The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-12 00:00:00

THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.

ENGLISH CAMP, Heights of Sebastopol, Jan. 29.
The post here is again altered ; instead of leaving to-
morrow at twelve o'clock, notice has just been given
-that it closes immediately. Under these circumstances,
I have only time for a few lines.
Nothing of interest has occurred since my last. A
sortie was made on the French on the night of the 28th,
In which the Russians were signally defeated, and the
officer who led the party- dangerously wounded and,
made prisoner. He had just arrived from St. Peters-
burgh, and Wal covered with military orders. -A flag of
truce was sent in next day from Sebastopol to learn his
fate, and propose an exchange. The Frimch have re-
fused to give any information about him till his name is
divulge& He is believed to be a prince of high rank.
All our guns are-packed and waiting to be put in po-
sition. We have 103, ani the Fronds 167. We are
not likely to open fire for two or three weeks to come,
A great deal of
.sickness prevails ; 400 men. were in-
valided yesterday, and 350 to-day. More again will be
sent in to-morrow.

The Russians have opened fresh•batteries.
JANUARY 30.

The authorities here, km's' again chosen to alter the
time of the rnsil, so as only to give time for a few addi-

tional lines.

Beyond the occasional sallies from the garrison no-
thing is-doing. - The army which moved from the Teher-
naya has net yet been heard of, though it is believed to
have marched in the direction of Eupatoria. All the
:new English siege guns hive been forwarded to camp,
and are there in park. ;No one knows-the reason why
they are not got in 'positron at once, especially as the
French have long been ready and are waiting for us. A
new advanced work of ours, which may be termed our
second parallel, has had the platforms laid for its guns,
which consist of 10 and 13 inch mortars, and 24
long guns. One or two guns have been placed for the
defence of the work in case of a sortie.
The French works are entirely completed, and mount
167 guns and mortars. Our lines will mount 103 ditto.
We also lend 10 mortars to the French, which will make
in all 280 pieces of ordnance bearing upon the town and
batteries. It is still quite problematical when we are
likely to open fire. The sanguine say that the whole of
our guns can be planed in a week. It is quite true such
a thing is possible, but not with the small disposable
force which the English can spare. Judging from the
general progress which we have made in other matters,
I should say it will now be at least three weeks before
all the new guns are placed.

The enemy in the meantime is not idle ' • each week
witnesses the completion of some new battery earth-
work. On the south side of the town our artillery offi-
cers estimate the number of Russian guns at 450. Of
the north side we have but few means of judging, except
from the general appearance of the place, according to
which it seems almost impregnable. The Russians show
fearlessly outside their batteries, in large numbers. All
of them wear the same kind of sheepskin coats which
have lately been issued to- our men. I inspected the
town from our right attack yesterday, but there was
little worthy of remark beyond the extreme neatness and
strength with which all their works are repaired. A.
large number of troops were eviployed in throwing up a
second line of defence in rear of the Flag-staff Battery.
The cemetery, which is situated outside the walls, tells
in unmistakeable language that the mortality in the town
must have been very large. Not only the cemetery itself
but all round it is completely covered with mounds and
fresh-made graves, which would seem to indicate that
some thousands had lately been interred there. If this
is the case with the only cemetery exposed to our fire, it
is not too much to presume that others more sheltered
and to the north had been even more crowded. We have
had continuons fine weather since I wrote last, and all
the men are now completely clad in their warm sheep-
skin coats. The soldiers appear to think it an essential
part of their duty to wear on all occasions all the cloth-
ing which is issued to them. For instance, men em-
ployed in dragging up huge guns, or in fatigue parties
working with picks and shovels, turn out to their labour
when the sun is almost hot swathed up to the chin in
thick comforters, flannel shirts, and great-coats, and
sheep-skin coats over all. It is sometimes ridiculous to
see them moving about in this way, and it isgeserally said
that the men now suffer as much from over-clothing as
ever they did from being short of it.
The huts, lam sorry to say, make no progress. One
has been erected to each brigade, to serve for hospital
purposes; but beyond these three or four the men are
under canvas as usual.

Thank heaven we may now look forward to fine
weather. It would be hoping against hope to rely on
the wooden huts, which, ever if we continuo at our pre-
sent rate, will not be erected much before the summer
is well in.
A most deplorable amount pf sickness is still preva-
lent throughout the whole of our divisions. As the
weather is liner, and our troops much better fed, it can
only be accounted for by supposing that the sufferings
which our men have undergone in past months is now
telling on them.

Ea`e-h day numbers of sick are rent in for invaliding
to Scutari, and unless the mortality is as great there as
here, the hospital in the Bosphorus must be full.
On the 28th the French mules took in 400 of our
poor fellows, and on the 29th 350 more. Another batch,
I am told, is to be sent in to-day. I know well that we
cannot be losing far short of 2,000 or 2,500 men and
officers per week, and we certainly do not receive more
than 1,000 in the same time as reinforcements. In fact,
it i 1 raw reinforcements—the boys— that are sent out
here, which swell our sick list to such inordinate pro-
portions.
The sufferings which our poor fellows undergo, in the
transit on mules from the camp to Balaklava, is almost
beyond belief. Several always die on the way ; and the
long time which they frequently have to wait at the edge
of the harbour, until all are taken on board ship, only
adds to their severe trials. In order to lighten the last
as much as possible, Commander Derriman, of the
Caradoc, has, with the assistance of his officers, built a
little shed, in which a ship's copper is fitted, and some
50 or 60 gallons of hot tea kept ready for the arrival of
the unfortunate invalids. As the mules bring them in,
and while waiting to be embarked, a pint of this is given
with some biscuit to each man. It is impossible to de-
scribe the gratitude which the mess express for the com-
fort which they say they derive from this slight suste-
nance. Yesterday I went down to the hut to see it in
working order, and it was painful to the last degree to
see the miserable, broken-down frames of our men, cla-
mouring and struggling with all their little strength for
a cup of the steaming drink. The whole management
of this little store is vested in Mr. Frederick Shead,
second master of the Caradoc, and the unremitting
kindness, patience, and attention with which he
arranges all for the comfort of the sick men,
deserve the highest praise. Morning, noon, and
night, whenever the sick come in, he is busy at
this truly charitable work ; which, at a merely
than
neaol oe u tol ay,
t, h
er erl
es
hv ee ss t
emhoarrei t e ms iisne rLy
oannddo uff
se suffering
Some
of the invalids sent in yesterday were fearfully frost-
bitten in the face, arms, and legs, and some were in the
and
dy last
two
stage
while
o le inf
tehxeisbteonactes.
toFibvee
cdoie d
nv
eoyne
dt he way t o
the doors,
ships.
At Balaklava there is very little worth notice. Many
of the wooden huts have been erected at the head of the
harbour, and the streets under the new commandant are
certainly better looked after. There is still no sign of
the railway.
The Malacca, 17, has arrived with one of the yachts
from the Crimean Fund, about the name of which latter
I am uncertain.

The Golden Fleece left harbour yesterday, with sick
on board • and the Andes, Gomelza, and Jason leave
there to-day, also full of sick.

The mortality among the Turks in Balaklava is per-
fectly appalling, considering their now reduced numbers.
In all the most dirty hovels of the town they congregate
in scores and die, without leaving their huts, er making
the least complaint. The reckless system of interring
them all round the town still goes on, though not to the
same extent as . fornierly.
A. number .of.nurses for the sick have arrived with
Miss Stanley, .froin Scutari. They will attend to the
hospital at Balaklaia, wnich I am bound to state is now
in excellent order, and really far surpasses what might
have been expected from an hospital in such a place, and
conducted under such trying circumstances.
Very few of the Cossacks remain round Balaklava, so
that the ad route by the military road to Sebastopol is
now almost entirely open. Horsemen may ride to camp
by it with safety. For foot passengers there is still risk,
though many go by that way.
The enemy has recently erected a heavy battery on
the other side of the river Tchernaya. it is composed
entirely of long ship's guns, and throws its shot and shell
to a considerable distance. It is situated on a precipitous
hill, about midway between cur right at Inkerman
and our rear, over the plains of Balaklava. No one
had any suspicion that such a battery was ever con-
templated, until, to the surprise of all, it suddenly
opened ire two days since. No one can conceive the
object which the enemy had in ♦iew in throwing up this
work, as its very longest range 'shots fall nearly 2, 000
yards distant from our lines. Yet the Russians fire
from it constantly at the few straggling soldiers who
quit our lines to search for wood and roots with which
to cook their rations. Though it is quite evident to all
that the !Russians might fire for ever from this battery
without once hurting one of the allies, yet still they keep
on wasting their powder and shot without even disturb-
ing us or the stragglers at whom they are aimed. This,
at all event,i, shows that the Russians are not short of
ammunition of any kind, and are determined to give us
all the hindrance they can, no matter how slight.

RUSSIAN PRODUCE.—The anticipations entertained
a reaction from the
among the dealers in Russian produce regarding the
forthcoming proclamation to stop all intercourse with the
Queen's enemies having proved erroneous—the measure
not I bi
Rega
sr i
inn g
muupnoint
ot rnasd eo, f
wb uatr, b i
on.g simply directed to
sudden rise of Saturday has taken place in the tallow.
market, and the quotation, which had advanced to 595.
is again 575. per cwt., at which, however, there is a
tendency to firmness.