of 11 ; three sergeants were killed and four wounded out of 16, one drummer was killed out of eight, and 14 rank and file were killed and 75 were wounded out of 210. Such was this heavy day. To show how it fell on our allies I may give the following fact. The 15th Regiment, Colonel Garrain, went into action 900 strong against the Little Redan, and came out 310. The two Chefs de Batalion were killed, 11 officers were killed, and 19 officers were wounded. It was observed that an im- mense namber of the Russian dead in the front were officers. The Vladimir behaved admirably on Sunday. She to , ,k up a position within range of the French battery at Inkerrnan. She was not safe anywhere, and stem on let the shot pass over her till I was tired of seeing them miss her. THURSDAY, SEPT. 13. As the Rus s i an s t eamers were still i ntact, notwith standing the efforts of the French battery at the head of the roads near Inkerrnan to touch them up, it was resolved to construct a battery on the ruins of Fort Paul, within 700 yards of the northern shore, under which they had taken refuge. The steamers lay in three irregular lines to the eastward of Fort Catherine, where the deep creeks in the high cliffs gave them some sort of shelter against the fire of the French. There they were agents of much mischief and injury to the allies from the battle of Inkerman down to this time. There was the famous Vladimir, with her two large funnels and elegant clipper hull ; the Elbceuf, the steamer which made the celebrated dash into the Black Sea through all our fleet last year, and burnt some Turkish vessels near Heraclea, just as the Vladimir was seen in Odessa harbour in the month of July, 1854 ; there was the Gromonossetz, which had caused such annoyance from the. Dockyard Creek ; and there were five others with hard, and to me unknown names, as calmly floating on the water as though no eager eyes were watching from NG : SEPTEMBIER 47 1855, DETAILED REPORT OF MARSHAL PELISSIER. The M'oniteur contains the following report ad dressed to the Minister of War by the Marshal Commanding in Chief the Army of the East :___. " HEAD-QUARTERS, SEBASTOPOL, Sept. 14, 1355. " M. le Marechal,—l have the honour to address to your excellency, as I announced to you in my despatch of the 11th, my report on the capture by assault of Sebastopol. "The . moment for that assault appeared to have arrived. To the left the engineer works had reached for some time within from 30 to 40 yards of the Flagstaff Battery (No. 4 of the Russians), and the Central Bastion (No. 5 of the Russians.) To the right our roadway, actively pushed under the protection of a sustained fire from the artillery, opened upon the 17th, were not more than 25 yards from the salient of the Malakhoff and the Little Redan of the Careening Bay. Our artillerists had nearly finished 100 batteries in a complete state pro vided with every necessary, and presented a body of 250 guns to the attacks of the left, and 250 to those of the right. On their side the English, although greatly arrested in their course by the difficulties of toe ground, bad arrived within 200 yards of the Great Redan (Bas tion No. 3of the Russian•), upon which they directed the fire of 200 guns placed en batterie. The Russians, using their time profitably, raised on the side of the Malakhoff a second entrenchment, which it was import ant that they should not be allowed to finish. in fine, the army that came to the succour of the enemy was completely beaten on the 16th at Tchernaya. They had suffered considerable losses, and it was not probable that they would come again to renew an attack on points which we had rendered stronger, and where we were enabled to repulse all the efforts of the enemy. "It was then agreed between General Simpson and myself that we should make the decisive attack. The generals commanding the artillery and engineers of the two armies were unanimously of the some opinion. The Bth September was fixed for that attack. "Thus, as I have already had the honour to inform your excellency, the enemy ought to be attacked on the principal points of this vast fortress, in order to prevent him from directing all his reserves against a single point of attack, and to cause him anxiety respecting the town, upon which abutted the bridge by which he would be able to effect his retreat. General de Salles, with the Ist corps, reinforced with a Sardinian brigade, which had been offered to me by General de la Marurora, was to attack the town on our left ; in the centre the English were to take possession of the Great Redan ; and on our right General Besquf-t was to attack the Malakhoff and the Little Redan of Careening Bay(Bastion No. 2 of the Russians), these being salients of the fortress of Kara• belnaia. "The following dispositions were to be made by each of these attacking bodies :—To the left the division Levaillant (2d of Ist corps); (brigade Couston: 9th bat talion of foot ehasseurs, under Commandant Rogie ; 21st of the line, Lieut.-Colonel Villaret ; 42d of the line, Lieut.• Colonel de Mallet ; brigade Trochu : 46th of the line, Lieut.-Colonel Le Banoeur ; 80th of the line, Colonel Lateirade) charged with the attack of the Cen tral Bastion and of the lunettes placed in the most ad vanced parallels. To the right vtas the division d'Aute marre (brigade Niel • sth battalion of foot chasseurs, Commandant Garnier ; 19th of the line, Colonel Guig nard ; 26th of the line, Colonel de Sorhiers ; brigade Breton ; 39th of the line, Colonel Cornignan ; 74th of the line, Colonel Guyot de Lespart, which was to follow on the footsteps of the division Levailiant, and take pos session of the Flagstaff Battery and of the batteries which were raised about it. The Sardinian brigade of General Cialdini, placed beside the division d'Autemarre, was to attack the right flank of the same bastion. In fine, the division Bonat (4th of the Ist corps, General Lefevre ; 10th foot chasseurs, Commandant Guioniard ; 18th of the line, Colonel Dantin ; 79th of the line, Colo nel Grenier 21 brigade, General de la Roquette ; 14th of the I;ne, Colonel de Negrier ; 43d of the line, Colonel Broutta), and the division Pate (3d of the Ist corps, brigade Beuret ; 6th battalion of the foot ehasseurs, Commandant Fen - flier de la Prevolais ; 28th of the line, Colonel Lartigues ; 93th of the line, Colonel Conseil Dumesnil ; brigade Bazaine ; Ist Regiment of the Fo reign Legion, Lieutenant-Colonel Martenot de Cordone ; 2d Regiment of the Foreign Legion, Colonel de Cho brieres), serving as a reserve to the division Levaillarit. In addition, and to guard against any eventualities that might happen, I ordered from Kamiestt, and placed under the orders of General de &dies, the 30th and 35th of the line, who were on the extreme left, and gave strength on that side to our lines. " Before Karabelnaia,, as I have already stated, our attack was to be made in three directions :—To the left, on the Malakhoff and its supports ; to the right, on the Little Redan of Careening Bay ; and o❑ the centre, on the curtain which united these works. The system of the Malakhoff was evidently the most important point of the fortress ; its capture must involve the successive ruin of the defences of the place, and I had added to the troops under General Busquet ail the infantry of the Imperial Guard. "The attack of the left on the Malakhoff was confided to General M`Mahon (Ist division of 2d corps), Ist bri gade, Colonel Decaen ; Ist Zouaves, Colonel Colineau ; and 7th of the line, Colonel Decaen ; 2d brigade, Gene ral Vinoy ; Ist batta!ion of font chasseurs, Commandant Gambier ; 20th of the line, Colonel Orianne ; 27th of the line, Colonel Adam, which had also in reserve the brigade Whimpfen (3d Zouavcs, Colonel Polhhs ; 50th of the line, Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolas ; and Algerian Rifles, Colonel Rose), taken from the division Can and the two battalions of the Zouaves of the Guard, Colonel Jannin. "The right attack on the Redan was confided to Ge neral Dulac (brigade St. Pol : 17th foot chasseurs, Com mandant de Feeassac ; 57th of the line, Colonel Dupuis, 85th, Colonel Javel ; 2d brigade, General Bisson ; 10th of the line, Commandant de Lacontrie ; 61st of the line Colonel de Taxis), having in reserve the brigade Marol les (15th of the line, Colonel Guerin ; 96th of th e li ne , Colonel Malherhe), of the division d'Autemarre, and the battalion of foot chasseurs of the Guard, Colonel Con Duller de Luciniere. General de Motterouge (brigade of General Bourbaki : 4th foot chasseurs, Commandant Clinchart ; 86th of the line, Colonel de Berthier ; 100th of the line, Colonel Mathieu ; 24 brigade, Colonel Pi card ; 91st of the line, Colonel Kergueir), commanded the attack of the centre in the middle of the curtain, having in reserve the Voltigeurs (Colonels Montera and Douay) of the Guard, under the direct orders of the general of division of the Guard (Colonels Blanchard and Dalton) Mellinet, having under him the Generale of Bri gade de Ponteves and de Failly. "In order to place these troops, our trenches bad been divided in three places, of which each part ought to contain in its advanced portion the whole of the division of attack, and the reserves would find room as well in the old trenches, as far as they were calculated to con tain, them, as in the ravines of Karabelnaia and the Careening Bay. It was requisite, the better to deceive the enemy, that the assembling of the troops should take place without much disturbance ; thus all the communi cations conductin g to our pl aces o f arms h a d b een pre served with great care, and everything that was likely to attract observation was removed. "To the left attacks, as well as to those of the right, detachments of artillery and engineers, provided with tools, were placed at the head of each column of attack. The sappers of the engineers, with the auxiliaries of the advanced guard of each attack, were to be ready to place bridges which they had learned to manage, and the materials for which had already been sent in advance of the first line. The cannoniers were provided with all that was necessary—hammers, &c.—to be ready to spike or unspike the guns as the case might be, and to turn, if possible, against the enemy those which they might take. In addition, in the first battalion of each attack a certain number of men were to be provided with short hand tools, with which they might open passages, fill up ditches, turn traverses ; to accomplish, in a word, urgent works that were so important at such a moment. • "Besides the reserves of the field batteries had been prepared in a manner to enable them to be brought promptly into action. To the left attack a field battery was to be placed in a spot near the fortress, with horses ready, and its cannoniers provided with harness ready to carry them off in case of necessity ; two other batt er ies (of the Ist division) were to be ready at Clocheton ; and a fourth was to be carried to the extreme left of the Lazaretto. To the right attacks a reserve of 24 field pieces were to be placed—viz., 12 guns of th e L ancas t er old battery, and 12 to guard the Redoubt Victoria, "The English had 200 yards to cross under a terrible shower of shot. This space was soon covered with dead ; nevertheless these losses did not arrest the march of the attacking column, which arrived, directing its attack on the capital of the work. They descended into the ditch, which was nearly five yards in depth,.And in spite of the efforts of the Russians, they scaled the. escarpment and carried the salient of the Redan. There, after a desperate engagement, which cost dear to the Russian., the English soldiers found nothing before them but a vast unoccupied space, riddled with the balls of the enemy, who were sheltered behind distant tra verses. It was only after having sustained for two hours the unequal combat that the English decided on evacuating the Redan, and they did this with so firm a countenance that the enemy did not dare to follow them. "In the meantime, on the left, at the signal agreed on, the division Levaillant, commanded by Generals Coustou and Trochu, precipitated themselves on the left flank of the Central Bastion and the lunette of the left. In spite of the shower of balls and projectiles, and after an ardent combat, the spirit and vigour of these brave troops triumphed over the resistance of the enemy, and in spite of the accumulated difficulties before them they penetrated into the two works. But the enemy, falling back upon successive traverses, still fought with firm ness. A murderous fire issued out from all these covers ; masked pieces were opened upon them every moment, and field pieces vomited showers of balls, decimating our men. Generals Costou and Trochu, who were wounded, had to give up their command ; Generals Rivet and Breton were killed ; several mines exploded by the enemy produced a moment of hesitation in our men. At last, a reinforcement of Russians, made by numerous columns, forced our troops t o abandon the works which they had carried, and to retire into our advanced works. " Our batteries from that part of the attacks, skil fully directed by General Lehcouf, to whom Rear• A dmiral de Genouilly rendered, as he always does, his devoted and enlightened aid, managed their fire so well that the enemy were forced to take shelter behind their parapets. General de Salles, causing the division d'Autemarre to advance, prepared this time a second and redoubtable attack, but we were assured of theMa lakhoff, and I told him not to proceed. "The possession of this work was, notwithstanding, energetically disputed. "By means of the batteries of the Maison-en-crox, the artillery, field pieces brought to the most favourable points, and batteries from the north of the Roads, the enemy inundated us with shot, and projectiles of every and carried ravage into our ranks, and the powder magazine of the Russian battery Potorne exploded, augmenting our losses, making our men fly off at an angle of 91 degrees. A great number of superior and other officers were killed and wounded. Generals St. Pol and de Manila fell gloriously, and Generals Melli net, de Ponteves, Bourbaki, were wounded at the head of their troops. "Three times the divisions Dulac and Motterouge took possession of the Redan and the curtain, and three times were they obiiged to all back on account of a dreadful fire of artillery, and before the vast masses who stood before them. Still the Lancaster field batteries in reserve descended at a trot, cleared the trenches, and audaciously established themselves within half-cannon shot, effecting the defeat of the enemy's columns, and driving off their steamers. A part of these two divisions, supported in this heroic struggle by the troops of the Guard, who covered themselves with glory on that day, established themselves on the left of the curtain, from which the enemy drove them no more. " During the renewed combats on the right and in the centre, the Russians redoubled their efforts to retake the Malekhoff. This fortification, which is a kind of cita del of earthwork, 350 metres long by about 150 broad, armed with 62 pieces of different calibre, surmounts a bill which commands the whole interior of the Faubourg de Karabelnaia, and takes in reverse the Redan attacked by the English, is only 1200 metres from the South Port, and menaces not only the sole anchorage for yes sells, but also the only passage of retreat open to the Russians—the bridge thrown by them across from one shore of the stream-roads to the other. " During the first hours of this struggle on the part of the two armies, the Russians constantly renewed their efforts, but General M'Mahon had received successively to resist these continued attempts, the Vinoy brigade' of his division, the Zouaves of the Guard, the reserve of General Wimpfen, and a band of Voltigeurs of the guard, by which means he made head against the enemy, who were always repulsed. The Russians, neverthe less, endeavoured to make a last and desperate effort ; formed in deep columns, they assailed three times the breach of the fortification, and three times were obliged to retreat with enormous losses before the compactness of our troops. " After this last struggle, which terminated about five o'clock in the evening, the enemy apparently decided to abandon that course of action, and the batteries alone continued till nightfall to send some shots amongst us, which did not do much harm. " The detachments of the Engineers and of the Artil lery which during the combat were either bravely beatea or actively employed on their special mission, applied themselves quickly to the task, under the direction of their officers, to execute the most difficult and urgent part of the work in the interior of the fortification. "According to my orders, Generals Thery and Niel instructed Generals Beuret and Prossard, commanding the artillery and engineers of the second corps, to take the necessary measures to consolidate ourselves in the Malakhoff, and on the portion of the curtain in our bands, so as to be able, if necessary, to resist a noc turnal attack from the enemy, and to be in a position to make them on the morrow evacuate the Little Redan of Careening-bay, the Cross-house, and all that side of their defences. " These measures were rendered unnecessary. The enemy, despairing of retaking the Malakhoff, took a great decision—they evacuated the town. "Towards evening I had a suspicion it would be so. • „ Labourers posted on the different points designated were j I saw lone files of tioopa and bagg ag e c ross the hridg to be ready to prepare reads for th e ar till ery. I to the North side ; conflagration s soon b urs t ou t on a ll "In order to be prepared against all chances, the Ist sid •e, and all doubt on the subject vanished. I should brigade of the division d'Aurelle was posted in a manner I like ta nave pushed forward, gained the bridge, and cut to repel, with the assistance of the batteries and redoubts off the enemy's retreat; but the besieged kept blowing existing in that direction, all attempts of the enemy on u.p their fortificitions, powder magazines, and buildings, the counter-fort of Inkerman. and these explosions would have destroyed us in detail, "On the side of our lines General Herbillon was or- and made it impossible to carry out the idea. We dered to guard the positions on the Tehernaya by keep- waited in position till the dawn broke over this scene of ing under arms his infantry, mounting his cavalry, and desolation. harnessing his artillery at the hour fixed for the attack. " When the sun rose it threw light upon this work of I had, besides, sent to him the brigade of Cuirassiers of destruction, which was even greater than we thought. General Forton. General Marmara was acquainted with The remaining Russian vessels had been sunk in the these dispositions. As to General d'Allonville, he was port, the bridge was doubled back, the steamers alone ordered, in the night from the 7th to the Bth, to enter remained busily employed in taking away the last fugi the valley of Baidar to take a position near the bridge of tives, and some fanatic Russians, who were endeavour- Kreutzen—this position offeri ng an advantageous con- in;; to spread the conflagratio n through the town. But oentration in case of the succouring army of the Russians soon these few men and the steamers were compelled to menacing the outworks. retire and seek a refuge in the creeks on the north side "In common accord General Simpson and I agreed of the roads. Sebastopol was ours. that mid-day should be the time for the assault. The " Thus terminated this memorable siege, during which hour chosen had many advantages ;it offered favourable the relieving army was twice beaten in the open field, chances for surprising the enemy, and i n case t h e R us - and the Means o f d e f ence and attack of which had as sian army outside should make a desperate attempt to sumed colossal proportions. The besieging army had in succour the place, it would be impossible to adopt before its different attacks about SOO guns in battery, which the close of the day a vigorous measure against our fired more than 1,600,000 rounds, and our approaches, lines ; such was the result of our attack, and we bad till dug during 336 days, of open trenches, through a rocky the following morning to consult. ground, with a development of more than 86 kilometres "On the morning of the Bth the artillery of the left (20 leagues), were made under the constant fire of the attacks, which, from the sth at dawn had carried on a place and with incessant combats by day and night. violent fire, continued to crush the enemy with projec- "The day of the Bth of September, on which the allies tiles ; from the right attacks our batteries fired vigour- gained the mastery of an army almost equal in number, ously, but carefully continuing the artifices of which not invested, entrenched behind formidable defences, pro they had made use in view of what was to take place. vided with more than 1,100 cannon, protected by the "Towards eight o'clo c k th e eng ineers launched on guns of the fleet, and the north batteries still possessing the Central Bastion two projecting m i nes , eac h charged enormous resources, will remain an example of what with 100 kilo grammes o f pow d er ; an d at th e same h our may be exp ec t e d f rom sheave di sci pli ne d army hardens d they caused to play in advance of our covered way, on by war. the front of the Malakhoff, three projectiles, charged " Our losses on this day are-5 generals killed, 4 altogether with 1,500 kilogrammes of p ow d er , i n or d er wounded, and 6 with contusions; 24 superior officers to break th e l ower ga ll er i es o f t h e R uss i an m i ners. killed, 20 wounded, 2 missing ; 116 subaltern offic ers "The poss ess i on o f th e sys t em o f t h e M a l a kh o ff b e i ng kill e d , 224 wounded, 8 missing; and 1,489 non-commis• decided to be regarded as the fruits of our l a b ou r fo r th e cloned officers and men killed, 4,259 wounded, and day, the other attacks were subordinate, and it was 1,400 missing ; total, 7,55 e. understood between General S i mp son an d m y se lf th a t "As you see, Monsieur le Mar4chal, I shall have the English should not fall upon the Great Redan until names to mention to your Excellency; it will be the ob. he received a signal which I should give him that we ject of a Special report. were assured of the Malakhoff. In the same manner, "The fleets of Admirals Lyons and Bruat were to General de Salles should not put his troops in motion have taken up a position at the entrance of Sebastopol until the moment he should receive a signal from me. roads, and to have made a powerful diveraion. But a "A little before twelve all the troops were perfectly strong gale from the north-east, which was severe in order at the points indicated, and the other disposi • enough on shore, lashed the sea into fury and rendered tions had been punctually executed. General de Sales it impossible to think of weighing anchor. The English was ready ; General Bosquet was at the post of combat and French mortar boats fired, nevertheless, with great which he had chosen in the 6th parallel ; and I had siecess into the roadstead, the town, and the different arrived, with Generals Teiry, of the Artillery ; Niel, of sea forts. As usual the Naval Brigade on shore emu the Engineers, and De Martimprey, my chief of the late I the gunners of the land artillery, and distirguishe I staff, at the Redoubt Brancion, which I had taken as themselves by the vigour of their fire and the precision my head-quarters, of their aim. " The watches were regulated. At mid-day exactly "The English army behaved with its usual intrepidity. all our batteries ceased to fire, to take a studi e d a i m a t It was prepar i ng f or a second attack, which wou l d the reserves of the en em y. At the call of their chiefs doubtless have overcome the unexpected obstacles met the divisions of M'Mahon, Dulac, and Motterouge, with in the first; but the capture of the Malakhoff of started out from the trenches. The drums and trumpets course rendered a second attack unnecessary. beat and sounded the charge, and with cries of Vive "The Saidinian Brigade of General Cialdini, which l'Empereur !' a thousand times repeated along the whole General del la Marruora had kindly placed at ray dis line, our intrepid soldiers threw themselves into the posal to reinforce the let corps, stood the terrible cross trenches of the enemy. It was a solemn moment. fire in our trenches with the aplomb of veteran troops. " The Ist division of the brigade of M`Mahon, the let The Piedmontese were eager to cross bayonets with the Zouaves at its head, followed by the 7th of the line, bay- enemy, but, as the attack on the Flagstaff Bastion did ing on its left the 4th foot chasseurs, darted against th e not take place, it was not possible to satisfy the ardour left face and the salient of the Malakhoff work. The of these brave trier pi, breadth and depth of the ditch, and the height of the "As usual, M. le Marechal, our wounded, and even escarpment of the talus, rendered the ascent extremely those of the enemy, have received every attention. We difficult fur our men ; but at last they gained the parapet, owe the recovery of many to the excellent organisation crowded with Russians, who suffered themselves to be of our hospital service, and to the personal devotion of killed on the spot, but would not yield, and, in default the hospital staff. of muskets, fought with plough coulters, stones, and, in "I cannot conclude this report without mentioning short, with whatever they could lay their hands on. to your Excellency how, on this occasion, as on many Here was a struggle of hand to hand, one of tse combats others, lam indebted to Major General Hugh Rose and in which nothing but the intrepidity and valour of our Lieutenant-C douel George Foley, commissaries of her troops coil'd gain them the victory. They sprang at Britannic Majesty at the bead-quarters of the French once into the works, trampling the Russian s who con- army, for their services in the numerous relatiocs I tinued to resist under their feet, and in a few moments have had to k-ep up during the action with General after the colours of France were planted on the Male- Simpson, the English Commander-in• Chief. khoff, not to be pulled down again. "Accept, M. le Marechal, the expression of my re- To the right and to the centre, with the same spirit apectful devotion, that overcome all obstacles and drove back the enemy, "PELISSIER, Marshal, Commander-in-Chief." the divisions of Dulac and Motterouge, headed by their chiefs, seized the Little Redan of Careening Bay and the curtain, and even pushed forward into the second work in construction. Everywhere we were in possession of the works attacked. But this great and shining success could not fail to cost us dear. Struck with a piece of shell from the right, General Bosquet was forced to quit the field of battle. I confided the command on this oc casion to General Dulac, who was perfectly seconded by General de Liniers, chief of the staff of the 2d corps. "The engineers, who had marched with the storming columns, were ready at their post, working vigorously; they filled up ditches, opened passages, and erected bridges, The 2d brigade of General 3VMM:ion advanced rapidly to reinforce him in the Malakhoff. I then made the signal agreed upon with General Simpson for the attack on the Great Redan, and a little afterwards for the attack on the town. THE BANK OF ENGLAND. The pressure at the Bank of England yesterday, on the part of dealers and others, desirous of obtaining loans on stock so as to avoid the necessity of closing their accounts at present prices, was extremely great, and the notification of an increase of a half per cent, in the rate pr educed an effect which was immediately turned to the utmost advantage by adverse operators. Out of doors, however, among the leading bankers and capitalists there was a total absence of any sign of anxiety, and, so far from their being an extraordinary demand for c,.ininer cial accommodation, it is believed that, but for the way in which the idea of a further rise in the rate of dis count has induce] people during the past three weeks to provide in anticipation for their actual wants, the appl:cations would i-ear.ely have been at all beyond the usual extent. Not only have the convictions entertained of the soundness of trade in almost every de partment, and of the absence of any rational cause of alarm, been confirmed by the daily experience of the principal monetary firms, but surprise is felt, even among those who were most confident on the matter, that, -limier any possible circumstances, such stability could have prevailed in the face of the combination of acci dental c,,u,es which have arzzraviteri the symptoms of a moderate fttringency to a point which, but for the exer cise of judgment, might easily have been converted into a panic. The increase in the Bank rate for advances today was generally accepted as a confirmation of their intention to advance the rate of discount to-morrow. As the demand for gold for exportation has now been stopped, the chief &Avantage of the measure wit! consist in its satisfying the public against all dread of a renewal of the drain and providing for the effects of any further action that may be considered necessary by the Bank of France. Gold has been offered to-day in the market, but with out finding buyers. Hence it is presumed that even the artificial demand consequent upon the Bank of France making purchases at a loss has terminated. It is under stood also that no further sums are being forwarded to Hamburg for purchases of silver. At present, there fore, there is no natural outlet through which any addi tional quantity can be sent away, and the instalments on the Turkish loan and the payments to the furCes ap pear to constitute the only existing sources of probable demand.—Timex' City Article. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. NEWMARKET FIRST OCTOBER MEETING. THE SUBSCRIPTION 1 1003C—TUESDAS NIGHT. A thin muster, and very little buAiness transacted. The betting on the Cesarewitoh, however, was marked by two or three changes of considerable importance. Robgill receded to 10 to 1, laid in hundreds, and after wards freely offered. 200 to 10 was at first betted against Scythian, but towards the close his friends stepped in to the rescue, and he returned to 16 to 1. King Tom, on the strength of his performance to-day, advanced to 16 to 1 ; and Boer, following in his wake, reached 20 to 1, taken. Further co mment is unnecessary. Closing prices : CESAREWITen. 10 to 1 agst Robgill (taken and offered) 16 to 1 agst Scythian (taken) 16 to 1 agst King Tom (taken) 20 to 1 agst Neville (20 to 1 taken) 20 to 1 agst Mr. Sykes (taken) 20 to 1 agst Boer (taken) 25 to 1 agst Monarque (taken) 25 to 1 apt Muscovite (taken) CAMBRIDGESHIRE STAKES. 15 to lon the field (offered) 25 to 1 agst Vandyke (taken) 25 to 1 agst Lord Alfred (taken) DEBBY 14 to 1 apt Elliogto., (taken to 501.) WEDNESDAY. The St. Lager Stakes of 25 soya. each, for 3 yr-oldi ; colts, Sat 71b ; fillies, 84 31b. Certain penalties and allowances. D.I. (2 miles 119 yards). (16 subs.) Duke of Bedford's Habena by Birdcatcher, Bst 31b (Pettit) 1 Sir C. Monck's Vandal, 84 71b (Bartholomew) 2 Lord Exeter's Besika, 84 31b (Norman) 3 Handicap Sweepstakes of 15 soya each, 10 ft, for 2-yr olds. T.Y.C. (5 fur. 140 yards). (4 subs.) Mr. Combe's Looey, by Tory Buy, Bst 41b (Bartholomew) 1 Mr. Pay ne ' s L or d Raglan, Tat 12Ib (Flatman) 2 Mr. Hastings' b c by lago—Lady Lawn, 84 71b (Collins) 3 Eighth Triennial Produce Stakes of 10 soya. each, fur 2 yr-olds ; colt; 84 71b ; fillies, Bst 41b. The owner of the second horse to receive a sum equal to 10 per cent. on the whole stake, and the owner of the third horse a sum equal to 5 per cent. on the whole stake. T.Y.C. (5 fur. 140 yards). (68 subs.) Mr. J. M. Stanley's Mary Copp, Bst 41b (Bartholomew) 1 Lord Bruce's Intimidation, Bst 41b (Ashmall) 2 Mr. Hart's Aleppo, Bst 71b (A. Day) 3 The following also ran—Plenty, Duvernay, Pit-a-pat. Sweepstakes of 10 sous each, for 2-yr-olds, colts Bst 71b, fillies Bst 41b. The winner to be sold for 50 soya if demanded, &c. First half of All M. 3 furlongs 215 - yds. 3 subs. Duke of Bedford's Monceda, Bst 41b w . o . Mr. Lowther's Piccaninny, Bst 71b Mr. Payne's Lord Raglan, Bst 71b 3 A Sweepstakes of 10 sous each; 2-yr-olds, Est ; three Bst 41b, four Bst 12,b, five and upwards 9st 111 b. The winner to be sold for 150 sOYS if demanded, &c. R.M. 1 mile 17 yds. 4 subs. Duke of Bedford's Alcoyne, by Robert de Gorham, 3 yrs, Bst 41b (Pettit) 1 Mr. Robinson's Plumpton Maid, 2 yrs, Est ...(Miles) 2 Mr. J. Taylor's Ida, 3 yrs, Bst 4lb (Wells) 3 Mr. A. J. Le Cras's Tictun, 5 yrs, 9st llb ...(Collins) 4 Fifty Pounds, for three-yr-olds, 7st 51b ; four, Bst 81b •, five, Bst 13Ib ; six and aged, 9st. D.I. (2 miles 119 's Black Swan, ; b r y TE: K BB, s n t7 i s g s of the ( f i Mr. Daley t (Rook) 1 • . Steggles) Duke M r . Y c r o:f m 9 i s e t e d , s f l i3 o 3 r:d u b ' e s b T e r a i r t d o , n 4 , a (j rtholomew) 32 Viscount Palmerston entertained the French Ambas , sador at dinner yesterday. Mr. Layard has arrived at Genoa. Generals MacMahon, Niel, and Bosquet have been raised to the dignity of of the Legion of Honour. Le Nord, the Russian organ at Brussels, says the evacuation of S e ba s t opo l i s a decided advantage, Cone* pared to the burning of Moscow. Pa r. P. ail L__ l 3