Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/456

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412 THE BATTLE OF INKEKMAN. CHAP, to fight under any officers, whether strangers or ! not* The troops occupying the extreme right of m Period. ^|-jg jjyjjjg Kidue, and acting- as a sup])ort to the Position ° ® ^ ^ occupied by two 18-pounders, were the now collected remnants the Guards. *■ ' of the Guards, of which what I called the ' main ' body' had moved up under Colonel Cadogan, their so-nior officer present, f Altogether, the Allied infantry now on Mount Inkerman com- Theap- prised between 12,000 and 13,000 men. Besides parcutly great power his 8000 French infantry (which retained an un- aud oppor- "^ ^ timityof broken organisation, and comprised 5000 fresh at this time, troops). General Canrobert had under liis orders a powerful artillery, with also 700 horse. Suppos- ing that his troops could be trusted, all men will agree that to command such a force as this in the sixth hour of a bloody and exhausting fight, was to wield a mighty engine of power. It is for the possession of just such a force at just such a time that the commander.s of great armies yearn.

  • I lielieve that the merit of causing these stragglers — these

victorious stragglers — to be reorganised, belonged in a very large measure to the indefatigable Colonel, now General, Sir Percy Herbert. + After the combat whii^h he and his Coldstream men had victoriously shared with the Zouaves, Colonel Townsheud Wil- son came back and reported himself to General Pennefather, who ordered him to go to the Windmill and hasten the advance of 'the Guards' to the Ridge. One of Pennefather's staff— I believe Harding — said : ' Let me go, sir, for tliis officer seems ' much tired, and I can go quicker, being mounted.' Harding rode off" accordingly, but must have met ' the Guards,' already advancing ; for before the time adverted to in the text, they had appeared on the ground, coming up under Colonel Cado- gan. Colonel David Wood, when he saw the Grenadiers — his brother's regiment — on the Ridge, brought u]) to ground on their right a couple of guns— guns belonging to Townscud's battery.