The Sun. — 1854-11-10 (London, England)

THE AMERICAN VIEW OF THE BATTLE  OF ALMA.  (Flom, the New York Courier and Enquirer.) No man who has a drop of Anglo-Saxon blood in his veins will read of the conduct of the British troops at Alma without a thrill of admiration. The real brunt of the battle fells upon them, and it was the most trying that can occur in military operations. To cross a deep and difficult ford in the very face of a tremendous fire of a hundred pieces of artillery, to form on the opposite bank where the ground was most broken and encumbered, to struggle up steep heights under a murderous sweeping shower of grape, round shot, shell, canister, case shot, and musketry, to march steadily on, though platoons and companies were mowed down like grass, and to sweep away the Russians from a position of such extreme strength, was an achievement that, it took Saxon stamina to execute. It was not impetuosity, the impulsive enthusiastic ardour which characterises the more Southern races, which effected it. That probably would have been unequal to the purpose, for that kind of martial spirit is especially subject to panic, and would have hardly escaped it in such an extremiby. It was cool, calm, determined, unfaltering iron energy which won this battle—that quality which as signally marks the race in war as in peace. The French had the easier part to perform of outflanking and turning a wing They did this under considerable difficulty in their own gallant style. The Russians fought with undeniable resolution. They did not leave the ground until absolutely compelled, and they displayed that steadiness in retreat which has long been their most distinguishing characteristic. Few such defeats have ever occurred in which the loss was so small in prisoners and captured guns. The spirit with which the Russians fought is best attested by the 6,000 dead and wounded they left on the field of battle. In view of the fact that, according to the latest accounts, their force amounted to only 35,000 men, and, considering, too, the less exposed character of their position, this is, indeed, a remarkable proportion, and reflects quite as much credit upon their fortitude as upon the efficiency of their enemies. The entire body of the Allied troops outnumbend the Russians ; but owing to the peculiar character of the ground, only about 30,000 of them were actually engaged. There were two entire divisions of the army which scarcely lost a single man.  We give up our columns this morning to the details of this tremendous engagement. It has been more than a generation since accounts like these have figured in newspapers, and they cannot fail of being read with extreme interest. Lord Raglan's despatch is written with conciseness, clearness, and elegance, and, in dignity and freedom from everything like gasconade, forms a marked contrast to therhapsody of St. Arnaud. Operations have not yet fairly commenced upon Sebastopol, and the tenour of the last advices makes it manifest that this stronghold will not be carried without the most desperate fighting. The , fleet, upon the aid of which in the work of bombardment, so much reliance has been placed, have been rendered utterly unserviceable by the closing up of the harbour, and the whole plan► of operations by the land force has in consequence been changed. It is useless to anticipate results.