The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-26 00:00:00

THE SUN; LONDON, WEDNE'SDAY EVENINT, SEPTEMBER, 26, 1855.

ere O,E

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nervy had elrried .}ff

neatly ad their dead a i i wouineeel, which accounted fir
the fe'snesse of the former mooed inside the redoubt.
Terrible were the traces of our fire which here met the
eye—to say nothing of dismounted guns, shattered plat-
forms, and broken carriages, nearly every square yard of
the place was torn up by round shot and exploded shell.
How any human beings could have existed in such a
pandeineailim r f explesiee horrors it pilule.' every Dee
who looked on the so it to conceive. The place sae for-
merly been a vieeyarl, Red was censequeetty honey-
combed originally; but these small hollows had been
knocked into every possible shape, and scarcely a foot of
space left which had not been ploughed up by the fire of
.our own and the Frerch guns. Leaving, however, a
more detailed description of the interior of this formid-
able work fer a future letter, I pass on to the portion of
the town at the base of the slope which it crowns, and
here, for the first time, I trot a glimpse of the utterly
unknown extsnt of the inj try which had been done to
the town itself by our fire. As viewed even with the aid
of a good glass from our moet advanced parallel, not a
tithe of the mischief was visible, except amongst the
houses oppo ite the French left attack. But even here,
in a portion of the place which everybody supposed to
be comparatively uninjured, nothing but ruins met the
eye. Shot and shell had smashed in roofs, penetrated
and knocked down walls; and, in fact, left nearly every
building one cline to crue bling and shapeless masses
of battered masonry. My exploration in this direc-
tion, h-wever, was soon brought te a dead halt, for as I
was crossing what had been a small vineyard behind one
of the main buildings which led down to the Admiralty
and Fort Nicholas, a rascally French sentry ordered me
to stop, and, before I had time to ask why, the scoun-
drel deliberately levelled his piece and fired, sending a
bullet within a few inches of nay heal. As there was no
replying to such arguments as this, I thought it best to
prosecute my researches elsewhere, awl so turned away
to explore the main body of the town on the opposite
side of the Admiralty Creek. But at every point I found
Frenchmen poking into every nook and erennie, over-
hauling everything and appropr Ming whatever apt eared
worth carrying away. A. few of our own men had ma-
naged to dodge the sentries, and were eimilarly em-
ployed ; but, besides being numerically only as one to a
hundred of the Gaul, they went about the business with
a clunisieese and evident inexperience which contrasted
strikingly with the practised tact and professional ability
of the red-breeched enfants around. In descending the
slope which leads down to the head of the Creek, I came
in sight of piles of new cannon and shot, ranged as one
may see them alinig the river front of Woolwich Ar-
senal, on both sides of the Creek. Certainly this was a
contradiction of the generally-believed reports of the
enemy's shortness of guns and ammunition ; and similar
evidence met my eye at every battery I passed—shot,
shell, grape, canister, powder, and musket cartridge
seemed everywhere abundant. On gaining the summit
of the opposite slope, on and beyond which the main body
of the town is situated, French, nothing but French, were
to be met with, the rnejority of them drunk, and all laden
with every conceivable kind of plunder. Chairs, tables,
looking-glasses,church ornaments, poultry kegs i if brandy,
mattres- es, bed clothes, cooking utensils—c' ery de-
mestic moveable, in fact, that ever figured in a catalogue
at the city auction mart, w,s being cart ied or dragged
along by eur iight-fingered allies, whilst only at long in-
tervals was an Englishman to be seen with a single
article, and in three is stances I found Frenchmen dis-
puting their right even to these Mere than one lament
on our tai ure beetre the Rotate was also uttered, and in
one case ,n wh ch reproach was thrown into the teeth of
a brawny Irish Greeadier by a diminutive Uhasteur with
more impudence that discretion I take to myself the
credit of having saved a subject of the Emperor from
summary annihilation. Pat hall laid hands on a bundle
of crnckeryware, and was preceeding c enfortably along
under the iefluenee of a double allowance of ruin, when
the Frenehman, still were off for liquor, came reeling by
with a lookieg-glass under ..i.e aria and a coupe of ducks
under the other. " RH, Redan, no, Maaitheff yes ;
Ingelese no bone spirited out the son of France, tee-
eine the Irisemari vii h impudent familiarity on the
elbow. The " whirroo !" that followed was worthy of
Donnybrook, aed in an instant, dashing his crockery to
the ground, Paddy grasped the Frenchman by the most
capacious portion of lie' pantaloolis, sent the looking-
glass to shivers, and would have mode work for the
doctor out of it., owner if I earl not at that moment come
up to the rescue, Seeing Frenchmen hurrying to the
ec me of this tiugi c onedy from ail points, I deemed it
best, for my countryman's own sake, to prevent his ad-
ministering a chastisement which, however amply de-
served, might have endangered the safety of its bestower,
and so liberated the frightened impudent, and endea-
voured te calm deem the wrath of the infuriated Kerry-
man. This, however, was no easy task ; but by en-
dorsing his declaration of being able to beat ten French-
men any day I finally reduced the storm, and sent him
on his way to the outskirts of the town.
I cannot refrain from adding one sentence on a sub-
ject to which I shall again recur—the prohibition which
has been issued aeainst our own troops sharing in the
spoil, whilst carte blanche has been allowed to the French.
Our catnip is swarming with these last offering for sale,
every conceivable description of plunder, and getting
high prices for their goods too—whilst our own men,
who have equally shared in all the danger and toil of .he
siege, are prevented frien fingering as much as an empty
bottle. The discontent which has risen amongst them
in consequence is not deeper ,han it is juse atal ;effects
credit peithehon the jedernent nor the regard f r lair play
of those from whom the prevention proceeds. But with i
it is always so ; at Kertch, where there was a colouring
fur the prolobitien the French plundered all before thorn
—to their own indelible diSgrace ; but why a similar
bar should be here again placed on the exercise of what
is a right of every soldier who has taken part in the
siege puzzles many more than myself to understand.
SEPT. 15.
My last letter, though written on the third day after
the enemy's abandonment ,trorighuld, was. ne-
c,:ssarily confined to a narrative of the incidents of our
own and the French attack. With a view of giving yeti
the latest news, I had deferred waling it till the last
hour allowed me by tne post, and was consequently un-
able to do more than refer to the fact that the Own.
was already being rifled, Kerteh like, by our allies,
whilst our men were virtually deprived of the very
smallest benefits in the shape of plunder. The same
necessity compelled me to postpone till now any detailee
description of the state of the town itself, and of the
works by means of which it has been so lung and so
bravely defended. 'ln the present letter I shall attempt
to give your readers some rough ideveof both.
Before entering on anything in the shape of a de-
scriptien, either of the defending redoubts, or of Sebas-
topol itself, however, I wish to add to my former brief
account of the operations of the Bth a further re
inask or two in defence of the part enacted by our
own men, ae,d to correction of an error which I there
committed, in stating tha, the French had stormed the
Little Redan and its .etjeinieg works in Careening Bay.
should be meet sorry t n pen a line which would bear
the ieterpretation of jealousy or towards our gal-
lant allies, whose bravery and helotnitable energy I have
so often had occasion to admire ; but, whilst extending
a full 'need of praise f tr all teey have both endured aid
accomplished, I would permit no squeamish getornsity
towards them to dull my recollection, to.. quality my
euloey, of what our own troops have in like manner suf.
fered and achieved. That in the two combined attacks,
however, which have terminated the siege of Sebastopol,
our allies succeoled in that undertaken by them, whilst
we failed in the other allotted to us, may at first sight
seem humiliating to our military pride ; but when the
relative difficuitiee of the two operations are consi-
dered, I venture to think that we shall suffer little
either in our own estimation or in that of Europe
generally. Mainly owing to the fire of our Eng-
lish batteries during the three previous days of
the bombardment—for the Marnelon had remained
all but silent throughout that period—the French
on the forenoon of the 8 h found every gun but
one in the Malakh ff silenced. Their advanced
sap, too, had brought them to within some forty
yards of their point of attack, and during their rapid
dash in column, over this narrow space, they were ex-
pesed only to the grape-shot of this one gun. Once Un
the face of the parapet, they were safe from a second
discharge, and had then only to contend against the
faint and brief resistance of a body of trench guards,
who had evidently been taken unawares. A rapid and
well-sustained fire of musketry soon expelled these, and
the reserves who were hurried up by the enemy had
equally little chance against the swarming columns of
our allies, whom good generalship kept pouting in to
the support of the first stormers as fast as human legs
ceuld scramble up the broad parapet and jump inside
the redoubt. Such a contest was merely a question of
numbers ; and; having made excellent arrangements to
secure theireown superiority in this respect. the French
commencers had no can eto doubt the result. Widely
different, however, was the case on our side. Differently
construc:eci—as I shall presently describe—and stretch-
ing over a long line, in hardly any point exposed to so
close and direct a fire as that which bore upon the Ma-
lakheff, the Redan had replied to our batteries with c ,n-
-siderable vigour throughout the entire bombardment ;
and at noon of the Bth still continued to show fight with
a dozen or so of uninjured guns. Instead, too, of forty
yards of open space, the nearest point from our
most advanced parallel to the diech of the Redan mea-
sured 220, and this, also, everywhere exposed to the fire
of twelve or fourteen 68-pounders. I have several times
crossed this fatal spot since the capture of the place,
and each time with increa-ed wonder how a single man
of our whole stortners could have escaped the tornado of
grape and canister which such an armament c rind, and
did, send forth. Scarcely afoot of surface is there'eyllich
a gun did not sweep ; and when I add that theAikemy
had time to fire three eounde from every piece, from the •
first issue of our men from the shelter of our own para-
pet till their arrival at the broad ditch where so many
have since found a grave, I ain disposed to think that
your readers will share in ray cu, prise. Inevit 0-Ay re-
pulsed, then, as they were, our shattered companies
were compelled to fall hack on the trench which they
had left ; and to regain this they hail to pass through the
same storm of fire as before. Had they, indeed, been
property supported, this second ordeal would have been
spared them ; and, in spite of all its grape and canister,
the Redan would, without doubt, have been our own.
To every attempt at repeating the attack the same for-
midable front was shown, and cut up as they had been
in their filet essay, it was not to be wondered at that
our young troops, many of whom were under direct fire
for the first time, shrank from a second exposure to the
desolating storm.
Such, then, is a brief statement of the relative diffi-
culties of the two attacks on the Redan and Malakhoff ;
and, bearing in mind these facts, few, I am inclined to
believe, will consider that the Fiench have much ground
for boasting, as compared with ourselves. !hat they
fought and conquered bravely I would be the last to
deny ; but that they would have succeeded, with the
mine numerical strength as our own, against the Redan,
I no impar ial and intelligent man could believe. In proof
of this, and rather more, I may add mention of their

1 iteceep
the ,Nlaseastiolf. The ix or debt gnus of this work had
continued effective throughout the bombardment ; and
when our a'fies, after their dashing capture of the larger
redoabt, passed on to attempt the seizure of the minor
batteries on its proper left, they were received with close
and well-directed discharges of grape, which speedily
checked their impetuous and confident advance. Three
several times did they repeat the attempt, but they
were as often driven back with heavy loss, and finally
abandoned the effut.. During the night, when the Re•
clan itself was blown up, the works in Careening Bay
shared a smilax fate, and were entered, without a blow,
in the moraine. When I last wrote, my impression
was that the French had stormed this line of minor
works with the same successful bravery as had been
previously displayed in their seizure of the Malakhoff,
but a few hours later I learned my error, and therefore
add this sentence in correction of what I then stated.
As a sufficiently detailed and accurate description of
the Russian works, as seen from our own trenches, has
already appeared in these columns, I need say nothing
as to the appearance of the Redan externally. Let even
those of your readers who may not have seen the topo-
graphical sketch to wh,ch I refer, fancy a huge grey
bank of earth running angularly over the summit of a
broken slope, and fronted by a vast ditch some 18 feet
wide by more than half- that number deep. Let them
pierce this with gabioned embrasures at intervals of some
three yards, and mentally picture these bidstliog with
the black muzzles itf 68 pounders, and their idea of the
outside front of this celebrated work will be sufficiently
complete. My first entry into the interior, on the morn-
ing after its abandonment,, was made by a bridge of
broken fascines and gabions, laid hastily over the dead
bodies that had just been gathered into the ditch for
burial, which has since been done by levelling over them
a portion of the parapet above. The ghastly piles nearly
filled the vast trench to a level with the outer surface,
and the thin covering of earth which now conceals them
from view barely falls below the summit of the low bank
in front. What first struck one in passing up the cut
made by our seppers through the broad parapet was the
unusual solidity and strength of this last—averaging 30
or 35 feet along its entire front. On such a soli t mass
of gabions, fascines, sandbags, and earth, I need hardly
say that artillery of even the heaviest calibre could have
no sensible effect : 68 or 98-peund shot might
enter, but they could not penetrate. Compared with
this massive structure of nand and wickerwork, the
thickest of our own or the French works is as paper to a
deal board. Then within, besides the great superiority
of their mantlets—strong ripen curtains hung across the
embrasure, to shelter the gunners frora the besiegers'
riflemen. You admire the cover provided tir their ar-
tillerymen when not actually working the guns, in little
retreats proof against any but the very heaviest splinters
of shell. But these, again, are nothing when compared
with the shot and shell proof chambers for the shelter of
larger bodies of troops, which abound throughout the
work. I dived into several of these half subterranean
waiting-rooms, and found many of them fitted up with
fire-places, cooking cenveniences, benches., and other
suitable furniture ; whilst in others of smaller dimensions,
and which had evidently been occupied by the officers,
there were in addition bedsteads, chairs, tables, and in
seine even handsomely glazed cupboards, containing
empty wine bottles, and other traces of their occupants'
regard fir creature c enforts. On a shelf in one of them
I lighted on a cheap Farringdoustreet reprint of " Paul
Clifford," an I an old copy of the Illustrated News—the
later with sundry engravings of scene-- from the siege.
Even more interesting than all these, however, were
the -inner abutting defences of the redoubt, of which
we had previously heard and imagined so much. From
the irregioar order in which these occur, it is difficult
to describe them in any way that will convey an accu-
rate idea of their exact appearance and relation to the
main work ; but they may be generally mentioned
independent sopports similarly armed and of nearly
equal strength in construction to the front line of tne
redoubt, which •tends to them, in faet, in the relation
of a screen. Their guns, ton, so thoroughly command
the whole inferior of the Redan that any assailing force
which mieht have succeeded in forcMg the outer battery
would have been expossd to an inner fire as galling as
and mwe concentrated than the first. The whole struc-
ture and arrangement of these inner defences, indeed,
are such as to justify the belief that, had the redoubt
been strenuously defended, no body of attacking troops
that could have been brought against it would have hail
a chance of success. And the same system of rear de
fences extended down along nearly the whole curtain
leading towards the Malekhoff. The open behind the
Redan, a, I have already mentioned, presents a broken
surface, literal,y ploughed up into narrow trenches by
round shot, and honeycombed into small pits by ex-
ploded shell ; I doubt if there be half a foot of square
space within the whole enclosure on which one or other
of these missiles has not fanen. The huge pits occa-
sioned by the exploded mines complete the wrecked
appearance of the spot, and give it in the last degree an
aspect of ruin and desolation. Although four days had
elapsed since the closing contest I stumbled on no less
than five dead Russians in different parts of the redoubt;
why they had been passed over in the general burial I
am unable to explain.
Passing down from the rear of the Redan, the path
which lies along what was once a handsome wall of chi-
selled stone—new knocked into a line of shattered
masonry, leads to the first of the great series of govern-
ment buildings which terminate down on a harbour, at
the point at pre=eut covered with the ruins of Fort Paul.
C 'needled as they are from view from our trenches by
the Redan hill, I ,as one ,f many who, till within the
past five days, were utte ly ig ior-nt of the extent of the
mischief which had been done to these buildings by our
fire. Shattered end riddled to all points, they seem the
very type of architecture' ruin. Only a degree better i-'
the condition of the next range of buildings beyond ; the
terrible effects of shot and shell everywhere meet the eye,
in shattered colu us, level ed side-walls, anti fallen roofs.
Even in this extreme of i'es dation, however, enough
remains to suggest how fine—almost grand--must have
been the structures thus ruthlessly destroyed. Tue
general character of these piles of buildings resembled
in some degree that of the quadrangle of the Admiralty
and other adjecent offices in Sonierset-house. As the
distance from the Redan increases, the injury done to
the buildings becomes less in proportion, though, down
to the very last of the series, opposite to where
stood Fort Paul, the dammcge is con iderable.
Crossing one of the interven ng esplanades, I
rode through a wide gap made in the wall
separat lig it from the buildings of the dock
yard, and entered the road leading down to the
series of basins and locks, of which, with the workshops,
this great establishment is composed. Its low situation
appears to have saved this extensive naval quarter friun
much of the injury which hes falleii so destructively
everywhere else, as only here and there are the marks of
a shot or shell to be seen. The masonry of these spier]
did basins equalled, if not surpassed, bi th in filch and
solidity, anything to be seen either in Pur:swouth or
Woolwich. In one of the latgest of the locks lay the
tall smoking remains of a large war steamer, with the
machinery, paddles, and other olhl iron fi tugs standing
all complete, though, of cour e, much damaged by the
fire. Outside all these, and on the bank of the channel
which opens into the creek, stood the charred reinahie
of the huge shears at which I had so often gazed from
Cathceree and the Picket-house Hills. Then came ruins
(4f burnt acid sunken boats of all sizes, from a captain's
gig to a 50-ton lighter • and farther out in the creek
-till the mast-heads of a sunken brig. The road then
passes down the atone quay, flanked on one side by the
waters of the creek, on the other by a continuous pile
of lofty two-storeyed buildings, used apparently for all
three purposes of public offices, naval stores, and hospi-
tals. Here I found a party of the Land Transport
Corps engaged in the loathsome duty of removing some
400 Russian dead, some of whom bad been found
laid outside along the quay, and the remainder
within the buildings. Of these last a large num-
ber had been discovered in a vault under the building,
piled up in rows, one on top of the ofier, and judgneg
from their state they must have been dead at least 9 or
10 days. The officer in command of the party cle•cibed
the condition of these belies as loanlasoineita tne extreme.
Of those found laid eut on the greun I floor of the budd-
ing two still breathed when tees, were first discovered,
and a man who bad accidentally strolled into the place a
day sooner than " the authorities," affirmed that he had
counted 12 of them alive. Besides these, in ant ther
vault, some 20 or 30 bodies were found coffined, some
with the coffin-lids firmly screwed down, and others
with them lying by the side of the dead ; these were
doubtless officers. The Transport Corps men were piling
up the last load of corpses an I rodeup, and certainly the
sight and the smell were offensive to the last degree.
From this point, some hundreds of yarils down the quay,
the bloodstained and noiseeerne rage of those who had
be- n already borne away still remained ; but they were
to be forthwith pied up and burned. From the disci,-
very of the longer dea 1, it is inferred that the wounded
during the three days of the bombardment were carried
hither and here left to die, as every sign appeared of
their wounds having received no a'tention whatever.
Tower Is the extremity of the quay is a new, half-
finished building of cut stone, of similar arohitec
tural character to the line of edifices along the front
of which I had already passed. Even it, far removed
as it is trom the scene of action above, bore not a few
traces of cannon shot ; many a handsomely chiselled
cornice and well-fitted joining having been shattered
and displaced by a stray long ranger. Nearly opposite
this point, on the other side of the creek, and within
some hundred yards of the rear of Fort Nicholas, the
French bad mounted a mortar, and were then throwing
shells at a working party employed in the construction
of a fort on the north side. They made very pretty
practice ; sending nearly every other shell withinnsor
close upon, the new parape , and inflicting evident de-
triment on those at work. Tile Russians replied with a
few round shot, but without effect ; and when I turned
from viewing the pile of broken stories and mortar,
which is all that remains to tell where stood the once
handsome structure of Fort Paul, our allies were still
pounding away. Besides blowing up the Fort, the
Russians had likewise burned several rows of stnall
buildings in this neighbourhood, and the fallen-in roofs
of these were still smouldering as I rode along. Through
the openings between these, as well as from the top of
the ruins of Fort Paul, I had an unbroken view of the
harbour, from its mouth at Fort Conetantine to its ter-
mination at the embouchure of the Tchernaya. Close
under Fort Paul, in about twenty feet of water, lay
the remains of the burned ship whose destruction I
reported some ten days ago ; out further, about the
middle of the harbour, appeared the mast-beads of
the last sunk liners, and away beyond, under the oppo-
site shore, was the burnt wreck of the long-fancied
\Vladimir steamer, which, with the other steamers and
remaining vessels, had been burned a few days before—
the day after I last wrote. This final sacrifice of the
last remains of their once proud Black Sea fleet was
occasioned by our having, on Tuesday last, brought
down a couple of guns from our advanced batteries to a
point near the harbour, which commanded these few re-
maining vessels ; our gunners put four shots into the

bull of one of the steamers, which were replied to liy a
few shens, i-eeieg that further defence was us, le
the enemy consummated the destruction of their vessels
by burning or sinking everything that remained, except
a few insignificant barges, which are not worth a shot.
Not less wreckful and desolate, in its own war, is the
present aspect of this once crowded and navy-lalen har-
bour than the most ruined quarter of the town itself.
View the entire scene from whatever point you may, it
seems as if a destroying curse had fallen upon and
blasted the whole. Though nothing is to be seen in the
shape of buildings on the north side, beyond the forts on
the shore and seine wooden huts scattered over the face
of the slope, there is au extensive gathering of tents,
and signs of great activity all over the enemy's new set-
tlement. The width of the harbour is so inconsiderable,
that all their movements can be seen readily with the
naked eye.
I returned to our lines by the quarter behind the
Malakhoff, and through that redoubt itself. With a
few exceptions, all the houses in this locality are much
inferior to those in the main body of the town behind
Fort Nicholas ; being mostly of only one storey, and
many of them built of unburnt bricks. The streets
here, too, partake more largely of the character of
those of an E-.stern town; many of them being simply
a couple of parallel dead walls, broken at intervals by
doors or low gateways leading to open courtyards in-
side, round one or two sides of which I found similar
galleries running to those which one meets with in
Asiatic towns. Inside, however, I saw no traces of
the universal divans to be seen in all the rooms of an
Asiatic dwelling ; but, externally, the streets, with the
exception of being wider, might have passed for those of
Erzeroum, Diarbekir, or Antioch.' Although ruin had
swept like a storm over this quarter too, the consum-
mating touch of French fingers had not been wanting to
perfect the desolation—and it had not been withheld ;
benches, doors, windows, and every internal article of
furniture worth carriage to their camp, had been borne
away, and what would not have repaid this trouble
was all smashed to pieces. Little enclosures of flowers
and ornamental trees fronted many of the houses ; but
even these had not escaped the gratuitous wrecking
which had been everywhere perpetrated ; up-torn
rose bushes, roots of deal tulips, camellias,
daisies, ann the like, met the eye and foot
at every point along the street on which this little
floral nook had abutted ; as if sheer love of ruin had
been as strong an impelling motive with the destroyers
as their unsparing itch for plunder itself. I may here
mention that all this quarter of the town, as well as the
great body of it on the opposite side of the Creek, is at
present foreially in the occupation of our allies, the only
portion of the place which is in our hands being the
government buildings and dockyard, which I have
already noticed. This small moiety of the city lies be-
hind our right attack, the reason, I suppose, why we are
allowed to hold even it. In this, as in a thousand other
things connected with the whole affair, English interests
are most unblushingly overridden by those of the French,
who, in fact, seem by their effrontery and unconcealed
air of ownership, rather to tolerate our presence in the
place than to recognise an equal right to a share in it and
what it contains. I would again disclaim any ungene-
rous feeling towards our allies; but really, iu view of
their general bearing since the fall of Sebastopol, one's
British " monkey" is often disposed to rise and show it-
self. Their sentries are posted over quite three-fourths
of the entire town, and into these quarters admission is
forbidden us, unless armed with a pass from the French
commander. Altegether, amity in fact and amity
in print, are here ,hown to be distinctions with a dif-
ference. Talk as credulous apostles of French nod
English ueity may, the British Lion and Gallic Eagle
will cherish antipathies, and occasionally show them to
the end of the chapter : the traditional feelings of more
than three centuries are not so easily extinguished, hut
still retain a smouldering vitality under all the surface
of factitious harmony which mere political contingencie,i
may create for tl e time.
In o .nstructien and general appearance the Maiakh. ff
differs little firms its neighbour the IVlanaelon ; the same
massive parapet of earthwork, gabions, and sandbags,
with similar underground sirdabs to those in the Redao,
but wi.hout the formidable rear defences to be seen
within that redoubt, so that the outer line of battery
on ie gained, the mastery of the interior became merely
an affair of ruesketry and the bayonet. As in the case
of the Red-in, so here again nearly every inch of ground
behind the breastwork was cut up by our own and
the French fire. The embrasures still remain closed,
as on the morning of the Bth, and will, of course,
never be re-op ned in the same direction. As in
all the other baitelies belonging to the enemy which
I have visited. there has appeared no scarcity of
ammunition—round shot, shell, grape, canister, and
every other missile known to artillerists, everywhere
abounded. I noticed that at the moment of the
enemy's flight vary many of their mortars had been left
loaded, and wanti. g only the application of a match to
send their deadly contents into our own or the French
lines. Before passing from this subject of the enemy's
field deferces, however, I may just mention that in the
Redan, and, I believe, some of the other batteries, large
maieezines full of Russian powder still remain, the daily
explosion of which, strange to say, we await—passing in
crowds ever those hidden mines the while. The quail-
ti ty of the powder is alleged as a bar to its removal; but,
if so, why our authorities do not take measures to blow
it up Mon la regle, instead of permitting it to take its own
time under the sae iuldering gahions and other woodwork
on the surface of the ground, puzzles my civilian under-
standing. A. sentry, for example, will cooly warn you
not to come near him, as he is over a magazine, "which
may at any minute blow up." In the body of the Own,
also, it is suspected that unexploded mines yet exist ;
but of this there can be no certain knowledge. Apropos
of explosions, I may mention a marvellous escape of a
paymaster of the Rifles a few days ago within the town ;
he was riding quietly along when a shell tnrown from
the north side of the harbour struck the ground imme-
diately under his horse's body, and exploding at the mo-
ment killed the animal without seriously injuring his
rider. Were an incident of this kind meationed in a
work of fiction, one would be more disposed to place it
to the account of the author's imagination and ignorance
of what shells are than to believe in its possibility. The
fact, however, occurred as I have stated it, and is con-
sidered of the narrowest shaves known in the whole
course of the siege.
The French trade in the proceeds of their plunder '
continues to flourish, higher prices for everything being
demanded as days roll on. In the centre of a small
knot of commercial Zouaves, outside the French bazaar
on the Woronzoff road, I noticed, a few days ago, no less
distinguished a purchaser than the Duke of Newcastle,
who was bargaining forsome Russian trophies with a close-
Nees that would have done credit to the economic instinct
of Lord Aberdeen. The Gauls chaffed his grace with
a freedom which Flowed how little they suspected
that their customer was no less a personage than the
British ancien ministre de la guerre, frequently display-
ing their sympathy with the duke's linguistic difficulties
by assuring him that he was a bono Ingleez notwithstane-
jag. The Marquis of Sligo is also at present in the
camp, on a visit to his brother, Captain Lord Richard
Browne, of the 7th Fusiliers. During the late attack,
and for some time preceding it, Colonel Powell Thomas,
of the Contingent, was present as a volunteer with the
44th Regiment—the only one of the force to which he
belongs who bas as yet, I believe, taken a part in any
of our operations.
By next post I hope to be able to give you some in-
formation as to what is likely to be our next move—if
any is to take place before spring. In the meantime
there is nothing tangible even afloat on the breeze of
camp rumour ; and I need, therefore, hazard no personal
• surmises. Another visit to the French part of the town,
as yet undescribed, will also furnish me with some ma-
) terials of interest for the same mail.

MARSHAL PELISSIER'S DESPATCH.
HEAD-QUARTERS AT SEBASTOPOL, SEPT. 11.
M. le Marechal,—l shall have the honour to send you
by the next courier a detailed report on the attack which
has placed Sebastopol in our power. To-day I can only
give you a rapid sketch of the principal achievement of
this great event of the war.
Since the 16th of August, the day of the battle of the
Tchernaya, and notwithstanding repeated warnings of a
new and more formidable attack by the enemy against
the positions which we occupy on this river, every pre.
partition was made to deliver a decisive assault against
Sebastopol itself. The artillery of the right attack com-
menced on the 17th August a well-sustained fire against
the Malakhoff, the Little Redan, the neighbouring de-
fences, and the reads, in order to permit our engineers
to establish defences close t) the place, from which the
troops might be able instantly to throw themselves
upon the enceinte. Our engineers besides prepared
materials foe escalade, and on the sth of September all
our batteries of the left opened a very violent fire
against the town. The English on their side kept up a
hot cannonade against the Great Redan and its redoubt,
which they were to attack.
All being ready, I resolved, in concert with General
Simpson, to give the assault on the Bth of Sept., at the
hour of noon.
General M‘Mahon's Division was to carry the works
of the Malakhoff_; General Dulac's Division was to
attack the Little Redan ; and in the centre the Division
of General La Motterouge was to march against the
curtain connecting these two extreme points. Besi.lee
these troops, I had given to General Bosquet Germs
Mellinet's division of the Guards, to support the first
three divisions. Thus far for t e right.
In the centre the English were to attack the Great
Redan, escalading it at its salient.
On the left the Ist corps, to which General de la Mar-
morn had wished to join a Sardinian brigade, having at
its head General Levaillant's division, -was to penetrate
into the interior of the town by the Central Bastion,
and afterwards turn the Flagstaff Bastion in order to
establish a lodgment there likewise.
General de Sallee had instructions not to pursue his
attack further than circumstances might render it ad-
visable.
Further, the fleets of Admirals Lyons and Bruat were
to operate a powerful diversion by firing against the
Quarantine, the Roadstead, and the sea front of the for-
tress ; but the state of the sea, agitated by a violent
north-west wind, was such that neither the line-of-battle
ships nor the frigates were able to quit their anchorage.
The English and French mortar boats, however, were
able to go into action. Their fire was of remarkable ex-
cellence, and they rendered us great assistance. At noon.
exactly the divisions of Generals M‘Mahon, La Motto-
rouge, and Dulac, electrified by their chiefs, sprang to the
Malakhoff, the Curtain, and the Little Redan of the Ca-
reenage. After unexampled difficulties, and a most exciting
foot-to-foot combat, Gen. M`Mahon's division succeeded in
effecting a lodgment iii the anterior part of the Mala-
khoff. The enemy showered down a storm of projectiles
of all kinds upon our brave troops. The Redan of the
Careenage, espeoially battered by the maison en croix

an I the steamers, it teas neees.ary to evaceate aft: r irri
occup &on ; but the division of Gen, ral La Metterouge
made its ground good on one part of the curtain, and
that of General WAlation gained ground in the Mala-
khoff, where General Bosquet sent continually the re-
serves which I sent forward to him. The other attacks
were subordinated to that of the Malalthoff, that being
the capital point of the defences of the whole place.
Standing in the Brancion Redoubt (on the Mamelon)
I considered that the Ala,lakhoff was safely in our power,
and I gave the signal which had been agreed upon with
General Simpson.
The English immediately advanced bravely against
the salient of the Great Redan. They were able to
effect a lodgment in it, and struggled a considerable
time to maintain their position, but, crushed by the Rus-
sian reserves, which advanced incessantly, and by a vio-
lent fire of artillery, they were forced to return into their
parallel.
At the same moment General de Sallee had directed
an attack against the Central Bastion. The i evaillant
Division had begun to establi-1 itself in it, as well as in
the Right Lunette ; a tremendous fire of grape was suc-
ceeded by the arrival of Russian reinforcements, so con-
siderable in number that our troops already decimated
by the fire of the enemy, and whose chiefs ha I been dis-
abled, were compelled to fall back on the place whence
they had sallied.
Convinced that the taking of the Malakhoff would be
decisive of success, I prevented the renewal of any at-
tacks on other points, which, by compelling the hoetile
army to remain on all points, had already attained their
main object. I then directed my sole attention to the
retaining possession of the Malakhoff, which General
WMahon had been previously enabled completely to
obtain. Besides, a great and critical moment was im-
pending.
General Bosquet had just been struck by the bursting
of a shell, and his command I gave to General Dulac.
A powder magazine near the Malakhoff exploded at this
moment, from which contingency I anticipated the most
serious results.

The Russians, hoping to profit by this accident, im-
mediately advanced in dense masses, and, disposed in
three columns, simultaneously attacked the centre, the
left, and the right of the Malakhoff. But measures of
defence had already been taken in the interior of the
fortress; for which purpose General M'Mahon opposed
to the enemy bodies of undaunted troops, whom nothing
could intimidate ; and after the most desperate efforts
the Russians were compelled to make a precipitate re-
treat. From that moment the discomfited enemy ap-
pears to have renounced all idea of further attack. The
Malakhoff was ours, and no effort of the enemy could
wrest it from us. It was half-past four o'clock.
Measures were immediately taken for enabling us
to repulse the enemy, in case he should attempt against
us a nocturnal attack. But we were soon released from
our uncertainty. As soon as it became night, fires burst
forth on every side, mines exploded, magazines of gun-
powder exploded in the air. The sight of Sebastopol in
flames, which the whole army contemplated, was one of
the most awe-inspiring and sinister pictures that the his-
tory of wars can have presented. The enemy was making
a complete evacua,ion ; it was effected during the night
by means of a bridge constructed between the two shores
of the roadstead, and under cover of the successive ex-
plosions that prevented me from approaching and
harassing him. On the morning of the 9th the whoie
southern side of the town was freed, and in our power.
I have no need of enhancing in the eyes of your Ex-
cellency the importance of so great a success. Neither
will it be necessary for me to speak of this brave army,
whose warlike virtues and devotion are so thoroughly
appreciated by our Emperor ; and I shall have, great
as the number is, to name to you those who have dis-
tinguished themselves a song s many valiant soldiers.
I cannot yet do so, but I shall fulfil this duty in one of
my next despatches
Deign to accept, Monsieur Is Mar4chal, the expression
of my respectful devotion.—The Geuer.►i-in-Chief,

PELISSIE R.

GENERAL NIEL'S DESPATCH.
SEBASTOPOL, SEPT. 11.
Monsieur le Mardchal,—The place of Sebastopol was
stormed on the Bth of September. That assault has

rendered us masters of the Maiakhoff work, the occupa-
tion of which renders the defence of the suburb almost

impossible, and enables us to cut off the communications

of the town with the north part of the roadstead. After

rallying several times, and resuming the offensive with
a courage to which we are bound to do homage,
seeing that his uttermost efforts remained fruitless,
he began in the evening to evaeute the town ;
during the night he set it on fire, and he employed
his powder in destroying with his own hands the defen-

sive works and the great establishments which Russia
had been accumulating for so many years in this for-
tress. He has sunk all his ships, frigates, and other

sailing vessels, preserving only tilesteamers ; lastly, he
broke up and pulled after him the bridge of boats by
which he communicated with the forts of the north side,

abandoning to us in this way the town, suburb, and
everything else on the south side of the roadstead.
The defence was energetic ; on several pints our at-
tacks were repulsed ; but the chief attack, that which
insured our success, was not doubtful for an instant.
The Ist division of the Ist corps, commanded at present

by General M`Mahon, carried at the first onset the Ma-
lakhoff work, and Vitro maintained itself herlically,

understanding that it held in its hands the keys of the

place.
I am going to give you an account of the di positions
that had been taken for diminiAlvng as much as possible

the numerous difficulties attending-this terrible
made, not on a place invested, on a limited garrison,
but on a vast fortress, defended by an army equally

numerous, perhaps, as that which attacked it.
In the attacks directed against the town our ap-
proaches had been carried to within 40 metres of the
Central Bastion and 30 metres of the Flagstaff Bastion.
At the attacks of the Karabelnaia suburb the English,
impeded by the difficulties of the ground and by the fire
of the enemy's artillery, had only been able to advance
their approaches to about 200 metres from the salient

of the Great Redan.
Before t.le front of the Malakhoff we had arrived to
within 25 metres of the enceinte which surrounds the

tower, and had carried our approaches to the same di,-
twice of the Little Redan of the Careenage. This im-

portant result was duo to the incontestable superiority
of our artillery over that of the enemy.
The generals-in-chief of the- allied armies had made
the following arrangements :
The general attack of the place was fixed for the Bth
September at noon. On the morning of the sth the ar-
tillery of the attacks against the town and that of the
English attacks, who until then bad husbanded their

fire, were to resume it with great erif-r,..g.
Such a cannonade wa,-; never heard. We had mounted

in our two attacks more than 500 cannons. The English
had about 200, and the Russians more than we. The fire
of the enemy damaged our trenches, but did us little
harm. Ours, notwithstanding the great extent of the
place, converged on it, and must have caused immense
loss to the Russian army. During the last days which

preceded the assault oiir infantry; fatigue parties were
principally employed in enlarging the most advanced
place d'armes and the defiles, and in carrying to the spot
the means of crossing the ditches.
The aim of all our efforts was the capture of the work
constructed behind the Malakhoff Tower. This work
(called the Kornlloff Redoubt by the Russians), which is
an immense redoubt, a kind of citadel of earth, occupies
a mamelon which commands all the interior of the Ka-
rabelnaia suburb, takes the Redan attacked by the Eng-
lish de revers, and is only 1,200 metres from the south
port, on which the Russians had constructed a bridge of
rafts, now their only communication between the suburb
and the town. The Malakhoff Fort is 350 metres by
150 metres in dimensions. The parapets have more than
6 metres of relief above the soil, and in front of them is
a ditch which before our attacks was 6 metres in depth
and 7 in width. It was armed with 62 guns of various
calibres. In the front part, enclosed by the parapet, is
the Malakhoff Tower, of which the Russians have only
preserved the rez de chausee, which is crenellated. In
the interior of the work the Russians bad
raised a vast number of traverses under which
were excellent blindages where the garrison
found shelter, and beds arranged on each side in
two rows, one above the other. A Russian officer of
engineers, who was made prisoner, states that the gar-
rison of this part of the Malakhoff, which I have just
Little described in order that you may judge of the difficulties
which our soldiers had to surmount, consisted of not less
thousand metres
or ikn,
than 2,500 men.
The Malakhoff
b y t
front,e hilech Redan. is a
hou
This last
length, is bounded on our left by Fort Malakhoff, and
on oure
right
which, at the commencement of the siege, was only a
simple redan, was transformed little by little into a re-
doubt, closed at the gorge and heavily armed. The ex-
terior fronts of the two redoubts of Malakhoff and the
Care, age were connected by a curtain armed with 16
cannons ; and behind the enceinte the Russians bad
raised a second, which connected the fronts of the gorges
of the two redoubts. This second enceinte, armed in
part, had not, however, a ditch presenting a serious
obstacle.
The rocky nature of the soil bad hindered the enemy
from excavating everywhere equally the ditch of the
first curtain and of the Little Redan, and on several
points the troops were able to pass it without very much
difficulty. For passing the ditches, which bad a consi-
derable depth, we had contrived a system of bridges
which could be thrown in less than a minute by an in-
genious manceuvrs, to which our sappers and soldiers
d'elite had been trained.
The French artillery was so superior to that of the
Russians that it bad extinguished the fire of nearly
all the guns pointed directly at our attacks. The
filled up embrasures relieved us from the fear that
our columns might be assailed by grape as they issued
from the trenches. The parapets were destroyed and
a part of the earth had rolled into the ditch. Fi-
nally the Malakoff fort hsd been assailed by so large
a number of shells, thrown from our batteries and
those of the English, that the guns which did not
look directly upon our attacks had their embra-
cures also filled up, and everywhere the terrassements
had lost their original form. But, behind the de-
fences situated in the first line the Russians
had preserved a large number of pieces, which we
could not contre-battre completely, and the columns
which proceeded to attack the Malakhoff were exposed
to the fire of numerous batteries which the Russians had
raised to the north of the roadstead, and which, though
fired from a great distance, were nevertheless dangerous.
You are aware that even since my arrival before Se-
bastopol I was decidedly of opinion that the true point
of attack was the tower or mamelon of Malakhoff, and
that this opinion having been adopted by General
Canrobert, those attacks of the right were undertaken,
which were executed by the 2d corps. From the side
of the town we had been content to extend towards the

left the approaches executed by the Ist corps. Taking
things at the point where they stood, when the a,saurt
was resolved on, there was no doubt that Lhe possession
of the Malakhoff fort would lead to a decisive result ;
and on the other hand it was to be presumed that if a
failure took place on this point succes' obtained else-
where could not lead to great results. However, it was
not proper to attack a place so extended upon one single
point. It was necessary to obtain that division of the
enemy's forces which resulted from the great develop-
ment of the enciente that he had to defend, and especi-
ally to make him uneasy about the town, to which the
bridge led where-by he might make his retreat.
It was to satisfy these vario Is considerations, it was
to insure success, while economising as much as possible
the blood of our soldiers in the terrible struggle then
preparing, that the General-is-Chief decided that the
assault should first be made on the fro at of the Mala-
khoff; that if this attack, which would be made under
his personal inspection, should succeed, then at his signal
the English should attack the Redan and the first por-
tion of the town, so as to prevent the enemy's concen-
trating all his efforts against the troops that should
have already taken possession of the Malakhoff Fort.
The front of the Malakhoff was to be attacked by
three columns ; the one on the left, commanded by
General de M'Mahon, moving in a straight line on the
Malakhoff Fort by the front that faced us, and in turn-
ing it slightly on the right hand, had for its task the
taking and keeping of it, cost what it might ; the right
column, Dulac's division, was to march against the Re-
dan of the Careening Bay, to occupy it, and detach a
brigade on its left, in order to turn the second enclosure ;
lastly, the central column, being the division of La Mot-
terouge, issuing from the sixth parallel, having a 'anger
extent of ground to pass over, and arriving a little later,
was to carry the curtain, to proceed then against the
second enclosure, and send one of its brigades to the
assistance of the first column, if this latter should have
not yet gained possession of the Malakhoff Fort.
Such was the importance of these positions that we
could not doubt that the enemy, if he lost them, would
make great efforts to retake them. In consequence,
the troops of the Imperial Guard wore given as a reserve
to the 2d Corps.

The chief of the Engineer Battalion Ragon, having
under his orders several brigades of Rappels, marching
with the first column, had to throw bridges across the
ditches, see after the mines, open everywhere a passage
to the columns, and as soon as these should , be masters
of the fort, to close it at the gorge ; and in order to
oppose any rallying attack- in return, to open in the rear
large passages for the arrival of the troops and the
artillery.
The chief of the engineer battalion Renoux, attached
to the right column, and Captain Schoennagel, attached
to the central column, having also brigades of sappers
under their orders, had to fulfil an analogous mission.
All the arrangements concerning the duty of the engi-
neers in the attacks to be made on the Malakhoff had
been made by the General of Brigade Frossard, com-
manding the engineers of the 2d corps.
In attacking the town, in order to avoid the obstacles
accumulated by the enemy at the salient of the Flagstaff
Bastion, it had been decided that the principal assault
should be given at the Central Bastion, between its
salient and the lunette on the left ; that the assaulting
column, as soon as it should be established within the
Central Bastion should detach a part of its forces towards
the gorge of the Flagstaff Battery, whose right face
should then be assailed by a Sardinian Brigade, which
bad come to take part in the operations of the First
Corps.

General Deleßme, commanding the Engineers of the
First Corps, bad made arrangements for attacking the
town similar to those which I have just explained with
reference to the attacks of the Karabelnaia faubourg.
On the Bth of September, at 8 o'clock in the morning,
we threw on the Central Bastion two mines of projec•
tion, each charged with 10 kilogrammes of plwder.
The explosion took place near the middle of the Bastion
and app ?aced to cau,e great disorder. At the same hour
we exnloded, in front of our approaches to the Mala-
khofl Fort, three mining chambers, charged in all with
1,500 kilogrammes of powder, in order to destroy the
lower galleries of the Russian miners, and to give secu-
rity to our soldiers, who had to crowd within the
trenches under which deserters announced that the soil
wag mined.

At noon precisely our soldiers rushed from the ad-
vanced places darmcs in front of the Malakhoff. They
crossed the ditches with surprising agility, and, jump-
ing on the parapets, attacked the enemy to the cry of
" Vive l'Emprreur !" At the Malakhoff Fort, the inte-
rior slope having a great height, those who arrived first
halted an instant to form. Then they mounted ou the
parapet and jumped into the work.
TLe combat, which bad commenced with discharges
of fire-arms, was carried on with the bayonets with
stones, and with butt-ends of muskets. The rammers
became weapons in the hands of the Russian gunners,
but everywhere the Russians were killed, taken pri-
soners, or made to fly ; and in less than a quarter of au
hour after the stack had taken plane the French flag
waved on the conquered redoubt.
The Careenage Redan bad also been carried after a
very hot struggle. The centre column had advanced as
far as the second enceinte. Everywhere we had taken
possession of the works attacked. The General in• Chief
gave the concerted signal for the attack of the Great Re-
dan, and soon after for the attack of the town. The
English had 200 metres of ground to go over under a
terrible fire of grape. This space was presently covered
with dead, but these losses could not stop the march of
the at'acking column, which advanced to the capital of
the work. It descended into the ditch, which was about
five metres in depth, and, notwithstanding all the efforts
of the Russians, it escaladed the scarp and took from
them the salient of the Redan - but after the first strug-
gle, which cost the Russians dear, the English soldiers
found before them a vast open space crossed in all direc-
tions by the balls of the enemy, who themselves were
sheltered behind distant traverses. Those who came up
were scarcely sufficient to replace those who were placed
hors de combat. It was not until they had sustained,
during nearly two hours, this unequal combat, that the
English resolved to evacuate the Redan.

The attack upon the Central Bastion presentee. the
same result. In front of the Malakhoff the Russians
made great efforts to reconquer the works. Repeated
attacks were made, but in vain. The dead bodies of the
enemy were piled up in front of the gorge, but the Ist
Divison remained immovea!de, and in the evenime we
were maters of this citadel, without which the Rus-
sians could not continue their defence for more than a
few days.
T:lus terminated this memorable siege, in which the
means of defence and of attack attained colossal dimen-
sions. The Russian, had 800 cannon in battery, the be-
sieging army about 700.
In finishing this report, I ought to tell you, Mon-
sieur le Mai Lhal, that the ;realest harmony has never
ceased to prevail between the artillery and the engineers.
Whenever one of these two services could come to the
as-istance of the other, he did it with eagerness, and
this community of views and action has given us the
means of overcoming many difficulties.
I have alsc had to congra!ulate myself in every in-
stance on my relations with General Harry Jones, com-
manding the engineers of the Enielish army. Our object
was the same, and we have never differed in opinion on
the means to be employed for attaining it. Already, at
the siege of Bomareund, I had the opportunity of appre-
ciating the loyalty and the noble character of this gene-
ral officer. I have been happy at finding myself again
in relations with him at the siege of Sebastopol.
Accept, Monsier le Mar4chal, the homage of my most
respectful devotion.
The General of Division, A.D.C. of the Emperor,
Commanding the Engineers of the Army in the
East; NIEL.

MARSHAL PELISSIER'S GENERAL

ORDER.

The following is the text of Marshal Pelissier's
general order announcing the taking of Sebastopol
to the army :
" Soldiers !—Sebastopol has fallen ! The taking of
the Malakhoff decided its fate. With his own hand the
enemy has blown np his formidable defences, set fire to
the town, the storehouses, and military establishments,
and sunk the rest of his vessels in the port. The boule-
vard of Russian power in the Black Sea exists no longer.
You owe these results, not alone to your brilliant cour-
age, but to your indomitable energy and perseverance
during a long siege of 11 months' duration. Never before
did land or marine artillery, engineers, or infantry, have
to overcome such obstacles as in this siege; and never
did the three services display more valour, more science,
or more reso:ution. The taking of Sebastopol will be
your eternal honour. This immense success, while ;t
augments the importance of our pceitinn in the Critrea,,
makes the maintenance of it less onerous. It wilt now
be permissible to send hcme to their hearths and families
such of you as, having served their full time, have yet
remained with us from necessity. I thank those soldiers
in the Emperor's name for the devotedness of which they
have never ceased to give proofs, and I will take care
that they shall very soon return to their native land.
&defiers ! the Bth of September, the day on which the
English, Piedmontese, and French flags were unfurled
together, will ever be a memorable day. Yon have in-
vested your eagles with a new and imperishable glory.
Soldiers ! you have well deserved of France and the
Emperor.—The General•in-Chief,

" A. PRLISSIER.
" Head-quarters, Malakhoff Redoubt,
Sept. 9, 1855."

It will be remembered that one of Marshal Pe-.
lissier's despatches spoke of General Gortschakofl
having asked for au armistice, and nothing more
has been heard about the matter since. The Con-
stantinople Journal gives the following details of
the circumstances :
"At half-past 9 o'clock on the 9th a shell, the only
one that the Russians fired that daf, was shot forth
from the Quarantine Fort. At the same moment a boat
with a white flag put out from the shore, and spoke
with a boat from the French admiral's ship, and after-
wards had a similar meeting with an Engli.h boat. As
soon as these conferences were over Admiral Lyons
went to head-quarters, where he remained a long time,
and on his return to the Banshee received orders to put
to sea with a despatch for Lord de Radcliffe.
All this while the Russians, who had completely evace-
ated the southern side of the port, Were drawn up in
order of battle behind Fort Constantine, on a plateau
forming a charming promenade, surrounded by trees. The
flag of truce continued to float all day, and the Russians
remained motionless Contemplating the flames which
devoured the town. At 10 in the evening the Banshee
started for Constantinople, where she bad orders to take
on board Captain Drummond, of the Albion (anchored
at Beicos). This officer left Constantinople for the
Crimea in the Banshee on the 11th."

The Pr•esse d'Orient says that Prince Gortscha-
koff wets a very old acquaintance of Captain Drum•

mend's, that be had great confidence in his cm

city ana discretion, and that he particularly wished
to make use cf his ministry to confer with the
Allies.

During the assault General clo Safes was struck
by a ball on the right thigh. He had in his trou-
sers pocket a number of the Cortstitutionnel and
another newspAper, and these so broke the force of
the bail that his wound is only described as a con-
tusion.

The Constitutionnel says the grand result was
obtained at the cost to the French army of 8,000
men, among whom were about 15 general officers.
Of course it must be intended to include the
wounded as well as the killed in this estimate.
The staff suffered severely. Four staff officers—
Lieutenant-Colonel Cassaigne (General Pelissier's
aide-de-camp), Commandant Lefebvre, and Cap-
tains Ducos de Lahitte and de Laboissiere--
were all buried in one day at the Commander-in-
Chief's head-quarters. At their funeral, which was
attended by very many cfficers and met, General
Pelissier, standing on the brink of the four graves,
pronounced the following discourse :

Gentlemen,—However great may be a triumph, how-
ever splendid a success, they are always painful when
bought by such great sacrifices. The staff to which it is
my pride to have belonged has just suffered very cruel
losses which we cannot too much deplore. Captain
Laboissiere, Captain de Lahitte, Commandant Lefebvre,
and the brave Colonel Cassaigne, all four young officers
full of promise, have fallen in the face of the enemy,
victims to their devotion to duty. We lament them all,
gentlemen ; but permit me to deplore more especially
Colonel Cassaigne, who was my aide-de-camp—Cassaigne,
who was with me ever since I was a general officer, and
who would have continued to follow me throughout my
military career ; Cassaigne, whom I loved like a son,
and who should one day have closed my eyes, and who,
alas t I now come here to bury. The death of Colonel
Cassaigne is not only a heavy blow to my heart, it is a
great loss to the country, and a great calamity for the
army, in which his eminent qualities must have raised
him to high command, and enabled him to render im-
portant services.
Here the general, stifled by emotion, could only
add, " Let us all weep for him, gentlemen ; we
must now separate."
On the same day General de Sailes pronounced a
funeral oration over the 'bodies of Generals Rivet
and Breton.

LETTER FROM A FRENCH SOLDIER PRE-
SENT AT THE TAKING OF SEBASTOPOL.
Dear Parents,—Since I write, you see I am not
killed. I have been slightly mauled, for when my re-
giment mounted to the assault I was in one of the three
companies that blaied away for upwards of two hours
on a gang o Russians who obstinately defended a mortar
battery. We were all the while over a mine and did
not know it. At last the deVile set fire to the mine, and
blew us up. Several of us, and I among them, went up
8 feet into the air, and when we came down again some
'2OO men found themselves up to their middle in the
earth. I found myself buried under some eight or. ten
men, who fortunately were not hurt, otherwise I should
not have been able to get out. But I forced my way
to the upper air, and found that I bad merely
a contusion on the left shoulder and another
on the right arm. You see it is nothing, since I can
do my duty and write ; but it will be carried
to the account of my services in the regimental books.
Well, at last we have taken this Sebastopol, so much
desired. It has cost us dear, but I promise you we have
paid off the Russians well. We did as we liked with
them, and if any one amongst us has not killed at least
his tour men, it is because he did not choose to do so.
You should have seen how they ran away in closely
Packed masses, and did not dare to look behind them.
We knocked them about with our butts, our bayonets,
and kicked them besides till we were so tired that we
did not know which way to have them. We 171, se been
down into the town. It is Landsome. We have seen
the theatre, the cafd, and al► the storehouses, and we
have bought some fowls and cabbages wonderfully cheap.
The shops were all open, and there were no shopkeepers,
so you may guess how cheap we bought our poultry.
This is enough for to-day ; I will tell you more in an-
other letter. Thank God for having preserved and pro-
tected me. I embrace you with all my heart.—Your
son,