Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/179

 pelissier's change. 149 morrow's operations should by him be altogether chap. omitted, and that the signal directing his infantry !_. to commence their intended assaults should be given at three o'clock in the morning, that is, at the least two full hours before the time he had fixed in concert with the English commander. This abrupt change of plan on the part of its bearing. Pelissier was substantially an actual reversal of what a few hours before he had voluntarily an- nounced to Lord Eaglan as his settled design. And, the change too was seemingly made in defiance of known conditions. The Allies at this time had nowhere sapped up to within a distance of less than several hundreds of yards off from the Karabelnaya enceinte ; and — encum- bered, as they would be with scaling-ladders, and other needed appliances — troops marching over such spaces in the teeth of mighty batteries restored to their original power might expect to encounter destruction, or at all events slaughter so great as would leave them unequal to the ulterior operation of carrying the defences by storm. Yet — so immense was the difference ! — a march on those very same batteries, if still in the ruined state to which a bombardment could bring them, might be only, after all, a light matter. Now, experience had shown the Allies that to this state of ruin they could bring the defences by duly using their siege-guns, whilst also it had taught them that the batteries thus ruined, and rendered for the moment innocuous, could be restored by the garrison to a state of