Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/52

22 TlIK FL.VNK MAIlCir. CHAP, liud long set in before the bulk of llie troops ^ trained their bivouac on the banks of the strean), and some did not reach it that night. Lord Kag- lan's quarters Avere establislied in the little post- house which stood near the bridge. March of Whilst the main body of the English army thus lay on the Tchernaya, the road by which they had come was still ci'owded, miles back, by their trains ; and the obstruction thus caused prevented the French from pushing their march for that night beyond ]^Iackenzie's Farm ; indeed their rear- uuard was not able to reach its bivouac there until three o'clock in the morning. The scanty supply of water remaining in the wells was exhausted by the first comers, and the troops suffered thirst. Cathcarfs Cathcart, meamvhile, with his Division, was the Beibec. still ou the Bclbcc, where he had been entrusted with the duty of covering the march, and sending back the sick to the Katcha. His position would have been one of some peril if there had been in the field an enemy watchful and enterprising. From the Beibec to the Katcha, wh.ere lay the fleets, there was a tract of liill country unoccu- pied by the Allies, and the trains sent thither Aviih the sick w'ere at the mercy of the enemy. One of the trains came upon a strong Eussian picket, and surgeon Inlong — himself a sick man — was only able to save the convoy by causing the strongest of the patients to get out of the waggons and feign the appearance of a baggage escort. Divided thus by what might almost be reckoned as a two-davs' march from Cathcarfs Division^