The British Expedition to the CrimeaRussell, William Howard, Sir
History
The British Expedition to the Crimea
Russell, William Howard, Sir
Crimean War, 1853-1856
But the enemy had not yet abandoned their position. A division of
infantry in columns came from the rear of the hill, and marched straight
upon the Brigade of Guards. The Guards dressed up, and advanced to meet
them. Some shot struck the rear of the Russian columns, they began to
melt away, and wavered; still they came on slowly, and began
file-firing. One column moved towards the left flank of the Guards,
facing round as if to meet the Highlanders, who were moving with
rapidity up from the hollow in which they had been sheltered from the
enemy's fire. The two other columns faced the Guards. The distance
between them was rapidly diminishing, when suddenly the Brigade poured
in a fire so destructive that it annihilated their front ranks, and left
a ridge of killed and wounded men on the ground. The Highlanders almost
at the same moment delivered a volley, sharp, deadly, and decisive.
Pennefather's Brigade, on the right of the Guards, supported by Adams,
appeared on the side of the slope. The enemy, after a vain attempt to
shake off the panic occasioned by that rain of death, renewed their fire
very feebly, and then, without waiting, turned as our men advanced with
bayonets at the charge, over the brow of the hill to join the mass of
the Russian army, who, divided into two bodies, were retreating with all
possible speed. Our cavalry rode up to the crest of the hill, and looked
after the enemy. They took a few prisoners, but they were ordered to let
them go again. Lord Raglan expressed his intention of keeping his
cavalry "in a bandbox," and was apprehensive of getting into serious
difficulty with the enemy. The Battle of the Alma was won. The men
halted on the battle-field, and as the Commander-in-chief, the Duke of
Cambridge, Sir De Lacy Evans, and the other popular generals rode in
front of the line, the soldiers shouted, and when Lord Raglan was in
front of the Guards, the whole army burst into a tremendous cheer, which
made one's heart leap--the effect of that cheer can never be forgotten
by those who heard it. It was near five o'clock; the men had been eleven
hours under arms, and had fought a battle, and the enemy were to
be--"let alone." The Russians fired one gun as they retreated, and made
some show of covering their rear with their cavalry.
[Sidenote: TACTICS OF THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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