Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/157

 BATTLE OF TlIK ALMA. 1 •') I The Duke of Cambridge is the gnuidson ot" chat. King George III., and a cousin of the Queen. ' At the outbreak of tlic war lie was tliirty-five SimbS' years of age. He had made the most of such experience as could be gained by following the vocation of a military life in the Bi'itish Isles. He understood the mechanism of our army system; and so far as could be judged by the test of home service, he was a good and a diligent soldier. Nay, he had some qualifications for command Avhich are not very common in England. He loved order, method, and organisation. Long before the war it had been said that he was gifted with that faculty of moving troops which is one of the prime qualifications of a general officer ; and the skill with which his su[)erb Division had been now deployed, seemed to give safe ground for saying that the flattering rumour was true. He was zealous and devoted to duty. He had the hal)it of exercising forethought. He was sagacious, and was more keenly alive than most other men of our land -service to passing and coming events. He had a good military eye.* 1854 have, caused me, perhaps, to speak with more confulenoo on this subject than I might otherwise venture to show. In that month — I believe on the loth — Lord Eaglau spoke to me of the exceeding anxiety of the Duke of Cambridge about the Inkerman position, and he said that in consequence of this pressure measures had been taken. Exactly three weeks afterwards the very ground about which the Duke had been so anxious was the scene of the mighty onslaught which com- menced the battle of Inkerman.
 * A few words which fell from Lord Raglan in Octolier