The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-11 00:00:00

DESPATCH FROM GEN. SIMPSON.

( Front a supplement to Tuesday's Gazette.)
WAR DEPARTMENT, OCT. 11.
Lord Panmure has this day received a despatch, and
its enclosures, of which the following are copies, ad-
dressed to his lordship by General Simpson :
Sebamtopol, September 29.
My Lord,—Since my last despatch the troops have
been employed, to the number of 9,500 men, daily, in
making the road from Balaklava to the camp ; an7l as,
after a few hours of rain the whole distance is converted
into a mass of deep mud, the work that has to be per-
formed, from this reason as well as the great distance
that the stones have to ba transported, render it one of
gr, at labour and difficulty.
Large fatigue parties are daily employed in the town,
dismantling and conveying timber and other materials
from the ruins of the buildings, and I hope, by this
means, to get a considerable portion of the troops under
cover previous to the commencement of bad weather.
The enemy have been firing from the batteries on the
north side at the working parties in the town, and,
although causing some little annoyance, they have not
prevented the work being carried on, and, I am happy
to add, that one man killed and one wounded are the
only casualties occasioned by their fire.
I regret to have to report to your lordship that owing
to the explosion of a Russian magazine on the 27th inst
one officer and 19 men were wounded. I ordered an in-
vestigation to be made, and, from the report I have re-
ceived, the origin was from the explosion of a hidden
fougass, a number of which have been dug up in various
parts of the town and batteries.
The invention of this machine is peculiarly Russian.
I have received a letter from Lieutenant Colonel
Ready, 71st Regiment, commanding her Majesty's troops
at Yenikale, reporting the proceedings of a trifling affair,
in which a detachment of the 10th Hussars, in coin-
pany with the Chasseurs d'Afrique, were engaged on the
21st instant with the Cossacks.
Colonel D'Osmont, commanding the French troops at
Kertch received information that the. Cossacks were col-
lecting and driving away all the arabas from the neigh-
bourhood, and, as he determined to endeavour to pre-
vent this, he invited the assistance of the English ca-
valry to co-operate with the Chasseurs d'Afrique. For
this service Lieut.-Colonel Ready ordered two troops,
commanded by Captains the Hon. F. Fitzclarence and
Clarke, of the 10th Hussars.
The Cossacks were supposed to have assembled their
arabas at two villages, named Koss-Serai MM and Seit
Ali, equidistant from Kertch about 15 miles, and from
one another 6i. Captain Fitz Clarence's troop was or-
dered to the first village, and Captain Clarke's to the
latter. At each of these villages they were to join a troop
of the Chasseurs d'Afrique who had preceded them. Coo
arriving at Koss-Serai Min Captain Fitz Clarence found
both troops of the French Dragoons, and immediately
sent off an order to Captain Clarke to join him that night ;
the letter was unfortunately not delivered until the fol-
lowing morning.. Iu complying with this order, Cap-
tain Clarke, whose troop consisted only of 34 men,
fell in with a body of about 50 Cossacks, which he im-
mediately charged and pursued, but as they were soon
reinforced by upwards of 300 he was forced to retire
upon the village, with a loss of his sergeant-major, far-
rier, and 13 men taken prisoners.
Captain Fitz Clarence's troop, with the Chasseurs, the
whole under the command of the Officer commanding
the French troops, having seen a large body of the
enemy, skirmished with them at some distance, and
moved in the direction of the village of Serai Min,
where, after having joined Captain Clarke's troop, the
whole force commenced their march upon Kertch.
At about the distance of half a mile from the village
they were attacked by a large body of Cossacks, who
were, however, beaten back by repeated charges. The
loss of the 10th Hussars consisted of-
-2 Privates, supposed to have been killed.
1 Wounded.
1 Troop serjeant-major, 1 farrier, 13 men, 15 horses,
missing.
From information that has since been received, the
Cossacks were supported, within a quarter of an hour's
march, by eight squadrons of Hussars and eight guns.
Colonel Ready informs me that nothing could exceed
the coolness and courage of the troops in the presence
of such overwhelming numbers of the enemy, who were
only kept at bay by their steady movements.
I have the honour to enclose the lists of casualties.
The health of the Army, I am rejoiced to say, is
excellent.—l have, to.,
JAMES SIMPSON, General Commanding.
The Lord Panmure,

(Enclosure 1.)
NUMERICAL RETURN OF CASUALTIES FROM
THE 9TH TO THE 27TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1855, IN-
CLUSIVE.
3d Foot-1 rank and file killed, in the town.
4th Foot-1 officer,l scrjeant, 18 rank and file, wounded,
by an explosion in the town.
68th Foot-1 rank and file wounded by a shell.
Total-1 rank and file killed ; 1 officer, I sergeant, 19
rank and file wounded.

W. L. PAKENHAM,
Adjutant-General.

(Enclosure 2.)
NOMINAL RETURN OF OFFICERS 'WOUNDED
FROM THE 9TH. TO THE 27TH SEPTEMBER, 1855,
INCLUSIVE.

WOUNDED.
SEPT. 27.
4th Foot—Ensign W. A. Nash, slightly, by an exPl°'
:lion in the town.

W. L. PAKENHAM.
Adjutant. General.

E.
NOMINAL RETURNnclosure 3
OF PRIVATES FILLED
FROM THE 9TH TO THE 27TH OF SEPT., 1855.

KILLED.
SEPT. 22.
31 Foot—Private Henry Best, in Sebastopol.
W. L. PAKENHAM, Adjutant-General.

Enclosure 4.
NOMINAL RETURN OF NON-COMMISSIONED
OFFICERS AND PRIVATES WOUNDED FROM
THE 9TH TO THE 27TH SEPTEMBER, 1855,
INCLUSIVE.

WOUNDED,
By an explosion in the town.
SEPT. 27.

-.-
4th Foot—Sergeant John Clarkson, slightly ; Lance
Sergeant John Wingate, severely • PrivatesNV James
el • Timothy Roach,
, 111.
sever y..hompson,
tnell severely ; Henryfi Luther, John Kennedy, Wm.
dangerously ; Thos.
John Clarke, George Wilke, Samuel Mahoney,
liar ,
Johnst"°,
Abraham Yates, Wm. Boyton, John Rutley, Wm. Moore,
slightly ; John Bates, Thomas Dunn, severely ; John
Forster' slightly.
68th Foot—Private Charles Callaghan, slightly, by a
shell.

W. L. PAKENHAM,
Adjutant-General.

Royal Mail Steam Packet Company.—
(This Day.)

A general meeting of the proprietors of this company
was held this afternoon, at the London Tavern, Bishops-
gate-street, Captain Shepherd, deputy chairman, in the
absence of the chairman, presiding.
The Secretary (Mr. E. CHAPPELL), having read tho
notice convening the meeting, and the report of the
directors,
The CHAIRMAN moved its adoption, saying, that al-
though the report was fall and intelligible, it was as well
he should refer more particularly to some of the points