EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 247, 14 March 1855, Page 3

EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.

BATTLE OF INKERMANE. \From the London Gazette Extraordinary^ Despatch Fnoii Field-Marshal Lord , R/kGLAST. Before Sebastopol, Nov. 8, 1855. ATv Lord Duke,—lhave the honor to report your' Grace that the army under my com\L\ powerfully aided by the corps of obsert m of the French army under the command f that distinguished .officer General Bosquet, Factually repulsed and defeated a most vigorsand determined attack of, the enemy on our ilsi'tion overlooking the ruins of Inkerraane on he morning of the sth inst. In my letter to your Grace of the 3rd r lin,nne(l you that "the enemy had, considerably ic reased their force in'the valley of Tchernaya. 'he following day this augmentation was fur-. !,er apparent, and large masses of troops had vidently arrived from the northward^ and on m several occasions persons of distinguished ank were observed to join the Russian camp. 1 have subsequently learned that the 4th orps d'armee, conveyed in carriages of the ountiy, and in the lightest possible order, had ieen brought from Moldavia; and were inomeHately followed by the third corps. It. was, herefore, to be expected .that an extensive iiovement would not be long deferred. Protected by a tremendous fire of shot, shell, ,nd ,<nape, the Russian columns advanced in [teat force, requiring every effort of gallantry 'n the part of our troops to resist therm At this im'e two battalions of French infantry; which ad on the; first notice been sent by General: Josquet, joined our right, and very materially ontributed to the successful, resistance of the ttack, cheering with our men; and charging he enemy down the hill with great loss.: About he same time, a determined assault was made n our extreme left, and for a moment the netny possessed themselves of four of our guns, hree of which were retaken by the 88th regi[iment, while the fourth was speedily retaken. i/ the 77th regiment, under Lieut. Col. Egerton; ,n the opposite direction, the brigadeofGuards, inder his Royal Highness the Duke of Camridge, was engaged .in a severe;conflict. / ..■"■'• ■-'-. The enetnyi under the cover of thick brushwood, advanced in two heavy bodies, and asaultedwithgreat determination asmallredoubtjv diichhad been constructed 'for two guns; but m not armed. The combat was most arduous, nd the brigade, after displaying the utmost teadiness and gallantry, was obliged to retreat efore very superior numbers, imtil supported by . wing of the 20th regiment of the 4th division, rhen they again advanced, and retook the rejoubt. This ground was afterwards occupied ii gallant style by French troops, aud the Guards peedily re-formed in the rear of the right flank »1 the 2nd division. Accordingly, shortly before daylight on the ith, strong columns of the enemy came up upon be advanced picquets, covering the right of the nposition. These picquets behaved with admirable gallantry, defending the ground foot by oot against tlie overpowering numbers of the *emy, until the 2nd division, under Majorjeueml Penefather;with field guns, which bad: ramechatelv been got: under arms, was placed "position. The light division, under Lieut. Gen. I'll, J3rown ' was also brought to the front 'tii"ut loss of time, the Ist Brigade, under Codrington^ occupying the long '°pcs to the left towavd^ebastopo'l, and pro*cUng ourright batterylin®pfdßftf against Brh, r'" S atsides andUh^»|biri||le, under B»gad,er Buller, formio^ri^htisilf the2nd gS'^ffh tbf 82%WW&l»r Lieut, Jeffrey, throwiM.i^draiwi^ ies ,I,'' lg£ ,° f Guilrds;uniti^i^R o fal HighBe, tit Duke' of c^spa«to^or-Gk look 1 !"' o(: eeded hk6^ilfe|^t:the :lront and i"ht nn'?i° !! nPorta^W3>^ihe extreme iepiS^i » ah*? mei%^p«*i«sion, but [»vi c LT ," by Wfe^^precipitous Benenl S- / he 4lh^i«sid^yimaer Lieut. *m.rht,i„ f Ge"r? e'Pa^ca^lhaving been lie from „ i' 01" to': ><* to t lfi, fioldie, proceed-. lierii o?1t 1' BrS lld^-<J^era)yTorrens, to »»n,Snder ' *Tn °a^MmM 3rd divi- ! ' ' l»rt s«PPortedtheirg^«iion by two

regiments under,Brigadier-General Sir J. Campbell, while Brigade General Eyre held the command of the troops from the trenches. The morning was extremely dark, with a drizzling rain, rendering it almost impossible to. discover anythingbeyond the flash and smoke of artillery and heavy musketry fire. It, .however, soon became evident that .the enemy j under cover of a vast clond of skirmishers, supported by dense columns of infautry, had advanced numerous batteries of large calibre to the high ground to the left and front of the 2nd division, while powerful, columns of infantry batteries of heavy artillery were placed by the enemy on ; the ■ slopes to our left; the guns in the field amounting in the whole to 90' piece's, independently, however, of /the ship guns, and those in the works of Sebastopol. : > In the meantime, Lieut. Sir George Cathcart. with a few companies of the 68th: Regt.,considering that he might make a.strong impression by descending, into the valley, and; taking the enemy in the flank, moved rapidly forward ; but; finding the heights above theni in full occupation of the Russians, he suddenly discovered that he was en tan gled wi th a superior, force, and ; while attempting to withdraw his men he received a mortal wound, shortly afterward which Brigadier General Torreiis, when leading the 61th, was likewise "severely wounded. Subsequently to this the battle continued with unabated vigour, and with ho positive, result, the enemy, bringing upon our line the' fire of all their, field,batteries, with great vigour. Having submitted to, your grace this imperfect description of this most severe battle, I have still two duties to discharge—the one most gratify ing, the last most painful to my feelings. I have the greatest satisfaction in drawing your Grace's attention to the brilliant conduct of the allied troops.: The French and English vied, with each other in displaying their gallantry and manifesting their zealous devotion/to,duty,;notwithstanding that they had to contend iagainst an infinitely- superior force, and were exposed for many hours, to amost galling fire. It shouldi be borne; in mind that they have daily for several weeks under gone the must constant labonr and that many of them passed the previous night in the trenches. I will not attempt to enter into the detaU of the movements of the French troops lest I should.not:state them correctly; but lam ; proud of the opportunity of bearing testimony to their valour and: energetic services, and of paying a tribute of admiration to the distingnishedcondiictof theirimmediate commander General Bosquet; whilst it is in the highest degree pleasing to me to place upon record my deep sense of the valuable assistance I received from the commander-in-chief General Canrobert, who - was himself on the ground, and in constant communication with me, and whose cordial co-operation on all occasions I cannot too highly extol. Your Grace will recollect that he was wounded at the' Alma: he was again wounded on the sth, but I should hopehe will not long feel the effects of it. I will in a: subsequent dispatch lay before your Grace the names of the officers whose services have been brought to my notice. I will not detain the mail for that purpose now, but I cannot delay to report the admirable behaviour of Lieut. General Sir George Browne, who -was unfortunately shot through the arm, but is doing well: of Lieut. General his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, who particularly distinguished him--self; and of Major General Pennefather,in command of the secoud division, which received'the first attack, and gallantly maintained itself under the' greatest difficulties throughout this protracted conflict; of Major General Bentinck, who is severely wounded: Major-General Codrington, Brigadier General Adams, and Brigadier General Torrens, who are severely wounded, and Brigadier General Buller, who is also wounded, but not so severely. 1, must likewise express my obligation to Lieutenant-General Sir 11. England for the excellent disposition he made of his division aud the assistance he rendered to the left of the light division, where Brigadier-General Sir J. Campbell was judiciously placed, and effectually supported Mnjor-General Codrington ; and I have great pleasure in stating that Bri-gadier-General Eyre was - employed in the important duty of guarding the trenches from any assault from the town. Lieutenant-General Sir de Lacy Evans, who had been obliged by severe indisposition to go .-pivi board/ship ;a yfew'days previously, left his; bed as, soon as he received intelligehceyoLthe attack; 'n andvvyas ■, promptly \ at his post: XjxMX

though he did not feel well enough to take the command of the division out of the hands of -Major-General Pennefather, be did not fail to give him the best advice and assistance.. # It is deeply distressing to have to submit to your Grace the list of killed; wounded and missing on this memorable occasion. It is indeed heavy; and very many; valuable y officers ( and men have been lost to her Majesty's service., Among; the killed, your Grace will the names of Lieuteuant-General theTHohprable ■ Sir George Cathcart,;Brigadier-General Strangways, and Brigadier General Gbldie.; Of the service of the first it is almost^ unnecessary to ; speak : they are known throughout the British Empire, aiid;have,within.ashort space of time,', beenvbrougbt conspicuouslybefore the country* by the achievements, at the Cape pf Good Hope vsrhence he had only just returned when ordered to his army. '•.'./■•.. ,y" <: ; ,-> : ...' ;": By his death her Majesty has been deprived of a most devoted servant; and an officer of the , highest noeritv while L deplore the loss ;of an attached and faithful friend. Brigadier-General Strangways is known to hiave distinguished , himself in early life; and in> mature age;, throughout a long: service, he maintained ; the same character., The mode in which he hadconducted the command of. the. artillery since-it-was placed in his through the illness of Major-General Cator, is entitled;' to my entire approbation; and was equally agreeable to those , who were confided to his icareu BrigadierlGri^il neral Gbldie was an officer of! considenßrt^y promise; and gavegreat satisfaction to all ujaiii^ ; whom he has served. ..■■-...■ ;:;'7p||£g; , It is difficult to arrive at any positive coiraiiS^ sion as to the actual numbers brought into^6^J|; field by .. thes enemy. 'The configuration qf|||eM .- ground did notadinit of any great develpp^w^fcpi of their force, the attack, consisting of a s||jiiii|§ of repeated assaults in heavy masses or coliw^^ll but judging fromrthe numbers that wer&f^nj^l in the plains after they had withdrawn in rejt«Mi|g -.'I am led to suppose that they could"not|ftj|Sg3 been less than 60,000 mem y Their loss w^|Sp| cessive, and it is calculated that they left jMi^pgl field 'near 5000 dead, and their casii|j^^ amount in the whole, in killed, ;woundedpfiMf|; prisoners, to not less than 14000 mien. ' ;|f^||SS •■';. Your Grace will be surprised to :;lear§ji||§|^ thenumber of British troops actually ep|^iif|| little exceeded 8000 men,:while; those dft|GffijPi| rial Bosquet's division only amounted to 6Q||)|||f: the remaining available French^ troops Bjd^^m^ spot having been kept in reserve. -^Loug^gtGif mention that while the enemy, was attacjra^g; our right, they assailed the left of the Fipwpg trenches, and actually got into two ofg|^jtrjg batteries, but they were quickly "driven pwt^ff the most gallant manner with considerat^;Jc&y and hotly pursued to the very walls of;jwlS*-:i?; topol. I have, &c: v v (Signed) RA<3||i^|y His Grace the Duke of: Newcastle.' MXMXXXXX