Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/334

302 SPIRIT OF THE FlfKNCH ARMY. CHAP. XI. Unaware of his having concurred in that raachin ation which had long kept the siege of Sevastopol in a state of semi-abeyance, they never, it seems, marked him out as the object of camp discontents, and were thoroughly in the mood to admire him when hearing of his honest resolve to exchange high and tempting command for simply a ' com- ' batant's place.' The ' mo- ' rale ' of the French army under Canrobert. When Canrobert declared that upon resigning the command of his army, he left it in a state of high warlike ardour and confidence, he made an assertion which, although it had come to be true after General PeUissier's fights, might, if taken alone, prove deceptive, and lead men to think that the army whilst standing confronted by a powerful enemy could long be kept in the fetters of General Niel's Mission without, for the time, losing heart. The actual truth is that towards the end of March, the ' baneful mission ' of Niel had pro- duced its natural effect on the French troops; and, although Lord Raglan himself had wisely refrained from writing on so tender a subject, our Home Government, drawing its knowledge from other sources, became very deeply con- cerned at what it believed to be the fallen spirit of Canrobert's army. ' Basing himself upon what were then his latest accounts on this subject, our War Minister thus wrote to Lord Raglan : ' I 1 think you may be quite sure now of the Em- ' peror's advent to the Crimea. He professes that