The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-11-14 00:00:00

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" General C

der-in-Chief."
d a journal of the siege of

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Sebastopol, from the Ist to the 22nd of October. Of this
journal the following are the portions which relate to the
operations since the opening of the fire on Sebastopol :
" Oct. 17.—At half-past six in the morning, at a signal
agreed upon, the fire ws opened simultaneously by all the
French and English bMteries ; 53 pieces on the French
side (including the four of the Genoese fort) and 73 on the
English side, in all 126 pieces. The town replied almost
immediately, with all the batteries bearing upon the two
attacks, and mounting not under 250 guns. The fleets
have not yet been able to get under weigh. For three
hours the fire continued with the same energy on both
sides, without a possibility of forming any estimate of the
result, when, at half-past nine, a shell fell upon the pow-
der magazine of battery No. 4, and blew it up. This ex-
plosion disorganised the battery, killing and wounding
some 50 men. The firing, nevertheless, continues in the

other batteries ; three-quarters of an hour afterwards a
chest of cartridges exploded in battery No. 1, manned by
sailors. The general-in-chief leaves it to the judgment of
the general in command of the artillery to continue the
fire. At half-past ten in the morning our batteries, upon
which the fire of the enemy is concentrated, being reduced
to three, and not able to reply except at a disadvantage to
the cannon of the place, the general commander of the
artillery orders the firing to cease ; the fire of the enemy's
batteries slackens immediately. The fire of the English
batteries continues,',without any marked advantage or loss;
the guns of the place, however well directed, do not cause
any sensible damage to the English works. About three
in the afternoon, a considerable magazine of the great
Russian battery called the redan, opposite the English,

blows up, leaving only three guns serviceable. Attfour
o'clock, an ammunition waggon in the rear of the English
blows up. This is the fourth explosion during the day.
At one p.m. the fleet took up a position, its right line near
the Genoese battery, and directing its fire on the Quaran-
tine battery and on the town, the batteries of which re-
spond with energy. The mass of balls fired by the ships
must have caused great damage ; but the whole theatte of
action is enveloped in so dense a smoke that it is impos-
sible to see the results. At night the firing ceased on all
sides, and silence prevailed; the ships returning to their
anchorage without any of them having suffered serious

damage, notwithstanding the persevering efforts of the
enemy. The damage done in our attack consists in twelve
guns uncarriaged ; two guns temporarily rendered useless;

some of the embrasures and battery works demolished,

About four p.m. the Russians send skirmishers to see
whether the batteries are abandoned. They retire within
the walls. During theday nothing important took place
on the side of the army of observation.
. _

18.—The night between the 17th and 18th passes
over tranquilly; the town does not fire. The men are
busily employed repairing the batteries. This work is
continued during the day, notwithstanding the fire of the
enemy, which is well kept up, but which caused no loss.
Batteries 1,2, 3,4, 7, and 8, will be ready for service on
the morning of the 19th. The engineers, at nightfall,
push on their works towards the second parallel on the
right, facing the Mast bastion. The armament of its bat-
teries is regulated anew as follows, comprising a battery
(No. 9) to be established on the right of our line of attack :
Batteries 1, 2. 3, and 4, maintained.
Battery No. 3, suppressed.
Battery No. 6, maintained.
Battery No. 7 {: guns of 26.
71:
Battery No. 8 2
7Toorrtutsarra of '27c.
4 of 22c.
Battery No. 9 Turkishurlcs mmoorlaarsrs ofo aboutalu
3 The arrival of the last battalion of the Ist regiment of the
foreign legion completes the sth division (Levaillant), the
troops of which landed on the previous days, and which
'consist as follows :-Ist brigade, General de la Motte
Rouge, 21st regiment of the line, 42nd ditto ; 2nd brigade,
General Couston, sth Leger, 46th of the line ; 3rd brigade,
General Rayaine, Ist regiment of 'the foreign legion, 2d
regiment ditto. This division forms part of the siege
corps ; it is encamped on the second line behind the 4th
division. In consequence of this addition, the Ist division
established itself on the 17th on two lines to the right of
the cavalry and of the head-quaeters, in an intermediate
position between the corps of observation and the besieg-
ing corps. The English artillery continues its fire, seem-
ingly with success.
" Oar. 19.—1 n the night between the 18th and 19th
the works were not disturbed. At about half-past ten,
however. on alerte was made in Sebastopol. A clamour
was audible, and a brisk cannonade in all directions, with
platoon firing and cheering. In half an hour silence was
restored, and the works were resumed. At half-past six
in the morning the French artillery opens fire ; the
English does the same ; the place replies. The firing is
tremendous, notwithstanding a dense fog, which clears
about eight a.m. The firing then becomes more steady
.and precise. On our side it is kept up with equal chalices,
'and towards the end of the day it has evidently an advan-
tage over that of the place. At two o'clock the tower'of
the. central bastion was a heap of ruins. The embrasures
'of the Mast bastion (right hand) had suffered consider-
ably. About three p.m. the firing on all sides slackened.
Our batteries suffered little, and were easily repaired-dur-
ing the night.
" OCT. 20.—The embrasures of the Mast bastion could
not be completely repaired during the night ; at dawn,
when the firing recommenced, only two guns were-service-
able. A portion of this result is to be attributed -to the
smart firing of our -sharpshooters, which did not allow
-the artillerymen to serve their guns. The engineers push
on their works to the right, before the Mast bastion, to
-the'ravine which descends into Sebastopol and separates
us from the English. The proximity of the town, and
the nature of the ground, which is rocky, render their
labours difficult and slow. They work ala tape volante.
From 'ten a.m. to one p.m., and from two p.m. to three
p.m., the enemy directs a brig': fire upon these •works ;
two or three breathes are made by the artillery of the
town on some of the weak points of the parallel. The
artillery re-opened its fire, and continued it during the
-day. The firing of battery No. 2, however, (marine) was
interrupted in the morning by the explosion of a •powder
magazine, which wounded no 'one, and did very little
'damage.
"Ocr.2l.—ln the night between the 20th and.2lst, the
besieged made a sortie about two in the morning, with the
intention of spiking the guns of the French' batteries.
They •penetrated between batteries 3 and 4, and had
.already approached some of the guns, when the artillery-
men, -seizing their arms, and seconded by the guard in the
'trenches, and especially by the first company of the Tolti-
:geurs of the 74th, drove back the enemy with loss. Six
Russians remained dead in the trenches, and four wounded
—one-an Officer,- siaee dead—were made prisoners. The
Test of the night passed over tranquilly. At six a.m., the
genet-Alin-chief visits the battery of the Genoese fort
(No. 6, 'marine), and orders it to be suppressed. The
French artillery re-opens its fire at six:; the place replies,
but not so vigorously. Our batteries acquire a more
narked superiority. Batteries No. and 8 obtained
good results. The engineers continue -their works before
the Mast bastion.

"OcT. 22.—The night is calm. The firing re-com-
mences at daybreak. The armament of the outworks of
the enemy is much reduced, and the works much cut up
and damaged. Recently-constructed batteries are dis-
covered on the-back of the ravine descending to the south
port, and another in, construction ; the latter is meant to
bear especially against the English. The artillery com-
mences the erection of the battery No. 9, and Its powder
magazine. since two days, the enemy, who had displayed
some battalions, a battery of artillery, and some Cossacks
on the Tchernaya, is no longer visible there. The general
return of .our !losses since the commencement,uf the siege
to this day is 4 officers and 54 men ; wounded,
14 officers and 451 non-commissioned and rank and file."

OPERATIONS BEFORE SEBASTOPOL.
A correspondent of the Morning Chronicle gives the
following, dated Sebastopol, Oct. 23 :—On the 18th of
October the firing .commenced on both sides at daybreak.
It was discovered that, during the night, the :damage in-
flicted on the redan fort by the explosion of the previous
day had been completely repaired, and fresh guns had re-
placed those which had been disabled. This sight was most
unsatisfactory, for it tended to confirm one in the opinion
of the length of the siege, and of the utter inutility of
combating mud forts With mud forts. The French were,
unfortunately, unable to re-open their fire ; consequently
the whole Russian cannonade was directed against our
batteries. The firing ceased early on both sides. Our
casualties of the day were only 4 killed and 19 wounded.
The volunteer skirmishers and the party of Rifles did
great execution that clan for they had become better
acquainted with the ground, and with the spots affording
the'best and nearest cover. The Russian skirmishers
were completely driven back by the superior skill and
activity of our men. A man of the Rifles was seen to
pick off eight men in succession, from a Russian bat-
tery. The skirmishers, in fact, found their work so
exciting and agreeable to their feelings, that, on
being relieved they expressed much regret. Towards
dark, a party of ten men, belonging, I believe, to the 33rd,
found themselves without a single cartridge left. Return-
ing home, they encountered a dozen Russian skirmishers,
who had likewise expended all their ammunition. The
two parties' looked at one another with great astonish-
ment, both expecting a volley. At length an impatient
33rd man took up a large stone and flung it into the midst
of the Russians. The example was followed on both sides,
and the original spectacle of a stone match now offered
itself. The English at length became tired of the exercise,
and charged the Russians with the bayonet, with which
the latter, with very good judgment, declined to be tickled,
and consequently retired. On the 19th inst., the thin,*
commenced as usual at daybreak, and towards noon the
French guns were enabled to open, and thus relieve the
English batteries from their double labour. The fire of
the redan soon slackened under that of our two large
batteries, and that was the only advantage of the day.
At half-past three an explosion took place in the sea
battery, caused by a French shell. The idea first enter-
tained of sparing the town had evidently been given up,
for in the course of the afternoon many rockets were thrown
into it. At four o'clock p.m. a fire was kindled by one
of these projectiles, hut was soon got under by the inhabi-
tants of the town. The latter, it would appear from the
reports of deserters (we have some 80 of them), lead any-
thing but an enviable life; not only are their houses and
their lives endangered by our fire, but they are forced to
work in the trenches, and perform equally unpleasant
duties to civilians. Some of the latter, who ventured to
expostulate, were forthwith hanged, as an example, by
Prince Menschikoff. Towards the afternoon, the apex of
the redan had suffered considerably, and the fire of the
enemy had decidedly slackened. Some of the skirmishers
from the light division penetrated that day to within
range of the ships, and commenced peppering down upon
the decks. A shower of shells, however, soon caused them

to retire. In the course of the afternoon a private of the
33rd, who had fired his last cartridge, was crouching to
join the covering party nearest to him, when two Rus-
sians, to his great surprise, sprang from behind a rock, and
seizing him by the collar, dragged him off towards Sebas-
topol. After having recovered from his temporary stu-
pefaction at this sudden change of route, our friend of
course commenced reflecting on the possibility. of an es-

cape. The Russian who escorted him on the left side
held in his right hand his_own firelock, and in his left the

loaded, discharged it at its owner. The man rolled over
dead, and his companion was not less rapidly clubbed.