therefore now communicate in a few minutes with any of his generals at any time, day or night. It is also a great advantage to have it in the trenches, as in the event of any sortie by the enemy, reinforcements can be sent for and instructions asked by the commanding officers in either attack. CHAPTER XIV. their Inkermann attack I moralize French proposals - Russian force - Lord Raglan's tact Preparations for the wounded French losses in Lord Raglan visits the trenches His disregard of danger, and consideration for his StaffRailway accident Flag of truce Popularity of Lord - Number of guns in the trenches of the Allies, April 9th Second bombardment Badness of the weather Reinforcement of Turks General Bizot wounded French attack ambuscades on the left - The naval brigade - Arrival of the submarine telegraph — French again attack ambuscades and take them English casualties from 9th to 13th inclusive - French explode mines in front of Bastion du Mât — English magazine blown up - General Bizot's burial · Admiral Bruat's opinion - Reconnaissance under Omer Pasha 77th regiment attack and capture three Russian rifle-pits Death of Colonel Egerton — A gallant drummerboy English casualties Council of War - Proposed assault of the town - General Canrobert refuses to co-operate His unpopularity Projected expedition to Kertch Omer Pasha returns to Eupatoria English casualties Russian losses during second bombardment. Head-quarters before Sevastopol, It is twelve months this day since I took leave of you all; a year of great events and one which I shall remember above all others to the end of my life. I can hardly believe that it is a whole year since I last saw you, time has flown so quickly by. How I wonder if another is to elapse before seeing you again; I cannot but trust that the same Power which has preserved me through so many dangers will some day restore me to my home. I have omitted before to mention to you, that for some time past it has been in contemplation to commence a new bombardment, and on more than one occasion during the last month it has been next to decided upon. But one thing or another each time has put it off; first, it was thought necessary that the French should take the Ouvrages Blancs, and then, when they found that impracticable, they decided to erect batteries to fire against these works. Then the Mamelon sprang up, and the inventive energies of the English and French engineers were tasked to find places where best to erect batteries to subdue its fire. It was arranged at the end of last month that the Allies should open fire from all their guns on the morning of the 3rd of April. But on the night of the 1st, General Canrobert sent to Lord Raglan proposing to put it off for a few days, and suggested that a Council of War should be held the following afternoon. This accordingly took place, and, after much discussion, it was decided to put off the bombardment until the morning of the 5th instant. This was done entirely at the particular request of the French generals, for they hoped by that time, that Omer Pasha and his 20,000 Turks would have arrived from Eupatoria. The French, it appears, have got an idea, which they say is gained from information received through their spies, that when the Allies assault the town, the Russian army outside will attack the rear of our position or Balaklava, and they think our forces are not strong enough to carry on successfully two things at once, viz. the assault of the town in front, and the defence of our position in rear. We have learnt from our spies that, since the fine weather, the enemy have largely increased the number of troops near Tchorgoun, and have also brought up a large force from the interior to the Mackenzie Farm heights. The troops at the former place are stated as being from 10,000 to 12,000 in number, and those at the latter no less than 30,000, so that they could bring any morning against Balaklava or any other portion of our lines at least 40,000 men. It is an attack from these troops that has so much alarmed the French generals. I ought to observe that Lord Raglan is much against the Turks coming here: I understand he thinks that there may possibly be some difficulty in carrying on effective operations with three armies differently organised, each with an independent chief, and no one to command the whole. Omer Pasha considers himself senior both to Lord Raglan and General Canrobert, as he has been a marshal for more than a year. Then, unfortunately, the French do not pay that respect to Omer Pasha that is due to his rank and command, and it requires all Lord Raglan's well-known tact to keep the commanders-inchief of the French and Turkish armies on that footing of cordiality so necessary to successful cooperation. Lord Raglan has also another reason for not wishing for the Turkish troops; he thinks bringing more men to this already crowded ground, now that the hot weather is coming on, likely to promote sickness and disease, especially as our Mahometan allies are not noted for their cleanliness in camp. After all these changes, you will not be surprised to hear that the French on the 4th instant again insisted on the day of our opening fire being put off, giving as one of their reasons that they did not wish to engage the enemy on Good Friday! This, of course, is all humbug, and a very lame excuse to gain time, so that Omer Pasha may arrive with his reinforcement before the bombardment commences. Some delay has taken place in the embarkation of the troops from Eupatoria, in consequence of the Turkish authorities not having sent up more than half the Egyptian division. Omer Pasha will therefore only bring with him 13,000 instead of 20,000 men. They are expected in the course of tomorrow; two-thirds of the troops are to be transported here by the French, and the remaining third by us. |