The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-13 00:00:00

THE DEFENCE OF SEBASTOPOL.

The following summary of Prince Gortschakoff's
report of the defence of Sebastopol from the 17th
of August to the 9th of September is taken from
the Jounial de St. Petersbourg :
" On the 17th of August the enemy opened against
the faubourg of Karabelnaia a double fire of artillery,
horizontal and vertical, which was continued through
20 days. Our loss during this period amounted on the
first day to 1,500 nen, on those following to 1,000 ; and
from the 22d of August to the sth of September to 500
or GOO men every 24 hours. This cannonade, kept up
from the distant batteries, as well as from those at a
very short distance from the line of defence, produced
the most disastrous effect on our works ; the ramparts
and batteries, repaired every night under a heavy fire,
crumbled down at last after a few shots ; the parapets
fell in large masses into the ditches, and works which
had cost incredible sacrifices and toil were again de-
stroyed. To the left of the Karabelnaia, which was
more particularly injured by the enemy, the Bastion
No. 2 was reduced every evening to a heap of ruins, and
none of its gnus could be fired freely ; we were com-
pelled to transfer to the second line of defence, which
was still entire, the battery of 12 guns established on
the left elope f the Malakhoff Hill ; and even this se-
cond line suffered no less than the left face of the Kor-
nileff Bastion, against which the enemy directed the
heaviest fire.

" The proximity of the approaches of the enemy,
which almost touched the outward ditches of our works ;
the irreparable damage done to the line of defences, and,
above alt, the loss sustained by the garrison from the
fire of the enemy, which was rendered still heavier by
the necessity of employing a constantly increasing num-
ber of men as labourers ;—all these circumstances united
convinced the Commander-in-Chief of the indispensable
necessity of putting an end to a now useless effusion of
blood, by abandoning to the enemy the city of Sebasto-
pol, reduced to heaps of stones and ashes. But this
evacuation, in face of a hostile force of a hundred thou-
sand men, whose approaches already touched our line
of fortification, presented tha greatest diffieelties, and
imposed the necessity of selecting for the operation a
particularly favourable opportunity."
The report here repeats more in detail the effect
of the fen infernal of the allies on the Russian
works ; the falling ramparts filled up the ditches,
and it was impossible to do more than secure the
powder magazines by covering them with earth.
From the sth to the Bth of September the report
states that the loss of the garrison was 4 superior
officers, 47 subalterns, and 3,91.7 men. After de-
seribilf, the arrangements made on receiving notice
that the troops of the allies were assembling in the
trenches in front of the Malakhoff, Prince Gort-
; sehakoff adds—

" On the Bth of September, at 11.30 a.m., the enemy
gushed precipitately from their saps against the angles of
the Kornileff Bastion and Bastion No. 2. _

"The ditches, filled up witu the earth of the crumbled
parapets, did not present any great obstacle to the as-
sailants. They rushed into the Bastion No. 2, drove
front it the battalions of the Regiment Clonet, and, after
having spiked some of the guns, had gained the Ouscha-
koff Ravine, and the second fine of defence ; but there
Major Yaroschevitch, with a battalion of the Regiment
Belozersk, repulsed them with the bayonet, and drove
them beyond the parapet." _ _

The report states that the French were also
repulsed from the 12-bun battery into which they
penetrated by the chevaux de frise, and then pro-
ceeds to the French grand attack of the Malakhoff
Tower :

" The angle of the Kornileff Bastion (the Malakhoff)
was attacked by an enormous mass of troops, by five
French divisions, amounting to about 30,000 men. The
advanced column entered the bastion by the left angle
and drove back from the Regiment Praga. The com-
mander of this regiment, Col. Freund, charged the French
with several companies with the bayonet, and checked
them; but he was wounded, and the 'assaulting columns
which continued to come up repulsed by a vigorous
charge the regiments on the hill at the time, and the
enemy held possession of the whole of its summit. Most
of the commanders of regiments and battalions, as well
as the officers, had been killed or wounded ; our troops
kept their ground obstinately by the powder-magazines
nearest the tower and the battery that commanded the
Bastion No. 3 ; but about 2 p.m. they were compelled
to yield to the superiority in number of the masses of
the enemy, which continued to advance and occupy the
hill ; our troops retired behind the gorge of the
Malakhoff. The conflict on this point, where the adver-
saries were separated by the deep ditch and the rampart
of the gorge, was maintained for a long time with obsti-
nacy and fury ; the numerous columns of the enemy
made several attempts to throw our troops back, but
were each time repulsed with the bayonet."
In the attack made at the same time on the Ger-
vais Battery the French drove out of it the regi-
ment of Chasseurs of his Imperial Highness the
Grand Duke Michael. The report then describes
the English attack on the Redan :
" At noon the English advancing in skirmishing ,
order, sustained by strong reserves, rushed on the angle
of Bastion No. 3. The Vladimir Regiment, thrown
back at the first moment of the attack, but supported in
time by companies of the Regiments Kamschatka and
Yakoutsk, charged the enemy with the bayonet, and
repulsed those of the English who had already gained
the parapet, and were setting fire to the fascicles of the
sides of the embrasures. Lieutenant General Pauloff,
who expected a second attack of the enemy,
.reinforced
the defence by the Selenghinsk Regiment, which formed
the reserve. The enemy did renew the attack at the
anefe of the bastion, but was repulsed by this regiment,
under the command of Colonel ,iezentsoff, who fell
during the assault. A third attack by the enemy was rt.
pulsed with the same success as the two first. A ;
portion
of the assailants established themselves in the fosse, and
directed from thence a sharp fire of musketry ; 43 volun-
• teers of the Vladimir Regiment, under the Command of

Ensign Doubrovine, do.sceaded into the ditch, and drove
the Euglish out DOW'
The report details the incidents of the conflict on
the city side of th‘e Malakhoff ;- it appears oulythat
the French did not advance beyoncl,the works they
had taken at noon; and several.attempts.tp do so
are described as having been- foiled. 'At last, hovi-
ever—

" The Commander-in-Chief proceeded himself to the
second line of our intrenchnients befcre tha Aialalthoff-
hill, and; finding the height occupied by large masses or
French. troops, in the rear .of which there were strong
reserves. he was couvineed that. the re-occupation of the
Kornileff Bastion (the Malalchoff) would again neeessi•
tate immense sacrifices.. As he .had already decided 'on
abandoning the city, he resolved to take advantage of
the fact that the assault had b-ciu 'repulsed on every
other point to execute this most difficult operation white
the enemy was still exhausted by fatigue. Accordingly,
he ordered Lieut.-Gen. Schepeleff not to attack the Kor-
nileff Bastion, but, at all hazards, to prevent the enemy
from deboucking from it in the direction of the city,
These orders were punctually executed, notwithstanding
all the efforts of the French to advance in front of the
gorge of the bastion."
Prince Gortechakoff then mentions the names o
the officers who had distinguished themselves dur-
ing the later operations, and gives the number of
killed and wounded during th© day of the Bth Sep-
tember ; it was 4 superior officers, 55 subalterns,
and 2,625 men killed ; wounded, 26 superior offi-
cers, 206 subalterns,• and 5,826 men; contused, 9
superior, 38 subalterns, and 1,138 men ; 24 officers
and 1,739 men were missing. He thinks ,the loss
of the allies in killed and wounded must have been
enormous. The report then proceeds to the eva-
cuation : •

" At 4 p.m. the Commander-in• Chief gave the order
to commence the evacuation of the south side of Sebas-
topol at the fall of night, and for the transportation
of the troops to the north side, partly by boats, partly
by the bridge constructed in the bay. The operation
was conducted in the following manner:—
" The volunteers and part of the artillery were left on
the line of defence, and kept up a slack fire from the
guns and small arms. The lines of barricades previously
constructed in the interior of the city were occupied on
the right by the regiments Tobolsk, Volhynia, and
Minsk ; on the left by those of Azoff and Odessa. Co-
vered by these troops in advance, the different corps
formed behind them were marched in succession to the
Nichelae-place, and thence crosse I the creek by the
bridge ; those from the Karabeluaia Faubourg were car-
ried over in boats and steamers prepared by Vice-Ad-
miral Novasilsky. When the troops had all quitted the
Nicholas-place and the Paulovsky point, and the wounded
in the batteries of Nicholas and Paul bad been trans-
ported to the north side, a signal was given, and the
rest of the artillery, the volunteers, and the troops oc-
cupying the barricades began to move towards the points
of passage of the bay. As the last troops retired from
the different points of the line of defence the heavy pieces
of artillery on the works were as far as possible rendered
useless, and the pOwder magazines, as well as the city
itself, set on fire. After all the troops had crpssed to
the north side of the harbour the bridge was removed.
On the Bth of September, after the evacuation of the
city, the Batteries No. 7, No. 8. and No. 10 exploded ;
the Paul Battery was blown up, as well as the small
quantity of powder in the Nicholas Battery.
" Thus, after 349 days' obstinate defence of a city
surrounded hastily, and in sight of the enemy, with field
works, and presenting between its different parts natural
obstacles like the South Creek and the harbour, the
garrison evacuated the city without being molested. The
enemy, still undertbe impression of the bloody opposi-
tion he had met during the day, did not even think of
pursuing us. Our passage to the north side of the city
cost us only a few men."

• A note states that the number of magazines
blown up was 35.

FRENCH POLICE CASES.

(From Galignani's Messenger.)

A man named Loyola, who, from having lost a ley, is
obliged to use crutches, was on lfonday placed at the bar
of the Tribunal of Correctional Police of Laon (Aisne) to
answer the charge of mendicity and rupture of ban. The
President, after hearing the charge, told him that, owing
to his infirmity, he ought to have remained in the Men-
dicity Depot at Montreuil, in which he had been placed.
On this the man flew into a violent rage, and cried,
" Don't talk to me of Montreuil ; I have had enough of
it !" Be then launched into gross abuse of the Presi-
dent and the other judges, and declared he would burn
down the village of Monceau =lea Vir-ascicterw-htchat
been arrested. • The President attempted fo.
but his fury increased every moment, and at length,
breaking one of his crotches in two, he flung part of it
at the judges, but fortunately it did not reach them. He
was then seized and prevented from doing further mis-
chief. The Public Prosecutor demanded that he should
be punished for the outrage to the court, and he was sen-
tenced to five years' imprisonment ; he was also sen-
tenced to a year's additional imprisonment for mendicity.
Two brothers named Nieod, one a soldier in the 10th
Regiment of Cuirassiers, the other a corporal in the 15th
Battalion of Chasseurs (rifles), were on Wednesday tried
by court-martial for robbery. The cuirassier was met,
on the 6th October last, at St. Denis, by a gendarme,
and as he seemed anxious to avoid the officer's observa-
tion, the latter deemed it right to call on ,him to show
him his written leave of absence. The man very reluc-
tantly produced a written leave, but it had expired two
days before. The gendarme accordingly arrested him,
and when he was taken to the guard-house a pack-
age of ball cartridges fell from his helmet. Questioned
as to how he became possessed of the cartridges, he
stated that they had been given to him by a friend at
Vincennes; but on inquiry it turned out that they had
been stolen by his brother, the corporal, who was em-
ployed in the Ecole de Tire of that fortress. The two
brothers were severally sentenced to three months' im-
prisonment.

M. Ribello, a wealthy Brazilian, who arrived in Paris
some time ago, ordered a carriage of Mme. Masson, Rue
du Chateau of d'Eau, for 3,200 f., but subject to the con-
dition that it should posse;s all the latest improvements,
and that he should not be obliged to take it if he did not
like it. When the carriage was delivered, he refused to
receive it, on the ground tbat it was not lined with the
stuff which he had selected, that it was badly varnished,
that the doors did not close well, and that it had other
defects. Mine. Masson thereupon took proceeding.-
against him as a foreigner, and he was arrested for the
3,200 f. Having deposited the money he o'..tained his
liberty, and on Wednesday he applied to the President
of the Civil Tribunal, sitting in chambers, to order a
practical man to examine and report on the carriage, in
order that be might take proceedings to recover his
money. The preisident granted his application.

. .
A aressmaker of the Faubourg Poissouniere lately de-
manded from tor landlord 80,000 f. under the threat of
war !ering him. It appears that, with her husband, she
was recently declared bankrupt by the Tribunal of Com-
merce, and this caused such an impression on her that
her mind became affected. Her motive for assailing the
landlord was, it appears, that she thought h&was one of
the main causes of her ruin by having ma le her pay too
high a rent. Before starting in business in the Faubourg
Poissonniere, the woman and her husband had saved
up 40,000 f., but they soon, by mismanagement and mis-
fortune, lost the whole of it. In addition to a second
pistol found on her, she had in her pocket a letter ad-
dressed to her husband, in which she announced her in-
tention of murdering the landlord if he would not give
her 80,000 f.

ALDERMAN SALOMONS AND THE JEWS

OP MIZMINGBAM.

On Wednesday, last a deputation from the Jews of
Birmingham waited upon Alderman &lemons to pre-
sent a congratulatory address on his election as Lord
Mayor of London. The deputation, which consisted of
the minister, the Rev. A. P. Mendes, Messrs. Phillips
and Danziger, the wardens ; and several other gentle-
men of the community, was most courteously received
by the worthy alderman, who warmly acknowledged
compliment paid him by this unexpected demonstration.
The address was as follows :
"To D. &lemons, Esq., Right Worshipful Lord
Mayor Elect of the City of London.
"Right Worshipful Sir,—We, the officers and execu-
tive council of the United Hebrew
Congregation of
you our most
Bir-
mingham,i desire respectfully to offer
cor-
dial congratulations on your recent electiont.e City of a.. Lon-
nciertand important office of Lord h
Mayor of
don.
the result of their
" While we feel that the dignity conferred on you by
personal character your fellow-citizens is mainly
nfnivin
and
appre-
ciation of the manner int which
yto your discharge
given weight and aut
Igaatr
dw ef
r,
n
other publics duties, ith irsibutnsahtnunrladl
regard
distance from the metropolis,.
living
ano another
e ar
view the elevation of a co-religionist, for the first
point of
to the chief •
time in history, - magistracy of the first city
in the world.
"In your election, therefor; we recognise one of the re-
wards of a life of benevolence and usefulness ; but chiefly
do we regard it as a tribute paid by the enlightened
spirit of the age to those efforts which, in years gone by,
caused you to be selected as the embodied protest of the
people of England against the continuance on the statute
book of laws, which in matters of citizenship recognised
a difference between Jew and Christian.
"Placed, sir, as you are in a position which will afford
enlarged scope and aug•mented influence to your active
philanthropies and exertions on behalf of civil and
reli-
gious liberty, you will find a pleasing satisfaction in con-
tinuing a career which has earned for you the respect
and confidence of all good men, and in accelerating the
approach of the period when he last vestige of Jewish
disabilities shall disappear from the statute book of
England.
"Influenced by these considerations we address you
our felicitations on the past, and our hopes for the future.
Additionally will our prayers attend you, that the God
of Our Fathers may shield you from all harm, and pre-
serve you for the honour of His chosen ones, and the
glory of His name."

THE FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR'

KIDDERMINSTER.

KIDDERMINSTER, 001. 12. —Tee inqui,:t on the body
of John Hart, the guard of the passeager train on the
Oxford, Worcester, and Woiverbituiptiee_fteilwey, who
was killed by an accident on the line, occasioned by a
collision with the goods train, as briefly noticed in The
Sun a feve'clays agoova9 resumed to-day at the Town-
hall here bk.fere Mr. Docker, one of the coroners for
Worcestershire. The only evidence taken at the opening
of the inquest on Monday was that of a witness to iden-
tify the body of the deceased. The jury had already in-
ep,cted the tocality(fthe accident.

Mr. Savvier,, bolici:mr, attended the inquiry on be-
; half of the railway company. There were also presea
EdcoCk, manager of the line ; Critchley, the
superintendent ; Mr. Whitton, enzineer of the per,ma•
nent.twojs"; Mr. JOy, of the tecemotir'e departnient (on
behalf of Mr. Williams, the contractor for working the
railway) ; and ,Mr. Haller, solicitor, •on .•behalf of the
contractor. Mr. Sanders produced a plan of the line at'
the place where the accident happened. Mr. WhitcornO.
appeared for Mr. Burbury, one of the sufferers by the
accident.

Mr. Critchley, .being orn, produced a copy of the
rules and regulationH of the company, and the timetable
of the .passeogertrainß.

Lio.o, carpet-wearer, of Kidderminster, de-
posed that he was on the Chester-lane bridge. over the
railway on the evening of the accident (Friday last).
This was the second bridge from the Kidderminster eta. •
tion. It was about a quarter past nine in the evening,
and witness aaw a goods train approaching from Wol-
verhampton at the usual rate .of speed. As the train
pissed under the bridge towards It:ldderminster witness
saw a passenger-train,following it, at a distance of per-
haps a quarter of a mile. Witness saw the white light
up (all right) at the distance signal, and as the passenger
train approached, and about two seconds before it passed
under the bridge witness saw the white light changed
for a roc one (danger). The passenger train was going
at a "tidy" rate ; as far as he could guess, he thought at
the rate of 20 or 30 miles an hour. He thought a colli-
sion would take place between the two trains, and said
so to a person who was standing with him on the bridge.
They listened as the passenger train moved on, and
Lewd. the expected on take place, on which lie ran
along the side of the line to the spot. The first thing
that he saw was a man (the deceased) with both his legs
twisted in all forms and broken, lying by the side of the
line. He was alive, and by eke once or twice when his
pain allowed him. Witness rendered what assistance he
could, and helped to carry him to the Kidderminster
Infirmary on a door. The night was darkish.
By the jury—The accident happened at about a
quarter past 9, and the man was brought to the infirmary
at about 10 o'clock. The passenger train was travelling
faster than the goods train.
Mr. Critchley was recalled, and, producing the time-
tat les, said the goods train should have left the Bush-
bury Junction, a mile and a half from Wolverhampton,
at 330 p.m. That train was due at Kidderminster at
630 p.m. The passenger train left Wolverhampton at
8 15 p.m., and arrived at Kidderminster at 9 15 p.m.
When a train was behind time (as this goods train was)
no extra signals wore employed. The ordinary signals
were used.

Mr. Hillman, surgeon, deposed that be attended the
decea•ed within ten minutes or a quarter of an hour
after the ac ident occurred. He was being brought on
a door to the platform of the Kidderminster station.
His pulse CV33 nearly gone, and hi- hinds and face were
He d,racted bin" to be taken at once to the in-
firmary. On examination at the infirmary he found
b.,th legs smashed to pieces like splinters, compound
fractures of both legs, arid the left thigh was also broken.
He was p.rfectly sensible until two minutes befora his
death. He gradually rank, and died in about three-
quarters of an hour after he was taken to the infirmary.
The ii juries. de•cribed were sufficient to cause his death.
Witness believed the deceased was aware that he must
die. He said, "Oh, Lori ! my poor wife," but did not
say he should nevpr recover. .

Mr. Ge,rg,e Jackson, station-master at Ki Idermin-
ster, was in the stuion-yard at the time of the collision,
and went at once to the spot. The collision took place
at the e bow of the curve of the line at this point. The
collision had arisen from a passenger train having run
into a goods train. Found several of the luggage trucks
had been thrown over both lines, and further on about
20 yards from the bre:lt:at:in ottb-61,00ds train upon the
tender pf the passenger train, which preceded the engine,
and which had been forced through the bottom of the
break van of the goods train. Found the deceased, who'
was the guard of the goods train, lying on the embank-
- ment near to the remains of the goods van. Looked up
to the distance-signal at the Chester-lane bridge, and
found the red light was exhibited. The distance-signal
could not be seen from the station. The signal could be
seen the other way (bowards Cheichill) at least half a
mile. No extra precautions were taken in the case of
a goods train being two hours and a half behind time,
with the exception of seeing that no train followed within
a certain time. Had not ascertained the cause of the
delay of the goods train, and did not at the time of the
accident know where the goods train was. The passen-
ger train on approaching the station should travel at
about 12 miles an hour, and the goods train at the rate
of about four or five miles an hour. The distance from
the Kidderminster station to the Churchill station—the
next station from Kidderminster towards Wolverhamp-
ton—was three miles. No train was by the regu'ations
r te--,be-Allovrpd Aoldoilont.another.:,o33 -41ssr-;-ewe hug

into

sender train could come np. The passenger trains were
telegraphed forward as they arrived at the principal sta-
•tions.
The passenger train in question bad been tele-
graphed to Kidderminster from Stourbridge, the next
telegraph station. The goods train had not been tele-
graphed. He did not know that the goods train had not
arrived at the time of the accident, though overdue two
hours and a half. If they had known when the engine
of the goods train appeared in sight that it was a goods
train they would have hastened it on by a " to and fro"
motion of the signal., in order to get it out of the way of
the passenger train, which was due. It was not custo-
tomary in the case of a delay in agoods train to telegraph
the fact on to other stations. The signalman, Josiah
Lacey, kept a book, in which were entered the times of
the arrival of the trains, but he die not give infermation
to the stationmaster when they were behind time, as in
the case of the goods train in this instance There was
not sufficient siding accommodation at Kidderminster to
shunt all trains upon, and when this was the case a goods
train would be got out of the way of a following passen-
ger train in order to allow it to pass, and would be put
upon the ether line. This occupied more time than if
there was more siding accommodation. A leggsge train
would be four to five minutes coming from Churchill t 3
Kidderminster, and • a passenger train three to four
minutes. Five minutes' grace would be sufficient for a
goods train to arrive from Churchill at Kidderminster,
and be shunted out of the way of a passenger train fol-
lowing. It was the duty of the goods manager to look
after the goods trains. The stationmaster was the su-
perior officer at the station,

"John Rea, foreman of the porters at the Kiddermin-
ster station, having been cautioned by the Coroner that
his evidence might be used ageiait him, was sworn, and
stated that at 9.15 he saw a train approaching the kir-
Con round the curve, and saw Lacey, the, signalman,
put on the " danger" signal. The first he knew of the
accident was from the stoker of the goods train, who
came up to him and said, " I say, John, they've pitched
into us." He (witnass) said, " Never," but he said,
" They have ;" and then told him how it had happened.
Witness went to the spot, and described the nature of
the accident as already reported. All the precautions
were taken that could have been taken. The trains were
regularly telegraphed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The tele-
graph clerks left the stations at 8 p.m. Tirree trains.—
one up and two down—passed the Station at Kiddermin-
ster after 9 p.m., betweeUgoods trains. There were two
goods trains due at Kidderminster at the time of th
e The
ac-
cident--one due at 3.f.10, and the. other at 6.30.
goods trains were generally behind time.
By the jury—A goods train would occupy 8 tolo
minutes coming from Churchill, and a passenger_train
oir letpl'av co,a available
about eight minutes. [The stationmaster had given the
time as between three and four minutes.]
tae
rlwmennt
the inquiry was still proceeding At this period a short addjino
he
train for London left Kiddernun' ster.