The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-02 00:00:00

(Enclosure 1.)

Camp before Kinbourn, Ocr. 17.
Sir,—ln reporting, for the informati,n of the general
commanding the forces, the fall of the garrison of the
fortress of Kinbourn, this day, I have the honour to
state that the force tinder. my command, as per state-
ment enclosed,* effected their landing on Monday, the
15th, unopposed.
Owing to a heavy surf, and which continued all day
yesterday, the landing has been accomplished with some
little difficulty. The troops, however, were all got on
shore on the first day, and have since been employed in
entrenching our position. There are rumours of a
force of the eneozy collecting at Kherson, about 40 miles
from here, but our immediate neighbourhood appears to
be clear.

The advanced line of the position, flanked on both
sides by the sea, is held by the force under my command,
Ind is about a mile in extent.—l have, &c.,
(Signed) AUGUSTUS SPENCER.
Brig. Gen. Commanding Diglkh Land Force.
The Military Secretary, &c., Head-quarters.

(Enclosure 2.)
Head-quarters, Land Transport Camp,
Crimea, Oct. 15, 1855.
WEEKLY REPORT.—No. 16.

The arrivals during the week Lave been limited to
railway horses. 19 landed from her Majesty's ships As-
sistance, and 79 from the steam-transport Arabia.
Each vessel lost a horse on the passage ; but on the
whole they have arrived in fair condition.
I have bad them put under cover ; and hope, with
care, to have them in working order in the course of a
week.

The work of ballasting is progressing favourably, and
as many waggons and teams are supplied for this service
as are required without much prejudice to the ordinary
demands.

The precautions taken by Mr. Beatty are likely to be
effectual in securing the line for the winter ; and I only
regret that the state of this able engineer's health will
compel bins to relinquish his work for a while. He will
leave it in able hands, however. Mr. Campbell has served
with Mr. Beatty from the beginning, and is now ac-
tively engaged in carrying out his plans upon the line.
Nothing but the application of science could enable
the British army to exist in its present position.
The little harbour of Balaklava, which I can liken to
nothing more than the eye of the needle through which
the camel must pass, is now embraced on either side by
the railway—its branches leading from the various
wharves and storehouses, to depots outside the town,
where room (though not sufficient) is afforded to the
transport to load up. Waggons and their teams are
thus allotted for the special service of drawing supplies
fuel, hay, and corn to these depots, independent of the
trains which proceed to the front. The narrow ways of
the little town are thus relieved in a great measure from
the interminable crush of animals and carriages through-
out the day, which effectually impeded one another, and
caused the death of many.
The road is another important work, the progress of
which I watch with the greatest interest. lam an old
road-maker myself, and believe the line to be good.
But the most important work of all will, in my opi-
nion, be the floating factory.
This is a measure worthy of England ; for her base is
on the waters, and she has now floated Woolwich to her
army in the Crimea.
I have minutely inspected the vessel and her fittings
(and, moreover, drawn largely from their stores), and
have been struck with admiration at her capacities.
I have had the fashion of the boxes of wheels taken,
and I hope to have them cast in large numbers.
Iron axles can be welded and turned, engines fitted,
and timbers sawn—in short, I have no longer to look
3000 miles fur the source of vitality. I hope now to be
enabled to make provision for the sr ring ; for the trans-
port is so situated that the material parts of all the car-
riages must become worn out by the incessant traffic to
which it will necessarily be exposed throughout the entire
winter.

I reckon that every waggon, with its horse, harness,
and driver, must travel on an average 14 miles daily,
over indifferent roads, and that this wear and tear must
extend over a period of six months; at the end of which
time, when the army, refreshed, will call upots this corps
to take it into the field, neither waggens nor harness
will be in a serviceable state. It is absolutely necessary,
therefore, that strong reserves of wheels, axles, shafts,
poles, and harness of every kind should be ready ; and
although I see that the floating factory can do much, it
will be necessary for the arsenals at home to help, espe-
cially with harness, which should be very strong and
serviceable.
I think it would be worth while to ascertain, by com-
parison, the relative quality and prices of the English
and Sardinian mule waggon harness. It may be found
that the advantage, as to cost, is on the Sardinian side,
and that the stout white leather of which it is composed
is more durable than that furnished to this corps.
The general organisation of this corps proceeds satis-
factorily. I was glad of an opportunity lately, when a
division of the army was under orders for Eupatoria, to
try the efficiency of the corps. Two divisions of transport,
composed of 3,000 animals, with their proportion of
waggons, carts, ambulances, and artificers, were ready
for embarkation in a very short time, and appeared very
efficient and complete.
The scope of the intended operations of the force being
afterwards limited to three or four days, the amount of
transport was proportionally reduced to nearly one half.
The bulk of the transport of an army is entirely regu-
lated by the radius of intended operations—it is solely a
question of supply. Thus for these three days, which
were intended to be the scope of the operations at Eupa-
toria, the commissary general made a requisition on this
department for 3,500 pack animals and 20 carts. The
requirements of the other branches of the force were
trifling compared to this demand, and it will enable his
lordship to form some idea of what the requirements of
the whole army will be when it takes the field in a
country devoid of resources.-
I will here venture to express an opinion, as it bears
materially upon the subject of transport ; it is that our
soldiers should habitually move with three days' provi-
sions on their persons ; whether it be in war or peace,
the weight should never be diminished.
The Roman soldiers used to be clad in heavier armour
during peace than they wore on a campaign, so that war
with its burdens and toils should sit lightly upon them.
The French soldiers in the present campaign carry four
days' provisions, besides their tents; and if the British
soldier should do the same, 1,600 animals to every
6,000 men that take the field would be saved to the
transport of the army.
I make these observations with profsound respect to
the opinions of my superiors, and in the spirit and inten-
tion of these reports, viz , to do all that lies in my power
to make the British army moveable and efficient.
To return to the corps. The arrival of the young Eng-
lish drivers is a timely resource, as the natives had be-
gun to desert in great numbers, notwithstanding the
precautions I have taken to prevent them, in communi-
cation with the police and Admiral Freemantle.
I have obtained labourers from Constantinople to aid
in building stables, and I hope that; the most valuable of
the animals will soon be under cover.
I have adopted the constructions entirely to the nature
of the ground on which the several camps are pitched,
which, being principally rocky, I find the simplest mode
to be that of excavating a couple of feet, and running a
centre wall with a roof on either side. The earth thrown
out by the excavation being mixed with manure forms
every day a higher bank outside, so as to increase the
protection and warmth of the stables.
Stone is abundant, and I am m tking use of the mate-
rials of the packing-cases, in which the hat saddles are
eclat out, for planking. MURDO, D.G.

Total cf last week's return of animals
Destroyed B3
Died

- 100

Total remaining 14,737
M. M'MURDO, D.G.

(Enclosure 3.)

Head-quarters, Cam}}, Sebastopol, Oct. 16.
Sir,—The health of the army, as you will notice by
weekly state of sick, continues satis-
the accompanying
factory. There has been a slight increase of cholera in
the Second and Third Divisions during the week, chiefly
amongst the newly-arrivel men. Catarrhal complaints
have also been more numerous. Large fatigue parties
are employed daily in malting and repairing roads ; but
the night duty is light, acid the men's rations and dress
are both good. It has been proposed to give a ration of
peas once a week to the men with their salt pork, which
will be an agreeable variety and conducive to health.

* Ist, Brigado, 4th Division ; Royal Marines, 1200 men.
rank and file ; Royal Engineers, Artillery, and detach•
meat of cavalry.