The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1855-09-08
Californian Sob Office.

OF cunpowler. The batteries opened At ,lsv-
break, each gun throwing a.,ou, / 20 10 40
rounds per day, AMI was continued without
intcprup,.on for about ten DAYS. though a,
the end ot that time it was rc'!i;,.l TO ab ,ut
100 rounds per day; 1t afterwards fell OH TO
80, and at last ceased almost entirely.
The Russians were az first taken hv sur
prise, but SOON replied vigorously. and CON
tinucd to fight us on at least equal terms dur
ing the whole time. Sometimes they did not
fire gun for hours together, and then again
their fire hared up as II they had suddenly a.
wakened from trance. But they did us a.
little damage as We did them; and it is hy
no means clear that tLo better policy for them
would not have been to close their rinbrasures,
to Withdraw all their guns. except those fer
defensive purposes, and let Us waste our shot
and shell Oh their invulncrA Die ranparts.
THE RESULT.
The result of this stu,endous operation
WAS abso.utiy nothing 1t true We ccca.
sionaliy gained a superiority of fire over the
iscdan, the Mamclon and the flagstaff barte-
ric>, Tor the SIMPLE and obvious reason that
these works pariook more or less of the bssti-
On trace, and though they could not bc exact
iv entilaJcd, they were oppnscd to cro,s
raking fire which was very destructive. The
truth Is, they ought never 10 have been arm
cd tor offence, tut ON the contrary, Used
merely for defensive PURPOSES still We net
er sienced even these, aud at the end of the
combat they were repaired and re-ar,ueJ,
tn'i were a, eii1cnt Is before. Dl the 9TH
cr hand, We never silenccd nor gained any
superiority of fire over those works which il-
rcc:ly faced ours. anI whose guns could only
be attacked by direct fire.
1t was an experiment on the large scale,
and proved beyond all ca,il the proposition,
tor which MIR. Ferguson contends ~ earn
estly in hi published works. and at the Uni.
ted Service Institution ina is53-that ~hen
the guns Of fort are equal in nu.ntcr to t,usc
ot the attack, they cannot be siienc.d by the
b.si.yer; and As he has further shown how
every fort can easily bc made to mount twice
the nu:ntcr Of guns that can be brought q
galnst II, tins part Vi the problem NAV bo
considered as solved. 1t remains to tc sseu
whether places can be taken without this
hitherto Indispensable preliminary. during
the fire We were not able 10 sirzc a >ingio
work. nor 10 advance the sap b,-, oiid the
>I!ali pace at which i; had been cIcrln,iy iur
month. past !: anu IL ,iow REMAIN, Ia tc seen
Mat >cicn,c cdu DO 10 r,.>ioir 40 lLe a.lA K
It's 'ash,cd superiority over the al, ii de-
fence.
1HE lHIED BoMEAEpMENT.
With this great bomlarti,.rnt ends the
second, and let u, hope the ,niy tragic act,
A Tar a. ale concerned, in the siege ol Sehae-
tnpol. The third OPENED more brilliantly,
though II Is somewhat hazardous 10 pr,,.ca :.
on results While The action l. >ilil pending
Ihc bonitar'.n,cnt of .AIlrl had 80 lrtlr effect,
either IN 'ciIi. inr the Rus>iaii, or in ..,.,rl-
NlI- Them ot ihcr means Of defence. tint on
;hc 2"rh of MAY iliev cor;l.,.ii.-c,i a rirw work
oi counter approach against The ex,r..n. left
ot the Frcnc!i. Just above the Cen ,,.rr. =,
the head oi the Quarantine llar,mr. Had
they been allowed 10 complete this iitcs .ras-
ms as the French dispatches call ii, they
would have been able 10 take the more al
vanccd parcllcls oi the bc>iescrs in reverse,
and to prevent further approach on this side.
This was perceived 10y General Pclis.icr, anl
an attack WAS ordered OH the nj cht ut the eal
OF May. the intention, Of course, being. not
only TO destroy the Russian sork. but TO turn
1t mo an advanced larc,lci a.,i.>i the town.
The defence was. however, conducted with
such ot>ilaarv, and by so large hr.v o. die
garrison, tla, '.!h plsh the Fr n h r.m ,lne,l
masters of the :ic.!. they we're Obliged TO re
tire i"torc tart broke 10 ;'rc,ti their bririr
exposed 10 TIE fire of the r.nparts. VIII
they cou.l nnt have wil,l>tool. AS the, !
been able 20 10 m'''hin. during the ni III;
wards GOVERN. themselves. As BOON IA
WAS lark the attack WAS renewed ON the 80.
lowing night, when the garrison, di,ma,
by the carnage of the proceeding night, an,
finding it Impossible 10 MAINTAIN .hru,,,l,,.
i'll an unfinished work. gave up the contest.
after 'cr. >iicht Resistance. and the French
established themselves securely Oh the con-
tested ground.
From TINS time till the 9Th of Jun. Moth
ing OF importance Wa undertaken hv ,!l,. Ai-
hes a-a'n>t tie works OF the ;,l.'. !ut on the
afternoon oi iha, day the boii.ba. .urnt r..
roinlnel''ci for III, ti!:ri time but on this oc
ca>ion iron. c.Cna more powerful artillery
ai.i with greater ,icnr than before The
English >ccni TO have had II. runs AID NOR
tars in position. the French not very mn u
less than twice that number. ami ,iry .,r,u
to have trcd for twentvr!cht hours as RAPID
ly as they could with safety. a., O'clock ON
the evening of the eth, large bsli.s Of the.
French advanced against the Nancm. aud
rushing over It's ruined parape.s hand o.
hand fight commenced. and was rontipue,.
with varied success Till the laraer body of tb.
aSsalsntS drove "u; :Ie garrison. an ti,. fi.ht
was transferred to the yorr,. in from, of IA,
Mtiakoit Tower, where it raced nearly al,
the night long. At times the French p..n,-
trat,rl aimo>t 10 the Mal.k. .iT. brt w,r,. =. o,.
ten rcpu.se'i; 10y ia,brrak. however. ,b,y
had iairi ' established themselves in ,b.. " ,me.
Ion and the Nilnnny worns. and had ,ap,ur-
ed sixty two guns which were found I'm ms-
ton there. While this was going on In. En-
sli>h attacked the Quarrics. which had been
Orcupied toy the Russians as an al, anced par
aiicl IN tiont Of the ltelan. and after most
obstinate and sanguinarv fight they too main-
tanned their ground, and the morning found
them in un'ii>puted possession of the contest
ed WORKS. The re,ipnbts on Mount Sapoune.
on the other side OF the Carr-,linr Bay. were
also attacked by the French and .saruat.d
during the night, being in fact untcnablc as-
Ter the Manc.on lad fallen.
TIL. RESULT.
l'y these two operations of fhc 23d of Nav
and .th ofJune. the Allies obtained ,.os.rs-
ION OF all the works fcounter-approach which
the Russians had erected OUTSIDE, their or;ui
nal lines after our bombarlmcnt of the i7rh
OF October. la front Of the eastern quadrant
of the town the Allies are now established
within 500 yards of the real dcfences Of the
place, and on the western side the French
have completed their third parrllel every-
where within 200 yards Of the place. and ON