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

SATURDAY,

tery. An obstinate defence was anticipated. The state of
the town is frightful. The hospital which was burned
contained 2,000 sick and wounded, who were all consumed.
The first division is detached from the siege operations, in,
order to augment the army of observation. The fire of
the place has much slackened. It is thought that the in-
ternal defence of the town will be warm. The houses are
barricaded, mounted with guns, and transformed into kinds
of citadels.
Four of the ships of the Russian fleet have been sunk.
The weather is fine in the Crimea, but farther at sea it
is frightful, and losses must have taken place.
The fleets under the commands of Admirals Hamelin
and Pandas are in the hay of Katscha.
Admiral Bruat had lauded near Yalta, and was well re-
ceived by the inhabitants, who supplied him with provi-
sions.
Rear-Admiral Sir E. Lyons cuts off the communications
between Tamane, Anafa, and the land, and watches the
Sea of Azoff. All the vessels are rigorously searched.
The Cacique and the Spitfire, which are cruising before
the llneister, signalise the passage by Perekop of Russian
troops proceeding to Sebastopol.
According to a despatch from Paris two Russian
frigates were burnt by the English with their Lan-
caster guns. The ship•of-the-line the Twelve
Apostles had also been destroyed. Three thousand
Zouaves had arrived from Algiers, and a thousand
Tirailleurs had disembarked at Balaklava.
From Vienna it was telegraphed on Thursday,
under date of the 3rd, from the Crimea :

Sir Ds Lacy Evans was ill, having had a fall from his
horse. Sickness was on the increase, and the cold very
severe at night. A French battery of 04 guns opened fire
on the Ist, and made great impression. Our fire, as well
as that of the Russians, was weak. A Turkish ship of Si)
guns and a frigate had sunk during the late gale. The
Himalaya is disabled, and unable to keep the sea.
Advices of the same date (3rd), sent through
Constantinople, state that the French lines were
pushed to within 250 yards of the fortifications.
The Paris correspondent of the Independence
affirms that to General Canrobert's despatch of the
Bth inst. was added a postscript representing the
Russians as so thoroughly beaten in their last en
gagement that it would be at least ten days before
they would again expose themselves to the chances
of a battle. The French Government, it is said,
keeping in view the vicissitudes of war, and more
alive than ever to the difficulties attending the en-
terprise of the allied armies, thought proper to with-
hold this prediction from the public. At Paris it
was generally admitted that the allies are at the be-
ginning of a winter campaign.
An Austrian service of Estafettes is established to
replace provisionally the wires carried away by a
violent storm on the Bucharest line of telegraph.
At Malta, on the 11th, 2,000 English horses ar-
rived, together with a large quantity of munitions of
war. On the same day the Miranda, Jura, and
Queen of the South sailed for the East.
THE SIEGE OPERATIONS.
The following official despatches have been pub-
lished, since our last impression, by the War Minister,
in successive Gazettes :
Before Sebastopol, Oct. 18,1854.
It was arranged between General Canrohert and
myself that the batteries of the two armies should
open immediately after daylight on the morning of
the 17th, and we invited Admiral Dundas and Ad-
miral Hamelin to attack the enemy's works at the
mouth of the harbour with the combined fleets, as
nearly simultaneously as circumstances might permit.
Accordingly, upon a signal being given from the
centre of the French lines, the batteries of the two
armies commenced their fire about a quarter before
seven yesterday morning.
On this occasion we employed about sixty guns of
different calibres, the lightest being twenty-four-
pounders.
It may here he proper to observe that the character
of the position which the enemy occupy on the south
side of Sebastopol is not that of a fortress, but rather
of an army in an intrenched camp on very strong
ground, where an areaaply unlimited number of
heavy guns, amply provided with gunners and am-
munition, are mounted.
The guns having opened as above stated, a con-
tinuous and well-directed fire was carried on from
the works of the two armies until about ten o'clock
a.m., when, unfortunately, a magazine in the midst of
one of the French batteries exploded and occasioned
considerable damage to the works, and I fear many
casualties, and almost paralysed the efforts of the
French artillery for the day.
'lye British batteries, however, manned by sailors
from the fleet, under the command of Captain
.Lush-
ington and Captain Peel, and by the royal artillery,
under the superintendence of Lieutenant-Colonel
Gambier, kept up their flre with unremitting eneratis-
gy
throughout the day to my own and the general
faction, as well as to the admiration of the French
army, who were witnesses of their gallant and perse,-
vering exertions, materially injuring the emy s
ne
works, and silencing the heavy guns on the top
of the Loopholed Tower, to which I adverted s
B in
my despatch of the 13th inst., and many of the ut