the passage of the Tchernaya, defended by one French
division. Another Russian officer, who was made
prisoner, and conversed in German, asked, "What was
done in front of Sebastopol?" and on being told that
nothing important had taken place there, expressed
surprise. He afterwards explained that it was
understood in the Russian army that simultaneous with
the attack to gain the Tchernaya, an assault was
to be made by an overpowering force against the
French and English works before the Karabelnaia.
It is positively asserted by a great number of French
officers that the Russians fired grape upon their own
men, who were running back after their repulse on the
heights. They state that they distinctly saw guns in
the rear fired, and the grape shot throw up amongst the
fugitives those well-known little puffs of dust which it
arises where it strikes.—So great is the tenacity of life
which the semi-savage Russian possesses, that in many
cases it was difficult to distinguish between the dead and
the living. There was one man whose head had been
struck by a cannon shot, and all the hinder part carried
away, nevertheless he lingered for two days. A number
of Russians dead were lying in the river, and in one
place where the river was fordable a number of Zouaves
and Russians were lying together, all of whom seemed
to have been killed by the bayonet. Each Russian
soldier carried three days' provision with him—one loaf
of rye bread, and a paste composed of rye flour and
water in a bag by his side.—Judging from the surprise
and disgust manifested by the prisoners at their repulse,
they seem to have calculated on a most decisive victory.
One Russian officer in the hands of our allies fell into a
paroxysm of rage and frenzy on hearing the comparatively
slight loss on the part of the allies. "Great God,"
he exclaimed, "is it possible that the choicest troops of
Russia are driven back and slaughtered in this manner
by a handful of men?" The Russian soldiers seem tohave
marched to action with a confidence of success. We
hear that the priests had given them all absolution
immediately before the engagement, and their officers
assured them that if they succeeded in crossing the
river and gaining the summit of the hill, their enemies
would not be able to make any further resistance.—An
attempt seems to have been made in the Russian army
to supply the want of rifles they laboured under. A
number of these new rifles were picked up, and, judging
from appearances, they were equally as inefficient
and quite as clumsy as their old muskets; they seemed
for the most part to have been old muskets, rifled and fitted
with a sight after the Liège pattern. Probably there is
no army in Europe so badly armed as the Russian. The
Turkish army is immeasurably superior. The swords
of the Russians seem as if made of the hoops of a barrel;
one can bend them easily with the fingers. Then their
muskets are long, awkward, unwieldy things, the stocks
made of deal, painted black. They have no "half-
cock," and their locks are so stiff as almost to require
both hands to lift the hammer. The greater part of the
muskets and rifles found were marked 1854, so in that
branch of home manufacture they have made little
progress. The greater part of their great-coats seem to be
quite new, and the Russian army seem to have marched
and fought under a Crimean sun in the month of August
clad in their great coats and long boots.—Every one
speaks with the greatest praise of the behaviour of the
Sardinian troops. Their artillery rendered immense
service, partly by subduing the fire of the enemy's guns
in the plateau opposite, partly in crushing the columns
of attack by taking them in flank. There was also a
battery armed with English position-guns, which kept
firing at the Russian artillery on the plateau nearest to
the plain. Scarcely a shot missed. Their infantry drove
back the Russian riflemen on the banks of the river in
the most gallant style. They advanced with the steadiness
and precision of old troops, and made their evolutions
under the fire of the enemy with as much
precision as if they had been on parade. The Sardinians
also followed up immediately the retiring enemy, and
took several hundred prisoners and wounded. What
was most remarkable in all the movements of the
Sardinian troops was that quiet self-possession which speaks
a great deal for their discipline and organization, they
seemed to be so well in hand. This is so much the more
striking, as cholera and fever, which have been ravaging
them since their arrival, have been enough to demoralise
the best army. The organization and material which
could withstand such a shock must be admirable indeed.

The Emperor has addressed the following interesting
letter to General Pélissier.

"General—The fresh victory gained at the Tchernaya
proves, for the third time since the commencement of
the war, the superiority of the allied armies over the
enemy in the open field; but if it does honour to the
courage of the troops, it evidences no less the good
arrangement you had. made. Address my congratulations
to the army, and receive them also yourself. Tell
your brave soldiers, who for more than a year have
endured unheard-of fatigues, that the term of their trials
is not far distant. Sebastopol, I hope, will soon fall
beneath their blows; and were the event delayed, still,
the Russian army, I know it through information that
appears positive, would no longer be able, during the
winter, to maintain the contest in the Crimea. This
glory acquired in the East has moved your companions
in arms here in France; they all burn to have a part in
your dangers. Accordingly, with the twofold object of
responding to their noble desire, and of procuring some
repose for those who have achieved so much, I have
given orders to the Minister of War, that all the
regiments remaining in France may proceed in due succession
to relieve in the East others which will return.
You know, General, how afflicted I have been at being
detained away from that army, which has again added
to the fame of our eagles; but at this moment my
regrets diminish, since you enable me to perceive the
speedy and decisive success destined to crown so many
heroic efforts. Whereupon, General, I pray God to
have you in His holy keeping. Written at the Palace
of St. Cloud, August 20, 1855.—Napoleon."

Marauding practices in the army have rendered it
necessary for General Simpson to issue the following
general orders, after the battle of the 18th ult.

"Aug. 20—The great want of consideration shown
by officers and other persons attached to this army in
visiting the scene of a recent action, and plundering the
dead, or purchasing plunder from others, has been the
subject of grave remonstrance on the part of our allies.
All property whatever on the field belongs to the
victorious nation; to appropriate anything is dishonest;
to purchase from those who have done so is to encourage
their dishonesty and share their guilt. The Commander
of the Forces hopes that this caution will be sufficient
to deter those to whom it is addressed from a repetition
of such thoughtless conduct. Followers of the army
are reminded that they are amenable to its rules and
discipline. The police and provosts will in future
receive orders to punish offenders on these occasions in the
most summary manner."

"August 21.—The Commander of the Forces regrets
that he has to notice, in terms of marked displeasure,
an outrage that was committed on the 17th inst. in the
camp of the Fourth Division, the perpetrators of which,
to the discredit of the army, are still undiscovered. A
number of soldiers, assembled under the pretence of
pursuing a supposed spy, destroyed the tent of a canteen
keeper, plundered its contents, including a considerable
sum of money, and escaped in the darkness. By the
articles of war, the punishment of such a crime is a
disgraceful death. The soldiers of this army have met
their enemies nobly in the field—they have endured
hardship and danger with admirable fortitude. Let
them not forfeit their high character by reckless
disorders in camp, or by such discreditable breaches of
discipline as that now published."

The culinary services of Monsieur Soyer have been
very great, and their value has been duly acknow-
ledged. The correspondent of the Times, writing on
the 1st inst. describes the opening of M. Soyer's hospital
kitchens and "training establishment," near the camp
of the Guards. "This inaugurative ceremony came off
on Monday last, in presence of a numerous and
distinguished assemblage of English and French military
magnificoes. Of these it is sufficient to mention the
Duke of Newcastle, General Simpson, General Pelissier,
and, I believe, nearly every one of our divisional and