Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/464

 43i THE CANNONADE OF CHAP, race which made it liard to restore the temper XTTT '__ and spirit of one army by reporting to it the suc- cess of the other, there was a physical severance of the French and the English siege forces which tended to increase the evil ; for whilst the two camps, and especially the Headquarters camps, were divided from one another by a comparatively small space of ground very easily traversed, the advanced positions which had to be occupied by the besiegers whilst actively engaged in their task were divided by ravines of such depth as to be equivalent to long distances. Another of the ills resulting from this riven configuration of the ground was its tendency to aggravate the embar- rassments created by a divided command. At moments which might require that unforeseen oc- casions should be instantly seized, and that the old plan of action should be rapidly accommodated to new conditions, it could not but be material that, if possible, the two Commanders should be near to one another ; but they had both thought it right to establish themselves at posts announced beforehand to their respective armies, and it is plain that the interposed ravine did much to keep them asunder. The use of the electric telegraph liad been learnt in those days by merchants, nay even, in some measure, by Governments, and the value of moments in war had long been known to maidvind ; but the old and the new discovery had Tint yet been so blended in the human mind as to result in a wire from the batteries to the two Commanders, or across the Harbour ravine.