The Press.
London, England, 1855-08-18 00:00:00

Original Setters (rent tilt grime.

Balaklava, August 3, 1855.
Again I am able to address a few words to you,
but my information must be limited. Although we
are daily told that the bombardment will shortly
open, and this tale has been repeated for five weeks
past, yet everything is quiet, excepting at times
• when a little practice is made with our 13 inch
mortars. At one time we are told that we are all
ready, and only waiting for the French. However,
be that as it may, we all believe that as much speed

is made as circumstances will permit ; and the cause
of the delay, in my opinion, is the wish of the
generals to complete all arrangements before they
recommence the struggle by a fifth bombardment
and a second assault. Every one is impatient for
the day. I hear many expressions of doubt as to
the result, but happily they do not come from
soldiers. I think we were taught by the repulse of
the 18th of June that too much confidence might be
very injurious to us. Previous to that date our
troops had never received a check. The prolonged
struggle before Sebastopol was put down in the
minds of men to the strength of the Russian works,
which it was thought we had sufficiently reduced.
Every one was sanguine, from the general to the
private, and this feeling caused the despondency
after the repulse to be more severely felt. Our men
were severely cut up about it—some blamed the
French—some blamed Lord Raglan, for not support-
ing the storming parties. But, be it as it may,
the spirits of the men soon returned ; they set
to work with renewed zeal, from the returning con-
viction that they were not to be beaten ultimately ;
and since that time they have worked hard to com-
plete the preparations necessary for the next attack
under difficulties and dangers before unknown in the
siege. Their hopes have now risen high, and they
feel certain of success on the next occasion. With-
out being led away by their ardour, I think, with
the men, that the great command the new batteries
will have, both in distance and in weight of metal,
will tnumph over all difficulties on the next
occasion.

The failures of the 18th will have taught a lesson
to our generals to remedy past defects on the next
occtsion. The protection afforded by our works is
now very little. To be seen by day is to be shot, and
at night such showers of grape and cannister are sent
amongst the troops as to render it very dangerous to
remain in the works. Shells are not so often pitched
in the advanced works, on account of the difficulty in
throwing them so short a distance, but hand-
grenades are not unknown. Last night the enemy
came out with picks and shovels to till in our rifle-
pits in front of our works, but were speedily driven
back with loss of life and tools. The duties of
Guards over trenches are now performed daily by
entire divisions, not, as formerly, by so many men
from each. A certain number is given out from the
Adjutant-General's office to divisions, which is
allotted between regiments in proportion.
The health of the army is very good, and has been
so since the beginning of June. Cholera had nearly
disappeared, but unhappily it appeared rather sharp
about two days ago in the Guards : the Scots Fusilier
Guards lost one sergeant and two men in one day,
and four others were under medical treatment. The
loss in that regiment from death was only six for the
last month—that is, exclusive of killed in the
trenches. The heat is increased to an awful degree,
but we have now frequent showers ; it is very hot
now. About every fourth day we receive a slight
shower, sometimes heavy, from the Black Sea, but
always accompanied with thunder and lightning.
Early in the morning and late at night heavy rolls
of mist from the sea envelopes the hills and valleys
in the vicinity of the Tschernaya and towards Mac-
kenzie's farm. The 13th Regiment have suffered
greatly, and have buried upwards of sixty, with nearly
200 sick. They are hutted on the ground recently
vacated by the Scots Fusilier Guards, which have
gone to the front. All new corners seem to suffer as
they have done. The Guards no longer send their
serious cases to the general hospitals, but have been
allotted a portion of huts on the hills near Bala-
klava, in which they receive all their sick from the
front. I think the improvement in the health of the
men is mainly owing to the good supply of hospital
comforts issued now without reserve ; every neces-
sary for the comfort and wants of the patient is pro•
vided by Mr. Fitzgerald, Purveyor to the Forces,
upon requisition signed by a surgeon on the staff, or
in his absence by a regimental surgeon. General
Routine is here dispensed with. A requisition made
and presented is immediately attended to. My
experience, however, only holds good as far as the
division to which I belong. But I think no great
difference exists in the army in this respect. I will
enumerate a few articles suppled to the sick—wine,
ale, and porter, preserved meats and vegetables,
arrowroot, sago, and brandy, white bread, and fowls'
eggs, and preserved milk, are amongst the articles
administered freely at the expense of the country.

The preserved potatoes, by Messrs. Edwards and
Co., are really excellent—better than those imported
here, not preserved, after being knocked about. My
classification of the above articles is very irregular,
but I write as they enter my memory. These may
seem expensive articles for John Bull to pay for,
but who in the end is the gainer? Why, the very
gentleman himself. He had better pay for those
necessaries, expensive as they are, than for human
flesh at a greater cost; for precious is the latter
material to him after transporting it to the Crimea.
I have frequently seen stated the amount each man
costs from the timo he embarks till ho arrives here.
How much better is it, then, to preserve that life
with a few bottles of port wine, &c., than to let it rot
in the Crimea? Had the many thousands I have
seen with my own eyes during last winter been
treated as at present, how many of the number now
sleeping in their long homes would have been saved
to the joy of their friends and the welfare of the
country? They have perished through the defective
system of our military departments at home, and
the lack of foresight on the part of thoso who ought
to have foreseen our wants. All hospitals are now
provided with camp bedsteads, clean blankets, and
white sheets. In fact, everything seems very
comfortable, which is a great help to the men's
recovery. _

The supply of water, which at one time threatened
to become a serious matter, has been by judicious
means regularly obtained. The charge of reser-
voirs, springs, and ponds, was in the care of Lieu-
tenant Elphinstone, R.E., who discovered a daily
decrease in the water•vats in the ravines, from the
greater number of troops brought to the front pre-
vious to the 18th of June ; he immediately reported,
and at the same time offered suggestions for relief
of the springs. Amongst several others was one for
the digging of wells by the regiments whose position
of incampment led to the supposition that water
might be found in the vicinity. This was attempted,
and I believe succeeded well. The copious supply
of water by showers has also helped to promote the
object, and I think now that we shall succeed in
weathering the season. The Land Transport Corps
are about to shift, I hear, rom Kadikoi nearer to
the front.

EVERY LETTER FROM ODESSA tends to exhibit more
and more the extreme folly that sanctioned the
sparing of a town, which has now become the thief
source of supplies of men and provisions for the
army in the Crimea. Intelligence from that place,
extending up to the gist ult., states that the roads
between it and the Crimea are so completely choked
up with troops and waggons conveying ammunition
and provisions that private travelling has become
almost impossible, while the demands which are made
by the Government upon the neighbouring villages
are such, that a stranger cannot obtain food of any
description, whatever price he may be willing to
offer. The Grenadier detachments, which are on
their march to the Crimea, had already arrived at
Nicolaieff.
THE PONALBA DISTRICT OF PIEDMONT has been
suddenly invaded by locusts, which, besides com-
mitting their usual ravages, have poisoned the water
of the springs and cisterns, where millions of them
have been drowned. The water has become so dele-
terious that sixty-three persons have already died
from the effects of it. The people, struck with terror
at this calamitous invasion, are leaving the district
by hundreds.

THE PIEDMONTESE GOVERNMENT hag sent an
officer of engineers, Captain Martin, to Marseilles, to
ascertain the best method of constructing the huts
which will be required in the winter by its army in
the East.

COUNT HOYOS, the Austrian Commandant of An-
cona, has issued a notice prohibiting the assembling
in the streets in groups, as well as singing and other
noises during the night, on pain of military punish-
ment. Coffee-house and tavern keepers are enjoined
under the severest penalties to close their establish-
ments at the hour fixed by law.
THE RUSSIAN JOURNALS contain long lists of hono-
rary rewards granted to officers of marine who have
defended Sebastopol. Vice-Admiral Novassilsky and
Rear-Admiral Panfiloff have received swords orna-
mented with diamonds, and bearing the inscription,
" For bravery." The widow of Admiral Nachimoff
will receive an annuity of 12,000 francs for twelve
years.

THE ORLEANS PRISON has just received as an in-
mate a young female, who pretends to be charged
with a divine mission. She demands to be sent to
the Crimea, and, like a new Joan of Arc, she says
that she will take Sebastopol in a short space of time,
and gives explanations of her plans with the most
perfect confidence. She asks for an escort of ten
men, including a sergeant and corporal, and enter
tains no doubt of the success of her enterprise. How-
ever this may be, the days of faith are past, and be-
fore accomplishing her glorious projects, she is first
to answer to a charge of vagabondage.