The Press.
London, England, 1855-11-03 00:00:00

THE ATTACK.

At half-past nine the floating batteries opened fire,
and from that hour till two p.m. the Russians gal-
lantly stood to their guns. The defence, though
brief, considering the enormous disproportion of
force, fully twenty to one in favour of the allies, well
sustained the character of the Russians:—

The floating batteries opened with a magnificent crash
at 9.i0 a.m , and one in particular distinguished itself
throughout for the regularity, precision, and weight of its
fire throughout the day. The enemy replied with ala-
crity, and the batteries must have been put to a severe
test, for the water was splashed in pillars by shot all over
them. At 10.10 the bombs opened fire. At 11.10 a fire
broke out in the long barrack, and speedily spread from
end to end of the fort, driving the artillerymen from their
guns, while small explosions of supply ammunition took
place inside.
At 11.15 the Russian Jack was shot away, and was not
replaced—the firing became tremendous. Admiral Stewart
in the Valorous, and the French Admiral (second in
command) in the Amodio, followed by eleven steamers,
came round the Spit Battery into Kherson Bay, deliver-
ing broadside and engaging the batteries as they passed,
and they were preceded by the Hannibal, which ripped up
Kinburn with her broadsides. The fire raged more fu-
riously, fed by constant bombs and rockets, and at 12.35

SATURDAY,

a fresh fire burst out in the fort. At the same time the
Valorous, Asmodie, and steam-frigates opened broadsides
nn the fort, and the nine line•of-battle ships come in meg.
nificent style, and take up their position at the seaward
face of the fort, already seriously damaged by the tremen-
dous fire of the floating batteries, gun-boats, and mortar_
vessels. The storm of shot from this great ordnance is
appalling. The very earth seems flying into dust, and the
fiery embers of the fort are thrown into columns of sparks
by the shot. Still the Russians stand to the only guns
they have left. The broadsides increase in vigour, and at
last a white flag is waved by a single man from the ram.
part. Boats with flags of truce push off, and they learn
that the garrison is willing to surrender. At 2 p.m, the
firing ceases, and eleven hundred men march into our
lines, several of them quite drunk, carrying off food and
drink, and the officers bearing their side-arms. The goy.
rison consisted of the 29th Regiment and of one hunt'aed
artillerymen. Two hundred are said to be killed, and
four hundred or five hundred wounded ; but admittance
to the town is denied by the French, as it is said the go.
vernor is in the powder-magazine, e, inflamed to madness,
and watching the chance of the victors entering to fire the
mine, which is well-stored with powder.—Times Cor.,
Oct. 17th.

Ac 3ording to the Correspondent of the Daily News,
our allies did not wake good practice at first:—
A few minutes after ten o'clock the three French ante-
ing batteries, supported by one of our gun-boats, opened fins
on the main fort at a range of about eight hundred yards.
For nearly half an hour, however, our allies made had
practice, more than half of their shot falling far short, and
only striking the enemy's wall en ricochet. But when they
had once got the range, I am bound to say that, from thbt
moment till the surrender of the place, n.o firing could
have been closer or more effective. The Russians replica
with admirable vigour, and, with shell bursting around
them, and round•shot bowling through their parapets,
worked their gnus with apparently the coolest and meat
unflinching steadiness. At half-past eleven o'clock the
signal was made from the flag-ship for the liannibil to
"prepare to weigh immediately," and fifteen minutes later
she was gliding away out of the line to her appointed,
ground off the battery on the extreme end of the spit. Ten,
minutes after twelve the order was extended to the whole.
of the remaining line-ofbattle ships, and almost before the-
signal flags had reached the mizen peak of the Albert the
whole five were under weigh.
The St. Jean dAcre was the first of the line-onattlls
ships that opened fire; but, as the distance was still great,
the shot fell short. A few scattered discharges followed
this from the neighbouring vessels, but the firing did not
properly open till the vessels had reached a range of 1,0001
yards from the shore, when the Royal Albert and the
Algiers (in which I was) swung round, dropped their
anchors, and delivered their broadsides. The Agamemnon
followed ; and in less than a minute the Acre and Princess
Royal thundered forth their booming accompaniments.
But by this time the Russian fire had almost entirely
ceased: the 7'errible, with her irresistible long sixty-eights,
Curacao, Dauntless, and Tribune had already silenced and
demolished the battery on the point, and the only guns
which still spoke out the enemy's defiance were a couple
of pieces from the middle battery and the fort, which were
now being powdered by the ten large ships at a rate that
promised to level both in double-quick time. The walls
of the fort literally crumbled away before the iron storm
which swept into and over them from five hundred heavy
cannon, and in almost less time than I have taken to writer
it, hardly one stone of the outer coating of masonry stuck
to another along its whole face. The Russian fire, too,.
speedily ceased, and for a long half-hone we had the battle-
all to ourselves.—Daily News cor., Oct. 18.