The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-30 00:00:00

LETTERS FROM THE CRIMEA.

( From the Special Correspondent of the Times. )
JULY 16.
Heavy firing last night and this morning. Never
since the beginning of the siege were both parties
so thoroughly in earnest as at present. The ex-
change of shot and shell is almost incessant. The
French, of course, can be supplied with these muni-
tions of war to any extent, but to the means of
their adversaries there must be, one would think,
some limit. That there are foundries in Sebastopol
there can be little doubt ; some of the shot thrown
at us is perfectly smooth and new, and seems just
turned out ; besides which, it is impossible to be-
lieve that a great naval arsenal can be without the
means of manufacturing its own munitions. Powder
mills probably also exist ; but in both these cases
the question occurs as to where the material for the
manufacture• is to come from. A small supply of
iron may be obtained by re-casting our shot and the
pieces of shell, but probably a great part of the
former goes into the harbour, and the supply is too
small and precarious for it to be believed that a Go-
vernment like the Russian would depend on it. It
seems more probable that an organised system of
transport feeds Sebastopol with munitions as well as
corn, and that during the summer every endeavour
has been and will be made to supply the garrison with
sufficient resources to stand during the winter, when
the roads of the Crimea will be less capable of bear-
ing the transport of heavy articles. As long ago
,as
August, 1853, two or three houses of Odessa divided
a contract to supply the Government with 14,000
military carts ; although these were, no doubt,
destined for the campaign in the Principalities, yet
they were probably transferred, with thousands
more, to the flefence of Sebastopol ; and the fact
of such contracts having been made is sufficient to
show the scale on which the late Emperor was ready
to carry out his views, and the, facilities which
the Crimean fortress still has for continuing a
defence which seems wonderful to those who do not
consider how long it had been foreseen and pre-
pared for. -
The French are very sanguine of their ability to
reach the shipping from the new battery they are
erecting at the White Works. That the Russians
also have some doubts on the subject is evident
from the assiduity which they fire into the
newly-constructed work. The long 68-pounders
which are being mounted seem sufficient to do the
work even at that distance, but as yet the ships
give no sign of moving and remain motionless in
their double line across the harbour, while the boats
flit along on all sides of them in ceaseless activity:
Our battery near the Quarries is almost ready, and
in less than a week the matter will be decided.

Our casualties of late have not been many. No
officer has fallen since the death of Lieut. Mansell,
of the 39th. There is little sickness when it is con-
side-red that a force of 150,000 men is concen-
trated in front of Sebastopol. Complaints are again
being made of the want of mattresses for the
wounded in camp. While at Scutari the care or
the terror of Government has provided these arti-
cles in abundance, there is almost a total absence
of them in the hospital marquees, where the men
are lying in great discomfort. The Sick and
Wounded Fund has been applied to in order to
remedy this want; but while stores are lying use-
less in the half empty hospitals of the Bosphorus,
it seems a waste of money to buy fresh articles
which could be supplied by a little arrangement
between the medical officers of the two places.
The Naval Brigade fancies itself hardly used in
the matter of promotion, and indeed it is difficult to
come to any other conclusion than that its officers
are somewhat neglected by the First Lord of the
Admiralty. After the 17th of October a large pro-
motion was made by Sir J. Graham, as the reward
of a single day's labour and danger, but since that
time, during a period of nearly eight months no
single promotion has been conferred on an officer
of the Naval Brigade, although there are among
them lieutenants of 9 or 10 years' standing, who
volunteered their services on shore, and have been
exposed to the hardships and danger of the trenches
equally with the officers of the army. The latter
by succeeding to death vacancies and by brevets
have received a proper reward for their services,
while the naval officers remain in their old posi-
tion, and are naturally disappointed and disgusted.
It is hardly sufficient to tell them that when Sebas-
topol is taken they shall have their promotion.
Many will not be alive to see that day, and in the
,case of married men, the widows who would be in
the receipt of adequate pensions for their hus-
bands' services will be left with a maintenance not
corresponding to the merits and sacrifices of those
who have fallen in a prolonged siege. If the one
bombardment of October was thought worthy of a
large promotion there should bo some reward for
three others, each of which was more severe and
more successful than the first—not to mention
nearly 300 nights of duty in the trenches, and all
the sufferings of the late terrible winter.
JULY 17, 8 O'CLOCK.
Another sortie from the Malakhoff last night
during a pouring rain. It lasted about a quarter
of an hour. Heavy firing all night. This morning
the French are said to be advancing rapidly with
their works. They talk of all being ready for an-
other assault in about a fortnight.