The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-06 00:00:00

" GENERAL AFTER ORDER.

"Head-Quarters before Sebastopol, March 21.
" Lieutenant-General Sir John Burgoyne, G.C.8.,
having been recalled to En:land for the purpose of re-
suming the duties of the important situation of Inspector-
General of the Fortifications, the Commander of the Forcis
cannot allow him to leave this army without bearing tes-
timony to the eminent services be has rendered, Lord
Raglan begs the Lieutenant-General to accept his warmest
acknowledgments, and takes this opportunity of assuring
him that his exertions are universally appreciated, and
that he is received by all with the highest respect and
regard.

"By order.
"J. SIMPSON, Chief of the Staff,."
It will be observed that the orders are now
signed by General Simpson, and that the name of
the Adjutant-General, Estcourt, is no longer ap-
pended to them. It is the Chief of the Staff who
waits on Lord Raglan each day to ascertain his
wishes and to receive orders, and he communicates
those orders to the Quartermaster and Adjutant-
General, and sees that they are duly executed.
General Simpson is very active for his years, and
walks as well as most well, lie has been on toot
in a!1 directions about the camp. Major-General
Jones possesses activity and energy, and it is
trusted that these two appointments will contribute
to the improvement of the social and internal
economy of the army, and to the accomplishment
of the objects of this expedition. As yet the lines
of our batteries remain very nearly identical with
those from which we openel fire on the 17th of
October.

For the last half hour—it is now 10.45 p.m.—a I
furious fight has been raging all along our front.
To a person standing on Cathcart's-hill in front of
the 4th Division the whole of the Russian line; are
revealed in successive glimpses by bursts of red
flame, and the bright star-like flashes of mus-
ketry, twinkling all over the black expanse be-
tween us and the town for three or four miles in
length, show that a fierce contest is going on before
the trenches of the Allies. Shells, each marked by
a distinctive point of fire where the fuse is burning,
describe their terrible curves in the air and
seem to mingle with the stars, and fiery rockets
with long trails of dropping sparks rush like comets
through the air. Above all the pale crescent moon
is shining from a deep blue sky, covered with the
constellations of heaven. The roar of the cannon,
the hissing of the shells, the intermittent growl of
the musketry, the wild scream of the rockets, and
the whizzing of the round shot form a horrid conaert.
It is curious to note the eagerness of the men on such
occasions ; they swarm out of their tents to tliie lines
in front, and watch the progress of the fight as far
they can make it out with the deepest interest, and
their whispered comments are most amusing—
" That's a lively shell from the French." " Mosso°
is getting his bellyful." " I wish they'd let us go
at that, and we'd not waste so much powder," &c.
The flashes of the cannon mark pretty distinctly
the flowings and ebbings of the tide of war. If
the Russian guns are thundering away we may be
sure their men are falling back. If our guns are
more briskly served than usual, we are either
covering an attack in the pits or are protecting the
withdrawal of the allies. Most of the generals on
nights like these come out to the front and watch
the fight, and the officers form in little groups on
all the elevated knolls before the camps. It is
now 11.15 p.m., but the conflict is still going on.
No one knows what it is about. To-morrow I
hope to be able to learn something about it, but
the difficulty of ascertaining the particulars of at-
ticks like these is utterly incredible.
We know the particulars of the fight. Between
11 and 12 o'clock last night columns of Russian
infantry came suddenly upon the men in our ad-
vanced trenches, and rushed in upon them on the
right with the bayonet ere we were quite prepared
to receive them. When they were first dis-
cerned they were Close at hand, and, on being
challenged, they replied with the universal shibbo-
leth " Bono Franciz." In another moment they
were bayonetting our men, who had barely time to
snatch their arms and defend themselves. Taken
at a great disadvantage, and pressed by superior
numbers, our men met the assault with undaunted
courage, and drove the Russians out at the point
of the bayonet after a smart fire. The Russians,
pursued by our shot, retired under cover of our
batteries.

The news of Prince Menschikoff's death is gene-
rally believed. It will be strange if it is true, for
the band of Heaven will then have removed at
the very crisis of this bloody struggle the two men
from whos3 evil passions and ambition it originated.
The Russians consider this war as Prince Menschi-
koff's doing. He mainly created the defences of
Sebastopol, and never ceased his exertions to make
it what it is from the time he became Governor of
the Crimea till he was removed from the conduct
of the defence.

THURSDAY, MARCH 22.

The attack seems to have been general along the
line. At half-past 8 o'clock last night the French
batteries began to shell the town,. while their
rockets were poured every five minutes in streams
into the place. At 10 o'clock our sentries in ad-
vance of Chapman's attack gave notice that the
Russians were assembling in force in front of the
works. The 20th, 21st, and the 57th Regiments
were in the trenches on the left attack, and they
were, to a certain extent, prepared for the lssault
of the enemy. About the same time the French on
the right of our right attack, which is separated
from the left attack by a deep ravine, were
assailed by masses of the enemy. As our allies
were hardly pressed, orders were given to advance
the troops in a portion of the trenches, consisting
of a part of the Light Division, tl their supp )rt.
On the left 'attack the Russians, advancing with
impetuosity through a weak part of the defence,
turned the third parallel, and took it in reverse.
They killed and wounded some of our men, and !lad
advanced to the second parallel, when our cover-
ing party and the men in the trenches of the bat-
teries came down upon them and drove them over
the works after a sharp conflict. The 20th Regi-
ment lost 2 men killed, 6 wounded badly, and 3
missing. The 57th lost 3 killed, 4 wounded, and
18 missing. The 21st lost 3 killed, 5 wounded,
and 1 missing. These are the returns so far as I
can ascertain the truth at au early hour this morn-
ing, but it is probable that some of the missing men
will turn up, as ihoao roy,,.monio havo nob yet Gomo
out of,the trenches. On the right the attack was
more serious and Sudden. Our men had been
ordered out to the support of the French from one
part of their lines, and while they were away, the
Russians came up to the flank of the works, and
took them in reverse, so that they had to fight their
way back to get to their position. The gallant old
7th Fusiliers had to run the gauntlet of a large
body of the enemy whom they drove back d la
fourchette. One brave young fellow, Dr. Caven-
dish Brown, of the 7th, was killed. Two or
three musket balls passed through his body.
The 34th Regiment had an enormous force to con-
tend against, and as their brave Colonel Kelly was
leading them on' he was shot down, and carried off
by the enemy. His dead body was found outside
the trenches this morning. The 77th behaved
most gallantly, and the 97th proved themselves
worthy of their position in the glorious old Light
Division. In the midst of the fight Major Gordon
of the Royal. Engineers displayed that cool courage
and presence of mind which never forsake him. With
a little switch in his hand lie encouraged the men to
defend the trenches, and standing up on the top of
the parapet, all unarmed as he was, he hurled down
stones on theßussians. He was struck by a ball which
passed through the lower part of his arm, and,
from the same or from a different musket, at . the
same time,he received a bullet through the should
We are all rejoiced that he is not dangerously
wounded, and that the army will not long be de-
prived of his services. After an hour's fight the
enemy were driven back, but we have to deplore
the loss of the following officers, killed, wounded,
or missing.—Colonel Kelly, 34th Regiment, killed ;
Lieutenant Jardan, 97th Regiment, killed ; Cap-
tain Cavendish Brown, 7th, killed ; Lieutenant
Vicars, 97th Regiment, wounded ; Captain Mon-
tague, Royal Engineers, missing. ; and. Major Gor-
don, Royal Engineers, wounded. _ _

MARCH 19.

Two Greek or Albanian chiefs, in full costume,
who seem to have led on the Russians last night,
were among the killed. The town was set on fire
about 1 a.m. this morning in two places towards
the west ; a part of it—at least one large house—
was burning till 12 o'clock to-day.

The contest for the rifle-pits terminated this
morning, amid a blaze of fire from the forts in the
pale light of dawn, in favour of the French, who
now occupy three of the pits, and direct a sharp
fusillade against the Mamelon Round. Tower from
the sandbags. The Russian riflemen are in one of
the pits still ; two seem to be unoccupied. The
enemy have also placed riflemen in the Mamelon
and the new work on the right, and a gun from
Gordon's trenches and one4from the French redoubt
on the right are constantly engaged in firing round
shot and shell into the former place throughout
the day to reduce the fire and impede the men in
their works. Our two service mortars fire seldom,
but surely; their range is very great. One shell
yesterday evening went far over and beyond the
Round Tower and burst among the buildings in the
rear of it. Another burst through the roof of one
of the public buildings, and it instantly collapsed
into a cloud of dust and rubbish. There are all kinds
of absurd stories afloat to-day, with which you pro-
bably have met in some phase or other ere this
through the electric telegraph, to the effect that
there has been a mutiny in Sebastopol, that a Rus-
sian general marching his troops down to the city has
been assassinated by them, and that Prince Gort-
schakoff has informed the army in the Crimea that
he is to be supported by an Austrian corps to drive
the allies out of the country. We hear that Gene-

ral-Admiral Istomine. has been killed in the town drilling of recruits, previously to their being_sent
while superintending the works of the Mainelon, to the battalions in active service, will only re"
and that the enemy want generals. A Polish sol- quire the additional nomination of an adjutant-
dier who has deserted gives information that there major, a physician, an adjutant, and a drum'
is plenty of ammunition, but that the gunners have major."
been ordered not to fire. He says, the Russians The Ulloa steam-frigate left Toulon on Tuesday
don't care for French or English, but would rather for Civita Vecchia, to embark men and horses for
attack the former than the latter. Provisions are the Crimea. The Lucifer steam-advice-boat also
plentiful in the town according to;his account, but sailed from Toulon on Tuesday, with troops for
the garrison are in great fear, and have very few the East.
hours in bed. The men are kept constantly em-
ployed on the works, in ,the batteries, or in the
trenches and sorties.

BOURSE, APRIL S.—CLOSING PRICES.
Cash. fr. C. End of Month.
•g per Cents 94 15 --f. —c.
3 per Cents 69 80 70f. sc. •
Credit Mobilier BlO Roman
Credit Foncier 540 Austrian
Belgian Fives — Spanish Threes
Piedmontese B6 Home Debt
RAILWAYS—POR CASH.
^
fr. c.
•

c.
Orleans
Western.i 665 Rouen
(Jett()

Mediterranean 10 0
Northern

trg .

-.....-..

Havre
Cherburg -

AUSTRIA.

The Wanderer of Vienna of the 31st ult., says
" We are assured with respect to the third point
that the Allies persist in desiring to confine the
Russians to the Mack Sea, and in reserving to
themselves the power of passing through the Dal;,
danelles and the Bosphorus when they please.
A. letter from Vienna of the same date, in the
Breslau Gazette, says :—" It is certain that the
Western Powers have not taken into consideration
the proposition of Prince Gortschakoff on the third
point. Immediately after the sixth conference, the
Prince sent off a telegraphic despatch to St. Peters'
burg, calling, it is said, for a modification of his in'
structiens. It is certain, besides, that Prince
Gortschakoff is employing great efforts to cause.
Prussia to be admitted to the Conferences." -
VIENNA, April I.—To-morrow the Conference
will meet again ; but, as M. Drouyn de l'Huys will
probably be here on Wednesday next, it is under"
stood that the discussions, till his arrival, will not
embrace any very essential point of difference. .
is also very natural that Baron Bourqueney, the
present single representative of France, should de-
cline the responsibility of entering into matters of
difficulty at the present moment, so to speak, when
the French Minister for Foreign Affairs is about to ,
enter the conferences in order to take an important
part in their deliberations. Under, these circa n'
stances, we are almost warranted in supposing that,
until M. Drouyn de l'Huys has arrived, the most
important considerations will remain in suspense*,
There has been same gossiping in our city about the
probability of Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer being also
expected here, in the capacity of a special plenWe'
teutiary, either to replace Lord John Russell at the
Conferences, because it is rumoured that his lord'
ship cannot possibly prolong his stay here after the
Easter holidays, or to act as an additional ad latus•
In authentic quarters nothing whatever is known
of an intention on the part of her Majesty's Ge"
vernment to send out Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer.;
and as regards Lord John's protracted stay in this
city, there can be no doubt that his lordship, how:
ever anxious to return home will certainly remain
at his present important post until his mission le
fully completed—that is, until the bases for the
conclusion of a treaty of peace have been agreed to
by the Conference, or until the Conference is dis'
3olvad, and the present negotiations are entirely-
broken off.
Many different versions are given of a speech
which Baron Bruck is said to have addressed to a
deputation of the Bank a few days since ; but the
truth of the matter is, that the Finance Minister
said little more than that he should be unable t°
make any fixed plans for improving the financA
and with them the currency, until it became clear •
whether peace was to be concluded -or the
war continued. The able statesman expressed hie
conviction that, if Austria escaped without war'
her finances would be in order in a very few years*
Baron Bruck now inhabits a magnificent suite 0/
apartments in the " Old Mint," which was once
e
the residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy,
e
famous contemporary of the first Duke of Alc
borough. Cardinal Schwarzenberg, the Prince
Archbishop of Prague, and the Archbishop :le
Vienna are still at Rome endeavouring to seti' t
the terms of the Concordat with his Holiness, but
it is believed that the Papal chair demands Were
than this Government is willing to grant.

DENMARK.
A letter from Hamburg, of the 30th ult., says:''
" The Folksthing of Denmark, in its sitting of yes'
terday, voted by 94 votes to 1 the second and last
reading of the impeanhmont of the ex-Ministers."

A letter from Odessa, of the 29th ult., in. o°'
Ost Deustche Post, says :—" Since yesterday masseo
f troops have been marching without interruption
towards the Crimea. The number of these rein;
forcements is estimated at 20,000 men and eigll,
batteries of artillery. All these troops are unae:
the command of General Sattles, and will arriT°
before Eapatoria.about the'l4th April."

We read in the Opinione of Turin, of the 2.610'0
that General Durando had entered upon his dati a
as Minister of War on the preceding day, id
that General Frati has assumed the commas
u
the reserve brigade of the expeditionary aryl, to
his stead. General Durando has been raiseu
the rank of Senator of the kingdom. A rumelinr..
current at Turin that, in consequence of the es'o
elusion of, the treaty of alliance, Count Cavour
to be invested with 'the Order of the Bath.

• The Piemonte of Turin, of the 2d, states that, of
consequence of a Ministerial order, the brigadesqc
the expeditionaryarmy are immediately to asseraufr.
at Turin, Genoa, Alessandria, and Vercelli,
vi,Aisly to their concentration either at La SP'
or Genoa for embarkation.

BANK OF ENGLAND-REDUCTION
TIIE BATE OF DISCOUNT.

Afel
THURSDAY EVENING---The Bank of England bi.ieb
reduced their rate of discount from 5 per cent.; at swer
it had stood since the 3d of August last, to 41 13
cent.
The measure was 'fully anticipated, and its effec-
4,
00
the stock-market has been very slight. Some Psrs°t-be
had fancied that during the existence cf war, and with -b
immediate prospect of a loan, no reduction wouldoe
made, whatever might be the 'influx of money, ,;1•0
these were a small minority, and the general P11,;i11;
fe!t reliance that the sound system of ler-130*
the rate he guided by the demand, instead °f en'
deavouring to adopt it to theoretical contingen`re•
would Aid be followed. According to the Gazette the
turns last published, the simultaneous influence °L,4
favourable state of the foreign exchanges du'r,-1301
the past month or two, and of the rapid contra,ctl„,°'olt
business, has caused the unemployed notes of the vi.,3up
to reach a higher point than at any period since J; t
1853, when the rate of discount was as low as 3),eof
cent, and Con3nls were nearly at par. The stool{.
bullion now held is also greater than at any time dul:se•
the past year, and these is every prospect of its incrie-sfecl
If, under these' circumstances, the Bank had deld
their present step, their proprietors must have 10°00
next half year for a diminished dividend, and the Pile of
would have had to complain of an artificial eau° kV
L—ing kcs say alb n kiano sviatn, owing tu„.oo,
natural tendency of events to produce excessive call fr
the exercise of every legitimate method of inspiring co
fidence is most desirable.—Times.

SAILING OF THE
_ROYAL MAIL --
MARCO POD,.

This vessel started yesterday forenoon from the -fer
sey on her fifth voyage to Melbourne, under tke..c"r
.10
maid of Captain Clarke. She carries the April nier
frorn this country to the Australian colonies (whic-, tfif
owners enga,ze to deliver in 65 days), 520 passet eace
and upwards of 800 tons of merchandise on board.
her arrival in port, the Marco Polo has had several d 0
p:•ovrinents introduced in order to increase the ted
its of her passengers; amongst others, a well-ventileshe
hospital, and a new and improved cooking range. i ,icls
carries, in addition to her regular stores, a fine icare
cow, 30 sheep, 30 pigs, 30 dozen of fowls, and a '""o,
supply of rabbits, hares, and every description of ear°.
For the entertainThent and amusement of her pa,sserVr
her owners have provided a first-rate instrumental I)3tect
a printing machine (by which a newspaper will be Pri
tiito
on board), while the surgeon of the ship (who is 4
IA
4an adept in the photographic art) has a complete
011°
ratus, by which he can take likenesses of passenger TV
views of anything of interest on the passage. OlO
Marco Polo was towed to sea by the steamers DePs
and Dreadnought at 11 a.m.