+————-+——————————————-+————————+ | |Admissions into Hospital from| Deaths from | | |———————+———————+————————+ | | Disease. | Wounds. |Disease.|Wounds.| +————-+———————+———————+————+———-+ |July | 138 | 20 | 8 | 1 | |August | 132 | 15 | 5 | 3 | |September| 65 | 12 | 2 | 2 | +————-+———————+———————+————+———-+ Between June 20th and September 21st, 78 men returned to duty from the hospital at Balaklava; but, _per contra_, 95 men were sent down from the front for treatment during the same period.[334] ----- Footnote 334: Wyatt, p. 86. ----- The Russians could do little to resist the formidable preparations made by the Allies to bring about the capture of Sevastopol. They lost heavily every day, even under the ordinary fire which the besiegers poured upon them, and, perceiving that the end of the long struggle was imminent, they resolved to make one final effort to free themselves from the forces that were closing nearer and nearer to their defences. After much consideration, General Michael Gortchakoff[335] determined to bring down the field army, which was established on the Mackenzie heights and on the Belbek, into the valley of the Tchernaya, and to attack the French, Sardinians, and Turks holding that portion of the field. On August 15th, accordingly, a general action took place in that quarter, known as the battle of the Tchernaya, between a Russian army of 48,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry, and 272 guns, and a somewhat smaller force of the Allies, who, though they massed as many as 60,000 men, did not deploy their whole strength upon that occasion. The enemy displayed much bravery, but showed little skill; he was routed, and fell back slowly towards Mackenzie Farm, losing 69 Officers and 2300 men killed, 160 Officers and 4000 men wounded, and 31 Officers and 1700 men missing—total 8260. The French had 1500 killed and wounded, and the Sardinians 200.[336] The besieging armies expected that this battle would be accompanied by a general sortie from Sevastopol; but it did not take place, for, the Russians were getting exhausted, and their resources were almost entirely at an end. In order to prevent any such attempt, and also to enable the French to sap up quite close to the defences of the Karabelnaya opposite to them, the Allies opened another, though only a partial, bombardment (the fifth) on August 16th, and continued their fire for some days with great violence; but no assault followed, for they were not yet ready to enact the final scene that was soon to begin. ----- Footnote 335: General Menshikoff had been replaced in his command in the Crimea by General Gortchakoff in the spring of 1855; the same who fought on the Danube, and whose curious movements, on the day of Inkerman, have already been adverted to. Footnote 336: Hamley, _War in the Crimea_ , p. 271. -----