DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE OF ALMA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 239, 14 February 1855, Page 3

DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE OF ALMA.

(From a Correspondent of the Times). At the place where the bulk of the British array crossed the Alma, the banks are generally at the right side, and vary from two and three to six or eight feet in depth to the water; where the French attacked, the banks are generally formed by the unvaried curve of the river on the left-hand side. Along the right or north bank of the Alma are some Tartar houses, at times numerous and close enough to form a cluster of-habitations deserving the name of a hamlet, at times scattered wide apart amid little vineyards, surrounded by walls of mud and stone of three feet in height. The bridge over which the post road passes from Bouljunak to Sebastopol runs close to one of these hamlets— a village, in fact, of some 50 houses. This village is approached from the north 'by a road winding through a plain nearly level till it comes "near to the village, where the ground dips, so that at the distance of 300.yards a man on horseback can hardly see the tops of the nearer and more elevated houses, and can only ascertain the position of the stream by the willows and verdure along its hanks. At the left or south side of the Alma the ground assumes a very different character—smooth where the bank is deep, and gently elevated where the shelve of the bank occurs, it recedes for a few yards at a moderate height above the stream, pierced here and there by the course of the winter's torrents, so as to form small ravines, commanded, however, by the heights above. It was in these upper heights that the strength of the Russian position consisted. A remarkable ridsre of mountain, varying in height from 500 to' 700 feet, runs along the course of the Alma on the left or smith side of tlig course of the stream, and assuming*the form of clifi's when close to tlie sea. The rid ire is marked all along its course by deep gullies, which run towards the river at various imirlos, and serve, no doubt, to carry oft1 the floods produced by the rains and the'meUing of the winter snows

on the hills and table lands abo^e. If the reader will place himself on the top of Richmond bill, dwrarf the Thames in imagination to the size of a Hampshire rivulet, and imagine the lovely hill itself to be deprived of all vegetution and protracted for about fovir miles along the stream, he may form some notion of the position occupied by the Russians, while the plains on the north or left bank of the Thames will bear no inapt similitude to the land over which the British and French armies advanced, barring only the verdure and freshness. At the top of the ridges, between the gullies, the Russians had erected earthwork batteries, mounted with 321b. and 24 lb. brass guns, supported by field-pieces and howitzers. These guns enn"laded the tops of the ravines parallel to them, or swept them to the base, while the whole of the sides up which an enemy, unable to stand the direct fire of the batteries, would be forced id ascend, were filled with masses of skirmishers armed with an excellent' two-grooved rifle, throwing a large'solid;;"conical ball with force at 700 and 800 yards, as'thfe French learnt to their cost. The principal' baftery; consisted of an earthwork of the form of two sides of a triangle, with the apex pointed towa'rds'V'the bridge, and the sides covering both sides oX toe-stream, corresponding with the bend in the'river below it, at the distance of 1000 yards, while, with a fair elevation, the 32-pounders threw, as we saw very often, beyond the houses of the village to the distance of 1400 and 1500 yards. This was constructed on the brow of a hill about 600 feet above the river, but the hill rose behind it for another 50 feet before it dipped away towards the road. The ascent of this hill was enfiladed by the fire of three batteries of earthwork on the right, and by another on the left, and these batteries were equally capable of coveting the village, the stream, and the slopes, which led up the hill to their position. In the first battery were 13 32-pounder brass guns of exquisite workimnship, which only told too well. In the other batteries were some 25 guns in all. It was said the Russians had 100 guns on the hills and 40,000 men, 40 battalions of infantry, 1000 strong each of the 16ih, 3lst, 42nd. and the 52nd regiments. We were opposed principally to the 16th and 32nd regiments,judging by the number of dead in front of us. I have not been able to ascertain by whom they were commanded, but there is a general Teport that Menschikoff commanded the army in chief, that the left was under Gortschakoff, a relative of the diplomatist, and that the right was under Bohadoff, the military Governor of Sevastopol. It seems strange that an admiral should be appointed to command an army, but strange things do happen in Russia. It is also affirmed that the carnage of Menschikoff was taken, and in.it was found a copy of a despatch addressed to the Emperor, in which the Prince stated that 40,000 men might take Sebastopol, but that 80,000 men men could be held in check for weeks by the po - sition of the Alma. Large masses of cavalry, principally Lancers and heavy Dragoons, manojuvred on the hills on the right of the Russians, and at last descending the hills, crossed the stream, and threatened our left and rear. As we came near the river, our left wing was thrown back, in order to support our small force of cavalry, and.a portion of our artillery was pushed forward in the sitme direction. Our danger in this respect was detected by the quick eye of Sir George Brown, and I heard him give the order for the movement of the artillery almost as soon as he caught sight of the enemy's cavalry, and just as we were"coining to the village. As I have already said our plan of operations was that the French should establish themselves under the fire of the guns on the heights on the extreme of the enemy's left. When that attack was sufficiently developed, and had met with success,the British army was to force the right and part of the centre of the Rus i in position and the clay was gained. When we were about three miles from the village, the French steamers ran in as close as they could to the bluff of the shore at the south side of the of the Alma, and presently we saw them shelling the ?h eights in splendid style, the shells 'bursting over the enemy's squares and batteries, ami finally driving thorn from their position on the right, with in S,OOO yards of the sen. The French practice commenced about halfpast twelve o'clock, ami lusted for about » hour ami a-hiilf. We could see the shells falling over the butteries of the enemy, and bursting right iiUo them : and then the blttck masses in-

side the works broke into little specks which flew about in *11 directions, and when the smoke cleared away there were some to be seen strewed over the grounds. The Russians answered the ships from the heights, bnt without effect. A powder tumbril was blown up by a French shell; another sliot fell by accident into an ambuscade which the Russians had prepared for the advancing French, and at last they drew off from the sea side, and confined their efforts to ihe defence of the gullies and heights beyond the fire 'of the heavy guns of the steamers. At one o'clock we saw"lhe French columns struggling up the hills, covered by a cloud of skirmishers, whose fire seemed most deadly. Once, at sight of a threatening mass of Russian infantry, in a „ commanding position above them, who fired rapid volleys among them, the French paused, but it was" only to collect their skirmishers, for "as soon as they had formed, they ran up the hill at the pas de charge, and at once broke the Russians, who fled in disorder, with loss, up the hill. We ..could see men dropping on both sides, and the wounded rolling down the steep. At 1.50 our line of skirmishers got within Tange of the battery on the hill, and immediately the Russians opened fire at 1,200 yards, with effect, the shot ploughing through the open lines of the riflemen, and falling into the advancing columns behind. Shortly before this time dense volumes of smoke-rose from the river, and drifted along to the eastward, rather interfering with the view of the enemy on the left of our position. The Russians had set the village on fire. It was a fair exercise of military skill—was well executed —took place at the right time, and succeeded in occasioning a good deal of annoyance. Our troops halted when they ueared this village, their left extending beyond it by the verge of the stream ; our right beyond the'burning cottages, and within range of the batteries. It is said that the Russians had taken the range of all the principal points in their front, and placed twigs'and sticks to mark them. In this they were assisted by the post signboards on the road. The Russians opened a furious fire on the whole of our line, but the French had not yet made progress enough to justify us in advancing. The round shot whizzed in every direction, dashing up the dirt and sand into the face of the staff of Lord Raglan, who were also shelled severely, and attracted much of the enemy's fire. Still Lord Raglan waited patiently for the development of the French attack. At length an aide-de-camp came to him and reported that the French had crossed the Alma, hut they had not established themselves sufficiently tojustify us in an attack. The infantry were therefore ordered to lie down, and the army for a short time was quite passive, only that our artillery poured forth an unceasing fire of shell, rockets, and round shot, which ploughed through the Russians and caused them great loss; They did not waver, however, and replied to our artillery manfully, ftheir shot falling among our men as they W> and cam-in" off legs and arms at every round. " ** Lord Raglan at la<t became weary at this .inactivity—his spirit was up—he looked around and saw men on whom he might stake the honour and fate of Great Britain by his side, and anticipating a little in a military point of view the crisis of actiou, he gave orders for our whole . line to advance. Up rose these serried masses and passing through a fearful shower of round case shot, and shell, they dashed into the Alma and fl-iunuered through its waters, winch were literally torn into foam by the deadly hail. At the other side of th« river weie a'number of vineyards, and, to our surprise, they were occupied by Russian riflemen. Three "of the stuff were shot down, but, led by Lord IWlau in person, ibe rest advanced cheering on the men And now came the tur:iin ? point of the battle in which Lord Raglan, by his sagacity and military skill, probably secured the victory at a smaller sacrifice than w.mbl have been "otherwise the ease. He dashed over the bridge, followed l,v bis siaff. From the road over it, under the Russian jr lllis> ile s;nv the st;ileof the aai()n I lie bniisii hue, which he had ordered to advance^ was strujro-li!,^ tbvough the river and up the heijrms in ma^es, linn indeed, but mowed down by the jiiuwl e r.,us fire of the batteries, and by grape, round shot, shell, canister, case shot and mu-ketry, from s. me of the gnu* <,f (i ie central iwuery, and fmni an immense and compact mass of Russian infantry. 'Then commenced one ofiiie most bloody and determined.strntrgles in the annals of war The gd Ditision, leU by Six D. L. Evans, i M the most

I dashing manner, crossed the stream on the right. The 7lh Fusileera, led by Colonel Yea, were swept down by fifties. The 55tb, 30ib, and 95th, led hy Brigadier Pennefather, who was in 1 the thickest of the fight, cheering on his men, ■ again and again were checked indeed, hut never drew back in their onward progress, which was marked by a fierce roll of Minie musketry; and Brigadier Adams, with the 41st, 47th, and 49th, bravely charged up the hill, and aided them in the battle. Sir George Brown, conspicuous on a grey horse, rode in front of his light division, urging them on with voice and gesture. Gallant fellows ! they were worthy of such a gallant chief. The 7th, diminished'by one-half, fell back to reform their columns, lost for the time; the 23rd, with eight officers dead and four wounded, were still rushin sr to the front, aided by the 19th, 33rd, 77th, and 88th. Down went Sir George in a cloud of dust in front of the battery. Fie was soon up, and shouted, "23 rd, I'm all right. Be sure I'll remember this day," and led them on again, but in the shock produced by the fall of their . chief the gallant regiment suffered terribly while paralysed for a moment. Me-intime the Guards, on the right of the Light Division, and the Brigade of Highlanders were storming the heights on the left. Their ; line was almost as regular as though they were in Hyde-park. Suddenly a tornado of round i and grape rushed through from the terrible bat- : tery, and a roar of musketry from behind thinned their [front ranks by dozens. It was \ evident that we were just able to contend | asrainst the Russians, favoured as. they were by a great position. At this very time an immense ! mass of Russian infantry were seen moving i down "towards the battery. They halted. It \ was the crisis of the day. Sharp, angular, and solid, they looked as if they were cut out of the solid rock. It was beyond all doubt that if our infantry, haiassed and thinned as they were, got into the battery they would have to encounter again a formidable fire, which they were illcalculated to bear. Lord Raglan saw the difficulties of the situation. He asked if it would be possible to get a couple of guns to bear on these masses. The reply was "Yes," and an artillery officer whose name I do hot know, brought up two guns to j fire on the Russian squares. The first shot missed, but the next, and the nest, and the next cut through the ranks so cleanly, and so keenly, that a clear lane could be seen for a moment through the square. After a Hew rounds the square became broken, wavered to and fro, broke, and fled over the brow of the hill, leaving behind it six or seven distinct lines of dead, lying as close as possible to each other, marking the passage of the fatal messengers. This act relieved our infantry of a deadly incubus, and they continued their magnificent and fearful progress up the hill. The duke encouraged his men by voice and example, and proved himself worthy of his proud command and of the royal race from which he is come. "Highlanders," said Sir C. Campbell, ere they came to the charge, " Don't pull a triarger til! you're within a yard of the Russians!" They charged, and well they obeyed their chieftain's wish. Sir Colin had a horse shot under him, but his men took the , battery at a bound. The Russians rushed out and left multitudes of dead behind them. The Guards had stormed the right of the battery ere the Highlanders got into the left, and it is said the Scots Fusilier Guards were the first to enter. The second and light division crowned the heights. The French turned the guns on the hill against the flying masses, which the cavalry in vain tried'to cover. A few faint struggles from the scattered infantry, a few : rounds of cannon and musketry, and the enemy fled to the south-east, leaving thiee generals, three gnus, 700 prisoners, and 4,000 wounded behind them. The battle of the Alma was won. It is won with a loss of nearly 3000 killed and wounded on our side. The Russian's retreat was covered by their cavalry, but if we had had an adequate force, we could have captured many guns and multitude.1; of prisoners.