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BATTLE OF ALMA

'Though till now ungraced in story,

Scant although thy waters be,

Alma, roll those waters proudly;

Roll them proudly to the sea.'

September 20.—In the early morning the allied armies formed up in position as on the previous day's march, in readiness for the battle. It was then discovered that Colonel Lagondie was absent from head quarters, and inquiries were made without result. As it was supposed he might have remained during the night with his French comrades, a message was sent to Prince Napoleon. The prince, however, said that Lagondie had arrived the previous evening with Lord Raglan's message, and then left. The mystery of his absence remained for the time inexplicable. Soon after the battle of the Alma, however, Menschikoff's carriage, containing a number of his papers and letters, was captured, and amongst them a note from a lady in Sebastopol saying how much pleased they were with the charming French colonel he had sent in to them, and hoping he would soon send some more. This at once cleared up the mystery of our friend Lagondie; and it subsequently transpired that on leaving Napoleon at dusk, being short-sighted, he had missed his way, and had ridden straight into the Russian cavalry and was made prisoner.

Considerable delay occurred on the morning of September 20, before our troops were prepared to advance, owing to numerous cases of cholera and fever amongst the men during the previous night, and the necessity of conveying them to the shore, for embarkation in the transports. The French, being close to the sea, had a considerable advantage in this respect. During the morning Marshal Saint-Arnaud, with a large staff and an officer carrying a silk tricolor standard, rode along the front of the British Army to confer with Lord Raglan, and was loudly cheered by our men. Whether the French marshal was a great general or not, I had no means of judging; but when we consider that he was then suffering from a mortal disease—of which, indeed, he died a few days later on board a French man-of-war—I think that he evinced a brave and heroic spirit under such circumstances in leading and commanding a French army in a great and successful battle.

BATTLE OF ALMA.

At about eleven o'clock the allied armies advanced, the whole front covered by a cloud of skirmishers. The order of battle was an échelon from the right. General Bosquet's division led off, marching along the sea shore, with the Turkish force in rear. Then came the divisions of Canrobert and Prince Napoleon, with that of General Forey in rear in reserve. The English then took up the échelon; the second division under De Lacy Evans being next to that of Napoleon, then the Light Division under Sir George Brown, followed in a second line by the troops of Sir Richard England and the Guards and Highlanders under the Duke of Cambridge, the batteries of artillery in the intervals of brigades—the fourth division under Sir George Cathcart and the cavalry under Lord Lucan being held in reserve on the outward flank, which was three or four miles from the shore.

As the armies thus advanced to the attack we were able to take a more complete survey of the Russian position, and whilst the ground in front of the French was seen to be precipitous and difficult, it was evident that the main body of the Russians was in position, and partly entrenched, on slopes which the English forces were about to storm.

It has sometimes been argued that the English ought to have attempted a movement turning the Russian right; but when it is considered that our base was the sea, it is, I think, evident that the only prudent course in attacking a strong, partially entrenched position on the other side of a river, was the échelon movement as described. It was about noon when the first gun was fired; Bosquet's brigades crossed the river near its mouth, and commenced climbing the precipitous slopes, their advance being assisted by the fire of some vessels of the fleet. The enemy, however, were not in great force at this point, and the French gained the crest with comparatively few casualties. The divisions of Canrobert and Prince Napoleon as they reached the river crossed in succession, and were vigorously opposed as they swarmed up the heights. Great difficulties also were encountered in bringing up their artillery; but a flank movement of Bosquet's troops along the crest finally enabled the French Army to make good the ascent, although with considerable loss, and the Russians were compelled to yield the ground.[4]

So far the battle had satisfactorily progressed, but a sterner and far more terrible struggle had commenced on the left. The two leading English divisions as they approached the river and came within long range of the enemy's guns were deployed into line, and, whilst waiting for the completion of the French attack, were ordered to lie down. The English batteries came into action; but the enemy's guns were both powerful and numerous, and on commanding ground, so that at the beginning we were rather at a disadvantage.

Urgent messages having been received from the French, it was apparent that the moment of action had at length arrived, and Lord Raglan then gave the order for the advance of the whole army. The village of Burliuk on our side of the river, in front of Sir De Lacy Evans' division, was set on fire by the enemy, and led to the temporary separation of his two brigades, one passing it on either side. Lord Raglan, having given the order, passed with his staff through the burning village to the right, and by a narrow lane came suddenly down to a ford of the river. In riding through the village we passed the body of Lieutenant Cockerell, a young officer of artillery, who with his horse had just been killed by a round shot from the heights. A sharp skirmish was going on between the Russian outposts and the Zouaves of Napoleon's division as we reached and crossed the ford. At that moment Lieutenant Leslie, of the Life Guards, orderly officer to Lord Raglan, fell from his horse, shot through the shoulder, and was laid under the bank on the opposite side. The horse of Captain Fortescue, R.A., was killed at the same time by a bullet in the head.[5] Lord Raglan pressed on, and passing some French skirmishers in the vineyards, soon reached high ground, from which he had an excellent view of the Russian position. Perceiving the important advantage he should gain by artillery fire from this spot, he consulted General Strangways and then sent me back for some guns. Fortunately Captain Turner's battery was just crossing the ford, and two guns were quickly brought up, followed shortly by the others. Their fire, directed against the Russian columns and batteries, who were now heavily engaged with the advance of the Light and Second Divisions, had a powerful effect, not only materially but morally, as showing the Russians that whilst their front was being stormed their flank was already turned. Lieutenant Walsham, R.A., was killed whilst with these guns.

BATTLE OF ALMA, 20TH SEPTEMBER, 1854

In the meantime the two leading divisions, covered by skirmishers, moved steadily across the plain. Their ranks became somewhat disarranged by the gardens and vineyards as they approached the river, and still more so as they waded across the stream, which was fordable at many places. They, however, found a momentary shelter behind the broken ground on the opposite bank, and then the great crisis began. It was a moment of intense anxiety as the men of the Light and part of the Second Divisions jumped from their cover, and with a rattling fire commenced the charge. The ground over which they had to pass was of the nature of a smooth, steep glacis, and was swept by infantry and artillery fire. Three of our batteries, however, had converged towards the bridge over the Alma, and gave material support to the advancing troops. Up to this time every advantage had been on the side of the enemy. The scale, however, now began to turn. As the English line approached the Russian columns, its formation, straggling and irregular as it was, enabled it to open a continuous line of fire. The enemy's forces could be seen opening out and endeavouring to deploy; but it was too late—our regiments were close upon them. Then the Russian masses began to shake; then men from the rear were seen to run; then whole columns would turn and retire, halting and facing about at short intervals, but, with artillery smashing on their flank, and with Codrington's and Pennefather's brigades still streaming upwards, the enemy's troops could no longer hold their ground, but fled disordered up the hill. The converging fire of their batteries, however, still made a fearful havoc in the English ranks, and a wide street of dead and wounded, the whole way from the river upwards, showed the terrific nature of the fight. Breathless, decimated and much broken, but with victory crowning their efforts, the centre regiments at length dashed over the main entrenchment and captured two guns. But the battle was even then by no means over. The Russian reserves moved down, and Codrington's brigade, whose force was almost expended, was obliged to give way, and victory for a moment seemed doubtful. Succour, however, was at hand. The three regiments of Guards, with the Highlanders on the left, the whole under the Duke of Cambridge, were now advancing up the hill in grand array. Some slight delay occurred until Codrington's brigade had fallen back and cleared the front, during which time the casualties were numerous, but then the chance of the Russians was over and their whole army retreated in some confusion. Lord Raglan in the meantime had left his position on the hill and joined his victorious troops, and by his orders five batteries of artillery were concentrated and fired on the broken columns of the enemy until they were out of range. It was a great victory, not only in its immediate result, but in its general effect on the Russian army.

Our losses in killed, wounded, and missing were very severe—amounting to 2,006 officers and men. About half of the entire number occurred in the Light Division alone.

The following diagram gives the position of the infantry regiments chiefly engaged, and of the casualties in each:

The joy and excitement of the English troops were intense as Lord Raglan rode along the line formed on the heights they had just won. On coming to the Highland Brigade rather an amusing incident occurred. Sir Colin Campbell addressed the Commander-in-Chief, and begged him to do him a favour. Lord Raglan, in reply, said it would give him pleasure to serve him in any way. Sir Colin then said: 'My lord, you have in years gone by shown me kindness when I was a young officer, and now I am an old one. My request is that, so long as I am at the head of the Highland Brigade, I may be allowed to wear the Highland bonnet.' This delighted the Scotchmen, and great cheering followed.

In addition to the two guns captured, two Russian generals were taken prisoners and about 900 of their wounded men were left on the field. The total loss of the Russians in the battle is stated to have been upwards of 5,000. The battle ended about four o'clock in the afternoon, the head quarters camp being pitched near the river, and Lord Raglan then went in search of his orderly officer, Lieutenant Tom Leslie, and with the help of some guardsmen, with a stretcher, brought him to his tent. Lord Raglan asked me if I knew Tom's mother, and on my replying in the negative, he said: 'A charming woman. I must write to her. How proud she will be to hear that he has a bullet in his shoulder!'

Several years after the battle, when in India, I met an old artillery man at Delhi, who claimed my acquaintance, and reminded me of the incident of bringing up Turner's guns from the ford. He said he was one of the drivers of the battery at the time, and that I rode up to him in the river and said: '"Johnson," says you, "you'll not spare whip nor spur till you get to the top of that hill, for Lord Raglan wants you."' I cannot vouch for the absolute correctness of his personal reminiscences, but the main fact is correct enough.

The two days following the victory were passed in collecting our wounded (upwards of 1,400), and carrying them in hammocks and stretchers to the beach for embarkation. Amongst others I remember saying a few words to Baring of the Coldstream Guards, as he was carried away from the field. He had lost an arm. Reserves of ammunition were also landed from the transports to meet the expenditure, which, however, was not large, the infantry having fired about six rounds a man and the artillery fifteen rounds a gun. The Russians' muskets, lying about the field in thousands (many of them with the old flint lock) were broken, and the accoutrements, knapsacks, &c., collected in heaps and burned.

The Russian Commander-in-Chief having omitted to send in a flag of truce, or to make any inquiry as to his wounded left on the ground, they were collected in a field and as far as possible attended to. An English medical officer, having volunteered, was left in charge of them as we marched away; a message being sent to Prince Menschikoff informing him of the arrangement.