The Press.
London, England, 1855-01-13 00:00:00

THE FRENCH CAMP.

The following lively account of the French camp is
given by a correspondent of the Salut Public at
Lyons :
Heights of Sebastopol, Dec. 23.
A long and tedious excursion through every portion of
our camp enables me to give you a complete resume of
our military position. You may rely upon the exactitude
of my narration.
Since the two attacks which were made against Sebas-
topol—attacks necessarily limited by the insufficiency of
our siege artillery—our army has completed immense
works, which will double our means of action. Our batte-
ries, which were only eleven in number, are now tripled,
and armed with guns of heavy calibre, recently brought
from France or taken from the ships of the fleet The
armament of all the batteries is now completed. We can
oppose 100 guns to those of the enemy; one half of those
guns belong to the navy, and are served by sailors and
marines. The batteries have been constructed by engineer
officers, assisted by our brave soldiers, with inconceivable
rapidity, despite the incessant and well-directed tire of the
town. _ _

The line of the trenches is nearly three leagues and a
half in extent. This will explain at once the amount of
energy, labour, and patience that was required to execute
so colossal a work in so short a time. We are quite ready
to open fire. Unhappily, the English have not been able
to push on their works as rapidly as us. Notwithstanding
the ardour displayed by our allies, it is impossible that
their batteries can be ready to open fire before the 10th or
12th of January.
The immense stores of the Russian arsenals give them a
notable advantage over us. The batteries which protect
the place on the land side are armed with about 360 pieces,
to which we can only oppose about 220. It is only, there-
fore, a vigorous assault. after a furious cannonade, that can
procure ns any real success.
According to reliable information, which is justified by
the opinion of all competent men, it is almost certain that
the commanders-in-chief will not attempt the assault until
they have acted in a decisive manner against the enemy's
army in the field.
The Turkish army, which is landing at Eupatoria, will
take the Russians in the rear, so as energetically to second
the attack made in front by the allies. Prince Menschi-
koff seems to be quite aware of the difficulties of his posi-
tion. He has retired with the main body of his army be-
tween the right bank of the Tschernaya, the main road of
the peninsula, and the Belbeck, and he endeavours to make
good his position and his communications ,with Sebastopol
by covering his army by immense defensive works erected
along the banks of the Tschemaya. His army at the pre-
sent moment does not appear to exceed 80,000 men.
The garrison of Sebastopol, on the other hand, is not
inactive. For the last three weeks great activity has been
visible in the construction of additional works of defence
between the Flag-staff and Quarantine Bastions.!
As you are doubtless aware, General Liprandi's division,
which threatened Balaklava, has joined the main body of
the Russian army ; but the general has left from 5,000 to
6,000 men in the mountain passes from the Tschemaya to
the hills before Balaklava. The duty of these troops is,
probably, to watch our movements ; they are only separated
by the plain of Balaklava from our great line of circum-
vallation and from General Bosquet's division.
In addition to the great works directed against the city,
the allied armies have constructed strong defensive works
on various points. Thus Balaklava is covered by many
redoubts, to prevent an attack by the Russians.
On our extreme left the trenches have been pushed to
the far end of the Quarantine Battery, under the guns of
the fort, so as to insure direct communication with the sea.
Such is the complete ensemble of the works of attack and
defence, and the general disposition of the allied armies.
December 24.—1 take advantage of the departure of the
Pericles, which conveys Admiral Hamelin to Constanti-
nople, to say a few words respecting the condition of our

troops.
Unhappily, for the last month, rain, accompanied at
times by snow or hail, has not ceased to fah in the Crimea;
moreover, tempestuous south-east winds blow incessantly
over the plains of Chersonese. At rare intervals—on the
18th, 19th, and 20th, for instance—the rain ceased, but
only to pour down again with additional violence. Thus
the whole ground occupied by our troops, trampled over by
our beasts of burden, traversed by our heavy waggons and
artillery carriages, is at many points impracticable for pe-
destrians. This is a sad state of things, as it delays the
siege operations, and creates much sickness, resulting from
cold and the continued humidity of the soil.
The moral state of the army could not be better, but the
physical condition suffers naturally from the inclemencies
of the climate.
Reinforcements arrive daily to the French as well as to
the English army. Our allies are worse off than ourselves,
and it is sad to behold such valiant soldiers subjected to so
many hardships from the insufficiency of the administra-
tive organisation.

STATE OF THE ALLIED CAMPS.
In the lack of active operations against Sebastopol,
public intere,t is attracted towards the condition in
which the allied armies arc now carrying on the
siege. The comparison between the state and ma
nagement of the English and the French camp is
little creditable to the former. It is believed that
many of the worst features have undergone consi.,