Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/155

 t'IIEX ABANDONED P.Y THE AKMY. 125 their cominou country, General jVIollor nnd Ad- chap. miral Nacliiinolf requested Admiral Korniloff'to undertake the cjeneral arrangements tor the Komiiofr , „ ,., "^ , . , t'i- -1 pp t 1 i. '>y common ' ueience or the town. And Jvormloll did not a(-corci in- ■ . , „ . , . vested with slinnk from accepting the command this prot- the supremo " . commaml. fered him hy the judgment of Ids conn-ades. He observed, it is true, that the land forces would not be under an obligation to obey his orders; but General Moller met this objection by appoint- ing Korniloff the Chief of the Staff of the Sebas- topol garrison, and by pulilishing an instruction which enjoined obedience to all the orders which Ivorniloff might give the land forces. The Russians take a just pride in tracing the glory of their defence of Sebastopol to the political courage and the generous self-denial which thus secured unity of command in the gravest hour of danger. y. No sooner was Korniloff thus invested with KomiiofTs command than he proceeded to exert, and even to extension of stretch, his i)0wer, without at all shrinking from the duty of having to overrule one of those very chiefs who had just placed him over their heads. When Nachimoff joined in ceding to Korniloff the xnciiimoir 111 i> ^ [• T 1 1 !•! iTi'vented Avhole cliarge ot defending the town, lie did not from sinking 1 1, . , . , . 1-1 '''^ ships, intend to abdicate his authority as an admiral commanding one of the two squadrons into which the fleet was divided ; so, having already taken the measures we spoke of for the eventual destruc- tion of his squadron, and being still in the de-