Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1854-12-28
ALLIPOLIs, OHIOs DECEMBER 1854.

ana smell. but at tnlS spot the TIDE o
fortune turned. The enemy were nov
completely out of the bush which hat
screened and sheltered them on thei
advance, and, upon fair ground, they
stood no chance with our men. 0ul
regiments halted, extended their line t.
the left, and commenced q tremendous
file-fre. The enemy, in disorder, hard
ly returned a shot, but stood theil
ground, and fell by hundreds and hun
dreds. Thrice they moved up stolidly
to break our line on the left, and were
met each time by terrible volleys O
musketry, until they closed in, wher
our fellows charged and massaered
them at the point of the bayonet. The
fortune of the day still hung doubtful.
The enemy were getting up all their
strength for final effort, when Canro-
bert came up with three regiments OF
Zouaves, FIVE regiments of French in
fsntry, and strong force of artillery,
and commenced a terrible attack on the
enemy's right flank. -t
This occurred at about II O'Clock,
and from that moment the Russians
chance was hopeless. Yet, though
under ehe French fire they were literal
ly falling by battallions, they never
showed the least signs of trepidation
or disorder. On the contrary, they
formed up in the most beautiful order.
altered their front so as to meet the at
tack of the French, and, extending their
line to the left, prepared to resume their
attack upon the English At that time,
however, our men were well prepared,
and, without any order or arrangement,
flung themselves headlong upon the
enemy, charging with the bayonet.--
The Russians boldly charged with the
bayonet also, and for the space of five
minutes the 3Oth, 41st, 49th, S8th, and
six or seven Russian regiments were
stabbing, beating and firing at each
other in the most fearful manner. At
last the enemy gave way, and began re-
tiring, in good order, across toward the
Inkermann heights. Until / saw it, l
never in my life could have believed that
any troops in the world could have re-
tired under such a murderous fire in
such perfect order. The French and
English, with whole mass of artillery,
followed close upon the retreating bat
talions, pouring in volley after volley Of
grapeshot, shell, and musketry. In
fact it was a perfect carnage. Yet in
spite of this the enemy kept their order,
retreating almost at slow time, and
every FIVE or ten minutes halting and
charging desperately up the hill at oar
men and the French. In these charges
the Russians lost fearfully. We re-
ceived them with volleys of musketry,
and then dashed at them with the bayo-
net. In one of these charges the 50th
French Regiment of the Line recaptured
the two guns which in the commence
ment of the day we had lost. By p
O'Clock the great mass of the enemy had
completely fallen back, leaving between
1000 and 5000 dead upon the field be-
hind. .
Toward evening / walked over the
battle field; but l can never. describe to
your readers what it was Ike. Its hor-
rors beggar all description-l2,OO0
dead and wounded English, French, and
Russian, lay upon the heights, and the
groans and screams of agony were
rising up from all parts. Alma was a
mere skirmish to it. What made the
scene worse was, that the Russians from
the ships in the harbor and the fortifica-
tions to the north were throwing per-
feet storm of shell all over the field,
killing their own and our wounded.
Nov. 81 P. NJ.
Now that we are able to think over
the battle of Inkermann, we find our
losses TO be really alarming. Generals
Torrens, Cathcart, Goldie, and Strang-
ways were killed. Yesterday afternoon,
near the camp, Lord Raglan and most
of the chief English and French officers
attended the funerals. Strangways was
killed by piece of shell, which struck
and burst in Col. Poulet Somersefs
horse, close by Lord Raglan. The
Guards have lost upwards of 500 men
killed and wounded, and 98 officers
The Coldstream Guards had eight Of
6cers killed. The 30th. 4lst, 47th,
49th, and 55th are terribly cut up
The returns to-day give 3s officers
killed and 95 wounded. Our total loss
is 1850. Upward of 5000 Russians,
dead and wounded, remain on the field
Of battle. or these more than 5000
are dead. Our Mimic bullets have
mangled the Russians in the same awful
manner as at Alma. Nearly all our
dead were killed by shot and she'll
Some Of them were so mangled as
hardly to be recognizable for human re-
mains. 1t is awful to stand on one of
the heights and look over the field
The ground is hidden by the corpses.
Round the little battery which was
taken and retaken so often, are $500
dead Russians. For about so yards
around the outside of the battery the
corpses literally lie two and three deep.
Many of the wounded were afterwards
killed BY the shells which the Russians
threw from the forts to the north Of the
harbor.
Nov. e.-On the evening of the bat
tie, l went over the field. / think
have said, over and over again, that 1t
was a sight which could never be de-
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