THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 221, 13 December 1854, Page 3

THE WAR.

(From the Times' Special Correspondent). Vavna, August 19. Ere I continue the narrative of events from the date of my last letter up to this time, I must appease the anxiety of the public by the happy assurance that tlie cholera is abating in the army, and that its worst seems to have passed over the ifleet. The news from the latter has been melancholy. Towards the close of last week the cholera assumed such an alarming character that both admirals (French and English) resolved to leave their anchorage at Baltschik, and stand out to sea for a cruise. It is almost a y»ity Unit the ships were left there so long. On Wednesday morning, the Caradoc, Lieutenant Derri-

man, left Constantinople with the mails for the fleet and army the previous evening, came up with the English fleet under Admiral Dundas. The Caradoc was boarded by a boat from the Britannia, and the officer who came on board communicated, the appalling intelligence that the flag ship had lost 70 men since she left Baltschik, and that she had buried 10 men that morning. Upwards of 100 men were on the sick list at that time. ISome of the other ships had lost several men, but not in the same pro- : portion. The fact is that the Admiral's ship is - over-crowded with supernumeraries. By the last accounts the Britannia was healthier, but she had lost altogether about 86 men .by cholera. The British fleet was cruising in two lines, about 25 miles south-east of Varna, on the'morningof the 16th. The ships were the Britannia, the Albion, the London, the Trafalgar, the Queen, Furious, the Diamond (frigate), Rodney, Tribune, Vengeance, ; aud two steamers. Later in the day, the French fleet was observed cruising east of Varna about 20 miles. The accounts from these ships were most depressing, but the disease has now been deprived somewhat of its virulence. The Ville de Paris has lost more than ,200 men. , The Montebello, which is in Varna harbour, lils lost about the same number. Since.the great fire on the night of the tbth, the cholera seems to have diminished from the town itself, and the reports from the various camps are ranch more favourable than heretofore. The chaplain of the Light .Division oh one day last week had not to perform any fune^ ral seA'ice. Since then there have been several days on which the deaths in the division have not exceeded one or two. It has been found, indeed, that the plan of wide open encampments has answered in checking disease. The British army is now scattered broad-cast all over the country, from Monaslir to Varna, a distance.of 20 or 27 miles. The Light Division is norni;. nally encamped at Monastir, but the regiments '* composing it are wide apart from each other, and the division stretches almost from Pravado £t'o!the plains above Monastir. The cavalry bri gade under Lord Cardigan is encamped close to Kosladschi. Sir De L. Evans's division, which has been tolerably healthy in comparison with Sir George Brown's and the Duke of Cambridge's divisions, extends over a large plateau, encamped regiment by regiment, between Aladyn and Devno. The Duke's division has marched in from Aladyn, and is now encamped towards the south-western side of the bay. It appears' that notwithstanding the exquisite i beauty of the country mound Aladyn, it is. a ■ hot-bed of fever and dysentery. The same is true of Devno, which is called by the Turks, "the valley of death ;" and had we cons^ed \ the natives ere we pitched our tents, we'ajguredly should never have gone either to Ala~d}'h or Devno, notwithstanding the charms of their position, and the temptations offered by the abundant supply of water and by the adjacent woods. No blame, perhaps, is to be attached to any one for neglecting to ascertain whether these great natural advantages were counterbalanced by any peculiar sanitary evils. Whoever gazed on these rich meadows, stretching for long miles away, and bordered by heights on which the dense forests struggled all but in vaio. to ; pierce, the masses of wild vine, clematis, dwarf accacia, and many coloured brushwoods —on the verdant hill-sides, and on the dancing waters of lake and stream below, lighted up by the golden ray^of a Bulgarian summer s sun, —might well 'think that no English glade or hill-top could well be healthier, or more suited for the residence of man. But these, meadows nurture the fever, the ague, dysentery and pestilence in theiv bosom—the lake and "the stream exhaledeath; and at night fat unctuous vapours rise up fold after fold from the valleys, and creep up in the dark and steal into the tent of the sleeper, and wrap him in their deadly embrace. So completely exhausted on Thursday last was the Brigade of Guards, these 3000 of the flower of England, that they had to make two marches in order to get over the distance from Aladyn to Varna, which is.uot more than (not so much, mnnyjpeople say, as) ten miles. But that is not all—their packs were carried for them. Just think of this, good people of England, who are sitting anxiously in your homes, day sifter day, expecting every morning to gladden your eyes with the si<rht of the announcement, in large type, of " Fall of '*Sebastopol/ your Guards,fyoiir[corps cTilitc, the pride of your, hearts, the delight of your eyes, these Anakim whose stature, "strengtn, and* massive bulk you

exhibit to kingly visitors as no inapt symbols of youv nation, liave been so reduced by. sickness, disease, and a depressing climate, that it was judged inexpedient to allow them to carry their own packs, or to permit them to march more than five miles a day, even though their packs were carried for them! Think of this aud then judge whether these men are fit in their present state to go to Sebastopol, or to attempt any great operation of'war. The Highland brigade is in better condition, but even the three xeghnents which compose it are far from being in good health, or in the spirits in which they set oiit for Varua. The Duke's division has lost 360 meu, of these nearly 100 belonged to the Guards. In the Brigade of Guards before the iuarca to Varna, there were 600 men sick. The Division has lost 110 or 112 men. Sir De L. Evans has lost 100 men or thereabouts. The little cavalry force has been sadly reduced by death, aud the third (Sir K. England's) division, .which has 6een encamped to the north-west of Varna, close outside the town, has lost upwards of 100 meu also, the 50th regiment, who were much worked, being particularly cut up. The ambulance corps has been completely crippled by the death of the drivers ang men belonging to i£ and the medical officers have been called upon to make a special report on" foe mortality amongst them., I believe the fact to be, that there was rather an unhappy selection of men, and that many of them were old soldiers, rather addicted to free living and spirits; and in Bulgaria'drunkenness is death. * Sir^: England's division has been moved" round th'e'bay,and is now loosely encamped near Lord Lucan's ! cavalry on the heights, extending from the I fountain to Galata Bournon, and looking across the bay toward Varna. We have still some few men of our army encamped on the north-east I sfde of the town outside the walls. The French , -have their " Cholera Camp" between Chatel Tepeh and Medjidji-tah, about two miles from the town. It is only too extensive and too well „ filled. Horrors occur every day which ar'e|] shocking to think of. Walking by the beaclf] one sees some straw sticking up through the i sand, and scraping it away "with his stick, he is horrified at bringing to light the face of a corpse. which has been deposited there, with a wisp of. straw around it,' a prey to "dogs and vultures. Dead bodies rise up from the bottom in the harbour, and bob grimly around in the water, or float in from tKfe^sea, and drift past the sickened gazers on board the ships—all'buoyant, bolt ' upright, and hideous in the snn. On Friday, the body of a French soldier, who had been murdered (for his neckerchief was twbted round the neck so as to produce strangulituon, and the forehead was laid open by a ghastly wonnd which cleft the skull to the brain) came alongside the Caradoc in harbour, and was with difficulty sunk again. What fond parent or anxious sweetheart, in some pleasant homestead of La Belle France, may now be expecting him and wondering at his silence ? Will they^ever hear of that poor fellow's fate ? A boat's crew go on shore to put a few stones together as a sort of landing-place on the sand ; they move a sto'ife, and underneath is a festering corpse again. But there is no use in accumulating the details of scenes like these, which must ever be the terrible attendants on war and pestilence. f « -■ ;

On the 15th, the English men-of-war at the Golden Horn and at Varna dressed in^olours, hoisted the tricolor to the Ipi^ and fired a royal salute in honour of the anniversary of the Emperor Napoleon's birthday. The Turkish fleet and forts also fired.a royal salute, and the French inen-of war of couise* observed the day with every external demonstration o£gnthusiasm % Varna bay looked absolutely gay-Tor the hundreds of merchantmen anchored there displayed all their spare bunting, and flaunted the flags of all nations. On. the 18th similar honours were paid by French and English in Varna to the Emperor of Austria's natal day, and the Turkish artillery fired a rattling salute from their batteries. A sad accident happened on board the Austrian transport No. 9 With her two miserable old iron pots of guns, she was joining in me salute, when, owing to the carelessness of one of the men, who did not properly sponge the tube, the charge of one of the gnus exploded, agd blew the hand of a' fine voun-r fellow—ajg&ahnatinn, named Giovanni T<r»f.coylcj—to pieces. - Fie was cariied on board the firebrand,-'where Dr. O'Hagnn, the sur^eo-j assiste.i by Mr. M'Souley, Ills assistant s;u^eon? aad Mr. VViUiauis (Cj-clops), am|)utated° the

right arm below the elbow, and he is now doing well. I mention the circumstance in the hope that it mayibecome known in Austria, and that the poor young fellow, who has been maimed for life owing to his loyalty to "the Austrian Grown, may receive some compensation, or at least some charity, from his countrymen."- . There is a large fleet of transports, all English, at Baltschik, and Varna harbour is full of vessels. In addition to French transports, there is- the Turkish fleet (six line of battle ships), the French fleet of three line of battle ships, eight steam frigates, two despatch boats, seven transports, and the English men of war Agamemnon (Admiral Lyons), Bellerophon, Sanspareil, Leander, Cyclops, Firebrand,'' Si-' moom, Vulcan, Highflyer, and Megseva. Captain Smith, of the Simoom, died to-day. ' He dined on board the Admiral's ship yesterday, evening, and up to 10 o'clock last night he.\vas|' in the highest spirits, and amused every o'ri^By,his lively humour, Early this morningjlie^as^ seized with cramps in his stomach, but*foi||w|j| or three hours he suffered in silence, aud^ti|g}tig| not send for medical-aid. When he did'so,,iF was too late". This event has, of course, c^st a.*' gloomier the fleet. The ships, with tlfeW ceptiori-'d'f the Montebello.are generally healthy. The Firebrand is under the command, pro tern., of Lieutenant Jones, as her recently appointed captain, Mr. Stewart, son of the gallant,old ad- '- miral at Malta, has not yet come from Corfu to join.

lib Varna bay are transports No. 5, 24, 69, (steamers)- 48,49, &g- ; No. 49 lias been landing artillery. The French>have been embarking artillery for the-last three days, but, it is probable only to practise tliem, as this morning we embarked one-third of a- battery merely to land them again, as well as some men of the 44th andistißbyals. It was found that the paddle--box boats at the Firebrand; would hold 84 men, /withv^all theL|ipack, ■ &c, in heavy marching l^rderwT-Tlie^pbntoon boats held two guns, the Vgurihers;belonging to them, the carriage, every thing^i^'fact, but the spare ammunition wagon. LffrdfKaglan, Sir George^Brown, and Admiral : Lypnsfcame pvei" frotn Varna, in a smallsteamier. to witness the operations, which took place sjvery early in the mprningy-at the opposite side -of the bay. All the officers" of the. fleet were 'in-' P*"" tedfid.■■•attend:';..; The men were landed soon ter they were-embarked, and men, horses, and guns returned to their quarters. In fact, it was merely an'experiment to see how many; the '..bp.ati-..^ time a given •; ; numberof men cpiild; be embarked on board : it was experiinentiimin iisum juventutis, for the benefit of yoiing generals. And now for odds and ends.^f-i'e^s;-;;-".Tiie':15ta:i_s.p.assed ) --thiB Ides of Augus^^ig^lly fixed for the embarkation,, have gprie^Dy, JSnu our generals have made no sign. Now people talk of the 25th as being the day ; they were speaking of Monday next, the 21st, and other people, when [people talk so, laugh ond grin incredulously. But really the French seem anxious to move away at last. They are [tired of fighting against the cholera here, ami they are horrified at the notion of a repetition of the Dobrudscha pestilence. General Espinasse, they say, is dead.- 'According to popular "rumour here, the General was reprimanded by M. St. Arnaud for the misfortunes which occurred%nder his command in the Dobrudscha—went home and committed suicide. This I do not believe; for the General was a thoroughly fine manly fellow, and would never have yielded to the suggestions of such cowardly an^er. . The fire has done us great harm. In additioll to the bread [biscuit] which has been lost*, mi" mense quantities of stores have been destroyed--19,000 pnirs of shoes for the soldiers have been burnt, and an immensequantity ofcavahy sabres, which have been found fused amidst the ruins in the most fantastic shapes. The soldiers plundered a good deal, and outrages of a grave character are attributed to the Zouave 3 during the fire. Tongues and potted meats, most probably abstracted from Mr. Grace's stores, are to be had in the outskirts of the camp for very little money. Lord de llos has gone to Therapia for the benefit of his health. It was scarcely considerate of his lordship to take away Dr. Baxter with him to attend on him solely, at a time when medical altendance is so greatly required in camp and quarters. General Cator is also down at Constantinople, and is going home as soon as he is well enough. If so, the army will suffer a serious loss, for he was a most valuable-

and talented officer. General Tylden is illColonel Doyle is'goue home invalided. Colonels Fergusscm and Elliott are dead. Yesterday the sailors of the Bellerophon, under Piince'Leiriingen and Mi\*Glyn, returned from Butschutk. No one who met them could imagine they had ever hailedfrom Portsmouth Overgrown with beard, hair and whiskers, with t their trowsers' thrust into Wellington, or Jack 'boots, and some of them with actual,, spurs (Jack with spurs!) on their heels, and girt in with waist bells, in-which were thrust cutlass and pistols, the honest fellows, but for their resolute real look, might*almost have been mistaken for the heroes of a' masquerade. They were in capital health and spirits, quite delighted with their equestrian feats, but very glad to u»*t on board ship again. The. whole of the beach ,Js littered with a vast debris of broken timber. >'lt is the " precipitate" of one-third of Varna' Jifler tb'e fire, and is, in fact, all that remains of which sheltered 3000 a ot 4000 fjjedgle.' ' - "•> . 17th, Sir George Brown, attended by 'Captain Pearson, A. D. C, started at.4 o'clock a.m., fvora Varna, to visit his division at Monastir, 27 miles distant. He returned to Varna the same evening as fast as if he had only taken a gallop over the common. • t The Duke of Cambridge, who has had an - attack of erysipelas iv the foot since I wrote last, is better. Some three or four small steam tugs have been sent up here from Constantinople. There are 24 pontoons on the beach.