The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-17 00:00:00

LETTER FROM THE BRITISH CAMP AT

ALYDEN.

" ALYDEN, Jur,' 3.--I have still to date my epistle
from this place, where the Duke's division is now stay-
ing. The light division started from here on Friday
last, June 30th. I saw them off. On the following
morning, the Duke's division, attended by several silt-
tiers, came up. The' brigade of Highlanders was the
first to arrive upon the ground at about ten o'clock.
Both the appearance of the men and their order of march-
ing disappointed me extremely, and certainly from such
well-disciplined soldiers and muscular men more might
have been expected. All were, to appearance at least,
quite fagged, and walked with a dejected, listless air.;
while many of them had fallen out of the ranks alto-
gether. The reason to which I ascribe this is, that no
doubt the majority of the men had partaken rather
freely of parting cups with the French soldiers the night
before they started, and nothing tells with such cer-
tainty upon the vigour and marching order of the men
next day. The brigade of Guards came by another
road ; they arrived shortly after the Highlanders, and
though heavier men, and, generally speaking, less ath-
letic and less used to marching than their northern
comrades, were decidedly fresher in appearance, Each
brigade was followed by a train of arobas, baggage
mules, and commissariat horses, quite as long and nu-
merous as itself.

" Neither of the brigades took up the ground formerly
occupied by the Light Division, but moved further up
the bill, and eventually camped in a position, to the
picturesque beauty of which it is almost impossible to
do justice in words. The ridge selected is a continua-
tion of the same hill on which Sir George Brown's divi-
sion remained, but it recedes from the lake, and goes
more up the country, joining another ridge about a
mile distant at right angles. All round this part of the
bill there are the most beautiful ravines, glens, and
forest scenery imaginable. On every side rise hills and
forests, intersected here and there with (apparently) well-
cultivated patches of rich meadow land, while in the
back-ground lies the upper lake of Devna, the bold and
rugged shores of which close in the view. The. greater
part of the camp is formed along the edge of a steep
and narrow glen, which bears a strong resemblance to
the better parts of the Dargle scenery near Powerscourt.
Also on the edge of this ' Sappers' 'Valley,' as it is now
called, from having been occupied by a party of Sap-
pereand Miners for some time, and overlooking the
little brook which runs at the bottom, is fixed the duke's
head-quarters.
" The camp ground of the Guards and Highlanders is
already in excellent order, and its rows of bright white
tents and crowds of busy figures form a strong contrast
with the vacant wasted looking-space where lately the
Light Division were. Than the present aspedt of the
latter place, nothing can be more cheerless and lore.
It reminds one forcibly of a house to let—a winter's
day—a ruined town, or other images equally Ilmoyant
and consolatary to the feelings. All the arbomrs and
rustic seats which the men had erected for their officers
are dry and withered —all the bowers are desert ed, the
ovens fallen in, and the camp fires, which a liVde time
ago might have been taken as emblems of primitive hos-
pitality, are now merely yawning black holes, wi h any-
thing but a cheerful significance about them. I Dried
leaves, broken bottles, battered cooking tins, huge half
-burnt stakes, fowls' heads, fragments of London papers,
and impromptu musket racks, cumber the ground in all
directions. The only living things which now disturb
'its solitude are large mysterious-looking land tortoises
and elvish green lizards, which, rustling and creeping
among the withered leaves, impart an air of dull and De'
cromantic vitality quite in keeping with the whole 'scene.
- "However, in this forlorn condition it is not doomed to
remain long, for the 2d division, under the command of
Sir De Lacy Evans, arrives here to-morrow morning,
(Tuesday.) During the whole of to-day there has been
heavy gale blowing from the N. E., which has severely
tried the strength of the tent pitching of this divisiou-
I have. not heard of any contretemps yet, though from the
violence of the wind it would not surprise me to hear of
many. Showers Of fine sand have been blowing' about
din all directions, and somehow or other getting into
everything eatable or drinkable that was hi the camp.
4"The lakes of Devna have now been put to in ere
profitable purposes than heretofore, and instead 0; re;
- maining as a great.pasturage for bull frogs, -.a system 0f
water communication has been established, by means 0'
which the provisions for the army will be sent by the
lakes from Varna to Devna and Alyden. This proieets
by which an immense amount of slow and uncertain
land conveyance will be avoided, has been in contem pla
tion for some time. When the scheme was first men'
tioned to the Turkish authorities it was warmly opposed
'by them, on the ground that both lakes were above the
sea, and if once a channel was opened the former woelti
inevitably drain off, and leave an extensive and on'
:.,healthy,marsh. But the English authorities were deter'
mined to ascertain from their own observation -whether
-the undertaking was feasible or not, and Mr. Spratt,,,re'
the Spitfire, was appointed to survey both lakes. Ile
:reported that the design was perfectly practicable, and 14
-canal has accordingly been cut, about a mile long, front
the sea to the lower lake, and another about half a mile
long from the lower lake to the upper. Greatly to the
surprise of the Turks, the water did not instantll
:appear in a rush. To Mr. E. Strickland, Assistant,
Commissary-General in charge of the duke's division, and
one of the most active and energetic members' oefthes
commissariat staff out here, belongs the honour eb
having been the first to navigate this hitherto unkn
is said'that Strickland was Sent for one monolog'
and asked if he would undertake to send up his viral'
sions by way of the lake, and as there are few things
which that gentleman would not manage to succeed, he
instantly agreed so to do. In a couple of hours sisorl
he procured the ship's boats from the Simoom, an, -
before five o'clock the same afternoon the first conimle;
sariat cargo of provisions was landed at the pier erected
for the purpose at Alyden. With a fair wind the voyage
from -here to Varna can easily be performed in tWe
hours, and a regular communication is thus kept
The whole scheme of cutting the lake and the ma user in
which it has been performed, and the supplies t
"
mitted, reflect great credit upon all concerned.
render the affair complete, our authorities should b ire
couple of the small but rapid and powerful stes.seerll,
which ply upon the Bosphorus between Constantinople
and Scutari. One of these would not only perforie thet
distance from Varna to Devna in a couple of hours, 1)11
tow besides a dozen of the largest commissariat I esata.
On Saturday morning, when the camp arrived, Vicei
received news which excited a sensation of pro,founs,
'
regret among the troops—a regret which, es;
sure, will be participated in, not only by ;your
readers, but by the mass of the English pecTie-„,,
I mean the death of poor young Captain Butlers, to
gallant hero of Silistria. It is difficult to desorilbe the
feelings of sorrow which pervaded all ranks of Com ser-
vice vice out here when the rumour of the melancholy 1.!`"„..".t
was confirmed in a manner which left no hope of its "ea'
ing false. The details connected with his death lie
been forwarded to his brother, who is on the staff tof
Duke of Cambridge, and from those it appears that -
died more from fatigue and excessive mental and 'bodily
labour than from the effects of his wounds. He died nil
the morning of Thursday, the 23d of June, about tWe
hours before the retreat of the Russians was discovere.ci,
•
The whole garrison, which mourned his loss as trio;
irreparable, attended his funeral with reversed linos"
He was buried in consecrated ground in a little Greett
cemetery near the town. Mr. Naysmith, his &malt
comrade, performed the last sad office of reading' the
service over him. Omer Pacha, who arrived tl"'`,.h-
day after the funeral, was sincerely affected at the death
of the young officer, and was anxious that his remains
should repose in the Fort of Acotaba, which he had (16"
fended so long and bravely against the enemy. But the
friends of Mr. Butler judged that it would be better fat,
the body to remain where it had been first interred, l
the handsome monument which the Turkish authoritie
are about to erect to his memory in Acotaba
answer all the purposes of his ashes being there,'
Few officers who have closed their lives at the earl
age of 27 have ever attained a higher reputation for 'in'
daunted courage and consummate military ability that
the late Captain Butler. With only the most slondeh
means at his command, alone, and almost unaided, 1,11:
encountered the whole might of the Russian forces, an a
after a contest of six weeks of the most desperate on
bloody nature, succeeded in utterly defeating the enemy'
The gallant nature of his struggle and the importance of
his victory cannot be overrated, and the high nature e'
the rewards which he was certain to have received fros
both the Turkish, English, and French Governments
r
used to form a favourite topic of conversation among °tic!
officers. Now no earthly rewards can reach him, *ll
his friends have only the satisfaction of knowing that
fell nobly in the discharge of his duty, and has left I)63ci
hind him a name which will be fresh in the memory an,
admiration of his countrymen when the desolating effen`,s
of the war he has illustrated have passed away likehi,
tale that is told. His heroic example has not been wit a
out its moral effect also. 'With English officers to lea
them, the Turks, after hearing of poor Butler's exploit!!
would charge up to the very mouths of the Russian be At
teries, while I believe there is not a single officer ou
here who is not burning for an opportunity to distingoie;',
himself in some such manner as the defender of Silistria'

VARNA, July 4.—The whole of the 2d division left
here yesterday, and commenced their march in the dire;
tion of Devna. It was not intended that they shoo
l'
advance even as far as Alyden, and as the day was °%.;
ceedingly unfavourable to military movements they only
marched about five miles to the north of their old On
tonments outside Varna and about four miles distantfr°l
the camp of the Ist division at Alyden. Their live ,
march was quite different to that taken, by the 411
troops along the lakes, and led up the,country alio°
to the foot of the range of hills which surround the tow
Upon a slope of these and near the village of Caraed
the camp is formed. To-day they were to have advanCe