The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-21 00:00:00

OPERATIONS AGAINST BESSARALIA.

The Press of Vienna, of the 16th, says :--" Arif
Effendi, the Turkish Ambassador at this con rt, has
officially announced to the Austrian governrae nt that
Omer Pacha would shortly commence of :ensive
operations against Bessarabia, and that he' would
arrive in a few days at Bucharest, in order -t4 I come
to an understanding with the commander of the
Austrian troops in that city as to the basig of his
operations. These offensive movements will com-
mence sooner than was expected, as Lord II raglan
has demanded, in the most urgent mannev-, that
Omer Pacha should begin them as soon as pos Bible."

FETE TO CELEBRATE THE DEFEI T OF

THE ENGLISH.

Mrs. Upton, the wife of the son of the ex igineer
who planned the fortifications of Sebastopc d, told
some English officers that so confident wt ire the
Russians of success that a subscription list ha .d been
opened in Sebastopol for a fete to celehrs tte the
defeat of the English.

A letter from Varna states that on the, 6th de-
spatches arrived in that town from Lord Raglan,
directing the suspension of the embarkationt of the
Turkish reserves, as the troops in the Crizaea are
sufficient for all eventualities. The reserve s, how-
ever, are continuing to be concentrated att Varna,
so as to be ready for embarkation at any m o ment."
A letter just received from Vienna says :—On
the 6th the Allies were still in the first parallel.
The siege began with the construction of nine bat-
teries, five of which fronted the Quarantine. e Fort.
The general bombardment was to begin on ;the 9th.
The papers state that Lord Raglan commtnids the
besieging corps of 36,000 men, while Getter al Can-
robert, who is on the left bank of the Tchernaya,
with 60,000 men, watches the movements of the
Russian army. The field artillery now con sists of
150 guns, and the cavalry is said to be 10,000
strong. Prince Menschikoff is also said 1 o hay*
received reinforcements, but the statemelat does
not agree with private information which hi ‘s been
given me. The Russian army in the Crinat,a is in
great want of provisions and ammunition. ,
A letter from the Crimea says the access ion of
General Canrobert to the command of the 7French
army is very popular both among the Alliea and our
own troops. He is a man of undaunted ,courage,
having no such word as " fear" in his vocabulary
—precisely the man wanted to lead a Fren cli army
at the present juncture. Their siege train in being
disembarked in the little harbour to the northward
of Cape Chersonese, Balaklava not affording ac-
commodation for both, and the position of the
French army on the right rendering these harbours
more convenient.
We extract the following from a letter dated
Balaklava, Oct. 3 :—" I cannot tell how it is, but
our movements since we have been before Sebas-
topol have been (perhaps necessarily) rather slow ;
and one, with a Crimean winter before us, 'cannot
help grudging the loss of every day of the lovely
weather with which we have been favoured. We are
at present about 2,800 yards from the town of Sebas-
topol. Opposed to us are two heavy batteries against
which we shall break ground at about 1,700 yards
distance from the city. Sebastopol must fall, but
meanwhile a cloud looms in the north. 50,000
troops are said to be collected at Simpheropol, and
Liprandi and Osten-Sacken are hurryino-, to the
relief with the troops of the provinces aneSessara-
bia. We would gladly attain our object without
another pitched battle. When we win the heights
a few mortars will easily destroy the ships, and then
the reduction of Fort Constantine and the northern
batteries is merely a question of time. Still the
people of England must not be over-sanguine. We
have to deal with a fierce and powerful foe ; the
bear will die hard."

THE BRITISH EXPEDITION

•
The following is the latest intelligence received
from Balaklava :
OCT. 4.—Forty pieces of heavy artillery were
sent up to-day to the park, and 12 tons of gun-
powder were safely deposited in the mill on the
road towards Sebastopol. As the French had very
little ground left on which to operate on our left,
the 2d Division moved to-day from its position,
crossed the ravine on its right, and took up ground
near the 4th Division. The French immediately after-
wards sent up a portion of their troops to occupy the
vacant ground. The Russians have been indefati-
gable all day in throwing up batteyies, and have
shelled our advanced posts incessantly. From the
range of the guns, it is supposed that they have
actually got the heavy pieces which were on board
the Tiger. One shell which fell into the camp of
the 4th Division was marked with the English
broad arrow, and had the English brass covered
fusee. It did not burst. Another, fired with more
fatal effect, fell right into a tent in which were
several men of the 63d Regiment, exploded, and
killed a serjeant and -two mon. This was at a dis-
tance of upwards of 4,000 yards.
OCT. s.—To-day Lord Raglan moved on to a
cottage about 4i miles from Balaklava, and estab-
lished head-quarters there, at the distance of four
miles from Sebastopol. His staff are encamped
around him. The Terrible came in this morning,
and anchored in the little harbour here, for the pur-
pose of disembarking her heaviest guns, which are

to be moved up to the heights forthwith. Great
lifficulty was experienced in conveying the baggage
of the head-quarters from Balaklava to such a
trifling distance, in consequence of the want of
arabas. All the vehicles which the Commissariat
had at their disposal had been given to the engineers
end artillery. The 400 mules which arrived yes-
terday have been " used up" in the service.
We hear with shame and astonishment to-day
that the French Admiral has absolutely isent in
proposition to the Admiral in command of the
English fleet that he (Admiral Hamelin) should
send in some French men-of-war to batter the sea-
ward forts of Sebastopol, and that, in order to as-
certain the best points for placing his ships,
he should be accommodated with • the 4oarl of '
the Samson, as being one of #l..'44oSt..z,sset,vice—
able steamers. Admiral. Dundas.44-,said-'etcr: hiire
disapproved of the suggestiot,',;sZtrip the
rumour which is in everyboVl3,;:rnO4 :,. and,
coupled as it is with most painftiii Ttn,faarks- on
the inactivity of our fleet—every-OraCei-dnd man
of which is burning with a desire to vindicate the
reputation of our flag—it has not failed to produce
very irritating results.
The sailors are busy iR dragging up guns with
their wonted alacrity. It is stated that an officer of
the 55th, who wandered outside the lines last night,
has not yet returned. The Cossacks seem to be
rather active to-day. The enemy so firing their
heavy guns with round shot and shell at intervals,
but we are now beyond range. Great quantities of
ammunition have been sent up to the artillery park
to-day. It is said, however, that our supply of shell
is not very plentiful, and that we might have more
round shot without danger of being overburdened.
' Dr. Thomson of the 44th, and Mr. Reade, As-
sistant Surgeon-Staff, died to-day of cholera.
There are 170 men sick in the Light Division
alone. The number of applicants for admission to
the hospitals was not so numerous to-day, but
there is still a great deal of sickness in the town and
camp. The town is in a filthy, revolting state.
Lord Raglan has ordered it to be cleansed, but
there is no one to obey the order, and no one at-
tends to it.

Lord Cardigan is indisposed, and it is understood
he will be obliged to go en board ship. The cavalry
have had fatiguing but not very important duties.
They certainly have not done as much as was ex-
pected of them, and at the Alma they were quite
inactive. The misfortunes we have met at sea

tend to multiply to a great extent the value of our
reinforcements. The loss of 170 horses out of two
small regiments is a serious evil, and, worse than
that, it is quite irreparable at present. The
Beagle arrived to-day off the mouth of the
harbour. It is reported that she will land her
two heavy guns. No trenches have been cast up as
yet. Gabions and fascines are scarce, and it is dif-
ficult to get earth to fill them. The Sappers com-
menced tracing lines and drawing the parallels this
morning, and were not molested by the enemy.
The French, on our left, have got five guns in posi-
tion, but have not yet opened fire.
Several 841 b. shot rolled through the camp of the
Second Division to-day. About noon we sent out a
battalion of the Second Division on the right, to
secure an eminence commanding a supply of water.
The Russians moved out two battalions, supported
by guns, and as we would have got under the fire of
the batteries, had we advanced, it was judged pru-
dent to retire our men. _ .

The news of a large force of Russians concen-
trating in our rear and flank, at or near Simphe-
ropol, is repeated in various forms to-day.
Our Sappers, when tracing lines to-day, were
within half-a-mile of the Russians, but the latter
did not interrupt their labours; We hear the Rus-
sians have got a good number of " licornes"—a
favourite gun of the Emperor Napoleon's (III.) It
is a kind of howitzer, throwing 121 b. shot or shell
in the field. They were used at the Alma, but
our artillery officers think they were indifferently
served, or that they are an inferior arm.
Some sutlers, to our infinite mischief, established
themselves here to-day. The result is that, for the
first time, we have drunken men in the streets,
and work for the Provost Marshal will soon fol,
low.