The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-21 00:00:00

SCENES ON THE ➢LARCH TO BALAKLAVA.

We passed a number of unfinished martello towers,
with the scaffoldings still standing around them.
They were mostly on strong, commanding positions,
and their erection had evidently been commenced
with a view to protecting Sebastopol from an attack
by land. Two months more would have finished
them all, and then this expedition would have been
out of the question. We arrived at Belbeck after a
short march of about five hours. The little town
was situated lik e Tchatlia, in a ravine of considerable
depth. The hills were grand and majestic, and the
scenery altogether equal to that of the best Swiss
valleys. There were some magnificent houses and
villas, furnished in the most luxurious style, but
abandoned and desolate. A description of one will
suffice for all. The house of General Alexis was
placed in an extensive and beautiful garden, laid out
with exquisite taste, and abounding with fruit and

SATURDAY,

flowers of all descriptions. The rooms were spacious
and lofty, enriched with gold mouldings, and with
the floors inlaid with coloured woods. I never saw
such a scene of wreck and desolation as these rooms
presented. The superb carved rosewood furniture
was lying about in heaps, mixed with books, vases,
costly china, bronzes, pictures, and shattered mirrors.
Over these the soldiers were trampling recklessly,
searching for such articles as would be of use to

them duing the march. In =other room was a
handsome and well-selected library, containing about
four thousand volumes. The books, which were
principally in French, English, and Italian, were
scattered about in all directions, and trodden ruth-
lessly under foot. One small and beautifully-fur-
nished room had evidently been used as a kind
of sitting-room for young ladies. There was a
large tambour-frame with some rich embroidered
work in it still unfinished, while patterns, crochet,
knitting work, and fashion-books lay close by.
There was au album on the table, also filled with
water-colour drawings and sketches, and in the
corner of the room a handsome piano, guitar, and
volumes of music. I was quite disgusted with the
way in which both English and French soldiers went
ransacking everything, though it was amusing also
to see the selections they made. One fellow would
load himself with a handsome table, which he cer-
tainly could not carry more than a hundred yards,
while another took a glass chandelier and lustres.
Zouaves walked off with gilt curtain•poles or hand-
somely-bound volumes of music, while their compa-
nions staggered along under the weight of large gilt
arm-chairs. Lord Raglan had issued an express
order that none of our soldiers were to enter the
houses ; but, in spite of the prohibition, stragglers
searched every house they came to. One can hardly
be surprised at this, especially when they only follow
the example set them by their superiors. It was
quite dark before all our troops had crossed the
bridge at Belbeck. So precipitate had been the
flight of the enemy that they had neglected to destroy
anything, even the bridges. The destruction of the
latter would have delayed our advance at least two
days.
CAPTURE OF BALAKLAVA.

The firing at the fort of Balaklava was a mere
artillery skirmish, hardly worth mentioning. One
man of the 88th was scratched in the leg by a stone
which a shell knocked up, and this is the sum total
of our casualties. One shell, however, was near
doing much mischief. It burst right over the heads
of Lord Raglan and his staff. Only that the
Russian shells, without a single exception, always
burst when about 200 yards from the ground, we
should have lost by this missile the principal leaders
of our expedition. The enemy's artillery practice
generally is bad : without some previously-arranged
system of marks they appear utterly incapable of
taking a proper range. At Balaklava their firing
was perfectly ridiculous. Their first twenty or thirty
shots were so much depressed that they actually en-
tered the ground about 300 yards in advance of our
foremost line of skirmishers. The range was then
altered, and their balls passed about forty feet over
our heads, and never recochetted until half a mile in
rear of the reserve.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BESIEGING FORCE.
The whole of the French and Turkish troops left
Balaklava on the 30th ult., with the English artillery,
sappers and miners, and light, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divi-
sions, for Sebastopol.
Balaklava is to be the head-quarters during the
siege, first because it is the most convenient place for
landing stores, and next because it commands the
high road to Sebastopol, from which it is only six
miles distant. The French are to occupy the hills
of Kerson, which command the outworks and fortress
on the south ; the English storm the outworks sod
detached forts which cover the town and shipping at
the end of the harbour. As yet it seems that the
north side is to remain untouched. Directly the
fourth division came in sight of the fortress a
tremendous fire was opened on it from shot and
shell. Our men, however, were completely out of
range, yet the enemy kept up their fire almost the
whole day, firing some 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
Sir John Burgoyne, who was present, seemed de-
lighted. He laughed and said, " This is what I
like; they show us their range, and waste their
ammunition." A perfect cordon has been estab-
lished round three parts of the fortifications. It is
not intended to extend it further, as it would weaken
the line, and expose it to much risk in case of rein-
forcements coming up. As it is, the allied forces
command the three roads leading to Sebastopol.
That from the south by Balaklava, and that from the
north from Simpheropol, are cut off by the armies,
while the road from the north-east by Eupatoria runs
by the sea shore, and not a wheelbarrow could pass
along it unless with the consent of our fleet. Thb
latter has been of invaluable service throughout the
campaign. They have been firing incessantly at
Sebastopol, and have crippled and destroyed an
important fortress which interfered with the siege
operations.

I

21,.18.54

RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS.
Since the hostile forces have been face to face no
time has been wasted on either side. Day and night
have the Russians laboured to strengthen the ne-
glected land fortifications of the town. Fresh redoubts
have been thrown up, breastworks constructed, and
the stone towers most exposed to our balls have
nearly disappeared in the earth thrown up against
them. The enemy deserve credit for the energy they
have shown, but it remains to be proved if their
activity be inspired by determination or by despair.