The British Expedition to the Crimea

by Sir William Howard Russell

All this was the work of a moment, and General Mayran was already carried off the field of battle when I sent up the signal from the Lancaster Battery. The other troops then advanced to support the premature movement of the Right Division. That valiant division, for a moment disconcerted by the loss of its General, promptly rallied at the voice of General de Failly. The troops engaged, supported by the second battalion of the 95th of the Line, and by a battalion of the Voltigeurs of the Guard, under the orders of the brave Colonel Boudville, hold a footing in the bend of the ground where the General places them, and boldly maintain their position there. Informed, however, of this position, which might become critical, I ordered General Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely to send four battalions of the Voltigeurs of the Guard, taken from the general reserve, to the support of that division. Generals Mellinet and Uhrich marched with that fine body of men, rallied the stragglers in the ravine of Careening Bay, and gave a solid support to General de Failly, by occupying the bottom of the ravine.

General Mellinet in person advanced to the right of General de Failly at the head of a battalion of Grenadiers, placed the evening before to defend the ravine, and was of great service to him by covering his right.

The attack on the centre had not a better fate. General Brunet had not yet completed all his arrangements when the signal-rockets were fired. The whole of the right was already prematurely engaged for more than twenty to twenty-five minutes. The troops, nevertheless, resolutely advanced, but their valour was of no avail against the well-sustained fire of the Russians and against unforeseen obstacles. At the very outset General Brunet fell mortally wounded by a ball in the chest. The flag of the 91st was cut in two by a ball, but it is needless to add that its fragments were brought back by that gallant regiment.

General Lafont de Villiers took the command of the division, and intrusted that of the troops engaged to Colonel Lorencez. The latter held firm while the remainder of the division occupied the trenches to provide against the eventualities of the combat.

To the left, General d'Autemarre could not go into action before Brunet's division, nor could he explain the hasty fusillade he heard in the direction of Careening Bay; but at the signal agreed upon for the attack he threw forward with impetuosity the 5th Chasseurs-à-Pied and the first battalion of the 19th of the Line, which, following the ridge of the Karabelnaia Ravine, arrived at the intrenchment which connects it with Malakoff Tower, scaled the intrenchment, and entered the enceinte itself. The sappers of the Engineers were already placing the scaling-ladders for the remainder of the 19th and 26th Regiments, who were hurrying up by order of General d'Autemarre to follow his gallant column. For an instant we believed in success. Our eagles were planted on the Russian works. Unhappily, that hope was promptly dispelled. Our allies had met with such obstacles in their attack on the Grand Redan, they had been received with such a fearful shower of grape, that, despite their well-known tenacity, they had already been obliged to beat a retreat. Such was the spirit of our troops that, despite this circumstance, they would have pushed on and charged down upon the enemy, but the want of unity in the attack of our divisions permitted the Russians to fall upon us with their reserves and with the artillery of the Great Redan; and the enemy did not lose a moment in advancing all the other reserves of the Karabelnaia against our brave Chasseurs-à-Pied.

Before so imposing a force Commandant Garnier, of the 5th battalion, already struck by five balls, endeavoured, but in vain, to maintain the conquered ground. Compelled to give way to numbers he re-crossed the intrenchments. General Niol came up to support his brigade, reinforced by the 30th of the Line. A new offensive movement was attempted to assure the success of the new effort, and on a message from General d'Autemarre to the effect that his reserve was reduced to the 74th of the Line, I sent him the regiment of Zouaves of the Guard; but on the arrival of those hardy veterans of our African campaigns, as the movement had no longer any desirable ensemble for so vigorous a blow, with a single division without support either on the right or on the left, and cut up by the artillery of the Redan, the attack upon which had been relinquished by our allies, I at once saw that all chance of success was over. Another effort would only have led to useless bloodshed. It was half-past eight o'clock, and I ordered a general retreat to the trenches. This movement was carried out proudly, with order and coolness, and without the enemy following us on any point. A portion of the Russian trenches remained even occupied by some of our men, who evacuated them gradually, without the enemy daring to turn their advantage to account against them.

Our losses have been great. We took care at the very commencement of the action to carry off most of our wounded. But a certain number of those glorious dead remained lying on the glacis or in the ditches of the place. The last duties were rendered to them the following day.

Besides General Brunet and General Mayran (who died during the night) we have to deplore the loss of an officer beloved and appreciated by the whole army, the young and brave Lieutenant-Colonel of Artillery De Laboursinière, killed while scaling the reverse of a trench obstructed by troops on his way from one of his batteries to the Brancion Redoubt. It is a great loss. In him were the germs of future promise. A number of brave superior officers have been wounded while showing the most noble example. The officers of the staff and of the troops worthily performed their duties, and the conduct of the men was admirable everywhere.

We had 37 officers killed, and 17 taken prisoners; 1,544 non-commissioned officers and privates killed or missing. On the evening of the 18th, 96 officers and 1,644 men went to the ambulances.

Many wounds, at first thought very serious, will ultimately prove not to be so. The bearers of these honourable scars will shortly rejoin their colours.