EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 305, 3 October 1855, Page 5

EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.

The " Donald M'Kaye" (a trader between Liverpool and Melbourne) has brought intelligence from Europe to the 6th of June. We give below, from the Melbourne "Age," the most interesting portion of the news from the Crimea. GENERAI, PELISSIER's ADDRESS TO THE FRENCH ARMY. • The following order of the day was issued by General Pelissier on assuming the command of the army :— GENERAL ORDER, Soldiers—Our former Geueral-in-Ohief has made known to you the will of the Emperor, who at the General's request has placed me at the head of the army of the East. In receiving from the Emperor the command of this army so long exercised by such noble hands, I /eel certain that I express the sentiments of all of us, when I proclaim that General Canrobert carries with him all our regrets and all our gratitude. To the brilliant souvenirs of Alma and of Inkermann, he has added the merit, greater still, perhaps, of having, during a formidable winter campaign, preserved for our country and our sovereign one of the finest armies that France ever had. You owe it to him that you are now in a position to bring the struggle to an issue and to triumph. If, as I feel certain it will, success should crown our efforts, you will not fail to pronounce his name in your songs of victory. He has resolved to remain in our ranks, and although he might have had a higher command, he wished but one thing, and that was to put himself at the head of his old division. I have deferred to the entreaties, the inflexible desires, of him who was but yesterday our chief, and who will ever be my friend. Soldiers, I have the fullest confidence in you. After so many trials, so many generous efforts, n othing can be too much for your courage. You all know what the Emperor and the country expect from you. Be what you have hitherto been, and thanks to your energy, and to the assistance of our intrepid allies and the brave sailors of our squadrons, we shall conquer, with the help of God. Pelissier. Head-quarters before Sebastopol, May 19th, 1855. General Canrobert's adieu to the army has already been published. • The following is the order of the -day issued by him on resuming the command ofthe first division :— SECOND CORPS —FIRST DIVISIONAL ORDER. Comrades of the First Division—You have given trie, under circumstances the most arduous and the most glorious, so many proofs of devotedness, you have inspired me with so great a confidence, that while voluntarily and out of a sense of duty to my country, resigning the command in chief of an army of 130,000 msn, I desired above all things the honour of again becoming your immediate chief, and fighting at your head against the enemies of France and of the Emperor. Canrobert. General of Division, aide-de-camp to the Emperor, commanding the lst Division of Infantry. Before Sebasltopol, May 22. THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. Since the commencement of the second bombardment, on the 9th of April, the allies have advanced closer and closer to the earthworks of Sebastopol, have greatly circumscribed the garrison, and on both sides, particularly on that of the French, have laid a strong grasp on some ofthe enemy's most important positions, while, from the formidable preparations which are in progress, the next move cannot fail to give the allies still more incontestible advantages. In the meantime the forces on the Crimea have re- - ceived constant aud large augmentations, consisting of the Sardinian contingent, British ca. valry from India, British infantry from the Me. diterranean, and the French reserve from Malask, which, with the Turkish contingent, have raised the Crimean army to upwards of 200,000

men, of whom nearly 8,000 are cavalry. Now, therefore, the allied commanders possess what they have required all along to make their operations successful—forces sufficient to continue the siege, and to resume active operations iv the field. The intelligence ofthe removal of General Canrobert from the command in chief of the French army, and the appointment of General Pelissier, may probably have arrived out. Pelissier is a fiery and daring soldier, and under his leadership the French army is ready to do and dare anything. The following is a succinct narrative of the successes which have been thus briefly alluded to, commencing with the storming by the French of the works of the Flagstaff Battery. ■' On the night of the 22nd and 23rd May, the French attacked and carried by storm a large place d'armes, or place of assembly, which the Russians had formed in front of our works, for the purpose of facilitating their sallies against the allies. About half this position was taken that night, and the other half the following night. The following account of this gallant and successful affair appears in the Mcniltur, which contains two despatches from General Pelissier, dated the 23rd and 24th May. In the first the General thus expresses himself:— "The enemy had formed between tbe central bastion and the sea, a large place d'armes, where they proposed assembling considerable forces to make important sorties against us. Iv the night between the 22nd and 23rd we attacked those works, which were defended by nearly the whole of the garrison. The combat was fierce, and lasted during the whole ofthe night. We carried and occupied half of the works. I hope to be able to announce to you to-morrow that the remainder has been carried on the following night.'' In the other despatch, General Pelissier says, —" We last night very happily carried the remainder of the works we had attacked on the previous "evening. The enemy, whose losses were enormous the night before, did not make so stout a resistance. Our losses, though considerable, were much less. The allied armies to-day cordially celebrated together the birthday of her Majesty'''(Queen Victoria). The following additional particulars of this most brilliant success have been received from General Pelissier. In a despatch dated May 25, 10 P.M., General Pelissier says,—" We have definitely established ourselves in the works carried on the nights of the 22nd and 23rd. An armistice was agreed upon for burying the dead, and we were enabled to form an estimate of the enemy's losses ; they must be about 5 or 6,000 men, killed and wounded." A Russian official despatch from Prince Gortschakoff acknowledges the loss of 2 t 500 men. It speaks of them as having fallen chiefly by the bayonet, but says nothing of the wounded. The Russian despatch is as follows. Under the date of 23rd May, Prince Gortschakoff writes as follows : —" Yesterday evening 17 battalions of the enemy, with reserves, attacked our trench of counter-approach, commenced the day before in front of Bastions 5 and 6. The combat was sanguinary, and lasted during the whole of the night. Our 12 battalions lost nearly 2,500 men in driving back the enemy." In addition to this great victory in front of Sebastopol, another powerful body of the allies, under the command of General Bosquet, moved forward, on the 25th of May, across the valley of the Tchernaya, and carried the positions which the Russians have held since the middle of the month of October in last year, when General Liprandi advanced across the Tchernaya to attack Balaklava. General Bosquet met with no resistance worth recording, and the enemy rapidly retired into the mountains. The latest news from Sebastopol is contained in a despatch from General Pelissier, dated June l,and is to the effect that the French exploded two mines before the Flagstaff Batteiy, the second of which did much damage. Another despatoh states —"/Hie French have got entire possession ofthe Cemetery Battery, and have turned the guns on the Fort. Tlie resistance was obstinate, and the carnage frightful ; our brave allies have lost upwards of 1,200 men. We have taken a redoubt beyond the Tchernaya and have captured two squadrons of dragoons, and nine pieces of artillery. News from Vienna to 26th May states, on the authority of General Pelissier, that the whole of the advanced works have been taken, the entire garrison repulsed, and that the Malakoff tower must fall immediately.