ALIWAL, India.—This battle was fought, January 28th, 1846, between the British under Sir H. Smith, with 1200 men and 32 guns, and the Sikh army, under Sirdar Runjoor Singh Majeethea, 26,000 strong, supported by 68 pieces of cannon. The contest was obstinate, but ended in the defeat of the Sikhs, who lost nearly 6000 killed, or drowned, in attempting to recross the Sutlej. This battle was named after the village of Aliwal, in the Indian language, Ulleewal, near which it was fought.

ALLIA.—This memorable battle, in the history of Rome, was fought on the 18th July, B.C. 390, between the Romans and the celebrated Brennus, king of the Gauls; 40,000 of the Romans fell, and Brennus took and burnt the city of Rome. This day was always marked unlucky in the Roman calendar, and called Alliensis.

ALLIANCE, TREATIES OF.—Between the greatest European powers, which are most commonly referred to:

Alliance of LeipsicApril 9,1631.
“ “ ViennaMay 27,1657.
“The TripleJan. 28,1668.
“The GrandMay 12,1689.
“The HagueJan. 4,1717.
“The QuadrupleAug. 2,1718.
“The GermanicJuly 23,1785.
“The ParisMay 16,1795.
Austrian AllianceMarch 14,1812.
Alliance of ToplitzSept. 9,1813.
The Holy AllianceSept. 26,1815.

ALMA, BATTLE OF THE.—Fought, September 20th, 1854. “Lord Raglan waited patiently for the development of the French attack. At length an aide-de-camp came to him and reported that the French had crossed the Alma, but that they had not established themselves sufficiently to justify our advancing. The infantry were, therefore, ordered to lie down, and the army for a short time was quite passive, only that our artillery poured forth an unceasing fire of shell, rockets, and round shot, which ploughed through the Russians, and caused them great loss. They did not waver, however, and replied to our artillery manfully, their shot falling among our men as they lay, and carrying off legs and arms at every round. Lord Raglan at last became weary of this inactivity—his spirit was up—he looked around and saw by his side men on whom he knew he might stake the honour and fate of Great Britain, and anticipating a little, in military point of view, the crisis of action, he gave orders for our whole line to advance. Up rose those serried masses, and passing through a fearful shower of round shot, case shot, and shell, they dashed into the Alma, and floundered through its waters, which were literally torn into foam by the deadly hail. At the other side of the river were a number of vineyards, and to our surprise they were occupied by Russian riflemen. Three of the staff were here shot down, but led by Lord Raglan in person, they advanced, cheering on the men.

And now came the turning-point of the battle, ... Lord Raglan dashed over the bridge, followed by his staff. From the road over it, under the Russian guns, he saw the state of action. The British line, which he had ordered to advance, was struggling through the river and up to the heights in masses, firm indeed, but mowed down by the murderous fire of the batteries, and by grape, round shot, shell, canister, case shot, and musketry, from some of the guns of the central battery, and from an immense and compact mass of Russian infantry. Then commenced one of the most bloody and determined struggles in the annals of war. The Second Division, led by Sir De Lacy Evans in the most dashing manner, crossed the stream on the right. The 7th Fusiliers, led by Colonel Yea, were swept down by fifties. The 55th, 30th, and 95th, led by Brigadier Pennefather, who was in the thickest of the fight, cheering on his men, again and again were checked indeed, but never drew back in their onward progress, which was marked by a fierce roll of Minié musketry; and Brigadier Adams, with the 41st, 47th, and 49th, bravely charged up the hill, and aided them in the battle. Sir George Brown, conspicuous on a grey horse, rode in front of his Light Division, urging them with voice and gesture. Gallant fellows! they were worthy of such a gallant chief. The 7th, diminished by one-half, fell back to re-form their columns lost for the time: the 23rd, with eight officers dead and four wounded, were still rushing to the front, aided by the 15th, 33d, 77th, and 88th. Down went Sir George in a cloud of dust in front of the battery. He was soon up, and shouted, “23d, I’m all right! Be sure I’ll remember this day,” and led them on again; but in the shock produced by the fall of their chief, the gallant regiment suffered terribly, while paralysed for a moment.

Meantime the Guards on the right of the Light Division, and the brigade of Highlanders, were storming the heights on the left. Their line was almost as regular as though they were in Hyde Park. Suddenly a tornado of round and grape, rushed through from the terrible battery, and a roar of musketry from behind thinned their front ranks by dozens. It was evident that we were just able to contend against the Russians, favoured as they were by a great position. At this very time an immense mass of Russian infantry were seen moving down towards the battery. They halted. It was the crisis of the day. Sharp, angular, and solid, they looked as if they were cut out of the solid rock. It was beyond all doubt that if our infantry, harassed and thinned as they were, got into the battery, they would have to encounter again a formidable fire, which they were but ill calculated to bear. Lord Raglan saw the difficulties of the situation. He asked if it would be possible to get a couple of guns to bear on these masses. The reply was “Yes;” and an artillery officer, whose name I do not know, brought up two guns to fire on the Russian squares. The first shot missed, but the next, and the next, and the next, cut through the ranks so cleanly, and so keenly, that a clear lane could be seen for a moment through the square. After a few rounds, the columns of the square became broken, wavered to and fro, broke, and fled over the brow of the hill, leaving behind them six or seven distinct lines of dead, lying as close as possible to each other, marking the passage of the fatal messengers. This act relieved our infantry of a deadly incubus, and they continued their magnificent and fearful progress up the hill. The Duke encouraged his men by voice and example, and proved himself worthy of his proud command and of the royal race from which he comes. “Highlanders,” said Sir Colin Campbell, ere they came to the charge, “I am going to ask a favour of you: it is, that you will act so as to justify me in asking permission of the Queen for you to wear a bonnet! Don’t pull a trigger till you are within a yard of the Russians!” They charged, and well they obeyed their chieftain’s wish; Sir Colin had his horse shot under him, but his men took the battery at a bound. The Russians rushed out, and left multitudes of dead behind them. The Guards had stormed the right of the battery ere the Highlanders got into the left, and it is said the Scots Fusilier Guards were the first to enter. The Second and Light Division crowned the heights. The French turned the guns on the hill against the flying masses, which the cavalry in vain tried to cover. A few faint struggles from the scattered infantry, a few rounds of cannon and musketry, and the enemy fled to the south-east, leaving three generals, three guns, 700 prisoners, and 4000 wounded behind them. The battle of the Alma was won. It was won with a loss of nearly 3000 killed and wounded on our side. The Russians’ retreat was covered by their cavalry, but if we had had an adequate force, we could have captured many guns and multitudes of prisoners.”

The following graphic account is taken from Emerson’s Sebastopol:

“On the 19th September the march commenced. Proceeding southward, the French army, under the command of Marshal St. Arnaud, with Caurobert and Bosquet as generals of divisions, keeping the coast line; the English on their left. The fleets accompanied the march, close to the shore, ready to render assistance should circumstances render it necessary.

The English army comprised about 25,000 men, and was composed of the following regiments, led as under:—