Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/46

 20 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. CHAP, deeply to this, liis favourite part of the battle- • field, that, when he afterwards endeavoured to shift a portion of the Great Reserves towards his left, he was unable to make their strength tell. Forces of The forces with which the Allied commanders prepared to assail tliis position M-ere thus com- posed : There were some 30,000 French infantry and artillerymen,* with sixty - eight guns ; and, added to this force, under the command of the INIarshal St Arnaud, was the division of 7000 Turkish infantry.-}- With Lord Eaglan, and present under arms, there was a force of fully 1000 cavalry, 25,000 :|: infantry and artillerymen, and sixty pieces of field-artillery. § In all, the Allied armies advancing upon the Alma com- prised near 63,000 men and 128 guns. St Arnaud, with his 37,000 infantry and artil- lerymen and sixty - eight guns, and effectually supported by the fire of nine war-steamers, || was destined to confront at the commencement of the the total, but that is a computation of the force embarked ; and, since cholera was prevailing, the deductions from strength be- tween the 7th and the 20th of the month must have brought the numbers below 30,000. + Ibid. t Or, speaking more closely, 24,400. The 'morning state' which I have before me is of the 18th September, and it gives as present under arms (without including the cavalry, of which there was no ' state ') a total of 26,004 officers and men, and, de- ducting the 1600 men detached under Colonel Torrens, there remained 24,404 infantry and artillerymen. § The official 'state' prepared for Lord Eaglan gives two troops of horse-artillery, and only seven batteries, but it omits the liattery attaclied to the 4th Division. U Official despatch of Admiral Hauielin.
 * 'Precis Ilistorique,' pp. 101, 102, which gives 30,204 as