movement, certain indications made us suppose he would
attack our lines on the Tchernaya. You know those
positions, which are excellent, and which are covered
in their full extent by the Tchernaya itself, and by a
canal which forms a second obstacle. The Sardinian
army occupies the whole of the right opposite Tchorgoun;
the French troops guard the centre and the left,
which joins, after a declivity, our plateaux of Inkermann.
Independently of a few fords, which are bad
enough, there are two bridges across the Tchernaya
and the canal. One, a little above Tchorgoun, is under
the guns of the Piedmontese; the other, called Tratkir
bridge, is below and almost in the centre of the French
positions. Looking straight before one towards the
other bank of the Tchernaya, you behold to the right
the heights of Tchouliou, which, after extending
themselves in undulating plateaux, fall somewhat abruptly
towards the Tchernaya, below Tchorgoun, opposite the
Piedmontese. These heights diminish opposite our
centre, and starting from that point to the rocky sides
of the Mackenzie plateau there is a plain about three
or four kilometres in width. It is by that plain that the
Mackenzie road leads across the Tchernaya at Traktir
bridge, and after passing through our pontoons leads
into the Balaklava plain. A strict watch was kept all
along our line. The Turks, who occupy the hilly
ground of Balaklava, were on the alert, and watched
Alsou; and General d'Allonville, also put on his guard,
doubled his vigilance in the high valley of Baidar.
My mind was quite at rest, moreover, as regards the
whole extreme right; it is one of those mountainous
regions where it is impossible to manœuvre large bodies
of men; the enemy could only make false demonstrations
there. In fact, that is what occurred. In the
night between the 15th and 16th of August, General
d'Allonville notified that he had troops opposite him,
but his attitude imposed upon the enemy, who
attempted nothing on that side, and dared not attack
him. During this time the main body of the Russian
troops, which had descended from the Mackenzie
heights, of debouching near Aï-Todor, advanced,
favoured by night, on the Tchernaya; to the right the
7th, 5th, and 12th divisions crossed the plain, and to
the left the 17th division, a portion of the 6th, and the
4th followed the plateau of Tchouliou. A strong body
of cavalry, and 160 pieces of artillery, supported all that
infantry. A little before daybreak the advanced posts
of the Sardinian army, placed as videttes as far as the
heights of Tchouliou, fell back and announced that the
enemy was advancing in considerable force; shortly
afterwards, in fact, the Russians lined the heights of
the right bank of the Tchernaya with heavy guns
(pièces de position), and opened fire on us. General
Herbillon, who commanded the French troops on this
point, had made his arrangements for battle; to the
right of the Traktir-road, Faucheux's division, with
the 3rd battery of the 12th artillery; in the centre his
own division, with the 6th company of the 13th; to the
left, Camou's division, with the 4th battery of the 13th.
On his side General della Marmora had ranged his
troops in order of battle. At the same time General
Morris's fine division of Chasseurs d'Afrique, speedily
joined by General Scarlett's numerous and valiant
cavalry, took up a position behind the hills of Kamara
and Traktir. This cavalry was to take the enemy in
flank in case he should succeed in forcing a passage by
one of the three outlets of Tchorgoun or Tratkir,
or at the incline to the left of General Camou.
Colonel Forgeot, in command of the artillery of the
Tchernaya lines, kept ready, to act as a reserve,
six batteries of horse artillery, two of which belonged
to the Imperial Guard. Six Turkish battalions of
Osman Pasha's army, led by Sefer Pasha, came to lend
us their assistance. Finally I ordered forward Levaillant's
division of the 1st Corps; Dulac's division of the
2nd Corps; and the Imperial Guard; composing reserves
capable of remedying the most serious contretemps.
The thick mist which covered the depths of the Tchernaya,
and the smoke of the cannonade which had just
commenced, prevented us distinguishing against which
particular point the chief effort of the enemy would be
directed, when on our extreme left the 7th Russian
division came tilt against Camou's division. Received
by the 50th of the Line, the 3rd Zouaves, who charged
them with the bayonet, and by the 82nd, which took
them in flank, the enemy's columns were compelled to
make a demi-volte, to recross the canal, and could only
escape the fire of our artillery by getting out of range
to rally. That division did not appear again during the
day. In the centre the struggle was more long and
desperate. The enemy had sent two divisions (the 12th
supported by the 5th) against Traktir bridge. Many of
their columns threw themselves at once upon the bridge,
and the temporary passages they constructed with ladders,
pontoons, and madriers; they cross the Tchernaya, the
trench of the lines, and advance bravely on our positions;
but assailed by an offensive movement by Generals
Faucheux and De Failly, these columns are routed,
recross the bridge occupied by the 95th, and are pursued
beyond it by the 2nd Zouaves, the 97th of the Line, and
by a portion of the 19th battalion of Chasseurs-à-pied.
However, while the artillery was roaring on both sides
the Russians reformed their columns of attack; the
mist had cleared, and their movements became distinctly
visible. Their 5th division reinforced the 12th, which
had just been engaged, and the 17th was preparing to
descend the heights of Tchouliou to support these two
first divisions. General Herbillon then ordered General
Faucheux to be reinforced by Cler's brigade, and gave
the 73rd as a reserve to General de Failly. Colonel
Forgeot, moreover, placed four batteries of horse artillery
in position, which gave him on his front a total of
seven batteries to be brought to bear upon the assailing
masses. The result was, that the second effort of the
Russians, energetic as it was, proved of no avail against
us, and they were compelled to retreat with great loss.
The 17th Russian division, which had come down, throwing
out large bodies of riflemen as skirmishers, had no
better success. Received with great resolution by
General Cler's brigade, and by a half battery of the
Imperial Guard, harassed on the left by the troops of
Trotti's division, who pressed it closely, that division
was compelled to recross the Tchernaya, and to fall
back behind the batteries of position which lined the
heights from which it had started. From this moment,
nine a.m., the retreat of the enemy became plainly
visible. Their long columns withdrew as fast as they
could, under the protection of a considerable body of
cavalry and artillery. For a moment I felt inclined to
order a portion of the cavalry to charge to cut down
the remnant of the 17th division between the Tchouliou
and the Traktir bridges. With this object in view I had
prepared some squadrons of Chasseurs d'Afrique, who
were joined by some Sardinian squadrons and by one of
General Scarlett's regiments, the 12th Lancers (from
India). But the retreat of the Russians was so prompt
that we could only have made a small number of
prisoners, and this fine cavalry might have been reached
by some of the enemy's batteries still in position. I
deemed it preferable not to expose it for so small a
result. General Della Marmora did not, moreover,
stand in need of this support boldly to retake the
advanced positions which his small posts occupied on
the heights of Tchouliou. At three o'clock the whole
of the enemy's army had disappeared. The division of
the Guard and Dulac's division relieved the divisions
engaged, as they stood in need of some rest. I sent
back the 1st corps of Levaillant's division, and the
cavalry returned to its usual bivouac. This splendid
action does the greatest honour to the infantry, to the horse
artillery of the Garde, to that of the reserve, and to the
artillery of divisions. I will, shortly, ask your Excellency
to place before the Emperor the names of those who have
deserved rewards, and to submit to the approbation of his
Majesty those which I may have awarded in his name.
Our losses are, doubtless, to be regretted, but they are
not in proportion to the results obtained, and to those
we have inflicted upon the enemy. We have eight
superior officers wounded, nine subaltern officers killed,
and fifty-three wounded, 172 non-commissioned officers
and soldiers killed, 146 missing, and 1,163 wounded.
The Russians have left 400 prisoners in our hands. The
number of their killed may be estimated at more than
3,000, and of their wounded at more than 5,000, of which
number 1,626 men and 38 officers have been taken
to our ambulances. Among the slain found by us are