The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1855-06-19

the BAY of Kertch, with the vehicle on board
sounding as they went. By this means, it
was ascertained that there was passge for
the small steamers to within short distance
of the coast, and the governors carriage
made track for the British feet.
Among other immediate advantages result
/ ing from the occupation of the Straits, may
/ be reckoned the interruption of the supplies
which the Russian army in the Crimea has
hitherto drawn from the Sea of Azoff. Very
large Quantities of wheat, flour, and oats
were found at Kertch, and upwards of sixty
vessels engaged in this service, of which
about half were BURNED by the enemy and
half were taken. The maintenance of a
! large army in the interior of the Crimea will
become task of ihsnperable difficulty, if
the whole of its supplies and food have to be
brought by land across the steppes north Of
Salghia. The Crimea itself does not pro-
duce corn enough to feed its own sparse pop
ulation, and it was by communication with
the inexhaustible granaries of the Sea of
Azoff that the Russian magazines were sup
piled. This circumstance may serve to &C.
count in part for the fact, that the Russians
have apparently not attempted to throw very
! large reinforcements into the Crimea. The
strength of the army must be regulated, not
only by the numbers they may be able to con-
vey there, but by the means of supporting
them. When people talked loosely of Rus
sia's power TO throw 100000 men into the
Crimea, we contented ourselves with reply
ing that it is easier to find the men than the
food necessary for their subsistence. We
now venture to assert, that it is easier for
the allied powers, having the command of
the sea and the coast, to maintain 100000 in
the Crimea, than for Russia to maintain 100,-
600 men in the interior. There are very
strong reasons for believing, that the
strength of that Russian army which at one
time threatened Balaklava, and held our
brave but suffering forces besieged in their
own lines, will turn out to be very much be-
low what it was at one time supposed to be.
A thin line of Cossacks perpetually threat
ehed our outposts, and even led the allied
generals to contract their position within the
narrowest defensible compass. But what
was there behind the screen? Whenever a
partial reconnaissance was made, our troops
have come in contact with no enemy capa-
BILE of holding a position, and it is by no
means improbable that the innumerable
hordes of Russians supposed to be wntering
in impregnabe quarters behind the low
range of hills north of the Tchernaya, were
as much reduced in strength and numbers as
the besieged of Sebastopol.
The last dispatch received from General
Pessier announces that the allied forces have
now occupied the whole line of the Tcher-
maya, and that this operation met with no
serious resistance, the Russians having
speedily retired behind the hills. This fresh
success confirms us in the opinion, that the
unseen strength Of the enemy in the Crimea
has been oVerrated, and that he is by no
means in condition to oppose Simultaneous
ly the combined movements of the three ar
mics at Eupatoria, at Kertch, and before
Sebastopol. The great probability now ap
pears to be, that on the advance of the allies,
in whatever direction they may assume the
defensive, the Russians will find themselves
compelled to retreat, from inferiority of num-
bers and want of supplies, and the more So,
as the Sea of Azoff being navigable for our
steam gun boats, their base of operations may
be threatened in the rear.
These circumstances confirm and encour-
age the hopes we have never ceased to en-
teftaih, of a speedily and triumphant termin-
alton of the new campaign in the Crimea,
but they do not lessen our admiration of those
heroic soldiers, vino by their endurance and
their valor, have at last won portion of that
glorious reward for which they have contend.
ed SO long and suffered so much. The peo-
4 PIE VI EuSIdUu anu the tnOSL ma.
tons of the continent of Europe, will hail with
enthusiasm these indications of renewed and
increasing success. The defence of the
Russians, though obstinate, is evidently faint
er, and the surrender of Kertch without re-
sistance, is proof of the moral defeat of the
hostile army. Let US proceed with bodness
and frmness, for victory is already within
our grasp. The ground we now occupy in
the Crimea, gives US the command of the
Black Sea and the Sea of Asoff, from which
Russia will not dislodge us until the termina-
ton of the war-not upon her terms, but on
our own; and the time is probably not dis
, tant, when she will regret, far more than we
r need do, the failure of the late negotiations
for peace. Our hopes of peace lie in vic
tory, our negotiators and conditions are in
, the camp before Sebastopol, and Kertch is
i another material guarantee of our ultim ate
. success.
n E.. Al