The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-26 00:00:00

BOMBARD ME NT
OF

SE :6 ASTOPOL.

(From the Times' Special Correspondent.)
FOURTH DIVISION CAMP, FRIDAY EV-NING,
APRIL 13.
-Up to the present moment our batteries have succeeded
in establishing a superiority of fire over the Russians,
but it is not very decided, and the silence of the enemy'S
guns may arise, in some measure, from want of ammu-
nition, or from confidence in the strength of their earth-
works. It would seem, indeed, as if our fire was almost
thrown away on the enormous mounds of earth cast up
at the Redan and before the Round Tower and Western
Batteries. lam forcibly reminded to-day of the old
simile of the butt at Woolwich which I was compelled
to resort to six months ago to illustrate the effects
of our artillery on the earthworks of Sebastopol. The
whole of the parapets of the Redan and Round Tower
are jagged and pitted with holes several feet deep,
where the shot have sunk, the sharp angles of the
embrasures aro knocked away,. and the abattis in
front-is considerably damaged here -and there, but
the real strength of the place is unimpaired ' • and, so
long as the Russians can find new guns, fresh supplies
of ammunition, and men to fight the batteries, we are
not one inch nearer to the town than we were in last
October, so long as we rely alone on the fire of our
artillery to mike us masters of it. There are great dif-
ferences of opinion among those officers to whom I
have spoken respecting the chances of an assault, but
there can be little doubt but that an attack on the
Round Tower, the Maneelon, and the two earthworks
on the south side of Inkerman, which are calded
the French the batteries 1 Avril and .2 Avril, wou
he attended with success, if ma le with sufficient force,
although the loss of life would be very considerable
until guns could be got up to reply to the fire of the
north forts, the shipping, and ' the bastion face of
the Redan. Far be it from me to arrogate to myself
the -smallest military knowledge,, or to pretend to
criticise the operations of our Generals, but I use the
words of many officers when I say that these places
are not invulnerable, and that the possession of them
would niost materially conduce to a successful termina-
tion of our labours. It may be that our Genera's see
some surer and less bloody path into Sebastopol. They
may well hesitate to sacrifice the gallant fellows who
'oust fall in such an arduous and terrible undertaking as
the storming of these positions ; but, if Great Bretain
has set her heart on the reduction of the stronghold
which has already cost her so much precious blood and
treasure, she must be content to pay the price to the
last farthing. The exact result of the ships' fire it is
impossible to calculate, but at present there does not
appear to be any probability of its effect being paralyzed
by the action of our fleet off the mouth of the roads. It
'nay be observed, by the way, that what we call the
" Harbour" of Sebastopol is called " the Roads" by the
Russians, and that the harbour, properly so called,is that
which we term the dockyard creek or harbour. Directly at
the back of the Round Tower there are eight small ships
and some steamers, and several are moored close in to
the -.north side. If those vessels are heavily armed,
they can, in conjunction with the two-deckers off Port
Paul or Karabeluaia, inflict great damage on any troops
in possession of the Round Tower and Mamelop, and
our hetteries cannot get at them. Night after night
there is a rumour that next morning theme is to be an
assault, and the bravest may turn pale at the thought
,f the loss of life that must take place if the Russians
defend their works with their usual pertinacity and
dogged courage when placed on the defensive. Last
night, indeed, the scaling ladders and pontoons at the
engineers' parks were prepared, fitted with ropes, and
got ready for service, and a considerable number of
them were sent down to the trenches. It was, of
course, imagined that the assault was certain, but pro-
Wily no intention of the kind existed. It is always
usual to have scaling ladders in the trenches in case
of the explosion of a magazine, or some sudden event
occurring to paralyse the enemy, and to afford an oppor-
tunity of an immediate assault on any important por-
tion of their position. To-day the report is revived. It
's quite certain that preparations have been made at all
the hospitals to provide for the accommodation of
wounded men. We hear also that Lord Raglan applied
to Captain Lushington to know whether the sailors'
division could take the guns of the right attack and work
them, and it is understood that the batteries on French-
man's-hil will be manned by them to-morrow. The
Artillery will, of course, be employed elsewhere. All
the horses of the Artillery will be used to-night in car-
rying down ammunition, and in other work connected
with the siege' operations. The men—brave, noble
fellows—Ere all actuated by the best spirit and by
the most entire devotion, and any work they may be
celled upon to do will be done if man can do it.
They are sometimes sadly tasked, however. For
instance, some of our gallant Rifle. Brigade were
put into pits quite unfitted to protect them. The
roundshot from the enemy's batteries went right through
the parapets of sandbags, and killed and wounded ten
riflemen, including a most exemplary and excellent non-
commissioned officer. Again, 300 men under the com-
mand of Major Blunt, 68th Regiment, were employed
last night to get four 8-inch guns into position, on the
advanced parallel of the left attack. They found on
Coming to work that the passages cut through the para-
pets for; he guns were wide enough to let the wheels
through, but that the naves stuck fast, as the breadth of
the cut had only been calculated from the outside of the
tire of one wheel to the outside of another, and when
they came to haul and lower the guns they found the
ropes were rotten and that they broke in their hands.
The result was that after a night's hard labour they only
succeeded in getting one of the four guns into the place
assigned for it.
There have been frequent close and long conferences
hetween the allied generals, in which Omer Pasha has
taken a part. His Excellency dined with Lord Raglan
on Tuesday. On M ,nday and on Tuesday there were
lengthy councils at our head-quarters, at which Omer
Pasha, General Canrobert, and General Bosquet were
present. lam not aware whether or not Sir George
Brown attends these councils ; but it is pretty certain
that neither Sir Colin Campbell, General Pennefather,
Sir Richard England, or Sir John Campbell are much in.
Lord Raglan's secrets, and that he keeps his counsel as
close as it has been his wont to do from the time believesumed the command of the army. In fact, I.
that any subaltern in the army
is as well acquainted
with the plan of future operations as any of our Generals
of Division, and whatever renown and glory Lord Rag-
lan may gain from any daring enterprise or skilful coup
will be all his own. His lordship is understood to
let Major-General Airey share his counsels, and it is
probable that re'rmeral Simpson and General Jones,
from their respective positions, must have a certain de-
gree of the Field-Marshal's confidence reposed in them.
Hitherto our army has scarcely been in a position to
undertake any offensive operation against the enemy
outside, but the efficient reinforcement it has received
of 20,000 of Omer Pacha's best troops should render our
chiefs able to direct a reconnaissance against Balder,
unless an assault is imminent. Tee Tchernaya is now
flooded, and could not be crossed by artillery, and it
would not be prudent or safe to push a small force into
the gorges near Mackenzie's farm. On Tuesday the
enemy received a large convoy of stores. To-day they
have received fresh 'supplies, apparently of ammunition,
but there is no appearance of any increase to the army
encamped between the Belbeck and the Tchernaya.
The arrival of the Turks put an end to all fear for
Balalclava, and the lines may now be held against as
Teeny Russians as can be deployed to attack them with-
out the smallest fear of the result. The railway brings
up 28 waggons full of shot, shell, and ammunition daily,
more than ball way to the terminus, and its services
have been inva'uabler though they may not have realised
the extravagant expectations which had been formed o 4
hem.

10 P.M.

The batteries have been nearly silent since dusk. The
firs has now recommenced, There is a smart affair going
on, between the Rifles and advanced parties in the trenches
on our left.

10.50 r. m.

I had scarcely written the above lines, after having
looked out of the hut to listen to the reports, when the
rolls of musketry on the left roused me out once more ;
and I have just now come back from Cathcart's Hill with
the pai:iful impression that our noble allies have sustained
a serioug check. Five minutes' run brought we to Cath-
cart's Hill, where numerous groups of officers and men had
already a,sembled. It is a starlight night, but dark, that
IR, the stars do not light up the deep blue sky
sufficiently to enable one to see the. guns before us very
distinctly, or to trace the outlines of the country. But
on our left, it seemed, when the hill was reached, as
though all the constellations in heaven had settled on
the earth, and were twinkling in flashes and flickering
threads of fire in front of the Russian lines. The effect
of the desperate work which has been going on between
the French and the Russians can be compared to nothing
that I can think of save a broad street, as seen from a
distance, brightly illuminated for some festive occasion,
with the wind playing fiercely and irregularly along the
fretted gaspirs.. • It *RS" quite unknown to any of the
spectators whether this conflict was the result of a sortie
by the enemy or of an assault by the French on the Flag-
staff Battery and its outworks, and at this moment
I am quite unable to determine the question ; but I
am sorry to say—and sincerely do I' hope I may
be wrong—my opinion is that the French have
attacked the Russian works, and have failed to
take them, or they may have spiked the guns. Heaven
grant for the success of the expedition it may be so !
and may they then have retired. However, the Ru-sian
cheers—those horrible shrill ringing yells which have
haunted my ears over since Inkerman—have reached us
even here against the wind, and the Redan and Garden
Battery have not fired. They certainly would have
opened their guns on the place had the French succeeded.
Again, no mines have been
_sprung. All these are signs
of failure if ,our allies made an attack, and are also un-
favourable to the supposition that the Russians have
,mails a soitie. That the contest has been fierce and
bloody there cannot be the smallest doubt, and as I write
the fire has commenced again.
SATURDAY MORNING, 12.30 A.M.
Since 11.10 the fight has been raging, and I have