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Leader (1850-1860), 25th August 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 3

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      August 25, 1855.] The Leade It. G O7

      August 25 , 1855 . ] THE LEADE It . g 7

      The War. Tn» Pause In The Operations Bef...

      THE WAR . Tn » pause in the operations before Sebastopol is resumed ; but several circumstances point to a probable hastening of the catastrophe , and the opening of some new chapter in the history of the war . By " a m istake in a despatch , " says the Moniteur , the bombardment has been announced as having- recommenced when such is not the fact ; but " the artillery fire" has reopened , and , adds the same'authority , "has powerfully contributed to the facilitation of the siege works and approaches directed against the line of works of the Malaklioff ' . reference to another part of our War news of this day will show that , according to the Morning Post , the Russians contemplate an evacuation of Sebastopol . Whether this be correct or not , it is certain that their desperate attack on so strong a position as that which the French and Sardinians hold on the Tchernaya indicates a degree of frantic despair from which we are warranted in drawing hopeful inferences for ourselves . There seems little doubt that , as we related last week , preparations have been made for a speedy transit from the south to the north side of Sebastopol , which , notwithstanding the denial of the pro-Russian continental pnpers , appears to be in a frightful state of pestilence and famine ; so that a continuance of the present condition of things for any lengthened period seems highly improbable . Yet , in the face of these facts , the Military Gazette of Vienna states with the utmost confidence that the Emperor of Russia will , towards the latter end of this month , proceed to Sebastopol , with his brothers Nicholas and Michael , in order " to convey in person to the army the expression of the gratitude of his late lather , as he verbally promised to do . " Further accounts of the action on the Tchernaya reveal more clearly the fearful loss which the Russians sustained . An armistice was demanded and obtained . Portions of two days were employed in burying the dead ; and the census , according to the Moniteur , j shows the following results : — Russians buried by the French , 2129 ; by the Russians themselves , 1200 : total , 3329 . " For this immense loss , there has been absolutely nothing gained ! The details of our attack upon Sweaborg will be found below . They show that the word " destruction , " as originally applied , was not correct ; but they also exhibit a great amount of injury to the enemy . A Hamburg correspondent of the Inde ' - pendance Beige says that the bombardment "has not produced such an effect as ought to give rise to much self-gratulation" to the Allies , lie adds : — 41 The fortress and the encrusted batteries in the five islands of the rond remain , intact . One only of the batteries—that most advanced , and , consequently , most exposed to the enemy ' s shells —was destroyed , and they have not to deplore any other explosion than that of a I'oiture stationed in this place , and full of powder taken from the depots of the fortress for the use of the guns . The greater number of the private houses in the city , which is very circumscribed , and all the stores of wood , with the building dockyard , have been burnt by the Congreve rockets . For several months , this dockyard has contained ouly articles of very slight value . " This account is plainly tinctured with Muscoviiism ; and we know that the Russians and their friends never admit any great reverse . If St . Petersburg itself were- battered into ruins , they would say that they had sustained but slig ht damage , while candidly admitting that they had iiulced lost " one Cossack . " Thy accounts from Asia have reference entirely to the positions and mnmruvrings of the hostile armies , which appear to be " sparring" at one another , as it neither knew precisely where to plant a blow . According to the Pressed'Orient , Krzeroum is said to be threatened ; the Russian army had crossed the Sughanli-Dagh , and occupied tho vnlley of Tchin-Tchai . Hutlz Pacha was at Buibnth , in great want of provisions ; but troops are marching from Trebizond to the relief of Krzeroum , and ten thousuiui Boshi-ttuzoulcs are said to have arrived there . In a supplement to the Invalidc Itttsse , we read aa follows as regards tho position of the Russians near Kiirs : — " Aide-de-Cainp- < Jeneral Mouravieff announces , under dato of tho 5 th ( 17 th ) of . Inly , that on the 30 th of Juuo ( 12 th of . luly ) hu transferred tho main body of bin corps of operation * to tho village of Tikmtf , on the loft bank of the Kars-Tchai , whero he formed a junction with Major-Gene ml lluklauolV ' rt column . The position of Tikintf , by placing our principal forces in tho rear ul the army of Anatolia , ban enabled us to examine with greater facility ami mom minutely tho west » idu of tho intrenched camp at Kiuv , by oontinuiil reeonnoirtsnnoe . rt . " Tho English contingent , it id euicl , will go to 1 Scliiunla , and not to Asia . A despatch from Hamburg , dated Sunday , records that , on tho 10 th , two Kngli ^ h steamers bombarded the bntterics of Uigu for five hours . A few of the guns were , dismounted in tlio batteries ; hut . this appenre to have been all tho damage , No further ucuounta havo beon rucoivod . There has also been fiouiu dctitruution of Russian shipping at Wnsti .

      According to a despatch from St . Petersburg , an Imperial ukase orders the embodiment of militia in eleven provinces , commencing on the 1 st October , and finishing on the 1 st November , and in the proportion of 23 men to 1000 souls . The Russians are beginning to feel the constant draught upon their armies . The subject of the resignation of General Simpson is for the moment recalled to our mind by a statement in the Presse d * Orient , to the effect that the present Commander-in-chief will shortly be replaced by General Henry Bentinck . How the said Presse conies to be so learned about the matter , it weuld be hard to say ; but , at the same time , it would not be very surprising to hear of a change in the chief command . HEALTH OF THE ARMY BEFOBB SEBASTOPOL . A letter from Dr . Sutherland , of the Sanitary Commission , addressed to Sir James Clarke and Lord Shaftesbury , has been published . The Doctor is of opinion that that part of the Crimea in which our armies are encamped is highly malarious and marshy , and that the unhealthiness of the army during the summer months—that is to say , the degree of cholera and fever that has prevailed—is ascribable to these causes ; the mortality of the winter being the result of bad management , exposure , overwork , & c . The harbour of Balaklava and the camp have been greatly improved by sanitary arrangementSj and he believes the latter is now in a good state . Still , the troops on the low grounds necessarily suffer , while those on the heights have excellent health . The harbour , he asserts , is now " much sweeter than the Thames , and the town is cleaner than nine-tenths of the lower districts of London , Manchester , or Liverpool , " or than entire villages in England . The soldiers complain of nothing but of not being in Sebastopol . The hospitals at Scutari are described as " really j beautiful , " and superior , in their sanitary arrangements , to any of the hospitals in London . The water question is thus summed up : — " With proper care , there is enough ; without proper care , it will require much labour to obtain a proper supply ; after the dry weather is over , there will be water enough for any purpose . " Dr . Sutherland mentions sand or gravel as an excellent disinfectant , six inches of it having entirely deodorised the horrible marsh at the head of the harbour . He conceives that a knowledge of the laws of health should form a compulsory portion of the military education o f every officer . The Doctor is the only one of the Sanitary Commissioners who is not either dead or disabled ; and he does not know one person who has not had diarrhoea . FAILURE OF RUSSIAN SUPPLIES IN THE CRIMEA . Under this head we read aa follows in the Morning Post of Thursday : — " We have , more than ever , reason to believe that the Russian forces in the Crimea are suffering intensely from want of food and necessary supplies ; and that this , combined with other causes , assures their speedy expulsion from Sebastopol and the South of the Crimea . " The Morning Post , despite its semi-connexion with Government , is rather notorious for what are now called " shaves" in connexion with the war ; but the foregoing is certainly supported by other intelligence , and is rendered not improbable by the immense destruction of Russian stores by the Allied fleets . It is said—and , if it be true , nothing can give a more fearfully vivid idea of the infected condition of the besieged city—that every time the wind blows from Sebastopol the number of sick in the Allied camps is considerably augmented , and the mortality increases in a due proportion . It is also speculated that the attack on the Tchernaya was made in order to get rid of some of the men , and thus relieve the pressure on the supplies . Till ! BOSinAHDMKST OK SWKAnOIM' ! . We are now in possession of detailed accounts of this exploit ; Admirals Dundas and Penaud , the Journal de Ht . Pttersbourg , ami other Russian and English papers , having given full narratives of the attack . The English Admiral , after premising that , in the course of the last live months , tho defences of the place have been greatly increased , observes— " It has therefore formed no part of my plan to attempt a general attack by the ships on the defences ; and the operations contemplated by Admiral Penaud and myself were limited to such destruction of tho fortress and arsenal as could be accomplished by means of mortars . " On tho night preceding tho 8 th of August , tho day on which the bombardment opened , tho French Admiral stationed on tho islet of Abraham , at two thousand motrcs from the place , a siogo battery of four mortars . The submarine rocks and reefs proved a great obstacle to the boats ; but a position was ultimately chosen in a curved lino on either side of the islot of Oterhall . " The extremes of this lino , " writes Admiral Dundu * , were limited , with reference to the extent , of tho rungo and tho distance from the hoavily-arinod batteries of Diik-Ilolmcn to the eastward , and of Stora lxiuitan to tho westward of Swou * - horg . " Tho battery , together with h » x Knglish homhketcheH , ouch currying one mortar , and llvo French homb-ketchos , each provided with two morturc , opened lire on Swoaborg- at half-past xovon on tho morning of tho tith . A lino of mortar-boats , according to tho

      Hussion official paper , - bad been constructed from Ronskher to Grokhar . Bombs were thrown , principally , says the same authority , into the fortress of Sweaborg , and partly into the fort of Longorn and upon the Nicholas battery ; while " two vessels anchored upon Sandbam also opened fire against the island and battery No . 2 . " In less than three hours serious damage was done . Fires broke out in rapid succession on several distinct points , and the flames rose above the dome Of the church situated in the northern part of the isle East SwarftJ , which , however , was respected by the fleets , and saved from destruction . Presently , the conflagration reached some magazines filled with munitions of war , and four tremendous explosions shook the air . " For several minutes , " writes Admiral Penaud , " we heard the detonations of the bombs and shells , which covered the seaboard with fragments . " The hostile fleets , however , did not slacken their fiery tempest , but still poured forth discharges which , at one time numbered thirty per minute , or one every two seconds . " Two of the enemy ' s frigates , and a steamer , " says a Russian telegraph , '' were placed between Melk-E and Droums-E , and kept up a constant fire against the latter island . " On the evening of the 9 th , the intricate nature of the reefe , on which the gunboats occasionally grounded , compelled Admiral Dundas to recal them ; but next morning they were again directed to engage . On August 10 , the telegraph reported that the assailants were concentrating their fire upon the fort of Wester Swartii ; but , it is added , "thank God , they have not succeeded in doing us injury . All our batteries are intact . " The Allies are recorded to bave fired at least tea thousand bombs during August 9 , and to have thrown rockets at the rate of thirty a minute . A three-decked ship , which had been moored by the Russians to block up the channel between Gustafsvaard and Bak-Holmen , was withdrawn during the night to a more secure position . " Late on the evening of the 10 th , " says Admiral Dundas , " her Majesty's ship Merlin , under the command of Captain Sullivan , struck upon an unknown rock on ground which he had himself repeatedly examined while conducting me along the line of the mortar-vessels . No blame whatever can attach to this officer on the occasion . " The bombardment ceased at half-past four on the morning of the 11 th , after having lasted two days and two nights , '' during which period , " says Admiral Penaud , " Sweaborg presented one vast expanse of flame . The fire , which still ( August the 11 th ) continues to rage , has devoured the whole place , and consumed workshops , magazines , barracks , various establishments belonging to the Government , and a great quantity of the materials of the arsenal . The firing of our mortars and howitzers was so true that the enemy , fearful of seeingthe three-decker which had been anchored across the pass between Sweabor ^ and the island of Back-Holmon entirely burned , withdrew that vessel into the harbour during the night . " 44 It is reported here , " says the Berlin Correspondent of the Daily News , " that the unexpected favourableor , according to Prussian opinions , unfavourable—result of the bombardment of Sweaborg was owing to the employment of Earl Dundonald ' s discovery . The French steamer Pelican , which brought the intelligence to Dantzic , is said to carry in her hull marks of the Russian cannon-balls . " THE ACTION OJJ THE TCHERNAYA . The following is General Pelisaier ' s account of this affair : — 14 In the attack of yesterday ( August 16 th ) the enemy came forward with five divisions , 6000 horse , and twenty batteries , determined to occupy the Tediouchine mountains . After passing the river at several points , they brought up an immense accumulation of sapping tools , planks , madriera , fascines , and ladders , all which they abandoned in their night . According to its usual custom , < K > ur artillery fought bravely and with great success . An English battery of position on tho Piedmontese hill afforded very efficient assistance . 44 Tho Russians left on tho field at least 2500 dead . Thirty-five of their officers and 1620 soldiers are in our ambulances . Three Russian generals were killed . We have made besides 400 prisoners . Our loss consists ot 181 dead and 810 wounded . Tixier , Darbois , Alpy , nnd Saint Remy are severely wounded ; De Polhes and Barthc less severely , and Gngneur has only received a slight wound . " General Simpson reports thnt it was not Liprandi , m at first stated , but Prince Gortschakoff himself , who ¦ commanded . Tho presence of tho coinmandor-in-ehief gives another proof of the importance which tho Russians attached to this movement . Among the KiiMsian generals killed is General Read , the son of a Scotchman who settled in the land of the Czar * . , . Prince GortschakolFs account of his dofont on me Tehernayn is as follows , according to « " >| pff" £ ™ ; despatch received at Horlin :- ' A port . on of our troops crossed tho Tohornaya , nnd attacked tho enemy on tfce so-called Koduflhcni heights . Havmff ioumUh . „ enemy z :: ^ r ^^ z ^ o £ ^ i ^ srrs ^» A- " - - " ^ fiZZZSTTySZ * (« pnper inured *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 25, 1855, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25081855/page/3/