The Press.
London, England, 1855-09-01 00:00:00

TflE PRESS.

and her Majesty has lost the services of a most promising
officer.

The firing on our side has been directed in a great mea-
sure against the large barracks, dockyard buildings, and the
town, all of which show visible signs of the admirable prac-
tice of the Royal Artillery.
I further beg to inclose the returns of casualties to the
12th inst.

I have to apologise to your lordship for having omitted
to inform you before that I had despatched the steamer
Indiana on the Bth instant to Corfu, for the purpose
of conveying the 82nd Regiment from that island to the
Crimea.

Draughts for the Light Division and 71st Regiment,
to the number of 800 men, the remainder of the Carabi-
neers, and one squadron of the let Dragoon Guards, have
arrived.

JAItES Sruesorr, General Commanding.

SIEGE CHRONICLE.

The battle fought on the Tschernaya has almost
monopolised the attention of the letter-writers and
chroniclers of the siege, whose accounts of the pro-
ceedings in front are exceedingly meagre. The
letters come down to the Dith ult., at which date the
Times correspondent transmitted the following re•
port respecting the progress of events during the last
two days :

Auo. 17.—At four this morning the English batteries
opened a heavy fire along the whole of their line. The
Russians kept silence for full twenty minutes, when they
replied in good style. The French were slow in co-
operating with us. It was fully half-past five before they
opened ou the left, and when they did it was a sort of
intermittent fire. A report had been current that bat for
the action on the Tschernaya the long•talked-of bombard-
ment was to have commenced yesterday at noon, and when
at daybreak to-day the roar of artillery was heard, it was
supposed the cannonade had commenced in earnest, and
would be vigorously sustained. After a short time, how-
ewer, it slackened considerably, and it became evident that
no serious bombardment was intended. Its real object is,
I believe, to enable the French to continue their approaches
to the Malakoff. Meanwhile, we have casualties to la-
ment, and have suffered some damage to our batteries.
Four guns of No. 7 battery, left attack, were silenced, the
other two thereupon suspending their fire. Two guns of
the Naval Brigade were disabled. Captain Oldfield, Royal
Artillery, was killed. Major Henry, of the same corps,
lost Lis arm at the shoulder joint, but was doing well this
evening. He had just been relieved, and was about to
quit the battery when the hall struck him. Lieut. Dennis,
3rd Buffs, has been very badly wounded, and there is
scarcely a chance of his recovery. Captain Hammet, com-
mander of the Albion, was killed in the trenches. He saw
the ball coming, called to his men to stand out of the way,
and himself remained, and was instantly killed, either by
the ball or by a spoke of the wheel which it smashed. I
have heard of other similar instances. There is some-
times a sort of fascination, it would appear, in a cannon-
shot when it comes at you. The Naval Brigade suffered
severely. About 200 were in the trenches, and they had
twenty-three casualties, including six men and an officer
killed.
This afternoon, about six o'clock, one of our mortar bat-
teries on the right discharged six mortars simultaneously
at one spot in the Malakoff, and blew up a magazine of
shells, which popped off in succession in beautiful style,
while the Russians jumped over the parapets in mortal
terror, and our fellows in Gordon's Battery jumped on
theirs and cheered with delight.
The 15th of August, the fhe day of the Emperor of the
French, was celebrated with due honours. The French
army was reviewed, by divisions ; altars, surrounded by
such trophies and decorations as could be got up here
(guns, branches, tte. ), were raised, and mass was per-
formed at them. The French soldiers had au extra ration
of wine. The salute fired by the fleet at noon caused a
number of persons in the English camp, who had for-
gotten the motive of the broadsides, to run up to elevated
points, in the belief that the fleet was attacking the forts.
Colonel Macmurdo, commanding the Land Transport
Corps, and Major Napier, his second in command, have
gone on board ship in consequence of ill health. The latter
proceeds to Malta. It is reported that Generals Airey and
Jones are indispose-I, but this is not yet confirmed.
A very large number of carts of stores entered Sehas-
topol this evening. The amount of the reinforcements that
had actually reached the fortress was exaggerated. Only
two divisions arrived in time for the action on the Tscher-
naya, but three others are close at hand.

AEG. 18.—The fire continued more or less all night, at
times heavy. This morning it is not very severe. As
write, the funeral of poor Captain Oldfield is taking place.
It appears that he was careless about exposing himself.
He was hit in three places by fragments of shell.
Half•past twelve o'clock.—There has been some very
heavy firing since I wrote the preceding lines. Upon the
whole, the results of the cannonade appear pretty satis-
factory. The Redan has suffered a good deal. Our fire
has been very well directed, and that of the Malakoff had
been considerably checked.