The fourth bombardment commenced on Sunday, the 17th. of June, at
daybreak, when a very heavy fire was opened from all the batteries in
the British and French trenches, and maintained throughout the day. The
effect produced was so satisfactory, that it was resolved the French
should attack the Malakoff on the following morning, and that the
British should assail the Redan as soon after as might be considered
advisable.
It was originally proposed that the artillery fire should be resumed on
the morning of the 18th., and should be kept up for about two hours,
with a view of destroying any works which the Russians might have thrown
up during the night, and of opening passages through the _abatis_ that
covered the Redan; but during the evening of the 17th., Lord Raglan
received an intimation from General Pelissier, who had in May succeeded
General Canrobert in the command of the French army, that he had
determined, upon further consideration, to cause the French attack to
take place at three o’clock on the following morning. Before that hour
Lord Raglan with the head-quarter staff and other officers assembled at
the appointed post. As day broke the French commenced their operations,
and as their several columns came within range of the enemy’s fire they
encountered the most serious opposition, both from musketry and the guns
in the works which had been silenced the previous evening. Lord Raglan
observing this, at once ordered the British columns to move out of the
trenches upon the Redan. It had been arranged that detachments from the
light, second, and fourth divisions, which were placed under the command
of Lieutenant-General Sir George Brown, should be formed into three
columns; the right one to attack the left face of the Redan, between the
flanking batteries; the centre to advance upon the salient angle; and
the left to move upon the re-entering angle formed by the right face and
flank of the work; the first and last preceding the centre column.
On the signal being given the flank columns at once advanced, preceded
by covering parties of the Rifle Brigade, and by sailors carrying
ladders, and soldiers carrying wool-bags; but they had no sooner shown
themselves beyond the trenches than they were assailed by a most
murderous fire of grape and musketry, and all in advance were either
killed or wounded.
Major-General Sir John Campbell, who led the left attack, and Colonel
Shadforth, of the 57th., who commanded the storming party under his
direction, were both killed, as was also Colonel Yea, of the Royal
Fusiliers, who commanded the right column.
“I never before witnessed,” writes Lord Raglan, “such a continued and
heavy fire of grape combined with musketry from the enemy’s works, which
appeared to be fully manned; and the long list of killed and wounded in
the light and fourth divisions, and the seamen of the Naval Brigade,
under Captain Peel, who was unfortunately wounded, though not severely,
will show that a very large proportion of those that went forward fell.”
By half-past three it was perceived that the French had not succeeded in
their attack upon the Malakoff. All the batteries were ordered to resume
their fire as heavily as possible, but about half-past seven the firing
slackened, in consequence of the attack being relinquished.
The superiority of the fire of the allies had led both Lord Raglan and
Pelissier to conclude that the anniversary of Waterloo would have been
crowned with a happier result; but the Russians shewed that their
resources were not yet exhausted, and that they had still the power,
either from their ships or from their batteries, to bring an
overwhelming fire upon their assailants.
Whilst the direct attack upon the Redan was proceeding,
Lieutenant-General Sir Richard England was directed to send one of the
brigades of the third division, under the command of Major-General
Barnard, down the Woronzoff Ravine, with a view to give support to the
attacking columns on his right; and the other brigade, under
Major-General Eyre, still further to the left, to threaten the works at
the head of the Dockyard Creek.
The success achieved by the third division on this eventful day, was
detailed in a supplementary despatch from Lord Raglan. By this it
appears that the first brigade, under Major-General Barnard, proceeded
down the Woronzoff Road, and was placed in position on the right of the
ravine, ready to co-operate with the columns of attack on the right;
whilst the second brigade, under Major-General Eyre, moved down the
ravine which separated the left of the English from the right of the
French advanced works, for the purpose of attacking the enemy’s
ambuscades, and making a demonstration on the head of the Dockyard
Creek.
The service was performed with the utmost gallantry, and,
notwithstanding that they were exposed to a most galling fire, the
troops maintained themselves in the position they had taken up during
the day, and in the evening withdrew, unmolested, leaving a post at the
cemetery, which had been one of the objects of the attack in the
morning.
Between one and two o’clock a.m., Major-General Eyre had moved off with
his brigade, consisting of the 9th., 18th., 28th., 38th., and 44th.
regiments (total strength about two thousand bayonets), and proceeded
down the ravine, on the left, by the French picket-house, for the
purpose of attacking the enemy’s ambuscades, and of making a
demonstration on that side.
In attacking the first of these ambuscades the troops were anticipated
by the French, who cleverly took the Russians on their left flank as
they advanced in front, and made several prisoners. Beyond this the
French had no instructions to co-operate, and the Major-General
therefore pushed on an advanced guard, under Major Feilden, 44th.
composed of marksmen from each regiment, supporting it on the right by
the 44th. and 38th., and on the left by the 18th. regiment, keeping at
first the 9th. and 28th. in reserve.
The enemy, whose strength could not be estimated, occupied a strong
position; their right rested on a mamelon, their left on a cemetery.
These points were occupied by marksmen. The intervening ground was
intersected, and the road barricaded with stone walls, which the men
were obliged to pull down, under fire, before they could advance. In
rear of this position, towards the fortress, the Russians occupied
several houses, and there were bodies of them seen in rear, as reserves.
This position, under the fire of the guns of the fortress, was strong,
and it could not be expected to be carried and retained without
incurring considerable loss, and which was experienced both in officers
and men, all most nobly discharging their duty. The 18th. regiment
pushed on, and occupied some houses immediately under Garden Battery.
The 44th. occupied some houses on the right, from whence they kept up a
fire on the enemy’s embrasures. Lieutenant-Colonel Lowth moved on with
his regiment (the 38th.), and after taking possession of some houses in
front, endeavoured to turn the flank of a battery which annoyed the
troops in front. These parties were afterwards from time to time
reinforced or relieved by the 9th. regiment, the 28th. regiment being
drawn up in line in rear, to support the whole.
Having driven the enemy from these points, they were continued to be
occupied, with the view to ulterior movements, in the event of the
attack on the right being successful, and until it was decided what
portion of the ground should be retained for siege operations.
The position was held until late in the evening, when the troops, after
being exposed all day to a concentrated fire from the guns of the
fortress, in addition to some field guns brought up by the enemy, were
gradually withdrawn, the ground being too far in advance to be
permanently occupied for siege operations, when Major-General Eyre, who
had received a wound in the head in the early part of the day, gave over
the command of the brigade to Lieutenant-Colonel Adams, of the 28th.
regiment. No attempt was made by the enemy to molest the troops on their
retiring. The losses sustained amounted to thirty-one officers,
forty-four sergeants, and four hundred and eighty-seven rank and file
killed or wounded.
On the 19th. of June orders were received to discontinue the
bombardment, during which, from its commencement on the 17th.,
twenty-two thousand six hundred and eighty-four rounds of ammunition had
been fired against Sebastopol.
Twenty-two officers were killed and seventy-one wounded. Two hundred and
thirty men were killed, one thousand one hundred and thirty-six wounded,
and twenty-four missing. The French losses exceeded this number.
On the 28th. of June, 1855, the following extract of a telegraphic
despatch from Lord Panmure was published to the army in the Crimea:—“I
have Her Majesty’s Commands to express Her grief that so much bravery
should not have been rewarded with merited success; and to assure her
brave Troops that Her Majesty’s confidence in them is entire.” This was
the last general order published by Lord Raglan, for about nine o’clock
of the above day his gallant spirit breathed its last. Posterity will
endorse the Minister for War’s expression of Her Majesty’s grief for
this great loss. “The country has been deprived of a brave and
accomplished soldier, a true and devoted patriot, and an honourable and
disinterested subject.” His lordship’s remains were borne to Kamiesch
Bay, and placed on board the Caradoc, for conveyance to England, the
officers and men of both armies vieing with each other in paying the
last honours to the departed warrior.
In the absence of Lieutenant-General Sir George Brown, on account of
ill-health, the command of the forces devolved on Lieutenant-General
Simpson, the next senior officer, upon whom the Queen conferred the
appointment of Commander-in-Chief of the Army in the Crimea.
At five o’clock on the morning of the 10th. of July, a heavy fire was
opened upon the Redan, by the allied batteries, in order to assist the
advances upon that work, to which the besieged responded, at intervals,
with considerable warmth. This had the effect of checking the musketry
fire, which had proved very annoying. Comparative tranquility reigned in
the batteries until the 17th. of July, when the enemy opened a heavy
fire upon the French in the Mamelon, which was answered by the British
on the Tower and Redan.
During the night of the 22nd. of July, the Russians opened a heavy fire
of musketry from the parapets of the Malakoff and adjacent works, but
they did not attempt an attack. They opened a similar fire in the course
of the night on the left of the French. It is believed that they
apprehended an attack from the French, and for this reason opened the
above fire, which did no damage to either the works or soldiers.
Between ten and eleven o’clock at night on the 2nd. of August the enemy
made a sortie in considerable force, by the Woronzoff road. Their
strength was computed to be about two thousand, and their object was to
destroy a heavy iron _chevaux-de-frize_, made across the above road,
between the right and left attacks, and being further supported by heavy
columns in rear, to take advantage of such circumstances as might
present themselves. They advanced with loud cheers and bugling, and were
received with great gallantry by the advanced picket, under the command
of Lieutenant R. E. Carr, of the 39th., who withdrew his men, firing at
the same time upon the enemy, to the main body, under the command of
Captain Leckie, of the same regiment.
A heavy and well-directed fire was opened upon the enemy by the party
under the latter officer, on the Woronzoff road; as also by the guards
of the trenches on the right of the fourth parallel, under the command
of Captain Boyle, of the 89th., and Captain Turner, of the 1st. Royals,
which, in about ten minutes, caused the enemy to retire from an attack
that, if it had not been so well met, might have been a serious affair.
Thus passed the time during July and August in repelling sorties from
the enemy, combined with an occasional heavy firing, and in preparations
for a renewal of the bombardment. As the movements of troops in
Sebastopol, and the reliefs moving to and from the Russian works, could
be observed from the deck of the flag-ship of Sir Houston Stewart,
“Hannibal,” which was anchored off the mouth of the harbour, a
telegraphic communication was established between it and a station
erected on the hill in front of the light division. This directed the
fire of the mortar batteries, and caused serious losses to the enemy.
In the beginning of August the troops had been unceasingly employed in
strengthening and improving the advanced works, which, by the 10th., had
become so close to the enemy, that it was with the greatest difficulty
any approach could be made. Every precaution was taken by the allies to
prevent the Russians forcing them to raise the siege by a vigorous
attack from without, which was anticipated about the middle of this
month.
The Czar’s last hope of relieving Sebastopol was dissipated by the
battle of the Tchernaya gained over the Russians on the 16th. of August.
This brilliant success was achieved by the French and Sardinian troops,
and the enemy’s attempt to pass the above river, although made with
overwhelming numbers, met with a most decisive repulse. The British
cavalry, under Lieutenant-General Sir James Yorke Scarlett, were placed
in the plain of Balaklava, prepared to take advantage of any
circumstance that might present itself, but the opportunity did not
arise for calling upon their services.