Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/319

 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 293 ' on the Alma,' but was also a retreat with which chap. it was his obvious duty to conform. For that ^- reason he first ordered his troops to retire to a part of the Great Post-road which lay on the right rear of his position ; and when he got to that spot, he found that the victory won by Lord ],« onnforms Raglan was by that time so well assured as to IncliroT""' oblige him to continue his retrograde march, and rp'tre.atrirg conform at once to the movements of the seven- EngiTsh!'*' and-twenty battalions then yielding to their Eng- lish assailants. ' Impossible,' writes Kiriakoff, after speaking of the direction in which French artillery had been brought to bear upon his troops in front of the Telegraph — ' impossible to leave the left wing ' thus exposed to a cross-fire, and I could not send ' or wait for orders from the Commander-in-Chief. ' The right wing* having already begun a very deci- ' sive movement of retreat, I commanded the march ' towards the main road, on either side of which ' I ranged the troops. This road was beyond the ' height where our principal reserves had stood. ' Then I became aware that our right wing * was ' indeed retreating ; and, wishing to conform as ' much as possible with their movements, I ' ordered a second march towards a height be- ' yond the road.-f-. . . The enemy did not ' follow us.' + If full faith be given to this testimony of Kiriakoff, it is of course conclusive of the question as to where the Russian re- treat began ; for he speaks as an eyewitness of the retreat which
 * i.e., troops opposed to the English.