The British Expedition to the CrimeaRussell, William Howard, Sir
History
The British Expedition to the Crimea
Russell, William Howard, Sir
Crimean War, 1853-1856
When once the traveller left the sandy plain and flat meadow lands which
sweep westward for two or three miles from Varna, he passed through a
succession of fine landscapes, with a waving outline of hills, which he
could see on all sides above the thick mass of scrub or cover, pierced
by the road, or rather the track, made by horsemen and araba drivers.
Never were tents pitched in a more lovely spot. When the morning sun had
risen it was scarcely possible for one to imagine himself far from
England. At the other side of the lake which waters the meadows beneath
the hill on which the camp was placed, was a range of high ground, so
finely wooded, with such verdant sheets of short crisp grass between the
clumps of forest timber, that every one who saw it at once exclaimed,
"Surely there must be a fine mansion somewhere among those trees!"
The camp was pitched on a dry, sandy table-land. On the right-hand side
the artillery (Captain Levinge's troop), the small-arm and ammunition
train (Captain Anderson), and the rocket carriages, caissons, artillery
horses, &c., had their quarters. The valley between them and the
table-land on which the camp was situated was unoccupied. On the
left-hand side, on a beautiful spot overlooking the lake, at a
considerable elevation, was the little camp of the commissariat,
surrounded by carts and araba drivers, flocks of sheep and goats, and
cattle, and vast piles of bread and corn. The Rifle camp was placed at
the distance of 300 yards from the commissariat camp, on the slope of
the table-land, and commanded a beautiful view of the lakes and of the
surrounding country; and the 7th, 19th, 23rd, 33rd, 77th, and 88th
Regiments were encamped close together, so that the lines of canvas were
almost unbroken, from one extremity to the other. Brigadier-General
Airey and staff, and Drs. Alexander, Tice, and Jameson, had pitched
their tents in a meadow close by some trees at the upper end of the
encampment. Brigadier Buller's marquee was close to the lines of his
brigade. Captain Gordon, R.E., the Rev. Mr. Egan, and Captain Halliwell,
had formed a little encampment of their own in a valley a little further
on, which is formed by two spurs of land, covered with the thickest
foliage and brushwood--hazels, clematis, wild vines, birch, and
creeper,--and near at hand were the tents of the Sappers and Miners. The
cavalry were stationed about nine miles further on, close to the village
of Devna.
[Sidenote: ALADYN.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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