The Press.
London, England, 1855-05-12 00:00:00

SIEGE CHRONICLE.

Letters from the camp to the 27th, containing, how-
ever, only three days' later news than the detailed
advices which were published last week, have since
been received. The intelligence thus communicated
is of comparatively trifl►ng importance, as the period
over which they extend does not include any of the
serious attacks announced by the electric telegraph.
The Morning Herald correspondent writes :-
- -

APRIL Z.—Beyond the preparations going forward for
another bombardment there is literally nothing doing here,
and, contrasted with our recent excitement, the allied
camps seem even more dull than when at Varna or Alyden.
Meanwhile we go on as in November last—a little skir-
mishing in the night, a little firing in the day ; not much
of either, but just sufficient to show that we are still at
war, and have not raised the siege. Last night the French
had a very smart affair on the left, in an attack on an ex-
tensive ririe•trench. This work enfiladed one of their ad-
vanced batteries, on the extreme left, near the Mud Fort,
and annoyed our allies considerably. But the serious
nature of its mischief was not fully appreciated until the
French began, like ourselves, to push forward approaches
for a still more advanced battery. The working parties
engaged in this were incessantly harassed, and at length,
as they approached the trench, list so considerably, that
its capture at all risks became absolutely necessary to
the continuation of the parallel. A strong party of

SATURDAY,

Chasseurs and volunteers were last night told off for this
purpose. They proceeded to the spot ; but, instead of
charging the trench and closing instantlYi began their
operations by trying to dislodge the riflemen with a skit..
mishing fire. This continued for nearly half an hour, and
in such a contest all the advantage was on the aide of the
enemy, who were almost completely screened, while the
assailants were totally exposed. The French suffered
rather severely, but at last succeeded in getting on the
flanks of the trench, where they maintained such a tire
that the Russians were compelled to abandon its uselesa
shelter, and as they retired to their batteries nearly all
were either killed or wounded on the open ground.
The French took possession of the trench, and, in spite
of a heavy cannonade which the enemy directed on the
spot, kept their ground and prepared to till it in. They had
half succeeded in their object, when a strong force of Rus-
sians made their appearance, for the purpose of retaking
the post. After a short but severe contest, in which the
enemy twice charged with the bayonet, they were totally
repulsed and driven back to the town in complete dis-
order. The French then continued their work of tilling
up the pit, in which they were no further molested by the
batteries, probably because the Russians were aware that
many of their wounded remained upon the spot. The
trench was completely filled in, and its parapet levelled in
the course of an hour, when both French and Russian
wounded were removed without hindrance.
Our allies in this affair lost upwards of a hundred men
and officers killed and wounded. One officer and forty-
seven men, it is said, are among the former. The Russian
loss we can only conjecture, but it can be little short of
double that of the French. They left about thirty dead
and ten or fifteen wounded upon the ground. The rest they
succeeded in car7ing off.
APRIL 26.—Early this morning Lord Stratford de
Redcliffe, accompanied by Lady Stratford and her
three daughters, the Hon. Misses Canning, Lady George
Paget, Miss Macdonald, General Vivian, and several
other distinguished passengers, arrived at lialaklava, in the
Caradoe. . . .

A guard of honour was drawn up to receive his excel•
lency, but before he landed Lord Raglan, Sir Colin Camp•
bell, General Simpson, General Eatcourt, General Jones,
and other principal officers, attended by their staffs, all in
full uniform, came on board the Caraduc to welcome his
lordship on his arrival in the Crimea. Lord Raglan and
Lord Stratford had a long interview, and at its conclusion
the latter accompanied Lord Raglan back to head•quarters,
where he still remains.

The ladies of the party landed for a short time to see
Balaklava and the camp, but returned to the Caradoc, in
which the whole party will again return to Constantinople
on the 29th.

Every One has separate and cogent reasons for account-
ing for the visit of his excellency at this crisis ; but I
need hardly say that the real cause is still unknown, and
likely to 'remain so as secrets of this kind transpire not
here but in Parliament.
One hundred and fifty tons of shot and shell, and one
hundred and twenty tons of powder, were forwarded to
camp to-day, with twelve more guns, taken from the
Leander. The latter are six thirty-two's and six fifty six's.
Beyond these facts, and that they were sent to the
trenches when our works were progressing very slowly,
there is literally nothing to chronicle connected with the
English portion of the siege. On the side of our allies,
they are said to be getting on faster, though even they are
represented as not keeping pace with the enemy's defen-
sive preparations.
The enemy have repaired all the chief portions of the
works which were damaged by our late cannonade. Their
works facing those of the French, near lnkermanu, are
incomparably stronger than any our allies have to oppose
to them. Throughout the whole of our last attack these
batteries maintained adecided superiority over the French,
but this was a matter of less moment, as the allies only
wish to engage, not to destroy the Russian works at this
portion of their defences. The Mamelon has been almost
entirely renewed, and mounts as many guns as ever. The
same may be said of the batteries round the Malakoff
Tower, which still look as solid and well proportioned as
ever. The Redan apparently is entirely restored. The
Flagstaff seems the only outwork which has really suffered
irreparably. In this the French still keep their lodgment,
and the enemy at some parts still work the guns, but as a
great battery it has almost ceased to exist. In the rear of
this the Russians are preparing a second defence. Very
little can be ascertained either of its nature or strength, bat,
whatever it may be, it is enough if they are compelled to
evacuate the Flagstaff. That work once in the possession
of the allies, and turned against the other works, would be
a great step towards the final reduction of at least the
south side of Sebastopol.
Aran. 27.—50 dull and uniform are our days now that
anything like the material for an interesting public diary
of the siege is out of the question. Lord Stratford still
stays with Lord Raglan. and General Canrobert also is
almost daily with his lordship for one or two hours. All
seem strongly impressed with the idea that at least a por-
tion of the allies are about to resume offensive operations
in the field, though no one attempts to solve the difficulty
of its accomplishment. The heights of Alma are this
time effectually closed and fortified. So are those of the
Belbeck. So is Tehourgoum—so is the mountain rosd
beyond it, leading to Mackenzie's Farm—and so also is
the new cart-road under the heights of Inkermann to Sim-
feropol. It is all very easy for paper campaigners in
England to write forcibly on the necessity for our taking
the field. But how is it to be done Suppose we advance
into the country, what do we advance against but a moun-
tainous country, the accesses to which are defended with
earthworks, intrenched camps, redoubts, andmined roads?
We, in fact, engage in a succession of sieges, nearly all of
them as difficult, though none of them as important, as
Sebastopol. There is, however, one serious drawback to
the whole scheme, and that is, that we are utterly unpnr

MAY 12, 1855.

Tided with even one-half of the land transport necessary in
such a case for the proper provisioning of 10,000 men,
and until the deficiency is made up we are chained to the
ground we stand on. During to-day the fire has been
unusually slack ou all sides. The allies have certainly
not fired twenty round-shot; in fact, except from our mot.-
tars, we do little just at present. The Russian and
French works were almost entirely silent. Our allies are
very nearly out of both powder and shot, and for the next
few days I expect the English ordnance will have to
supply them. Our tramway is taxed to its utmost, and
each day large stores of ammunition are forwarded. I
believe, before the bombardment will again commence,
2,000 tons of powder and shot &re required at the Eng-
lish works alone, in addition to the daily supply of 150
tons of shot and shell. All the vessels in Balaklava having
cargoes of shot are required to discharge them imme-
diately, and all vessels now using ordnance shot as ballast
are also ordered to land them.

The Times publishes the following, under date of
the 27th :

It seems that there is nothing fer it but patience.
Every day the difficulties of Russiain feeding her Crimean
army and in supplying the munitions of war to Sebastopol
will increase. The transport of the Crimea has beta
" used up " some time ago, and at ;resent carts and
cattle from Poland have been brought down, and are Cu.
gaged in conveying provisions and materiel to the place.
Although Russian iron is excellent, it cannot last for ever
—guns must wear out, and shot and shell do not grow.
With the sea &tour command we find it difficult to keep
up the supply of shot and shell for our batteries, and even
when we do land them, although we possess a railway half-
way to the trenches, our difficulties seem only to begin.
What means Russia would adopt to keep her batteries
efficient in winter, is, I trust, matter of very profitless spe-
culation, because there is no reason to think that the place
will be able to hold out so long against sap and mine,
bombardment and cannonade, particularly when General
Canrobert " enlarges his circle " of operations. Every
day we diminish our distance from the enemy, who does,
it must be said, his best to meet us ' • but, although his
outerworks are advanced, the line of his batteries on the
left has been perforce considerably retired. As our ad-
vances are made, the parallels behind are strengthened
and put into a tit state for mounting guns in them, which
will be close to the enemy's works, and produce a corre-
sponding effect, though with increased loss and damage to
ourselves from the Russian guns. The process thus goes
on, in proportion to our strength and the enemy's weak-
ness, day after day, and bit by bit the ground is won from
them ; and, though the town itself may be defended by
infinitesimal batteries to the water's edge, so long as we
can keep our works clear of the enemy, and can maintain
our fire against them, there can be no doubt of ultimate
success, if the external army is unable to three the allies to
Lase the siege.
Our batteries are nearly silent ; a few guns and mortars
reply to an occasional shot from the ltedantilli _Round Tower
at long intervals, and there seems to be a ship behind the
Round Tower, which harasses our right attack by an odd
shell now and then. There are mysterious whispers that we
shall " open fire again in a few days" with an allowance
of one hundred rounds a gun per diem. A supply of some
useful 56 and a few 68 pounder guns has been brought up
from Balaklava to the batteries, and considerable additions
have been made to our armament since I last wrote. A mode-
rate supply of 13-inch bomb fuses has been raked together
and, if promises are to be trusted, we really shall effect
rarest things on this the third " commencement "
,of the
siege.