Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/173

 15ATTLE OF THE ALMA. 1 17 there spriui;4 up the warlike spirit which was des- cii a r. tilled to bring the foot soldiery of Russia and of '. — England into a closer strife. The column, we tiio^v"adimir know, was a mass composed of the four bat-"^""'""' talious of the Vladimir corps ; and although it stood near to the English soldiery lying clustered along the outer side of the parapet, still, because drawn up in the dip behind the rear of the earth- work, it could not be perfectly seen by even such of our men as were standing up, and could not be seen at all by those who w(n-c lying doAvn or kneeling. For the honour of having led this high-mettled column against English infantry two men con- tend. Erom the time when Prince jSlentschikoff rode off towards the sea, Prince Gortschakoff had been left in command of the whole of the forces opposed to the English ; and General Kvetzinski, who commanded the Division to which the Vladi- mir battalions belonged, was under Prince Gorts- cliakoff's orders. Each of these — the two last- mentioned — Generals says that (without knowing of the presence of the other) he gave orders for the advance of the column, and led it on in person. Their statements may perhaps be reconciled; for it is possible that Gortschakoff and Kvetzinski — the one riding with the left, the other with the right, of the column — may have, both of them, done what each of them said that he did. In that view of the matter the coincidence would be accounted for by supposing that the resolve of each of the two Generals sprang from the same cause — sprang