The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-26 00:00:00

•
LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, SE

THE WAR.

NAVAL AND MILITARY-,INTELLIGENCE.
APPOINTMENTS.
.•
- Captain Lord George Paula. (1833), at present in com-
mand of the Bellerophon, 78, on-the Mediterranean and
Black Sea station, to be naval aid's-de-camp to her Ma-
jesty. .1 :
Lieutenants— William L. Lambert (1842), from the coast
guard, to coiinuand the Royal Charlotte, revenue vessel;
Lewis• M., Croko (1854), recently promoted. from mate 'of
'the Imperieuse, 50, screw steam-frigate: in the Baltic, to
the Powerful, 84; at Portsmouth.
Chaplain—Rev. Douglas BontflOwer, to the Cossack, 21,
scrow steal-11-corvette, at Chatham.
Paymasters—S—ll: L. Giles (1846),' to the NaiMcin, 50,.
atCba,tba:ln ; William Soady (1811), to the Victory, flag-
ship, at Ports-month ; John Bell (1821),`to the Reyal Wil-
liam, 120, at Devonport.
Master-Assistant—Frederick. SeatOn to the_ Curlew
screw steam-sloop, at Portsmouth. .• • •
Clerk—John Shepherd (1850), from the .PolyPliemus
paddle.-wheel steam-sloop, just paid off at Portsmouth; to
the Cossack; 21; screw steam-corvette, at Chatham. •
.01erks's•Assistant—Altred W. WilliaMioti, itoe_the Fis-
gard, flag-ship, at Woolwich. ••t , .

WOOLWICH, Sm. 25.

Mr. Thomas Baker, inspector of machinery" afibat, and
and at present borne on the bpoks of the Britannia, 120,.
flag-ship, for the purpose of inspecting the war steamers
in the Black Sea, has received a'letter of thanki from Vice.
Admiral Dundas, for the very excellent manner in which,
.with.the assistance of the engineers 'of the fleet,,he had
altered the position of the starting-gear of all the war
steamers in the• Black Sea fleet, to render that gear, so
important to be protected from shot or sbbll, less liable to
be injured in actual warfare. Mr. Baker has effected his
object by placing the starting-gear under or near, the base
of the engines, instead of being near the top level, or above
the engines.'
The Royal Albert, 121, is to,he taken round to Ports-
mouth, to be finally prepared fOr proceeding to the Black
Sea, where that splendid screw steam-ship is' to serve as
of.Vice-Admiral Dundas, commander'-in=chief on
the Mediterranean and Black Sea station, and the crew of
the Britannia will be turned over to her on her arrival
there. '
Late as the period of the season is for operations, in the
Baltic ik is probable the country will shortly have interest-
ing intelligence from Vice-Admiral Sir, Charles Napier,
commander-in-chief on that station, as despatches of a very
impOrtant nature were forwarded to him on Saturday last.
The brass guns captured from the Russians. have been
placed in the iron,stores in the Royal Aisenal, WoOlwich.

SHEERNESS, SEPT. 25.
,
. .
The Miranda arrived here on Saturday last, and moored
at 2.30 p.m., having had three months of unremitting work
within the arctic circle in the White Sea. This ship, dur-
ing the 80 days she was in .the White Sea, anchored 48
times, and whilst under way and at anchor, has boarded
375 ships and vessels, showing the immense trade that Will be
lost to Russia from her folly, besides being obliged to sell
all her ships at a ruinous loss in price. Only three.were
captured, and these fell to the Miranda,, and are on their
way home, loaded with flour, fish, and oil ; but the un-
kindest cut of all to the Czar wb.s the destruction of Kola,

the capital of Russian Lapland, a plate conceived to be
beyond the reach of ships. Kola is described by, the Rus-
sian Admiral Sutkcs in his journeys as the Celebrated capi-

,a 1 of Russian Lapland, which under Peter the Great be-

came a fortified City, and which in 1809 was visited by

the English, who sent in two_ gun-boats to &Amy two
vessels, but who made no direct attack upon the town.
Captain Lyons has visited it in 1854, made a direct attack
upon the town, and expunged it from the list of capitals.
He had thirty miles of a difficult. river to navigate, five

mile's of which are laid down in the chart as unnavigable,
and which in some places is so narrow as.scarcely to admit
of the ship swinging, with a current running seven knots
an hour. • The uncertain knowledge of the strength of the

enemy offered no check to his deterthination to place his
ship alongside the battery. Success attended his daring.
The I:L=4l9:lay within point blank range of the battery.
The governor of the city would not come to terms. Their
guns were manned, and every tower and building loop-

... .
holed and filled with men. But we could,stand their

shot, and shell, and red-hot shot within musket range. In
less than an hour their guns wrire dismounted, their,bat-
teries in ruins, and their city in flames. One tower of the
fortified cathedral alone now stands to mark the spot
where Kola once had been.

The proceedings of the Miranda, a given by ono of her
blue jackets, may be found interesting to many :
" Miranda left Sheerness, the 3d of May, under sealed
orders, and anchored at Spithead on the Ch at six p.m., left
al
e futlnssdt
Spithead,
t;
Spithead on the 6th at one p.m.; on that day chased seve-
ral vessels, and parodoncoet
vic-
tualled to Spithead
againdh(ll9oa again
ha thei
in
prt
June
aht.
;elle
hhoora:novnupnc
ath.s
hhno oer. thetne,2hiriteai
tn Ghi2lstnfuollerlllftLerwicke
at
rLifle atear
armt Lerwick
soopfllhor a.m.,olicrebaeto: u
rabeN
yvcol, weighed
anchored
northrgnhical ehancolvdri
scaledhoan d :thaeonrcdlhe7ortrshe;d
oena
tdur ighcatehth‘
worked
Bth
andtr2o4k:
eetohdnf
through the Sound on the 10th of June, steamed through
Rolffso Sound for sea; on the 19th of Juno chased and
captured the Russian schooner which i'was after re-
leased ; on the 22d stood in for anchorage under Cross
Island, left Cross Island on the 24th; on the 26th anchored
(with a strong current running towards Archangel) off the
mouth of the river Dwin ; at ten p.m., in Archangel Bay.
We were employed in boats, boarding several vessels. On
the sth of July we weighed, and proceeded for the Murman
channel of. Dwina River, leading towards Archangel Bay..
On the 9th, anchored near Tarim, ; got under way, and
proceeded for Anchorage at Cross Island. On the 18th
rounded the Island of Solovetskoi. When about a thou•
sand yards distant from the shore, our first lieutenant ob-
served a number of soldiers, with several field-pieces, in
the woods. His glass and eye are first rate. A gun was
fired to dislodge them, which they quickly returned with
shot, grape, and canister—a sharp shower—lots of them
struck the ship. We kept up a sharp fire from the star.
board broadside guns. The enemy retired into the bush.
wood in the rear. We then anchored off Solovetskoi Mo-
nastery at about midnight. On the next morning, the
19th, saw the soldiers employed throwing up temporary bat-
teries. Our ship, with the Brisk in company, hoistej a flag
of truce, and fired a blank gun. The Brisk sent, a boat•on
shore with a flag of truce. The Russians sent a boat off to
meet the flag of truce. 'The boat then returned on shore.
At 8.20 weighed anchor, hauled down flag of truce, and
opened fire on enemy's battery with long gun, firing shot
and shell, which was pretty smartly returned by the bat-
tery, and also from two towers of the monastery, and mus-
ketry from the shore. The Brisk also opened fire soon
after. About 9.20 a round shot from the battery killed
King Marshall, an ordinary seaman and man of colour,
fortherly a krooman from Sierra Leone—a very good darky
he was. Another shot wounded Stephen Hall, fracturing
his right arm close to the shoulder. In abent ten minutes
we had him down on the orlop deck, when our doctor,
John A. Corbett, put him under the influence of chloro-
form, and took his arm oft close up to the shoulder. Hall
never moved. It was certainly very quickly done, and in
proof that our doctor made a good job of it, in eighteen
days he went to work, such as ho could do, single-handed.
" We then opened fire from 121 b howitzers, and also from
the tops and gangways, to dislodge the enemy from their
cover of trees and bushes. At 11.20 the enemy were seen

deserting their batteries. They shortly again returned to
their guns, and were again driven away by the precision of
our firing.. We then commenced shelling thamonastery
from our pivot gun, at the same time keeping up a heavy
fire from our broadside guns, also with small arms men on

battery and cover. We then proceeded easily, steaming
up the inner passage to out-flank the battery, and also to
close in monastery. We then commenced firing red-hot
shot on the monastery. We silenced the fire of the enemy
at about 6 p.m. on the evening of the 19th. On the 31st
we landed at Shayley Island, and destroyed all the public
buildings by fire, together with nine guns found on shore.
" We coaled on the `29th of July, near Cross Island. On
the 22d of August our master, Mr. G. Williams, succeeded
with the boats to buoy a passage up to Kola. It is a queer
river, as if nature had intended everybody coming there
to be deceived in the passage. On both sides the river,
for about a mile and a half, the deepest soundings are the
side channels. You then suddenly come to a regular bank,
and we were obliged to back out again; but the master,
after very particularly sounding the midship channel,
found water up, and at 6.30 a.m. we anchored off Kola in
five fathoms water. We shortly after observed a flag of
truce coming off from the fort, and hoisted a flag of truce
in return. Our third lieutenant, Mr. C. W. Buckle, went
away in the gig to meet the flag of truce with a letter, in
which, we understood from the quarter-deck officers, an
immediate surrender (rather sharp practice, but British
blood had stained our decks) was demanded of the fort,
garrison, and Government property. We could see the
different forts with the men at their guns. We were kept
at quarters during that night. Our gallant commander
gave orders to splice the main brace with a good glass of
the Queen's own at midnight. We barricaded the tops
with hammocks for our riflemen.
" No answer being returned in the morning, we hauled
down the flag of truce and opened fire with grape and can-
ister, to dislodge musketry from the batteries and stockades.
Our ship was got up within 250 yards of the battery. Our
first lieutenant, John F. C. Mackenzie, and Mr. Charles
W. Nanthorp, mate, accompanied us in command of the
afore party, On 1441;114s ouT good M 11411Aut fad 'into.
-

nant headed our party of blue jackets and marines,
.and
trotted up sword in hand to dislodge the enemy from; the
ruins of the batteries and to, seize their gnus. Immediately
upon our pulling in shore, the enemy opened a sharp, fire
upon us from the different. parts of the towers and; the
monastery: Our ship continued to,fire to cover us. It was
about 2.30 when we landed,. headed.by Lieut. Mackenzie,
who was the first into the battery, which we .foUnd
completely destroyed by the ship's fire. The enemy were
'going off beyond double quick time, a% if the real old
Nick was after them. We took Ori board one of the
battery guns which had been broken by a shot from ,our
ship ; all the other guns. were completely buried in the
ruins. All the Government stOrts.were destroyed. Jolly
Jock, as we dub our first lieutenant, did honour to his
:little clan of the Miranda. During our fighting the enemy
had been busily. employed .taking up all the buoys our
master, Mr. Williams, had,laid down for coming up :the
river, and he had all his work to go over again, to ,buoy
the channel for our going down again. By 7.30 a.m. on
the 24th, we had destroyed the.whole of the town. Ib
-was a tremendous scene of destruction ; the buildings,
stores, and monastery all in flames, and each bell, as their
stupendowi beams burnt through, fell to the bottoniof the
tower, tolling its lastlnell... There were seven belie, and
from the sound On falling Wei rang like the Big Tom of
X.Aneoln. We made rfamhore' goo light on the 22,d day
of Septembel.; and cited it l'arinOtith: A. lot of papers
were brought on hoefd,•:Vio po,7ght, little here and thrp,
of the good news of, the fall„ of Bomarsund, and the jolly,
good health of the English and French , engaged there was
drunk throughout every mess that day,
" We have a real live Russian boy, about ten years of
'314 was taken out of a fishing lugger which had been
deserted by her crew. The poor little fellow was found
locked up in the hovel called a cabin, and , if not taken
must have been starved to death. It appearshe had neither
mother nor father living, and hie relatives had put him on
board the lugger to work his way through life. The poor
little fellow was christened Kofa. Miranda, but he will not
now answer to that name ; .he.does-not like the name, and
has given himself the name, of Jack Miranda. He is an
intelligent little fellow, and is a great pet amongst all
hands. He cannot be prevailed upon to leave the ship. •
"The Miranda has had touch-und-go on the ground on
Many occasions;
,she is to go into dock for repairs, and
there are also some defects in her machinery department.°

Sir James R. G. 'Giaham aid Sir Baldwin Walker ar-
rived here yesterday to make an official visit this day,
when a general muster of the yard will take place. They
attended with:the commander-in•chief divine service yes-
terday at the:dockyard chapel.

The crew, of the Miranda have been remarkably healthy ;
no contagions disease of any kind has occurred.

• 'SHEEENESS, SEPT. 26.
_
The Melampus store-ship, Master Commander (pro tern.)
Assistant Mister Attendant John Jackson in command,
arrived here yesterday from Pembroke.
The Miranda received orders by electric telegraph here
yesterday to proceed to Portsmouth to make good some
slight repairs' to machinery preparatory to her proceeding
for the Black Sea. She left here at'four p.m. yesterday
in pilot charge of,Mr. Milbank, Trinity pilot.
The Miranda hai -brought home a very ancient bell
(which is now being used as a ship's bell) ; it was. taken
from the ruins of the monastery at. Kola, in the Gulf of
Onega. It measures in extreme circumference 6 feet 4
inches, and •the internal depth is 2 feet 1 inch. It has a
magnificent . cathedral idiots.; The Amite on it is " Anno
1656." Arounitthe 00M:4i-444;4n beautiful relief, is a hunt-
ing party, with ii4s;hfirsiiicitM; ind-d4s, and around the
outer base `is a paendidraitsld 'Wreath 2f grapes and pine-
apples, which broiretby, likfigure of a priest hold-
ing a cross '1141414 book in his right hand
laid over hiS ietkbx:s4t. :1414witig letters are raised
in old Remo. >ehArao.ers, :;-7,-:;01:,4)). T. *—s, L. E.
M.—A. N.:*
The Hannibal goes: out of dry dock to-day, and the Ho-
ratio takes hiir -
The Royal Albert ibtutsstetim'ion Saturday, and steamed
out of the fitting basin in 'firsirlrate style, proceeding to her
harbour moorinclto receive her armament &c.

PLYMOUTH, SEPT. 25..

The Conrad, hired transport, has had her defects made
good, and is now alongside the Victualling-yard, shipping
bread for the Black Sea fleet.

The Algiers, 90, screw steam-ship, was taken out of dock
at Keyham on Saturday evening, and lay in the basin till
this morning, when she proceeded into the Sound under
easy steam, in charge of Mr. Drotrtpsaistant-master-at-
tendant. Powder boys are ready with her powder. The
Janus, steamer, arrived yesterday morning with a gun-
metal screw propeller for the Algiers. The Algiers will
ship her screw in the Sound.
The Centurion,ay and
84,
will
bwa was
fittedbro forughta eimmediately,
alongsideseri the dockyard
onSstur Saturday,