Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1861-10-02

Gen. McClellan's Report on the Sieg;
of Sevastopol and the Art of WI
in Europe.
The world will never tire of hearing o.
the battle of Waterloo and the siege o
Sevastopol. Each was pivotal event on
which the destiny of great nations for a
time turned. In the annals of war. the
latter stands unrivalled among field oper-
ations for the reduction of fortified cities.
France, the most martial of modern ma
tions. contributed to the gigantic strife l.
676 guns, nearly all of which were of the
largest caliber. They exploded 5000, 600
pounds of powder in front of the beleagu-
cred city, throwing into it and its cover
ing works I,250000 rounds of shot aud
shell. England. her ally. threw at the
same time of like material 253 coo rounds.
The magnitude of the reply which Russia
made to the combined assault of her foes
is shown in an extract from the report of
one of the American Military Commission
sent to the Crimea, who says:
s.Tbe immense number of rounds fired
by the Russians during the siege. was stri-
kingly illustrated by the quantity of shot
and shells with which the ground was
thickly strewed within the radius of the
works of attack. One of the ravines lead
ing to the town, on the left Of the Eng
lish attack, was known as the VALLEY of
Death" in the bottom Of it. in some places,
our horses literally walked on pavement
of cannon balls lying close together -
This memorable siege, which eliminated
In the bombardment ard assault of Sep
tember. 1855, was ushered in by the bat
tie of Alma. and was diversified by the
action of Balaklava, immortalizcd by the
muse of Tennyson, by the deadly afray of
Inkerman, where more than one third of
the force engaged was killed and wounded,
BY the Brilliant conflict of Traktar. called
by Mcclellan the battle of the rchernays.
and by innumeraole sorties, and hand to-
hand conflicts by night and by day in the
trenches in rifle-pits and in the open field.
In his report to the War Department,
as a member of tie commission to Europe.
Captain (now GENERALLY Mcclellan. criti-
cises these military operations with bold.
free pen. In pointing out defects in the
movements and operations of the respect
i've belligerents, Mcclellan specifies the
failure of the Allies to promptly follow up
the victory at the Alma by pursuing the
Russians and either cutting off their re-
treat toward Sevastopol, or annihilatiDg
them altogether, which, as is now well
known, could have been easily done. He
also mentions the strange ght of the
Russians, after they knew the Allies had
landed in the Crimea. in not instantly clo-
sing the harbOr of Balaklava by sinking
two or three vessels in its narrow mouth,
and thus rendering useless the fort which
the British made the base of their opera
tions. and where they sheltered their trans
ports. and whence they drew all the sup
plies for their camp.
He likewise condemns the dilatory con-
duct of the Allies in not dashing into Sc
yastOpol after the triumph at the Alma,
the South side of which was then scarcely
defended at all. and while the Russians
we're utterly demOralized by their recent
defeat By delay they gave them time to
initiate and carry forward that wonderful
system of earthwOlks which, planned by
the genius of Todtelben. and defended sue
cessively by the energy of Menschikoff.
Lipardi. and GOrtschakcff, so long defed
the combined skill and bravery of the two
most martial nations of modern times
So soon as it became evident to the Rus
sian commander that Sevas.opol was the
prize for which the Allies were going to
contend Mcclellan insists that his fail
ure, ere the Allies had taken up their po-
sitions, to occupy the nights Of Inkerman
and throw up earthwoIks and plant can
non thereon, was a most inexcusable blum.
der. And, on the other hand, after the
Allies had set themselves down before the
eity, their failure to do the same thing
without the delay of day, was equally
incIcusable.
The nights, it will be remembered, con.
stituted the extreme right of the English