The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-13 00:00:00

THE MISSING DESPATCHES

The following official account of the proceedings
on the 17th and 18th appears in an Extraordinary
Gazette published this afternoon :
WAR DEPARTMENT, 11.55 A.M.,

Nov. 11, 1854.

His Grace the Duke of Newcastle bas this day
received a despatch, of which the following is a
copy, addressed to his Grace by General the Lord
Raglan, G.C.B.
(This despatch was lost in its passage through
France, and was received at the above hour by his
Grace, to whom it was transmitted by his Excel-
lency the Lord Cowley, G.C.8.) :
BEFORE SEBASTOPOL, OCT. 18.

My Lord Duke,--It was arranged between Gen.
Canrobert and myself that the batteries of the two
armies should open immediately after daylight
on the morning of the 17th, and we invited Ad-
miral Dundas and Admiral Hamelin to attack the
enemy's works at the mouth of the harbour with
the combined fleets, as nearly simultaneously as
circumstances might permit.

Accordingly, upon a signal being giTen from the
centre of the French lines, the batteries of the two
armies commenced their fire about a quarter be-
fore 7 yesterday morning.

On this occasion we employed about 60 guns of
different calibre, the lightest being 24-pounders.
It may here be proper to observe that the cha-
racter of the position which the enemy occupy on
the south side of Sebastopol is not that of a fortress,
but rather of an army in an entrenched camp on
very strong ground, where an apparently unlimited
number of heavy guns, amply provided with gun-
ners and ammunition, are mounted.
The guns having opened as above stated, a con-
tinuous and well directed fire was carried on from
the works of the two armies until about 10 o'clock
a.m., when, unfortunately, a magazine in:the midst
of one of the French batteries exploded and °mi.
sioned considerable damage to the works, and I
fear many casualties, and almost paralysed the
efforts of the French artillery for the day.
The British batteries, however, manned by sailors
from the fleet, under the command of Captain
Lushington and Captain Peel, and by the Royal
Artillery, under the superintendence of Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Gambier, kept up their fire
with unremitting energy throughout the day to
my own and the general satisfaction, as well as to
the admiration of the French army, who were wit-
nesses of their gallant and persevering exertions,
materially injuring the enemy's works, and silenc-
ing the heavy guns on the top of the loopholed
tower, to which I adverted iu my despatch of the
13th instant, and many of the guns at its base, and
causing an extensive explosion in the rear of a
strong redoubt in our immediate front, the enemy,
notwithstanding, answered to the last from a num-
ber of guns along their more extended lines.
The fire was resumed this morning at daylight
by the British sailors and artillery, and responded
to, though in a somewhat less degree, by the Rus-
sians ; but the French troops, being occupied in
the repair of their batteries, and in the formation
of othe rs, have not contributed to the renewal of
the attack, except from a work on their extreme
left ; they expect, however, to be able odo so to-
morrow morning.

I beg to lay before your Grace a return of the
loss sustained by the Royal Navy, and the Army
under my command, between the 13th and 17th
instant, and to this I am deeply concerned to add
that of Colonel the Hon. Francis Hood, command-
ing the 3d battalion Grenadier Guards, an excel-
lent officer, whose death in the trenches this
morning has just been reported to me.
The English, French, and Turkish fleets moved
towards the mouth of the harbour about noon, and
kept up a heavy fire upon the enemy's forts for
several hours.

I am not fully acquainted with the details of
the attack, or its result, but I understand that
Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons, with the Aga•
memnon and Sanspareil, assisted occasionally by
the London, Queen, and Albion, gallantly ap-
proached to within GOO yards of Fort Constantine,
the great work at the northern entrance, where he
maintained himself till late in the afternoon, and
succeeded in exploding a magazine and causing
considerable injury to the face of the fort.
Since I wrote to your Grace on the 13th, six
battalions of Turkish infantry and 300 Turkish
artillery have been added to the force in front of
Balaklava.

These troops have been sent from Constantinople,
and placed under my command by the Government
of the Porte, and I feel greatly indebted to her
Majesty's Ambassador, Viscount Stratford de Red-
cliffe, for the ability and energy with which he
brought under the notice of the Sultan the import-
ance I attached to au immediate reinforcement of
the Imperial troops.
I have, ac., RAGLAN.
His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, d/c.

RETURN OF KILLED AND WOUNDED IN THE
FORCES UNDER THE COMMAND OF GENE-
RAL LORD RAGLAN, G.C.8., ram 13TH TO 17Tri
OCTOBER, 1851, INCLUSIVE.
Artillery-2 rank and file killed ; 1 sergeant, 25 rank
and file, wounded.
3d Battalion Grenadier Guards-1 officer, Captain
Rowley, killed ; 10 rank and file wounded.
42d Regiment-1 sergeant, 1 rank and file wounded.
55th Regiment-1 officer, Ensign Twysden, slightly
wounded.
47th Regiment-4 rank and file wounded.
49th Regiment—l rank and file wounded.
Ist Regiment of Foot-1 rank and file killed ; 6 rank
and file wounded.
38th Regiment-1 rank and file killed; 1 sergeant, 10
rank and file wounded.
50th Regiment-1 officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Waddy
(slightly), 1 sergeant, 7 rank and file, wounded.
44th Regiment —3 rank and file killed ; 1 officer,
Lieutenant Wood (slightly), 1 sergeant, 4 rank and file
wounded.
20th Regiment-2 rank and file killed ; 5 rank and
file wounded
21st Regiment-2 rank and file wounded
57th Regiment-3 rank and file wounded
68th Regiment-1 officer, Assistant-Surgeon O'Leary,
3 rank and file, killed; 3 rank and file wounded
Ist Battalion Rifle Brigade —1 rank and file killed ;
1 sergeant, 3 rank and file wounded
7th Regiment-1 rank and file wounded
23d Regiment-6 rank and file wounded
33d Regiment-1 sergeant, 4 rank and filo wounded
19th Regiment-1 sergeant, 1 drummer, 6 rank and
file wounded
77th Regiment-2 rank and file wounded
88th Regiment-1 sergeant, 5 rank and file killed ;
1 sergeant, 14 rank and file wounded
2d Battalion Rifle Brigade-3 rank and file killed ; 1
drummer, 7 rank and file wounded
Total—Two officers, one serjeant, 21 rank and file
killed ; 3 officers, 9 sergeants, 2 drummers, 824
rank and file wounded.
(Signed)
J. B. BUCKNALL ESTCOURT,
Adjutant-General.