New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-04-30
THE sIEGE OF SRVAsTOpOL.

ami successors. Always exec ,tlns the eupen-
oIity evnced by the defense Ia the engineering
department., 1t is certain that very few campsgos
have teen carried on for an eqasl length Of time
with such q degree Of medioerity 10 the COM
The whole sfair is becoming public nuis,acs
~ Il e world in general and to those 10 psrtic-
ul,r who have 10 eJ pore, in the Press the DIFF
ferent phases assumed by this emineatly station
aIy operation.
The French and Eogish reports Of the affair
sisn detailed report We have not yet re :eiyed. As
usual, the di.pstches Of the Allied Geuerals are
conceived 10 so obscure . style tha. We caano;
learn anything distinct from them. With the
help Of private letters published in Europe and
the ports Of ne T,pspeIc ,rrespondsnts. of which
we now have several at hand, we are enabled to
make out the following summary view Of tle
facts.
The "risbt stack" Of tie Allies, detected
sgsinst the south. eastern fronts Of Sevsstop pol,
from the bead Of the inner harbor to that Of
the Careeiirg Bay. has been carried forward
to the di.taDce Of some GEO yards from the
fret Russian line, BIZ t1ree lines Of approaches
or zig-zsgs, conI ected with each other q. their
ends BY what s called tue second parallel. Be-
yond ibis, the three zgz,gs are still being
pushed forward, though iriesularly and slowly,
and il is intended to ante them by third par
allel, and to form, on the central spprosch, q
place d'armes or covered ralying ground spa
cious enough to hold reserve force. OF these
three approaches, the middle one is in the hands
of the English, and the right and lefs are
occupied by the French. Tnese tTO a,nk ap-
prOaches have been puzzled on rather quicker
than the central one, SO that the French trenches
here are, perhaps, ffsy yards nearer to the place
than the position occupied By the English.
Before dsybresb of the 80 Of March, conIii-
cradle Russian force, amounting to abOu. twelve
battalODs, advanced from the to wn upon the
siete .worbs Well aware thst the trenche, had
been constructed with on utter neglect Of the
habi,ual and prescribed precautions that their
fnnbs were neither thrcwn back suffi GENTLY nor
defer ded BY redOubts, ira, consequently bold
dash upon the extreme fiaks OF the parallel must
IL al the arsaants into the trenches, the Russians
begsr their attack by a sudden and rapid move
n tnt by which The eastern and western exsremities
Of the paral ell were turned. front alta * occu-
pied the trench guard and their reserves, white the
coiun,ns gsl'antly but vAinly resisted
~ the French, doe eerded into tho works aud
swe pit the trench uuti they came upon the central
position deft nced by the British. Toe British
lines being secure from serious annoy in front,
were OF noles.ed until the fasillade going on
10 the right and lefs had broaPhsup part Of their
and even then, the font attack was
Ct 30 great yehemen:e, as the strength OF the
eOrtie was concentrated in TIE turning columns.
But these too, from tie great extent of trench
they Lad overrrn. had slleady spent their first
aTdOr, and when they came upon the British,
their ofictrs had to bear constantly in mind the
cbaLce of ultimate retreat. Accordingly, tbs
struggle very soon csu.e t, point where cash
psrty held its ground and tba. is the moment
when ssllyibg detachment should look Gus for
a safe retreat. Tnls the Rossisns did. Without
ate nptpg seriously to dslojge the Bcitish, they
msint aimed the fight until most Of their troops
had got fair start homeward aod then the re4r-
guaro, heavily pressed, BY this time, by the
French and British reserves made the best Of its
wsy toward SevastopOl.
The Russians nus. have expected to fni
mary guns and deal Of ammunition aud other
material In the second parallel, for to destroy
such could have been the only purpose Of this
sor,ie. But there was very little of the sort, and
thus the only advantage they gained by the attack
was the certainty that a. this distance feon their
own lines they might still, In the FIRST hour or
two of . sorte, and before the enc mics reserves
could come up show the stropges; front. Tais 10
worth something. but hsrdly worth the Losses Of
such an attempt. The material damage doae to
the siege works wa, repaired in day or two,
and the neral effect gained by this sortie was
null. For, as every s0rte mus. necessarily end
in retreat, the besieeers will always believe
that they have been the victoy; and uness the
los,es of the beseged are disproporsiOn.tely
small compared with those Of the bssiegers, the
moral effect is generally more encouraging to the
latter than Otherwise. 10 this instance, when
Raglan and Canrobert were more than ever Ia
want of an apparent success, this sally, with its
comparatively worthless fruits, and i.s final pre-
cipit.te Ituest, wal real eodse nd for them. The
French troops give themselves enormous credit
for having followed up the enemy to the very
lines If Sevss.opol-which in iuch case IL Mt
10 a ficu't, s. the gus Of the place canno. play
for iesr Of biting their own troops; while the
British, passing over in silence their exceptional
retired poetic D. which gave &. = the ca.ractero
a reserve more Ian that OF body Of troops in tie
ften. Ike of battle are .in with e" cause Il IN