The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-24 00:00:00

RUSSIAN ACCOUNT OP THE LAST

ASSAULT.

The Invalide Russe 'of the 15th publishes Prince
Gortscha,koff's report on the assault and repulse of
June 18. The report, besides being a document
essential to the history of the war, enters more
completely into the details of the defence than the
summaries.which the Russian official journal has
hitherto presented. We subjoin it at length :

ACCOUNT OF THE ASSAULT OF SEBASTOPOL,

REPULSED BY THE RUSSIAN TROOPS,
JUNE 18.
After the third bombardment, which was prolonged
in a terrible manner for five entire days, from June 6 to
June 11, the line of the defences of Sebastopol bad been
completely restored to its primitive strength in a very
short time. The valorous defenders of the place,
strangers alike to fatigue and fear, had repaired their
half-destroyed works under a terrible fire, and with the
greatest sang field raised new batteries against the
enemy's approaches.
On the 17th of June, at 3 o'clock in the morning, at
a signal given, the enemy opened a violent fire from all
his batteries against the bastions of the Karabelnaia
suburb. For two hours his artillery acted by salvos al-
most continuous. Our batteries replied to them with a

rapid fire.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the besiegers commenced

a violent cannonade against our right line of defence ;
the fire became general, and continued so until a late
hour of the evening. As soon as it was dark, and for
the remainder of the night, the enemy bombarded the

place most furiously, causing bombs and shell to rain
down, so to speak, upon the town, the roadstead, and
the northern side. One of the enemy's frigates fired

broadsides against our coast batteries, the roads, and the

:own.

Notwithstanding the vertical and sweeping fire which
beat upon our works, the repair of these last and the
replacement of the dismounted guns was kept up with
activity. I should particularly mention the infantry
regiment of Sevek, which, on the night of the 17th, per-
formed service of this kind in the Korniloff bastion with
extraordinary activity under a murderous fire.
The extreme severity of the bombardment and the un-
usual movement of columns on the right flank cf the be-
siegers led to the conclusion that the enemy meditated
decisive operations against the fortifications of the Kara-
belnaia suburb. Conformably to orders given before-
hand to the garrison by Count Osten-Sacken, the troops
wero in readiness to repel an assault. On the 18th, at
dawn, the enemy advancing, sustained by strong sup-
porting columns, and by large masses of reserves, placed
at a distance, attacked simultaneously the left half of
our line of defence from Bastion No. 1 as far as to Pe-

ressype.
On the right flank, and in the centre of the attack,
were the French '• on the left flank the English. The
ravine of the doeke served as a line of demarcation be-
tween the French and English troops. _ _ _

From the depositions made by officers who have been
taken prisoners,* it appears that the instructions given
to the attacking force were to make themselves masters
of the whole eastern part of Sebastopol, as far as the
southern bay. The French were to take possession of
the bastions Korniloff, and those marked 1 and 2 ; the
English were to make themselves masters of that
marked 3.

The following was the order of the attack :—Five
French divisions—the 2d, sth, Bth, 9th, and that of the
Guard, amounting to about 30,000 men. In addition
to this were five English divisions—the Ist, 2d, 3d, 4th,
and the Light Division, from 15,000 to 20,000 men.
The French troops were divided into two great divi-
sions. The first, or the right, under the command of
General Mayran, was directed against bastions Nos. 1
and 2. The other, under the command of General
Brunet, was directed against the Malakhoff Mamelon.
To the third, or left, consisting of the English, under
Lord Raglan. was entrusted the mission of taking the
bastion No. 3. The first line of the French columns
was composed of a dense mass of riflemen, supported by
continual reinforcements in the rear.
The first line of the English was composed of volun-
teers, taken at the rate of 30 from each regiment, and
amounted in the whole to 1,500. The second line was
composed of three regiments of each division ; in all 15
regiments, about 10,500 men. The rest of th English
and Scotch regiments formed the general reserve.
The events of the day took place in the following
order :
FAILURE OF THE ATTACK AGAINST THE BASTION NO. 1.
About two o'clock in the morning the Second Lieu-
tenant, Khroustcheff, of the regiment of Chassenrs de
Brianstk, side-de-camp of Prince Gortschakoff—who was
posted behind the bastion No. 1, conveyed to General
Ourussoff the intelligence that the troops of the enemy
were concentrating themselves in great numbers in the
Quarantine Bay.
On the receipt of this intelligence, our troops in the
bastions held themselves ready to make good the posi-

tions previously marked out for them.
About three o'clock the columns of the enemy left
Quarantine Bay, and at the same time a dense mass of
riflemen rushed towards the bastion No. 1. This attack
was made under the protection of the trench batteries
and the field artillery which had been placed on a height
behind the redoubt Selenguin4r.
In accordance with the plan laid down by Colonel

Serbinioff, commander of the Regiment of Ciiasseurs
(Krementchouk), the corps of riflemen and the hostile
columns were received with a heavy fire of artillery and
musketry, and forced to pause in their attack. At the
same time our steamers, the Vladimir, the Groinonosetz,
the Krymn, the Bessarabia, and the Odessa worked up
to the point of Quarantine Bay, and, by a murderous
fire, threw the reserve of the enemy into the greatest
confusion.
In spite of the vigour of our fire, and the terrible
damage it inflicted, the besiegers after two unsuccessful
attacks threw themselves for the third time against the
bastion. There, however, they were received with a hot
fire of artillery and musketry. and retreated in disorder
in spite of the cries of their leaders, who vainly strove
to bring up their troops to the attack.
FAILURE OF THE ATTACK OF THE ENEMY AGAINST THE
BASTION NO. 2.

At three o'clock in the morning, during the general
attack, the columns of the enemy advanced fifty steps
distant behind the dense column of riflemen.
The attack took place against the two salient angles
of the bastion. After the first discharge of artillery and
musketry the enemy retreated. The columns descended
into the ravine, and commenced a general fire. The gene-
rals, in spite of their orders and their example, could not
succeed in prevailing upon their soldiers to renew the
attack.
The fire kept up by our steam-boats, which had come
up as far as the point at Quarantine Bay, at the be-
ginning of the action, and which were acting against the
hostile troops in the ravine, together with the fire of the
batteries on the north, produced a disastrous effect on
I the reserve columns of the enemy, and thus aided con-
siderably in the success of the day. The field pieces
which the enemy had stationed on the height behind the
redoubt of Selenguinsk, were forced from their position
and taken away before the end of the attack.
Our troops flung themselves on the enemy, who was
retreating in disorder, but obedient to instructions given
them they halted at the parapet.
FAILURE OF THE ATTACK ON THE CURTAIN BETWEEN
THE BASTIONS KORNILOFF AND NO. 2.

The obstinate attack against the curtain between the
bastions Korniloff and No. 2 was brilliantly repulsed by
the second battalion of the Souzdel regiment, commanded
by Colonel Darcyann, and by two battalions of riflemen
from the Yakoutsk and Selenguinsk regiments, which
were under the orders of Major Stiepanoff. Being sta-
tioned in this spot at the commencement of the attack,
they took possession of the banquette of the curtain.
The reserve was composed of two companies of the
Souzdal regiment, commanded by Captain Mitchourine.
At the third signal the French left the trenches before
the redoubt of Kamtchatka, and threw themselves on the
curtain, and on the chevaux de frize, volunteers heading
them with scaling ladders. In spite of the violent fire
of artillery and musketry, the French advanced boldly ;
the head of their column descending the ditch, the
volunteers rushed on to place their scaling ladders in
position, but the intrepid defenders of the curtain
leaping upon the parapet fired upon the most daring of
the enemy who were endeavouring to scale the rampart,
drove them back at the point of the bayonet, struck
them with the butt-end of their muskets, and hurled
stones upon them in the moat.
The enemy, thus repulsed, threw down the scaling
ladders, and retreated under cover of a heavy fire. Never
theless, after having formed again, they made two attacks

* In the instructions found the body of an English engi-
neer officer were indicated the operations to bo effected by
the Sappers, as soon as the barracks and hospitals weloror
seized. In addition to numerous machines necestoutle lbe
the assault, bags filled with powder were ertrgea
t of the
used. by the Sappers, to blow up those P°r ',
buildings in which the Russians inight be supposeu to offer
the least resistance.