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

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The enemy had evidently been taken by surprise, and
after a feeble stand wane by the supports within the re-
doubt when the French entered, the place was vacated by
its former hol,3ers, who kept up a running fire as
the retired ; reserves, however; were speedily
brought up. but as the French continued to pour
In at all points in mere then an equal ratio, these too
were soon overpowered, and in less than half
an
hour after the first Z iueve scaled the parapet, the
Malakhoff was woe. The deafening roll of musketry,
however, in no degree diminished, but swept on to the
right towards the Little Redan, whose guns flanked the
tower ; here, and in the adjoining works, the struggle
Was continued for nearly a couple of hours, till the last
Muscovite was driven from his cover, and the grind
occupied by our allies.
In the tneanriine, however, our own assault had begun.
But it must first be mentioned that instead of having
before them a work whose embrasures had been bunged•
I,IP and its guns silenced, like the Malakhoff, cur men
had to rush upon a line of battery nearly every piece in
'which was ready to receive them with grape and cauie-
ter. The French, too, started from a line of trench only
Some forty yards from the point to be attacked, whilst
our own troops were compelled to cross an open space
of full six times the extent, and that, tee), under a direct
and flanking fire from nearly a score of guns. It is need-
less to dilate upon the comparative difficulties of the
two attacks ; hut, whilst awarding to the French a full
weed of praise for their brilient gallantry on the occas
'non, I cannot be betrayed by any mawkish generosity
into a concealment of the infinitely greater dancers in-
volved in that portion of the day's achievements which
fell to the lot of the British. On the day following the
assault I crossed over the space between our fifth parallel
and the Redan, and was then able an some degree to
realize the difficulty of making a run over such a distance
and such ground under the desolating fire of some 20
68 pounders loaded with grape and canister.- Let all
this be borne in mind before any of your readers jump
to the false conclusion that the French d splayed a
greater heroism than ourselves ; for, raw and inexperi-
enced as were many of our troops engaged, with some
few exceptions they fought as became the conquerors of
ttS Alma and Inkertnann. As soon a.; the French had
tirade good their footing in tile Melakheff a tricolour was
run up to announce tire triumph, and immediately after
a small white flag—the signal appointed for the advance
of our own men—was waved from the, parapet of the
Mamelon. At the first glance cf it 'the order was passed
at from General Codriugton fur the stermers to leave
Cover, and a half a minute after Major Web-ford and his
Party, carying the scaling ladders, bounded over the
Parapet of the buyeau. A volley if grape struck down
nearly a third of them, poor Welsford included, but the
remainder rushed gallantly or. In the meantime the
Rifles, under Captain Fyers, kept up a yigerous and
deadly fire on the embrasures; but the thick-matted
lOantlets with which these were curtained in a great
measure counteracted this, and the grape continued to
fly thick and fast over the death-space to he crossed.
The second body of stortnere followed quickly on the
hills of those who were already placing the ladders, and,
being well supported by those behind, were soon inside
he Redan. 11,re a murderous but brief struggle ensued,
and before many minutes had elapsed since the first of
our men gained the parapet, none of the enemy, but the
dead and dying remained within it. The Redan, like
the Malokboff, was won. And here I might have
Chanted a 'mean in honour of our unqualified
triumph, too, had not the blundering mismaneement
Which has so often borne fruit in the sacrifice
of our troops again turned up to deprive us
of our full share of the glory of this memorable day. In-
stead of pouring in supports to the aid of those in pos-
session of the redoubt, General Cotirington —I believe I
am only justly attributing the blame to him—for some
Inysterious strategic reasons known only to himself,
kept back the troops who crowded the trenches in the
rear till the enemy had time to bring up his overpewer-
ing reserves and clear the Redan of our men. The
latter bravely, but vainly, attempted to make a stand,
anxiously expecting every minute the arrival of supports,
brit no supports came, and they were swept hack into
the open to retreat under fresh st lens of grape—ter by
another marvellous piece of neglect no attempt at spiking
the guns of the place had been made by those who hid
gained a foetieg inside. Orders for the withheld sup-
Ports were then given but in harmony with the blunder
Which had gene before, the ihelligent aide—de-camp who
carried the cemmande, being about as ignorant of the
topography of the trenches as of the interior of Sehasto•
Poi, stumbled on the wrong regiinents, and ordered up
the first brierele of the Light Division, which had been
told off as the proper reserve. Evident, heweeer, a-•
Was the blunder, the gallant " fighting 7th," led on by
Major Turner, and the 231, under Carl. Lysons, advanced
to the renewed attack. The °thee-regiment-re who should
have preceded, followed in a state of beautiful poll. mell, and
tinder a fire of grape nod canister before which the bravest
Columns of the Old Guard would have staggered, our
Young levies—for such were three-fourths of the troops
engaged—were led on to regain the ground which had
been lost through mismanagement before. It was not,
however, in human nature to make headway under such
an iron storm ; the men turned, and fled back under
Cover of the parapet, leeving very many of their own
tumber, and teore in proportion of their officers, dead
or dying on this field of death. Two young lieutenants,
`Wright and Colt, of the 7th, were amongst the kiiled,
and three of the seine rank of the 23d. Major Turner
received a ball through his scalp—one of the narrowest.
escapes of the day— whilst Lieuteeant Alma Jones, of
fighting fame, was keocked over by a fragment of a
shell. Colonel Lysons carried away a rifle bullet in his
leg, and only three of all the remaininsf officers of these
two crack regiments escaped untouched. From the
failure of this sec eel attempt, the attack became one of
rnusketry-fire over the parapet, aided by the guns of the
Quarry and other batteries which bore upon the Redan.
Brigadier Straubenzee, commanding the let Brigade of
the Light Division, tried to induce his chief to storm
again, offering to lean the assault with the still eater
though shattered regiments of his own command ; but
Sir William declined repeating the attempt at that time.
rbence on till dusk, we waged a fuile war of mu
and artillery fire, which .w is vieorous'y replied to by the
enemy, and night closed upon our men, disc mraged and
bumbled that, through mismanagement on tie part of
those with ahem lay the direction of the assault, they had
failecliwhile the French had triumphed. It seemed as if we
Were again to reap the bitter experience entailed on us
by similar causes on the 18th of June, after having lost,
in the killed and wounded, nearly half the number of
men, and much more than that proportion of officers, of
the whole force engaged. The Russian apothegm of
"an army or lions led on by donkies," had once more
been illustrated ; awl whilst our allies were jubilant
With well-earned success, we were humbled by the con-
sciousness of undeserved defeat.
Up till midnight, such was pretty much the state of
feeling prevalent throughout the camp, as also amongst
the men who romeined in the trenches keeping up the
distant attack on the work which they had won and lost.
It was known that with dawn another assault would
be made, and continued at whatever cost till the redeui t
had been finally gained ; but this hope was, after all,
but a feeble consolation after the signal and costly re
pulse we had sustained before the eyes of the triumphant
French, However, there was nothing else for it ; and
so everyone anxiously awaited daylight on Sunday
morning, when our slaughtered hundreds were to he
avenged, and the tarnish cast upon our unitary honour
wiped away. About an hour after midnight, however,
the enemy forestalled all this by blowing up their maga-
zine, and abandoning the redoubt. Such, it is presumed,
was the fact, though it is not improbable that the explo-
sion may have been ceustd by one of our own shells.
Be this as it may, the re•ult was the same ; aed on a
party of our men being soon after sent out to recon-
noitre, it was discovered that the Russians bad given
up the game. Our troops were, accordingly marched
in, and the first grey streaks of daylight saw the
British ensign waving over a surrender which
had already been a prize. Long before darkness
had set in on the previous evening, the French had
swept the chain of works on the proper left of the Ma-
lakhoff; and thus the whole line, from the Quarantine
Fort Ao the mouth of time Tchernaya, was in the hands
of the Allies—the Russian batteries opposed to the
French Left having been simultaneously evacuated.
Dawn showed the last stragglers of the retiring enemy
hurrying ever the bridge of boats, which was promptly
destroyed when they bad crossed ; and as the entire
shipping—one frigate and a couple of small steamers
alone excepted—hadbeen sunk during the night, the
sun rose upon as desolate a scene as if Sebastopol had
never been inhabited, nor its splendid harbour covered
with ships of war. Even before the blow-up of the
Redan several mines had been fired by the enemy along
and within their line of works, and during the night
they consummated the sacrifice of their stronghold by
blowing up Fort Paul, and firing nearly all the principal
'buildings which had not already been in flames. And
thus ended the attack and capture of Sebastopol.
By early daylight, as soon as it was evident that the
enemy had indeed cleared out of the town, the French
crowded in, like crows to a carrion, to eorge their plun
dering appetites with what spoil had been left behind.
As on the whole of the previous day, during the pro-
gress of the attack, double lines of cavalry sentries
were posted along the whole front of our camp ; and
through this impassible barrier no one not on
duty, or not belonging to the omnipotent staff, was
allowed to go. About noon, however, armed with a
pass, courteously given me by General Simpson, I
crossed the line, and proceeded down to the scene of
the preceding day's carnage. By the time I reached the
fatal open in front of our fifth parallel, however, the
dead had been gathered off the ground—the officers
having been taken to the camp, and the men thrown
into the deep and broad ditch f,f the Redan. And there
was a sight harrowing enough to affect nerves of iron
and a heart of stone ; piled up, row upon row, lay the
bodies of the brave fellows whose blood had gained our
triumph, nearly filling the huge dike—a ghastly and
mangled multitude. Those who hal died within the
Redan bad also beet, ga•hered into the ditch ; so that I
looked upon nearly all the British who had fallen in this
last scene* of an eleven months.' tragedy. The first fact
which struck an observer was, that nearly all who lay
there were old soldiers, men who had borne the heat and
burthen of the day—hardly a beardless face was to be
seen ; the second, the calmness which appeared on
almost every countenance, even where the death-wounds
had been the most severe. Some, whose death must
have been instantaneous, lay with unclosed eyes
"gazing on the sky," and but for the glazed pupils
and ghastly countenance, might have been supposed
basking for pleasure in the sun ; whilst others again
were stretched out in all the seeming composure of
a calm sleep. Amongst them lay a few Russians,
hideous in their rays and dirt, but displaying like-
wise but few of the hair roving traces of acute or
prolonged deatiethroes. As I passed over this
bridge of corpses into the interior of the Redan, a
fatigue parte was already beginning to shovel in the pa-
tapet upon the bodies, many of whom thus fond a grave

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