EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 341, 6 February 1856, Page 5

EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE

TUB CAPTURE OF SEVASTOPOL continuf.d. (From the "'limes'" Correspondent.) Saturday, Sept. 8. Prkiwkations for thk Assault. — Early in the moniinij a s'roni;- force of cavalry, under the command of Colonel FTodsre, was moved up to the iVoct. ami formed a chain of sonnies i» front of Galilean's Hill and all alonjj our lines. No person was allowed to pas< this line, unless he was a stafl' oificer or was provided wit 1) a pass. Another line of sentries in the rear of these was intended to stop strainers and idlers from Balaklavu, and the object in view was probably lo prevent the Hu.vsia.is uailierin-j any in'Mn.uioii of our allaek Iroui the unnsnal accumulation of people on the look-out hills. If thiit were so, it would have been better to keep the cavalry moie to the rear, and not display to the enemy a .line of !iii*sui\s, Lancers, and Dragoons along our front. At i l"30 the Highland Brigade, under Brigadier Cameron,

marched ii|> from Kumara and took up its position in reserve at the right attack, and the Guards, also in reserve, were pasted on the same side of tiie Wonuizoff road. 'I he first brigade of the Fourth Division served the trendies of the left attack the night belor*;, and remained in them. The second brigade of the Fourth Division was in reserve. The Guards, who .served the trendies of the left attack, and only marched out that morning, were tinned out again sifter arriving at their camp. The third Division, massed on the hill side before thnir camp, were also in reserve, in readiness to move down by the left attack in case their services were required. General Peiissier, dining the night, collected about 30,000 men in and i.ear the Mainelon, to form the storming coluipns for the Malakoff and Little Redan, and to provide the necessary reserves. The French were reinforced by 5,000 Sardinians, who marched up from the Tchernaya last night. It was arranged that the French were to attack the Malakoff at noon, and as soon as their attack began we were to assault the lied an. At the same tune, a strong column of French was, I understand, tv make a [diversion on the left and menace the line of the Bastion dv Mat, but I do not believe it was intended to operate seriously against this purt of die town, ihe possession of which, in a military point of view, would be of no minor importance. The cavalry sentries were posted at 8"30. At 10 30 the Second Division and the Light Division moved down to the trenches and were placed in the advanced parallels as quietly and unostentatiously us possible. About tiip same hour General S'.inpsou and stuff moved down to the second parallel uf the Greenhill Battery. Sir Harry Jones, too ill to move hand or foot, nevertheless insisted on being carried down to witness the assault, and was borne to ihe parallel on a litter, in which he remained til! all was over. It was, as I have said, a bitterly cold day, and a strai:<jer would have been astonished at the aspect of the British Generals as they viewed the assault. The Commander-in-chief, General SHipsou, =at iv <he trench, with his nose and eyes just facing the cold and dust, and his clo:ik drawn up over his head to proiect him agahsst both. Genei.il Jones wore a red uij»ht c.ip, and reclined on his litter ; and Sir Richard Airey, the Quai lennits-ter-General, had a white pocket handkerchief lied over his can and ear>, "Inch detracted somewhat iroui a martial ami belMyfersnt aspect. The Duke of Newcastle was stationed at (Jutiicart's Hill iv the early part of the day, and afterwards niovod of! to the ii<jht to the Picket House looking out over the Woronz >ff road. All the amateurs and travelling gentlemen (who rather abound here ju<t now, and were in a slate of great excitement, aul dotted the plain in eccentric attire, which recalled one's old memories of (Juwes' yachting, and sea bathing) were engaged in a series of .subtle manoeuvres to turn the flunk of unwary semries, and t<> uel to the front, ami their success was most creditable to their enterprise and ingenuity. The Tartais, Turks, and Eajiatorians were singularly perturbed for such placid people, and thronged every knoll which commanded the smallest view of the place.

The Leaders f the Attack in riiic Redan. — YVhi-ii the order of assault was received un ihe7ih, die <joner.il remark was, " Tliis loi)ks like another IStii June." In fact the attacking columns were not strong enough, the supports wore iiol strong enough, and wore, also too far behind, and the !reaches did no', -tffjrJ n>':v) for a suilioieni. nu'nher of men. X.ivy, it will l>f oi»ervt>d iliat whiiewe attacked the Ht-din with I'.vo divisions only, a portion of ouch bHiiEf v'wuinlly in reserve, and not t'»sr;ii, red in the all'.iir hi ail, the French made tln-ir assault on the .MalakolV with lour divisions of the second corps d'annee, the tirst aod fviunh divisi.ms t'oiiniiiir tin: siiirniin^ cohunns, and the lliiid and lii'th l>t«in»- the vSiippoi'i, with reserves of 10,000 men. The French ha i not probably l.<>;s ihan :^i),0(l() men in the ri^ht at;aek un the Sth of Sepiemher. Ihe divi>ion;»l orders for the M'eond division were very inneh the *mne ;1< those for the iis^ht division. l'lie eoveiinu; parly eonsiMed of UK) unn oi the -M-ii Bail^, under Captain John Lewes, who highly distinguished himself, and 100 men ot she soe->:id 'battalion of ;he Uitl..- Bri^a.'ie. 1 believe uit'er theeomm.uid of poi-i Captain II mi'ii'iid. 'I'lie seali"»-l:i(ldrr party consisted >>!' 13.* men of th ■ :ird Hurt's, nndei C.»"tiii'i MaU(i»\ whose gaiautrv was very conspicuous throughout the aflaiV, in adflition to the 1(50 of the 07th, under the gallant and lamuutcil Wclsfoid. The part

uf iln: force of the Second Divi-,011 consisted °^ 2«0 or" the 3rd Buffs, .'SOO of the 41 si (W*.!=<»), 2uO uf the 62ud, and a working party of 100 men of tiif 4 Ist. The rest of Wymlhau:'* Brigi'.lc, consisting of the 47th and 49d(, were in reserve, together with Warren's Brigade of the same division, of which the 30th and 55th were called into action, and suffered severely. Brigadier Shirley was on hoard ship, hut as soon as lie heard of the assault he resolved to join his brigade, and he accordingly came up to camp that very morning. Colon?] fJnou, of the I Orb Regiment, was the senior officer in Brigadier Shirley's absence, and on him would have devolved the day of leading the storming column of the Light Division, had the latter not returned. Colonel Unett, ignorant of the Brigadier's intention to leave shipboard, had to decide with Colonel Wyndham who should take precedence in the attack. They tossed, and Colonel Unett won. He had it in his power to say whether lie would go frst or follow Colonel Wyndham. He looked at the shilling, turned it over, and said, '• My choice is made; I will be the first man in the Redau." But fate willed it otherwise, and he was struck down badly wounded 'before he had reached the abattis, although lie was not leading the column. Scarcely had the men iefitbe fifth paialiei when the guns on the flank of the Red.tn opened on them as they moved up rapidly to the salient, in which there were, of course, no cannon, as the nature of such a work does not permit of their being placed in that particular position. In a few seconds Brigadier Shirley was teuiporaniy blinded by the dust and by earth, knocked into his <:y~* i>y a shut. He was obliged to retire, and his place was taken by Lieut. Cjlonel Bunbury, of the 23 v' Regiment, who was next in rank to Colonel Unett, already struck down and carried to the rear. Brigadier Van Stratibenzee received a contusion on the face, and was also forced lo leave ihe jieiti. Coiouel Haniicock Jell moitally wounded in the head Ly a. bullet, and never spoka again. Cape Hammond fell dead. Major Weisfjrd was killed on the spot. Captain Grove was severely wounded. Many officers and men «ere hit ana iVu ; ami oi the commanders of parlies only Acting Bri-gadier-Geiieral Widdham, C';ipt. Fyers, '^anf. Lewi-;, and Capt. Maude, irot untouched in f o the Redan, and «>oaped scatheiess tiotu the volievs oi grape and rifle bal's which swept the iLini:* of the work towards the salient.

The ExuusH loss a y the attack on the Redan and tfik Retreat of the Russians. — It is difficult, as 1 h.ive iiati occasion to observe on similar occasion-, to give with any pretensions to accuracy the detai's of a battle, but it becomes almost impossible tr> nttai'i correctness in describitijr "such an nffnr as the assault on tiie Redan under the peculiar circumstances which attend it. Tn addition to the smoke of battle, there were living clouds of dust minified with sand, which blew viuut iiuo the faces or'tin- men. and swept the hills on the rear, which were crowded with spectator;., or those who tried to be so. and the inequality <'f the ground < ftVred many ..tiicr ;ir,op-'iment' to tlie view ; but greater than all iht-se obstacles was ihi<, that nono could from any conceivable p>sit!<»:> in front, sre wh-tt was u r'>i'''-T «>" ''i>ide the !t:vian. which seemed to i-icuiph our >oldiers within its liu^e dun coloured and ra<ri;ed parapets, only to vomit them ;>'it!s a^aiii iv dimii)i.>l)ed uuiubefs. It was ail ainn,^ biu U>o plain to muier.>la!i'.i what \va- lakuiif place wiihin from the t-xrernal aspec; of ii;a; ill fated work, the slopes ol which h--ve :.sionishe'? 'heworld with the si<rht of British tro"p< in tHir'U twic.' in two successive attacks on its l-jruuiiaoie defenc-v'S. This Uedan has cms; us in re hvj3 than tin1 capture of B,u!aj.>/., m>t to speak oi those who have fallen in tlie irei;ehc-s and appn>ac!ies to it; anil, aiihouuu tin: enemy evacuated it, >ye can -circ''v cl.tiai i...- credit ot haviuii caused ihivn such loss that they n-uved owiu^ to th.-ir dreaii ■.«!' a new iissau't. On the contrary, we nr.ist in fairness ad nit tt;;U the Ru><;:ni< maisiiaiiied it'eir l-i'P <•■ the v'.a'"f ;Ul the French were lairiv estiiltitshed in tiif .Ua!-i-------k'-.tt", and the key o! tiu' pusuion tun Svuin their m'a-p. l'ney mi^hi, iiuiecd litnc rr-oiaitied in the niu-e Im^i ihaa they ii:d, as tlve Frc|uh were srtuviv iv a cm'.hl ;;••■: !•■ m ■-<'-. ill. »i ii\>:n th • M:i ik >iT with iivliiU-iy, and could n.'t be perniUtei to i! 1 1-•: r'-vt* wHioor ■•ir:ack Had they h.-eii able t > send ivinf.'nvnu'itis in 'iv ; but mo U-isM.ui viciu'r.ii is a »';1!> of too umcii u>-iiius and ex;^iienc^ -'s. a sotuaec to lose tii-u in defendtu- »■- tuue:;--de p.^sitwi, and in., vctveai .\.ts ctVocted with masterly B*uil

and with perfect ease in the face of a victorious enemy. Covering: his rear by the flames of the burning city and by tremendous explosions, which spoke in tones of portentous warning to those who might have wished to cut off his retreat, he led his battalions in narrow files across a <leep arm of the sea, commanded by our guns, and in the face of i\ most powerful fleet, paraded them in our sight as they crossed, and carried off all his most useful stores and munitions of war. He left us tew trophies and many bitter memories. He sank his ships and blew up his forts without molestation, save some paltry efforts to break down the bridge by cannun shot, or to shell the troops as they inarched over. His steamers towed his boats across at their leisure, and when every man was across, not till then, the Russians began to dislocate and float off the portions of their bridge, and to pull it over to the north side. The town is still burning and in ruins. It is in possession ot the French. Five officers and several men were injured by explosions to-day.

The Fhesch attack on the Malakoff. —At 10.45 General Pelissier and bis staff went up to the French Observatory on the right. The French trenches were crowded with men as close as they could pack, and we could see our men through the breaks in the clouds of dust, which was most irritating;, already in their trenches. The cauuouade languished purposely towards noon ; but tue Russians catching sight of the cavalry and troops in front, began to shell Cathcart Hill and the heights, and disturbed the equanimity of some of the spectators by their shells burstiug with loud " thuds" right over their heads. A few minutes before 12 o'clock, the French, like a swarm of bees, issued forth from tbe trenches ciuse to the doomed Malakoff; swarmed up its face, and were through the embrasures in the twinkling of an eye. They crossed the seven metres of ground which separated them from the enemy at a.few bounds—they drifted as lightly and quickly as autumn leaves before the wind*, battalion after battalion, into the embrasures, and in a minute or two afler the column issued from the ditch, the tricolor was floated over the Kornileff Bastion. The musketry was very feeble at first— indeed, our allies took the Russians quite by surprise, and very few of the latter were in the Malakoff; but they soon recovered themselves, and from twelve o'clock to past seven in the evening the French had to meet and defeat the repeated attempts of the enemy to regain the work aud the Little Eedan, when, weary of the fearful slaughter of his men, who lay in thousands over the exterior of the works, the Muscovite Genera!, desparing of success, withdrew his exhausted legions, and prepared, with admiral skill, to evacuate tbe place. Of the French attack on the left I know nothing, but that, if intended in earnest, it was not successful, and was followed by some loss to our allies. As soon as the tricolor was observed waving over the parapet of the Malakoff through the smoke and dust, four rockets were sent up from Chapman's attack one alter another as a signal for our assault on the Redan. They were almost borne back by the violence of the wind, and the sijverv lets of sparks they threw out on exploding "were nearly invisible against the raw grey sky I take it for granted that there is no one in England who is ni Dy this time quite well aequaiindoes pot know us sh«pe ;,nd situation. I o UJV next letter I will endeavour to give ar, idea of w.uu v is hkeiuside; at preset I have no time: io describe ,t, nor the appearance of Senastopol, now that one can walk tiirou»h it* (1 ,- m----nig streets. ° Losses in- the Light Divisiox.-Fmm tbe A>110«;.,,g statement of the J oSs i n the Li-lit Dmsim.it will be seen that this gallant Uo \ u . which behaved so W ell at the A ] in ° aild ,„„>.' turned us reputation at Inkennan, suffered us severely as it aid in t j ie former great victory; and an examination of the return J^ is tolerably cor r oc,,aud is certainlvun""; he mark, will, I lear, .now thai the Jwinn-r tj.e trenches, and careless recruitinjr, have done «be,r work, uad th.t the office,, VurnUhedu noble example of oev.niun and j, ; iliamrv, which here are 73 uiiker.s and 0 «j me^o^ll total [037 J-helo.soriiK. Division w., s icjF n kiLt-,l;,rid woun.led at the Alma. Ti,» lium k.Hedi«94 7 t0ia1,109. The regiments oS d>visi,,i, which iunusl.ed stonninu U( .l,i H)lls \. ' tbe 90th (or Perthshire Volunteer,) Z

97ih (or Earl of Ulster's). In the 00th Capl. Preston and Lieut. Smith and Lieut. Willner were killed. Lieut. Swift got the farthest of all those who entered the Redan, and his dead body was discovered far in advance. Captain Grove, Captain Tinling, Captain Wade, and Lieut. Vaughan were all severely wounded ; 125 gmen were wounded; killed not known. In the 97th Lient.-Oolonel the hon. H. R. Handcock, Major Welsford, and Lieut. Douglas McGregor were killed; 114 men were'wounded, and 37 were killed. The colonel was shot through the head, and was carried to his tent, but the ball had lodged in his brain : he was not again sensible, and expired that |night. His widow was watching the progress of the struggle from the picket house, and all her worst fears were soon realized, for her husband's body was brought by the very place where she stood. Lieut. M'Gregor, the son of the InspectorGeneral of Irish Constabulary, was adjutant of the regiment, and was as remarkable for his unostentatious piety and Christian virtues as for his bravery and conduct in the field. Capt. Lumley is dangerously wounded. The rest of the division was engaged in supporting the storming columns. In the 7th Royal Fusileers Lieut. Wright and Lieut. Colt were killed. Major' Turner, Captain Heyland, Captain Hibbert, Lieut. Hickie, and Lieut. Jones (Alma) were wounded ; 62 men were wounded, and 11 killed. In the 23rd (Royal Welsh Fusileers). Lieut. Somerville and Lieutenant Holding, are dead; the latter died of his wounds the following morning; 239 men wounded ; killed not known. In the 33rd, Lieut. Donovan, a most promising young and dashing officer, lost his life while looking over the parapet at the fight. He accompanied the regiment as an amateur, in company with his brother, all through Bulgaria, and went into the action with them at the Alma as a volunteer, where he so much distinguished himself that the colonel recommended him for a commission, which he received withr out purchase. Lieutenant-Colonel Gough, who was shot through the body at the Alma, was severely wounded ; the Adjutant Toseland, severely wounded ; 45 men wounded; killed not known. In the 34th, which was in the parallel behind the columns, Lieutb. Harris and Lourie are severely wounded. In the 19th nearly every officer was touched more or less, but none were killed; 148 men were wounded, and 27 were killed. In the 77th, 42 men were wounded ; killed not known ; Captain Parker killed. In the 88th regiment, 105 men were wounded; killed about 25 ; Captain Crogan was killed ; Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, C^B., was wounded twice in the thigh and once in the arm severely ; but not dangerously. Captainsjtfauleverer and Beresford; Lieuts. Lambert, Hopton, Scatt, and Watson, and Ensign Walker, are wounded severely. In the Rifle Brigade, Captain Hammond, who was only three days out from England, and Lieutenant Ryder, were killed • Lieut. Eyre, Captain Eccles, and Lieut. Riley severely wounded. There were no less than 125 men wounded and 13 killed. It will be seen by this that 964 men were wounded in the Light Division, and it is most creditable to the medical o/ncer in charge, Dr. Alexander, and to his surgeons, that all ihese men were comfortably m bed, and had their wounds attended to anddresswlhy 8 o'clock the same eveninir The loss oi officers in Wyndlmm's Brigade, and in | the portion of Warren's Brigade which moved to his support, is equally severe. The loss of the two ong ; ,« es of this division is nut less than /90 men. j ! !e whole loss cannot be estimated at less than 2,200 or 2,300 men. Tornado in the Camp, Tuesday, Sept il 1 a.m.—l-«r the last hour an exceedingly violent storm has been raging over the camp. The wind is irom the southward and eastward, and blows with such fury as to make the | uit j,, which j Z t Wri i U," ff, ro fl C. 10. a'"« X Bnd to fill it with just, which fl, es m through every crevic* * !r rT'T "'* :Ue Ve%, I)US .V with their signals ovei the ienernaya. The many fires in Sebas»i'"Uann, (l by the wi , lrUrc ,; ft thu «h.,l e arch ol the sky towards the N. W. The .torn, has incased in strenjtlfand r-,■ s 1«*,..»,,.g v, „11 heavily. The most l«i'"f ml iT uM!S1' l'»n{.'«U,t over the pla.rr:,tx,^r^r ifl- Buirti- iii, M

I ut times to contend for the.mastery. There ifl, ' indeed, a great buttle raging in the skios, and its thunder mocks to scorn our heaviest cannonade. This supply of water will be very seasonable to the camp, where that article of consumption has been for a long lime scanty and dirty. 4.14 a.m. In the whole course of my life I never heard or saw anything like the deluge of rain which is now tailing over tins portion of the camp. It beats on the roof with a noise like a cataiact; it is a veritable waterspout. The wind is shifting- and changing all round the compass. The lightning is fainter and the gusts less violent; Sometimes for a minute there is a profound calm, again it blows a hurricane. 423 a.m. The waterspout has passed away. Had it lasted ten minutes longer it threatened to drown the camp. 945 There is a tornado passing over the camp once more—hail, storm, and rain. The grouud is a mass of mud. The rain and hail quenched the fire, which the wind had previously fanned to exceeding fierceness, so that there was little left for the flames to devour.