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

THE WAR.

The purport of the telegraphic despatches which
we are assured are daily received by the Government
from Lord Raglan continues to be unsatisfactory.
Every evening Ministers are asked the news of the
day by some member of the House of Commons, and
almost invariably state that there is none to tell.
According to this negative intimation we must con-
clude that the suspended bombardment has not yet
been recommenced, and that no other operations of
consequence were in contemplation just at present.
The siege of Sebastopol has, therefore, apparently
lapsed once more into a state of abeyance. The last
piece of information offered by Sir C. Wood ac-
quainted the public merely that on Monday last the
Russian forces stationed between the Belbeck and
Mackenzie's Farm had been reinforced by two
divisions.

The Paris Moniteur contains the following an-
nouncement :

Telegraphic despatches from the Crimea of April 28,
state that the besiegers had for a time suspended their
fire, in order not to exhaust their store of ammunition
while expecting reinforcements which were on the point
of arriving.

A despatch from St. Petersburg, dated the 29th,
says that Prince Gortschakoff, under date of the
24th of April, writes thus from Sebastopol:—

The fire of the enemy continues, but is slacker, their
approaches progress slowly. The damage done to the
fortifications and the losses of our garrison are also less in

proportion.
We have erected at 100 yards from Bastion No. 4, a row
of rifle pits, which have served to form &continuous trench
of communication.

The Times Vienna correspondent writes :

Authentic information has reached me that the bom-
bardment of Sebastopol, which had been suspended on the
28th, was to be resumed in a few days.

SIEGE CHRONICLE.

The following official despatch from Lord Raglan
hew been published by the War Minister:—
Before Sebastopol, April 17.

The fire of both the French and Engli.sh armies has
been continued upon Sebastopol since I addressed your
lordship on the 14th inst., and though superior to that of
the enemy, it has not produced that permanent effect
which might have been anticipated from its constancy,
power, and accuracy.
The guns of the Russians have been turned upon some
of our advanced works in vast numbers, and in one parti-
cular instance the injury sustained by a battery was so
great that the unremitting exertions of Captains Henry and
Walcot, and the gallantry and determination of the artil-
lerymen under their orders, alone enabled them to keep
up the fire and to maintain themselves in it.
In another battery yesterday a shell burst close to the
magazine, which in consequence exploded, killing, I am
much concerned to say, one man, wounding two most
severely, and seven in a less degree.
Both the batteries I have mentioned have been repaired
and restored to their original condition.
1 inclose the list of casualties that have arisen between
the 13th and lath inst. I have to lament the loss of two
young and promising officers who had only lately joined
the army, Lieutenant Preston, of the Stith Regiment, and
Lieutenant Mitchell, of the Artillery ; and I regret to add
thitt, two others have been severely wounded, Captain
Green, of the East India Company's Service, who has been
employed throughout the siege as an assistant engineer,
with great credit to himself, and every advantage to the
service, and Captain Donovan, of the 33rd, who has most
zealously served from the commencement of the campaign.
The French blew up several small mines in front of the
Bastion du Mit after sunset on Sunday evening, with a view
to establish a parallel on the spot. This operation greatly
alarmed the enemy, who at once commenced a heavy fire
of cannon and musketry in every direction from that part
of the town, which they kept up for a considerable time.
It occasioned no harm on our left attack, upon which a
part of it was directed, and I hope did little injury to our
allies.

Several hundreds of the Russian cavalry and a small
body of Cossacks appeared on the low range of heights in
front of Balaklava this morning, and remained about an
hour, when they retired, the greeter portion by the bridge
of Tractea. The object of this movement was probably a

RAGLAN.

The correspondents of our daily contemporaries
furnish some additional details respecting the pro-
ceedings that took place between the date of the
former advices and the 17th ult. The following
extracts are from the Herald:—

APRIL 14.—1 n my letter of this morning I mentioned
the sortie on the French last night, but only as a slight
affair. The truth has now transpired, and it turns out to
Nave been a more serious attack than I was at first led to
believe.

The enemy came down from the Flagstaff Battery in
force, but fortunately our allies were equally well prepared.
(here was a long and desperate struggle. Twice the Rus-
sians aucceeded in entering the parallel in advance of the
battery, and twice were they repulsed, the second time
with such loss as to compel an immediate retreat. 'f he
French made no attempt at pursuit, as the enemy were
althin a stoue's throw of their own batteries. They were
thus able to retire in comparative order, carrying most of
their dead and wounded with them. Only fifteen bodies,
!we that of an onkel, were left behind,