Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1854-11-14

Although the only information i'll this matter has /
been derived from English and French sources, the |
general impression is, that i'll the holnbarlrnent oi
prtrnpnSki the Russians Hl decided advantage.
The r;nripal pnrt If the French squadron engaged
WIS ying III the Sau Francisco harbor the 10th
ut. where il was Ia he specify Joined by portion
of the English t;c tn winter i'll Monterey herbnr.
II nprrars that on the ;!9ih OF August, the allied |
fleet, CONSISTING, Of the French vessels uf war Forte
Eurydcr und Oh!ical", AMI i:nsi-! vrsscls "f war
President puIur and steamer Nlrhg", hove in si-ht
III P.trnpulnS bring NJ the time IN wam of water, |
and hcinr, run was fired, ih, batteries on the out.
war hnlhor opened upon them. The fleet laborcd |
under great many disadvantages, nid i'll cOIsc !
Qucucr 81 the strength "i The currrn, nud the dense
.". Hirh prevailed, WAS unable 10 approach Ecarcr
than three miles from tie sand bar which divided the
hnrbur Thrv however, returned the fire when the |
three batteries in the eastward hhrbur viz: the bat
terry "n the peninsula, and ia" two on the main land
IA the opposite side and tie Aurora and Dwina,
sheltered behind the -nnd-har III front, and al first
conrcalcd from the view Of the allied fleet, opened
calling fire.
l.aborin. under the nbovc mentioned disadvanta-
..rs, and being only provided with STEAMER. the
nll;rd feet unable to approach nearer. brisk
cannonnic WIS kept W for sometime, and shot and
shell were vumitcd forth by the allied fleet. After
the first hall hour, the nutfd: battery The main
land and below the battery on the peninsula on tho
opposite side, slcnrc' and the troops with Which
il WAS grri>o!irl retired towards the town. The bat
tcry on the peninsula haucd down the Russian iiag
shortly after. We should have stated that the bonn
barlnicnt commenced IN the first of September ani
on the second day detachment at mHrnrs, number
ING about six hundred and composed equally ut
French and English, were ordered Ia land, for the
purpose uf spikng the guns aud completing the de-
strurtiOn Oi the Abandoned inrts.
';Idrr cover ufthc guns OF the fleet they laElcd,
but they had no s,ul.,r commenced the work than Il
nuri, r,us fire "pCned upon them by the Rus
SLAMS who hnd retired from the forts. and had conceal
e,i themselves in the hrlshwool Between fifty and
sixty of the mariners fell, and the remainder after the
work of demolition was compl.trd retired to their
lnais Ii impossible 10 form any estimate ut the
loss on th, Russian side" but il supposed In be
much greater than that Of the allies. During the four
davs ot the bombarlmcnt. the batteries which over
lnukcd the town the inner bay did great execution,
and also the "Auroru" and "DwTA, which, shelter
ed bv the sundbar, poured forth their vol"ys, while
the cncnv's shots could not reach them. The French
officers describe the havoc committed among the Rus
slams awful in the extreme. Many Of them were
cu. in two by the balls from the allied fleet.
The homburdncnt lasted for four days, AZ the cx-
piration Of which time the allied fleet GOT underway
and proceeded in soaihcrlv direction, and shortly
afterwards fell in with md captured the Ska. The
allied lcct- il il .G, would have continued the bonn
har,nrm,, but for n want OF provisions.
The following is i list of the killed :-Frenchnl"n,
L.; left on lunI IL; wounded, e.. Total OF French
men, 96 total oi En.Ishncn, III; total of French an'!
| English, 'E.
| From tho san Flarci-co Herald, October l2l
has been oIcllrl uII tlI: racine, DN m al-
temp, the part Of III" allied fleet tn cap;ur: the port
of Pcrrrp"Usk, il is sometimes designated on
the maps, the Post OF ST. Peter and 81. Paul. Pc!ro-
ponski is situated the eastern CUnsi al kunscat-
ka is sGuh'rii extremity, in latitude - north,
and longitude lJ9 eH- from Greenwich. IL Is Il tor
tilted town Of $50 mhn!'ants and ~ one 0i
those advanced pos;- which, for the last half century
it has been the policy of Russn I" csablish on the
frontier o! her Golnro"s, IN time o peace, Tor t,e
convenience Of her end III time oi war us
points d'appG-piaccs iron wi.,h operations by sea
might be supported.
II is ic, "a conceive what bcrrti. the possession
uf this place could be- 10 the English French. Like
Cr0nsiadt. Sbasr"p", and IN" Aland Islands, II
useful only Ia the Ru"sloh-. The most that success"
rould achieve would be- an advanced post driven III.
Russia seems tu lia"r adopted III" same policy on
every point Defence. So far this policy hns certain
lv been successful. nnd iii" combined powers al Eng
land, France and Turkey have msdr no npr'seor
Russia. The experience al this wal seems. So tar
as i. h;l, zone. establish the !urt TIM naval
force, unsupported by demonstrations by land,
make successful head against a well fortified TOWN.
Some such c"nvir,!" rs tins may perhaps have In!t-
cnccl the English Admiral. when rather than risk
certain defeat H. chose IN put cud ~ his HE.
From the mpcri"c; ucrouMts we have received, il IL
quite cvid,n; tina, the allied fleets have been well
brhtcn-so badly beaten that instead Of looking up
the Russian fleet which by their own account is NJ
anchor in the mouth 81 the rv,r Amour-G place un-
protected by any iort.hcailun9 wha,cvcr-th"y have
come 10 SG. Francisco 20 rcii AMI recruit.
II may bc somewhat difficult tn believe, bu, the
facts justify in ayi'-: that. till this ,n" England
und France, in ali their cnra""rs, have been h"'cn,
bah!ci and OU;-nannuvrc'.
From the Herald Of oct. 81
Last evening the French vessels at war Euryhice,
Fort" aud Oblisado, under command Of Admiral
FcbvIrr Drspontcs. arrived her" from Pctr"p6I"Eki
whcrc an engagement took place between the COM
hnrd feet and the Russians. The combined lcct
consisting in all OF six vcsscs including one steamer
arrived oil the harbor OF P"ropoloski on the 29ih OF
August, and attempted to enter, though the season
al, uufg az, I.t
The, could approach the outward points OF the har-
bnr one ~. which extending great distance into the
sea, they found we'll fortified, having, II lS supposed
abnut one hundred and twenty guns mounted.
little higher up, aud On the nnlIi land 'ncy tnuNn
anohcr battery; these two they demolished and put
The people tO flight, Pressing on still some four hun
irci yards furtlcrup, they discerncd another fori
cnrnn upon the side, on the top of an abrupt HILL
hcllnd which the Aurora ana Dinnn' tw" Russian
rigates, were safely moorcd nmd dismarcd. The
pn-surc wny here narrow, and the weather so
untuvoruhlc. that further attempt 10 reach Patro
polosk with the ships Of the fleet was not deemed cX
cdcnt.
a few Of the men were diselnbarkcd, and landing
effected upon the outer point, with view to reach
The town, but the shrub or chapparcl offered the NJ
most resistance. The squadron wis not prepared with
the proper facilities for land attack, and the whole
thing was Abandoned.
about one hundred. The population, numbering
about 1000. al well armed In addition 10 this
force the Aurora and Dwina were ready aid well pro-
Cctrd under the foricatOn, but could notbc reached
by the guns Of the meet.
Tho order for the attack was issued on the 29.h
Of August, the day which the fleet arrived, and
operations were Ia commence the next day. the jUh
The death of Admiral Price, which occurred the
morning Of the dny, caused little delay, ana hos
ties did not commence till evening. Tile firing con-
timed till the evening of the 2ud September, during
which is supposed that about one hundred Russians
were killed, and about 60 French aud Engish
among whom were three French officers Of the Fury
dice.
The fleet captured three Russian merchant vessels
one the ship Sitka, of 100 tons, and schooner
loaded with stores, which was destroyed, after her
cargo and crew were taken. From these vessel.
about one hundred men were taken prisoners, from
whom the important fact was lcarnc, that the whole
nt III" Russian feet, with the exception Of the Dwina
and Aurora were in the sea OF Ochosk AZ the mouth
Of the river Amoor. This river in the Chinese
possessions but Las recently been taken possession Of
by the Russians, VIII" have erected palace aud made
naval rendezvous at Its mouth.
The river .ravcrscs great portion Of the Chinese
possessions aud the Russians thus enabled to re-
ceivc plentiful supplies from the interior.
On the morning OF the attack, the English Admiral,
Price, committed suicide by shooting himself with
pistol on board the flag ship President. No good
reason has been I wen for the net. Among the va
rous causes, the most plausible appears Ia be that he
killed himself, while under slight alteration Of mind.
The French admiral who succeeded to the com
mnud opened the fire and conducted the whole affair
on the pnr OF the combined fleet. The firing was
kept up hotly on both sdcs. The combined fleet
consisted Of six vcssels-three English and three
Frencl-,he frgates Forte and President, the cor
vecs Eury'icr and pique, the brig 0bligado, and
English steamer.
The object OF the feet is said TO have been not TO
take PetropOosi but ascertain where the Russian
flee, was If this is so, they have certainly succeeded
and have learned the important fact tla; the Russian
feet is all in harbor, and that, therefore, there is
immediate danger 20 English vessels in the Pacific
The combined fleet had 10 troops to dsennrk, and
the SEASON being far advanced they concluded t"
come here for the present. The Euelsh vessel. are
NJ Vaucouvcrs 1saml and will he here in few DAYS.
The Aurprn end Dwinl. which lying III the mar !
bor were disarncd. The Russian prisoners axe 0n
L 1. -, ,i.n rltInr