The Press.
London, England, 1854-11-18 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

promising officer of the royal artillery, was killed on
the evening of the 23rd, and 1 have just heard that
Major Dalton of the 49th, of whom Lieutenant.
General Sir De Lacy Evans entertained a very high
opinion, was killed in the trenches last night.
The enemy moved out of Sebastopol on the 26th
with a large force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery,
amounting, it is said, to 6,000 or 7,0(X) men, and
attacked the left of the second division, commanded
by Lieutenant-General Sir De Lacy Evans, who spee-
dily and energetically repulsed them, assisted by one
of the batteries of the first division, and some guns
of the light division, and supported by the brigade of
Guards and by several regiments of the fourth divi-
sion, and in rear by the French division commanded
by General Bosquet, who was most eager in his
desire to give him every aid.
I have the honour to transmit a copy of Sir De
Lacy Evans's report, which 1 am sure your grace will
read with the highest satisfaction, and I beg to i ecom-
mend the officers whom he particularly mentions to
your protection.
Captain Bayley of the 30th, Captain Atcherley of
the same regiment, and Lieutenant Conolly of the
49th, all of whom are severely wounded, appear to
have greatly distinguished themselves.
I cannot speak in too high terms of the manner in
which Lieutenant-General Sir De Lacy Evans met
this very serious attack. I had not the goad fortune
to witness it myself, being occupied in front of Bala-
klays at the time it commenced, and having only
reached his position as the affair ceased, but I am
certain I speak the sentiments of all who witnessed
the operation, in saying that nothing could have been
better managed, and that the greatest credit is due
to the lieutenant-general, whose services and con-
duct I have before had to bring under your grace's
notice.
I enclose the return of the losses the army has
sustained since the 22nd. RAGLAN.

CHRONICLE OF THE SIEGE.
We resume the daily record of operations as re-
counted by eye-witnesses on the spot. In our last
number we were able to bring down the detail to the
evening of the 23rd ult. The events of the following
day are thus told by the Herald correspondent:—
All this day the firing in the trenches has been extremely
hot on both sides. The French advanced battery appears
to be doing considerable execution on the enemy's lines.
Our trenches work well, though I cannot say that we have
yet any prospect of destroying those of our adversaries.
The town and dockyards have been set on fire in five or six
places, but were soon extinguished by the Russians. One
large public building was entirely consumed. Last night
two of our sixty-eight-pounders were changed, and placed
in such a position as to command the Twelve Apostles,
the Russian liner which fires with such effect up the valley;
but before they bad fired two shots this morning the vessel
was hauled in under the land. Working parties were also
sent out last night to commence trenches for an advanced
battery, within six hundred yards of the Circular Tower and
earthwork ; it is said that when this is completed the
enemy's port on that side will become untenable. The
French at the same time commenced covered ways and
zigzags, for the purpose of mining the Flagstaff Battery.
Most of the round shot fired by the enemy to-day were
red hot. Fortunately none of them came near any of our
magazines. The Russian redan battery has had eight new
guns added to it in the course of the night.
The Daily News adds to the record of this day's
work :
This afternoon the roof of the Round Tower fell in,
carrying with it all the four guns on its summit. The
tower is quite opened by a deep breach in the side which is
most exposed to the guns of the Twenty-one-gun Battery,
and the whole structure is now a complete ruin. This
fort is said to have been built at the voluntary expense of
one man, who received the especial thanks of the Emperor
for his enterprise and devotion ; he would scarcely derive
satisfaction Irom looking at his work now. Three guns
still keep up their fire from the earth battery, two to the
right and one to the left of the tower itself.
Oct. 25.—The siege batteries continued their fire
upon the Russian fortifications throughout the day.
On neither side, however, was there any operation
or catastrophe of importance, all interest being con-
centrated upon the great events that were taking
place some miles off upon the line of entrenchments
protecting the communications with Balaklava. This
glorious though melancholy engagement we now pro-
ceed to describe.
THE CAVALRY BATTLE OF BALAKLAVA.

By way of prelude to any account of this battle we
must give some description of the field on which it
was fought. We quote the sketch drawn by the cor-
respondent of the Herald
Balaidav a is a little harbour, literally almost completely
landlocked, for its only outlet to the sea is on the west, by
a long winding channel not fifty yards broad, the sides of
which are formed by steep, rocky hills, rising up almost
straight from the waters edge to the height of eight hundred
and twelve hundred feet. The length of the harbour itself
is about three quarters of a mile long by 250 yards wide,
and both sides, to the north and south, are completely shut
in by the chain of hills. A breach in these hills to the east
forms a steep valley, by which road only is the harbour ac-
cessible on the land side. This valley gradually extends
and opens into an extensive plain about three miles long

SATURDAY,

and a mile and a half broad, bounded on the east by a line
of hills, along the top of which runs the main south road
to Sebastopol. In the harbour of Balaklava some 100 or
120 of our finest steam and sailing transport vessels lie at
anchor, with two or three ships-of war (two of the latter—
the Diamond, 26, and the lVaap, 14—are moored at the
upper end of the harbour, with their broadsides cora-
tuanding the valley). Besides these transports, which
contain all our supplies for the next six weeks, the general
hospital, with the commissariat, ordnance, and ammunition
depots, are formed in the village, so that the protection of
Ilalaklava, both as a place of present use and future neces-
sity, became a matter of vital importance. For this pur-
pose, the steep hills on each side of the valley at the east
end were strengthened with heavy earthworks, defended by
batteries of artillery. Several h.gh detached hills, com-
manding the plain beyond the valley were also surmounted
with strong batteries, and the plain itself occupied by a.
numerous body of Turks—about five thousand men, with
the 03rd Highlanders, all our cavalry, three field batteries
and two batteries of horse artillery.
The plain, I have said, was bounded on the east by the
hills and high road which leads to Sebastopol from the
south. The peculiarly rough and hilly nature of the
country makes this road the only practicable route to the
stronghold. Up this valley, before it reaches the heights,
the road to Sebastopol winds. From this point an attack
has been often threatened and long expected. To tender our
position yet stronger, all the higher parts of the road which
stretches from the plain of Balaklava to the centre of our
entrenched camp at Sebastopol (a distance of about four
miles) was occupied, and a regular series of redoubts and
steep breastworks thrown up along it. All these latter,
fur about two miles to the south and right of our position,
were held by the the Turks,those to the north, on our ex-
treme left, by the French. Balaklava was thus defended by
three lines-Ist, the chain of redoubts along the road, held
by Turks ; '2nd, by the cavalry and infantry in the plain
behind ; and 3rd, by the batteries on the heights over the
harbour, held by fifteen hundred marines and one thousand
of our regular cavalry.
The writer proceeds to narrate the incidents
with which the Russian attack commenced upon the
line of redoubts whose defence was unfortunately
entrusted to the Turks :
Some days previously a body of Russian troops had
made their appearance in the valley to the east of the road
to Sebastopol, threatening the extreme right of the Turkish
intrenched position. This was the point whence the attack
was expected, and a kind of descent was made, though, it
appears, more for the purpose of reconnoitring the ground
than any serious attack. lii their reconnaissance some
thirty or forty of the enemy were killed, but they evidently
ascertained the nature of our position, and also the im-
portant fact that the whole of our fortifications on the
right of Balaklava were defended by the Turks. At that
time only 12,000 men showed and only 400 or 500 skir-
mishers advanced.
This morning. however, at about six or seven o'clock, an
unusual force of skirmishers was discovered on the brow
of the hill about 1,200 yards from the Turkish redoubts.
Not much notice was taken of the fact until about half-past
eight, when the skirmishers commenced advancing, and at
the same time the dense masses of a regular army, cavalry
infantry, and artillery, began to show from under cover of a
slope facing the lines of our Turkish allies. The instant
these men (they were comparatively new levies, and many
of them old and worn-out men) discovered for certain that
it was the enemy advancing. and advancing about 40,000
strong, a panic siezed them. An eye-witness in one of the
batteries informed me that they seemed instantly to lose all
control over themselves, hurrying too and fro in the must
pitiable disorder. Their artillery, which was loaded, was
levelled at random in a general volley at the foe. Nearly all
the pieces were levelled too low, and struck the earth before
the Russian troops. No attempt was made to improve the
range—the guns were merely loaded and fired quick, and
that was all. For the mischief they did they might as
well have been pointed in the air.
The enemy, meanwhile, had halted the great body of
their forces on the brow of the hill, and getting their
artillery into position opened fire upon the redoubts. A. t
the same time their skirmishers kept moving up the hill
steadily, supported at a little distance by three bodies of
infantry—about 10,000 strong in all—marching in close
column. The latter afforded splendid marks for the
Turkish guns, if the miserable slaves had only poas
their
essed
the courage to have used them properly. But even
semblance of valour deserted them at the sound of the
Russian artillery. Their gunners, in their anxiety for shelter,
forgot to load, or, when loaded, forgot to point their artillery.
Numbers slunk out of the redoubts by the back, and fairly
took to their heels. The enemy were now about 500 yards
from their intrenchments, for the way up to them was
steep, and they could move but slowly.
Instant measures were taken for supporting the Turin
in the redoubts; the British infantry began to take ground
towards the right, while the light brigade of cavalry,
11th
con
sisting of the 4th Light Dragoons, Bth Hussars,
Hussars, and 13th Light Dragoons, moved up
the slope to
the road leading to Sebastopol, in order to check
tee
advance of the Russian infantry from that quan's,
uarr.
The heavy brigade of cavalry ( the Ist Dragoon (J
2nd or Scotch Greys, 6th Enniskillen Dragoons, and
17th Lancers) remained on the plain on the left of our in-
fantry.
Unfortunately, before these arrangements had. all. been
completed, the Turk,' gave way. The enemy's
had been advancing steadily towards the redoubts without
firing a shot. As they approached within Pb) yards, s
dropping skirmishing fire was opened, with, however, but
skirmishers
little effect on the Turks beyond increasing their panic.
The men fast began to desert their batteries, and before
the skirmishers were within sixty yards not a
Turk.
remained behind. Many of them even threw away their
arms to facilitate their flight down hill, and left their