WAR WITH RUSSIA――ALLIANCE OF ENGLAND, FRANCE AND TURKEY.

On the 12th of March, 1854, a treaty of alliance between England,

France, and the Porte, was signed by the representatives of those

powers.

The treaty consists of five articles. By the first, France and England

engage to support Turkey in her present struggle with Russia, by force

of arms, until the conclusion of a peace which shall secure the

independence of the Ottoman empire, and the integrity of the rights of

the Sultan. The two protecting Powers undertake not to derive from the

actual crisis, or from the negotiations which may terminate it, any

exclusive advantage. By the second article the Porte, on its side,

pledges itself not to make peace under any circumstances without

having previously obtained the consent and solicited the participation

of the two Powers, and also to employ all its resources to carry on

the war with vigor. In the third article the two Powers promise to

evacuate, immediately after the conclusion of the war, and on the

demand of the Porte, all the points of the empire which their troops

shall have occupied during the war. By the fourth article the treaty

remains open for the signature of the other Powers of Europe who may

wish to become parties to it; and the fifth article guarantees to all

the subjects of the Porte, without distinction of religion, equality

in the eye of the law, and admissibility into all employments. To this

treaty are attached, as integral parts of it, several protocols. One

relates to the institution of mixed tribunals throughout the whole

empire; a second is relative to an advance of 20,000,000fr. jointly by

France and England; and a third relates to the collection of the taxes

and the suppression of the _haratch_ or poll-tax, which, having been

considered for a long time past by the Turkish Government as only the

purchase of exemption from military service, leads, by its abolition,

to the entrance of Christians into the army.

The Russians continued to prosecute the war eagerly on the banks of

the Danube, but any temporary success was more than counterbalanced by

subsequent and more brilliant Turkish victories.

In consequence of the atrocious conduct of the military authorities of

Odessa, in firing upon an English flag of truce, a division of English

and French steam frigates appeared before Odessa. On their arrival the

greatest terror pervaded the city. The wealthy hired all the

post-horses to remove to the interior, and the inhabitants sought

refuge in the neighboring country; but the English and French steamers

having withdrawn, after taking a survey of the roads, the alarm

subsided, the population returned, and the shops were reöpened. On the

21st of April, however, the appearance of thirty-three sail on the

horizon created still greater terror, for it was evident that they

were coming to avenge the insult above alluded to, and which, even at

Odessa, was the subject of universal reprobation. The next day nothing

could exceed the consternation, everybody being in constant

apprehension of a catastrophe. The fears redoubled when after a

bombardment of eight hours, the gunpowder magazine blew up, and the

military stores were seen on fire. The sight of wounded soldiers

brought in from the batteries, and the brutality of the governor and

his forces towards the inhabitants, were not calculated to allay their

terror. This affair produced great discouragement among the troops,

and an excellent effect on the population, who perceived that the

Russian army was unable to protect them; and that, if the city were

not reduced to ashes, it was solely owing to the generosity of the

allied Powers.

On the 14th June, the Duke of Cambridge with his staff, the brigade of

Guards, and the Highland brigade (42d, 79th, and 93d regiments),

arrived at Varna, where a numerous Anglo-French army was already

encamped. It is probable that the unexpected and retrograde movement

of the Russians upon the Pruth――intelligence of which reached the

allied generals about this time――occasioned a deviation from the plan

of operations originally contemplated, as it obviated the necessity of

any active coöperation with Omer Pacha’s army on the Danube. An

expedition upon a gigantic scale was, however, planned, its

destination being the Crimea and Sebastopol.

[Illustration: MARINE ARSENAL, CONSTANTINOPLE]

[Illustration: PLACE OF KOSSUTH’S IMPRISONMENT]

The result of the Baltic operations may be given in few words. The

fleet of the Czar, outnumbered by that of the allied powers, was

detained in captivity at Helsingfors and Kronstadt, declining alike

every offer of battle, and unable to stay the devastation that was

effected along the Finnish shore of the Bothnian Gulf. Scarcely a

Russian merchant vessel escaped the vigilance of the cruisers; and the

whole line of her coasts, up to the shoals of Kettle Island, were

shown to be at the mercy of the allies. In a national point of view,

there was not much to boast of in the achievements of so stupendous a

fleet. But there were individual acts of valor as bright as any that

adorn the pages of naval history.

Until the last twelvemonth opened a new page in history, it could not

have been anticipated that the battle-field of Europe would be a

little arid peninsula in the remotest corner of the Black Sea, and

that the armies of Britain, France, Turkey, and Russia would be

concentrated in direct strife around a fortress, whose very name was

hardly known in this country before the present war broke out.

Connected with the barren steppes of the mainland of Southern Russia

only by the narrow strip of flat and sandy land, not five miles

across, which constitutes the Isthmus of Perekop, the Crimea stretches

out in a nearly northerly direction, in the form of a diamond-shaped

peninsula, about one-third the size of Ireland. At its western point

is Cape Tarkham; at its eastern, Kertch and Kaffa, and in the south,

the bay, town, and fortress of Sebastopol.

At least one third of the Crimea consists of vast waterless plains of

sandy soil, rising only a few feet above the level of the sea, and in

many places impregnated with salt; but all along the south-eastern

side of the peninsula, from Sebastopol to Kertch and Kaffa, there

extends a chain of limestone mountains. Beginning at Balaklava, nine

miles east of Sebastopol, precipices fringe all this north-eastern

coast; but at the foot of these limestone precipices extends a narrow

strip of ground, seldom half a league in width, intervening between

the hills and the shore. It is in this picturesque and delightful

region that the Allied army established its base of operations. A

luxuriant vegetation descends to the water’s edge. Chesnut trees,

mulberries, almonds, laurels, olives, and cypresses grow along its

whole extent. Numbers of rivulets of the clearest water pour down from

the cliffs, which effectually keep off cold and stormy winds. Thickly

studded with villages, and adorned with the villas and palaces of the

richest Russian nobles, this tract offers a most striking contrast to

the remainder of the peninsula or indeed to any part of Russia.

The possession of the Crimea, and the construction of a maratime

fortress of the first order in the magnificent harbor of Akhtiar (for

such was the former name of Sebastopol) were prominent parts of that

vast scheme of policy, by which the genius of the Czar Peter, and his

successors, transformed Muscovy into the Russian Empire.

The ever-memorable expedition of the Allies, designed to wrench this

fortress and fleet from the possession of the Czar, set sail from

Varna in the first week of September, 1854. No naval expedition ever

before equaled it.

In the bay of Baltjik, where the expedition first rendezvoused, the

sea was literally covered for a space of eight miles long with

splendid shipping. Thirty-seven sail of the line――ten English, sixteen

French, and eleven Turkish, about a hundred frigates and lesser

vessels of war, and nearly two hundred of the finest steam and sailing

transports in the world, lay at anchor, in one immense semicircle,

nine or ten deep. The great line of battle-ships, with lights gleaming

from every port, looked like illuminated towns afloat; while the other

vessels, with position-lights hoisted at the main and fore, shed a

light upon the sea, twinkling away until lost in the distance. Each

division of the army carried lights, corresponding to the number of

their division, and at night, when every ship was lighted up the scene

was of the most extraordinary and interesting description.

Constantinople, during the feast of Bairam, or the feast of Lamps,

described in Moore’s poems, would have been a worthy illustration.

On the 4th of September, 1854, six hundred vessels sailed from Varna,

bearing the combined army of 60,000 in the direction of Sebastopol: at

the same time intelligence was received by the commanders of a signal

victory obtained by Schamyl at Tiflis, over the Russians under Prince

Bebutoff. They lost on this occasion many men and horses, seven guns,

3000 tents, all their amunition, baggage, provisions, and retreated in

some disorder from Kutais and Kars to Taflis.

On the 14th September, 58,000 men were landed at Eupatoria, about

forty-five miles N. W. of Sebastopol. They subsequently advanced some

distance inland without meeting with any opposition.

The place of debarkation had many advantages. It is a small town,

containing only 4,000 inhabitants, weakly defended by a garrison of

about 12,000 men, and in no condition to resist an invasion such as

this. The commanders had intended, in the first place, to have thrown

up entrenchments sufficiently strong to secure the place; but having

experienced no resistance, the troops marched at once towards their

destination. In this march they proceeded for about eleven miles,

along a slip of land, having on the left the salt lake Sasik, and the

sea on their right.

The country traversed is fertile, and well supplied with water by

three rivers, the Alma, the Katcha, and the Balbek. On the left, or

southern bank of the latter stream, the first obstacles encountered

were the outworks recently thrown up by the Russians, and an old star

fort. Having surmounted these, the Allies found themselves in

possession of the high ground commanding the rear of the defenses on

the northern shore of the inlet, and they were scarcely adapted to

resist a strong attack.

As the Black Sea expedition was departing from Varna for the Crimea,

the Baltic fleet, or the greater part of it, received orders to “bear

up” for England.

On the night of the 18th September, 1854, orders were given by Lord

Raglan that the troops should strike tents at daybreak. An advance had

been determined upon, and it was understood that the Russian light

cavalry had been sweeping the country of all supplies up to a short

distance from the outlaying pickets.

At three o’clock next morning, the camp was roused by the reveille,

and all the 30,000 sleepers woke into active life. Of Turkish

infantry, 7,000 under Suleiman Pacha moved along by the sea side; next

came the divisions of Generals Bosquet, Canrobert, Forey, and Prince

Napoleon. The order of march of the English army was about four miles

to the right of their left wing, and as many behind them. The right of

the allied forces was covered by the fleet, which moved along with it

in magnificent order, darkening the air with innumerable columns of

smoke, ready to shell the enemy should they attack the right, and

commanding the land for nearly two miles from the shore.

The troops presented a splendid appearance. The effect of these grand

masses of soldiery descending the ridges of the hills, rank after

rank, with the sun playing over forests of glittering steel, can never

be forgotten by those who witnessed it. Onward the torrent of war

swept, wave after wave, huge stately billows of armed men; while the

rumbling of the artillery, and the tramp of cavalry, accompanied their

progress. A halt took place about three o’clock, at a muddy stream, of

which the men drank with avidity. At this stage they passed the

Imperial post-house, twenty miles from Sebastopol.

Orders were given to halt and bivouac for the night, which was cold

and damp, but the men were in excellent spirits, looking forward to

the probability of an engagement with the enemy with perfect

confidence as to the result.

On the morning of the 20th, ere daybreak, the whole force was under

arms. They were marshaled silently; no bugles or drums broke the

stillness; but the hum of thousands of voices rose loudly from the

ranks, and the watchfires lighted up the lines of the camp as though

it were a great town. When dawn broke it was discovered that the

Russians had retired from the heights. It was known that the Russians

had been busy fortifying the heights over the valley through which

runs the little river Alma, and that they had resolved to try their

strength with the allied army in a position giving them vast

advantages of ground, which they had used every means in their power

to improve to the utmost. The advance of the armies this great day was

a sight which must ever stand out like a landmark of the spectator’s

life. Early in the morning, the troops were ordered to get in

readiness, and at half-past six o’clock they were in motion. It was a

lovely day; the heat of the sun was tempered by a sea breeze. The

fleet was visible at a distance of four miles, covering the ocean as

it was seen between the hills, and steamers could be seen as close to

the shore as possible. The Generals, St Arnaud, Bosquet, and Forey,

attended by their staff, rode along the lines, with Lord Raglan and

his Generals at second halt, and were received with tremendous

cheering.

The order in which the army advanced was in columns of brigades in

deploying distance; the left protected by a line of skirmishers of

cavalry and of horse artillery. The advantage of the formation was,

that the army, in case of a strong attack from cavalry and infantry on

the left or rear, could assume the form of a hollow square, with the

baggage in the centre. The great object was to gain the right of the

position, so that the attacking parties could be sheltered by the

vertical fire of the fleets. As soon as the position of the allies

could be accurately ascertained, the whole line, extending itself

across the champaign country for some five or six miles, advanced. At

the distance of two miles the English army halted to obtain a little

time to gather up the rear; and then the troops steadily advanced in

grand lines, like the waves of the ocean.

The French occupied the high road, nearest the beach, with the Turks;

and the English marched to the left. At about one o’clock in the

afternoon, the Light Division of the French army came in sight of the

village of Almatamak, and the British Light Division descried that of

Burliuk, both situated on the right bank of the river Alma.

At the place where the bulk of the British army crossed, the banks of

the Alma are generally at the right side, and vary from two and three

to six and eight feet in depth to the water; where the French

attacked, the banks are generally formed by the unvaried curve of the

river on the left hand side. A village is approached from the north by

a road winding through a plain nearly level till it comes near the

village, where the ground dips, so that at the distance of three

hundred yards a man on horseback can hardly see the tops of the nearer

and more elevated houses, and can only ascertain the position of the

stream by the willows and verdure along its banks. At the left or

south side of the Alma the ground assumes a very different

character――smooth where the bank is deep, and greatly elevated where

the shelve of the bank occurs, it recedes for a few yards at a

moderate height above the stream, pierced here and there by the course

of the winter’s torrents, so as to form small ravines, commanded,

however, by the heights above. It was on these upper heights, and to

the sea, that the Russian army, forty-five thousand strong, besides

six or eight thousand cavalry, and at least a hundred pieces of

artillery, were posted. A remarkable ridge of mountains, varying in

height from 500 to 700 feet, runs along the course of the Alma on the

left or south side with the course of the stream, and assuming the

form of cliffs when close to the sea. At the top of the ridges,

between the gullies, the Russians had erected earthwork batteries,

mounted with 32lb. and 24lb. brass guns, supported by numerous field

pieces and howitzers. These guns enfiladed the tops of the ravines

parallel to them, or swept them to the base, while the whole of the

sides up which an enemy, unable to stand the direct fire of the

batteries, would be forced to ascend, were filled with masses of

skirmishers, armed with an excellent two-grooved rifle, throwing a

large solid conical ball with force at 700 and 800 yards, as the

French learned to their cost. The principal battery consisted of an

earthwork of the form of the two sides of a triangle, with the apex

pointed towards the bridge, and the sides covering both sides of the

stream, corresponding with the bend of the river below it, at the

distance of 1000 yards; while, with a fair elevation, the 32-pounders

threw, very often, beyond the houses of the village to the distance of

1400 and 1500 yards. This was constructed on the brow of a hill about

600 feet above the river, but the hill rose behind it for another 50

feet before it dipped away towards the road. The ascent of this hill

was enfiladed by the fire of three batteries of earthwork on the

right, and by another on the left, and these batteries were equally

capable of covering the village, the stream, and the slopes which led

up the hill to their position. In the first battery were thirteen

32-pounder brass guns of exquisite workmanship, which only told too

well. In the other batteries were some twenty-five guns in all.

The force of the British was about 26,000, that of the French about

23,000.

It had not escaped the observation of the allied Commanders that the

Russian General had relied so confidently on the natural strength of

his position towards the sea where the cliff rose steep and high above

the gardens of an adjacent village, that he had neglected to defend

this part of his works by masses of troops or by heavy guns. These

military defenses were, on the contrary, accumulated on his right and

centre. The plan of the battle was therefore formed so as to enable

the French, and a Turkish division, in the first instance, to turn the

Russian left, and gain the plateau; and, as soon as this operation was

accomplished, so as to occupy a portion of the Russian army, the

British troops and the French Third Division were to attack the key of

the position on the right of the enemy, while the French completed his

defeat on the upper ground.

General Bosquet’s division crossed the river Alma near the mouth about

11:30; the Turkish battalions crossing at the same time close to the

bar, and within musket range of the beach. This movement was

unopposed; and, although a crowd of French skirmishers and

light-infantry crossed the gardens and brushwood below the hill, which

might easily have been defended, not a shot was fired on them, and not

a gun seemed to bear on the line of march they followed. It was

afterwards ascertained from the Russian prisoners, that Prince

Menschikoff had left this line unguarded, because he regarded it as

absolutely impassable even for goats. He did not know the Zouaves.

With inconceivable rapidity and agility they swarmed up the cliff, and

it was not till they formed on the height, and deployed from behind a

mound there, that the Russian batteries opened upon them. The fire was

returned with great spirit, and a smart action ensued, during which

General Bosquet’s division was engaged for some time almost alone,

until General Canrobert came to his support. The Turkish division,

which presented a very martial appearance, and was eager to fight,

formed part of the army under the command of Marshal St. Arnaud; and

some regret was felt by these brave troops that they had no active

part assigned to them in the struggle.

While the French troops were scaling the heights, the French steamers

ran in as close as they could to the bluff of the shore at the south

side of the Alma, and commenced shelling the Russians in splendid

style; the shells bursting over the enemy’s squares and batteries, and

finally driving them from their position on the right, within 3000

yards of the sea. The Russians answered the ships from the heights,

but without effect.

At 1:50 a line of skirmishers got within range of the battery on the

hill, and immediately the Russians opened fire at 1200 yards, with

effect, the shot ploughing through open lines of the riflemen, and

falling into the advancing columns behind. Shortly ere this time,

dense volumes of smoke rose from the river, and drifted along to the

eastward, interfering with the view of the enemy on the left. The

Russians had set the village on fire. It was a fair exercise of

military skill――was well executed――took place at the right time, and

succeeded in occasioning a good deal of annoyance. It is said the

Russians had taken the range of all the principal points in their

front, and placed twigs and sticks to mark them. In this they were

assisted by the post sign-boards on the road. The Russians opened a

furious fire on the whole English line. The round shot whizzed in

every direction, dashing up the dirt and sand into the faces of the

staff of Lord Raglan. Still he waited patiently for the development of

the French attack. At length, an Aid-de-Camp came to him and reported

the French had crossed the Alma, but they had not established

themselves sufficiently to justify an attack. The infantry were,

therefore, ordered to lie down, and the army for a short time was

quite passive, only that the artillery poured forth an unceasing fire

of shell, rockets, and round shot, which plowed through the Russians,

and caused them great loss. They did not waver, however, and replied

to the artillery manfully, their shot falling among the men as they

lay, and carrying off legs and arms at every round.

Lord Raglan at last became weary of this inactivity, and gave orders

for the whole line to advance. Up rose these serried masses,

and――passing through a fearful shower of round, case-shot and

shell――they dashed into the Alma and ‘floundered’ through its waters,

which were literally torn into foam by the deadly hail. At the other

side of the river were a number of vineyards, occupied by Russian

riflemen. Three of the staff were here shot down; but, led by Lord

Raglan in person, they advanced, cheering on the men. And now came the

turning point of the battle, in which Lord Raglan, by his sagacity,

probably secured the victory at a smaller sacrifice than would have

been otherwise the case. He dashed over the bridge, followed by his

staff. From the road over it, under the Russian guns, he saw the state

of the action. The British line, which he had ordered to advance, was

struggling through the river and up the heights in masses, firm

indeed, but mowed down by the murderous fire of the batteries; and by

grape, round shot, shell, canister, case-shot, and musketry, from some

of the guns in the central battery, and from an immense and compact

mass of Russian infantry.

Then commenced one of the most bloody and determined struggles in the

annals of war. The 2d Division, led by Sir de Lacy Evans, crossed the

stream on the right. Brigadier Pennefather (who was in the thickest of

the fight, cheering on his men), again and again was checked, but

never drew back in his onward progress, which was marked by a fierce

roll of Minié musketry; and Brigadier Adams bravely charged up the

hill, and aided him in the battle. Sir George Brown, conspicuous on a

gray horse, rode in front of his Light Division, urging them with

voice and gesture. Meantime the Guards on the right of the Light

Division, and the brigade of Highlanders, were storming the heights on

the left. Suddenly a tornado of round and grape rushed through from

the terrible battery, and a roar of musketry from behind it thinned

their front ranks by dozens. It was evident that the troops were just

able to contend against the Russians, favored as they were by a great

position. At this very time an immense mass of Russian infantry were

seen moving down towards the battery. They halted. It was the crisis

of the day. Sharp, angular, and solid, they looked as if they were cut

out of the solid rock. Lord Raglan saw the difficulties of the

situation. He asked if it would be possible to get a couple of guns to

bear on these masses. The reply was ‘Yes;’ and an artillery officer

brought up two guns to fire on the Russian squares. The first shot

missed, but the next, and the next, and the next, cut through the

ranks so cleanly, and so keenly, that a clear lane could be seen for a

moment through the square. After a few rounds the columns of the

square became broken, wavered to and fro, broke, and fled over the

brow of the hill, leaving behind them six or seven distinct lines of

dead, lying as close as possible to each other, marking the passage of

the fatal messengers. This act relieved the infantry of a deadly

incubus, and they continued their magnificent and fearless progress up

the hill. ‘Highlanders,’ said Sir C. Campbell, ere they came to the

charge, ‘don’t pull a trigger till you’re within a yard of the

Russians!’ They charged, and well they obeyed their chieftain’s wish;

Sir Colin had his horse shot under him; but he was up immediately, and

at the head of his men. But the Guards pressed on abreast, and

claimed, with the 33d, the honor of capturing a cannon. The Second and

Light Division crowned the heights. The French turned the guns on the

hill against the flying masses, which the cavalry in vain tried to

cover. A few faint struggles from the scattered infantry, a few rounds

of cannon and musketry, and the enemy fled to the south-east, leaving

three Generals, three guns, 700 prisoners, and 4000 killed and

wounded, behind them.

The loss on the part of the British was 2000 killed, wounded, and

missing; that of the French, about 1400.

On the night after the battle the allied army bivouacked on the summit

of the heights which they had so gloriously won; the French Marshal

pitching his tent on the very spot occupied by that of Prince

Menschikoff the morning before.

On the 23d the Allied armies left the Alma and proceeded to cross the

Katscha; on the 24th they crossed the Belbec, where it had been

intended to effect the landing of the siege _materiel_ with a view to

an attack on the north side of Sebastopol. It was found, however, that

the enemy had placed a fortified work so as to prevent the vessels and

transports from approaching this river; and it was determined to

advance at once by a flank march round the east of Sebastopol, to

cross the valley of the Tchernaya, and seize Balaklava as the future

basis of operations against the south side of the harbor at

Sebastopol.

The enemy did not hold Balaklava in any strength. After a few shots

the little garrison surrendered, and as Sir E. Lyon’s ship, the

Agamemnon, reached the mouth of the harbor at the very time that the

troops appeared on the heights, the British army was once more in full

communication with the fleet.

The march of the French army which followed in the track of the

British, was more prolonged and fatiguing. They did not reach the

Tchernaya river until the 26th, having passed the previous night at

Mackenzie’s Farm. It was on this day that the French marshal, at

length succumbing to his fatal malady, issued his last order of the

day, in which he took leave formally of his troops, and resigned the

command into the hands of General Canrobert.

Having swept the enemy from their path by the bloody triumphs of the

Alma, the next step of the Allies was to lay siege to Sebastopol.

The bay of Balaklava, which now became the principal base of their

operations, is a place admirably suited for the landing of stores and

_materiel_. As a port it is the most perfect of its size in the world.

The entrance is between perpendicular cliffs, rising eight hundred

feet high on either hand, and is only wide enough to allow the passage

of one ship at a time; but once in you find yourself in a land-locked

tideless haven, still as a mountain lake, three quarters of a mile in

length, by two hundred and fifty yards wide, and nowhere less than six

fathoms deep, so that every square foot of its surface is available

for ships of the greatest burden.

The bay of Balaklava was instantly adopted as the new base of

operations of the British army, and never before did its waters mirror

so many tall ships on their bosom.

From fifty to a hundred war-ships and transports were constantly at

anchor, landing the siege-guns, stores, and provisions of all kinds.

The only access to Balaklava from the land side is at the inner end of

the bay, through a breach in the surrounding hills, which gradually

opens out into an extensive valley, about three miles long by about

two broad; it was in this valley that the serious part of the combat

of the 25th October took place. Through this valley runs the road to

the Tchernaya and Mackenzie’s Farm, by which the Allies advanced to

Balaklava, and which on the other side of the Tchernaya enters deep

gorges in the mountains. On the side next the sea this valley is

bounded by a line of hills stretching from Balaklava to Inkerman, and

along the summit of which runs the road to Sebastopol. Another road in

the opposite direction conducts to the valley of Baider, the most

fertile district of the Crimea.

The port of Balaklava having been found barely large enough for the

landing of the British stores and guns, the French selected as their

base of operations the three deep bays lying between Cape Chersonesus

and Sebastopol bay. The country between Balaklava and Sebastopol, upon

which the Allied army encamped, is a barren hilly steppe, destitute of

water, and covered with no better herbage than thistles. The French

took up their position next the sea; the British inland, next the

Tchernaya. The front of the besieging force extended in a continuous

line from the mouth of the Tchernaya to the sea at Strelitska bay,

forming nearly a semicircle around Sebastopol, at a distance of about

two miles from the enemy’s works. The position was found to be close

enough, as the Russian guns were found to throw shells to the distance

of four thousand yards. A most unfortunate delay took place in landing

and bringing up the siege guns and stores of the Allies; a delay which

was improved to the utmost by the Russians, who kept large bands of

citizens, and even women, as well as the garrison, at work in relays

both night and day, in throwing up a vast exterior line of earthen

redoubts and entrenchments, and in covering the front of their

stone-works with earth.

The force disposable for the defense of Sebastopol was nearly equal in

number to the besieging army; and as, from the nature of its position,

the place could only be invested upon one side, supplies of all kinds

could be conveyed into the town, and the Russian generals could either

man the works with their whole forces, or direct incessant attacks

against the flank and rear of the allies.

Never did any army ever undertake so vast and perilous an enterprise

as that in which the allied commanders found themselves engaged.

Sebastopol is situated at the southern point of the Crimea, which puts

out into the Black Sea, and is distant from Odessa, 192 miles; from

Varna, 295, and from Constantinople, 343.

It is one of the most modern creations of the Czar, and stands, like

an advanced post, near to Cape Chersonese――its site, until 1786,

having been occupied by a few straggling huts. Catherine II, on her

accession, perceived its natural advantages as a naval port, the first

stone was laid in 1780, and from that period it has rapidly increased

in strength and importance. On doubling the Cape, bordered with a vast

chain of rocks and breakers, Sebastopol appears about six and a half

miles to the east――a remarkable picture, on account of its white

cliffs, and the amphitheatrical appearance of the town.

The port of Sebastopol consists of a bay running in a south-easterly

direction, about four miles long, and a mile wide at the entrance,

diminishing to 400 yards at the end, where the Tchernaya or Black

River empties itself. On the southern coast of this bay are the

commercial, military, and careening harbors, the quarantine harbor

being outside the entrance――all these taking a southerly direction,

and having deep water. The military harbor is the largest, being about

a mile and a half long by 400 yards wide, and is completely

land-locked on every side. Here it is that the Black Sea fleet is

moored in the winter――the largest ships being able to lie with all

their stores on board close to the quays. The small harbor, which

contains the naval arsenal and docks, is on the eastern side of the

military harbor, near the entrance. The port is defended to the south

by six principal batteries and fortresses, each mounting from 50 to

190 guns; and the north by four, having from 18 to 120 pieces each;

and besides these, there are many smaller batteries. The fortresses

are built on the casemate principle, three of them having three tiers

of guns, and a fourth two tiers. Fort St. Nicholas is the largest, and

mounts about 190 guns. It is built of white limestone; a fine, sound

stone, which becomes hard, and is very durable, the same material

being used for all the other forts. Between every two casemates are

furnaces for heating shot red hot. The calibre of the guns is eight

inches, capable of throwing shells or 68-pounds solid shot.

There were in the military harbor of Sebastopol twelve line-of-battle

ships, eight frigates, and seven corvettes, comprising the Black Sea

fleet, independent of steamers.

The town of Sebastopol is situated on the point of land between the

commercial and military harbors, which rises gradually from the

water’s edge to an elevation of 200 feet, and contains 31,500

inhabitants. Including the military and marines, the residents

numbered 40,000. It is more than a mile in length, and its greatest

width is about three-quarters of a mile――the streets entering the open

steppe on the south. The streets are built in parallel lines from

north to south, are intersected by others from east and west, and the

houses, being of limestone, have a substantial appearance. The public

buildings are fine. The library erected by the Emperor, for the use of

naval and military officers, is of Grecian architecture, and is

elegantly fitted up internally. The books are principally confined to

naval and military subjects and the sciences connected with them,

history, and some light reading. The club-house is handsome

externally, and comfortable within; it contains a large ball-room,

which is its most striking feature, and billiard-rooms, which appear

to be the great centre of attraction; but one looks in vain for

reading rooms, filled with newspapers and journals. There are many

good churches, and a fine landing-place of stone from the military

harbor, approached on the side of the town, beneath an architrave

supported by high columns. It also boasts an Italian opera-house. The

eastern side of the town is so steep that the mastheads of the ships

cannot be seen until one gets close to them. Very beautiful views are

obtained from some parts of the place, and it is altogether agreeably

situated. A military band plays every Thursday evening in the public

gardens, at which time the fashionables assemble in great numbers.

As Sebastopol is held exclusively as a military and naval position,

commerce does not exist; the only articles imported by sea being those

required for materials of war, or as provisions for the inhabitants

and garrison. On the eastern side of the military harbor, opposite to

the town, is a line of buildings consisting of barracks, some

store-houses, and a large naval hospital.

The country around Sebastopol sinks gradually down, in a succession of

ridges from the position occupied by the Allied army to the town; but

for nearly a third of a mile, immediately in front of the town, the

ground is quite flat, the ridges there having been long ago leveled by

the Russians in order to give no cover to an attacking force. We have

said that there is a circuit of five or six hundred yards of level

ground immediately around the town, and it was beyond this radius that

the Russians threw up their new works, erecting strong redoubts on

several elevated positions; the Allies had to open their trenches at

the distance of a mile from the body of the place, although within one

hundred and twenty yards of the Russian batteries. The French were the

first to break ground. At nine at night, on the 9th, the trenches were

opened by one thousand six hundred workmen, divided into relief

parties, and supported to defend the works. A land wind, and an almost

entire absence of moonlight, favored the operations, and by breaking

of day 1,014 yards in length were completed, without interruption from

the enemy, of sufficient depth to cover the men.

Next night the British broke ground; but this time the garrison were

on the alert, and kept up a very heavy but ineffectual fire. The

British, who occupied much higher ground than the French, placed their

batteries with great skill. The raised mounds or beds of earth, upon

which the guns were placed, were erected precisely along the crest of

the various ridges on which the batteries were planted, and, when

finished, showed only the muzzle of the guns over the brow of the

ridge, so as to present little to the direct fire of the enemy.

The besiegers’ batteries were now drawing near completion; and the

governor of Sebastopol had sent a request to Lord Raglan, that he

would spare the inhabitants by not firing upon the civilian part of

the city, to which he replied, that he would grant a safe-conduct to

such of the inhabitants as were desirous of leaving, but would promise

nothing as to his mode of attack, save that the buildings marked by

the yellow flag should be respected as hospitals.

Every means was adopted to keep up the spirits of the garrison, and

balls even were given every other night.

On the 17th of October the dreadful work began, and no one then

present will ever forget that memorable scene. The morning dawned

slowly; a thick fog hung over the town, and spread far up the heights.

Towards six o’clock the mist began to disperse, and the rich clear

October sun every instant made objects more and more visible.

In the Allied lines, all the artillerymen were at their pieces, and as

the iron muzzles of the guns became visible through the fog in the now

unmasked embrasures, a scattering and fast-increasing fire was opened

upon them from the Russian lines. Soon the Russian works, crowded with

grey figures, could be seen below, with, in rear, the large handsome

white houses and dockyards of Sebastopol itself. Slowly, like the

drawing back of a huge curtain, the mist moved off seaward, a cool

morning breeze sprang up, and the atmosphere became clear and bright.

Around were the wide extending lines of the besiegers, sloping down

from the elevated ridges held by the British to the low grounds on the

coast occupied by the French. Facing them below was the continuous

line of Russian intrenchments of earthwork, interspersed with redoubts

and stone towers, and loop-holed walls, with the line-of-battle ships

showing their broadsides in the harbor; and beyond all, the open sea,

bearing on its bosom, like a dark belt, the immense armada of the

Allied fleet.

At half-past six, the preconcerted signal of three shells went up, one

after another, from a French battery, and the next instant the whole

Allied batteries opened simultaneously. On the side of the British,

seventy-three, and of the French, fifty-three, in all one hundred and

twenty-six guns, one-half of which were of the very heaviest calibre,

launched their thunders on the side of the Allies; while upwards of

two hundred replied in one deafening roar from the Russian lines. Two

long lines of belching flame and smoke appeared, and through the space

between hurled a shower of shot and shell, while the earth shook with

the thunders of the deadly volleys.

Distinctly amidst the din could be heard the immense Lancaster guns,

which here, for the first time, gave evidence of their tremendous

powers. Their sharp report, heard among the other heavy guns, was like

the crack of a rifle among muskets. But the most singular thing was

the sound of their ball, which rushed through the air with the noise

and regular beat precisely like the passage of a rapid railway train

at close distance――a peculiarity which, at first, excited shouts of

laughter from the men, who nicknamed it the express-train. The effect

of the shot was terrific; from its deafening and peculiar noise, the

ball could be distinctly traced by the ear to the spot where it

struck, when stone or earth were seen to go down before it.

The first few minutes’ firing sufficed to show to each side, what

neither had as yet accurately known, the actual strength of its

opponents; and it now appeared, that even in the extent of the

earthwork batteries thrown up since the siege began, the Russians

immensely surpassed their besiegers. Besides their stone forts, and a

long line of intrenchments, guns of heavy calibre had been planted on

every ridge and height; and as fresh batteries were unmasked one after

another, often in places totally unexpected, the Allied generals were

completely taken by surprise at the magnitude of the defenses.

Opposite to the French lines, the main strength of the Russians lay in

the Flag-staff batteries, erected upon a hill commanding the French

works. They consisted of two tiers of intrenchments, each mounting

about twenty-five guns, the upper of which tier of cannon was unknown

to the besiegers until it opened fire; with several large mortars

placed on the summit of the hill. And on the extreme right of the

Russian lines was a ten-gun battery, most commandingly placed, so as

to enfilade the French lines. In this quarter the Russians had not

only a great advantage in point of position, but also their guns

out-numbered those of the French, and it soon became evident that the

French were fighting at a disadvantage, and were dreadfully galled in

flank by the ten-gun battery. Suddenly, a little after nine o’clock,

there came a loud explosion,――a dense cloud of smoke was seen hanging

over one of the French batteries, and the Russians were observed on

the parapets of their works cheering vigorously. The flank fire of the

ten-gun battery had blown up one of the French magazines, killing or

wounding about fifty men, and blowing the earthwork to atoms.

The British batteries were more successful. The principal works

opposed to them were on their right front, the Round fort, a Martello

tower, which had been faced up with earth. A battery of twenty heavy

guns was planted on the top of this tower, and exterior earthwork

intrenchments had been thrown up around it, mounted with artillery of

heavy calibre. Next, nearly opposite the British centre, was the

three-decker, the Twelve Apostles, placed across the harbor creek; and

facing their left was the Redan redoubt, carrying about forty cannon,

likewise surrounded by intrenchments armed with numerous guns. On the

British side, the principal redoubts were the Crown battery, of 27

guns, in the centre, fronting the Twelve Apostles, and the Green-Mound

battery, opposite the Redan redoubt.

At half-past three, a red-hot shot from the Russian three-decker, the

Twelve Apostles, struck a powder wagon in the Crown battery, which

exploded, killing one or two men, but leaving the works of the battery

uninjured. The Russians cheered as before, imagining the same injury

had been done, as previously to the French.

But while they were still cheering, a shell from the Green Mound

battery lodged in the powder magazine of the Redan redoubt, and blew

it up with a tremendous explosion. A white livid flame suddenly shot

high into the air, followed by a report that made the very earth

tremble in the Allied lines, and the next minute its garrison of

hundreds, blown to atoms, were discovered strewing the ground to a

distance around. ‘In the midst of a dense volume of smoke and sparks,’

says an eye-witness, ‘which resembled a water-spout ascending to the

clouds, were visible to the naked eye, arms, legs, trunks, and heads,

of the Russian warriors, mingled with cannons, wheels, and every

object of military warfare, and, indeed, every living thing it

contained.’ So powerful was the effect which this explosion produced

on the _morale_ of the besiegers, which had been somewhat depressed by

the misfortunes of the day, that the enthusiasm displayed was almost

of a frantic nature. Both the English and French troops, as well as

officers, doffed their caps, and threw them high into the air, at the

same time giving a shout which might have been heard at Balaklava, a

league off. The Russians, however, were nowise daunted, and resumed

their fire with undiminished energy.

While this terrific cannonade was going on by land, the Allied fleets

were seen bearing down upon the strong forts which defend the mouth of

the harbor. It had been arranged between the Admirals and Generals,

that as soon as the attention of the Russians had been attracted to

the landward attack, the fleets should move forward and take part in a

general assault. The French took the Quarantine fort, and other works

on the south side of the entrance to Sebastopol bay, and the British

took Fort Constantine and the works on the north side.

By half-past one o’clock, the action was fairly commenced, and the

conjoined roar from the guns of the fleet and in the forts, echoed by

the thunders of the rival batteries on shore, baffled the imagination.

Never before in the world’s history was such a cannonade

witnessed――even the tremendous cannonade of Leipsic and Trafalgar

fades into insignificance before so gigantic a strife. The fleets

advanced to the attack in two lines――the British from the north, the

French from the south.

Directly the vessels came within 2,000 yards, the forts opened fire,

which the Allies never attempted to reply to until they took up their

positions. The cannonade of the French was terrific and continuous;

enveloped in smoke, they kept up whole salvoes, which was terrific,

the smoke being lit up by the volleys of flashes, and the roar of

cannon continuous. The Turks followed the French in this sometimes in

whole broadsides, again their fire running continuously along the

line. There was less of this with the English ships, whose style of

firing appeared less awful, but more business-like. The Russians used

red-hot shot, rockets, combustible shell, and bar-shot; and the

terrible effects of these soon made themselves apparent. The bar-shot

cut the masts, spars, and rigging to pieces, and the rockets and

red-hot shot raised conflagrations in many of the attacking vessels.

The allied vessels met with but little success, and towards night

stood out to sea, the Russians cheering vociferously, and redoubling

their fire.

Such were the incidents of this memorable opening day of the

bombardment.

On the 18th, the fleet did not renew the attack; and as the French

batteries were wholly silenced for the time, the enemy were enabled to

concentrate a terrific fire upon the British trenches. During the

previous day’s firing, the Russians had discovered the weak points of

their opponents, as well as their own, and before morning, had

erected, with sand-bags, batteries on new and commanding positions.

During the night of the 18th, the French worked incessantly, repaired

all their batteries, and again opened fire on the morning of the 19th.

Still they were unfortunate. About eleven o’clock a shell from the

Russian ten-gun battery once more blew up one of their magazines,

killing most of the men in the battery, and dismounting most of the

guns; thus most of the French works were again silenced before two

o’clock.

The British lines kept up a hot fire throughout the whole day; but

though at times nearly one hundred shot and shell were thrown per

minute, little or no effect was produced upon the Russian

intrenchments. The enemy were provided with a perfectly inexhaustible

supply of all the materials requisite for a desperate defense. The

instant a shot or shell struck their works the hole was filled up with

sand-bags; so that the besieged built up as fast as the besiegers

knocked down.

The French had repaired their injuries during the night, but in order

to fire with more destructive effect, advanced one strong battery

about two hundred yards nearer the enemy. This new advanced battery

not only enabled them to maintain their ground, but even to destroy

and silence their inveterate assailant, the Russian ten-gun battery.

During the 22d the cannonade from the French lines was incessant, and

told with great effect; but early in the day the British batteries

received orders to fire only once in eight minutes――occasioned by a

deficiency of ammunition. The Russians worked their guns with great

energy and precision, even under the hottest fire, standing to their

pieces boldly as on the first day of the siege; and they continued to

repair each night the injury done to their works in the previous day.

The loss of the Allies up to this point of the siege was about twelve

hundred men.

One feature in the memorable siege was the great use made of riflemen

by the besieging force, and the extreme gallantry displayed by these

men when at work.

Every day parties of skirmishers went out from the Allied lines, and

lay under cover among the loose large stones about one thousand yards

in advance of the batteries, and within two hundred yards of the

Russian defenses.

This compelled the enemy to send out parties to dislodge them, and

these, as they advanced for that purpose across the open ground,

became exposed to the fire both of the skirmishers and of the

trenches, and usually suffered severely.

On one occasion a private in the British lines who had fired his last

cartridge, was crouching along the ground to join the nearest

covering-party, when two Russians suddenly sprang from behind a rock,

and seizing him by the collar, dragged him off towards Sebastopol.

The Russian who escorted him on the left side held in his right hand

his own firelock, and in his left the captured Miniè; with a sudden

spring the British soldier seized the Russian’s firelock, shot its

owner, clubbed his companion, and then, picking up his own Miniè, made

off in safety to his own lines. Another of these fellows resolved to

do more work on his own account, got away from his company, and

crawled up close to a battery under shelter of a bridge. There he lay

on his back, and loaded, turning over to fire; until, after killing

eleven men, a party of Russians rushed out and he took to his heels;

but a volley fired after him leveled him with the earth, and his body

was subsequently picked up by his comrades riddled with balls.

Probably 100,000 shot and shell a-day, exclusive of night-firing, was

the average amount of projectiles discharged by both parties in the

extraordinary siege.

The darkness of the night was constantly interrupted by the bursting

of shell or rockets.

The passage of the shells through the air, thrown to an amazing height

from the mortars, appeared like that of meteors. To the eye, the shell

seems to rise and fall almost perpendicularly; sometimes burning as it

turns on its axis, and the fuse disappears in the rotation, with an

interrupted pale light; sometimes with a steady light, not unlike the

calm luminosity of a planet. As it travels it can be heard, amid the

general stillness, uttering in the distance its peculiar sound, like

the cry of the curlew. The blue light in a battery announces the

starting of a rocket, which pursues its more horizontal course,

followed by a fiery train, and rushes through the air with a loud

whizzing noise that gives an idea of irresistible energy. So went on,

day and night, ceaselessly, this unparalleled bombardment――a cataract

of war, a Niagara of all dread sounds, whose ceaseless booming was

heard for long miles around. Ship after ship, nearing the Crimean

shores, heard from afar that dull, heavy sound, and all eyes were

strained to catch sight of the dread scene, of that valley where the

battle of Europe was being fought, where the cannon were ever

sounding, and ‘the fire was not quenched.’

While the operations were being carried on around the walls of

Sebastopol, events of, if possible, still greater importance were

taking place a few miles off, upon the flanks and rear of the

investing force. In truth, the Allies were as much besieged as

besiegers. For about a fortnight after an affair at the Mackenzie’s

Farm, on the 25th of September, nothing had been seen of the enemy,

who had retired towards Bakshi-serai to await reinforcements. It was

towards the end of the first week of October that the Russians began

to assume the offensive. The Allies at first seem to have regarded

their position as unassailable; but the enemy, thoroughly acquainted

with every foot of the country, and consequently able to advance in

the dark, soon showed them their mistake.

At daybreak on the 6th, the Russians made an advance in force, for the

purpose of reconnoitering, from the Tchernaya into the valley or plain

in rear of the heights occupied by the Allies; and, after surprising,

in the grey of the morning, a picket of the Fourth Dragoons, drew off

again, having accomplished their object. During the following night, a

most daring reconnoissance was made, by a French officer and ten men,

who, on their return to camp, reported that they had gone as far as

the river Belbec, and had only seen the bivouac of the Russian troops

who had made the reconnoissance the preceding day. In order to check

further surprises from this quarter, parties of Zouaves and Foot

Chasseurs were placed in ambuscade as outposts; every evening at six

o’clock four companies of them concealing themselves in a ravine

through which the Russians would advance, and remaining there until

daybreak next morning.

The enemy, however, forsaking the line of attack by the road from

Mackenzie’s Farm, now began to appear among the mountains directly in

rear of the Allied lines, and also close to Balaklava, advancing by a

road from Kansara, through the hills, which was at first deemed by the

Allied generals impracticable for artillery, and, consequently, along

which no serious attack was anticipated. One day, however, a force of

2000 Russian cavalry, and 8000 infantry, with nine or ten guns, made

its appearance in this quarter, but withdrew without showing fight.

As soon as it became evident that the principal attacks of the Russian

relieving army would be directed against Balaklava, means were taken

to put that place in a state of defense. One of the first, was to turn

out the Greek and Russian inhabitants. The little bay, so narrow at

its entrance that only one ship could get out at a time, was crowded

with upwards of a hundred transports, in which, besides other stores,

as well as in the buildings on shore, were large magazines of

gunpowder; and as it was reported that the Greek population, besides

acting as spies, had actually concerted to aid the Russian attack by

simultaneously setting fire to the town, Lord Raglan ordered every one

of them to be ejected from the place. At the same time, a redoubt,

armed with heavy guns and manned with 1200 marines from the fleet, was

constructed upon the summit of a conical hill, on the further side of

the bay, about 1000 feet high, and commanding the coast road

approaching Balaklava from the east. Other redoubts were so placed as

to command the road from the Tchernaya, and also from Kamara, through

the mountains.

Balaklava does not fall within the natural line of defense for

besieging Sebastopol. It is held as a separate post, three miles in

advance of Sebastopol heights, which form the main position of the

besieging force. The British occupied a convex line of heights,

stretching from the Tchernaya, near its mouth, to the sea-coast,

midway between Cape Chersonese and Balaklava. On the north-east is a

valley or plain, not level, but broken by little eminences, about

three miles long by two in width. Towards the Tchernaya this valley is

swallowed up in a mountain gorge and deep ravines, above which rise

tier after tier of desolate whitish rocks. At its other extremity the

valley in a similar manner contracts into a gorge, through which the

high road passes, leading down to Balaklava. On the crest of the

Allied line of heights, overlooking this plain, the French had

constructed very formidable intrenchments, mounted with a few guns and

lined by Zouaves and artillerymen. Intersecting the plains, about two

miles and a half from Balaklava, is a series of conical heights, the

highest and farthest off of which joins the mountain range on the

opposite side of the valley, while the nearest one was commanded by

the French intrenchments. On these eminences earth-work redoubts had

been constructed, each mounted with two or three pieces of heavy ship

guns, and manned by 250 Turks. At the end of the plain next Balaklava,

and stationed at the mouth of the gorge leading down to it, were the

93d Highlanders. In the plain, about ten miles from Balaklava, were

picketed the cavalry, commanded in chief by the Earl of Lucan,

consisting of the Light Brigade, 607 strong, and the Heavy Brigade,

mustering 1000 sabres.

Such was the position of the rearward forces of the Allies on the

morning of the 25th October, 1854, when the Russians, under General

Liprandi, starting from Kamara about five o’clock, advanced to attack

them. The cavalry pickets, riding in haste, soon brought intelligence

of the attack to the Allied head-quarters, and measures were instantly

taken to forward all the troops that could be spared from before

Sebastopol to the menaced point.

The Duke of Cambridge and Sir George Cathcart were ordered to advance

with the 1st and 4th divisions with all speed, while Bosquet’s French

division received similar orders from General Canrobert. Soon after

eight o’clock, Lord Raglan and his staff turned out, and cantered

towards the rear. The booming of artillery, the spattering roll of

musketry, were heard rising from the valley, drowning the roar of the

siege guns in front before Sebastopol. General Bosquet followed with

his staff and a small escort of hussars at a gallop. From their

position on the summit of the heights, forming the rear of the British

position, and overlooking the plain of Balaklava, the Allied generals

beheld the aspect of the combat. Immediately below, in the plain, the

British cavalry, under Lord Lucan, were seen rapidly forming into

glittering masses, while the 93d Highlanders, under Sir Colin

Campbell, drew up in line in front of the gorge leading to Balaklava.

The main body of the Russians was by this time visible about two and a

half miles off, advancing up the narrow valley leading from the Yæta

pass. A mile in front of them were two batteries of light artillery,

playing vigorously on the Turkish redoubts, and escorted by a cloud of

mounted skirmishers, ‘wheeling and whirling like autumn leaves before

the wind;’ following those were large, compact squares of cavalry; and

in rear of all came solid masses of infantry, with twenty pieces of

artillery in row before them. The enemy rapidly advanced his cavalry

and horse-artillery, so as to overpower the detached corps of Turks

before any troops could be moved forward from the main body to support

them. In this he perfectly succeeded, and the second redoubt was

abandoned, as the first had been――its defenders being severely cut up

in their flight by the Cossack horse. They ran in scattered groups

across towards the next redoubt, and towards Balaklava, but the

horse-hoof of the Cossack was too quick for them, and sword and lance

were busily plied among the retreating herd. The yells of the pursuers

and pursued were plainly audible. As the lancers and light cavalry of

the Russians advanced, they gathered up their skirmishers with great

speed, and in excellent order; the shifting trails of men, which

played all over the valley, like moonlight upon the water, contracted,

gathered up, and the little pelotons in a few moments became a solid

column. Then up came their guns, in rushed their gunners to the

abandoned redoubts, and the guns of the second redoubt soon played

with deadly effect upon the dispirited defenders of the third. Two or

three shots in return from the earthworks, and all is silent. The

Turks swarm over the earthworks, and run in confusion towards the

town, firing their muskets at the enemy as they run.

Again the solid column of cavalry opens like a fan, and resolves

itself into a long spray of skirmishers. It overlaps the flying Turks,

steel flashes in the air, and down goes the poor Moslem, quivering on

the plain, split through fez and musket-guard to the chin and

breast-belt. There is no support for them. The remnant of the Turks,

flying towards Balaklava, took refuge behind the ranks of the 93d

Highlanders, and were formed into line on the wings of the regiment.

The Russians by this time had turned the guns of the captured redoubt

against the Allied front, but with little effect, as Sir Colin

withdrew his Highlanders out of range, and the British Cavalry were

hid from view by an undulating swell of the plain.

Encouraged by this retiring movement, the whole mass of Russian

cavalry, about 4,000 strong, now came sweeping into the plain, with

the obvious intention of breaking through the Allied line before

reinforcements could arrive from before Sebastopol. This was the

crisis of the day, as the slightest reverse to the Allies in this

quarter would have been attended with serious consequences.

On came the foe in brilliant masses, pouring down at a canter into the

plain and on to the high road. Here one body of horse, 1,500 strong,

rapidly wheeling to their left, charged down the road towards

Balaklava, against the single Highland regiment which there barred the

way, and which awaited their approach in a line two deep. At 800 yards

the Turks, drawn up on the wings of the regiment, discharged their

muskets and fled.

‘Highlanders!’ exclaimed Sir Colin Campbell, as he saw his men

wavering on being thus deserted, ‘if you don’t stand firm, not a man

of you will be left alive.’

At 600 yards the regiment fired, but with little effect, upon the

Russian squadrons now advancing at a gallop. The anxiety of the

onlookers grew intense as they beheld that immense body of charging

cavalry within 150 yards of their Highland line, when down again went

the level line of Miniè rifles, a steady volley rang out, and the next

instant the attacking squadrons were seen wheeling off to the right

and left in retreat.

Meanwhile the main body of the Russian cavalry swept on straight

across the plain, apparently with the design of carrying the

thinly-defended heights at a gallop. But a foe intervened of which

they did not make sufficient account. The instant they topped the

little eminence in front of the British cavalry, the trumpets of the

Heavy Brigade sounded the charge, and away went the brigade in two

lines, the Scots Greys and Enniskillens in front, led on by

Brigadier-General Scarlett. The Russians were likewise in two lines,

and more than twice as deep. The shock was terrific, but lasted only

for a moment. The handful of red-coats broke through the enemy,

scattering the first line right and left, and then charged the second

line, which came spurring up to the rescue. It was a fight of heroes.

The position of the Greys and Enniskilleners quickly became one of

imminent danger; for while cutting their way in splendid style through

their foes, the Russian first line rallied again, and bore down upon

their rear. God help them they are lost! burst from the Allied

generals and on-lookers: when, like a thunder-bolt, the 1st Royals and

4th and 5th Dragoon Guards, forming the British second line, broke

with one terrible assault upon the foe, cutting through the line of

rallying Russians as if it were pasteboard, and then, falling upon the

flank of the Russian line, disordered by the terrible assault, put it

to utter rout. A cheer burst from every lip, and, in the enthusiasm,

officers and men on the heights took off their caps and shouted with

delight. The loss to the British in this splendid charge was very

trifling. All danger to the Allied position was now past. The enemy

had made their rush, and failed. The British and French divisions,

arriving from before Sebastopol, began to take up a position in the

plain, and the Russians drawing back and concentrating their forces,

relinquished all the captured redoubts save one. The fight seemed

over; when an unlucky mistake, the precise origin of which is still

shrouded in mystery, gave rise to a most brilliant but disastrous feat

of arms.

The British cavalry had been advanced to the edge of the plain next

the enemy, who were now slowly retiring up the narrow valley leading

to the Yaeta Pass, from which they had debouched in the morning. In a

gorge of this narrow valley, at about a mile and a half distant from

the British horse, a battery of nine heavy Russian guns was posted,

with infantry and a body of 2,000 cavalry in the rear. Captain Nolan,

of the Light Brigade, one of the best swordsmen and cavalry tacticians

in the army, now came galloping up with an order from the

Commander-in-chief to Lord Lucan to advance with the light cavalry,

and, if possible, prevent the enemy from carrying off the guns which

they had captured in the redoubts. The moment the Russians beheld the

squadrons advancing, they covered the slopes of the valley with Minié

riflemen, and quickly planted two batteries on the heights, one on

either side of the gorge. Formed in two lines, the British light

cavalry advanced rapidly into the valley of death――not a man

flinching, and Lord Cardigan leading on with a coolness and contempt

of danger that was magnificent. When they arrived at about 1,200 yards

from the enemy, thirty Russian cannons simultaneously opened fire upon

them, knocking over men and horses in numbers, and wounded or

riderless steeds were seen flying over the field. Galloping on, they

advanced up the valley, through this terrific cross-fire, towards the

battery directly in front. The first line is broken, it is joined by

the second, they never halt or check their speed an instant; with

diminished ranks, thinned by those thirty guns, which the Russians had

laid with the most deadly accuracy, with a halo of flashing steel

above their heads and with a cheer which was many a noble fellow’s

death-cry, they flew into the smoke of the batteries, but ere they

were lost from view the plain was strewed with their bodies, and with

the carcases of horses. Lord Cardigan was almost unhorsed by a

32-pounder exploding within a foot of his charger, and a shell

bursting at his side, struck Captain Nolan in the breast, and with an

involuntary shriek, the gallant officer fell dead from his saddle. The

Russian gunners stood to their pieces till the dragoons were within

ten yards of them, and were sabred to a man. Without drawing bridle,

the British horse next charged the mass of cavalry in front of them,

routed it, and pursued it pell-mell. Whilst the pursuit was at its

height, suddenly the order was shouted “Wheel about!” The enemy,

instead of being broken by their own men flying, formed up four deep

in front of the charging horse, while a mass of lancers descended into

their rear. But, nothing daunted, the heroic light horse, facing

about, charged again through the gathering forces of the enemy,

repassed the guns, and closed in desperate contest with the Russian

lancers. At this moment the Russian artillerymen, returning to the

guns behind, sent a deadly shower of grape into the fighting mass of

horsemen, indiscriminately at friend and foe. The charge lasted barely

half-an-hour, and but 198 out of 800 returned to the British lines.

Whilst the batteries were firing upon the retiring cavalry, a body of

French chasseurs d’Afrique charged at the guns erected on the left of

the valley, and forced them to retire. After sabering amongst the

Russian skirmishers, the chasseurs retired. This closed the operations

of the day. The Russians withdrew their forces from the heights, and

did not carry out their menaced attack on Balaklava.

The bombardment of the forts before Sebastopol continued without

cessation all day.

Elated by their success against the Turks, and the capture of the guns

of the redoubts, the Russians attempted a sortie from Sebastopol on

the following day, the 26th October, whose strength exceeded 9000

infantry, with a numerous artillery; but no sooner had they entered

within range of the Allies’ guns, which, eighteen in number, had taken

up their position, than the word, ‘fire,’ was given, and a volley of

shell tore open the ranks of the Russians, and checked their advance.

The guns being reloaded, a second discharge, no less severe in its

execution, caused the enemy to wheel round and retire.

On Sunday, the 5th of November, 1854, one of the most sanguinary

battles ever fought within the memory of man, took place on the

heights of Inkerman, under the walls of Sebastopol.

It is a difficult task, in a few lines of prose, to render justice to

a bravery which excels that sung by the blind and immortal bard of

Greece. We might devote page after page to individual feats of heroic

daring in this fearful struggle, when 8,000 British troops and 6,000

Frenchmen defeated an army of 60,000 Russians, who left more killed

and wounded upon the battle-field than the whole force the Allies

brought against them.

From the preceding pages, the position of the besieging forces is

already familiar to our readers. A road connects Balaklava and

Sebastopol. From this road to the heights which crown the valley of

the Tchernaya, extended the British lines. These heights form a right

angle nearly opposite the ruins of Inkerman, and there run parallel

with the river from which the valley has derived its name. On the

other side of the Tchernaya rise a succession of hills above the ruins

of Inkerman, where the Russians had established themselves.

The night between the 4th and 5th November was passed without

apprehension by the Allied troops. It had rained almost incessantly,

and the early morning gave no promise of any cessation of the heavy

showers which had fallen for the previous four-and-twenty hours.

Towards dawn a heavy fog settled down on the heights, and on the

valley of the Inkerman. The fog, and vapors of drifting rain were so

thick as morning broke, that one could scarcely see ten yards before

him.

At four o’clock the bells of the churches in Sebastopol were heard

ringing drearily through the cold night air; but the occurrence had

been so usual that it excited no particular attention.

No one suspected for a moment that enormous masses of Russians were

creeping up the rugged sides of the heights over the valley of

Inkerman, on the undefended flank of the Second Division. There all

was security and repose. Little did the slumbering troops in camp

imagine that a subtle and indefatigable enemy were bringing into

position an overwhelming artillery, ready to play upon their tents at

the first glimpse of daylight.

Yet such was the case. The arrival of the Grand Dukes Michael and

Nicholas, sons of the Emperor, with large reinforcements, determined

Prince Menschikoff to make the attempt to annihilate the besieging

forces, and raise the siege.

At daybreak (that is, at six o’clock), the alarm was given in the

British camp that the Russians had surprised the advanced picquets,

and were already in possession of all the heights commanding their

position. The whole army stood to arms without delay. Presently a

Russian battery appeared upon the crest of the height known as

Shell-hill, near Careening Bay, whilst columns of infantry were

descried already descending the hills, or marching up the ravines,

which faced the front of the British position. The most serious attack

of the Russians was, however, directed against the flank of the

British army, along the heights running parallel to the valley of the

Tchernaya.

The Russians in the front had now advanced to within five hundred

yards of the encampment, and the action commenced. The musketry fire

was awful, and the enemy who had now guns upon every favorable

position, hurled shell and round shot at the advancing lines.

The enemy’s columns continued to push forward, trying to overwhelm the

British regiments with their superior numbers. ‘And now (to quote the

words of an eye-witness of the battle) commenced the bloodiest

struggle ever witnessed since war cursed the earth. It has been

doubted by military historians if any enemy have ever stood a charge

with the bayonet, but here the bayonet was often the only weapon

employed in conflicts of the most obstinate and deadly character. Not

only did the English charge in vain, not only were desperate

encounters between masses of men maintained with the bayonet alone,

but they were obliged to resist bayonet to bayonet, with the Russian

infantry again and again, as they charged the British with incredible

fury and determination.’

The battle of Inkerman admits of no description. It was a series of

dreadful deeds of daring, of sanguinary hand-to-hand fights, of

despairing rallies, of desperate assaults, in glens and valleys, in

brushwood glades and remote dells, hidden from all human eyes, and

from which the conquerors, Russian or British, issued, only to engage

fresh foes.

No one, however placed, could have witnessed even a small portion of

the doings of this eventful day, for the vapors, fog, and drizzling

mist, obscured the ground where the struggle took place to such an

extent, as to render it impossible to see what was going on at the

distance of fifty yards. Besides this, the irregular nature of the

ground, the rapid fall of the hill towards Inkerman, where the

deadliest fight took place, would have prevented one, under the most

favorable circumstances, seeing more than a very insignificant and

detailed piece of the terrible work below.

It was six o’clock when all the Head-quarter camp was roused by roll

after roll of musketry on the right, and by the sharp report of

field-guns. Lord Raglan was informed that the enemy were advancing in

force, and soon after seven o’clock he rode towards the scene of

action, followed by his staff, and accompanied by Sir John Burgoyne,

Brigadier General Strangwayr, and several aids-de-camp. As they

approached the volume of sound, the steady unceasing thunder of gun,

and rifle, and musket, told that the engagement was at its height. The

shell of the Russians, thrown with great precision, burst so thickly

among the troops that the noise resembled continuous discharges of

cannon, and the massive fragments inflicted death on every side.

Colonel Gambier was once ordered to get up two heavy guns (eighteen

pounders) on the rising ground, and to reply to a fire which the light

guns were utterly inadequate to meet. As he was engaged in this duty

he was severely wounded, and obliged to retire. His place was taken by

Lietenant-Colonel Dickson, who, in directing the fire of these two

pieces, which had the most marked effect in deciding the fate of the

day, elicited the admiration of the army. But long ere these guns had

been brought up, there had been a great slaughter of the enemy, and a

heavy loss of the British. The generals could not see where to go.

They could not tell where the enemy were――from what side they were

coming, or where going. In darkness, gloom, and rain, they led the

lines through thick scrubby bushes and thorny brakes, which broke the

ranks, and irritated the men, while every place was marked by a corpse

or men wounded from an enemy whose position was only indicated by the

rattle of musketry, and the rush of ball and shell.

Sir George Cathcart, seeing his men disordered by the fire of a large

column of Russian infantry, which was outflanking them, while portions

of the various regiments composing his division were maintaining an

unequal struggle with an overwhelming force, went down into a ravine

in which they were engaged to rally them. He rode at their head

encouraging them, and when a cry arose that ammunition was failing, he

said coolly, ‘Have you not got your bayonets?’ As he led on his men,

it was observed that another body of men had gained the top of the

hill behind them on the right, but it was impossible to tell whether

they were friends or foes. A deadly volley was poured into the

scattered British regiments. Sir George cheered them, and led them

back up the hill, but a flight of bullets passed where he rode, and he

fell from his horse close to the Russian columns. His body was

recovered mutilated with bayonet wounds.

When he fell, Colonel Seymour, who was with him, instantly dismounted,

and was endeavoring to raise the body, when he himself received a ball

which fractured his leg. He fell to the ground beside his general, and

a Russian officer and five or six men running in, bayoneted him, and

cut him to pieces as he lay helpless. The Russians bayoneted the

wounded in every part of the field, giving no quarter, and apparently

determined to exterminate the Allies, to drive them into the sea.

The conflict on the right was equally uncertain and equally bloody. To

the extreme right a contest, the like of which, perhaps, never took

place before, was going on between the guards and dense columns of

Russian infantry of five times their number. The guards had charged

them and driven them back, when they perceived that the Russians had

outflanked them. They were out of amunition, too, and were uncertain

whether there were friends or foes in the rear. They had no support,

no reserve, were fighting with the bayonet against an enemy who

stoutly contested every inch of ground, when the corps of another

Russian column appeared on their right far to their rear. Then a

fearful _mitraille_ was poured into them, and volleys of rifle and

musketry.

The guards were broken; they had lost twelve officers dead on the

field; they had left one-half of their number dead on the ground; and

they retired along the lower road of the valley; but they were soon

reinforced, and speedily avenged their loss.

The French advance, about ten o’clock, turned the flank of the enemy.

When the body of French infantry appeared on the right of the British

position, it was a joyful sight to the struggling regiments. The 3d

regiment of Zouaves, under the chiefs of battalion, supported in the

most striking manner the ancient reputation of that force. The French

artillery had already begun to play with deadly effect on the right

wing of the Russians, when three battalions of chasseurs d’Orleans

rushed by, the light of battle on their faces. They were accompanied

by a battalian of chasseurs Indigénes――the Arab Sepoys of Algiers.

Their trumpets sounded above the din of battle. Assailed in front,

broken in several places by the impetuosity of the charge, renewed

again and again, attacked by the French infantry on the right, and by

artillery all along the line, the Russians began to retire, and at

twelve o’clock they were driven pell-mell down the hill towards the

valley, where pursuit would have been madness, as the roads were

covered by their artillery. They left mounds of dead behind them. At

twelve o’clock the battle of Inkerman seemed to have been won; but the

day which had cleared up for an hour previously, again became

obscured. Rain and fog set in; and as the Allies could not pursue the

Russians, who were retiring under the shelter of their artillery, they

had formed in front of the lines, and were holding the battle-field so

stoutly contested, when the enemy, taking advantage of the Allies’

quietude, again advanced, while their guns pushed forward and opened a

tremendous fire.

General Canrobert, who never quitted Lord Raglan for much of the early

part of the day, at once directed the French to advance and outflank

the enemy. In his efforts he was most nobly seconded by General

Bosquet. General Canrobert was slightly wounded, and his immediate

attendants suffered severely.

The renewed assault was so admirably managed that the Russians

sullenly retired, still protected by their crushing artillery.

The loss sustained by the English army was 2,400 killed or wounded; of

the French 1,726. The Russians, in killed, wounded, and prisoners,

15,000. An eye-witness thus describes the night after battle:

‘On the evening of the battle I went over the field. All the wounded

had been removed. There is nothing so awful as the spectacle of the

bodies of those who have been struck down by round shot or shell. Some

had their heads taken off by the neck, as with an axe; others, their

legs gone from their hips; others their arms; and others again, who

were hit in the chest or stomach, were literally as smashed as if they

had been crushed in a machine. Passing up to Sebastopol, over heaps of

Russian dead, I came to the spot where the Guards had been compelled

to retire from the defense of the wall above Inkerman valley. Here the

dead of the Allies were nearly as numerous as the enemy’s. Beyond this

the Russian Guardsmen and line regiments lay as thick as leaves,

intermixed with dead and wounded horses. The path lay through thick

brushwood, but it was slippery with blood, and the brushwood was

broken down and encumbered with the dead. The scene from the battery

was awful beyond description. I stood upon its parapet at about nine

at night, and I felt my heart sink as I gazed upon the scene of

carnage around.

‘The moon was at its full, and showed every object as if by the light

of day. Facing me was the valley of Inkerman, with the Tchernaya, like

a band of silver, flowing gracefully between the hills, which, for

varied and picturesque beauty, might vie with any part of the world.

Yet I shall never recall the memory of Inkermann valley with any but

feelings of horror; for round the spot from which I surveyed the scene

lay upwards of five thousand bodies. Some lay as if prepared for

burial, and as though the hands of relatives had arranged their

mangled limbs; while others again were in almost startling positions,

half standing or kneeling, clutching their weapons or drawing a

cartridge. Many lay with both their hands extended towards the sky, as

if to avert a blow or utter a prayer; while others had a malignant

scowl of fear and hatred. The moonlight imparted an aspect of

unnatural paleness to their forms, and as the cold, damp wind swept

round the hills and waved the boughs above their upturned faces, the

shadows gave a horrible appearance of vitality; and it seemed as if

the dead were laughing, and about to rise. This was not the case on

one spot only, but all over the bloody field.’

The whole of the 6th (the day after the battle) was devoted to the

sorry task of burying the dead. A council of war was held, presided

over by Lord Raglan, at which it was determined to winter in the

Crimea, and orders were issued accordingly. Large reinforcements were

demanded bath by Lord Raglan and General Canrobert, which, with

considerable promptitude were despatched by their respective

governments.