Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-12-01


iarnaI last summer alIle on Il Wit io Rome
Amtriras oyEH
TIL BATTLE FIELD AND TIE con
TEST.
espoudence II the lontlpn Times.
HElsms BEFORE SrBAsrorol. oct. III. I-jI
II the exhibition Of thr most brilliant talpr Of
IT, excess of courage, and % daring which
would have reflected lustre the best day 81
oAiyalry can afford full consolation forihe disas.
tef Of to-day, can have 10 reason 10 roget
thr melancholy loss which sustained in "a con
TT with u savage aud barbarian enemy.
Before | proceed TO my narrative, mu-t pre-
IA. Sc that u certain feeling existed in SOME quor-
ters that eur cayuliy had not been properly
handled since they landed in the Crtm'a and
lat they Lad lost golden opportunities from the
iHdcci,ou and excessive caution Of thor leaders
splcy owing Ia the tnidity 81 the officer III com
iannd. The existence # this feeling Was known
II many # our cavalry, and they are indignant
AMI eaa.perated that the faintcst shade Of -u--
pcian should resi- on any Of their corps. With
the Justice of these n-ler,ion- they seemed to
think they had nothing 70 do, aud perhaps the
prominent thought IN their minds was that they
would give such an example OF courage II the
world,if the chance offered itself as would ehame
their deiractor> for ever.
It viii he remembered Tint eleven battalons 81
Rus sian infantry had crossed the / eheruaya, and
that they threatened tho lslr If our position and
our communication with l{alaklaYa. il will be
recplleetcd also that tue position W. occupied IN
reference tp Balakiuya WIS supposed by most
people to be very strong impregnahle.-
Our lines were formed 10y natural mountain
slope, III the rrar, along which the French had
made very formidable ntreuchmcnis. Below
those intrenchuents. and very nearly ia ght
line across the valley beneath are four central
hiocks,one rising above tire other a. they rec
dcd from our line, the furthe>t which joins the
chain Of mountains opposite To- our ridges being
named Caurohcrt's hill. from the meeting there
of that General with Lord Raglan after the march
to Balaklaya. On the topof each Of these hill,
the Turks had thrown uP carihen rrdoubs, Ge-
Tended hy 2j0 men euch, and armed with two or
three guus--omc heavy ship guns-cnt by as
10 them. with one artillery man in each rrdoubt
Ia look after them. These hills cross the valley
Of BalaRIava at the distance 81 about two and
hall miles from the town Surprising the spec
tator then Ia take his stand on one of the heights
forming the rcHr Of our camp before Srbu>topol,
he would see the town Of l3alakaya,wih its scan-
" shipping, It's narrow strip of water, aud its
old forts on hi- right hand, Immediately below
he would behold the valley aud plain Of conrsc
meadow land, occupied by our cavalry tents, and
stretching from the basc of the ridge on which he
stood 10 the tot of the formidable heights Of the
other side, lac would sec the French trenches
lined with Iouaycs II few feet beneath, and dis
tout from him, on the slope 81 the hill II Turkish
rcdoubt lower down, then another in the valley,
tlcn in It line with IL some angular earth works,
then, in successon. the other two rcdouhts up 10
Canruberts hill At the distance Of two or two
and hall miles across the valley there L. an ab-
rubt rocky mountain range Of most irregular and
picturesque formation, covered with srauty
bra-hwood here and there rising into barren
pinnacle, and piatedar of rock In outline aud
appearance, this portion of landscape Is wonder
fully like the Troesachs. \ patch OF blu" sea
il caught in by the ovorhanging ellis of Balabla-
wa, they close in the entrance Of the harbor on
The night. The camp OF the marines pitched on
the hill side, more thau one thousand feet above
the level of the sea, are opposite 10 you a your
buck j. turned To- Scba>topol, and yonr right side
towards }aakaya. On the road leading up the
valley. close To the entrance of the town, and be
meath Those hills Is the encamPment of the sd
lilghiander-.
The cavalry lines are nearer to You below,
aud are some way IN advance of the llighiandcr-,
aud nearer to the town of the Turkish redoubt>
The valley i, crossed here and there by small
waves OF land On your left the hills and rocky
mountain ranges gradually close III towards the
course OF the Iehcrhaya, till nj three az four
lulrs di,tuuec from BoIallaya, the valley is ~wal-
lowed up in mountain gorge and deep rayinr,
above which rises tier after tier Of desolate
whitish rock, garn>h,d no~ and then by bit, Of
~cnnty heritage, and spreading away towards the
,sst and south, whore they attain the Alpine di-
mansions II lsrhatyr Dab. 1t i very easy for
~, enemy at the Bclbck, OF in command Of tie
road of Maekenzie'- Farm, lnkemnan, Simpler
ped, or pAk,hscrai, 10 debouch through these
larges at any time upon this plain from the neck
ut the valley, or 10 march from Sehastopul by the
'Hoheruayu, and To advance along it towards l}a-
lll>Iayu, till checked by the Turkish redoubts on
the southern side, or 10y the fire from the French
works on the southern side i. g. the ride which,
in relation to die valley 10 Balaklaya, forms the
rear OF our position. 1t was evident enough that
McnschikoH aud Gort,chakof Lad been feeling
their way along this route for several days past,
and very probably at night the Gossack> had
crcpt up close to our pickets which are not al
ways watchful might be desired aud had
observed the weakness of position far too ex-
tended for our army to defend, and occupied ty
their despised enemy; the Turks. say 'despis
ol,' because we hear from prisoners and from
other sources that, notwithstanding all the druh-
hings received the Danube from the Osmauli,
the Russians have the most inetahlc contempt
for the champions Of the Crescent.
THE RIVAL CAVALRY CHARGE.
Our eyes were. however Turned in n p,nn1put