Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/255

 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 229 forlorn hope at the storming of St Sebastian, and chap was there wounded twice ; he was at Vittoria ; lie L_ was at the passage of the Bidassoa ; he took part in the American war of 1814 ; he served in the West Indies ; he served in the Chinese war of 1842. These occasions he had so well used that his quality as a soldier was perfectly well known. He had been praised and praised again and again; but since he was not so connected as to be able to move the dispensers of military rank, he gained promotion slowly, and it was not until the second Sikh war that he had a command as a general : even then he had no rank in the army above that of a colonel. At Chilianwalla he commanded a division. Marching in person with one of his two brigades, he had gained the heights on the extreme right of the Sikh position, and then bringing round the left shoulder, he had rolled up the enemy's line and won the day ; but since his other brigade (being separated from him by a long distance) had wanted his personal control, and fallen into trouble, the brilliancy of the general result which he had achieved did not save him altogether from criticism. That day he was wounded for the fourth time. He com- manded a division at the great battle of Gujerat ; and there, — seizing discretion — he so used the ar- tillery arm that whilst sparing his infantry, he yet proved able to vanquish the whole right wing of the enemy. In 1851 and the following year he com- manded against the hill-tribes. It was he who forced the Kohat Pass, It was he who, with only