THE SEA ATTACK.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 238, 10 February 1855, Page 3

THE SEA ATTACK.

( Continued from our last.) The firing soon became terrific. At the distance of six miles the sustained sound resembled that of a furious locomotive at full speed, hut, of course, the roar was infinitely grander. The day was a dead calm, so that the smoke hung heavily about both ships and batteries, and frequently prevented either side from seeing •anything. From about two till dark (nearly 6) the cannonade raged most furiously. Towards 4 o'clock, Fort Constantino, as well as some of the smaller batteries, slackened somewhat in their fire; but towards dusk, as some of the ships began to haul out, the Eussians returned to their guns, and the fire seemed as fierce as ever. There was one explosion just behind Fort Constantino, which appeared to do much damage. At dark all the ships returned to their anchorage. The change was magical from a hot sun, mist, smoke, explosions, shot, shell, rockets, and the roar of 10,000 guns—to a still, cool, brilliant starlight sky, looking down upon a glassy sea, reflecting in long tremulous lines the lights al the mastheads of the ships returning amid profound silence. What damage has been done to the forts we do not yet know. Three of our ships have been roughly handled, and the killed and wounded amount to 36 English killed, and upwards of 250 wounded. Lieutenant Chase of the Albion has fallen, and Lieutenant Lloyd, commanding the Vesuvius, and Mr. .Foster, midshipman on bo'aid the Sanspareil, are seriously wounded. No captains have been hit. The blue jackets showed all their ancient valour. Eight or nine men were swept away at a forecastle gun on board the Sanspareil by the explosion of a shell. The two remaining men coolly went on loading with their sponge and rammer, as though nothing had happened. The post has been delayed for a few hours, and I take advantage of this delay to re-open my letter, in order to give you some further particulars of the first bombardment of Sebastopol. The lashing of the steamers alongside the line-of-battle ships did very well; they answer the helm much better than if towed, and the steamers are exposed to less danger, being comparatively protected by their huge companions. Of course they could not escape entirely, but, with the exception of the Firebrand, which lost her jihboom, and suffered severely besides, none of the steamers were disabled, and every one was capable of taking her charge back again. The vessels, after being lashed, filed off in three lines, the Queen at the head of the right, the Britannia at the head of the middle, the delached steamers forming the extreme left. They steamed down as far as Quarantine Point, before they bore in. They were to have taken up their position, and have anchored at the places assigned to them, but, owing to the smoke, I suppose, which was perfectly blinding, or to some misunderstanding the French and Turks approached too far north, and consequently the intended line could not be kept. The most prominent feature was the smoke, and the detached steam squadron, composed of the Agamemnon, Sanspareil, Terrible, and Sampson, which lay in close enough. The Queen, which took up fora time a place among them, was obliged to retire, a red hot shot having set fire to her, but the Rodney, which arrived there more toward dark, remained without considerable injury to the last. It is owing to this close neighbourhood that the Agamemnon and Sanspareil lost so many men. A great disadvantage was, that the vessels approached only one after the other instead of advancing rather in a line, so as to commence firing about the same time. By approaching so gradually the ships which went later into action, could scarcely get a. momentary look at the fort at which they had to tire, much less obtain an estimate of the distance which they were off irom it. Moreover, the gradual approach of one vessel alter the other afforded the Russians the facility of concentrating the fire of their batteries on one vessel. The sight of the approaching squadron was one of the most imposiug which one could possibly witness. Some of the liners observed from the "starboard side, hid their tiny propellers so completely,'that tlie huge masses seem to move by themselves, [f this was the most imposing sijjht, the most exciting was that when the (irst gun was fired from the fort. It was as if au

electric spark was running through the crews. There was a perfect fury for firing, and the greatest difficulty was to make the men cease, us was at times necessary when one or another of the vessels was in the way. A great inconvenience in working the guns was experienced from the absence of so many men at the naval brigade, especially in the ships from which some of the superior officers had gone to the camp. Several of the liners could not work their upper deck guns in consequence. To-day is a day of rest. The Ville de Paris has been sent to Constantinople to be refitted. The following telegraphic despatch has been received by the Duke of Newcastle from our Ambassador at Turkey, which gives the intelligence several days later than anything that has reached this country in an authentic form by telegraph or otherwise; leaving however a hiatus between the news of the 23rd and 28th of October:—

October 28, at Midnight.—The captain of an English steam transport, which left Balaklava on the evening of the 26th, confirms in great measure the information brought this morning by a French ship, and transmitted immediately to London by way of Marseilles. . It appears that the Bussians attacked the forts in the vicinity of Balaklava on the 25th. There numbers are supposed to be about 30,000 men. The attack was unexpected. The Cossacks preceded the infantry. To resist them at first there were Ottoman troops and Scotch.

The Turks gave way and never spiked the guns which, seized by the Russians, were turned against them. The Scotch on the contrary, remained firm in their position.

Other forces arrived, and the Russians were obliged to yield the ground, remaining, nevertheless, masters of two forts, from which they fired upon our troops.

Three regiments of English light cavalry, exposed to the cross fire of the Russian batteries, suffered immensely.

The French took 'part in the affair with admirable bTavevv.

On the next flay their position was attacked by a body of 8,000 Russians, as well from the side of the town as from that of Balaklava. They repulsed the enemy with great slaughter. Generally the loss of the Russian must have been very great.

It is affirmed that the lire of the batterjes of the town hud much slackened, and, according to the report of wounded officers, some of whom have arrived at Bujukdere, the belief continued that Sebastopol would soon be in the hands of the allies.

This is nearly all which has been gathered from several persons who were eye-witness of what took place. The names of the killed and wounded are reserved for the official occasion. Among the names there is none of a general officer.

Stbatford de Redcliffe