BATTLE OF INKERMAN

Before giving a slight sketch of the events of this momentous day, it is necessary to bear in mind that the original numbers of the English army had become much reduced since their landing, by the casualties of war and by sickness; that they had also to guard the trenches day and night, and to be ready to defend the extended position in front of Balaclava. In short, their numbers were not by any means adequate to the various and widely detached duties they were called upon to perform. The consequence was that on the day of Inkerman they had only 8,000 infantry and 36 guns available for the defence of the position.

It was dark and wet and a thick fog lay on the ground as day dawned on Sunday, November 5. My servant came into my tent and woke me about daylight, saying that heavy firing had just commenced not far away. In a few minutes I was off, but found that Lord Raglan and General Strangways had already left. On approaching the scene, and riding through the camp of the Second Division, it was apparent that the enemy were close at hand. Round shot were bounding along, tents were being knocked over, horses killed at their pickets, whilst blankets and great coats were lying about among the brushwood, thrown down, apparently, as our men had hastily fallen in and hurried to the front. The centre of our position on the ridge was held by the Second Division under Pennefather, with the Guards in advance on the right under the Duke of Cambridge and Bentinck, and one brigade of the Light Division under Buller on the left—six batteries of artillery being in action in the intervals. On joining Lord Raglan about 7 A.M. it was evident from the very heavy fire both of infantry and artillery that the Russian columns were close upon us, and were indeed forcing our position at various points. In fact, owing to the rain and thick mist, the troops of both the opposing forces were in immediate proximity several times during the day almost before they were aware of it.

On the extreme right, and in advance, a small sandbag work had been established and armed with two 18-pounders many days previously, not with a view to local defence, but to silence some Russian guns on the other side of the Chernaya which annoyed our camp, and having achieved the object our guns had been withdrawn. It was in the neighbourhood of this earthwork that very severe fighting took place, and it was captured and re-taken several times, the Guards especially sustaining the brunt of the conflict and suffering great losses. The Russian account says: 'The battle raged forward, backward, beneath, above, among bushes and underwood; above all, the sandbag battery on the wing had been the object of many an attack, until at length General Bentinck led up his Guards, the Élite of the English army. These chosen troops pressed irresistibly forward to the redoubt, and tore it from the Russians....'

In the meantime Sir George Cathcart, with part of the Fourth Division, arrived to the support of our hardly pressed troops. Conceiving the extreme right to be the point most open to danger, he was marching in that direction when he received urgent messages requesting assistance in the centre and on the left. He accordingly detached the greater part of his brigade and a battery towards these points, but proceeded himself, with a small number of men, to reinforce the Guards. The enemy, in fact, were forcing our line at several places at once. Hardly had the battery just named got into action and fired a few rounds of case than it was run into and three of its guns momentarily captured, the officer commanding (Major Townsend) being killed. Three guns of Turner's battery were also taken and some of the gunners bayonetted at their posts; but in both instances the guns were re-taken immediately afterwards by the 77th and 88th Regiments.[14]

Sir George Cathcart, under the impression that he could assist the Guards by a flank movement, moved for some distance down the slopes, near the sandbag battery, but suddenly found himself surrounded by a superior force, and fell, shot through the heart; General Torrens, who was with him, being also severely wounded.[12]

At about 8 o'clock A.M., Lord Raglan with his staff was moving along the ridge, and halted about the centre of the line. Perceiving the advantage he should gain by the fire of heavy guns from such commanding ground, he sent an order for the two 18-pounders, which were near at hand at the mill, to be brought up. It so happened that the officers in charge of them, anticipating his wishes, had already packed the necessary ammunition in waggons, and were, therefore, ready when his message came. Colonel Gambier, R.A., in command, was wounded, and had to retire as they moved up; but under Colonel Collingwood Dickson[13] and Captain D'Aguilar these guns were speedily brought into action on the ridge, and rendered excellent service throughout the day. Prince Menschikoff, in his despatch after the battle, makes special allusion to the fire of the British heavy guns. There were no less than seventeen casualties with these two guns, and they fired about 84 rounds a gun.

Just before the arrival of the 18-pounders, Lord Raglan, accompanied by his staff, was on the ridge surveying the position, having General Strangways on his right. At that moment a shell, supposed to have been fired at long range from a Russian vessel in the harbour, passed between them and burst amongst the staff, killing the horses of Colonels Gordon and Paulet Somerset. These two officers, however, were unhurt.[14] A few seconds afterwards General Strangways turned round to me, saying, quite calmly, 'Help me off my horse,' and he was then seen to be falling. General Estcourt and myself jumped off and caught him as he fell; and we then found that his left leg had been taken off below the knee by the shell as it passed between him and Lord Raglan. We laid him on the ground and I tied my handkerchief round his shattered limb. The staff moved on a short distance, and I was left with him alone. The enemy at the time were close upon us. After looking about in vain for a doctor, or a stretcher to carry him away, I at length saw two men bearing a wounded comrade, and, when they had deposited him in a tent, induced them to return with me. A medical officer also arrived. We gave the General some wine and water from a flask, which temporarily revived him. He did not seem to suffer pain, gave me many messages to his wife and daughter, and begged me to take him to the siege train camp, which was done. Almost his last words were, 'Take me to the gunners, let me die amongst the gunners.' As we were carrying him off we passed the body of another officer on a stretcher, and it proved to be that of Sir George Cathcart. On arrival at the hospital tent, General Strangways became faint and insensible; it was evident that no operation could be performed, and soon afterwards he passed away, with wounded gunners lying round him, Lord Raglan coming to see him just before he died. He was much beloved and respected by all his officers and men, and his death at such a critical time was a great misfortune. When General Strangways fell on the ridge, his horse got away in the confusion, but was afterwards recovered, and singularly enough, was untouched, not even the stirrup leather being cut.

On going up to rejoin Lord Raglan, after the death of Strangways, I met Sir Edmund Lyons, Captain Drummond, and other naval officers on ponies, and conducted them, at their request, to the front. Subsequent to the events just sketched out, from which it will be apparent that our position was very critical, the battle still continued with unabated energy for several hours. The arrival of some French battalions and batteries under Generals Bosquet and Bourbaki, however, gave valuable support to our sorely pressed troops, and Lord Raglan, in his despatch of November 8, drew special attention 'to the brilliant conduct of the allied troops.' 'French and English,' he said, 'vied with each other in displaying their gallantry and manifesting their zealous devotion to duty, notwithstanding that they had to contend against an infinitely superior force, and were exposed for many hours to a very galling fire....' General Canrobert also joined Lord Raglan on the field, and was again slightly wounded. I remember his inquiring of me how many guns we had in action, and I replied: 'thirty-six, in addition to the two 18-pounders.'

The Russian account, though not altogether correct, is worth perusal. It says: 'The battle had now attained its climax. Most of the English generals were hors de combat. The Britons, sadly reduced in numbers and exhausted by the struggle, defended themselves but faintly. More and more the fortunes of the day inclined to the Russians. It was about 11 o'clock when, on a sudden, the shrill tones of horns were heard above the rolling and rattling of the fire. The third act, the turning point of the battle, commenced. The French arrived. In the same proportion as the assurance of their timely aid revived the sinking spirits of the English, it discouraged the Russians, who felt themselves at once on the point of being deprived of the fruit of five hours' hard fighting.'

About noon I was directed by Lord Raglan to go to General Codrington, whose brigade was on the other side of the Careening Bay ravine, to inquire how he was getting on, and whether he required assistance. Codrington's brigade, be it observed, was on the very ground up which it had been intended that Soimonoff should advance. I found his troops lying down, and temporarily out of action. General Codrington informed me that he had been occasionally attacked by Russian troops coming suddenly out of the ravine, but that he had driven them back, and that they were not in great force. As the fog was lifting he invited me to go with him some distance to the front, to try and gain a better general view of the Russian position. We did so, and looking across the ravine to Inkerman were able, for the first time, to see the great masses of the enemy. Whilst carefully observing their movements, the Russian batteries were seen to be retreating in Échelon. Codrington looked at his watch—it was ten minutes to one. He then desired me to return forthwith to Lord Raglan and let him know what we had seen. On delivering the message to the Commander-in-Chief, and saying that the battle seemed coming to an end, his reply was: 'Yes, I believe so,' showing that he had already become aware of the commencement of the retreat.

Lord Raglan's despatch, speaking of the latter part of the battle, said: 'Subsequently to this, the battle continued with unabated vigour and with no positive result, the enemy bringing upon our line, not only the fire of all their field batteries, but those in front of the works of the place, and the ship guns, till the afternoon, when the symptoms of giving way first became apparent; and shortly after, although the fire did not cease, the retreat became general, and heavy masses were observed retiring over the bridge of the Chernaya, and ascending the opposite heights, abandoning on the field of battle 5,000 or 6,000 dead and wounded, multitudes of the latter having already been carried off by them.'

The Russian account says: 'Thus ended the battle, one of the most sanguinary on record, at 2 o'clock P.M., after lasting eight hours.' It attributed their defeat partly to the bravery and steadiness of the English and French troops, partly to the superiority of their arms, and finally to the wrong direction of Soimonoff. When it is considered that the English had only 8,000 infantry and 38 guns available for the defence of the position, and with this small force had to bear the brunt in all the earlier hours of the battle, it is not necessary to dwell on the courage and discipline of the officers and men; the facts speak for themselves. And the quotation I have given from Lord Raglan's despatch is sufficient proof of the timely support and great gallantry of our brave allies.

The English losses were very serious: no less than eight generals and 2,614 officers and men were killed, wounded, or missing.[15]

The names of the generals are as follows:

The losses of the Russians are computed to have been between 11,000 and 12,000. We also captured one gun-carriage and five ammunition carts, left on the heights. Our allies, the French, lost about 930 officers and men, killed and wounded. Late at night on the 5th I was sent for by Lord Raglan, who wished for information as to the supply of ammunition at Inkerman, in the event of a second attack. H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge was with him. I was able to give a satisfactory statement, and to inform him that Captain Gage, R.A., who had been sent during the battle down to Balaclava to bring up a large supply, both for infantry and artillery, had just returned, reporting that the mill, which was our magazine at the front, was amply stocked.

It appears that Prince Menschikoff and two Russian Grand Dukes were present on the field of Inkerman during the day; and that reminds me of a curious incident which occurred in relation to one of them long years afterwards. A gunner of the Royal Artillery served throughout the war, and was wounded, receiving the Victoria Cross for his gallant conduct. Subsequently he served during the Indian mutiny, and was again wounded. After he was pensioned I was partially instrumental in obtaining for him an appointment in the Yeomen of the Guard. Being on one occasion on duty in one of the corridors of Buckingham Palace (at a State Ball, if I remember rightly), a foreign officer, who proved to be a Russian Grand Duke, came up, spoke to him, and examined his decorations. He asked him about his Victoria Cross, and then, seeing he had the Crimean medal and clasp for Inkerman, said: 'Were you at that battle?' 'Yes, sir,' was the reply. 'So was I,' said the Grand Duke. The old Yeoman, in telling me the story, said he thought he might be so bold, so he replied to the Grand Duke, 'Well, sir, if you was at Inkerman, I hope we may never meet again on so unpleasant an occasion.'

[12] Lord Raglan's despatch, November 8, 1854.