As each of our divisions of infantry landed they marched away from the beach, some in one direction and some in another, until the shore, as far as the eye could reach, was literally covered with armed men, whose bayonets flashing in the sun had a very pretty effect, as seen from the decks of the transports by the force still waiting their turn to land. At about noon the rain began to fall, and the wind getting up, the whole aspect of things underwent a change for the worse. The rain continued to fall steadily, and, to make matters worse, the men had no tents. Each was landed with his great coat and rations for three days, with a drop of rum to keep him warm. In this state the majority of our infantry had to pass their first night on hostile ground; but the cavalry still remained on board their respective transports. While the disembarkation still went on, some of our men-of-war boats were sent along the shore to reconnoitre, and found a Russian encampment, containing, it was said, about 5000 men; this they shelled, and soon destroyed. The rain continued to fall, but notwithstanding this, no orders were given to land the tents, only one for General Evans being sent on shore.
Sir George Brown and staff were fortunate to procure a native cart, beneath which they slept, and no doubt soundly. Notwithstanding this night’s misery, every man being wet through and without a change of dry linen, or a bit of dry wood to make fires, the soldiers were in good spirits, the sea voyage of about fourteen days having freshened them up wonderfully; and they had the ever-cheering prospect before them—although the consummation of their wishes was destined to be long deferred—of eventually being inside the walls of Sebastopol, with the whole of the Russian stores and baggage at their chief disposal. Indeed, the fact that our commanders considered that we should be in the Russian stronghold in the course of a few days, was the reason why the tents were not landed simultaneously with our forces.
The morning after our arrival orders were given for the cavalry to land. We had been lurching and tumbling in the waves all night, getting but little sleep, and our horses having been in slings the whole voyage, sadly needed exercise; and although the wind almost blew a whole gale, the order was welcome. Our vessel, the magnificent Himalaya, was the first to commence operations. We had nearly 400 horses and about 700 men aboard. The rest of the vessels stood in as near shore as possible, and commenced to land. One of Lord Raglan’s horses was the first to tumble off a horse-float into the water, and was drowned; several more followed suit, chiefly officers’ horses, through being, perhaps, better fed and higher bred than common troopers. A dozen horses were lowered in slings from the decks of the vessels on to these floats, with a soldier to each horse’s head when he got aboard. The floats were coupled to each other to the number of eight or ten, and then they were tugged as near shore as possible by steam-tugs that had accompanied the transports in readiness for any such service. In this manner most of the cavalry were landed, being rowed the remainder of the way until the floats bumped on the beach, when the horses were led or pushed along planks resting on the bow of the float, and walked into the water; through which, with sundry wild plunges and snorting, they romped on to the shingle, shook their sides, gave a shrill neigh to their companions, and trotted after them farther away on shore, both horse and trooper drenched in sea-water. After the cavalry had been disembarked, the tents—so much required the night before—were got on shore, and the men, infantry and cavalry, lay in comparative comfort the second night after our landing in the Crimea.
Chapter Twenty Nine.
How stands the glass around?
For shame! ye take no care, my boys;
How stands the glass around?
Let the mirth and wine abound.
The trumpets sound,
The colours flying are, my boys,
To fight, kill, or wound;
May we still be found
Content with our hard fare, my boys,
On the cold ground.
We were now fairly on the enemy’s ground, had bearded him in his den, and though our men had been subjected to a long period of suffering, consequent on the cholera ravaging our ranks at Varna and Devna (the one idea prevalent in every man’s breast being that he himself might be the next victim), we were still a very imposing force. When our videttes brought in the news that they had been menaced and yelled at in unmistakable sneers by the Cossacks, who were plainly seen in almost every direction galloping their shaggy little horses, and waving their long lances for us to come on and meet them, we were anxious to be among them. Like our own advanced posts, however, their field columns were plainly within a short distance, and any demonstration on the part of our pickets would only have sent them back direct to their lines, while our skirmishers, with their limited knowledge of the ground, might have been surrounded, and either cut down to a man, or taken prisoners. At this time we were said to be within twenty miles of Sebastopol, and the number of effective Englishmen, besides French and Turkish infantry, was about 27,000, who, I may truly say, were most eager to meet the enemy in battle; and no order during the whole campaign was more cheerfully obeyed than that issued by Lord Raglan on the night of the 18th of September, to “strike tents and march at break of the following day.” That march will long be remembered by all who were engaged in it. Every brigade, every division, every regiment, troop, battery, company, and every man with his arms and other accoutrements, was examined by colonels, adjutants, and their deputies, with a minuteness that told us plainly it would not be long before our services were called into active requisition. It was not until eight o’clock that the trumpeters of our brigade sounded the advance, and when our horses capered away from the camping-ground, to the merry strains of the various bands, no hearts were lighter than the five hundred cavaliers who formed the advanced guard of the army which has ever gone forth from British shores “to conquer or to die.” It was a lovely day, and the heat of the sun was tempered by the gentle sea-breeze, as we marched with our right flank resting on the beach under cover of the fleet.
I was one of the advanced guard formed of men selected from the 8th Hussars, 4th Light Dragoons, 17th Lancers, 13th Light Dragoons, and 11th Hussars, and we were, of course, the first to come within sight of the enemy, who, in place of advancing to meet us, set fire to houses, corn-stacks, and every vestige of harvest produce on the land for miles around. We could see numerous Cossacks driving away the stunted cattle and sheep to their lines, ostensibly to prevent them falling into our hands, but in reality to rob the farmers of their property, which would have been unmolested by us, though, probably, the French would have appropriated it. After marching about two hours we drew nearer to the outlying pickets of the Russian army, who had fallen back upon each other, and so near to their reserves, that the latter could be plainly seen, as stated by Lord Cardigan, who, with a field-glass, rode at the head of our column, and ordered out a skirmishing party. These skirmishers spreading out on each flank of the advancing army like a fan, rode forth to meet the Cossacks, who capered and wheeled about, flourished their lances, and performed many grotesque movements quite new to us. But they finally settled down, and forming up in a very business-like manner, advanced as if determined to meet our skirmishers. Ere we had gone far, however, the “halt” was sounded, it was said by order of the Earl of Lucan, who with several more staff officers had ridden to the front. Emboldened by our halt, the Cossacks commenced to yell, flourish their lances, and some few shots were tired at us, which, however, fell out of range, and it was with a feeling of disappointment that we were forced to obey the trumpeter’s call of “skirmishers in,” retiring upon the main body which had been pushed forward in anticipation of a general action. During these few minutes, the enemy had brought up a few field-guns, and our men were exasperated beyond measure at the apathy of Lord Lucan, for allowing us to be fired into with artillery, and followed by a horde of yelling Cossacks into the shelter of our lines, like a pack of whipped hounds to their kennels.