The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-04 00:00:00

RUSSIAN VERSION OF THE CAPTURE

OF SEBASTOPOL.

The first Russian version of the fall of Sebasto-
pol is contained in the following general order
addressed by Prince Gortschakoff to his troops,
and in an incomplete report of the progress of the
siege published in the _Nuclide .Russe :
" GENERAL ORDER ADDRESSED TO THE ARMY OF
TILE SOUTH AND TO THE LAND AND SEA TROOPS
IN THE CRIMEA.
" Head-quarters, Heights of Inkerman, in the
vicinity of Sebastopol, Aug. 30 (Sept. 12).

" Valiant Comrades,—On the 12th September
last year a strong enemy's army appeared before
the walls of Sebastopol. Despite its numerical
superiority, despite the absence of obstacles which
military science might have opposed to it in the
town, that army did not dare attack it openly
(literally, with an open force), and undertook a

regular siege.
" Since then, despite the formidable means
at the disposal of our enemies, who by their nu-
merous ships constantly received reinforcements,
artillery, and ammunition for 11 months and a
half, all their efforts failed before your bravery
and firmness. It is a fact unexampled in military
annals that a town hastily fortified, in presence
of the enemy, should have been able to hold ou t
so long against a force, the means of attack of
which have exceeded everything that hitherto
could Lave been foreseen in calculations of this
nature..

" An.d with means so enormous and of such a
description, after the ruinous effects of an ar-
tillery of colossal dimensions, continued for nine
monals the enemy have frequently had recourse
to prolonged bombardments of the town,
tiring on each occasion many hundred thousand
round s, they became convinced of the inadequacy
of the it efforts, and resolved to take Sebastopol
by a ( lo.mbat.

"On the 6th (18th) of Juno they made the
assault on different sides, entered courageously
into th o town, but you received them with in-
trepidity, and they were driven back on all
points in the most brilliant manner.
"19 its check forced them to return to a con-
tinuat ion of their first plan of siege, multiplying
their 7 ,3,atteries, and increasing the activity of their
trencl a works and mining operations.

" f since the memorable day upon which you
repulsed the assault two months and a half have
claps ed, during which, animated by sentiments of
duty a.nd of love to the throne and to your
eoun tr y, you have heroically disputed each inch
of gi.o. and, forcing the assailants to advance only
foot b, y foot, and paying with torrents of blood
and a n incredible loss of ammunition each yard
of gri )und gained.
": fn this obstinate defence your courage did
not
dek r,
; on the contrary, it rose to the highest •
ee of self-denial.

c.
But if your intrepidity and your patience
iv' bre 'without bounds, there are such in the nature
° f the possibility of defence. As the app roaches
( A tide enemy gradually advanced, their batteries
were erected nearer the walls. The circlo of fire

which surrounded Sebastopol grew daily narrower,
and sent death and destruction upon the coura-
geous defenders still further into the town.

" Taking advantage of the superiority of
their fire at short range, the enemy after the
concentrated action of their artillery dur-
ing thirty days,—which cost our garrison
about one thousand men per day—commenced
that terrible bombardment (bombardement d'eafer)
from their innumerable engines of war, and of a
calibre hitherto unknown, which destroyed our
defences, which had been repaired at night with
great labour and at great loss, under the incessant
fire of the enemy—the principal work, the Kor-
niloff Redoubt, on the Malakhoff Hill (the key of
Sebastopol as a point dominating the whole town)
having experienced considerable and irreparable
damage.

" To continue under these circumstances the de-
fence of the south side would have been to expose
our troops daily to a useless butchery, and their
preservation is to-day, more than ever, necessary
to the Emperor of Russia.

•' For these reasons, with sorrow in my heart,
but with a full conviction, I resolved to evacuate
Sebastopol, and take over the troops to the north
side by the bridge constructed beforehand over
the bay and by boats.

" meantime the enemy, beholding, on the 27th
of August (Bth of September), at 10.30, the half-
suined works before them and the Korniloff Re-
doubt, with its ditches filled up, resolved upon a
desperate assault, first on Bastions No. 2,
Korniloff, and No. 3 (Redan), and after about
three hours upon Bastion No. 5, and the Belkin
and Schwartz redoubts.

" Of these six attacks five were gloriously re-
pulsed. Some of the points of attack, like that
on Bastion No. 2, on which the enemy had suc-
ceeded in bringing guns by flying bridges, having
at various times been taken and re-taken, re-
mained finally ours. But the Korniloff redoubt,
more damaged than the others by the bombard-
ment, was taken by the French, who brought more
than 30,000 men against it, and could not be re-
taken after the great losses we had suffered at the
commencement of this combat, for it would have
been necessary to ascend in the midst of the
ruins a very steep incline, and then cross a narrow
ridge above a deep ditch of the rear face occupied
by the French. Such an undertaking might have
prevented us achieving the proposed object, and
would have cost us, without the slightest doubt,
incalculable losses.

" The attempt was the more needless, as for"
reasons already mentioned I had resolved to
evacuate the place. Therefore, as the success of
the enemy was confined to the sole capture of the
Korniloff Redoubt, I ordered that no attack should
be made on that redoubt, and to remain in front
of it to oppose any continuation of the enemy's
attack on the town itself, an order which was exe-
cuted despite of all the efforts of the French to
get beyond the gorge of the redoubt.

" At dusk the troops were ordered to retire
according to the arrangements previously made.

1 -
" The examples of bravery you gave during
that day, valiant comrades, aroused such a feeling
of esteem in the enemy, that, despite the know-
ledge they must have had of our retreat by the
explosion of our mines, which our troops exploded
one after the other as they gradually retreated,
they not only did not pursue us in columns, bat
even ceased thing with their artillery, which they
might have continued with impunity.
" Valiant comrades, it is painful, it is hard to
leave Sebastopol in the enemy's hands. But re-
member the sacrifice we made upon the altar of
our country in 1812. Moscow was surely as
valuable as Sebastopol—we abandoned it after the
immortal battle of Borodino. The defence of
Sebastopol during 349 days is superior to Borodino,
and when the enemy entered Moscow in that
great year a 1812, they only found heaps of
stones and ashes. Likewise it is not Sebastopol
which we have left to them, but the burning ruins
of the town whioh we ourselves set fire to, having
maintained the h onour of the defence in such a
manner that our great-grandchildren may recall
the remembrance thereof with pride to all pos-
terity.

" Sebastopol kept u s chained to its walls ; with
its fall we acquire freedom of movement, and a
new war commences, a war in the open field, that
most congenial to the Russian soldier. Let us
prove to the Emperor, liet us prove to Russia, that
we are still imbued with the spirit which animated
our ancestors in our memorable and patriotic
struggle. Wherever th•e enemy may show him-
self we will present our breasts to him, and de-
fend our native land as we defended it in 1812.
" Valiant warriors of the land and sea forces 1
—ln the name of the Emperor I thank you for
the unexampled courage, firmness, and constancy
you have display ed during the siege of Sebastopol.

[Here follow Cul names of the officers who most
distinguished thel thselves.l
" In thus expreLls-ing the gratitude your worthy
commanders are ent.;.t led to who are still living,
let us also honour, ,comrades, those who have
fallen honourably for' our faith and for our
country on the ramparts of Sebastopol.

"Let us remember the . immortal names of Na-
chimoff, Korniloff, and Isto mine, and let us ad-
dress prayers to the Most Hih 'h that He will grant
them peace, and eternalise ti!leir memory as an
example to the future generatiozw of t he Russians."

Gortscha-
We take the following from Prince
koff's diary of the siege :
" August 24 (Sept. s.)—At 6 a.m. th e enemy
opened a very violent cannonade and bo tnbard-
meat against the first and second sections o f our
line of defence ; their batteries fired by s: voes.
We replied from our works on the right fila. ilk of
our line of defence by an equally well-sustained
fire. The fire slackened about 2 p.m., and stopped
towards evening. In the 24 hours, according to
the observations taken from the telegraph, the
enemy fired about 70,000 cannon-ball s and
16,000 shells.

" This terrible fire caused great damage to our
works, especially to the Schwartz Redoubt, to
Bastion No. 5, and to the Belkine Battery.
" During the night, despite the well-susi ,ained
fire of the besiegers, the garrison of Sebat 3topol
repaired as much as possible the damage don e ; a
portion of the dismounted guns were replaces 1.
" The works of the besiegers did not advat ice ;
they busied themselves repairing the damaged one
in their batteries."
After describing the fire on the 6th and 7th of
September, the diary stops at the Bth, with ti'rio
observation that Prince Gortschakoff will send
special report of the events of that day.
The diary adds, that on the 11th of September
the following vessels were sunk by order of the
Commander-in-Chief The Vladimir, Crimea,
Chersonese, Bessarabia, Gromonossets, Elborous,
Danube, Turk, and Grozuy. Their guns were
first taken out of them.
The report concludes as follows :

" Aug. 31 (Sept. 12).—0n the Ist (Sept. 13)
the enemy fired but little. They attempted to
open fire with mortars placed at the landing place)
called Grafskala Pristane. On the same day the
advanced posts of our left wing observed that two
camps had been established in the valley of

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