The true Democrat., 1855-05-08
Battle Before Sebastopol.


 ..,ct inc following account of the battle of the ooa of March, as likely to be read with the
 ost intense interest of our readers:
 Correspondence of the London Morning Herald.
 Betore Sebastopol, March 23, 1855.
 Last night one of the most desperate of the
 ..,;es which has heen made on the allied lines S,r some time past took place against our ad- vance parallels on the rig Int attack. | have al- ,"adv informed your readers that several new uorts have lately been undertaken by the French on our extreme right, toward Inkermann 'allev. and our right attack has also advanced new parallel, both for the sake of protecting .ba flank of the French batteries and also for ,be purpose of concentrating heavy fire on the a,,rks round Malakoff Tower.
 Last night the guard for the trenches was fur ,sbed by detachments from the Eth, 24th, 77th, osfb 9Oth and 97th regiments, all under the osonmand of Col Kelly, of the 34th, who was GoId-oficer of the night. The French guard ,ras composed of four regiments from the 4th ond 2d divisions, with strong party of volun- aaors-in all about 6,O00 men. Our own party ''os 'oo onlv between 400 and 1,6OO. The French hold the right and flank of the advanced work; .bo EnoIish the left and part of the center op- sasod to the mamelon. Soon after the guard fdntored the trenches the Russians began de- sntorv cannonade firing every minute or so mon different parts of our line. It did but lit- .le mischief and no notice was taken of 1t be- vond the occasional shell with which the French renled every now and then. About ten o. cleck. however the fire of the Russians rather increased, and sligh confusion was heard Tn the neghborhood of the mamelon; but still there was no indication of any attempt at at tack as the night, though very dark, was clear and still A little after ten the enemy's fire be- came rather quick, and as 1t has been since re- marked. appeared so managed as to prevent the noise of any advancing body being distinguish ed In the midst of this, one of our advanced sentries on the left was heard to cry out, and the sound was followed instantly by the dis. charge of musket, while almost at the same moment two or three of the outposts fell back upon the parallel, saying that they believed a large force of the enemy were advancing. Of course, though all were instantly on the qm ,sve. the report was not credited at that moment, until heavy volleys of muskerv from the French on the right showed that the enemy had some thing or other on the tapis. The men instantly stood to their arms, and fell in along the lines, though there were still no indications of an at tack until Captain Wears who was eagerly look ing over the breastwork, deserted through the darkness a strong column of men, rapidly yet silently approaching our defenseS. He instant ly called as loud as he could, "Look out, men, here are tue Russians" and the whole force on the left lay down behind the breastwork, and prepared for action, leaning their minies over the bank, and taking cool, deadly aim upon their aSsailants. Not shot was fired until the Russians were within twenty yards of the work, when, at the word, murderous volley was poured into the head of the column, which lt- erallv made the whole mass real and falter.- The Russian officers, it is said, instantly rushed to the head of their ttoops, and cheered them on, while, at the same time, they strovc to de- ploy them into line. Perhaps, fortunately for us the nature of the ground in front of the parallel only admitted of this latter maneuver being partially carried into effect and, by the time 1t was accomplished, the enemy had suf- fered dreadfully under our fire, which, from the first volley, was continued incessantly. The instant the Russians had partially deployed, they strove to close with the point of the bayo- net and dashed at the breastwork with tremen-
 
 34th never exposed themselves, but, obedient to the commands of their officers, laid close under the breastwork, never throwing away a shot, and bayoneting the Russians in the head and breast as they strove to cross the breastwork At the same time all the Russian batteries open ed their fire against all the English and French lmes and poured perfect storm of shot and shell in every direction. The fight with the English was on the extreme left of the lne.- On the extreme right, where the French were posted, the continued roll of muSketry showed that they were desperately engaged and hard pushed. The center of our position which was guarded by detachments of the Eth, 77th, and 60th was not attacked at the same time with the others, but when the English on the left Were at close quarters, pooerful column of the enemy suddenly made its appearance at the enter of the parallel
 The Eth, 77th and 88th had been aroused thoroughly by the firing at the other parts of the position, and were, therefore, of course we'll prepared for the attack. Their advanced sen- tries fell back to the shelter of the work in ad- mlrable crder, and as the enemy approached a steady, deadly tile-fre was opened on them all along the line. AS they ran on the enemy fired a scattered volley, which did but little mischief, and instantly after preciptated themselves upon the breastwork A most desperate struggle en- sued. Our men met them with the point of the bayouet and pitched them back as fast as they gained the top of the work, but still the enemy peSevered for few moments, when the Rus- sian soldiers began to flag in their impetuosity, and eventually no longer attempted to mount the parapet but remained at the foot firing vague and scattered volleys, nine-tenths of which passed over the heads of our men harm. less. Our fellows, lying down under the bank, returned the volleys with deadly interest, while the Russian officers flew up and down the ranks ot their men, apparently using their utmost endeavors to bring them to the charge again. After some time, their efforts were effectual and again the enemy advanced to force the par aIlel. One officer, who was armed with short sword and dagger in particular, distinguished himself and followed by few men, gained the parapet, and made desperate attempt to cut his way into the work. His soldiers after a while supported him, and both sides used the bayonet, our men literally slaughtering the Rus Sian8, as they mounted, by scores and scores- All this time bloody fight was raging with the French on the right, while the Russian bat. teues fired indiscriminately along the whole The. Our batteries returned the fire with shot and shell; the flashes of the guns made the ail quite light and the roar was deafening and aW.