Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/43

 THE FLANK MARCH. 13 to be ridiiiLf with none uf Lis trooiis in front of CHAP. , . ^ ^ II. J mil. . . At length Lord l^aghin r(iiche(l a point in the Lord Rag- lane where the light sonic way on could be seen in •ontact brcakin" through — breaking through in such way Russian IIP, force; as to show that, a few yards in Iront, there must be an o])eniiig in the foi'est.* Obsei'ving this, General Airey asked permission to ride on a little way in advance, in oi'der to see whether the ground M'as clear: and he moved accordingly; but in a few seconds he stopped ; and without speaking held np his hand in a way which instantly showed not onh- that Lord IJaglan and the whole column should instantly halt, but that there was need to be very quiet. Airey had, all at once, come in siglit of the great road at the point where it crosses the lane almost close to Mackenzie's Farm. There, and only a few paces which in t r • '111 proves to on, there was a Kussian waggon-tram and a body beuierear- c-n • • r - r,M r 1 guard of ot Kussian intantry. I he lorce, as we now know, Prince "^ . ' ' Mentsclii- was a battalion of foot-Cossacks escorting the Soft's army. waggon-train, but constituting also the rear-guard of Prince Mentschikoffs field arniy.f The men Avcre halted — but not because they yet stood on the alert ; they had halted as troops halt for rest in the midst of a toilsome march, and some of them Avere strolling along the road. Almost at the moment when they first caught sight of General + A battalion of the Black Sea Cossacks oscortinf:; an am- munition-train of the artillery, and the baggage of tlic ' Saxe
 * See Plan of the coiuitry near Mackenzie's Farm.
 * Weimar' hussar regiment.