Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/422

 392 TlIK CANNONADE OF CHAP, iiou ceased liriug.* Slipping lier port, or small ._' bower cable, and cutting away her stream cable, she backed astern till she got to be clear of the shoal, and afterwards moved ahead, delivering a farewell fire as she passed at the cliff batteries, and then going out of range. "j* She had lost 4 killed and 25 wounded. Amongst the wounded were Lieutenant S. Gaus- sen and Duke D. Yonge, naval cadet. t An officer, -wliom I judge to be highly competent to speak of the probable motive which brought the late Lord Lyons to take these steins, gives the following explanation of the reason for the Agamemnon's hauling off when she did, and slipping lier cable : ' The Agamemnon did not go out from under Fort ' Constantine until she had been there four hours [three hours, ' according to the Agamemnon's log] ; it was then getting late, ' and became evident we could do nothing more [that is, the ' in-shore ships] whilst unsupported by the rest of the Allied ' fleets, who were too far off to make any impression on the forts. ' [In contradiction of that last statement, see ante. ' The reason we slipped was, that the Rodney had anchored ' over our anchor, and we could not pick it up whilst she was ' there ; and as we were in her way of coming out, it was ad- • vi-sable for us to move first. The Rodney took up her posi- ' tion well ; and Captain Graham's conduct was much appre- ' ciated by Lord Lyons. ' The officer who thus accounts for the loss of one of the Aga- memnon's anchors does not speak (in terms) of the reason for sacrificing also the stream anchor. For the determination of the question whether the Rodney anchored over the anchor of the Agamemnon, the existing materials are probably sufficient. 1st, the Agamemnon's anchor — her port bow anchor — was dropped in 5 fathoms ; 2dly, she slipped her cable at its first sJiacJcle, i.e., 12| fathoms. — Sec her log. 3dly, it will be re- membered that after the Rodney had veered, her jib-guys were toucliing the jib-guys of the Agamemnon; and from that fact the distance between the bows of the two ships may be com- puted.
 * At 5.10, according to the log of the Agamemnon.