The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-07 00:00:00

THE AFFAIR OF .HANGOE-UDD.

The Journal de. St. retersbourg, of the-28th ult.,
contains the 'following :
In conformity with the instructions of the Eng-
lish Admiralty, the Commander-in-Chief of her
Britannic Majesty's Naval Forces in the.Baltieliai
claimed the' relchase of Lieu tenant •Geneste. This
demand has been refused.. The grounds of 'this
refusal will appear from the following correspon-
dence

VICE-ADMIRAL DUNDAS TO PRINCEDOLGOROIIKy.
H.M.S. Duke of. Wellington,
Near Tolboukhin Lighthouse,. July 4.
On the 15th ult. I had occasion to address to the
officer commanding the military forces of his Majesty
the Emtieror of all the Russias, at Helsingfonr, setting
forth the particulars of an incident, which I consi-
dered to be a flagrant violation of• the ordinary usages
of war,, and which took place on the .sth ult. at
Hangoe-Udd. I had reasons for beli9ving that the
event in question had been brought to the know-
ledge of your Excellency by another channel. However,
the, ebject of the present communication will probably
bo still better explained if I take the liberty of subjoin-
ing a copy of my letter of the 15th, as well as a copy of
the reply for which I have to thank General de Berg.
On the receipt of this officer's letter, it seemed to me
that' was fully justified in submitting to him the pro-
priety of releasing the officers and sailors who are now
prisoners in his hands, and whatever opinion may be
formed as to the true origin, or as to the responsibility
of any misunderstanding which may be presumed to
have had place under the circumstances, I think every '
dispassionate observer will be of opinion after the expla-
nations that have passed, that the object for which the
boat of her Majesty's ship Cossack approached the shore
of Hangoe-Udd, on the sth ult., was to set at liberty
Russian. prisoners who bad fallen into our hands, and cer-
tainly not to accomplish any hostile or equivocal act
whatsoever.

However, I hesitated to address these representations
to General de Berg until I had been able to communi-
cate with the Government of her Britannic Majesty.
Laving now received precise orders which authorise me
to demand the release of those prisoners, I have thought
it best to make a direct appeal to your Excellency, and
after the letter which you addressed to me on the 28th
ult., I take the liberty to enclose for your " examination
an extract from the instructions which I have since re-
ceived from the Lords Oomrnissioners of the Admiralty.
AA the same time I ought to observe, in addition, to
the remarks of the Lords Commissioner.; of the Admi-
ralty concerning the occurrences in the Strait of Kertch,
that I made it my duty to inquire into the facts cited by
General de Berg as having taken place in the neighbour-
-hood of Twarrninne, and that I am in a position to deny,
• '‘e most a,Lcolute manner, that any boat of a British
in '
that locality has used or abused the flag of
vessel in ,
iruce. .
his opportunity to trans-
I also beg leave to „”Tallt by
to General de Berg m,;thanks for the care which he
assures trie has been paid te he prisoners since their
captivity; and I cannot persuade n;:se!f that the Go-
vernment of his Majesty
the Emperor of Ail the Russias
will persist in retaining men captured in the b:et of set-
ting Russian prisoners free. Such a detentiod Pula
only serve to further exasperate the sentiments of animo-*
sity which a state of war naturally produces, but which
it is the duty of every civilised nation to mitigate by all
the means in its power.

PRINCE DOLGOROUKI TO VICIE•,ADMIEAL DIINDAM.

St: Petersburg, July 12.

e. .
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
ls ter. of the 4th. It naturally divides itself into two
distinct perie. In the first place it informs me that you
are instructed td demand the liberation of the English
officers and sailors mete prisoners at Hangoe on the sth
of ,Tune. Afterwards it aenies the accuracy of the infor-
mation furnished by our authceeities in Finland respect-
ing the abusive employment of the flag of truce attri-
buted to officers of her Majesty's navy. Permit me, M.
l'Amiral, to reply explicitly to these two questions in
that spirit of frankness which is necessary in order to
arrive et a correct appreciation of the facts.
We possess three versions of the transactions at Ilan-
goe-Udd. The first is ibat of the seaman Brown. It
affirms as a matter of certain knowledge the fall of Lieut.
Geneste, Dr. Easton, Mr. Sullivan, and the men of the
&eve, all of whom Brown affirms were killed before his
ey6t.l.
The falsehood of this version is demonstrated by the
evidence of the persons said to have been killed. I have
nothing further to say on that eubJect, You, M. l'Ami-
ral„ will have been the first to regret having given credit
to a report which Captain Fanshawe accepted without
stiffielent verification.
The seeded version is that of Lieut. Geneste. It is
contained in a letter Which lie has addressed to Captain
Fanshawe. He gave the letter open to General Moller,
with a request that it might be forwarded as speedily as
possible. I hasten to send it to you herewith, in order
that :,,,mi may not he ignorant of any allegation which
this offices' may }we thought proper to make in order
to justify himself in the e,'es of his superiors.
The third account ie the result of an official inquiry
male on the spot by order of General do Berg, governor-
general of Finland.
A comparison of all these statements authorises me to
consider as fully proved the facts which I am about to
repeat.
An armed boat was steered in time of war towards
the landing place at Hangoe-tldd. The officer who
commanded the boat came on shore, having neither
eslced nor waited for nor obtained permission to do so.
He !ended five captive Finlanders, whom ho set at
liberty. If this was what lie came for his business was
at an end when he had done thus much. Having landed
the men without encountering resistance he should have
left the shore at once and returned on board the ship
Cossack. Far from doing this lie left his boat and ad-
eejinced upon the territory of an enemy. He vrae not
iuone j he was accompanied by several men of his crew.
With what intention? He says he wanted to communi-
cate with the man at the telegraph and to buy victuals
if he could. But these are not thinees which can be re-
Fularly done under a flag of truce. An official message
is delivered by a military authority to a military autho-
rity. The people and the employe at the telegraph have
nothing to do with it. Whatever may have been the
aim of Lieut, Geneste's expedition on the Russian terri-
tory—and I abstain from qualifying its object—it was
neither regular nor avowed. That is evident.
After leaving his boat considerably in his rear at his
own risk and peril, this officer fell into an ambuscade.
He did not at all suspect it, as he had only seen two or
three women on the shore. Through his own want of
caution he was surprised by a superior force. Then to
make himself safe he professed himself the bearer of a
flag of truce. Was he entitled to do so ! Had he em-
ployed the precautions required of one who desires to be
recognised in that character before descending upon an
enemy's territory ? Not at all. Surrounded on all
hands, he surrendered himself a prisoner of war. Dr.
Eastern, Mr. Sullivan, and the seamen shared his fate.
While this was going on the men left on board threw
into the sea the gun with which the boat was armed. In
the boat was found 300 cartridges, 400 caps, and two in-
cendiary tubes, wiAl their matches. Among the muskets
which fell into our hands several bore proof of having
been just fired.
The facts which I have stated were proved by the in-
vestigation which an aide-de-camp of his Majesty the Em-
peror was commissioned to undertake immediately on
the receipt of General de Berg's account of what had
occurred at Han goe. This investigation clearly established,
by the depositions of all the witnesses of the occurrence,e
that the flag of truce was not seen either on board of
Cossack, or ou the boat sent to the shore, or in the hands
of the officer who landed. After this claimstatemnt,
ask, admiral, whether this officer had anyl Would
of
treated as the bearer of a flag of truce, even f he had
hung, as ho says, a white flag on a boat-hook
Is it to be said that any officer way forage an enetny'e