The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-10-16 00:00:00

THE WAR.

ME movements of the opposing hosts in the Crimea appear
to be complicated and marked by caution. The Russians seem
to be acting entirely on the defensive, although they keep up
so severe a fire from the northern forts as to cause serious
annoyance to the allies in some portions of the captured city.
From this cause it has, in the meantime, been deemed prudent
to abandon the Karabalnaia suburb. This is understood to be
of little importance, as the suburb in question had been pre-
viously so smashed and riddled by the shot and shell poured
into it by the Allies, as to render it of small present value as a
place of shelter. In the different portions of Sebastopol, the
French and English divisions are busily employed in the col-
lection of timber for firewood and roofing, and in the refitting
and perfecting of places of shelter for the troops.
In the allied camps, considerable activity has prevailed, and
still continues to be manifested in the completing of new dis-
positions of the troops rendered necessary by the altered posi-
tion of the belligerent armies. Every present appearance
seems to point in direction of important field operations before
the bad weather of the Crimean winter sets in. Roads and
other means of communication between the harbours and the
camp occupy, as they ought to do, active attention, and it is
expected and hoped that, warned by the disasters of last
winter, our army will be better prepared to meet the severities
of the season.
The Russians maintain a dogged and sullen attitude of hos-
tility on the north shore of the harbour of Sebastopol, and
they appear still busy in further strengthening their position
there.

THE ALLIES IN SEBASTOPOL.
Writing on the 25th ult. from the camp before Sebastopol,
the correspondent of the Times says :
There is no sign of any present intention on the part of the
enemy to abandon their position on the north side. The cele-
rity with which they throw up and finish the most formidable-
looking redoubts on the land and sea sides is astonishing.
They are admirable diggers, and Marshal Turenne, I believe it
was, who was wont to say that as many battles were won by
the spade as by the musket. The fire across the roads in-
creases in frequency and severity every day, and we have to
record the loss of two men in the Buffs, and a few trifling
casualties from the enemy's guns, but the mortars of the
French must have caused serious injury and impediment to the
Russian workmen, and have greatly damaged their magazines.
THE FIRE FROM THE NORTHERN FORTS.
The Anglo-French commission sits daily, and is buSy ap-
portioning the spoils of war found in the town. The number
of guns of all kinds captured exceeds 4,000 ; immense quanti-
ties of small arms have been carried off by the soldiers and
sold, but there are still piles of them remaining. As the
Russians lost 18,000 men between the morning of the sth
and the evening of the Bth of September, it is likely that we
captured at least 18,000 stand of arms, not to mention the
muskets in store, &c., which belonged to men rendered hors
de combat during the preceding part of the siege. The com-
mission acts on the principle of dividing the spoils in propor-
tion to the number of men actually borne on the strength of
the respective armies in the camps before Sebastopol. Their
labours were interrupted the other day by a Russian shell,
which scarcely gave them time to adjudicate on the proprietor-
ship of its splinters, as it burst as soon as it fell through the
roof of the building in which they were sitting. If the Rus-
sians are spiteful, they will open fire some fine day on the
town and make it too hot to hold us ; indeed the Buffs are to
be withdrawn for the present, and the strength of the French
in the town has been diminished, as a useless display of force
only drew the fire of the enemy's batteries. Brigadier-
General Windham, our Governor of Sebastopol, is assisted by
an active little staff. The duties of the Governor are not very
onerous, and the population of his district is essentially mi-
gratory and nomadic. Five hundred artillerymen were added
to the garrison of the town some days ago. Are we to invest
the north side or not ? If so, when do we begin ? We may
stay in our present position till the crack of doom, and the
Russians will remain in theirs, and the war may thus go on
for half a century.
PREPARATIONS FOR WINTER.—FORMATION OF

ROADS.
The great road from Kadikoi to the camp gets on but
slowly, but a really great work is in the course of execution in
cutting a kind of canal for the waters of the streamlet which
runs through the flat, marshy land close by the railway be-
ween Kadikoi and the top of the harbour. This work will
materially tend to the strength and efficiency of the railway
in winter, and will carry off the surface water which turned
the whole of this marsh into a lake in winter. The Sardinians
are at work on the railway from the Woronzoff road to the
main line at Kadikoi. The French have not yet done any-
thing towards the execution of the line laid down by Mr.
Campbell from the Col de Balaklava to Karniesch. Balaklava
has ceased to exist. There are only some dozen of the origi-
nal houses left scattered here and there amid iron storehouses,
mountainous piles of wood, heaps of coal, of corn, of forage, of
shot and shell, and of stores multitudinous. The harbour is
trenched upon by new quays and landing places, and two long
woodden jetties project far into its waters at the shallow head
of the harbour, and render good service in taking the pressure
off the quays at the waterside. And yet, with all this huge
accumulation of stores, such a ravenous devouring animal is
an army that there are some fears that we shall run short of
fuel and of flour during the winter. It is astounding to hear
that not a sack of flour fit for our purposes can be found in the
East, and Sir George Maclean, the indefatigable Commissary-
General, has been obliged to send by telegraph to England for
4,000 bags of that necessary. At the present moment the
quantity of corn issued daily for horses, mules, and ponies
in the English army is not less than 280,0001 b, The fine
weather will enable us to clear the quays in Balaklava, and to
4cciluid4te &tons at 911 r divisional depots, but steps must
speedily be taken to protect these stores from the effects drain
and storm. There is very little news, and Very little stirring in
the British camp. The Duke of Newcastle went to Eupatoria
on board one of the ships, and has just returned.
Notwithstanding the cessation of the most arduous duties
of the army, and the improvement, or rather the creation of
roads, the teachings of experience, and all the efforts of the
authorities, I believe there will be much hardship and suffer-
ing, incidental, and inseparable, perhaps, from the position of
our army during the winter, even if they are all hutted. At
present there is not a twentieth of the men in huts. It will
be hard work to make up for lost time should the huts arrive
in time, and our officers are taking an exceedingly wise step
in sending into Sebastopol for wood. The soldiers are ex-
ceedingly healthy, and we have escaped, thank God, the dis-
eases of the Crimean September in a wonderful manner.
There is no excitement in front; the Russians are immovable.
in their position at Mackenzie's Farm. The principal streets
of Sebastopol have lost the charm of novelty and possession.
,Eyen Cathcart's-hill is deserted, except by the " look-out
officer" for the day, or by a few wandering strangers and
.visitors.
THE WOUNDED.—LIEUT.-GENERAL MARKHAM.
Many of the wounded are, I grieve to say, in a very preca-
rious way ; but as there are most extraordinary cases, where
the surgeons utterly despaired, still going on favourably, let
no one banish hope who has a friend or relative to care for.
Sometimes, but rarely, a slight wound turns out fatal, and the
most dangerous wounds heal, and the most extensive injuries
are not always deadly. It is certain that Lieutenant-General
Markham is going home ; his health is much impaired, and
he feels no longer equal to the duties of a divisional general.
The extreme and unrelenting rapidity with which he hastened
from India to the Crimea laid the seeds of disease and suffer-
ing, which the anxieties of command out here have deve-
loped, and he leaves amid the regrets of the army—a stage on
which it was expected he would have been no second-rate or
inconsiderable actor. It is probable that Major-General
Garrett, formerly of the 46th Regiment, will succeed him in the
command of the second division, and that Brigadier-General
Windham will remain in command of the English portion of
Sebastopol.
MONDAY, Sept. 24.—1 f there is any intention on the part
of the Commanders-in-Chief to make any use of the short
autumnal or second summer, or whatever else the few weeks
of fine weather which precede the Crimean winter may be
called, it is so close a secret that the execution of it will cause
lively dissatisfaction, and great discomfort, especially among
the " hutters," and " the great hutting interest." Men have
made up their minds not only to rest, but to peace ; and a
real bon-mot of the Duke of Newcastle, to the effect that there
will be peace before Christmas, is in every one's mouth.
There are rumours in camp further, that there is a short and
. simple letter from head-quarters in Downing-street, via elec-
tric telegraph, to spare the docks of Sebastopol, and to leave
the public buildings untouched. The cannon ball and shell
have flown faster than the lightning, and these stately objects
. of solicitude are all in ruins.
THE FIRE FROM THE NORTH .
AND SOUTH OF
SEB

In reference to the present state of the town, and the effect
of the fire on both sides, the correspondent of the Daily News,
writing from the camp before Sebastopol, on the 29th ult.,

says :
The period since the last mail left has been very unproduc-
tive of events. There is scarcely anything to record beyond
the continued bombardment of the north side, and the in-
creasing fire of the enemy against the town and Karabelnaia
on the south side. The fire against the latter suburb has so
much increased, that, although little mischief has been done
beyond the further destruction of houses already in ruins, it
has been thought prudent to abandon it for the present. It
does not prevent, however, the fatigue parties going for timber,
firewood, roofing, and numberless articles of building materials
and furniture, to be employed in hutting and making snug
against the inclemency of the ensuing winter. A few acci-
dents have occurred. One day, two Croatians, in charge of
baggage animals, were wounded by fragments of a shell. On
another occasion two horses returning from the town with
loads of wood, were both killed by one and the same round
shot. The Russians are employing sunk guns, and by their
means are enabled to throw shot into the Malakoff, and some
little distance beyond it. They have the advantage of position,
for on the north side the line of hills is both more lofty, and
rises more directly from the shore of the roadstead, than
happens on the south side. The comparatively flat ground on
which the Karabelnaia is placed, and the low rounded hills
occupied by the town of Sebastopol, becoming still lower as
they approach the sea-coast to the westward, doubtless caused
the preference over the north side for their establishment.
On the other hand, the superior projectile power in our pos-
session, from the large 13-inch mortars, enables us to cast the
heaviest metal as far as can be necessary. Already the French
on the right are causing serious annoyance to the enemy in
the Star Fort, and this work is placed on the highest point in
the ridge of the opposite line of mountain. Although a sunk
fort, it can be seen to contain very extensive buildings, appa-
rently ranges of store houses or barracks. Near the centre a
house stands by itself, and from its superior height and gene-
ral
character, appears to be the residence of the governor. The
French have been throwing shells of heavy charge with great
were
of
any
nsyp speedily
large l
accuracy into this fort, and on the 27th instant, succeeded in
ohna
setting one of the buildings
sfiren.otTmheadfleamuesse
extinguished. The enemy
mortars on the opposite side, except one at Fort Constantine,
which is chiefly directed at present against the quarter of Se-
bastopol held by the French.
THE NORTH SIDE.—A RUSE.
Since the bombardment against the north side has become
more active, the movements of troops and passage of vehicles
have greatly diminished. Altogether it wears a very deserted
aspect. The canvas town, or Russian Kadikoi, has quite dis-
appeared, and nothing remains but the usual melancholy
aspect of a deserted camp. Many of the square tents, sup-