Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/213

 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 187 which had been put upon the French army by chap. that incubus of the 'eight battalions' of which ' the aide-de-camp spoke. We left Prince Ment- The 'coiumi; schikoff countermarching irom west to east with ' battalions the seven battalions which he had under his personal orders. The detached battalion of the ' Moscow ' corps had been afterwards called in, and its junction brought up the whole body to eight battalions. With this force gathered in mass, and standing halted on the right rear of the Telegraph, Prince Mentschikoff was preparing to make an onslaught upon the head of Canrobert's Division ; but just as he was going to move, he abandoned the idea of leading the column in person. The cause of this change is obvious. Evidently Prince Mentschikoff was called off to another part of the field by tidings of what the EnjTlish were doing. Kiriakoff had had a horse shot under him, and Kinakoff was standing on foot near one of his ' Taroutine ' with the clitir'-'6 of battalions, when Prince Mentschikoff rode up, this column and (apparently suppressing the tidings which forced him to quit this part of the field) gave Kiriakoff the charge of the great ' column of the ' eight battalions ' which had been amassed for the purpose of an attack upon Canrobert's Divi- sion. The Prince then rode off, and was not seen again or heard of in this part of the field. Of course it follows that he went as straight as he could towards that part of his position which was undergoing the assault of the English.*
 * I say ' it follows,' because Prince Mentschikoff was u i)rave