The march of the French army, which followed in the track of the British, was still more prolonged and fatiguing. They did not reach the Tchernaya river until the 26th, having passed the previous night at Mackenzie’s Farm. It was on this day that the French marshal, at length succumbing to his fatal malady, issued his last order of the day, in which he took leave formally of his troops, and resigned the command into the hands of General Canrobert. “Soldiers!” said this memorable and touching address, “Providence refuses to your chief the satisfaction of continuing to lead you in the glorious path which is open before you. Overcome by a cruel disease, with which he has vainly struggled, he regards with profound grief, the imperious duty which is imposed upon him by circumstances--that of resigning the command, the weight of which a health for ever destroyed will no longer permit him to bear. “Soldiers! you will pity me, for the misfortune which falls on me is immense, irreparable, and perhaps unexampled.” Next day (the 27th) the marshal was seen entering Balaklava, indulging, like every one around him, in eating some of the delicious grapes which abound in the vineyards of this country. It is the last note we have of him; his task was done; he could no more lead his army, and he sank at once. He embarked on board ship on the morning of the 29th, and in a few hours afterwards expired, in the midst of the officers who accompanied him. Thus closed the first part of the expedition. GENERAL CANROBERT, On assuming the command-in-chief of the French troops, addressed them thus:-- “Soldiers of the Army of the East, my comrades.--The melancholy circumstances under which has fallen upon me the high honor of being your commander-in-chief, would increase the weight of that task, if the co-operation of all were not assured to me in the name of the country and of the Emperor. Penetrated as I am with the grandeur of the historical mission which we accomplish on this distant land, you will each of you bring to it, each within your sphere, and with the most absolute devotedness, that active part which is indispensable to enable me to bring it to a successful termination. “A few days more of sufferings and of trials, and you will have caused to fall at your feet the threatening bulwark of the vast empire which only a little time ago braved Europe. The successes which you have already gained are the guarantees for those which await you; but do not forget that the intrepid Marshal who was our General-in-Chief, prepared them by his perseverance in organizing the great operation which we execute, and by the brilliant victory of the Alma.” [Illustration: GENERAL CANROBERT.] There is often an epoch in the life of a man when every incident in his career is invested with a novel and extensive interest, when the present reflects a lustre on the past, and recollection gives confidence to hope. So is it with the commander of the French army in the Crimea.