The British Expedition to the CrimeaRussell, William Howard, Sir
History
The British Expedition to the Crimea
Russell, William Howard, Sir
Crimean War, 1853-1856
The moment the halt took place, off came the boxes from the mule--a
little portable table was set up--knives, forks, glasses and cups were
laid out--a capacious coffee-tin was put upon three stones over a heap
of bramble, and in three minutes each officer could take a cup of this
refreshing drink after his hot march, with a biscuit and morsel of
cheese, and a chasse of brandy afterwards. The men were equally alert in
providing themselves with their favourite beverage. In a very short
space of time two or three hundred little camp-fires were lighted,
sending up tiny columns of smoke, and coffee-tins were boiling, and the
busy brisk vivandière, with a smile for every one, and a joke or box on
the ear for a favourite vieux moustache, passed along through the blaze,
and filled out tiny cups of Cognac to the thirsty soldiers. Pipes of
every conceivable variety of shape were lighted, and a hum and bustle
rose up from the animated scene, so rich in ever-shifting combinations
of form and colour that Maclise might have looked on it with wonder and
despair. Regiment after regiment came up on the flanks of the Zouaves,
halted, and repeated the process, the only remarkable corps being the
Indigènes, or native Zouaves, dressed exactly the same as the French,
except that jackets, trousers, and vest are of a bright powder blue,
trimmed with yellow, and their turbans, or the folds of linen round the
fez, are of pure white.
[Sidenote: REVIEW OF FRENCH TROOPS.]
In an hour or so the crest of the hill, which extended in undulating
folds for two or three miles, was covered by battalions of infantry, and
they might be seen toiling up the opposite ridge, till nothing was
visible from one extremity to the other but the broken lines of these
stalwart battalions. There was a ready, dashing, serviceable look about
the men that justified the remark of one of the captains--"We are ready
as we stand to go on to St. Petersburg this instant." There was a
vivacity, so to speak, about the appearance of the troops which caught
the eye at once. The air of reality about this review distinguished it
from sham fights and field-days, and all holiday demonstrations of the
kind. Before twelve o'clock there were about 20,000 troops on the
opposite ridges of hills--an excellently-appointed train of artillery of
nine-pounder guns, with appointments complete, being stationed in the
valley below. The columns, taken lineally, extended upwards of eight
miles. Strange as such a spectacle must have been to Turks and Greeks,
there was scarcely a native on the ground. Whether fear or apathy kept
them away, it is impossible to say; but Gallipoli, with its 15,000
inhabitants, sent not a soul to gaze upon the splendid spectacle. If
Horace be right, the Gallipolitans have indeed discovered the secret of
the only true happiness. They absolutely revel in the most voluptuous
indulgence of the _nil admirari_. While six or seven French men-of-war
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