The Express.
London, England, 1855-09-26 00:00:00

a heat of them is a dill "Ida boron oar attacks.'
us six metres is depth sad seas is width. It was
used with 62 pas of various alibi's. In the frost
part, asclesed by the parapet, is the MALAWI Tower,
se whisk the Ratans have only pressend rho
ns de chateseh, whisk is tessellated. In the
interior of the work the Russians had
raised a vast ameba of traverses under which
were steeliest blindest* what the garrison
fogad shelter, and had beds arranged on each side to
two rows, we above the other. A Russian officer of
enginters, who was made prisoner, states that the
garrisoe of this part of the Malekhoff, which I have
jest described in order that you may judge of the
difficulties which our soldiers had to surmount, cos-
seted of not less than 2,500 men.
The Malabar front, which is a thousand metres
ta Itegth, is bounded on oar left by Fort Malakhoff,
sad ce our right by the Little Redan. This last work,
which, at the commencement of the siege, wee only a

ample redo), was transformed little by little
into a redoubt, closed at the gorge and heavily
armed. The exterior fronts of the two redoubts
cf Malakhoff sod the Careensge were connected by a
curtain armed with 16 cannons; and behind the
enceinte the Russians had raised a second, which
connected the fronts of the gorges of the two redoubts.
This second enceinte, armed in part, had not, how-
ever, a ditch presenting a serious obstacle.

The rocky nature of the soil had hindered the
enemy front excavating everywhere squally the ditch ,
of the first curtain and of the Little Reda•, and on ,
several points the troops were able to peas it without ;
very much difficulty. For passing the ditches',
which bad • considerable depth, we had ooatrived a ,
system of bridges which could be thrown in lees than
a minute by an ingenious maecetivre, to which our
sappers and soldiers crilite had been trained.
The French artillery was so superior to that of the
Russians that it had extinguished the fire of nearly
all the guns pointed directly at oar attacks. The
filled up embrasures relieved us from the fear that
oar columns might be assailed by grape as they
issued from th• trenches. The parapets were destroyed
and a part of the earth had rolled into the ditch.
Finally the Malakhoff fort had been assailed by so
large a number of shells, thrown from our batteries
and those of the English, that the guns which did not
look directly upon our attacks had their embrasures
also filled up, and everywhere the terrassemests bad
lost their original form. But, behind the defences
situated in the first line the Russians had
preserved • large number of pieces, which we
could not cort►e-battre completely, and the columns
which proceeded to attack the Malskhoff were ex-
pend to the fire of numerous batteries which the
Russians had raised to the north of the roadstead,
and which, though fired from a great distance, were
theless dangerous.
You are aware that ever since my arrival before
Bebutopol I was decidedly of opinion that the true
point of attack was the tower or mamelon of Malak-
hoff, and that this opinion having been adopted by
Oeoeral Caorobert, those attacks of the right were
undertaken, which were executed by the 2nd corps.
From the side of the town we had been content to
extend towards the left the approaches executed by
the Ist corps. Taking things at the point
where they stood when the assault was resolved
oa, there was no doubt that the posseesion
of the Malskhoff fort would lead to a decisive result ;
and on the other hind, it wu to be presumed that if
a failure took place on this point, success obtained
elsewhere could not lead to great results. However,
it was sot proper to attack a place so extended upon
one single point. It was necessary to obtain that
division of the enemy's forces which resulted from the
great development of the enceinte that he had to de-
fend, and especially to make him uneasy about the
town, to which the bridge led whereby he might
make his retreat.

It was to satisfy these various considerations, it
was to swore success, while economising as much as
possible the blood of our rtldiers in the terrible
struggle then preparing, that the General in Chief
decided that the assault should first be made on the
front of the Malakhoff ; that if this attack, which
would be made under his personal inspection, should
succeed, then at his signal the English should attack
the Roden and the first portion of the town, so as to
prevent the enemy's concentrating all his efforts
against the troops that should have already taken
possession of the Malskhoff Fort.
The front of the Alalekhoff was to be attacked by
three columns: the one on the left, commanded by
General de Mt Mahon, moving in a straight line on
the Nlalakhuff Fort by the front that faced us, and in
turning it slightly on the right hand, had for its
took the taking and keeping of it, cost what it might
the right column, Guise's divisioo, wu to mars►
against the Redan of the Careening Bay, to occupy
It, and detach a brigade on its left, in order to ton
the second enclosure ; Isatly, the central column,
being the division of La Motterooge, issuing from the
sixth parallel, having a lamer extent of ground to
pees over, and arriving a little later, was to carry
the curtain, to proceed then against the second en-
closers, and send one of its brigades to the assistance
of the first column, if this latter should have not yet
pined possession of the Malakhoff Fort.

_ .
lineb was the importance of these positions that
we could not doubt that the enemy, if he lost them,
would make peat efforts to retake them. In roose-
gneee•, the troops of the Imperial Guard were given
as a mem to the 2nd Corps.

The chief of the Engineer Battalion Rape, having
wader his orders several brigades of sappers, march-
ing with the first column, had to throw bridges across
the ditches, see after the mines, open everywhere a
passage to the columns, and u soon as thew should
be twisters bf the fort, to close it at the gorge; and
b order to oppose any rallying attack in return, to
open in the rear large passages for the arrival of the
troops and the artillery.
The chief of the engineer battalion Renoux, at-
tached to the right column, and Captain Schoenna•
gel, attached to the central column, having also
brigades of sappers uoder their orders, had to fulfil
an analogous mission.

All the arrangements concerning the deity of the
engineers in the attacks to be made on the Malik.
hoff bad been mad* by the General of Brigade Fru-
lard, commending the engineers of the god corpe.
In attack mg the town, in order to avoid the ob.
stacles accumnla.ed by the enemy at the salient of
the Flagstaff Bastion. it had been decided that the
principal assault should be given at the Central
Bution, between its salient and the lunette

aw the lett ; that the assaulting column,
as soon as it should be established within the Central
Bastion should detach a part of its forces towards
the gorge of the Flagstaff Battery, whose right face
should then be assailed by a Sardinian Brigade,
which had come to take part in the operations of
the First Corp.

General Dskerne, oommandiog the Engineers of the
First Corps had made arrangements for attacking the
turn similar to those which I have jut explained
with reference to the attacks of the Harabelnia Lim-
burg.

On the Bth of September, at 8 o'clock in the
morning, we threw on the Central Bastion
twe mines of projection, each charged with
100 kilogrammes of powder. The explosion
took play near the middle of the Bastion

and appeared to come great disorder. At the same
hoar we exploded, in front of our &prosodies to the
Melakhclf Fort, three miaiag chambers, charged in
all with 1,600 kilogrammes of powder, in order to
destroy the lower galleries of the Russian miners,
and to give security to our soldiers, who had to crowd
within the trenches under which deserters announced
that the moil we* mined.

At noon prmieely our soldiers rushed from the ad-1
record places Ammo in trout of the Malskhoff.
They crossed the ditches with surprising agility, and,
jumping on the parapets, attacked the enemy to the
cry of " Vivo l'Etsperenr!" At the Malakhoff fort,
the interior slope having a great height, those who
arrived first halted an instant to form. Then they
mounted on the parapet and jumped into the work.
_ _

The wombat, which had commenced with dis-
charges of fire-arms, was carried on with the bayonet,
' with stones, and with butt-ends of muskets. The
rammers became weapons in the hands of the Rus-
sian gunners, but everywhere the Russians were
killed, taken prisoners, or made to fly ; and in less
than a quarter of an hoar after the attack had taken
place the French flag waved on the conquered
redoubt.

The Careenage Redact had also been oarricd
after a very hot straggle. The centre column
had advanced as far as the second enceinte,
Everywhere we had taken possession of the
works attacked. The General-in-Chief gave the con

certed signal for the attack of the Great Redan, and
soon after for the attack of the town. The English
had 200 metres of ground to go over under a
terrible fire of grape. This space was presently
(veered with dad, but these losses could not atop
the march of the attacking column, which advanced
to the capital of the work. It descended into the
ditch, which was about five metres in depth, and,
notwithstanding all the efforts of the Russians, it
eseiladed the scarp and took from them the salient
of the &den; but after the first struggle, which
cost the Russians dear, the English soldiers found
before them a vast open specie crossed in all directions
by the balls of the enemy, who themselves were
sheltered behind distant traverses. Those who
came up were scarcely sufficient to replace those who
were placid hors de combat. It was not until they
had sustained, during nearly two hours, this unequal
combat, that the English resolved to evacuate the
Reda'.

The attack upon the Central Bastion presented the

same result. In front of the Malakboff the Rnr
signs muds great efforts to reconquer the works
Repeated attacks were made, bat in vain. The dead
bodies of the enemy were piled up in front of the
gorge, but the Ist Division remained immoveable,
and in the evening we were masters of this citadel,
without which the Russians could not continue their
defence for more than a few days.
Tins terminated this memorable siege, in which
the means of defence and of attack attained colossi
dimensions. The Russians bad 800 cannon in bat-

tery, the besieging army about 700.
In finishing this report, I ought to. tell you, Mon-
sieur le Matechal, that the greatest harmony her,
never ceased to prevail between the artillery and the
engineers. Whenever oneof these two services could
come to the assistance of the wher, he did it with
eagerness, and this community of views and action
has given us the means of overcoming many difficul-
ties.

I base also bad to congratulate myself in every
instance on my relatioos with General Harry Jones,
commanding the engineers of the English army.
Our object was the same, and we have differed
in opinion on the means to he employed for attaining
it. Already, at the siege of Bomarsund, I had
the opportunity of appreciating the loyalty and the
noble character of this general officer. I have been
happy at finding myself spin in relations with him
at the siege of Sebastopol.
Accept, Monsieur le Marechal, the homage of my
most respectful devotion.
The General of Di vision, A.D.C. of the
Emperor, Commanding the Engineers of
the Army in the East, NIEL.

GENERAL ORDER.

The following is the text of Marshal Pelissier'a
general order announcing the taking of Sebastopol to
the army:

" Soldiers !—Sebutopol has fallen ! The taking of
the Malakhoff decided its fate. With his own hand
the enemy has blown up his formidable defences, set
fire to the town, the storehouses, and military esta-
Misluaents, and sunk the net of his vessels in the port.
'The boulevard of Russian power in the Black Sea
exists no longer. You owe these multi, not alone
toyour brilliant courage, but to your indomitable
energy and perseverance during a long siege of eleven
months' duration. Never before did land or marine
artillery, engineers, or infantry, have to overcome
such obstacles as in this siege; and did the
three services display more valour, more science, or
more resolution. The taking of Sebastopol will be
your eternal honour. This immense success, while it
augments the importance of our position in the Cri-
mes, makes the maintenance of it less onerous. It
will now be permissible to send home to their hearths
and families such of you as, having served their full
time, have yet remained with us from
necessity. I thank those soldiers in the
Emperor's name for the devotedness of which
they have never ceased to give proofs, and I will'
take care that they shall very soon return to their,
native land. Soldiers! the Bth of September, the
day on which the English, Piedmontese, and French
flags were unfurled together, will ever be a memorable
day. You have invested your eagles with a new and
imperishable glory. Soldiers! you have well deserved
of France and the Emperor.

I, fl,

" A. PELISSIRR.
"Head-quartero, Malakboff Redoubt,
Sept. 9,1835."