The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-21 00:00:00

of rarn to an old and gallant officer now no more, and
to his relatives and friends'. In his anxiety to screen
himself; and threw the odium of what has occurred upon
me, Sir James Graham has not hesitated to state calmly
and deliberately that which he ought to have known of
his own knowledge to be absolutely false. it;:r
Against Captain Christie I had -no personal ittlinga
whatever. . I knew him.- and had every reason to be-
lieve
sto hishi
fitnessto be anforh amiable,p ot deserving,'formed and
agnalulanfntavmoaunr..
A
able opinion ; but to that opinion I had act given pub-
lie expression until after Sir James Graham had directed
Captain Christie to be superseded. If any injustice,
therefore, has been done to Captain Christie, it has been
done by Sir James Graham, who sacrificed a pUblic ser-
vant to what he terms public clamour. He alone is,
consequently, answerable for the results.
I am informed that Mrs. Boswell wrote . more than
one letter to me regarding her brother. I can only say
that I have no recollection of having received any com-
munication from her on the suiject, nor was I acquaint-
ed with her name until Mr. Fergus mentioned it, after I
bad spoken last night. I trust that no one will syppoas
matterthe ofca this
jkuidn..
g.
d
me
I capableconfid e notfl yleave a want
o
ment 'and justice of the public.—l am, Sir, your obe-
tfhcios urstteast
client servant, A. H. LAYARD.
courtesy
in
statement o
9, Little Ryder-street, May 19.

THE NIGHT CONFLICT ON THE Ist.--
GENERAL CANROBERT'S REPORT.

The Moniteur contains the following report
from General Canrobert, addressed to the Minister
atWar alici
le dated May 4 :
Monsieur
Marechal—My telegraphic despatch of
the 2d gave you the account of the taking by main force,
and the occupation by our troops, of a work of counter
approach which the' enemy bad raised in front of our
left attacks. This work, which was of very considerable
extent, was composed of two broken lines, separated by,
an interval of 40 metres, and the extremities of which
were supported by some natural obstacles of the ground.
It was in communication with the lunette of the Central
Bastion by a deep trench, and bad been mounted with
nine hand mortars, the fire from which seriously annoyed
our works. This advanced position was of very great
importance to the enemy, as from it they could perhaps
have destroyed one of our recently-completed batteries,
as well as the works around it, and would have had a
cross fire on our attacks on the Flag Staff Bastion.
It was therefore necessary for us to prevent the Rus-
sians from establishing themselves definitively in this
place d'armes, and an attack on it was resolved on, as
soon as the works should have reached a height sufficient
to protect us from the fire of the place, or at leaskshould
do so paitially.
According to orders received from me, General Pelis-
sier prepared the general arrangements for the attack,
the execution of which was confided to General de Salles,
seconded by Generals Bazaine, de la Motterouge, and
Rivet, and Lieut.• Colonel Raoult, major of the trenches.
At ten o'clock on the night of the Ist, at the moment
when a very bright moonlight enabled a movement to be
made in order, the troops, formed into two columns, left
our parallels. The left columns,composed ofsix companies
of the foreign legion (Ist Regt. Col. Vienot), eight com-
panies of the 43d, under Commandant Becquet de Son-
nay, and ten companies of the 79th, under Colonel
Grenier, were ordered to turn the work by the right,
which was defended by several battalions. These troops,
which were led.on by Gen. Bazaine with much skill and
vigour, rushed on the enemy with an irresistible impe-
tuosity. Col. Vidoot also led on the foreign legion with
remarkable gallantry. A ball bas deprived the Emperor
of this brave officer, who fell, sword in hand, at the head
of his men.

The centre column, under General de 1a Motterouge,
whose naine has already figured in the most honourable
manner in the operations ot the siege, was composed of
two hattali'ms ot the 46th, under Colonel Gault. One
of these battalions, once led on by the colonel himself,
advanced without firing a shot on the front of the work,
and resolutely rushed on the enemy at the point of the
bayonet. The other battalion, following close, imme-
diately crossed over the first enclosure, and the whole
regiment then advanced on the second, which it carried
with a courage of which its cokoiel set the highest ex-
ample.

The 93th, marching in support of the 46th, rushed in
its turn on the enemy,,and gave brilliant proofs of valour
under the orders of its c'ilonel, de Bregeot. The right
column, formed of one company of the 9th battalion of
Foot Cnasseure, under Capt. de Villermain, an officer of
tried bravely, and two companies of the 42d, under
Capt. Raton, carried the work on the left.

eneiny, driven from every part, and pursued at
the point of the bayonet, abandoned the work and re-
tired in disorder, strewing the ground with their slain,
and leaving a number of prisoners and a quantity of
arms in our possession. The loss of the Russians was
very considerable. We took possession of the nine hand
mortars, which had been placed in position.
As soon as the work was occupied, the engineers com-
menced operations to turn the parapets, in order to se-
cure the position from the fire of the town, and to unite
it by a communication with our parallel in the rear.
These works were executed in the manner agreed on be-
forehand, but under such a fire of artillery as certainly
never before proceeded from any place. The officers of
engineers, and particularly Lieut.-Colonel Guerin, dis-
played a coolness, an energy, and a skill, which were
the admiration of all ; they were seconded with the
greatest devotedness by The sub-officers, the sappers,
and the workmen of the different corps, among whom
those of the 14th Regiment of Infantry was specially
pointed out tome.

- Scarcely had the Russians re-entered the place when
the violent cannonade which I have before alluded to
commenced from every point of the fortifications. The
workmen, the_troops, and the trenches in the rear, re-
ceived a complete storm of projectiles of every kind ;
but our artillery, skilfully directed by General Lebeuf•
opened a fire from such batteries as could be brought to
bear on the spot. The works were thus continued until
daylight, when the enemy's work was definitively in our
possession,.
• --
- -

- At about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 2d, a
Russian column of about 3,000 men made a sudden
sortie on the work which we had taken from them, and
the defences of which were )6EII in an imperfect state.
It was guarded by two companies of the 2d regiment of
the foreign legion, one company of the 43d, a weak bat-
talion of the 46th, and a still weaker one of the 98th.
These battalions, which remained on duty during the
day, had suffered severely in the combat of the pre-
ceding night. The assailants commenced by a sharp
fire of musketry, and some of the most daring of them
scaled the parapet ard threw themselves into the work,
where they were killed or teken prisoners.
While the foreign legion, the 98th, and the 46th, ener-
getically commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Martineau Des.
chesnez, were repulsing the enemy, two companies of
the Ist regiment of voltigeurs of the Imperial Guard,
who were in reserve in the second parallel, resolutely
rushed forward, tinder the command of Capt. Genty, and
threatened the right flank of the enemy. A company of
ot hiet
hleoBt 110
tbha trteagliimo ne
no
tf
of otth see
uunr sd,
ear ncd
hte%f-
-e odecolatpaainllioens
de Courson, joined in this movement, which so nobly
marked the debut of the Imperial Guard amongst us. A
battalion of the 431, under Commandant Jeanningros,
stepped another Russian column, which was endeavour-
ing to descend from the Flagstaff Bastion.
The artillery of the place supported the assailants by
a continued fire, but our batteries opened in their turn,
and, in the cud, prevailed over the fire of the enemy.
At length, after several vain and fruitless assaults, the
Rvssians decided on making aretreat, which they effected,
leaving the ground covered with 'their dead'. This bril-
liant affair confirmed our possession of the work. Our
losses in the 24 hours amounted to 11 officers killed,
amongst whom, in addition to Colonel Vienont, was
Commandant Julien, of the 46th, an officer much dis-
tinguished in the army for his bravery ; we Kadin all 22
officers wounded, and 158 men killed, and 600 wounded.
A short suspension of hostilities, the conditions of which
were previously agreed on between General Count
Osten-Sacken, the Governer of Sebastopol, and myself,
took place yesterday, in order to bury the dead.
This double combat, of which I now furnish you with
the details, is characterised in the most satisfactory and
honourable manner by the qualities of ardour and impe-
tuosity which are peculiar to our troops. Never did thiey,
give more striking proofs of courage. I owe particulars
the direction of these brilliant affairs, particularlyofGeneral
praise to the generals and superior 'officers chargedwithe
General de Salles, whe, under the orders of
still
and
precision prepared the day
This success has advanced us at one o
a great
towards the Central Bastion, and has. produced
precision the operation which he exewciutthebdmiunnudtblseonyigahrtds
influence on the spirit of the two armies.
The ;
their en-
The sanitary stateof the troops isis. excellent
perfect in every
ergy is unequalled ; situationtheir thing.—
regieAccept, &c. withCeAvNerliYOßEßT.
ct, and they are well supplies