The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-12 00:00:00

THE TURKISH CONTINGENT.

KERTCH, Jan. 24.—The ice having at length
broken, on account of the prevalent strong south-
erly winds, we are now enabled to continue our
landing of stores, and the transport fleet in the
bay are obliged (much to their dissatisfaction) to
have recourse to their boats and lighters once more,
after having amused themselves for the past month
in discharging their cargoes daily on the ice. We
all hail with delight this change in the weather, for
between the various daily reports of an expected
attack from the Russians in our rear and the channel
frozen over to the Taman side in our front (almost
sufficient to allow the crossing of an immense army),
our situation has been anything but comfortable,
and, with the exception of our transport skippers,
who rejoice in 'anything like demurrage, especially
in Government employ, everybody seems in high
glee. _ _

We have received almost daily for the past month
accounts from Tartar spies that a large body of the
Russian army are intrenching themselves at Argin
—the place, where the 10th Hussars and Chasseurs
d'Afrique had a skirmish with the Cossacks in
September last. From this we can draw two in-
ferences—either that an attack is meditated on this
place, or that, the navigation of the Sea of Azoff
being now rendered impracticable by our gun-
boats, the Russians are now availing themselves of
the " tongue of Arabat," in forwarding their sup-
plies into the Crimea. The latter suggestion is
thought the most probable, for since the Kinbourn
affair the enemy will prepare themselves for the loss
of Perekop, and, having determined to "make hay
while the sun shines," are thus taking advantage of
the inclemency of the seasons In the meantime,
shettrld their object be an attack upon • us,
they will 'find that General Vivian 'has not been
idle, and with the' limited means at, his dis-
posal, has rendered this pi.ace, in a military point
of vicw,, perfectly capable of resisting an attack of
an army of 30,000 men. The only obstacle hereto-
fore has been a want of siege guns to put into posi-
tion, which deficiency has been in a measure at-
tended ts by the Commander-in-Chief before Sebas-
topol and the Seraskier at Constantinople, the
latter having sent us some beautiful long 32-pounder
brass pieces from the foundry at Tophane. •
The Turkish soldiers as you are aware have the
reputation of being the most capable in the world
at throwing up earthworks and digging intrench-
meats ; and certainly in this instance they deserve
a great deal of praise, for, under the able guidance
of Major Stokes, the commanding engineer officer
of the Contingent, they have completed works which
might well be shown as examples to other nations.
Fort Paul is now a second Malakhoff, and, should
necessity oblige us to evacuate Kertch and fall back
upon that place, we could well defy the whole Rus-
sian army to effect a dislodgment.
On the 6th inst. (the Russian Christmas) the
Cossacks paid us a visit, and approached in large
numbers (supposed 5,000) to within four or five
miles of this place. The alarm guns having been
fired, every man
.was at his post with wonderful
alacrity, the batteries of artillery taking up their
respective positions in the town and on the Yeni-
kale and Fort Paul roads. Her Msjesty's gun-
boat Weser, although frozen in hard and fast in
the ice, was prepared for action, being in a position
to command the Yenikale road, and by the eleva-
tion of her guns to throw shot and shell far beyond
the town in the direction of Arabat. Should th e
services of this vessel not have been recpaired in
either of thesuoints, Lieut. Ross had already vo-
lunteered to place himself and his crew under the
General's • orders, and work the batteries if re-
quired. The Land Transport Corps wore on the
alert and prepared to convey ammunition to the dif-
ferent magazines, and the Commissariat turned out a
large force of Tartar labourers, armed with axes,
&c., to prevent the firing of any of the Govern-
ment stores, which had been well filled with pro-
visions previous to the setting in of the ice.
Our cavalry having been ordered out, under the
command of. Major M'Donald, the Cossacks fell
back, but in, the evening returned and burnt the
Spanish farm;abont six miles distant, from which
the Contingent had been receiving large supplies
of forage. The health of the Contingent has been
excellent, and Brigadier Holmes, the Commandant
at Kertch, with his able assistant, Dr. Gunn,
leaves no means untried in regulating the sanitary
condition of the town ; in fact, everything has
been done to guard against disease which might
be brought on through negligence in not re-
moving the filth which naturally collects in a
place of this kind. With the exception of the
land transport, which requires increasing, since
8,000 more men have been added to the Contingent
force, every department is in thorough order; and
the Commissariat at the present moment have four
months' provisions in advance, already landed and
stored. No exertions have been spared on the part
of Commissary-General Adams to provide every-
thing in his power for the comfort of the Contin-
gent ; and, considering, the late season of the year
before it was determined •where should be its field
of operation, as, well as the, difficulty in making
contracts, I consider the Commissariat has accom-
plished wonders. Two companies of the 71st Re-
giment are in Kertch, and the remainder, under
command of Colonel Ready, are at Yenikale. Part
of a company of the Royal Artillery, under the
acting command of Lieut. Woolfe, are at Fort St.
Paul. These, with the 4th Regiment d'lnfanterie de
Marine, divisions of the Chasseursd'Afrique and 10th
Hussars, and about 16,000 of the Contingent, con-
stitute the force under General Vivian's command,
and who occupy the poste of Kertch, Yenikale, and
Fort St. Paol.

At Yenikale I am informed the men of the 71st
Regiment have established a capital theatre, and
perform one day each week before a well filled house.
With the exception of an occasional soirée at ono
another's barracks, I think the Turks are without
amusement; but, being naturally a very •steady
race of men, they are contented with sitting by
their own firesides nightly, and listening to the
recital of Oriental Wes. They all appear well con-
tented with the discipline, &c.' established by the
English officers who command them, and their
wants being amply supplied in food, pay, and cloth-
ing, they have no cause of complaint.