The Press.
London, England, 1855-10-13 00:00:00

PROJECTED ATTACK ON ODESSA.

VIENNA, Oct. 9.
Intelligence from Nicolaieff states that a division of the
allied fleets, consisting of nine ships, twenty-eight steamers,
and nine gun-boats, comprising three batteries, anchored
on the morning of the Bth before Odessa.

OFFICIAL DESPATCHES.

Sebastopol, Sept. 25.
I have the honour to transmit the report of the principal
medical officer for this week, as well as for the week ending
the 18th of September, which, by mistake, I omitted to
send before.

Your lordship will read with satisfaction that the health
of the army is all that can be desired ; and the marked im-
provement since the arduous night duties have ceased is
very apparent.
The troops continue to be employed in the con-
struction of the roads, and in making preparations for the
winter, which are greatly facilitated by the fineness of the
weather.

The enemy have commenced firing into the town, and
the troops stationed there for the purpose of performing
fatigue duties have been in consequence withdrawn. Large
quantities of timber and building material are daily taken
rom the houses by our troops.

JiMES Sim ;sow, General Commanding.
Sept. 29.
Since my last despatch the troops have been employed,
to the number of 9,500 men, daily, in making the road
from Balaklava to the camp; and as, after a few hours of
rain the whole distance is converted into a mass of deep
mud, the work that has to be performed, from this reason
as well as the great distance that the stones have to be
transported, render it one of great labour and difficulty.

Large fatigue parties are daily employed in the town,
dismantling and conveying timber and other materials
from the ruins of the buildings, and I hope, by this means,
to get a considerable portion of the troops under cover pre-
vious to the commencement of the bad weather.

The enemy have been firing from the batteries on the
north side at the working parties in the town, and although
causing some litttle annoyance, they have not prevented
the work being carried on : and I am happy to add that one
man killed and one wounded are the only casualties occa-
sioned by their fire.
I regret to have to report to your lordship that owing to
the explosion of a Russian magazine on the 27th instant
one officer and nineteen men were wounded, I ordered
an investigation to be made, and from the report I have
received the origin was from the explosion of a hidden
fougass, a number of which have been dug up in various
parts of the town and batteries. The invention of this
machine is peculiarly Russian.
I have received a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Ready,
91st Regiment, commanding her Majesty's troops at Yeni•
kale, reporting the proceedings of a trifling affair, in which
a detachment of the 10th Hussars, in company with the
Chasseurs d'Afrique, were engaged on the 21st inst with
the Cossacks.
Colonel D'Osmont, commanding the French troops at
Kertch, received information that the Cossacks were col-
lecting and driving away all the arabas from the neigh-
bourhood, and, as he determined to endeavour to prevent
this, he invited the assistance of the English cavalry to
cooperate with the Chasseurs d'Afrique For this service,
Lieutenant-Colonel Ready ordered two troops, commanded
by Captains the Hon. F. Fitz Clarence and Clarke, of the
10th Hussars.
The Cossacks were supposed to have assembled their
arabas at two villages. named Koss-Seria Min and Seit
Ali, equidistant from Kertch about fifteen miles, and from
one another, six and a half. Captain Fits Clarence's troop
was ordered to the first village, and Captain Clarke's to
the latter. At each of these villages they were to join a
troop of the Chasseurs d'Afrique who had preceded them.
On arriving M Kom-Sorai Min, Captain FiteClarenco

THE PRESS.

found both troops of the French Dragoons, and imme-
diately sent off an order to Captain Clarke to join him
that night; the letter was unfortunately not delivered
until the following morning. In complying with this
order, Captain Clarke, whose troop consisted of only 34
men, fell in with a body of about 50 Cossacks, which he
immediately charged and pursued, but, as they were soon
reinforced by upwards of 300, he was forced to retire upon
the village, with a loss of his sergeantemajor, farrier, and
13 men taken prisoners.
Captain Fitz Clarence's troop, with the Chasseurs, the
whole under the command of the officer commanding the
French troops, having seen a large body of the enemy,
skirmished with them at some distance, and moved in
the direction of the village of Serai MM ; where, after
having joined Captain Clarke's troop, the whole force com-
menced their march upon Kertch.
At about the distance of half a mile from the village they
were attacked by a large body of Cossacks, who were, how-
ever, beaten back by repeated charges. The loss of the
10th Hussars consisted of two privates, supposed to have
been killed ; 1 wounded ; 1 troop sergeant-major, 1 farrier,
13 men,ls horses, missing.
From information that has since been received, the
Cossacks were supported, within a quarter of an hour's
march, by eight squadrons of Hussars and eight guns.
Colonel Ready informs me that nothing could exceed
the coolness and courage of the troops in the presence of
such overwhelming numbers of the enemy, who were only
kept at bay by their steady movements.
I have the honour to enclose the list of casualties.

The health of the army, I rejoice to say, is excellent.
JAMES SIMPSON, General Commanding.
PREPARATIONS FOR WINTER.

The capture of Sebastopol will, after all, prove of
no practical value to the allies as a means of shelter
during the approaching winter. The north side
Russian guns have opened fire upon the town, and
our fatigue parties have in consequence been com-
pelled to withdraw; the Buffs have vacated their quar-
ters in the dockyards, and about two hundred artillery-
men comprise the strength of our army in the town.
General Simpson further states, in a despatch of the
25th September, that " large quantities of timber and
building material are daily taken from the houses by
the troops "—so that it is clear the allies will be
compelled, from the commanding fire of the Russian
guns rendering Sebastopol untenable for barracks,
to encamp upon the bleak heights of Balaklava for
another winter. How far they are prepared for such
compulsion does not appear quite satisfactory. From
the assertion of the Times correspondent of the 24th,
that not one•twentieth part of the huts had yet ar-
rived, and that, notwithstanding all past experience
and the cessation of the siege, there would still
be much suffering in the army during the approaching
winter, we may infer that the authorities at home trusted
entirely to the anticipated capture of the town earlier
in the year, and made none of those preparations for
failure or the possible present position of the army
which the commonest prudence would have suggested.
Everything, writes the Daily News correspondent,
on the 28th, favours the belief that the whole army
will winter on its present camping-ground :
A first instalment of the promised huts has, I believe,
arrived in lialaklava, and others are expected immediately ;
it remains to be seen whether or not they will reach us, as
was the case last year, when the worst severities of the
winter have gone by, and after new holocausts of unaccli-
matised arrivals have been offered up to the demon of offi-
cial procrastination, as before.

The Times correspondent, under date of the 2ith,
writes :

Not, ithstanding the cessation of the most arduous
duties of the army, and the improvement, or rather the
creation, cf roads, the teachings of experience, and all the
efforts of the authorities, 1 believe there will be much
hardship and ,suffering, incidental, and inseparable, per-
haps, from the position of our army during the winter,
even if they are all hutted. At present, there is not a
twentieth of the men in huts. It will be hard work to
make up for lost time should the huts arrive in time, and
our officers are taking an exceedingly wise step in sending
into Sebastopol for wood. An immense train of carts,
waggons, dec., went down this morning to the city to get
wood out of the ruined and dilapidated houses. A double
tent can be made very comfortable for the winter, but
single canvas is poor protection against the blasts which
sweep over these dreary steppes, with the thermometer at
ten degrees. Many of the officers are hutted, or have stink
semt•subterranean residences or mined for sunken double
tents, and the camp is studded all over with the dingy
roofs, which at a distance look much like an aggregate of
molehills.
However, French, English, and Sardinians are all
busily engaged in making roads, digging drains,
clearing out trenches, building huts, and themselves
making every possible preparation for winter. In
the face of such preparations, and of the vigour with
which they are carried out, as well as the late period
of the year, there seems but one inference to
be drawn—that the allied generals feel that the
operations in the field this year are to be limited
both in extent and period. The Daily News cor-
respondent writes, under date of the With :
We appear to be doomed to disappointment in our ex-
pectation that a strong allied force would be sent to Eupa-
toria. The movements and reports which led to this
belief appear to have been made and disseminated for the
purpose of deceiTing the enemy. The rains and snows of

£69

November will probably set in before we gather any fresh
laurels in the Crimea.

The construction of the military roads by the English
troops is being carried on with great energy. The guard
of the trenches in each attack is reduced to a captain's
command, and the greater number of the troops thus set
free are employed either iu making roads, clearing the
batteries, or making the necessary preparations fur the
coming winter. In this respect, among others, the aban-
donment by the enemy of the south side, ooenrring as it
did a month or six weeks before the commencement of the
severe season, Las rendered the most important servioe to
the British force. lied it taken place a month later, there
is every reason to believe that the winter would have
caught us without any hut the railroad to depend upon for
communication and the conveyance of supplies. Now
there is every reason to expect that the plateau will be
traversed in all directions by firm and eubstential well-
drained roads. It it impossible to overrate the great
value and advantage of the opportunity thus afforded to us
for insuring constant provision against the moat material
exigencies of the coming winter. Those only who had
occasion to observe the increase and multiplication of this
varied miseries and sufferings which arose last winter
from the want of means of transport and communication

will be able to appreciate the real value of the different
circumstances under which the army will be placed during
the ensuing winter. —lb., Sept. 24.

The Times correspondent also observes:—
The great road from Kailikoi to the camp gets on but
slowly, but a really great work is in the course of execu-
tion in cutting a kind of canal for the waters of the stream-
let which runs through the flat, marshy laud close by the
railway between Kadikui and the top of the harbour. This
work will materially tend to the strength and efficiency of
the railway in winter, and will carry off the surface water
which turned the whole of this marsh into a lake in winter.
The Sardinians ere at work on the railway from the
Woronsoff road to the main line at Kadikoi; but our en-
gineers declare that they take such pains in elaborating,
polishing, and finishing off trenches and cuttings as to
lose valuable time. The French have not yet done any
towards the execution of the line laid down by Mr.
Campbell from the Col de Balaklava to Kamiesch.—Sept.24 ;

The Sardinians appear to be very expert in their
hut building. A Pitainontese correspondent of the
Morning Port writes on the 21st :

Our troops will pass the month of September In
ing their huts for the winter, making roads, and
strengthening our position. The way we proceed is, by
digging a square place in the ground, and forming a roof
of the earth supported by sticks. The fireplace is at the
end, supplied with tubes. The constructions for the
officers are, of course, better and larger, and the difficulties
of a winter campaign are provided for. The health of the
army is improving, but many who have suffered will be
sent home before the cold weather arrives.

The weather continued much finer than it was at
the same period last year. The health of our army
bad singularly improved since the conclusion of
trenchwork, and every preparation was making by
the military authorities on the spot against the con.
tingenoies of winter:—

During the last two days the weather has been sunny
ant' fine, but the nights have been exceedingly cold. By
contrast with the present year, the army seems to hate
been singularly favoured, in respect to weather, during its
march from Enpatoria and subsequent occupation of Bala.
klava, and the position above Sebastopol iu September of
18154. It is said that a part of the fleet is to take its de.
parture soon—the larger sailing vessels to go to the Bos-
phorus, and some of the smaller steamers to Malta. The
Rodney leaves for England in a few days. The troops
are in excellent health. The cessation of the trench
duties, and the opportunity gained of rest at night, aro
evidently producing the beneficial effects which might be
expected. All are actively employed in making prepara-
tions to meet the coming winter. Military roads are fast
progressing in the directions of the principal mntes. The
Divisional Commissariat stores are accumulating, as well
as the head-quarter establishments, and will render the
necessity for transport during the winter a comparatively
unimportant matter. Should the huts which are expected
from England arrive in time to be erected before the rains
set in, there is every reason to expect that the sanitary
state of the troops will be as remarkably favorable this
winter as it was unfavorable during the last winter.—l).
News Cor., Sept. 20th.
A portion of the winter clothing for the men had
arrived, but the Government appear to be about
behaving in a very niggardly manner to the officers :
A portion of the winter clothing for the men, I am
glad to say, has been disembarked during the past week,
and will be issued without delay to the regiments whose
commanding officers have secured the first turns. An un-
creditable deviation, however, from the course followed
last season is, it is said, to be made in the case of the
officers, for whom no provision is to be allowed in this
respect. Last winter they were very properly served out
with waterproof great-coats, leggings, and jack-boots,
besides the short, but very comfortable, tweed and canal's
coats, for which a cost charge of seven and sixpence was
made to each recipient. It now appears that not one of
these most needful articles is to be provided this winter,
but that the hard-worked and not overpaid gentlemen to
whose perseverance and bravery, in conjunction with the
pati,mt courage of our men, we owe all that has been
achieved, are to be left to purchase them at extortionate
prices from the camp dealers, or from the hardly more
reasonable shopkeepers of Pere. If such a niggardly and
discreditable intention exist there is yet time to abandon
it, and exercise the same generous liberality that resulted
in so much comfort to our regimental officers throughout
the horrors of last awd a meadow 411 which,

Heaven knows, they have since earned so well.—D. News
Cor., Sept. 28th.