leaped the parapet there, and we had a clear run of
about 200 yards from that to where the fellows were
climbing up the sides of the Redan. If I were to live
for a thousand years I shall never forget that run with
fixed bayonets. We were decimated with grape and
canister before we were half way across. I don't know
how I escaped. Then when we got up there was a deep
ditch dug all round the Redan. We crept down the
ladders at one side and up at the other, and here's where
the grand mistake was made. The first regiment that
got up, instead of jumping over the gabions and running
in through the embrasures, stopped outside, so that
when we got up the ladders we were all mixed together,
no one to lead us. When I looked round there were
only two or three of my own corps near me. When the
Russians fled from the Malakhoff they ran into the Redan,
and there they kept up a most frightful fire upon us. I
never expected to come down off the parapet alive. The
men were falling round me like the leaves in autumn;
and though they wouldn't advance they wouldn't retire,
so that the carnage was dreadful. One officer of the
Rifles rushed up the parapet in through an embrasure.
There were about six of us followed him. We had
scarcely advanced into the mouth of it when the Rifle
officer was shot. He tried to get back, but he fell dead
down the parapet; three more of them were knocked
down also. I cannot say whether they were killed or
not. I got a box of a stone myself, and fell down stunned
in the embrasure. I was pulled out by two of our own
grenadiers. I came to shortly, got a rifle that was lying
beside me, and commenced to fire away. I think by
this time we had been nearly two or three hours
exposed in this dreadful manner, when the Russians came
in thousands, and rolled immense stones upon us through
the embrasures. A battery in rear opened on us; they
threw hand grenades at us, and the slaughter was terrific.
A panic seized the men; the word was given to retire,
and many, very many, were killed by jumping down
into the ditch on the top of their own bayonets. It may
look like boasting, but I am sure you will give me credit
for not telling you a lie in a case like this. After the
rush became general, one officer of the 77th and I stood
almost alone on the ground which we had held so long
and paid for so dearly. He was crying out 'Shame,
shame!' and I had my forage-cap waving on the top of
my bayonet, but we might as well have tried to stop the
falls of Niagara. He turned round and asked me my
name. I told him. He said he would recommend me
to my colonel. Poor fellow, he had scarcely spoken
when a shower of rifle-bullets fled past us, and he fell
down into the ditch. ''Tis near my time to hook it,'
cried I to myself, and once again I crossed that field
unhurt, though men were falling all round in sections.
The Highlanders were sent to relieve us during the
night. The Russians evacuated the Redan, and there
were continual explosions during the night, but we are
now in full possession of the south side of Sebastopol.
Whether they will show as good a fight on the north
side I cannot say. No matter what the papers say, the
men did their duty. They cannot do impossibilities,
sending hundreds instead of thousands to attack a place
like the Redan. I can fancy the state you must all be
in, and how eagerly you looked over the long, long list
of killed and wounded. I hope my name didn't get
down in a mistake. It was melancholy to see our regiment
on parade this morning—nearly all killed or
wounded."

Prince Gortschakoff's account of the operations
which immediately preceded the evacuation of Sebastopol,
is given in the Invalide Russe of the 2nd instant.
It admits that the loss of the Russian army during the
defence against the final attack of the allies was enormous.
Prince Gortschakoff says: "On the 17th of
August the enemy opened from the side of the
Karabelnaia a very heavy and murderous cannonade, which
lasted twenty days. Our loss during this period was,
on the first day, 1500 men; on the days following,
1000; and from the 22nd of August till the 5th of
September from 500 to 600 men every twenty-four
hours. On the 5th of September the enemy continued
the bombardment with redoubled force, and the
cannonade was inconceivably destructive, to such a degree
that our fortifications were shaken by it along the
whole line of defence. This infernal fire, principally
directed against the embrasures, proved that the enemy
was endeavouring to dismount our guns, to demolish
our ramparts, and to prepare for taking the city by
storm. It was no longer possible to repair the damage
done to our works, and our efforts were limited to
covering the powder magazines and the blindages with
earth. The parapets crumbled down and filled up the
ravines; it was necessary to continue clearing the
embrasures, and the number of artillerymen killed was
so great, that it was with difficulty we could bring up
others to take their place. Our loss at this period of
the siege was extraordinary; from the 5th to the 8th of
September there were placed hors de combat, superior
officers 4, subalterns 47, and 3917 soldiers, without
reckoning the artillerymen who perished at their
guns." After giving a description of the attack and
capture of the Malakhoff, the report adds: "The
general loss of the garrison on the 8th of September
was four superior officers, 55 subalterns, and 2625 men,
killed; wounded, 26 superior officers, 206 subalterns,
5826 men; contused, nine superior officers, 38 subalterns,
1138 men; missing, 24 officers and 1739 men."
Lieutenant-Generals Khrouluff and De Martinau and
the General-Major Lyssenko were wounded on the 8th,
the two latter severely. Generals-Major De Bussau
(1st brigade, 8th division), and Youferoff (1st brigade,
9th division), Colonels Mezenkoff and Arschenosky,
and Captain de frigate De Kotzebue were killed.
General-Major Zovroff (2nd brigade, 5th division),
Lieutenant-Colonels Nyczek and Alennikoff, Colonel
De Freund, and Captains Voieckoff (aide-de-camp to
the Emperor) and Baron de Meyendorff were wounded.
Amongst the contused were General-Major Nossoff
(2nd brigade, 9th division), and Colonel Zvreff.

Since the fall of Sebastopol, the hostile armies in its
vicinity have been employed in strategic movements, but
no collision of much importance has taken place. A
brilliant cavalry action took place on the 29th of
September in the neighbourhood of Eupatoria. The Russians,
under General Korff, were defeated by the French under
General D'Allonville. The Russians lost 50 killed, 105
prisoners, 6 guns, 12 caissons, and 250 horses: the
French lost 6 men killed, and 27 wounded. The French
cavalry engaged in this action, together with a body of
infantry and artillery, had sailed from Kamiesch, and
landed at Eupatoria on the 22nd and 23rd of September.
On the 22nd, it appears, the garrison of that place had
marched inland, on the north as far as Orta Mamai, and
on the east as far as Sak. They drove the hostile
outposts before them; and having satisfied themselves as to
the position of the enemy, they returned to Eupatoria.
While these movements were going on in that quarter,
the French made a reconnaissance in the Valley of
Baidar; penetrating to the northward of Biukusta, and
coming in contact with the outposts of the Russian left
wing, which it seems extended in that direction, and
afterwards retiring. At Sebastopol, the French had, as
early as the 21st, erected mortar-batteries on the shore of
the great harbour, and had begun to ply the forts on the
North side with shells, while the Russians replied by
firing upon the town, but without effect on either side.
The Russians have been actively employed in strengthening
their position on the North side of the harbour by
means of earthworks and other defences. The positions
of the hostile armies in the neighbourhood of Sebastopol,
at the end of September, are thus described by the
correspondent of the Times, and have not since been
materially altered. "The allied armies form now on
this side one long line, which runs nearly straight from
west to east, beginning at the harbour of Sebastopol,
and following the course of the Tchernaya to Alsu, then
going over to the plateau to the south of Ozenbash, and
crowning the heights which enclose the valley of Baidar
to the north, up to the point where the road leads from
Bazu over the Slurinkala Mountain to the Upper
Belbek. The French, who occupy this position to our
extreme right, are thus in possession of the heights
which lead out of the valley of Baidar to the rear of the
Russians. They hold the only two roads, one to the
right, which goes to Markoul and Koluluz, and the
other to the left, which runs by Ozembash into the
Tchouliou valley, and from there to the defiles of