works of the town naturally causes us greater loss than heretofore. Our allies have suffered very considerably in the last captured works from the enemy. I understand that since their occupation of the Mamelon, they have lost daily in it alone 100 men, chiefly from the salvoes of shells, which the Russians perpetually pour upon them from mortar batteries in rear of the Malakoff. In the Ouvrages Blancs, their losses have likewise been severe, caused by the fire from the enemy's batteries on the north side of the harbour.

Omer Pasha, for some reason or other, has taken offence, and says he has not been treated with confidence by the allied generals, and that they only employ his troops to do the dirty work. Unfortunately General Pélissier, to all appearance, treats his (Omer Pasha's) opinion with the greatest contempt, and, I understand, at the conferences never listens to a word he says. Omer Pasha has in consequence written to the Turkish Government demanding to be allowed to send in his resignation. His want of cordiality towards Lord Raglan has been occasioned by hearing of the proposed Turkish Contingent, of which he not unnaturally supposes Lord Raglan to be the originator. He says, and I think with justice, that it will tend to demoralize his army, as the English propose to give the troops of the Turkish Contingent higher pay than his get, and that of course

they will receive it regularly; whereas his troops at this moment are ten months in

arrears of pay !! This, he thinks, will make his troops discontented with their present position.

I am sorry to say the cholera has been, and still is, very bad among the Sardinian troops. Four days ago they lost in twenty-four hours 4 officers and 76 men, all of whom died of cholera. The last three days it has decreased; yesterday they lost 1 officer and 47 men. Among the officers was a brother of General La Marmora, who commanded one of their divisions. In the English army, I am glad to say, the cholera is diminishing rapidly, and it appears in a milder form, as many men taken with it

recover.

I have just heard from good authority that we are to re-open our fire and bombardment against the defences of the town on Thursday next (14th); and on Saturday morning (16th), at 6 o'clock, a general assault on the Malakoff and Redan is to take place. I enclose you the list of casualties from the 8th to the 10th of June inclusive.

CHAPTER XVII.

Return of the Kertch expedition Arrangements for the assault on Sevastopol - General Bosquet takes command of the troops on the Tchernaya - English not to advance until the French have gained the Malakoff — Opening of the 4th bombardment, June 17th At the eleventh hour French insist upon assaulting au point du jour Lord Raglan strongly objects. - Assault takes place on morning of 18th June - General Mayran mistakes the signal, and advances before the proper time - He is mortally wounded, and his troops retire in confusion General Brunet killed, and his column repulsed General d'Autemarre's column penetrates the battery Gervais - Lord Raglan gives the signal for the English assault - Terrific fire poured upon the British troops - Deaths of Colonel Yea and Shadforth, and Major-General Sir John Campbell — Unavailing efforts of the English troops - They retire to their trenches -Lord Raglan orders all the English guns to open- His dangerous position General Jones wounded - French, being unsupported, are forced to retire from the battery Gervais Enemy's guns almost silenced - Consultation of the two Commanders-in-Chief General Pélissier decides that a fresh assault is not practicable -- Causes of the failure of the attack -General Eyre takes the Cemetery, &c.—Severe loss among our troops from the Russian cannonade General Pélissier promises to relieve General Eyre's force, but no relief arrives, and the brigade retires- Names of officers who distinguished themselves Suspension of arms on the 19th- Numbers of Generals incapacitated — Cemetery again re-occupied by English and French troops - Russian deserters' accounts. Casualties of the Allies on the 18th instant-Fearful storm on the 23rd - Death of General Estcourt - Lord Raglan's grief- Death of Captain Lyons of the "Miranda "— Lord VOL. II.

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Raglan's illness - His sudden death - Grief of the whole army and sympathy of the Allies - The Field Marshal's last General Order-Description of the procession - Lord Raglan's remains are taken home in the "Caradoc' - General Orders issued by the Commanders-in-Chief of the French and Sardinian armies on the occasion of Lord Raglan's death.

Head-quarters, before Sevastopol,
June 16th, 1855.

IN
my
last letter, I told you it had been arranged
that the batteries of the allies should re-open on the
14th, and that the principal works of the enemy
should be assaulted this morning, but as usual, the
French found out at the eleventh hour that they could
not be ready in time. It is now settled that we shall
open fire to-morrow morning at daybreak, and that on
Monday (18th) at 6 A.M. the assault is to take place.
The allied fleets came back yesterday morning from
the expedition to Kertch, having completed one of the
most successful, though bloodless operations in the
annals of war. I enclose you a General Order, which
gives a summary of the latest successes of the ex-
pedition.*

Extract from the General Orders, 14th June, 1855:—

"The naval operations against Taganrog, Marianopol, and Geisk, which took place on the 3rd, 5th, and 6th instant, have been perfectly successful. The public buildings, and numerous magazines of provisions, have been burnt, thereby causing immense loss of supplies to the enemy.

"The fortress of Anapa was abandoned and destroyed by the enemy on the 5th instant: 30,000 sacks of flour were destroyed in the neighbourhood of Arabat on the 9th instant."

I believe it is intended that at the moment of our assaulting the town, the ships of the line of the allied fleets are to make a demonstration against the sea defences of Sevastopol, but they are not to engage them, only to threaten; in the hope of keeping the marine batteries manned, and thus employ a large force of artillerymen, who would probably otherwise be engaged fighting in the land defences against the allied troops.

The general plan of assault is, I understand, to be as follows (going from west to east on the map). I will divide the position of the allied trenches into four parts, viz. :-1st. French left attack. 2nd. English left attack. 3rd. English right attack. 4th. French right or Inkermann attack. The assault from the French left attack is to consist of three distinct columns of a division each; one on the left, to attack the Quarantine batteries, one in the centre, to attack the Bastion Centrale, and one on the right, to attack the Bastion du Mât: the whole to be under the direction of the General Commanding the 1st Corps d'Armée, General de Salles. As the Woronzoff Road Ravine runs across the front of the English left attack, and between it and the defences of the town, no column of attack is to advance from there. From the English right attack, there will be two columns of assault of 400 men each; the left column is to advance from