The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-10 00:00:00

LONGCHAMPS STEEPLECHASES.

The Longoharnps -Handicap of 7,000 f., added to 300 f.
entry ; 200 f. forfeit, and 100 f. only if declared before
the acceptation of the weights. The second to receive
I,ooof. from the entries. Distance about 5,000 yards.
The horse which, after the publication of the weights
may win a steeplechase of 2,500 f. to carry a surcharge
of 41b ; of 5,000 f, 61b ; and of two steeplechases of
the latter sum, 81b. 17 entries :
M. de la Motte's Needwood, aged, 1471 b (Wakefield) 1
Mr. B. Symonds' Tie Dean, aged, 1181 h, and 31b
over (Mr. Little) 2
M. Delamarre's Lady Arthur, aged, 1291 b . 3
The following also ran :—Searnan, Augustine.
The Dean went off with the running, with Lady
Arthur in waiting, Needwood third, and Seaman fourth.
At the third fence, Augustine bolted. and at the bank
at the top he fell, and stopped. Perjury fell at the brook
and stopped. The Dean continued the running to the
bottom in the last round, when he was caught by Need-
wood. A splendid set-to between the two commenced
in the straight, and it ended by Needwood winning by
a head, a length between the second and third. The
number of jumps was 24, none of them very stiff.
Selling Stakes of 2,000 fr., added to 100 fr. entry. The
second to receive 300 fr. from the entries. Distance,

ablut 4,000 yards. Weight, 150Ibs, and the winner
to be claimed for 12,5001 r. ; but horses entered as to
be claimed for less to be allowed from slbs to 25Ibs.
7 entries.

M. de la Motte's The Colonel, aged, 1351bs (Lanvin& 1
M. Delamarre's Flying Buck, aged, 1451bs (Donaldson,) 2
Mr. Golby's Ploughboy, aged, 1451bs 3
M. Bialys Radetzky, 6 yr., 135.b3

Hurdle Race of 1,000 f., added to 100 f. for all sorts
of horses. The second to receive 300 f. from the en-

tries. Di-tinee, 3000 metres. Weight, 1501bs, and
the win' er to he &aimed f 12,500 t. ; but horses en-
tered to be claimed for less to be allowed from stbs.
to 25%b5. 6 eutrie..

Mr. Murray's Old Ireland, aged, 1.30',ba (Poole) 1
Vte. Artum Talon's Deceitful, aged, 1461ba
M. Fasquel's Trembleur, 6 yr-:, 140d)8

Count dAlcabtara's Van Speyk, 5 yrs, 1451 b

RACING FIXTURES FOR 1855.
APRIL.

Catterick Bridge 11 Ahergavenny lB
The H l4 Milton l9
York Spring 17 Newmarket F S 93

MAY.
Chester Spring 1 Liverpool Hunt C1ub...16
Newrnark et S S 8 I Harpenden lB
Lothians aid Edinboro' 8 Epour 27
Plymouth Spring 9 I ItAditch
Shrewsbury lO I Manchester
Bath

os
30
30

"15 I Cardiff
JUNE.

Ascot
Hampton l3 I Winchester 22
Newton 13 I Newc-rtstle 26

Beverley 2O I Lenhaut and Mid Keut...27
Bibury 2O

JULY.

Newmarket.. 3 I Nottingham l9

Carlisle
19
Worcester 5 I Matlbnron.h
24

Lancaster _ 5 lmsford-
-1 Che
'--
Liverpool ll Ludlow 24
94
Odiham 13 Knutsford 05
Stamford l7 Goodwood 31

AUGUST.
North Staffordshire 7 I Lewes l6
Brighton
Airdrie
Brighton Club 10 York ')2
Wolverhampton l3 Radcliffe 27
Reading l4 Derby 2B
Egham l4

SEPTEMBER.

Warwick .
Doncaster .

.. 4 I Lanark
..11 Newmarket F 0 25

Pontefract 17 I Walsall 26
Lichfield l7 1 Northallerton 27
Leicester l9 I
OCTOBER.
Chester
Wrexham
Bedford 4 Newmarket H 22
Newmarket S 0
Royal Caledonian Hunt..lo I

NOVEI
Liverpool

'HIE R.
SI: re wsbury

MILITARY LIFE, AFLOAT, IN THE CAMP,
AND IN THE TREN HES.

The following was written by a non-commissioned
officer now in the army in the Crimea :
Camp before Sebastopol, March 10, 1855.
Dearest Brother,—l will now give you a full and par-
ticular account of my adventures. We started on
the 12th of January, a draft of upwards of 200, and
the good people of Cork gave us a good cheering to
hearten us on the way, handkerchiefs waving from every
available window on each of the river Liffey's sides till
we embarked on board her Majesty's screw-steamer
Princess Royal—a fine vessel to look at, but abominable
as a transport. I would like the good people of Eng-
land to know and thoroughly understand hew the poor
soldier is treated when he sets out on a campaign. In
the first place, the ship was crowded scandalously, ups '
wards of 1,000 of a crew, including marines, and about
the. same number of soldiers of many different regiments,
crammed into messes of 30 men between two of the
cannons, where eight instk only should be ; decks,
although so many troops aboard, continually wet,
causing great unpleasantness between soldier and sailsr ;
and as to rations, I had to throw aside all squeamish-
ness, and rough it-how I could. I was sea sick fur the
first four or five days, and after that I sunk completely
to a shadow, so much so that all said I must he left at
Scutari. Never shall I forget the pair and anguish of being
ill and jostled about as a thing only waiting its turn t be
thrown overboard. Such careles,ness of sick persons is
a disgrace to the Ens:l4lb navy. The doctor's medicine
chest was not found till we passed Constantinople, so
you may judge small was the quantity of medicine be
had to cure anybody. I will give hint his due, he did
his hest under such inconveuiences, but God keep me
from hospitals in future. But that is past. I gradually
improved in health until we landed; at least, sufficient
t ► withstand the fatigue we have had to undergo up to
the present time, though rather weary now—having
been in the trenches all day, which is no joke, from three
o'clock in the meriting ti,l seven at night, out of that
working four hours with pickaxe and spade. To one
who is not used to it navvying is not an agreeable en.
ployment. lam galloping too fast. We had a vary fakir
voyage up to Malta, though rather rough in the Bay of
Biscay ; but after we had passed that place we bad a great
many sudden squalls, which made me think the vessel
could not possibly weather it through the Black Sea, for
three out of six boilers were usslsss. We get to Gibraltar
on the 19th, and stopped 12 hours only to take coal,. I
was too ill to give more than a glimpse at it, but, as near
as I can describe it, it is a steep barren-looking rock;
with nut a sign of a gun to be seen from our ship, and
here and there a house to be seen looking rather pretty
in the distance. We arrived at
.Malta on the 26th, and
stopped a couple of (lays. As soon as we enteredlhe har-
bour and dropped anchor, hundreds of burn-boats came
alongside, add such a jabbsring, you would have split
your sides laughing. They row very swift, standing up to
it, and every boat has an eye on each side of it painted
an I striped with all manner of colours, looking very.pic-
tuessque, together with their psculisr dress. It is a very
pretty little harbour, only the buildings have a very yel-
low appearance on account of the nature of the stone.
They are great cheats these I%faltese, charging one man(
six times the price they would another. Oranges and
figs are very plentiful, but on account of these Maltese
smuggling liquaur aboard for the sailors, very little
chance le there of getting down to buy anything. I must
tall you one thing that happened there. A mule was
brought aboard, and a mess of 30 men shifted for the
express purpose of finding it accommodation, and the
men told to go on deck or anywhere to mess and to
sleep, when they inquired the reason. Such a piece of
tom-foolery as parades with fire locks and belts amongst
a crew employed on deck, jostled first on one side and
then on the other, I never -witnessed before in the
course of my short experience in soldiering. Well, that
is past. I may have to mention a few more extrava-
gances. on the part of officers in her Majesty's service
before I have finished this letter. I will now pass
through the Straits of the Dardanelles up to Constanti-
nople ; and never was I more astonished at the beauty
of the place, surpassing all views that ever these eyes
witintssed. Stretching for several miles, this vast city
appeared like a vision just opening through a warm
mist ; minarsts and domes were countless, and every
house painted a different shade of colour. During cur
stay of three days I had an opportunity of seeing the
Sultan and his suite, in white and gold barges, gliding
across the harbour, together with the sound of Turkish
music. It was really a novelty to me. Every one of
the sailors got drunk while we stayed there—a small
brig being a!ongside, laden with coal, they hail a fine
opportunity of smuggling a'cohol aboard. Fbe plea-
sure-boats here are in the exact shape of a canoe—gliding
along with astonishing swiftness and little labour.. I
___

will now drive on through the Black Sea, but very
slowly, on account of the shortness of steam and the
weight of shot and shell in her, bottom. Nothing 'very
particular occurred, except the usual rough sea, until we
anchored about 2 mites from Sebastopol ; there we first
saw the storm of shell and shot that we were so seen to
he amongst. Our ship was too large to enter the har-
bour of ilslaklava, 90 we had to enter that good ship,
to wit, the Terrible—terrille indeed has it been to the
Russians for some time hack, having made them smart
pretty well—it cArries the heaviest metal of any ship in
onr service, and has furnaces to make the shot red hot.
We entered the harbour—a very peculiar winding en-
trance to it, so much Fo, that the Russian vessels used
to glide into it unperceived by the Etigish and French
vessels in chase. We were 2 (lays more before we
landed : that eventful ,?ay was the 9th of February, a
day to he well remembered by me as being the date of
my first touching Russ an torritory. Well, we at.f ved at

our camp (that our first Camp) about a mile from the
small town of Balaklava ; and xell tired I VITL:s, althou,zll
it wa4 but a mile, for in addition to the umal heavy
marching order of a soldit r, we had a fit cap, a M
intosh coat or waterproof, two flannel &flirts or Guerriaer,
two pair-; of flannel drawers, two extra pairs of seicki, a
woollen comfi,rter for the n-ck, a pair of leather mitts
(woollen inside), a water keg or cask, a pair cf long
boots reaching to the kneee, two blanket-i, and a sheep.
skin coat ; so you may think a poor soldier might soon
be tired under such a load, especially when you take
into account that at that time the roads were mod above
the ankleß, and our camp lay on the side of a hill, the
soil of which it was composed being very c!ayey. Well,
I did get there, and you may judge what my reflections
were ; but we had one great consolation—we were the

only troops in wooden huts. so we could be dry, and
cook at a small stove in the centre; but very, very short
of wood, scourin; the country f. r miles around for it ;
so you may be sure we might think ourselves lucky if
we got a meal on catch. So long as we can keep a bis-
cuit in our haversacks, and get a drop of coffee now and
then, I do not care, for to eat much of the salt perk aiid
beef I cannot, it is so scandalously dirty by the time we
get it ready for eating. A little rice and peas we get,
too, but the cooks are always going to hospital, or con-
fined for being late with the meats, that you may count
that as nothing much. The grog keeps the spirits of the
min up wonderful ; although the French camps are so
close there have been very few cases of drunkenness in
our regiment. So much mud trampled into the huts of
course makes everything dirty, together with no time
for washing ; it being a long Way to get water, and a
crime to be caught a mile from camp except on duty,
causes, I am sorry to say, a congregation of lice, but
while such is the state of things it is impos-ihle to remedy
it. Did you ever see a de.id horse thrown across a cart
ready for the kennel ? well, such is the appearance of the
fresh meat that we get once in a fortnight, with a fine
plaster of mud around it. Well, I have given you the
dark side, now for the brighter side. A private clears as.
much as a corporal in England, and a corporal as much
as a serjeant, and are paid pretty regular. We can get
bread in Balak lava at ls. 6(1. the 21b loaf (it was double
a short time ago), cheese, of a poor descrii,tion, at the
Maltese market, about two miles from Balaklava, at
butter at 2s. 6d., sugar at Bd., tea at 35.. a pound ; pickles
—if you like to go to the price- figs, onions, sprats, to-
bacco, raisins, currants, bacon (2s. 6d, per pound), and
confectionery ; ships have entered the harbour laden
with all these things at a much reduced price. The
people of England—at least some of them—have been
very kind in sending us candles and a barrel of 'porter,
and a Mackintosh-cape for the cooks to wear, clogs for
the men going out of the hut at night, and tea at 6d. per
pound ' • but amongst so many men it is lost, being only
a taste for each man (I forgot to say we have lime-juice
once a-week). So much for provisions, if we like to buy
them. Now for the weather. I will tell you of every-
thing I can think of. When I first landed the day was as
warm as the month of May in England. We had not
been more than three days ashore when such a sudden
change in the ternrerature in one night I never wit-
nessed ;it was just penftra•ing us-to the very core with
cold. To mend the ratter I was orderly corporal the
first week. Oh, it was 40 nice ; taking grog and rations
to men on guard miles away--pitch dark at night; splat-
tering on through the runt, sometimes losing one's way,
again tumbling down ; enough to try the temper of a
Qqaker. Well, lam glad we have shifted our camp up
to the front, although the trench duty is rather severe—
still,
as the weather has again changed for the better, it
is not so bad. We are still in wooden huts, about three
miles from Sebastopol, and six miles frcm Balaklava,
and the strongest regiment nut here (we have just heard
that another draft is on the way). I have been in the
advanced trenches and zig-za;s by night and by day,
and I can assure you it is exceedingly pleasant, in the
day, to have the Russian needle-bullets wheezing round,
and now and then a shell bursting through the bank
makes you jump in spite of yourself. We are not more
than 50 3ards from the Russians, who now and then
make a sortie out of the town, but, as luck has had it,
not on the nights that I have been in them. We are
always expecting a turn out at night, sometimes accou-
tred with a coat thrown over us, hourly expecting their
attack. You may be sure we do not get much rest ;
but I can bear this better than the fatigues down at
Balaklava, at the quartermaster's stores, for that was no
joke. There are stores there of clothing that would
astonish you, enough to stock two such armies as we
have with warm clothing ; but I think it will all be of
little use for we have just heard that Nicholas is dead.
It is decided we are to attack Sebastopol on Sunday
next. The English batteries, almost completed, over-
loosing the town, and, I think, with the aid of the
French, we stand a very good chance of taking it. It
is wonderful to me it has held out so 10ng..; but both
English and French began too rash. The north side
being still open, it enables the Russians to withstand us,
but we have erected some tremendous batteries since,
mortars that, I could creep into and bide myself com-
pletely. Sebastopol lies in such a peculiar position that
I have often heard the question, " where is it I' and no

-
wonder, for the town is not much, it is the fortifications.

-Well, I think I have said enough about everything (no.
I've not). The first day we entered the trenches one of
ours was allot through the head, that is'the only cAse at
present in our regiment ; but lots of casualties occur in
(,they regiments, butnot many in ours, because we never
fire at all ; only the French answer them ; we are biding
Our time. I am very glad to hear that you have had
your son christened after me, I may, in time to come,

return the compliment. I think somehow I shall escape
and come home to kiss him some day unawares—at
least I'll try bard for it. Try, my dear brother, to send
me some drawing-paper and pr.ncils- just a small pop•
tion ; I could make some sketches that would be worth
something. You would laugh at.our preent appearance
--so different from soldiers at home. Send me word all
about our parents. I would like to know all about your-
self and wife—in fact, anything to road, fur we get no-
thing here, not a gliinpse of a newspaper in a month. I
will put my directions on the outside of the envelope.
Put three postage stamps on a !otter, and two on a new.,-
viper, and via Marseilles in the corner, and it will arrive
in 13 days l'll bring or send her a memento of
Set astopol ; and, trust me, I have not f rgoten or
neglected you. Expect to receive another in a week
after this. This will not start till the 10th, arrive with
you on the 231. I shall expect t ) receive one from
you on the sth April. Gold-bye, God bless you. This
may possibly be the last you will receive. If I fall,
keep it in remembrance of one who loved not wisely,
but too well.

The following letter is from a serjeant in the Highland
Brigade:—
CAMP, HEIGHTS of BALAKLAVA, March 16.—Our bri-
gade, as you are aware, has b. en intrusted with the
defence of teis position, and until the enemy left the
ground taken from the Turks on the 25th ot October,
we were constantly employed in strengthening the lines :
and keeping a sharp leek-jut—in fact, we had not a
spare minute. But about the beginning of December the
enemy teek up a fresh position at a greater distance from
us, leaving only an outpost behind. Our services then
became available to carry shot, shell, gabions, and bis-
cuits
to the depot at head-quarters. This was most la- 1
botioue work, and the horrible state of the road to Se- ;
bastepol male it ten times worse. The mud was knee-
deep the whole way, with here and there a deep rut ;
which would take a person up to the waist ; and as it
a s=taff clay soil, it was most difficult to drag through,
unless at Varies where it was very wet and did not
take such a tenacious hold of the feet. The labour
of getting over this road may be judged of by the fat
that all the beasts of burden employed on it got worn
out in a very few journeys, and hundreds of them
died by the wayside. It was sometimes very pain-
fui to witness the efforts of the poor animals to get
up after falling— they seemed to know as well as our-
selves the fate that awaited them ; not one of them that
ever I saw falling had strength to rise again, so they pe-
rished where they lay. In this way, at certain parts of
the road, I have seen a pavement formed by the bodies
of dead animals, which, although revolting enough, the
men a' ere often glad to avail themselves of for the pur-
pose of getting over a deeper slough than usual. The
weather too was generally very Inclement, heavy rain
and wind often prevailing, , which blinded and soaked
every one on the road ; and, to crones all, the shoes were
often lost in the 'maul, and. the unfortunates had to con-
tinue the journey barefooted. There are about five miles
of such a road as I have described to travel over before
reaching the depot, where, if the weather was unusually
severe, Lord Raglan, with the thoughtful kindness which
characterises him, bad a gill of ruin served out to each
man. Had it not been for this seasonable issue of spirit ;
I am quite sure we shnuid have lost many men who
would have been too much exhausted to return to
camp without some such stimulant: as it was, several
men were lost who had not strength to return. Let
terly, a number of men were appointed to prepare
hat coffee for us, which was three times more welcome
than any amount of rum—in fact, it wag often fer days ,
the only warm meal enjoyed by many, as the heavy
rains did not admit of cooking. Of course, you can
judge what a miserable plight the inside of the tents
were in during the continuance of this weather ; the
mud had to be scraped from the floor with shovels be-
fere lying down at night, for the wet feet tramping out
and in, and the rain, which poured through the worn-
out canvas as if no such obstruction existed, made the
inside of the tent worse than almost any metal road I
ever saw at home. Constant exposure to such a fearful
state of things made deadly inroads on the health and
constitution of the men, and the effects ere now visible
in the cloeely-packed graveyards in the vicinity of the
camps ; but I trust this is all over now. There were
often heartrending scenes to be witnessed on the road
the days when the diseased and wounded were removed
from Sebastopol to Bataklava, in order that they might
be sent to Scutari. What I saw on the road was fully
as bad as the worst stories.l read in the newspapers. Of
course it was not always like this, for the weather was
often cold and frosty, and the ground covered with snow
and quite hard. The fatigue parties then got easily
i enough over the road to Sebastopol; but for the invalids
coming down it was almost as 1,a.1 as the wet, because
time French ambulance mules on which they were carried
often stumbled and fell, and the result was cruel hurts to
' men whose lives were already almost worn out. But
iii general the frost was better than wet, because the
clothes were dry, and the tents inside were not in 1,-heir
usual muddy condition. At the end of January we
managed to get the huts erected, and lots of warm
clothing were issued at the same time, fresh provisions
were oftener served out, and the weather began to im-
prove greatly. The effect of all this was visible ahree4
instantiy ; the men began to look more healthy, and, as
they could get a shirt dried in the hut, if they only
manegeil to wash it, they recovered their old cheerfulness
very quickly, and before the end of February you might
have heard the bagpipes plating to hearty dancers.
When we filet got Pitrethe huts we could not sleep well
at night. I suppose the complete change from a wet
murley floor and flapping canvas to the dry comfortable
beards; and the impervious roof,. was too larire a slice of
good luck to fall at one time to our share ; it therefere
unsettled the mind and ma le us all quits restlese. We
sleep rfosv sound enough, I can assure you. Although
our sufferings have been very,ereet, I am yet inclined to
third( those of the French were greater ; but, as they had
more men tan us, they were riot necessitated to work
them up until they could no longer wove, ane, heside,,
they lisel runt such a very extPrelive r:emit:oil to defend as us.
But what I mean is that we hail always a great deal more
stores gran they, and although there are warty horrible
stories current at home, we ere in general kept pretty
well supplied. Of course, in a winter cempeign there is
much frightful suffering, and it John Bell resolves to
have one, he must make up his mind to pay for it,
arid that most sweetly, both in men arid money. The
French have not been very well' eupplied with neces-
saries, but, from their admirable arrangements, they
have been able to make the utmost of what they lrid.
But that long story about giving us greatcoats is all
• nonsense. Their own men are not yet supplied more
than half with these articles, and they are only at ths
moment getting their huts landed ; though it must be
confessed they get them erected very quickly. They
are brave, smart, intelligent sohlierse and beat us in one
kind of fighting as much as we did them in the other.
En tirailleur is their favour:te mode, and we have no
troops than were accustonical to that w. rk before coming
here, except the riflemen, who learned it Kafirland.
They have learned their lesson to perfection, arid our
own wild impetuous charge at Alma was fully equalled
by the manner in which they took up positions from
which they could destroy the enemy in hundreds with-
out exposing themselves. Fur this sort of work it re-
quires a readiness and tact, combined with desperate
resolution, which is only to be acauired by practice in
the field. The, French, from their constant wars in
Africa, were pretty well up in,this business, but they
: will require to get up very eariy in the morning if they'
mean to beat us now. But any way, they are our very
' good friends, and many kindnesses.have passed between
'us. There is,a battalion 'of Zeuaves encamped on the
hill beside us, and a great many of our men have
formed acquaintances and friendships with them
which they will be sorry to give up at the end of
the war. A vessel came here from Glasgow lately with
a general cargo of goods on board ; amongst other
things was, a quantity Of oatmeal ; of course, we got a
supply re it, and we haul all an opportunity of once
more erjoying our favourite breakfest. Time Zeieuaves
were invite 1 to partake by many, and we had a party
of them is dinner in my own hut. Time dinner consisted
ot porridge, herring, and a piece of cheese ; the porridge,
which was made on the stove inside the hut, was Mi-
t mediately dubbed by the Zouaves who saw it prepared,
soup a la Highlander . We all eat on the floor round
the camp-kettles, and the mess was swallowed under a
perfect shower of bons, with the help of some of the
strangest-looking contrivances for spoons that ever were
seen, and occasionally a nacre or a d—n was heard as
a Zouave or Highlander burned his month. Time dinner
was washed down by some excellent rum and a small
drop of whisky, during the discussion of which the pipes
were smoked, and it was agreed to between us that if
I we only get a fair chance when the roads are good, we
will clear the Crimea within a month of everything ex-
cept Allies.