The Press.
London, England, 1855-04-07 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

As yet the lines of our batteries remain very nearly iden-
tical with those from which we opened tire on the 17th of
October. The second parallel of our attack has indeed
been armed with guns, and some detached works have
been constructed, but no great change has been effected in
the mode or form of our approaches and attack since Ge-
neral Jones joined. The fine weather has enabled our
troops to strengthen the third parallel of another of our
attacks very considerably, but it is still extremely weak,
and has given opportunity to improve their cover, and the
approaches and zigzags, and one portion of our lines is
now within a couple of hundred yards of the advanced
works of the Round Tower

MARCH V.—The contest for the rifle-pits terminated
this morning amid a blaze of fire from the forts in the
pale light of dawn, in favour of the French, who now oc-
cupy three of the pits. and direct a sharp fusillade against
the Mamelon Round Tower from the sandbags. The
Russian riflemen are in one of the pits still ; two seem to
be unoccupied. The enemy have also placed riflemen in
the Mamelon and the new work on the right, and a gun
from Gordon's trenches, and one from the French redoubt
on the right, are constantly engaged in firing round shot
and shell into the former place throughout the day to re-
duce the fire and impede the men in their works. Our
two sea-service mortars fire seldom, but surely. Their
range is very great. One shell yesterday evening went far
over and beyond the Round Tower, and burst among the
buildings in the rear of it. Another burst through the
roof of one of the public buildings, and it instantly col-
lapsed into a cloud of dust and rubbish.
For the last half-hour--it is now 10.45 p.m.—a furious
fight has been raging all along our front. To a person
standing on Cathcart's-hill in front of the fourth division
the whole of the Russian lines are revealed in successive
glimpses by bursts of red flame, and the bright star-like
flashes of musketry, twinkling all over the black expanse
between us and the town for three or four miles in length,
show that a fierce contest is going on before the trenches
of the allies. Shells, each marked by a distinctive point
of fire where the fuse is burning, describe their terrible
curves in the air, and seem to mingle with the stars, and
fiery rockets with long trails of dropping sparks rush like
comets through the air. Above all the pale crescent moon
is shining from a deep blue sky, covered with the constel-
lations of heaven. The roar of the cannon, the hissing of
the shells, the intermittent growl of the musketry, the
wild scream of the rockets, and the whizzing of the round
shot form a horrid concert. It is curious to note the
eagerness of the men on such occasions; they swarm out
of their tents to the lines in front, and watch the progress
of the fight, as far as they can make it out, with the deepest
interest, and their whispered comments are most amusing :
—" That's a lively shell from the French ;" " Mosso° is
getting his bellyful;" " I wish they'd let us go at that. and
we'd not waste so much powder," &c. The flashes of the
cannon mark pretty distinctly the flowings and ebbings of
the tide of war. If the Russian guns are thundering
away we may be sure their men are falling back. If our
guns are more briskly served than usual, we are either
covering an attack in the pits or are protecting the with-
drawal of the allies. Most of the generals on nights like
these come out to the front and watch the fight, and the
officers form in little groups on all the elevated knolls be-
before the camps. I have just returned to the hut in
which lam lodging. It is now 11.15 p.m., but the con-
flict is still going on. No one knows what it is about.
To-morrow I hope to be able to learn something about it,
but the difficulty of ascertaining the particulars of attacks
like these is utterly incredible. It strikes me at present
that the French have been forced to leave the pits for the
time. The regiments in front of our divisions are gene-
rally kept in readiness to turn out whenever we have affairs
of this kind, and if the event seems uncertain two or three
in each division are turned out under arms. The can-
nonade has now (11.30) nearly ceased altogether, but the
musketry is very sharp and heavy. The third division and
second division, and the brigades of the light division, and
of the second division, not on duty, are in readiness to
turn out. There is now (12 midnight) a very hard fight
going on in front of us. The generals of division are all
on the alert.
We know the particulars of the fight. Between eleven
and twelve o'clock last night columns of Russian infantry
came suddenly upon the men in our advanced trenches,
and rushed in upon them on the right with the bayonet
ere we were quite prepared to receive them. When they
were first discerned they were close at hand, and, on being
challenged, they replied with the universal shibboleth,
" Bono Franciz." In another moment they were bayonet-
ing our men, who had barely time to snatch their arms
and defend themselves. Taken at a great disadvantage, and
pressed by superior numbers, our men met the assault
with undaunted courage, and drove the Russians out at the
point of the bayonet after a smart fire. The Russians,
pursued by our shot, retired under cover of our batteries.
The attack seems to have been general along the line.
At half-past eight o'clock last night the French batteries
began to shell the town, while their rockets were poured
every five minutes in streams into the place. At ten
o'clock, our sentries in advance of Chapman's attack gave
notice that the Russians were assembling in force in front
of the works. The 20th, 21st, and the 57th Regiments
were in the trenches on the left attack, and they were, to
a certain extent, prepared for the assault of the enemy.
About the same time the French on the right of our right
attack, which is separated from the left attack by a deep
ravine, were assailed in masses by the enemy. As our
allies were hardly pressed, orders were given to advance
the troops in a portion of the trenches, consisting of a part
of the light division, to their support. On the left attack
the Russians, advancing with impetuosity through a weak
part of the defence, turned the third parallel, and took it
in reverse. They killed and wounded some of our men,
and had advanced to the second parallel, when our cover-
ing party and the men in the trenches of the batteries
came down upon them and drove them over the works
after a sharp conflict. The 20th Regiment lost two men

SATURDAY,

killed, six wounded badly, and three missing. The 67th
lost three killed, four wounded, and eighteen missing
The 21st lost three killed, five wounded, and one missing:
These are the returns so far as I can ascertain the truth
at an early hour this morning, but it is probable that some
of the missing men will turn up, as these regiments have
not yet come out of the trenches. On the right the attack
was more serious and sudden. Our men had been ordered
out to the support of the French from one part of their
lines, and while they were away, the Russians came up to
the flank of the works, and took them in reverse, so that
they had to fight their way back to get to their position.
The gallant old 7th Fusiliers had to run the gauntlet of
a large body of the enemy whom they drove back el to
fourehette. One brave young fellow, Capt. Cavendish Browne,
of the 7th, was killed. Two or three musket balls passed
through his body. The 34th Regiment had an enormous
force to contend against, and as their brave Colonel Kt lly
was leading them in, he was shot down and carried off by
the enemy. His dead body was found outside the trenches
this morning. The 77th behaved most gallantly, and the
97th proved themselves worthy of their position in the
glorious old light division. In the midst of the fight
Major Gordon of the Royal Engineers displayed that cool
courage, and presence of mind which never forsakes him.
With a little switch in his hand he encouraged the men
to defend the trenches, and, standing up on the top of the
parapet, all unarmed as he was, he hurled down stones on
the Russians. He was struck by a ball which passed
through the looter part of his arm, and, from the same or
from a different musket, at the same time he received a
bullet through the shoulder. We are all rejoiced that he
is not dangerously wounded, and that the army will not
long be deprived of his services. After an hour's fight the
enemy were driven back, but we have to deplore the loss
of the following officers, killed, wounded, or missing:—
Colonel Kelly, 34th Regiment, killed ; Lieutenant Jardan,
97th Regiment, killed; Captain Cavendish Browne, 7th,
killed ; Lieutenant Vicars, 97th Regiment, wounded ; Cap-
tain Montagu, Royal Engineers, missing; and Major
Gordon, Royal Engineers, wounded.
MARCH 23.—The enemy have either become desperate
or have been inspirited and encouraged by their recent
encounters with the French on our right. Their guns are
nearly silent day and night, but they have not been re-
tired. Every embrasure is armed ; the muzzle of the gun
is visible under the screen of cloth which is hung across
from gabion to gabion. Their sorties are made night after
night, in greater force and with more confidenee on each
occasion. Last night, indeed, they received a severe
check, but it was nut till they had got up to our second
parallel on the left, or Green-hill attack, had got into our
mortar battery on the right attack, and had inflicted a
severe loss on our allies on the right towards Inkermann.
In the affair of last night we had seven officers killed,
wounded, and taken prisoners, and about 100 men put
hors de combat or carried into Sebastopol. The French, it
is believed, lost between 300 and 400 men and fifteen
officers killed, wounded, and missing. On the other hand,
the enemy must have suffered a loss of 600 or 700 men,
although they succeeded in concealing the severity of their
loss by carrying off their dead and wounded, as usual.
Still, the number of dead bodies lying along the front of
our trenches proved that they received a heavy loss. No
flag of trace has been sent in from either side to demand
permission to bury the dead. They are lying about among
the gabions which have been knocked down in front p,
the French sap towards the rifle-pits in great numbers.
The enemy have opened guns from the Mamelon, which
they direct against the French approaches towards the
pits, and we may expect that the work east of it will soon
be armed also. Its fire will enfilade a portion of our lines,
and the Mamelon will be able to direct from one flank an
awkward fire on the flank of our right attack. The Rus-
sian engineers have displayed consummate ability in their
works, and it is well for us their artillerymen are not as
expert as those who place them in the batteries. Con-
scious of the strength they have gained by the possession
of those positions, and of the advantages they have secured
in defending the town, the Russians appear determined to
make the most of their new attack. The Mamelon is ex-
posed to the fire of the guns in the right of our right attack
and to the fire of the second French redoubt over lnker-
mann, and every two or three minutes a shot or shell is
thrown into the work, but the enemy maintain their
ground, though the deserters inform us that they lose 100
men every twenty four hours within the parapets of the
Mamelon. The practice of our artillerymen is splendid.
Scarcely a shot fails in striking the top of the parapet just
at the right place, and a black pillar of loose earth shoots
up into the air from the work after every discharge from
our guns ; but the Russians hold it still, and they are de-
termined to keep their hold as long as they can. The
defence of the place is conducted on a new principle, and
we shall be severely tried, with our present numbers, in
doing the work cat out for us.