The Press.
London, England, 1855-01-06 00:00:00

RUSSIAN SORTIE ON DECEMBER 10TH.

The Russian Invalids gives the following account
of a night enterprise undertaken by a party from the
glirrison of Sebastopol on the night of the 10th
ult.:—
Since the sth of December the fire from the besiegers'
batteries has been as feeble as before, and dues us little
damage. Although the enemy continues his trench opera-
tions on his left, in despite of being annoyed by our Rites,
who are advantageously posted in advanced positions, the
works do not come nearer, but stretch to his lett think. On
our side the defences are strengthened, and at night con-
stant sorties are made. On the night of 10th-lith Deeem-
bet, among others, the midshipman Titoff, of the 40th
naval equipage, availing himself of the darkness, sallied
forth from one of our redoubts with two mountain guns,
each carried by twenty men, and successfully fired several
rounds of grape lengthways into the French trenches,
where the men were at work. Having done this, he retired
without loss. At the same time Major Golovinsky, com-
manding the 2nd battalion of Black Sea Cossacks, threw
himself upon another part of the French trenches with a
few brave Cossacks, made eight men and one officer pri-
soners, carried off three small mortars, and spiked all the
large ones. The captured mortars were immediately
brought into play against the trenches whence they had
been taken.
The Sikcle publishes a letter from Constantinople
describing the same affair, which, however, appears
to have been but a portion of a combined sortie
against the English and French lines in which the
Russians generally were repulsed with heavy loss.
The writer says :
Unfortunately a battery of mortars, held by the French,
was surprised, the men being asleep, and three pieces
carried off. The French, suddenly awakened by

6

from sword and lances, were unable to defend themselves,
and several paid for their culpable negligence with their lives.
A lieutenant is said to have been made prisoner, and it
is added that the Russians carried him off enveloped in the
cloak and blankets which served him as a bed. The
battalion to which the detachment belonged has been de-
clared, in an order of the day, unworthy to remain in the
trenches. As to the captain who commanded he has been
placed under arrest, and is to be tried by court-martial.

MILITARY FORCE OF THE GERMAN
CONFEDERATION _ _ .

The following account of the army b<ilonging to
the several powers comprised in the German Confede-
ration is of much interest at the present moment.
The total and actual strength, according to the re-
turns for 1853 laid before the military committee of
the Diet, amounts to 525,037 men, and is divided as
follows :—The Ist, 2nd, and 3rd army corps (Austria)
make 153,295; the 4th, sth, and 6th army corps
(Prussia), 170,509 ; the 7th army corps (Bavaria),
50,236: and Bth corps (Wurtemburg, Baden, and
Hessen Darmsta,lt), 47,557 ; the 9th corps (Saxony,
Electoral Hessia, Nassau, Luxemberg, Limberg),
35,330 ; the 10th corps (Hanover, Brunswick, Olden-
burg, the Hanse Towns, Mecklenburg), 49,918 ; the
infantry division of reserve, 18,180. Among them
3,371 are on the staff; the infantry amount to 404,502
men, of whom 28,621 are chasseurs and riflemen;
the cavalry are 71,140, with 42,032h0r5es doing work.
The artillery consists of 40,270 men, with 7,424
horses ; the so-called technical troops amount to
5,745 men, to whom are to be added 1,470 army
surgeons and 16,838 men attached to the transport
service. The siege park contains 250 pieces of ord-
nance, 122 of which are cannon, 31 howitzers, and
97 mortars. According to its tactical distribu-
tion the federal army consists of 387 battalions, 409
squadrons, and 147 batteries, with 1,122 guns.

THE BALAKLAVA RAILWAY CORPS.

A second iei;lment of this corps left London on
Tuesday for the Crimea. The men embarked at
Blackwall in a fine new steamer, the Hesperus, of 800
tons, built in the Tyne, by Messrs. Marshall, and
seemingly in every way admirably adapted for this
particular purpose, combining compactness with
great capacity. Her engines are 150-horse power,
and she made the trip from the Tyne to the Thames
in thirty hours, her average speed per hour being 104
knots. She carries her full burthen, 800 tons of rails,
sleepers, and other materials, with fuel for twelve
days, hut presents no appearance whatever of being
unduly laden ; and, should the weather be but mo-
derately favourable, it is anticipated that she will
reach Malta without stopping at Gibraltar to coal,
and accomplish the voyage to Balaklava in three
weeks. The number of navvies taken out by the
Hesperus is eighty, nearly all young men in the prime
of vigorous manhood, and presenting all those evi-
dences of stalwart strength and endurance for which
their class is proverbial. They are amply provided
with warm and durable clothing of the most suitable
description, and when embarking appeared in the
best possible spirits, and thoroughly satisfied with
everything that had been done for them. A large
crowd assembled on the Brunswick Pier to witness
their departure.
Another detachment, comprising 500 men, sailed
on Thursday, in the Prince of Wales. Among these
are included, besides common navvies, smiths,
fitters, riveters, carpenters, plate-layers, and en-
gineers ; and as each of them is provided with every
requisite of his calling necessary to the speedy fol-
lowing up of the work about to be commenced, there
can be little or no delay when the men arrive at their
destination. According to the arrangements ofi
Messrs. Peto, Brassey, and Betts, every man was
required to be in a sound and healthy condition, not
only in appearance, but to be proved so by the
thorough examination of a medical man, in addition
to which the candidate was to be of good character
and tried steadiness.
THE ALLIED PACIFIC SQUADRON.

The American journals contain news from San
Francisco to the 24th of November communicating
the intelligence that the ships composing the allied
Pacific squadron had sailed thence 'for different des-
tinations during the last few days.
The Eurydice, having on board the Russian pri-
soners, sailed for the Sandwich Islands. The Go-
vernment has ordered the prisoners to be kept there
until further instructions regarding them shall be
received. The Forte and President were to proceed
to Mazatlan, from whence, after a stay of a few days,
they would sail for Valparaiso, where they will await
orders to return to Europe, or any other destination
which may be assigned them. The Amphitrite had
left for Honolulu, and from whence, after a short
stay, she will sail for Tahiti. The Pique had just
sailed on the day when the mail left, her destination
being also believed to be Honolulu. It was considered
probable that the squadron would again assemble in
San Francisco harbour in a few months, and, in con •
junction with the Alceste and Adventure, again go
northward, although their movements would of
course be controlled altogether by the current of
affairs in Europe.

THE PRESS.

THE 'HIMALAYA."

This steamer, under the command of Captain
Russell, arrived at Spithead on Tuesday from the
Black Sea. Sbe left Malta on the 20th of December,
calling at Gibraltar, where she was detained three
days coaling. She has brought home the follow-
ing :—One lady, 10 military officers, 3 naval officers,
48 wounded soldiers, 88 sick ditto, 225 women, and
300 children—making a total of 769. The naval
officers are Captain Graham, C.B. (brother of Sir
J. Graham), from the Vengeance, 84, invalided; Wil-
liam H. Bridge, first lieutenant of the name ship ;
and Mr. Inglis, second master of the Sidon, steam-
frigate, on promotion. The military officers who
come home in the Himalaya are, Colonel C. A. Fitz
H. Berkeley, Scotch Fusilier Guards, wounded ;
Colonel Hume, 95th Foot, wounded; Captain Knol-
lys, invalided; Captain Phillips (and wife), 47th
Regiment, wounded; Captain White, 17th Lancers,
wounded ; Captain Stoner, 68th Regiment, invalided ;
Lieutenant Garrard, 95th Regiment, wounded ; Lieu-
tenant Sanderson, 62nd, invalided (and who has
since broken his leg by an accident) ; and Staff Sur-
geons Manifold and Carr. The whole of the officers
and men who are sick and wounded are doing very
well, and generally speaking a very good state of
health prevailed on board. One death occurred on
the passage, that of a private in the royal artillery.
Since leaving Malta there have also been six births
on board. The women are chiefly wives of soldiers
who belonged to regiments sent on from Malta, Gib-
raltar, Sze., to the seat of war, and who have either
been killed in battle or died from disease.