Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/122

 96 BATTf-E OF THE ALMA. CHAP, was under General Codrington. The left brigade, .,_1^ consisting of the lOtli, the 88tli, and 77tli TJogi- nients, was commanded by General ]3ullci'. The orders which General Codrington received from Sir George were simply to advance with his brigade, and not to stop until he had crossed the river. A like order, it is believed, was given to General Buller. The division still moved in line ; and, after losing a few men from the fire of the enemy's artillery, it reached the boundary of the vineyards and gardens which Ijelt the course of the river. The advance The euclosurcs by this time had been almost vmeyfi'is;"' entirely cleared of Russian skirmishers by our Rifles under Lawrence and Norcott, but could be searched by artillery fire. In their eagerness for the conflict, our regiments strove to advance quickly ; but it was a laborious task to traverse the gardens and vineyards, and many of those who had hitherto kept their knapsacks here laid them down. In a few minutes, the whole of the Light Division of infantry, drawing along with it, in its impetuous course, the 95th Regiment, had forced a way into the vineyards. There, our young soldiers found themselves, as they imag- ined, in a thick storm of shot and cannon-l)alls ; but it seems that missiles of war fly crashing so audibly through foliage that they sound more dangerous than they are. 1st would be posted at the right, the 3d in the cenUe, and the 2d on the left. So if one wished to speak of those three regi- ments in the order in which they would stand when ranged in the same battalion, one would take them from right to left, and in this order — viz., 1st Foot, 3d Foot, 2d Foot.