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    ,A?bii, 28, 1855.] THE LEADEE, 391

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    The War. The Fire From Our Batteries, At...

    maae further approaches towards the redoubts on -Ifae-right above : the Careening Bay ravine j and -seemed steadily advancing to the allied positions . We , on-the other hand , had continued to push for-¦ mrrd our works ; and , in the course of the night previous to the opening of our batteries , we succeeded in dislodging the Russian sharpshooters ; from an ambuscade which had been planted almost in the line of our progress . Several telegraphic despatches relative to the iiombardment have reached us in the course of the week from the indirect sources of Marseilles , Vienna , and . Berlin ; but we have no news through * he Balaklava telegraph , which , according to the

    announcement in Parliament , is now opened , giving , with a brief gap from Varna to Kaliacra , a direct line of communication between tliecamp and London . This silence , it must be confessed , is not very encouraging , and people cannot help" suspecting that the Government know more than they choose to tell ; but the last intelligence we have , on which any reliance is . to be placed , speaks , hopefully . Up to the 19 th , nothing of a serious nature had befallen us . On -the night between the 18 th and 19 th , the enemy . made a strong sortie , but it was promptly repulsed . JL despatch from Prince GortschakofF , the substance of which is derived from St . Petersburg through

    Berlin , says that the object of this sortie was to destroy the most advanced works of the Allies , and . that that object was attained ; but we all know the tendency of the Russian commanders to exaggeration . The same despatch ( which is dated the 19 th inst . ) , says the firing of the besiegers on the 16 th , 17 th , and 18 th was less violent ; that theHussians replied successfully ; and that the losses of the garrison within the hist few days have been "less considerable "_ a very vague phrase , which seems to imply a consciousness of something which it were best to keep shrouded in a delicate obscurity . A communication from . the French Admiral Bruat , of the same date , and published in the Monitcur of Wednesday ,

    . says : — . _ " On the 17 th , the fire of our batteries maintained its superiority . In front of the Central Tower we have ( Carried a series of junbuscades , and those works where we . have established ourselves are now comprised in our lines . We have crowned a ravine in that direction , which runs along the fortifications of the town , where the enemy formerly kept their reserves in safety . Before . the Flagstaff Bastion we sprung a mine ( fouivieaux de mine ) at a distance of about fifty metres . This operation , which perfectly succeeded , gave us a new parallel , and was successfully joined to the others . From the 12 th to the 14 th , notwithstanding the renewed attacks of the Russians , we had only about 300 men hors de combat . ' ' '

    The scaling-ladders and pontoons have been got ready and sent down to the trenches ; hut this was merely that everything might be in training , and did not indicate that the assault was imminent . The allied generals , including Omar Pacha , have had long and frequent conferences ; and Lord Raglan visits the front , everyday , Jo . examine the effect of the fire . On one occasion , an English lady "" wasr 6 T 3 served"on Cathcart ' s Hill , watching the progress of the bombardment . The Russians continue to receive fresh . stores ; but it does not appear that their army is increased .. The Turks have arrived ; and Balaklava is thereby greatly strengthened .

    PROGRESS OF THE BOMBARDMENT . The Times correspondent , writing on April 10 , says : — ' The French had silenced eight or nine of the guns of the Bastion du Mat ( Flagstaff ) , and had inflicted groat damage on the outworks and on the buildings inside the batteries in the western tower . They had also almost shut up the Inkerman batteries . On our side , wo had silenced half the guns in the Redan and Kound Tower , and had , in conjunction with tho French , left the Mamelon only one out of seven guns to reply to us ; but the Garden Battery , the Road Battery , and the Barrack Battery wore comparatively uninjured , and kept up a brisk lire against ua all day . "

    On April 12 , he adds : —" Our Allies fire to-day with great energy . Their Inkennnn and Tehernayu batteries are admirably served , and they have not only kept down the firing of the Mamelon , aided by Gordon ' s Battery , but they have also answered tho batteries at the north side of tho harbour , tho Inkerman Cave Hivtteries , and have silenced for the present tho Lighthouse 'Battery , No . 2 . Our fire from Gordon ' s Battery and its ndvanoed works has swept away the Rifle pits , lias damaged some six or seven guns in the Round Tower , and has kept under tho fire from one face of tho Rodan , while tho fire from Chapman ' s Battery has been ¦ vwy successful against the Redan , the Barrack Battory , the Road Batteryand tho Garden Battery . "

    , Of tho bombardment on tho 18 th wo read : — "At 4 o ' clock a . m ., the Russians opened a powerful and do-¦ atraotivo fire on our 6-giin advanced battery , which was In a very imperfect state , and , by concentrating the fire of twenty guns on It , ' dismounted some of tho pieces and 'itgured the works severely , ao as to render the buttery useless for tho day . The « nilora in No . 2 Battery , in Chapman's attack , silenced three of the host guna in the Redan yesterday ; but the Russians replaced them

    during the day , and actually opened fire at 5 p . m . from the very embrasures-which had been-knocked to pieces . The reports of injury done to our batteries have been greatly exaggerated . In addition to the 13-inch mortar , which was burst , and the Lancaster destroyed by a shot , there have been only'four guns disabled by the enenxy " s fire , and one of our 9-pounders , directed against the Rifle-pits , has been ' dinted" by a shot . One of our 24-pounders was burst by a shot which entered right at the muzzle as the gun was being discharged . Another gun was struck by a shot in the muzzle , and split up to the trunnions ; the ball then sprang up into the air , and , falling at the breech , knocked oft" the button . It is impossible to deny to the Russian engineers great credit for the coolness with which they set about

    repairing damages under fire ; but words cannot do more than justice to the exertions of our own men , aud to the engineer officers and sappers engaged in this most perilous duty . When an . embrasure is struck and injured it is the business of the sappers to get into the vacant space and repair the damage , removing the gabions , & c , under fire , and without the least cover from shot , shell , or riflemen . Our Allies , also , exhibit the utmost coolness and gallantry in a similar manner . Poor Jack pays the penalty of his excessive courage in the loss which he sustains . The sailors will not keep under cover . When they fire a gun they crowd about the embrasures and get upon the parapets to watch the effect of the shot ; and the result is that they are exposed to many more casualties than the artillerymen , who are kept under cover by their officers .

    a brush : with the Russians on night the 13 th . On the left , it seemed as though all the constellations in heaven had settled on the earth , and were twinkling in flashing and flickering threads of fire in front of the Russian lines . The effect of the desperate work which has been going on between the French and the Russians can be compared to nothing that I can think of save a broad street , as seen from a distance , brightly illuminated for some festive occasion , with the wind playing fiercely and irregularly along the fretted gaspipes . Since 11 . 10 the fight lias been raging , and I have returned to my den in despair at its cause . I am now inclined to think it was a sortie in the trench , which was unsuccessful , was renewed , and was finally repulsed victoriously , and with great loss _ to the

    enemy . It appears that about ten o clock drums were heard beating a charge , or alarm , all along the French lines-at first ; but whether they were Russian or French drums no one can say . The cheers were undoubtedly Russian . There is now a profound silence —not a gun can be heard , and the horrid din of shot and shell screaming and whistling through the air , the bursts of cannon and bombs , the cheers , and rolling volleys , have all died away , and the deadly lights have died out and left all the black waste in darkness . While the fight lasted the quantities of shell thrown by both sides were prodigious . They might be seen six and eight at a time seaming the sky with their fiery curves , and then bursting with a bright red flash which lit up for an instant the smoke , and flaslied through it like a beam from the setting sun through a murky cloud . —Ttwies -Correspondent , - . ..,., _

    THE OPENING OF THE BATTERIES . The following singularly vivid account of the memorable 9 th of April is from the Times correspondent : — " The horses could scarcely get through the sticky black mud into which the hard dry soil had been turned by one night ' s rain ; and , although it was early dawn , it was not possible to see a man twenty yards oft" . A Scotch mist , mingled with rain , settled down on the whole camp . As we approached the front there was a profound silence in the camp . Suddenly , three guns were heard on the left towards the French lines , and tho whole lino of our batteries opened at once . Tho volume of sound was not near so great or so deafening aa that of tho 17 th of October , and tho state of the weather

    rendered it quite out of the question to form a notion of tho gradual effect of our lire , so that the most interesting portion of the day ' s proceedings was lost . Just na tho cannonade opened tho sailors came streaming over tho hills from tho batteries , where they had been relieved , and a few men turned out of the huts in the 3 rd Division to the front , evidently very much astonished at the sudden opening of the fire . The rain then desconded in torrents ; and , as there was nothing to be seen , heard , or learnt , every one withdrew to shelter after a long and hopeless struggle with tho weather .

    Tho storm was so heavy that scarcely a soul stirred out all day . It was dark almost as night . About five o ' clock tho sun slowly descended into a rift in tho dark grey pall which covered tho sky , and cast a pale yellow slice of light , barred hero and there by columns of rain and manses of curling vapour , across the lino of batteries . The outlines of tho town , faintly rendered through the mists of smoke ¦ and ruin , -seemed quivering inside tho circling linea of ( Ire around and from them ; but they were tho same familiar outlines ho well known to us for the lant seven montlm—tho naino

    green cupola and roofs , and long streets and ruined suburbs , the same dockyard buildingn , and dark trenches and batteries . Tho little details of ruin and destruction which must hnvo fcak <* n place after to-dny ' fl lire could not bo ascertained . The eye of painter never rested on

    a more « xtraordrnaTy « fiteet , -and iris-art tflone conWimv e rendered justice to the scene which shone out joh us for -a moment , as the sickly-aun , flattened out , ae it were , between bars of cloud and rain ,-seemed to-have forced its way through the leaden sky . to cast one straitened look on the conflict which raged belaw . The plateau between our standing-place was lighted up by incessant flashes , of light ; and long trails of white smoke streamed across it , spirting up in thick masses , tinged with fire , for a moment , till they were whirled away in broader * volumes by the wind . In the deep glow of the parting gleam of sunset , the only image suggested to me calculated to convey the actual effect of the fire of the batteries to our friends at home was a vision of the Potteries' district as it is see * n at night , all fervid with fire and pillars of smoke , out of the windows of an express train . . This glimpse of the batteries , brief as it was , proved extremely satisfactory . "

    TUE FIRE OF THE BATTERIES AT NIGHT . April 9 , 10 p . m . The night , is dark and tempestuous , the wind continues to blow strongly from the south-west , and the rain , though less continuous , still falls in heavy , fitful showers . No stars are visible in the heavens , and the fire from the batteries continues . The dashes of light from the guns , and the roar and roll of the echoes among the mountains , suggest the idea of an Alpine storm , by the close resemblance of the latter to the crash and stunning sound of thunder . The horizontal flight through the air of some of the larger shot and shell , with their peculiar shrill , rushing noise , contrasts strongly with the deep booming of the # uns , and adds to the confusion of sounds which strike the ear . The report from each piece at the instant of explosion i 3 so

    modified by the weight of metal , amount of charge , position , and distance , that no two sounds appear alike either in tone or intensity . Sometimes the explosion and discharge are made with such force that even at a considerable distance the concussion of the air strikes the spectator forcibly , and he experiences the sensation of having received a blow on the chest . The noise would be much increased if the wind blew from an opposite direction , even on these open heights : what must be the roar in the streets and buildings of the town below ! The shells rise thickly and brightly from the English batteries , and in less number from the French works on the right , but become dimmer as they travel through the misty atmosphere towards the Russian side . The -Russians are replying comparatively feebly . —Daily News Correspondent . ENGLISU SEAMEN AND FRENCH SOI-DIEItS .

    I cannot help observing that everyone remarks that the seamen , in their camp , are better off than the soldiers . Why shpuld this be ? Simply because the men are handy and try to shift for themselves , and their officers of all grades—not trusting to the system of " reports "—look well after them . The seamen build cozy little cook-liouses , get fires ready , and make pots boil ; while our poor men , who have never been accustomed to do anything for themselves , seem listless and indifferent . They ai'e now suffering from this system . Our seamen much rosemblc Frenchmen in their vivacity of manner and disposition , and in making the ; best of their situation . The consequence is , they are not suffering like ^ thertroops . r-A- Frenchman will strolLout of .

    tent , and in a few minutes will pick up a handful of herbs , with which he can make a very palatable and savoury dish . Those fellows can get a delicious repast ready , when our men would actually starve . It was only two d-iys since I saw a couple of Frenchmen prepare a delicious salad . It was done thu . s . They picked up the young dandelion plants . The vinegar was prepared by exposing their ration of via ordinaire to tho aun , which converted it into vinegar ; tho young plants were cut up , and the vinegar and a little oil , which ia part of their rations , were poured over all . This eaten , with a little broiled or roast mutton , was most refreshing . . . ' . . Lord Uaglan has been out a good deal of late through the camp , and seems to divo more than

    hitherto into affairs in general . He has been to see tho suspension bridge , constructed by the seamen gunncrd , over the ravinu and stream which courses along Ilia southern side of their camp . It is admirably contrived out of very simple means . It is about 100 fact long . Tho aides of suspension are thrown over capstan bur pillars , and composed of 4-inch roj ) c , which aro made fast at both ends to a sleeper , made out of the croaapieco of a gun carriage , sunk iu tho ground . The flooring is composed of atavea , or utakos , laid across and fastened to three 8-inch ropes . Tho whole umiuriitiui ia hauled tight by blocks . It is a most useful and ingenious contrivance , and is another , proof how handy naval officers and aeuuicn nra in shifting for theiiwclvos . —

    Daily News Correspondent . i ) ESl'ATCJIKH FROM LOIU > RAGLAN . Buforo Sebastopol , April 10 . Mv I ord —In acoordunci ! with the arrangement made between General Cunrobort and myself , th « . batteries of tho French and English armies opened upon bcbuHtopol auon after day light yewtorday morning . m Tho weather was extremely unpropitious . Much rain had fallen in the course of tho night , and it continued durinff the day , accompanied by a tempeatuouu wind , and a heavy mist which obsourod everything , nnd rendered it hnposiiblo to ascertain with any < tetfrco of accuracy

    ,A?Bii, 28, 1855.] The Leadee, 391

    , A ? bii , 28 , 1855 . ] THE LEADEE , 391

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1855, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28041855/page/7/