THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XIV, 3 November 1855, Page 3

THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.

[From the Special Correspondent of the Times.'] Camp before Sebastopol, June 20.

It is but natural that the attack of the allies on the principal points of the Russian defences should now be scrutinized in all its details, and, as it ha* failed, that the plan of that attack should be se verely criticized and unsparingly censured. It is certainly true that, in some respects, these details were imperfect. As an example of this imperfection, it is stated that the supports were too distant from the attacking parties ; that proper care was not taken to prevent the men becoming confused and losing their way in the labyrinth of works before the Redan ; that no steps were formed above the berm of the parapet so that the men could step over in order; that the attacking parties were too weak, and that the men were crowded into narrow works and trenches which could not afford them cover, and were difficult of access and exit. It is, moreover, affirmed that no proper instructions were given to the artillery for their guidance in the event of success or defeat, and that it was only when the Russians had crowded over their parapets and through their embrasures, and had been shooting down our men for some time on their tetreat, that an artillery officer obtained permission from Lord Raglan to open fire upon their lines; that no directions were addressed even to the ambulance corps with respect to locality or action, and that many minor points of some importance were also neglected; but the gravest charge of all is, that the success of the assault was compromised by the facility with which Lord Raglan yielded to General Pelissier's request, and late on the evening of the 17th altered the arrangements for the following morning. As to the propriety of General Pelissier's views in making that request there is scarcely a difference of opinion in this army. If the Russians were indeed about to assault the Mamelon before dawn he would have been prepared for them with overwhelming number?, could have decimated them as they retreated with his artillery, and could have immediately attacked a position held by a beaten and dispirited enemy. If they were not prepared to attack the Mamelon, but were ptepared to resist us, the original plan of bombarding them for three hours before we attacked could not have failed to drive them from their works under cover, and to slay great numbers of them. That plan was perfectly successful in the attack on the Mamelon, which was easily taken after a fierce cannonade in the open day, which drove the enemy out of the works. Although we had silenced many guns in the Redan, we had not silenced all, nor had we touched the chips' batteries; and PrinceGortschakoff tells us daily, and as we find truly, "The damage done to us by day we repair at night." We never searched out the strength of the Redan on that morning, and the Russians might haye — for bII we knew and know — replaced every injured gun, and have had the battery in as good order as when we opened fiie. V> c were certain of success. Sir George Brown, inflated by the bloodless conquest of Kertch and Yenikale. directed the operations as if the garrison of Sebastopol were a body of serf-militia. A private memorandum was sent round the night beiore the attack to officers commanding regiments, &c, to request them to keep their men in order, and to make them observe silence " when they got inside the Redan till the enemy were entirely subdued." It does not appear why there was no attack on the Russian works on our left. One would certainly have thought that even a feint by the French against the Flagstaff Batteries would have been attended i with advantage. However, these are points beyond ] my province, and I Ehall stop here, with the as" i surance that lam expressing the opinions of others, i and am not hazarding any one statement of my j own on a subject of such vast importance. It is i as impossible to forget that memorable morning i as it is hopeless to attempt to describe what oc i cuned. ;

In my former letter, written hastily and under the depression of our ill success, I could not do more than give a very meagre sketch of what took nlace, and I am not now able to amend my defects. It will be remembered that the plan of attack originally proposed was that the allies were to open a cannonade for three hours on the Malakhoff and Redan after dawn on the morning of the 18th; that the French weie to assault the Malakhoff, and that when they had gained possession of it we were to attack the Redan. As the latter work is commanded by the former, it would not be possible to carry or to hold it till the Malakhoff was taken. The manner of our attack was as follows: — The senior brigades of the Light Division, Second Division, Third Division, and Fourth Division were to furnish each one column of 1,750 men, to whom were joined 60 sailors, and these columns were to be employed against the Redan and the Cemetery and the batteries on our left of the Redan, close to the neck of the Dockyard Creek. The second brigades of these divisions were to be in reserve, and the Guards' Brigade and Highland Brigade were moved up and kept in reserve also for any duty that might occur. The attacking" party of the Second Division was the only exception to these rules, as it was formed of broken brigades. Sir George Brown had the direction of the assault. Ihe 1,750 men in each instance were formed of 400 men for the assaulting column, a working party of 400 men to cover ihem in case of a lodgment and to reverse the work, 800 men as a support, and 100 riflemen or sharpshooters preceding the head of the assaulting column lo keep down the fire of the batteries and of the enemy's Chasseurs, and 50 men carrying woolpacks to bridge over the ditches. To these were added 60 sailors, bearing scaling-ladders. The Light Division column was to attack the right of the Redan at the re-entering angle; the Second Division column was to attack the apex of the Redan as soon as the Light Division and Fourth Division had cairied the work at the flanks; the Third Division was to assault the Cemetery and the Barrack Batteries; the Fourth Division column was to assail the left flank of the Redan at the re-enter ing angle. The Second Division were only to attack the apex after the Light Division and Fourth Division had gained the flanks, and effected a junction along the base of the works, when they were lo prevent the consequences of forcing a strong body of the enemy from the flanks into the angle of the Redan. The attacking column of the Light Division \vn>? furnished by the 7th Fusileers, 23d Welsh, the 33d (Duke, of Wellington's) Regiment, and 34th Regiment. The storming party was led by Colonel Yea, of the 7th. The 19lh, 77th, and 85th Regiments, or Second Brigade, were in reserve, under Colonel Shirley. Soon after 12 o'clock they moved down from camp and took ground in the trenches under the direction of Major Halhwell, the Deputy Assistant-Quarter-master-General of the Division. The Second Division was on their left, the Fourth Division on the left of the Second Division, and the Third Division on the extreme left. The movement was simultaneous, and the troops moved off together till they came into the trenches, from which they were to issue forth to attack the dark Wall of earth serrated with embrasures before them.

Theee embrasures were only too well filled. The fire which we opened on Sunday morning preliminary to the assault was marked by great energy, weight, and de^tructiveness. In the first relief the Quarry Battery, commanded^ by Major Strange, threw no less than 300 8-inch shells into the Redan, which is only 400 yards distant, and the place must have been nearly cleared by the incessant htorrn of iron Bplinters which flew through it. So near are the works that fragments of our 13-inch shells fly back from the Redan into the Quarry

Battery, and on some occasions our me^havebeen injured by the splinters of their own shells, which have radiated from the inside of the Russian batteries. Throughout Sunday our artillery fired 12,000 rounds of the heaviest ordnance into the enemy's lines, and on the following day we fired 11,940 rounds of shot and shell. The Russian firs was weak and wild. Although they fired a good deal, they kept many pieces masked, and one uix-gun and one eight-gun battery on the flanks of the Redan were silent, and were left comparatively unnoticed by our artillerymen. The only damage they did by all their fire throughout the whole of Sunday wan the demolition of the wheel of a guncarriage. Had the three hours' cannonade and bombardment which Lord Raghn decided on administering to the Russian batteries before we assaulted been delivered to them, it is very probable that we shnuM have found but a small body of troops prepared to receive us at the parapets ; and it must be esteemed a very unfortunate circumstance that his Lordship was induced to abandon his intention in deference to the wishes of General Pelisaier. General Pelissier, in requesting- the English General to change the original plan of attack and to forestall the hour which was at first agreed upon, is not stated to have assigned any specific reason for the alteration, but it is reported that he wished to anticipate the enemy, who were about, as he was informed, to make an assault on the Mamelon. He felt, too, that the masses of French whom be hsd prepared could not be concealed from the Russians for any length of lime, and that they would soon be revealed ly the noise which always attends the movements of large bodies of men. It would, indeed, have been impossible to conceal the fact of the accumulation of <o many battalions close to the Malakhoff, and their presence would have been indicated certainly as soon as dawn, and probably earlier.

The Russian column which is said to have issued from Malakhoff just before our assault, to attack the Mamelon, was certainly so small that it was, according to some, merely intended as a feint to draw out the French and lead them to tLe assault, for which the enemy were only too well prepared, A deserter who came in ysßterday (Tuesday) has declated that the garrison have been expecting an attack ever since the termination of the third bombardment, and that the allies got the Quarries and the Mamelon, because the bulk of the Russians were concentrated in the Redan and Malakhoff, which they thought we should attack as soon as we had seized these outlying works. Heavy columns of infantry have been marched up every night, according to his statement, to the rear of the batteries as soon as our fire ceases, and are withdrawn soon after daybreak.

! As the 34th Regiment advanced, the supports, by some means or another got mixed together with them and some confusion arose in consequence. On crossing the trench cur men, instead of coming upon the open in a firm body, were broken into twos and threes. This arose from the want of a temporary step above the berm, which would have enabled the troops to cress the parapet with regularity; instead of which they had to scramble over it as well as they could ; and, as the top of the trench is of unequal height and form, their line was quite broken. The moment they came out from the trench the enemy began to direct on their whole front a deliberate and well aimed mitraille, which increased the want of order and unsteadiness caused by the mode of their advance. Poor Colonel Yea saw the consequences too clearly. Having in vain tried to obviate the evil caused by the broken formation and confusion of his men, who were falling fast around him, he exclaimed, " This will never do ! Where's the bugler to call them back ? " But alas ! at that critical moment no busier was to be found. The gallant old soldier, by voice and gesture, tried to form and compose his men, but the thunder of the enemy's guns close at hand and the gloom of early dawn frustrated his efforts; and as he rushed along the troubled mass of troops which were herding together under the rush of grape, and endeavoured to get them into order for a rush at the batteries, which was better than standing still, or retreating in a panic, a charge of the deadly missile passed, and the noble soldier fell dead in advance of his men struck at once in head and stomach by grape shot. In the 34th Captain Shiffner and Captain Robinson were killed close by their leader, and in a few moments Captain Gwilt, Cap* tain Jordan, Captain Warry, Lieutenant Peel, Lieutenant Alt, Lieutenant Clayton, and Lieutenant Harraan, of the same regiment, fell more or less wounded to the ground. A gallant and fine young soldier, poor Hubson, the Adjutant of the 7th, (ell along with his chief mortally wounded, and is since dead, after amputation of his right thigh. The 7'h regiment has now only three or four officers left for duty. Major Pack, Lord Richard Browne, Lieutenant (Inkermann) Jones, Ensign Malan, Ensign Wright, Lieutenant Robinson, Lieutenant Appleyard, and the Hon. E. Fitzclarence were wounded. The latter has had his left thigh amputated. In the 33rd, Colonel Johnstone had his left hand shot away, since amputated; Lieutenant* Colonel Mundy was slightly wounded} Lieutenant- Colonel Quayleshot through the body (doing well) ; Captain Wickham wounded ; Lieutenant Bennett and Lieutenant Ryland were killed. In the 23rd, which was favourably placed, the only officer injured was LieutenantColonel Lysons, who received a severe contusion. In the 88th, Captain Brown had his right arm carried clean away by a round shot. In the Rifle Brigade, Captain Plunkett, and Lieutenant Knox and Lieutenant Freemantle were wounded. The division has lost upwards of 320 men killed and wounded, and it suffered severely as it retired from the futile attack, The signal for our assault was to he given by the discharge of two service rockets, which were lo have been fired when the French got into the Malakhoff, and the latter were to have hoisted a flag as a signal of their success.

It is certain that the French did for a short time establish themselves in the Malakboff, but they were Boon expelled 'with loss, and I 6a w with ray own eyes a large triangular blue and black flag waving from the Malakhoff all during the fight. The moment the rockets were fired, the Light Division rushed out of cover j in a quarter of an hour this infantry Balaklava was over, so far as any chance of success was concerned. The Second Division, seeing that the flank attacks failed, wisely kept under cover, and suffered but a trifling loss. Had they foolishly advanced, we should have to deplore greater and more useless (-laughter. The 41st, under Lieutenant- Colonel Eman, were to form the assaulting party. Captain Mauleverer, of the 30th Regiment, commanded the working party. The 2nd Battalion Royals was to follow the 4lßt, and with the 55th was to form a supporting party, while the 49th and 47th were in reserve, and the 62nd were to furnish men for carrying wool -packs and ladders. They were marched off and took ground, guided by Captain Layard, and were formed in the old advanced parallel, next to the Quarry, and remained there till the attack fail* d. The Fourth Division were guided d down l>y their active Quartermaster-General, Colonel Wvndham, and took ground in the trench to the left, but it would seem as if they attacked a little too near the apex of the Redan. Poor Sir John Campbell spems to have displayed a courage amounting to rashness. He sent away Captain Hume and Captain Snodgrass, his aide de-camp, just before he rushed out of the trench, as if averse to bring tliem into the danger he meditated, and (ell in the act of cheering on his men. 1 have in my former letter stated the losses of the Fourth Division, and the part they took in the fight, dreadful and useless as it was. The 57th. out of 400 reen, had more than a tbird k'lled and

wounded, and it became evident that the contest on the left wan as hopeless as the fight on the right, aod in 15 minutes aH was over.

The brigade under Major- General Eyre, which was destined to occupy the Cemetery and to carry | the barrack Batteries, consisted of the 9th Regi- j meat, 18th Regiment, 28tb Regiment, 33th Regiment, and 44th Regiment. Four volunteers from each company were selected to form an advanced party, under Major Fielden, of the 44th Regiment, tv feel the way andiover the advance. The 18th Royal Irish followed as the storming regiment. The brigade was turned out at 12 o'clock and pro* ceeded to march down the road on the left of the (Jreenhill battery to the Cemetery, and halted under cover while the necessary dispositions weie being made for the attack. General Eyre, addressing tho 18th, said, "I hope, my men, (hat this morning you will do something that will make •very cabin in Ireland ring again ! " The reply ■was aloud cheer, which instantly drew on the men a shower of grape. The skirmishers advanced just a« the general attack began, and, with some Preach on their left, rushed at the Cemetery, which was very feebly defended. They got possession of the place after a Blight resistance, with •mall lost, and took some prisoners, but the moment the enemy retreated, their batteries opened a -heavy fire on the place from the left of the Redan ] and from the Barrack Battery. Four companies -of the 18th at once rushed on out of the Cemetery .towards the town, and actually succeeded in get* 'ting possession of 'the suburb. Captain Hay man WiS gallantly leading on his company when he wat shot through the knee. Captain Esmonds followed, and the men, once established, prepared to defend the houses they occupied. As they drote the Russians out they were pelted with hrge stones by the latter on their way up to the battery, which quite oterhangs the suburb. The •Russians could not depress their guns sufficiently to fire down on our men, but they directed a ««w« fl«ifc<asr, fire <kv tft«a f«wa w* a»s^ of *f>&' 'Redan woiks. There wat nothing for it but to keep up a vigorous fire from the houses, and to dtlude the enemy into the belief that the occupiers were more numerous than they were. Meantime the Russians did their utmost to blow down the houses with shell and shot, and fired grape inces•antly, but the soldiers kept close, tnough they lost men occasionally, and they were mott materially aided by the fire of the regiments in the 'Cemetery behind them, which was directed at the Russian embrasures ; so that the enemy could not : get out to fire down on the houses below. Some ! of the hou6ea were comfortably furnished. One of them was as well fitted up as most English mansions, the rooms full of fine furniture, a piano in the drawing room, and articles of luxury and taste not deficient. Our men, unfortunately, found that the cellars were not empty, and that there was abundance of fine muscat wine from the •outh coast of the Crimea, and of the stronger Urines, perfumed with rose* and mixed with fruits, which are grown in the interior, in the belter sort of hotMes. Some of the officers, when they went away, carried off articles of clothing and papers as proofs of their entrance into the place, and some others took away pigeons and guineapig*, which were tame in the bouses, The troops entered the place about 4 o'clock in the ■morning, and could not leave it till 9 o'clock in the evening. The Russians blew up many of the houses and «et fire to others, and when our men retired the flames were spreading along the street. The 18th Regiment lost 250 men. In the middle of the day CapUin Esmonde wrote to General Eyre to «ty that he required support, that the men ■were short of -ammunition, and that the rifles were clogged. The. rifles, which were of the En field pattern, had been only served to the regiment the •day before, and again it was found that these admirable weapons are open to the grave defect which has been so frequently mentioned, and that they are liable to become useless after firing 20 rounds. A sergeant volunteered to creep batk with this letter, but, when he reached the place where the general ought to have been, he found that the latter bad been obliged to withdraw owing to his wound, and he therefore delivered the document <tt Colonel Edwardes. As there was no possibility of getting support down to the troops, Colonel Edwardes crept down along with the sergeant and got into the houses to see how matters were going on. The officer in command, on learning the state of the cane, ordered the men to keep up the hottest fire they could ; and meantime they picked up the rifles and ammunition of the killed and wounded, and were by that means enabled. to continue their fusillade. The 9ih Regiment succeeded in effecting a lodgment in the houses in two or three different places, and held their position, as well as the 18th. A 6ergeantand a handful of men actually got possession of the little Wasp Battery, in which there were only 12 or 14 Russian artillerymen. They fled at the approach of our men, but when the latter turned round they discovered they were quite unsupported; and the Russians, seeing tbat the poor fellows were Jeft alone, came down on them and drove them out of the bsltcry. An officer and half-a-dozen men of the same regiment got up close to a part of the Flagstaff Battery, and were advancing into it when they, too, saw that they were by themselves, and, as it was futile to attempt holding their ground, they retreated. About 15 French soldiers on their left aided them, but as they were likewise unsupported they bad to retire. x\nother officer with only 12 men took one of the Russian Rifle Pits, bayonetted those they found.in it, and held possessionof it throughout the day. Meantime, while these portions of the sth and 18th and parties of the 44th and 28th were in the bouaes, the detachments of the name regiments and of the 38th kept up a hot fire from the Cemetery on the Russians in the battery and on the sharpshooters, all the time being exposed to a tremendous shower of bullets, grape, round shot, and shell. The lots of the brigade, under such circumstances, could not but be extremely severe. One part of it, separated from the other, was exposed to a destructive fire in houses, the upper portion of which crumbled into pieces or fell in under fire, and it was only by keeping in the lower story, which was vaulted and well built, that they were enabled to bold tbeir own. The other parts of it, far advanced from onr batteries, were almost unprotected, and were under a constant mitraillt and bombardment from guns which our batteries had failed to touch. Captain Smith, of the 9th, was struck by a grapesbot in the back as he waßin the act of getting Captain Armstrong, of the 18th, into a litter with the assistance of Captain Gaynor. The shot broke his spine nnd drove his ribs into his lung*. He died yesterday. Lieutenant Douglas and Lieut. M'Queen were aliso wounded. Of this regiment 6 men were killed ami 53 wounded. Id the 18th, Lieutenant Meurant was killed; Major Kennedy. Captain Hayroan (slightly), Captain Cortnick (severely), Captain Armstrong (tligbtly), Captain Wilkinson (slightly). Ensign Fearoley and Ensign Hotham (severely) wounded ; 34 men killed and 216 wounded. In the 28th, Lieutenent Davies, a brave and esteemed young officer, was killed, and five were wounded more or lees severely, among whom were the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Lowth and Lieutenant French ; the latter has a fractured thigh. In the 44th Regiment no less than seven officers were wounded, of whom three — namely, Captain Bowes Fenwick, Captain the Hon. Herbert Agar. and Captain F. Caulfifld. are reported to have died of their wounds. Captain Manofield'a thigh is fractured; 17 men were killed. 108 wounded. The 89ih Regiment was in the trenches and had a few men wounded. The total number of killed and wounded in the Brigade was, up to the last returns I could see, 10? killed, 552 wounded, — total, G59. Some of the officers got away in the great storm

which arose about 1 1 o'clock, and blew with great violence for several hours. General Eyre has issued the following order : — "Second Brigade Orders, Third Divisi6n.

" June 19.

"The Major-General commanding the brigade requests that the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men will accept his thanks for their conduct jebterday. He cannot sufficiently express his admiration of their coolness, gallantry, and discipline during a most trying day. He must tender his thanks to the medical department for iheir judicious arrangements to provide for the wounded, which arrangements were most successful. To AsHistant-Surgeons Gibbons, 44th ft eft iraent, and Geeves, 38th Regiment, especially, much praiee is due for their zealous and humane exertions in the field, while exposed to a galling fire from the enemy."

The detachments from the hard-working and lictle-noticed Naval Brigade consisted of four parties of 60 men each, one for each column, but only two of them went out, the other two being kept in reserve; they were told off to carry scaling-ladders and wool- bags, and to place them for our storming parties. It is not to be wondered at if they suffered severely. On that eventful day 14 men were killed and 47 men were wounded. Two men were killed, and several others were wounded, by the bursting of one of our 68-pounders in the left attack. Among the latter was Major Stuart Wortley, who was injured by the explosion. As soon as the two storming columnß gut out of the parallel the sailors suffered severely. When the men retreated, overwhelmed by the storm from the enemy's batter)', several officers and men were left behind wounded, and endured fearful agonies for hours, without a cup of water or a cheering voice to comfort them. Lieutenant Ermiston lay for five hours under the abattis of the Redan, and was reported dead, but he watched his opportunity, »»d pot »tv»jr frith onif a coaiuaioo of 1110 &««"» Mr. Kennedy, Benior mate of the London, and of the Naval Brigade, was also left behind close to the abattis, and after several hours of painful concealment, he rolled himself over and over like a ball down the declivity, and managed to get into the trench. Lieutenant Kidd came in all safe, and was receiving the congratulations of a brother officer, when he saw a wounded soldier lying out in the open. He at once exclaimed — " We must go and save him !" and leaped over the parapet in order to do so. He had scarcely gone a yard when he was shot through the breast and died man hour afler. Only three officers came out of action untouched, Lieutenant JDaly.ell, of the Leander, was struck in the left arm hy a grapeshot, and underwent amputation. Lieutenant Cave and Mr. Wood, midshipman, were also wounded. Captain Peel, who commanded the detachment, was shot through the arm. Lord Raglan has visited the wounded in hospital, and has made many inquiries about them.