THE FIELD AFTER THE BATTLE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 249, 21 March 1855, Page 5

THE FIELD AFTER THE BATTLE.

y%iy^- ■' ■ ".'•:'■■• •"'-■'- ■'. November 7. /- I w«tr carefully .over the position to-day, and the^'n<jß. : _^ examined it, the more I was amazed at the %ble' tenacity of our men when assailed by sucre'ast masses of infantry; though I must give gr%t/credit;tb,; the Rlptissiarisfurthe/obstinaeywui which they/sought to drive us back, arid thepboribus determination with which they clamberf! up/thehillside to attack us. The tents of the Stolid Division are pitched on the verge of the/pl|teau/which we occupy, and from the right fla&pf the camp the ground rises gently for two ok three hundred yards to a ridge covered with scrifeby^brushwood^ so thick that it is sometimes di^ulttoforce a horfe through it. These bushes grow in tufts/ and are about four feet high, eft gaining the ridge you see below you the valley of Tchernaya, a; green tranquil slip of meadow^-'with//a/few white/ houses dotting it at intervals, spine farm^^ enclosures, and tufts of green trees.'; From the ridge the hiilside;d rapidly infaslopeof'at least6oo feethigh. The brushwood is verythick.upqu/it; arid at times it is almost impervious.: At the base of this slope the r»ad winds to Inkermann, and thence to Sebast&bl.y / The /sluggish stream /steals quietly thriughit towards;'the^^ head of the harbour, whict; is shut out;froih yiewby the pro^ jections;6f,fce ridgetpwards^ distance of i quarter of a mile:across the valley; the sides o the mountains opposite the. ridge of the!-.plate iv on which our camp stands, rise abruptly in >heer walls of "rock, slab after slab, to the heigli bf^ about/1,200 "or; f,SQO ifeete*;A. road winds, tlong those massive precipicesiup:to the ruiuspf Inkermann—a city kof the. dead and gone and unknown—-where houses and. pillared mansions and temples, have been hewed duX of the face of the solid rock by a generation whose very name the most; daring antiquaries - have not guessed, at. This road passes along? the heights, and dips into the valley of Inkermann, at the neck of the harbour. The Russians planted guiis along it the other day, to cover the retreat of their troops, and at night the lights of their fires are seen glimmering through the windows and door-places from the chambers carved out from the sides of the precipice. Looking down from'the ridge these ruins are of course to one's left hand; To the right the eye follows the sweep of the valley till it is closed in from view by the walls of the ridge, and by the mountains which hem in/the valley of Balaklava, and one can just catch, on the ridge, the corner'of .the nearest French earthwork, thrown up to defehdpur rear, and cover the position towards Balaklava. Below, towards the right of the ridge, at the distance of 200 feet from the top towards the valley, is the Sandbag or two-gun battery, intended for two guns, which had not been placed there on the sth', because Sir De L. Evans conceived that they would only invite attack, and would certainly be taken, unconnected as they would have been with any line of defence. On the left hand, overlooking this battery, there is a road from Balaklava right across our camp through the Second Division's tents on their front, which runs over the ridge andjoins the upper road to Inkermann. Some osthe Russian columns bad climbed up by the ground along this road ; others had ascended on the left, in Trout and to the right of the Sandbag battery. In every bush —on every yard of blood-stained ground—lay a dead or dying Russian. The well-known bearskins of our Guards/the red coats of our infantry, and the

bright blue of _the French Chasseurs, icvealing each a silent horror in the glades, and marking the spot where stark and stiff a corpse lay con-' torted 'on the grass, pointed out the scenes of the bloodiest Contest/The dead were happy—the dull, cold eye,: the tranquil brow, the gently opening dips which had given escape to the parting spirit as it fled from its bleeding shell, showed how peacefully a man may die in ."battle, pierced by the rifle ball. The British and the French, many of whom had been murdered by the Russians as they lay wourtded, wore terrible frowns on their faces, with which the agonies of death had clad them. Some in their last throes had torn tip the earth in their hands, and held the grass between their fingers up towards heaven. All the men who exhibited such signs of pain had' been bayonetted; the dead* men who lay with ah eternal smile on their lips had been shot. But the/wounded—for two days they bad lain/where the hand and the ball had felled them.; These were very few, it is true, but all our searching had not discovered the secrets of that blood-stained hill-side, and it was towards noon to-day ere the last Of our soldiers had been found in his lair and carried to the hospital. But the/Russians, groaning and palpitating as they lay around, were far more numerous. _Some of these were placed together in heaps, that they might be more readily removed. Others glared on you from the hushes with the ferocity of wild beasts, as they hugged; their Wounds. Some implored, in an unknown tongue, but in accents, not to be mistaken, water, or succour, holding out their mutilated and shattered limbs or pointing to the track of the lacerating ball. The sullen, angry scowl of some of these men was fearful. Fanaticism and immortal hate; spoke through their angry,eyeballs; and he who gazed on them with pity or compassion could at last (unwillingly) uiideistand how these men in their savage passion could kill the wounded, arid fire on the conqueror who in his generous humanity, had aided them as he passed. It was a relief to see that their -arms were broken—that their cartridges were lying open in heaps oh the ground. Litter-bearers, French and English, dotted the hillside, now toiling painfully up with a heavy burden for the grave, or with some subject for the doctor's care ; now hunting through-the bushes for the dead or dying. Our nieh have acquired a shocking; facility in their diagnosis. A body is before you; there is a shout, '• Come here, my boys ; I see a Russian !" (or " a Frenchman, or one of our fellows!") One of the party comes forward, raises the eyelid, if it be closed, peers into his eye, shrugs his shoulders, says quietly, " He's dead, he'll wait," arid moves back to the litter ; others pull the feet, and arrive at equally correct conclusions by that process. The dead are generally stript of all but their coats. The camp followers and blackguards from* Balaklava, and seamen from thei ships, anxious for trophies, carry off all they | cantakel from the field; /At particular spots you see a party of C men/busy at work. Groups of them are "digging away all along the hillside, at the distance of 40 or 50 yards apart. Go j over, and you find them around a yawning trench, 30 feet in length by 20 feet in breadth, and 6 feet in depth, at the bottom of which, in every conceivable attitude, lie packed together with exceeding art, some 30 or 40 corpses. The grave-diggers stand chatting on the mounds by the sides, waiting the arrival of some bearers to complete the number of the dead. They speculate on the appearance of the body which is being borne towards them. ' It's Corporal——, of the —th, I think,' says one. 'No, it's my rear rank man, I can see his red hair plain enough,' and so on. They discuss the merits or demerits of dead sergeants or comrades. ' Well, he was a hard man; many's the time I was balled through him, but it is all over now!' or 'Poor Mick ! he had 15 year's busy service—a better fellow never stepped.' This scene is. going on all about the hillside. Frenchmen, with "litters, are also looking out for their dead wounded, and in sharing the sad labours of the day. At last the number in the trench is completed. The bodies lie as closely as they canbe packed. Some of them have upraised arms, in the attitude of taking aim ; their legs stick up through the mould as it.is thrown upon them ; others are bent and twisted into shapes like fantoccini. Inch after inch the earth rises on them, and they are 'left alone in their glory.' No, not alone, for the hopes and fears and affections of hundreds of human hearts lie buried with them! ;,-.-, _ , For about one mile and a half in length by

half a mile in depth, the; hill side offers such sights as these.- Upwards 0f'2,000 Russians have been* buried by these men'; few' remain above ground now. As I was standing in the Sandbag battery a short-time ago, talking to 'some officers of the Guards, who were describing their terrible losses. Colonel Cunyrighama and' Lieutenant Colonel Wilbi_bam,of the Quartermaster-General's staff, rode: up towards the spot to superintend = the operations. The instant their cocked hats were seen above the ridge a burst of smoke arose out of the valley from the head of the harbour, and bizz I whish! bizz I came a 6hell right over us, and crashedHuto;the'hillside, where Our men were actually engaged burying; the Russian dead, Such atrocity needs no comment,'and officers and men were ; alike indignant at it. Colonel Cunynghame fold me be understood that Lord Raglan had actually sent in a flag of truce that very morning to the Russian General tp'-; inform them that the parties on the hill side Were burying; the dead. 'As he was speaking, a second shell was ■ directed at us, and Tell again to the .right, but it was quite evident that the society of two officers in cocked hats and on horseback was not the safest in-the world at that particumomeut, and we all three retired. One thing is quite—that if such acts as these are approved, by the Russian authorities, it will be impossible to treat their men as civili zed, beingsj and the contest will assume the worst; characteristics of barbarian warfare. It is impossible to believe that Russia, which has hitherto lavished kindnesses on the few prison ers who haVei fall en into her hands, can permit her savage soldiery to murder the wounded, and can allow her gunners to fire oh men employed in the sacred duty of burying the dead." ; .' On/retracing my steps for my horse towards the Second Division, 1 found French, English and Turks, cutting down the brushwood on the hill side, and throwingup a deep ditch all along the line; This will protect our flank effectually. ■ ? The Sandbag battery will be armed this evening. : Colonel Dacres, R.A., has. Ordered up two heavy guns to be placed in it, and is, I understand, also bringing, mortars to be put in positiou to command the road. Either the precautions ought not now to be taken, or they should have been taken long ago. Our engineers are shutting the door now that the poor steeds are stolen. As I : rode into Balaklava with my despatch to-day, I met three battalions of Turks jiist disembarked, and marching up to our right. Many of them were fine men, others, creatures "who could scarcely crawl along from sickness or disease. They had come from Volo, in Thessaly, and had come up in the Emu. The^road to Inkermann will be deeply scarped to-morrow. I hear that Captain Peel, of the Diamond left his blue jackets, on the sth, and went righ in among the thickest of the fight, where he joined the red coats, and slashed away with his regulation sword, wherever the melee was fiercest. General Liprandi is supposed to have commanded the attack. The Grand Dukes Michae and Nicholas are positively affirmed to have been witnesses of the fight. Had it not been for the Russian artillery, our loss would have been much less, and their infantry would have been almost annihilated. The weakness of our artillery in range and weight of metal becomes more evident every day. In order to enable our two 181b. siege guns'to touch the Russians we had to give them six degrees of. elevation. Tbe Russians bring 321b guns, drawn by 16 horses, into the field. We have 9 and 121b guns, and 241b. howitzers to meet them. It is evident we must improve our field artillery. The guns which answer very well on Woolwich Common will not silence the Russian Artillery.- There was a Council of war held for several hours at Lord Raglan's quarters. The result is not known: but it is almost certaiu that we winter here, and that the troops will be hutted. The sailing vessels of the fleet will go to Baltschik or Beikos, with the exception of four French liue-of-battle ships, which will he anchored iv the Kamesch Creek, north of Rassatch Bay. A boom will be placed across it. The steamers wiil remain to cruise off the harbour. It is known that the Russians are preparing steamfire ships. The port is closely watched night and day, in order to prevent their coming out. Two steamers cruise off the entrance from dusk till dawn. There are now only two steamers left in Streletzka or Arroe Bay; it was found the anchorage was too much under the command of the Russiau guns.

Return of Casualties among the Officers from October 22d to 26th. both inclusive. Staff —Lieutenant-General the earl of Lucan wounded slightly ; Brigadier-General the hon. J. Y. Scarlett, wounded slightly ; Captain the hon. W. Charteris, killed ; Captain George Lockwood, killed or missing; Lieut. H. F. Maxse, wounded slightly: Lieut. A. I. Elliott, wounded slightly. sth Dragoon Guards—Lieut. H. F. Swinfen, wounded slightly ; Cornet the hon. G. Neville, wounded severely. Ist. Royal Dragoons—Lieut. Colonel John Yorke, wounded severely ; Captain W. de Elmsail, wounded severely , Captain George Campbell, wounded severely; Cornet W. W. Haitop, wounded severely. 2d. Dragoons—Lieut.-Colonel H. D. Griffith, wounded slightly; Captain G. C. Clarke, wounded severely; Cornet Lenox Prendergrast, wounded severely; Cornet H. E. Hundley, wounded slightly. 4th Light Dragoons—Major J. T. D.Halkett, killed ; Lieut. H. A. Sparke, killed ; Captain G. J. Brown, wounded severely ; Captain Thoiras^ Hutton, wounded severely. Bth Hussars—Lieut. J. C. Viscount Fitzgibbou, killed (doubtful); Cornet G. Clowes, killed (doubtful); Lieut. D. Clutterbuck, wounded slightly; Lieut, and Adjutant Edward Seager, wounded slightly. llth. Hussars—Captain E. A. Cook, wounded slightly; Lieut. H. Trevelyan, wounded slightly; Cornet G. P. Houghton, wounded severely. 13th Light Dragoons—Captain J. A. Oldham, killed ; Captain T. H. Goad, missing; Cornet H. Montgomery, missing. 17th Lanceis—Captain J. P. Martin, killed or missing; Lieut. J. H. Thompson, killed or missing ; Cornet and Adjutant J. Chad wick, killed or missing; Captain William Morris, wounded severely; Captain Robert White, wounded severely y Captain A. F. C. Webb, wounded severely ; Leiut. Sir Wm. Gordon, wounded severely. Artillery—Captain S. Childevs, killed ; .Capt. E. Moubray, (wounded slightly ; Lieut. J. E. Hope, wounded slightly. Ist Regiment—Lieut. J. M. Brown, wounded slightly. 30th Regiment—Captain F. T. Atcherley, wounded slightly ; Captain B. Bailey, wounded slightly. 41st Regiment—Lieut.H. C. Harriott,wounded severely. 49th Regiment—Lieut. J. A. Conolly, wounded dangerously; Ensign P. Cahill, wounded severely. 50th Regiment—Brevet-Major Hon. J. P. Maxwell, wounded slightly. 57th Regiment—Lieutenant H. J. Buller, wounded severely. 88th Regiment—Lieut, and Adj. A.D.Maule, wounded severely; Aide-de : Camp to Brigadier General Airey—Capt. L. E. Nolan, killed. ' J. B. Bucknall-Estcoobt, Adj.-General. We are compelled to postpone ike list of casualties at the battle of Inkermann till Saturday.