All night the bells of Sebastopol rang loudly. The heavy November mist obscured the sound; and most probably, the English soldiers, far from considering the clashing from the belfries as the signal for the gathering of troops, imagined that one of the multitudinous festivals of the Greek Church was being celebrated with unwonted ostentation. Towards morning the mist thickened, and it was impossible to discern any object at above a few yards’ distance. Taking advantage of the fog, the Russians conveyed their guns to the lofty eminences beyond the Tchernaya, facing the British position, and by almost incredible efforts, in a very brief time, had established a formidable battery in a most commanding situation. About four o’clock in the morning, intelligence arrived at head-quarters that Balaklava was again threatened. General Bosquet was immediately on the alert, with his French chasseurs, and the indomitable Sir Colin Campbell was fully prepared to meet any force which might be despatched against him. It was no part, however, of the enemy’s tactics seriously to attack this position. His purpose was fully served by the attention of the French being attracted to this point, and the English being diverted from the real point of assault. About five o’clock enormous bodies of Russian infantry, under cover of the heavy fog, silently passed the bridge across the Tchernaya, and stealthily crept up the hill towards the weak point of the English position at the newly-erected two-gun battery. The pickets of the 55th, on duty at this spot, suddenly found themselves in presence of an over-whelming force of the enemy. Desperately fighting, the courageous little band slowly yielded ground, contesting every step, and retreating up the hill towards the redoubt. Their smart firing, in reply to the tremendous volleys of the enemy’s musketry, which were now poured into the handful of men, aroused the camp, and indicated the real nature of the enemy’s plans. General Pennefather, who commanded the Second Division, in the absence of Sir De Lacy Evans (who was compelled by the debilitated state of his health to leave his active duties, and retire on board one of the ships in the harbor), immediately hastened to the scene; and the men of his division, hastily shaking off their sleep, quickly responded to the alarm. In a few minutes all was bustle and activity. Officers and men, alike hurried forward, some half-dressed, all unbreakfasted, many suffering from sickness, and none free from the effects of privation and over-toil. From the Second Division the intelligence of the attack was quickly carried to the camps of the First, Fourth and Light Divisions, and the Duke of Cambridge, Sir George Cathcart, and Sir George Brown, instantly put themselves at the heads of their men, and lost no time in marching to the scene of action.