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LONDON, THU IiSDA Y EVENING, APRIL 26, 1855.

returned once more to my den in despair as to its
cause. I am now inclined to think it was a sortie

I
quent upon the recent rains. The expectation which the 1
outsiders entertained that "the fleet would go in" this
morning atdaybre lk has not been realised. At daybreak I
was up at Cathcart's-hill to witness the opening of our fire, I
and with some hope that I might see, too, the first broad-
sides of our wooden walls. It was a thick morning, and
the view was obscured by vapours and driziling rain,
but the dark hulls and rigging of the steamers and line
of battle ships were visible through the mist, and, though
clouds of steam were flying.from the funnel pipes, it was
quite evident that the fleet were only off the port, and
bad no intention of taking part in the bombardment.
Only one officer, Col. Nercott, of the Rifle Brigade, was
up at that part of the front which is close to the lines of
his regiment, and a few stragglers had crept out of the
adjoining tents to look at the town and its long lines of
battery. Through the gray light the flashes of the guns
lighted up the embrasures, and the shot cleft the air with
a dull, hoarse roar, and struck with a heavy throb into
the earthworks. Our shells were bursting right into and
over the Mamelon, which the French were also plying
from their Ifikerman batteries. The Round Tower now,
and then fired one of the three or four heavy guns
which are placed in the west angle works, but the Redan
and Garden Batteries were worked with vigour. On the
left the whole of the outlines of the town and of the
French batteries were obscured by the smoke from the
guns, which hung in heavy white wreaths on the ground.
The fire was very heavy, and the riflemen in front of the
batteries kept up a sharp fusillade on the embrasures,
which was sometimes audible in the lulls of the cannon-
ade. It was tolerably evident that the Russians had
more than recovered from their surpriSe, and that they
had laboured to recover the ground they had lost with
all their might. Their batteries were fully manned,
and their fire, if not so precise as our own, was very
quick. They occasionally resorted to their old prac
tee 'of-firiog off-six or seven guns in a salvo—a4'
method also adopted by the Frenoh occasionally. It
is laid down, indeed, in some books of authority that
salvo firing is more effective than independent firing,
but I take it that the dictum can only refer to breach.
ing operations, and not to those which are directed for
the purpose of silencing guns. As the rain set in again
soon after 6 o'clock, nothing more was to be seen, and
we returned to our tents. The cannonade continued all
day uninterruptedly, but irregularly, and as soon as the
rain ceased and the batteries were visible I returned to
Catbcart's-hill. I could not see that any marked change
had been made in the profile of the enemy's works.
Several of the embrasures in the Redan had been de-
stroyed, and the Round Tower works were a good deal
"knocked about;" but there was no great reduction in
the weight of the enemy's fire. The Allied fleet was
quietly stationed to the south of the Quarantine Forts.
Their presence there bad, however, the effect of drawing
off a number of the Russian gunners, for the sea batteries
on the north and south side 3 were all manned, and we
could see the artillerymen and sailors inside the parapets
standing by their guns. Large reserves -of infantry
were drawn up near the north forts, and the corps
over Inkerman were under arms. The Russians were
seen carrying their wounded men across to the north
side in boats, and it is probable they also get the relief
for the batteries in the same way, and that they keep
the bulk of their magazines in the forts at the other side
of the Roads. General Bizot received a very severe and
dangerous wound to-day. He was struck by a rifle ball
under the ear, and it tore right stress his face and lodged
close to his eyo in the temple at the opposite side. Some
hopes are entertained that his life will be saved. No. 2
battery, left attack, suffered severely to-day from the
heavy fire directed against it, and the Barrack Battery
proved very troublesome, but its fire was not so mis-
chievous as that of the Garden BeAtery. The service
has to deplore the loss of Captain Luee' R.A., who lost
both his legs by a round shot, and died soon after-
wards. He was a promising and zealou's officer. Lieu-
tenant Urmston, of the Queen, was wounded in one
of the sailors' batteries, but is likely soon to recover.- A
strange and almost unexampled accident occurred in one
of our batteries. A 13-ince mortar, with a mdderate
charge, and not over-heated burst on being fired, and
flaw into two pieces, splitting up longitudinally. One
of the huge masses was thrown 30 yards to the right,
and another a great distance to the left, and yet, won-
derful to relate, though the fragments flew along the
traverses and parapet, not one man was killed or
wounded. We were less fortunate in the case of the Lan-
caster gun, which was struck by a shot and went to
pieces, killing and wounding severely six men. Several
engineer officers to whom I have spoken, while express-
ing regret at the accident, have declared their satisfac-
tion at getting rid of the gun in which they placed no
confidence, on account of its wild and uncertain firing.
Omer Pasha' visited Lord Raglan again to-day, and
there was another council of war or conference, at
which General Canrobert and General Bosquet were
present. .
Lord Raglan visits the front every day, and spends
some time examining the effects of the fire, and Sir John.
M'Neil, Colonel Tull* General Pennefather, and Sir
George Brown are frequently visible among the specta-
t,)rs on the advanced mounds commanding a view of the
siege operations. I have not yet seen Sir Colin Camp-
bell, who is probably too much occupied by his own
division at Baliklava to be able to spend much time in
the front. Every one who can gets away, however, for
a few hours, and gazes on this extraordinary spectacle
from the ridges over Sebastopol. Up to to-day the Naval
Brigade has lost 40 men killed and wounded. A clever,
energetic officer, Captain Crofton, R.A., was severely,
but net dangerously wounded to-day by a round shot,
which struck him on the leg, close to the knee. There
are some slight hopes of saving his leg. Lieutenant
Armit, R.E., while engaged_ in repairing .an embra-
sure, was struck by some stones in the legs, thrown
up by a round shot, and is slightly wounded.
The firing this afternoon was extremely heavy and irre-
gular on the part of the Russians. In the early part of
the day an electric telegraph was sent up to head-quar-
ters to say that a body of Russians were marching from
the heights of Mackenzie's-farm towards Tehorgonn,
hut no one seems to know what has become of them.
The enemy show a considerable number of watch-fires
over the Tchernaya this evening. General Bizot is in a
dangerous state. We hear that the sinalliioX in the
fleet is very much better. The -French poured inces-
sant volleys of shells into the western part of the town
after dark, and we aided them with bothbs from the
mortars into the enemy's batteries. ,

in the trench, which was unsuccessful,. was renewed,
and was finally repulsed victoriously and with great loss
to the enemy. It appears that at first, about 10 o'clock,
drums were heard beating a charge, or alarm, all along
the French lines at first ; but whether they 'were Rus-
sian or French drums no one can say. The cheers were
undoubtedly Russian. Sir John Campbell despatched
Capt. Hume, Aide•de-Cam;,; to head-quarters to learn
the cause of the firing, but as nothing wa.s known there
respecting any attack to be made by the French; it is
almost certain that this busy night has been the work of
the Russians. There is now a profound silence—not a
gun can be heard; and the horrid din of shot and shell
screaming and whistling through the air, the bursts of
cannon and bombs, the cheers, and rolling volleys, have
all died away, and the deadly lights have died out and
left all the black waste in, darkness. While the fight
lasted the quantities of shell thrown by both sides were
prodigious. They might be seen 6 and 8 at a time
seaming the sky with their fiery curves, and then
bursting with a bright red flash which lit up for an
instant the smoke, and flashed through it like a beam
from the setting sun through a murky cloud. The
French threw "bouquets," two, three, and four shells
from one mortar in flights at a time, and must have
caused fearful havoc in the enemy's lines. At every
crashing volley our men used to grow quite excited, and
many a " Bono Franceese" ran through the crowd, but
the few Frenchmen who were there talked in subdued
and eager tones, with a deeper interest in the fate of
their gallant comrades than we could feel. Towards the
close of the struggle the Russians fired angry volleys
from their cannon, and threw a multitude of shells_into
the French lines, which were paid back with interest. It
must have been the most sanguinaty aair wa have had
since Inkermann aril no doubt tke ifrolffieur will let us
'know truth Of it, and give us additional reason to
admire the gallantry of our allies. Our men seemed to
think it was a French attack, and one fellow exclaimed,

"Oh ! when are we to get a chance ?" Another ex-
claimed, " When we do, Jack, I, hope to the Lord
they'll let us go at it by daylight. I like to see my
inimy !" The progress of the battle Was watched with
the most intense anxiety, and many were the specula-
tions and arguments respecting the lines of fire—as to
whether they were from friend or foe, and as to which
was which, and who were gaining and who wero losing.
At last with the silence we all dispersed, and the camp
once more profoundly quiet, for the reports from the
rifle pits are deadened by the wind. There is less cre-
dence attached to-night to the rumour that we are
"going in" at daybreak. The lai-t nail on which it
hangs is the fact that the Caradoc has been ordered
to get ready to carry Lord Raglan's despatches to•mor-
row.

SATURDAY, 3 O'CLOCK,,A.M.
There is a tremendous cannonade on our left. The
Light Division bugles are sounding close at hand.
3.ls.—There is an awful crashing roar from the Rus-
sian batteries. The Light Division are on the alert. I
must close my despatch for the present. And now to
-my diary.

TUESDAY APRIL 10.

I• was obliged to send off. a very. hasty despatch
this morning, as the.fatigue and the wet of Monday
had nearly incapacitated me'from writing. It was nearly
noon before the Russians recovered their surprise and
manned the whole of their guns, and we gained a decided
advantage by the secrecy with which the day of opening
fire was kept, and the excellence of
,our arrangements.
In the extreme right Inkerman Battery, manned by our
artillerymen, the guns, in consequence of a message from
our allies that they were .91)T:ring frem our silence, were
opened before all was quite in readiness, and the result
was that the enemy inflicted some damage on us in con-
sequence of their being able to concentrate their fire
before it was taken off by the other batteries. A valu-
able man—a corporal of Sappers— vas killed, and several
men wounded here. Some of our batteries ara'as yet
unfinished, but exertions will be made to complete,them
at night during the siege. I have not been able to get the
armament of the right attack as yet, )ut I send you a
statement of the armament of the left attack, which

it cannot be dangerous to publish, as our cannonade
and bombardment will have failed utterly if Sebastopol
be not taken before these hues are in print, and the
whole dreary process of dragging up more guns, getting
up fresh platforms and throwing up"new batteries, will
have to be gone over again. The French have, it is
said, about 300 guns and mortars in position, but I be-
lieve such an estimate to be exaggerated. At 120 rounds
a-gun per diem, we can fire for about 10 days without
much damage to our guns. If the place does not fall
then, it is not in the power of artillery to take it, and we
must either get ready to invest the north and south, or
try the dreadful alternative of a general storm, unaided
by the ships, which seem at present all but useless.
Our armament in Chapman's batteries is as follows:
Left Attack.—No. 1 Battery.—Ten 24-pounders, two
8-inch guns.
No. 2 Battery (Sailor).—Eight- 32-pounders, two 8-
inch guns.
No. 3 Battery (Sailors).—Eight 24-pounders.
No. 4 Battery (Sailors).—Two 32-pounders, four 24-
pounders, two 8-inch guns, one 10-inch gun. -
No. 5 Battery (Sailors).—One 8-inch gun, one 10-inch

gun.
Picket-house, or No. 6 Battery.—Two 32-pounders,
one 24-pounder, and three 10-inch mortars.
No. 7 Battery.—Six 32-pounders.
No. 8 Battery.--Six 32-pounders, two 8-inch guns.
Irrespective of the guns in the above batteries, there
are in position the following mortars-10 13-inch and,4
10-inch, intended for bombarding the remoter works,
and the storehouses and magazines of the enemy.
The casualties' in the first day's cannonade ' on our
side were not numerous. In the Naval Brigade one
most excellent and zealous young officer, Lieutenant
Twyford, of the London, lost his life. He was killed
on the spot, and a piece of stone knocked up by the
same shot, struck Lord John Hay on the face, cut his
mouth, and knocked two of his teeth down his throat, be-
sides wounding him in the shoulder. The remains of Lieu-
tenant Twyford were buried to-day, and they were fol-
lowed to the grave by many officers and sailors. The
chaPlain of the Diamond performed the funeral service.
Lord John Hay's wound is not very serious. Of the
men of the brigade 9 were killed and 13 wounded. The
artillery of the siege train and men in the trenches lost
about an equal number killed and wounded. This morn-
ing a promising young office,r, Lieutenant Sinclair, Royal
Artillery, received two very severe wounds from the
fragments on the recoil of a gun carriage struck by a
shot, and he is, I regret to say, in rather a precarious
state. The loss of Lieutenant Twyford is the more to
be deplored, inasmuch as it took place at the close of the
day, when he had done his work and was about being
relieved. The shot which killed him hopped in over the
parapet from the angle of the Flagstaff Battery, which
almost rakes the left over Chapman's Batteries, and
struck him on the back as he was leaning against the
traverse, making up his day's expense paper of ammu-

• THURSDAY, APRIL 12.
At dawn this morning the Allied batteries and

the Russians recommenced their terrible combat as
usual, and it was evident the enemy had exerted
themselves greatly to repair damages during the
night, and that they had replaced four or five da-
maged guns, mended broken embrasures and injured
parapets, and were; in fact, nearly as ready to
meet our fire as they had been any time for the last six
months. On our side four of the guns for the advanced
parallel, which for the previous two nights we had failed-
to get into position, were at last brought down after
dark, and it is expected that material results will be pro-
duced by their fire when they are in position. Broken
pieties ms were removed and damaged guns replaced by
others. The morning was hazy, and rain fell at times,
but towards the afternoon the weather cleared up again,
and the heights were crowded with spectators, many of
whom were Turkish officers recently arrived from Euptte
toria. An English lady on horseback, who rode up to
Cathcart's-hill, attracted nearly as much attention from
these gentlemen as the cannonade. Our batteries
throughout the day fired steadily, and if their cannonade
was less imposing in appearance than when they sent
forth ealvoes and irregular bursts of fire and smoke, it was
probably inure effective. Orders wore sent to al l the batteries
to restrict the firing to 120 rounds per gun each day. The
vivacity of the sailors' batteries has been diminished by
that order, but their practice-is splendid, and the enemy
have directed their heaviest fire on them in reply. The
13-inch mortar battery fires parsimoniously one round
mortar every 30 minutes, but it requires a long time to
cool the great mass of iron heated by the explosion of
121 b. or 161 b. of powder. Every one is most anxious to
see the effect of the shells when they burst ; but, owing
to the smoke; and to the great distance of the objects at
which they are directed, it is impossible to tell where
they alight-or what they do unless one happens to be in
the battery, and is enabled to know their flight. The
English battery on the right at Inkerman has been
very well served and has caused great damage to the
enemy, and the Round Tower .111 s beeis almost-shut
up; nor did the Mairielon fire a shot for the four
hours I was watching it. The portion of the town
opposite the French is a heap of ruins'. The inces-
sant shelling at night has done much mischief to the
private houses. Our allies fire to-day with great
energy. Their Inkerman and Telternaya batteries are
admirably served, and they have not only kept down the
firing of the Mamelon, aided by Gordon's Battery, but
they have also answered the batteries at. the north side
of the harbour, the Inkerman Cave Batteries, and have
eilenced 'for the present the Lighthouse Battery, No.. 2.
Our fire from Gordon's Battery and its advanced works
has swept away the rifle pits, has damaged some six or
seven guns in the Round Tower, and has kept under the
fire from one face of the Redan, while the firefrorn Chap-
man's Battery has been vary successful against the Redan,
the Barrack Battery, the Road Battery,, and the Garden
Better,. The French on the left have done great mischief
to tae Garden Battery also, and their fire has cru.hedthe
guns of the Flagstaff Battery (Batter; edaMet) completely,
but they suffer cousiderably from the Quarantine Fort
and its outworks, and from the Dockyard Harbour Bat-
tery. We have quite destroyed the small but heavily
armed and destructive battery called that of " Careening
Bay," recently constructed by the Russians; but of course
we have sustained considerable losses in a contest of
artillery waged with a skilful and determined 'enemy..
Our sailors- -men and guns—have suffered especially.
It is reported that seven guns have been dismounted or
rendered unfit for use for the time in the left attack, and
four have been damaged in the right attack
t Oarßecaut:
terY No. 2 in the left attack, has been exposed o a p
liarly heavy fire.
The cannonade has never ceased
faolil.
heavy on the whole as it has been
but they re-
days, Af4.50 the batteries relaxedvvery severe day. It
ipsrenvitousos
severe till nightfall,
newed it at 6,.and the fire
las, E-
when the bombardment couwiainse_ncNed anwdailasktiel
dl
e dt ltlod- daay;
break. Lieutenant Doug
by a round shot, which carried away his head. His
y felt in the Naval Brigade. Orderi,
have ibs v ee
se
enat'en to the Engineers this „Afternoon to
prepare scaling ladders and pontoons, and they

nition.
The losses in the Naval Brigade have been severe
within these last two days, but our covering parties have
not suffered much, as they have been placed out of fire,
in shelter close to the batteries. In this respect we seem
to have taken a lesson from the Russians, who only keep
men enough to man the guns in their works, and draw
them from the reserves as they may be required. The
cannonade on both sides commenced at dawn to-day, and
it was apparent that the Russians ha,d quite recovered from
thee ue nrpd
lue
their 4 most Troublesome guns. The practice from
of the
salvoes
fr precedingem t
their
ei(il.ayh„t
batteries.
eethey. Ourope gunners
ee wither
m e
'• gave them as good as they got," and soon silenced
the left of the left attack and from the right of the right
severaloftremendous
attack, which was moreunder observation than other parts
burns
empi
properly
rbl
ye ,
the
of our works, was a imirable, ani at every shot the earth
was knocked up outot the enemy
tlgieofoudseabs
's parapet and embrasures.
direction and flight of the shells are unerring, but a large
00eureeseheeelel
proportion burst in the air., Some of our fuses were
account
practise
e f be
made in ISO 2 and subsequently. I have heard of same
dfeisseen.otlsfo
belonging to the last century, but they are net the least
reliable, and some' of very recent manufacture have
' turned out the worst of all. At 12 o'clock at noon the
fire slackened. The French have silenced eight or-nine
of the guns of the Bastion-du mat (Flagstaff), and had
inflicted great damage on the outworks and on tire
buildings inside the batteries. in the western tower.
They had also almost shut up the Inkerinan batteries.
On our side we had Eilencel half the guns in the Redan
and Round Tower, and bad in conjunction with the
French left the Mainelon only one out of seven guns to
reply to us, but the Garden Battery, the Road Battery,
and the Barrack Battery were comparatively uninjured,
and kept up a brisk fire against us all day.
Our guns were restricted to eight shots an hour each.
The sea service mortars fired only once in every 30 mi-
nutes. The Russians, with great sang froid, repaired
the batteries outside under fire,, and appear to have ac-
quired confidence and courage, but their fire was by no
means as brisk as it was when the siege commenced
last Year. On our si:le six guns were disabled, including
one large mortar.. From 2 till 4 o'clock the firing was
very heavy on both sides. It then slackened for half an
hour, and at 4 30 it recommenced, and teee was one
coutinuous roar of cannon and mortar:, till darkness set
in. Then the French began to throw in shells by five and
six at a time, and discharged, quantities of rockets into
the town, and our mortars kept up a steady fire at the
Redan and Marnelen till daybreak. We are about arm-
ing a bait ry in the advanced parallel with eight-inch
guns in a position calculited to do immense mischief to
the enemy. This operation should have been effected
ssi s t e d 1
on Monday night, but owing to the rain and the
gwlaasn
dtaor-klaya,nadnddr:zi :oi
drizzling
cmilisotfswfeaAlrl taolator intervalsl c
state of the ground, it was found impossible to
effect the,nperation. His Excellency Omer Pasha visited
head-quarters, at which the French
in Groemnertahlee
The
Lord:haeesyd
baßya
n observed
o intelligencecoming into o
f iSebastopol
inpr
importance
c e today
c 0
In" uenoine:Y
one
off our batteries on
town,ap.a. ebaut.t
in the early morning it rained heavily.
si iewr ao,ls deserters
taken
upc
ianme '
pAhne r
interpreteropol. from Sue.
S ate.
suspicion of being a spy, but was dischaa dge on exami-
nation at head-quarters.

WEDNESDA.T, April 11.
Our men were not able to get the guns froin which so
much is expected into position last night, owing princi-
pally, I believe, to the b ry nature of the ground conse-