Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/411

THE AFFAIR OF THE BULGANAK. 381 The moment the withdrawal of our little cav- chap. XXV. airy force began, the enemy's artillery-teams, un- seen before, came bounding up from the hollow, and his guns, being quickly unlimbered, were soon in battery upon the ridge. With these he opened fire upon our retreating squadrons ; but he saw that these horsemen, no longer isolated, were retiring upon ample supports of all arms ; he did not therefore venture to pursue with his cavalry. Two men in our cavalry force were wounded, and four or five horses killed. The six- pounder guns attached to our cavalry replied to the enemy's artillery without good effect; but when our nine-pounder guns were brought into action, they caused the enemy's artillery to lim- ber up and retire. They also, it seems, inflicted some loss upon the enemy's cavalry, for it was said that as many as thirty-five of his troopers were killed or wounded. The Russians were soon out of sight. The slight combat thus occurring on the Bul- ganak was the first approach to a passage of arms between Eussia and the Western Powers. The pith of what had happened was this : — The Eus- sians had been making a reconnaissance in force at a time when Lord Raglan was making a re- connaissance with only four squadrons ; and as the nature of the ground concealed the enemy's strength, our lesser force was exposed for some minutes to a good deal of danger ; but the enemy, being slow to take advantage of fortune, had given the English general full time to extricate