The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-06-26 00:00:00

THE WAR.

THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.

Fox the first time since the commencement of the
bombardment, we have to record an unsuccessful
though combined. attack of the English •and French
arms, against the Russian fortifications. From a
telegraphic message which has been received at the
War Department, it appears that, on the morning of
the 18th instant, the English troops attacked the
Redan battery, while the French, at the same time,
assaulted the Malakoff. These two important batteries
are situated at no great distance from each other, the
latter crowning an elevation a little to the right, or
eastward of the former, which, being higher, it com-
mands : they are separated from each other by a
ravine, and if possession of them both can be obtained,
,and kept, will give the Allies complete command of the
military portion of the town. The struggle for pos-
session of points so important as those referred to
must have been expected to be a fierce one, and
such, from even the meagre accounts received, it
appears in reality to have been. Both attacks
seem to have been made simultaneously, and from the
statements received it would appear that of the En-
glish on the Redan was successful. The works were
stormed and taken, and many of the guns spiked ;
but-the attack on the Malakhoff, although made with
undaunted resolution and followed up with the most
determined bravery, was not successful. Three times
the gallant Frenchmen set foot upon the broken ram-
part without being able to obtain a permanent footing,
and they were ultimately forced to retire, leaving the
Russians still masters of the disputed battery. In
these circumstances, the guns of the Malakhoff were
brought immediately to bear upon the captors of the
Redan, and they were forced to retire, not, however,
before they had been exposed to a fearful cannonade
and great slaughter. The further intelligence relative
to the brave and triumphant conflicts which took
place at the commencement of the month, confirms
the trath, while they even enhance the value of the
I conquests by which those conflicts are reported to
I have been crowned. The check, therefore, with which
we have at present met, so far from causing des-
pondency, is more likely to lead to renewed and even
greater exertion to overcome the difficulties by which
the enterprise has been retarded, not defeated ; a
somewhat similar check preceded the previous great
success of the French, in driving the Russians from
their newly-constructed defences near the Garden
Battery, and there is no reason to apprehend that the
present will be attended with an opposite result. The
other events of the siege continue to wear a favourable
aspect, and the troops are buoyant in spirit's and in
the enjoyment of good health.
The correspondent of the Times, writing from the camp
before Sebastopol on the 6th of June, relative to the capture
of the Quarries and the. Mamelon, says :
An end has been put once more to the long days of expecta-
tion and the wearisome indolence or sameness of our camp
life. For the third time our fire has opened along the whole
range of positions. At half-past two o'clock to-day 157 guns
and mortars on our side, and above 300 on that of the French,
awoke from silence to tumult. As much mischief as possible
will be done to the Russian works for some four-and-twenty
hours, and then, without further parley, French and English
will alike make a rush for the point nearest and most neces-
sary to their further prosecution of the siege—the French for
the Mamelon, ourselves for the pits or quarries which lie be-
tween our sap and the Redan. If the strategic necessity
points to some more decisive action this time, so, on the other
hand, the intention of going beyond a vain cannonade is
• tolerably plain, and I think with some stout defiance of the
risks. Yesterday the late general order announcing the vic-
tories of the fleet was read before the brigades, and to-night
Lord Raglan and General Pelissier have ridden through the
camps amidst the hurrahs and acclamations of both their
armies. There cannot be any doubt as to the zeal of those
whom they command. Our fire was kept up for the first
three hours with excessive rapidity, the Russians answering
by no means on an equal scale, though with considerable warmth.
The superiority of our fire over the enemy became apparent
at various points before nightfall, especially in the Redan,
• which was under the especial attention of the Naval Brigade.
The Russians displayed, however, plenty of determination and
bravado. They fired frequent salvos, at intervals, of four or
six guns, and also, by way of reprisals, threw heavy shot
up to our Light Division and on to the Picket-house-hill.
It was a sultry day, with the dull mist of extreme heat closing
down upon the valleys, and with no air to rend away the cur-
tain of smoke which swayed between the town and our bat-
teries; and at night flashes of lightning in the north-east
made a counter-illumination on the rear of our position.
Writing on the 7th of June, the same correspondent, in re-
ference to the attack upon the Mamelon, says :
At four o'clock this morning a still and sluggish atmosphere,
half mist, half the result of gunpowder, hung about the town,
and the sun enfilading, as it were, all the points of view from
his low level in the horizon, telescopes were put out of joint for
the moment. The Redan, however, which stands up boldly
in front of the hills that slope from Cathcart's Mound, gave
some evidence of having yielded to rough treatment, the jaws
of its embrasures gaping, and its fire being irregular and in-
terrupted. By and by there was a glorious change in the
weather, which adapted itself to the circumstances most
amiably. At nine o'clock a cool breeze, much stronger
than usual, sprang up, and continued throughout the
day, blowing the wreaths of smoke out of the batteries.
The whole range of fire from right to left became visible in a
bright sun, that for cane was not a scorching one. On the
extreme left, towards the Quarantine, there was very slight
firing from the French. The perpetual hiss and crack of
shells was still the chief point of contrast with the last bom-
bardment in April. The enemy either could not or would
not keep up a very vigorous reply. About eleven o'clock a
shell from the Russians exploded a magazine in our 8-gun
battery, and a yell of applause followed the report. Very slight
harm happily resulted from the explosion—one man was killed,
one wounded, and a few scorched a little. The real casualty of
the morning was the death of an engineer officer, Captain
Dawson, who had but just arrived in the Crimea rom Eng-
land ; indeed, had been only two days in camp, and was on
duty in the trenches for the first time. As the day wore on it
leaked out that something of import was undoubtedly to take
place before its close, and that the double attack would proba-
bly commence at sor 6 p.m. The fire on our side, which had
continued since daybreak quietly and soberly, assumed a sud-
den fury about 3 o'clock, and was kept up from that hour to
the critical moment with great activity. Between 5 and 6
Lord Raglan and his staff took up a conspicuous position
on the edge of the hill below the Limekiln, where it
commands very plainly our 4-gun battery, and looks
straight into the teeth of the Redran. A flagstaff was
erected with threatening ostentation shortly before be came
down, and a little angle of rude wall was as hastily thrown up
as a breastwork. The man with the signal-rockets was in at-
tendance, but there was a passe yet for a while. Sir Corm
Campbell was observed to plant himself on the next summit,
still nearer to the enemy, the Green-hill. Ills appearance
drew some fire, and the shells dropped and flashed close by,
but without disconcerting his purpose of having a thorough
good look-out place. It was about half-past six when the
head of the French attacking column came into view from
these two spots, as it climbed its arduous road to the Mamelon.
A rocket was instantly thrown up as the signal of our diver-
sion, and as instantly the small force of our men detached for
the post of honour made a rush at the quarries. After one
slight check they drove out the Russians, and, turning round
the gabions, commenced making themselves snug. The
French went up the steep to the Mamelon in most beautiful
style and in loose order, and every straining eye was upon
their movements, which the declining daylight did not throw
out into bold relief. Still their figures, like light shadows
flitting across the dun barrier of earthworks were seen
to mount up unfailingly—were seen running, climbing,
scrambling like skirmishers up the slopes on to the
body of the work, amid a plunging fire from the guns,
which, owing to their loose formation, did them as yet
little damage. As an officer, who saw Bosquet wave
them on, said at the moment, " They went in like a clever
pack of hounds." In a moment some of these dim wraiths
shone out clear against the sky. The Zouaves were upon the
parapet firing down into the place from above; the next mo-
ment a flag was up as a rallying-point and defiance, and was
seen to sway hither and thither, now up, now down, as the
tide of battle raged round it ; and now like a swarm they were
in the heart of the Mamelon, and a fierce hand-to-hand en-
counter, here with the musket, there with the bayonet, was
evident. It was seven minutes and a half from the com-
mencement of the enterprise. Then there came a rush
through the angle where they had entered, and there was
a momentary confusion outside. Groups, some idle, some
busy, some wounded, were collected on the hither side,
standing in shelter, and now and then to the far corner a
shell flew from the English battery facing it. But hardly had
the need for support become manifest, and a gun or two flashed
from the embrasure against them, than there was another run
in, another sharp bayonet fight inside, and this time theßussians
went out, spiking their guns. Twice the Russians made head
against the cdrrent, for they had a large mass of troops in
reserve, covered by the guns of the round tower. Twice they
were forced back by the onsweeping flood of French. For 10
minutes or so the quick flash and roll of small arms had
declared that the uncertain fight waxed and waned inside the
enclosure. Then the back door, if one may use a humble meta-
phor, was burst open. The noise of the conflict went away down
the descent on the side towards the town, and the arena grew
larger. It was apparent by the space over which the battlespread
that the Russians had been reinforced. When the higher ground
again became the seat of action—when there came the second rush
of the French back upon their supports, for theformer one was a
mere reflux or eddy of the stream,—when rocket after rocket
went up ominously from the French General's position, and
seemed to emphasise by their repetition some very plain
command, we began to get nervous. At last, through the
twilight, we discerned that the French were pouring in.
After the interval of doubt our ears could gather that the
swell and babble of the fight was once more rolling down the
inner face of the hill, and that the Russians were conclusively
beaten. " They are well into it this time," says one to
another, handing over the glass. The musket flashes were no
more to be seen within it. There was no more lightning of
the heavy guns from the embrasures. A shapeless hump
upon a hill, the Mamelon, was an extinct volcano, until such
time as it should please us to call it again into action. Then,
at last, the more hidden struggl of our men in the
hollow on the left came uppermost. " How are our
fellows getting on ?" says one. "Oh ! take my word for it
they're all right," says another. And they were right so far
as the occupation and retention of the quarries was concerned,
but had nevertheless to fight all night and repel six successive
attacks of the Russians, who displayed the most singular per-
tinacity and recklessness of life. As it grew dark our
advanced battery under the Green-hill made very pretty
practice and pretty spectacle, by flipping shells over our men's
heads at the Russians. From the misshapen outline of the
pits a fringe of fire kept blazing and sparkling in a waving
sort of curve, just like a ring of gas illumination .on a windy
night ; the attempt to take them out of hand was desperately
pushed, the Russians pouring in a most terrific discharge of
musketry, which caused us no small loss. Meanwhile the
fall of the Mamelon and the pursuit of the flying foe•didnotby
any means bring the combat to an end on the side of our allies.
The Zouaves, :emboldened by their sumps, anti enraged