The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1855-08-21
SIEGE OF sEBAsTopoL.
Prospect ofosthdraring the Au;ea Arm,

y - ee'se~f esUtH3 esec dHtt0 ARMY.
Inc malls by the America, brias accounts OF the
"ege OF seoastopol, and important rumors about
.'raisiug the siege" @ da
We take the subjoined extracts from the cor
respondence OF the London Times and other
sskon. ,. sEs..roroL, July 2o.-I have jus. left
the PICKET and this b the second night have pas-
sed without sleep. Last night we were sent 10 the
ravine OF the karabelania, where we oceupv re-
serve position. We were occupied Ia platoon fir.
the whole night In order to divert the attention
OF the enemy, while our men were completing the
grand mortar batteries which are to FIRE on the
heet You have doubtless seen the order of the
day relative TO the sortie of the 14th and 15h of
.nis montn IL 10 by that same ravine tina. the Rus
sians u leo 70 turn our guards and then rush on
the mamelon, which they desired to take. Thev
were received with smart fire and N bsvanet
CHARGE and had to return, after leaving a ereat
number OF dead bodies on the ground eo-'
The whole of the dead wore the nniforr, nj -.
Guard, who had arrived, It Is said, only short time
before. II was one of the most serious attacks of
the sories and yet our loss was quite usignificant
On the left we have had nothing extraordinarv ~
late We ell sides as near as possible to the
Russian batteries; indeed, close that we could
pitch stones 10 with our hands Once takes-and
this 10 inevitable from all we have done-ye can
take In reverse 1.-The batter les which nd the
works we attack, and then there will be a great
chance Of success.
The above letter Is from French writer. An
English correspondent writes, under the same
date:
The firing was slack this morning, but toward
afternoon 1t increased considerably, and at the
present moment there is a sharp csnnonsde ken,
up from the Malakoff, and now and then a volley
OF musk6try announces that the skirmishers are
al work. We have constructed another battery of
two Lancaster guns, to the left and in advance of
the twenty-one gun battery. Somewhat more to
the left battery of six guns hss been raised to
fire on the shipping, but it having been fsund ,ha.
na
have been substituted, and the battery will, no
doubt open In a few days. The Lancqsters have
not yet been mounted, but will probably be In po-
sition Tomorrow. - r'- b. s---.e.
The health of the Is still excellent and their
spirits do not in the least suffer by the length and
wesrisomeness of the siege. The summer il COOL
and, as the Russians Of late MAKE very few sortes
the nights are passed without much hard al 10 In
the trenches. When formed in marching order TO
descend the oft-trodden ravines which lead to the
batteries, there Ia neither despondencv nor nm
willingness; the laugh and the jJke accompany
their steps, their air Is brisk and alert How Ii.
ferent from th cir appearance in the gloomy season
of last December f-r sT,lse
The noise of kttles is to be heard on every side
and the regimental bands, with sadly diminished
numbers indeed but still effective for amusement
give thesvarlous popular airs to which we are ac-
customed at home. Cathcart's hill 10 every even,
ing the lounge of hundreds of idlers Who stretched
at length the dried grass sitting on the piles
OF stones which enclose many an honored grave,
>
flashes which burst forth from Mamelop, Malakoff
or Redan, with a lazy Indifference. r.. .
CAMP BEFORE SEBAsToPoL, July 21.-Amid the
returning heat which has followed the stormy
weather of last week. the operation of the seige
are being pressed forward by The French on our
right with Indefatigsae industry. There s moth.
Ing in what goes forward which can strike str an
ger; stagnation reign In camp and trench
es even the heavy firing OF few days since has
for the most part died away but every day an ad.
vance Is made and every day sees the allies near
er the crest of the Maakof, which 1t will now res
quire all the courage and tenacy of the Russians
to hold.
The Malakoff and Mamelon stand on an elevated
plateau while the ridge that joins them 10 itsell
higher than the land around. II Is along this ridge
that the French sap extends Ia z1gzae to within
ITO yards of the hill which the Russians hold. Az
the incline s somewhat steep, the French WORKING
parties are already out of reach of the Russian
guns, which cannot be sufficiently depressed to be
used against them.
The day before yesterday, however a few
Russians struggled out here and there, maxim 2
their way by lodging behind clumps of earth and
bushes, until they had reached 80 yards from the
psrapet, when they!threw themselves their faces
and began digging up earth for cover The French
seemingly did not observe the movement and our
people, not catching site of the venturcsome Mus
covises until they were actually fixed In the posi-
ton they wished to attain, fsncied them 10 be
French. By this means the Russians have estab-
ished rifle pits In front of the French sap where
they will do the usual amount of damage unless
they are speedily driven out.
"Ou the side of the Malakof the French have dis
covered the way by which the Russian reserves
are moved into the works. II appears that two
deep trenches lead to the Malako one On the side
of the Redap, the other on the side of the Little
Redan, toward Careening Bay. To interrupt A.
French have established a small battery which Ia
as yet unmasked. twill plsy on the covered way
on the side of the Little Redan and to a great ex.
tent stop the Russian reserves coming M while
the French ar asaauiiinp the rks
WINTER cAMPAIGN-RAIsING THE SIEGE
The Vienna Military Gazette says that:
"The preparations made by the allies for winter.
Ing In the Crimea are OF truly astonishing propor-
tons Kamiesch Bsaklava, Eupatoria. Ysnikale.
have become military establishments of immense
importance The works OF the two frst named
places, more psrtic ular1y. are of character to
retain their importance even If the siege of Sebas.
topol were abandoned. The possession of these
positions will compel the Russians to keep a large
army In the Crimea. 1t 10 believed that the ar.
rangements for the campaign of 1856 include the
concentration of an army at Varna, Burgos ard
on the Bosphorus, while the field artillery cavalry
and means OF transport will be stronger than that
In the Crimea, and to which detachments of the
army now 10 the CTimea would be added prepar.
atory to operations In new field Whether the
Karabeinaia suburb be taken and the Russian
fleet destroyed, or the next assault be repulsed,
the siege will be equally raised, and only the four
points above named be occupied"
PROPOSED AIsING OF THE sIEGE.
The Paris Constitutionnel, in an article descrip-
tive of Kamiesch and the wondrous transforma.
ton wrought In the place since # has been occup-
ed by the French, enlarges thus upon the vast i'm
portsnce of the Notifications now 10 course of com
pletion there:
Now that 1t is assured of such q formidable
basis of operations, the army has perfect freedom
OF movement which 1t had not at the beginning
of the campaign. 10 every possible contingency
the possession of Kamiesch, fortified a. 1t now is
will aid In the accomplishment of the object with
which the war In the Crimea was undertaken
Sebastopol commanded by Kamiesch which holds
It, to speak, by the throat never henceforlh
be of any use TO the Car.
"On The supposiiion that events should call the
army fresh points of the Russian territory who
does not that the presence of few French and
English ships at ksmieseh would suffice to nuDify
the entire offensive power of Sebsstopola Therefore
the possibility of the moblisation Of the allied army
and of he notification OF Sebastopo are the two
grand results of the transfer alton CT Ksmissch In
to piace of war II 10 now the sentinel-the keep
or Of the Russian citadel. France now
knows that without abandoning its conquest, il may
at will send an army l00,0 900 men TO any point
where The eloriou, for which II 10 fighting by
the side Of England may call for their servisss"
On this the European Times remarks
This locks as ifit were desired to prepare the
public mind for the possibility Of such an event AZ
fasng the segc of Sebastopol. Should this be done
L. AK.