Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/407

 combat. COMBAT OF THE 26TH OF OCTOBER. 385 previous day, Lord Raglan had received a message chap. from Sir George Brown which apprized him of the IL attack on Mount Inkerman, and having thereupon ^nthe* aghm galloped back in all haste to the Chersonese R^ to e r,a Heights, he now — his horse white with foam — came up to the Victoria Ridge, but by that time the combat, though not yet extinct, was dwind- ling down towards its close. In describing what had passed to Lord Raglan, Sir George Brown laid great stress on the effect produced by the half of Morris's battery under Captain Singleton, and the Captain being present at the moment in this part of the field, had the honour of being there thanked for his services by the Commander-in-Chief. Lord Raglan bending off to the east, soon cioseofth* reached the position of Evans, and then the firing ceased.* In this combat of the 26th of October, the in- Duration oi terval between the first and the last exchange of shots — both occurred in the Careenage Ravine — was one of perhaps some three hours ; but the pe- riod during which Evans and Federoff stood really an opportunity of exercising that thoughtful generosity in which he excelled other men. He knew that the fact of his own presence on the field hefore the close of the combat might tend, if recorded, to mar the completeness of the personal triumph fairly earned by Sir de Lacy Evans, and he therefore in his despatch passed over as quite immaterial the circum- stance of his arrival on the Victoria Ridge, writing simply in reference to the combat : — 'I had not the good fortune to wit- ' ness it myself, being occupied in front of Balaclava at the time ' it commenced, and having only reached his (Evans's) position ' as the aifair ceased.' VOL. V. 2 B the combat
 * The circumstances mentioned in the text gave Lord Raglan