Washington telegraph., 1855-03-21

JANUARY II.
l can scarcely write, so cold is it. The
ground is covered with snow, and the most
bitter of winds is rushing through the tent
1t is misery with a vengeance No chance
of huts ever being got up. and no warm
clothing as get We have one man in hos
pital who must lose both his feet from being
frost bitten. and crowds who will lose toes,
&c. | understand that it has been calcula-
ted, with the means at present at disposal
that it would take FIVE months to bring up
huts for all our army from Balaklava, so
they are not Of much use
From al English Officer.
Jan. $50 men, l am told, died last
night in the trenches The line are on du-
ty every alternate u hours, and are without
clothes We are all on short allowance of
food. 1t is impossible to keep anything dry
in such weather as this; that is the worst of
it. By taking violent exercise you get warm,
but you also get moist, and, instead of dry
ing your clothes, you simply freeze them. and
get wet whenever you take them iD from
the air I am told by the chaplains and
doctors (the best authority on the subject.)
that the state OF the hospital is dreadful A
sick man has nothing to lie upon but his
regimental blanket; of course, mere rag
in most instances now They have no lights
for the hospitals unless the surgeon himself
provides them They have few medicines,
and fewer still Of the commonest requisites
Of sick diet
Jan. 6.-The weather is still very cold
snow and frost during the dag are not at all
agreeable; but it Is desperate work at night
under canvass We have no means Of trans
porting our wooden houses, and the chance
of getting them up before the summer, is
as far off as the summer itself | was IL
formed yesterday by two officers who had
seen them, that there are bales Of sheepSkin
coats. to the number of 1000 or 5000. on
board the Golden Fleece, at Balaklava. sent
from Trieste as present to the officers of
the army. The commander Of the ship
tells US that be IS exceedingly anxious to
get rid OF them But the Quartermaster-
Generals Department have received no Off
cal letter about them, and viii not receive
them
From a CORPORAL
Jan II hardly know how to begin to
give you an idea of our present suFerings.
for suffer we do daily from the effect of
cold Even now. while am writing, am
perishing with cold, sitting In the cold tent
God knows what we shall do if the Almighty
deserts US now in the trying time We are
to our knees in SNOW. and you NAV depend
we feel it going into the trenches for II or
Ia hours; and, if it is your turn for the
advanced trenches, you have not chance of
jumping about to keep yourself warm for
fear of 32-pounder, or a rife ball, from
the skirmishers in their holes under the bat
teres. running after you with stunning
message to halt | don't like grumbline,
but this work is enough to try my patience
1t would cut you to the heart to see the re-
mains of our once fine regiment. We
came here about one thousand strong. and
now we can hardly muster one hundred
men for duty. The men try to knock
along. but their strength fails them. The
other night it showed terribly. and we found
every man we could muster at 1-2 in the
evening, our usual time for mounting. in
the trenches, and they hardly marched off
before news came that half of the partv
had fallen down quite he'll pless with Mains
SO that the sick at home were compalleJ
to turn out and carry our poor comrades to
camp.
From the Correspondence of tie Lon
dan Herald
Jan. 2O.-Since the last post. and until
the 10th, there had been an immense frost,
which, while 1t lasted, surpassed for Its Sc
verify anything we have yet felt During
the day the thermometer seldom rose above
IL degrees. but with the night keen wind
swept over the snowy waste, which froze
the very blood of those exposed to it. No
terms L can use, were | to write for ever,
would give your readers even faint idea of
what the suferings of our troops have been
and still are Hundreds are frost bitten in
the hands, feet and face the cholera is still
among them. and scurvy and dysentery
spread more and more every day. The
lnen have no fires the uieor,hIo ctooI IS