The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-15 00:00:00

THE EX‘,

:JIDITION TO KERTCH.

The Moniteur of yesterday publishes the follow-
ing despatch from Vice-Admiral Bruat to the Mini-
ster of Marine :

STRAITS, OF KERTCH, JUNE 1.
"Monsieur le Ministre,—l have already informed
your Excellency of the operations which threw open to
the allied fleets the entrance to the Sea of Azoff, and
the first results obtained by the allied squadron, which
Commanders Beral de Sedaiges, of the Lucifer, and
Lyons, of the Miranda; were ordered to take as far as
Berdiansk.

To-day I send your Excellency some more circum-
stantial details.

It was advisable not to allow the enemy, whose works
had been forcibly, interrupted by the winter, time to com-
plete the' defence of the peninsula by new works. The
• assistance of a body of troops was indispensable, if not to
force the passes of Kertch and Yenikale, at least to make
sure that, when our cruisers bad passed them, they should
ourselves doubly
not find them closed behind. Now that we have been
en thled t.) examine more tnioutely the obstacles accu-
mulated by the enemy at the entrance of the Suesa,
Admiral
Amzi
roai ff,
Lyons
thoses and
that
myself
cwoenrgeratpurleattme ring
on havinz insured the iuc::e:;e of the expe:lition. by de-
manding -the aid of a division of the army. The material
damage already done to the enemy, the emharragsinent
that he most rece,,sarily E,hortly experience from the dE-
s%roctin of immAlse stun: 4-prociions (lestinfd for his
army in t',. Crimr,, the to, rAI effect of a new invakion
etiTrit'd to the i ;a:,ks of the Don and to the FI, r,s of the
Pot -
,tntion. -
.4.l"l'Se", all demonstrate the importanw of this expe.

Despite the interest the Cornmanders-in-Chief
sclves attached to it, it was only in the first days (if
April that the execntiln of the plan could be s.criott-ly
',ought of. During till time the project hal beg!) care-
fully studied.Adniiral Lyons had received the most
precise reports froin h;s captains, and the ci)mmatider of
the Fulton, Lieutenant Le Eris, who had been cruising
off Kert'3ll since February, had also provided me with
details resnecting the defences or the straits, the facili-
ties offered by the coast for a landing, and the strength
of the Russians in the peninsula, which made me enter-
tain no doubt of the success of the operation, provided
it could be done promptly and with secresy.
On the 20th of May it was agreed upon between the
Commanders-in-Chief and the Admirals that an expedi-
tionary corps, consisting of 7.000 French and three bat-
ter es, under the orders of General D'Auternarre ; of
3,000 English and one battery, under General Brown ;
0f.5,000 Turks, and a battery borrowed from Orner
Pasha's army, should embark on board the squadrons
'and b 3 conveyed immediately to Kertch. On the even-
ing of the 22d the troops, artillery, and materid em-
barked on board the vessels appointed to receive them.
The French squadron consisted of the following ves-
sels :

The Montebello, Captain Bassibre, in which I hoisted
my flag ; the Napoleon, with the flag of Rear• Admiral
Charner ; and the Charlemagne.

Steam4rigates—Po moue, Caflarelli, Mogador, Cacique,
Descartes, A.smodee, and 131loa.

Steam-corvettes—Vdloce, Primauguet, Phlsigethon,
Berthollet, Roland, and Paton.

Steam-sloops—Lucifer, 11Tegbre, Milan, Brandon Ful-
ton, and Dauphin.
Bombardeh Vapeur (steam mortar-boat)--Le Vautour.
The staff of the army had added to the expedition, for
their particular service, the steamer Egyptian and two
sailing vessels. They had, moreover, placed at our dis-
posal, to tow the barges to the shore, one of the steam-
tugs of Port Kamiesch, the Beicos.
The command of the beach was intrusted to M. Gio-
vannetti, one of the officers of my staff. .1
The steam-frigates Cacique, Descartes, and Ulloa car-
ried three batteries of artillery ; the Asmodge conveyed
the horses of those batteries which could not find place
on board the other frigates. The mules and materiel
of the ambulance, as also the reserve ammunition, were
placed on board the Caffarelli.
Eizht barges, each eat able of containing a gun har-
nessed with gun-carriage, were placed on board the ships
and on the poop of the Pomone, for the landing of the
troops, and especially for the landing of the artillery.
On board the steam despatch boats, whose small
draught of water allowed them to approach within a
short distance of the shore, were embarked the sth and
14th batt tlious of Chasseurs-h-pied ; the 19th and 26th
Regiments of the Line were embarked on board the
frigates and steam-corvettes.
The 74th and 39th Regiments, which, with the 14th
battalion of Chasseuri, formed the second biigade, were
conveyed by the three men-of-war and by the Pomone.
Every arrangement wqs made beforehand for landing
simultaneously at least 3,000 infantry, which were to be
promptly supported by three pieces of artillery and a
section of a rocket battery.
On the 24th of May, at daybreak, the two squadrons
Were united at the appointed rendezvous 12 miles south
of Cape Takli. The barges and boats for the -disembarka-
tion v e.-e towered, the ships of the lice cast anchor in
about six fathoms, the other steamers formed a line of
escort, and steered toward.s the bay which forms the lower
point of Karnieseb. Tee light steamers cm-t anchor at
from four to tire cable lengths from the shore, the cor-
vettes and frigates as rear as the depth of water per-
mitt ed.

At 1 o'clock in the afternoon the boats full of troops
inrmed around the barge bearing the distinctive signal of
General D'Autemorre, Sooe Russian horsemen had
appeared on the heights, hut a few shells from the Eng-
vesse'_s and iron). the Megere sufficed to disperse
them. If the enemy had a,F•sonabled troops to oppose
the landing it was evident they dared not appear in the
plain, %ditch could be swept by the 'onus of our vessel.,
and that they would ramain beyond the range of Our
•attilkry.
The,signal to advance was given tq the boats, and a
few moments afterwards the two battalions of Cleasseurs
landed on the beach, to the shout of "Vire l'Einporeur,"
and formed in columns to climb the heights.
The Ei.glish troops, who landed at the same moment
as ours, took up a position on the left, and immediately
ad ranted.

During this time the. Dauphin, Oaten, Lucifer, and
Milan, went to take the troops of the 2d Brigade from
the min of-war and Pomone. At half-past three the
whole of the infantry was landed, and the disembarka-
tion of the art.llery and horses was going on actively.
We w-re aware that the enemy bad establish-d a bat-
tery of 23 guns of II( avy calibre on Cape St. Paul,
and another battery of_three guns on Cape Ak-Bournou.
These batteries were not the only obstacles which the
Russians had intended opposing to the vessels that might
attempt to force the passage of Cape St. Paul ; a great
number of vessels had been sunk in the passage. Dis-
persed by currents and the melting of the ice, these yes
eels formed so many iszef3 not indicated by the lead, and
of the position of which we were completely ignorant.
The enemy had, morener, sunk explosive machines
(boufes). We found some of them in the Kertch arse-
nal, which we were enabled to examine at leisure.
A. triple brass wire, covered with a guttalercha
wrapper, placed them in communication with an electric
battery in the battery of Cape St. Paul. It would have
been easy to explode the-,e submarine petards•when our
vessels were within the straits, and the effect would have
been decisive, if the explosion took place at the proper
moment.
Although we knew very little of these details still we
expected to meet at the passage of Cape St. Paul with
a resistance in proportion to the considerable efforts
made by the enemy for its defence ; but we relied to
overcome it by the combined efforts of the allied troops
and squadrons. About 2 p.m. I had hoisted my flag on
board the steam corvette Laplace, Captain Caboureau,
which had joined the squadron the evening before. I
made for Cape St. Paul, to examine the works more
closely, when a violent explosion, soon followed by suc-
cessive reports, apprized ire that the Russians were
blowing up their powder magazines, and bad given up
i the idea of contesting this first passage. The abandon-
ment of Cape St. Paul seemed to indicate that the enemy
\
had reserved a more advantageous line of defence, behind
which they would concentrate, and await us. The old
castle of Yenikale offered, in fact, to the Russians a re-
doubt the thick masonry of which would have withstood
the fire of our field batteries for a long time. A long line
of floating batteries and transport ships armed with guns
barred this second passage, in which the depth of the
water is not more than 13 feet, and therefore only acces-
sible to " avisoa" or gun-boats.
This line of floating batteries added their fire to the
cro=s fire of the batteries of Yenikale and of the Russian
battery erected on the Cheska bank. Our information
respecting this part of• the straits was very incomplete,
and we might presume that we could not force such a
position without an obstinate struggle. These latter
obstacles were, however, to vanish with the same facility
as the others.
I have already informed your Excellency, by my de-
spatch of the 26th May, of the engagement which took
place immediately after the evacuatiork of the batteries
of Cape St. Pa:l between the defences of Yenikale and
the English gun-boats, supported by the Fulton and Me-
gere. This engagement lasted till sunset, and the vessels
engaged cast anchor in the Gulf of Kertch. This ma-
noeuvre doubtless hastened the resolution of the enemy,
for about eight o'clock in the evening a loud explosion
announced to us that they had evacuated Yenikale in
the same manner as they had abandoned their first line
of defence.
On the following day, at daybreak, the allied army
began its march, and before noon its columns crowned
the heights of Yenikale, which place they entered with-
asasmhoet.evening the Lucifer, MeOre, Brandon,
rtoe da fif ira Be
provisions.r d ia Commandern
?it firing
itnhge
Fulton, under the
earnotedrclbsettreose_kßeral de
with-
out
S4daiges, joined in the Sea of Azoff tee English vessels
The Lucifer, Megere, Brandon, and Fultons were
I)
traei return rijny toon Ks'
nubnldigeredCten
During this -time the English guy-boats had attacked
Genitchi. Their boats boldly ventured into the arm ofthe sea which connects the Sea of Azoff with the Putrid
Sea, and there set fire to more than 70 vessels and very
large stores of grain.
The Lucifer, Me t,b 7 re, Brandon and Fulton re-entered
the Sea of Azoff yesterday
accompanied by the Dauphin
and the Mouette and the: bar and longboats of the
es
Montebello, Napoleon, Charlemagne, and Poznone.
Our vessels were to join the English flotilla off Tagan-
rog, and I hope soon to have another success to announce
to your Excellency.
Vice-Admiral Commander-in-Chief BRuAT.

• The Oxford Militia, at present quartered in Ports-
mouth garrison, aro ordered to embark in the sailing
transports Canterbury and Chapman for Corfu.
The Northumberland Artillery Militia, after the usual
course of 28 days' drill in Tynemouth garrison, have been
disbanded for this year.
The numerical force of the Dorsetshire Regiment now
amounts to about 325, and fresh recruits are Coming In.
daily.