The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

TEE PRESS.

At noon, Marshal Pelissier with a brilliant staff
arrived in his carriage, and mounting a magnificent
black charger rode down the course to a marquee
opposite the judge's stand. General Codrington
arrived a little tato-, but does not appear to have in
terested himself much in the races, for adds the cor
respondent :

Much to the regret of certain transgressors, he was not
always in the same place, for, espying a rabblement of
officers, men, and soldiers on the wrong side of the
Tschernaya fraternising with the Russians, he sent a
picket at the double upon them, took the privates prisoners,
and " took the names " of the officers through the inetrtt•
mentality of a calligraphic colonel. Sir William, be it
known, is irreverently termed by godless subalterns
" Coddy," and is said to evince the greatest talent in
managing the smaller dahlia of military duty, with which
he is perfectly acquainted.
General de la Marmora and all the English generals
soon arrived on the spot, and the races began.
General Luders and the Russian officers had been
invited, but declined. There were five flat races and
two steeplechases. The first flat race was won by Capt
Cornat, of the Chasseurs d'Afrique, while the second
race, the grand steeplechase of the day, was won by
the Viscount Talon, though on an Irish horse, which
was some slight consolation to the defeated. The
remaining five races fell consecutively to the English
officers.

A day or two previous to this fun Sir Richard Eyre
had again paraded his division of 8,000 men in full
fighting older, and this time on the banks of the
Tschernaya, and created the liveliest excitement in
the Russian camp, where nothing less than some
terrible piece of treachery from " perfide Albion " was
anticipated :

Hastily assembling a body of four or five battalions of
infantry, the Muscovites descended from their heights
also, and, marching down by the swampy maraca formed by
the Tschernaya as it approaches the head of the roadstead
of Sebastopol, placed themselves as a corps of observation.
and hung on every movement of our gallant general and
his staff. The Russians marched on a parallel line with
them, step by step—halted as our men halted, and pro-
ceeded with them as they advanced, till the field-day was
over. Sir Richard Eyre might well feel proud of his divi-
sion, and be anxious to take them a good march to some
spot where they could get away from the embarras of the
tents, the huts, and the camp inclosures; but there are
some people who agree in the propriety of the supposed
objections of the brigadiers and of the staff to the selec-
tion of a place so near the enemy as the plains of the
Tschernaya for the performance of field-day manoeuvres or
the holding of a divisional inspection and drill. It was a
very pretty sight to watch the motions of the two bodies of
infantry, as the columns of men manoeuvred, now visible,
now lost to sight among the inequalities of the plain. The
men were refreshed by a long halt, during which the
officers left behind them traces of their presence in the
shape of empty bottles and tin cases, and returned in the
afternoon, having roused the camp from its monotony for
a time, and having started canards, gossip, and small-talk,
which are yet lively and interesting. One of these stories
is to the effect that the Russian general has made a repre-
sentation to the English head-quarters respecting the im-
propriety of the proceeding, and that General Codrington,
who paid Sir R. Eyre a visit next day, expressed an
opinion coincident with that of General Luders on the sub-
ject. Quin tube ?-46.