192 THE APRIL BOMBARDMENT. chap, opportune use of 'dismounting batteries' estab- ' lished on well-chosen sites, it was judged by him who best knew that the all-precious Flagstaff Bas- tion which he held to be the key of Sebastopol had at last been made ripe for assault.* This besides, as we saw, was the day when the White Eedoubts seemed to be placed at the mercy of the French; and accordingly Todleben writes: — 'We ' were then in expectation of seeing the Allies ' take advantage of this opportunity for advanc- ' ing to the assault of the Flagstaff Bastion and • the White Eedoubts.' so, on the On the 11th of April, the French artillery-fire brought the Central Bastion and its auxiliary the Schwartz Eedoubt to a state of utter disorder, and assailed the Flagstaff Bastion with so great a power that all the guns in its salient were dis- mounted and all the embrasures of its left face destroyed.! so, on the On the 1 2th of April the Flagstaff Bastion was again plied with violent fire, and Todleben judged it to be in a critical state.j so, on the On the 13th of April the enemy concentrated his efforts on the Flagstaff Bastion, which was once more thrown into a state of complete dis- order, and towards evening, it was silenced.§ so, on the On the 14th as on former clays of the bombard- sixth day.
- According to Todleben, the French were in possession of
admirable sites for any such dismounting batteries ; and he particularly specifies one — viz., the site of their Mortar Battery, 'No. 25, bis.'— Todleben, p. 109. f Ibid., p. 131. $ Ibid., p. 137 et seq. § Ibid., p. 140.
