“All this time the men were coming back from the front, hopping or crouching according to the nature of the wound, amongst them my friend Captain Hayman, supported by two men, shot through the knee, but with a cheerful smile on his face. Seeing that the advance was much weakened I supported them with two other companies, sending Major Kennedy to the front; he was shortly after slightly hit on the side of the head, but not compelled to return. The enemy knew well the position of the houses they were in, and threw the shell amongst them. Fancy one of these visitors falling within ten feet of you—down you must lie, and close too, and wait for its bursting, when you are fortunate if you have nothing worse than dust to complain of! They not only gave shells, but rifle-balls and grape, and many a poor fellow who went out to help a wounded comrade was obliged in his turn to be carried in desperately wounded.
“Again the front calls out for ammunition and more men. ‘Up, my boys, catch hold of that barrel of ammunition, and rush through the whizzing balls, the tearing grape!’ Away they go with a cheer! About 12 o’clock the last company but one went out and other companies, returning, dreadfully thinned, formed the support. Shortly after one, more men were wanted; I sent out the last company and went myself. Away we hop from stone to stone or bush: ‘ping-ping’ passes the rifle-bullet crashing around you; you feel the grape; never mind, on you must go! I found the advanced parties in a row of houses under the battery, regularly enclosed by a screen of projectiles; you could only creep about. In the morning these houses had been occupied by the Russians; by the time I got there, everything was broken:—pier glasses in shivers; the piano (or as a man called it, the music-box) torn open; beds, tables and wardrobes in jumbles of masses. The enemy did not like our being there, nor did they like that the houses gave us cover; they therefore set fire to them with shells. About 3 o’clock I received an order to retire, which I could not comply with as there were eighteen wounded men to bring away, which could not be done till dark.”
According to Colonel Edwards, the three companies of the XVIIIth in the ruined houses on the Woronzoff road and the other battalions of the brigade also received this order, and gradually drew back, leaving the greater part of the Royal Irish in a most dangerous situation.
“Every moment our small party was decreasing. What weary hours they seemed from three till eight, and just before it was time to move, the enemy brought field-pieces to bear upon the houses, and they commenced knocking them down about our heads. At last I heard with joy ‘The last wounded man has been carried off, Sir.’ ‘Well, then, go away by twos and threes: keep up a warm fire. When across the open, bugler, sound the Regimental Call and the Retire.’
“The work is done, but out of 669 men who left the camp, 250 of the Royal Irish had suffered more or less. We did not get home till ten o’clock, wearied and exhausted. The remainder of the brigade acted on our right, and the 44th lost nearly as many in proportion as we did. Our brigade was more than successful, and have received great praise, especially the Royal Irish regiment.”
In so broken and disjointed a combat it is always difficult for the General to select officers and men for special commendation. Eyre appears to have found it impossible to do so, and after stating in his report that every one in his brigade “most nobly performed his duty,” and that “the conduct of all was so exemplary that he could scarcely with justice particularize individuals,” he contented himself with mentioning the names of his staff and the officers commanding the advance-guard and the five regiments of the brigade. Colonel Edwards’ report on the part played by the XVIIIth doubtless recorded some of the deeds of valour performed by the Royal Irish; but unhappily no copy of this document has been preserved in the archives of the regiment. His letter, vivid and deeply interesting as it is, was written, it is believed, for the information of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, and aims obviously at giving a general account of the engagement, without any unnecessary detail. The “Digest of Service” should have contained every particular of the doings of the regiment, but unfortunately it was compiled by an officer who recorded the adventures of the XVIIIth in the Crimea in two or three loosely-written pages of foolscap, from which everything of historical value was omitted. Thus the only accounts of the exploits of the Royal Irish on the 18th of June are to be found in a few statements, contributed by officers many years after the war was over, and in the dry official words announcing the bestowal of decorations. Every soldier knows that for one specially brave deed reported after an engagement, scores pass unnoticed or are forgotten, and therefore the instances now given can be regarded only as specimens of the conduct of the regiment as a whole.
Captain Thomas Esmonde was awarded the Victoria Cross[173] for two acts of bravery, the first of which was performed on the 18th of June. The Gazette runs as follows: “for having, after being engaged in the attack on the Redan,[174] repeatedly assisted at great personal risk under a heavy fire of shell and grape, in rescuing wounded men from exposed situations; and also, while in command of a covering party two days after, for having rushed with the most prompt and daring gallantry to a spot where a fire-ball from the enemy had just been lodged, which he effectually extinguished before it had betrayed the position of the working party under his protection, thus saving it from a murderous fire of shell and grape, which was immediately opened upon the spot where the fire-ball had fallen.”
Captain Dillon volunteered to rescue from under a heavy fire of grape and musketry seven wounded men, who were lying in the houses nearest to the Russian works, and succeeded in doing so.
Sergeant John Grant belonged to one of the companies in the houses nearest to the Russian battery, and brought a message from his captain to Colonel Edwards. When Colonel Edwards saw that Sergeant Grant was bleeding from two severe wounds he desired him to fall back out of harm’s way, but Grant so earnestly begged to be allowed to return to his officer that Colonel Edwards permitted him once more to risk his life in crossing the fire-swept belt of ground between the supports and his own company. Grant lived for many years to enjoy an annuity of £20, which accompanied the medal for meritorious service in the field, awarded to him for this act of bravery.
Lieutenant T. D. Baker displayed great gallantry throughout the day, as did Sergeant John Gleeson, Corporal Niel O’Donnell, and privates J. Weir, E. Loughton, and J. Byrne.