Washington telegraph., 1855-03-21

roots and shrubs which used to enable them
to get warm drink, are row quite exhausted
and 70 materials for fires of anv kind are
to be found in camp. am informed that
for two whole days throughout the great
mass of our lines, not fire was lit, though
the mercury then stood at nearly 2Oo be-
low the freezing point On each of these
days. as if in mockery of their sufferings, the
raw coffee beans were served out to the men
as usual
Major Macdona,, of the S9th, I an in
formed, was frozen to death In the trenches
on the night of the 10th, and another gal
liant officer, who fell into deep snow-drift,
most narrowly escaped the same fate. Both
IN the nights of the 10th, 18th, and 18th,
many of the men on sentry and on fatigue
parties were numbed by the cold in such
manner as to expire in few hours after
ward. On the 18th. Il men of the 10th,
were buried. the majority Of the deaths be-
ing caused by the severity Of the weather
and ON the 18Th ten more were inferred
from the same cause. On the latter occa-
sion the thaw had commenced, and tie
cred among the tents By the fact of
their boots sticking out of the snow. I
belive they were men vino had been employ
ed In fatigue parties and who, becoming
numbed and exhausted. sat down to rest on
reaching their eantonments. and SO perished
miserably. During the continuance of this
severe frost, all the the men not actually Oh
n, to h. !,
budding together managed to keep them
selves from actual frost bites Of course,
the warmth of their bodies tbawed the ground
on which they sat into mere puddle. The
unfortunate men got saturated, and when
on duty their clothes fr0ze to their flesh in
such manner that on removing the stock
ings Of some. the flesh was stripped off the
feet in large pieces. 1t is not enough to
say that we are unfortunate in the mortality
which prevails. Such term is far toe
weak to stigmatize the cruel waste of life
which takes place here every day. Our
men are literally murdered murdered by
neglect. by incapacity, by the etiquette of
military discipline. and by every way in
which our endless form of mismanagement
can reach both officers and privates, old and
young.
The sanitary condition of Balaklava is
beginning TO excite serious apprehensions
The filth of the town is now something be-
yond all description. Ofal, dirt, waste
stores, stagnant water, the refuse from Eng
lish and Turkish hospitals. and some hun
dreds Of half-decOmpOsed horses, dogs. sheep
and oxen lie more Or less in every little al
lev. Each house is oyer-crowded, and un-
der each house are cellars. in which horses
and Tartar fanilies are slowed away. But
the mos serious evil Of all arises from the
immense number Of interments which have
lately taken place. We are now giving ra-
tions to 1000 Turks; two months ago we
were rationing $4,000; 5000 of the miss
ing 10000 are dead and buried" on the
slope Of the hill, over the harbor. though |
think even metropolitan sexton would
hardly have the hardihOod to call the last
resting place of a Turk here grave" 1t
is merely little trough, about Is inches
deep, in which the bodies are laid on the
bare rock, and the few handfulls of earth
which have been removed in the process
scattered over the corpse.
Thousands have been thus inferred. =
The late rains, in many instances, have
washed the earth from these graves, leaving
the bodies in every stage Of corruption, ex-
posed to the eye. and poisoning the air for
miles around | believe it was entirely ow-
ing to the hospital for Russian wounded be-
ing situated close at the foot of some Of
these plague-spots, that none Of the unfortu-
nate MuscOvites recovered of their wounds,
which, almost without single exception be-
gan to mortify and gangrene soon after the
men entered the place.
DesertiOns.
From the Correspondent OF the London
Times
Jan. 12-I regret to say that there are
more cases Of desertion among our troops
and the French than one expects or likes to
find Last night a sentry of the ID battal-
ion. Rifle Brigade, posted OF the mountain
tops above Balaklava, reported that there
was fire in ravine below, in the direction
of the Cossack pickets. A small party of
rifemen were dispatched in the direction of
the light. and. as they approached, they dis
CthCItu iilSI, III III VI AOHOH
soldiers, seated round it. On being chal-
lenged, the ,nen started to their feet and
fed Two of them were taken by the rife
men; two Of them escaped in the brush
wood, in the obscurity of the light. On
being conducted to the quarters Of the Off
Ger In command, these two men said they
belonged to the Legion Etrangere, but
that they had lost their way in returning
from little excursion. and had lighted a
fire to keep themselves warm they seemed
to be Italians. and their story was so plausi-
bic. supported, as it was. by the inquiry
"Do you think we would have lighted fire
if we had intended to desert ?" that there
would been chance of their escaping un-
der other circumstances; but they were sent
to Sir Colin Campbell. who handed them
over to the French authorities They de-
nj ad fhoro were moro than fuo of them