The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1854-12-30

The battle Of Tnkormann Is said to have
been the bloodicst in the annals Of war
The battle commenced at ly-break by an
attack Of the Russians on the allied camp.
The morning was foggy, and their approach
was not seen until they we've IN an almost
hand to hand conflict The battle ragged un-
til about one o'clock when the Russians rct..
red, leaving 5000 dead and wounded ON the
fcll The French loss was 1903. The to.
tai English loss was 1ii officers 1853 s1r-
gcants, and 2O93 rank aud file. At the bat.
/ tie Of Waterloo the English strength was
2l,0OO. and their total loss G,34O, viz Off.
GERS lld scrgcants a53 rank and file Z,
/ 5Il. As the force engaged at Waterloo was
three times as numerous as that Of mixer.
mann it viii at once be perceived, that the
/ loss at Inkermaun exceeded in proportion
I that at Waterloo.
! Kossuth, in his recent great speech, spca-
/ king Of this battle said
~ say history must 90 back for centuries
/ TO find ont battle like that Of Inkcrmann,
I where 900 men resisted VIGOROUSLY the
yalorous attack Of $4,000 wcll disciplined
troops and where almost every man who
fought on your side laid low one Of the enc.
my. The baltic Of Alma defective rs il was
in dispositions and therefore barren in its re-.
suits, has been glorious in execution and co.
vcrcd with n luStrc Of Immortality the re-
nown Of the British and French soldicry
/ but the battle Of lnkcrmann, from the first
+ in rank to the last, was prodigy Of yaIor
/ scarcely inferior to that Of Agiucourt. The
. history Of 1854, whatever may be it, records
about the statcs-wisdom of those who rule
will hand down with imparshahlc rcnown to
/ the admiration Of po,tcrity, the impctuous
/ ardor Of the French aud the stern and impas-
T sable courage of Britons, who fought in the
/ Crimea However they fight on Il battle
/ field richer IN glory than in possible results,
[ and rich, ST in death. One more such victory
as that Of Inkcrmarn, and the army is
lost"
The following description is from the cor
I respondent Of the London Times:
HAYONrrs CROSSED.
/ And now commenced the boo lest strug
/ gle ever witnessed since war cursed the
| earth. II has been doubted by many histo-
! rians If any enemy have ever stood charge
/ with the bayonot but here the bayonct was
| often the only weapon employed in conflicts
/ of the most obstinate and deadly character
/ We have been prone to believe that no foe
/ could ever Withstand the British soldier,
| welding his fayoritc weapon, and that at
/ Mazda alone did the enemy ever cross hayo-
/ nets with him; but at the battle Of lnkcr-
mann, not only did we charge in vain-not
/ only were desperate encounters between
masses of men maintained with the bayonCt
! alone-but we were obliged torcsist bayonct
| to hayonct the Russian infantry, again and
| again, as they charged MS with incredible fu-
/ ry and determination. The battle Of lnkcr
mann admits of no description. ltwas SC.
rcs Of dreadful deeds Of daring, of sangui
nary hand TO hand fights, of dcspairing raj.
| lies Of desperate assaults-in glcns and val.
/ lcys, in brushwood gadcs and remote dells,
hidden from all human eyes, and from which
! the conqucrors, Russian or British, issued
only to engage fresh foes, till our old suprc-
macy, so rudely asSailcd, was triumphantly
/ asserted, and the bottalions of the Car
! gave way before our steady courage and the
| chiyalrous fire of France.
THE rIELD AFTER THE BATTLE.
On the evening of the battle went over
/ the field. 4 considerable number, some
/ 500 to 1000 Russians killed and wounded,
/ were lying among our tents, and here also
were many, too many, corpses Of Xouavcs
and French infantry of thc line. The kind
ness and attention of our fellows to their
/ helpless enemies was beyond all praise.
| They brought them water, got knapsacks to
put under their heads and borrowed blankets
/ with which to cover them from the raw
/ night air.-Ilcre and there small groups OF
/ them stood absorbed in pity round some
PROSTATE foe TO whom their kindness came
/ ooNatc, and who, shot either through the
head or lungs, gasped out his existence in
painful sobs, or terminated it in n horrible
convulsion, which made your blood curdlc to
hear,
There is nothing so awful as the spectacle
Of the bodies ofthosc who have been struck
down by round shot or shell. One poor fell
low of the Q5th, had been struck by two
| twcn,v-four Founders in the head and body.
A shell afterwards burst on him and tore him
to pieces, and it was only by the fragments
of cloth, with the rcgmcntal buttons adhc.
ring, that YOU could tell that the rough bloc.
dy mass which lay in the road had ever been
human being. Some had their heads taken
of at the neck, as if with an axe; Others
their legs gone from the hips; others their
arms, and others, again, who were hit in
the chest Or stomach, were as smashed as il
they had been crushed in n machine.
Passing up the road to Sovastopol between
heaps of Russian dead, you came to the spo,
where the Guards had been compelled to re-
tire from the defence Of the wall above In
hermann Valley. Here our dead were nearly
MS numerous as the cncmy's. Across tn,
path, side by side, lay five Guardsmen, who
were all killed by one round shot as they ad
vanccd 20 charge the enemy. They lay OF
their faces in tho same attitude, with thcil
muslcts tightly graspcd in both hands, ant
all had the same grim, painful frown upoi
their features, like men who were strucl
down in the act Of closing With their foes.