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Leader (1850-1860), 11th November 1854, Edition Town of 2, Page 1058, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      THE "WAR . TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCHES . St . Petersburg-, Thursday . Prince Menschikoff reports- - that up to the 3 tds of N ovember , in the evening , the siege operations of the Allies continued without any visible result . Paris ,. Thursday , Nov . 9 . The St . Petersburg Courier of the 2 nd inst ., brings the official bulletin of : the affair at Balaklava , on . the 25 th October . The Russian bulletin acknowledges that the Russian loss exceeds 550 men and 6 officers killed , and 1 general and 190 officers wounded .

      The Globe says : —" It is said that at the council of war held by the commanders and admirals of the Allies on the 27 th October , it was resolved , that the allied fleets should not be allowed again to participate in the bombardment of Sebastopol from the seaside , it having been found that the ships are thereby exposed to severe injury , without being able to render a proportionally effective service . Berlin , Wednesday Evening . Prince Menschikoff ; in his last report to the Em . peror , announces that 60 English prisoners have been taken . On the 25 th four redoubts were taken by General Xi prandi , two of which were destroyed , and two were Tetained and fortified . Th e loss o f the E ng lish cavalry was supposed by the Russians to amount to 500 .

      There are preliminary indications of what the Russian answer to the Prussian note will be . If Prussia will obtain an undertaking from the Western Powers and Austria that they wiLl not go in their demands beyond the four points , Kussia will be willing to negotiate on that basis . Vienna , Thursday . According to a Turkish bulletin , which requires c o nfir m atio n , there have been disturbances in Sebastopol on th e p a r t of th e people , who wished to surrender . In Asia , the Turks in Kars and the Russians in Tiflis has gone into winter quarters .

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      The hazy intelligence of last week has assumed a more definite shape ; although the system of communication is still very lax , and powerful journals complain that their despatches have miscarried . Lord Raglan ' s despatch , dated October 23 , refers to another despatch , dated October 18 , but the latter has not come to hand . In the one which we have he appears to resume a narrative of the events of the 17 th and 18 th , the opening days of the bombardment . The French guns , sile nce d by the ex pl o sion of a magazine , had re-opened on the 19 th , with additi o nal batterie s , and th e se had n o t been agai n silenced . Lord Kaglan , however , a dds , tliat " the defe n ces of the p lace are far from being subdued ,

      neither is a serious diminution of their fire perceivable . " The enemy repaired the damage to their ¦ works as fast as it was sustained , and r eplac ed many of the guns which had been destroyed . This facility of repairing and re-arming the defences rendered the progress of the assailants slower than could be wished ; and Lord Raglan regretted that he h a d not th e power to s t a te , " with anything like certainty , -when it may be expected that ulterior measures may be undertaken . " Lord Raglan is of opinion that Prince Menschikoff is not in Sebastopol . The two first days of the bombardment ( tho 17 th and 18 th ) seemed to have disappointed the expectations of the allied generals 5 both express surprise at the Russian

      resources then developed , The fire began from our lines at half-past six in the morning , at a p r e co ncert e d s i gnal . The fire of the allied bntteries was from 12 G p ie c es , 53 French , and 73 English . The town replied by 250 guns . At halfpast nine the powder magazine of No . 4 French battery blow up , killing and -wounding eomo fifty mom . Three quarters of an hour afterwards a chest of cartridges burst in No . 1 battery , and it was then deemed advisable to silence the 3 ? roncU batteries . The English continued without ( so saya the French report ) any marked advantage or loss . About throe in tho afternoon a shot from a Lancaster gun . blew up tho magazine of tho great Russian battery called

      tho Redan , and caused great loss , silencing that battery . At one o ' clock tho floet entered into action , attacking tho outer forts , and the French division lending ofF . Admiral Dundas took tis his position north of tho French . The fire opened at 2000 yards ; but tho Agamemnon , San spariol , and London , took up position within 1000 yards of Fort Constantino . Nothing could bo moro noblo than tho gallant way in which tho Agamemnon and Sunspariol steamed in amid a perfect hail of cannon balls and shells . From two o ' clock till dark tho cannonado raged furiously . The ilcot experienced gro a t i nc onv en ionco from tlio absence of so many men , who wore working batteries on shore .

      It appears doubtful whether tho floa attack was productive of much damage to tho Rusaiwis . ll ; was intended to divert the lire of tho outer forta from tho laud attack , and cortiunly had that cftfoct , Tho loss

      to the E ng lish fleet was 44 killed and 266 wounded . The Albioa was so much injured that it has been sent back , o C onstantinople , and will probabl y hare to come- home . Sir Edmund Lyon ' s brave , vessel , the Agamemnon , also sustained damage . Next day the redoubts were wrested from' the enemy , who was repulsed ; with loss . On the . same day another sortie was attempted from Sebaatopol , but this also failed . It is-said that our cavalry , sustained a loss of 400 .

      The town of Sebastopol is said to be in flames , and the Russians make no effort to extinguish them . Deserters report that 6000 persons have been killed since the commencement of the siege , and that they lay unburied in the streets , infecting the air with pestilence , for want of time to get rid of them . It is said that Menschikoff asked for three hours to bury his dead ; but was refused ^ on . the ground that the Allies had no dead to bury , and that there would be no reciprocity .

      A private letter states that the troops are confident of being able to carry Sebastopol , as they took the Alma , at the point of the bayonet 5 but that it would be at great expense of life . It is to avoid that expense that the siege is proceeding with regularity . Canrobert ' s last despatch is dated October 22 , and encloses a journal of the siege up to that date . The total loss of the French was 4 officers and 54 men kill e d , and 14 officers and 451 sub-officers and soldiers w o unded . He represents the difficulties to be contended with as of two kinds : — " Those which

      arise from the nature of the soil , the bed of earth , already insuffi c ient , gradually diminishing in depth a s we g e t nearer , and those which result from the number a nd c alibr e of th e pieces of artill e ry which the enemy opposes to us on a front which is nearly in a ri ght line and of very small extent . In this respect the resources which he draws from his vessels in port are , both in respect of men and material , almost inexhaustible ; while ours , although augmented by aids from the two fleets , are n e cess a ril y limited . Sixty-eight-pounders , howitzers throwing 80-pounder . s , and 12-inch mortars , are almost the only descriptions of artillery to which we have to reply . " This state of things renders the siege one of the most laborious operations which have for a long time beea met with . Canrobert reports the sanitary state of the ^ French army as satisfactory .

      French intelligence asserts that the fire of the besieged slackened on the 25 th , and their aim became more uncertain . This was supposed to arise from the employment of troops of the line instead of artillerymen . On the a 7 th the French were to enter a trench only 400 metres from the walls . In the night of the 28 th the Russians attacked some French batteries , and failed in an attempt to sp ike them . They were repulsed with loss . Up to tho 2 nd of November no general attack had been made upon Sebastopol . From 18 , 000 to 20 , 000 balls had been fired into the city every day . Up to the date of the last despatches the English had lost 400 men .

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      " An old soldior feeling his end approaching , and wishing to ( He like ft good Christian , sent for a clergyman to administer to liim the rites of the church . After having attentivel y listened to the exhortations of his confessor , and received extreme unction , he asked hi m with a feeble voice , ' Can you toll me , reverend father , if Sebastopol in taken ? ' Tho clergyman , astonished at such a question from a dy ing man , answered that as yet there was no positive account of its full . The sick man continued , ' Tho reason I ask the question ia , aa I am about to depart for tho other world , it would hiivo g iven me great satisfaction to bo able to announce tho good news to Marshal St . ArnaiuV At these words His head foil back on hia pillow , and after half an hour ' s suffering tho poor soldior breathed . Mb la&t . " A Constantinople letter says of Sebastopol : —

      . Tub Courrier de la Gironde t e lls th o foll ow ing p r e t ty story : —

      " Women and children are , paid to bo lying unburicd in the streets ; everything is nogleoted in order to keep iip tho defence Our artillerymen are being inaoU worn out by incessant toil . They are twelve hours out of tho twenty-four ia trenches , iimtotwl of the usual eight . Tho loss of effective strength from sickness and" wounds amounts * , in tho British force , to about eighty a day . " A letter from Constantinople , in th e Stdut Public of Lyons , gives tho following dotaila from Sebastopol : — " Tho persons in tho town have aiiffored proatly from

      want of water . TUe atone aqueduct which nupp liod tho iuhubUanttt was cut by out Holdior « at tho oonnnoncomuut of tlio siege , A curtiiiu number of women and children enme hovodiI times outuido tho walls to got water « t tho neighbouring Hiring . Our twldiorrt showed us much humanity tin bravery , « n ( . hoy often won !; thowhoIvcs to 1 ) 11 « . ho vowhuIb brought , by thorns unfortunnton The gfinoml-ln- « hlef , on learning thoHa fa <; tn , gavo order * to allow tho women to ndvunco every morning to tho springs at certain hours appointed . Oonoral Cnnrobort

      also infbnn » d the Governor of Sebastopol that he would leayaa-frea- passage to such women and children as mi ght wiafcito leave the town . Measures , however , were taken * to prevent the women from transmitting any intelli gence ? outside . These precautions were not uncalled foi-j as on one of them who was going to the south wasi found a letter concealed , addressed to the Greeks of Bajaklava , in which orders were given to burn , thetown and to destroy the stores of the allied army . That woman waa ; set at liberty after having been interrogated . " The following extract from the Paris correspondent of the B el gian I nde ' pendance , suggests that there is some bad blood between the Allies in the Crirnpa .

      "It is painful to say so , but the French vessels only suffered so ouch because the English ships were very much behindhand in coming into line . Our allies were , unfortunately , open to the reproach of having shown a ' similar tardiness on the occasion of the landing , which was , on account of their delay , postponed for three days —an irreparable loss of time , seeing that the object was to take the Russians by surprise . It was the same thing at the battle of the Alma . No one can for a moment doubt the courage of the English soldiers and sailors . The valour of the former was , moreover , heroically displayed at the battle of the Alma . The slowness of their movements is only to be attributed to their methodical habits , of which they cannot divest themselves even under the pressure of the exigencies of an active campaign . Unfortunately it is not said that the delay on the 17 th was susceptible of being so completely made up for as it was at Alma . "

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      Coolness of the Blue Jackets "under Fire . —The blue jackets showed all their ancient valour . Eight or nine men were swept away at a forecastle gun on boaid the Sanspareil by the exp losion o f a shell . The two remaining men coolly went on loading with their sponge and ramrod as though nothing had happened . Gallant Conduct of " The Queen . "—The order was to keep 1 , 200 yards of the forts , but the disengaged steamers , and at their head the splendid Aga m em n on , approached much nearer , and poured ha their shot and shell with unceasing activity . Thisexample wa , s followed b y th e Que e n , which was obli ged to > leave her place because two steamers came into her way , but ran down along the line and joined the detached steamers — a movement which the Agamemnon answered by a " Well-done * . Queen !"

      " A Coffin or Promotion . "—The Sanspareil , owing to her unwieldiness and the defects in herpropelling force , which fails always when most necessary , would have had a hard fate , had not the S hark , a tiny little steam-tug , which attends the Sanspareilas a p lanet does its sun * or the jackal its lio n , gone in and towed her out- The skill and courage displayed by the comma n d e r of this littl e cr aft , Mr . Halls , second m ate , excit e d general admiration . It was a striking practical illustration of the lion and the mouse , to see the little Shark help out the colossal Sanspareil , but at the same time it was a most gallant feat of seamanship . It is reported that Admiral Lyons sent in the commander of the Shark with the words' < Go in ; you will find there a coffin or your promotion . "

      Captaitt Mitchell and the Turkish Admiral . — " While I am relating to you the deeds done on th e day o f the bombard m ent , I cannot refrain from telling you . also a happy mot spoken the day afteT the action . Tho Turkish admiral sent his excuses to Captain Mitchell , of tho Queen , for having gone between his ship and the forts . Tho answer of Captain Mitchell -was , ' that he considered him to do his duty best who was nearest to the enemy . ' " Lor )) Dunhellin . —Lord Dunhellin was taken prisoner on the night of October 21 . Ho was out with an escort with ammunition and losfc his way . Seeing a body of men , h e went up to the m to a s k his way . Tho escort warned him that they were Russians ., but ho would not believe them . Tho escort was rig ht , and ho was taken . '

      Tub Death 01 ? Colonel Hood . —On the morning of tho 18 th , Colonel Hood went on duty in command of tho Grenadier Guards in the trenches . As he moved Irom a battery into tho trench , whi c h was at th a t p lace only two feet high , a round shot killed him . Puinch Edward op Saxh Weimak had been slightl y wounded on the l ' . ) th . JLord Haglan states that ho insisted upon remaining i n tho t r e n ches un til tho detachment to which he was attached was relieved at the usual hour . Tho wound ¦ was , howovor , not so severo as to prevent him from resuming his duty shortly afterwards .

      Russian Cant . —About noon to-day ( says a letter dated tho 22 nd ) , tho redoubt and Whito Tower batteries arc comp letel y silenced , but tho l < ussian& oponed from fresh batteries in tho rear of those works . They also opened ilro from a building which had long boon spared by our guns , because it had oit Ha front an inscription which marked it im u " ( Jciu .-ral Hospital . " That building had nil along boon n battery , which they saved from destruction by a

      Untitled Article

      1058 THE LEADER , [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 11, 1854, page 1058, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2064/page/2/