under Brigadier Cameron, marched up from Kamara
and took up its position in reserve at the Right Attack,
and the Guards, also in reserve, were posted on the
same side of the Woronzoff road. The first brigade of
the Fourth Division served the trenches of the Left
Attack the night before, and remained in them. The
second brigade of the Fourth Division was in reserve.
The Guards, who served the trenches of the Left
Attack, and only marched out that morning, were
turned out again after arriving at their camp. The
Third Division, massed on the hill side before their
camp, were also in reserve, in readiness to move down
by the Left Attack in case their services were required.
General Pelissier during the night collected about
30,000 men in and about the Mamelon, to form the
storming columns for the Malakhoff and Little Redan,
and to provide the necessary reserves. The French
were reinforced by 5000 Sardinians, who marched up
from the Tchernaya last night. It was arranged that the
French were to attack the Malakhoff at noon, and, as soon
as their attack began, that we were to assault the Redan.
And at 10.30 the Second Division and the Light Division
moved down to the trenches, and were placed in the
advanced parallels as quietly and unostentatiously as
possible. About the same hour General Simpson and
staff moved down to the second parallel of the Greenhill
Battery. Sir Harry Jones, too ill to move hand or
foot, nevertheless insisted on being carried down to
witness the assault, and was borne to the parallel on a
litter, in which he remained till all was over. It was,
as I have said, a bitter cold day, and a stranger would
have been astonished at the aspect of the British Generals
as they viewed the assault. The commander-in-chief,
General Simpson, sat in the trench, with his nose and
eyes just facing the cold and dust, and his cloak drawn
up over his head to protect him against both. General
Jones wore a red nightcap, and reclined on his litter; and
Sir Richard Airey, the quartermaster-general, had a
white pocket-handkerchief tied over his cap and ears,
which detracted somewhat from a martial and
belligerent aspect. The Duke of Newcastle was stationed
at Cathcart's hill in the early part of the day, and afterwards
moved off to the right to the Picket house
lookout over the Woronzoff road. All the amateurs and
travelling gentlemen, who rather abounded here just
now, were in a state of great excitement, and dotted the
plain in eccentric attire, which recalled one's old
memories of Cowes, and yachting and sea-bathing—were
engaged in a series of subtle manoeuvres to turn the
flank of unwary sentries, and to get to the front, and
their success was most creditable to their enterprise and
ingenuity. The Tartars, Turks, and Eupatorians were
singularly perturbed for such placid people, and thronged
every knoll which commanded the smallest view of the
place. At 10.45 General Pelissier and his staff went up
to the French Observatory on the right. The French
trenches were crowded with men as close as they could
pack, and we could see our men through the breaks in
the clouds of dust, which were most irritating, all ready
in their trenches. The cannonade languished purposely
towards noon; but the Russians, catching sight of the
cavalry and troops in front, began to shell Cathcart's
hill and the heights, and disturbed the equanimity of
some of the spectators. A few minutes before twelve
o'clock the French, like a swarm of bees, issued forth
from their trenches close to the doomed Malakhoff,
swarmed up its face, and were through the embrasures
in the twinkling of an eye. They crossed the seven
metres of ground which separated them from the enemy
at a few bounds—they drifted as lightly and quickly as
autumn leaves before the wind, battalion after battalion,
into the embrasures, and in a minute or two after the
head of their column issued from the ditch the tricolor
was floating over the Korniloff Bastion. The musketry
was very feeble at first— indeed, our allies took the
Russians quite by surprise, and very few of the latter
were in the Malakhoff; but they soon recovered
themselves, and from twelve o'clock till past seven in the
evening the French had to meet and defeat the repeated
attempts of the enemy to regain the work and the Little
Redan, when, weary of the fearful slaughter of his men,
who lay in thousands over the exterior of the works,
the Muscovite general, despairing of success, withdrew
his exhausted legions, and prepared, with admirable
skill, to evacuate the place. As soon as the tricolor
was observed waving over the parapet of the Malakhoff
through the smoke and dust, four rockets were sent up
from Chapman's attack one after another as a signal for
our assault on the Redan. The covering party consisted
of 100 men of the 3rd Buffs, under Captain John Lewes,
who highly distinguished himself, and 100 men of the
Second Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, under the
command of poor Captain Hammond. The scaling-ladder
party consisted of 160 of the 3rd Buffs, under Captain
Maude, whose gallantry was very conspicuous throughout
the affair, in addition to the 160 of the 97th, under
the gallant and lamented Welsford. The part of the
force of the Second Division consisted of 260 of the 3rd
Buffs, 300 of the 41st (Welsh), 200 of the 62nd, and a
working party of 100 men of the 41st. The rest of
Windham's Brigade, consisting of the 47th and 49th,
were in reserve, together with Warren's Brigade of the
same division, of which the 30th and 55th were called
into action, and suffered severely. Brigadier Shirley
was on board ship, but as soon as he heard of the
assault he resolved to join his brigade, and he accordingly
came up to the camp that very morning. Colonel
Unett, of the 19th Regiment, was the senior officer in
Brigadier Shirley's absence, and on him would have
devolved the duty of leading the storming column
of the Light Division, had the latter not returned.
Colonel Unett, ignorant of the brigadier's intention
to leave shipboard, had to decide with Colonel Windham
who should take precedence in the attack. They
tossed, and Colonel Unett won. He had it in his power
to say whether he would go first or follow Colonel
Windham. He looked at the shilling, turned it over,
and said, 'My choice is made; I'll be the first man
into the Redan.' But fate willed it otherwise, and he
was struck down badly wounded ere yet he reached the
abattis, although he was not leading the column.
Scarcely had the men left the fifth parallel when the
guns on the flank of the Redan opened on them as they
moved on rapidly to the salient, in which there were of
course no cannon, as the nature of such a work does
not permit of their being placed in that particular
position. In a few seconds Brigadier Shirley was
temporarily blinded by the dust and by earth knocked
into his eyes by a shot. He was obliged to retire, and
his place was taken by Lieutenant Colonel Bunbury, of
the 23rd Regiment, who was next in rank to Colonel
Unett, already struck down and carried to the rear.
Brigadier Van Straubenzee received a contusion of the
face, and was also forced to leave the field. Colonel
Handcock fell, mortally wounded in the head by a
bullet, and never spoke again. Captain Hammond fell
dead. Major Welsford was killed on the spot.
Captain Grove was severely wounded. Many officers and
men were hit and fell; and of the commanders of
parties, only acting Brigadier-General Windham,
Captain Fyers, Captain Lewes, and Captain Maude got
untouched into the Redan, and escaped scatheless from
the volleys of grape and rifle balls which swept the
flanks of the work towards the salient. As they came
nearer, the enemy's fire became less fatal. They
crossed the abattis without difficulty; it was torn to
pieces and destroyed by our shot, and the men stepped
over and through it with ease. The Light Division
made straight for the salient and projecting angle
of the Redan, and came to the ditch, which is here
about fifteen feet deep. The party detailed for the
purpose placed the ladders, but they were found to be
too short. However, had there been enough of them,
that would not have mattered much, but some had been
left behind in the hands of dead or wounded men, and
others had been broken, so that if one can credit the
statements made by those who were present, there were
not more than six or seven ladders at the salient. The
men, led by their officers, leaped into the ditch and
scrambled up the other side, whence they got up the
parapet almost without opposition; for the few Russians
who were in front ran back and got behind their
traverses and breastworks as soon as they saw our men
on the top, and opened fire upon them. Lamentable as
it no doubt is, and incredible almost to those who know
how the British soldier generally behaves before the