THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 296, 1 September 1855, Page 3

THE WAR.

Paris, Sunday evening.—TheConslitulionnel of this morning publishes the following :— " Despatches received yesterday (Sunday) from Sebastopol by electric telegraph, announce that the Russians have not succeeded in their attempt to retake the works taken from them.

" We read in the Courier de Marseille of the sth instant: —' Emharcations are proceeding with redoubled activity, day and night, otherwise it would be impossible to convey on board ship the immense quantities of munitions of war which every moment arrive in our city. No less than 600,000 lbs. of materiel are daily c nbarked. In the month of March 9000 tons, and in April 10,000, or 20,000,000 lbs. were shipped in our port Tor the East. The Rhone steamers of one company alone transported from Lyons to Valence, in two days and a half, upwards of 1,000,000 lbs. of gunpowder, and 600,000 lbs. of materiel. Thirty sailing transports are now completing their cargoes, consisting of huts, forage, wine, and goods of all de-

scription. Seven are ready to sail. Yesterday morning, two entire batteries of artillery were drawn up for embarkation on the Q tay of the Joliette in the sailing transport Anatolic, together with mangers, huts, bombs, &c. 100 boxes, containing pickaxes, shovels, and camp articles, addressed to the military intendancy before Sebastopol, were also lying on that quay, which are to be loaded on board the English steamer New York. The steam-packet Sully is to take out 1,000,000 pounds of bombs. The large American clipper, Edgar P. Stringer, of 2000 tons, is to convey to the Crimea 50 barrels of fulminating quick matches, a great quantity of shells, and 160 horses. Another American clipper, of 1800 tons, leaves tomorrow f»r Orau, towed by the steamer Parana. " Tho Three per cents, were done to-day on the Bouvelard at 63f. 50 c. for the end of the month." The first of the above items of news is indeed highly important; it is indeed grand, as the soidiers themselves say, it proves the Russians cannot bear the tickling of the British persuader—the bayonet. If the bombardment of the place has not resulted in anything of an important character—our soldiers at close quarters with the enemy clear every thing before them. From the Correspondent of the " Sydney Empire." There is nothing later from the Crimea than the following, received to-day : — " Lord Panmure has great pleasure in transmitting the enclosed intelligence which has this day reached him from Lord Raglan. " War Department, May 7, 1855, " The enemy assaulted the advanced trench of our right attack last night, but were repulsed promptly. "Oiii loss was three killed and twentywounded. " Sebastopol, May 6, 9 p.m." Yesterday, tlie following reports were the chief talk of the town :— " Another Expedition for the Crimea.— Tt is stated to be the intention of the Allied Powers to embark an immense force immediately for the Crimea ; such a movement is considered necfssary by persons well acquainted with military affairs. It is understood that the expedition will comprise about 50,000 men—cavalry, artillery, and infantry, and that its destination will be some place near the Isthmus of Perekop, in order to co-operate with the Allied forces before Sebastopol, by checking the advance, orin theevent of the fortress being carried, or cutting off the retreat of the Russians." Review of the Frknch Army in the Crimea.—On the 27th General Canrobert reviewed the besieging corps of our army. Our regiment marched \ai noon'from its camp to the ground, situate behind the house of General Pelissier, where the troops drew up en balaille. On the right were the Imperial Guards, the Grenadiers, Voltigeurs, Chasseurs, Zouaves, artillery and eimiueers, and after them, the Ist, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divisions, with the exception of the men on trench duty; in all about 40,000 men. It was a magnificent sight. At one o'clock General Canrobert arrived, followed by his staff, and a most brilliant suite of English officers. We were drawn up in tsvo lines. General Canrobert passed slowly before us, addressing to each company as he went along some of those heartfelt expressions which endear a Ge-neral-in-ohiefto his soldiers. After the review, he assembled the officers of each division, and made a short harangue, of which the following is the sense, if not the words :— '" I am happy to find myself surrounded by you, whom I love as a General and highly esteem as a soldier. The fatiguing works in which you are night and day engaged, ami the arduous but 'glorious mission entrusted to me by the Emperor, prevent me from assembling you oftener, but, during your labours and struggles, my thoughts atid soul are constantly with you whom I love and am proud of. Friends and comrades, what chagrins mi most is that my power t<> recompense is not so extensive as your devotedness to our country and Emperor. Every time I can bestow a recompense I am happy, for some at least receive for all a reward so btv.vely .earned. France and the Emperor are proud of y OU —and I, your General and friend, glory in comtnHiding such troops. With officer-; like yon, and the valiant soldiers around us, nothingis impossible. Be confident and patient, for the m >ment will soon come when, in the name, of France, I will knock at the door, and, if it is not opened to us, we shall enter both by the windows and doors. With a little patience we will come out triumphant from this terrible

niggle, and the glory which it will reflect on France and upon you all will be immortal. ; Farewell, until we shortly meet again. All ; Europe contemplates and admires you. Cheer ! up, my noble fellows, I read on your countenances the presage of success. Go and tell your men that they may rely on me as I rely on them." " These few words, spoken with calm energy, , and the sympathetic voice peculiar to the Gene- .' ral, could not fail to satisfy us. We returned to . our men, and repeated to them the expression of their Commander-in-Chief. The defiling of . the troops afterwards commenced and lasted upwards of an hour. Lord Raglan was on the right ' of General Canrobert, and among the English . staff we noticed rive or six English ladies. The corps of army defined in admirable order: The ■> weather was magnificent, and the Russians from, j the tops of their observatories, could distinctly i view our manonmes. General Canrobert dis- \ tributed a few crosses and medals, and told us ] that our army consisted of 80,000 men. He = ordered a ration of brandy to be given to every man and forgave all the punishments. The J corps then returned to their respective quarters, j and an hour afterwards several detachments ■ marched gaily to the trenches for the night. The brisk fusilade which I hear at this moment induces me to believe that the night will be a warm one. [am going to take some rest, for io. - a few hours the Garde d'uous ! may compel us to rise, to take arms and advance to the trenches, where we will finish a night we had hoped to , employ in recovering from the fatigues and . hardship of the day."— From a French officer. Another Lost Opportunity. — It is now well known among the allies—though, of course, they were not aware ot it at the time—that, had Sebastopol been stormed on the night of , the 9th, when we recommenced our fire, it would have been captured with but little difficulty. On the 6th instant, the Russian generals were awnreof the reduction of the garrison of Eupatoria aud the absence of OmarPasha. On the receipt of the important iiitenigeuce,Osteu-Sac-ken immediately collected all his available troops, and even drew 1,600 infantry and gunners from the garrison of Sebastopol itself, wbhich he left on the Bth, determined to risk another coup de main against Eupatoria. On (he 9th, no doubt to the utter surprise of the enemy, we commenced our bombardment. The garrison then in the place was barely sufficient strong to man their guns, and of course could have offered but slight resistance to any general or partial assault. Unfortunately for us, no intelligence of the critical condition of the garrison reached headquarters until too late, as Osten-Sacken, , alarmed by the heavy firing, retraced his steps with all speed, and reached Sebastopol on the evening of the 10th. Baltic Fleet, Kiel, sth M.iy. —The splendid ileal left yesterday morning; in all twenty ; sail. The destination of the;ships was kept a profound s.-cret up to the last moment. Many officers left word at the Post Office to have their ; letters sent on to " Cronstadt or elsewhere;" hut the general impression in the fleet was that they were going at once to Riga, if the state of/ J the'iee permitted it. From the course they j steered on leaving Kiel harbour, it is impossible | to guess their real destination. Proceeding as ! they did outside, or to the northward of the / island of Fehmarn, that track would iead them either to Copenhagen, Gothland, or the Gulf of; Finland. Admiral Dundas is very popular in the fleet and enjoys very much of'tho confidence of his officers and men. Admiral Seymour is also a general favourite. Iv coming down to Kiel, the Lightning grounded between tlie islands of Lang-eland and Omoe, but sot off again in a very short time without sustaining any damage. It must he > added, that a thick t\,g 'rendered it impossible to . see the laud on either side. Fortunately, the vessel was going very cautiously, at less than half soeed, aud when the water shoaled suddenly from nine fathoms to three her engines were immediately stopped, dnd she got on the mudbank without any 'concussion. A hawser was laid out astern, and by means of this, and reversing tbe engines, she soon managed to get | afloat again. ' The Aftonblabet states that some of the ships of the flying squadron were seeu off , the island of Gothland on the lSth ult. Sebastopol from the Insii>k. —An Ameri- - can'physician, attached to the Russian army, has writteu a letter to the Providence Journal

(U.S.), dnted from Sebastopol. After describing tbe situation of the town, and the beautiful views from the walls, he continues:—"Three days ago I crossed tbe bay for the first time, passed several hours in tbe city, aud had tbe honour of dining with General Osten-Sacken, who has lately taken the defence of the city, and was most cordially received. Aide-de-camp Rumini conducted me to the cupola of a house used as a place of observation, on tbe side of the city nearest the French works, which commands a perfect view of the eutire English and French batteries, aud of tbeir encampment Tbe trenches of the French are a little within 500 feet of the outer lines of the Russian batteries, but I believe they have approached no neater than they were two weeks ago. The city having been besieged three months and a half, has not, as you may imagine, an entirely deserted appearance. Stores are open, women and children are seen here aud there in the streets, and every pleasant afternoon there is music on the Boulevardes. On my way to the ferry, after leaving the General's to return to our hospital, my progress was suddenly arrested by some plaintive strains wafted down from the heights of the Boulevards : and as I listened the music was rendered more plaintive, and even more touchingly sublime, by the oft-repeated peals of the cannon, ever and anon intermingling their deep and terrific hass. The military operations, as conducted at present, consist only of more or less-firing from the different bastions during the day, and occasionally at night some pretty hot cannonading. To witness at night, at these times, the rapid succeeding flashes of the guns, the bombs, like bails of fire, performing their beautiful curves through the air, and to hear the terrible whizzing of the halls, is peculiarly and feaifullv interestinir- Cbnstmas was passed here without ;;;iything whatever to remind me of the delightful and merry Christmas holidays of home. The Russian Christmas come 12 days later, as their dates are so much behind ours, The climate here is not severe, with very little snow durinir the winter. Last night it was sufficiently cold to freeze up the mud, of which, in rainy weather, tbe depth is actually frightful; and for the weather to-day nothing could be finer, clear, bright, and mild, and it is only at long intervals that we hear the report of cannon."