The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-09 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY PI, Elk iNG, OCTOBER 9, 18b4,

or 600 wounded Russians. The enemy has made no pro-
posals with regard to them, though I am told a flag of
truce was sent towards his advanced guard, that the sub-
ject might be entered into.
There are two generals amongst the prisoners made by
the English, and they captured the only two guns which
were abandoned—one a 32-pounder, the other a 14. The
fittings of both these are as good, if not better, than any
1 ever saw in my life.
Four p.m.—The allied army is encamped on the southern
side of the Katcha, and some of the steamers aro try-
ing their range with the batteries. The Himalaya
arrived this forenoon, and the Scots Greys will be
landed at the Katcha. The ships will. all go down
near the harbour, and as the Polish deserter says that
nearly all the Russian troops are on the northern side of
the port, though the tents still remain on the other side,
it is not improbable that we shall land troops there and
make a grand attack on both sides, and with the ships at
the same time. •

Seven p.m.—l am happy to say that the Russians, seeing
us coming, sank their ships, which they had placed across
the entrance to the port ; so five liners, one of them a three-
decker, are gone down, with two frigates and a hulk. Had
they been full of stones, they might have offered an ob-
stacle of some permanence to large ships entering or leav-
ing their harbour, but now they have only given us the
use of our seamen and marines for batteries on shore,
if we choose to use them. The Russians have been going
through a little practice with shell and rockets from their
star fort, inside Fort Constantine, this afternoon. Our
Pole says the sunken ships have their guns in.
24th, 10 p.m.—The army advanced to-day, but, instead
of taking the direct road along the shore to the northern
side of the harbour, where the Russians have been
propariug for us for some time, the march has been to the
left, and all this afternoon and evening we were unable to
see a single soldier of them. They will cross the Belbec
further up than was probably anticipated, and have, from
their position to-day, been able to make excellent observa-
tions of the defences of the place. From the French flag-
ship we hear that the plan of attack has been entirely
changed, and that the troops will go into it from the
heights on the southern side of it, having previously taken
possession of Balaklava, to obtain supplies from the ships.
I do not quite believe this story, on account of the steep
ravines through which the army would have to pass; but
yet, if these can be gone through, the town can be got at
where it is not defended, and all the mines which have
been prepared for us on this side will be avoided. This
last desideratum might be gained, perhaps, by coming
down on the northern shore from the Inkerman river;
but in that case the communication with us would have
to be kept up at the Belbec. The movement of the army
seems to risk something in leaving the ships, but we can
form no judgment of it, and only make guesses as to what
may have caused it.
The Scots Greys landed this morning in excellent condi-
tion, and went on with the army, bringing up the rear.
As the ships are sunk across the port, and the army have
made this move, we have nothing to do—for knocking
down any of the forts on the northern side now would
simply be useless. We have another deserter to-day—a
Prussian, who was in the Russian service. Ho says that
the remainder of their fleet is quite ready for sinking or
blowing up, as soon as they aro seen to be in danger of
capture.
The army at the battle of the Alma was composed of—
Light division
Ist PP
2d IP
3d PI
4th PP

Cavalry
Artillery
Sappers and Miners

22,600
... 1,100
2,700
... 400

26,800
The French landed—lnfantry
Cavalry

30,000
but of these not more than 25,000 wore engaged.
The Russians are said to have had 52,000 men engaged
and 100 guns; their loss in killed and wounded and de-
serters is variously estimated at from 4,000 to 15,000.
Menschikoff's tent, carriage, and despatch box fell into
the hands of the allies.
DETAIL OF ARMY DISEMBARKED.
19th. Encamped at Alma, where they had a brush with
the cavalry.
20th. In action at Alma.
21st and 22d. Attending sick and burying the dead.
23d—Advanced to Katcha River, eight miles from
Sebastopol.
24th and 25th. Closing upon Sebastopol—distant three
miles from the enemy's army, which they intended to pass,
and thus cut off all communication with Simpheropol and
Balaklava, and then attack Sebastopol.
The wounded have been sent to Scutari in the Andes,
Cclombo, Orinoque, and Vulcan.
The Sidon has taken a transport in tow with wounded
Russians, intending to convey the same, under a flag of
truce, into Odessa.
The allied fleets are close into Sebastopol, throwing in
shot and shell whenever they can. The Russians have
sunk four of their line-of-battle ships at the entrance of
Sebastopol.
A few cases of cholera continue in the camp and in the
fleets.
The breaching train had not been yet landed.
A deserter from Sebastopol reports the destruction of
Anapa by the Russians, and the removal thence to Sebas-
topol of its garrison.

(BY AN EYE-WITNESS.)
The following is an extract from a letter written on the
battle-field of the Alma on the day of the victory by an
officer of the 3d division of the army commanded by. Prince
Napoleon :
"The Anglo-French army bald possession of the basins
of the Alma; the Russians had established themselves on
the formidable positions which run parallel with the river.
Their army might be estimated approximately at about
40,000 or 45,003 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, and a numerous
artillery. The allied army was composed of 43,000 Eng-
lish and French, 6,000 Turk, and 120 guns. The position
of the enemy gave them a considerable advantage over our
troops, who were not all able to take part in the contest.
"At the commencement of the battle the second
sion, under the orders of General Bosquet, exercised a
movement having for its object the turning the left wing
of the Russians; the English succeeded in a similar move-
ment on the right. The third division, commanded by
Prince Napoleon, and the first division, under the orders
of General Canrobert, supported by the fourth division,
commanded by General Forey, were to act simultaneously
with the English division against the enemy's centre.
General Bosquet's movement succeeded completely. The
troops of the centre, including the first and third divisions,
threw themselves with such eagerness upon the enemy,
that, after having completely routed him, theytook posses-
sion of the positions which command the river.
" The third division of the French had 380 killed and
wounded. Amongst the wounded was General Thomas-
son, who was removed to Constantinople.
" Not far from the general, Prince Napoleon, who made
a most brilliant debut at the battle of the Alma, had
a narrow escape from death, or at least grievous injury.
During the time that the sharpshooters of the division
were endeavouring to dislodge the Russian sharpshooters, a
ball directed against our line struck the ground a few hun-
dred steps from the Prince, and, bounding on, took the di-
rection towards him. Gen. Thomasson luckily saw the ball,
and seeing the direction it was about to take had time to cry
out, Take care, sir.' The Prince turned his horse rapidly
on one side, and the ball broke the leg of Sous-Intende'nt
Leblanc, who was standing behind. M. Leblanc hassince
been obliged to submit to have the limb amputated.
" The English fought with their usual valour. It was a
warm day for all of us, but as advantageous for us in the
result as it was disastrous for the Russians.
" We have driven the enemy from all his positions, and
encamped upon the field of battle.
"The Russians are now waiting for us before Sebasto-
pol at Katcha and Belbeck. Our army is full of confidence,
and is looking forward to fresh battles."

BATTLE OF THE ALMA.

ARRIVAL OF LORD BURGHERSH.
(From tha Morning Post of Sunday.)

Major Lord Burghersh, principal aide-de-camp to
General Lord Raglan, commanding the British
forces in the Crimea, arrived in town this morning
at a quarter to 7 o'clock, bearing detailed iutelli-
genco of the first great action in which the
allied forces have been engaged against the Rus-
sians. Lord Burghersh brings intelligence down
to the 25th of September, at noon, on which
day his lordship embarked in her Majesty's war
steamer Fury, Capt. Chambers, then lying near the
mouth of the river Katcha, several miles north of
the Alma, and within sight of the fortifications of
Sebastopol—the advanced guard of the allied
forces at that time stretching to within two-and-
a-balf miles of the outworks of the fortress.

The Fury made the run across the Black Sea to
Constantinople in 34 hours, arriving at the Turkish
capital about midnight on the 26th of September.
She left after coaling—an operation in which much
valuable time was lost, through the clumsiness of
the Turks—on the night of the 27th ; and, after
It stormy passage, reached Malta about 10 o'clock on
the night of Monday last, the 2d of October. Only
Ihours were consumed in coaling at Malta, and the
Fury again put to sea about midnight on the 2d inst.,
two hours after the Nil, the ordinary French mail
packet, had taken her departure from the same port.
The distance from Malta to Marseilles was run—un-
der some disadvantages of weather, which obliged the
Fury to round the island of Sardinia—in 80 hours,the
Fury steaming into the harbour of the latter
port at 8 o'clock on Friday morning, the 6th in-
stant. In less than an hour Lord Burghorsh had
disembarked and secured a special train, by which
he travelled to Valence, posting thence to Lyons.
Another special train was here chartered by his lord-
ship to bring him on to Paris ; but as the exigencies
of foreign railways do no t admit of any disturbance
of the' ordinary traffic, so in this instance, on over-
taking one of the usual trains, his lordship's carriage
was attached thereto, and his arrival in Paris thus
delayed until five o'clock last evening. Lord Burg-
hush, after having had a brief interview with Lord
Cowley, her Majesty's Ambassador at the French
Court, came on to Boulogne, where he arrived
shortly after 12 o'clock last night. His lordship
crossed from Boulogne to Dover in one of the beauti-
ful steamers of the South-Eastern Railway Company,
and leaving Dover at four o'clock arrived at Lo!,-
don-bridge station at half-past 6. A carriage was in
waiting to convey his lordship to Downing-street,
where he alighted at the office of the Minister for
the War Department. His Grace the Duke of New-
castle was instantly sent for, and arrived inless than
half-an-hour—though, we regret to add, suffering
from severe indisposition. The Earl of Aberdeen
and the Earl of Clarendon arrived within the hour,
and all the Ministers bad long interviews with
Lord Burghersh.
Tho intense interest with which the details here
given will be read by all classes, renders it unne-
cessary to do more than to express our heartfelt
thankfulness that the losses the British troops
have sustained in this first glorious victory are not
quite so fatal as might have been feared from the
numerical list of " killed and wounded" forwarded
through the telegraph by Lord Raglan. Not
more than 26 officers fell on the field, and 19
non-commissioned officers, and the returns of
rank and file actually killed amount only to 308.
There can be no doubt that many others of each
class, whose names appear among the list of the
" severely wounded," will die in the service of their
country, but it is at least consolatory to know that
the proportion actually dead is small in comparison
w ith the number of casualties.
It will be observed that only one officer of the
; cards Brigade is returned as " killed "
r. Horace Cust, of the Coldstream Guards.
Tiiis gallant young man is the youngest
son of Captain the Hon. Peregine Francis
Cust—a cousin of the youthful Earl Brownlow—and
a nephew of the Duke of Buccleuch.

Of the officers of the Scots Fusiliers, nine were
wounded, but it is hoped none fatally so.

RUSSIAN VIEW OF THE CRISIS.

The Independance Beige (Russian organ), under date Bu-
charest, Sept. 26, says :—" Lord Raglan has written to Omer
Pacha, inviting him to effect a diversion on the Prutji, while
the confederate army shall be penetrating into the Crimea.
The order has been given for every ono to prepare to move.
The vanguard is already on its march to Moldavia. Omer
Pacha leaves to-morrow. The attitude of the Austrians re-
mains the same."

The writer goes on to say :
" What does this movement mean, and what will be its
probable result ? Permit mo to make a few observations.
"
the future
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But
what I have to tell you rests on facts scarcely disputed by
any, and-they appear to me to have about them an air of ab-
solute certainty. Let us first of all make quite clear the pre-
sent situation of the armies. Bessarabia is occupied by the
3d, 4th, and sth corps, under the chief command of Prince
Gortschakoff, and the immediate' command of the Generals
Dannenberg, Osteu-Sacken, and Enders. The last occupies
Matschin also, and a few other unimportant points along
Lower Danube. On the other side the Anglo-French army,
70,000 strong, is in the Crimea, and perhaps at this very in, -
nient is coming in close quarters with the defenders of Seb.,
Niuety thousand Turks, under the orders of Omer
Pacha, are going this very week to the Pruth. As for the
Austrian army, it is quite resolved, at least for the present,
to take no active share in the war. This being laid
down, two hypotheses present themselves—either Sebastopol
will bo taken, or it will not. Persons well qualified to
speak on the subject, Russian officers well acquainted
with Sebastopol and its environs, have assured mo
that on the land side it is impossible to establish any other
serious defence save by means of an army in a strong posi-
tion, which is very difficult, by reason of the bad nature of
the ground. But then, there is not a very numerous army
in the Crimea, and the defence of the fortress requires more
than 20,000 men. If attacked simultaneously by land and
sea, it could not long hold out. Nevertheless, I cannot take
upon myself to say that it will be taken. All Ido say is,
that the thing is possible. In that case, what next? If the
Emperor, terrified at the destruction of his fleet, demanded
peace, the question would bo settled. But the Emperor will
not demand it. Will the allied army establish itself in the
Crimea ? " Yes," if the inhabitants rise in its favour ;
" No," if the contrary be the case. Can sixty thousand men
in a foreign country, separated from their resources by a
stormy sea, resist the numerous reinforcements the Russians
would be enabled to send into the Crimea? It would be run-
ing great risk.
" Having destroyed the fleet and the fortress, the allies
will then be obliged to abandon their positions, and to bring
their ships back to the Bosphorus. (The writer forgets that
Sebastopol has a harbour.) This will be in the winter, a sea-
son dreaded by the southern peoples, excellent for the Rus-
sians. Delivered, then, from their anxiety on the side of the
Baltic and the Black Sea the one enclosed in by ice and the
ether by tempests, they will be able to collect all their forces
to the Danube ; and without passing the Pruth, in order to
1:- faithful to their convention, and to furnish Austria with
pretext for attacking them, they will be able to cross the
I),,nube near Reni or Galatz, and enter with a formidable
.my into the heart itself of European Turkey. I know from
ood source that such is the combined plan agreed upon
at one of the latest councils of war held by Prince Gort-
s,liakoff.

"It is moreover asserted that the Emperor means to com-
mand this expedition in person. Whatever idea may be enter-
tamed of the Russians, every one will allow that the presence
of the sovereign is calculated to inspire the troops with ardour.
Grave events might then be reasonably expected in those
countries, even during the winter. Last winter the Russians
and the Turks made prodigious marches when snow was on
the ground, and the cold was extreme (only to be beaten by
the Turks for their pains). Winter quarters are in reality a
lure that does not now deceive the wary.
" Meanwhile I mentioned to you, that the army of Omer
Pasha was marching on the Pruth. If the Russians wait
where they are for the Turks, and then attack them, the
Turks will not resist. In the open field, the Ottoman army
is weak, especially when it is so inferior in numbers as at this
moment-80,000 men against 200,000. Beaten in a general
action—.(the Russians have never yet beaten the Turks in this
war `—it would be annihilated, because it has no reserve. The
system Hitherto followed—that of a guerilla warfare—has
been perfecti: successful on the part of Omer Pacha. He is
too prudent to cLilnge it. I think, therefore, he will con-
tent himself with hart.:ssing the Russians, in order to prevent
them sending succoury, the Crimea, but he will avoid a
pitched baitle. he
will, in a country full
" It remains to be seen whether.
of
of plains and marshes, far from his for::fled centre, be able to
carry out the system of tactics he pursue, on the banks
..Austria in case
the Danube. What would be the attitude ed
the Turks sustain a defeat ? That is a dechsve gziestion lam
not competent to solve. In a word, affairs, as they
!thud at
present, are of the highest importance • and it seems tO
'
persons are wrong who reckon so much on the next springy..
For (and I now come to my second hypothesis) if Sebastopol
is not taken, the allied army will be obliged to withdraw, the
Russians will fortify the place on the land side as they ha ve
already on the sea-board ; they will profit by the winter to
attack the Turks in the territory of the latter, and Heaven ,
knows what may be the result of such an attack, made by so 1
numerous a Russian army, under the command of the Em-
peror in person. [The numbers are not proved and the Em-
peror is not there.] I have entire confidence in the courage
and intelligence of the allied armies, but I persist in believing
that we ought not to despise a nation that has sixty millions,
of souls—a nation quite military in its nature, long prepared
for war, and resolved to make every sacrifice rather than give
way."
This is all that Russia can say for her own case on the
Pruth by the pen of the Russian correspondent of the Rus-
sian Independance Beige.

FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE THAMES.—Yesterday
afternoon, a seaman, named William Travers, fell over-
board from the schooner Change, of Hull, lying off
Harrison's Wharf, near St. Katharine's Docks, and was
drowned. The body was recovered shortly afterwards.
Dectand wan a attirs of Lincoln.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

MORE SCREW LINE-OF-BATTLE SHIPS.

Pop.TsmorTn, Oct. B.—Active exertions are being made to
get forward another division of screw lino-of-battle ships.
Tho Pembroke, 72, and Hastings, 74, have been brought
alongside the dockyard for this purpose, and the greatest
bustle was manifested yesterday in getting them ready to be
docked. Seven vessels of this class are to be immediately
expedited in the conversion of thein into sercws. This class
of vessel will be far more serviceable for operations in the
shallow waters of the Baltic than ships drawing so much
water as the Duke of Wellington, St. Jean d'Acre, Princess
Royal, Cressy, Nile, &e. Tho building of the Marlborough,
131, screw, and Shannon, 50, screw frigate, in this dockyard,
also rapidly progresses, as does also the alteration of the
Royal Sovereign, 120, to a screw ; she is on the stocks.

would again be brought before another court, as his com-
mander had made up his mind to get him out of the Janus.
After witnesses being called for the defence, the court was
cleared, and on the court being opened again, the sentence
of the court was read, stating that they were of opinion that
the prisoner was guilty of the charge of drunkenness, and
that he bo dismissed from her Majesty's ship Janus, and be
disqualified for promotion for the term of two years.
The same court were resworn to try Mr. Charles Pulfer.
Mr. W. W. Hayward officiated as the deputy judge advocate,
and Lieut. G. M. Smith as officer of the court. The prosecutor
gave evidence, and called the assistant-surgeon and other
witnesses to confirm the evidence that ho was so drunk. he
could not walk the quarter-deck. The prisoner inhis defence
stated that he had been standing for some time on the quar-
ter-dock in one position, and at the moment the commander
called him he turned suddenly round to go towards him,
when ho found one of his legs quite numbed, or what is com-
monly called asleep, and that caused him to stagger and
nearly fall dew-n. tie however shortly after recovered, and
walked the quarter-deck as usual. It, however, came put
in evidence that the prisoner had had when on shore three or
four glasses of gin and water. The court were of opinion that
the charge of drunkenness was not proved, but that the pri-
soner appeared at the time to have been under the influence
of liquor ; but in consideration of the very excellent testi-
monials produced (which were 19 in number, many of them
of very high character for the prisoner's proficiency in sea-
manship, navigation, astronomy, &c.) by him, he was re-
primanded by that court, and warned to be more careful in
future.