The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-10 00:00:00

THE COMBINED FLEET AT LEDSUND

LEDSIIND, August 2.—General Baraguay d'Hil-
liers returned from Bomarsund last night in the
Imperieuse yacht. He was reconnoitering very
close to the forts, when the masked battery opened
fire upon him, and two shots fell over the ship.
The commander soon steamed away without their
reach. Preparations are making to-day to land
the troops in the paddle-box boats and ships'
cutters, &c. Her Majesty's ship Termagant, and
three transports, with troops, have just arrived.
The celebrated Musquito, iron yacht, made her
appearance last night with a Norwegian flag
flying. The cholera is still rife on board
the Majestic and Princess Royal, but is not
spreading. There have been 12 cases on board the
latter, and 22 in the former. A man, yesterday,
fell from the foreyard of the James Watt on the
anchor, and was killed. The Lightning (12 noon)
is just gone on to Bomarsund with all the scientific
and navigation officers in the fleet. At 1 p.m.
the whole of the boats attached to the combined
squadron were employed in landing troops at a dis-
tance of about three miles from the fleet. They
marched on to some heights, where a signal house is
placed, and were then allowed to roam about for three

hours to their evident enjoyment, after being cribbed
and confined in a man-of-war. From the shore the
appearance of the Sound was imposing in the extreme.
The severe and bellierentcharacterof the fleet have
been entirely changed, for whereas at Baro it con-
sisted principally of men of war, with their grim
broad sides of unbroken lines, now, on the other
hand, these men of war are interspersed with every
conceivable craft, differing in size, build, rig, and
appearance from the hau&ome Duke of Wellington
or the graceful imperial yacht, down to the most
ancient specimen of naval architecture, the Goth-
land trading sloop. The troops returned on board
at 6 p.m. in the boats, 140 of which were employed
for the purpose. The tent equipage of the men is
very portable. Their tent mess is divided in to six
men, each of whom carries a sixth part of the cover-
ing, together with a tent stick and pegs. On
pitching it, the canvass parts button over, and are
quite impenetrable to wet. The form of the tent
is low and gipsy-like.
The cooking utensils are also divided among the
six men to carry attached to their knapsacks in a
similar manner—one carries a tin saucepan, others
a kettle, drinking-cups, water-bottles, and every
requirement. Their accoutrements seem to be
selected of those materials requiring less care and
trouble in keeping in order. Thus the knapsack is
lined outside with the hide of the ox ; the shoulder
and waist belts are of the roughest black leather ;
and last, though not least, they wear none of those
instruments of torture round their necks so inge-
niouslyof lioi homoeopathic
nce o
introducedpath
strangulation.
are men-of-
war.—St. Vincent, Royal William, Hannibal, into
our
army
All the troop ships that ha'vo arrived
Al-
giers, Gladiator, Sphynx, Termagant, Stromboli.
for the purpose
Hired transports.—Prince (screw), Belgravia,
Herefordshire, Columbia, Julia, Edwin Fox.
AUGUST 3.

The time for moving the troops up to Bomarsund
will either be to-day or to-morrow. A little delay
has occurred, but it is from the humane desire
of saving life, as much as possible. For this
purpose, therefore, each ship has been ordered
to build two platforms for large lower deck
g• uns These are to be landed, and are to be used
against the forts on the land side, which is deemed
very weak and incapable of resistance. A con-
tinuous siege, directed to a point that has been
lately discovered or heard of, will enable us soon
to make a breach in the fortification, without being
exposed ourselves to the fire of their large guns.
The men of war, it is thought, will not moor close
to the batteries unless of urgent necessity, but will
shell the place while the troops are investing it.
It is said the Duke, Acre, Princess Royal, and
James Watt draw too much water to risk in the
passage. The tide rises and falls about eight inches
only ; indeed it is almost imperceptible, but a
strong current might decrease the depth two or
three feet, being all that the Duke at present
would have to spare between some of the little
islands.
The yacht Foam came in this morning from
England. The Tilsit, French man-of-war is ex-
pected.