Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/84

 52 EUPATORIA. chap. At short distances outside the town, there were not only quarries, but also several burial- grounds, and the desire of the engineers to clear the ground under their guns from all such ob- structions was controlled by respect for the dead. The forces Without reckoning — although it lay near — General any part of the much -reduced force still left now charged under Wrangel's command, the enemy's troops Eu'patoria. set apart for this enterprise against Eupatoria comprised horse, foot, and artillery, with a strength of about 20,000, and 108 guns, of which 24 might be said to have siege-train calibres.* All this force, as already we know, was com- manded by General Khrouleff. Their pre- To shelter their guns and their gunners when opening tire on the morrow, the Kussians passed the night of the 16th in throwing up a line of epaulments at a distance of from 600 to 800 yards from the place ; and in front of each interval they sank rifle-pits for five sharp- shooters. Nor was this line of 76 guns the only one destined to press upon Omar's defences ; for at an early hour, General Khrouleff brought up two light batteries from his reserves to positions strength at 18,883. The 24 heavy guns were what the Rus- sians call 'guns of position,' and included some which— though heavier — our people called 32-pounders.
 * Without the artillerymen, Todleben (p. 684) puts the