Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1854-12-16
Gbt 1aiIp Spp.
SATURDAY.. DECEMBER I6, 1854,
TIE War ia Europe.

The first dispatch that we receive from the
seat Of war, concerning any event which takes
place there is full of the most confused and
extrayagaut statements the second contains
partial confirmation, and half contradiction
of the first; and, the third usually brings an
entirely new exposition of affairs, which is
declared to be authentic. We have, at last,
received, what are said to be, the authentic
accounts Of the battle which was fought on
the 9TH of November, before Sebastopol, call
ed the battle of Inkermaun. The same de-
spatches that give the details OF this horrid
carnage. contradict the reports of battle on
1he 18th. The battle of the 9TH was fought
with all the fury and pertiuacity at first init
mated; the battle of the 9th was only com
bat of the imagination. The battle of mixer
mann was one of the most furious and bloody
afFirs that has been recorded in the history
of modern warfare. The attack was made by
at least thirty thousand Russians, upon eight
thousand British; and, for eight hours the
combat was continued, foot to foot, eye to eye,
and bayonet to bayonet, without intermission.
The Russians, formed into close columns,
were impeIled upon the British front, hour at-
ter hour and, as the forward ranks fell be
fore the grape and steel of the Anglo Saxols,
fresh columns still pressed on to oyerwhelm
them. But still the British 'stubbornly made
good the dark. impenetrable wood; each step.
ping where his comrade stood, the moment
that he fell" until, at last, the French came
up, turned the Russian flank, and rolled, in
conjunction with their allies, the Russian bat
talions into a mass of confusion, flight, and
carnage.
This frightful battle seems to have checked
the impetuosity of Menschikof. His plan of
overwhelming the allies with numbers had
signally failed and, for fortnight he hadre
manned in his entrenched camp to repair his
bruised arms and compute his losses, If the
allied force had been %, 1000 men stronger than
it was, the Russians would have been driven
from the Crimea, and Sebastopol would have
been in the hands of the French and British
by this time.
The news from France and Britain indicate
that these powers are now done with the shil
ly-shallying of diplomacy, which marked their
policy during the past year. The Gar has Of
fred to treat for peace, upon the basis of the
four propositions formerly made to him /; but
he is too late The allies now demand that
Russia shall agree to an abrogation of all form
er treaties with the Porte-shall consent to
joint protectorate of Turkey-and shall also,
yield TO an abridgement of her power in the
Black Sea. This demand to abandon the
Russian policy Of aggression and annexation,
which has been pertnaoiously pursued for a
hundred years, VIII not be consented to by
tie Car unless he is driven to the last ex-
tremity and instructions in Poland and
Finland, with the destruction of his ports,
are the only circumstances likely to drive him
to it, The equivocal positions of the King Of
Prussia and the Emperor of Austria. and their
probable union in the Spring with the Gear,
encourages the hope that the tenor of events
will of necessity soon lead to the reintegrltioa
Of Poland, Hungary, and Italy. This is the
only true issue of the war The battle of In
hermann is just the beginning of European
war in which Cos ackisn, as represented by
Kings and, Liberty. as represented by peo-
pies, are to meet in the deadly rift of battle