Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/140

110 TIIK LUNETTE CARRIED CHAP. The Ditch they had reached was one cut in the — - — solid rock, was broad, was deep, with beyond it a bristling parapet. The French, however, un- daunted by all the perils before them, descended the counterscarp, and some of them moved round by the Ditch to make their way into the Work by its gorge, whilst others by taking advantage of small breaches found in the parapet, and, in some cases, by standing up on the shoulders of their comrades, found means to enter the work by its embrasures. Colonel de Brancion was presently seen to be planting the colours of his regiment on the parapet of the assaulted Work. Too soon, the brave colonel was struck dead ; but, the sight of the victorious standard not fail- ing to draw on the men still outside of the para- pet, and the enemy's resistance collapsing under this bold attack, the Lunette was taken and occu- pied by the victorious French. ihcii im. Carried wildly away by their victory and the petuuusad- . J ,, ," Tanceonthe heat of pursuit, no small part of the French Malakoff; 1 ' l troops pushed valiantly on up the glacis of the towering Malakoff, and some of them reaching the Work moved boldly down into its Ditch; but their effort not having formed part of the general design was left unsupported; and un- able to climb their way back by the very steep counterscarp, these brave men became prisoners of war. their re- The spontaneous attack, as it chanced, took treat when attacked™ place at a moment when several fresh Russian