OF THE SIEGE DISPOSITIONS. 275 revert to their old design of pushing determined chap xi [ assaults against the town front of Sebastopol, and L. moreover declared that the English must at length give up as impracticable their only too long pur- sued task of besieging the Great Redan. The writer used very plain words, choosing even to say : — ' As an attack upon the Redan must be ' considered as abandoned, it remains to be decided ' what shall be the active part which the British ' troops shall take in the forthcoming operations ; ' * but what Lord Eaglan believed to be much more surely attainable, and meant to press home on Pelissier, was only an engagement providing that, if the English Chief should consent to go on as before with his measures against the Redan, the French on their part would assault the town front, and in particular the Flagstaff Bastion.! Even when thus reduced and confined in its scope, the English demand seemed to clash with Pelissier's latest designs, but was based never- theless on good grounds. Since the time when Sebastopol — under the objection eyes of the besiegers — had become, step by step, involving a strong place, no reasoning strictly warlike could the Great well have supported a scheme which directed against the Redan any real attack, still less any assaults uncombined with assaults of the Flag- staff Bastion ; J and, although it is true that the
- Journal of the Royal Engineers, vol. ii. pp. 330, 331.
t See extract post, p. 277, from Lord Raglan's despatch of the 23d of June 1855. t On account of the nature of the grouvd as long before shown.
