BATTLE OF INKERMAN
Before giving a slight sketch of the events of this momentous day, it
is necessary to bear in mind that the original numbers of the English
army had become much reduced since their landing, by the casualties
of war and by sickness; that they had also to guard the trenches day
and night, and to be ready to defend the extended position in front
of Balaclava. In short, their numbers were not by any means adequate
to the various and widely detached duties they were called upon to
perform. The consequence was that on the day of Inkerman they had only
8,000 infantry and 36 guns available for the defence of the position.
It was dark and wet and a thick fog lay on the ground as day dawned
on Sunday, November 5. My servant came into my tent and woke me about
daylight, saying that heavy firing had just commenced not far away.
In a few minutes I was off, but found that Lord Raglan and General
Strangways had already left. On approaching the scene, and riding
through the camp of the Second Division, it was apparent that the enemy
were close at hand. Round shot were bounding along, tents were being
knocked over, horses killed at their pickets, whilst blankets and great
coats were lying about among the brushwood, thrown down, apparently,
as our men had hastily fallen in and hurried to the front. The centre
of our position on the ridge was held by the Second Division under
Pennefather, with the Guards in advance on the right under the Duke of
Cambridge and Bentinck, and one brigade of the Light Division under
Buller on the left--six batteries of artillery being in action in the
intervals. On joining Lord Raglan about 7 A.M. it was evident from the
very heavy fire both of infantry and artillery that the Russian columns
were close upon us, and were indeed forcing our position at various
points. In fact, owing to the rain and thick mist, the troops of both
the opposing forces were in immediate proximity several times during
the day almost before they were aware of it.
On the extreme right, and in advance, a small sandbag work had been
established and armed with two 18-pounders many days previously, not
with a view to local defence, but to silence some Russian guns on the
other side of the Chernaya which annoyed our camp, and having achieved
the object our guns had been withdrawn. It was in the neighbourhood
of this earthwork that very severe fighting took place, and it was
captured and re-taken several times, the Guards especially sustaining
the brunt of the conflict and suffering great losses. The Russian
account says: 'The battle raged forward, backward, beneath, above,
among bushes and underwood; above all, the sandbag battery on the wing
had been the object of many an attack, until at length General Bentinck
led up his Guards, the _élite_ of the English army. These chosen troops
pressed irresistibly forward to the redoubt, and tore it from the
Russians....'
In the meantime Sir George Cathcart, with part of the Fourth Division,
arrived to the support of our hardly pressed troops. Conceiving the
extreme right to be the point most open to danger, he was marching in
that direction when he received urgent messages requesting assistance
in the centre and on the left. He accordingly detached the greater
part of his brigade and a battery towards these points, but proceeded
himself, with a small number of men, to reinforce the Guards. The
enemy, in fact, were forcing our line at several places at once. Hardly
had the battery just named got into action and fired a few rounds of
case than it was run into and three of its guns momentarily captured,
the officer commanding (Major Townsend) being killed. Three guns of
Turner's battery were also taken and some of the gunners bayonetted at
their posts; but in both instances the guns were re-taken immediately
afterwards by the 77th and 88th Regiments.[14]
Sir George Cathcart, under the impression that he could assist the
Guards by a flank movement, moved for some distance down the slopes,
near the sandbag battery, but suddenly found himself surrounded by a
superior force, and fell, shot through the heart; General Torrens, who
was with him, being also severely wounded.[12]
At about 8 o'clock A.M., Lord Raglan with his staff was moving along
the ridge, and halted about the centre of the line. Perceiving the
advantage he should gain by the fire of heavy guns from such commanding
ground, he sent an order for the two 18-pounders, which were near at
hand at the mill, to be brought up. It so happened that the officers
in charge of them, anticipating his wishes, had already packed the
necessary ammunition in waggons, and were, therefore, ready when his
message came. Colonel Gambier, R.A., in command, was wounded, and had
to retire as they moved up; but under Colonel Collingwood Dickson[13]
and Captain D'Aguilar these guns were speedily brought into action
on the ridge, and rendered excellent service throughout the day.
Prince Menschikoff, in his despatch after the battle, makes special
allusion to the fire of the British heavy guns. There were no less
than seventeen casualties with these two guns, and they fired about 84
rounds a gun.
Just before the arrival of the 18-pounders, Lord Raglan, accompanied
by his staff, was on the ridge surveying the position, having General
Strangways on his right. At that moment a shell, supposed to have
been fired at long range from a Russian vessel in the harbour, passed
between them and burst amongst the staff, killing the horses of
Colonels Gordon and Paulet Somerset. These two officers, however, were
unhurt.[14] A few seconds afterwards General Strangways turned round to
me, saying, quite calmly, 'Help me off my horse,' and he was then seen
to be falling. General Estcourt and myself jumped off and caught him as
he fell; and we then found that his left leg had been taken off below
the knee by the shell as it passed between him and Lord Raglan. We laid
him on the ground and I tied my handkerchief round his shattered limb.
The staff moved on a short distance, and I was left with him alone. The
enemy at the time were close upon us. After looking about in vain for
a doctor, or a stretcher to carry him away, I at length saw two men
bearing a wounded comrade, and, when they had deposited him in a tent,
induced them to return with me. A medical officer also arrived. We gave
the General some wine and water from a flask, which temporarily revived
him. He did not seem to suffer pain, gave me many messages to his wife
and daughter, and begged me to take him to the siege train camp, which
was done. Almost his last words were, 'Take me to the gunners, let me
die amongst the gunners.' As we were carrying him off we passed the
body of another officer on a stretcher, and it proved to be that of Sir
George Cathcart. On arrival at the hospital tent, General Strangways
became faint and insensible; it was evident that no operation could be
performed, and soon afterwards he passed away, with wounded gunners
lying round him, Lord Raglan coming to see him just before he died. He
was much beloved and respected by all his officers and men, and his
death at such a critical time was a great misfortune. When General
Strangways fell on the ridge, his horse got away in the confusion, but
was afterwards recovered, and singularly enough, was untouched, not
even the stirrup leather being cut.
On going up to rejoin Lord Raglan, after the death of Strangways, I met
Sir Edmund Lyons, Captain Drummond, and other naval officers on ponies,
and conducted them, at their request, to the front. Subsequent to the
events just sketched out, from which it will be apparent that our
position was very critical, the battle still continued with unabated
energy for several hours. The arrival of some French battalions and
batteries under Generals Bosquet and Bourbaki, however, gave valuable
support to our sorely pressed troops, and Lord Raglan, in his despatch
of November 8, drew special attention 'to the brilliant conduct of the
allied troops.' 'French and English,' he said, 'vied with each other in
displaying their gallantry and manifesting their zealous devotion to
duty, notwithstanding that they had to contend against an infinitely
superior force, and were exposed for many hours to a very galling
fire....' General Canrobert also joined Lord Raglan on the field, and
was again slightly wounded. I remember his inquiring of me how many
guns we had in action, and I replied: 'thirty-six, in addition to the
two 18-pounders.'
The Russian account, though not altogether correct, is worth perusal.
It says: 'The battle had now attained its climax. Most of the English
generals were _hors de combat_. The Britons, sadly reduced in numbers
and exhausted by the struggle, defended themselves but faintly. More
and more the fortunes of the day inclined to the Russians. It was
about 11 o'clock when, on a sudden, the shrill tones of horns were
heard above the rolling and rattling of the fire. The third act, the
turning point of the battle, commenced. The French arrived. In the
same proportion as the assurance of their timely aid revived the
sinking spirits of the English, it discouraged the Russians, who felt
themselves at once on the point of being deprived of the fruit of five
hours' hard fighting.'
About noon I was directed by Lord Raglan to go to General Codrington,
whose brigade was on the other side of the Careening Bay ravine, to
inquire how he was getting on, and whether he required assistance.
Codrington's brigade, be it observed, was on the very ground up which
it had been intended that Soimonoff should advance. I found his troops
lying down, and temporarily out of action. General Codrington informed
me that he had been occasionally attacked by Russian troops coming
suddenly out of the ravine, but that he had driven them back, and that
they were not in great force. As the fog was lifting he invited me
to go with him some distance to the front, to try and gain a better
general view of the Russian position. We did so, and looking across
the ravine to Inkerman were able, for the first time, to see the great
masses of the enemy. Whilst carefully observing their movements, the
Russian batteries were seen to be retreating in _échelon_. Codrington
looked at his watch--it was ten minutes to one. He then desired me to
return forthwith to Lord Raglan and let him know what we had seen. On
delivering the message to the Commander-in-Chief, and saying that the
battle seemed coming to an end, his reply was: 'Yes, I believe so,'
showing that he had already become aware of the commencement of the
retreat.
Lord Raglan's despatch, speaking of the latter part of the battle,
said: 'Subsequently to this, the battle continued with unabated vigour
and with no positive result, the enemy bringing upon our line, not only
the fire of all their field batteries, but those in front of the works
of the place, and the ship guns, till the afternoon, when the symptoms
of giving way first became apparent; and shortly after, although the
fire did not cease, the retreat became general, and heavy masses were
observed retiring over the bridge of the Chernaya, and ascending the
opposite heights, abandoning on the field of battle 5,000 or 6,000 dead
and wounded, multitudes of the latter having already been carried off
by them.'
The Russian account says: 'Thus ended the battle, one of the most
sanguinary on record, at 2 o'clock P.M., after lasting eight hours.'
It attributed their defeat partly to the bravery and steadiness of the
English and French troops, partly to the superiority of their arms,
and finally to the wrong direction of Soimonoff. When it is considered
that the English had only 8,000 infantry and 38 guns available for the
defence of the position, and with this small force had to bear the
brunt in all the earlier hours of the battle, it is not necessary to
dwell on the courage and discipline of the officers and men; the facts
speak for themselves. And the quotation I have given from Lord Raglan's
despatch is sufficient proof of the timely support and great gallantry
of our brave allies.
The English losses were very serious: no less than eight generals and
2,614 officers and men were killed, wounded, or missing.[15]
The names of the generals are as follows:
{Sir George Cathcart
Killed {Fox Strangways
{Goldie
{Sir George Brown
{Adams, died of his wounds
Wounded {Torrens, died of his wounds
{Bentinck
{Buller
The losses of the Russians are computed to have been between 11,000
and 12,000. We also captured one gun-carriage and five ammunition
carts, left on the heights. Our allies, the French, lost about 930
officers and men, killed and wounded. Late at night on the 5th I was
sent for by Lord Raglan, who wished for information as to the supply
of ammunition at Inkerman, in the event of a second attack. H.R.H.
the Duke of Cambridge was with him. I was able to give a satisfactory
statement, and to inform him that Captain Gage, R.A., who had been sent
during the battle down to Balaclava to bring up a large supply, both
for infantry and artillery, had just returned, reporting that the mill,
which was our magazine at the front, was amply stocked.
It appears that Prince Menschikoff and two Russian Grand Dukes were
present on the field of Inkerman during the day; and that reminds me of
a curious incident which occurred in relation to one of them long years
afterwards. A gunner of the Royal Artillery served throughout the war,
and was wounded, receiving the Victoria Cross for his gallant conduct.
Subsequently he served during the Indian mutiny, and was again wounded.
After he was pensioned I was partially instrumental in obtaining for
him an appointment in the Yeomen of the Guard. Being on one occasion
on duty in one of the corridors of Buckingham Palace (at a State Ball,
if I remember rightly), a foreign officer, who proved to be a Russian
Grand Duke, came up, spoke to him, and examined his decorations. He
asked him about his Victoria Cross, and then, seeing he had the Crimean
medal and clasp for Inkerman, said: 'Were you at that battle?' 'Yes,
sir,' was the reply. 'So was I,' said the Grand Duke. The old Yeoman,
in telling me the story, said he thought he might be so bold, so he
replied to the Grand Duke, 'Well, sir, if you was at Inkerman, I hope
we may never meet again on so unpleasant an occasion.'
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 12: Lord Raglan's despatch, November 8, 1854.]
[Footnote 13: Now Generals Sir C. Dickson and Sir C. D'Aguilar.]
[Footnote 14: It is interesting to note that nearly forty years before
this day Lord Raglan and Strangways, then both young men of twenty-six
years of age, had been present at Waterloo, when both were severely
wounded, Lord Raglan losing his right arm.
The staff present were as follows: Sir John Burgoyne, Generals
Estcourt, Strangways, and Airey; Colonels Steele, Paulet Somerset
and the Hon. A. Gordon; Captains N. Kingscote, Lord Burghersh, Hon.
L. Curzon, Hon. E. Gage, Wetherall, Stopford, Hon. S. Calthorpe, E.
Gordon, and myself.]
[Footnote 15: Eighty artillery horses were killed.]