The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-27 00:00:00

DEATH OF CAPTAIN PARKER.

THE BATTLE Ar GIITRGEVO.
VIENNA, July 22.—The most important news from
; the seat of war is that which was forwarded this morn-
; ing by electric telegraph. According to a despatch
of the 21st from Hermannstadt an engagement,
which took place between Frateschti and Giur-
gevo on the 19th, ended in the total defeat of the
Russians. The death of two Russian Generals was
announced, but there is some reason to doubt
whether this is strictly correct. The Turks have
not in any way molested the inhabitants of Giur-
gevo. Omar Pasha has, in the name of the Sultan,
proclaimed a general amnesty for the Wallac.,ians who
have been engaged in the present war against the Porte.
On the 15th, a deputation of Boyards, from Little Wal-
lachia, passed throne' %Yellin on their way to Giur-
gevo. Their mission is to present a document to Omar
Pasha, in which 'the whole population of the province
,ffers homage to the Sultan. The Turkish Marshal has
promised to endeavour to obtain from the Porte some
assistance for the inhabitants of Giurgevo, whose houses
have been completeiy destroyed. Ifeft,re the Cossacks
quitted the place they set some magazines containing
munitions of war and corn on fire, but the Turks in a
few cases succeeded in extinguishing the flames. The
Peesse has a letter of the 18th from Belgrade, which
confirms a piece of information which was given a few
days since. The main Turkish army is advancing to-
wards the mouths of the Danube, where the crews of
the steamers are busily employed in taking soundings.
The same writer says " General Count Coronini, with a
numerous suite, went down the river in a steamer to-
day." In Varna, two vessels with dredging machines
are being prepared, with wh:eli the mouths of the river
are to be made practicable. Several small steamers are
also collecting at Varna, and with them it is intended, at
some future timetoundertakeoperations against the Rus-
sian flotilla in the Danube. According to advices of the 13th
of July, from Galatz, the Turks, under Mehemed Pasha,
have occupied the road between Hirsova and Btbatlagli.
A great number of pontoons, which base been lying at
Shumla, are said to be following the Turkish army
through the Dobrudscha. The Fremclen Blatt has
learned from Bucharest that the Russians wounded at
Giurgevo and Flateschti are in a sad condition, the me-
dical men, apothecaries, and medicines having been sent The
to Jassy before the Turks crossed the river.
troops, which were obliged to advance in forcedhwaled in
k
marches
to Giurgevo, also suffered greatly.
eight hours from Maja to Bucharest, and men
daefter resting a
few hours at Collentina they wererg obliged to march
evo. During the
(about 45 English miles)
whole time the men had to
nothingGiu to eat but biscuit. It
•is not known what fluids poor wretches had with
them, but we are informed that the thermometer showed
77 degs. Fahrenheit. Toe. Akerman politicians are
getting excessively
nervous, as you will perceive by the
following plan of operations which they have drawn up
for the Al.ies. The combined fleets will make feigned
attacks on Sebastopol and the Crimea ; but their real
object will be to destroy the firtifications at the mouths
oftheDniester, " which are not very strong." In their
operations they will be assisted by the Turkish army
which is advancing through the Dobrudscha, and by the
steamers which will enter the Danube and attack
Ismail. The fortifications of Akerman are continually
strengthened, and the garrison reinforced by troops sent I
by water from Bender.

THE BALTIC.

- -
HAMBURG, July 26. The Dauntless screw-
steamer has arrived with sick and wounded from
the Baltic fleet, among whom is Admiral Corry.
The following is an extract from a letter received.
from Mr. Anderson, engineer on board her Ma-
jesty's steam-ship Cuckoo, which forms one of Ad-
miral Plumridge's flying squadron :
" On the morning of the 22d of June we set out for
the Gulf of Bothnia. We had a French frigate in tow,
and on the morning of the 23.1 we saw a strange sail
make its appearance. We cast the frigate adrift, ran
up to her, and gave her one shot to make her heave to,
and when u e Caine to her we found the men were Rus-
sian Finlanders, and the vessel was laden with barley
and wheat. Wo took the car- _o and set the men at
liberty in the boat, which was a craft of ab.iut 12 or 13
tons. We pa-sed Hango-head Battery, and steered
away round in the direction of Aland, and cast anchor
about eight miles south of Lascar lighthouse.
"About eleven p.m., on Jure 27, we saw a large brig
coining right down upon u 4; we could not make out what
she was, as she had no colours up ; we watched her
movements, and saw her men clear away her bulwarks -
ready for action, with her boats lowered, in order to be
able to board us. Our gunmen, however, kept on deck
watching. We were quite ready for burning powder
with her, and when they saw our long gun manned,
and us watching them, she put about before the wind
and off with all sail, at the same time raising the Rus-
sian man-of-war flag. Our steam being down, and a
stiff wind, she thought to get away from us, but we
made her old timbers fly about as if she had been danc-
ing a polka ; she ran right through some shoals and
rocks to get away, as we could not follow her there,
but we kept the balls flying the nearest way, and caught
her in about hour at the other side, without a soul
on board; they all took to these small rocks ; their guns
they flung all overboard but one, and that we broke with
a shut, and it is a very small one. If we had been a
merchantman we should have been taken prisoners, for
there were two other vessels coming to assist ; the night
being very foggy, and the water very shoally and rocky,
and our steam not being up, we lost the other two ; they
got under a large battery before we could get within
shot ; we took and set her on fire, after taking the mea-
surement of her ; she is worth about 54/. to me as prize
money.

On July the 4th we took a cruise near Lascar light-
house ; saw four small boats loaded with provisions ;
went ashore, and took cargo as prizes, and sent them
adrift ; about eight tons each they would measure ; they
seem to carry on traffic with these small boats, running
short stages from island to island, and there must be
some large boats not far away to take their cargo, for
they cannot trade on the seas very far with such craft.
We went ashore on the small island, but could not see
anything worthy of notice ; turned through the few
houses that were there, but they were all deserted, so
we took ourselves to duck shooting, and I was the
only one who killed anything. I shot a couple of nice
ducks with my pistol, a Colt's revolver, and I was not
within fifty yards of either of them. On the sth re-
turned to our station, eight miles from Lascar light-
house, and lay at anchor until the 7th, at nine p.m.,
when we set out for Admiral Napier, with despatches
from Admiral Plurnridrre ; and on the Bth, about three
p.m., we chased a schooner and a brig under Hango-
head battery, and were obliged to retreat, so we reached
the fleet in Baro Sound, near Onscar •Light, about nine
p.m. ; and when we joined the fleet they sent small
boats alongside to see what great feat we had accomp-
lished, for we had a Russian pennant up besides our
own and also the u Russia war flag. Delivered our •
- -

will be fully cleared up, and finally disrobed from
all ambiguity or unction in the present war, to the
entire satisfaction of the Western Powers.

CONSTANTINOPLE. July 13 —I send you news of
an unhappy encounter, which has resulted in the
death of a young and promising commander.
The circumstance may probably be known in Eng.
land by some shorter route before it can be learned
from here, but the following details will .so doubt be ac-
ceptable. The town or village of Sulina, at the mouth
of the Danube, is almost surrounded by a jungle of reeds,
where stockades had been formed for the defence of the
place by the enemy. These reeds are so high that they
conceal both men and horses from the view of any one
ascending the stream by a boat, and furnish great facili-
ties for a stubborn and wily enemy to harrass troops
whom he is unable to meet in the field. After the
capture of Sulina last month, it was thought that the
Russians had entirely left the vicinity, and a degree of
confidence or negligence was inspired, which has termi-
nated most unfortunately. It appears that so far from
the enemy having abandoned the neighbaurhoo:l, they
have never ceased to occupy the jungle which lines the
banks of the river, and have waited for their opportu-
nity to revenge the off-hand capture of this important
point. On Friday. the 7th of this month, Captain
Parker, of the Firebrand, was ascending the river in his
g;g, and at some distance behind was another boat of the
same vessel, and Capt. Powell, ofthe Vesuvius, in a third
The excursion seems to have been entiely unconnected
with any warlike ohject,and so completely was the pre-
sence of an enemy unanticipated that' the Chaplain and
Surgeon of the Firebrand were in the boat with their
captain. As the first boat came abreast of a stockade.
supposed to have beer, long deserted, a shower of mus-
ket balls were poured in from an unseen enemy, No
one was struck ; bat a ball passed through the surgeon's
coat, and one or two others narrow), escaped. The boat
immediately put back to obtain the assistance of the
others, and Capt. Parker and his companions were dis-
posed to treat, the matter very lightly, laughing at the
Russians for not being better shots. Capt. Powell with
the other boats came up almost immediately; the sailers
rowed for the stockade, and Capt. Parker sprung on
shore to lead the attack. He had made but a few steps
when he was struck through the heart with a musket
ball and fell dead. Capt. Powell then took the com-
mand, and in a few minutes had driven the enemy from
their stronghold. The Russians however made a brave
resistance. An eye-witness declares that the only two
of the enemy to be seen at first were a couple of ofii-
' cers, who stood calmly at the embrasures of the stock-
ade and were picked off by the English sailors, while
directing their men where to fire. Indeed, the accounts
of all our encounters with the liussians mention the
same fact, of the devotion and bravery of the Musco-
vite officers, who literally drag on their men by the
collar, or force them into fire with the points of their
swords. The Russians seem in this respect to be exactly the
opposite of their Turkish opponents; in the Ottotna.narnty
the common soldiers are distinguished by the fanaticism
and desperation of their attack, while the officers are be-
wildered with fear and responsibility. The con trast teaches
a kind of lesson, and shows that the Turki h resistance
is that living national principle which inspired the
Spaniards at Saragossa, and the Transteverini at Rome ;
while the Russians are actuated only by the prompting
of military honour, a feeling seldom shared in by the
private soldiers, who can rise to no high rank, and must
have a deeper feeling to incite them to acts of courage.
The unfortunate commander who fell in this affair was
one of the youngest post-captains in the navy : he had,
it is said. just completed his 29th year. He was the
son of Admiral Hyde Parker, late one of the Lords of
the Admiralty. Belonging to a family long distinguished
in the naval annals of this country, he gave promise of
equalling any of his race in services to his country. So
small ha, been the actual amount of fighting which has
taken place during the war that the death of a single
officer creates a sensation, which old men, accus-
tomed to the bloody bulletins of former days, perhaps,
scarcely understand.