The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-19 00:00:00

ward, which followed the declivity of the slope till
reached the nearest part of the adjacent valley. No
accurate information is before us as to the extent of
these trenches, which commenced from the flanks of the
Arab Tabia, but, to judge from the numbers of the irre-
gular troops actively employed within them, their
length must have been considerable. The ground to
their front was swept by the artillery fire of the flanks
of the main work. It is here to be noticed, that the Turk-
ish irregulars, to avoid the murderous fire of the Rus-
sian batteries, had excavated behind and on either flank
of these trenches numerous holes, in which they bur-
rowed so effectually that the enemy could seldom see
more of the defenders than their turbans and the muzzles
of their muskets. In spite of some unfavourable features,
such as a gentle rise in one quarter to the south, the
ground may be considered, from its barrenness of sur-
face, as, on the whole, favourable to the fire of the de-
fence. The work was in conimmunication with two other
detached earthworks, situated on the two heights east-
ward and westward, which will be found designated on
Moltke's plan as the Russian works 9 and 11. They are
on the highest summits of the ground which slopes to
the north, and very near the spots also marked on the
plan as the Russian field-works 21 and 22. The Russian
attack during their 39 days' operations, if we except their
bombardment of the town, was solely directed against
the Arab Tabia. Anything else that was undertaken,
such as a movement against the detached work, the
Medschidie, was a mere demonstration for the purpose
of distracting attention from the real point of assault.
The Russian General Sanders was quite right in this
selection of the Arab Tabia, because from it the other
outworks, abovementioned,to the north, were commanded,
and the reduction of the former would have insured their
fall. This value of the position had been so well under-
stood by Omer Pasha, that he had himself, after com-
pletion of the other outworks, directed the construction
of the Arab Tabia. An attack was nevertheless first to be
expected on the eastern side of the town. In fact, if all the
accidents of ground of the Bulgarian plateau were to be
duly provided for, and an enemy to be deprived of every
position commanding the defences, it would be necessary
to construct a series of outworks in ten aces above each
other, advanced till the dominant points of the ground
in front had all been embraced. Time and means were •
wanting for these, and the Turkish engineers were
obliged to confine themselves to what was essential. The _
first operations of the Russians were the construction of
batteries, which gradually grew to be eight in number,
were armed with the heaviest artillery, and beginning
from near the shore of the Danube embraced the object
of the attack in a concave curve. At the same time,
following the fashion of their former proceedings of 1828
and 1829, before Varna and Schumla, they threw up a
number of earthworks, mutually supporting each other
with their fire, which increased in number as the siege ...
proceeded, and now, as then, had for their main object
the better to repel the dreaded sallies of the besieged. •
The main body of the Russian besieging army was •
posted during the operation on one of the lieights to the
south-east of Arab Tabia. The roads from the camp
to the works and batteries, as well as those to the
bridges of the Danube, were excellent as lines of com-
munication, and all the works and constructions of the
besieging force are described as solid and admirable.
The first stage of the operations bore the character of a
series of sudden assaults, delivered by considerable
masses, and introduced as well as broken off by a
lively fire of artillery. On two occasions the Russians
penetrated the works, in which, however, the fight was
continued. Once the Russians were already engaged in
dragging off the guns of the fort with hooks and ropes ;
but in both instances the Turks rallied, and, reinforced,
drove them out again with heavy loss. Of all the nume-
rous assaults that of the 29th May was the one conducted
with the greatest masses. Sixteen battalions, formed in
columns of attack, advancing with perfect order, succes-
sively assailed the work, along the ditches of which a .
most sanguinary conflict was maintained. According to
the report of eye-witnesses, 2,000 corpses on that day
strewed the ditches and the ground adjacent. Such a,
slaughter, in an assault of a place which comes within
the category of a mere fieldwork, can scarcely be con-
ceived by those who regulate their notions by ordinary
professional rules. It may be explained in part by the
circumstance that the assailants advanced in columns
well closed up and marching in rather slcw time, and
after failure retreated in the same time and order. •
But the explanation of such unheard-of loss is far
more to be found in the fact that the Turkish sol-
dier, regular as well as irregular, where he can follow
his own individuality and dispense with the guidance of
his officers, generally of a poor description, i. e., when
behind wall or ditch, is immeasurably more in his
element than in the open field, where the intelligence
of the subaltern officer, the united action of component '
bodies, and the skilful use of ground and circumstances
—other relations being equal—must usually decide-.
the victory. To this must be added that the Turkish
irregular,,and especially the Arnauts, who in this in-
stance acted with the Turkish and Egyptain battalions,
are admirably armed and accoutred for hand-to-hand
fighting. In the first place they are lightly clothed and
carry no baggage. Their side arms and all that they
carry about them are supported by a sash or broad
leather waistbelt. A long flint musket, of good work-
manship and extensive range, with a thin iron butt
curved to fit the shoulder and without bayonet, is slung
over the shoulders in close action. Their other weapons
are a pair of flint-lock pistols of large bore, the " hand-
schar" slightly curved, some 24 feet in length, with the
inner edge sharpened like a razor ; and the yatagan ; all
of excellent workmanship, and, in the hands of these
desperadoes, deadly instruments. The other irregulars,
as well as the Arnauts, are generally armed more or less
in like fashion, but their firearms are usually inferior to
those of the Arnaut. The quality of the Arnaut's
weapons is fully matched by his skill in using them in
close fighting. He is an excellent shot, and, like the
Circassians and other tribes who have to provide their
own ammunition and fit it to the various calibre of their
arms, he is very sparing in his use of it. He reserves
his fire till the critical moment, but then his aim is
deadly. He is not less dangerous with the cold steel, both
edge and point—springing like a tiger on the enemy who
advances over ditch or breastwork.. Itis on these occasions,
when the heavily loaded soldier, trained and accoutre? ,
mainly for infantry fire, is clambering over obstacles and
meets with a resistance which hardly allows him to use
his bayonet, that his inferiority to such art enemy be. • •
comes apparent
of
The Russians, therefore, according to the reportsa b
eye-witnesses, suffered less from the artillery fire of Ar
Tabia than J., om the small arms of the Turkish, B g,Y •
tiati, and Arnaut troops. Each gun was seldom w-i;
charged more than from four to six times on the colunal...—
of assault advancing or retiring, and some were reieal„,
edly dismounted by the fire of the batteries preliminarlo
to the assaults. The storming parties, till they got
the immediate range of the musketry, could scar,ceeir
11
discern, with the exception of the gunners. at too
places, a fez or turban above the rampart, but, se no
th
se
they began to mount, the crest of the mound aptoo
ground behind were thronged with men, who rose
their holes and hiding places like a sudden growth
the soil. A succession of failures, accompanied by
.
mendous slaughter, induced the Russians, towar—Ai
irre
close of their undertaking, to proceed against this
__al,
gular work with regular siege approaches. Their p 5. to,
lets, at the time of their retreat, had been drivrviog
within 16 paces from the edge of the ditch. loose
was also employed, to meet which the besieged
_;ti,
up fresh works in rear of the parts threatened wl
soe
incredible rapidity. Everything failed ; the ga,rri Ath,
held out to the last with a cheerful contempt of !co,
such as competent witnesses, among them English
lreadl
cers, assert they never saw equalled. We have
mentioned that the Commandant of the artillery! I
At
tenant Grach, computes the loss of the Russian's 100
12,000, and the huge mounds of sepulture on the
bear out his estimate. According to all probability'
from 300 to 400 officers must have fallen.

THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION. At a Ine,litirig
held
yesterday (Friday), of the Manchester 1001 y.",v0:0
mitten in aid of the proposed Paris Exhibition, ' a
reported that although Manchester alone had etipsc.ibetbe
a guarantee fund of 6,5001. towards the object 0L.01.,
Exhibition, no contributions whatever had been recelia,
from the adjoining towns, although official commune
tions have been addressed to them on the subject.
Loss OF THE CLYDE SHIP SHANDON, FIB$•
The North British. Daily Mail, of Wednesday, 01.-vivg •
A telegraphic despatch has just reached Glasgow, n-
information of the total loss of the fin iron shiP.;;; e
13a
don, from Clyde to Quebec and Montreal, on I
inst., in lat. 54, long. 17. The crew and passecgn,
were all saved, and were put on board of the shiP Gle of
cairn, bound for Quebec, all well. Captain Greairgjig,
the Shandon, and six of the crew have arrived at core
and the captain telegraphed the disaster to the °-
w
in this city, but no particulars have yet reached Ile. 1,010
Shandon was built at Glasgow by Mr. R. Napier, 3".iicl
three years ago, for the Quebec and Montreal trade' ;be
was a beautiful ship of nearly 600 tons burden of
sailed from Clyde on the 30th ult , with a full car ve
ne goods, which, together with .the ship west bout
been worth not less than 70,000/. She ca'rried
twenty cabin and five steerage passengers.
eiree
SUICIDE FROM SHAKESPERE's CLIFF.—About ses
o'clock on Wednesday evening last, a gentleman, dr the
as a clergyman, was observed by some permit's nee'reo,
highest point of the celebrated Shakepere Cliff, at 9 the
A man named Anderson, who takes his stand /vrtu.
summit as a vendor of fossils, states that the unf°lou°4
0,
d J
nate gentleman had been up on the cliff soon after
and remained with him until he jumped over ; eg
before he took the dreadful leap informed him t'
darkness was coming on, it would be dangerous
The gentleman retired some short distance, immeln7 19,
turned round, and, exclaiming that he came fr° dor
Waterloo-crescent, jumped over near the b 011.115000
stone. Anderson immediately gave an alarm, ado base
of the coast-guard and boatmen, proceeding to "_,„ost
of the cliff, found the remains of the deceased, most
dreadfully knocked about, having fallen between
Rag
and 400 feet. The unfortunate gentleman wits,sta was
at 19, Waterloo-crescent with his lady, w owe
anxiously waiting his return when the dreadful
arrived. His name is the Rev. Thomas Robinson

he held-a living in the Isle Wight. . ng es•
DESTRUCTION OF TWENTY-ONE HOUSES.---A- 111-t :*
tensive and destructive fire occurred on Thursday las- :
the village of Moretonhampstead, a short distance frf ,
Exeter. The fire originated in the dwelling-house °t' ho
carrier, and spread with extraordinary rapidity. In
roof,
iclonutirlse of a short time the flames caught roof after
it appeared as though the whole village Oa
blaze
blase. The whole of the inhabitants turned out
and
rendered every assistance in . quenching the fire
~a_ll.
saving the property. In spite, hdwever, of all
Ltrey,'
exertions, which were aided by two fire engine°, l'had
were, unable to subdue the flames until 21 houses . ~
a I','"'
. were 011 .
/Ten destroyed—mnely, 10 in one street art . • f
another. Fortuhately, however, there was ao lois °
~
life, . _ .
, . . - '