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SbptbmBEB 16; 18SSO THE Ii B A 3> B B, 8...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Fall Of The Southern Half Of Sebastopol....
the Jionoursof . whieh is due to Generals Bosquet and ^ jS ^ hing is quiet on the Tchemaya , and we are vigilant theres " At eight o ' clock on the evening of the same day , the French General writes : — " This morning , I ascertained that the enemy has sunk his steamers . Their work of destruction continued under the fire of our shells . The explosion of mines successivel y ; and at different points makes it our duty to defer out entrance into the p lace , which presents the spectacle of an immense conflagration . " Closely pressed by our . fire , Prince Gortschakoff has demanded an armistice to carry away the remainder of the woraided near Fort St . Paul . The bridge , as a precautionary measure , has been broken down by his orders : "
Towards these great results , t h e French and English mortar-boats contributed . Admiral Bruat , writing on September 9 , at a quarter after ten in the morning , thus relates the operations of those vessels : — " A gale from the north ( on the 8 th ) kept the shi ps at anchor . The mortar-boats , to be enabled to fire , were obliged to enter Streletzka Bay . They fired six hundred shells against the Quarantine Bastion and Fort Alexander . The six . English mortar-boats , also at anchor in Streletzka Bay , fired about the same number of shells .
" To-day we ascertained that the Russian vessels had been sunk .. The bridge was covered with troops retreating to the" north side . After eight o ' clock , the bridge was destroyed . I approached this morning the Quarantine batteries on board- the Brandon , and ascertained myself that they are now evacuated . They have just blown , up . Our soldiers have left their trenches , and are spreading themselves in groups over the fortifications of the town , which seem to be totally deserted . " At eleven o ' clock on the ni ght of September 10 th ( Monday ) , General Pelissier wrote the subjoined : — " To-day , I have gone over the town of Sebastopol and its lines of defence . The imagination would strive in vain to realise the full extent of our victory : nothing short of actual inspection on the spot could supply an idea of the extent and multiplicity of the works and material means of defence , which very far surpass all
that is recorded in the history of war . " The capture of the MalakhofF , which compelled the enemy to fly before our eagles , three times victorious , has placed in the hands of the Allies immense establishments and material , the importance of which it is impossible yet to estimate precisely . u To-morrow ( Tuesday ) , the troops will enter the Karabelnaia suburb and the town . Under their protection , an Ang lo-French commission will take an account of the material abandoned to us by the enemy . " The despatches receivod from General Simpson and Admiral Lyons merel y confirm , in briefer form , the foregoing reports . Speaking of our unsuccessful attack on the Redan , General Simpson writes : — " The casualties , I regret to say , are somewhat heavv : no general officer killed . "
General Gortscbakoff , unable any longer to boast of a victory , accompanied by the loss of only one C ossack , thus communicates the particulars of his defeat in two separate despatches : — " Sept . 8 , 10 p . m . " The garrison , after sustaining an infernal fire , repulsed six assaults . It is found impossible to drive the enemy from the KornilefF ( the MalakhofF ) . Our brave troops , who resisted to the last extremity , are now retiring to the -north side of Sebastopol . " " Sept . 9 . " The retreat of the garrison to the north side has been effected with extraordinary success . Wo have not lost more than one hundred men on this occasion . Wo have only left five hundred wounded on the south side . "
The reader will of course understand that these losses refer only to the passage from th e o ne half of the town to tho other . For this oxploit , General Pelissier has been made a Marshal . A T e J Deum has been ordered at nil the places of worship in France . Tug news of the fall of the southern side of Sebastopol was known in London on tho afternoon of Monday . A tremendous rush , almost amounting to u ri o tou s distu r b a nce , took pluco at tho olllces of all tho evening papers ; and tho town was thrown into a . stMfeof tho utmost excitement and enthusiasm . Joy at too event overcaino the natural feeling of vexation
that our own countrymen cannot lay much claim to a sharo in tho final catastrophe . Groups of eager readers and talkers formed in the stroots ; the church bells were sot ringing ; tho houso of tho French ambassador at Albert Gato was illuminated ; and a general ferment of joy spread far and wide . At tho va r ious plac es of amusoment , tho news was announced from tho stage , amulst great shouting , and wa s followed by " Purlant pour la Syria" and " God save tho Quoon . " On tho following morning the 1 ark and Tower guns proolaluioil tho success of tho Allies as fur as tho wind would cany their report . It is needless to add that in tho provincial towns
in S c o tland and Ire land , and alliover France , the < same , amount of enthusiasm has been manifested . A list of kiUed and wounded among the officers has b e en forw a rded by General Simpsons Some of titie most noticeable points in this return are thus summarised in the Globe- — "It would appear from the list of casualties among the oflicerB , that the brunt of the fighting at . the Redan fell upon the Second : and Light Divisions , commanded by Generals Markham and Codrington , and portions of Spencer ' s Brigade of the 4 th , and Horn ' s Brigade of the Highland Division . The First Division , composed of the Guards , with the 9 th , 13 tb , 31 st , and 56 th Regimentsi were not engaged . The first Brigade of the
Hi ghland Division was up at the Tehernaya -r the Third Division appears to have been- out of fire ; and Garrett ' s Bri gade , the second of the Fourth Division , also presents no casualty among its officers . The contest was thus apparently carried on by a force equalto about three divisions , or one-half thestrength of our infantry then before Sebastopol . The list of killed ¦ ¦ ntsmbersj 26 officers , and , with the exception-of three officeiw of the 90 th Light Infantry ( now attached to the Highland Division ) , they all belong to the Second and Light Division , which , as at Alma , Inkerman , and the
Quarries , and throughout the siege operations , maintain their sad but glorious pre-eminence in the list of the slain . The two brigadiers of the Light Division , Van Straubenzee and Shirley , are wounded slightly , as well as one brigadier of the Second Division , Warren and his aidede-camp . ... 113 officers axe wounded , and 1 is > missing . Of the 113 wounded , 17 are dangerously , 55 severely , and 41 slightly . At the Alma , we lost pre- cisely the samenumber in killed , with 73 wounded ; at Inkerman , the numbers were 43 killed and 101 wounded . "
L e J Y ord , bound to make out the best case under every possible circumstances , says that the evacuation of South Sebastopol exhibits in Prince GortschakofF " the energy of a great commander , " g ives to the army " that unity of movement and action which until now it has wanted , " and " p laces it in a position ^ whieh enables its General to command the situation ! " ( I ) It is a happy temperament which allows of all defeats being regarded as victories . The Methodist in the farce " liked to be despised : " Russia likes to be defeated .
EVACUATION OF PETROPAOXOVSKI . The Allied squadrons which sailed in the early part of the year , in order to make a second attack upon Petropaulovski , have been disappointed in their expected revenge . In ~ the early part of last May , the fleet appeared before the town ; but , to their great surprise , they found an American , instead of a Russian , flag flying from the walls , and a strange silence and appearance of desertion about the place . On landing , the officers found that the town had been evacuated , and that the only human beings left were two or three Americans and a runaway French sailor . They were informed by these that orders had come from Siberia for the removal of the Russian troops to the garrison at the
mouth of tho Amoor ( or Amur ) river , on the northern borders of China , and that the inhabitants had fled to the village of Avatscha , some miles distant . Two English steamers , the Barracouta , Captain Parker , and the Encounter , Captain O'Callaghan , were ordered from China in the course of last winter to watch the movements of the enemy at Petropaulovski , and during the spring they lay off the coast about sixty miles from that place ; yet , notwithstanding the orders they had received to keep an eye on the Russian garrison , every man . woman , and child ( amounting in all to 1200 ) contrived on the 17 th of April to embark on board the Aurora , the Dwina ,
and four merchantmen ( three of which were American whalers ) , and to escape with all their stores and ammunition to tho Amoor river . The thickness of the weather , owing to snow and fogs , is alleged as the excuse for this extraordinary result . Tho Kussiuu ships , however , passed close to the English , and had a narrow escape . A few days after the evacuation of the place , a Russian Admiral arrived there in a small sloop or lugger , with one hundred and fifty men . On learning tho state of affairs , ho too proceeded to tho Ainoor , escap ing with equal good fortune , owing to tho fog , and to his . hugging the const .
It would seem that the Russians did not ori ginally contemplate thin evacuution ; for , after our repulse last September , it was determined to strengthen the ibrfcificar tiona of Petropaulovuki . This waa in fact executed ; and thouo wor « ovidance $ of fifty-one guus , of tho heaviest calibre , having been mounted in the umbniauxeu . Those ounnou , unless they w « ro carried uway to tho Amoor rivor , havo probably boon buried . Tho AUicn , diuappointed in thuir hope of a successful contest with the enemy , burnt tho arsenal *) , muguzinots &¦« . ( which wuro principally frame buildings ) , together with any Government property that could bo louud . The fortifications were likewise destroyed ; but th « private dwellings were roHjpectod . A fence wua then erected round tho gravea of Admiral Price and tho Engliuh and French who were killed in tho provjoun attack .
A correspondent of tho t iatt Francisco Herald gives tho following account of tho Russian naval forco in tho Amoor : — " Tho Rusuian whips of war aro now all collouted in tho Amoor , and conaiat of tho following : —Tho
•^^^^ m ^ mmmmm ^ mm ^^^ mmmmmmmammmm ^ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ^ frigates Pallas and Aurora , the * corvette Dwina ; two steamships , and a few transports . It ' is believed that they have all been partly disarmed and conveyed as high tip the river as possible , so as to be p laced beyond the reach of the guns of the Allied squadrons . Tha mouth of the Amoor is defended by strong forts ; and garrisoned by from 8000 to 10 , 000 men . Reinforee' - mehts are constantly coming down the river from Siberia . " The Barracouta and . the Encounter had proceeded to the mouth of the Amoor at the date of the last intelligence ; and it was expected that by the 15 th of July the English and French divisions on the China . station , ; forming a collective force of twenty vessels , including 1 , seven large war steamers , would have arrived at the same spot- The correspondent from whom we nave just .
quoted has the following : — " The Allied forces , including the French frigates Forte and Alceste , with the corvette Eurydice and the British line-of-battle ship Monarch , the frigates President and Dido , and the screw steamer Brisk , have gone to the Russian settlements in . the-Aleutian Islands and to Kodiak . They will pick up any Russian trading-vessels that they may meet with . They will afterwards look in at Sitka . If there are any Russian ships ^ of-war there , they will assail the place and try to cut them out ; if not , they will respect iti unless provoked by the Russians opening the first fire . Sitka is placed beyond the sphere of hostilities by an agreement between the English and Russian companies which their respective Governments have sanctioned . The French do not deem themselves bound by this agreement . "
Later accounts state that the Allied fleet has visited Sitka ; but , upon being satisfied that no vessels of war were in the harbour , the place was left unmolested . The chief business of the town is in the hands of a Russian American company , who supply the Californians with ice for their " sherry cobblers ; " but the trade hitherto carried on between Sitka and the Aleutian Islands and other p laces in Okhotsk has been greatly injured by the blockade established by our fleet . The Russian posseflrsions in that direction are said to be suffering from want of provisions .
The Times Californian Correspondent remarks : — " Recurring to the affair of last autumn at Petropaulovski , we have now undoubted information that the Russians were reduced to a few pounds of powder , the two vessels Aurora and Dwina , which were moored across the entrance and drawn up as batteries , having been reduced to just sufficient for one broadside , and the garrison to about the same extremity ; that a train was aid under the vessels to blow them up , and a man in readiness with a fuse to apply it ; and , finally , that the flag on the batteries would have been Struck as soon as the vessels were destroyed , and the garrison would then have surrendered . All this would have been accomplished if the Allied fleet had not unluckily hauled off a little too soon . "
It seems probable that Petropaulovski will not be capable of being turned to any further account by the Russians ; but they have exchanged for it a fortification which bids fair to be much more formidable , and which has already been described as " the new Sebastopol . " A bar extends over the mouth of the Amoor , which is never covered by any greater depth of water than thirteen feet ; so that our ships will not be able to ride over , as the fire of tb * batteries will prevent out adopting an expedient resorted to by the Russians , who took out the guns and discharged everything from their men-ofwar , which , being thus lightened , were floated over the obstruction into deep water . The vessels were then formed into a Sort of battery , and the guns were replaced . Tho distance from the fortifications at the outside of the bar is said to be too great for our fleet to operate on them .
In a paper read in March last before the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec , wo find tho Russian fortresses at tho mouth of tho Amoor thus described : — " Within the lost eighteen months , the Russians have availed themselves of their possession of tho mouth of the magnificent river Amoor ( whfch they have obtained by taking advantage of tho present troub ? es in China ) to transport a large number of heavy guns , and an immense quantity of other munitions of war , from , the interior of Siberia to tho Pacific , and thence to their ports in America . By this' now seizure of territory from China , and tho consequent acquisition of tho entire navigation of tho Amoor , upon which they have already placed several steamboats , tho Russians havo been able to secure a splendid naval harbour , and to , establish a
depot qw « TUke and other supplies upon tho shores of the Pacific , in a climate which admits of navigation during the whole winter , within reach of tho great araenals and manufactories of Siberia , and of tho great line of communication running through tho latter to th « weHt , and , theroforo , of tho wholo rcHourcos of tho emp ire , and alwo of their poascssioiiM in America , vjy which the latter have become of fur nioro inti > ortuuco to . thorn , and far more formidable to thoir onoi » i «» - un J " Eng land and Franco hIiiiU maintain » "" f " numerous fleet in tho Paci / lc , to capture or W «« "g ? ""> coaat of Ruaaian America , or to capture tho now Sobastopol , which » a fl » t rifling in ollbnalve , * w ^ "X ? att £ five , Btrcngth at tho mouth of tho Amoor , * ° Jj « £ will 00 utltute tho mo » t powerful ^ 'W ^ Sfh Sb ^ inff tho former ; and , the iron ami cordage of Sibona bong
Sbptbmbeb 16; 18sso The Ii B A 3> B B, 8...
SbptbmBEB 16 ; 18 SSO THE Ii B A 3 > B B , 879
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1855, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15091855/page/3/
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