“THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY QUEEN VICTORIA AND HER PEOPLE.” CHAPTER XIX CLOSE OF THE WAR Fall of Sebastopol--The Nightingale Hospital Fund--A Carriage Accident--Last Months in the Crimea--“The Nightingale Cross”--Presents from Queen Victoria and the Sultan--Sails for Home. How many now are left of those whose serried ranks Were first to land on Eupatoria’s hostile shore; Who rushed victoriously up the Alma’s banks, And won the primal honours of that mighty war? Theirs were the fadeless laurels!--yet not theirs alone, Who bore the stern privations of that Eastern camp:-- Scutari’s coronet of glory is thine own, O Florence Nightingale, dear Lady with the Lamp. MAJOR A. ST. JOHN SEALLY. The autumn of 1855 brought the final act in the great drama of the Crimean War. On the morning of September 8th the allied armies before Sebastopol were ready for the final assault. The day dawned gloriously, and by five o’clock the guards were on the march for the besieged city, and troops from all quarters pressed silently in the same direction. The supreme moment had come; the long tension of the siege was broken, and each man braced him to the fight and looked for death or glory. The elements seemed to voice the situation. A brilliant sky gave the promise of victory, then suddenly changed to storm-clouds which burst in a furious tempest as the batteries opened fire upon the doomed city. The earth groaned and shook with the noise of cannon and the air was filled with the rattle of musketry. An hour elapsed, and then came the first shouts of victory. The French allies had captured the Malakhoff and the British had taken the Redan, the fort which three months before had repulsed the attacking force with fearful carnage and brought Lord Raglan to a despairing death. The fight raged fiercely until nightfall and ere another day dawned the Russians had retreated, leaving Sebastopol in flames. On the morning of September 9th the tidings spread far and wide that the mighty stronghold had fallen and the power of the enemy was broken. The news was received in London with a universal outburst of rejoicing. The Tower guns proclaimed the victory, every arsenal fired its salute, and the joy-bells rang from cathedral minster to the humblest village church as the tidings spread through the land. The long night of War was over, and white-robed Peace stood on the threshold.