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    1086 THE LEADER. [Saturday,

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    By The Last Mail From Sebastopol, We Fin...

    in the smoke , had diverged , and scarcely filled the ground . We went on , however , and hoped that their own men flying would break the enemy ' s line and drive them into the river . When I saw them form four deep , instead , I knew it -was " all up , " and called out to the raen to rally . A . t this moment a solitary squadron of the 8 th came up in good order . This saved the remnant of us ; for we rallied to them , and they , wheeling about , charged a line which the Kussians had formed in our rear . You never saw men behave so well as our men did . As we could not hold our ground , all our dead and

    badly wounded were left behind , and we know not who are dead or who are prisoners . All this makes one miserable , even to write ; but it is the naked truth . Our loss in men is not so great as that in horses ; for men whose horses were shot in the advance got back on foot . I hear from a man -who dined "with Lord Kaglan to-day , that they do us justice at head-quarters , and say that our attack was an unheard-of feat at arms , and that Lord Raglan says that the moral eft ' ect has been wonderful .

    THE AFFAIR OF THE 26 th . ( From the CorrespoTident qftheMoryiing Chronicle . ') On Thursday , the 26 th , the Russians , elated by the easy success gained over the Turks the preceding day , ventured upon as . attack on the British lines . Towards noon , three large columns of the enemy were perceived advancing along a ravine which runs to the extreme right of our position . The 2 nd , 1 st ( Guards alone ) , and . light divisions instantly stood to arms , and awaited until the enemy shooild declare his intentions . The appearance of the Russians was , in the first moment , considered a mere feint , ha-ving for object the -withdrawal of our attention from the real point of their attack—Balaklava . The enemy , however , ascended the ravine , and , forming inline , advanced steadily on the encampment of the 2 nd British division .

    The enemy , whose strength must have exceeeded niae thousand infantry , with a numerous artillery , had no sooner entered within range of our guns , which , 18 in number , had taken up their position * than the word " Fire" was given , and . a volley of shell tore open his ranks , and checked his advance . The guns were reloaded , and a second discharge , no less severe in its execution , caused the enemy to wheel round and retire . The Lancaster gun in Captain Peel ' s battery -was enabled to pour showers of grape into the enemy ' s lines . A few rockets , dexterously discharged , transformed this retreat into a rout . The Russian ranks gradually reeled , and concluded in breaking . The breast of the hill was covered with fugitives , who were rapidly pursued by our skinmahers . Sir de Lacy Evans had , in the T )(! teanwhile , ordered his division ( the 2 nd ) to advance , and follow up tlie retreating enemy . This wa 3 done with

    the utmost zeal and delight on the part of officers and men . Regiment after regiment started after the flying foe at a rattling pace , and the chase in itself was both novel and . exhilirating . The officers endeavoured to preserve the dignity of a British charge , but , for once , in vain . Tlieir " Steady , boys , " and " Keep in line , " "were- only half listened to , in the eagerneess to come up with the enemy , and settle scores with him for many a false and wearisome night alarm . A mass of brushwood eoon interfered with the line movement , and tho men then pursued , skirmishing . Tho Russians were overtaken at the crest of tho hill , and a heavy musketry fire ¦ was exchanged . The Russians continued their flight , and entered Sebastopol . General Gortschakoff commanded thiB movement , and was -wounded in the hip . Above eighty prisoners wore brought in by tho skirmishers , including three officers .

    In the above smart action moro than two hundred Russians wore discovered dead on tho ground , with a largo quantity of muskets , sabres , and other trophica . The Russian columns were led on -with great intrepidity by their mounted officers , who were seen to urge thoir men forward . On approaching within range of our artillery , the Russians slanted their columns to the left in a serpentine manner , and , witnessing the preparations mado to receive them , they withdrew their fleld-ptccos to the rear . Had it not been for tho dashing activity of our skirmishers , tbe enemy would have retired without ongnging . This little triumph has greatly raised the spirits of tho men , who had not had a brush since Alma , Tho artillery was toautiMly served , and throw some shells with ¦ wonderful precision .

    KW 8 SIAW ACCOUNT OJT AtMAThe Journal de St . Pdtcreboury repudiates moat of tho assertions made by St . Arnaiid in his account of tho battlo of ALma . In the first place it is contended that the Russians numbered only 33 , 000 against nearly 70 , 000 allies , " » All the heights / says tho Marsha ] , ' wero capped with redoubts « nd formidable bnttqrioH . ' In reality tho whole WJU 3 redu . c « d to t-yvo wimple dpankmonte , ono of which wjib at our contra with 15 } gun » of position , tho othw on our right flunk wih 10 light Held pieces .

    " ' PrincQ Meuschikofly says tho Marshal , ' loft hie carrUige . I have tukoi * it with hit ) portfolio and corm * spondonco . I Hhall profit by tho valuable intelligence I find iu JV Two following is tUo truth . FrUice Menschl-Icon" loot no qnnriagQ , nox any correspondence belonging to hAuv Evftry equipage belonging to head-quartero had

    been previously taken to a place of safety . The only capture that could therefore have fallen into the enemy ' s hands was a clerk attached to head-quarters , who left Sebastopol on the very day of the battle to rejoin the prince . This clerk was the bearer of a certain number of route papers in blank , and a few other papers of no great importance . Nothing has been known hitherto respecting his fate . The probability therefore is , that it is his capture that has occasioned the mistake . " The enemy ' s commanders professed to have lavished the most prompt attention on our wounded . We do not deny in any manner their humane feelings , nor their sincere wish to put them in practice . But it is publicly notorious that the enemy ' s army was without a sufficient number of surgeons . His own wounded would very naturally have the preference before our own . Hence , it is

    o , our in the power of the enemy , rejoined our army during the course of the following day , of the day after that , and even of the fourth day after , "without having had their wounds dressed . " Lastly , Marshal Saint Arnaud asserts , that it was the want of cavalry that prevented his pursuing us . The truth is , that the enemy ' s cavalry did indeed try to attack us , and even to turn our right flank , but it was our hussars that forced it to retire . "

    LETTERS FROM SAILORS . THE AGAMEMNON . The following have been received during the week frqm the friends of the writers in Salisbury and neighbourhood , and have appeared in . the Salisbury Journal • - — ¦* ' Gn Board H . M . ship Agamemnon , " Off Sebastopol , Black Sea , Oct . 18 th , 1854 . " I have but very little time just to inform you , that through God ' s mercy , I am safe and quite ¦ well , having escaped tmhurt after one of the most severe engagements on record . Our loss is not so great as might be expected , but our ship > is in a very sad pickle , our rigging is all cut , and many other parts shot away , and greatly damasred : we -were entrajrefl ahonf : four "hours . f tnr « 1 / 1

    Admiral ran close under the enemy's guns , dropped two anchors , and at it we went . In a very short time a large fort nearest to us went up into the air with a most terrific crash ; the guns of our own ship , the other shipping and forts kept up a deafening roar of thunder , so that we all , from the Admiral to the smallest boy in the ship , had our work while it lasted . I can assure you I was glad when we shipped our cables and hauled off . The place has not yet surrendered , but before to-morrow night I hope all the fighting in the Black Sea will be finished . I don ' t think we shall be able to go into action again yet , for yesterday ' s peppering will take us a good week to patch up a bit . As I am -writing this , the guns are blazing from other shipping and the forts . Before you receive this you will have a full account in the papers . " Oct . 23 rd , 1854 .

    " Our noble ship got severely damaged , our rigging was almost cut in-pieces from the murderous fire of the enemy ' s forts . We have been repairing and patching ever sirwe the action . To give you some remote idea of what we did , I have just made inquiries , and find that during the four or five hours we were engaged , we fired 2 , 658 rounds of ammunition on the astonished Russians , besides the other ships of ours and of the French ; but X must also tell you that you must remember that only one side of a ship can fire at a time , when anchored alongside a fort . " October 22 nd , 1854 .

    w Wo ceased firing , and the action closed at 10 6 p . m ., after silencing all but two guns at Fort Constantino , and disabling it to such an extent , by the breaches made , that it will be entirely unserviceable . This movement was to occupy and draw part of the troops in Sebastopol fr , om that in which our troops were engaged , and by that means lesson thoir strength in that point , and by silencing these forts , to a certain extent , was of groat service to Lord Raglan . We had 4 killed and 25 wounded 5 other ships suffered moro in conHoquenco of being so far oft * . Had wo been 200 yards furthor off , our lows would havo been fearful ; God in his infinite

    mercy ordained it otherwise . Our casualties wore in going in ; tho Albion and Arethusa suffered most . Tho total of casualties , in tho English fleet was 46 killed and 240 wounded , tho French about the same . Several ahota struck tho Agamemnon in going hi : one lodged in hor aide , in our menu berth , a very good direction for our engine room . Had it como through , God only knows whero tho end would have been ; there was a Providence in it . Aftor wo got in and anchored it was mostly confined to the rigging and spare , which were very much cut to pieces . Being ho close in they could not dopross thoir guns to hear on tho hull of tho ship from tho thickness of tho walla . "

    Russian "Women . — -A sailor on board the Tribune writer : — " Dour parents , I will now toll you of n nice little eruiao wo had laut -week . Eight ulilus , four Itoglinh and four French , wont down tho count to a placo called Yoltu , whore wo hciird thcro w « ro 11 grout many guiui , and that tho place was strongly fortiilud ; but whon wo got there there was not a gun to bo hood ; « o wo got nil our boato out and wo all landed under urmn ju « t Hko 8 oldior » , cxceptiMK that -wo could not march very straight ,

    and there was no such thing as trying to keep us together well . When we were all landed we amounted to about one thousand strong . Our captain had charge of the party , which we called the flat-foot militia on account of our wearing no shoes . The order was given to march , and away we went . The women on shore thought we were going to kill them , and when we came up to them they began screaming and kissing our feet , and kneeling down to us , but instead of us killing them we returned the compliment , by not exactly kiasing their feet , but our jolly tars took them round the neck and kissed their lips , so they soon found out that we did not intend to kill them ; but if we had come across any soldiers they would stand a nasty chance of being kissed , I can tell you . So we got some government stores , and left the placo , and returned to the fleet , and were much amused with our cruise . "

    INCIDENTS-OPINIONS . Why the Fiking produced no Tire . —The fact is , Sebastopol 13 very safe from iire . All the principal buildings , and nearly all the eecond-rate houses are built of stone ; and to this cause must be attributed the little success which has attended our efforts to fire any part of it . —Morning Herald Correspondent . The Scots Greys . —In the account , in the Times , of the 25 th , one incident is overlooked—a report of which , is supplied by the Morning Chronicle . This charge was before the " great charge " : — "The unflinching courage and self-confidence exhibited by the ' 'brave 93 rd were beyond commendation ; but

    when did the Highland bonnets ever waver ? Repulsed by one British infantry regiment , trie Russian cavalry reformed , and dashed forward against tlie Scots Greys , who were getting into saddle . Tie Greys went forward- to meet the onset , hutj owing to the tent ropes and other impediments of the encampment , were unable to attain the speed desirable for a dashing charge , fortunately , the very same impediments caused the enemy to slacken pace , and the Greys had time to break into a kind of canter , and to charge . The numbers opposed to the Scots Greys were in the proportion of six to one ; and the enemy , opening their ranks before the gallant Greys , received theniin their midst , and then closed ia upon them . For several minutes the bearskins disappeared from

    sight , hut at last the belligerent circle sprang asunder , similar to a bursting shell , and the led coats appeared driving before them , in headlong flight , the routed enemy . The struggle had been a fearful one , and at first the Russians , encouraged by their formidable numerical superiority , fought furiously . Daunted , and at length routed by the heroic bravery of these 280 British sabres , the enemy galloped back in disorder towards the captured redoubts . The Greys were , of course , unable to pursue light cavalry ; but had our light horse taken the flying Russians in the flank , as was very feasible , not only would the enemy have been cut off from the main body , and have been either captured or destroyed , but also the catastrophe which occurred later would havo been avoided . "

    Who is Responsible ?—There are various opinions as to the light brigade affair . The Morning Chronicle correspondent writes , representing the excitement of the day after : — "Never was more wilful murder committed than in ordering an advance against such fearful odds and certain destruction . Tho popular voice has united in ascribing tliis great calamity to Captain Nolan , If tlie latter was indeed to blame , lie ha 6 paid , poor fellow , the penalty of his impetuous courage , Like many another heroic officer , ho fell on the field of battle , and in him were buried the finest rider and one of the noblest spirits in the British service . But -what baffles the

    understanding is , in what respect Captain Nolan , whose position was merely that of aide-do-camp , should thus have proved tho unwitting instrument of the light brigade ' s destruction . Before entering into so fearful a contest tho Earl of Lucan would have naturally awaited written instructions from the Cottmiauder-in-Chief . Either ho received those from , Lord Raglan—in which case his lordship would risk losing his well-earned reputation for prudence and caution—or ho undertook the responsibility of the act himself . If , us it is said , tho noble earl wns influenced either by the petulance or tho eager spirit of Captain Nolun , he was to blame , for a commanding oQIcer is supposed to possess suinoienfc self-command and certain discretionary powers . "

    Loiu ) CAKmaAN . —In tho meUa 011 the 25 th , JLoru Cardigan and his horso were thrown heels over head o"vcr a gun , ami ho narrowly avoided being speared , by tho Cousuclcs , but he providentially escaped . It would appear that Lord . Cardigan had already , in tlio campaign , got aoharactur for recklessness . A soldier in tho 8 th Hussars , writing to Mi-. IX . Berkeley , M . P , ( who has published tho hitter ) , Bays : — " Immediately after landing wo saddled , a » a Loid Cardigan took us and the 17 th Lancers- about fifteen nuiles up tho country . Such a mud-brained , trick 1 should think was novor played before . Wo started at ton o ' clock in tho morning- ; at length wo stopped at a liussinn village about fifteen jwDcb from

    1086 The Leader. [Saturday,

    1086 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 18, 1854, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18111854/page/6/