THE CRIMEA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 301, 19 September 1855, Page 3

THE CRIMEA.

The following is the Russian account of the recent transactions in the Crimea : The lnvalide Russe publishes the following from the Crimea :— Aide-dc Camp General Prince Gortschakoff has sent the following telegraphic despatch via Kieff, dated Sebastopol, 18lh (30th) of April :— Nothing of importance took place between ' the 15th and 18th i.27th to the 30th) of April. On the whole the fire of the enemy is slack. As on the preceding days, our loss has been com- > paratively very small; the greatest loss was in- ; curred in tbe new trenches in front of Bastion No. 5 ; it is against them that the enemy concentrated their heaviest fire during llie night ; to-day, two attempts were made to smoke out the enemy, both of which were successful. Nothing of importance has occurred on any other point of tbe Peninsula. The lnvalide also publishes tbe following :— • Yesterday a report was received from Prince : Gortschakoff, of the 18th (30th) April, which completes the news contained in the two last telegraphic despatches, respecting tbe operations before Sebastopol. On the 12th (24th) April, the fire of tbe ene- , my was principally directed against Bastions 5 and 6, and against the redoubts and lodgments in front of tbose Bastions. From the 13th ! (25th) to the 18th (30th) the fire of the be- ! siegers was, on the whole, moderate. The num- ! her of men put hors de combat, killed and ' wounded, or who received contusions, amount from 100 to 175 daily. The approaches of the enemy meet with a powerful obstacle in the fire of the artillery of the town, and of the musketry from our lodgments, which prevents their advance; on the enemy's side the mining operations against Bastion No. 4 have been confined to the explosion of a mine on tbe verge of their central entonnoir, with a view to destroy one of our galleries; but the explosion did them more damage than us, for it only destroyed five feet of our gallery, which was immediately repaired whilst it destroyed a portion of the enemy's entonnoir. . To prevent the French occupying an eminence situation 40 or 50 sagenes in advance of Bastion No. 5, and upon which they might easily have constructed a battery which would have taken in flank at short range half of the right face of Bastion 4, we constructed, under the enemy's fire, in five days, two strong trenches, with a private communication between them. These works were commenced in the night between the 12th and 13lh (24th-25th) April; , special detachments were entrusted with the operation, and they were supported by three battalions of tbe infantry regiment Catherinebourg, and by two battalions of the Alexopol Chas- , seurs, under the chief command of the brave Major-General Kkroustcheff, commander of the first brigade of the J6th infantry division, who ' already distinguished himself by his courage ' and talent at the time of the defeat of the enemy when they attacked the Selingkinsk and Volhynia redoubts, on the night between the , 12th "and 13th (241h, 25th) March last. On the 12th (24th), at 8 p.m., whilst our de- , tachments and their supports vrere being prepared, the besiegers opened a violent fire of musketry upon the works under construction, ; and, after various rounds, made a charge upon ;j them in great force. Haviug driven back our i advanced troops, they commenced destroying ij the lodgments. j But then, by order of Major-General Khroust- :) cheff, Lieutenant-Colonel Boguensky, in com- 1 maud of the Catherinebourg regiment, with * drums beating and loud hurrahs charged the ; French with the bayonet at the head of two bat- | talions of his regiment aud drove them back. | At nine o'clock the enemy renewed the attack ; ,t they were received, however, by a well sustained fire, and compelled to retire to their trenches, i from which they kept up a fire of musketry j during tbe whole of tbe night. Nevertheless the half-destroyed lodgments j remained in our possession. Towards the morn- f ing on the 13th (25th) they were already repair- ; ed, strengthened, and two new ones constructed : behiud tbe former one. The vigour with which we obtained possession of these works, and their construction under the ; very close fire of the enemy, does the greatest honour to our troops and to Major-General •■ Khroustcheff, under whose command they were .. commenced. At different times our men had to drive back the French at the point of the

bayonet, and every night the latter directed a heavy fire of artillery and musketry at this point. In these engagements we have unhappily to deplore, among others, the loss of Captain L.tvroff, a young officer of brilliant parts -and of great promise. During all ibis time, from the 12th to the 18th (2Kb to the 30th) April, the enemy's fleet remained al anchor as before, and did not attempt anything against Sebastopol. Everything is quiet on other parts of the Peninsula. In terminating this report, Aide-de-camp General Prince Gortschakoff announces that, on the 17th (29th) April, the anniversary of his Majeetv the Emperor, after Divine service, and a Te Daum\n tbe principal church at Sebastopol, in presence of tbe commander and all the officers of the garrison, and after offi-ring up prayers for the preservation of the days of his Majesty, and of all the august members of the august family, a salvo of 101 cannon balls was fired against the enemy in honour of the occa•ion. A supplement to the lnvalide Russe publishes the following:— A telegraphic despatch from Prince Gortschakoff, via Kieff, dated Sebastopol, 21st of Apiil, (3rd May,) says : — From the 18* th to the I9th April (30th April to Ist May,) the fire of the enemy was moderate, but on the evening of the Ist it became very heavy against Bastions 4 and 5. On the following night the besiegers concentrated 10,000 men against our new works in front of Bastion 5, got possession of them after a vigorous attack, and captured nine coborn mortars inside ; they were prevented progressing further by the fire of our batteries. On the 20th April (2nd May) the enemy kept up a most violent fire against Bastions 4 and 5, and agaiust the adjoining fortifications, but all the damage they did us was repaired during the 'night, and'five times we successfully employed smoke balls in their entonnoirs.