front of the left attack, on the 12th. of December, in some force, but were instantly driven back by a detachment of the first battalion of the Rifle Brigade on the right, and by one of the 46th. on the left. The firing, however, was kept up for some time afterwards.

A sortie was made by the enemy on both the right and left attack, during the night of the 20th. of December, the one being conducted silently, the other with drums beating, and shouting; the first was probably the real object of the advance, as nearer to the Inkermann heights. Owing to the extreme darkness of the night, the Russians were enabled to approach very near the right attack without being perceived, and, having made a sudden rush upon the most forward parallel, they compelled the men occupying it to withdraw, until reinforced by a party under Major Welsford, of the 97th. Regiment, when it was regained possession of, and the enemy retired, not, however, without occasioning some loss in both killed and wounded. Lieutenant John Byron, of the 34th., was taken prisoner.

On the left attack the enemy were met with great gallantry by Lieutenant Gordon, of the 38th. Regiment, who, when supported by the covering party of the trenches, under Lieutenant-Colonel Waddy, of the 50th., succeeded in at once driving them back. Here the loss was still more severe, Major Möller of the 50th. falling mortally wounded; Captain Frampton and Lieutenant Clarke, both of the 50th., were taken prisoners. The gallantry and vigilance of these troops, and the distinguished conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Waddy, were highly praised.

Two regiments of French cavalry, under General D'Allonville, made a reconnoissance on the 20th. of December, towards the ground recently occupied by the enemy in front of Balaklava, while the 42nd. Regiment, a detachment of the Rifle Brigade, under Colonel Cameron, 42nd., and a battalion of Zouaves, made a corresponding movement on the extreme right. The latter saw only a picket of Cossacks, which retired upon their approach; the former exchanged shots with the enemy, and ascertained that they had scarcely any troops on the left bank of the Tchernaya.

The Christmas before Sebastopol will not easily be forgotten; the time-honoured phrase of wishing a merry one, and a happy new year, must have sounded almost as a mockery to the suffering troops. During December the weather became very severe, and the duties more and more arduous; both officers and men were frequently on duty two and three nights in succession, without any shelter from the snow and rain; provisions and forage became scarce, owing to the want of transport; and the young soldiers, unable to bear the hardships and fatigue, died in numbers.

Neither was the commencement of the new year more promising; when the commissariat transport broke down, it became necessary to send fatigue parties to carry up rations and warm clothing from Balaklava, a distance of seven miles; horses and mules were picked up wherever they could be found, officers' chargers not excepted. Men were frequently

found dead in the trenches from cold and exhaustion. The sick present and absent at Scutari on the 11th. January, 1855, amounted to sixteen thousand and one men.*

Such sufferings excited the public feeling, and Mr. Roebuck's motion for a committee of enquiry occasioned a change of ministry, when Lord Palmerston became premier, and Lord Panmure was appointed Secretary of State for War. It is not however within the scope of this work to dwell upon the political view of the campaign; its object being to shew how the Medals were won. No sympathy could have cheered the soldiers more than that expressed by The Queen in a letter to Mrs. Sidney Herbert, which fortunately was published.† Constant

* Non-commissioned officers and men, 11th. January, 1855.

"Would you tell Mrs. Herbert that I begged she would let me see frequently the accounts she receives from Miss Nightingale or Mrs. Bracebridge, as I hear no details of the wounded, though I see SO many from officers, etc., about the battle-field, and naturally the former

visits of the Sovereign to the bed-sides of the invalids on their arrival in England, and substantial acts of kindness in finding occupation for several of them, shewed Her Majesty's deep interest in her soldiers.

In January a railroad was commenced from Balaklava to the camp, which may be classed as one of the "curiosities of war." At this period the French army had been reinforced, and consisted, in round numbers, of about sixty-seven thousand

men.

The Russians still retain the old style of reckoning, and, during the night of the 12th. of January, 1855, (their New Year's Day,) they made a powerful sortie, under protection of a heavy cannonade, along the Woronzoff Road and the ravine on the extreme left, on the French and English trenches, but were ultimately forced to retire. The following morning was the commencement of a severe frost, the snow in some places on the plain being eighteen inches deep, whilst the drifts were not only deep, but in many spots dangerous. The old adage that "it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good," was here realized, for the ground became hardened, and consequently improved by the frost, which aided the communication to the front; there was, however, a drawback on account of the difficulty of obtaining fuel for cooking and hospital requirements. Indeed the scarcity of wood of any kind was great. The brushwood along the Inkermann ridge had long been used up; the soldiers had even employed the vine roots to cook their meals. Fortunately large quantities of charcoal were arriving at Balaklava, and although the siege works did not improve by the employment of the Turkish troops in bringing up this necessary article, the comfort of the army was materially increased. Warm clothing also arrived; but sickness could not be reduced. About the middle of January there was a marked improvement in the weather,

must interest me more than anyone. Let Mrs. Herbert also know that I wish Miss Nightingale and the ladies would tell these poor noble wounded and sick men that no one takes a warmer interest, or feels more for their sufferings, or admires their courage and heroism more than their Queen. Day and night she thinks of her beloved troops: so does the Prince. Beg Mrs. Herbert to communicate these my words to those ladies, as I know that our sympathy is much valued by these noble fellows.-VICTORIA."

and on the 21st. a French division afforded valuable relief to the British by relieving the pickets of the second and light divisions, and enabled the latter to afford better covering parties for their batteries. It was fortunate at this period that the enemy was ignorant of the small number of men employed in their defence.

The hospitals in Constantinople, from the improvements effected therein under the superintendence of Florence Nightingale, were already bearing fruit, by the number of convalescent soldiers constantly returning to the Crimea.

Early in February Major-General, now Sir Harry D. Jones, K.C.B., arrived in the Crimea from the Baltic, and the command of the Royal Engineers devolved upon him, which until then had been superintended under most difficult circumstances by Major (now Colonel) J. W. Gordon, and Colonel F. Chapman, Lieutenant-General Sir John Burgoyne being consulted by them. The latter had been charged with the chief conduct of the siege works, but towards the end of March returned to England, in order to resume his duties as Inspector-General of Fortifications.

On the 2nd. of March occurred the death of the Emperor of Russia, and the event appeared at first calculated to lead to peace, but that hope soon vanished. During this month the operations of the siege began to be more actively carried on; large working parties were employed, and an approach was made from the middle ravine to the twenty-one gun battery; a new approach was also made to the right of the advanced work, or third parallel; this trench was extended to communicate with the new French right attack against the Mamelon and Malakoff; old batteries were repaired, and new ones constructed, and the guards of the trenches were increased. On the 16th. of March, Lieutenant-General Simpson arrived to undertake the duties of Chief of the Staff, and Sir John Mc Neill and Colonel Tulloch, who had been sent out by

* "The covering party for the entire right attack (upwards of a mile in extent) never had exceeded, at this period of the siege, three hundred and fifty men, and on the night of the 21st. of January it numbered only two hundred and ninety men. The guards for the other attacks were equally small."-Major Elphinstone's "Journal of Operations conducted by the Royal Engineers."

the government, to report upon the state of the army, arrived a few days before.

Frequent night alarms occurred during this month, and on the morning of the 22nd. of March, the French troops in the advanced parallel moved forward, and drove the enemy out of the rifle-pits in their immediate front, but nothing of any importance happened during the day. Early in the night, however, a serious attack was made upon the French works in front of the Victoria redoubt, opposite the Malakoff tower. The firing, which was very heavy, could scarcely be heard in the British camp, the wind being so boisterous. After attacking the head of the sap which the French were carrying on towards the Mamelon, the Russians fell in with two heavy masses on their new parallel, to the rear of which they succeeded in penetrating, after a gallant resistance. Passing along the parallel and in rear of it, until they came. in contact with the troops stationed in the advanced parallel, extending into the ravine, from the right of the British advance, where it was connected with the French trench, the enemy was there met by detachments of the 77th. and 97th. regiments, forming part of the guard of the trenches, who although thus taken suddenly, both in flank and rear, behaved with the utmost gallantry and coolness. The detachment of the 97th., which was on the extreme right, and which, consequently first came in contact with the enemy, repulsed the attack at the point of the bayonet. They were led by Captain. Hedley Vicars, who fell mortally wounded, not before he had

*

"Taken at a great disadvantage, and pressed by superior numbers, the 77th. and 97th., guarding the trenches, made a vigorous resistance, met the assault with undaunted courage, and drove the Russians out at the point of the bayonet, but not until they had inflicted on us serious loss, not the least being the death of the good and gallant Captain Vicars, of the 97th.

"The gallant old 7th. Fusiliers had to run the gauntlet of a large body of the enemy, whom they drove back à la fourchette. The 34th. regiment had an enormous force to contend against, and their Colonel, Kelly, was carried off by the enemy. In the midst of the fight, Major Gordon, of the Royal Engineers, displayed that cool courage and presence of mind which never forsook him. With a little switch in his hand, he encouraged the men to defend the trenches, and standing up on the top of the parapet, unarmed as he was, hurled down stones upon the Russians. He was struck by a ball, which passed through the lower part of his arm, and at the same time received a bullet through the shoulder. All rejoiced that he was not dangerously wounded."-The British Expedition to the Crimea, by W. H. Russell, L.L.D.