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Leader (1850-1860), 8th September 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 855, Untitled Article

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      learn that it is expected tht ^ RuBsians _ wiU be com pVlled to act mrain on the offensive . Kadikoi is en tirelv " ' destroyed by fire . The camp at Maslak continues to supply lar # bodies of French soldiers-from the Crimea ; but i continually receives fresh troops from France . Th < brigade of General Sol- is'to leave . ¦ Gunboats of the Allies having appeared at th < mouth of the Danube , the Russians have forbiddei the navigation of that river to neutral vessels Intelligence from- Odessa- states that thousands o Russians were busy in fbrtifying and intercepting the passes communicating ; with the Putrid Sea . The Anglo-Turkish contingent was , on the 23 rd o August , ready to embark , awaiting , only the Englisl : Foreign I * egion . The steamer Lady Jocelyn it aground off Scutari . Alt the English gunboats in the Baltic which arc unfit for service have received orders , by the Basilisk , to proceed home , towed by tho Magicienne . They have left Hel-ingfors . general la Marmora ' s account of the battle ob the tchernaya . Tlie-following extracts from the Sardinian General ' s report to General Simpson will be read with interest : — "' Upon receiving the report of Colonel Dessaint , attached to the French head-quarters , which you were good enough to communicate to me on the evening of the day before yesterday , and by which we were led to expect very shortly an attack on the line of the Tche . naya , I at once gave orders that my troops should be under arms yesterday morning at an earlier hour than ttsu 1 . "At break of day , our outposts stationed on the Mamelon which commands Tchorgoun were enveloped in a well-sustained fire of artillery , which proceeded from' three batteries posted opposite to the breastworks by which our outposts were covered , and on the two Mamelons further to the right , which form the two banks of the Souliou . They were at the same time vigorously charged by three Russian columns , which came on with fixed bayonets , and attacked our breastworks in front and rear . The men composing these columns carried bidders with them , to scale the parapets . The preconcerted signal of alarm was immediately given ; and the troops took up the positions which had been assigned to them in anticipation of this attack . ... 41 Attacked in the rear by the enemy ' s artillery , and charged by three columns of infantry , the outposts , after an hour ' s firing , fell back , the reinforcements I had sent to them greatly facilitating their retreat . " In the me ntime , the Russians had stationed fresh batteries near the centre of their position , and had opened a most effective fire of artillery on the tete-depont at Traktir , and on the French positions on our left . A column of infantry , under cover of this fire , attacked the Mamelon which formed the extreme right of General d'Herbillon ' s division . This first column had crossed the Tchernaya , and surmounted the steep aacent of the Mamelon in spite of the fire of the tirailleurs , when it was vigorously attacked by the French troops in sup port , and hurled back , broken and disordered , into the Tchernaya . "As I considered , from the subsequent dispositions of tho enemy ' s forces , that he only intended to make a demonstration of artillery before our position , while he concentrated his infantry chiefly on the extreme right of the Third Division ( Faucher ' s ) , on which point a second column was now advancing , I ordered a portion of my 5 th Brigade , under the command of General Mai lard , to march to the support of the right wing of the Frenoh , and I posted two of our batteries in a position from' whence they could maintain an oblique fire upon the Russians . At the same time , I requested the English cavalry to move down into tho plain to bo in readiness to charge . I had given similar orders to my own cavalry . ... " Tho enemy , repulsed at all points , commenced his retreat . Orro column , which appeared to me to consist of a division , retreated by the valley of the Souliou . Another division , the one which had attacked oar outposts and the French right in the morning , fell back upon tho zigzag M / unclon ; while a third division followed tho road which loads to Mackenzie ' s Farm . . . . " Later in the day , 1 crossed the Tohornnyn with four Hquadronfl , and marching in a parallel lino with tho KUjZttg Mamolon , enmo upon the old Kunsiun redoubt , whence I could easily discern , at a littlo distance before ub , a very lino array of regular cavalry , supported by horso nrtillery . It was distributed in twelve separate bodies , and must have been composed of at least fifty squadrons . This cavalry did not ; fall back on Mackenzie ' s road till tho whole of tho infantry and artillery had ( fleeted their rotroat . " The loaeos sustained by our troops , a portion only of ¦ whom was engaged , wuh very inconsiderable . They amount to about two hundred men plaocd lior . i < fo combat ; and I impute tho fact of our not having lost more men mainly to tho works-with whioh wo fortified our position , and to the batteries of honvy guns which you wore so obliging an to lend us for thoir defence . It ia , however , my painful duty to , announce to your Kxoollency that Count MontOvecchio , tho general commanding tho Fourth ¦

      - Brigade * is < mortally wounded- ; a bail passed throng - ills chest . " * ROOT AT"THE- TeHfiRNAYA . b A French officer gives the following particulars of to t last Russian-reverse : — 3 ' " The victory of the 16 th is much more iinportan than was at first supposed . The Russians have ' not ' lei e than 8500 hors de combat . They left 30 OO dead ! on th 1 ! field . Our loss is' now ascertained correctly ; we ' him 1250 , 87 of whom are ' officers , hors de contbat ^ and- it f Sardinians have , it is said , not more tlian from 300 t ? : 400 . " We have ascertained from the prisoners-that at th f council of war held on the 13 th on-the HeigW-Sof Inkei 1 man it was decided that an attempt should be made t ' force our position between the Tcfiernaya-and the Sa poune , and to cut off the siege works from the roai i" body . It is said that several generals , attd especial !; > Osten-Sacken , were opposed to this plan , but the chi « of the staff , General Kotzebue , demonstrated' ther ad vaDtage of the operation "At two a . m ., the Russians ; taken irt flank , ana < cu to pieces by our field artillery , which General Lebeu . had placed at a short distance from the bridges ^ eWa blished by the Russians on the Tchernaya . were itt > ful retreat , still galled by our artillery and-by the rollinj fire of musketry from our infantry and the Zouaves The scene at that moment was one of awful confusion It was in vain that the Russian generals made the mos desperate attempts to stay and rally the tbousandB » wh < were wildly flying ; the Russian soldiers * panics-stricken under the influence of terror opened for themselves i passage through the battalions , decimated and- falling by hundreds under the fire of two batteries of tfie Im > perial Guard and two English batteries established ot the heights which command Tchergoun . The bridge , which was far tob narrow for the heavy , compact mas * which rushed to it , became the scene of the most frightful confusion . The cavalry , equally terrified , spurred their horses into the very midst of the wretched fugitives , and trampled them under foot , without regard to tht dying and mutilated , who lay in heaps under them The waters of the Tchernaya , red with gore , bore along a crowd of carcases . Rafts had been hastily put together to facilitate the retreat of the Russians . Our men profited by them , and dashed along in pursuit of the flying foe . It was then that a considerable number of prisoners was made ; and up to this- moment I have counted 1800 . Over an extent of eight kilometres the ground was strewn with dead bodies , with the mutilated and the dying . " GENERAL I >' HERBILLON SURPRISED . THE RUSSIANS KIRINO ON THEIR own MEN . Some surprise has been excited by the compllmeuta paid by General Pelissier to General d'Herbillon ( after the action on the Tchernaya ) , seeing that the latter allowed himself to be surprised—for one can call it nothing else , since the round shot sounded the riveil of the French , and that the Russians were already on the brow of the hill when the artillery horses were still fastened to the picket ropes , unharnessed . The fact is , the soldiers extricated the old gentleman from a very unpleasant fix—a very common circumstance in this war , in which the chiefs almost invariably perpetrate gigantic absurdities , to be atoned for by the gallantry and blood of their men . General d'Herbillon has the reputation in the French army of being a " vieux bunhomme , " or , in other words , a jolly old dog , whom bad luck waits upon in all his enterprises : in this instance fortune seems to have had pity upon him . . . . It is , by-the-by ; positively asserted by a great number of French officers that the Russians fired grape upon their own men , who were running back after their repulse on the heights . They state that they distinctly saw guns in the rear fired , and tho grape-shot throw up amongst thefugitivos those well-known little puffs , of dust which it raises where it strikes . Although I saw pretty clearly everything that passed , I can say nothing in this matter , except that I remember noticing some guns fired , which were apparently far out of tho French range , and wondering wha . t it meant . — Daily Netvs Correspondent , 1 M , UNI > EMNO THE DEAD AND THE LIVING . Tho following General Ordor has been issued at tho camp . Wo are sorry to find that there has been any necessity for it : — " Head-Quart or « before ttebnslopol , Aug . 20 < 1805 . " Tho great want of consideration shown by , oilicora and other persons attached to this army in visiting tho scene of a recent action , ami plundering the dead , or purchasing plunder from others , has been the subject of grave remonstrance on the part of our allies . All property whatever on tho field belongs to tho victorious nation ; to appropriate ) anything is dishonest—to purchase from those who have done ho is to oncourng © their dishonesty , and to share thoir guilt . The Commander of the Force * hopes that this caution will be sufficient to deter those to whom it is addressed from a repetition of such thoug-htloBs conduct . Followers of tho army are reminded that they are ainanablu'to its rules and ' discipline . The police and provosts will in future receive orders to punish offenders on those occasions in the most summary manner . " An outrage of a less indecent kiild , yet Indicating the Later accounts wtate that tho Count is recovering .

      . hi ' -existence in the army of an element which we regret to ¦ observe , is thus alluded to in another General Order : < - — " The ^ Commander of the Forces regrets that he has iei to notice in terms of marked displeasure an outrage that was committed on the 17 th inst ., in the camp of the it . Fourth Division , the perpetrators of which , to the dte-5 s ; credit of the army , are still undiscovered . A number of ie : solaiers , assembled under pretence of pursuing a supposed > e spy , destroyed the tent of a canteen keeper , plundered Le its contents , including a considerable sum of money , and loi escaped in the darkness . By the Articles of War , the punishment of such acrime is a disgraceful death . The ie ! soldiers of this army have met their enemies nobly ib - the field—they have endured hardship and danger with o ! admirable fortitude . Let them not forfeit ? their high t- i character by reckless disorders in camp , or by such disn > creditable breaches of discipline as that now published . " y BURIAL OF THE DEAD AFTER THE ACTION OF THE 16 THf . if The Monitear publishes the following correspondence ¦ - ¦ between the French and Russian generals . It is gratifying lo find the horrors of war softened by the intert- change of those courtesies which are expected between ¦ f ; gentlemen , and still moreby acts of genuine humanity . li "' General Pelissier to Prince Gortschaloff . " Head-quarters before Sebastopol , Aug . 16 . j *' , " Monsieur Ie General-en-Chef , — I hasten to forward to your Excellency a pocket-book , containing money and ' a letter , which , on examination , were found to belong to 'General Read , commander of a corps of the Russian 5 army . I have reason to believe that the body of that ' 'general officer remains on the field of battle , and orders * . have been given to make a strict search for it . —I » ' have ; &c , " Pelissier . " i " Prince GortsGhakoff to General Pelissier . " Sebastopol , Aug . 7 ( 19 ) . j " Monsieur Ie Commandant-en-Chef , — I have th * - honour to acknowledge your Excellency ' s communil cation of the 16 th of August , with the pocket-book , con-, taining money and a letter belonging to General Read . i I publicly acknowledge an act of so much courtesy , and , the generous solicitude which induced your Excellency to order a search for the body of that general officer . — Accept my thanks and the renewed expression of my ¦ high consideration . " Michel Gortbchakoff . " " General Pelissier to Prince Gortschal-off . " Head-quarters before Sebastopol , Aug . 17 . " Monsieur Ie Ge ' ne ' ral-en-Chef , —We have carried off all the wounded on both sides of the Tchernaya within our reach ; the batteries at Mackenzie continue to fire upon our advanced posts , and we cannot continue our ¦ work towards those of your men who still lie on the field of battle . I bring this fact to your Excellency ' s knowledge , that no one may have the right to say we left wounded men uncared for oe dead men without burial . —I am , &c , " PfctissiER . " " General Pelissier to Prince Gortschakoff . " Head-quarters before Sebastopol , Aug . 18 . ( t Monsieur Ie Gdneral-en-Chef , —I hasten to inform you that your despatch dated yesterday has just reached me . Without a moment ' s loss of time I telegraphed to the General in command on the Tchernaya to hoist the flag of truce immediately , and to keep it up till eight p . m ., if necessary , to enable you to carry out your intentions . Their realisation may be somewhat late , for , as I have already had the honour of informing you , we did all we could , despite the merciless live of some of your cannon , to give succour to your wounded and to bury your dead . 1 have not yet a return of the latter taken away by us ; but , up to the present , 38 officers and' 1620 noncommissioned officers and men are under treatment in the ambulances of tlie French army . —I am , Ac , " PtewssiKB . " " Princo Gortschakoff to General PdUaier . " Sebastopol , Aug . 7 ( 19 ) . " Monsieur lo Commandant-en-Chef , — 1 have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency ^ communications of the 17 th and 18 th inst . I beg of your Excellency to receive my best thanks for the care bestowed upon our wounded 5 but at the saino time I muet inform you that the officers in command of the Mackenzie batteries have declared to mo that they did not fire upon your advanced posts on the Tchernay * until the French sharpshooter * , d «» pitc the energotio efforts of their officers , fired upon some of our men , who , after the battle , had proceeded to th « banks of the river to carry away their wounded and dead from the scene of action . It in impossible to say which party fired first . Tho commander * of the advanced posts cannot disobey their general orders do fire on the enemy } without special counter-ordcra . Tho Commanders-m-Ohiof have alone tho power of ulleviuting by exceptional measure * tho needles suffering * entailed by war , and'I am happy in rendering that justice U > your J . xccllonoy that you do everything in your j > om . r to modify them .-l am , &c , ^ ^^ floBwolMK « w . » mod A * n « ou .,. ««« or ™ SKS ^ SSS' - * The Conslitvtionnd publishes tl » £ " ° *™ r th < 3 baUW a letter , written by a chief of batwhow after ot the 1 ( 5 th ulU : — i ) OhOld iho wretch *)" cOrt * « Y 6 u would be surprised to boho '" sWrgcOn < -mttjkw dltton -of the ««« f ' " ^ JSr w « imded , and I SAW attended upwards of fifty ot " » w

      Untitled Article

      . % September 8 , 186 g . ] THE LEADER , 855

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 8, 1855, page 855, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2105/page/3/