Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/241

BATTLE or THE ALMA. 215 Lank of the river; but in front of the left centre cil ap, of the Fusilier Guards there was a large disordered ' body (men chietiy, I believe, of the 23d and 95th Kegimeiits), who had just let go their hold of the redoubt. These men had faced about to the front, and were firing in the direction of the great column of the Vladimir corps then halted within the I'cdoubt. The moment the heads of the Fusilier Guards rose clear of the ground which till then had been giving them shelter, the men found themselves under a flight of the enemy's missiles, and the higher they marched, the more they in- curred the fire which seemed to be directed against the light infantry men in their front, !^[any of the Fusilier Guards were struck down. Still, their onward movement was maintained. Suddenly the parapet of the redoubt became thickly lined with llussian soldiery ; and, in the next instant, the fire of the enemy's musketry came heavily pouring down into the confused body of light-infantry men who had been hitherto making a stand in front of the Fusilier Guards. The crowd of light-infantry men which received this fire gave way ; and in another instant, it Avas coming down in a mass towards the left centre of the Fusilier Guards. Perhaps the haste with which the Fusilier Guards had been pushed for- ward was one of the causes which hindered them from meeting the emergency by a fitting man- oeuvre. It does not appear that any step Avas taken to make the battalion open out. So pres- ently, the descending crowd came into bodily