BY THE ALLIED FLEET. 257 The wailil^c thousands wlio maimed the Allied chap. XI fleets had long been yearning for the hour of ' battle with impassioned veliemence ; but the mental state of such combatants as have only to fight under orders is not at all similar to that of a commander who must answer to his Govern ment, to his country, and to himself, for the wis- dom of what he undertakes ; and it would seem that, at this conjuncture, the mind of an Admiral qwestionaa entrusted with power to grant or withhold the tiicymiah; . take aid of the English navy must have laboured with thoughts of this kind : ' Any good opportunity ' for taking part in the attack upon Sebastopol ' would be singularly welcome ; for the eagerness ' of our people on board has grown to a height ' almost dangerous to the maintenance of author- ' ity ; * and as the landsmen are confident in their ' hope of carrying the place, we have every motive ' for sharing in the achievement, if only we can ' do so with credit. Perhaps our best mode of ' effecting a diversion in favour of the army would ' liave been to choose the moment appointed for ' the assault, and then make a feint of landing ' towards the north, at the same time cannonad- ' ing the batteries on the north shore M-ith the fire ' of twenty steamers. Such an operation would ' have been likely to make the enemy withdraw ' troops from the scene of the real confiict. -f- r>ut
- Tliis was the case.
+ This was Damlas's opinion. — Letter of his to Lord Raglan, 25th October 1854. The reader of Todleben's work will pro- bably incline to believe that Dundas's mind pointed in the right direction. VOL. IV. R
