FRENCH ATTACK ON THE MALAKHOFF TOWER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 283, 18 July 1855, Page 2

FRENCH ATTACK ON THE MALAKHOFF TOWER.

(From the Morning herald.) On the 24th February, at about half-past 2 in the morning, the whole camp was aroused by a tremendous cannonade and lire of musketry in advance of our right attack. It had continued some five or ten minutes before all the troops got orders to fall in, and by that time the din of the struggle in the trenches had so much increased that Rvery one looked forward to a general action, as at Inkermann. Our troops did not move forward, as the cause of the strife was then known to be, not a sortie, as at first expected, but a night attack which our allies were making upon a new advanced work of the enemy. * * * On the night of the 22nd a strong force of Russians bearing- fascines, gabions, and other implements with them, crossed the bridge of boats which they have in'the lesser harbour and occupied the works round Malakhoff Tower. From this point they advanced in the darkness for about two hundred yards, to a slight eminence, where the plan of anew battery had been already marked. Here they fell to work, and with such rapidity and vigour was the labour prosecuted, that, before the morning of the 23rd a deep trench, with much of the breastwork, had been completed. At dawn, it is presumed, the party retired, as nothing calculated to arouse attention was seen on the spot. The place where they had been at work was visible, but so much had been well concealed that it was almost impossible to discover whether a new battery was intended there or not. The position was so much in advance of the other parts of the Russian defences, and about midway between the works of the Redan and Malakhoff Tower, that it was thought a feat too daring for the enemy to attempt. On the night of the 23rd the Russians returned as usual, and worked so well that by the following morning their intentions were placed beyond a doubt or disbelief. The work was then nearly completed. No embrasures were yet there, and of course no guns, but more than enough had been done to command the attention of the allies. The work was surrounded by a deep fosse, and its parapet was already six feet high. The following night would complete it, and perhaps even have.some guns in position. For ordnance its position was so admirably chosen, that the fire would completely have enfiladed and taken in flank both our advanced parallel and the new works from Inkermann, and our officers admitted that the enemy had not only shown great skill and ingenuity in its choice, but a considerable amount of daring and confidence in the fire of their batteries in the rear, by which only wus the new work supported. It was immediately reported to the French general of engineers, who after a short consultation with Sir John Burgoyne and the other ofiiciers of our staff and engineers, determined upon attacking and capturing the place that very night, and before it had time to be further strengthened. For this purpose a demi-brigade of Zouaves, 1600 strong, two battalions of infantry de la marine,-2,300 strong, and 000 volunteer sharpshooters, "enfans perdu," were told off. The whole force was placed under the command of Lieutenant-General Monet. His instructions were to advance with all speed and secrecy upon the new work, drive in the covering parties, capture the work itself, and dispose his men under cover of the parapet so as to be able to retain possession ; or, if the fire of the Russian batteries rendered that impossible, to pull down the parapet and retire with the main body of his troops, leaving only the sharpshooters to annoy theeneniy. At the same time no possible effort was to be neglected to keep possession. These instructions .were not given till the evening of the 23rd, and were kept, it was thought, profoundly secret; but, as it turned out, the enemy appeared to be thoroughly well informed of every step which the allies took. The night of the 23rd was windy and boisterous. The nioon which was in j.iis first quarter went down at eleven. The storir>s>%' party was to start at one, move quietly by the covered ways to the advanced and thence on to the (object of attack until discovered, when a rush was to be made. Owing to the suddenness with .which the whole plan was resolved upon, some slight delay took place in getting the troops under arms, and it was near two on the morning of the 24th before they^ all started. All was perfectly quiet in and around Sebastopol, and the troops crept quietly forward until clear of the allied trenches. Then the ut-

most caution was requisite to preventifany premature alarm being given, as our allies were how on the ground usually occupied by the enemy's sentries and outpickets. They advanced accordingly for about 260 yards, but to their surprise saw no indication of an enemy. The object of their attack could just be discerned looming through the thick darkness. In a few minutes they were] close upon it, but still the enemy gave no alarm, nor were there any signs of a party being at work completing the battery. They were now within twenty yards of the parapet, and began to suspect an ambuscade, or that the enemy had descried their approach and retired, when suddenly a noise was heard a-head as of troops rising from the ground : in another second two or three words of command were given in Russian, immediately followed by a terrific volley of musketry poured into the head of the French column at point blank distance. Forty or fifty of the Zouaves, who were leading, were stretched on the earth by the volley, never to rise again. Their comrades saw their attempt was discovered, and with a fierce shout advanced to the contest. A most bloody struggle then ensued. The Zouaves swarmed upon the parapet on all sides, shooting, stabbing, and swearing vengeance in the dark, and the Russians obstinately held the work, fighting hand to hand with their assailants. Their officers were everywhere in advance, animating their men by voice and example, and hacking and hewing at the enemy ■with their swords like common soldiers. At length, on the left side of the work, the Zouaves succeeded in maintaining their position, and soon after poured in sufficient numbers to secure its capture, the enemy still holding one half and the French the o.ther. Both joined in a deadly struggle for the possession of the place, and while this was going forward a maneuvre of the enemy's placed the French in a most critical position. The columns of the infantrie de la marine were placed so as to support the Zouaves and volunteers, and were therefore in rear, outside the contested earthwork. They at first occupied themselves in firing wherever they saw the thickest, but soon had more important things to do. As the Zouaves struggled'for the mastery, two Russian columns of infantry, each about 2000 strong, were observed, one on each flank of the marines. This disposition of the enemy shows more than any thing else how completely they were prepared for the attack, and how quietly the French had been drawn into a regular ambuscade. The enemy's flanking column immediately advanced to the attack, and after about five minutes' heavy file firing, charged the marines with the bayonet. They resisted stoutly : but, taken by surprise in flank, and with numbers thinned by the enemy's musketry, it was all they could do to keep their ranks unbroken. They, however, succeeded for a moment in repelling the enemy's attack, and made an effort to re-form, so as to try and extricate themselves from their perilous position, and show a more extended front to their adversaries. Unfortunately, from the density of the Russian vollies, and|their ignorance of the broken ground, ] this movement was attended with a great deal of confusion, which increased each moment, The enemy took advantage of it, and again charged with the bayonet. This attack was fatal Separated from the Zouaves, and unaware of their success in the earthwork, with their lines disordered, and attacked on all sides by the enemy, the marines wavered for a few moments, then broke and fled in all directions. The Russians pursued them hotly, and prevented their attempts to rally. In the meantime the Zouaves and the volunteers in the earthwork made a desperate fight to complete their capture, and retain possession. The enemy fought with equal obstinacy. Many of the Russian soldiers were armed with hand-grenades, made of coarse earthenware, and filled with powder. The fusees of these they lit, and flung by scores, into the crowd of Zouaves, doing much execution. Still our gallant allies maintained their ground, though General Monet, who led the party, was shot through the shoulder, and had his right hand completely shattered by a piece of shell. He refused, however, to quit the work, and calling on his men to follow him, made a last desperate attempt to overcome the enemy. The Zouaves charged again, and not only charged, but remained pushing forward with the bayonet, until their opponents at last gave way and fell back. In this fierce encounter, the Colonel of the Zouaves was dangerously wounded. The French had now complete possession of the earthwork, but hardly had this result been ac-

complished, when the Russian batteries from all points opened on it. No description could convey even an idea of the terrific cannonade which was poured upon the place. The redan, barrack, flagstaff, and batteries round Malakoff Tower seemed in flames, so incessant were their flashes. The massive volley came upon the earthwork like an iron hail. Bombs and shells were thrown among the French, while the heavy round shot ploughed up the parapets and demolished on all sides the half-finished defences. In vain the gallant Zouaves laid close to earth, and kept up a tremendous fire of musketry on the nearest embrasures; in vain did the volunteer sharpshooters advance and pick off the Russian artillerymen while working the guns ; each minute the cannonade grew hotter, and the earth shook beneath the concussion of the tremendous volleys which poured upon them. Some of the volunteers advauced, and actually tried to storm the nearest and most destructive of the batteries round Malakoff Tower. They scrambled across the ditch, entered the embrasures, and succeeded in spiking three of the guns aud killing the artillerymen before the enemy, in the awful uproar, had discovered their presence. A large force of Russian infantry then instantly attacked them, and overwhelmed by numbers, the " enfans perdu " were driven from the batteries with loss. At this time the fire upon the earthwork never ceased, and the French became at last convinced that it was impossible to persist in the attempt to retain this capture. After holding it against such a cannonade for twenty-five minutes, orders were given to remove the wounded and fall back. In the course of a minute or so after this retreat commenced, the batteries ceased firing. The cause for this was soou made apparent, in the advance of some Russian columns from the batteries, who instantly fired a volley at the French, and charged them at the point of the bayonet. The Zouaves met it splendidly, and after a brief, but sanguinary struggle, in which poor General Monet received a bayonet wound in the stomach, both sides fell back, and the Russians retired to the shelter of their batteries. The Zouaves again resumed their retreat with all haste, but the enemy's batteries at the same time re-opened fire. From these our gallant allies suffered much, in particular while ascending a ravine towards our lines, where the storms of shot and shell hurled after them did much execution among their ranks. As the French retired, the Russians began cheering in some of the earthworks. Their shouts soon spread along the whole lines, and for some minutes their clamour vied even with the roar of their artillery. In reply to this the French batteries opened fire with some of our guns manned by the sailors to which the enemy replied with, heavy volleys of shot and shell. The Redan battery distinguished itself in this manner, firing whole tiers of guns at once. This work, which at the commencement of the siege, mounted 40 or 50 pieces of ordnance, now mounts upwards of 200. The French rejoined their lines about 4 o'clock. Some of their wounded they had managed to carry off, but the majority remained where they fell. In affairs of this kind our allies return their losses much lower than they really are. Nearly 10,000 of the enemy's infantry were engaged. The officers on duty at the ?sailors' trenches this morning informed me that at 9 this morning allihe churches.of Sebastopol rang peals of joy bells, and that immense numbers of soldiers j were also employed in removing the dead and wounded from the neighbourhood of the earthwork.