The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-09 00:00:00

THE SIEGE OF 'SEBASTOPOL.

The Debats contains an interesting article on the
present position of the allied forces before Sebas-
topol, signed by Colonel St. A.nge. The folloifing
is a translation of the most salient points :

"The allied farces encamped in the nearly insular
Chersonesus may bo estimated at 100,000 men, takinr,
into account the continued reinforcements forwarded
from England and France during the last month, and
the two French divisions that were left in reserve at
Constantinople.
"The Ottoman army at Eupatorie, under the orders
of Omer Paella, must now be 40,000 strong. As the
three nations are sending corps oi detachments on to the
Crimea up to this moment, everything leads to the be-
lief that the total of the allied armies will amount to
150,000 men in the course or- this present month of
Marah.. -

"There C 39 be no doubt that the Russian army will
net reach that figure until it has received the last rein-
forcements despatched to Perekop, either by way of
Odessa, Nicolaieff, or Kberson. At present, apparently,
it does not number 100,000, including the garrison of
Sebastopol and the other positions in the Crimea ; and
it could muster only 60,000 or 65,000 men for Any stra-
tegical operation. This explains its complete inaction
since the battle of Inkerman, where it deployed only
45,000 men, who, as it may be recollected, were beaten
with immense 10. s..
"It is a known fact that the Russians have suffered at
least as much as the Allies by sickness, the severity of
the season, and the want.of food and forage. In a cli-
mate nearly similar to that of France, the winter has pre-
sented, as witifus,..frequent alternations of snovr, rain;
frost, and thaw. Transport across tbe Crimea has been
almost always interrrupted by the breaking up of roads
on which a stone was never at any time laid. In Russia
properly so called, winter is the season for sledge convey-I
ance' as the frost generally hits for four consecutive months,
without any intermitting thaw; but not so in Southern
Russia, and especially in the Crimea. We may thus Poiri--.1
prebend the difficulties that must have encountered the
Russian army in the transport of its food and munitions ;
and even the impossibility of the task, when we recol-
lect that a road of six miles from Balaklaya to the camp
before Sebastopol became so impracticaforthat the Eng-
lish army was deprived of its ellPPlioo
and that, to maintain the fire of its batteries, balls andf
seveldays,
shells were obliged to be* forwarded on the backs o
mules, and even in thaarms of men.
"This 'Balaklava road now, exhibits a line of railway
not only marked out, but nearly finished. On the
French aide, a stone road. unites their different camps,
and easy communication was early established with the
points of debarkation. Balaklava and Kamiesh be-
hold on their shores two towns of huts and tents,
embracing magazines, ambulances, workshops of all
kinds, a mob of settlers, and a military or nomade
population exhibiting restless activity. A French
Army carries in itself all arts and trades ; is sufficient
for itself ; and is, in fact, an entire civilisation.
This administrative system, military and industrial,
these companies of workmen, this entire organisa•
tion, the English army does not possess ; and its
soldiers, so intrepid in combat, have not the same
aptitude as ours for'the various labours of war. Bat
England knows this ; the defects of her military organi-
sation have been revealed to her. Enlightened to her
own cost, she is setting about the remedy with the energy
of a great nation, determined not to be behind other
the more particularly that her power and her honour arc'
both engaged in a most serious war, in concert with
France.

' "We will now proceed to the condition of the besieg-
ing works :
. " The principal attack (that is the.name given to a
series of trenches dug in a given direction) wad com-
menced opposite the Flagstaff Battery, in the centre,
and stretched to the left towards the Quarantine Fort.
Zigzag roads have carried the third parallel to within
100 metres of the ramparts, and the works have been ex-
tended to the Ceinttery, which is in our possession, and
as far as Quarantine Bay, where we occupy the hospital.
This progress is considerable. The fortifications are EMT:
,Tottaled at so short adiistanee that our miner 11F19 com-
m
encei the subterr'imean 'about's. A first mine r been
discovered by the Russians, who constructed a owncu-
fiet'—that is, they succeed, by firing powder and resin,