Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/534

490 THE BATTLE UF INKEiiMAN. CHAP. SOU of a fortress closely touching the field of carnage, aud recei^'ing with endless convoys of wounded men, the melancholy remnants of what only a few hours before had been ardent and strong battalions ; but, the English having ex- pended their strength, it rested exclusively with the French to push the victory to a great conclu- sion, and having already seen that General Can- robert stayed his hand on the day of the battle, we shall next have to learn by w'hat counsels he determined his course on the morrow. By the 4th of November, the French had l)rought their trenches so close to the FlagstafiF Bastion, that the moment for assaulting it then seemed all but ripe ; and it was to avert that dread blow that the enemy hurried on his pre- parations for the onslaught of the following day. This French enterprise against the Flagstaff r)astion was to have been the main feature of a general assault on Sebastopol ; and, to make all the needed arrangements, a meeting of the Allied Generals had been summoned for the 5th of November. The exigencies of ' Inkerman ' pre- vented the council from assembling to mature their contrivances, and it was with other thoughts that General Canrobert came to the English head- quarters on the morrow of the battle. He re- mained with Lord Eaglan 'some hours,' stating with much * fairness and ability the great diffi- ' culties' the Allies had before them, and he urged it as their duty to heed both their yester-