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WAK MISCF . LLANKA . Tiik Kinu oi- Sardinia hits conferred tho grand cross of the Military Order of Savoy on Marshal Polisuior , on General Simpson , and on ( Jonoral Delia Murmorn . l . Auui . Fuuncii Kkinkvuu'kmknts eontinuo to depart for tho Crimea . " On Sunday Ja . it , " say « tho fiKh ' jxiudaiH of St . Oiiut , " the division of CSuuoral Clmaticlou |> Laubat received orders to hold themselves in readiness to proceed to tho Crimea . Ts ' o sooner wns tho intelligence known at llclfitut than tlie soliliorn illuminated tho camp , lighted , / i-m . e drjoii ' , and assembling in their canteens , drank to tho hoaltli of the Emperor . A number of
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officers immediately waited on the General to express to him their joy , and tell him bow pleased they were to take the field under his command . The division consists of the 81 st , 44 th , 33 rd , and 69 th Regiments of the Line , and the 16 th battalion of Chasseurs of Vincennes . It is unquestionably one of the finest in- the army . " The Tchernay-a The banks of ttis river have been fortified in a formidable manner by the French . The Black Sea—The Oesterreichiscke Correspondent says that , at the request of the firm of Goprewich , France and England have allowed neutral vessels to carry on the corn trade in the Black Sea , under suitable reserves .
An American Surgeon , resident in Sebastopol during the siege , writes home to his friends an account of the interior . There is nothing in his statements of which we are not already informed ; but the spirit of the letter is curious . The writer evidently sympathises with the Russians ; and always says " we" and " our , " as if he felt himself fully identified with them . Nicholaieff . —The idea of creating a new steam navy at Nicholaieff to replace the Black Sea fleet , pompously announced by the Russian organs , seems likely to prove a failure , for it cannot remain a secret that the resources of the country are not of a nature to admit of ships of war being built with the celerity desirable .
There are no stores of dry and seasoned timber at Nicbolaieff suitable for ship-building . Whenever a stock is required , the Minister makes a contract with some favourite , or whoever pays him the most handsome bribe , who mak-es an advantageous sub-contract , and thus the affair may pass through the hands of ten or a dozen different persons , each of whom makes a pretty picking of a Government contract ; and when at length the timber is floated down the Dnieper from up the country , it is found to be quite green , full of sap , and generally cut at the wrong time of the year ; consequently , perfectly worthless , and totally unfit for immediate use . —Daily News Correspondent .
The Beard Movement en the Cbmea- —One of the Scots Greys , writing to his friends , says , " As for myself , I have got as much hair oh my face as would make a tidy door-mat ; there is no shaving here . " The same writer speaks of the " Jack Tars " as having their faces " as hairy as a badger . " General La Marmora ant > the Newspaper Correspondents . —An order of the day issued by the Sardinian Commander-in-Chief points oat certain alleged inconveniences arising from newspaper correspondents writing on the movements of the army , and threatens punishment to all military men or civilians who shall communicate with the press .
The Danubian PREsrciPALrnES . —The Austrians are , it appears , quitting the frontiers of "Wallachia , to take up their winter quarters in the towns in the interior . A letter in the Presse d'Orient states that they have recently received large supplies of munitions of war . Decline of the War Fever in St . Petersburg . — Since the departure of the court from St . Petersburg , great discontent at the progress of the war has been openly expressed . A feeling of gloom and depression is universal , and it is said that pamphlets of an anti-war tendency have been privately circulated . The peasants seek to escape the conscription , and soldiers are continually deserting . Such at least are the assertions of the St . Petersburg correspondent of the Paris Presse , to which the late repeated disasters of the Russian arms give great confirmation .
Health of the English Armt . — Recent reports from Dr . Hall exhibit a marked improvement in the health of the men , owing partly to the cessation of the arduous night duties , which , now that the town is in our hands , are not required . Cholera has nearly disappeared , and there is no increase in the other forms of bowel complaints . French Movements . —In the French camp , the principal movements executed by the troops are the following : — -The entire of the first corps , commanded by General de Salles , has marched into the plain , and taken up a position beyond Baidar . One division only of that corps has remained at Sebastopol . Tho head-quarters of the tirst corps are at Baidar . General M'Mahon , who has resumed his command , has descended with the third corps into tho valley of the Tchernayn , where he has established his head-quarters . The division of tho Imperial Guard has returned to its former encampment . —Latter
in the Presse W Orient . Fkicnoh Masons and Caupentkrs have left Lyons for Sebastopol , to assist in repairing tlio buildings . SiiHASToroL will evidently become the centre of operations in the Crimea . It is proposed to extend the railway to the interior of tho place . Mr . Beattie , the director of tho road , has been examining the ground through which the line might pass in the direction of Inker man . Tho Russian prisoners state that tho retreating garrison have thrown into tlio port five hundred or six hundred brass guns , and they oven mention we spot where they are immersed . Pi vow vrM bo employ ed to ascertain the correctness of the s ^ " ' '' with admiral * , wore desirous to know what eouM bo done , « Ith the sunken ships ; hut the result of the % *» %££ *** £ their orders convinced them that tho fleot « as l ^ J f for then and tho Russians . —Letter w the Journal ite ^* C ? St ?' A «» »™ lNTHNTroN- fl .-Tho Russian Mlnil' ; of War rriuco Dolgorouki , has been Informal
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October 13 , 1855 . ] THE LEADER . 975
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a superior officer , on whom reliance may be placed , the soldiers are all on half rations , and , having no more bread , are supplied with biscuit . Even on this fare they have not more than will last for a month . All the cavalry of Anatolia have been sent away for want of forage and the four squadrons of the troops of Arabistan which remain are obliged to go out every day and face the enemy ' s cavalry , and thus procure a little forage at the price of their blood . The army of Kars 13 now composed of about 10 , 000 men , who have received no pov for the last two years , and who are almost without ammunition , clothing , shoes , or military chest . There are with it scarcely any medical men worthy of the name , and no medicines of any kind , and yet the heroic feelings of these soldiers keep them firm to their post . It would be unpardonable for such men to be any longer abandoned . The Russians have lately received three pieces of heavy siege artillery ; they have eight others at Soubatan , a few leagues from Kars , and also expect some from Alexandropol . Their intention appears to be to do the unfortunate garrison of Kars the honour of a siege en regie . " The Journal de Constantinople publishes a report that a squadron of the African Chasseurs had been surrounded near Yeni-Kaldi by six Russian squadrons , but cut a passage through them with the loss of only fifteen men . Rifaat Pacha , the boarer of decorations of the order of Medjidie and magnificent arms sent by the Sultan to the Allied Generals-in-chief , has left for the Crimea . Kertch now appears to be the destination of the Anglo-Turkish contingent . A portion had actually sailed for Varna ; but counterorders caused them to return . The English officers are highly indignant at their forced inaction . The Russians seem to be concentrating a large body of men between Odessa and Nicholaieff . Along the Moldo-Wallachian frontiers , says a letter from Galatz , are now stationed the militia of the empire , who even occupy the fortresses of Bessarabia . The regiments which , shortly after the fall of Sebastopol , were proceeding to the Crimea , and were countermanded , are now again ordered to renew their march ; and reinforcements are constantly sent . The utmost activity , also , is visible at Sweaborg , which the Russians are making every effort to repair . The Baltic " season" is nearly over ; but we read j as follows in the MoniUur .- — j " In a letter addressed to the Minister of Marine , j under date of October 2 , off Nargen , Rear-Admiral Pdnaud , commanding the French naval forces in the Baltic , gives an account of an expedition made in the Gulf of Bothnia by the mixed corvette the D'Assas and the English steamers Tartar and Harrier . These three vessels have captured all the Russian vessels , to the number of eleven , anchored off Biorneborg , a small town situate on the Finnish coast . Among those vessels is a little paddle-wheel steamer , which is now employed ou tho blockade . Eight other vessels , discovered afterwards in the Fiords , have been also captured . This raises to 2500 tons the loss sustained on this occasion by the commerce of the enemy . " Further details continue to reach us of the fearful losses sustained by Russia on the memorable 8 th of September . In a despatch from General Gortschakoti ; the Russian Commander says : — " The general loss of the garrison on the 8 th of September was 4 superior officers , 55 subalterns , and 2025 men killed ; wounded , 26 superior officers , 200 subalterns , r > S 2 f > men ; contused , 9 superior officers , 38 subalterns , 1133 men ; missing , 24 officers and 17 W » men . " The Invulide liussc states that the Russians lost 1500 on August 17 th , and 10 ( 10 men per day on every day ; following up to September Mil . Among the officers killed were Generals Lyssenko , Bousscau , and j Jousseroff . Such is a pnrt , and only a part , of the price Russia has already li .-id to pay lor her criminal obstinacy ; and fur more will be yet exacted . A MiiliKKN srAUTAN . Tin ? following is an extract from o letter of an officer of the Light Division : — " Sobnntopol , Sept . 1 * . —By the way , I must give , you the history , in a few words , of a few hours in tho life of a hero , and , depend upon it , of a future great man if he lives . Ho is in the next regiment to us , and 1 have the detnilfl from n wounded sergeant of ours who lay next him during tho dny and night of tho 8 th . I allude to young Dunham Massy , ^ f the 10 th — 1 believe tho youngest ofilcer of the nrniy . lie is now known as ' Rodnn Massy , ' for there aro throe of the same name in tho regiment . This noble hoy , in tho absence of his cousin , led the Grenadier Company , and was about tho first man of the corps to jump into the ditch of the Rodan , waving his sword , and calling on his men , who nobly stood by him , till , loft for nearly two hours without nupport , and seized by n fear of " being blown up , they retired . Young Mnsny , borne along , endeavoured to disengage from tho crowd , and stood almost alone , facing round frequently to tho batteries , withhead erect , and with n calm , proud , disdainful cyo . Hundreds of shot were aimed at him , ami at last , when leading and climbing tho ditch , ho was ntmok and his thigh broken . Being the lant , ho was of course left there . Now , listen to this . Tho wounded annmd wore groaning , and some ovon loudly crying out . A voice called out , faintly at
first , loudly afterwards , ' Are you Queen Victoria ' s soldiers ? ' Some voices answered , 'I am ! I am !' ' Then , ' said the gallant boy , * let us not shame ourselves ; let us show those Russians that we can bear pain , as well as fight , like men . ' There was a silence as of death , and more than once he had it renewed by similar appeals . The unquailing spirit of that beardless boy ruled all around him . As evening came on , the Russians crept out of the Redan and plundered some of the wounded , at tlie same time showing kindness , and in some cases giving water . Men , with bayonets fixed , frequently came over the body of young Massy . One fellow took away his havresack . Sometimes he feigned death . At other times the pain of his wound would not permit him . A Russian officer , with a drawn sword , came to him and endeavoured to disengage the sword which the young hero still grasped . Seeing that resistance was in vain he gave it up . The Russian smiled gently and compassionately on him , fascinated , probably , by his youth , and by the bold , unfaltering glance which met hid . When the works of the Redan were blown up in the night by the retreating Russians the poor boy had his right leg fearfully crushed by a falling stone . He was found in the morning by some Highlanders , and brought to his regiment almost dead from loss of blood . Great was the joy of all at seeing him , as he was Hbout to be returned as ' killed' or ' missing . ' ' Dangerously wounded' was substituted , but he is now doing well . " ' 8 EUASTOPOI , IN RUINS . A young officer in the navy writes as follows to his relations : — " I have been to see Sebastopol ; and to describe the state of it is almost and , indeed , utterly impossible . It is a frightful den ; the last two bombardments have I made frightful havoc in the town ; it can only be com-! pared to a sieve , it is so riddled with shot and shell . The buildings look quite perfect from our batteries , but once near them you find them nothing but mere shells . Nothing remains of th « inside but confused piles of rubbish —no staircase , no floors—nothing remains except an unseemly mass , nor is there a single door or window to be seen in any of them . In walking through the town , wherever you could turn , nothing but dead bodies piled on top of each other met the eye , and a horrid stench saluted the nose ; and , what was more shocking still , there were casks filled with arms , legs , hands , toes , and fingers piled regularly away in heaps . But although this is the case with Sebastopol Proper , it is quite different with tlie batteries ; and , had the Russians half as many mortars as we had , we should never have seen , to a dead certainty , the inside of this stronghold , as the enemy would have been able to shell our men as fast as they came up . But I must give you an idea of the strength of this place . The batteries consist of a solid rock , with huge pieces of granite laid regularly , with enormous wet sandbags , one he : iiied above another to au incredible thickness . This was their parapet , with embrasures just large enough to allow their guns to protrude ; and behind tho < o parapets , and between each gun , were holes of sufficient size to hold from forty to fifty men comfortably , cut out of the rock , and huge trunks of trees laid transversely , with regular layers of sandbags piled up to the height of the parapets . When the fire became too hot for them , they used to leap into the holes , and , once there , they were comparatively safe . In each of these retreats they had regular cooking utensils and bedding , anil on th lcHat alarm they could rush out and run up their g-uns which bad been withdrawn ; and if any had been damaged they could dig up fresh ones , a . s they always had a reserve buried in the ground beside each gun , " of which they must have had an immense number , as a vast amount of broken guns lio beside each embrasure . When our men entered the Ucdan , they found a quantity of soup made of bread and meat . One of the men of our ship found a camp-kettle in the Redan , and brought it down to the ship , and we have tho pleasure of drinking Russian coffee , likewise brought from there . The reason why the French got into the MalakholV a <> cleverly was , the Russians were playing at cards at the time ; they were at once overpowered by the French , and lied by the Uedan , whore they received a murderous ) volley from our me » , and were attacked by a vast number " of bayonets , which left tho most of them dead ou the spot . Our men were repulsed three different times Ht the Uedan . Nor could the English and French together take it till it -was abandoned by the Russians , and . although our men succeeded in taking and entering it , the first moment they did so , a cry arose that the plnco was undermined , which so surprised and staggered our men that it was tho chief cause of their being repulsed .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 13, 1855, page 975, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2110/page/3/
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