The Express.
London, England, 1855-05-22 00:00:00

RUMOURS.

It is reported that M. Fent, dikter d'Ordontants of
the Praia imperer, has aided gat to the Crimea a sew
plan of °pasties', easseded betties* the Boturor and
Marshal Vaffiaat, mid that it wu the Mobility of General
Cantobat to witaisew is this plea that determined his
resigsadon.
It is said that a very elaborate audit teething the third
point, gad the prodigal difikaltlea attaching to its adjust-
meat, has bees drawn up by Prince Goiteltakelf, and cam-
assisted t the members of the Visa= Coaferead.

OUR ARMY IN THE CRIMEA.

(120 Y ♦ SPEZAL

IN DAILY

me.)

CAMP ABOVE BEBAt3TOPOL, MAY 8.
The chief topic of conversation in amp has been
the sudden return, on the morning of the Bth, of the
expedition, which, it was presumed, had left for the
purpose of attacking llertch. It had been previously
known that a telegraphic despatch was received at
head-quarters and a message sent after the fleet, but
its pneport wps not mentioned until the fleet itself
divulged it by making its appearance off balaklava.
Thees'are various explanations to account for this
=change of plan, bat the most commonly re-
is that the Emperor Napoleon has announced
ids coming at no distant date, and had given orders
that no work of magnitude should be undertaken
before his arrival. Whether the story is correct or
Dot will be better known at home before this reaches
Ragland. There has been a general feeling of
disappointment among all ranks engaged in the
expedition at its recall before their work
was even commenced. Moreover, the demon-
stration cannot but have an injurious effect as
regards any future attempt in the same direction, foe
enough has been done to put the enemy fully on the
alert respecting our intentions.
On Saturday evening, the sth instant, the Russian
St. George's-day, and more noticed inithe Remise
than even in the English calendar, a simultaneous
attack was made on the advanced works on French.
man's-hill. Both the branch trench on the right
and the zigzag to the left were attacked, but the
enemy did not succeed in gaining any advantage.
The duties for the night in question were principally
furnished by the regiments of the Second Divi-
sion, and a part of the 49th were holding ,
the pisitions attempted to be taken. On
reasonof their proximity to the Russian works
mad covering parties, no sentries are now &demised
is this direction, and the watch is entrusted to pa-
rapet sentries. Judging from the accounts of the
men in the works, the enemy must have crept up on
" all fours,* taking advantage of the darkness pre-
aiding the rising of the moon. In this way the
Resdaas contrived to get round one of the rifle pita
which was taken from them a short time since, and
the first intimation of the attack was a volley poured
down into the pit and the trench connecting it with
the main pan of the zigzag. These volleys were
fired in Talk succession, the fire being evidently
from diligent detachments of the attacking body.
Wore the enemy had time to reload the men of the
4011 shed tubed on them with the bayonet, but the force
of the mew wee so superior that they were compel led
SD retire. The struggle commenced about half past
10 p.m., and lasted fifteen minutes. The alarm bad
ea the first volley been given throughout the works,
sad the reserves collected. That in the advanced
week sieved forward toward the pit from which the
49th bad retired, and poured in a volley; but, on a
nearer approach, the Russians, it was found, had re-
treated. On the right the enemy were met with a
ernes fire, both from the branch trench, which leaves
the advanced work nearly at right angles, and frOID
the advanced work itself. They must have suffered
severely, bat their loss is not known, as they were
able to carry off their wounded. One Russian pri-
soner wps taken. The loss offered by the 49th was
severe—namely, 4 men killed, with 1 officer and 15
men wounded. The officer was Lieutenant George
Rochfort. Be received a very severe bayonet wound in
the thigh, and unfortunately the wound was inflicted,
it would appear, by falling against the musket of
one of our own men. The main reserves were ad-
vanced in ease of a renewal of the attack, but now
wee attempted.
On the same evening, while Captain William
Trail Arnold, commanding the Light Company of
the 4th Ring's Own, was posting advanced sentries
on the left attack, he was suddenly fired upon by
some troops of the enemy, and afterwards taken
prisoner. It is feared he was badly wounded, for it
is stated that he fell after the volley was fired ; but,
as the few men who were with him escaped hur-
riedly, and the night was dark, nothing certain is
known on the subject. The Russians were lying
down on the ground; had they been erect, although
the moon had not risen, there was sufficient star.
light to have rendered them perceptible at the short
distance from which they fired. They must either
have purposely concealed themselves to await the
approach of the sentries, or Captain Arnold unwit-
rmastdvanoed too far towards a leading body of the
picket. The first intimation of danger was
the sadden starting up of the enemy; the volley of
musketry was peered in immediately afterwards.
In consequence of Captain Arnold not return.
ing, a party went under the command of Captain
Robertson of the same regiment to reconsoitre, but
could not discover any trace of Dim. The particulars
connected with his capture cannot, therefore, be
known until a communication on the subject has been
made with the Russian commander in the garrison.
Captain Arnold had posted all but four of his am-
bits at the moment he was attacked, and was several
paces in advance of the men ; he had gone forward to
examine the ground, and ascertain if the sentries
could be still further advanced with prudence. It is
said that Sine, the French captured the Russian works
in advance of the Flagstaff Bastion the enemy has
greatly increased the outlying guards to the other
works of this kind; and as the Russian rifle pita are
net a great way distant from the spot where Captain
Arnold was lost, it was perhaps one of these guards
adesneed far the purpose of their protection by whom
he was taken prisoner.
There have bean one or two desertions from the
French lately. They have crossed the Tchernaya
Valley, at its narrow part near the Inkermann ruins.
It is dank to imagine what motives can actuate
Hose men, as they hardly can look for better treat-
ment than they receive in their own camp. A day
or two since a soldier of our own 50th Regiment, hay-
slhorse with him, was taken up by the French
in this neighbourhood, and sent to head-
Ett:on suspicion that be w going to drone.
as a that he had loot his way, and was return-
ing fees purchasing some things for his neater at
Kamisecit. It was difficult to understand bow he
could have wandered so far past his division withoot
discovering the mistake. A few days previously a
servant of the colonel commandant of one of the
French regiments of the line went over to the Rus-
sians, near the same locality. Re not only robbed
his muter of a horse, but also of some 20 Napoleonr,
and other property. Could there not be an under-
standing between civilised armies, that thieves and
such criminals should be mutually given up on pro
per evidence of their guilt being afforded /1 Certain
international laws are made to provide for such cases,
and an arrangement of the kind would be equally
advantageous on both sides, between contending
armies. The robberies at least, if not the desertions,
wadi Nam, perhaps, with the knowledge that they
could meth committed with impunity.
The raped that an assistant-surgeon had been
killed es the left attack a few days since arose from
the eiremestance of an officer being shot who wore
a /stage cap with an ornament peculiar to the We.
Regiment, and who could not be recognised by as y
ewe en duty in the Greenhill attack when his don .th
110111 Mid. The 25th Regiment is serving at paw ant
la' the Madras Presidency, and the unfortr.nate
Meer killed was at first supposed to be one f the
nesistaut-surgeons detached from their regime ate for
emirs with the forces in the Rut. He eubsagnently
peeled to be, however, an officer of the fir Jud, cee
of the regiment, of the 2nd Division, Liev,tenone Q.
MUMMY White. He had lately exchanged frail
the loth lieglemat to engage in active tervios in the
°Limes, and bed not bedtime to coinplate the clays
of uniform. Be wee oa duty on the right attach,
and what eireemetanes led him to go over to Green-
hill must now amain a matter of surmise. He wee
killed by a die tell from one of the, enemy's ale-
bemedie, mitres the satire of the, wound, which
wee in the had, hie death must have been instils-
tenses. A brother of the dseeved, who is senior
amistutreargeon of the 47th B.egintent, first mot
land the body, in some mersure accidentally, and
the eons which followed wee very painful. _

There has bees an i'aeresee in the amber

casualties during the 1,44 few days, but they hies
chiefly been from riti►, shots. The greater frequent
of these wounds most be expected as the sharp.
ahoctere on each side approach cloeer to esoh other.
no prow* phials, especially in the last•made

portions of the approaches, are leas able to resist the
Mane (tithe projectiles, and the Idahof the riflemen ie
more sure. A very constant shelling has been kept
up from the Malakhoff works, and occasionally front
the Mansion. A battery near the Redan has also
kept up a very active fire against a new battery on
Frenchman's-hill, which is rendered eoospicuola by
being entirely built of sand-bags, bat has not done
much damage to the work.
The health of the troops continues very favourable.
In one of the divisions in front, which, with the regi-
ments attached to it, numbers 6,000 men, there are
460 sick oily in the hospitals, including cases of all
kinds. A few oases have occurred not unlike cho-
lera in some of the symrome; but they have been
slight in character, quite detached, and some of the
principal features of that diens@ have been wanting.
The prevailing cause of sickness is still lever. The
sanitary coadnion of the camps is now excellent.
Tanks are continuing to be made, and every attention
is paid for the preservation and carotid distribution of
the water. This is a most necessary provision. The
weather
has
continued dry, warm, and favourable for
operations in the field.

(PROM TES SPECIAL

OP THI DAILY

NEWS.)
K•D1KOI, Mar 7.
The return of the Kertch expedition, the Kegbalk
portion of which came into Brlaklava on Bewley
morning, has produced a protound 'coalition. We
were all speculating upon the chances of the combat,
sad its influence on the fortunes of the campaign,
When it was announced that the 'hips and
troops had returned, and, as • matter of
course, that nothing had been done, nor had-
anything been attempted. The camp was fairly
puzzled. According to the elegant French phrase,
hour donnaient nos leagues our chimes! Every one
agreed that Sir G. Brown is not the man who will
look at an enemy, sod then come back and report on
his appearance. Nor, it he was ordered back, did the
order come from Lord Raglan, for lam credibly
informed that at a late hour on Saturday morning,
the British head-quarters speculated on the where—
abouts and the doings of the expedition. The explep
nation now current is the only one supported by the
circumstances. It is, that shortly after the sailing of
the expedition, General Csnrobert received despatches
informing him of the immediate arrivel of the Empe-
tor, and instructing him to defer any important
movement until Napoleon himself should have taken
the field. The moment the French commander re- •
ceived this despatch, he sent off a steamer to recall
the French; that is to say, the larger portion of the -
expedition. That steamer reached the fleets when .
they were hovering near the coast, within twelve
miles from their point of destination, and the expedi-
Wm returned after creating an alarm, and pointing
oat to the Russians the exact spot which it is in their '
interest to defend. To all appearance, the allied
armies have lost another chance of the few that re-
mained for an easy conquest of the Crimea. For the
present, the French transports have returned to
Kamiesch, and ours to Balaklava. Our troops are
still on board their respective ships, and, up to a late
hour this evening, no orders had been issued for their
disembarkation.
Nothing worth saying is to be said of the Sebas-
topol front. It is the "forbidden subject" in the
camp. Every one wishes to forget that the siege is
being carried on—no we dares to speak of it. There
is a prevailing opinion that we are carrying on a
profitless struggle—that much useful energy and
streams of precious blood are wasted without the
slightest chance of success, if the siege is carried on in
the manner in which it is now proceeding. Men and
officers in the Sebastopol front do their duty, and
their merit is the greater because they do it without
the slightest hope of success—not that the army
despairs of taking Sebastopol ; it only despairs of
Baking it by pitting our engineers against those
of the Russians, and staking the lives of our
keep upon the result. The work in the trenches
is deadly, more especially at night, when, amidst the
din of the siege, the round shot comes among us un-
heard and unseen. The gallant line regiments, that
support the batteries, are giving proof of the highest
courage that human nature is capable of. It is not
a battle, not the movement, the excitement, the fury
of a conflict which probes a man to the heart, but
this standing or crouching in utter darkness to be
shot at; awaiting death, which may come at any
moment and in any shape, without moving • bander
an arm; without being able todoaught in self-defence.
And yet that is the condition of the officers and
many of the men that do duty in the trenches. It is
a necessary duty, but in most sieges the generals are
safficieatly prudent and humane to make this time of
severe probation as short as possible. Oar troop',
and those of our allies, have nearly six months borne
with the ordeal, and unless the Emperor's arrival
produces a decided change in the operations, there is
no saying when this evil time will end. Hence oar
hopes of the Kertch expedition : hence our deep
mortification at its unseasonable return. There is no
the fact that now that the Russians are
warned they will make such preparations as will
astonish the troops that are sent oat to set right what
has been made wrong in the last few days. And yet,
as matters stand, Kertch is the key to Sebastopol.
'Since every one commits faults, let me, for
once, commit the fault of giving information to
the enemy—information only in so far as our •
battering away at the mud•fort of Sebastopol
must have persuaded the Russians that we are utterly--
ignorant of all the points in our favour. We haves
an enormous army of French, English, and Turks on
Sebastopol heights. We have troops who at the-
word of command would march into the fit* or lobo
the sea, who will stand their ground agairat tenfold.
their numbers, and whom an wormy may kill, bat
cannot vanquish. We have an impregnable position
on Sebastopol and Balsklava heights—a natural en-
trenched clamp, the like of which is not easily to be
found. Instructed by two battles,and with six months'
time on our hands, we have fortified that comp and
made it a first-elms mountain fortress. The sea at
our feet is our own; the countries in our rear ye
friendly ; our basis of operations is most seenre. The
province we wish to conquer is a Peninsula; we an
carry our troops from point to point, and outm.arch
the enemy in every direction That province has
been stripped of all its natural resources; not a batta-
lion could live in it for a month without obtaining
its sustseance from more peaceful districts. On this
locust-arise land we have au enemy numbering
perhaps 150,000 men, and a fortress which must
us provisioned frem without. We have it in
OUP power to out off the enemy's supplies of victuals,
of ammunition, of men : the capture of Kertch gives
us the command of the Sea of Asoff, and our
destroying Odom stops great part of the supplies
from Besse rabic. Our threatening Perekop threatens
the Russian basis of operations and also their line of
retreat. If we take Kertch the Russian Generals
must either evacuate the Crimea altogether, or lead
their volumes, that were driven back from Inkermann,
sitarist the lines of Balaklava and lakermeno, now
has tling with cannon. If they do neither, they must
owl their troops starve iu this country. Through
P erekop alone—especially before the time of harvest—
'.hey can hardly manage to provision Sebastopol. They
must either fight a battle, with the ground and all
other chances against them, or they must fly, or, if
they starve, and wait until we occupy Perekop, they
must surrender at discretion. It is true that a change
of our operations in the Crimea would draw down
upon us the elite of the Russian army, who now are
concentrated in Poland, from where, in conjunction
with Prussia, they will soon threaten the frontiers of
France, thereby changing the scene of the war in •
manner by no mane advantageous to us, for it re-
moves the allied forces from the point we wish to
dismember, and if we gain advantages, it is Prussian
soft we conquer, not Russian soil. Bat such is our
position that long before the first troops from Poland
can show their feces at Perekop, not a single
Russian with arms in his baud' need be found in the
Crimea; and Perekop, if entrusted to the French
engineers, will soon Ire as formidable as the lines
of Balekliva. I see, from some late publications, that
our friends at home begin to waver—the raising of
the siege of Sebetooeol, even the evacuation of the
Crimea, is talked of. Those who talk so lightly of
these things hovwbar IRiieWaSw dear to us is the
grounel we stand on; how--spealriag of the•cosjoe.ty
of the army—we have centred all our wishes, stoked
all our hopes, on the event. People at home have
paid for the war ; politicians at home have jobb*
with it—may God forgive them what man can never
pardon. But the allied armies have a higher claim
to this ground. They have hungered, and starved,

r.;l.

hiss wounds Most be expeeted as the sharp-wttb it—may uoa forgive them what man can never
eters on each aide approach cloeer to each other. pardon. Bat the allied armies have a higher claim
Iseseethrg phials, especially in the list•made. to this ground. They have hungered, and starved,
_ "77-