The Sun. — London, England, 1854-11-24 00:00:00

TSB BATTLE OF INKERMAN. (Front a Special Correspondent, of the Morning Herald.) BRITISH CAMP, Nov. 7.—We have again had a pitched battle with the Itassians—a battle which, for duration and loss of life, is only to be equalled by the tremendons con flicts of Napoleon at Austerlitz and Leipsic. In a word, the enemy, with an overpowering force, attacked the right of our entrenched camp at daybreak on the morning of Sunday, the sth of November. Their immense superiority of nxmbers enabled them to carry several strong positions, and penetrated into the centre of the canape of the Light and 2d Divisions; but the opportune arrival of reinforce ments enabled the Allies to recover their lost ground, and eventually repulse the attack with such loss to the enemy as is, perhaps, unparalleled in the history of inodern warfare. The English have lost no less than seven gen eral officers killed and wounded, an unusually l ar g e proportion e of f other officers, and about 2,400 men. Th e French, who reinforced at Alma, us, and turned the fortune of th e day, have lost,a about 1,400. The loss of the enemy is literally appalling. No words can convey an idea of the manner in which they have been slaughtered. Between 15,000 and 20,000 of their dead remain upon the field, in some places three and foie deep. While the battle was raging on the right, a sortie was made from Sebastopol on the left of the French line. It was repulsed after a tremendous engagement, in which our allies lost about 1,000 killed and wounded, ant the Russians nearly 3,000. Z, The fighting lasted about eight hours, No terms of praise are too high for the desperate mirage which the enemy showed in this assault upon our lines. Their conduct and coo lness, under fire, literally seems inexplicable. On the morning of the 4th the enemy approached Bala klava in two bodies, about 35,000 or 40,000 strong ;—of course, as they nearly always are, day and night, the de fenders of the batteries had to get ander arms, and fired several shells into the enemy's columns. The latter gave not the least sign of a. wish to attack ; on the contrary, be yond moving out of range and remaining drawn up in or der of hates, they barely appeared to notice ns. The night of the 4th passed much the same as other nights in camp; that is, we talked over what the trenches had done that day, the general prospects of the siege, the large force of the enemy in our roar, aid the probability of an " !alerts" from the besieged garrison. To our surprise the enemy appeared inclined to let us have a quiet night, and only a gun now and then was fired from Sebastopol. A little after three, en the morning of Sunday the sth, when a heavy fog shrouded everything from view, the various garrisons of the redoubts at Balaklava were reused out by the noise of large masses of troops approaching. This time scouts were instantly sent out, and returned with the intelligence that a large army was moving against them, though, ow ing to the darkness and the thickness of the fag, it was impossible to say on what paint the attack week" he directed. To the surprise of all, the right of our position at Balaklava was not even threatened, and this was the only point from which danger is really to be apprehended. The left or north of the Balaklava defences are remark ably strong, as they rest on the steep plateau of land on which our camp is fixed, so that any army advancing against Balaklava on the left, would be exposed to a tre mendous flanking fire from the redoubts in rear of our lines. Yet it seemed from the sound as if it was on this point that the attack of the enemy was directed, and all our doubts were set at rest by the batteries on the left of Balaklava, and also those in rear of the camp, opening fire. What they fired at—beyond a noise—it is difficult to say, for the morning was dark, cold, and foggy; so foggy, wits: that particular white wet mist of a winter's morning, the it was impossible to see ten yards beyond the muzzles of the guns. Yet the noise of the cavalry and artillery could be plainly heard, and in its direction our batteries sent shell after shell. At about half-past three the Russian artillert returned the fire. From the flashes of their guns they appeared to have advanced into an eagle of the plain, between a fire from our camp lines on their right, ane our Balaklava batteries facing them. Directly the vague indirect flashes of their guns were made out, our artillery fired in that direction, and the enemy ap peared to be trying to return it. The cannonade was hot enough, and lasted about half-an-hour, yet I scarcely think a man fell on either side. The fog was so thick that aim was out of the quentiou, so the guns were fired on " spec," and to show the enemy we were prepared for them. At about four o'clock a cloud of skirmishers advanced to the brow of the hills en which the roar of our camp lines rest. The Russian skirmishers never approached nearer to this breastwork than 500 or 600 yards, and at this very safe distance a hot fire woe kept up by them in the direction of the breastwork. The Zousves, of .:nurse ' returned the musketry, but with j us t th e same results as those which followed the cannonade —T-Z., no results at all. Both sides were almost out of range, and most decidedly out of sight ; in fact, as your readers have foreseen, tin whole attack upon the rear of our lines was a mere feint to draw off attention, while a serious and desperate attempt was made to force our camp, and turn the whole of our position on the right, near Tchernaya. In the camp the continued cannonade in the rear hal excited some disturbance. The troops were got tin le , arms; but, knowing the strength of the position in th rear, none wore moved. The fire meanwhile had mucl lackenod, when suddenly, and near five o'clock, to th surprise, and I think also a little to the consternation o all in camp, a most tremendous cannonade was opened fron the heights near Inkerman, full upon the right of our po sition. As I have said, the two gun battery on the hill over the Tchernaya was held by a strong party of the 55th With the first filing in the rear they had turned out, an, were watching the cannonade from a distance, when sem, of the men remarked a peculiar rumbling noise on the base of the steep hill. The fog and darkness were so dense the it was quite impossible to distinguish anything ten feet below the battery. Yet still the noise round the hill cell tinned. I have already described the high steep hill facing the battery and overlooking it. No one suspecteo or believed it possible that the enemy could get guns ill this in a single night, so the place had boon but little re garded. Yet it was from, this spot that the Russians opened the fire from about ten guns full on the Two-gun Battezy and the Light and 2d Divisions, which lay about half-a-reile in the rear. The instant the cannonade began, and the first emotions of utter astonishment and surprise were passed, the 55th piequet kept close under the earth jfrork of the battery, and the shot flew over them, doing , but little injury. The enemy had, some way or other, managed to get up their guns during the night, but having to point them in the dark and fog, took but a blind aim, yet nevertheless their shot and shell flew in all direction, for the space of nearly 20 minutes, while the cannonade it rear of the line at Balaklava was also redoubled, so that it seemed impossible to say which would prove the true and which the feint attack, or whether they were both true or both feints. The latter opinion was adopted by many, who said that the enemy would never dare attack us is our entrenchments, bat rather distract our attention while a sortie was made from the town upon the trenches. As if to confirm this surmise, the instant the cannonade it. the rear recommenced, all forts, redoubts, and batteries round Sebastopol opened with a tremendous roar, which seemed to shake the earth. Of course, the troops remained tinder arms, but did not attempt to move ; every one knew that before the real at tack commenced the artillery would cease and the sharp crackling fire of musketry begin. Until that was heard, there was no knowing on - which of the three points the enemy intended to advance. The report of the muskets was therefore anxiously listened for, and it soon was heard. The picquet of the 55th had been all this ti me under cover of the walls of the Two - gun Battery en ly t i la il e : right. The fire of the Ru ssian artiller y , though °*) rooted on the battery , had done little nr ao har m, sa il h men still lay under se ver when the gen, asaso4.,rth: instant they had done so, and the men of the 55th were enabled to hear What was moving in their own immediate neighbourhood, the noise of an immense body of men' advancing was heard close upon the batteries. The picquet instantly prepared to defend the place, and then in the hour of need the great deficiencies of the bat- 1 tory were discovered. In the first place it had ao guns, and in the second place no steps were made to enable the infantry to firs ever its high parapet. Had there been either one or the other, the Russians would never have taken the place. As it was, our men were obliged to cowlslows to tie two narrow embraamre e, and fire through thew"l they best could. Before they had taken their atPlaces these ports a single minute, all th e kill close round t Iva batt ery was f °and to bo snrreuesied by the ad vancing shy, The fog prevented our fellows seeing far, but the n o i se t Russians Were , al toe plainly that some 5,000 or 6 , 000 already close at hand. Rnsians caught The instant tb e sight of the battery through the fog, though exertions in climbin g the h il l, seemed utterly spent by their them credit they rushed forward with a A dash we hardly gave of n u mbers, for. Nothing daunted 4 by the immense disparit y aa nmbera, the 55th wa it e d till t they closed within 10 feet, it n gave one tremendous 4 volley , w hich stretched 200 of thetllen msrey i n th e d us t ; an d t then each man , loadin g and firingeafast as h e could, f kept nn each Russian up an incessan t dischar g e o f musics: , Y p as he approac hed. The Russia ns halted e a P u ni a :i n e d it r te e s t hey again and then, with wonderful courage, rallied ufor mom ent , and Li a close and deadly fire. In less th y a..n again attempted to storm the batter they rushed on and poured over its banks, and through its em brasures, in over-pe veering numbers. There wa:a v i a ts of desperate struggle , d urin g which oargallaut 55th ;omen! hand to hand and foot to fooith their numerous assail ants. It was hot a moment, and in til l ,' next they rep u l se , the attack and preserved the battery. But their number, diminished every instant, while those of the enemy i n . creased. Suddenly the Russians made another charge, and this time with more effect. The rennants of the 55th picquet abandoned tho battery just in the nick of time, for the 11th regiment of Russian * * infantry had crossed the Te herna y a at another point, am' Vero trying to take our mon in rear and flank. The br a v o 55th f e ll back among the biih,3s, flghtint to the last, till they came to another picquet wide' the wall, en the old poet .. road p which, had lost half it s men like , and. were fighting desperately to i repel an attack from a column of the onesay's infantry. The two piequets joined, and for a time held the road against all their assailants, who fell in heaps under the cool murderous fire of our men. But the check to the Rus sians was only momentary ; they had now got between 3,000 and 10 , 000 men uP their heights on our righit, and their battery on the hill threw shot and shell among our men, with terrible effect. The picquets were preparing to retire from the wall, when fortunately two regiments of the 2d Division, the 41st and 49th, came into action, and passing the wall opened a destructive tale fire on the Rus sians on our right, near the Twe-gun Battery. Tie enemy returned it Tete as vigorously ; but their small, inefficient weapons stood no chance against our Istinie ride. The Rus sians fell in ranks ; yet still they never moved their ground, or showed a sign of retreating. The 41st and 49th then leployed into line, and prepared to charge ; and the instant they did so the enemy fell back in die- order. It is strange, but it is Tate true, that the Russian troops will keep their greind in beautiful order, under the most fearful volleys which can be poured upon them, but the moment our men prepare to go in with the bayonet they break and disperse like children. The 41st and 49th accordingly charged up the hill to the right, and in the course of 5 minutes recaptured the Two-gun Battery, driv ing out the enemy like sheep Mere them. This advan tage, however, was only temporary. The instant our men were in the battery, the Russian artillery, on the bill above it, threw shot and shell into the very centre of our troops, cutting them down by files. The enemy's infantry at the same time rallied, and swarming up the hill poured in sash a terrific fire of nansketry that our regiments were again compelled to retire down the hill, and defend the wall along the pest road. It was now nearly seven o'clock, and most of the troops in the English camp wore moving up to the scene of action. By the 'time I have mentioned, all our chiefs were as sembled near the camps of the 2nd and Light Divisions. Lord Raglan was there looking unusually anxious, with Sir George Brown, Sir George Cathcart, the Duke of Cam bridge, Sir De Lacy Evans, Major General Strangways (of the Artillery), Brigadier-Generals Buller, Adams, Torrens, Geist* Bentiack, Pennefather, and several other officers of high rank from the Bnglish and French armies. All this time the 41st, 47th, 49th, 55th, 20th, and 88th Regiments, from the 2d, 4th, and Light Divisions, were ranges inside the wall on the old pest road, firing over it into the bodies of Russian infantry with the most terrible effect. The rattle of musketry was deafening. About this time our batteries of artillery came hotly into the fight against the elemy'a battery on the hill, which was doing us a considerable amount of mischief. Under the splendid management of General Strangways they soon se far turned the fortune of the day as to leave their infantry attacking oars beyond the wall entirely without support. Advantage was instantly taken ef the ehange to advance the 20th and 47th Regiments to the right for the purpose of retaking the Two-gun Battery. These two regiments splendidly upheld the fame of the English troops. In spite of a tremendous cress fire, they advanced at the point of the bayonet, aid as they neared the battery poured in one tremendous volley and charged. In loss than a reinue the Russians were driven out, with fearful loss. Yet, hardly were they clear of the battery, when the Russians rallied again, and, returning round the spot, poured in volley after volley into the columns ef the gallant 20th and 47th, and at the same time the Russian artillery reopened on the battery in such a nanner as neither friend nor foe could hold it. Under these eircumstaaces the 20th and 47th were compelled to fall back, and the enemy again occupied the Two• ;nn Battery for a alomeet a This turn ef possession was, however, but brief ; oar fellows again dashed up at it, and again they literally massacred all in the place. The battery itself, aid all its approaches, were now covered with English and Russian corpses and weuaded. The latter were few in the extreme, as whenever the enemy occupied tie eentested post, they bayoneted all our fellows who gave the least sign of life. This is no battle. tield rumour, but a fact, for the truth of which I can my self 'reach ; for, later in the day, when the battle seemed going against us, I saw the Russians killing the wounded vele) remained on their part of the ground. When the 20th and 47th regained the battery the Rus sian artillery recommenced in such a manner as to make it quite untenable. This part of the Russian guns was on the hill on the other side of the Tchernaya, overlooking our battery, but so admirably was the situation selected that it was quite impossible that our men could attempt to storm. If they had been oast-iron they must have been destroyed. Accordingly our artillery was advanced for the purpose of endeavouring to silence the enemy's guns. The 20th and 47th again retreated from the Twe-gun Bat tery, and our fieid-guns were advanced to the wall near the post road. Bath parties then commenced a tremend dons cannonade. The Russian infantry drew hack as our guns moved up. Our regiments remained under the wall to support them. From this time until eight (o'clock it wait a mere artillery battle. The Guards came up to take their share in the battle on our side, but this accession of strength was more than counterbalanced by the arrival of a division of Russian infantry and artillery, about 20,000 strong, who moved up from Inkerman to reinforce their countrymen. The instant these reinforcements came up the action again became general. The Russian skirmishers and strong supporting bodies of infantry were again thrown out on our right, and under cover of a tremendous fire of artillery crawled up the hill to the Two•gun Battery. As their mon breasted the hill, they were encountered with showers of grape from our field batteries, which mowed them down by hundreds. Yet still they came on with perfect cool ness, and apparently with perfect courage. To favour their advance the enemy's artillery was turned full upon ours, and from their commanding position and advantage in weight of metal did much execntion. It was at this mo ment, as the Two-gen Battery was taken again by the enemy, that a carmen-shot struck Major General Strang ways, and carried away his thigh, while he was giving some orders relative to a fresh position which our batteries were to take up. Poor Strangways was carried to the rear, when the mangled limb was immediately amputated, but the brave old general only survived the operation a few minutes. Hardly had we sustained this less when several other leading officers of our artillery were out down, either killed or mortally wounded while superintending the work ing of their guns. The 20th and 47th had in the mean time re-captured and lost the Two-gun Battery once more. It is no exaggeration to say that whenever the enemy took this little position, it cost them between 400 and 500 men killed en the spot ; our men were unable to hold it in con sequence of the Russian artillery on the heights, so that our loss when we retired from the place so often was hardly more than 15 per cent, that of the Russians. As the enemy's reinfercemeats came up cur Guards also came into action. And new a tremendens struggle ensued for this position. The number of the enemy in nail around the battery wife at least 5,000, yet the Coldstream* charged and broke their way through all oppositien, and got to the work. The in stant they had done so, the enemy seemed to redouble their efforts to take and keep the place. Trash regiments came up the kill and threw themselves into the battery from all points ; but the Coldstream' held their ground, fighting with perfect desperation. The battery was now completely encircled in front, flask, and rear, and, as the Coldstream: say, *very man in the place gave himself up for lost, and determined to sell his life dearly. Three times did the Russians throw themselves upon the battery, and by the sheer weight of their masses surmount and cross the walls, yet each time they were driven back again. Tho Tx/a was frightful. So close were the antagonists, that aft-ez once firing the musket there was no time to load. The men then stood up and charged with the bayonet, or beat each other down with the butts of their muskets. Each time the Russians were repulsed they left heaps of iu.a behind, ',JI it. was over the corpses of their comrades that they advanced each time to a fresh attack. After the last repulse the Russians for some time did not renew the contest. Observing that the height of the walls prevented cur men from firing ever, they collected in masses close under them, and began throwing the muskets and bayonets of their dead comrades spes.rwise into the battery, with huge stones. For this ?species of attack our men also wore quite prepared, and in tarn hurled out the rough fragments of rock upon their assailants. For nearly ten minutes this stone-threwing continua without inter mission on both sides. dad every now and then the Rus sians made a desperate dash to enter by the embrasures, but were bayonetted in the attempts till the embrasures were choked with corpses. All this time the Coldstream Guards alone, almost =- aided, and oily 300 strong, had been keeping at bay nearly 7,000 ef the enemy's troops. Bat at last they were com pelled to retire. The Russians came renal in rear ef the battery, and kept up from a distance a tremendous fire ef musketry, while the fellows on the outside plied the "boxes thicker than ever. The Coldstream' did not abandon the place while the least hope remained of defending it suttees. Sully. They then charged out in a body on the enemy in their rear, lenviig night ()freers aid nearly 200 men killed end wounded in the battery behind them. All the wounded vere instantly bayonetted by the Russians. Some of the , fficers' bodies were found with as many as 20 bayonet werinds, and their skulls completely smashed with the butt ends of muskets. Leaving the battery, the Coldstreams fought their way to where the Fusiliers and Grenadiers were coming up to their assistance. The three battalions, eleicla then did not muster ono thousand men, tiiocl to :barge up to where the Russian artillery was firing, hut it was a useless attempt, as the enemy had then nearly ;5,000 men upon our right flank. The handful of Guards trove throe entire Russian regiments heck at the point of 'he bay one t ; b ut, in the act of doing it, suc h masses o f he enemy hung upon their flanks that they were com pelled to retire, and with difficulty could extricate them ;elves. All this time the regiments under the wall had been ceeping the numbers of the e ns under advanced i to t a ke it, but at bay ; five or six dif 'erent times R uss i an battalions ,flor literally l os i ng thous an d s ire, fill back in dis or d er. Behin( ti er th o i t:r tremendous file . Pawl, to m ee t th e enemy, and formed, a s if on wall the Guards vho was coming down from the two-gun battery on our right flank, and in rear of th e wa ll . The Duke ke p t t always at the head of the Guards ; they were to g ; he led them, and his escapes seem almost miraculous. The Russians now altered the plan of attack. They no longer prowl upon the wall in front, but, swarming up by the two-gun battery, poured down upon the right flank in tremendous force. At this moment there were not less than 40,000 of the enemy, to oppose whom there were only about 12,000 English. Aides-de-camp were instantly despatched for reinforcements from the French, and the English fell back upon their line of tents. The wall was abandoned, and as our men retired tie enemy mustered is force for a grand attack. The 30th and 41st remained to engage the enemy, and most nobly they behaved, fighting their ground inch by inch, and strewing the field with Russian corpses. The enemy advanced by the old post road from Sebastopol ; on an eminence in the centre of this a battery of six field pieces was placed. Unfortunately, it was so placed, with thick brushwood at each side, that the enemy's skirmishers were enabled to approach unseen, and pick off both men and horses. Our fellows of the 30th and 41st made many attempts to dislodge them, but the place was so crowded with them in all directions that it was useless. While this fighting was going on a body of Russian infantry dashed up the road towards our guns. The danger was seen, and such horses as still survived tie fire were hastily harnessed to each of the guns, which were withdrawn. The remaining two guns with their ammunition waggons fell into the hands of the enemy. Some of the artillerymen clung round the guns, and fought the Russians for them hand to hand. One ser jeant in particular was seen defending himself with his sword alone amid a hundred enemies for fully five minutes. When the battle was ever his body was found with 17 bayonet and ballet wounds on it, and two Russians killed with his sword lay on the ground beside him. Our troops were now slowly falling back, file-firing, and disputing every inch of ground, until the reinforcements came np. The Russians had got into the brushwood, and were picking off every officer of rank, who, of course, like all English officers in the moment of danger, were conspi cuous in the front of their men, giving out the necessary orders as if at a review. It was at this time that poor Sir George Cathcart was shot through the heart and fell dead from his horse. Within five minutes afterwardsßrigadier- Generals Torrena and Gold* also of the 4th Division, were mortally wounded, the former through the chest, the latter through the stomach. Here also Brigadier-General Bentinck was wounded through the arm, Sir George Brown through the arm, and Captain Butler, brother of the hero of Silistria, who was on the Dake's staff, and standing near him at the time, was shot through the brain. Our men had fallen back so far that the two-gun Lancaster battery, which was erected to command the harbour and shipping in Sebastopol, fell into tie enemy's hands. They spiked and dismounted both the guns, and pushing forward en our left tried to cut off the whole body of our men from the advancing French succours. The fight was now quite among the tents of the 2d and Light Divisions. All the canvas of the tents was out and blown to pieces by the storm of shot and shell. But at this spot the tide of fortune turned. Tie enemy were now com pletely out of the bush which had screened and sheltered them on their advance, and upon fair ground they stood no chance with our men. Our regiments halted, extended their line to the left, and commenced a tremendous file- fire. Tie enemy, in disorder, hardly returned a shot, but stood their ground, and fell by hundreds and hundreds. Thrice they moved up stolidly to break our line on the left, and were met each time by terrible ♦olleys of mus ketry, until they closed in, when our fellows charged and massacred them at the point of the bayonet. The fortune of the day still hung doubtful. The enemy were getting up all their strength for a final effort, whoa Canrobort came up with three regiments of Zonaves, five regiments of French Infantry, and a strong force of Artillery, and commenced a terrible attack on the enemy's right flank. This occurred at about eleven o'clock, and from that mo ment the Russian chance was hopeless. Yet, though under the French fire they were literally falling by bat taliose, they never showed the least signs of trepidation or disorder. On the contrary, they formed up in the meet beautiful order, altered their front so as to meet the attack of the French, and, extending their line to the left, pre pared to resume their attack upon the English. At that time, however, our men were well prepared, and, without any order or arrangement, flung themselves headlong upon the enemy, charging with the bayonet. The Russians boldly charged with the bayonet also, and for the space of five minutes the 30th, diet, 40th, Stith, and six or seven Russian regiments were stabbing, beating, and firing at each other in tie most fearful manner. At last the enemy gave way, and began retiring in good order across towards tho Inkerman heights. Until I saw it, I never in my life could have believed that any troops in the world could have retired under such a murderous fire in such perfect order. The French and English, with a whole mass of artillery, fol lowed close upon the retreating battalions, pouring in vol ley after volley of grapeshot, shell, and musketry. In fact it was a perfect carnage. Yet in spite of this the enemy kept their order, retreating almost at slow time, and every fivo or ten minutes halting and charging despe rately up the hill at our men and the French. In thee() charges the Russians lost fearfully. We received them with volleys of musketry, and then dashed at them with the bayonet. In one of these charges the 50th French Regiment of the Line re-captured the two guns which in the commencement of the day we had lost. By half-past two o'clock the great lines of the enemy had completely fallen back, leaving between 7,000 and 8,000 dead upon the field behind. About ten o'clock, while the Russians were gaining ground on our right, the garrison, to the number of about 12,000, made a desperate sortie upon the French trenches on the left. A most obstinate and bloody battle ensued, which ended in the enemy being completely repulsed at all points. - - . Much dissatisfaction is expressed here at the want of precaution on the part of our generals in leaving the posi tion on our right, when an attack was hourly expected, undefended by redoubts or breastworks. Both goserals— Sir George Brown and Cathcart—it is said, remonstrated against this want of precaution. Certain it is that now the mischief has been done, and is not likely to reour again ; trenches and breastworks are being thrown up. The fleets do nothing but lie at anchor all day. The Bellerophon has been sent up to Eupatoria aed landed the whole of her crew there, and the 4,00 Marines have been sent up to the camp. About 2,000 Turks have also boon leaded, and the 48th is landing while I write. These additions, of course, are better than nothing, but we watt at least 50,000 immediately, or 100,000 for next spring. The cholera continues to rage among the Turkish troops. Lord Raglan and staff were in the front of the troops, and in the very thickest of the fire. So hot was the can nonade and musketry round his lordship that no one can understand how he escaped uninjured. An 8-inch shell came rearing and hissing along the ground, passed right between the legs of Lord Raglan's horse, and exploded be hind him and the staff. Cathcart, who was only a few paces ii front of Lord Raglan, was shot through the heart, and fell from hi e horse a dead man. Colonel Seymour, who was with him, instantly dismounted, and was endeavouring to raise the body, when he himself received a ball which fractured his log. Ho fell to the ground beside his general, and a Rus sian officer aid five or six men running in bayonetted him, and cut him to pieces as he lay helpless. General Cath cart's corpse was also bayonetted in five •r six places. I have mentioned in my letter of this morning the cold blooded cruelty with which the enemy treated all the wounded who fell into their hands. In not one solitary instance, as far at can yet be ascertained, was a man spared. The conduct of the Coldstream Guards should immor talise their name. They fought literally to the death. They charged the enemy at the point of the bayonet eleven times. At each time the Russians crossed bayonets and fought fiercely, but were slaughtered like sheep by our gallant fellows. The three battalions of Guards now barely mister 1,000 men. To-day a flag of truce was ',sent into Sebastopol. The bearer of it carried a letter from the Allied commanders to the commender-in-chief of the Russian forget's. It stated that General Canrobert and Lord Raglan had seen with detestation and disgust the merciless cruelty with which the enemy bayonetted our wounded oa the field, and re/ quieted to know if the war was to be carried on in this barbarous and exterminating manner, as then the Allies would know hew to act ? The letter also contained a hint that in case of our prisoners being ill-treated, the Russians would de well to remember that we had many of their countrymen in our hands, whose treatment would be regu lated by that which our nen received from them. An answer is to be given to this letter tomorrow, and it is generally believed that it will be for war to the knife, and no quarter for either side. A Russian major was captured at the close of the battle. He had been observed on many oceasiens stabbing and hackine, our unfortunate wounded with his sword, and directions were given to a party of the Guards to take him alive, if possible. This they effected, after a slight resist ance on his part, and after his having offered in vain a bribe of some gold pieces to our men to allow him to escape. He is to be tried by court-martial to-morrow, and the de positions and sentence forwarded to whoever of the many generals now in Sebastopol is the commander-in -chief. If they consent to punish him he will bo given up to them. If they decline to interfere, he will be shot, as the laws of civilised warfare denounce the killing of defenceless wounded as murder. Neither the Grand Duke Constantine nor Prince Alex ander were actually present on the field. They remained all day oa the slope of the heights on the north side of the harbour, beyond Inkerinan. Our mon came into action first just as they turned oust of the tents, that is, without knapsacks, and in the grey groat coats and forage caps in which they were sleeping. Their fighting in this dress was particularly unfortunate, Its the enemy were clad in a precisely similar manner, so that in the fog the Russian troops could not be distil.- geished from ours at a little distance. This, I am infor med on high authority, led to some fatal mistakes. In one ar two instances parties of our men fired on their own com rades, and in others allowed Russians to pass unmolested, believing them to be English, The grey Coats also led to ~3 THE SUNS LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 24, 1854. the heavy loss of officers. They came into action in uni form, and among our grey coated soldiers were censpicuous marks for the enemy's bullets. A great deal of mischief was also done by the Russian ships in the harbour, which threw a perfect shower of and 10-inch shot and shell among our follows. They con tinued this all the night after the battle, though their own troops were withdrawn, and the shell only fell among their own killed and wounded. The correspondent of the Illus trated London Sews had a narrow escape. Two round shot passed through his tent, and before he could leave it they were followed by a large shell which burst the tent, within two feet of where he was standing. The tent was literally tern to ribbons by the explosion, yet strange to say the representative of your pictorial contemporary was unhurt. On the evening of the battle I went over the field. All our wounded hare been removed, and the wounded of our enemy wero being gathered in. The kindness and attention of our fellows to their helpless enemies was beyond all praise. There is nothing so awful as the spectacle of the bodies of those who have been struck down by round shot or shell. One poor fellow of the 95th had been struck by two 24-pounders in the head and body. A shell afterwards burst on him and tore him to pieces, and it was only by the fragments of sloth, with the regimental buttons ad hering, that you could tell that the bloody mass which lay in the road had ever been a human being. Some had their heads taken off at the neck, as with an axe ; others their legs gone from the hips ; others their arms and others again who were hit in the chest or stomach, wore literally as smashed as if they had been crushed in a machine. Pas sing up to Sebastopol over heaps of Russian dead, you eamo to the spot where the Guards had been compelled t• retire from the defence of the wall above Inkerman Hero our dead were nearly as numerous as the ene my's. Across the path, side by side, lay 5 Guardsmen, who were all killed by one round shot as they advanced to charge the enemy. They lay on their faces in the same attitude, with their muskets tightly grasped in both hands, and all had the same grim painful frown upon their features like men who were struck down in the act of closing with their foes. Beyond this the Russian Guardsmen and line regiments lay as thick as leaves, intermixed with dead and wounded horses. The path lay through thick brushwood, brit the path was slippery witk blood, and the brushwood was broken down and encirnbereci with the dead. The scene from the battery was awful—awful beyond &scrip. tion. I stood upon its parapet at about 9 at night, and felt my heart sink as I gazed upon the scene of cat-sage around. Tho moon was at its full, and showed every •b -ject as if by the light of day. Facing me was the valley of Inkerman, with the Tchernaya like a band of silver flow ing gracefully between the hills, which, for varied and picturesque beauty, might vie with any part of the world. Yet I shall never recall the memory of Inkerinan Valley with lay but feelings of loathing and horror; for round the spot from which I surveyed the scene, lay upwards of 5,000 bodies. Many badly wounded also lay there ; and their low, dull moans of mortal agony struck with terri ble distinctness upon the ear, or worse still, the hoarse gurgling ery and vehement struggles of these who were convulsed before they passed away. Round the hill small groups of men with hospital stretchers were searching out for those wise still survived ; aid others again, with lan terns, busily turning over the dead, looking fur the bodies of officers who were known to be killed, but who had not boon found. Here also were English women whose hus bands had not returned hurrying about with loud lamen- 1 tations, turning the faces of our dead to the moonlight, and eagerly seeking for what they feared to find. These latter were far mere to be pitied than the inanimate forms of those who lay slaughtered around. The ambulances, as fast as they came up, received their load of sufferers, and even blankets were employed to convey the wounded to the rear. Outside the battery the Russians lay two and three deep. • Inside the place was literally full with bodies of Russia r. Guardsmen, 55th and 20th. Seine say as if prepared for burial, and as though hands of relatives had arranged their mangled limbs, while others again were in almost startling positions, half standing or kneeling, ditching their weapons or drawing a cartridge. Many lay with both their hands extelded towards the sky, as if to avert a blow •r utter a prayer, while others had a malignant scowl of mingled fear and hatred as if indeed they died despairing. The moonlight imparted an aspect of unnatural paleness to their forms, and as the cold damp wind swept round the hills and waved the boughs above their upturned faces the shadows gave a horrible appear ance of vitality ; and it seemed as if the dead were laugh ing, and about to rise. This was not the case oa one spot but all over the bl•ody field. There is no prospect of any fighting for the next month. ANOTHER ACCOUNT, (From a Correspondent of the Times.) Camp before Sebastopol, Nov. 7. On the sth, about 4 a.m., I heard all the bells in Sebas topol ringing, as if for alarm, and at the same time the discharge of guns from tho town at that hoar was greater than usual. About 5 a.m. the relieving piokots marched off, and about 6 30 the pickets which had been relieved arrived in their tents. They had no sooner deno so (I speak of those of th4,Second Division, where I was located, which division occupies the ground close to the field of battle) when musketry was heard, the pickets of that division were attacked, and the whole camp got under arms. The Russians had attackod our position in great force, as they did on the 2kli. They drove in the pickets, and get their guns on the same ridge where they were before ; so before we well knew that the enemy were so near, the shot and shell dropped into the tents of the Second Division so fast that, although the tents were immediately struck, at the end of the action there was hardly ono that was not more or less damaged, while some were almost cut into shreds. The Second Divi sion marched up to repel the attack, then the Guards, and finally part of every regiment —except the Third Division, who were in reserve, and the Highland Brigade, who wore at Balaklava—were included iu the battle. The French u also were extensiv el y en g a g ed, bot h infantry and artillery. The Turks did no t fire a shot. Th e battle began before 7, and was not over until after 3 p.m. Sometimes for a few minutes cease on both sides, and dark and foggy, a nd the sun could hardly be said to rise at one titres the fog was so dense that what with th a t an d the smoke little c ould be seen ex cept the flashes of the the begin firing again T o with uld f, guns. Later in the day the fog cleared off and the day became bright and fine ; before that the Russians had, from their immense numbers and nu merous and excollen artillery, nearly won our ridge, but then the aspect of af fairs changed, and they were forced to rotire. They ad vaneed up to the breastwork and muzzles of our guns ; those that I saw were almost blow' te pieces. Their artil lery practice was excellent. As soon as the battle was ended I went over the field. Ott our ridge, where were our batteries, the ground was covered with dead, princi pally Russians, their bodies fearfully shattered. They fought desperately, and at one time were nearly outflank ing us and carrying the ridge. One Russian, or rather his remains, lay on the parapet of the breastwork ; had it not been for his clothes, he would have dropped to pieces. He had literally been blown from the muzzle of a gun while in the act of climbing ever the breastwork. I then went to the ridge and knoll w h ere our advanced pickets had been , and which r wer e occupied for a time by the Russian artillery. There there were not so many bodies, for the Russians had doubtless tarried them off; but there were gun carriages smashed (the guns had been carried hack by the Ru ss ians) , and numbe rs of horses killed and wounded by cannon balls, many disembowelled, and others horribly mutilated and still alive—some with one leg shattered, and still standing. I then crossed the road which runs across the field of action, whore our right had been. A little in advance is a battery for two guns, which had been erected for the purpose of silencing a Rus sian battery on the other side of the Inkerman Valley. This having been done, the guns lad been long since re moved. Here the fight had keen fiercest, and the sight exceeds all description. For a great distance the ground was absolutely covered with dead ; Rua sions, Zell/TOR, Frenchmen of the line, English guards. men and linesmen lay heaped together. Here was the greatest slaughter, but everywhere where any fighting had been there was no want of bodies, and I am certain, judg ing from three visits to the greund, that for every English man or Frenchman there were eight or ten Russians. Tho wounds were frightful—some wore ripped open with shot or shell, some had their legs blown off, others were head less, and the brains of many had actually dripped out of the immense holesmade by the Mimic) bullets, leaving the skull empty, Forty-eight thousand fresh Russians were engaged. They had come from Perekop, and wore conveyed in carte aid accompanied by the Grand Dukes Michael and Nicho las. They had marched mit of the town overnight, together with all the available force there, and lay at the foot of the hills near our position. The night was dark and rainy and the morning also, se that they were enabled to ascend the hills unperceived by our sentries, and by that means got their guns (about 30) into position before wo could bring anything to boar upon them. These guns were fol lowed infantry so numerous that for some time w e h a d n with them. 60,000 Russians were eng age d ochance by altogether, and their columns swarmed up the hills so that there appeared to be no end to thorn. One thing that made both their artillery and oars still more effective, and the battle more bloody, was that the experience of the action of the 26th had given the accu rate range to both. It was a battle of position, not of msnscuvre, fur none was required. From first to last it was hand-to-hand bosh-fighting—regular butchery. The Russian force encamped in the Valley of Balsklava at one time threatened to advance, and did make a feint or false attack on our rear, but, except that, remained nearly sta tionary the whole day. In the evening, iu all directionl, the reports of firelocks wore heard, where tho wounded horses were beiag shot and put cut of their misery. In going over the field I found many bottl es which had contained spirits, and I was informed by the escort in charge of pri soners that they all smelt strongly of raki. There is no doubt that the Russian army was primed with drink for the attack ; most of our men went into battle without their breakfasts. Our 10..5s in Generals and other officers has been great. I do not attempt to name them, as their naves will appear in the official returns far more aeon. rately than I could give them, but I learn that :our total loss is estimated at 2,400. Yesterday I again wont over the field. I can add little to my previous account of it. The fire-locks, nearly,. all Russian, lying about are innumerable. I cannot Viti mate their loss with any accuracy. Tke ground is thickly coverer with dwarf oaks, and the dead and wounded are lying on hill and - valley even down to the plain. It will be some time before they are all discovered. Many of the wounded were not then brought in, and the troops are so hard-worked that some time will elapse before it can be done, and all the dead buried ; and the dead horses are so numerous that it is no easy matter to get them even out of the camp. Many of the wounded wore dying for want of assistance ; they had not even had a drop of water, and their moaning was horrible. It could not be helped, for there was no one to ge eat to give it to them, and which i, scarce, aid has to be brought from a great distance. The 'Russians should (as any civilised nation would have done) have sent in a flag of truce and surgeons, aad asked per mission to attend to their wounded, and bury their dead, but that would have been -.•cknowledging their defeat. There is no doubt that our force is too small for so great an undertaking as the capture of Sebastopol, to do it properly. 20,000 more men would have carried the place while the battle was going on, and finished the business ; as it was, both our flanks were nearly turned, and we might have had the worst of it had it not been for the valour of officers and men of both the English and French armies. As it is, it may yet bo long before we succeed, but succeed we must. Draughts are coming out from England ; but, in stead of sending every available man as they should do, they only send out driblets. For instaxce, one subaltern and 80 men to the 05th, once 1,000 strong, and now having about G officers and 200 men. We really deserve to lose. Tho Turks, since the battle, have been employed in throwing up works on our ridge, where heavy guns are to be mounted. It ought to have been clone before, for it is the weak part of the position, and I expect the Russians will again attempt to force it, as it is said 18,000 more men are on their way from the north. The Russian gnus were so much heavier than ours that they had it all their own way until two long 18-pounders were brought up, and in some measure silenced them. The Turks aro lazy workmen ; to make them work properly, there should be one Englishman or Frenchman with a stick to every six of them. To-day, the ith, the remainder of the wounded. Russians are leeing fast brought in, and the dead buried. The dead horses are being dragged to a dis tance from the camp, foe there are neither hands nor time to bury them. The dead men are being piled up in arabas and drawn down to the valleys, where great holes are being dug to receive them. The order of the camp has been somewhat changed. Some French battalions have boon brought up to our right, and are encamped near the Guards. Up to this time our troops have fought in their greatcoats, and it is said that during the action they were occasionally peppered by the French, whe in the confusion mistook them for Russians, who also took them for irregu lar troops. To-day an order has been issued for them always to fight in red during the daytime. This is as it should be. I have jest been round the field again. The dead are being buried as fast as possible, bat I fear it will bo some days before they are all collected and. buried. Large pits are being deg, and the bodies laid in crosswise—head and feet alternately. The Russians aro buried separately, and the English and French together. They lived together, fought and died together, and are buried together ; indeed, the soldiers have a repugnance CYCLI to place a dead Russian in the same cart with an Englishman or a Frenchman. One field battery alone lost 40 horses. It is fortunate the wea ther is not hot, or the number of dead horses and men would create a pestilence, and the ground is so hard and stony that it is only in certain places that graves can be dug. A report was spread about to-day that the Russians had sent in a flag of truce, but it was not correct. (Front another Correspondent of the Times.) Sunday morning seems ties choice day for a battle. Very early we were awakened iu the harbour of Balakiava on the sth ky the report of great guns before the valley which communicates with the town. As you looked out you could wee the shells bursting in the air, and there could be no doubt that the great Russian army which covered the small bills and valleys near us was in motion. Balaklava had long been threatened by this force, and we made up our minds that there was to be an attack. We could see the Turkish troops drawn up in a line on the rising ground that faced us about three•quarters of a mile away. All were on the alert. Orders were given to the steamers in harbour to got up steam and. be prepared to leave, should there be occasion for it. Ia the harbour you can hear the bombardment of Sebas topol at all tines; but there was a heavier and a nearer fire this morning, mixed with what we had set heard be fore—faint discharges of musketry. It was soon apparent that Balaklava was Rot the real object. of attack. There was something going on " to the front" more than usual ; but we made -up our minds that it was not the long looked-for storm of the town. It was not until noon, hewever, that the news first reached us, " The Russians have attacked us ;" and as stragglers came down for com missariat stores or ordnance the news grew into shape, " There is a desperate action on our right, Sir George Cathcart is killed, Sir George Brown is wounded, the enemy are aot repulsed yet, the French are moving fast to our support, more Generals wounded, the Second Division fearfully cut up, the Guards have tremendously suffered," and by evening our anxieties were ended. We saw Sir George Brown pass out under our bow with his staff mound him, and we were glad to coo that he was not dan gerously wounded, as ho was sitting up uusupperted. We learnt that lie was bound to the Agamemnon. The sum of the news that we went to bed with was, that we had been surprised, and some of our regiments were dreselfully cut up, but that the Russians had retired with great slaughter and that we had recovered all the guns which had fallen into the hands of the enemy. It need not be said that there was great anxiety to learn hew it had all gone ; and the information that was gathered from different sources, from those who had gone to the field the next day, and from many of the wounded the writer had an opportunity of seeing, xa ay be summed up into some such narrative as this of the seeming events of the 6th of November before Sebastopol. There wore no offi cial returns made up when the writer left Balaklava, on the 7th, and every one was giving his description of the day, in the fewest words, from his own point of sight, all agreeing that, though it had cost, us ranch, we had given the Russians a fearful lesson. You may trust to the following narrative, as lacing as nearly correct as the time will allow to collect infor mation for it : The 4th of November was a wet day. During the night those in camp who did not sleep heard the ringing of the bells of Sebastopol, the stir of distant noise, a silence, and then the bells ringing again, something like cheering, and the hubbub and suppressed noise of crowds moving in the streets. Our men had a report among them the day after the battle, that the army must have been attending ser vice; and they were probably blessed for the coming bat tle, of which there was no idea evidently in our camp. Sunday morning broke in very heavy mist. As it broke the battle began. The enemy rushed down the height, which they had crept up unknown to us in the night, and surprised first of all a picquet of the 30th Regiment. Surrounding them of a sudden, they were all taken prisoners. One officer escaped after a detention of two hours, and gallantly brought in the Russian who had kept him prisoner. The *lowly were up into the very tents of the Second Division before suavely an alarm was raised ; and then began to play some 15 guns, which had been quietly moved up in the night, facing the heights on which our extreme right rests. Their shot and shell swept through the lines. It had been beautifully pre-arranged—the very shipping were brought out of the shelter into which they had been moored away from our bombardment right into the middle of the harbour, and poured their fire on our camp, and riddled our tents, and cut our cattle to pieces. There seems to be no secret about it; there must have been some want of caution, or this large force could not hare surprised us as it did. It was known to be the weak end of our position, aid there were no supports near. For some time, then, the regiments in the Second Division were fighting bayonet to bayonet with the Russians. There was a fog, and. our men did not knew where the enemy were, except those immediately near them, Very early there was a rush upon the batteries in that neighbourhood, and the gunners were killed at their pests. One field bat tery was also taken, with great loss on our side, so that we could not answer with our artillery. When the mist cleared a little, and there was some recoveryfrom the rush and confusion, and our supports came up, back we drove the enemy, and retook our guns. But three dif ferent columns, or, from their numbers, you may say three different armies, threw themselves, one after the other as one was driven back, in desperation on our mon. They yelled to the very skies, as if they were maddened with drink. And so it seemed they had been stimulated to the charge, from the appearance of the prisoners and the can teens of raw spirits each man serried. In the early part of the day it was bayonet to bayonet. As our brave fel lows pushed on, one man told us, " Why, every bush seemed alive with them ; they was as thick as the leaves on 'em." But when the mist cleared .off, and our men could better see their own and the enemy's position, the combat does not appear to have been se close. But still it was but a handful of men keeping thousands at bay at the point of the bayonet. Staff officers wore seen gallop ing about for assistance. The Guards early threw them selves upon the advancing columns and helped to stern the torrent manfully, with the Duke of Cambridge at their head, but they lost an untold number ; how great their loss was may be gathered from their burying eight officers (the Coldstreams) in one grave ; and the Fame number wounded of the Fusiliers. The sergeant who gave the writer the names of the killed could not keep f ro m tears. The 88th Regiment sent out five companies i n advance, and are said to have come back with but 70 untouched, out of 350 men. Your after particular moats, of the woutated belot%ing to them, and how they came off, especially of the Second and First Divisions, were only 112 et with the answers, " No ono knows the exact numbers," " We are fearfully cut up," " We have suffered dreadfully," " There has been awful loss." Our men were keeping the enemy back, in the midst of this carnage, until 11 o'clock. The French had been sent for, and there was no telling what might come worse. To the honour of our men, the feeling among them seems to be to give our allies their full glory of the day. They came up at a double ; they deployed beautifully into line ; they spread themselves over the hill, and there was an evident check. " They drove the Roossians," said one man, " like shepherds after a flock of sheep." But it was not until 2 o'clock and later, and not until our allies had suffered fear fully too, could you say the day was quite secure. In the ebb and flow of the action our guns were not always in our hands, so they could not be directed always on the enemy. But, as we kept our position more firmly, and were aided by the French, these guns committed dreadful havoc. For, though the Russian guns were pro bably more numerous and more heavy, and though their fire may have been more than five to one shot of ours, yet directed against our handful of men, out in skirmishing order, they did not do the same execution as our shot, shell, and grape ploughing and bursting through the mas sive columns in which they were launched on our position It is impossible to gather an idea of their loss. The num bers given varied from 6,000 to 17,000 ; but we always love to exaggerate the harm we have done to the enemy. Cer tain it is that all accounts agree in making it out as neces sarily great, from the number of bodies which blackened the hill-sides and valleys where the action took place, from the number of muskets packed up in our camp and brought away to the ships, from the herd of prisoners taken, and from the circumstance that our mon fired at close quar ters the whole of their sixty rounds, and dealt fearfully with the bayonet at each Russian charge. 1 There can be no doubt that they poured three torrents of men upon us, and that it was a desperate attempt by I the army which had reached there but the day before from Odessa or the Danube, and commanded by the Grand Duke Nicholas, to raise the siege. Lord Raglan is said to 1 t have considered himself attacked by 60,000 men. They behaved with barbarous cruelty t o our wounded ; every fallen man was bayonetted. One English officer was wounded slightly, but unable to leave the spot with his men, as they retired for a while overwhelmed. When our troops recovered the ground, they found the poor fellow stabbed all over and stripped I Ono Russian officer was seen to halt and limp about the field ; he had been wounded, but ho was stabbing the fallen with his sword ! An orderly of the Duke of Cambridge went up to him and took him prisoner, and his Royal Highness was heard to promise the wretch that ho would do his best to have him shot for his inhumanity. It is to be feared that this Rus sian barbarity provoked our men to give no quarter. They would throw down their arms, and, calling themselves Christians, beg for mercy; and if they were spared they would take up their muskets and shoot the man who had saved them. The French Zouaves also took no'prisoners. Tho writer was telling a French officer that the conduct of his men was the theme of our soldiers' enthusiastic praises. They had not only been signalising themselves by their gallantry in the field, and by the admirable man ner in which they had been handled, but they had out shone all by the kindness, courtesy, and attention to our wounded in the evening. The French officer's re ply was, " Ah, but your men stood like a wall ;" and, turning to his neighbour, ho paid us the compliment, " It was, perhaps, as well that the English had to b ear the first shock." One gallant incident needs a record in the description of this day. A serjeant of our 33d or 30th Regiment was loft alone for a short while in advance some how. Celouel Herbert had noticed his daring, and told him to come to him in the evening. He was alone, and fivo Russians were on him. Ho shot one, bayonetted another, and fell before the attack of the other three. They had given him five wounds, when ho felt a horse's hoof near his head. The Russians fled; he jumped up as he could, and in a moment found himself dragged up on the horse, and being carried to the rear for some 200 yards. When in safety the officer took hold of the serjeant's hand and kissed it, left him, and returned to the front. That serjeant would give a great deal, he told the writer, to know who that general officer was. With such incidents, can you be surprised at our men being in enthusiasm about the French? You will hear from other sources, probably, what our losses were. It is to be sincerely hoped that official returns will lessen the numbers now in circulation. 2,200 men cannot be spared, nor can our allies give 1,700 every day. 600 of this last number fell in gallantly repelling a sortie from the town; the remainder shared the day's honours on our right. Whatever' the loss of the Russians, they carry away with them the lesson, that though we may ,be surprised, and though we may bCout-generaled, the English soldier will not be beaten. The word that passes through our camp is still, "Sebastopol must fall." And, if they carry away that moral, we have to learn that we have a stubborn and cruel enemy to deal with, very full of craft, and vastly overwhelming in numbers, and therefore it needs that we exercise more caution, and that our generals must learn something more than the mere order, " Fix bayonets and charge." So many and many a private soldier thinks. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. (Front the Correspondent of the Morning Post.) HEIGHTS ABOVE SEBASTOPOL, Nov. a Saturday was a day of ordinary movements; the cover ing and working parties were about, and in the batteries picquets were duly posted; rations were distributed and cooked by hungry soldiers; the usual amount of on dits were handed from camp to camp; dragoons carried from and to head-quarters instructions into which many a curious eye wished to penetrate. These, and the thousand and one other proceedings of a besieging army, went ,on apparently with clock-work precision, for certain hours have certain duties and certain scenes. I was not quite so comfortable as usual, as the rain poured in tor rents during the early part of the day, and I was com pelled to make for head-quarters. In vain did I cover myself with Macintosh greaves, coat, and south-wester the penetrating flood rushed 'into the crevices; and, ere my return, I found chilly circles and patches which hinted the necessity of an immediate change. Let me tell all new campaigners never to trifle with damp clothing ; at times a soldier gets thoroughly wet through, and he has from necessity to take his chance. Of such troubles I speak not, but what I say is this—if possible, let damp clothes be at once changed, and let the body be over rather than under clad. In warm weather—never mind how hot the climate put on a flannel shirt, and when the cold has set in, put a linen shirt ever it. True, the linen shirt cannot be starched and ironed ; but what signifies that—the soldier on service requires merely a clean skin and clean tinder-clothing. The former he can insure himself, the latter his servant can supply by means of soap and water and a little labour; and the two combined will preserve far more strength than all the tonics in the world can restore. I was sorry to find that Captain Somerset, of the Rifles, was sick at head-quarters. He is, now, however, recovering. Many of the officers are ailing, and among the rest that best of soldiers, Lieut.-Col. Blake, of the 33d. Regiment. My belief is that the cause is to be traced to the action of the night air upon the system during daty in tho trenches or on pioptet. So long as a man is well, he can bear any amount of roughing ; but ne sooner does diarrhcaa or dy sentery, or rheumatism, or fever threaten, than exposure has a terrible effect upon body and spirits, and too fre quently nature sinks under it. Among those who have found an early grave frees laboaring hard under trying circumstances, I am sorry to enumerate poor Mr. Webb, the Roman Cath olio chaplain. I am devotedly attached to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, but that does not prevent me from admiring the faithful ser vices of one who, if his creed was in some of its doctrines erroneous, had the heart of a faithful servant of his Master. Night and day he was at the call of the sick and suffering, and died at last, broken down by labours wrought under no common difficulties. I have every reason to believe tha the chaplains of oar own Church have throughout this campaign bees blessings to the army of the East. The only thing has been, they were too few in number (a state of things which is by the autherit'es being most satisfaoto rily altered) ; but with all their energy and good example, the best of them may consider Mr. Webb as a pattern of seal worthy their imitation. It is currently reported that General Osten-Sacken has arrived from Odessa with a por tion of the Wallachia' army, and that artillerymen have been forwarded by post. That the Russian army of the Crimea has been lately much increased is evident, for we see encampments in all directions. Not that you can judge numbers from appearances ; quite the contrary; for °Mimes rows of bashes, arranged for covering during the night, are run between linos of troops, so that from a distance the army may appear vast in deed ; but yen m a y be quite sure that reinforcements have come in, when an army lat el y trembling before us has dared to assume the aggressive. My firm belief is, that we shall in the end overthrow tho Rus sian force, and bring our lmd, and requires ea . Of this grea t enemy to his senses ; b u t it will be only after many a blood y battle, for the mate rialrea againstgreat p o un d w i n 1 tg before i ch we bare i t i sto thoroughlystrive is br ten we had good proof ye sterda y , when our little a rmy fought ono of those trying en g a g ements in which Br itish courage so wonderfully and s uccessfully prevails. I have stated that the greater part of Saturday was wet ; towards the evening the sky cleared a little, and small patches of blue were here and there visible, but as night set in a heavy fog came over us, it was so thick that apparently it might he cut. Under the cover of it, the enemy p l ace d , upon the hill op posite our 2d Division, heavy guns, some of them brass '32lh. howitzers ; and vast columns crept up the rlvine from the ankorman, with all the cunning of tho Russian. Our outlying picquets did their utmost, but that at first was little, as they could hear much, but saw nothing, save when masses came close down, ready as ii wore to crush them. This was about five a.m. ; and, al• though all means of judging the state of things was out o 4 the question, the sharp firing of the picquets soon cause, the alarm to be sounded throughout the camp, and o' • , ian were all under arrrs and T - Pady :4 4 o'elo-' fog still tryingly thick. As the 2d Division had lost many men atAlma, not a few during the repulse of the first sortie, and 001110 hUlldrede had been carried off by the picknoos of lz, ire Bulgaria and the Crimea, it mustered but a very small(force to act againstan army of the enemy, numbering at the lowest calculation 45,000 men, but small though it was, well did it do its duty. I must observe that the ravine along which the Inkerman road runs is covered with brushwood, so that our troops laboured under the serious disadvantage that they could not charge with full weight. The 30th, 41st, -17th, 49th, and 95th proved themselves heroes; wherever the foe could be found, there did our gallant fellows pour in their withering fire, and when the fog allowed a column of Russians to get close upon them, the bayonet was down to the charge, and on rushed our men with that cheer of determination, before whom the stoutest enemy must quail. At a very early hour the P battery came into position ; but as the gunners could not see ten yards before them, a column of Russians was upon it as it were in a moment, and we had no infantry near to defend the guns. Fortu nately the Russians had no means of spiking them. At this they were infuriated ; they put dust into the touch holes, beat the iron with their muskets, and at last stuffed the vents with wood. All this was the work of a few minutes; the guile were for the time gone, but at the crisis, up came come some infantry, and bore down upon the foe, retook the guns, and swept the attackers from the brow of the hill far down into the valley. When the bat tery was first in danger, Lieut. Miller gallantly tried to protect the artillerymen by dashing against the enemy, sword in hand. Three shots were fired at him, but which providentially missed their object, and he escaped to re turn with his men and do geed service during the rest of the day. The Guards were encamped near the 2d Divi sion, so they at an early period were up and at work ; so, I indeed, were the Light Division, under Sir George Brown, and the 4th division, under Sir George Cathcart. The Guards were principally engaged on the right, near a battery, and the slaughter there made was something incredible—the ground is literally heaped with the enemy's dead. Without the slightest exaggeration, I should say that, in and around the battery, 1,500 dead are lying ; and in the valley below, towards the broken bridge, where the 2d and 4th Divisions and the French fought, the destruction was equally severe—the Light Division was to the left, and many of them fell while nobly fight ing against fearful odds. It is calculated that the Eng lish engaged never exceeded 7,000, and that during the day the 45,000 Russians were opposed by not more than 10,000 men; and here it must not be forgotten that a powerful artillery were sending in shot and shell like hail, from which we necessarily suffered much, as our artil• lery was not able to silence guns of so mach heavier a calibre. It was a glorious day for the Allied Armies, and never shall I forget the sight when the Zouaves came up, and some French regiments. Our brigades, in a hard fight of several hours against seven times their numbers, were, of necessity, sadly weakened, and most acceptable was the assistance of the Allies. As to advancing in order, that was impossible. French and English, side by side, dashed forward like a mighty wave of the sea, and carried all before them. To the right, some 800 French rushed upon a retiring column, and with this the day was ours. From six in the morning to half-past four in the afternoon had the enemy, with great doggedness endeavoured to turn our position but vain was their hope. They recei red a lesson that will not be forgotten in a'', hurry, and the allied troops once more proved to the world at large that nothing can surpass the courage which is engaged in the defence of the freedom of mankind. At sunset the French occupied the ground held at sunrise by the Russians, and a goodly number of prisoners, ammunition waggons, and horses, fell into our hands. But this glorious victory has been attended by losses which cannot be repaired, although, at least, six Russians have fallen to each one of the Allies. We have suffered, as regards general officers, in an un paralleled manner. Sir G. Cathcart was struck down by a grape-shot. I saw his body, and I think the wound was too large for a rifle ball; the deadly missile entered low in the chest, and close to the orifice were three bayonet wounds, given in malice by a brutal enemy. I need not say that Sir George Cathcart the country has lost a general of the highest character. Cool and determined— eautious, yet dashing—keen, and ever prompt, he know his enemy well, and the whole army looked up to him as an all-sufficient leader, should anything occur to deprive us of those holding higher command. Now, however, he is gone ; having died a warrior's death. We will not grieve for him as men without hope, but we will rather condole with those dear relatives that he and so many other officers have left behind to sorrow over noble spirits departed. The Fourth Division also lost one of its Brigadier-Generals', the beloved Goldie. The Duke of Cambridge, although his coat was tern to ribbons, was only slightly struck. Our loss is calculated at 91 officers killed and wounded—some say 131—and 2,360 non-commissioned officers and privates. I must not forget to mention that the 400 Marines who, with the Light Division, were engaged en the left near the Lancaster Battery, kept up nobly their high reputa tion. They were at times pressed upon by vast columns, but no ! nothing could move them ; faithfully they fought, and the enemy were compelled to retire leaving behind hundreds of dead to tell of the determined courage of the small force opposed to them. Alma was deemed a great victory—the fight lasted for three and a half hours ; but this battle was ten times more glorious. 10,000 of the Allies repulsed 45,000 Russians during a hard strife of ten long and trying hours. All that we want w is men to recruit our weakened army ; let, then, France and England send at once 50,000 men, and we will soon teach Russia her position, and tear from her her strong hold. We can and will stay hero, and endure any priva tions, if necessary, but let there be no delay—overdo rather than underdo the matter, and bid Austria for her life's sake join with the noble against the cruel and presumptu ous. After the battle the troops of the Russians retired into Sebastopol, and steamers were at once busily engaged conveying them across the harbour. This has been done, we suppose, to avoid our shot and shell. Nov. 7.--Our batteries were directed to fire 60 rounds a-gun to-day, instead of 20, so that there has been a terri ble din from dawn to dewy evo, and right glad am I that all is now quiet. Burying the Russians has been still the great work of the day, and the 'larks have been busily engaged throwing up a breastwork to defend us in the event of another attack on our right. About two o'clock the alarm was sounded, and all our troops were soon under arms and in position. Happily it was a false alarm, and after sundry wanderings hither and thither of staff officers, the men were allowed once more to go quietly to their teats, and be at peace. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. (From the Special Correspondent of the Daily News.) . CAMP, ABOVE SEBASTOPOL, SUNDAY EVENING, Nov. 5. A battle has been fought to-day, which it is feared will be found, when the returns of killed and wounded are col lected, to have been attended with a loss considerably ex ceeding that sustained by the British troops at Alma. Among the list of casualties are no less than eight general officers killed and wounded ; and instead of the brunt of the attack falling, as at Alma, on two or three brigades, it has this day been distributed over nearly every division of the army. The Second Division, Brigade of Guards of the Hirst Division, the Light and Fourth Divisions have par ticularly suffered. The enemy has been repulsed with great loss ; the number of their dead left on the field would appear to exceed fivefold that of our men, and a large body of prisoners has fallen into our hands. The aetion may be said to have commenced about 6 a.m., long before daylight, and not to have con cluded *ntil 2 p.m., so that the majority of the troops were not able to return to their camps until a short time before sunset. In brief the battle may bs described as a concentrated attack upon the extreme right of the besieg ing army, while a feigned attack on Balaklava and the right flank were made at the same time, to engage the at tion of the Allies towards the rear, and a strong sortie was made against the extreme left, for the purpose of destroy ing the advanced works of the French in that position, or at least of preventing their troops operating as a support elsewhere. The attack commenced by some skirmishing wit h the advanced piequets in advance of the Second Divisietn. and ' First Brigade of the Light Division, about 6 a.m. The day before there was a change from the previous wea,ther ; the wind had veered round to the west and was accom panied by oontinuoes rain. This was followed by a dense misty fog. Towards morning this mist in a great measure disappeared, and about 7 o'clock the light enabled us to perceive that the Russians had placed guns in an exceed- Mgly strong position upon the summit of a hill about a mile in advance, and to the north of that on the side of which the Second Division was encamped. This position was separated by two ravines, communicating with each other from the British camp. Strong columns of the, enemy were also see k t o b o marching out of Sebastopol, 'while in addition large masses of infantry were already occupying the hill on the summit of which their battery had been Placed. This force shortly afterwards advanced with loud cheering, the sound of which was heard a very long dis tance, and the Second Division, under Brigadier-General Pennefither (the Division General, Sir De Lacy Evans, having gone on board sick) shortly afterwards advanced to most them. Then commenced a contest which lasted for five successive hours without interruption. The rattle of musketry, as tho infantry fought for each inch of ground, and the booming of the heavy guns, and the shower of shell and shot from the enemy's battery, and our own field guns, which flew over head, went on unceasingly till noes, and did not cease altogether until two hours after. The brigade of Guards under Major- General Bentinck, Light Division under Sir George Brawn, and Fourth Divison under Lieutenant-General Sir George Cathcart, wore quickly brought up to the rap port. At first, after a fierce struggle, the enemy were driven back as far as the bottom of the hill on-which they had mounted their guns; but immense reserves which they had posted there rose up, and in turn our troops had to retire. The Russians at ono time advanced close uP to the tents of the Second Division--following upon the steps of one of our regiments (I believe a regiment of the Fourth Division), who, under the heavy pressure, were retiring in some disorder, but here a rally was soon effected, and the Russians were again driven back with fearful slaughter. So close was the advance of . the Ru,,sl^. , ls: that an artilLryruLe, l'Jariug the loss of three guns, actually spiked thsui in case of the worst, but ucceeded in bringing them away. The gun' whi e' Q re f f 114(1 placed c the height-70nd the 4 I