Operations on the Tchernaya.-Defeat of the Russians.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 324, 8 December 1855, Page 7

Operations on the Tchernaya.-De-feat of the Russians.

The Russians mucked the position oh the Tchernaya <>n (lie niorninir of August 1(5, at daylight, in great force. The action lasted about three hours, but they were completely repulsed by the French .uul Sardinians. The Russian att'ick was tinder the command of Lipramii, wiih from 50,000 to (>0.(.'00 men; the loss is estimated at between 4,000 and 0,000, and about 400 prisoners have been taken. The lots on the side of the allies is very small. General Pelissier says as follows: —

"The enemy was repulsed with great vigour by the divisions' ol' Generals Herbilion, Canava, Faucheux, and Morris. The Sardinians placed on our right fought valiantly. The principal «-ff>>rt of the enemy was directed against Trakyr Bridge. The Russians left a great number of dead there, and we made a great many prisoners. Tiuy were in full retreat on Vlackerzie's farm wliou our reserves were coining up, and those of our brave allies, especially the English cavalry. The enemy has received a severe check ; our losses, whicli are much less than those of the Russians, have not yet been accurately ascertained." Ii appears that the movement of the Russians was in consequence of orders transmitted from St. Petersburg to the Russian Generals to attack our line hef >rethe end of August. In vain the Russian Generals attempted an attack when we made ivcouiiai<ances. The allied i Gener.ils \ver« too wise ; and the consequence was that the Russians had no course left them but to retreat into the interior of the country where there wants could be supplied abandoning ■Sebastopol to its fate, so far as the army of relief was concerned, or to make one more desperate effort to drive the invaders into the sea, and ihtis save the stronghold of the Czar and retrieve the honour of his arms. The last intelligence from General Pelissier leaves the Rns-iaiis in full retreat upon Mackenzie's farm, beaten, harrassed, and short of provisions. The Russian army of observation, for the time, has no existence. Tt must pursue its retreat for safety's sake, and, instead of relieving its comrades, must itself seek relief. The allied commanders have seized upon the moment, when their soldiers are burning with victorious enthusiasm, and when deep disinav must exist amongst the ranks of the defenders of Sebastopol, to reopen our fire, at a moment too when our approaches are so close to the enemy that hand grenades h;:\e become the favourite weapon of offence, and it needs but'a shrot mine to blow his ditch and rampart into one of ruins—a short rush to place our gallant soldiers in possession of the long-desired Malakboff. At the moment we write, the bombardment is proceeding from the mouths of such an armament as even Sebastopul has not t.il this moment felt the weight of, and it is not improbable that by the time these Hues meet the public eve, the assault may be made and a new and hard won glory added to the united flag. The Post says, in a leader, that orders had been transmitted from St. Pe:ersbur<r to the Russian srenerals to attack our lines before the end of August, and the reasons which induced the Emperor to give such orders, and fix a date for their execution,were the urgent representation of the commanders, who sent despatch after despaich to their government,infonnin<: them of ihe dearth of provisions, which was making1 itself severely felt, and threatened to prove fatal to the very existence of hi< armie*, if the mouth of September .should find them in their then position. The telegraph report? a jrrpal battle and a glorious victory, observes the Liverpool Journal, of the ISth: —"General tie la M annum saw | distinctly what was coming, and, like an a; le j general, he was prepared for tho event ! eso wisely anticipated. The Russians do not appear to have attempted the defile guarded by the Turks, for the Turks are not mentioned' as engaged in the conflict. Lipramii had evidently found another road, and the duration of ;:.r baltlfc—three hours —accounts fully for its fatality to the enemy. Hoiv was another Alma, the Russians being the assailants ; and we rejoice to soe thai the allies have followed up the victory. The bombardment was to ci-mmeuce immediately ; then the storming, and then the— triumph."