May 2nd. I was discharged from hospital this morning; the day was warm and beautiful, and a gentle breeze fanned the canvas of the wide spread streets of tents, for we have only two wooden huts up for the 17th Regiment as yet. I was anxious to have a look at old Sebastopol once more, and see how it looked after the storm of shot and shell which I have heard roaring and bursting for the last three weeks that I have been in hospital; so I went up to Cathcart's Hill, just at the left of our camp ground. As the day was clear and fine, the reports of the guns and rifles became more distinct, the white buildings, domes, and cupolas of Sebastopol stood out with menacing distinctness against the sky, and the ruined suburbs and massive batteries seemed just the same and looked as strong as when I saw them three weeks ago.
May 16. The Sardinians are massing on the hills all round Karanyi daily. Three steamers have arrived yesterday laden with these troops. They have landed all ready for the field, with their transport horses, carts, mules, and vehicles; they looked gay, and every one admired the air and carriage of those troops. Our eye was much struck by the large, gay plume of green feathers on the top of their dandy shako. The officers wear a plume of green ostrich feathers. They carry very small square tents which are upheld by their lances stuck in the ground, one at each end of the tent, and their encampment, with its flags all round it, has a very pretty effect. We are all very sorry to hear that Miss Nightingale has been ill with fever in Balaklava.
June 3rd. For the last two weeks firing has been very slack, and trench duty has gone on quietly with two and three nights off at a time. The Russians throw an odd shell into our trench, to remind us that they are on the alert; we can see the shell black in the shining sun, as it describes its circle high in the air, and at night they are more plainly seen—with a tail like a comet, they are heard whistling, coming through the air, apparently up among the stars.
There has been an unusual languor on the side of the Russians. Some say it is due to sickness raging in Sebastopol, others say it is due to the desire of economizing ammunition, but most of us think that it is the warmth of the weather that has dulled their energies. But there is one thing that we do know, for we can see it, that they are working away to strengthen and provision the fortress on the north side.
June 6th. At three p.m., the whole of the batteries encircling Sebastopol have once more, for the third time, opened a most terrible fire on its batteries. The English and French are now in strength and power equal to any achievement, and in the best of spirits, and are anxious to get a good charge at the Russians with the bayonet. Every one feels that the intention of going beyond a vain bombardment is tolerably plain, and we think with some strong defiance of the risk. This afternoon Lord Raglan and General Pellisier, with their staff, rode through the camp, amidst the cheers and acclamations of both their armies. There cannot be any doubt as to the zeal of those whom they command.
Our fire was kept up for the first four hours with the greatest rapidity. The superiority of our fire over the enemy became apparent at various points before nightfall, especially on the Redan, which was under the special attention of the sailors' batteries. After dark the fire slackened somewhat on both sides, but the same relative advantage was maintained by our artillery.
June 7th, at 11 a.m., a shell from the enemy exploded a magazine in our eight gun battery, and a yell of applause by the Russians followed the report. Happily the explosion caused very slight harm; one man killed and one wounded. As the day wore on, it leaked out that something of import was undoubtedly to take place before its close, and that the double attack would probably commence at five or six p.m. The fire on our side which had continued until daybreak steadily assumed a sudden fury at three o'clock, and was kept up from that hour to the critical moment with great activity. The affair itself came off but little after the anticipated time. It was about 7 o'clock p.m., when the head of the French attacking column climbed its arduous road to the Mamelon. A rocket was thrown up as a signal to our division, and instantly the small force of our men made a rush at the Quarries. After a hard hand to hand fight we drove out the Russians, and turned round the gabions and commenced to fortify ourselves in our newly acquired position. At the same time the French went up the side of the Mamelon in most beautiful style, like a pack of hounds trying to rout a fox from his old cover; the Zouaves were upon the parapet firing down upon the Russians; the next moment a flag was up as a rallying point, and was seen to sway to and fro, now up, now down, as the tide of battle raged round it; and now like a swarm they were into the Mamelon, and a fierce hand to hand encounter with the bayonet and musket ensued; and after a very hard contested battle, the French succeeded in driving the enemy from the Mamelon.
In the meantime our men fought at the Quarries, and repelled six successive attacks of the Russians, who displayed the most singular daring, bravery, and recklessness of life to obtain possession of the Quarries.
June 8th. Repeated attacks were made on our men in the Quarries during the night, who defended their new acquisition with the utmost courage, and at great sacrifice of life, against superior numbers, continually replenished. More than once there was a fierce hand to hand fight in the position itself.
The most murderous sortie of the enemy took place about 3 o'clock in the morning; then the whole batteries were lighted up with a blaze of fire, and storms of shot were thrown in from the Redan and other batteries within range. When morning dawned the position held by both French and English was of the greatest importance. The morning brought out on every side, along with the perception of advantage gained, and a prey lying at our feet, all the haste and circumstances of the scene, with its painful consequence of death and suffering. On our side about 400 rank and file and 40 officers were killed and wounded. The French had 1,200 killed and wounded. Next day flags of truce were hoisted from the Malakoff and Redan and Flagstaff batteries, which announced that the Russians requested an armistice to bury their dead; it was a grave request to make in the midst of a fierce bombardment, evidently a ruse to gain time, events hanging in the balance, success, perhaps, depending upon the passing moment; but it was granted by Lord Raglan,—I dare not criticise his lordship,—from one o'clock until six in the evening, during which time no shot was fired on either side, while the dead bodies which strewed the hill in front of the Quarries were removed from the field of slaughter. The corpses which encumbered the earth, and were in process of removal, gave out faint tokens of coming putrefaction; fragments of bodies and marks of carnage were interspersed with, as usual, gabions and broken firelocks.