Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-10-07
Present Condition OF Ssbast0pOI.


A trustworthy correspondent, 10 Il letter
dated "Cunsts ntlnCplc, August %. thus des
cribes the present state vi Sebdstopol, regard
ing which SO many contradictory accounts
have lately appearel:--
I'VE have accomplished an excursion TO
the Crimea, aud were much gratIfed with IT,
Seba-topol was our headquarters for Il
week. 30 We had plenty ct time fully 70 eS-
anime the various l,cos OF interest IN con-
nection with the war. Everything at present
remains In very much the same state az AZ
the cOnciusiOu Of the war. The town, which
has been very fine one, is now but scene
Of ruiu and desola,on. The present popu.
lstou reduced from 10000 TO 6 .OOOl mostly
live 10 the wooden butts left by the British
ard French armies; some few stons houses
have been rebuilt, but very few, and OF very
common sort Z C magnificent docks remain
in the state Of tosal ruin to which :hey we're
reduced during the occupation Of ;he Gown
by the allies, and heaps of stones Are the only
indications Of the position o! the forts 90 the
south side of the harbor. But on the nCrtn
side the forts are in as efficient a state a.
ever, it being perfectly luicrous to observe
how little damage they have received from
the bombarimen. giccn them by Lord Lyons.
! The trenches, batteries, and other earth works,
remain as they were during the war, with
merely the Slight alterations caused by wind
aaI weather; ard, even at this distance OF
time, cannon balls shc!, powder. cans, bro
ken pieces vi shells, &c, are sUund lying on
the gvound (especaiiy III the neishborhood
vi the batteries in such quantities as 70 keep
-, l,,,
as old iron, and taking them away by cart
loads. E7en whole uncxploded shells are yet
occasionally TO be met with We tell IN With
one on the very day OF our arrival: but they
were not pleasant things u NEEDLE H!th. as
they at times explode with no yerT apparent
good reason; and an unfortunate English SAL
lOr WAS blown all to pieces BIZ an accident of
this syrt. remember seeing, some months
ago, in the Tines, some statement, - tie
eject that the graves IN The Cr'mea w"re not
taken proper core Of, but | must say | cane
to quite Ii different conclusion. ! visited
most Of the cemeteries at Balak.ava, lnkcr-
man, and the Alma, as well Is those uearer
Sebastopol, and with one exception I'D not
see single monument Injured or detaced
rne one, aud only exception, is IN the case of
lDC ODEll>h ci'CtCi ny t!C iNl'si Ok III III
front of the R!daD, which is mu!ilatsd by
divers visitors having cut their uames IN the
stone, and the inscription OF it is also partly
defaced, very probably, | think, 10 some
drunken frolic. During our short residence
among the Russians, we found them oil, wbe-
ther rich or poor, most civi! and DESTROYS Of
obhgng Us, and apparently bearing Us no Ill.
will % account Of our country. 10 the bar
Dor Of SGbast0pol they are very busily e,n-
pIoyed, under the direction OF an American,
10 working with the sunken ships. They
have reilnqui-bed Ill hope OF getting W the
large men ot-war eutre, and are now blow
lug them up, ard 20 getting them up piece
meal; but with some Of the smaller craft
they arc more successful, and we saw
one small steamer that had been ust
raised when va were there. ]. certainly
looked queer affair; but they said the wood
vas SOUND, and that u few repairs would
make the engines ali right. The steamer
taat took Us from Constant!noY!e - Odessa,
had been submerged tor about Year, and
according 10 the captain, (whcse statement
receive with doubt, the engines recommended
working without any repairs Gcins required