General had applied at Alma for provisions to last for
three weeks. I fancy that he must have stopped the
convoy on its way. In three days I shall be under
Sebastopol; and I shall then be able to inform your
Excellency what it really is. The confidence and spirit
of the army are admirable. The vessels which were to
go to Varna for reinforcements of every description
have been gone since the 18th. The men so sent for
will reach me at Belbek before the end of the month.

"My health is still the same; it holds up in the
midst of suffering, crises, and the performance of my
duty. All that does not prevent me from remaining
on horseback twelve hours on battle-days: but will not
my strength at last give way? Adieu, Monsieur le
Ministre. I will write to your Excellency when I
shall be under the walls of Sebastopol."

But the gallant soldier was not destined ever to
reach the walls of Sebastopol. He had long been in
broken health; indeed he was afflicted with a mortal
disease before he left France, last spring. At sea, before
landing in the Crimea, on the 12th of September, he
wrote to the Minister of War, reporting how serious his
illness had become; and, expressing a hope that he
should be able to lead the army to Sebastopol, he begged
that the Emperor would appoint his successor. In the
battle on the 20th he kept the saddle for twelve hours.
At length, when the pain became so acute that without
assistance he must have fallen off, he had two cavalry
soldiers to hold him up. Two days after this,
notwithstanding the sufferings that he endured, he was still
engaged in the duties of his post, giving orders, receiving
reports, and dictating despatches. But on the 26th he
found that he could hold out no longer. From the
bivouac at Tchernaya he again wrote to the Minister at
War, to the effect that a choleraic attack had reduced
him to such a state of weakness that he could command
no longer; that he had surrendered his authority to
General Canrobert, "whom his Majesty's special orders"
designed for his successor; and that he had taken a
farewell of the troops, in the following order of the day.

"Soldiers—Providence refuses to your chief the
satisfaction of continuing in the glorious course now opening
to you. Conquered by a heavy malady, against which
he has vainly struggled, he beholds with profound grief
(but will know how to fulfil) the imperious duty imposed
on him by circumstances—the duty of resigning a
command which his health, irrecoverably destroyed, no
longer permits him to support the weight of.

"Soldiers, you will grieve for me; for the misfortune
that befalls me is immense, irreparable, and perhaps
unexampled.

"I resign the command to Lieutenant-General Canrobert,
whom, in provident anxiety for this army and for
the great interests it represents, the Emperor has
invested with the necessary powers by a sealed letter I
have now before me. It is a relief to my anguish, that
I have to place in such worthy hands the flag that
France confided to me.

"You will surround with your respect, with your
confidence, this general officer; on whom a brilliant
military career and the splendour of services performed
have conferred the most honourable fame throughout
the country and army. He will follow up the victory
of the Alma, and will win that happiness I had dreamed
of for myself, and which I envy him—the happiness of
conducting you to Sebastopol."

He was carried on board the Berthollet, and, three
days afterwards, expired. General Canrobert, his
successor, is forty-four years of age. He is held in repute
as a man of judgment, bravery, and probity. He
entered the army as a private soldier, but is of a good
family in Brittany, where he has a small estate of about
5000 francs a year. With this small patrimony, Canrobert,
when receiving only the pay of a commandant,
lived honourably, never incurring debts, and from time
to time opening his purse to relieve comrades in distress.
He was never known to engage in speculations of
any kind.

A striking account of the battle is given by the
special correspondent of the Times, who thus describes
the final desperate struggle. The troops (as stated by
Lord Raglan in his dispatch,) were crossing the Alma.
—"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, in which Lord Raglan by his
sagacity and military skill, probably secured the victory
at a smaller sacrifice than would have been otherwise
the case. He dashed over the bridge, followed by his
staff. From the road over it, under the Russian guns,
he saw the state of the action. The British line, which
he had ordered to advance, was struggling through the
river and up 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 from 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 Seventh
Fusileers, 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, 33rd, 77th, and 83rd. Down went Sir George in
a cloud of dust in front of the battery. He was soon
up and shouted 'Twenty-third, 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 now 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 C. 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're
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