Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-06-27


works of the Russians No where do tn
where so much metal has been thrown il
the same space Of time against any forti
fcations and the only effect produced
by the allied batteries is to overthrow al
their hopes of taking Sebastopol.
Upon visiting the trenches to-day,
find that the firing, which for several days
past had nearly ceased, or only heard II
ftful bursts has greatly increased. and the
and the Britishibatteries are pouring theil
concentrated FIRE upon the Malakof and
Mamelon. l rode to the extreme right
aud left attacks, both belonging to che
French. The first is near the brow oi
the hill opposite Inkermann, where the
battle was fought on the 9Th of Novem-
Der last. | carefully went over the field
of that truly bloody struggle. and do not
know which to admire most, the deter
mined courage Of the English, or the in-
domitable perseverance OF Russians. IT'S
indeed almost Incredible how they ever
managed to climb the steep and rugged
heights upon which the English were en-
camped. Between these and the high
and precipitous cliffs of Inkermann oppo>
site there is deep rayine which grows
narrow towards the city aud widens to
the east, in which the Tchernaya flows.
Twas up this ravine the Russians ad-
vanced, aud mounted the heights in great
numbers before the enemy were aware of
their presence. Their very numbers were
against rather than in favor of their sue
cess, as the formation of the ground when
they had climbed the hill prevented their
troops from deploying, and consequently
their masses thus thrown together could
not act with effect, and only offered a
better mark Tor the bullets of the Eng
lish.
The formation Of Inkermann is most
singular being high perpendicular mass
of white sand stone. in the face of which
immense caverns have been excavated
both by nature and man, once inhabited,
and from which it derives its name, "The
city of caYerns." The SUBMITS of these
rocky hills are covered with thick brush
wood and presents broken and rugged
appearance as far as the eye can reach
In my anxiety TO examine closely the
whole battle~heId. and never dreaming
for one moment that these wild looking
craggs were fortified, descending rather
too lar down The heights, suddenly saw
the fash of gun, then its report and i'm
mediately afterwards ball buried itself
not far from me in the bank. This at
tractcd the attention of some French SOL
dicrs who were digging for some roots
farther up the hill and who Immediately
beckoned me away. l suppose my horse
presented too fine mark for the Rus
sian artillerymen. l examined carefully
with my glass the whole country opposite
and to my surprise found as far as could
see continued succession OF small bate
ries concealed among the brushwood.-
The Russians have certainly left no spot
unforti6ed, and am told from Sebastopol
to Perekop almost every hill has its gun.
The English have fallen back from In
herman, and surrendered it to the French.
who have erected upon the brow Of the
hill strong forLiicaLion. The view from
here Of the Malakoff and Mamelon is ex~
ceedingly 6ne. Al the base ofthe latter,
and but short distance from the most
advanced works Of the French, the Rus.
SLAMS have dug a series Of rifle pits. These
and thirty long, dug into the earth in
front and on the sides are breast-works
formed Of filed gabIons and sand ba S,
so arranged as to leave small loop holes
for the rifles. In each of these, during
the cover Of night, parties of twenty and
thirty men are stationed, who are selec-
ted for the accuracy of their aim in shoot
ing the Minnie rifle, which the Russians
now generally use. These sharp-shooters
safely concealed behind the breast-works
keep up an'incessant fire upon the trenches
does an unIucky English or French sol
der show his head above the parapets
or an artilleryman expose himself through
the embrasures, than he has q multitude
of those disagreeable little hornets, in the
shape of conical pieces of lead, buzzing
about his ears. one of which is sure tc
give fatal sting as it passes. Their ac'
curacy of aim and their vigilance are truly
surprising. A few days since saw an
English officer who had been wounded BY
them. Going into the advanced trenches
and anxious to examine the works of the
enemy he raised his head above the
breast-works when small portion of hi:
ear was clipped off by ball. Deter
mined. however, to try their accuracy
still farther. he placed his hand, and
raised it above the parapet carrying away
the two middle fingers. This, as logi'
clans would say. being an argumentaim az
hOmintn, thoroughly convinced him tha
Russian riaemen were good shots.
The firing from these pits has caused
the besiegers much annoyance killing
their artillerymen and retarding the ope,
rations. The French have made severa
unsuccessful attempts to take these am
6uscades as they term them. A few nights
after my arrival the English succeeded il
capturing two near the Redan. at severe
loss, however, the Colonel who led the at
tack being shot dead.