The Press.
London, England, 1854-07-29 00:00:00

THE ARMIES.

The combined force remains at Varna or the en-
campments in its neighbourhood. Frequent move-
ments take place for small distances, but intended
merely, it would appear, to practise the men in the
various evolutions attendant upon a lia-ty departure.
Rumours are incessant and most discordant as to the
spot where the troops are actually to meet the enemy,
but nothing is yet known, and the forces, officers and
men, alike languish under a tedium of delay and im-
patience.
Lord Cardigan has returned from his reconnaissance
upon the Danube. His party went through many
fatigues, bivouacking without tents for seventeen nights
and losing seventy horses. The results of their ex •
Floring tour are not known.
Omer Pacha has moved his head-quarters to
Rutschuk, where the bulk of the allied forces would
effect a junction, if so it pleased the commanders.
The general impression in the camp, as iu England,
seems to be that everything waits for the Austrian
demonstration. The great query is—How long ?
Prince Napoleon is stated to have proceeded to
Giurgevo, where he met Omer Pacha.
Advices from Constantinople of the 17th state that
some deaths from cholera had occurred in the fleet
and among the French troops.
A letter from Constantinople states that eighty
siege-pieces from England had been landed at Varna.
The allied forces concentrated on that point are esti-
mated at 00,000 French, 30,000 English, and 10,000
Turks.

705

wich to the Baltic' for Rear-Admiral Chads. This
gun will command a tango of no less than 7,600
yards, or something over four miles and a quarter.
By virtue of an order by Admitala Napur and
Parsival Deschenes, neutral vessels are authorised
to come out of blockaded ports.
THE WAR ON THE DANUBE.

On the 16th there was a warm affair between the
advanced posts beyond Giurgevo, in which General
Buturlin and the Hetman of the Cossacks were
wounded. in this affair the Turkish loss is reported
at 2,000, while the Russians suffered far more se-
verely, hating 5,000 killed. Messrs. Arnold and
Meynell, officers of the East India Company's ss.r.
vice, and a third Englishman, of the name of Blake,
who had volunteered their Fervices to the Ottomans
on this occasion, and distinguished themselves for
their daring and bravery, are among the slain; the
body of one only had been found.
A Russian camp of 50,000 men is to be formed at
Urziiseni. The Turkish outposts are at Parapajni,
where a most sanguinary engagement was fought on
the 10th. Prince Gortscliskoti is confirmed in the
command of the Moldo-Wallachian army. His head.
quarters are in Slobodzie. It is announced that the
prince will maintain possession of both principalities,
if necessary, with 100,000 men. To all official docu-
ments published in the principalities, in which the
name of the Emperor Nicholas occurs, the words
" Protector of the Danubian Principalities" must be
added. _ _ _ .

Russian reinforcements are moving from Moldavia
and the Jalomnitza. The right wing of the Russians
has advanced to Slobodsie. General Luders has
concentrated his forces at Kalarssch.
Omer I'acha has selected Oltenitza as tl'e centre
of operations.
Up to the 21th 00,000 Turks had crossed the
Danube. They were employed in erecting batteries
on the island opposite Silistria.
The advanced posts of the Russians and Turks
were near Frateschti on the 25th, within half a league
of each other.
No confirmation has as yet been received of the
rumoured entrance of the Austrians into Wallachia,
but the Comtitutionnel alleges to have private in-
formation that such a resolution may be considered
as decided upon, with the consent of the English
and French Cabinets.
Three Austrian officers of rank arrived at Schumla
on the 10th as commissioners of the imperial army.
They afterwards left for Varna.
The navigation of the Danube is free down to
Giurgevo.

THE ARMY IN ASIA.
Several English and French officers are to be
sent by the commanders-in-clief of the expeditionary
army to Kars, to endeavour to put the Turkish forces
in fighting order.
General Klapka, well known in Europe as a cele-
brated Hungarian chief, has been sprinted La the
command of a Turkish division of the forces at
Kars, in the room of General Stein (Ferad Pacha).
Three thousand men and fifteen guns have been
embarked in Turkish vessels fo: Batoum ; eight
thousand for Tachuruk.
Colonel Thorn, who had just returned from Kars,
died suddenly on the 11th inst.
THE REINFORCEMENTS.
Major•Ganeral the Hon. Sir George Cathcart,
Adjutant-General to the Forces, and Colonel Torrens,
Assistant Quartermaster General, will shortly em-
bark to join the troops serving in Turkey.
The Scots Greys left Manchester on Tuesday, and
next day embarked at Liverpool o❑ board the Hima-
laya for the East. This splendid stL timer will call
at Constantinople for orders, but afterwards proceed
to Varna, where it is expected that she will land the
regiment in about fourteen days from her leaving
the Mersey.
In the bargain entered into by the Government
with the Peninsular Company, for the purchase of
the Himalaya, it was stipulated that the 140,6001.
that was to be paid for the steamer was to include
all the expense of hiring her tor the conveyance of
troops previous to the purchase.
The 46th Regiment, now doing duty at Windsor
Castle, is under orders to move for the East. They
will embark in the Golden Fleece at Southampton
probably on Tuesday next.
Notice has been given to the metropolitan police
that fifty men are required for special service at the
seat of war. Thcse men must have been in the
cavalry, as they will be mounted, the duties being to
look after stragglers from the vat ions regiments. The
pay is fixed at. two guineas per week. Should the
system succeed, it is understood to be the intention
of the Commander-in-Chief to increase the force ma-
terially.

I

I

f:.

706

A

Putiatin ; for, according to accounts brought in to
Shanghai by Chinese fishing-boats, there were six
liatssian vessels-of war cruising in the Chinese seas
These were probably the Pallas frigate, 50 guns, and
another frigate which left Sitka about the 25th March,
the corvettes Olivontza, Dwina, and Aurora, and the
steam-tender Vostock. The Vostock bad been assi-
duously boarding all vessels she came across for in-
formation. Admirable Stirling, with commendable
foresight, had prevented the despatches transmitted
from reaching the Russian admiral, and they lie
under seal at the British Consulate at Shanghai.
At Shanghai there are now the Winchester, 50,
with the admiral's flag, the Grecian brig, 12, the
Encounter steam-frigate, 14, the Barracouta paddle -
steamer, 0, and the Styx steamer, 6. The French
steamer Colbert, of 6 guns, is also there, and the
Constantine, French frigate, is cruising on the coast.
The other vessels on the station are, the Corpus
sloop, 14, at Wharnpoa; the Bittern brig, 12, at Foo-
chow ; the Rattler steamer, 11, cruising. The
Spartan, '26, was left at Hong-Kong for the protection
of the town against enemies or pirates, and the
merchants and settlers bad not been idle in prepara-
tions for defence, two batteries to mount fourteen
guns en barbette having been completed, and these,
with some 30 guns mounted on the lower deck of the
Hercules hospital-ship at one entrance, and the guns
of the Spartan at the other, would give a warm
greeting to any hostile intruders. At Singapore
there were the Sybille, '26, the Lily, 12, and Rapid
steam-sloop, 11.
On the Australian station there are but three avail-
able vessels-of-war—the Calliope, 20, at Sydney; the
Fantonse, 16, and the Electra, 18, which, by the last
Recounts, was at Hobart Town in April. The
Herald, Torch, and Pandora surveying-vessels are
of course exempt from participation in hostilities.
DEATH OF CAPTAIN PARKER.
The intelligence of the death of this gallant
officer, of which the telegraphic report was published
in our last week's paper, has since been confirmed.
The following details are given in a letter from
Constantinople, dated the 13th inst.:—
" The town of Sulina, at the mouth of the Danube, is
almost surrounded by a jungle of reeds, where stockades
had been formed fur the defence of the place by the enemy.
These reeds are so high that they conceal both men and
horses from the view of any one ascending the stream by a
boat, and furnish great facilities for the enemy to harass
troops whom he is unable to meet in the field. Atter the
capture of Sulina last month, it was thought that the
Russians had entirely left the neighbourhood, and a degree
of confidence or negligence was inspired, which has ter•
minuted most unfortunately. It appears that, so far from
the enemy having abandoned the neighbourhood, they
have never ceased to occupy the jungle which lines the
banks of the river, and have waited for their opportunity
to revenge the offhand capture of this important point.
On Friday, the 7th of this month, Captain Parker, of the
Firebrand, was ascending the river in his gig, and at some
distance behind was another boat of the same vessel, and
Captain Powell, of the Vesuvius, in a third. The excursion
seems to have been entirely unconnected with any warlike
object, and so completely was the presence of an enemy
unanticipated, that the chaplain and surgeon of the Fire-
brand were in the boat with their captain. As the first
boat came abreast of a stockade, supposed to have been
long deserted, a shower of musket balls was poured in from
an unseen enemy. No one was struck, but a ball passed
through the surgeon's coat, and one or two others narrowly
escaped. The boat immediately put back to obtain the
assistance of the others, and Captain Parker and his
companions were disposed to treat the matter very lightly,
laughing at the Russians for not being better shots.
Captain Powell with the other boats came up almost imme•
diately ; the sailors rowed for the stockade, and Captain
Parker sprang on shore to lead the attack. He had made
but a few steps when he was struck through the heart with
a musket ball, and fell dead. Captain Powell then took
the command, and in a few minutes had driven the enemy
from their stronghold. The Russians, however, made a
brave resistance. The unfortunate commander who fell
in this affair was one of the youngest post captains in the
navy : he had, it is said, just completed his 29th year. He
was the scn of Admiral Hyde Parker, late one of the
Lords of the Admiralty. Belonging to a family long dis-
tinguished in the naval annals of this country, he gave
promise of equalling any of his race in services to his
country. The body was brought hither in the Firebrand
on the 11th, and the funeral took place next day in the
Grand Champ des Morta at Pera. The British Ambas-
sador, with most of his attaches, attended the ceremony,
which took place with full military honours. The Count
de Chabannes, captain of the Charlemagne, with most of
his officers and a portion of the crew, was present. De-
tachments ,ftom all the regiments which have left any of
their number at Scutari formed part of the procession.
Halil Pacha represented the Turkish navy in his quality
of Superintendent of the Artillery. The Turks, who use
no ceremonies at the burial of their dead, except in the
case of the Sultan and his family, seemd much struck
with the ceremony of a military funeral— e
the first they
had ever seen."
THE LATE CAPTAIN BUTLER.
Letters and despatches from Lord Hardinge, Lord
Ilan, and Omer Facha, recognising the gallantry
re late Captain Butler, and expressing sorrow at
death, have been forwarded from the Horse
Guards to his father, Lieutenant-General Butler.
--um-in-Chief announces that the Queen

THE PRESS.

had placed him in the Guards, and conferred upon
him army rank. Omer Pacha, in a despatch from
Schumla of the Ist inst., says :
" Le jeune Capitaine Butler, arrive pendant l'hiver avec
M. Nastuyth au quartier-general de Chumla, itait
au moment ou les busses commelicaient I'attaque contre
la place. Toils les deux pouvaient se retirer, mais, la volt
de llonneur parlant haut cbez eta, ils prefererent de
rester, dans l'idee d'être utile dans la lutte qui se preparait.
Leur exemple, leur conseil, ont puissamment coutribui
la conversation des forts attaques ; malheureusement,
M. Butler, blesse dune balle au front, a trouve la une
mort glorieuse ; mais as memoirs ne perira pas dans
l'armee Ottomane."

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