Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/89

 khrouleff's repulse from before eupatoria. 57 the shelter of the Russian burial-ground, and chap. . ii. pressed their retreat in the open till one of them — formed up at last in a hollow square — proved able to stop the pursuit. General Todleben has sought to account for this little discomfiture by saying that the water found in the Ditch was a surprise upon the as- sailants, and that the ladders they brought were too short to be serviceable for the planned escal- ade ; but he also has stated a circumstance that well might have more lasting weight than any slight physical obstacle, or any mechanic defect in the Russian preparatives. A strange revulsion took place in the opinion of General Khrouleff. When he found himself closely engaged with the valorous Turks, that sanguine anticipation of his which had lifted him up into power was turned to nought all at once by an access of chilling de- spair. He suddenly found himself sure that, to take Eupatoria would cost the Russians enormous losses — cost them losses so great that even at the price of the greatest sacrifices they would not be, after all, able to hold their ground in the place.* So, conforming — conforming too late, and under the stress of a fight — to what the good Teuton had counselled before being rudely supplanted, this more fiery, less steadfast Sclave accepted the trebled repulses of his two vanquished Azoff bat- talions as putting an end to the strife. After what proved a farewell discharge from Khrouleff's line of artillery, his general retreat
 * Todleben, p. 695.