The Express.
London, England, 1855-06-06 00:00:00

(FLOM A

DAIL!

embarked for Bulgaria were amembled on Ilayder.
Pasha mid then lowered their colours and cheered
their absent Queen.

MAY 26.

This morning at one o'clock, the Allied forces des-
tined to operate against the Tchernays, descended
ken the hills and formed in the plain outside the
Naas of Balaklays. It was one of those fine, fresh
Crimean spring nights which, if they cannot make
as forget, at least reconcile us to, the heat of the day.
The stars shone bright, the crescent was high up in
the sky, and white fleecy clouds were rapidly drift-
ing across, the deep blue back-ground of the Wm&
The camps were all in motion, not noisily, nee yet
silently, for there was little concealment in our taking
' the field. For two hours the clatter of horses' hoofs
upon the stones, and the deep hollow rumbling of
waggons, announced the descent of the cavalry and
artillery, but as their dark shadowy muses arrived
ea
the borders of the plain, even this noise ceased,
smothered by the thick carpet of turf over which
the troops moved. The large masses of the infantry
sight be seen as they moved through the white fog
which rose up from the lower ground, but their
steps were hardly heard, even on the stony surface of
the road down the hills. As the columns debouched
into the plain, they marched in different directions,
so as to embrace in their attack the whole length of
the line of low hills, which intersect the plain of Bala-
klava, and which in the history of the Crimean cam-
paign are known as the Turkish batteries. We knew
that earthworks had been erected on three of the
highest of these hills ; we doubted their being mounted
with cannon. It was also suspected that the Russians
had but a small force between these hills and the
Tchernaya, and nothing more serious than skirmishing
was anticipated in marching upon this first outer
line of the Russian position. At the same time the
number of the troops that left our line showed that
something far more serious than a mere occupation of
the site of the Turkish batteries was intended—that
measures were taking for forcing the lines of the
Tchernaya, and, it is hoped, for an advance upon
Perekop. It was whispered in the camp, that these
operations would be supported by a third general
bombardment of Sebastopol. For this morning those
that so whispered were refuted by the event. Our
batteries on the Sebastopol front were remarkably
silent all day ; but it is still hoped that the fire was
reserved to support a future and more important
movement of the army of operations.
That army, as it marched out this morning, is
under the command of General Canrobert, and con-
sists of about 25,000 French infantry, with eight
foot-batteries; 12,000 Turks, horse and foot; and
4000 Sardinians, rifles and infantry. Our own con-
tribution to the Allied forces was small to a degree:
it was confined to two squadrons of cavalry, from the
10th Hussars and the 12th Lancers. The French
were prepared to support the operations of the day by
almost the whole of their cavalry force. Their
Chasseurs d'Afrique, their dragoons and their cui-
rassiers were dratted from all the points of their ex-
tensive camp, and sent down into the plain. The
Sardinians, a detachment of Turks, and our own
cavalry, were posted on the right wing of our line of
attack, and operated against Kamera church and
Canrobert's Hill. The French cavalry, and large
bodies of their infantry, took the centre, with a re-
serve of Turks in their rear, and the left wing was
formed by the artillery, and by French and Turkish
infantry. In this order did the troops, preceded by
clouds of skirmishers, traverse the plain, and all the
hill tope were ascended almost at the same moment.
The enemy's redoubts, as had been expected, were
unarmed, with the exception of the one to the left,
from which a few rounds of shot were fired; but the
firing was evidently from a single gun, and that gun
was carried off long before our skirmishers crowned
the hill. A slight skirmish took place as the Sar-
dinians, on our extreme right, ascended the hills of
Kamera. The cavalry had, meanwhile, made their
way up through the sloping grounds that separate
the hills, and the Chasseurs d'Afiique and our own
Hussars were fortunate enough to come up with a
body of Cossacks, evidently bent upon effecting their
retreat. They were attacked, acid some of them were
captured at a very trifling cost of casualties. A
few of: the Masseurs d'Afrique were wounded,
one of our Hussar horses was shot, and one
officer was slightly wounded. The Cossacks, and a
small force of infantry which supported them, were
driven down to the banks of the Tchernaya, and
pursued across them. A small battery on a steep
hill to the right, on the other side of the Tchernaya,
which was held by infantry nnprovided with guns,
was attacked by the French infantry, who took it
with ease, and at a very trifling loss. Here, too,
several of the enemy were captured. Those of the
Allied forces that had crossed the river—which, at
this dry season, is fordable at all points—entered the
village of Tchourgoun, and for an hour or two kept
possession of the hills surrounding it. They
then retired. Here ended the operations of
the day, by the Allied forces taking up
a position on the heights commanding this
side of the river. At 11 a.m. the troops were
busily engaged pitching their tents, and all the hill•
side were covered with French soldiers foraging wood
for their camp-fires. The French cavalry, finding
that their presence was unnecessary, fell back upon
the Balaklava position: part of the dragoons returned
to Kamiesch, and the light horse pitched their tents
in BalakLava plain. Somewhat later our 10th Hussars
and 12th Lancers returned to their encampments
within our lines. Their place, with the Sardinian
troops on our right, has this evening been taken by
the 4th and sth Dragoon Guards. The Sardinians
have at once commenced turning Kamera church
into an hospital for the wonndedthey expect to have in
future engagements. The Russians can hardly com-
plain of this use of the holy edifice, for they them-
selves used it as a guard-house and magazine for
forage.
This afternoon and evening, the plain which for
months past bore the same uniform aspect, showed
features different from those we were accustomed to
see, and became thereby an object of renewed
interest. The hill tops were covered with tents, and
in the evening, with long rows of blazing fires.
Baggage and ammunition waggons crossed the plain,
and traversed the ground, which, but on the rare
occasions of a reconnoissance was for us, forbidden
ground. Herds of the horses of our camp were
driven out and fed luxuriantly upon the grass
and young oorn,i which up to the present had
been allowed to grow undisturbed, because the soil
on which it grew lay within range of our batteries,
and because the proximity of the Cossack videttes,
and their cunning in driving in men and horses, held
our camp-followers in awe.
The state of the ground between the Turkish bat
teries and the Tchernaya shows at once that the Rus-
sians never had a serious intention of defending this,
their look-out position. Small numbers of troops only
have been quartered in or traversed this part of
their late territory. The grass is in full growth,
on the banks of the river there are shrubs
and teem and only here and there a few
earth-huts, or the black marks of a picket
Are show that some detachments of troops have
now and then occupied small camping grounds.
The vegetation on that side of the hills is what we

found it on owe sib when we first landed in the Crimea
—abundant and odoriferous. Flowers, bright blues
purple, and yellow, actually cover the ground ; little
plots of poppies shine in the distance like fields of red
ochre; the brushwood is intermixed with wild rose
shrubs in full bloom, and some wild herb ovother, as our
11.1" s champed the firass. OT sniffed the faint odour
el the peach. Add to Lb* that the heat of the sun
wee tempered by a frrah breeze, and you will under-
stand that our first advance against the Russian po-
sition had all the features of a field day in fairy land.
whether