The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-06 00:00:00

THE DEFEAT OF IBRAHINI PACHA

The pitched battle with Ibrahim Pacha afforded an ex-
cellent opportunity to show the bravery and fidelity of the
Turks. Ibrahim had taken up a very strong p,:sition near
Beyrout, will 3,000 men. 4,000 Turks were sent against
him, under the command of Selim Pacha. assisted by Ge-
neral Jock mus, Commodore Napier, and Colonel Hodges.
The attack was so impetuous, that in a few minutes Ibra-
him was completely routed. 1,000 Egyptians were made
prisoners, the rest were killed or wounded, or took to
(light. With respect to the general war, the Egyptian
army, at the most moderate calculation, has lust 20,000
in killed, wounded, prisoners, and deserters.

THE RUIN OF THE CAUSE OF MEHEMET

ALI IN SYRIA.

Letters up to the 17th, via Egypt, confirm the ruin of
the cause of the Viceroy in Syria. According to these
letters, the Emir Bechir with 15,000 men had gone over
to the Allies, besides irregular mountaineers. Two Egyp-
tian regiments had also gone over to the Allies. Ibrahim
and Soliman Pachas had retreated before the victorious
Allies, and their whole troops were in a state of the
greatest demoralization. All is quiet and going on well in
Egypt.
These letters also mention, that on account of the re-
presentations of the English and Austrian merchants, the
blockade did not take place till the 16th.

( From the Malta Times Correspondent.)

ALEXANDRIA, OCT. 16, 1840,
Captain Fisher, commanding the blockading squadron,
in answer to a representation from the Consuls-General,
..ccompatiied by a copy of the circular, dated the 14th of
September, addressed by the Sublime Porte to the Foreign
Ambassadors and Ministers in Constantinople, which ap-
pointed that day month, the 14th of October, as the period
of the commencement of the blockade, announced it as his
intention to allow ♦essels to arrive and depart to the 16th,
two days beyond the time fixed by the circular of the
Porte, and he even released Mehemet Ali's coal vessel,
to which the letters of the Consuls made no allusion.
The Pacha returned from Cairo on the 14th, where the

(fevered state of public feeling had rendered his presence
necessary; disorders were frequently apprehended, and
the spies and military were constantly on the alert. Abbas
Paella nsinds nothing but hts pleasures. Ali Bey is the
prime mover of the hatred against the Franks. Mehemet
Ali, to do him justice, reproved both the sloth of the one
and the ill-timed seal of the other, and caused Raven's and
I lil l's hotels, and the desert station-houses, to be re-opened,
and the alarm of the Franks and English in particular had
somewhat subsided in consequence.
This morning Mr. Green, a partner of the house of
Briggs and Co., agents for the Peninsular and Oriental
Company, went to Mehemet Ali, and Mehemet Ali an.
swered, that no obstacle would be thrown in the way of
any person or persons going to or coming from the Great
Liverpool, or passing through Egypt.
No change has taken place in the squadron blockading
Alexandria.

M. \Valewski, who returned hare on the 11th, is going
o Syria, accompanied by Khosrew Effendi. his mission
is to Ibrahim Pacha, but the nature of his communication
is unknown.

ATTACK UPON SIDON-..TAKING OF THE
TOWN BY ASSAULT.
SIDON, SEPT. 27.
Sidon, with its garripon of nearly 3,000 men, its im-
mense stores of arms, ammunition, previsions—of materiel
of every description—are all in the hands of the Sultan's
troops.

After the reconnaistance of the 20th, it was determined
.o send a force to attempt the reduction of the town. Ac-
cordingly, on the evening of the 24th, the Thunderer, 84,
Captain Berkeley, with the Wasp brig, an Austrian fri-
gate, and a Turkish corvette, got under weigh from
Djouni for Sidon. On the evening of the 25th the Gor-
gen steam-frigate took on board from four to six hundred
marines, while the Cyclops steam-frigate received about
one thousand five hundred Turkish troops under the com-
mand cf a Prussian officer, Col. Zaue. Early on the
morning of the 26th the steamers got under weigh, and in
a few hours joined the other ships, about three miles to
the northward of Sidon. The force was here increased by
the very seasonable arrival of the steamer Stromboli, having
on board from three to four hundred marines from England,
having touched at Gibraltar and Malta, and of the Hydra.
from Tyre. The steamers having towed the other ships
into position, they all anchored, forming a crescent,
which completely commanded the town from one extremity
to the other. The Stromboli anchored to the extreme
south, next to her the Wasp, the Austrian frigate, and the
Turkish corvette. In the centre, commanding with her
broadside the fort and causeway communicating with the
barrack, lay the Thunderer, having the Cyclops and
Gorgon steamers to the southward. The latter hoisted
the broad blue pennant, Commodore Napier being on
board. About half-past eight o'clock a flag of truce was
sent on shore, and the town summoned. In the meantime
some of the inhabitants took advantage of the offer of the
French steamer Castor (which bas been recently giving
us some curious illustrations of French neutrality), and
went on board. In about two hours the ships opened
fire, and it was only after they had been thundering away
for an hour or so that we could farm some estimate of the
strength of the place. Shot and shell fell upon it as thick
as hailstones, without either making any very visible im-
pression upon the wails or enabling us to catch a glimpse
of the red fez of a single soldier. At about one o'clock,
however, a breach was made in the sea wall of the fort,
while at nearly the same time one of the terrific broad.
sides of the Thunderer swept in the whole side of the
outer barrack square. What between the smoke of the
guns and the dust of tumbling walls it was impossible to
see whether soldiers were retreating from the barrack or
not. At all events a signal was made to land the Turkish
troops, and Captain Austin, of the Cyclops, was directed
to attempt the breach. The launches, pinnaces, and
boats of the different ships, with about 1,400 of the Turks,
immediately put off under the protection of a continuous
fire. When the boats reached the shore the ships neces-
sarily ceased firing, and before a single soldier could set
his foot on land a heavy fire of musketry was opened upon
them from the barracks and buildings in the neighbcurhood.
The fire was returned from the guns of the launches,
while all the boats pulled steadily in upon the shore,
although the shot passed through some of them, severely
injuring
some of the soldiers and the crews. It is due !o
~
the Turks to Fay that, although two of them were shot
d eid in the boats, not a man of the whole body flinched
in the landing. Had I not seen (although at a
sift: distance
fre
petsenal
blracvoeuryldar,dn
distance) the cool courace of the F 1. h blue-
jackets,
men to perform such duties with such
tcrrnnation. While they were
theta s k ofG 0 landingrgee,s
boats,th e troops,had
my attention was first called to this
to his armpits in water, makingperfectdiscipline
couldhavebroughtmeenietasrgeeead.Nin their perilous
steadiness and de-
gCootmunder the ae.ri
shoulders of his boat's crew. He succeedinel in in one of
point, h breach. When
iaunting,f
e wasl nearly up
adder of the
but had scarcely time to look in before a discharge
The troops fro.m the boats, however, through
musketry from an opposite buildiug obliged him to abandon
the
amppetr.ture, were entering one by one from the o -
from the launches and the PP°•
sailors still
satihtseemsaaitdltlee,
the
gees
; fire. A
breach, by which a considerable
keeping up a protecting scaling ladder Was also
thrown up the number of
the troops effected an entrance at that point. Within half
an hour the fort was in possession of the Sultan's troops,
Colonel Zaue and Lieutenant NV,:myss, of the Cyclops'