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barCHAPTER XX.BOMBARDMENT—THE ASSAULT—GREAT REDAN—THE BATTLE—BALAKLAVA—HOSPITAL—MISS NIGHTINGALE—NURSES—PROMOTED—DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL—DEATH OF LORD RAGLAN.
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BOMBARDMENT—THE ASSAULT—GREAT REDAN—THE BATTLE—BALAKLAVA—HOSPITAL—MISS NIGHTINGALE—NURSES—PROMOTED—DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL—DEATH OF LORD RAGLAN.
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Afterthe contest for the rifle pits and Mamelon, on the 8th and 9th, a temporary lull took place in the siege operations, which was necessary, in order to make preparations for a yet more formidable assault on the Malakoff and Redan, of which the Mamelon and Quarries were mere advanced works. Therefore, on the morning of the 17th of June, 1855, the batteries of the allied armies before Sebastopol opened fire from the whole line of trenches, from left to right. The tremendous roar of big guns and mortars was terrible. What a pity that this bombardment had not been kept up until the general assault took place next morning, which Lord Raglan had intended; but in order to suit the wishes of General Pellisier, it was most unfortunate that his Lordship was induced to abandon his intention, instead of which the Russians were allowed to strengthen their batteries and reinforce them with troops owing to the lull in the firing. By the time the assault was made, they were well prepared to meet us.
June 18th. At 2 o'clock in the morning, the 4th division,under General Wyndham and Sir John Campbell, consisting of the 17th, 20th, 21st, 57th and 63rd Regiments, were marched down to the twenty-one gun battery; thence by files through zigzags to the Quarries, under a galling fire of shot and shell from the Redan, the 17th Regiment leading. As we reached the Quarries, the men got packed closely together in such a small space; and the Russians, having the exact range threw the shell right amongst our men, tearing them to pieces, throwing their legs and arms high in the air, as we stood there a target for the Russians waiting for the two rockets which was the signal from the French, when they got into the Malakoff. A shell struck Sergeant Connell of the Grenadier Company, tearing him to shreds, and throwing one of his legs fifty yards off, which was found afterwards and known by the regimental number on the sock. That leg was all of him that could ever be seen afterwards. Paddy Belton, the third man from me, got struck with a shell and torn to pieces, and several others. We had much better have tried to get into the Redan, than to stand there in suspense, a target for shell and shot. The sailors and 20th Regiment were told off to carry scaling ladders and wool packs; the latter were placed on the field, as cover for the riflemen, who were told off to cover the advance of the storming party, firing at the Russian gunners, through the embrasures. As the ladder party advanced toward the ditch of the Redan, a storm of grape, canister, rifle bullets and pieces of old nails and iron, was discharged from the big guns of the Redan, besides a cross fire from the curtains of thelittle Redan and Malakoff, causing great slaughter to the small party of sailors and 20th Regiment. I saw one of the ladder carriers knocked down from one end with a shot, when the weight of the ladder devolved on the other man who dragged it along the best way he could, till he was also knocked over. After hard tugging several had got as far as the abatis, where they had another delay; for during the night the Russians had repaired and strengthened it. This obstructed the advance of the ladder party, who used the greatest exertions to remove that barrier; all who were not shot worked through and deposited their ladders in the ditch of the Redan. Of those who fell, their ladders lay on the ground between the Quarries and Redan. The ladders were barely deposited in the ditch, when Lord Raglan gave the order for the advance of the storming parties, which consisted of the 17th, 21st, 57th and 63rd Regiments. This small party, led by Sir John Campbell, were to attack the left side of that immense and formidable stronghold, the great Redan.
The light division, led by the gallant Colonel Yea, consisted of the 7th, 23rd, 33rd, 34th, 77th and 88th Regiments, the right side, and the 2nd division the centre or apex. On the signal being given, Captain John Croker sang out at the top of his voice, "Grenadiers of the 17th, advance," when the company bounded over the parapet, like one man, led by their captain, followed by the other companies. When the Russians saw us advancing, they opened such a terrific fire of grape, canister and musketry, that it was almost impossible for any man to escape beinghit. As we advanced up to the abatis, Sir John Campbell was shot, also my noble captain, John Croker, who was struck with a grape shot in the head, and fell.
LINES ON THE DEATH OF SIR JOHN CAMPBELL AND CAPTAIN JOHN CROKER.
Who fell leading the assault on the Great Redan, June 18th, 1855.
Ye Grenadiers! who fear no foe and scoff at death,Full well I know that, to your dying breath,You'll fight like warriors, or like heroes fall,So now obey your Queen and country's call.To crush those Russians with relentless hand,And scale their ramparts like a gallant band,Let John Campbell's orders be our guide,We'll fight and conquer by that hero's side.Nor will we humble at the Russian bear;While God is with us we need never fear;Grasp tight your swords for victory's glorious crown,And share with none those deeds of high renown.The warriors brave around John Croker stood,Within the Quarries ready for to shed their blood,While Captain Croker on the signal given,Cries, "Grenadiers, advance! and trust your fate to heaven."Stung with desire, they raised the battle-cry,And rushed well forward to win the fight, or die;Our captain waved high his sword, and thenOnward he dashed, followed by all his gallant men.Who with one loud hurrah, the silence broke,And charged like Britons through the fire and smoke;A moment more and then the bloody struggle came,With roar of cannon and with flash and flame.While piled in ghastly heaps the brave soldiers lay,Filling the trenches with their dead that day,John Croker's voice was heard above the battle din,Leading his company through death and slaughter then.Until at last the fatal bullet riven,Laid our hero low and sent his soul to heaven;Deep was the grief and sorrow at his loss we bore,As that noble chieftain lay weltering in his gore.While round his ghastly corpse we bravely triedTo quell the sweeping torrent of the rushing tideThat rushed upon us with such resistless fire,And levelled our heroes in heaps, there to expire.But few escaped of the forlorn band,Of that chivalric company Croker did command;But those who did, stuck by their leader still,And laid his corpse to rest on Cathcart's Hill.
Ye Grenadiers! who fear no foe and scoff at death,Full well I know that, to your dying breath,You'll fight like warriors, or like heroes fall,So now obey your Queen and country's call.To crush those Russians with relentless hand,And scale their ramparts like a gallant band,Let John Campbell's orders be our guide,We'll fight and conquer by that hero's side.Nor will we humble at the Russian bear;While God is with us we need never fear;Grasp tight your swords for victory's glorious crown,And share with none those deeds of high renown.The warriors brave around John Croker stood,Within the Quarries ready for to shed their blood,While Captain Croker on the signal given,Cries, "Grenadiers, advance! and trust your fate to heaven."Stung with desire, they raised the battle-cry,And rushed well forward to win the fight, or die;Our captain waved high his sword, and thenOnward he dashed, followed by all his gallant men.Who with one loud hurrah, the silence broke,And charged like Britons through the fire and smoke;A moment more and then the bloody struggle came,With roar of cannon and with flash and flame.While piled in ghastly heaps the brave soldiers lay,Filling the trenches with their dead that day,John Croker's voice was heard above the battle din,Leading his company through death and slaughter then.Until at last the fatal bullet riven,Laid our hero low and sent his soul to heaven;Deep was the grief and sorrow at his loss we bore,As that noble chieftain lay weltering in his gore.While round his ghastly corpse we bravely triedTo quell the sweeping torrent of the rushing tideThat rushed upon us with such resistless fire,And levelled our heroes in heaps, there to expire.But few escaped of the forlorn band,Of that chivalric company Croker did command;But those who did, stuck by their leader still,And laid his corpse to rest on Cathcart's Hill.
Ye Grenadiers! who fear no foe and scoff at death,Full well I know that, to your dying breath,You'll fight like warriors, or like heroes fall,So now obey your Queen and country's call.
Ye Grenadiers! who fear no foe and scoff at death,
Full well I know that, to your dying breath,
You'll fight like warriors, or like heroes fall,
So now obey your Queen and country's call.
To crush those Russians with relentless hand,And scale their ramparts like a gallant band,Let John Campbell's orders be our guide,We'll fight and conquer by that hero's side.
To crush those Russians with relentless hand,
And scale their ramparts like a gallant band,
Let John Campbell's orders be our guide,
We'll fight and conquer by that hero's side.
Nor will we humble at the Russian bear;While God is with us we need never fear;Grasp tight your swords for victory's glorious crown,And share with none those deeds of high renown.
Nor will we humble at the Russian bear;
While God is with us we need never fear;
Grasp tight your swords for victory's glorious crown,
And share with none those deeds of high renown.
The warriors brave around John Croker stood,Within the Quarries ready for to shed their blood,While Captain Croker on the signal given,Cries, "Grenadiers, advance! and trust your fate to heaven."
The warriors brave around John Croker stood,
Within the Quarries ready for to shed their blood,
While Captain Croker on the signal given,
Cries, "Grenadiers, advance! and trust your fate to heaven."
Stung with desire, they raised the battle-cry,And rushed well forward to win the fight, or die;Our captain waved high his sword, and thenOnward he dashed, followed by all his gallant men.
Stung with desire, they raised the battle-cry,
And rushed well forward to win the fight, or die;
Our captain waved high his sword, and then
Onward he dashed, followed by all his gallant men.
Who with one loud hurrah, the silence broke,And charged like Britons through the fire and smoke;A moment more and then the bloody struggle came,With roar of cannon and with flash and flame.
Who with one loud hurrah, the silence broke,
And charged like Britons through the fire and smoke;
A moment more and then the bloody struggle came,
With roar of cannon and with flash and flame.
While piled in ghastly heaps the brave soldiers lay,Filling the trenches with their dead that day,John Croker's voice was heard above the battle din,Leading his company through death and slaughter then.
While piled in ghastly heaps the brave soldiers lay,
Filling the trenches with their dead that day,
John Croker's voice was heard above the battle din,
Leading his company through death and slaughter then.
Until at last the fatal bullet riven,Laid our hero low and sent his soul to heaven;Deep was the grief and sorrow at his loss we bore,As that noble chieftain lay weltering in his gore.
Until at last the fatal bullet riven,
Laid our hero low and sent his soul to heaven;
Deep was the grief and sorrow at his loss we bore,
As that noble chieftain lay weltering in his gore.
While round his ghastly corpse we bravely triedTo quell the sweeping torrent of the rushing tideThat rushed upon us with such resistless fire,And levelled our heroes in heaps, there to expire.
While round his ghastly corpse we bravely tried
To quell the sweeping torrent of the rushing tide
That rushed upon us with such resistless fire,
And levelled our heroes in heaps, there to expire.
But few escaped of the forlorn band,Of that chivalric company Croker did command;But those who did, stuck by their leader still,And laid his corpse to rest on Cathcart's Hill.
But few escaped of the forlorn band,
Of that chivalric company Croker did command;
But those who did, stuck by their leader still,
And laid his corpse to rest on Cathcart's Hill.
T. Faughnan.
At this time, if the commander had supported us, we would have taken the Redan; but the few men who were sent out were shot down. Scarcely a man advanced as far as the Redan but got either killed or wounded. I got shot through the right arm, fracturing the bone. As I was coming back, covered with blood, for the wound was severe, I saw a man named John Dwyer, who got struck with a grape shot in the thigh. He said to me, "Oh, Faughnan, I am kilt entirely." He had scarcely spoken, when a round shot struck him again and put an end to his sufferings. I was conducted to the ravine, at the Woronzoff road, by a drummer, where the doctors and hospital orderlies were in their shirt-sleeves, hard at work, amputatinglegs and arms, and binding up wounds; it was fearful to see all the legs and arms lying around. After the doctor stopped the blood with a patent bandage, he dressed my wound, and sent me to hospital on an ambulance waggon with twelve other wounded men. During the assault on the Redan and Malakoff, the third division, under General Eyre, consisting of the 9th, 18th, 28th, 38th, and 44th Regiments, with a company of picked marksmen, under Major Felden, of the 44th Regiment, were pushed forward to feel the way, and cover the advance. At the signal for the general assault, the 18th Royal Irish, being the storming party, rushed at the cemetery, and got possession, dislodging the Russians with a small loss; but the moment the Russians retired, the batteries opened a heavy fire on them, from the Barrack and Garden batteries.
The 18th at once rushed out of the cemetery towards the town, and succeeded in getting into some houses; Captain Hayman was gallantly leading his company when he was shot. Once in the houses, they prepared to defend themselves. Meantime the enemy did their utmost to blow down the houses with shot, shell, grape and canister, but the men kept close, though they lost many men. They entered these houses about six o'clock in the morning, and could not leave them until eight o'clock in the evening. The enemy at last blew up many of the houses, and set fire to others. When our men rushed out of them the fire was now spreading all over. The 9th also effected a lodgment in some houses, and held their possession as well as the 18th. Why were these men not supported by largebodies of troops, so as to take the enemy on the flank, and round behind the Redan? Whose fault was it? Not the men's! Whose fault was it that the Redan was not breeched by round shot, and the abatis swept away before the assault was made? Not the men's. Whose fault was it that large supports were not pushed forward to the Redan, on the assault being made? Not the men's. Nothing can be compared to the bravery, daring and courage of the officers and soldiers of the British army, when they are brought properly into action; but when a handful of men are sent to take a stronghold like the Redan, armed as it was with all sorts of destructive missiles, and manned by an immense force, it could not be expected that men could do impossibilities. An armistice to bury the dead was granted by the Russians, and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 19th, white flags were hoisted on the Redan and Malakoff, and in an instant afterwards burying parties of the French and English emerged from the trenches and commenced to carry off their dead and bury them in rear of the trenches, all in one grave, and in their clothes as they lay, except the officers who were taken to camp, and buried at Cathcart's Hill. Many wounded men were found close to the abatis, who were lying there thirty-six hours in their blood-stained clothes, in the scorching sun, without a drop of water to quench their thirst. Several had crawled away during the night, and hundreds had died of their wounds as they lay. After the burial was over, the white flags were lowered and firing commenced again once more. As the ambulance waggons moved alongthe Woronzoff road towards the hospitals, I could not help regretting our loss in officers and men, more especially Captain John Croker. He was a very strict officer, but a very kind gentleman; that is, he expected every man to do his duty faithfully and zealously, and beyond that, he was indulgent, generous, and always anxious for the comfort, happiness, and amusement of his company. A better, braver, or more dignified and gentlemanly officer, a kinder friend than Captain John Croker was not in the service, nor one more precise, more exacting, more awake to the slightest professional neglect of duty and his loss to the grenadier company, I am sure, will be deeply and sorely felt; he was a native of the County Limerick. On arrival at the hospital the doctor examined my wound, and found that the bone was fractured. He then set it, after taking out three splinters, dressed it, put it in a splint, gave me a glass of brandy, and put me to bed. The hospital was getting so crowded I was one of a party of wounded men who were sent down to Balaklava hospital on mules, next day at ten o'clock. The number sent down from the division was two hundred; each mule carried two patients; we sat back to back. On arrival at Balaklava hospital, we were told off to comfortable huts, each containing beds or cots. The wounded men were separate from the others; those very severely wounded were put to bed, and at dinner time one of Miss Nightingale's ladies came round, and spoke kindly to us, and examined our wounds, which we appreciated very much; and at tea time the same lady brought us arrowroot and portwine. Next morning the doctor dressed our wounds, and the lady brought us all sorts of delicacies. How different to the camp rations of salt junk and hard tack; and now we had a real lady to nurse us and attend to our wants. I thought that it was worth getting wounded to have such attendance. Nothing could surpass the kindness and attention which these ladies showed the wounded men; each of them has a certain number of patients under her care; and truly their kindness and unremitting exertions did more good to alleviate the pain and suffering of the wounded men than all the doctor's medicine. The weather was so very hot that my arm began to swell, so that the doctor got alarmed and consulted another doctor, when they decided to amputate my arm. I did not like the idea of losing my arm, but the doctors thought the swelling would get into my body; so when the nurse came round with the arrowroot in the evening, after she had washed and dressed my wound, she advised me not to have my arm taken off, but go down to a spring that gushed from a rock at the foot of the hill and there hold the wound under the stream as long as I could bear it, every day. I did as she told me. I then told the doctor that I would not have my arm taken off. I sat at the spring all day, except at meal times, and held my arm under the cold water that rushed out of the rock, and at the end of a week the swelling reduced. From that time it began to get better; I was in good health and was allowed to walk round the hills during the day. The head surgeon, Dr. Jephson, allowed us every privilege,and our nurse brought us note paper, envelopes and postage stamps, so that we could write home to our friends. The invalids were allowed to roam round the rocks all day between meal times. The hospital, which has been recently established, affords great comfort to our sick and wounded men, who will be saved the evils of a sea voyage to Scutari. It already presents the appearance of a little village with small patches of gardens in front of the huts; and its position on those heights, among the rocks, overhanging the sea and steep crags, which wind up past the old Genoese tower that stands at the entrance of Balaklava harbour, to the height of our camp over the sea, is strikingly picturesque. The judicious surgical treatment of my arm, and the careful manner in which the doctor's directions were carried out by our nurse, together with holding it under the stream of cold spring water, soon restored it to use again; several other men whose wounds were very severe were fast improving under this lady's care. Her assiduity and skill as a nurse, as well as the gentle kindness of her manner, fully warranted the greatest respect from her patients, who almost idolized her, whose presence in the hut stilled the pain of the wounded men. We often wondered whether she ever slept, as she seemed to be always attending one or another of her charge. Miss Nightingale had left Balaklava for Scutari a few days ago, so I had not the gratification of seeing that heroic lady, whose honoured name is often mentioned among the soldiers of the British Army with the most profound respect—that high born lady FlorenceNightingale, the sick and wounded soldier's friend, whose name will be handed down to future generations, as the greatest heroine of her sex, who left her happy home with all the genial associations, comforts and social attractions which her birth, education and accomplishments so well enable her to appreciate; going out to a country wherein every turn spoke of war and slaughter; taking up her abode in an hospital containing none of her own sex save those noble ladies who accompanied her as nurses; watching and tending the sick from morning till night, among hundreds of wounded, sick, emaciated and hungry soldiers. All these things considered, there has indeed rarely, if ever, been such an example of heroic daring combined with feminine gentleness. Although there is a heroism in charging the enemy on the heights of Inkerman, in defiance of death and all mortal opposition, worthy of all praise and honour, yet the quiet sympathy, the largeness of her religious heart, and her wondrous powers of consolation, will ever be remembered with the love, thankfulness and affection of the soldiers of the British Army, and by no one more than T. Faughnan.
LINES TO MISS FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.
At the Crimean war thy life was new;You left your home, and country too,To tend the wounded with hand so fair,To Balaklava hospital you did repair.Miss Florence Nightingale, for you is givenThe soldier's prayer to God in Heaven,That you may soar to Him above,For your right noble valour and Christian love.If Angels are here on earth below,You must be one of them we know;For flesh and blood can not compare,Such genuine valour and angelic care.As you displayed, without one thoughtOf the sleepless nights on you it brought;May God His blessings on you descend,Is a soldier's prayer whom you did befriend.When you this earthly race have run,May Angels lead you to the Son,There to sing with Christ for evermore,Whom here, on earth, you ever did adore.
At the Crimean war thy life was new;You left your home, and country too,To tend the wounded with hand so fair,To Balaklava hospital you did repair.Miss Florence Nightingale, for you is givenThe soldier's prayer to God in Heaven,That you may soar to Him above,For your right noble valour and Christian love.If Angels are here on earth below,You must be one of them we know;For flesh and blood can not compare,Such genuine valour and angelic care.As you displayed, without one thoughtOf the sleepless nights on you it brought;May God His blessings on you descend,Is a soldier's prayer whom you did befriend.When you this earthly race have run,May Angels lead you to the Son,There to sing with Christ for evermore,Whom here, on earth, you ever did adore.
At the Crimean war thy life was new;You left your home, and country too,To tend the wounded with hand so fair,To Balaklava hospital you did repair.
At the Crimean war thy life was new;
You left your home, and country too,
To tend the wounded with hand so fair,
To Balaklava hospital you did repair.
Miss Florence Nightingale, for you is givenThe soldier's prayer to God in Heaven,That you may soar to Him above,For your right noble valour and Christian love.
Miss Florence Nightingale, for you is given
The soldier's prayer to God in Heaven,
That you may soar to Him above,
For your right noble valour and Christian love.
If Angels are here on earth below,You must be one of them we know;For flesh and blood can not compare,Such genuine valour and angelic care.
If Angels are here on earth below,
You must be one of them we know;
For flesh and blood can not compare,
Such genuine valour and angelic care.
As you displayed, without one thoughtOf the sleepless nights on you it brought;May God His blessings on you descend,Is a soldier's prayer whom you did befriend.
As you displayed, without one thought
Of the sleepless nights on you it brought;
May God His blessings on you descend,
Is a soldier's prayer whom you did befriend.
When you this earthly race have run,May Angels lead you to the Son,There to sing with Christ for evermore,Whom here, on earth, you ever did adore.
When you this earthly race have run,
May Angels lead you to the Son,
There to sing with Christ for evermore,
Whom here, on earth, you ever did adore.
T. Faughnan.
After it was ascertained at the regiment that I was not killed, as was reported, but only wounded, and in hospital at Balaklava, the commanding officer had me promoted to full corporal, and my promotion dated back from the first of April previous, which left me three months' back pay to draw. This news reached me a few days before I was discharged from hospital. On the 20th of August, I was discharged from hospital, and once more proceeded to join my regiment in camp. After thanking the Sisters for all their kindness and attention to me while under their charge, I bid them all good-bye, and started for the front with six others.
On arrival at camp, the first I met was Major Gordon, who was very glad to see me. He said to me, "Faughnan, we all thought you were killed that morning. I am sorry I did not know that you were only wounded before I sent off the returns; I would have recommended you for the Victoria Cross—but it cannot be helped now, as I have recommended Corporal John Smith for it." I thanked him very kindly, and joined my company, who were all well pleased to see me.
There is a sad feeling among the officers and soldiers in camp, and deep regret evinced, at the loss of Lord Raglan, who departed this life at nine o'clock, p.m., the 28th June, 1855. His death appears to have at once stilled every feeling but that of respect for his memory; and the remembrance of the many long years he faithfully and untiringly served his country; and his frequent cheering visits among the men in camp, had endeared him to the army now before Sebastopol. A military procession was formed at four o'clock in the afternoon of the 3rd of July to escort the body to Kazatch Bay. As many as could be spared from duty in the trenches and, with safety to the camp, from every infantry regiment, formed an avenue from the British to the French headquarters, and from thence to Kazatch Bay, where the "Caradoc" was ready to receive her melancholy freight. The French troops formed a similar avenue. The cavalry and batteries of artillery were formed up behind the lines of infantry, and bands were stationed at intervals, and played the Dead March as the procession moved slowlyalong the route marked out by the lines of infantry. The coffin was carried on a gun carriage—the soldier's hearse. At each side rode the four commanders of the allied armies; then followed all the generals and officers who could be spared from trench duty. As the solemn procession moved along, minute guns were fired by the field artillery of the French. At Kazatch Bay, marines and sailors were formed up on the wharf; the naval officers were in attendance; and the body of Lord Raglan was placed on board of Her Majesty's Ship "Caradoc," and removed from that battle-field where both his body and mind had suffered for the last nine months, and where many hundreds of gallant officers lie, in their gore and glory, waiting for the sound of the last trumpet.
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barCHAPTER XXI.CAPTAIN COLTHURST—SIEGE—BOMBARDMENT—ASSAULT—REDAN—THE BATTLE—8TH SEPTEMBER—THE EVACUATION—RUSSIANS—BRITISH IN SEBASTOPOL.
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CAPTAIN COLTHURST—SIEGE—BOMBARDMENT—ASSAULT—REDAN—THE BATTLE—8TH SEPTEMBER—THE EVACUATION—RUSSIANS—BRITISH IN SEBASTOPOL.
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August25th. Captain Colthurst arrived at camp with a draft of three hundred men, who were posted to the different companies, to fill up the vacancies left by those who fell in battle, or died in hospital, or camp, during the winter. During the month of July and August our loss in the trenches was very heavy, although the achievements were not such as brought great fame and honour to the hard-working army. The outworks had approached so near the Russian batteries that our trenches afforded very insufficient shelter from shot, shell, and rifle-bullets which killed and wounded so many of our working parties, swelling the list of dead and wounded very much every twenty four hours. Every thing was now reported ready by the engineers and artillery officers for one last and desperate assault on the fortifications.
The labour bestowed by the Russians to strengthen the Redan and Malakoff was almost inconceivable—a formidable abatis of sharpened stakes in front, a parapet thirty feet high, ditch twenty feet deep by twenty-four feet wide, with three tiers of heavy guns and mortars rising oneabove another. Such was the Malakoff and Redan. The plan of assault was, a vigorous fire to open on the enemy's batteries, by the Allies, on the 5th, 6th and 7th; followed on the 8th of September, 1855, by a storming of the Malakoff by the French, and of the Redan by the British. Generals Pellisier and Simpson arranged that at dawn, on the 8th, the French storming columns were to leave the trenches, the British to storm the Redan; the tricolour flag planted on the Malakoff was to be the signal that the French had triumphed, and the British were then to storm the Redan, for unless the Malakoff was captured first, the Redan could not be held, as the former was the key of the position, therefore the Malakoff should be attacked first, and with a very strong force.
Appalling in its severity was the final bombardment of Sebastopol. It began at day-break, as previously arranged by the commanders, the shot and shell shaking the very ground with the tremendous reverberation, raising clouds of earth and overturning batteries along the Russian lines, filling the air with vivid gleams and sparks and trains of fire, burying the horizon in dense clouds of smoke and vapour, and carrying death and destruction into the heart of, and all over the city. After three hours of this tremendous fire, the gunners ceased for a while to cool their guns and rest themselves; then resumed with such effect that the Russian earth-works became awfully cut up, without, however, exhibiting any actual gaps or breaches, which would have befallen stone batteries, under such a storm of shot and shell; proving the defensive power of earth-works. Darkness did not stay this devastation;shell and shot continued to whistle through the air, marking out a line of light to show their flight, and crashing and bursting against the defences and buildings. The Malakoff and Redan, when no longer visible in daylight, were brought out into vivid relief by the bursting of shells and the flashes of guns. One of the ships in the harbour caught fire from a shell, and was burnt to the water's edge. All through the night the fire continued, which prevented the Russians from repairing their parapets and embrasures, and with dawn on the 6th, the roar of cannon was only interrupted by a few intervals to cool the guns. The enemy, seeing that the hour of peril had arrived, used almost superhuman exertions to work their batteries; increased agitation was visible among them, and several movements seemed to indicate the removal from the south to the north side of the harbour of all such persons and valuables as would not be required to render assistance in the defence. Again did a night of intermittent fire ensue. On the 7th, another ship was burnt in the harbour by our shells; flames broke out in the town, and a loud explosion like that of a magazine took place in the evening.
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE,8th SEPT.,1855.
To-morrow, comrade, weAt the Great Redan must be,There to conquer, or both lie lowThe morning star is up,But there's wine still in the cup,And we'll take another tot, ere we go, boys, go,And we'll take another tot, ere we go.'Tis true, in warriors' eyesSometimes a tear will rise,When we think of our friends left at home;But what can wailing do,Sure our goblet's weeping too!With its tears we'll chase away our own, boys, our own,With its tears we'll chase away our own.The morning may be bright;But this may be the last nightThat we shall ever pass together;The next night where shall weAnd our gallant comrades be?But—no matter—grasp thy sword and away, boy, away,No matter—grasp thy sword, and away!Let those who brook the lotOf the Russian great despot,Like cowards at home they may stay;Cheers for our Queen be given,While our souls we trust to heaven,Then for Britain and our Queen, boys, hurra! hurra! hurra!Then, for Britain and our Queen, boys, hurra!
To-morrow, comrade, weAt the Great Redan must be,There to conquer, or both lie lowThe morning star is up,But there's wine still in the cup,And we'll take another tot, ere we go, boys, go,And we'll take another tot, ere we go.'Tis true, in warriors' eyesSometimes a tear will rise,When we think of our friends left at home;But what can wailing do,Sure our goblet's weeping too!With its tears we'll chase away our own, boys, our own,With its tears we'll chase away our own.The morning may be bright;But this may be the last nightThat we shall ever pass together;The next night where shall weAnd our gallant comrades be?But—no matter—grasp thy sword and away, boy, away,No matter—grasp thy sword, and away!Let those who brook the lotOf the Russian great despot,Like cowards at home they may stay;Cheers for our Queen be given,While our souls we trust to heaven,Then for Britain and our Queen, boys, hurra! hurra! hurra!Then, for Britain and our Queen, boys, hurra!
To-morrow, comrade, weAt the Great Redan must be,There to conquer, or both lie lowThe morning star is up,But there's wine still in the cup,And we'll take another tot, ere we go, boys, go,And we'll take another tot, ere we go.
To-morrow, comrade, we
At the Great Redan must be,
There to conquer, or both lie low
The morning star is up,
But there's wine still in the cup,
And we'll take another tot, ere we go, boys, go,
And we'll take another tot, ere we go.
'Tis true, in warriors' eyesSometimes a tear will rise,When we think of our friends left at home;But what can wailing do,Sure our goblet's weeping too!With its tears we'll chase away our own, boys, our own,With its tears we'll chase away our own.
'Tis true, in warriors' eyes
Sometimes a tear will rise,
When we think of our friends left at home;
But what can wailing do,
Sure our goblet's weeping too!
With its tears we'll chase away our own, boys, our own,
With its tears we'll chase away our own.
The morning may be bright;But this may be the last nightThat we shall ever pass together;The next night where shall weAnd our gallant comrades be?But—no matter—grasp thy sword and away, boy, away,No matter—grasp thy sword, and away!
The morning may be bright;
But this may be the last night
That we shall ever pass together;
The next night where shall we
And our gallant comrades be?
But—no matter—grasp thy sword and away, boy, away,
No matter—grasp thy sword, and away!
Let those who brook the lotOf the Russian great despot,Like cowards at home they may stay;Cheers for our Queen be given,While our souls we trust to heaven,Then for Britain and our Queen, boys, hurra! hurra! hurra!Then, for Britain and our Queen, boys, hurra!
Let those who brook the lot
Of the Russian great despot,
Like cowards at home they may stay;
Cheers for our Queen be given,
While our souls we trust to heaven,
Then for Britain and our Queen, boys, hurra! hurra! hurra!
Then, for Britain and our Queen, boys, hurra!
Thos. Faughnan.
On the morning of the 8th, a destructive and pitiless storm of shot and shell continued until noon, when the fire of our batteries ceased, and the storming columns of the French issued forth, preceded by riflemen and sappers and miners. The French had bridges as substitutes for ladders; the ditch was crossed by the bridges, and the parapet scaled with surprising celerity. Then commenced the struggle, with guns, rifles, pistols, swords, bayonets, and gun-rammers; but in a quarter of an hour the tricolourflag floated on the Malakoff, announcing that the formidable position was taken.
Although the French had captured it, the Russians so well knew its value, it being the key to the whole position, that they made furious attempts at re-capture. But the French General judiciously sent powerful reserves to the support of McMahon, and these reserves maintained a series of desperate battles against the Russians within the Malakoff, bayonet against bayonet, musket against musket, man against man. The contest continued for several hours; but the French triumphed, and drove the Russians from their stronghold.
Anything more wildly disorderly than the interior of the Malakoff can hardly be imagined. The earth had been torn up by the explosion of shells, and every foot of the ground became a frightful scene of bloody struggles; thousands of dead and wounded men being heaped up within this one fort alone. As soon as the tricolour was seen floating on the Malakoff, two rockets gave the signal for the British columns to storm the Redan. Out rushed the storming party, preceded by the ladder and covering party, a mere handful altogether; indeed it appears astonishing that so few should have been told off for so great a work; every soldier had a perilous duty assigned him. The riflemen were to cover the advance of the ladder party, by shooting down the gunners at the embrasures of the Redan; the ladder party to place the ladders in the ditch. As soon as the storming party rushed from the Quarries, the guns of the Redan opened a fiercefire on them, sweeping them down as they advanced. Col. Unett, of the 19th Regiment, was one of the first officers that fell, and Brigadiers Von Straubenzie and Shirley were both wounded, and scarcely an officer who advanced with the storming party but got either killed or wounded. The distance from the Redan to the Quarries was too great, being over two hundred yards, which gave the enemy a good opportunity to mow the storming party down with a tremendous fire of grape, canister and musketry. The survivors advanced and reached the abatis, the pointed stakes of which, standing outward presented a formidable obstacle to further progress; however the men made gaps through which they crawled. Then came another rush to the ditch, when the ladders were found to be too short. However, our men scrambled down, and climbed up, many falling all the time under the shot of the enemy. Officers and men were emulous for the honour of being among the first to enter this formidable battery; but alas too weak, in the numbers necessary for such an enterprise. Mounting to the parapet, the beseigers saw the interior of the Redan before them filled with masses of soldiers and powerful ranges of guns and mortars; wild and bloody was the scene within the assailed fort. Colonel Wyndham (afterwards Sir Charles) was the first officer to enter; and when fairly within the parapet, he and the other officers and men did all they could to dislodge the Russians from behind the traverse and breast works; but the Russians overpowered our handful of men that were sent to takethis stronghold, for we had no support to back up those that got a footing in the Redan. The Russians continued bringing up reinforcements and soon overpowered the few British, who saw they must either retire or remain to be shot down. New supporting parties kept arriving in such driblets and in such confusion as to render impossible any well directed charge against the place. If, for a time a few men were collected in a body, volleys of musketry, grape, canister, and old pieces of iron of every description, fired from their big guns, levelled our men to the dust. The officers and men at last seeing no supports coming to their aid, lost heart and retreated to their trenches.
The embrasures of the parapets, the ditch, and all round the abatis became a harrowing scene of death and wounds; heaps of dead and wounded lay all round the Redan, and piles of them lay at the bottom of the ditch, where they fell by the Russian shot, as they climbed up the scaling ladders. At two o'clock the attack was over, and in these two hours the British loss was very severe. No other day throughout the war recorded so many killed and wounded which amounted to the large number of 2450 in all. The French loss was three times more severe it comprised no less than 7550 killed and wounded.
Next day another attack was to be made on the Redan. Sir Colin Campbell sent down a party cautiously in the night to see how the Redan was occupied; it was found to be vacated, telling plainly of the abandonment, by the Russians, of the south side of the town. It appears that Gortchakoff, when the impossibility of maintaining hisposition became evident, commenced blowing up the public buildings of the town; the gunners, during the early hours of the night, kept up a sufficient fire to mask their proceedings in the stillness of the night when the allied camps were filled with men, either sleeping or thinking anxiously of the scenes which day-light might bring forth. Lurid flames began to rise in Sebastopol; explosions of great violence shook the earth, and intense commotion was visible to the men in the trenches. The fires began in various parts of the town, and tremendous explosions behind the Redan tore up the ground for a great distance; and other explosions succeeded so rapidly that a thick, murky mass of smoke and flames from burning buildings, imparted an awful grandeur to the scene. Now came a resistless outburst which blew up the Flagstaff battery; then another blew up the Garden battery. As day-light approached, Fort Paul, Fort Nicholas Central, and Quarantine Bastion, were seen surrounded by flames. We could not withhold our admiration of the manner in which Gortchakoff carried out his desperate plan, the last available means of saving the rest of the garrison.
On the morning of the 9th September, when the troops in camp heard the announcement that the mighty city had fallen, the city which, during twelve months, had, day by day, been looked at and studied by our generals and engineers, and in front of which 10,000 of our troops had been killed or wounded on the preceding day,—with difficulty was the announcement credited, so accustomedhad all been to the dashing of their hopes, and the non-fulfilment of their predictions. I was one among many who hastened into the town and was astonished at the enormous extent of the batteries, and the manner in which our shot and shell had knocked down and torn up the massive buildings. The French soldiers rushed into the town, peered about the burning houses, and plundered them of chairs, tables, looking-glasses, and countless articles, and carried them up to their camp. The French soldiers always keep a bright look-out for plunder. I must say that our men did not touch a single article, that I ever heard of, except one man, who found a lot of money in a bank. He emptied it into his haversack, and left at once. The bank clerks in their excitement and hurry must have forgotten to take the money in their haste to get out of the city. We had a chain of cavalry all round the town, to keep back stragglers, and stop any person from taking anything out of the town. Thus ended the wondrous Siege of Sebastopol. On the 8th of September, when the allied commanders found that the Russian garrison, together with inhabitants had crossed to the north side of the harbour it became their duty to ascertain whether any traps or explosive mines had been laid by the enemy, before our troops could be allowed to occupy the town, to ward off camp followers, and to divide the spoils of the garrison between the two invading armies; and to take measures for the destruction of the forts and docks.
The appearance of the town, at the time that we enteredit, was fearful indeed. Destructive forces had been raging with a violence never before equalled in the history of sieges; and the whole internal area was one vast heap of crumbled earth-work, shattered masonry, shot-pierced buildings, torn-up streets, scorched timbers, broken guns and muskets, and shattered vehicles. The buildings were shattered into forms truly fantastic; some of the lower stories almost shot away and barely able to support the superstructure; some with enormous gaps in the walls. Proofs were manifold that the Russians intended to defend the town street by street, had we forced an entrance for across every street were constructed barricades defended by field pieces. In some of the best houses columns were broken by shot, ceilings falling, which these columns had once supported; elegant furniture crushed beneath broken cornices, beams, and fragments of broken looking-glasses, mingled with the dust on the marble floors. The effect of our 13-inch shells had been extraordinary. These dread missiles, of which so many thousand had been thrown into the town, weigh 200 pounds each, and falling from a great height, have the weight of over sixty tons descending deep below the foundation of the houses, and when they explode, scattering everything around far and wide. Our army still continued to encamp outside the town, sending only as many troops as would suffice to guard it, and take up the principal buildings among the ruins for guard-houses. Now we have plenty of wood, each company sending a fatigue party daily from the camp to Sebastopol for it. These parties could be seen by theRussians from the north side pulling down the houses for the wood, and carrying it to camp. While doing so the Russians invariably fire upon us, from the north side of the harbour, where they have thrown up very strong forts, armed with the heaviest guns. They have placed some of those guns with the breach sunk into the ground, in order to get elevation, and throw shot right into our camp amongst our tents, not unfrequently killing and wounding our men.
We have now regular guards and sentries all over Sebastopol. After posting a sentry one day, I happened to go down some steps which led to the basement of a large building, and there I found to my horror fifteen dead Russians. My sense of smell first detected them in the dark vault; they were in the worst state of putrefaction. It was found on removing them that they had all been wounded, and had crawled in there and died from their wounds. We buried them where thousands of their comrades were buried, in rear of the Redan. The army is now quiet—no firing except an odd shot from the Russians at our fatigue parties in Sebastopol. We have no trench duty to perform—nothing but the regular camp guards; we have plenty of fuel and good rations; any amount of canteens on the ground, so we are making up now in comfort for the hard times we had last winter. The army was now at a stand-still, having nothing to occupy their time.
But the commanders began to look forward to a second wintering in the Crimea as a probability. Invaluable asthe railway had become, it was inadequate to the conveyance of the immense bulk and weight of supplies required day by day in the army, and hence it is necessary to do that which, if done in the early part of last winter, would have saved so many valuable lives—to construct a new road from Balaklava to the camp. Therefore the road was laid out and large numbers of our men worked on it daily; but making roads is only child's play compared with making trenches under shot, shell, grape and canister. The whole of the divisions were kept continually at road-making; the road promises to be a splendid one, and we were all anxious to make it. We had no less than 10,000 men working on this road, between Balaklava and the front. By the end of October a most excellent road was constructed, including branch roads to the several divisions. The French at the same time constructed a road across the valley which connects their camp with the main road to Kamiesch; and besides they have improved the old Tartar roads.
Our army suffered much last winter from the want of roads. This excellent road which the British army has constructed, will ever remain as a memento of British occupation. During the three weeks of September which followed the evacuation of the south side of Sebastopol the Russians were quietly but actively strengthening their fortifications on the north side, making all the heights bristle with guns, and firing a shot whenever an opportunity offered to work mischief upon our guards, sentries, and fatigue-parties in the town. We had planteda few guns in position so as to bear on the northern heights; but no disposition was shown to open a regular fire on them, except an odd shot to remind them that we were ready for them at any time.
Camp rumours arose concerning some supposed expedition into the interior of the Crimea, but the securing of the captured city was regarded as the first duty.
On the 20th September, 1855, the anniversary of the battle of the Alma, a distribution of the medals for the Crimea, and clasps for Alma, Balaklava and Inkerman, took place among the troops; these decorations were very much appreciated by the officers and men. The day was commemorated with much festivity and amusement in both camps.
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barCHAPTER XXII.EXPEDITION TO KINBURN—THE VOYAGE—ODESSA—LANDING—CUTTING TRENCHES—BOMBARDMENT—THE WHITE FLAG—CAPITULATION—THE PRISONERS—RECONNAISSANCE—THE MARCH—VILLAGE—BIVOUAC—MARCH—A VILLAGE—PIGS AND GEESE—DEPARTURE—THE FLEET—RETURN—SIR W. CODRINGTON—RUSSIAN SPY.
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EXPEDITION TO KINBURN—THE VOYAGE—ODESSA—LANDING—CUTTING TRENCHES—BOMBARDMENT—THE WHITE FLAG—CAPITULATION—THE PRISONERS—RECONNAISSANCE—THE MARCH—VILLAGE—BIVOUAC—MARCH—A VILLAGE—PIGS AND GEESE—DEPARTURE—THE FLEET—RETURN—SIR W. CODRINGTON—RUSSIAN SPY.
a
Anexpedition to Kinburn having been decided upon by the allies, on the 6th of October a squadron of H. M. fleet were in readiness at Kamiesch Bay to convey the 17th, 20th, 21st, 57th, and 63rd Regiments, together with marines, artillery and engineers under the command of General Spencer. As we marched to Kamiesch Bay the morning was close and sultry. When we got a third of the way private Hanratty fell out of the ranks and reported himself sick, when Captain Smith calls out, "Corporal Faughnan, take Hanratty back to hospital." "Yes, sir," says I, we were then marching down a very steep hill. I marched back to the hospital, although I was badly able, for I was bad with dysentery myself at the time, and for upwards of two weeks previously, and was so weak that I could scarcely march; but I did not wish to give in and be left behind. After I gave over the sick man, I saw the regiment a long way off in the valley. I marched as fast as I was able with a full kit. In theafternoon rain commenced to drizzle, and the regiment halted to cloak. I then gained on them and soon overtook them. When we halted at the beach I could have fallen down from weakness and exhaustion, but I kept up my pluck and never gave in. The troops were embarked on board the fleet by small steam-tenders; the 17th Regiment had the honour of being conveyed to Kinburn by the flag-ship "Royal Albert."
On the 7th October, the troops having been on board, and everything ready, we set sail, accompanied by several line-of-battle ships, small steamers, gun-boats, mortar-vessels, and three French floating batteries, constituting an armament of great magnitude. The English squadron comprised six steam line-of-battle ships, seventeen steam frigates, ten gun-boats, six mortar vessels, three steam tenders and ten transports. The Russians north of Sebastopol were in wild excitement when this large squadron appeared; but the ships soon disappeared from the Crimea.
The admirals signalled to the several captains to rendezvous off Odessa. As we got out to sea the band discoursed music while the officers were at dinner; before dinner they played as usual the "Roast Beef of Old England," which we had not heard for many months before.
We had no hammocks, so we were obliged to lie all round the decks in groups during the night. At eight o'clock next morning we cast anchor off Odessa, three miles from the town. It was then the turn for the citizens to be alarmed by this display of force.
The Russians on the heights, in barrack square and allround the city became incessantly active in making observations. We could see the old fashioned telegraph on the towers along the coast working, and clouds of Cossacks, infantry and artillery, formed up along the cliffs, ready to defend the place if attacked. All day on the 9th the fleet remained at anchor, about 80 French and English vessels forming a line six miles in length, eagerly watched from the cliffs by large masses of troops. The rocket-boats, gun-boats, mortar-vessels, and floating batteries might have gone nearer and crumbled the city to ruins; but such was not our orders, and not a shot was fired, and thus was Odessa spared for the third time during the war.
The object of the admirals in making this feint on Odessa, was to draw the Russian troops away from Kinburn, thereby reducing the number of troops in that garrison.
The 10th and 11th we were still at anchor, dense fogs giving the seamen a foretaste of the dangers of that coast; and as the 12th and 13th were very stormy, the admirals would not risk leaving until the weather moderated; thus it happened that the citizens had the threatening fleet in view for six days. The squadrons weighed anchor on the morning of the 14th, and cast anchor off Kinburn that afternoon; in the evening some of the French and English gun-boats entered the estuary of the Dneiper, passing the Fort of Kinburn under a heavy fire from the enemy.
On the morning of the 15th the troops were landedalong the beach out of range of the fort, by the launches of the ships, each being filled with soldiers, and made fast to each other by means of the painter. After the troops were all got into the launches, they formed several long lines of red coats in little boats—each boat was steered by a naval officer.
The front boat of the line being made fast to a small steamer, the whole were then towed in front of the beach where we were to land. As the steamer ran in towards the shore, she cast off the line of boats, and while they were under way each let go the painter, and headed towards the beach running in close on a sandy bottom, when the troops jumped ashore and deployed from where we landed to the River Dneiper, while the gun-boats went up the river. By this double manœuvre the Russians were prevented from receiving reinforcements by sea, while the garrison were cut off by land. In the evening the mortar vessels began to try their range on the forts.
The troops brought no tents, and only three days' rations. After posting outlying pickets, we were set to work cutting a trench from the sea where we landed to the river Dneiper, a distance of five miles. While we were digging the trench during the day, the outlying pickets had a skirmish with a small force of Cossacks; but the chief labour was the landing of stores and artillery, tedious and dangerous work over the rough surf, occasioning the swamping of some of the boats. A camp was formed, but without tents. At two o'clock in the morning we had the trench cut and manned ready to receive the Russianreinforcements for the garrison, which were expected from Odessa, but which did not come. However, a large force of Cossacks came along at three o'clock in the morning, when we opened a heavy fire upon them from our new trench, forcing them to retire quicker than they came, we then kept a good look-out till morning. Generals Spencer and Bazaine made a cavalryreconnaissanceat day-break, when the Cossacks retired altogether.
About four companies of the French and English marksmen were placed under cover at a distance of four hundred yards in rear of the fort, and kept up a fusilade on the Russian gunners; while at the same time the artillery opened a strong fire on the fort; at nine o'clock the ships opened fire on the garrison.
The "Royal Albert," "Algiers," "Agamemnon," and "Princess Royal," and four ships of the line, approached abreast of the principal fort; the "Tribune" and "Sphinx" attacked the earth-work battery. The "Hannibal," "Dauntless," and "Terrible," took position opposite the battery near the end of the fort, while the smaller vessels directed their attack on the east and centre of the fort. Thus the Russians, from the shape and position of the fort, were attacked on all sides at once. Each ship poured its broadside upon the port and the strand batteries as it passed, and received the enemy's fire in return. From nine o'clock until noon these powerful vessels maintained their terrible fire against the forts, crashing the parapets and disabling the guns, while the mortar vessels set fire to the buildings within the fort. The "Arrow" and"Lynx," with others, were exposed to much danger. Having taken up a position close to the batteries to discharge their shell upon the fort, they received in return an iron torrent which tried the resolution of the crew.
At twelve o'clock the Russians hoisted a white flag, when an English and a French officer met the Governor at the entrance of the fort, when he tendered his surrender in military form by giving up his sword, but not without bitter tears and a passionate exclamation expressive of wounded national and professional honour. The officers bore the scene with dignity, but with deep mortification, and many of them were on the verge of mutiny against the Governor, so strong did they resist any proposals of surrender. The garrison laid down their arms, and were marched outside the town and placed close to our camp, with a chain of sentries and the French around them. The number of prisoners taken was 1,500, besides 500 killed and wounded; several of our doctors were sent to attend their wounded in the fort.
The prisoners were divided, the English half were taken on board the "Vulcan," while the other half were taken on board the French ships. The prisoners having been sent off to Constantinople, the captors proceeded to garrison Kinburn, repairing and increasing the defences, clearing away the ruins, repairing the walls and embrasures, replacing the damaged cannon by large ship guns, deepening the ditch, reforming the palisades, strengthening the parapets, restoring the casemates, completing efficient barracks and magazines, in the interior of thefort, and depositing a large amount of military stores of all kinds.
When the small garrison, the other side of the estuary, opposite Kinburn, Aczakoff, found that their guns could effect little against the invaders, and that Kinburn was forced to yield, they blew up the St. Nicholas battery, on the morning of the 18th, and retired a few hours afterwards. On the 20th Generals Spencer and Bazaine set out on areconnaissancewith several regiments of both forces, about five thousand strong. After marching on a sandy plain, like a desert, ten miles, we halted close to a village, piled arms, and were allowed to go foraging into the village, which we found deserted by the inhabitants; but they left abundance of pigs, geese, fowls and provisions, bread baking in the ovens, pails of milk and several other most useful articles, besides in the gardens we found abundance of potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, pumpkins, and almost all sorts of vegetables. We divided the town with the French; after tearing down several houses for fuel and making camp fires, we commenced cooking fowls, turkeys, geese, potatoes, cabbages and vegetables; while others were off through the village killing pigs, geese, turkeys, and chickens, others cutting down branches of trees from a wood hard by, for the purpose of making huts to protect us for the night, as we had no tents, and covering them with hay from the hay yards, and shaking plenty of hay inside to lie on; every mess erected one of these huts. After indulging in the good things, which I can assure you we enjoyed, we lay down very comfortablyfor the night in the hay, and slept most soundly. Next day at two o'clock General Spencer reviewed the troops under his command, with the French General and his soldiers looking on. We were to have the pleasure of another night in this camp. After enjoying boiled fowls, roast turkeys and plenty of fresh vegetables, we lay down among the hay and slept well, thanks be to God. Next morning, after breakfast, we marched to another village named Roosker, ten miles off. We halted outside the village, and sent in foraging parties from each regiment, dividing the town with the French and placing line of sentries in the centre. As we approached the village, the people fled, leaving everything behind, pigs, geese, ducks, fowls, bread, milk and butter. As we killed the live stock, we placed them on the commissariat waggons and brought the spoils back to camp. It was a most amusing scene, the French and English officers and soldiers shooting geese, ducks and hens, with their revolvers, and the men chasing the pigs and stabbing them with their bayonets. A soldier catches a pig by the hind leg, the animal drags him into the French lines, when a French soldier claims the animal, and a kind of a good natured quarrel ensues about the ownership of the pig. The geese rose in flocks, and the officers had the greatest sport shooting them. These were jolly times. After ransacking the town, we set fire to it, and marched back to our old bivouac, ten miles distant.
After arriving at our old camp ground, lo and behold! our huts were all demolished, and not a thing left on theground. The Cossacks had been there during our absence, and burned and destroyed everything. We could see them away in the distance, about 400 strong, watching our movements; however, we bivouacked there as best we could that night. As we marched back, we passed several windmills which we set fire to. Next morning we marched to Kinburn with the commissariat waggons loaded with pigs, geese, fowls, turkeys, potatoes, and cabbage, which were served out as rations in the usual manner.
On the 28th October, Generals Spencer and Bazaine began their arrangements for our departure, first shipping all the stores, guns, and horses, and selecting a sufficient number of troops to garrison and guard Kinburn during the winter; but to bring away all the other forces. Sir Edmund Lyons and the French Admiral selected the vessels which were to be left to protect the place from any Russian attack across the estuary. On the morning of the 29th, troops embarked on board the fleet from the wharf at Kinburn.
The 17th Regiment was conveyed to the Crimea, by the "Terrible." It was a most imposing spectacle, this magnificent fleet sailing in line with the two flag ships leading, and signalling their orders to the captains of the other ships; the line extended over ten miles. What must the Russians along the coast think of this immense armament? The fleet cast anchor in Kamiesch Bay, on the 1st November; and the troops disembarked at once and marched to our old camp on Cathcart's hill.
This expedition did the troops more good than all the medicine in the hospital could have done. I was a new man when I got back. If Hanratty had braved it out as I did, and had come on with the expedition, he might have been well by this time, instead of which he is yet in hospital. The change of air and fresh vegetables worked wonders in restoring and invigorating the men's health. On our return to camp we found that a quantity of rum which was left behind, with other regimental stores, in charge of a sergeant and twelve men was all gone; for which the sergeant was tried and reduced, and the privates were severely punished.
During the month of November we had another change in the command of the army, the appointment of General Sir W. J. Codrington, vice General Simpson. The appointment of Sir William was very popular with the army, and brought increased activity among the troops.
Among other improvements, which were made to meet the wants of the army, was a large reservoir in the ravine between the 2nd light, and the 4th divisions, in the construction of which the French took a prominent part. This reservoir is capable of supplying three divisions of the British and three of the French with abundance of good spring water during winter and summer. Everything seems to have been done now to protect and meet the wants of the army during the coming winter. Almost every kind of supplies is in abundance, and the army in the best of health and spirits.
I was in command of a divisional guard, near Tchernayavalley, when a Russian spy was given in my charge by a cavalryreconnaissanceparty. I immediately posted a sentry to take charge of this prisoner; but he watched his opportunity and slipped out under the fly of the tent. The sentry gave the alarm, when I rushed out after him, calling a file of the guard to follow me. As I gave him chase, I threw off my accoutrements, in order to give me more freedom; he had then about one hundred and fifty yards start of me, and was barefooted, whilst I had heavy boots on; however, I gave him chase. We had run about two miles when I saw that I was gaining on him, and I kept gaining, little by little, for about five miles, when I came up behind him. I was then nearly out of breath; I kept close behind him a good while till I got my wind, then I threw my foot before him with the Connaught touch, and pitched him on his face; then I jumped on him and held him, keeping him down, lest he might overpower me if he got up, as he was a most powerful man, and the file of the guard had not come up to us yet. While I gave him an odd kick, he begged for mercy, which I granted, and marched the Tartar back, meeting the file of the guard as I was returning. If I had let that spy escape, I would have been tried by a court-martial; but my Irish experience in running, before I joined the service, stood to me then; I would have run after him into the Russian camp before I would have lost him. When I got back to the tent, I tied him to the pole with a guy rope, at the same time tying his hands behind his back. I was determined he should not get away again.
The camp followers and speculators have got so numerous that they have a large bazaar formed in the rear of the 4th division. Large shops of almost every description, saloons, billiard tables, restaurants, hotels, groceries, tobacconists, wholesale and retail liquor stores, and in fact almost everything that can be got in any town, can be had here for cash. There is another large bazaar in the French camp. As we assemble in Smith & Co.'s liquor store of an evening, drinking "Guiness's bottled stout," smoking our pipe or cigar with the greatest of comfort, we could but contrast our position with that of this time last year, when the inclement weather commenced. The want of food, forage, huts, clothing, fuel, medicine, roads, vehicles and horses, proved its tragic results. Men lay down in the mire to die of despair, and no commanding officer could tell how many of his poor soldiers would be available for duty next day. But now, towards the close of 1855, we have every kind of supply in abundance, thanks to the people of England! The army is well fed and well clothed, and we are looking out for some active operations against the enemy. The Russians continue to fortify the northern heights without firing a shot, and we occupy the south quietly, without disturbing them. How long this will last will be seen in the next chapter.