[CHAPTER III]
'Though till now ungraced in story,
Scant although thy waters be,
Alma, roll those waters proudly;
Roll them proudly to the sea.'
September 20.—In the early morning the allied armies formed up in position as on the previous day's march, in readiness for the battle. It was then discovered that Colonel Lagondie was absent from head quarters, and inquiries were made without result. As it was supposed he might have remained during the night with his French comrades, a message was sent to Prince Napoleon. The prince, however, said that Lagondie had arrived the previous evening with Lord Raglan's message, and then left. The mystery of his absence remained for the time inexplicable. Soon after the battle of the Alma, however, Menschikoff's carriage, containing a number of his papers and letters, was captured, and amongst them a note from a lady in Sebastopol saying how much pleased they were with the charming French colonel he had sent in to them, and hoping he would soon send some more. This at once cleared up the mystery of our friend Lagondie; and it subsequently transpired that on leaving Napoleon at dusk, being short-sighted, he had missed his way, and had ridden straight into the Russian cavalry and was made prisoner.
Considerable delay occurred on the morning of September 20, before our troops were prepared to advance, owing to numerous cases of cholera and fever amongst the men during the previous night, and the necessity of conveying them to the shore, for embarkation in the transports. The French, being close to the sea, had a considerable advantage in this respect. During the morning Marshal Saint-Arnaud, with a large staff and an officer carrying a silk tricolor standard, rode along the front of the British Army to confer with Lord Raglan, and was loudly cheered by our men. Whether the French marshal was a great general or not, I had no means of judging; but when we consider that he was then suffering from a mortal disease—of which, indeed, he died a few days later on board a French man-of-war—I think that he evinced a brave and heroic spirit under such circumstances in leading and commanding a French army in a great and successful battle.
BATTLE OF ALMA.
At about eleven o'clock the allied armies advanced, the whole front covered by a cloud of skirmishers. The order of battle was an échelon from the right. General Bosquet's division led off, marching along the sea shore, with the Turkish force in rear. Then came the divisions of Canrobert and Prince Napoleon, with that of General Forey in rear in reserve. The English then took up the échelon; the second division under De Lacy Evans being next to that of Napoleon, then the Light Division under Sir George Brown, followed in a second line by the troops of Sir Richard England and the Guards and Highlanders under the Duke of Cambridge, the batteries of artillery in the intervals of brigades—the fourth division under Sir George Cathcart and the cavalry under Lord Lucan being held in reserve on the outward flank, which was three or four miles from the shore.
As the armies thus advanced to the attack we were able to take a more complete survey of the Russian position, and whilst the ground in front of the French was seen to be precipitous and difficult, it was evident that the main body of the Russians was in position, and partly entrenched, on slopes which the English forces were about to storm.