Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/305

THE MAIN FIGHT. 261 tent with the iiuiiiiinity his troops now enjoyed, CHAP, for he not only hehl ))ack the column, but ab- ' stained from throwing out soldiery to clear its ^^p^^<^ front ; and, the steepness of the ground being such that men not many paces asunder might be out of each other's sight, Sir George Cathcart re- mained with his Staff on the broken hillside at a distance of only a few yards from the column planted above him. On each side for once there was a sense of dis- comfiture. The Russians considered that they had failed to prevent Cathcart's troops from cutting through their column. On the other hand, our people had been the assailants, undertaking to drive off the force in their rear by means of an up-hill attack, made with numbers as one to four- teen ; and not to perform the prodigy, but, on the contrary, allow an enemy's column to remain on the English Heights, was to fail. So, at all events, Cathcart thought. With Maitland at his side, he rode up and down for some moments, and pre- sently said, ' I fear we are in a mess.' Malt- cati.oarfs land said he yet hoped that our people would Maiti.uui drive the enemy back ; and then seeing some men coming up from the foot of the hill, he rode down to get them together, and hasten their ascent. These soldiers, however, when addressed by Mait- land, complained that they had been fired upon by their own fellow-countrymen ; and, until they had come back to within some thirty yards of the Maitiami's . . further Russians, they persistently maintained their be- efforts, lief. Maitland entreated them to form a blended