Latest European Intelligence.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XIV, Issue 602, 24 October 1855, Page 2

Latest European Intelligence.

"We are indebted to Captain Scott, of the Spray, for Sydney papers containing English news to the 15th of July, brought by the mail packet Champion of the Seas. The following will be read with intense interest. BEPULSE OF THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH TEOOPS AT SEBASTOPOL. After the capture of the Mamelon and Quarry Works early in June, the English and French troops strengthened their batteries and made preparations to storm the Malakoff and Redan Towers — the keys on the fortifications of Sebastopol. The day of attack was fixed for the 'erst glorious and memorable 18th of June, but we regret to state that, owing to a variety of causes, many of which arc not yet (July sth) known in England, the attacks of both the English and French troops were a failure, attended with great

losses to both. We give the most concise details condensed from the reports of Lord Raglan and the various newspaper correspondents. On the 17th of June, the allied batteries fired with tremendous power on the Russian works, particularly at the Malakoff and Redan Towers, both of which were almost silenced and evidently injured most seriously. Lord Raglan proposed to renew the fire again on the morning of the 18th, to destroy any fresh works which might have in the interim been raised by the Russians, but he was most unfortunately overruled by General Pelissier, who, having repulsed a fierce sortie of the enemy, decided upon storming at daybreak, without waiting for a further cannonade. To this Lord Raglan agreed, and it is said his doing so was most assuredly the great cause of the repulse of the attack. The assault was given on the two main points, the Malakoff and the Redan. To support the attack on the latter, General Barnard moved down the Woronzoff Ravine, which separates the right from the left British attack ; and to threaten the works at the head of the Dockyard Creek, General Eyre moved forward further to the left. The French, having the Imperial Guard under General Brunet on the right, and General D'Autemarre on the left, assembled their columns before the dawn. The French, ardent for the fight, and confident of winning, pushed forward, but they were met by a murderous fire. Still they pressed on with great impetuosity. General D'Autemarre actually got into a position threatening the gorge of the Malakoff, and great progress had been made on the right. But unexpected obstacles were encountered. The troops, unable to surmount them, were exposed to a point blank fire from the guns of the works, from several batteries of field pieces, from the steamers in the harbour, and from long lines of Russian soldiers*,. Leading his' troops with a valour familiar .to him, .General Mayran fen\ and. fighting with valour not the less, General . Brunei, at the head of the Guards, shared the same fate. A. thick cloud of Bmoke obscured the whole fight from Lord Raglan ; but, seeing our Allies so hotly and desperately engaged, he did not hesitate to order the assault on the Redan. But the enemy was fully prepared. The whole of his eastern defences seem to have been adequately manned. As soon as our men emerged from the shelter of the trenches, they were swept down by " a continued and heavy fire of grape, combined with musketry," so severe, that Lord Raglan, had never witnessed the like before. Those in advance were either killed or wounded — Campbell, Shadforth, and Yea leading the storming party, met a soldier's doom. "It was impossible to proceed ;" and the fight was given up along the whole line. Lord Raglan does not say whether any of our troops actually lived to reach the abattis of the Redan — whether any survived to pass it, and died gloriously there ; but some of the papers state that the red as well as the blue coats found their way into the defences, and left there tokens of their courageous devotion. We shall know more of these matters when the details of the armistice for burying the dead, which was agreed to on the 19th, are before us. Upon other points, too, it is impossible, at present, to form any opinion, because even yet the accounts of this gallant but fruitless assault are deficient in many respects.

It appears also from the despatches of Sir Edmund Lyons, that, on the 16th and 17th, the fleet renewed its nightly attacks upon the sea defences in considerable force. In addition to the shipping, the launches of the Royal Albert went in, but we have no account of the damage done to the enemy. The main object, no doubt, was to distract his attention and take advantage of any opportunity for forcing the booms. It was on this occasion that the brave Captain Lyons received the fatal wound that terminated in his death.

The only successful move was that made by General Eyre, who carried the Cemetery mentioned in a previous despatch. But his position was so exposed, and without support, that the troops were withdrawn in the night. The despatch just referred to, however, leads to the belief that the Cemetery and the hillock at the gorge of the ravine, between the left attack and the Russian defences, were permanently re-occupied by the British. The Herald's correspondent says— "After a bombardment which has not been surpassed in vigour •ince the commencement of hostilities, the attack on the above formidable and commanding positions was begun before daybreak. The fire of the Russians was tremendous and effective. Rank after rank of the English and French troops were mowed down ; whole companies and battalions disappeared in a brief period. The advanced works of the Malakoff and forts were at one time in the hands of the Alike, and it may be said that numbers of the men had even penetrated within the walls of the town."

The attack was indeed vigorous; but the correspondent of the Herald doubts whether it was duly supported and seconded by the reserve. The successful resistance in the Malakoff Tower may be ascribed in a great measure to the aid offered to it by the Russian fleet in the harbour, whilst the little assist* ance rendered by our men-of-war may be considered as well.

The special correspondent of the Daily News states, that the operations on the 18th commenced by a sortie of the Russians on the French, which was repulsed. Speaking of the attack on the Redan, he says that the British columns had no sooner shown themselves than the fire from the above opened. It was not to be counted by guns —it was a raging storm, and an incessant rain of grape and rifle balls. Neither the wool bags nor the ladders were at hand, but that was a matter of little importance, for the parapets were covered with dense lines of the enemy. On every side the deadly grape swept down its victims. The Redan was filled with troops. Support sent to the storming parties could not be of any avail, and nothing was left but to retire. The latest intelligence which has been received relative to the memorable 18th of June, before Sebastopol, contains some grounds for slight satisfaction, inasmuch as it shows that the affair was not altogether a complete repulse, nor altogether unsuccessful. The positions gained appear to have fallen chiefly to the share of the English, while our Allies have gallantly held their own ground. Both the fort in the Cemetery and the Mamelon or hillock, at the gorge of the valley leading to the extremity of the south harbour, are obviously within the range of the English operations, and both, but more especially the hillock, must prove of great value in the further progress of the siege. The Allies, we are also informed, are advancing their works, and preparing to arm them with heavier guns than those previously employed; but by shortening their distance, and increasing the power of their artillery, they must incalculably augment the efficacy of their cannonade. The hillock is, in fact, the most advanced of the Russian positions, and one of the most important. It lies in the middle of the valley to the couth harbour, a few hundred yards westward of the Quarries, won by our countrymen on the Bth, and of the Redan, unsuccessfully attacked on the 18th. Though the loss sustained on the 18th ib not bo great as at first reported, still we suffer heavily, and our gallant Allies, the French, still more to. From the official accounts the following heavy list of casualties has been made out: — i

Making a total of 4,777, including the large number of 237 officers killed and wounded, among whom we lose Major-General Sir John Campbell and the French Generals Mayraa and Brunet. The Journal de Constantinople says—"The Russian prisoners taken in the recent affairs, and who have been brought to this city, have given interesting information as to the present situation of Sebastopol. Some of the details have been kept Becret owing to their importance; but it is generally believed that the Russians have, at this moment, 15,000 wounded soldiers in the place, and that they cannot Bend them away from being so closely watched. It is known also that cholera is creating great ravages in the town; and it ia true, as previously stated, that all women, children, and old men have been sent from the town, and are now encamped beyond the citadel.

Of the further progress of the s»ge of Sebastopol there is little to report, though the little is satisfactory. General Pelissier report* that he will make another

assault in the first days of July, and, should it be unsuccessful, he will raise the siege and attack the Russian army in the open field ; but he is determined to defer no longer striking a decisive blow. The French Government is preparing for all emergencies, and is sending to the Crimea 50,000 men from the camp in the north.

Killed— Officers Men . Wounded— Officers . Men Musing — Officer* Men. Jfingliab 18 148 66 1,058 2 150 h. French. 37 1,544 96 1,644) 17 1,439 3,338