About noon I was directed by Lord Raglan to go to General Codrington, whose brigade was on the other side of the Careening Bay ravine, to inquire how he was getting on, and whether he required assistance. Codrington's brigade, be it observed, was on the very ground up which it had been intended that Soimonoff should advance. I found his troops lying down, and temporarily out of action. General Codrington informed me that he had been occasionally attacked by Russian troops coming suddenly out of the ravine, but that he had driven them back, and that they were not in great force. As the fog was lifting he invited me to go with him some distance to the front, to try and gain a better general view of the Russian position. We did so, and looking across the ravine to Inkerman were able, for the first time, to see the great masses of the enemy. Whilst carefully observing their movements, the Russian batteries were seen to be retreating in _échelon_. Codrington looked at his watch--it was ten minutes to one. He then desired me to return forthwith to Lord Raglan and let him know what we had seen. On delivering the message to the Commander-in-Chief, and saying that the battle seemed coming to an end, his reply was: 'Yes, I believe so,' showing that he had already become aware of the commencement of the retreat. Lord Raglan's despatch, speaking of the latter part of the battle, said: 'Subsequently to this, the battle continued with unabated vigour and with no positive result, the enemy bringing upon our line, not only the fire of all their field batteries, but those in front of the works of the place, and the ship guns, till the afternoon, when the symptoms of giving way first became apparent; and shortly after, although the fire did not cease, the retreat became general, and heavy masses were observed retiring over the bridge of the Chernaya, and ascending the opposite heights, abandoning on the field of battle 5,000 or 6,000 dead and wounded, multitudes of the latter having already been carried off by them.' The Russian account says: 'Thus ended the battle, one of the most sanguinary on record, at 2 o'clock P.M., after lasting eight hours.' It attributed their defeat partly to the bravery and steadiness of the English and French troops, partly to the superiority of their arms, and finally to the wrong direction of Soimonoff. When it is considered that the English had only 8,000 infantry and 38 guns available for the defence of the position, and with this small force had to bear the brunt in all the earlier hours of the battle, it is not necessary to dwell on the courage and discipline of the officers and men; the facts speak for themselves. And the quotation I have given from Lord Raglan's despatch is sufficient proof of the timely support and great gallantry of our brave allies. The English losses were very serious: no less than eight generals and 2,614 officers and men were killed, wounded, or missing.[15]