having maintained the sanguinary and unequal contest
for more than six hours, and lost, it is said, the awful
number of 1,300 men, killed, wounded, and missing.
The Russian loss must also have been most severe,
but from the fact of their men fighting entirely under
cover, it is not supposed to be so heavy as that of the
French."

The second and successful attack by the French on
the following night is thus described:—"As was
anticipated, the French made another attack upon the
advanced trench last night (23rd), which was completely
successful. This time the plan was better arranged—
under the immediate care of General Pelissier himself,
who informed the troops that if they failed then, they
must attack again at daybreak, and continue to attack
until the trench was in their possession. Three columns
—each 3000 strong—were chosen for the assault, and
started just as dusk was commencing—two slightly in
advance, for the capture of the covering trenches on
each side, and the centre column for the trench itself.
In spite of all the vigilance of the enemy, the right and
left columns closed with the covering trenches before
they were discovered, and instantly attacked them.
For a moment the Russians seemed bent on an obstinate
resistance, but the attack at such an early hour of the
evening (a little after eight) evidently took them by
surprise, and after a short struggle both trenches were
captured, the enemy flying in all directions. Numbers
of them were shot and bayonetted on the spot. Almost
at the same time the centre column attacked the cross
trench; but here the enemy, being prepared and in
greater force, a desperate contest took place, and it was
not until after about twenty minutes' hard fighting that
the French were enabled to get possession of it. As its
defenders retired they were completely decimated by the
cross-fire to which they were exposed from the French
in the covering trenches. The instant that possession
was obtained, half the troops were set to work to
remove the gabions and breastwork from one side of the
trench to the other, so as to shelter the assailants from
the fire of the batteries, while the remainder, formed
into two strong columns, advanced to attack the Russian
soldiers who had been driven from the position, and
who were halted at a short distance in the rear,
evidently waiting for reinforcements to attempt a re-capture.
Upon these the French rapidly advanced, and the
Russians, though inferior in numbers, did not decline the
contest. As our allies came on, the enemy deployed
and received them with a smart file-fire, to which the
French never returned a shot until within pistol range,
when they, too, deployed, and firing one heavy volley,
charged with the bayonet. The Russians fell into
confusion, and, as I am informed, after shouting for a few
minutes, threw away their arms and fled, the great mass
of them keeping to the right in the direction of the
cemetery, which lies outside the town, on the left of the
Redan. The French, who were now thoroughly roused,
and bent upon revenge, followed them closely, and
bayonetted the fugitives by dozens. No quarter was
asked or given. In this manner our allies pursued them
for nearly half a mile, till both Russians and French
arrived at a deep trench and breastwork on the left of
the Redan, beneath the Garden Battery. Into this the
flying enemy scrambled, and the French after them. A
strong force of Russians seemed to hold this trench, but
they appeared perfectly panic-stricken by the flight of
their comrades, and after discharging their muskets in
an irregular fusillade, fled with the rest, leaving the
French in undisturbed possession of the second trench.
At this point the commander of the French columns
wisely called a halt. They had already penetrated into
the enemy's lines further than any of the allies had
been before, and to continue the advance with such a
small force, and without support, would have been mere
madness. As it was, they might have had great difficulty
in effecting their retreat. A hasty examination was
made of the trench, and one of the soldiers, who had
advanced further than the rest up the parallel on the right,
came running back, and reported that there was a new
battery there. The whole force instantly advanced in
the direction intimated, and, truly enough, found that
in a large obtuse angle of the breastwork a new battery
had been formed, and was totally abandoned. It
mounted some eight or ten heavy long guns, four mortars,
and a number of cohorns. Not a moment was lost
in turning the discovery to account. Half the force was
instantly formed out in columns, with out-pickets to
give notice of the approach of the enemy, who was now
momentarily expected, and to keep them, if possible, in
check till the destruction of the battery was completed.
The rest of the troops, piling their arms, commenced the
work of destruction. The long guns were instantly
spiked, overturned, the trunnions of the guns knocked
off, and the spokes of the carriage-wheels chopped to
pieces. Some, which were ships' guns, had their small
wooden wheels split up, and the carriages thrown over
the breastwork. The timber-tramways of the guns
were levered up and carried away. The mortars were
spiked, their beds overturned, and the trunnions of two
knocked off. The cohorns were captured and sent away
immediately. But bad as this was, it was by no means
all the mischief that was effected. Not more than 100
men were employed about the guns—the rest (upwards
of 2000) were engaged in destroying the earthwork. All
the gabions were dragged out, pulled to pieces, and
their earth and stones scattered about. The sand-bags
were pulled down and cut in two, and altogether the
whole parapet of the battery was levelled with the earth.
While this was going on, all the Russian batteries had
opened and were in full play, though principally upon
the advanced trenches, which had been captured early
in the evening. In their demolition of the battery the
French were hardly disturbed by a single shot. Large
masses of Russian infantry were, however, collecting
near the Redan and Garden works, evidently for the
purpose of attacking the French. Their skirmishers
constantly advanced, and exchanged shots with the
French Guards, but while unaware of their strength,
the enemy seemed by no means desirous for a closer
contest. The French, who had now accomplished all
they wanted, and far more than they expected to
accomplish when they started, took advantage of the
indecision of the enemy to retreat, and this they did
with such rapidity and skill as to reach the captured
trench from which they had sallied forth without the
loss of a single man. The Russian fire upon the
advanced trench was then terrific, and continued so for
more than an hour; but the French sheltered
themselves with their breastwork, so that it did but little
damage, and eventually the enemy discontinued it
altogether. No attempt was made to recapture the
trenches, which still remain in the hands of our allies.
In the whole affair of last night about 400 French were
killed and wounded; the total loss of the Russians is
supposed to be from 1000 to 1,500 killed and wounded,
the greater part of whom were killed, as no quarter
was given. Nearly 200 Russian bodies remain in the
neighbourhood of the captured trenches. The French
are deservedly proud of the capture and destruction
of the battery. It is decidedly one of the most
brilliant and bloody affairs of the siege."

On the 6th and 7th instant there was a series of
bloody conflicts, attended with successful results. A
despatch from Lord Raglan, dated the 9th, gives an
account of these actions:—My Lord,—I have the great
satisfaction of informing your lordship that the assault
which was made upon the Quarries in front of the
Redan, from our advanced parallel in the right attack,
on the evening of the 7th instant, was attended with
perfect success, and that the brave men who achieved
this advantage with a gallantry and determination that
does them infinite honour, maintained themselves on
the ground they had acquired, notwithstanding that
during the night, and in the morning of yesterday, the
enemy made repeated attempts to drive them out, each
attempt ending in failure, although supported by large
bodies of troops, and by heavy discharges of musketry,
and every species of offensive missile.—The French on
our right had shortly before moved out of their trenches
and attacked the Ouvrages Blancs and the Mamelon.
These they carried without the smallest check, and
their leading column rushed forward and approached
the Malakhoff Tower; but this it had not been in
contemplation to assail, and the troops were brought back
and finally established in the enemy's works, from
which the latter did not succeed in expelling them