Jasper Banner, Volume 1, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1854 — The Battle of Inkerman. [ARTICLE]

The Battle of Inkerman.

For a day or two previously to the Spectator, the Russians, who already possessed a large force within the prolonged fortifications, and a large ! force toward flic roar, in the neigh- \ borhood of Balaldava, had been oh-! served to receive reinforcements, j estimated at 30,000 or 40,000; which addctl to Lipcrandi’s corps on the Russian left, of 35,000 or more, and the garrison would probably justify j Gen. Canrobert’s estimate of 100,-, 000 men, in oneway and another, arrayed against the the j memorable sth of November. To, augment the weight of the forcebrought down to crush the beseigers, the nyw useless army oTthe I)anuhc had* been withdrawn" fromMohlovia. leaving Bessarabia still defended by its special army, but not, it is supposed, entirely cx 1 musting the reinforcements to be brought I from the interior. The efforts of \ Al-ensvhikoff' to throw his strength in- j to a succession of powerfnl, and, if possible, decisive blows, is shown by the advance of Dannenberg’s army 1 in the very lightest order, augmenting the numbers about Sevastopol, without much regard to either their' equipment or provision. The aim was to bear down by accumulated pressure; and it was with that view that the batteries resumed the bombardnieuTof the allies iu their bcseiged camp; a strong force from the garrison moved out to act with I)annenberg's army, and Liprandi made a feint that might have been, had if succeeded, a penetrating attack up- | on the rear; and, as it was, it did engage the attention of a portion of the French and English forces. Thus Ithe allies were to be occupied all ~muird7v3ulefflc’\vea3i;i'rnittT^clFed ; and unfortified point in their position, toward the valley pi‘ the Inkerman, ! was to be penetrated by a force of great weight and momentum. It was with the earliest dawn, enveloped in mist and rain, that the allies hearing, without seeing, the movement of the enemy, aroused themselves to a comprehension of that which they tvere to expect. They were attacked in position, by troops converging into a narrow and broken ravine, or meeting of several ravines; and here, notwithstanding all the “solidity” ascribed to them in the despatch of the , French commander, the English sol- , diers were repeatedly driven back. Atone time the battle consisted in j the play of artillery upon the soldiers jof either side; at another, in sharp i conflicts of small arms; but for the j.most Axartuf-. the.time in direct personal cucountcr, where each side ; tried against the other its weight, muscular .strength, nerve and resolve. The 8,000 English who were repeatedly brought forward to meet the attack were the same men, unrelieved throughout the day. Tlic channel through which the battle raged, pre.vented theHuisigna from ustfig their numbers at once, but those numbers gave a command of fresh forces in successive relays. So conflict continued throughout the day, till afternoon; the contending bodies Avaved backwards and forwards, as reinforcements or new resolution lent the greater impetus to either side. The arrival of the French first restored something like aggressive equality to the side of the allies; and, at. last, English‘solidity’ and French gallantry proved greater tban Russian ferocity and numbers. The Russians gave way and retired; their immediate object unaccomplished, and their path strewed with dead, principally their own-. ■ In this day’s battle the 'ascertained loss of the English was 2,612; that of the French 1,700; and the loss is guessed at 15,000. — (5,000 is nearer the mark.) The proportionate loss of officers, of the allies is excessive. Supposing the Russian loss not to be over-estimated, it would about equal that of the allies in proportion to the gross numbers at the coftimand of Prince Menchikoff.

Detroit Tribune states that the \ number of fugitive slaves that have crossed the Detroit Rive at that point for Can ada, since Man’ll last, is 182. 7 ( *