THE FIELD. 
A List of the Killed and Wounded in the Naval Brigade 
the 20 tk October, 1854. 
Kitted .— George Grcatheil, lieutenant, Britannia; Sidney Smith, A.B., 
Albion. 
Wounded. Henry’ Paterson, A.B., Bellerophon, severely; William 
Supple, A.B., Bellerophon, slightly; Edward Hallet, carpenter's crew, 
dangerously ; William Channon, ordinary. Queen, dangerously; William 
Hall, A. B., Albion, slightly; Henry Pidoux, A.B.. Albion, severely; 
RieliarJ Haines, A.B., Britannia, severely; John Foster, A.B., Albion, 
slightly ; W ilUam Wheeler, A.B., Albion, slightly ; George Sone, ordi- 
nary. Albion, slightly; Samuel Lampin. A.B., Vengeance, slightly; 
William Moorson, captain unattached, slightly ; Lieutenant Alfred 
Mitchell, Diamond, severely.— Total, killed, 2 ; wounded, 13. 
Stephen Lushinoton, 
Captain Commanding Naval Brigade. 
To the Military Secretary to his Excellency Lord Raglan, 
Comtmnder-in-Chief of the Army. 
LORD RAGLAN'S MISSING DESPATCHES. 
The public will naturally havo felt much surprise at the 
non-receipt of despatches from Lord Raglan by the same 
Bteamer conveying intelligence of the naval action off the har- 
bour of Sebastopol, on the 17th ult., particulars of which 
appear in The Field. 
The Morning Post says, that “ these deeply interesting 
papers, having been entrusted by Lord Raglan to Lieut. Hen- 
derson, were, by some unaccountable misfortune <>u the part 
of that officer, lost. Lieut. Henderson has arrived in Lon- 
don, and, so far as we have been able to ascertain, is unable 
to account for this most unfortunate circumstance." 
Field Office, Wednesday Nov. 8. 
Mr. .Seymour Tremeuheere, who left Constantinople by the 
ndditi -ual mail steamer Gange on the 28th ult., reached Lon- 
don by special tram last evening with despatches from Lord 
Stratford de Redcliffe for Lord Clarendon, but brought no 
intelligence from the Crimea of a later date thau that already 
received, and no despatches for either the Miuister-of-War 
or the Admiralty. Mr. Tremenheere left Balaklava on the 
23rd ult. 
PRIVATE DESPATCHES FROM SEBASTOPOL. 
THE LAND ATTACK. 
_ Camp before Sebastopol, Oct. 17. 
On the night of the Kith it was determined that our 
fire should be opened on the Russian lines the following 
morning, as it was evident the enemy was intrenching 
himself with much activity, and greatly strengthening his 
position. In spite of the efforts of our engineers, our 
works were not quite completed, and most of the mortars 
could not be mounted in the batteries. 
Firing commenced from the French and English batte- 
ries ; by signal at f>.30 a.m. on the 17th, but for thirty 
minutes previous the Russians fired furiously on all the 
batteries. The cannonade on both sides was most violent 
for nearly two horns. 
Our left attack consisted of four batteries and 36 
guns ; our right attack of 20 guns, in battery. There 
were also two Lancaster batteries and a 4-gun battery of 
63-pounders on our right. The French had about 46 
gnus. In all we were supposed to have 1 1 7 guns to 
subdue about 130 guns of the Russians. 
At 8 o’clock it was apparent that the French batteries 
m their extreme right attack, overpowered by the fire 
and enfiladed by the guns of the Russians, were very much 
weakened ; their fire slackened minute after minute. 
At 8.30 the fire slackened on both sides for a few 
minutes, but recommenced with immense energy, the 
whole town and the line of works enveloped in smoke. 
At 8.40 the French magazine in the extreme right 
battery of twelve guns blew up with a tremendous ex- 
plosion, killing and wounding 100 men. The Russians 
cheered, fired with renewed vigour, and crushed the 
French fire completely, sothat they were not able to fire 
more than a gun now and then at intervals, and at ten 
o'clock they were nearly silenced on that side. 
At 10.30 the fire slackened on both sides, but the allies 
and Russians re-opened vigorously at 10.45. Our practice 
was splendid, but our works were cut up by the lire from 
the redan and. from the works round a circular martello 
tower on our extreme right. 
At 12.45 the French liue-of-battle ships rnn up in 
most magnificent style and engaged the batteries on the 
sea side. The scene was indescribable, the Russians re- 
plying vigorously to the attacks by sea and laud, though 
suffering greatly. 
At 1.25 another magazine in the Frencli batteries blew 
up. The cannonade was tremendous. Our guns demo- 
lished the Round Tower, but could not silence the works 
around it. 
At 1.40 a great exnlosion took place in the centre of 
Sebastopol amid much cheering from our men, hut the fire 
was not abated. The Lancaster guns made had practice, 
ami one burst. At 2.55 a terrific explosion of a powder 
magazine took place in the Russian redan fort. The 
Russians, however, returned to their guns, and still fired 
from the re-entering angle of their works. The cannonade 
was continuous from the ships and from our batteries, but 
the smoke did not permit us to see if the British fleet was 
engaged. 
At 3.30 a loose powder-store inside our naval battery 
was blown up by a Russian shell, but did no damage. 
The enemy’s earthworks were much injured by our fire, 
Fne redan nearly silenced, and the fire of the Round 
Tower intrenchments diminished, though the inner works 
are still vigorous. 
At 3.35 the magazine inside the works of the Round 
Fort was blown up by our shot. 
At 4 the ships outside were ripping up the forts and 
stoneworks and town by tremendous broadsides. Only the 
Trench flag was visible, the English fleet being on the 
north or opposite side of the harbour. Orders were given 
to spare the town and buildings as much as possible. 
From 1 to 5.30 the cannonade from oiu’ batteries was 
'cry warm, the Russians replying, though our fire had 
evidently established its superiority over theirs, the ships 
pouring m broadside after broadside on Forts Nicholas 
and Constantine at close ranges. Towards dusk the fire 
slackened greatly, and at night it ceased altogether, the 
Russians lor the first time being silent. I p to this hour 
\* u 1’ ,n - 1 thc y Have barely fired a gun. They are busily 
repairing damages, and we are doing the same, and ore 
also mounting new guns and mortars for to-morrow. 
The French have lost about 200 men, principally by 
the explosions ; our loss is very small— under 100 killed 
and wounded smee the siege began. 
C aptain Rowley, of the Guards, was killed yesterday ; 
U Leary, of the 68th Regiment, killed to-dav ; Ruthveu, 
Lieutenant, R.N., wounded. 
We have gained greatly to-day. and, but for the melan- 
choly disasters which held our allies, should have crushed 
much of the Russian batteries. The French fleet avenged 
these misfortunes most amply. 
The Grand Duke Constantine is supposed to have 
entered Sebastopol. 
Much of the sea side of the town is in ruins. We re- 
open tire at daybreak. 
October 18, 3 p.m. 
mi v ” re Was burned this morning soon after daybreak. 
The Trench were still unable to support us. Their extreme 
left is still silenced. They will not he ready till the 1 Uth 
or 20th, so damaged are they by the Russian fire. 
During the night the Russians remounted their guns and 
brought up fresh ones, and established u great superiority 
of tire and weight of metal. 
At 10 a.m. the alarm was given that the Russians were 
marching to attack our rear on the Balaklava road. Lord 
Raglan and staff, with large bodies of French troops, at 
once moved there, and found the Russian cavalry and 
two battalions of infantry, with one gun, endeavouring to 
creep up in a fog to the'outposts. The Turks opened a 
fire From the redoubts, and the Russians retired. 
At this moment (3 p.m.) the Russians are pressing us 
very hard, returning three shots for our two. Colonel 
Hood, of the Guards, was killed in the trenches to-day. 
Ruthveu, of the Albion, is no better. Lieutenant ('base, 
of the Albion, is killed. Another lieutenant and 10(5 
men were killed and wounded iu our fleet yesterday while 
attacking Fort Constantine. 
The attack by the fleets is to he renewed to-morrow. 
Of the siege train there are two killed, fifteen severely 
wounded, and eight slightly wounded. This was up to 
yesterday. 
Our loss up to to-day is ninety-six. 
The redan and flagstaff fort are as troublesome as ever. 
The Retribution and London had their mainmasts' shot 
away, and were on fire yesterday. They lmd to be hauled 
off. 
The Agamemnon has suffered severely. 
Lord J. Murray and Ellison, with 150 men of the 88th, 
130 artillerymen, and six surgeons, arrived lost night per 
Tonning. 
The sickness has much abated. 
The redan fort, flagstaff fort, and Round Tower works, 
are firing very warmly just now. 
We can scarcely get up ammunition to our guns. 
1077 
HOSPITALS AT SMYRNA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 
[From the Times.] 
Sir, — The extract I enclose, upon the subject of the dis- 
graceful state iu which the merchant sailors' hospitals at 
Smyrna and Constautinople have been, aud still are, allowed 
to remain, will, I hope, find a place in your paper. I do 
trust that the Government will lose no time iu having these 
shamefully-neglected establishments placed upon a proper 
footing, and rendered equal in efficiency to those of other 
countries. I enclose my address, os well as that of the 
friend who writes the letter to me. — I am your obedient 
servant, a 
November 6. 
Extract from a letter from Smyrna, lately received in London. 
“ By way of employing the three days during which I re- 
mained at Smyrna, I went to see the British hospital, which, 
I must say, is a disgrace to any nation occupying the position 
which we hold at present in the East The British hospital 
at Smyrna is intended for the exclusive benefit of British sea- 
men from ships of war and the merchant navy. It is sup- 
ported by dues levied on every British ship which arrives in 
the port of Smyrna. The revenue was formerly administered 
by the Levant Company, and was by them transferred to 
the Government. All this you probably know better than I 
do, but you may not be aware that the hospital has remained 
in statu quo ever since the breaking up of the Levant Com- 
pany. It is placed in a miserable, dilapidated old house, the 
ground floor of which is periodically flooded in bad weather. 
The rooms on the upper floor are pictures of squalid misery 
— the planking decayed and full of holes, the walls dirty, no 
modern improvements or contrivances of any kind. * We 
found there three Jack Tars imprisoned iu this black hole — 
three very jolly, good-humoured fellows ; they said the bugs 
were as big as black currants, aud that the bedstead, though 
constantly washed with hot water, were so old and saturated 
with vermin that their crevices contained the ‘ essence of 
bugs.’ In the holes and corners of these rooms were worm- 
eaten old chests which still bore the name of the * Levant 
Company’ of 1807. I was assured by Mr. aud Dr. 
that the horrid state of this hospital had been constantly and 
repeatedly reported to the home Government, but that no- 
thing had ever been done, or even proposed to be done, to 
make it more habitable and fitter for the reception of sick 
seamen, though it was said, aud has long been said, that a 
plan for a new hospital sent home ‘ was under consider- 
ation.’ 
“Opposite to this British Hospital is the Dutch Hospital, 
a perfect model of neatness and propriety, with a garden, 
kept in order and planted with trees, aud an air of comfort, 
both within aud without, which so contributes to the cure of 
an invalid. I next visited the Greek Hospital, which is on a 
large scale and in excellent order, and, strange to say, clean 
and comfortable. Lastly, the Austrian, small, but well 
organised. The French one I had not time to see, but I am 
assured that it is admirable. 
“ Now, there may be some good reason for the very singu- 
lar contrast which our hospital presents to these, but I cannot 
kelp thinking that if the present. Government wore really 
aware what a miserable place it is, they would take active 
stops to provide a better. It is no excuse to say that the 
English Hospital at Constantinople is worse (the civil one, I 
mean) ; there, too, the bugs drop from the ceiling on the 
patients' faces ; there also the siwl state of things has been 
long since reported to head quarters, but without results. 
My information about the Constantinople Hospital is derived I 
about ' ' aUth0rifcy—iti P b y» ici “, who told me all 
’’ In the course ..f this war we may want a good hospital 
at Smyrna for our sailors, and so we iyay as well got it rca.lv 
Turk‘S' u P ^r ent th « establishment is much more like I 
Turkish khan than the hospital for seamen of a Christian 
aud civihsed people ; and yet, forsooth, we profess to exhibit 
to the rurks a model to be followed in all things !’’ 
1839 * To'\ St t,US0 hospitals is of old date. In 
SVttr t ' mc " ,lt 
bar be it from mo to say who is to blame Wre . 
assert that this establishment iu the Turkishcapitaul H If 
grace to the British nation ! It is lit« KetteTthL 
kennel ; and therein, during tho winter of 1S37, I saw the 
shipwrecked craws of the Lyra, Trio, and Midas, three 
Enghsh merchantmen ost in the Black Sea, shivering with 
fe< ’ ."T* 7 Oov « rad with decent clothing, and 
almost without bods, when the snow was some feet deep in 
many part* of tho capital. I visited this hospital not alone, 
and can by witnesses substantiate, if necessary, more than T 
have set down. Other nations are not so careless of the r 
seamen— the French and Austrians especially.’’] 
MISS NIGHTINGALE. 
w _ T h® following letter addressed by Mr. Sidney Herbert to 
Miss Nightingale, has been published :— 
(Copy.) 
“ Dear Miss Nightingale, -You will have seen in tho 
papers that there is a great deficiency of nurses at the bos- 
pital at Soutan. The other alleged dofioienoies-numoly, of 
medical men. lint, sheets, &c. must, if they have really ever 
existed have been remedied ore this, as the number of the 
medical officers with tho army amounted to one to every *J5 
men m the whole force, being nearly double what we have 
ever had before ; and 30 more surgeons wont out there three 
weeks ago, and must by this time, therefore, be at Constan- 
tinople. A further supply went on Monday, and a fresh 
batch sail next week. As to medical stores, they have 
been sent out not only in profusion, but by the ton 
weight; 15,000 pair of sheets; medicines, wince, arrowroot 
m the same proportion; and the only way for accounting 
for the deficiency at Scutari, if it exists, is that the mass 
of the stores wont to Vania, and had not been sent back 
when the army left for tho Crimea ; but four days would 
nave remedied that. In tho meanwhile stores are arriving. 
But the deficiency of female nurses is undoubted, none but 
male nurses having over boon admitted to military hospitals. 
It would be impossible to cany about a large staff of tlio 
female nurses with an army in the field. But, at Scutari 
having now a fixed hospital, no military reason exists against 
then- introduction; and I am confident they might, bo in- 
troduced with great benefit, for hospital orderlies must be 
voiy rough bauds, and most of them, on such an occasion as 
this, very inexperienced ..nos. I receive numbers of offers 
from ladies to go out, but they are ladies who have no con- 
ception of what an hospital is, nor of tlio nature of its duties • 
and they would, when the time came, either recoil from the 
work, or be entirely useless, and consequently, what is worse 
entirely iu the way ; nor would those ladies probably even 
understand tlio necessity, especially in a military hospital, of 
strict obedience to rule, &c. 
“Lady Maria Forester (Lord Roden’s daughter) has made 
some proposal to Dr. Smith, tho head of the army medical 
department, cither to go with, or to send out, trained nurses. 
I apprehend she means from Fitzroy -square, John-street, or 
some such establishment. The Rev. Mr. Ilume, once chap- 
lain to the General Hospital at Birmingham (and better 
known as the author of tho scheme for transferring the City 
churches to the suburbs), has offered to go out himself as 
chaplain, with two daughters and twolvo nurses. He was in 
the army seven years, and has boon used to hospitals, and I 
like the tone of his letter very much. I think from both of 
these offers practical effects may be drawn. 
" BjR the (lifficulty of finding nurses who are at all versed 
in their business, is probably best known to Mr. Hume ; and 
Lady Maria Forester probably has not tested tho willingness 
of the traiued nurses to go, and is incapable of directing or 
ruling them. There is but one person in England that 1 know 
of who would he capable oforganising and superintending such 
a scheme, and I have been several times on the point of asking 
you, hypothetically, if, supposing tlio attempt were made, 
you would undertake to direct it. The selection of tlio 
rank and file of nurses will be very difficult; no one knows 
that better than yourself. The difficulty of finding women 
equal to a task, after all, full of horror, and requiring, besides 
knowledge and good will, perseverance, and great courage, 
will be great'; the task of ruling and introducing system 
among them great ; and not the least will be the difficulty of 
making the whole work smoothly with the medical and mi- 
litary authorities out there. That it is, which makes it so im- 
portant that the experiment should he carried out by one with 
administrative capacity aud experience. A number of senti- 
mental, enthusiastic ladies, turned loose into the hospital of 
Scutari, would probably after a few days be mises <i la portc 
by those whose business they would interrupt, and whose 
authority they would dispute. My question simply is, would 
you listen to the request to go out aud supervise the whole 
thing 1 You would, of course, have plenary authority over 
all the nurses; aud I think I could secure you the fullest 
assistance and cooperation from the medical staff*; and you 
would also havo an unlimited power of drawing on tho 
Government for whatever you think requisite for the success 
of your mission. On this part of the subject the details are 
too many for a letter, and I reserve it for our meeting ; 
for, whatever decision may take, I know you will give me 
every assistance and advice. I do not say one word to press 
you. You are the only person who can judge for your- 
self which of conflicting or incompatible duties is the 
first or the highest ; but I think I must not conceal from 
you that upon your docision will depend the ultimate 
success or failure of the plan. Your own personal quali- 
ties, your knowledge, and your power of administration 
— and, among greater things, your rank and position in 
society — give you advantages in such a work which no 
other person pomelos. If this succeeds, an enormous 
amount of good will bo done now, and to persons de- 
serving everything at our hands ; aud which will mul- 
tiply the good to all time. I hardly like to be sanguine 
