Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-07-14
Fail Particulars of the Siege of Silistria
From the London Times of 29d.

/ venfured 90 express yesterday, and We now learn
with the greatest satisfaction the triumphant ter
mination of the first great encounter Of this cam
paign by the raising of the siege OF Sillst1a-
| swift and terrible has been the reifibuton which
has fallen on the Russian army engaged IN this
shameful aud unproyoked aggression aud the
| cbastsoment is rendered the more Illuminating to
the pride of the Car, and the more important To
| the political independence Of the Porte. bf the
fac, that division Of the Turkish army. unas
sisted By European troops, has suihced To rePei
the invader with nnexampled losses. Something
less than one month has elapsed since Mussn
/ pasha rejected with contempt tho summons ct
/ Prince paskiewitsch to surrender the fortress
I The regular operations of the siege began the
I 18th Of May. Tho attack aud the defence were
carried on with equal vgor.
Repeated storming parties were directed a
painst the intrenehments mines and counter
/ mines overthrow the works aud convnlsed the
/ soil frequently including in one common destrue-
/ ton the beseging party and the besieged On
! the 18th of June an assault was ordered on a
! huge scale, under the command Of Prince Gorts-
! ehAkoif and General Schllders, Prince Paskie-
witseh having already been compelled 10 retire
/ from the camp by confusion which units him
for active service and will probably terminate
/ his life. Again the turks we're victorious, and
! Turkish brigade from Shuma snceeededin enter
1 ing the fortress. The Commander IN Chief and
/ the Chief Engineer were both wounded, and
General Luders II also reported to have suffered
| II may easily be conceived what the losses oil
| the army must have been in It's inferior grades
when the senior officers in command were struck
| down in their attempts to reti IeYe the disasters
of the day, and possibly TO disarm the resent
ment Of their master by onnds ynny received
| IN his service Mussa pasha the Turkish Com
mnndea. wns also killed by shell which explod-
ed in his house on the ID of June, some day. be
fore the attack but the defence Of the place was
not less maniully conducted; and on the 18th Of
| June, allowing one day 10 intervene for the re
pose of the troops, the garrison, reinforced by
detachment from Omar pasha's army, assumed
the offensive with the greatest energy aud with
| complete success.
| Even the islet Hopa.on which the Russians
/ had constructed batteries to annoy the north
/ front of the fortress, was retaken, 10 ena-
! bic the Turks tc threat the Russian commnni.
! cations across the river Accordingly, we learn
/ that on the 10th the Russians were in full re
/ trent, aud that the siege was raised, eircum-
/ stance the less To be wondered nj as they must
| have learned about the same time that an Anglo
I French division had landed at Nana. and that
! the army which had just been defeated, with the
! loss of its generals, by the Turkish garrison OF
! Sili-tria alone might within week be attacked
! by a fresh division of the hest troops in Europe.
! These glorious results belong to tho Turkish
/ arms exclusively, and the soldiers of the Sultan
never fought with more devoted and successful
| bravery than on this occasion. In st Peters
/ burgh the Intelligence of these events will be re
/ ceived with CONSERVATION, for already on the
l3thinst., the Emperor had dispatched his Minis
! ter of War to the scene Of action to learn the
! cnuscs of the failure of the siege. Before Prince
/ Dolgorouki reacl 6 the Danube he will learn
that the Russian army has recrossed il, aud that
its chiefs are hors DE- combat.
The capture of Silistria not having been ac-
! complished by the Russian army within the time
during which they werr enabled to conduct the
siege without interruption, their whole scheme OF
operations in bulgaria may be regarded ms abor-
| tive, including the advance ofGen Luders' dyls-
| ion, aud the occupation of the Dobrndscha, which
was intended 10 cover the attack on Rasso.a and
Silistra. The retreat of the invading army fol
lows therefore almost necessarily wand it has prob
ably by this time relinquished all its positions on
the left bank of the Danube, with the exception
of the forts of IIrsora, Matschin, and lsaktcha.
All apprehension ola formidable advance upon
the Balkan is clearly at an end. This important
change in the aspect Of the campaign must lead
| to corresponding notifications IN the plans ot the
allied commanders, for the scheme of operations
which might be excellent rs long the Russians
were in force the right hnull Of the river is in
applicable when they have receded beyond it,and
may fall back within few marches on Brailow
| and their own frontier in BesSaInbia. We cans
not suppose that it will enter into the plans of the
/
the Danube in pursuit of an enemy already dis.
comiited by the failure of his own eScrtions.--
The Invasion of the southern provinces of the
Russian empire would be an undertaking IN which
the most complete success could lead to no re-
suit, and the conquest of those wide plains would
be rs sterile rs the occupation of the sea. As
soon as it is possible To strike blow every con
sderation; both military aud political, points to
the Crlmea rs the proper scene for such an en-
terprise, and success in that peninsula tho es-
sen:ial condition of permanent peace.
If therefore, when this intelligence from the
Danube is more fully confirmed, il should APP
pear that no further necessity exists for the con
centra6on of troops behind the Balkan and nj
Narna, we trust that the allied commanders will
t. their attention to that expedition, which
henceiorward to he the principel object OF
tins campaign. he destruction oI that citadel
and arsenal which is the key to the ascendoncy
of Russia over the Black Sea and the East is, as
Lord Pyudburst powerfully declared the Other
night, the primary condition which we may
hope to preserve the independence of the Turkish
territories. As long Us Sebastopol holds out ant
shelters under its guns ieet which is the ter
ror of the weak, though it shrinks from encoun.
tering an enemy on equal terms, Russia holds
perpetual menace over the navigation of the Da
nube. over the Independence of Cireassia, over
the commerce of Irepzondc, and over the I'M
perial city of Constantinope. The destruction
of that fortress would tend more than any veto
ries that eoald be wen in the interior of the en-
pre to annhate the policy which Russia has
found means to pursue for the last century 10y
her alternate practices on the fears, the doubts
the Indifference, and the ignorance of the world
Sebastopol is the key stone of the arch which
spans the EuNine from the mouths of the Danube
10 the confines OF AGngrels :. and such Is the
prestige of its strength throughout the East, that
the ascendeney ofRuesa will not have yieldediu