Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/391

 PLAN OF ATTACKING THE NORTH SIDE. 365 and 18 feet broad, with revetment in masonry and en a p. a glacis. It was covered on its south and south- ^' eastern sides by two lunettes, but both of these faced the water, and were of no important use against an enemy advancing from the Belbec. Of the 47 guns which armed the work, only 12 could be of service in the expected attack from the north. The fort was commanded, and even looked into, from the heights towards the north.* In and near this work, from the day of the Eudeavoui-3 landing, on the 14th of September, down to the sians^fter" evening of the 24th, the time of which we are sept. to speaking, the Hussians had toiled night and day, the fort 1 ■ 1 /. n and the and with a force of, at one time, some 1500 work- riateau. men. Their object was, not only to repair and strengthen the Star Fort itself, but also to pro- vide generally for the defence of the plateau against an enemy advancing from the Belbec. By those who know that these hurried works went on under the direction of Lieutenant- Colonel de Todleben, it will be easily inferred that they Star Fort I have not implicitly followed the description con- tained in the text of General de Todleben's work ; but my words, I believe, will be found to agree with the plans which accompany his book. Those plans agree very well with the description contained in the admirable work which I have fol- lowed, the work of Gendre (' Materiaux pour servir,' &c.), but not with the words of General de Todleben's book. General de Todleben's book purports not to have been written, but edited by him ; and I imagine he would be much more likely to allow mistakes to occur in the words of the narrative compiled under his auspices than to suffer any grave faults to apjjear in the elaborate maps and plans of fortifications which form so valu- able a portion of the work.
 * It may be right to say that in the above accouut of the