SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.*

ON the 28th. of September, the British Siege Train, consisting of eight companies of Royal Artillery, commenced disembarking, and notwithstanding the smallness of the harbour of Balaklava, and the want of suitable facilities for the reception of the guns, shot, and shell, the whole matériel was landed in five days, the sailors of the Royal Navy rendering good service on this and other occasions.

The basis of operations, in connection with the fleets, being now attained, the main body of the British army moved forward towards Sebastopol, and occupied ground on the western side of the plateau, near the "Maison d'Eau," General Bosquet's division taking up a position beyond Cathcart's Hill, on the extreme right. The celebrated Redan and Flagstaff batteries occupied the centre of the position, and ships of war were moored in the dockyard and careening creeks, and at the head of the harbour, in order that their

It cannot be too generally known that there is an excellent model of the "Siege of Sebastopol," deposited in the Museum of the United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard, which forms a worthy companion to that of the battle of Waterloo, by Captain Siborne, also to be seen there. The Sebastopol model owes its origin to the following circumstances: -While the war in the Crimea was still being carried on, His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, as a mark of the continued interest he has always taken in the above Institution, presented to its Museum, in November, 1855, a model of the Siege of Sebastopol, based upon the best information that could at that time be procured in England. His Royal Highness, on presenting it, made a stipulation that the council would take steps to mark, in colour or otherwise, the exact position of the attacks of the Allies, and of the Russian defences at the time of the capture of the place.

The council lost no time in inviting some officers who had lately returned from the Crimea, to undertake the completion of the model, according to His Royal Highness's wishes; difficulties, however, presented themselves in endeavouring to carry this out in a satisfactory manner, which it was found impossible to overcome. In the meantime, at the expiration of the war in 1856, the officers of the Royal Engineers and of the Quartermaster-General's department, had completed their official surveys of the country, and, with His Royal Highness's concurrence, it was resolved to construct a new model, based upon the latest and most accurate information, Colonel F. W. Hamilton, C. B., of the Grenadier Guards, who was wounded at the battle of Inkermann, undertook the execution, the officers of the army and navy being invited to subscribe to a fund for defraying the necessary expenses, the Prince Consort heading the list with a donation of fifty pounds. The model is constructed to a horizontal scale of eleven inches to one mile, or one inch to four hundred and eighty feet. A succinct but valuable description of the model by Colonel Hamilton has been printed, from which the above particulars have been extracted.

broadsides might be brought to bear on any lines of approach attempted by the storming parties of the allied troops. Batteries were at once commenced to be established in order to reduce the fire of the enemy's artillery, and an alteration was made in the relative positions of the French and English forces, with a view of bringing the former nearer their base of operations at Kamiesh. To effect this, the British were ordered to carry on the attacks on the left of the enemy, for which purpose they moved to the right until their right was beyond the west of the ridge on which the Russians had a large advanced white tower, afterwards the famed Malakoff.

It was a busy time for the assailants; guns and siege matériel had to be brought to the front; ammunition, military stores, and provisions were conveyed with great labour for seven miles, that being the distance from the port of Balaklava. Obstacles only nerved the soldiers to increased exertion, and day by day some new earthwork was completed, some guns placed, or heaps of ammunition accumulated for the destruction of the place. Determined efforts at the same time were made by the Russians to frustrate the efforts of the besieging troops, and their sharpshooters had frequent skirmishes with the outlying pickets.

FIRST BOMBARDMENT OF SEBASTOPOL.

EVERY heart beat high with expectation on the 16th. of October, for on the morrow was to commence the first bombardment of Sebastopol, and at half-past six o'clock on the morning of that day one hundred and twenty-six pieces of ordnance, from the French and British batteries, opened their fire on the fortress. The tower of the Malakoff by ten o'clock had become untenable, and all its guns had been either damaged or dismounted, whilst the earthen battery round it had slackened its fire. Five hours afterwards the Redan was so considerably injured by an explosion in its rear, that only three guns remained standing; during the afternoon several explosions occurred in the lines of the enemy. It was not until one o'clock that the allied fleets com

period the French magazines having

menced their share in the fray. At this batteries had ceased firing, two of their exploded, which completely disabled two of their batteries. Thus the Russians directed their whole attention to the British lines, and such of their guns, relieved from the French bombardment, as could be turned against the British batteries were brought to bear thereon, but the latter did not suspend their fire until evening. A determined sortie was made by the Russians against the extreme left of the French, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon, but, after displaying great gallantry, they were compelled to retire.

The ammunition expended from the mortars and guns during the bombardment of the 17th. of October, amounted to twenty-one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one rounds, of which two thousand seven hundred and forty-five were from mortars. Each of the shells from the Lancaster guns cost about twenty-five pounds, and three hundred and seventy were fired on this occasion, which alone made it a costly proceeding.

Shortly after day-break on the 18th. of October the British batteries re-opened their fire, and continued it during the day. This was replied to by a formidable fire from the Russians, who had repaired the works and re-mounted the guns in the famous Redan. The French were employed in repairing their batteries, and were therefore not in a position to assist, so that the British stood alone in this day's cannonade. On the following morning, the French having succeeded in that respect, the whole of the Anglo-French lines renewed the bombardment. It however became evident that Sebastopol could not be assaulted so early as was at first anticipated, and consequently many changes in the works of attack had to be made: the fire of the Russians continued such as to prevent the principal alterations being effected otherwise than during the night.

Upon the decease of Colonel Alexander, from apoplexy, on the 19th. October, Captain Gordon was appointed to the command of the Royal Engineers.

The following officers were killed and wounded from the 18th. to 21st. October, 1854:

Artillery. Wounded.-Brevet-Major C. Colville Young.

Grenadier Guards, 3rd. Battalion. Killed.-Colonel the Honourable Francis G. Hood. Wounded.-Brevet-Major His Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, Captain William Gordon Cameron, and Lieutenant Francis Byam Davies.

44th. Regiment. Wounded.-Captain Andrew Browne, Lieutenant Michael Bradford, and Assistant-Surgeon John Gibbons.

68th. Regiment.

Morant.

Wounded.-Captain Horatio Harbord

95th. Regiment. Wounded.-Lieutenant Edmund D. Smith, and Captain Julius A. R. Raines.

ACTION AT BALAKLAVA,

25 тн. ОстовER, 1854.

THE toils, difficulties, and sameness of trench life were shortly to be varied by a conflict which will ever be memorable in British military annals, occurring too, as it did, on the anniversary of one of England's remarkable victories, that of Agincourt. The low range of heights traversing the plain at the bottom of which Balaklava is situated, was protected by four small redoubts, hastily constructed. Of these, three had guns; and on a higher hill, in front of the village of Kamara, in advance of the right flank of the British, a work of somewhat more importance was established. No other force being disposable, the several redoubts were garrisoned by Turkish troops. The only British regiment in the plain, with the exception of a portion of a battalion of detachments, composed of weakly men, and a battery of artillery belonging to the third division, was the 93rd. Highlanders. On the heights, behind the right, were placed the Marines, who had been landed from the fleet by ViceAdmiral Dundas. The whole of these, including the Turkish troops, were under the immediate orders of Major-General Sir Colin Campbell, who had been taken, with the 93rd., from the first division.

At an early hour on the morning of the 25th. of October,

Lord

the enemy attacked the position in front of Balaklava. Raglan, in consequence, withdrew from before Sebastopol the first and fourth divisions, commanded by Lieutenant-Generals His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge and the Honourable Sir George Cathcart, and brought them down into the plain. General Canrobert subsequently reinforced these troops with the first division of French infantry and the Chasseurs d'Afrique.

The first operation of the enemy was the attack on the work on the British side of the village of Kamara, which, after very little resistance, they carried: they likewise obtained possession of the three others in contiguity to it, being opposed only in one, and that but for a very short space of time. The farthest of the three they did not retain, but the immediate abandonment of the others enabled them to take possession of the guns in them, amounting in the whole to seven. Those in the three lesser forts were spiked by the one English artilleryman who was in each.

Advancing in great strength, supported by artillery, the Russian cavalry appeared on the scene. One portion of them assailed the front and right flank of the 93rd., but were instantly driven back by the vigorous and steady fire of that distinguished regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Ainslie. The other, and larger mass, turned towards the heavy cavalry, and afforded Brigadier-General the Honourable James Yorke Scarlett, (now Adjutant-General to the Forces,) under the guidance of Lieutenant-General the Earl of Lucan, the opportunity of inflicting upon them a most signal defeat. Notwithstanding that the ground was anything but favourable for the attack of the dragoons, no obstacle could check their advance, and they charged into the Russian column, which, although far superior in numbers, soon sought safety in flight.

No writer has surpassed Mr. Russell's description of this exciting scene.* "As lightning flashes through a cloud, the

All inventions and resources were pressed into service during the war: photography lent its aid; the telegraphic wire and a railroad were ultimately constructed; and Soyer made his culinary campaign; but from the first the leading public journals had their representatives in the field. The letters of Mr. W. H. Russell, the special correspondent of "The Times," were eagerly read by all, and the above has been extracted from that gentleman's work, "The British Expedition to the Crimea."