Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/78

 52 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. C H A 1 I service which the English army could find would _ be that of making a great flank-move/nent against the enemy's right; but, there being by this time a certainty that no more than a moderate portion the bearing of the Russiau army would be met by the French, this admea- •, n ti ■ • -,■ suremeut it lollowed that by Simply providing a line oi battle with which to confront face to face the rest had upon the French phin. of the enemy's forces, Lord liaglan would secure i'or his troops an ample field of duty ; and now that the invading armies had come within cannon- shot range, it began to be seen that the entire front presented by the 1st and 3d French Divi- sions, and by our 2d and Light Divisions, would be only just commensurate with the length of the position which the Russian commander was occupying. Russian Army. English Arniv. The French Arm v. The ground which each of the lead- ing divisions had to assail. Of course, therefore, if Lord Eaglan had not already rejected the French plan of a flank at- tack by our forces, it would have now fallen to the ground. It had never made any impression on his mind.* a was thoronglily coulidential in such matters never heard liim speak of it. Lord Eaghm, as we saw, distinctly and fin- ally rejected the plan at the close of his interview with St Arnaud. It became a plan simply preposterous as soon as it was apparent that St Arnaud would not confront any part o! the Russian army except theii" left wing ; for to mate two
 * I infer this from the fact that those with whom Lord Rag-