“Why not? there’s plenty of skill in the camp to cure you,” returned Brennan in a tone of mingled sympathy and confidence.
But McQueen had become absorbed in his thoughts, and his agonies giving him but little disposition and energy to hear with attention anything that Brennan might say, the latter proposed to reconnoitre in the hope of discovering some means of bringing in succour or of escaping. The corporal assented, and Brennan stole away bare to the waist with a streaming wound bitten by the cold of a raw night. The battery above them was an earthen one well armed, but no gunners were in it. From its ditch he proceeded by a sort of ramp towards the Garden batteries, and came upon a strong structure built, as it seemed, out of a ship’s side. It was near the Flag-staff battery, and mounted many guns, forty-five of which he counted—some of very large calibre. Clear it was that he was in the heart of the Russian outworks. In that direction there was no escape, and as every step towards the creek bore the aspect of seeking danger when there was still a chance of evading it, he returned to the ditch, and threw himself by the side of the corporal. Time wore on sluggishly; moments were minutes, minutes hours. At length the morning broke; still he waited till it had sufficiently opened, to guide himself, to the best of his reason, aright; when, gathering up the wounded man, he bore him in his arms to a broken wall in front of a wine-press where had lived a Scotchman for more than twenty years before the war had driven him from his chosen homestead. Here Brennan, overpowered, laid down his comrade, for he was a massive man and deadly heavy. Concealing him in a secure place, and binding up his head with a handkerchief, Brennan dressed himself again in his worn coatee, and darted off for assistance, keeping well under the rocks which, overgrown with broom and wild vegetation, helped to cover him from observation. At last he made the bend of the ravine, and climbing up the steep, gained the top, where, crawling onwards among the heather and scrub he saw at the back of the hill the red points of six English tents—distant about fifty yards. It was a grateful sight, but he had not time fully to enjoy it; and so dashing up to the encampment, breathlessly demanded help for his suffering comrade. A few words to explain the nature of the painful adventure which had occasioned his unexpected appearance was more than enough for the officer of the 60th rifles in command. With two men of his regiment bearing a stretcher they hastened along the ravine guided by Brennan, now running, now walking to recover breath. It was a bright morning; hazard was in every step, but the errand was one of humanity, and they pushed on. At length they made the broken wall, from whence they carried the corporal for more than two miles to the tents of the rifle guard. In a few minutes medical aid was doing its best for the sufferer, but though his wounds were laved and dressed, the air had caught his torn bowels and gangrene was irretrievably at work. He was now borne to the camp at Balaklava, where, gradually sinking, he was the first of the siege army to die by the hand of the enemy before Sebastopol.
Meanwhile a party of twelve armed sappers, with sergeant James H. Drew, directed by Lieutenant Ravenhill of the royal engineers, repaired to the Inkermann ravine, and cut off the main aqueduct which supplied the docks in the Karabelnaia with water. This was known as Upton’s aqueduct. It was situated in a hollow of the plain which stretched onwards, and at its extremity were some well-appointed horsemen or Cossacks watching for chances to display their prowess. When they retired, the sappers, concealed by some bushes which clothed the slopes of the valley, crept from the underwood and stole on to the reservoir, advancing two sentries to look out from among some trees to give warning of impending peril. The sluice of the aqueduct was arched with stone. All the machinery by which it was manipulated was destroyed; the gate driven into the channel to stop the supply, and coping-stones, key-bricks, and earth jammed into the well and against the now useless gate. Without opposition the demolition was effected, and the little party returned to camp after being out seven hours in this preliminary adventure.
Charged with the right attack, the British held the position which approached the Tchernaya valley, while the French spread in a curve to the left, as far almost as Chersonese Bay. The ground was a sterile waste, wild, rocky, and undulated; bleak in winter, burning in summer. Sir John Burgoyne conducted the British portion of the siege, supported by Colonel Alexander, Major J. W. Gordon, and many officers of the corps. Colonel Alexander, from overwork and anxiety, soon died, and the executive direction of the works devolved on Major Gordon. In time the veteran engineer Sir John Burgoyne, recalled to England to discharge the responsible duties of his home appointment, was succeeded by Major-General Jones, who had received honour and promotion for his distinguished services in the capture and destruction of Bomarsund. Major, now Colonel, Gordon commanded the companies in the Crimea as a regiment; Captain, now Major, C. B. Ewart filled the appointment of adjutant, and Lieutenant A. Leahy that of quartermaster, afterwards that of Deputy-Assistant Quartermaster-General.
The British force was divided into two attacks, called “right”[[157]] and “left,”[[158]] their contiguity being broken by a deep ravine through which passed the Woronzoff road. The right abutted on the heights overlooking the middle ravine, and the left leaned away to the position of the allies, but separated from it by the precipitous sides of the Picket House ravine, which debouched on the head of the inner harbour. No longer attached to divisions, the fourth, eighth, and tenth companies of sappers were appointed to the right, and the third and eleventh companies to the left. The united strength of the companies amounted to a force of about 386 non-commissioned officers and men, 32 of whom were sick and 21 at Balaklava. On the high road leading from Sebastopol, and near the windmill, was stationed the engineer depôt for the right attack; while that for the left occupied an area in rear of the third division, on a plateau adjacent to the artillery depôt. At both the parks, the carpenters, sawyers, and blacksmiths of the companies carried on the mechanical requirements of the operation unprotected from the weather, or at best in scanty sheds of the most primitive character. In order that the sappers might be easily distinguished in the trenches, they were ordered to wear a band of white tracing tape round the forage-cap.
The strength of the brigades of sappers altogether depended upon the exigencies of the duty, and the numbers available for work. As a general rule, however, each brigade of sappers comprised a non-commissioned officer and eight privates; and each brigade of carpenters a non-commissioned officer and three privates. Whatever may have been the changes in the distribution of the men, there were seldom less at work, on the right, than three brigades of sappers and two of carpenters by day; and two of sappers and one of carpenters by night; while on the left, where a diminished force was employed, the arrangements only permitted for the daily routine two brigades of sappers and one of carpenters; and, for the night duty, one brigade of each.
Usually, the brigade remained twelve hours in the trenches, being relieved at daybreak and soon after dusk; but this period of duty, on many occasions, was necessarily prolonged, when any pressure required particular works to be completed in haste. Some of the most reliable men were on duty in the front eight nights out of nine. Fatigue and sickness caused very inconvenient fluctuations in the numbers disposable for the operation; but when less vigour was demanded in the formation of the lines, the men were relieved from duty in the trenches for three or four days at a time—the interval being filled up with labours in the camp, and in the performance of a variety of services subsidiary to the siege.
At nightfall, on the 8th October, ground was broken before Sebastopol. It commenced at the Greenhill battery left attack; and on the right attack at the 5-gun battery in front of Victoria hill, and at the picket-house for the right Lancaster-gun. By order of Lord Raglan, the working-parties, after receiving the necessary tools and instructions, were marched from the park, guided by engineer officers and sappers, to the trenches. This proceeding was followed throughout the siege; and it was also a practice to send both sappers and operatives into the batteries unarmed, to prevent the paramount work of the lines being neglected for the more natural one of resorting, on any slight instance of alarm, to measures of personal defence.
Acting as overseers, it was the province of the sappers and miners to instruct the line and the Turks in forming the trenches and batteries, attending themselves to the more constructive portions of the works requiring art and skill;—such as laying the gabions, fascines, sand-bags, and platforms; erecting the splinter-proof magazines, and sloping and lining the embrasures. Formidable obstacles occasionally offered serious impediments to the progress of the excavations, for the soil was rocky: to overcome the difficulties, the sappers led the way with an earnestness and zeal that stimulated the workmen to activity and exertion; but such was the sacrifice of useful energy, that many a brave fellow, already enfeebled by overwork, scanty rations, and hard weather, faltered from the trenches never more to return.
Singular as it may appear, the sappers at first were somewhat at a loss in carrying out their more ordinary duties. The details were easy enough in peaceful practice; but in a siege where every effort required the utmost care and caution to make the work strong and durable and to avoid danger, it was much more difficult. A little earnest experience however in actual conflict, taught them the secrets of their art, gave them confidence and cunning, and rendered them, as far as their numbers permitted, quite equal to the emergencies of the enterprise.