THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.

Hltours or BALAKLAVA, Aug. 10.-—The Nport of an approaching attack upon the Malakolfgains ground aml credence in the camp. False reports are so numerous here that one would pay little attention to the current rumors, did not various indications, more than general expectation, give it an appearance of probability. At an early our on Tuesday morning, Gen. Simpson went round the lines, examining the works. Yesterday, General Jones did the same. A council ofwar was held on \Vednesday even- .ing at the British head quarters. A more positive symptom than those of approach- ing action, is the fact, that seine of the prin- cipal medical otiicers of divisions have received orders to clear the hospitals, send- ing to Balaklava such patients as can

safely be moved, and to make the customary,

preparations for the reception of wounded men. This may not mean an assault is immediately to be made, as some short time is necessary to make arrangements and procure the stores required. the quantity ot these may be formed from the fact that, on receiving this order, the chief tnedical oﬂieer of one division, con- sisting of rather more than G.(ltl!) t-tliectivc men, at once sent in a requisition for about 6 tons’ weight of various articles. Such a mass of drugs, lint, plaster. bedding, wine, and other hospitaPnecessaries and comforts is painfully silggcstive ofwliat tnay proba- bly occur, and of how many stout and brave -fellows arc c,\'pr:cl(*(l to go down in the next serious operation against our tenacious foe. But at the point to which things have now come, success is not to be hoped for \vith- out heavy lose, and ifthc forincr be com- plcte, the latter may he t-)!I(ltll't‘tl~, if not cheerfully, at least without repiningz. It is said that alter a bouibardmeut, very lzirgo forces will be sent in to :itt:-.ek.——H.nnt- talk of a conibination of I"rc::cii and ilmgli.-‘i troop.~t a:_-ain.~‘t the Malziko-fl‘, and even designate our lirst division (tiuartls and High'iar.tlcrs\ as the British force thafis to co-operate with our allies. lfthe attack reaiiy is to be made, hrttven grant, that this time no l)lnml:>r.~; may he conituittt-d, and that the blood ofthis ,-,_='allant army may not again be frtiitlessly poured out by |ni.~'taltvs and mistnanagt-mt-nt. If we fail this time we may nmke up our own minds, as many hive already done, to remain where we are for the winter. It is the opinion of some here, that Srbastopol will never be ours until we regulaily invest the whole placr. There are various opinions in both the French camp and the English as to the im- pregnability ofthe Lllalakolf. Some believe that if we succeed in stunning the outer works we shall tind within them a second line of invincible strength. Others think the strength of the inner works are exag- gerated. Of course in all this there is much more of conjecture than of well foun- ded opinion. The Generals-in-Chief keep their information and intention to themselves. If we get the Malakoff, little doubt is enter- tained that the south side will speedily be ours; whether we shall be able to remain in it under the ﬁre from the forts on the north is another question. The Russi s driven out however, and the ﬂeet destro d, we shall be at liberty to busy ourselves with the northern forts, or to move inland, as may be decided upon. As for the town, which we have treated with so much for- bearance, it is not to be supposed that it will be left to us in its present neat and serviceable condition. If Russia be faithful to her military traditions, Jtvo shall obtain but a heap of ruins and ashes.—No snug quarters will there be in Sebastopol for the allied armies, which have been so long alternately crippled with cold, lunged to the knees in mud, or seathedp in sickly Crimean vapours. A time there was, now some ten months bygone, when Scbastopol Cight have been ours on casior terms and ’$ottcr conditions-—a time when Russian not-o expressed their surprise at not 'ng sent into depot thorn, since they made curs the place had fallen into our hands slur the battle of tho Ahna.——It is bootlcu ‘Iorocurto past blunders and omissions, or wn-ailglit also talk of the time, when the Dtolalqfwas but a round tower, instead of the strong tbrtlncatlon now the chief ob- dscls to tho ca uro oftho place to which -I is the key. owovor, if grievous errors

have boss hllsn into, lot us hope that they

An idea of

HASZARD’S GAZETTE, SEPTEMBER 25.

will in future be avoided, and that the next attack will be very dili'ereutly conducted, and have a widely ditferent result, from the last. After nearly t\vo months’ monotonous‘ inaction, during which many thousand men of the allied army have been put hora de combat by trench-duty and disease, Ican hardly think that there is a man in the camp-—-even of the croakers, who, I regret to say, are pretty numerous—who will not joyfully hail the resumption of more active hostilities. '

I must observe, that there are persons, whose opinion is not without weight, who do not believe that we shall attack soon, and a similar doubt appears to exist among those French ollicers whose opinions I have heard expressed. These seem to think that a tremendous botnbardment is contem- plated, such as shall literally pulverise the dcfcnces opposed to us and completely crush the enemy; and they add that some time must elapse, before the necessary pre- parations are completed.

Leave of absence continues to be granted to a very large extent. Taking ﬁve ofthe latest general orders, those of the 3d, 5th,

'0 a hospital but of the 17th regiment, shaking the ediﬁce and astonishing the wounded, but doing no other damage; another killed a man ofthe ﬁeld-train as he luv in his tent. It is said the missiles were intended for General Bentinck’s tents, which are near the fourth division llagstalf on Cathcart'a hill.—'I'hc duke of New- castle is still staying there. A new kitchen, building for the General, is thought to have attracted the attention of the Muscovitc gunners. The ﬁre in rear of the Redan, which I mentioned in my last letter, is said by the French to have been occasioned by one ofthcir rockets.

Captain Layard, Deputy Assistant-Quar- termaster-lieneral, a brother to the mem- her for Aylcsbury, has died of dysentery on board ship at Balaklava. He had just received extension of leave to proceed to Scutari

Colonel \'Vindham, who since the first landing ofthe allies in the Crimea has been the very ellicicnt Assistant-Quartcrniaster- General of the fourth division, has been promoted to the connnund ofthe '2d Brigade ofthe '_'d division.

tith, 7th, and nth in.<t., we liud the names‘ of no less than seventy olliccrs who liave. received permission to absent llIelll.~‘(‘.l\'cS.: Of these, twenty-nine proceed to Englitnd, twenty-six of them in virtue of tncdit.-al curtilicates, and three on “ urgent privatcf ati'.urs,” or in Cl\ll.\‘l(ll!l‘:tlltIll of peculiari Cll'L'U!ll~‘~lt.lll(‘t’S; ‘.27 go to Hcutari and The-' rapia for periods vary ing from two to live \\'t‘(‘liS; l‘.! on board ship; and two to the: .\lonastery of St. George, wlu.-re there are; ten rooms titted up for ailing or convalcs-i cent ollicvrs. I doubt not, that all llIt3S0§ leaves ofab.~'cnce may lie tn-cessury, and fully justilicd by the Lil ‘ of the. i-c.<pt-ctive cases; but such numerous do-l partures .'m—- not the less t'.\'lI't'lItCl_)’ ineon~ \'t'lllt‘lIl. to the army, and heave many rt-gi-: ln('lllS vci_ .»hort-liandcd of ollicers. l; ve.<tcrdav l;- mil a colonel declare, that ht-j had butiow captain and three -.-‘ubaltcrns, on duty in his battalion, and that ho. con-i -‘eqnetilly, had to send lit-l ltlt‘tl into tht-'1 trt-nclics undcrcliargc ofayoiitli ol't'i;_vh-t teen. If this state of things cannot be, ltt‘l[)C(l. it, at lt'n.~‘t, is wry unfortunate. Enough ollierrs do not come out to I't.‘|)lilC(‘: tliosc who go home. This protracted siege: —-ifsiego it may be called, which in reality‘ is a tedious struggle lu-twern two rows of. (la-incited furt.~’——i:£ certainly not popular" with the ollicors ofthe army, few of whom, care to remain, if they have a respectable: pretext for returning home, while fewer still’ desire to return hither when once they get away. I am persuaded that ifthere were‘ more movementin the campuign——if, instead: ofmonotonous trench dut_\',uo were engaged? in ordinary warfare, mantruvring, march-I ing, lighting, there would be both less sick-5 ness and fewer seeking leave. I do noti attempt to decide the question whether leave is sometimes too easily granted, and morei to interest than to necessity. The French are thought to fall into the other extreme, and instances have been cited to me, where the lives of valuable oﬁicers would have been saved, had they been allowed to ex- change severe duty (one night out of three in the trenches, independently oflight labour) for a period of relaxation in a more salutary climate.

Of the cases that go into hospital, a very small proportion terminate fatally. This appears from the general returns up to the l5th of July. According to the best evi- deuce I can obtain, the present effective strength of the British army in the Crimea is upwards of 20.000 men,cxclusivc of troops that have arrived within the last three days. The Etna and Arabia steam transports have reached Balaklava from England (the latter alter the extraordinary rapid pause a of 14 days) with large detachments or several regiments out here. Transports have reached Kamiosch wth reinforcements for various French re imonts. This fur- nished tho foundation or a report (to show on how ridiculously thin I are magnilicdi hora) current in camp t is morning. that $3,000 French troops had arrived, and that

extensive pporations were immodatoly to be commence . Yostorda the Russians amused them-

solvob by t rowi a few round shot into the camp of tho ourth division. Two of then buriod themselves in the ground close

“'4: are by this time pretty well accus- tomed to llt‘tl|' of deaths in the trcnt.-hes; but until the other day, we had no example of a birth having taken placv in that un- cnlltlivriitlnle and tlatlgerons locnlity——ccr- tainly not exactly that which a lady might be t-xpectetl to prefer as the so-. no of her out-ouc/t<nn=nl. The intrcpidity and milit.ir_v at-dour which so tli.~:tin_-_ruisltes our gallant allies are shared, it apprars, by the laditw ofthcir nation. Three nights tiger, a lHI\0:u t'0)tIiIticr(: accompanied her battalion to thi- trenches, there to supply llt('lIl with tin» restorative pelil rirrc, and to liravo, with

" courage, the storm of :~lInt and .-ht-ll. 'l'here was possibly sortie llIl~‘t‘tll- cnlation in the matter, but the fact is, that towards the small hours ofthe ntorning 2-‘iti- was taken with the pains ofmat-.-rnity, and gave birth to t\vii.s. Blather and childrtri are doing wcll.—-Front I/tc Timts, (7urrts- pom/int.

_..._...4

'l'ur. ('o.\i:\i.isn or Till: :\lt.'\lY t.\ 'rnr. (-llil.‘-it-‘.,\.-—-\\'(.' have reason to believe that (-'rnt-ml Hitnp.-‘oil's failing health oblige him to l'(‘llll'll home, he is to be succei.-tlrd by .\l;.jot' tr'i-ncrul tlarkham, an ('lllt:('l' of grcat innit, who has lati-ly_joint~d the camp from ludia. (lent-ral '.\larkhatn t‘ttl('t‘t‘tl the service in lc‘2l as an (.'llSl,'_‘_ll in the ‘ fltl llt-giinent. llr obtained his llt!lll.(5Il(tllC_\ in lt".’.">, and his captaincy in lhtlti.

\'\'hilst serving as captain, ho arcoInpa- nied his regiment to Canada, and saw not a little active work tlit-re in l-‘illti-37, tlurinf: the disturbances in that colony. tn the latter year, he was severely wounded. A couple ofycars subsequently be was pro- moted to be major, and in lt5'l'3 he got the connnand ofthe 3'.‘d Regiment as lieutenant- colonel. In 1846, his corps was ordered to India, and Colonel Markham went with it to that country, where it landed in the autumn ofthe year, and marched forthwith to the North-west provinces, the frontier of which was in a disturbed state.

When the insurrection broke out in the Punjaub, and the fortress of Moultan de- clared in favour of the enemy, the 32d Regiment was ordered to the seat of wa and Lieutenant-Colonel Markham received the command ofa brigade of infantry. Du- ring the whole campaign, be distinguished himselfby his energy, and by the oliicient manner in whichdall his duties were per- formed. .

For the six years he commanded his regiment, it was a pattern in camp and quartsrs to the British army and as a bri- gadeer, his reputation was not behind what it had been when he was a battalian loader. At the close of the cam sign he received the well merited rows of being named an Aide-do-camp to the Queen and a Campanion of the Bath-tho former honor

giving him the the rank of full colonel in tho army. Alter a rho period of leave in England,

Colonel Mark am rejoined his corps in India, determined that no consideration of one or comfort should inducs him to abandon the company in which he had rlsln from the lowest to the highest comuiuioncd rank. He was not, however, destined to do duty sin with that corps, for upon the

death of clonal Mountain, tho Adjutant.

General of the Queen's troops in India, Colonel Markham was selected to succeed him.

After serving but I short time in this

very responsible post, the ‘Royal Wan-an: oflast October gave the Commander-im Chief the right of selecting for promotion to the rank of Major-General, any Colonel, irrespective of his standing in the service, whose professional character stood high enough to nu-,1-it such it choice.--— The very lirst otliccr thus distinguished was Colonel Markham, who was at the same time nomi- nated to command a division ofthe Bengal arm . ‘ VVhen, however, the English public and the English press began to canvass every fresh nomination to the staffofthe Crimean army, orders were sent out to General Markham tojoin the head-quarters before Sebastopol without delay. This he was only too glad to do, and within thirty days of receiving the order, in the Northwest of India, he rt-portt-d hiinselfto General Simp- son, and l’L‘C(.‘l\‘t,'tl the command of the Second l)i\ision ofthe army.

S|lll.*i(‘1[ll(‘llll_)' General Simpson intimated to the Horse Guards that he feared his health would oblige him shortly to retire, and Lord llax-«lingo, as we are informed, sent out directions that, should he do so, Major (}ien('ral i\l:u-kltatn was to take colu- maml ofthe army serving in the Criiucu.-- Ltmti-rt. .\i.u'.~,

Tut: Qi;r.r.\‘s LF.'l'TEl{ To Sir. H. L\'o,~.'s. ~—lt is well known that an autograph letter ‘\‘.':t:3 sent by the ({ut,-en to Sir Etlinund

l._vons on the dcatlt of his son. \\’e believe that it has not yet appeared in print, mid so gr:‘l<'fiil a proof of tvoinanly delicacy and [ii-oliitg ought not to he kept froin her admi- iri::;_r .-ub_'gects ‘Vt’ print the letter rrbulim: i-—" lillt'l\ll!f_'ll7\f‘ll l’alacc, June '.’."ith, lt.")5. '—-The ({m~t-n cannot let any one but her- self expir.-s to ."~'ir lldinund Lyons tho ‘l’riiici-'.~' and ll('|' l'ei:liti-gs ofdrep and bratt- it'll. s_\'tnp:ith_v on the most nu-luncholy occa- sion of ill" loss of his lu-lovctl and gallant son, (':ipta.n l._\'on.~". \\'o gricte (let-ply to jthink oflhr h<A:*.\'_\' itlllltflll it into which Sir I'll. l._\ou.~ is plunged at this an.\ious nio- ,ini~t.t, and we mourn over the loss of an 'ittlllL'(‘l' who pron-d lllltI>'('ll so worthy of this father, and was so lo ight on oruttntcnt to thr service he belonged to. To lo.-o him, _|tlSl. rsizua he l'tIllll'll(‘ll triumphant, having accotnplisht-d so adinirably all that was tlt'.<lr(‘(l and wished, must be an additional pang to his father. lfsympatliy can allhrd consolation, he |)0S>(':s5L*S that ofthe uliolo nation."

-u

Orrirsns l\' Tut: .\'.i\'v.—Soine l'('lIIl‘llS moved for by Mr. Scobell, M. I’., show that the number of captains promoted to ho .'1ctivt- rear-admirals, from the first ofJauu- nry, lt~'.'itl, to the latest period, amounts to 50; that the number of active commanders of ‘)5 years,standing and upwards in that rank amounts to 18, the date of the com- mission ofthe senior being the ‘.2-lth ofJune, l-SI7; that the number of reserved com- mandcrs, who had previously held the rank of lieutenant 25 years and upwards amounts to 56, and the mtuiamtm number olyesrs 44; that the number ofretired commanders who had previously held the rank ot' lieute- nant 25 years and upwards amounts to 335, and the maximum number of years to 43; that the number of active lieutenants of 20 years’s standing and upwards in that rank amounts to 304, the date of the senior's commission being the 31st of January, 1808; that the number of reserved lieute- nants is 677, the date of the senior’: com- mission being December 29, I796; that there are 308 surgeons and 259 assistant- suggcons lit for service, and 259 surgeons an 36 assistant-surgeons unlit for service; that the number of tastes now in the navy is 212, the number of midshi men 334, and the number of cadets 408. ' co I845, in- clusive, 1,417 cadets have con admitted. The number of llag oﬁicors on full pay is I8, and tho number on half-pay 81; tho number of captains on full pay 128, sail the number on half-pay 260: the number of commanders on full pay I93, and‘ the num- ber bu half-pay 357; and the number of lioutonaats on full pay 3, and the number

1“ half-pay DI.