Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/66

 •U THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. chap, the troops under the orders of Liprandi, there was ! a distinct force, commanded by General Jabro- kritsky, and comprising some 8 battalions,* 4 squadrons of horse, and 14 guns, which had orders to co-operate with the Detachment of Tchorgoun. Altogether, therefore, the force set apart for the attack upon the defences of Bala- clava comprised 25 battalions, 34 squadrons of horse, and 78 guns. The numerical strength of the force is not to be learned with strict accu- racy ; f but it seems to have amounted to about 24, or 25,000 men.+ The object For a sound appreciation of the battle of Bala- of the con- •"■ x tempbted clava, it would be well to know what was the stuck. ' object contemplated by the assailant. His pri- have above called them ' squadrons ') of Cossacks. A ' sotnia ' imported only a full 'hundred' of mounted Cossacks, but the ' squadron ' of regular cavalry at the opening of a campaign had a strength of about 156. + Because, at the period in question, the ' morning states ' of the infantry had been left uncorrected since the beginning of the month, and the 'states' of the cavalry were wanting altogether.— Todleben, p. 388. J On the 25th of October 1854 the most recent 'states' of the infantry strength were those which had been furnished at the beginning of the month ; and these, together with the estimated reckoning of the cavalry (of which no 'states' had been prepared), give a total of 23,425, without counting the artillerymen, who (at 30 men for each gun) would number 2340, making, altogether, 25,725 ; but it is right to say that General de Todlebcn (by making a guess at the deductions from strength which may have occurred since the beginning of the month, and by reducing the estimate ol the cavalry strength) cuts down the total effective to 20,500 (pp. 388-390). In thai estimate, however, he does not, 1 believe, include the 2840 artillery nun.
 * Literally, 7 and fths.