The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-23 00:00:00

THE REINFORCEMENTS.

The Debats says :—.‘ If the Russians have already
received reinforcements, and if those which are an-
nounced to be on the road arrive in time, our army
is also receiving theirs. 20,000 men must have re-
cently landed at Balaklava from Varna ; the 4,000
men from Athens are on their way, and at Toulon
and in the Thames troops are daily embarking.
The Allied Army will soon, therefore, amount to
120,000 men ; there were not more at Austerlitz,
at Friedland, or at Moskowa."

CONFLAGRATION AT SEBASTOPOL.
The Press of Vienna, of the 17th, says :—" The
news of a great fire having taken place at Sebas-
topol is confirmed. The principal of the provision
stores has been burnt down, and a great portion
of the supplies which it contained has been de-
stroyed."

The following telegraphic despatch has been
received at Vienna :
" VARNA, Oct. 7.—The Irrench police organised
here has made several important arrests, the con-
sequence of the discovery of the correspondence of
Prince Menschikoff at the battle on the Alma. It
is generally reported here that the allies will make
an expedition to Georgia next spring."
A letter, dated the 7th, from the heights of Se-
bastopol, states that at that date the army had
taken up its position before the place, and had. been
for some days at the distance of 2,000 metres from
the town ; that the first parallel had been opened,
and that guns of large calibre continued to be
landed from the ships for the batteries.
On the 6th, a battalion of the 19th Regiment of
the line (French) had been sent on a reconnaissance,
and an officer of engineers, Capt. Schmitt, brother
of the aide-de-camp of General Forey, had been
killed by a cannon ball. A strong Russian division
was perceived on the 7th at three leagues' distance
from the allies. An affair was expected to take
place ; but it was considered that the divisions of
General Canrobert and Bosquet, charged more par-
ticularly with the duty of repelling an attack,
together with two English divisions, would suffice
for the occasion. Nevertheless, the whole army
had been ordered to be ready for any emergency.

THE BLACK SEA FLEET.
OF/ SEBASTOPOL, BLACK SEA, Oct. B.—We have
lately been told again and again that the increased
civilisation and humanity of modern times will
greatly mitigate the horrors of war. To a certain
extent this is undoubtedly true. Our list of
Russian prisoners proves it. On the Danube the
Turks made no prisoners, and Russians equally
got rid of such encumbrances by the summary
method of the bayonet. I felt proud of my
country when I saw little groups of English
soldiers tenderly nn sing wounded and dying Rus-
sians on the field of Alma the day after the battle,
particularly when my indignation was hardly
calmed at the well-proved stories of ferocious
feeling manifested by these same wounded. In
several instances they treacherously fired at or
stabbed the doctor who had just dressed their
wounds or the kind Samaritan who had slaked
their parched throats with a draught of water,
thus showing all the inextinguishable hatred of a
dying wild beast and none of the noble chivalry of
a civilised soldier. Notwithstanding the ingrati-
tude of these poor Russian slaves, an English doc-
tor, to his eternal honour, volunteered to remain
behind and endeavour to alleviate the sufferings of
the 700 wounded Russians who had been removed
from the field of battle on the south bank of .the
Alma to the deserted village on its north bank.
Dr. James Thomson, Assistant Surgeon of the
44th Regiment, and his soldier servant, deserve to
be held up as heroes. For four or five days they
and they alone, had to wait upon and support this
enormous mass of severely wounded men. The
task was in many respects a most dangerous
one. As we have seen, the patients them-
selves were not to be trusted. The Cossacks
might also at any time make prisoners of them
wer on
the retreat of the Allied armies. The dead e
festering in heaps around the sick and dying. These
two men frequently had to bury a horrible
mass of carcases and fragments positively before
they could get at some poor wounded wretches.
In this way they must have with their own hands
have dragged out and buried some 200. There was
no food of any kind for the sick, so the soldiers
managed to drive in a stray bullock, and with the
aid of some Russian convalescents (their misfor-
tunes seem to have humoured them) he killed it
and made some soup for _ them. At length
her Majesty's ships Albion, Vesuvius, and
the screw transport Avon arrived. The e hole
crew of the first landed and removed the
wounded on board the Avon, while the Vesuvius
guarded the shore. In the midst of this humane
occupation a Russian force of some 4,000 or 5,00
were
men approached the village, and the sailors
obliged to hasten on bOard, as it was beyond the
range of the ships' guns. However 340 wounded
were put on board the Avon under the charge of
their heroic preservers, Dr. Thomson and his ser-
vant. About 40 were left behind, and many of
these poor fellows who had previously seemed
unable to walk, endeavoured, with all their might,
to hobble after their more fortunate comrades. The
next day the Avon proceeded with them to Odessa.
Now, surely, when the Humane Society rewards a
man who saves one single individual, society will not
fail to do something for two men who, under such
dreadful trials, saved the lives of 340.

THE WAR ON THE DANUBE.
A letter from Galatz, of the 7th, states that the
allies have established an important fortified posi-
tion at the mouth of the Sulina. In a few (lays
some French troops coming directly from France
will laud near that place, in order to support
on the flank the offensive operations of Omer
Pasha. The fortifications raised at
the mouth
of the Sulina are very extensive and well sup-
plied with cannon. Three small
tore steamers aretre
constantly moving on the river
obstacles which
acnnoi
the positions of the enemy. The
the Ittwiano had placed in the river to /impede the