In brief, a braver choice of dauntless spirits,
That now the English bottoms have waft o'er,
Did never float upon the swelling tide.
Shakespeare.
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After our arrival at Varna we had to wait a few days for the order of
embarkation, and finally sailed in company with the 17th Lancers in the
_Himalaya_, Lord Cardigan and his staff being aboard the same vessel;
the 11th Hussars, 4th and 13th Light Dragoons being embarked aboard
other transports, as also the heavy cavalry at the same time. Never was
an army embarked for almost immediate active service under less
favourable circumstances. Our ranks were decimated by disease, and the
authorities apparently regardless of our health, food, clothing, and
comfort, so necessary to render an army contented and vigorous in the
face of the enemy. Still our men kept up their spirits, and only one
desire pervaded the whole of the cavalry with whom I came in contact,
and this was to "meet the Roosians and have done with it." Not a man
knew where it was intended to land the army, but it was generally
understood that fighting would begin in earnest directly we came in
sight of the enemy on the shores of the Crimea. I noticed the gallant
42nd Highlanders aboard the _Emeu_, and the Scots Fusiliers aboard the
_Kangaroo_, and no men could be in better spirits.
The 4th Light Dragoons embarked in the _Simla_, and the 4th Royal Irish
Dragoon Guards, with the remnant of the 5th, were conveyed to the scene
of action in the _Trent_. The men were all in capital spirits, and
their after-service proved that they meant business, as also did the
13th Light Dragoons (who sailed in the _Jason_, if I remember right);
and the 17th Lancers, with the old 8th King's Royal Irish and 11th
Hussars, proved what British cavalry can do, even under the most
distressing circumstances, as shown by their wild death-ride through the
vale of Balaklava, where the imbecility of their leaders nearly caused
what few of them that the cholera had left, to be annihilated by
charging unsupported an army in position. The transports and other
vessels necessary to remove the Allied array numbered over 700, which,
with the fleet, formed a magnificent sight when fairly out of the bay of
Varna. Captain Longmore of ours, who accompanied Lord Cardigan in his
reconnoitring expedition along the Danube, died of cholera aboard the
_Himalaya_ before we sailed, and his body was taken ashore and buried.
Not a better officer ever commanded a troop; he was a strict
disciplinarian, but not a petty tyrant, and there was not a man in the
regiment but who mourned his loss as children would a father. Several
more officers and men died before sailing and on the passage, and their
bodies were thrown overboard. I saw about fifty Zouaves drowned between
the transport on board which they were to embark and the shore: they
were all in complete marching order, and thus were prevented from
swimming. The boat came in contact with a foreign vessel containing
stores, and the former was sunk in less than a minute, the Zouaves
disappearing with the most frightful yells; and they never rose again, a
few--very few--only being saved.
Lord Raglan, the Commander-in-Chief, and staff embarked on board the
_Caradoc_; and some idea may be formed of the expedition when I say that
it would have formed a line upwards of ten miles in length. We sailed
in the direction of Eupatoria, and when some distance from the place,
but within range of the guns of the fleet, the _Caradoc_ sailed towards
the town with the white flag of truce, and it was generally understood
we were to land there at once. But for some reason the idea was
abandoned, and orders were given to sail farther down shore, for about
ten miles, until we came to a low sandy beach on the 14th of September.
All eyes were now directed to the beach--the first glimpse we had ever
had of the Russian soil--and we fully expected to see it bristling with
cannon; but all was peaceful and silent; not an armed man was visible as
our officers eagerly scanned the shore with the aid of their glasses.
Plenty of corn and cattle, and the Tartar farmers were all busy with
their harvest. After some hours' delay, caused by having to wait until
the whole of the transports--some of whom were slower sailers than
others--had come up, the expedition came to anchor from two to three
miles from the beach. The French, who anchored some vessels on our
right, were the first to lower a boat, with about a score of men in it;
they quickly ran on shore, and jumped out, some of them up to the middle
in water. A flag-staff was handed out, carried quickly ashore, and in a
few seconds they had planted it on Russian territory, with the tricolour
streaming from its summit. Shakos were thrown up, and _Vive
l'Empereur_! made the welkin ring. All this time the French were busily
engaged lowering boats and running their men ashore. The French
numbered about 25,000, and the English of all arms about 27,000. The
French landed very quickly, and the moment they reached the shore they
ran about like antelopes until they were assembled and formed into
skirmishing parties, for fear of the enemy being in ambush; but none
appeared, save a small knot of Cossacks on a high, rocky hill about a
mile off. These Cossacks formed the escort of an officer who had
evidently been sent from Sebastopol to ascertain the strength of our
force, which they did not think it prudent to oppose on landing. A
shell or round shot from the fleet, or a rifle ball or two from the deck
of a man-of-war, would have scattered the party; but our officers, ever
busy with their glasses, were anxious to gratify their curiosity. Sir
George Brown and General Airey were amongst the first of our officers to
land, and with a picket of riflemen some distance in their rear, they
pushed on to reconnoitre for camping-ground. The generals were on foot,
and never dreamt of the enemy being so near as they ascended the hill,
behind whose crest the Cossacks were lying in ambush, having seen them
some distance from and isolated from their escort of riflemen. The
whole affair was seen from the decks of many of the vessels, that of the
_Himalaya_ being crowded with officers and men of the 8th Hussars and
17th Lancers. The officer in command of the Cossacks dismounted, and
his men followed his example. Walking and crouching behind their
horses, they approached the two generals, who, the instant they saw the
danger, turned and ran down the hill, the Cossacks throwing themselves
into their saddles, and flourishing their long lances, preparing to
pursue. Their career was, however, cut short, as the riflemen suddenly
rose up and fired upon them; but the distance was too far, or the aim
too bad to be effective, for no saddles were emptied, and the party
rapidly disappeared behind the hill amidst a cloud of dust. We
afterwards heard that one of the peasants had been wounded by the fire
of the rifles while at work with his team on an adjacent farm.
As each of our divisions of infantry landed they marched away from the
beach, some in one direction and some in another, until the shore, as
far as the eye could reach, was literally covered with armed men, whose
bayonets flashing in the sun had a very pretty effect, as seen from the
decks of the transports by the force still waiting their turn to land.
At about noon the rain began to fall, and the wind getting up, the whole
aspect of things underwent a change for the worse. The rain continued
to fall steadily, and, to make matters worse, the men had no tents.
Each was landed with his great coat and rations for three days, with a
drop of rum to keep him warm. In this state the majority of our
infantry had to pass their first night on hostile ground; but the
cavalry still remained on board their respective transports. While the
disembarkation still went on, some of our men-of-war boats were sent
along the shore to reconnoitre, and found a Russian encampment,
containing, it was said, about 5000 men; this they shelled, and soon
destroyed. The rain continued to fall, but notwithstanding this, no
orders were given to land the tents, only one for General Evans being
sent on shore.
Sir George Brown and staff were fortunate to procure a native cart,
beneath which they slept, and no doubt soundly. Notwithstanding this
night's misery, every man being wet through and without a change of dry
linen, or a bit of dry wood to make fires, the soldiers were in good
spirits, the sea voyage of about fourteen days having freshened them up
wonderfully; and they had the ever-cheering prospect before them--
although the consummation of their wishes was destined to be long
deferred--of eventually being inside the walls of Sebastopol, with the
whole of the Russian stores and baggage at their chief disposal.
Indeed, the fact that our commanders considered that we should be in the
Russian stronghold in the course of a few days, was the reason why the
tents were not landed simultaneously with our forces.
The morning after our arrival orders were given for the cavalry to land.
We had been lurching and tumbling in the waves all night, getting but
little sleep, and our horses having been in slings the whole voyage,
sadly needed exercise; and although the wind almost blew a whole gale,
the order was welcome. Our vessel, the magnificent _Himalaya_, was the
first to commence operations. We had nearly 400 horses and about 700
men aboard. The rest of the vessels stood in as near shore as possible,
and commenced to land. One of Lord Raglan's horses was the first to
tumble off a horse-float into the water, and was drowned; several more
followed suit, chiefly officers' horses, through being, perhaps, better
fed and higher bred than common troopers. A dozen horses were lowered
in slings from the decks of the vessels on to these floats, with a
soldier to each horse's head when he got aboard. The floats were
coupled to each other to the number of eight or ten, and then they were
tugged as near shore as possible by steam-tugs that had accompanied the
transports in readiness for any such service. In this manner most of
the cavalry were landed, being rowed the remainder of the way until the
floats bumped on the beach, when the horses were led or pushed along
planks resting on the bow of the float, and walked into the water;
through which, with sundry wild plunges and snorting, they romped on to
the shingle, shook their sides, gave a shrill neigh to their companions,
and trotted after them farther away on shore, both horse and trooper
drenched in sea-water. After the cavalry had been disembarked, the
tents--so much required the night before--were got on shore, and the
men, infantry and cavalry, lay in comparative comfort the second night
after our landing in the Crimea.