musketry gradually died away, while the fire of the allied batteries
angrily opened, telling the tale that all along the line the allies
had been defeated, save only for the slight success at the cemetery.
Eagerly were the wounded questioned, as, carried on stretchers, or
slowly and painfully making their way upon foot, they ascended the
hill. In most of them regret at their defeat or anger at the
incompetence of those who had rendered defeat certain, predominated
over the pain of the wounds.
"Be jabers," said a little Irishman, "but it was cruel work entirely.
There was myself and six others and the captain made our way up to a
lot of high stakes stuck in the ground before the place. We looked
round, and divil another soul was there near. We couldn't climb over
the stakes, and if we had got over 'em there was a deep ditch beyond,
and no way of getting in or out. And what would have been the good if
we had, when there were about 50,000 Russians inside a-shouting and
yelling at the top of their voices, and a-firing away tons of
ammunition? We stopped there five minutes, it may be, waiting to see
if any one else was coming, and then when four of us was killed and
the captain wounded, I thought it time to be laving; so I lifted him
up and carried him in, and got an ugly baste of a Russian bullet into
my shoulder as I did so. Ye may call it fightin', but it's just murder
I call it meself."
Something like this was the tale told by scores of wounded men, and it
is little wonder that, sore with defeat and disappointment, and
heart-sick at the loss which had been suffered, the feelings of the
army found vent in deep grumblings at the generals who had sent out a
handful of men to assault a fortress.
The next day there was another truce to allow of the burial of the
dead and the collection of the wounded who lay thickly on the ground
between the rival trenches. It did not take place, however, till four
in the afternoon, by which time the wounded had been lying for thirty
hours without water or aid, the greater portion of the time exposed to
the heat of a burning sun.
Ten days later Lord Raglan died. He was a brave soldier, an honorable
man, a most courteous and perfect English gentleman, but he was most
certainly not a great general. He was succeeded by General Simpson,
who appears to have been chosen solely because he had, as a lad,
served in the Peninsula; the authorities seeming to forget that for
the work upon which the army was engaged, no school of war could
compare with that of the Crimea itself, and that generals who had
received their training there were incomparably fitter for the task
than any others could be.
Two days after the repulse at the Redan, Jack was delighted by the
entry of his brother into his tent. Harry had of course left England
before the receipt of Jack's letter written when he had crossed the
frontier, and was overwhelmed with delight at the news which he had
received ten minutes before, on arriving at the camp, that his brother
was alive, and was again with the naval brigade close by. Jack's
tent-mates were fortunately absent, and the brothers were therefore
able to enjoy the delight of their meeting alone, and, when the first
rapture was over, to sit down for a long talk. Jack was eager to learn
what had happened at home, of which he had heard nothing for six
months, and which Harry had so lately left. He was delighted to hear
that all were well; that his elder sister was engaged to be married;
and that although the shock of the news of his death had greatly
affected his mother she had regained her strength, and would, Harry
was sure, be as bright and cheerful as ever when she heard of his
safety. Not till he had received answers to every question about home
would Jack satisfy his brother's curiosity as to his own adventures,
and then he astonished him indeed with an account of what he had gone
through.
"Well, Jack, you are a lucky fellow!" Harry said, when he had
finished. "To think of your having gone through all those adventures
and living to tell of them. Why, it will be something to talk about
all your life."
"And you, Harry, are you quite recovered?"
"I am as well as ever," Harry said. "It was a case of typhus and
frost-bite mixed. I lost two of my toes, and they were afraid that I
should be lame in consequence. However, I can march well enough for
all practical purposes, though I do limp a little. As to the typhus,
it left me very weak; but I soon picked up when the wind from England
was blowing in my face. Only to think that all the time I was grieving
for you as dead and buried by the Russians among the hills over there
that you were larking about with those jolly Russian girls."
"Oh, yes, that's all very well," Jack said. "But you must remember
that all that pretty nearly led to my being hung or shot; and it was a
hot time among those Poles, too, I can tell you."
The next few days passed quietly. On the 12th of July Jack rode out
with his commanding officer, who, with many others, accompanied the
reconnaissance made by the Turks and French, on a foraging and
reconnoitring party, towards Baidar, but they did not come in contact
with the Russians.
Both parties still worked steadily at their trenches. The French were
fortunate in having soft ground before them, and were rapidly pushing
their advances up towards the Malakoff. This position, which could
without difficulty have been seized by the allies at the commencement
was in reality the key of the Russian position. Its guns completely
commanded the Redan, and its position would render that post
untenable, while the whole of the south side of Sebastopol would lay
at our mercy. In front of the English the ground was hard and stony,
and it was next to impossible to advance our trenches towards the
Redan, and the greater portion of the earth indeed had to be carried
in sacks on men's backs from points in the rear.
The working parties were also exposed to a cross-fire, and large
numbers of men were killed every day.
On the 31st a tremendous storm broke upon the camp, but the soldiers
were now accustomed to such occurrences, the tents were well secured,
and but little damage was suffered. Save for a few sorties by the
Russians, the next fortnight passed quietly.
The cavalry were now pushed some distance inland, and the officers
made up parties to ride through the pretty valleys and visit the
villas and country houses scattered along the shores.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE BATTLE OF THE TCHERNAYA
On the evening of the 15th of August several Tartars brought in news
that the Russians were preparing for an attack; but so often had
similar rumors been received that little attention was paid to their
statements. It was known indeed that they had received very large
reinforcements, and the troops had been several times called under
arms to resist their repeated attacks. These, however, had all passed
off quietly, and when the troops retired to rest none thought that a
great battle was going to take place on the morrow.
The Tchernaya, after leaving the valley of Baidar, flows between a
number of low swells of ground, and formed the front of the allied
armies on the plains. On the extreme right the Turks were stationed.
Next them came the Sardinians, whose position extended from a stream
flowing into the Tchernaya at right angles to an eminence known as
Mount Hasfort. In front, and divided from it by an aqueduct which,
too, ran parallel to the river, was another hillock accessible from
the first by a stone bridge at which the Sardinians had a breastwork.
Their outposts extended some distance on the other side of the
Tchernaya. The French occupied a series of hillocks to the left of the
Sardinians, guarding the road leading from Balaklava to McKenzie's
farm. The river and aqueduct both flowed along their front. The road
crossed the former by a bridge known as the Traktia Bridge, the latter
by a stone bridge. In front of the Traktia Bridge was a breastwork.
At dawn a strong body of Russians were seen upon the heights opposite
to those occupied by the Sardinians, and thence, being on ground
higher than that upon our side of the river, they commanded both the
Sardinian and French positions. The bridge was held by a company of
infantry and a company of Bersaglieri, and General Della Marmora at
once despatched another company of Bersaglieri to enable the advance
to hold their post until the army got under arms. They mounted the
opposite plateau, but this was so swept by the Russian guns, that they
were forced at once to retire to the bridge.
Soon the artillery opened along the whole line on both sides. The
French outposts had also been driven in, and before the troops were
fairly under arms, the Russians had crossed the bridge, and were
charging forward. The aqueduct, which was nine or ten feet wide and
several feet deep, now formed the front of the French defence. It ran
along on the face of the hill, with a very steep slope facing the
Russians.
In spite of the fire of the French artillery in front, and of the
Sardinian artillery which swept them in flank, the Russian soldiers
pressed most gallantly forward, crossed the aqueduct, and tried to
storm the height. The Sardinian fire, however, was too severe, and
after ten minutes the Russians fell back. It met another column
advancing at the double, and uniting, they again rushed forward. While
they forded the river, two guns crossed by the bridge and another by a
ford, and opened upon the French. The infantry, rushing breast deep
through the water, began to scale the heights. But the French met them
boldly, and after a fierce fight drove them down and across the
bridge. On their left another column had attacked the French right,
and in spite of the Sardinian guns which ploughed long lanes in their
ranks, crossed the aqueduct and scaled the heights. But as they
reached the plateau so terrible a storm of grape and musket-balls
swept upon them, that the bead of the column melted away as it
surmounted the crest. Fresh men took the place of those that fell, but
when the French infantry, with a mighty cheer, rushed upon them, the
Russians broke and ran. So great was the crowd that they could not
pass the river in time, and 200 prisoners were taken, while the French
and Sardinian artillery swept the remains of the column, as it
retreated, with a terrible cross fire.
At the bridge, however, the Russians made one more effort. The
reserves were brought up, and they again crossed the river and
aqueduct. The French, however, were now thoroughly prepared, and the
attack was, like the preceding one, beaten back with terrible
slaughter. The Russians fell back along their whole line, covered by
the fire of their artillery, while five regiments of cavalry took post
to oppose that of the allies, should they attempt to harass the
retreat.
The loss of the French was nine officers killed and fifty-three
wounded, 172 men killed and 1163 wounded. The Sardinians had two
officers killed and eight wounded; sixty-two men killed, and 135
wounded. The Russian loss was twenty-seven officers killed, and
eighty-five wounded; 3329 men killed, 4785 wounded. Never were the
advantages of position more clearly shown, for the Russians lost
fifteen times as many killed as the allies, four times as many
wounded, although they had all the advantages of a surprise on their
side. The English had only a battery of heavy guns under Captain
Mowbray engaged. These did good service.
Jack Archer saw but little of this battle. It commenced at daybreak
and lasted little over an hour, and when Jack, with hundreds of other
officers and soldiers, reached points from which a view of the plain
could be commanded, a thick cloud of smoke was drifting across it,
through which nothing could be seen until the heavy masses of Russians
were observed making their way back covered by their cavalry, and the
dying away of the cannonade told that the battle was over.
Life in camp was very cheery now. The troops were in splendid health
and high spirits. Races were got up in each division, for almost all
officers possessed ponies of some kind or other, and great amusement
was caused by these events. Some of the lately-arrived regiments had
brought their regimental bands with them, and these added to the
liveliness of the camps. A good supply of eatables and wine could be
obtained from the sutlers, and dinner-parties were constantly taking
place. Altogether life in camp was very enjoyable.
The French, who during the winter had fared much better than
ourselves, were now in a very inferior condition. The full publicity
which had been given to the sufferings of our troops had so roused the
British public, that not only had they insisted that Government should
take all measures for the comfort of the soldiers, but very large sums
had been collected, and ships laden with comforts and luxuries of all
kinds despatched to the seat of war. Consequently our troops were now
in every respect well fed and comfortable. Upon the other hand, the
details of the sufferings of the French troops had been carefully
concealed from the French people. Consequently nothing was done for
them, and their food was the same now as it had been at Varna in the
previous year. They were consequently exposed to the attacks of the
same illness, and while the British army was enjoying perfect health,
the French hospitals were crowded, and many thousands died of cholera
and fever.
After the Tchernaya, as there was no probability of a renewal of the
bombardment for a short time, Jack asked leave to spend a few days on
board ship, as his services as interpreter were not likely to be
required. This was readily granted. Here he had perfect rest. Captain
Hethcote did not put him in a watch, and every day, with some of his
messmates, he rowed out of the harbor, and coasted along at the foot
of the lofty cliffs, sometimes fishing, sometimes taking a bath in the
