Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/288

258 ORDERS AND PREPARATIONS ciiAP. act upon events. If the English should decide ^^^' against the project, he would be well content, and perhaps much relieved. If, on the other hand, the English should press for its adoption, then the French Marshal would do his best to carry it to a good conclusion. Admiral The French fleet was commanded by Admiral Hamelin. It was understood that he disapproved the expedition, but being under the orders of Mar- shal St Arnaud, he had not of course the weight that his voice might have otlierwise carried. Omar Pasha. It was Hot at that time a part of the project to move any very large proportion of the Turkish army to the coast of the Crimea, and therefore the opinion of Omar Pasha would hardly become a governing ingredient in the counsels of the Allies. It was known, however, that he depre- cated the proposed invasion. Admiral The English fleet was commanded by Vice- Admiral Dundas. Most of the Vice-Admiral's latter years had been passed in political and official life, and it was by force of politics that he had now become troubled with the business of war ; for his seat at the Admiralty Board, and his subsequent appointment in peace-time to the command of the INIediterranean fleet, were things which stood in the relation of cause and effect. He had not sought to return to scenes of naval strife, but the war overtook him in his marine retirement, converting his expected repose into anxious toil. He was an able, a steadfast, a genial man, and his square Scottish head, and hia Dandas.