The British casualties in this battle were 25 officers killed, and 81 wounded; 337 non-commissioned officers and men were killed, 1550 wounded, and 19 missing. No regiment suffered more than the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Eight of their officers were killed, and 5 wounded (one of them mortally); 3 sergeants and 40 rank and file were killed, or died of their wounds; 9 sergeants and 143 rank and file were wounded; 2 were missing. The slaughter among the senior officers was so great that the command of the regiment devolved on Captain Bell, who brought it out of action. The regimental colour was carried by Sergeant Honey Smith after Lieutenant Butler fell; it was intrusted to him by Major-General Codrington, as no officer could be spared from his company. In a letter written from the seat of war, Corporal Harwood gave a graphic description of the circumstances under which the Royal Welsh were so fearfully cut up:—“The 23rd was in the Light Division, and on we went, covered by two companies of the Rifle Brigade. We crossed a vineyard, and were led by Colonel Chester through the river, the opposite bank of which was very steep. The colonel went through with us—we all shared alike—and, as we clambered out, the enemy gave us a fierce fire, the cannons belching forth murderous volleys of grape and round shot, and musket-balls fell as thick as hail. The men fell dead and wounded before me and at my side. They fell in every direction, and mechanically I still pressed on, untouched. Up the hill we went with the Rifle Brigade, and half-way up the heights we reached the cannons’ mouths which were planted on the embankments. Our regiment was about to cross the stockade in the enemy’s position, when the word was given, ‘Cease firing, and retire!’ because we were in danger of firing on the French. Our colonel rushed in front of us, shouting, ‘No, no; on, lads!’ He fell with the word on his lips; he never spoke or raised his head again. We _did_ retire then, and an unfortunate mistake it was; for the enemy returned to the guns we had once silenced, and gave us some terrific volleys; but we soon rallied, and, supported by the 7th, 33rd, a portion of the Guards, and the Highlanders, we rushed up the hill again, and the enemy fled in every direction.” This and other letters written by our soldiers during the Crimean War took the nation by surprise; they proved that there were men, unknown to fame, in the ranks of the British Army who could use the pen or the sword with equal skill.