COMBAT OF THE 26TH OF OCTOBER. 377 body of his infantry there drawn up in line, he chap. awaited unmoved the yet further development of ' %e attack. The separate column meanwhile had been as- Advance of cendmg the Careenage Ravine, and at first with- column, out being visible to its nearest adversaries ; for though Goodlake's sixty men of the Guards stood posted across the ravine at a spot close below the caves, there was a bend in the course of the gorge which concealed the one force from the other. * To assure himself against any ambush, Captain captain Goodlake (taking with him Sergeant Ashton) had adventure . ^ . .. with the gone up to examine the caves, leaving the rest ot enemy. his sixty men halted across the bed of the chasm,
- Respecting the origin and constitution of this singularly
adventurous little body of volunteers under Goodlake of the Coldstream, see 'Invasion of the Crimea,' vol. iv. of Cabinet Edi- tion, note, p. 299. There were two other officers who originally acted with Goodlake in the formation and leadership of this body — namely, Cameron of the Grenadiers, and Baring of the Scots Fusilier Guards ; but Cameron, in one of the expeditions, was wounded. Goodlake carried him out of the fight on his back ; and Baring one day was so high-handed with a man of the Rifles whom he arrested in the act of retreating, that an inquiry on the subject was ordered ; so that ultimately Goodlake was the only one of the three who remained free to act ; and he commanded the force during a period of forty-two days, earning brilliantly his Victoria Cross. A narrative of the exploits of this force would make a volume of extraordinary interest ; but I imagine there is no hope that any such will ever appear ; for they who do these sort of things are apt to be men of few words. No doubt, Goodlake, Cameron, and Baring, and the men acting under them, knew well that by constantly hanging close upon the enemy they gained opportunities of doing really good services ; but they would hardly deny, I believe, that one motive at least, if not the main one, for engaging in these enterprises, was love of adventure and sport.
