Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/507

 APPENDIX. 477 to compare his statements ■viili oilier authorities. So far as concerns his arguments, I have not presumed to say, in dogmatic form, that they are right or that they are Avrong. I have been content to state and sulmiit them for the fair consideration of the reader. It is quite true, however, that I have undisguisedly recognised the high vah;e which must attach to the judgment of the great Eussian engineer ■when he speaks of the degree of strength to which the Sebastopol defences had attained on any particular day. In paragraphs 14, 15, and 16, Sir John Burgoyno re- opens the question, whether the Allies ought ' to have ' attacked the north side of Sebastopol in preference to the south ; ' but even now, as in his earlier Avritings, his reasoning is vitiated by the circumstance of his persisting in the idea that the Avorks of the North Side Avere to be defended by an ' army.' At no time was the North Side defended by an ' army.' After its defeat on the Alma, the liiissian army, Avithout ever attempting to take up a posi- tion on the North Side, crossed over the roadstead at once, and retreated through the toAvn of Sebastopol. It is true that Prince INIentschikofF, on the evening of the battle, entertained the idea of taking up a position on the North Side ; but after receiving Colonel de Todleben's report he finally abandoned all idea of doing so. All that the Allied fleets and armies Avould have had to resist them, if they had attacked the Star Fort, Avas a body of some eleven or twelve thousand men, consisting almost entirely of sailors. The facts on Avhich this statement rests are minutely de- tailed in General de Todleben's book ; and Sir John Eur- goyno, if he adheres to his 'canon,' Avill not dispute them. In the face of General do Todleben's elaborately-stated conclusions. Sir John Burgoyne still upholds the theory (paragraph 15) that the possession of the North SideAvould not have carried Avith it any useful result ; and he supports his opinion by referring to the condition of things which