The Express.
London, England, 1855-11-29 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 29, 1855.

these, almost from the very
meshing of wooden hats, Ratios of timings. real
seised Min glass from the brakes windows.
The tests were violently agitated, and sometimes
the cords or poise were snapped asunder. Then fol-
lowed a coutinued snocemicer of minor reports, and the
roar of flames, and crackling alba:sing wood, as the
fire advanced and increased maw the hats and
artillery stores of the siege tads ilepets. Throe who
rushed out of their tents inmemillistaly after the flret

was the

Amt. or who happened to be standing outside at the
time. saw the air filled with shells, some busting at
an elevation snob as they used to be seen in the siege,
operatics* when propelled from mortars by the
heaviest charges, some exploding on the pound.
Grape and the small iron shot, &boat the aim of

bollits. of which each groat quantities wore foood in

iron coin in some of the litiesian magazines, were
falling thickly = all aides. Every one sought the
nearest shelter, moulting beneath the stone walls of
the huts and buildings lately erected, or wherever
_ _

any protection from the iron shower maid be most
readily dimovered. The air boom* speedily dark-
imedos if by a obi, from the smoke "Adel spread
around, but this was soon dispersed.
These who were at a still farther distance, ap-
proaching towards the front from the plain, say
that they first sew a swelling column of smoke,
out of which shot rays of light, ascending to a
great elevation, and that these, curving and bursting
with brilliant star-hite mow of light, had pee-

- -
Meetly the appearanee of • magnificent display of
fireworks. Tho agitation of the ground, sod the
report of the 'opinion which followed, together

with tho direction; informed than of the eerioee na•

tare of the

Tilsit impression was at

first, as Indeed it was among the greater number of
persons in the amp near the catastrophe, that the
great English powder magazine had exploded.
It may well be excused if the majority of men
and officers—subjected as they were to the double
horrors of an earthquake and sudden bombardment
—in the camps around the parks of the siege
train were for the moment polio-stricken. But
to the credit of all be it spoken, that
the centurion of the first event had no sooner passed,
than one laudable desire seemed to wise all ranks to
be instrumental in saving the maimed and wounded,
who were unable to escape from the neighbourhood of
the fire, or who were lying around, struck by the
fragments of shells or by other projectiles. Stretchers
were got from the surrounding regimental hospitals,
and the wounded, French and English, rapidly car-
ried to them. Medical Olken from other divisions,
and from the General Hospital, galloped over to
render assistance. The staff of the Light and Second
Divisions were quickly at the scene of action, and not
long afterwards General Codrington arrived with the
headquarter staff many of whom were returning on
their way from the Artillery review in the plain near

Balaklava. A train of ambulance waggons ar-
rived quickly, and wage of emends! service. Many
of the regimental hospitals, being in rear of their
regiments, and therefore nearest to the plies of the
explosion, had bees very much shaken or Waged by
shot and shells ; and as the danger of fire sad fesdisel
explosions bad Dot ceased, the opportunity of es
swaying the wounded rapidly to a trea er discuss
was urgently required. Fortunatel the Gemmed
Hospital, in the rear of the Third Division, which.
previous to the expectation of as attack on the part
of the enemy, it had beam intended to break up and
convert into winter hats for the troops, wee still
vacant. and to this hospital many of the wended
were at once removed. These was great danger is
appeasable( the fire from the constnat explosioes,
and both men sad slicers bad frequently to be re-
called while searching for those wile bad been
iojured, or while attempting, by tearing dews naves
or cutting down timber, to stop the sommuniostioas
of the fire. One yeas, officer of artillery,
of the name of Dawns, bad his leg carried
away by a shell berelng, and was con-
veyed to the General HospitaL Brevet-Major the
Hoe. H. Clifford, Bilis Brigade, who is acting sa
assistant qoarterneseter-general of the Light Dins=
in the cheeses of Colonel Airey, was partieslarly
conspicuous in giving direction,. It was known that
in one part of the English siege train depot, towards
which the fire was tentliag, there was a lags coils&
doe of rockets and some shells, and it was fogad he-
possible to save these front sombestion. As it was
uncertain what havoc might be committed through
their agency, whether in setting buts or testa on fire,
or from the missiles with which they were loaded, it
was thought prudent to remove the greater pert of
i the troops to a distaste. The regiments of the Light
Division were therefore marched some way to the
*eat of their camps ; one brigade towards the Victoria
indoebt,theelber towards the piebethonse on Freneli-
maeb-hill. • guard from the bend Divides bed
been Weight down very ass Ayr the first infitsies.
wed a line of sentries wee strelebsd ewes to prevent
a nearer ',preach to. the Nees of danger than the
lass of dieBBth Berneent. Fortunately the rockets
were rid in elms bundles, and were without
edam, so tisk visa they exploded shortly before
eacilkiftli._difined almost as if they. had been
antslNNEinimpe sompound fixed in • single ma
• powerful white light, rushing upwards with great
lime, and accompanied by showers of sparks sad a
lead whizziog noise, followed by numberless =pie-
"ions of comparatively unimportant oharsoter—and
this Bonne of danger wee at an end.
One source of apprehension, it has been already
weeetiseed, was the great English magazine of gun-
Most providentially, at the tune of the first
otplosion there was namely any breeze, but what
wind there was came from the north-west.
Ibis best the flames towards the magazine,
ails* widget from the volumes of smoke drivicg
is that Everyone was aware what dire
esessgiedir laud have resulted if the magazine
were esiosoodisd ; and for some time the anxiety on
this sessost was very intense. But the fire had
hardly raged ID minutes, when the smoke was ob-
served to mow in another direction. The current of
air bad olisomp• and wee blowing from nearly doe
north. Moines it the flame wait therefore directed
towards the pea in rear, left vacant by the French
regiments, whisk bed not long Ines quitted it. This
thread's bee Mss maintained moos. Had the wind
come kolas "pits point, that is from the south,
a wind whist a short time !Igo was prevailing, the
huts and teats of the first brigade of the Light Divi-
goo, being so close to the siege trains, could soaroely
have escaped. As it wan, the large commignarist
stores of forage and provisions which have been
accumulated for the winter consumption of the
regiments of this brigade, and which were
in great danger of befog set fire to, wholly
escaped. They were piled b rest of the regimental
encampments, between thane and the artillery samps.
Great praise is due to the troops, who. while the
fire was horsing, 00V11“4 the sides and roof of the
mgazine, wises the Ea==powder wasstored.
with wet Meshes end
The soave ef the sapimiss Ist sod in all probabi-
lity will ever be, isvolved in elieserity. The indivi-
dual who, by his wicked negligence and want of
caution. sassed the hisposable mischief, as well as
the witamess of the set, meet have met with lesiva-
teems death. At first the most absurd outmost,'
were made ea to its origin. The first impremios--
louand a very general one--essmall to be, that a treia
sed lens MU sad the &pot blows lip by a Aseisma

'emissary. When it wag discovered that .the
English magazine was safe—long a compl-
etions_ Ojeet—and the difficulties of snob an
nedertakter were considered, this idea was
dispelled. Then it was said that a Zosave,
excited at having received punishment, bad set firs
to the siege ammunition. But even if the .apposition
at such a mad sad fiendish act could be admitted, the
well known caution and strict rules of the French ad-
Mbrististion prevented it from Wag eatertaised. No
one at any time was admitted into the French depot
without he was engaged there on duty, or was moon-
patted by a Wench offices% The more probable story
is one that was told by a French 'artilleryman, that
some live Russian shells were being emptied at the
depot, and the gunpowder contained in them col-
lated for storage, and that the ignition of one of these
must have led to the firing of the principal =ga-
ges. Smoking was forbidden within the precincts
of the depot, bat some soldier may have been guilty
of the act unobserved and a spark fallen in the gun-
powder. A commission of inquiry will no doubt be
appointed to investigate the subject.
No idea can be formed at present of the number of
men destroyed or injured. Some of the men who
have been carried by, or picked up among the various
ritcan greatly mutilated. The weenie ow
shell woods. Some of the patients an badly
searched—some severely bruised by falling timbers.
But among all the distressing objects around, none
perhaps wee more melancholy, more calculated to
excite feelings of pity, than an artilleryman who had
been, either by the concussion or by sodden alarm,
rendered idiotic. He attracted geoseal attention as
be was led by, bare-headed, between two of his com-
rades, uttering silly exclamations, and quite lost to
maliciousness of all that was pansies around him.
He seemed to be posesseed by a feeling that he was
in England, for all his rambling remarks referred to
home; while a smile on his face, vacant and unmean-
ing as was its expression, seemed to show that he
had at least as muck satisfaction as he was any longer

of
gaWonderful escapes are related on all sides. Per-
haps none are more striking than the following :—A
soldier was leading in the camp of the 23rd Regiment
a valuable charger belonging to Major Robert Brace.
A shall bast, disembowelling the horse and
soaring him into nearly two parts, but the
soldier escaped unhurt. Two of the large marquees
on=by the sick men of the regiment were torn
and a round shot passed through one of
le wooden hats, in which were several patients,
landing its way out close to the head of one of them,
who was perfectly disabled from moving; yet none
were injured. Some remarkable escapee were told
at all the hospitals neared to the siege train depots,
for after the regiments had been marched away for
safety, many sick and wounded remained in the hos-
pitals, attended by the surgeons. The very closeness
slam* of the camps seemed to be a source of safety,
for the shells, which were projected @boringly, sod
afterwards fell and exploded on the ground, app.,
redly fell more thickly at a considerable distance
from the depots than in the immediate neighbour.
hood. Many burst among the huts of the .Becood
Division and in the Woronoff ravine, and some fell
as far even as the temp of the Fourth Division.
There was a painful story spread about that the
sick men in the English siege-train hospital were aU
burned, from the hospital but having been overthrown
and preventing their escape. This turns out, happily,
to be wholly untrue. The hospital hut was blown
down by the force of the first explosion in the French
depot; but not one of the patients, of whom there
were eight or nine in the hut, was injured by the fall
of the timbers. Their escape was almost miraculous.
It is attributed Airily to the men having crept under
their iron bedsteads before the yielding tidbit, of the
roof had fallen to the ground. The sick of the
French camp were in the Divisional ambulance on the
opacsit: side of the ravine from the depot. The am.b
Is
reported to be very much injured. No man
within the boundary of the French siege train Gould
pmeibly have escaped without loss of life or most
severe injury. The English commissary of the field
train department is said to be missing.
e When the writing of this amount was commenced,
a little after 6 p.m.. the fire was still burning briskly.
It arose chiefly from the consumption of timber re-
maining
from the huts, portions of platforms, gus-
shell-horse, sod other wooden articles used
fir artillery
rnarery purposes. The evening air was becoming
misty, and a strong glare was ;reflected in the sky.
Bat the materials were quickly exhausted, and about
7 p.m. the lames were extinct, and smouldering
embers alone remained.
The explosion and subsequent fire attracted the
aeries of the Russians encamped on the north
hsfgbts and along the range overlooking the T.
asp valley. They advanced in considerable numbers
towards the edge of the Inkermann cliffs, and stood
is evident delight at the spectacle presented to their
view. Presently the French opened a fire upon
them from the guns of some batteries, which, it is
said, were previously masked, and of the existence of
which the enemy was in all probability unaware. The
Russian@ were at puce driven back, and they appeared
to retire in such huts that little doubt was enter-
tained of the French shot having found their way
among them.
There was a review of the field batteries of the
Royal Artillery this morning at 10 am. in the plain
near Relaters, by Genersl Codrington. It was a
magnificent sight, as there were no less than 74 guns
brought to the ground. Yesterday there was a re-
view of the Royal Horse Artillery. Notice of the
review was given to the several divisions, and as
many officers as were able to attend took advantage
of the opportunity of witnessing the parade. Many
had not returned to the front, when the explosion of
the siege train depot took pima and this may have
bees the means of saving some lives.
The following incidents were noted down shortly
toqt., the onoinvenosof the catastrophe just detailed.
may as well stand as they were written. It is
fasted, however, that the immunity from
funerals, which is alluded to in the first paragraph, as
having been observed in the British camp for some
time past, will no longer exist foe several days to
come.
Female have been rare in camp since the few
days immediately following the final assault. Yes-
terday, the 14th instant, however, early in the after-
noon, the attention of those who happened to be near
the amps of the Light Division, was attracted by
the solemn strains of the Dead March in Baal,
pound forth in the clear sonorous tones of a full bras
band. Presently a long dark line was seen coming
from the direction of the Rifles' camp. on thee:creme
right of the division. The procession moved slowly
awns the slope of the bill crowned by the Victoria
&dealt. The white robes of the clergyman, walk-
ing between the headmen and the mile. formed a
sinking contrast with the dark uniforms of the troops
who IfMMwed, but scarcely more so than the scarlet
emihrias, made more bright by the brilliant sen-
sitise, of the officers of other regiments who brought
up
the rear. It was the funeral of a very
Web,elleer of the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle
Lieutenaat Richard Borough, eldest eon of
Air "Award Borough, Bart., of Dublin, who had
did ham fever. He had not been long in the Crimea,
bit beg enough to be a favourite in his corps, and to
hail eat the prospect of becoming a valuable and efil-
ant 'Meer. At the attack on the Roden on the Bth
of liegsamber, when he underwent his dopiest* de
fru, be received a contusion in the sheet from a stone,
GM was twice strook by rifle balls, bat unwed with-
eat say serious hurt from them. The guard of his
sword protested him from the effects of one ball ; the
ease passed themeb the_ sloth dab sensed
esN s oost withoutpaV
as his ekuskisHe was not his
tbe sad event
roved,fatal iUaees
*Le weeks ago. Daring the program of the
eivailhe military faserala were very Mantled
telbpsielantel buds: the eseelesteosepties