Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1855-10-25

left of the Dockyard Creek.
At 7.12 immense clouds of black smoke
rose from behind Fort Paul, probably from a
steamer which We found burning in the dock
yard The Russian columns which had been
defling in a continuous stream across the
bridge, now became broken into small bodies,
or went ever in intermittent masses unscathed
by the shot and shell which plunged into the wa
ter close beside them. At6.55, the last dense
column marche past, and soon afterwards the
bridge was pulled asunder, and the pieces
We're all foatcd across to the north side at 2.
The bnats did not cease to pull backward and
forward all the time, and the steamers were cX-
cccdingly busy long after the garrison moved.
vt nine there were many explosions ill the
town amid the burning ruins, and the battle
ments of Fort Nicholas appeared in tamv&.-
Still there was no explosion there nor in Fort
Paul. As the rush from camp now became
very great and every one sought to visit the
Nalakuh and Rcdan, which We're filed with
dead and dying men. d line Of English cavalry
were posted across the :ront from "ur extreme
left to the French right. They We're stationed
in all the ravines and roads to the town and
trenches, with orders to keep back all persons
except the Generals and Staff and officers and
men on duty, ana to stop all our men return
inc with plumber from the town and to take
it from them.
Mingled with the plundcrtrs from the front
We're many wounded men. The anbulancc>
never ceased, now moving heavily and slowly
with their burdens, again rattling at a trot to
the front for new cargo, and the ground be-
! tween the trenches and the camp WAS studded
! with carglctS or mule littcrS. Already the
funeral parties had commenced their labor>.-
! The Russians all this time were Swarming on
! the north side, and took the lvclc>t interest
! in the progress of the explosions and conAa@-
rations. They took up ground in their old
camps and swarmcd all over the face Of the
! hills behind the northern forts. Their steam
ers cast anchor, or were moored close to the
shore among the creeks, on the north side,
near Fort Catherine.
BY degrees the Generals, French and En-
gIi>h, and staff officers, edged down upon tn"
town but Fort Paul had not yet gone up, and
Fort Nicholas was burning; and our engineers
declared the place would be unsafi f"r forty
eight hours. Moving dowG> howev9r on the
RIGHT flank If our cavalry pi3,ets small par
t. Of Us managed to turn them clcverl V. and
to Get cut among the French works between
the Namelon and Nalakof'. The ground is
here literally paved with shot and she'll, and
the surface i; deeply honeycombcd by the cx-
plosions Of the bombs at every square yard
There were gha>tly sights on the way. Rus
slams who had died, or were dying as they lay,
brought SO far towards the hospitals from the
faithful MalakOff Passing through maze of
trenches, of -abionnadeS. and of ri gzags and
parallels. by which the French had worked
their sure and deadly way close to the heart
of the Russian defence, and trcading Gently
among the heaps of dead, where the ground
bears full tokens of the bloody fray, we come
at last to the head of the French sap. 1t is
barely ten yards from that to the base Of the
huge sloping mound Of earth which rises full
/ lWSulS lccG III lSIeuG dDONc TIC lCNCI.
shows in every direction the grinnng muzzle
Of its guns. The tri-color waves placidly from
its highest point, and already the French are
busy constructing semaphcre on the top
Step briskly out of the sap-avoid those poor
mangled braves who are lying all around, and
come on There is deep ditch at your feet
some 20 or % feet deep, and 10 feet broad
Sec, here is the place where the French cross
ed-here is their bridge of plankS, and here
they swarmed in upon the unsuspcctng defen-
ders of the Malakof. They had not 10 yards
to 60 We had 200, and were then out Of
breath. Were not planks better than sealing
ladders? See how easily the French crossed.
You observe on your right hand, as you issue
from the head Of the French trench, a line of
gabions on the ground running up to this
bridge. That is flying sap, which the French
made the instant they got out Of the trench in
to;the Malakoff, so that they were enabled to
pour continuous stream of men into the
works, with comparative safety from the flank
fire of the enemy. In the same way they at
once dug trench across the work inside, to
see if there were any galvanic wires to fire
mines. Mount the parapct and descend-of
what amazing thickness are those embrausrcs
From the level of the ground inside to the top
of the parapet cannot be less than Is feet
There are eight rows of gabions piled one above
the other, and as each row reccdes towards
the top it leaves in the ledge below an excel
lent banquette for the defenders. Inside the
sight is too terrible to dwell upon. The French
are carrying away their own and the Russian
wounded, and there are five distinct piles of
dead formed to clear the way. The ground
is marked by pools of blood, and the smell is
already noisome; swarms of flies settle on dead
and dying; broken muskets, torn Clothes caps,
shakos, swords, bayonets, bags of bread can
teens and havresacks are lying in indiscribable
wreck all over the place, mingled with heaps
Of shot, of grape, bits of shell, cartridges, case
and canister, loose powder, official papers and
cooking tins The traverses are so hig and
deep that it is impossible almost to get view
of the whole of the Malakoff from any one spot,
and there is high mould of earth in the mid
die of the work, either intended as a kind of
boll rroof or the remains of the old White