The end had come at last. On September 5 the bombardment re-commenced, and the Russians were speedily driven to seek refuge in their numerous underground shelters, in the midst of crumbling ruins and dismantled batteries. On the morning of the 8th the troops of the allies marched quietly down to their allotted positions; and at noon, all being ready, General Mac Mahon led his division straight to the Malakoff, and in a few minutes entered it and hoisted the tricolor. This was the preconcerted signal, and then the other columns also rushed to the assault. On the extreme right, the French in great force attacked the Little Redan and works near the harbour, but, after a prolonged struggle and heavy losses, failed to maintain their ground. The English troops, composed of parts of the Light and Second Divisions and accompanied by a ladder and spiking party, advanced on the salient of the Great Redan, entered the work, and held it for some time. The interior of the work, however, was swept by the fire of artillery and infantry in rear, and they were ultimately forced back with great loss. At the same time, far away on the left, the Bastions Centrale and Du Mât were stormed by French columns, but also without success--in fact, the three subordinate assaults on the city all failed. Mac Mahon, however, having once gained possession of the redoubt surrounding the old Malakoff tower, held it in spite of the furious efforts of the Russians for hours to drive him out. As one cause of the failure of the subsidiary attacks, it is as well to point out that they were all open works, swept by batteries and interior entrenchments; whilst, on the other hand, the ground round the Malakoff had been converted by the Russians into a closed redoubt which, whilst it may, at the outset, have added to the difficulties of its capture, still, when once taken, gave the French under Mac Mahon the advantage of comparative shelter. The losses on all sides were very severe, and were as follows: French 7,567 English 2,271 Russians 12,913 ------ 22,751 Thus ended, after a siege of eleven months, the series of battles in front of Sebastopol. The Russians, aware that their position on the south side was no longer tenable, during the night set fire to the city, exploded their magazines, sunk their fleet, and, having withdrawn the garrison by means of the floating bridge across the harbour, then destroyed it, leaving their arsenal, docks, and large remaining supplies of guns and stores in the hands of the allies. As Pélissier said in his order of the day, 'Le boulevard de la Puissance Russe dans la Mer Noir n'existe plus.' In the afternoon of the 9th Fort Paul blew up with a great explosion, and then all was still. What a comfort it was, after months of incessant anxiety, that the uproar had for a time ceased, and that there was nothing to do!