ATTACK ON SEBASTOPOL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 242, 24 February 1855, Page 5

ATTACK ON SEBASTOPOL.

The Allies being1 in possession of the heights, after pursuing ihe enemy as far as their strength would allow, it was next their turn for repose. They slept there on die 30th, and on the'2lst and 22nd were busily engaged in tmryinir tlse dead. On the 23rd the army moved forward, crosiedthe Katuha river, and slept thin uhiht on the left bank. Here ihe first view of Sevastopol was obtained, .*i!)d ii was then ascertained that the Russians had stronjr batteries erected,, coin man dins:" the mouth of the BwiWck liver in a «ay to prevent siejje gnus bein»rlar.<!ed there. Then came the grand conception of Lord Rusrlan and pnor Atarsltal St. Arnand, to attempt the pas>»ge of the river higher up, and by iv

fl-u.k .novf.ie.it to reach Balaklavu, »» the f« h." e..15,.1)a5u. 1 ,01, which was commandedbv precipitous heists .«pp.«ed by ihe R Jsu s to" be sufficient protection wuhout ? ilc"tio«". A .litHoi.lt country had. to he iCdS'V'.^ ™ lhe Wlh.! henncrwr foment began, much to the ««oiiwln»eiit oi our troops, who fancied the siege would h« v lert,ken from the north side The Bel heck «crossed by the bridge «.f Oturkm. and ihe ni-lit was passed on U.e heights. 0» me following day the road lay through a wood so thick and entangled U...1 the infantry had to march by compass, and the cavalry l.y a narrow path through the jungle; and hero an exiraorSiuarv and critical incident occurred, which lias been "since explained in U.e despatches sent to Sc Petersburg!. Menschiknff, finding himself blocked in upon the north side, felt anxious to open his connnunioaiioii with the interior, in order to be joined by the reinforcements coming round from Odessa, and by way of Perekop, little dreaming that we were groping nloiisr Hie very road he was taking, and cli.ingiiiir our entire plan of operations. E-.ch army, fearful of exeitins? notice, avoided sending out skirmishers u'nd fixincr outposts, and ujinn emerging from the wood at a place on the road horn Sebastopol to Baktchi-Seria, known as Khutor Mekenzia, the leading files of the artillery and cavalry came upon a body of the Russians, who were perfectly astounded, and fldd after a shortifisht —some hack to Sebastopol, others forward") wondering no doubt how the deuce we cot there. A srood deal of their hatrirasre was captured, and Menschikoff is supposed to have bad a narrow escape. After crossing another river, the Tehernaya, the troops ayain bivouacked, and then pursued their march to the hills above Balaklava. On the 23th September, our forces began to move up to the heiuhts commanding Sehastopul, the ships 1 crews with hearty sjood'will commenced landing the siejre guns,' and for eight dreary miles up broken eminences did Jack toil and struggle cheerfully with these ponderous machines of death, gingiul.; and cracking his jokes :is thouirh he thought it fine fun that he wasatla«t permitted to do some of the hard work. The round headed Tartar villagers, who ever and anon parsed by, started with vacant astonishment at \he<e British Samsons, who with perfect indifference merely returned the 'coinpliineiit by a " bono, Johnny," the popular, lhou<rh inexidical»l« salute to Turks or Tartars indiscriminately. The rear of the army was protected by the Duke of Cambridge's division, the roads beinsr broken up and defended' with works. On the 2nd inst., this was considered to have I>p<mi completed. The French had joined us the day after we reached Balaklava. .If all this time I have said but-little of the Turks,it is because the division of the arm) in which they served, had little or nothing to di>, eager as they were to participate. The furlress'-s of Sebastopol began thr-iwing shot and shells into our lhie> on the 4th of October, aiid on the 7lh, 6,000 of the Russians made a sortie, but being perceived in time, retired with some loss. The batteries of the town have been constantly firing upon mir brave soldiers at work in the trenches, but with far less loss to us than might have been apprehended. On one occasion the shells came dropping very thick, and a calculating sapper, caichin^ up his took, drolly announced to " Bill," th.it he should " hook it." Bill and the others were not slow to book it likewise, a.ul when out of rsinsre, had a hearty laui>h, returning to their job direetlv the Russians seemed to be tired of firinir at nothing. Our batteries kept quite silent, heinjr masked all ibis time to prevent the enemy from finding his weak points, akhoujrh they expended an enormous amount 'of ammunitio.) in trvinir to "brin;r us out." ,On the 12th of October we had 200 gnus isi position. In the mean time the Russians h;iil sunk several of their own ships of war ;«t the mouth of the haibour to prevent o<ir Ktu.t.tiers ruiiuitig in, and enable them to e:iii<i;>y their sailors,-say 13,000 men. This maiice ivre, however, told both ways, for k relit;vt>d our sbippinjr also of the necessity of watching tiie lnrbour, and enabled the l'rench to land at Chersoiicsii*. whence they <Miu!d d.» jfrcai damage. In their sorties the Riis»S:nis tvhwi living lost ji jrreat many men, m.d the commanders at the Sinope massacre, Atlmir.l^ -Nachi!!..n and K-.linolf, have both been killed. 'J'he iuliaaiiajils, men, women, and children, wme seen daily c.-irryiug earth, in ba.'jke:^ to assist the soldii-Vs in htreiiglheuing

the defences, and as l>e communication on the north side lias been kept open, the Russians have been getting in supplies, as well as reinforcements of troops. We cutoff part ot the water communication : and, before we commenced the bombardment, requested that a il.ig might be hoisted over the hospital, and that the* women might be sent away, the latter havinif come out of town to the walls, and with proper humanity have been allowed." to carry in water. Our own troops have suffered much from the want of this necessary *. and the woods givat.lv dilapidated their appasel, from hard marches they lost much flesh, and many officers had not their coats oil' for a fortnight, much less a clean shirt!

Although there have been many complaints of imperfect arrangements for our communications from llie East, details are coining thick and fast upon us from the Crimea, and they lull the same tale of indomitable perseverance si ml i-oruage on ona side, ami of considerable daring and stubbornness on the part of the | enemy. Our siege guns opened on the ISth I October, and from that lime, with some intervals, have been hard tit work ever since. The I French suffered severely by having a magazine blown up the very day they began firing, and ill ere was a day lost besides, so that we were ; leff more exposed to attack. On the 17t.1i the ; Allies are supposed to have lost more than 600 men, the explosions doing harm, and the French works not being considered strong enough, at iea»t in the first instance. On the 20th the Russians mside a great sortie airainsl the French bui were driven back with much slaughter. 'The enemy have repaired their batttcries almost as fast as we damage them. The roar of the ■runs is described as most astounding, even at n distance of six miles; and close in it deafens every bystander. Hot sliotis sent freely backward1: and forwards. The uif-iuk on thel?ih was supported at sea by some of the English and French ship*, but they coulil not get near enough to. do the damage desired. By all accounts, they indicated Ir*» lit Till loss, however, and the two authors nf the Sinope massacre were killed—Admiral N Taehinoffand Admiral Knline.ff. On the 24th O.'tober, a division of 3,000 Russians, under General liipntndi, who had arrived by way.of Pr-rekop, jdiued Men«eliikofl, attacked our right, fl.iulv with great fury at Tnkerniiin, on llie Tchernsya ; a grand sortie from Sehnstoiiol heintr maile sit the same time. Tn the "first flash " of the nff.iir, our cavalry and the Turkish outposts suffered smartly, and the latter were even overpowered, but with reinforcements timely sent up, we soon gave the enemy a reception that caused him to beat a retreat, excellently planned as was his attack; for if successful, he would have, cut off a "large English division from the main body. In carry in if on the siejje, we tried lo spare the town at first ; but Ibis impeded sill our operations, and the inhabitants having free exit by the north road did not suffer. The stories told by deserter*; :is t» the condition of the besieged, are perfectly horrify! n<r. The very air. is said to be mii lected by the number of unbiuied dead, estimated at 6,000. and there are said to be, 12,000 wounded ! Our works are now 200 yards only from the w.ills, and ere long an assault is expected. Tliis will ho friuhtfnl, and it is feared mines will be sprung among us.