The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-08 00:00:00

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PRICE SD.

. ,
Christie are either recall(l,`oefin the point of resigning.-.!
'Aliut the trl.:th af this reptirt Lanai by.iio means ceitain;
.1
hat if C.tptain Christie gees his loss. will be felt and
deeply regretted by evrry transport master out here.

English Camp,' heights of Sebastopol,•-Feb. 18.
The enemy seem .how quits content to rely on their
present defensive preparation',:. and haVing finishdd-their
seeond line of ditches and- ai:hattis round the south-sidi
(.Vis have no means of ascertaining the precise natur4 cf
their works on the north), are resting from their labours, •
'a,s, far as new earthworks go: Ail their batteries. seem
in the most perfect order, and about fifty per cent.
,stronpr than when we firA sat down before th': place:
The French are deing their best to disturb this stats of
afflairs,by firing heavily with their advanced mortar: bat,
terry; but the enemy reply shat for shot and shell for shell,
and sometimes mote. No material result appears to be
produced by the fire of either party. Whatever mischief
ills Russiiins do to the works of-our allies they repair in
the course of the night, and the enemy do the same.
Of course affairs moil& be rely different if all the
trenches of the Allies opened fire; but of that we have
:till no prospect, f ;1‘ it is now discove.red (rather late in
the eerr, your reafi,ns will say) that Sebastopol is most
vulnerable front the heights of Inkerman, which com-
mand the bead of the harbour and touch of am north cf
the i" n• "iB.l)oint, th, refore, abunt a mile in ad-
vance of the spot where the battle of Inkcr.ran- was
fought, new batteries are being thrown up,
.whieli are
in ended to mount both long guns and mortars. One
battery has already seven long 32's placed, with f Fur 13-
inch mortars. Ani ther gun and another mortar will
complete, its equipment. The ' Russians harass the
troops engaged in these works incleasantly, both from
their batteries on the north side citheTeliernaYa miler
the. upper Inkerman height, and frail their mortar rafts•
at the head of the harbour, which I mentioned sorne
tew days back. To Cie reissiles.from these latter is also
added the galling effects of the fire of the s rail stearne-,
which, mounted with long and heavy guns, rushes out
from under the land, discharges her broadsides, and
then instantly returns. At present this lively little
crift can do .this work with impunity ; Lot when our
new batteries do open the case will be a sad o:,e, if she
ventures out. But, in spite of this constant fire, very
few casualties happen to the French working-parties,
though the progress of the battery is certainly much re-
tarded from the men being so constantiy compelled to
lie down. until the shell burns.* I am told that when
this new ha" is finished,•aud its:guns mounted, it. is
intended to throw-up another in front of it and nearer
to the tiwn, and a'so a larger and stronger one ;till fur-
ther to the north.

All these preparations seen) to point out distinctly that
from thelnkerrnau side thogreatett efforts of the apes wit;
he direCted. It seems..perfectiy extraordinary that this
waa riot thought of before; and even now the merit of the
discovery is gent.rally ascribed to the wow engineer, Ge-
neral Jones. Th it this officer has expresed his tot:tl
alirl most decided dissent from the runnier in our
siege works have hill erto been conducted is no longer a
a- cr.:4, ; indeed, the ery terms and points on which he
condemns the operations are spoken-of everywhere.
General Canrobert arrived at headquarters this morn-
ing, and had a lon,z interview with Lord Raglan. A
despatch from Eiipa.tora also reached the Commander
in-Chief, stati,g that the Turks under Omar Paella at
that place had repulsed an attempt of this enemy to
storn the town. The real detaiis of that event you will
hear from your correspondent at Eupatoria, so it is
sufficient to mention that the most extravagant ru

••••••,•••,...
motifs prevail here ai' to the real nature of the success
gained by our Mahomedan According to the most
modest account, the Russians were 60,000 strong,
and *ere repulsed with a loss of 5,000 killed, and with
only 500 killed and wounded to the Turks. This, if
true, would far surpass Inktr.nan, but I have no great
faith in the first statements of things of this -kind, wore
especially as the Turks are raid to have captured all the
enemy's guns and Fiege train. If the Russians had
a s',ege train with th:m they wou'd hardly attempt a
coup de main ; and even if they did, and failed in such
an attack, it could not, by any possibility, involve the
loss of their ordnance, unless the Turks were enabled to
take the field in pursuit of thrm, which, without an over-
powering force of cavalry, they could never do.
It is said that General England intends resigning and
returning to England.
It is also generally stated and believed that the whole
of the principal staff officers of the quartermaster-g►ene-
ral's, adjutant-general's, and commissariat departments
have likewise sent in their resignations.

A general or.ler was issued this evening, positively for- 1
bidding either officers or men from entering Ealaklava
by e6ossing the plain from the rear of our camp lines.
The reason for this order is, that so many of our private
soldiers have takenadvantage of their being in the neigh-
boinhood of the Cossack pickets to- desert into their
line-, frequently taking with them their pack horses.
The weather has continued remarkably fine, dry, and
mild ; and the t•auitary condition of the troop, is im
proving much. The men are beginning to look more
healthy, and their old spirit of reckless dating and long-
ing to get at the enemy has returned in its full force.

FEBRUARY 19.
All last night it blew a heavy gale from the not th-
east, which must have deranged the contour of some of
the vessels crammed into Balaklava most considerably.
The wind, while it lasted, was cold and. dry ; but to-day
the weather is mild and warm, and the few trees and
vines which remain around us are evidently making in-
creased preparations for budding forth.
The real state of the case with regard to the attack on
Eupatoria appears now to be, better known. It was
not the attack of an army 60,000 strong, which was re-
pulsed, but a strong reconnaisance, of some 8,000 or
10,000 men, which was being mad-, preparatory to the
attack of a large force believed to be in the neighbour-
hood. The reconnoitring party were driven back prin-
cipally, it is said, by the fire of some well-directed rocket
batteries, manned by the Turks,.French, and English.
The enemy lost a large number in killed and wounded,
and the Turks 40 killed and about 100 wounded. Selim
Paella, one of the ablest of the Turkish generals under
Orner Pasha, is said to have received a mortal wound in
this encounter, of which he died shortly afterwards.
A desperate attempt to carry the town by assault is
expected to take place to-day, and accordingly yesterday
evening some of the available steam-sloops and frigates
were despatched by Admiral Lyons to assist in the de-
fen ;e. It is net at all unlikely that when the Russian
general sees Eupatoria.so much further strentbened by
these floating bw.teries, with which no a.uount of troops
could ever cope, that the assault will be abandoned alto-
gether. •

• It is said that in the course of another mintb, who
Omer 'Pasha has rf•ccivcd the who!e of his caver,
and artillery, the -Turkish troops will take the fielJ,
and, leaving a garriion in Eupatoria,- proceed by ths
Alma and the Katcha to the north of Sebastopol
General Bosquet is to support this movement by cross-
ing the valley of Inkerman with 15,000 French and the
Bligli,h light division, so as to threaten a-id attack the
rear of the enemy in case of their making any attempt to
stand upon the heights over the rivers which the Turks
must pass.
This report may very likely be true in the main, espe-
cially as without such assistance- the Turks would find
great difficulty in storming the heights of Alma or Bal-
bck—but much will have to be done before the Allies
will be able to carry out such a plan of operations. For
instance, the enemy has been indefatigable in throwing
up their batteries on the summits cf the tremendous
cliffs over the ruins of Inkerman on the north of the
valley. A heavy battery has been erected almost in the
face of the cliffs above the caverns, and another com-
manding that at the foot of tho upper height. Both
these works mount guns of very heavy calibre and loner
range, and kII through the 17th the enemy fired from
them incessantly, sometimes on the working parties going
to the advanced batteries, and sometimes over the old
Sand-bag Battei y towards the tents of the second division. '
Some of the latter shots tell within 30 or 40 feet of the
line of tents. Ire-day they are employed in the same
manner, and the result of this will be that beforeanother
week has 'elapsed the few vulnerable points of their tre-
mendous position will bristle with guns and redoubts.
Take it we mast, as while it remains iu possession of the
enemy all our attempts to complete the investment ei f
deserve credit for their defence up to the pr ,
- • will be
Sebastopol would be futile. The Russians unedeoeunbttebdtli3t,
sooner or later the, true history of the campaign
then be seen that
known
no'
now appears
aptreari'wotrhlde,rea* andtiit
ofi t
exwtrilaol rdiner7 energy and_
warlike ability on their side has really consisted "of
nothing more than taking timely advantage of these:
alliedglarin gee
nb
el ur r s
Alll whichh b
e hopesave obfe en c
the
Fo mr
emn
ci tht ed
ar
mb ythe y
are
now centred in General Pelissier and their 'new chief '
engineer. General Bosquet is also much admired; and
spoken of by our allies SA a thorough soldier.
Since the visit of the Russian spy to our batteriessuch
increased vigilance has been exercised that the other day
a new assistant surgeon,' while proceeding into a battery
where his party of sailors were stationed, was arrested
there in spite of his protestations, and brought before the
commanding officer of the naval brigade. The admirable
condition of this brigade is somet ing beyond all praise.
Yesterday, out of 1,100 men, there were only 28 on the
sick list. The tents of the blue jackets are decidedly the
neatest in the whole camp, well-trenched outside, and
neatly paved with small flat stones within. Many of
our officers might take a lesson in neatness and good
order from the admirable manner in which Jack manages
everything about his camp. No wasting is allowed in
their tents, and all coming off duty with dirty boots leave
them outside the tents in little boxes constructed for the
purpose. Over one deep little ravine near this camp,
which is very dirty, and which they have to en ss
frequently, they have constructed a "suspension bridge,
vencn for strength, neatness, and ingenuity far surpases
any invention Y have yet seen at camp. The bridge is
formed by three strong cables stretched across
,the
ravine, and firmly secured at each side, and to those are
lashed the staves of the beef and pork barrels which the
sailors have carefully collected for this purpose in p:lA-
klasa. With these simple means they have made ao light,
strong, and even handsome bridge, which e p
hod
ted with this
toenorrow with great state and ceremceneye,.c
to say that the Effnrts of the officers d
g 11, and all the
brigade lia,ve, at last been I am g
seniors pronfoted
date from the day of their
Their commissions will bear
by a specialli.truclerwfreointhe Admiralty.