Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/144

] 1 I RUSSIAN WORK CALLED ' THE QUARRIES.' CHAP, crest of a small rounded led< r e which faced down v. ° towards Egerton's Pit. By our people this prin- cipal Work was always named after some hollows which scarred the ground in its rear; so that when a man spoke of 'the Quarries,' he did not in general mean the old excavations of stone, hut the field-work which covered their front. The enemy s For the defence of this principal field-work, and measures of defence. the collateral entrenchments extending it across the Woronzoff Eidge, the enemy, at first, it would seem, assigned only six battalions; but from time to time, later on, as will be presently shown, he threw into the Work other bodies of chosen in- fantry, and on the whole one may say that, be- sides the original garrison, he engaged first and last in the conflict four distinct expeditions of in- fantry, with an aggregate of strength not disclosed, though clearly shown to be large. He laid in the ground where he judged that our soldiers might tread a number of boxes, charged each with 35 lb. of gunpowder. These were furnished with the needed appliances for making them explode under pressure; and — mainly because in mere structure they differed from the well-known 'fougasse' — men spoke of their use as a novelty malicious rather than warlike, and called them 'infernal ' machines.' The attack was to be delivered by detachments from our Light and 2d Divisions, supported after a while by the 62d Regiment; and as 'General in 'the trenches,' Colonel Shirley commanded them. The duty of guiding our troops rested with the