The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-01 00:00:00

Marshal Pelissier and General Niel both men-
tioned in their reports the gallant conduct of Com-
mandant Ragon, of the Engineers, on the Bth.
The Constitutionnel now publishes the following
letter from that officer to one of his friends
" Malakhoff Redoubt, 11th Sept.
"My brave friends—l cheerfully pay the tax you have
imposed on me of a short letter to set your mind at rest.
It was I, Louis-Dominique-Auguste Ragon, one of your
oldest and best friends, who had the honour of command-
ine the engineers of the column of assault on the for-
midable work of Malahhoff. I entered it at the head of
the sappers conjointly with the regiment of Zouaves of
the let division of the 2d corps d'armee. We climbed the
ditch like cats, dislodged the enemy, forced the lines,and
carried the redoubt with an enthusiasm and rapidity
perfectly French. Our standards planted on the '
parapet were assailed and vigorously defended for
more than six hours. After this heroic struggle our
column had alone the honour of remaining masters of
its conquest; the four others, two on our right and two
on our left, were compelled to give way, leaving the
ground covered with their killed and wounded. But
our triumph sufficed to deprive the Russians of the power
of holding their ground. At midnight, from the top
of our conquered work, and mounted on heaps of
dead Russians, we were witnesses of one of the
grandest spectacles that can possibly be conceived—the
town in flames, lighted up all the roadstead, where the
Russian vessels were disappearing one after the other be-
neath the waves, lurid by the glare of the fire on shore.
To this terrible picture was added the successive explo-
sions of forts, batteries, and powder magazines, vAith.,..
the enemy blew up in their retreat. At daybreak, we
had nothing around us but ruins,swith the dead and dy-
ing beneath our feet, a routed army before us on
the north shore of the roadstead, and our triumph-
ant soldiers regarding with a gratified eye the mag-
nificent results of their courageous efforts. The
first of these explosiems, to which I found myself
rather too close, caused me some little injury ; the
whole of my epaulettes were carried away, my
sword was bent at the hilt, my left arm and hip
bruised, and I received a scratch on the head, just
sufficient to give me a right to say that I had shed
blood for .the honour of France in this day of tri-
umph. I seal my letter with the seal of a Russian
officer, which I obtained in the Malakhoff Tower,
and it is a valuable spoil. I must request you to
communicate this letter to my mother and to M.
T--; they will be pleased at my thinking of them, and
I have nit now time to write to them, the courier by
whom I send this being about to start immediately. I
embrace you, &c.,

"A. RAGON."

An officer of one of the regiments engaged in the
taking of the Malakhoff Tower writes as follows :
"At last we were enabled to examine at our ease
those prodigious earthworks, those admirable master-
pieces of fortification, those enormous parapets, 8 or 10
metres high, those formidable traverses offering secure
shelter to the enemy at every point. How could the de-
fenders of such works ever allow themselves to be
expelled from them ? Not the least curious episode of
this memorable day is this : that at the very moment
our four regiments penetrated into the works of Mala-
khoff, a Russian General was preparing a distribu-
tion of crosses of honour. We made him prisoner, and
a good number of his men too."

The Mayor of Stockport has received the follow-
ing interesting letter from a correspondent in the
Crimea :

"Balaklava, Sept. 12.
"My dear doctor,--You will long since have heard
of our glorious success on the Bth, and I take the first
opportunity of sending you a few particulars of that
eventful day.

Since the battle on the 16th Aug. a sharp cannonade
had been kept up to facilitate the pushing forward of
the trenches, and for several days last week a regular
bombardment was made, and with such effect that the
enemy were able to reply only comparatively feeble.
We knew great events were impending, but so secret
was the matter kept, that it was only at 10 o'clock in
the morning we were sure the assault was to take place
at noon. The plan was for the French to take the Mala-
khoff, Little Redan, and adjoining works on the right,
and then for the English to attack the Redan. The
French trenches were quite close to the ditch of the
Malakhoff, and nearly so to the Little Redan. Our
advanced sap was still about 180 yards from the
salient angle of the Redan. A gale of wind was blow-
ing all day and such clouds of dust that it was almost
impossible to see what was taking place. The French
took the Malakhoff at the first rush, then the double line
of works between it and the little Redan, and established
themselves there; then the f jilting was tremendous, and
continued all the afternoon, but all attempts to drive
them out were in vain. In the meahtime the English
storming party had got into the Redan, which is an
enormous place, but, after holding it for a long time, the
reinforcements not coming up quickly enough, or not in
the place where they were most wanted, our people
were compelled to retire from the severity of the flank-
ing fire upon them. No further attempt was made that
afternoon, but a plan of attack for the next morning was
arranged. However, during the night the quietness in the
Redan was noticed. Some of our men crep . up and found
it feebly defended. Soon after a tremendous explosion
took place, shaking our huts eight miles away. This
was followed by others. They were blowing up their
works and retreating, and before daylight our troops
walked into the Redan almost without opposition. The
enemy, finding they could not hold out against the French
possession of the Malakhoff, retreated during the night
across the bridge of boats and broke it up. During the
previous night two ships had been set on fire and burned,
and on the night of the Bth the enemy sunk all the rest
of the sailing ships, as we expected they would. They
set fire to the town in several places, leaving mines to
explode as the fire reached them. On the next day I rode
up. The town was burning fiercely, explosions taking
place occasionally, one of which crumbled Fort Paul into
a heap of ruins. I rode up to the Malakhoff and was
surprised at the immense strength of it. The gunners
were admirably protected by places built for them, and
there were regular little rooms built in the parapet, with
beds, chairs, &c., for the officers. There was no lack of
ammunition, and no words of praise are too great for
the admirable way in which the French have managed
the matter. The works from the Mamelon constitute
a distinct siege in themselves, and have all been
done since the 7th June ; and, considering the rocky
ground and the fire upon them, are quite a marvel of
engineering skill. This portion commands the whole of
that side of the Military Harbour, and the Redan could
not have been held long after its possession. I could see
the mastheads of several of the ships last sunk ; in fact,
the harbour is quite obstructed with them. The enemy
have kept their steamers, and I counted seven or eight
in a creek on the opposite (north) side. These can be
destroyed when batteries are got up.
` On the following day I was fortunate enough to get

into the Redan. The English were carefully excluded
from the town, the French soldiers being allowed all
the pillage. This, however, was not valuable, as they
had had plenty of time to remove portable things. I
met hundreds of French soldiers carrying out chairs,
tables, and such like things. The Redan was a mere
heap of ruins inside, from our fire and the explosions.
It was not so strong as the Malakhoff. With diffi-
culty I rode through it, and went to the dockyard
in the rear, passing on my way a large range of bar-
racks, all knocked to pieces byi ourimortar shells. The
dockyard is very spacious, and the docks perfect, open-
ing from the military harbour where there is a long
wharf, alongside of which ships of any size may be
brought. There are three docks in row, opening rear-
ward into a large basin, and again from it three other
docks, all built of a kind of granite ; in one was the
smouldering remains of a steamer, machinery only left ;
in another, the remains of a ship's boat. Whilst I was
there, a flag of truce was flying, and a Russian steamer
came across to carry away wounded men. In the dock-
yard an immense range of buildings had beerr converted
into hospitals, and that morning it was found they were
full of dead and wounded men, who certainly had had no
food since the Bth—this was on the 10th. I went into one
building, and, hardened as I am by the scenes of this
war, I never saw anything to compare to this. There
were some 70 or 80 there, most of them dead—and the
living unable to move from the putrefying bodies around.
The smell was horrible and quite overpowered me. The
wounded were carefully nursed on board the steamer and
some barges—fine robust fellows, who bore their suffer-
ings with the greatest fortitude or apathy.
I could not go into the city ; the military harbour di-
vides the Government buildings, &c., from the town pro-
,pr.r- I rode_back_by_the_Frenel rigtt, and so thick were
the dead Russians near the parapets that with difficulty
I could get along without my horse treading upon them.
Hundreds had been buried already, and great numbers
remained—all fine men. The French dead were being
collected, identified, and interred by themselves.
The Erglish loss is about 153 officers killed and
wounded, and 2,300 men killed, wounded, and missing.
This is an approximation. The French loss is of course
infinitely greater ; and the Russians added to it I think
would make not less than 20,000 men killed and wounded
On that day. Surely such a holocaust will have some
effect in shortening this horrid war.

I observed, in the suburb around the dockyard, all the
streets were barricaded, and armed with small car-
ronades, the ammunition all ready ; but they hat' not
been used. These,defences converged towards the dock-
yard, and were evidently meant to cover the retreat
had they been very much pressed ; but their getting
away in the night obviated that.
September 14—Since writing this letter I have made
a journey into the city. The French have possession of
it, and the English of the dockyard and Karabelsaia
suburb. I rode through the French works on the ex-
treme left, and into the Russian defences. These are ex-
tremely strong, double lines ; and here the French met
the same fate on the Bth that we did at the Redan. I rode
through the Quarantine defences. The large fort of that
name is a heap of ruins, and down to Fort Alexander,
which is at the entrance to the harbour opposite Tint
Constantine. The number of heavy guns in all their
works is surprising. The day previous some Russian
guns had been turned on the steamers with such effect
that the next morning all were sunk, and now not tae
vessel of war of all their fleet remains. I can give re
no idea of the state of the town. It is one vast heap of
reins. The greater portion had been completely destroyed
by the French fire, and the remaining buildings so well
burnt by the enemy, that I don't think there are balf,a
dozen houses remaining perfect. Fort Nicholas, whim
is built of hard limestone, had resisted the attempts to
burn it. The streets are spacious, with gardens, statues,
&c. ; and though the taste shown is perhaps not the
best, yet the natural position is so splendid that it bag
a most imposing appearance. All the streets of tie
town are barricaded as in the suburb. There was abun-
dance of ammunition everywhere ; and in one arsenal are
above 1,300 new guns, and hundreds of ship anchors. 1
hear that 1,000 dead Russians were removed from the
dockyard buildings, and buried by us. The enemy ap-
pear to be at work on the north side. No one knovrs
what will be the next move. I suppose it will depend
on the movements of the enemy.
«T. P."

We read in the Moniteur de la Flotte

"I write in the open air, exchanging now and then a
word with persons passing by, which accounts for the un-
connected style of my letter. I came here to visit an aide-
lie-camp of the Governor of Sebastopol, whom I found
writing to his family close to the ruined docks of Sebas•
topol, and surrounded by a regular bazaar of articles of
every description, collected there by our men. He was
comfortably seated in an arm chair a /a Voltaire, and
writing on a music stand, the shaft of which was broken
by a cannon ball. He offered me the verso of the stand,
and I set about writing my epistle, which is no longer
dated before, but in, Sebastopol. We are beginning to
instal ourselves in the city, the ruins of which will be
soon removed. The establishment of an administration
of the port, and the appointment of a naval commander,
are spoken of, and no time will be lost in clearing the
channel by means of the diving apparatus sent out from
England and France. Our military and maritime admi-
nistrations will here take up their winter quarters. It is
now the turn of the Russians to enjoy themselves in the
open air. They are, to be sure, so skilful in digging the
earth that they will soon make out qUarters for themselves
in the fields. The English covered themselves with glory
in the attack on the Redan. When they met the Russians
with the bayonet a backing movement was observable
in the ranks of the Muscovites similar to that of a gun
which has received a double charge. Then masses of
fresh troops continually came up and assailed the heroic
English. One of the officers of the brigade that stormed
the Redan made a remark which may account for the
serious loss sustained by our allies in this last affair. He
observed that no sooner had our soldiers entered the Ma
lakhoff than our engineers and artillerymen, who had
come prepared for the purpose, immediately turned the
guns of the work upon the Russians, closed up the gaps,
established parapets with earth bags, and, in short, placed
the position in a state of defence. All this was done
with incredible promptitude, and saved the lives of many.
The Russians clearly saw that they could not retake
the Malakhoff, for at every attack they were repulsed
with immense loss, and each time they returned to the
charge our position was stronger. The same course was
not adopted for the defence of the Redan, which our
allies were accordingly obliged to evacuate ; but I can
assure you that the movement they effected at that mo•
ment was that of a troop of lions, and that the Russians
took good care not to follow them. Admiral Bruat has
issued the following orders of the day :--
" Sept. 9.—The Vice-Admiral Commanding-in-Chief
addresses his congratulations tothe commanders, officers,
and crews of the Cassini, Sesostris, Palinure, and Tenare,
for the activity those bomb-vessels have displayed since
their arrival in the Black Sea, and for the remarkable
precision of the very brisk fire they kept up upon the
Quarantine Bastion on the Bth of September. They have
justified the confidence of the General-in-Chief, who
thought, with reason, that their co-operation would be