NEWS OF THE WEEK.
IT cannot be said that we have any later news from the Crimea this week, and we can scarcely expect that before our usual time of publication we shall receive more than the confirmation or cor- rection of that which we have anticipated. The story is still about the battle of Alma, with a sequel relating the incidents of a strik- ing and romantic march to turn the position of the enemy at Se- bastopol; but the investment of that place on the 4th or 5th instant as yet remains among the reports to be confirmed. The fuller accounts of the first battle expand the view of its im- portance and the desperate nature of the conflict, as much as the intermediate accounts enlarged the glimpse first given by the telegraph. The accomplished results—the discomfiture of Menschikoff and his whole army within a few hours, the sadden defeat of the Russian calculations as to keeping back the Allies, and the display of successful energy which those facts evince—prove the importance of the success. The manner in which the results have been achieved raises our estimate of the enemy's courage, strength, and fighting power; but it raises far higher the respect for those armies, from the commanding-officers downwards, which mastered positions nearly impracticable manned Jouaa enemy so vigorous. The Russians had placed themselves half- way between Old Fort and Sebastopol; they 000upied a rising ground which constituted a species of natural fortification, with a steep uneven bank, based by a rugged mountain-stream commanded by a hundred cannon, and garrisoned by an army of nearly equal num- bers. The plan of the Allies was to storm the position and to turn its extremities ; and General Bosquet succeeded in the lat- ter manoeuvre on the enemy's left. It fell to the English to do so on the opposite side ; but it was found impracticable to effect it with their means, and the force which was to turn the Russian right was directed on its front. The river Alma was crossed, the steep was stormed, the combat was terminated hand to hand ; and Menschikoff, who had erected scaffolds from which his ladies might -view the military exploits during the "three weeks" of obstruc- tion that he had provided for the invading force, was hurried away in the midst of a flying army, in little more than three hours.
Without cavalry, without equal artillery, 'the Allies did not pursue the defeated foe; but rested for a couple of days, to recruit the ablebodied, succour the wounded, and bury the dead. Then they went forward toward Sebastopol. A change now took place, as remarkable an incident as any in the campaign. Learning that the enemy had established a work of some force on the Bel- bek, and that this river could not readily be rendered a means of communication with the fleet, and calculating that preparations would be made for the defence of Sebastopol chiefly on the North side, the commanders resolved to change the line of operations, to turn the whole position of Sebastopol, and establish them- selves at Balaclava. After resting for a couple of days, they started on the march, turned to the left after the first night's bivouac, and struck across a woody country, in which the troops had to steer their way by compass ; regained an open road from Bagtehe-serai to Balaclava; :encountered there a part of the Rus- sian army, which fled in consternation at the unexpected meeting ;
and were in possession of Balaclava on the 26th—within four days after leaving the heights above the Alma. Thus an important post was occupied without a blow.
Balaclava is a close port, naturally cut by the waters in the living rook ; so deep that the bowsprit of a ship at anchor can almost be touched on shore, so strong that the force possessing it could retain communication with the sea in spite of any enemy. It is a proof of Menschikoff 's want of foresight, or of his extreme weakness after the battle of the 20th, that Balaclava was left without effectual defence. The change of operations reminds one of Nelson's manoeuvre at the Nile, in attacking the enemy on the shore side, where the ships were logged with lumber and unpre- pared for action.
By this date, however, ' the_ Allies were destined to sustain a grave loss, in the departure of Marshal St. Arnaud. The French Commander-in-chief had succeeded in three achievements, each one of which would be sufficient to mark the great soldier. He had thrown his forces into the battle on the Alma with all the ardour of which his countrymen are capable, but with that perfeot command which the great general alone retains. He had succeeded in exciting the soldierly fire of the French, and yet in preserving the friendliest feelings towards their rivals and allies, the English. He had succeeded in retaining his place on horseback, notwith- standing-mortal agonies that would have subdued the courage, or at least the physical endurance, of any other man. Many can meet death, numbers can sustain torture ; but the power of hold- ing up in action against the depressing and despairing misgivings
internal nternal maladies, is a kind of resolution which nature confers upon very kW indeed, and amongst those very few Marshal St. Arnaud will be ranked as one of the most distinguished.
St. Arnaud is not alone in death or suffering. Nearly two thousand of the British have been placed hors de combat, about fourteen hundred of the French. But statistical totals do not tell the real loss : it is when we identify the killed and wounded in detail, and learn the precise, often the shocking and muti- lating wounds inflicted on each, that we attain a true conception of war in all its horrors. This heavy loss partly arises from the skill of the Russian commander in making the most of the advantages that his position gave him ; partly from the gloomy ferocity with which the slave-soldiers of Russia fought, even against hope. Many an anecdote shows that the Russians almost equalled the English and French in devotion. The distinction was this,—the Russians could surrender life, even in the proportion of six to one; but they could not go at the work with that hopeful resolve to conquer which is the very life-breath of victory. They died in vain : not so the French and English.
