The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-04 00:00:00

IPaid4 RAILVATO.

The following letter is from a surgeon serving i
the camp before Sebastopol :
" Camp before Sebastopol, Nov. 8.
" A gain I have to tell of the hard-fought battle- field,
and of my preservation from its dangers. Praised be God,
He has sheltered me once more under the protection o
His guardian arm, so continually outstretched to save
and defend me from all danger. Ere you receive this
the newspapers will have given you the intimation of the
battle just fought, and of our success therein. Since the
commencement of the campaign we have been thrice en-
gaged in actual battle ; and that of Inkerman has truly
been terrible and sanguinary. Oar gallant foe seems de-
termined, at least on land, to test our strength, although
by this time he must be well satisfied that English shot
and steel are irresistible in opposition.
" At about daybreak of the sth the enemy was re-
ported to be moving against us, the first intimation of
which was the usual desultory firing from the English
advanced pickets. Fancying for a while it was but an
\
affair of outposts, I determined on lylag quietly and ri2
snugly in my tent few a while ; but had no sooner so rj;
determined than the booming of our field guns (of which "
a small number are always ' ready,' near to our most 20
20
exposed position) warned me that it was desirable to 20
turn out, the more so as there was heard in the distance 25
a steady roll of musketry. The alarm was general
through the whole Allied camp, when, throwing aside
slumber and blanket too, and without regarding my
toilet (being at all times ready attired for action), I was
quickly in the saddle, waiting my turn for duty.
"In comparatively a short time oar outposts were
driven in, when column after column of the enemy came
pouring over the hills which separate our lines from
theirs. Soon all was bustle, though order prevailed in-
tact, and quick as thought our troops were face to face
with their adversaries. The advance of the enemy was
so rapid we were taken entirely by surprise, so well had
they planned and directed the attack, since their ad-
vanced troops were upon our very camp ere sufficient
force could be brought to oppose them. This latter,
however, was soon remedied, for on came the artillery
at a gallop, and were speedily followed by the infantry,
who quickly formed, and were seen crowding the
side and crest of the hill, when the fight soon wore the
aspect of a real battle. My services were soon in requi-
sition, when I made, as I thought, convenient arrange-
ments ..,
for the wounded, but which I was compelled to 17?
abandon in the course of an hour, from the circumstance 20
of solid shot and live shell falling thickly around me, so 20
as to render my position anything but agreeable. I 20
now fell back on my own camp, where, having a tent
20
and all things handy, I established as comfortable an 20
hospital as could be wished, and where I was soon in 100
requisition by a host of applicants of all ranks, who
had been sent to the rear for surgical aid. I was soon, 100
however, again compelled to beat a retreat, the Russians 20
haviwg advanced their battalions into such a position that 25
they regularly enfiladed our whole camp. It was well 25
for the inmates of the tents that they had abandoned 25
them so speedily, for the shells of the enemy blew them
100
into shreds in a short time. The battle continued
for hours, and we had been contending against five 100
times our number, yet, happily, without our adversary 20
obtaining command of our position, or most probably 5
I should have a different tale to relate than the one 5
lam at the present moment so agreeably engaged aq
in. As it was, the Russian columns were so strong
and numerous, and, moreover, they fought so bravely 100
and so well, that the issue at one period of the ~,,,,
day was doubtful, for they charged our guns up to their ~',,,n'
very mouths, and, what is more, they rushed in and 100"
spiked some two or three of them, and bayonetted our
, gunners who were opposed to them. This arose in con- 20,
sequence of our force being so weak that we could nut 100'
detach a sufficient number of infantry to protect the ar- 20
tillery, and, as the place where the battle happened was 5
a hill-side, covered with thick stunted brushwood, we
could not ' limber-up' and retire before they were among
us. Their triumph, however, was but of short duration,
for, on a regiment or two moving up, otir bravo
gunners dashed in again, and had the good fortune to
recover their guns without other aid than their own.
This one fact will show how fiercely raged the battle, for
when the enemy came to such close quarters as to get
into hand-to-hand encounters with artillery, you can
imagine that the ' dogs of war' seemed indeed to be let
loose, and that the ' demon of strife' strode triumphantly
along, gloating over the carnage his nature exults in.
Dreadful indeed was the fight ; far more severe than
that of the Alma.
"Our loss has been very sad ; three General officers
killed, and three others wounded ; of other officers, 32
killed and 79 wounded, so that 100 will not cover
our loss. Our entire loss we can yet hardly estimate,
though it is reported that 3.000 of our army are hors de
combat. The whole of the English force engaged num-
bered 11,000, that of the French 6,000, of whom they
lost about 600, but my own opinion is that both these
latter numbers are magnified.
" From information derived from the prisoners, we
found that a large portion of the force we had been; en-
gaged with had only arrived the day previously
ro from
Silistria, and that theyhadbe elnntrwegoarmd
otnotthlase opwtheesir
march from the Principalities.
of the siege it goes on but slowly, but no doubt surely.grs
You ask me whether a certain amount of apprehensio
comes over in going into action. Most certainly there
does, and I believe the very bravest man who lives
experiences such, although, of course, in different de-
grees ; all that sort of thing soon wears off when
once the mind is employed, and you are prevented
from dwelling upon the danger you are exposed to.
He must, however, be a heartless being indeed who can
unmoved behold without awe the dread reality of war
but I much question whether such a mortal exists.
In answer to your inquiry respecting the locality of
the surgeon in action, I may remark that when there
is only one attached to the battery, he is net expected
to keep close up, but so soon as he sees the position
it has taken he should make arrangements as to where
the wounded shall be brought, as well as where he is
himself to be found. When the enemy is in force, it would
be hard to say where one place was safer than another, 1100
since a variety of circumstances may alter the state of 10c1
things, and hence it happens (unless a position be taken 20
up at a most inconvenient and unreasonable distance
20
from the great scene of operations), the surgeon cannot
be said to be free from danger. Wherever duty calls 50
him, there is his right position ; yet let me entreat you 50
to have no fear on my account, rather believing that the 100
Almighty is continually mindful of those of His crea- 100
tures who, with lively faith, wait on His providence for
protection in the hour of trial, and of danger." I 20
t 50

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THE BANKERS' ALMANACS AND DIRECTORY for 1855 25
(Groorabridge and Sons, Paternoster-row) edited by Mr. ,D. M. Evans, has been published, and Contains
its I's useful information. Its value as a work of reference is '5 increased by the Introduction of additional matter, such
as a list of the failures during the year, with the balance 25
sheets and statements of the principal firms, while the 25
annual chronology and banking and commercial retros- 60
I
pect is clearly and concisely arranged.—Times.

'Closing Prioel
Saturday.

100 Aberdeen
Ambg. Nottng. Bost
and Eastn. Junct
all Belfast & Ballymena
all Birming. Wolverh.
Stour Valley
29 Birkenhd. Lancsh. &
Cheshire Junct
all Do. Chesh. & Birk.,
£5O and £25 Cons.
19 Do., .....
30 Blyth & Tyne original
£25 °sad. at £4SY
100 Bristol and Exeter...
. 100 Caledonian
21s. Carmarthen and Car

,i)
digan
1:111 Clicorekstearndtd Holyahoeitd
all Cork, Black, &Pus
16 Cornwall
1 Crieff Junction
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Stock
100 De., B. Stock
8t Do., New
100 East Lancashire
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100 Edin.Prth &Dundee
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3.00 At. Sth. &West.(lre :
100 teat Western
1.00 Do. Stour Val. Rail
Gua. Stk..
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all Lancaster & Carlisle
144 Do., Thirds
4 Do. New Thirds
100 Lancash.andYorksh
193 Do., Fifths
11i Wst. Riding Un
all Liv.Crsby.&SouthPt
all London & Blackwal
100 Lond. Bright &S. Cst.
1100 Lond. and N. Westn.
12 Do. Fifths
1 Do.lo/.5h.,M&8.„(
24 Do. Eighths
1100 London andS. Westn.
421 Do., £5O
34 Do., £4O
all Lndndrry& Coleraine
all Lndndrry. & Ennisk.
100 Manch.Shef.& Lincln
44 Do., Man. & Lin. Un
100 Midland
100 Do. Biruing. &Derby
all Midld. G. West. (Im)
22. Do. Half Shares
‘ll Newcastle & Carlisle.
5 Newinkt.BnryExten.
19 Nwpt.Aberg. &Hrfd
8 Newry & Enniskillen
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and Rostrevor
1100 Norfolk
34 Northn.Counties Un
.00 North British
all 4 North Devon, No. 1,
all Do., No. 2
all Do., 1 A Deferred
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100 N.Eastern—Berwick
20 Do. do. Extension
13 Do.do. G.N.E. Parch.

all Do. Leeds
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8 Do. New £lO
LI is N.&S.Wstrn.,Hamp-
stead, and City Jn
17i North Staffordshire
all North Western
all N. &S. Westrn. June
1 Nuneaton, Hinckley,
and Leicester
11.00 Oxford, Worcester, &
Wolverhampton
6 Portsmouth
1.00 , Scottish Central
100 Scottishlefidland
all Shrewsby. & Herefd
all Shropshire Union
... D0.A,8,C,&D,fu113
paid up at per cern.
all South Devon.
100 South Eastern
all South Wales
15 S. Yrksh. & Riv. Dun
5 Do

S Staines,Wok. &Wok
all ztockton St Darling)
14 Stockton & Hartlapl
100 Taff Vale
9 Do. £lO shares.
100 Do. Pref., No. 1
21 Thames Haven Dock
and Railway
all Vale of Ncath
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all Waterford&Limerick
18 West Cornwall
3 West End of London
and Crystal Palace
all West London.
111 s. Wimbledn & Croydon

all Antwerp&Rotterdam
3 Belgian Ewan. Juno.
8 Beziers to Graissessae
2s. Bombay, Baroda, and

Cent;allndia.§crip

... Central of Italy
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14 Dijon and Besancon
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2 Do. Extension
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'57, convertible
all Do. do. do., '59, do
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12 Gd Tk of CanadaA is.
all Do. do
all Do. St. Lawrence &

Atlantic do.

all Do. Cert. of Dc")en.,
con. into Stk. till '63
all Do. Comp. 6p. c., do.
10 Gt. Central of France
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all Gt.Westerno;Canada

Shares
all Do. Bds., payablo's7,
with option till '55
all De. do., '62, p.
all Do. do., '76, p. '6O
all D.. do., '73, without'
option
all Hamilton & Toronto
all. Do. 6 per cent.
11 Lake Cond. & Basle
all Lucca & Pistoja 5 p.c.

prof
12 profit Luxembourg

Constituted Shares
all Do. Obligations
10 Lyons and Geneva !
12 Lyons dr Mediterran
161 Madras
iDo.Now

31i Maria Antonia
.111 Do. do. New

2 Melbourne Dk. d< Ry.
all Namur ds Liege (with

interest)
all Do. (ex interest)
all Northern of France
all Do .20/. Shs.late Char-
3eroi and Erquelines
guar. 3$ p. c. & red.
at 2211. dur. 88 yrs.
from 1 Jan. 1854
all :)). 201. 3 p. c Bds.
(fmy. B. & Ams. Shs )
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20 Zealand

JOINT-S!

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all British Colonial Bank
and Loan Company
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5 Chart& 'Ralik of Asia
2 Chrtd. Buk. of India,
Australia, & China'
25 Colonial
20 Commercial of Lond
16 English Scottish and

Australian
all Loud. Chart. Bk. of

Australia
20 London and County
10 London Joint Stock
20 Lond. & Westminster
35 National Provincial
of England
10 Do. New

221 National of Ireland.
all Now South Wales...
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Corporation
25 Provincial of Ireland
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1 Royal Australn.Bkg
& Gold Imp Co
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2i Do. New
10 17_&'nn, of London,