The Press.
London, England, 1854-08-19 00:00:00

AFRICA.

The African Mail Company's steam-ship Bacchante,
arrived at Plymouth on Thursday. She left Sierra
Leone July 22. Bathurst 27, Teneriffe August 5, and
fd!uleira K. She brings no news, but has on board
fourteen passengers, among whom are the Rev. Mr.
Rhodes and family, and Lieutenant Kerr of the 3d
West India Regiment, from Sierra Leonio.

776

THE WAR.

ATTACK ON BOMARSUND.
The attack on Bomarsund actually commenced on
the Bth inst., when a body of French troops were
landed on the south, and a corps of English
marines on the north, of the island without difficulty
or opposition. The troops then advanced on both
sides towards the fortress, which was closely invested
on the 9th, and by that day the whole siege material
(French) had been landed, and was about to be
placed in position. The Russians had destroyed
their outer works, indicating an intention to make a
vigorous resistance. On the 10th, 10,000 French
and 2,000 English were intrenched to the westward
of the fortress, and had commenced erecting batteries
without replying to the Russian fire. Next day a
smart cannonade took place with the forts. One
French officer was killed and one wounded ; two
English sailors were wounded and one French
killed. Frequent skirmishes occurred. The fort
was completely invested.
There were reports that the Russians had attempted
a sortie on the 12th, but this intelligence has not
been corroborated. The latest news is conveyed by
telegraphic despatch of Wednesday from Copen-
h.gen, which states that on Monday last, the 14th,
thtlargest of the gates was taken by the French
afteLfour hours' resistance, and that scaling ladders
and $i other apparatus was in readiness for a grand
attack el the 18th.
A letter dated Ledsund, August 12, states :
" 1 write in the greatest haste, as the steamer is just
leaving, witiout any previous warning being given. The
troops landeu on Tuesday morning last (Sth) at three
o'clock, withou. opposition, and attacked a redoubt of five
guns, which dettnded the road. The French took it in
front, and the maines in the rear, and carried it in a mo-
ment, without any '.oss. They are now encamped behind
some high ground 'aetween the villages of Finley and
Sundsbole, about twc miles from the main battery, the
French Chasseurs spreading themselves over the inter-
vening ground to within 400 yards of the wall. A Russian
officer came out of the door of the fort about a dozen yards,
and was instantly shot by one of them ; he was seen to
raise his band to his breast and fall, and some men rushed
from the fort and took him in.
" The people from the villages bring plenty of provisions,
and are very civil. The French troops have been slightly
attacked by the cholera, eleven having died in four days.
" The Penelope got aground within range of the for s, and
was tired upon for three hours and a half,- but was not hurt
much. The small ships went to her assistance, and drew
the attention upon themselves. The Pigmy's mainmast
was shot away. The Heck had several shot in her, and
one poor little fellow had his chest torn open by a round
'shot. They fired red-hot shot.
" Lieutenant Cowell, Royal Engineers, has been badly
wounded in the thigh by his revolver going otf accidentally.
As yet we have only lost five men.
"A battery opened on the Amphion and Phlegelhon,
which they silenced almost immediately ; and when they
landed to spike the guns they found four of them burst,
and a fifth could not be loaded.
" The Penelope had to thrlw everything overboard, guns,
water, ttc.. before she could be floated.
" The attack or bombardment will commence to morrow
or Monday : the English and French guns and five ten-
inch mortars are in position on the hill."
General Baraguay d'Hilliers has caused it to be
proclaimed in the churches that the Isles of Aland
arc freed from the yoke of Russia.
The Russian authorities are flying from the
Aland Isles; the peasants threaten them and place
them in fear.
A letter from Copenhagen states that Admiral
Napier has issued the severest orders to the whole
squadron to treat the Aland peasantry in the most
friendly manner, not to deprive any one of his
property, and to pay the full value of whatever may
be required. The poor peasanty have hitherto re-
fused to accept payment for what has been asked of
them, for fear of being sent to Siberia, with which
punishment the authorities have threatened them.
A tariff has therefore been fixed by the commanders,
so high as far to surpass the utmost price that could
be asked. The articles needed are now taken, and
the money left in exchange according to the tariff.
OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTH.
The latest advices from Varna, ctc. (to the Bth
inst.), report that the long-talked-of expedition is
still " preparing." It. was, however, believed thatthe
troops would absolutely sail on the 10th, or there-
abouts. A telegraphic despatch from Vienna, dated
Sunday last, the 13th, says that 90,000 allied troops
sailed from Varna on that same day, on an expedi-
tion against the Crimea. This is endorsed by the
journal as " authentic." The Ottoman naval arsenals
were working night and day in constructing pontoons,
rafts, and boats. General Canrobert has, it is said,
expressed his conviction that if once the allied force
can secure a firm footing in a bay to the rear of the
strong fortress that commands the entrance to the
harbour of Sebastopol, the Czar's fleet will only have
to choose between certain destruction from the bat-
teries of the allies, or turn out and give battle to the
allied fleets.

THE PRESS.

The object of the late visit of Marshal St. Arnaud
to Constantinople was to explain to the Sultan in
person the object of the great expedition which was
on the point of being despatched against the Crimea.
The rumour in the Turkish capital was that the
combined fleets would be able, without incurring
much danger—as was proved by the experiments
made by the squadron under Admiral Bruat—to do
the greatest damage to the fortifications of Sebas-
topol, and even to destroy the Russian fleet at an-
chor there.
Marshal de St. Arnaud issued at Varna the follow-
ing address to the army on the 30th July :
" Soldiers of the Allied Armies.—We shall soon advance
into the territory of our enemy. I rely on your obedience,
on your bravery, and steadiness in the fight. The task we
have to complete is no light one. The enemy we have to
encounter is strong and numerous. The forty years of
peace passed by us in promoting commerce, industry
and the arts, have been spent by him in the study of the
art of war, and in military preparations. From your
bravery and energy France and England await a victory.
The eyes of all Europe are on you. Show yourselves the
worth) sons of your brave fathers. We march into the
land of the enemy, resolved on victory. As conqumrs
must we see our fatherland, or never more return."
The cholera has latterly been on the increase at
Varna and Gallipoli. The delay in sending out the
expedition to the former place is by some accounts
attributed to the rapid spread of the epidemic.
The reconnaissance effected at Sebastopol by the
three steamers Fury, Terrible, and Cacique, is stated
to have resulted in the following conclusions :
" From the observations taken, it appears clear that an
army might be landed either at Cape Loukoul, which is
fifteen miles to the northward of Sebastopol, or at the
Katscha river, which is not more than six miles therefrom.
At each of these points these is a break in the red perpendi-
cular cliff which forms the coast line, and is about sixty
feet high. The land immediately inside of this is fiat, and
almost unbroken, from Cape Lonkoul, where its breadth
may be about seven miles, down to the northern shore of
the harbour, where it is not more than four miles. About
midway between the two there is the little winding valley
made by the Katscha river, and towards the harbour there
are trees scattered here and there. On this flat ground
the army would get plenty of water from the Katscha, and
their advance could be materially assisted by the steamers,
which could go within a quarter of a mile of the shore, and
might keep up a terrific fire on anything on the plain within
range of their guns. The country inland beyond this plain
does not rise very steeply until near the harbour, but there
seem to be other more elevated plateaux. The fort on the
northern shore of the port, about a mile from the entrance,
is the only difficulty for the troops ; for that once carried
the artillery would destroy the ships and town on the
southern shore without difficulty. This important fortress
seems regularly built, has guns mounted, and a ditch sur-
rounding it. The forts at the entrance to the harbour are
most formidable. The land near Cape Kherson is so low,
and the ground between it and the town, inside the bays,
so easy for troops to march over, that the Russians have
seen the necessity of placing no less than four encamp-
ments there to prevent an attack in that quarter. The
number of troops under canvas must be full 2.5,000, and it
is in fact the only large body of troops visible.
" The fortifications of the town appear unimportant ;
there is a wall running round it which is loopholed, but has
no ditch, and it seems to have only one round battery on it.
There is a good part of the hill on which the town stands
unoccupied ; and if this were gained, the arsenal, forts
ships-of-war, &Lc., below would be easily destroyed."
According to letters from Odessa of the 4th, Ad.
miral Nachimoff, with a great part of the Russian
fleet, appeared on that day in sight of that port. A
steamer, which was sent into the harbour, stated
that the fleet was to return to Sebastopol the same
evening. This statement has since been contradicted
on good authority.
THE PRINCIPALITIES.
Bucharest was entered on the Bth inst. by 10,000
Turks under Halim Pacha and Iskender Bey.
The Archbishop of Silistria entered Kalarasch
with the Ottomans. The Holy Cross was carried be-
fore him.
The Turks were entrenched 40,000 strong at
Giurgevo.
According to a letter from Rutschuk in the Mo-
niteur, a corps of French pontoneers had begun the
construction of a bridge of boats from the right bank
of the Danube to the island of Ramadan, already
connected with the Wallachian bank by two small
bridges. This great bridge, situated nearly in the
°entre of the facade of the fortress and of the isle,
where the river is most narrow, will be 830 metres
in length. The materials were brought with great
celerity, and the bridge will, it is hoped, be rapidly
finished. Omer Pacha, who has already nearly
20,000 men on the left bank, between Slobozia and
Giurgevo, was urging on the works of entrenchment
in front of these two places, and intends, as soon as
they shall be sufficiently fortified, to remove there
the rest of the garrison of Rutschuk, or 25,000 men.
40,000 were between Turtukai and Silistria, and as
many at Rasgard, as a reserve ready to proceed to
Silistria or Rutschuk.
An action took place on the 20th ult. at Babadagh
between the Bashi-Bazouks, under Youssuf and the
Cossacks. The latter were repulsed. A French co-

A-TIJRI)4.Y?

lonel reeeived seven lance-wounds, but none of them
dangerous.

The well-known political writer, M. Übicini, has
published a detailed account of the losses which the
two principalities have suffered in consequence of
the lawless occupation. The estimate gives the
round sum of 200,000,000 francs.

The Chronicle correspondent at Vienna writes :

"I learn from an entirely reliable source that General
Baron von Hess, the commander-in-chief of the Austrian
armies on the northern and eastern frontiers of the
Austrian (mpire, leaves Vienna this evening for his head-
quarters at Suczawa, in the Bukowina ; and that orders
have already been despatched by telegraph to the Arch-
duke Albrecht forthwith to cross the frontiers of Moldavia,
thence to march upon Jassy, and to occupy the piincipa-
lity with the 9th army corps. Another division of the
Austrian army has been ordered to cross the frontiers of
larger Wallachia, for the purpose of occupying the alpine
passes of Temes and Rothenthurm on the Walachian
side."

THE ARMY IN ASIA.
The Hungarian general Klapka bad been sent to
Kars, where the Russian and Turkish troops were
every day expecting a general engagement. 40,000
Turks, supported by 110 pieces of cannon, were in
presence of 30,000 Russians, having 80 guns and
a numerous cavalry, but the Turks were perfectly
intrenched.

Advices dated St. Petersburg, 14th inst., announce
that the Russians, under General Wrangel, were
victorious at Bejezid on the Ist of August. The
Russian version says that 3,000 Turks were slain,
four guns, seventeen colours, and two camps cap-
tured. The Russians, says the same version, subse-
quently occupied Bajezid.
The Turkish army in Asia has received orders to
act strictly on the defensive until the arrival of the
allies. According to mercantile letters from Bagdad,
contracts had been made for furnishing the neces-
sary supplies and means of transport for an Indo-
British corps which was to arrive at the beginning of
July in the Persian Gulf, and to land at Basra, at
the mouth of the Tigris.

~The Russian army in Asia is to receive powerful
reinforcements, and Anapa is being fortified in every
possible way. An entrenched camp for 20,000 men
is being constructed there.

THE REINFORCEMENTS.
With the exception of the head-quarters of the
46th Regiment, the whole of the troops composing
Sir George Cathcart's division of the army in the
East are now on their way to the seat of war. This
division will consist of the 20th, 21st, 63rd, Ist bat-
talion Rifle Brigade, the 57th (which has been for
some time at Corfu), and the 46th, which pill be
sent out as soon as the court-martial proceedings at
Windsor shall have been brought to a termination.
The screw steamer Golden Fleece arrived at
Queenstown on Sunday from Plymouth, for convey-
ance of 900 rank and file of the 21st Royal Fusiliers,
under command of Lieutenant- Colonel F. G. Ainslie,
to the East. The men were safely embarked on
Tuesday last.
Lieutenant-Colonel Shadforth's division of the 57th,
at Cork, will embark there in the Mauritius, 800
tons, screw steamer, for Corfu. The 71st, at Cork,
gave 400 volunteers to the 57th for Turkey.
Nine hundred rank and file are held in readiness
to proceed from the depot battalion at Fermoy to
Cork, for conveyance to Turkey, to join the 30th, 33rd,
49th, and 50th.
The new screw squadron in active service has been
increased by the commissioning of five more of the
screw vessels that have been recently launched, viz.:—
Curacoa, 31, built at Pembroke, now at Ports-
mouth, 1,569 tons, and 350 horse power, to be com
mended by Captain the Hon. G. F. Hastings;
Cossack, 21, 250 horse power, built for the Russians
by Mr. Pitcher, of Northfleet, and now at Chatham,
to be commanded by Captain E. G. Fanshawe ;
Harrier, 16, screw, 747 tons, 100 horse power, built
at Pembroke, and fitting at Portsmouth, to be com-
manded by Commander H. G. Austen (1846);
Curlew, 8,485 tons, 60 horse-power, built at Lepttord,
fitting at Woolwich, to be commanded by Commander
Rowley L ambert ; Swallow, 8, sister vessel to Curlew,
built at Pembroke, fitting at Portsmouth, to be com-
manded by Commander A. B. Cranford.
There are others of the above classes being
brought forward, or in course of rapid construction ;
the Pylades, 21, and Pearl, 21, for instance, and the
Falcon, 15, just launched; the Fawn, Mutine, and
Alert, all of which are being fitted with machinery
by Miller, Ravenhill, and Salkeld; also the smallerow
class—Arid, 8, Lyra, 8, and Cameleon, 8, n
' building.

Two fine voting lads from Ango, one of the Aland islands,
went on board one of our ships•of•war, and, on their
return to the shore were met by some Russians, who found
some English money upon them. They were immediately
taken up to the fort, decapitated, and their muWated bodies
sent to the Wand whence they came.

Ainslie,
irked on
the 57th,
:tius, 800
, at Cork,
readiness
'ermoy to
Oth, 39rd,
has been
we of the
ed, viz.:—
at Ports-
o be com
Hastings;
Russians
Chatham,
;'ansh awe ;
wer, built
o be com-
a (1846);
Lepttord,
omm ander
to Curlew,
to be corn.
se s being
istruction ;
and the
futine, and
machinery
le smaller
s, 8, now
land islands,
d, on their
s, who found
immediately
listed beaks