without a precedent, and to actions of war which recall
the greatest struggles of our military history, cannot be
too highly eulogised."

The special correspondent of the Times, writing from
the field of battle, gives an account of this terrible day.
After describing the preliminary movements of the
hostile troops, he proceeds thus:—

"And now commenced the bloodiest struggle ever
witnessed since war cursed the earth. It has been
doubted by many military historians if an enemy have
ever stood a charge of the bayonet, but here the bayonet
was often the only weapon employed in conflicts of the
most obstinate and deadly character. We have been prone
to believe that no foe could ever withstand the British
soldier wielding his favourite weapon, and that at
Maida alone did the enemy ever cross bayonets with
him, but at the battle of Inkerman not only did we
charge in vain—not only were desperate encounters
between masses of men maintained with the bayonet
alone—but we were obliged to resist bayonet to bayonet
the Russian infantry again and again, as they charged
us with incredible fury and determination. The Battle
of Inkerman admits of no description. It was a series
of dreadful deeds of daring, of sanguinary hand to hand
fights, of despairing rallies, of desperate assaults—in
glens and valleys, in brushwood glades and remote dells,
hidden from all human eyes, and from which the
conquerors, Russian or British, issued only to engage
fresh foes, till our old supremacy, so rudely assailed,
was triumphantly asserted, and the battalions of the
Czar gave way before our steady courage and the
chivalrous fire of France. No one, however placed,
could have witnessed even a small portion of the doings
of this eventful day—for the vapours, fog, and drizzling
mist obscured the ground where the struggle took place
to such an extent as to render it impossible to see what
was going on at the distance of fifty yards. Besides this,
the irregular nature of the ground, the rapid fall of the
hill towards Inkerman, where the deadliest fight took
place, would have prevented one, under the most favourable
circumstances, seeing more than a very insignificant
and detailed piece of the terrible work below. It was six
o'clock when all the Head-quarter camp was roused by roll
after roll of musketry on the right, and by the sharp report
of field guns. Lord Raglan was informed that the enemy
were advancing in force, and soon after seven o'clock he
rode towards the scene of action, followed by his staff,
and accompanied by Sir John Burgoyne, Brigadier-
General Strangways, R. A., and several aides-de-camp.
As they approached the volume of sound, the steady,
unceasing thunder of gun and rifle and musket
told that the engagement was at its height. The
shell of the Russians, thrown with great precision,
burst so thickly among the troops that the noise
resembled continuous discharges of cannon, and the
massive fragments inflicted death on every side. One
of the first things the Russians did, when a break in the
fog enabled them to see the camp of the Second Division,
was to open fire on the tents with round shot and large
shell, and tent after tent was blown down, torn to pieces,
or sent into the air, while the men engaged in camp
duties and the unhappy horses tethered up in the lines
were killed or mutilated. Colonel Gambier was at once
ordered to get up two heavy guns (18-pounders) on the
rising ground, and to reply to a fire which our light
guns were utterly inadequate to meet. As he was
engaged in this duty, and was exerting himself with
Captain Daguilar to urge them forward, Colonel
Gambier was severely but not dangerously wounded,
and was obliged to retire. His place was taken by
Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson, and the conduct of that
officer in directing the fire of those two pieces, which
had the most marked effect in deciding the fate of the
day, was such as to elicit the admiration of the army,
and as to deserve the thanks of every man engaged in
that bloody fray. But long ere these guns had been
brought up there had been a great slaughter of the
enemy, and a heavy loss of our own men. Our generals
could not see where to go. They could not tell where
the enemy were—from what side they were coming,
and where going to. In darkness, gloom, and rain they
had to lead our lines through thick scrubby bushes and
thorny brakes, which broke our ranks and irritated the
men, while every pace was marked by a corpse or man
wounded from an enemy whose position was only
indicated by the rattle of musketry and the rush of ball and
shell.

"Sir George Cathcart, seeing his men disordered by
the fire of a large column of Russian infantry which
was outflanking them, while portions of the various
regiments composing his division were maintaining an
unequal struggle with an overwhelming force, rode
down into the ravine in which they were engaged, to
rally them. He perceived at the same time that the
Russians had actually gained possession of a portion of
the hill in rear of one flank of his division, but still his
stout heart never failed him for a moment. He rode at
their head encouraging them, and when a cry arose
that the ammunition was failing, he said coolly,
"Have you not got your bayonets?" As he led on
his men it was observed that another body of men had
gained the top of the hill behind them on the right, but
it was impossible to tell whether they were friends or foes.
A deadly volley was poured into our scattered
regiments. Sir George cheered them and led them back
up the hill, but a flight of bullets passed where he
rode, and he fell from his horse close to the Russian
columns. The men had to fight their way through a
host of enemies, and lost fearfully. They were
surrounded and bayoneted on all sides, and won their
desperate way up the hill, with diminished ranks, and
the loss of near 500 men. Sir George Cathcart's body
was afterwards recovered with a bullet wound in the
head and three bayonet wounds in the body. In this
struggle, where the Russians fought with the greatest
ferocity, and bayoneted the wounded as they fell,
Colonel Swyny, of the 63rd, a most gallant officer,
Lieutenant Dowling, 20th, Major Wynne, 68th, and
other officers whose names will be found in the Gazette,
met their death, and Brigadier Goldie (of the 57th
Regiment) received the wounds of which he has since
died. The conflict on the right was equally uncertain
and equally bloody. In the Light Division, the 88th
got so far into the front that they were surrounded and
put into utter confusion, when four companies of the
77th under Major Straton charged the Russians, broke
them, and relieved their comrades. The fight had not
long commenced ere it was evident that the Russians
had received orders to fire at all mounted officers. Sir
George Brown was struck by a shot, which went through
his arm and struck his side. I saw with regret his pale
and sternly composed face, as his body was borne by me on
a litter early in the day, his white hair flickering in the
breeze, for I knew we had lost the services of a good
soldier that day. Further to the right a contest, the
like of which, perhaps, never took place before, was
going on between the Guards and dense columns of
Russian infantry of five times their number. The
Guards had charged them and driven them back when
they perceived that the Russians had out-flanked them.
They were out of ammunition too. They were
uncertain whether there were friends or foes in the rear.
They had no support, no reserve, and they were fighting
with the bayonet against an enemy who stoutly
contested every inch of ground, when the corps of another
Russian column appeared on their right far to their rear.
Then a fearful mitraille was poured into them, and
volleys of rifle and musketry. The Guards were
broken; they had lost 12 officers dead in the field; they
had left one half of their number on the ground, and
they retired along the lower road of the valley. But
they were soon reinforced, and they speedily avenged
their loss. The French advance about 10 o'clock,
turned the flank of the enemy. They retired at 1.40,
with a loss of 9000 killed and wounded."

The foregoing series of despatches gives a continuous
narrative of events down to the 5th instant inclusive.
Innumerable details have appeared in the newspapers,
contained in the reports of their own correspondents,
and in private letters from officers and soldiers to their
friends and families. A great many of these relate to
the "Battle of Balaklava" on the 25th of October, and
especially to the glorious but disastrous charge of the
English Light Cavalry. The events of the Battle of
Balaklava are thus related by the special correspondent
of the Daily News:—