Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/57

 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 31 Meanwhile the Allied steamers had been seek- CHAP. ing opportunities for bringing their guns to bear, * and at twenty minutes past ten they opened fire.* One or two of their missiles, though at a very long range, reached some of those liussian bat- talions which stood posted in rear of the Telegraph. At half-past eleven o'clock the English right had got into direct contact with the Trench left, and our Light and 2d Divisions were marching in the same alignment as the 1st and 3d Divisions of our French Allies. Twice again there were protracted halts. The The last last of these took place at a distance of about a Aiiics before mile and a half from the banks of the Alma From the spot where the forces were halted the ground sloped gently down to the river's side ; here say generally, to avoid repeated notes, that, whenever in my account of this battle I speak of an event as happening at a time stated with exactness, I do so on the authority of Romaine. He was a man so gifted with long sight, as well as with power of estimating numbers, and, though a civilian, was so thorouglily apt for military business, that Lord Eaglan used at a later time to call liim ' the eye of the army.' During the action he rode an old hunter, steady enough to allow him to write without quitting his saddle : so, whenever he observed a change in the progress of the action, he took out his watch and pocket-book and made at the minute the memoranda on which I rely. 1 am, therefore, very certain that the spaces of time intervening be- tween any two events spoken of in this precise way were ex- actly those which I give ; but I liavo reason to think that the watches of men in the dilferent caiups had been difrereutly set. Uie bailie.
 * Private MS. by Mr riomaine, the Judge-Advocate. I may