The Express.
London, England, 1855-05-09 00:00:00

THE WAR.

The NouoeWale of Marseilles contains a letter from
before Sebastopol of the 24th ult., which says :
" As the French troops are occupied in mounting a
battery of SO guns at about 40 yards from the Flag-
staff Beano°, they only fire in order to prevent the
Russians from re-establishing their embrasures, but
as soon as this new battery is ready, I expect that
the fire will re-open with more vigour than ever.
We shall then occupy the Central and Flagstaff Bas-
tions, and if we do not enter the town by assault,
batteries will be erected, which will demolish the
whole of the southern part. The sanitary state of
the army is very satisfactory, there being very few
sick."
A letter from Ramiesch Bay, of the 24th nit.,
says :—" The Jean Bart, screw-ship of the line, and
the Meijer., screw advice boat, left yesterday for
Eupatoria with troops for Omer Pacha. The vessels
of the line Trident and Tnrenne, towed by the steam
corvettes Phlegeton and Laplace, arrived here this
morning, all bringing troops and ammunition. A
new detachment of marine artillery has been de-
manded by the General-in-chief, and is shortly ex-
pected—the services of the portion of that force now
before Sebastopol having been found very valuable.
Our situation may be thus summed up :—Io the
Crimea there are two armies in presence; one, which
advances constantly, and the other, which, though
defending itself well, has not ceased for a single day
to lose ground, foot by foot, and inch by inch. It is
easy to see with which eventually the advantage
must remain."
MARSEILLES, 7nr.—The Indus has arrived with
accounts from Constantinople to the 30th ult. On
the 28th there was a smart fire of musketry at Sebas-
topol. The cannonade was less active, but two bat-
teries have been placed in position, in the 4th pa-
rallel. Officers of engineers have left to reconnoitre
Kaffa. 30,000 troops, which were assembled at the
camp at Idaslrik, near Constantinople, were preparing
for their departure for the seat of war, so soon as the
Piedmontese contingent should have arrived. The
Journal de Constantinople announces that prepara-
tions were being made at Varna for an encampment
of 25,000 horses belonging to the French cavalry and
artillery, and it was therefore concluded that a power-
ful army was to be collected in Bulgaria. Only one
vessel belonging to the allied fleets now remains at
anchor in the Bosphorus.
BERLIN, TUESDAY, MAY B.—A despatch from St.
Petersburg, dated the 7th instant, has been received
here; it says :—" On the night between the let and
2nd the enemy, having concentrated 10,000 men, took
possession of the lodgments in front of Bastion No.
5, land captured nine small cohorn mortars. On
the 2nd the enemy opened a heavy cannonade
on Bastions Nos. 4 and 5, and on the adjoining lines.
The damage which they did was repaired during the
night. We fired with success five mines against the
enemy's approaches."
The German Journal of Frankfort contains a letter
from Vienna of the 4th, which says :—" Intelligence
has been received from Sebastopol, vie Odessa, to the
29th ult. The Russian army celebrated the anniver-
sary of the birth of the Emperor Alexander by a
solemn service. The fire of the Allies was suspended
during. the day. A letter from Bucharest states that
Raman agents were endeavouring to excite dis-
turbances in the Principalities. Insurrectional pro-
clamations had been found in the frontier villages of
Moldavia. The official journal of Bucharest again
calls on all Greek subjects, probably in consequence
of that circumstance, to present themselves to the
authorities within thirty days, and to furnish the
necessary guarantees. This is the third time that a
delay has been accorded them. Such persons as do
not comply will be considered ill-intentioned, and
be forced to at once quit the Principality."