Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/416

394 TUii KETENTIOH OF BALACLAVA. CHAPTER IV. c h a ?. At the time of the combat on Mount Inkerinan ' Balaclava, as we saw, lay in danger ; for Liprandi, October. though cowed by the results of the yesterday's pr o^S al cavalry fight, remained holding as yet to his pur- ofcMrence pose, and was not only still close impending with a[ Baia aster some 24,000 men and 78 guns, but established on the rib of high ground which supports the Woron- zoff road, and thence looking straight down the smooth gorge which enters the place from the north. To avert, if he could, the disaster of hav- ing Balaclava forcibly wrested from his hold, Lord Raglan had ridden down from headquarters, and was met in front of the place by Sir Colin Campbell, its able commander, rue two Lord Raglan could choose, as he thought, be- Beemedopen tvveen two courses of action. One of these was to endeavour to provide for the defence of Bala- clava by the painful and dangerous expedient of withdrawing troops from the Chersonese. The other plan, on the contrary, seemed to offer im- portant advantages, for, if able to adopt it, Lord Kajilan niijjht at once effect a wholesome concen-