The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-22 00:00:00

VISIT TO SEBASTOPOL.

We extract the following interesting account of
a visit to Sebastofiol, 'from " Travels in the Baltic,
Black Sea, and Crimea," by Charles Fl. Scott :
The port of Sebastopol consists of a bey running in a
south-easterly direction about four miles long, and a mile
wide at the entrance, diminishing to 400 yards at the end,
where the " Techeruaia Retchka," or Black River, empties
itself. The average depth is about eight fathoms, the bot-
tom being composed of mud in the centre, and gravel at
the sides. On the southern coast of this bay are the com-
mercial, military, and careening harbours; the quarantine
harbour being outside the entrance; all these taking a
southerly direction and having deep water.
The military harbour is the largest, being about a mile-
and-a-half long, by 400 yards wide, and is completely land
locked on every side. Here it is that the Black Sea fleet
is moored in the winter ; the largest ships being able to lie
with all their stores on board close to the quays. The
small harbour, which contains the naval arsenal and docks,
is on the eastern side of the military harbour, near the en-
trance.
The port is defended to the south by six principal
batteries and fortresses, each mounting from 50 to 190
guns ; and the north by four, having from 18 to 120
pieces each ; and besides these there are many smaller
batteries.
The fortresses are built on the casemate principle, three
of them having three tiers of guns, and a fourth two tiers.
Fort St. Nicholas is the largest, and mounts about 190
guns; on carefully counting them, we made 186. By great
interest we obtained permission to enter this fortress. It
is built of white limestone ; a fine sound stone, which be-
comes hard, and is very durable, the same material being
used for all the other forts. Between every two casemates
are furnaces for heating shot red hot. We measured the
calibre of the guns, and found it to be eight inches, ca-
pable of throwing shells or 681 b, solid shot.
Whether all the guns in the fortress were of the same
size it is impossible to say ; but my belief is that most of
the fortifications of Sebastopol are heavily armed. We
entered Fort St. Nicholas through the elegantly-furnished
apartments of the military commandant, situated at its
south-western end.
At the period of our visit there were certainly not more
than 850 pieces of artillery defending the port towards the
sea, and of these about 350 could be concentrated on a ship
entering the bay.* Other batteries, however, are said to
have been sines built. We took some trouble to ascertain
these facts by counting the guns of the various forts, not
always an easy matter where any suspicion of our object
might have subjected us to grave inconveniences. Sebas-
topol is admirably adanted by nature for a strong position
towards the sea, and it will be seen from what we have
stated above that this has been fully taken advantage of
to render it one of the most formidable fortified places in
that direction which could be imagined.
We are well aware that the casemated fortresses are very
badly constructed, and though, having an imposing exte-
rior, that the walls are filled in with rubble. The work
was carried on under Russian engineers, whose object was
to make as much money as possible out of it. They were,
moreover, found to be defective in ventilation, to remedy
which some alterations were subsequently made; but, ad-
mitting all their defects, they are still strong enough to in-
flict some amount of injury on an attacking fleet before
their guns could be silo .cod. Awl wheu that is accom-
plished, supposing there are now :'5O pieces, there would,
still remain 500 guns of large calibre, in strong open bat-
teries, half of them throwing shells and red-hot shot, inde-
pendent of mortars. This is a force of armament against
which no fleets have been tried, not only with regard to
the number of guns and weight of metal, but the nature
of the projectiles; any single shell fired point blank and
striking between wind and water, being sufficient to sink
a ship.
If Sebastopol can be so easily taken by the allied fleets
alone, and without land forces, as some people appear to
imagine, it would be very satisfactory to know what
amount of resistance it is expected that Portsmouth could
offer to an enemy with her 70 or 80 guns, not above five-
and-twenty of which are heavier than 32-pounders.
We do not mean to assert that it is impossible to de-
stroy Sebastopol from the sea alone, but we believe that it
could only be accomplished by an unnecessary sacrifice of
life and ships with our present means, anti that it would
be nothing short of madness to attempt it, unless we had
a reserve fleet on the spot, sufficiently strong to insure the
command of the Black Sea in case of failure7t
In speaking of the means of defence at Sebastopol, we
have left the Russian fleet out of the question. This,
however, is not to be treated either with indifference or
contempt; for, while we are ready to admit that, neither
in the strength of the ships, in the quality of the sailors,
nor in any other respect, can it be compared for au in-
stant to those of England and France; yet there can be
no doubt, of the Russian seamen being well-trained
in gunnery, nor of their being endowed with a kind of
passive courage, which would lead them to stick to their
work, when not called upon to exercise their seamanship,
in which they are very deficient.
There were in the military harbour of Sebastopol twelve
line-of-battle ships, eight frigates, and seven corvettes,
comprising the Black Sea fleet, independent of steamers.
We visited, amongst others, the Twelve Apostles, of 120
guns, and the first. lieutenant accompanied us over her.
Sh was a remarkably fine-looking ship, in excellent order,
and very neat in her fittings. One thing which instantly
struck us was the absence of hammock-hooks, but we.
learned that beds were luxuries which the Russian sailors
never dream of, the decks forming their only resting-places.
On descending to the shell-room we examined one of the
shells, and found it fitted with the common fuse: Now, as
at that time it was believed that the Russians possessed
a percussion or concussion shell, superior to any in the
world, we were anxious to ascertain whether this was
really the case ; but, from the inquiries we made of the
lieutenant, we are convinced that such a shell existed only
in imagination ; that the common fuse was in use through-
out the service, and may be so to the present day. The
ports of the ship were marked with lines at different
angles, by which to facilitate the concentration of the
guns.
We thanked our eonductor for his politeness, and in
doing so expressed our admiration of the ship. "Yes,"
said he, " she is worthy of your praises. She was built on
the lines of your Queen, now in the Mediterranean, by a
Russian architect, educated in one of the royal dockyards
of England."
There is the same peculation and corruption going on in
the ship-building as in all other departments in Russia ;
and at Sebastopol everything which proves defective in a
ship is attributed to a destructive worm, about which the
officials interested in doing so, relate tales almost as won-
derful as those of the great sea-serpent. When a ship's
bottom becomes prematurely rotten, as unseasoned timber
is of course out of the question, the worm is the cause of
the mischief; but how this singular creature has managed
to pass through the copper without leaving a hole no one
attempts to explain. In the Baltic, where no worm
exists, the destructive quality of the fresh water is
equally great.
The town of Sebastopol is situated on the point of land
between the commercial and military harbours, which
rises gradually from the water's edge to an elevation of
two hundred feet. It is inure than a mile in length, and
its greatest width is about three quarters of a mile, the
streets entering the open steppe on the south. It was partly
defended on the west, towards the land, by a loopholed
wall, which had been pronounced by one of the first en-
gineers of Russia as perfectly useless, and plans for com-
pletely fortifying the place in that direction were said to
have been made ; but whether the work has since been
carried out we know not., though we have a deep convic-
tion that strong defences vs,ill be found to exist there by
the time a besieging army arrives. These, however, being
hurriedly raised, can neither be of sufficient magnitude
nor strength to offer a serious resistance to a long-continued
fire of heavy artillery ; and unless these fortifications are.
on a most extensive scale, and embrace a very wide
circuit, they may be commanded from so many points,
that, attacked with heavy guns of long range, their speedy
reduction becomes a matter of certainty.
None of the sea batteries or forts are of the slightest ser-
vice for defence on the land side. Indeed, the great fort
St. Nicholas has not a gun pointed in that direction; and
such an armament would be perfectly useless if it existed,
as that part of the hill on which the town stands rises
behind it to a height of 200 feet. In fact, all the fortresses
and batteries, both to the north and south of the great
bay, are commanded by higher ground in the rear.
The first and all-important consideration, in reference
to an attack on Sebastopol by land, is to ascertain where
WI army would find the most desirable place for disem-
barkation. Theodosia has been' named amongst other
localities, and it has certainly a beautiful harbour and
many other conveniences, but the distance from the
scene of action is a serious drawback. The troops would
have to march over about 130 miles of steppe, as it would
be necessary to keep to the north of the mountains, where
their progress could be easily arrested. Should wet wea-
ther set in, this steppe would become in a very short time
quite impracticable for heavy artillery and baggage, as
there are no roads whatever, and our little experience of
rain showed us how rapidly the country became converted
into a state closely resembling an Irish beg.
Yalta is another port where men and material might be
safely landed, and where but little opposition could be of-
fered, but although united to Sebastopol by a good road,
this is in many places cut out of the face of the perpendi-
cular rock, and could not only be defended by the enemy
with facility, but a few hours' work would render it quite
impassable. '

Between Yalta and Balaclava, on the southern coast,
there is no available point ; but if the latter port could be
taken, and the surrounding heights secured,, every requisite
for advantageously carrying uu operations against Sebas-
topol would be at once obtaiued. Distant only about ten
miles from that town, and connected with it by an excel-
lent road, Balaclava so infinitely surpasses all other places
for the attainment of the object in view, that there cannot
be two opinions on the importance of possessing it, and
its admirable harbour wouldt be of incalculable value to
the fleets.

Nature has, however, made it so strong that if the Roe-
hians have fully availed themselves of the facilities for de-
fence, it might become a work of some difficulty to dis-
lodge them • but it is very doubtful whether they have
had sufficient time to erect batteries which could hold out
long against the force that could be brought to be ar on them.
Supposing the whole of the batteries defending the hat-
bour to be destroyed, no ships could enter with safety
until all the positious on the heights which surround and
overhang it had been carried.
The coast between Balaclava 'and Cape Chersonesus
being abrupt and precipitous, furnishes no suitable locali-
ties for the reqpired purpose, but some of the bays on
the northern boundary of the Chersonesean peninsula may
possibly be found available. • '
Were the allied armies in possession of the Chersonesus,
they would find plenty of water,•for, there are two good
sources towards Balaclava, though independent of it. One
of these has been carried by an aqueduct to Sebastopol, and
sapplies the reservoir near the public gardens of that place.
Destroying this aqueduct would be no service towards re-
ducing the town, as that from Juke -man would still re-
main, and the great fitting basin eoatains au immense

quantity. Besides which there are wells and some small
strgams •t the head of the military harbour, whence the
place formerly drew its only, though not very plentiful
supply.
Another plan for attacking Sebastopol might be adopted

* Mr. Oliphant says, " Nothing can be more formidable
than Sebastopol from the seaward. Upon a future occasion
we visited it in a steamer, and found that at one point we
were commanded by 1,200 pieces of artillery." Now, if by
this passage it is to be understood that 1,20') guns mounted
on the fortresses and batteries of that place, and commanding
the sea, can be concentrated on any one spot, it is manifestly
a mistake. That point where the greatest number of pieces
of artillery can be concentrated is probably about the centre
of a line drawn from Cap 3 Constance to the eastern promon-
tory of the Quarantine Harbour, on which part of the guns of
Fort Constantine the Quarantine Battery, Fort Alexander,
and Fort St. Nicholas, with some from other batteries, may
be brought to bear; but these cannot at the utmost amount
to more than 350 pieces, even allowing that spot to be com-
manded by 100 guns of Fort Nicholas.
j These remarks were written before a land attack on
Sebastopol ryas Contemplated.