Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/341

 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 316 Mentschikoff s left, and to leave to Lord Raglan chap. 1. the duty of dealing with the enemy's centre, as well as with his right wing. XLVIIL Told summarily, the battle of the Alma was summary o< this : — The French seized the empty ground which divided the enemy from the sea, and then undertook to assail the enemy's left wing; but were baffled by the want of a road for Canrobert's artillery, and by the exceeding cogency of the rule which forbids them from engaging their in- fantry on open ground without the support of cannon. Their failure placed them in jeopardy • for they had committed so large proportion of their force to the distant part of the West Cliff and the sea-shore, that for nearly an hour they lay much at the mercy of any Eussian general who might have chosen to take advantage of their severed condition. But, instead of turning to his own glory the mistake the French had been making, Prince Mentschikoff hastened to copy it, wasting time and strength in a march towards the sea-shore, and a counter-march back to the Telegraph. Still, the sense the French had of their failure, and the galling fire which Kiria- koff's two batteries were by this time bringing to bear on them, began to create in their army a grave discontent, and sensations scarce short of despondency. Seeing the danger to which this condition of things was leadin«i, and becoming