186 COLONEL YEA'S ATTACK.
CHAP, signal which threw forward Colonel Yeas column
VI!
! — against the eastern flank of the work.
, With — foremost of all — its 'covering party 'of
and number -,nr ~n-n • i -.i ' • ' i n -n
of force 100 Riflemen in open order; with next its 12 Ji.11-
under Veil.
gineers, followed by some 180 soldiers and sailors
bearing wool-sacks and ladders ; with next again
the 'main body/ or 'storming party,' of 400 men
drawn from the 34th Regiment; and with finally,
though held back at first, its ' reserve ' of 800 men,
furnished by the 7th or Royal Fusiliers and by the
33d Regiment, — this column entrusted to Colonel
Yea was almost exactly a counterpart of the one
we saw led by General Campbell on the oppo-
site flank, comprising therefore a strength of 1300
bayonets, and, in all, nearly 1500 men.* But Col-
onel Yea did not direct (as did General Campbell
strength of elsewhere) that the so-called 'reserve' should
the column , .
moving with come up at once in close support to the storming
column, and accordingly the whole of the infantry
yet empowered to move with the chief comprised
only 500 bayonets.
The piloting Engineer officer was Lieutenant
A'Court Fisher, and Lieutenant Graves headed
the ladder-party. When the signal was given,
Advance of the 100 Riflemen from the foremost trench and
the rest of the force from the other trench in its
rear sprang swiftly over the parapets, and then at
once fairly confronted that part of the Sebastopol
defences which was formed by the eastern face
and flank of the Great Redan, by the chain of
works thence trending northwards, and again by
- Viz., with the 12 Engineers and ISO bearers, 1402.
the column.
