The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-26 00:00:00

THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.

CAMP BEFORE SEBASTOPOL, JULY 10.
This morning we were roused by a pretty heavy
firing on the Redan, which, commencing at day-
break, lasted for nearly four hours. About 8 o'clock
it gradually died away, and for the remainder of the
day the occasional booming of the guns was heard
as it has been heard daily for many months. The
caue of this morning's activity was that the Redan
was impeding the construction of the heavy battery
by which the British hope to reach the shipping,
and either to destroy them or force them to leave
the position which they have held with such
obstinacy, and which they used with such
effect on the 18th of June. It will be remembered
that on that day the Russian vessels, moored in
double line across the harbour, fired broadsides on
the advancing allies, and mowed them down with
more fatal effect than even the works of the

Malakhoff and Redan. The French especially suf-
fered much from this terrible fire, which was sus-
tained during the whole action, and General
Pelissier, though by no means a cautious com-
mander, is understood to shrink from sending his
troops to be a second time exposed to such a re-
ception. The general opinion is that no new attack
on the Malakhoff ought to be hazarded until the
fleet is dislodged from its position, and driven into
. .

a part of the harbour where it will be ineffective
against the allies. Of course I say nothing of the

meaus by which this is to be effected. At_ present
everything seems to betoken on both sides the busy

preparation for a determined attack and stern de-
fence. On our part it is only the repetition of what

has often been d es cribed—tlie ceaselesslanding of shot
and shell on the encumbered wharves of Balaklava,
the toil of waggons and of strings of mules along the
parched and thirsty road, while the wind carries its
clouds of dust before it, enveloping whole convoys,
and making them invisible for minutes together, or
whirling along in eddies with a spinning pil!ar of

dust like a —water-spout. The monotony of the
trenches is relieved by the conviction that a few
days will see the renewal of the efforts which were
unsuccessful three weeks ago. The French aremak-

ing visible progress in their- sap towards the Malak-
hoff. Half-way between this stronghold and the
Mamelon, where our allies are firmly established, a
long trench i 3 visible, which shows how far they have
advanced in the interval since the last attack. The

Russians have made no serious attempt to retake

this latter position, although the night before last
they made a little sortie, in which some sharp fight-
ing took place, the end of it being that the Russians
retired after somewhat interrupting the French
works. But the enemy is, no doubt, much more
actively employed in strengthening the Malakhoff
itself, which he must feel to be the key of Sebasto-
pol. Should this now celebrated hillock fall into
the hands of the allies, no ingenuity or obstinacy of
defence can delay the capture of the southern side
beyond a few weeks. There is every reason to
believe that the Russians are day and night at work

deepening the ditch and constructing abattis. A
wiry large body of troops is constantly under arms,
and every means are used to avoid a surprise like
that which gave the French such easy possession
of the Mamelon. But it seems to be not alone the

Malakhoff and Redan which the enemy is strEngth-
ening. The Rtissian engineers are evidently con-
structing works on a very large scale behind thefor-
tifications with which we have been brought in con-
tact. The whole harbour is alive with boats. Craft of
all shapes and sizes are continually crossing and re-
crossing, carrying gabions, fascines, and trunks of
trees tor the construction of abattis, as well as pro-
visions and ammunition. They discharge their
cargoes and immediately return for fresh ones, each
boat seeming to make some 12 or 14 trips a-day.
The ship' boats seem all to be employed at this
work, which is no doubt performed by the sailors.
The large supply of wood yielded by the forests of
the Crimea has been one of the chief aids to the
defence of Sebastopol. Fuel for the steamers and
for cookery has been obtained in abundance, and
the want of coal has probably been little felt. Trees
felled and brought a distance of 10 or 12 miles
form the strong abattis, six feet high, which is one
of the chief defences of the Redan. Fascines for
the works have been obtained from the same quar-
ter, and are brought in vast quantities.
The great number of arabas captured by the
French in their expedition across the rcb.ernaya
would seem to indicate that large means of trans-
port exist in the peninsula ; but the forage for sus-
taining the beasts which draw the Russian carts
and the herds of cattle with which the garrison is
supplied with meat must now begin to fail. In the
spring and early summer the country is covered
with a rich long grass, which is sufficient for all the
purposes of a most extensive transport and commis-
sariat. As June draws to a close this begins to
wither, and, although the present summer has
been more thaa usually cool, and the north winds
have kept the atmosphere moister than is usually
the case, yet in the vicinity of our camp such a
thing as a green blade of grass is hardly to be found,
except close to the Tchernaya. The other streams
of which the Russians have possession are of much
smaller volume than this river, and the steppe to
the north is without doubt entirely dried up.
Hence will arise difficulties in the means of sustain-
ing their army w hich will try all the skill and
t-nergy of our enemies.
The camp is healthy enough, and it is probable
that the summer will pass away without any of
that sickness to which the nation has looked for-
ward with such forebodings. The heat is by no
means equal to what has been the general tempera-
ture of the country in former years ; in fact, both
here and in Turkey the summer has been cool, and
fever and diarrhoea have prevailed to a less extent
than usual. Balaklava has been, it is true, much
afflicted with cholera, but the scene of its greatest
ravages was the top of the harbour, where many
thousand Turks lie with only a few inches of light
mould between them and the air, and where the
bodies are often laid bare in all their hideous ghast-
liness by one of the thunder showers of the Crimea.
The vessels outside the harbour were tolerably free
from the disease, and since the crowd of transports
which lay touching one another in the narrow and
land-locked port has been somewhat thinned the
place may be said to have become tolerably healthy.
If a low and sultry village like Balaklava be free
from disease in the middle of July, there is little
cause for melancholy forebodings as to the health
of troops encamped on a lofty plateau, ex-
posed to every breeze that blows, and far removed
from a too prolific vegetation. Last year the seeds
of cholera, and fever were brought to life by en-
campments in wooded Bulgarian valleys, in the
vicinity of fetid morasses, or within the limits of a
crowded and filthy seaport. The disease thus en-
gendered was brought by the two armies to the
Crimea, where privations and fatigue caused it to
extendits ravages far beyond the season at which
they generally cease. Before Sebastopol the allies
are encamped on a spot where no deleterious ema-
nations can reach them, except those engendered
by the necessary impurities of a camp, and these,
through the care taken in burning or burying
all offensive matter, have as yet had little effect
on the health of the troops. As to fever, the usual
season for at is June, and this month is now past
without any unusual sickness in the camp. It is
therefore to be hoped that the autumn will pass
away without any serious calamity. As to the
dangers to be dreaded from winter, they are in the
hand of man, who can avert them by proper care
and forethought,'

JULY 11.
To-day heavy shelling from the Red n. Lieu-
tenant Monsell, 39th Regiment, was killed in the
trenches. The French are fast completing their
battery at the Ouvrages Blanes. I have to relate
the melancholy deaths of two gentlemen connected
with the Commander-in-Chief. One is Colonel
Vico, French Commissioner at the head-quarters
of the British army, and holding the same situa-
tion which General Rose holds with General
Pelissier. The death of Colonel Vico was caused
by cholera, which has struck down so many of the
notables of the camp within the last few weeks.
Mr. Calvert, a gentleman well acquainted with the
Russian language, and employed as interpreter
and confidential agent to the Commander-in-Chief,
is also dead. People are beginning to fear that
the pretty little farmhOuse where Lord Raglan
Certainly,
an other with a rapidity
established himself on his arrival before Sebastopol
must be pitced on a spot more than usually subject
fatal cases of
tdoisemasaeliifilacvofollowedinfluences. 0 n e
unknown in other parts of the camp, and the im-
pression which might be made on the minds of
people at home by the deaths of several distin-
guished officers in succession would convey too un-
favourable an idea of the state of the army in
general.
Though deliveredbythe progress of the siege from
Russian sorties, we are exposed to the attacks of
other enemies, as unceasingly troublesome, if not
as dangerous. Every nook and cranny is infested
by flies in millions, which give one no rest by day,
and little by night. Within the last week the
thing has almost assumed the dimensions of a plague.
Situated as I am in the delightful vicinity of seve-
- "
ral hundred eomrainariat mules and a varied as-