Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/58

36 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. CHAP, army at Balaclava of such strength as to be able to defend an entrenched position like that which might be formed on the line of the Causeway Heights, but actually no army at all, and no force of any kind that could be charged to support the men placed in the intended works, save only a division of cavalry, with a single troop of horse- artillery. Our Engineers formed an entrenched position which could only have strength upon the supposition that several thousands of the Allied infantry would have time to come down and defeud it. Yet, unless there should be a more than English vigilance in the plain of Balaclava, and unless, too, our Division of Cavalry should be so brilliantly wielded as to be able to check and disconcert for some hours the marches of the enemy's columns, there was no good ground for imagining that the strength of this ' outer line,' or the prowess of the brave Osmanlis who were to be placed in its earthworks, could fairly be brought into use. It would seem, therefore, at first sight, that General de Todleben's severe criticism of the ' outer line of defence ' must have been well enough justified ; but the truth is, that the scheme was never recommended by our Engineers as a really trustworthy expedient. They chose it apparently as a makeshift which might more or less baffle a hitherto unenterprising enemy ; and, at least, their plan had the merit — the then truly enticing merit — of diverting no English forces from the great business of the siege ; for if the